Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Eternal Wind ❯ One-Shot

I would like to thank you all for your patience with me on this story... I have had a lot to do lately and regrettably not enough time to do it... I hope I don't have to make you wait often... ^_^

well every taiora author has done a wedding story for the couple at some point, so I guess it's my turn... also this story has something new that I was playing with, attaching a picture to it... I am a moron with html so it's a fifty percent chance this picture won't work... -_-' but I tried....

I would like to thank the digimon experience, denial, one of my friends who I chat with all the time, yet forgot how to spell their name... "Karissa" (god I am so screwed if I misspelled that...), and all the other people on my mailing list who didn't have a site to put this Pic in so I can link to it yet still wished they could help... I am in all your debts.... thank you for your help.

oh and Angel... sorry I used a part of our story for this one... hope you aren't mad....

*checks life insurance*

So... gulp... lets see if this quick little picture I did works....Cover Pic.....

Ok, disclaimer time... I own nothing but the plot... tai and Sora belong to their respective owners... umm... let me know what you think at logan91235@aol.com

Eternal Wind

By Logan

" Just breath..." he whispered softly under his quickening breath.

His sense had sharpened to an edge no finer then the edge of a razor. He could breath in the air and as his senses flooded his anxious mind with thousands of pieces of mundane information. The air smelt of earth, fresh potting soil that would be rich and thick under bare feet. Upon the breeze there was an unquestionable and almost stifling aroma of roses. Their sweet scent wafted softly to tai's nose as he could almost feel the soft delicate tips of the petals raining down over his face. He breathed the aroma of blended earth into his lungs.

He listened silently to the sounds of the nature around him. There was a still lake nearby filled with translucent and glassy water. No ripple disturbed the perfect artificial mirror that stretched out across the deteriorating marble pillars that dipped up from the water as an uprooted tree would. The field was vast and secluded contained within the lines of a wall of trees. Despite the seas of shadow the field was viable to the acute eyes of the young man. The field was free of man's encroachment, all that remained was a sea of waist high vegetation that stretched skyward in a symphony of blooming flowers. The sea of brilliantly hued flowers rose and fell with each gentle night breeze. The wind swept through the hills, which moved as gentle waves upon the shore of some beach. It was truly a Magnificat spectacle to see such a vast field only of wildflowers.

The stars shimmered brighter that night for some reason that alluded the young man. As he looked upward to the sea of blackness the trademark solitude of space seemed as a vicious lie. For the velvet black complemented the shimmering diamond tears that glistened overhead so well that to call space a void seemed almost laughable. Tai slowly reached downward with his fingers and stroked a flower that was brushing up against him with each soft turn of the night winds. The petals felt as velvet to him, the bud's texture was that of a tender and soft kiss upon his rough hands.

He had fought for years against demons and yet he felt more trepidation to the figure that would soon appear from the sea of flowers then he would to the most grotesque and perilous of adversaries. He found breath hard to will into his pale lips as he stood amid the sea of beauty. He had found this place with her back in their first adventure in this world, for this reason it seemed ironic that this new juncture in life should begin upon the same earth where he had summoned the courage to take his first kiss from her tender and luscious lips.

Over time the original chosen children had learned how to open the gate between words without the aid of technology. Much to their amazement it was discovered that the power had been theirs all along... now this world was open to them upon their whim and not some dyer emergency that would pull them into this world as defenders again... for the time there was peace in this world, and though peace did alternate with war within the eternal dance of love and hate, for the moment their was peace and there would be no need for the defenders to be called back.

Tai was relieved by the breeze as it lessened the tension of the silence around him. And as he waited nervously the sky suddenly exploded with a flash of silver and crimson light before him. He watched in awe as the scenery suddenly rippled, and from the center of the distortion a shadowy figure emerged. Like colored smoke the energies danced within the digital wind as Sora stepped through the glowing rip in the sky. The second she had passed through the integrity of the world mended itself and the gate sealed behind her as if never breached. She smiled softly at him as the winds playfully blew her hair.

Tai smirked at her lovingly as he took her in. She wore a simple white shirt with black jeans that hugged her frame in a way that had caused the eighteen year old tai to remain frozen for an instant. Her hair blew gracefully in the soft breezes as her skin was of ivory to him in the pale light of the moon. She was beautiful... that was the thought that seemed to resonate through tai's mind as she walked up to him. Sora had changed much from the girl he had once known.. Where once there was a young quiet girl now stood a strong and kindhearted woman who could play a mother one moment then switch to the personality of a adventurous tomboy. She was tai's image of perfection, her hair had been allowed to grow and now it hung at her shoulders long and strait, it swayed and twisted within the wind as if it had a life its own.

"You had better have a good reason for waking me out of a sound sleep and suggesting a sudden late night trip to the Digiworld..." she growled playfully at him as she grabbed the collar of his shirt tightly within her fist and forcefully yanked the boy to her lips where she kissed his lips deeply. They had been together for years kissing, hugging, and doing other things that were not advertised as loudly, yet tai still felt his knees buckle as they kissed deeply like this.

"I needed to ask you something..." he replied breathlessly

"And you couldn't have done that in the morning... you know when I would be less likely to beat the crap out of you for dragging me out of a nice warm bed....?" Sora smiled lightly as she ruffled his hair.

"Umm..... this is kinda big. I wanted to ask you here, so it would be special...." he smirked as her eyes suddenly got larger. His voice carried a sense of nervous anxiety that was not lost to Sora.

"What did you want to ask me tai?....." she whispered softly as she drew near to him.

The boy found himself staring deep into her eyes. Even in the dim light of the night sky her eyes still glowed with the same ruby fire that had hypnotized him so many times before. He could get lost within her gaze so easily that he forced his eyes to break contact with her own so he would be able to form the words. Yet it was harder with her here.... the words submerged deep into the sea of shadow that had clouded his mind as he stared at her.

"Dammit...this was easier this mourning..." he muttered softly

"Excuse me?" Sora asked with an expression of question upon her face.

"Oh god, this is going all wrong... I had this all planned out before...

Sora umm... I love you and I would love it if you would..... no... that's not it either!

Look... sorry I dragged you out here... this was a mistake... I'll see you later!" he cried out in exasperation as he spun on his heel and prepared to run off into the night. His mind ached as he mentally kicked himself repeatedly for this moment of pure stupidity that he had been planning for a solid month now. He was sad, and humiliated greatly at his obvious inadequacy...

He sensed her hand reaching out for him. She looked at him with a silent hope as to the meaning of this rendevous... she had been hoping he would ask her... but either way she would not let him run from her, she had loved tai for too long to allow anything to exist between them...what ever he was going to tell her, it was obviously important to him....

Just as her hand was about to make contact with his shoulder he spun around with blinding speed and took her hand in his own. Sora was stunned as she stared in disbelief at the silver ring that he had placed on her finger and was now shimmering brightly... it glowed softly within the night air as Sora turned her hand lightly to examine other dimensions of the beautiful ring. Her eyes slowly lifted from her hand to tai. He smiled softly at her as he lifted his hand to display a matching silver band upon his finger.

"Sora.... will you marry me?" he smiled at her softly.

Sora's lips parted to speak and yet as she tried to mouth out the answer she found that her words could not come. It was as though a vice was laid across her throat, clamping it down so no words could free themselves. For one moment that felt an hour they mearly stared at one another... Her ruby eyes to his soft and tender chocolate ones...

With a sudden burst of emotion Sora threw her arms around him and squeezed him tightly within her embrace. Words are lacking... to wait for a single moment to arrive for years was something that could never be put to words. She had waited forever for him to ask, and since she was a little girl playing house she had known the answer: it was, is, and forever would be yes..

Tai felt a surge of joy run through him as he spun her around within the tight hug. He laughed happily into her hair as they screamed with joy into the field of flowers, and as they continued to dance drunkenly with one another they kicked up a storm of flower petals that were caught within the wind. The petals flew about them in breathtaking patterns that could be describe only as a vast spinning swarm of the most beautiful butterflies in heaven or earth. The wind swirled about them as it lifted the sea of petals higher into the night sky.

The two sobered suddenly as they found themselves locked within the other's arms. There was so much comfort in that embrace that it radiated warmth into them as a warm bath would. Their faces were so close that tai could feel her warm breath against his cheeks. Sora delicately leaned forward and tasted tai's lips lovingly. It was much as their first kiss had been, not of lust.... that came later, but of tender love. It was just their lips on one another. The kiss was special... it was tai showing Sora how special she was, it was Sora showing tai how much he meant to her. They were as two petals in the wind themselves, floating a world of chaos they formed a union that drew them to one another despite the harsh biting wind.

As the kiss ended Sora cuddled her head into the hollow of his neck. This act had always melted tai. It was so tender and pure that it would forever be how he saw Sora. He loved the feel of her pressed to him, her breath on his skin, the smell of her hair, and her heart beating in time with his own.

********************

time flies.... it has been said many times that time itself works of it's own schedule and the power of the clock means nothing to such a force. While time can linger and drag the ground as a unwilling child it can prove the opposite true as well. This was the case for tai and Sora.. Their engagement had flown as a wind flies through the landscape. Now they found themselves on the eve of their wedding. Within a few days tai and Sora would be bound as one for the rest of their lives.... that is of corse if they survived the preparations that is....

Tai found himself sitting laxly in a plush and comfortable seat, though the delicate patterned fabric could easily pass as the sterile grey to a police interrogation room's furniture for at the moment that was its' purpose. And the proverbial "good cop, bad cop was being alternated between the mob of guys who now encircled Taichi. Though there seemed to be a drastic shortage of good cops, and an excess of bad cops.... tai attempted to ignore the persuasive lectures that were flooding through the room so thick as to be batted away as a swarm of annoying Nats. Yet these irritating "insects" were slightly more persistent then their arthropod namesakes.

The room was clad in off-white carpeting that stretched the entire diameter of the room. There were several lush ferns that remained fixed to their clay pots against their will tai imagined, for had they possessed the sensory organs he was sure they would have been just as irritated as he. And most likely uprooted themselves as soon as able so as they could slither away as snakes slither from a unearthed den. Tai listened to the nagging voices of his friends as if they were fingernails raking deep gashes across a black chalkboard.

It wasn't that tai was against the idea they were purposing.... far from it, he was a male, and as a male would be able to appreciate the opportunity they were offering... yet he also loved Sora too much to go through with it without a fight.. And he had the impression that he would rather fight them, then her......

"Tai... listen you are on the verge of married life here and I will not let you squander your last chance of enjoying single life....YOU ARE DOING THIS!!!" matt growled

"No... I don't want to!" tai argued back though he was sure this was to pathetic a come-back, especially to a losing battle such as this one.

"Tai, matt's right.. A pizza and a movie is not enough to celebrate this...." TK chimed in with a smirk. The two brothers both gave the same look of determination.

"For once I am going to agree with DJ..." Davis stated despite the look of anger he was getting from TK. The young blond silently growled at him once again.

"Tai it's a right of passage, every guy has one... and since I will be the only single pre-med student and have to ward off Mimi's air headed friends.... you will have this bachelor party... you will enjoy it... and you will not try to get out of it or we will drag you in there...." joe smirked

"Consider it payback for us having to wear tuxes....."

The group of teens had taken position around tai on all sides. The image would be similar to one you would expect to see in some national geographic magazine where the lone gazelle stood amidst a closing circle of lions. The lions know the gazelle is screwed... the gazelle know's it's screwed, there was no debate as to the future of the animal, much as tai found his options lingering at zero. The comparisons were hard to over look as it seems the entire group was contributing to a mass act of peer-pressure. The combined might of the digidestined had been enough to face the mightiest of foes.. Now tai found that life had a sick sense of irony as they had joined forces against him...

He scanned the room slowly.... One couch and two soft arm chairs, and regrettably not a window in sight with which he could leap to freedom...

Some would consider his actions melodramatic, yet those people were uneducated to just how bad it could be to have Sora Takenouchi angry at them. Tai remembered all to well the volcano of pure anger that had erupted from a single pair of hair clips he had once given her... Tai had always wondered how eyes that can be so loving and tender could so effortlessly turn into a pair of flaming ruby daggers. It was for this reason that he was avoiding the idea of a bachelor party.....

The door suddenly creaked open and from its' threshold stepped Yolie carrying a small charcoal black laptop which she was rigorously typing away at. She glanced up from the screen and cast a grin to izzy who returned it softly. Izzy and Yolie had been predicted as if their romance would have been painted across their faces. It was so obvious that it cast serious doubts upon their ragingly high IQs because they were so oblivious to it. In the end the breaking point had been when izzy and Yolie had been practicing debugging a new line of code when the passion of the moment simply overcame them..... the others didn't seem to grasp how debugging was such an aphrodisiac, yet it was as tai put it "an izzy thing."

"Yolie... help me out here,

they are forcing me to have a bachelor party?...."

"Sorry tai.... you're on your own... But.... izzy......"

He lurched as if his name had been a punch to the stomach...

"umm... what is it sweetie?....."

"You are going to be at a bachelor party... I feel as a girlfriend I need to tell you this....

If I get the impression that something happened to you at this party,

I will crash your hardrive.....

if you know what I mean?...."

"Yes dear....."

Izzy scowled at the group of guys who were trying very unsuccessfully at hiding the hysterical laughter that was dripping from their pours. The fight was quickly lost as the group of male digi-destined fell to the floor in a heap of bodies convulsing in laughter. Izzy merely sighed heavily before sinking into the plush sofa opposite Yolie.

"Just think tai, pretty soon you will be as whipped as izzy." TK chuckled softly. Tai simply growled in response.... "you're one to talk......"

Tai glanced to the far wall where one small picture window stretched out to the sapphire blue skies outside. He drew in a deep breath as he smiled weekly....

"Sora is going to kill me..........."

********************

under a torrent of begging and pleading from Mimi tai and Sora agreed to let her plan the ceremony. Mimi was never more content then when surrounded bu a mountain of dress fabrics and floral arrangements... Sora watched the preceding with slight amusement over how something could be so important to someone.

Sora reclined lazily as she listened to Mimi, Kari, and Yolie give a heated debate as to the color and fabric of the bride's maids dresses... as she gave her best effort to listen to them she found her gaze traveling from their faces to the scenery. They had decided to have the ceremony on ken's estate. He has been assimilated into the digidestined during the beginning of their adventures... he would however still maintain an air of fear and distrust with many of them as the shadow of the digital emperor still was cast over him. Yet he couldn't be faulted for efforts... he had never shown any signs of a regression tword his darker side.

The ex-emperor had been best received by tai, for he as well knew what it was like to have a dark shadow cast over him. Tai was the leader of the digidestined, and yet he was feared on some levels. More so by the original group. Tai had done questionable things when the situation warranted extreme force in the digital wars with which he had been cast as leader. Tai had killed for them.... he had done what none of them were as of yet prepared to do: take a life, be it digital or human... he had sacrificed his innocence to assure that they survived... and the imagery of those conflicts were never forgotten by those who had witnessed them... it was not a spoken fear, but it was viable within their eyes....their friendships had continued, yet below the surface the fear existed like a splinter... he had killed for them, yet he had never seemed more godlike then when he stood atop a pile of dispatched foes, blood smeared over his face as grease would be to a mechanic... there was something in his eyes as he fought... something that haunted them all.

It was for this reason that ken and tai could communicate more clearly.......

Kari crawled over from her place at the foot of the large and soft bed, to where Sora was resting. Sora smiled softly as the younger girl cuddled closer to her. She wrapped her arms around Kari as the younger child smiled warmly. Sora began to run her fingers through her future sister's hair who was purring as though she were of closer relation to Gatomon then digimon to digidestined.

"Sora?...." she asked

"Yeah Kari?"

"I always wanted an older sister, that's why I am so happy you and tai are getting married. Now I'll have one... and I know tai could never find anyone as nice as you.." Sora smiled warmly as she hugged tai's little sister.

Sora had been a part of tai's family for years now. Since childhood they had been a part of eachother's lives. She loved them as her own family, but hearing that from Kari made her feel truly like a Kamiya. She had been there with tai when he was first allowed to hold his baby sister. The thought had occurred to her then that he looked like a natural as he carefully supported her head. His eyes had shined as he smiled down on the sleeping baby within his arms. He had later told Sora how his mother had several miscarriages before becoming pregnant with Kari. The doctors had told them that she would be unable to have children.... so in his own words Kari was a miracle.

As Sora held this miracle within her arms, she knew that tai had been right. And as he had held her so many years ago, she now held the same life within her arms. Life is a creature of great subtle beauty. You are given two families in life, one with which you are born to, and another that you create of friends and loved ones... Sora's two families had just merged to one now...

The day began to gradually give way to night as the sun glowed vibrant golds and reds before fading into a deep and endless shade of black. The meeting had carried even later as the issue of music came into debate. As Mimi, Kari, and Yolie began to sample various tracks from numerous CDs, Sora retreated to one of the back rooms where she tried on the gown which in a few days she would wear...

She smiled softly as she looked at the visage of her frame in the silvery surface of the mirror. The dress was a simple one, no long flowing veils, or frilly fabric that would appear more at home in an elderly person's home. The dress was simple and yet in its simplicity elegant. Sora awed at herself, for she had never known herself capable to look so regal. The dress hugged her frame with perfect symmetry. It was not tight, but more as a second skin that traced every curve in a way that she knew would both amaze and tantalize her young groom. Her hair hung over her shoulders and seemed to shimmer as polished amber in the soft light of the room. Her pink lips pulled upward in a tender smile.

"Tai is going to love this....."

Unknown to her he already did. The large house had a vast array of windows that looked over a large and picturesque garden. It was from this garden, under the cover of the cherry-blossom's branches and soft pink flowers that tai stood in awe. He had hoped to catch a glimpse of his Sora here, the preparations had been so rigorous that he hadn't had time to see his bride before the actual event soon to take place. Tai was unwilling to go more then a day without seeing her if there was a possibility of getting past Mimi's schedule. Sadly Sora had been booked quite extensively. But to tai a stolen glance of the most angelic woman alive was enough... he still wasn't sure that it was real... how could Sora Takenouchi love tai Kamiya? It seemed impossible to imagine true. Tai smiled up to the image of the girl as she danced to some slow song that wasn't playing with a partner who wasn't there. Moments like that were the main reason tai considered her an angel...

"See anything you like? Or just window shopping?" a voice smirked from behind.

Tai turned to find ken smiling down at him from a perch upon one of the branches. He effortlessly leapt from his vantage point to come to a flawless landing before tai who smiled back unimpressed. Ken wore a simple black shirt and dark jeans which didn't advertise any financial status at all. Just as he preferred it. As he had put it "wealth attracts lies..." and for this reason he went out of his way to avoid advertising that he was the renowned programmer who could in theory buy and sell people. He valued his friendships to the other digidestined heavily. Tai gave unconditional friendship, and even though Davis hated ken almost as much as he did Kari's current boyfriend "TJ" at least his feelings were honest...

"Damn man... you want to not give me a heart attack?"

"Hey, you're the trespasser here.... you know I am going to need to figure out how you managed to get through our security.... again...."

Tai smirked before returning his gaze to the angel in the window.

"What's it like?" ken asked solemnly as he joined tai at his side.

"Huh?"

"You're on the verge of marrying the girl you have loved all your life... I mean... aren't you like..nervous?"

Tai smiled lightly at the tone... ken had come quite far from the maniacal emperor of the past. Now he had a difference in both attitude and tone of voice... it seemed as though ken had succeeded where the fictional DR. jackal had failed. Ken's MR. Hide had vanished with little more then a trace to tell of his existence. In fact... all he had to remind him of his past was a cut upon his temple delivered to him by Takeru who bor a similar scar upon his own.

"Actually... I'm kinda calm..... it's like I've been married to her for years..." tai said softly in a voice no louder then a whisper. He faded off as the soft gentile wind seemed to lift his words away from his lips....

"My god... she's beautiful......" he breathed softly, his train of thought broken by a sudden change in her posture.

Ken smiled at his friend as he watched him.

"God man...you're starting to sound like a greeting card...." he chuckled

tai laughed to himself... "Yeah I do.... guess I do hang around Sora to much." he smirked back.

"Naw, it becomes you... you old smoothie..." ken laughed girlishly as he attempted to batt his eye lashes at tai who simply rolled his eyes at the comment.

"Watch it... I can still kick your ass..."

"In your dreams goggle head... hey... you have a tux yet?"

"Not really... I don't have the greatest sense of style for formal stuff..." tai sighed heavily.

"God... Mimi will beat you to death if you aren't dressed to kill..."

"Tell me about it....." tai shuddered at the idea of facing "the princess" in anything that wasn't stitched together in Paris...

"Well hey... I have some time. Lets go to town and get you ready for this...."

He looked back to the window and the angelic form behind the pane glass... she seemed to beckon him to stay as a siren called to the sailors from their vessels in many a nautical legend. Sora's image had the power to in-trance the young tai, and from that mystical state that exists between dream and reality tai was hard to move. He broke from his trance lightly and looked to ken with a sarcastic gleam within his brown eyes.

"I'm supposed to rely on the fashion sense of a guy, who when I first met him was wearing blue spandex and a cape?......."

"We'll take the jag...."

"I suddenly have an desire to try on stuffy clothing....

Can I drive?" tai's eyes narrowed lightly.

"Yeah I guess.... you're a safe driver right?"

********************

Tires screamed over the asphalt as the shiny black jaguar flew around a corner amidst a chorus of horns. It hugged the road effortlessly as it flew down the city street passing car after car without slowing. Then as it neared the parking lot it preformed a 180 turn landing softly as if upon a cushion within the parking space.

The door flew open as ken lurched from the seat, landing on hands and knees upon the pavement. He frantically drew breath after breath as he clutched his chest.

Tai casually exited the driver seat and with slow and leisurely strides came to a stop before ken, who was still clutching the ground.

"You really need to take it easy ken....I didn't even put it into sixth gear...."

"There is no sixth gear...." he growled

"Oh... well if you are still looking for any wedding presents... the car would definitely beat a toaster....."

"Not in a thousand years Kamiya...."

********************

the store was lined with expensive formal attire. It was wall to wall class, and tai couldn't help but feel a bit out of place within it. The owners were nice people. An elderly British man and his wife. They had agreed to keep the store open late so tai would be able to get the right suit. Ken smirked as tai produced a photograph of Sora, to match one of their children on their wedding days....

The man was what tai could easily stereotype as a kindly grandfather. His stomach protruded outward lightly and seemed to give him a jolly quality. Upon his chin he wore a soft mane of snowy white whiskers, that pulled up as he smiled. Tai liked the man instantly as he seemed to radiate with humor and mirth.

The woman was American. She wore a matching smile upon her kind face that seemed to remind him of Sora. Her hair was platinum white and her face bore wrinkles akin to a life of smiling. Tai had discovered through his conversation with the two that they had met during the final days of the second world war. He was a fighter pilot who was unlucky enough to catch a hail of machine gun fire. It was by sheer luck that he had been retrieved from the waters of the Atlantic. She had been serving as a nurse at the time... and from the moment they met as patient to nurse... tai paused to recall the exact terminology she had used... "Fireworks"

the couple seemed to foreshadow all tai could hope to have in life... a wife of many years, children, and later grandchildren... tai smiled warmly at the idea of himself cast as a kindly grandfather... who had lived a life with his wife whom he loved.... and given the opportunity to grow old with....

Tai instantly decided they were some of the nicer people he had ever known. With a mischievous smirk he casually tossed out the fact that ken was single... instantly resulting in a fuss on behalf of the woman, as she produced a picture of her grand daughter who was as tai had suspected ... "very single" there was a certain quality that reminded him of jun.... Kamiyas were known as many things... but among their hyphenated titles was that they boasted a wicked sense of humor....

Which ken was now enjoying as he begrudgingly accepted the phone number.... tai could swear that he heard a few colorful words being snarled out silently from his clenched teeth as he pocketed the number.

Half an hour later tai emerged from the dressing room clad in a dark tuxedo. He stretched lightly as he cockily fixed the trim of his jacket.

"The name's Kamiya.... Tai, Kamiya....."

he cocked his imaginary silenced pistil as he smirked to his reflection with a smooth expression.

"very nice selection sir... your fiancee will love it." the man spoke in his thick accent as he made his way to the register where he began calculation on the bill.

Tai vanished into the dressing room, where he quickly returned in his casual street cloths. Carrying the carefully folded tuxedo, he walked to the elderly woman who smiled warmly at him as she bagged them careful as to not wrinkle the expensive attire.

"Excuse me sirs, but who shall be paying for the purchase?"

Tai opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by ken....

"I'll take it.... do you accept plastic?"

"Ken... that suit is way to expensive..... I wouldn't ask you to..."

"I know man, consider it payback for giving me a chance."

They exchanged a smile as the kindly woman handed tai his purchase. Tai thanked her as he and ken departed through the large polished oak doors. The night was cool and clean as the two teens slowly made their way back to where tai had parked. Not a difficult task considering the blackened skid-marks stretched all the way to where the car was parked and waiting.

Tai cast his gaze to the polished and glossy exterior of the sleek midnight-black vehicle....

"Can I..."

"No." ken replied quickly

********************

"Come on Sora, you have to take this seriously. Tomorrow is the big day." Mimi growled lightly as she had found Sora casting more and more glances to the world through the window then she did to the seating arrangements.... Mimi had began to make all the final decision as to the details of the event. With each new question she cast to Sora her only reply was a new rendition of the same phrase... "what ever you think will be fine...."

The agitated fashion designer glared at her friend with daggers. This was not supposed to be how it is meant to work... they would make ridiculously detailed plans, giggle excessively, then re-commence the whole planning part.... yet Sora wasn't playing along....

"Sora... is there a reason you don't want to have anything to do with the planning?" she said as softly as she could.

Sora turned to face her with a light smile upon her lips. It wasn't an overly joyous smile, more like a simple and tiny grin.. She reached out and affectionately patted her friend's cheek....

"You know I appreciate all you have done for me... I just am not very into all the designer apparel..."

Mimi looked downhearted, seeing this Sora took her face in her hands forcing her to look into her crimson eyes.

"You know I love you Mimi, but you know how tai and I are... we just aren't the kind of people who love this stuff... but we both appreciate what you are doing for us... it means the world to both of us that you are putting so much effort into making this perfect...

But I think it's time we just enjoyed it now...."

Mimi smiled as she dramatically tossed her book of notes backward where it collided with the floor in a loud smack. The two girls broke into a light fit of laughter that seemed to radiate through the house.

The laughter was broken as they glanced to the origin of a tapping noise at the window. It came so softly that it was of shear luck that the sound wasn't swallowed up in the laughter of the two friends. No softer then the efforts of a suicidal wasp attempting to ram its' way through the plate glass window the nose came again and again. It was Mimi who rose from the plush sofa to investigate the origin of the noise. She broke a light grin as she opened the window and smiled down with a light giggle... she turned to Sora who remained seated with a questioning expression...

A voice yelled from beyond the window:

"Can sorwa come out and pway?" tai yelled in a childish voice as he had during their childhood.

Sora smiled widely as she suddenly looked to Mimi as a child would look to their mother for permission. The brunette grinned once more at the way her eyes had lit. she threw her shoulders back in mock defeat...

"Get out....."

And before the final syllable left her lips the bride to be had vanished through the open window and to tai. Mimi simply chuckled as she latched the window, then with slow strides returned to her notes...

********************

the day was still as Sora and tai leisurely walked hand in hand down the grassy hillside.

The sky was beginning to glow as the sapphire blue was slowly invaded by the wispy streaks of gold and pink within the sky's vast horizon... there was little noise save the soft caressing wind which seemed to breath out sonnets of love just bellow audibility. Tai was barely aware of the world around them, as his only preoccupation was the girl who was grinning softly at his thoughtful expression...

They came to rest upon a soft patch of grass that overlooked a shimmering lake. The water was glassy as it swirled softly in tiny ripples. Upon the translucent surface floated a fleet of water Lilies, their budding flowers were open armed to the last golden rays of the sun before the night over took the sky. And for a moment the two onlookers found that they each had so much to say to one another, and yet not breath enough to say it.

Tai turned to her slowly, and smiled lovingly at his soon to be wife. He could have gasped as he looked into her.. Tai was thoroughly convinced that she got more beautiful with every day. Their arms linked as he held her to him. she was so warm to the touch that as his lustful passion built he feared she would burn within his grasp. Her lips were soft as silk... he knew this from personal experience... yet as he looked at her now, he knew that he wanted to reconfirm their texture to his own.

He stroked her face tenderly as he pulled her to him. Their lips met in a hungry kiss. It had been to long since they had been granted the time to enjoy one another. With floral arrangements to contend with tai had found himself missing her. She was a drug and he was addicted to everything about her. And without her... he was in withdrawal... it was as though his being ached for her.

Tai breathed her in as cool air into gasping lungs... he drank her as though she was sparkling, cool, crystal water to his parched lips.

As they kissed her hands clutched to his shirted back in tight fists. They clung to one another tightly as the passion passed between them as gale winds pass through skeletal tree limbs.

"Sora...."

"Hmm?"

Tai rolled over on the grass and looked at her. she smiled back lovingly as she blew a leaf at him.

"Do you think we should elope?" Sora looked at him quizzically, then rolled over so that she was on top of tai. Her lips pulled to a smirk.

"It is romantic.... but... I think I would like to be married not widowed. Between your parents, my mom, TK, Kari, joe, Yolie, izzy, the others, and lets not forget Mimi... you would be soooo dead...

Hell I think Mimi would give you a black eye just for mentioning it...."

They laughed lightly, as tai readjusted her jacket so she wouldn't get chilled in the night air.

"Why do you ask?" she questioned

"Well... I think we are all just going a little nuts...

I mean all this planning and detail... it's just a bit much...."

"Yeah..."

"Sor... just so you know this...

It doesn't matter if I marry you in a tuxedo or a t-shirt... because I am marrying you...

I have waited a lifetime for you.... the details don't matter... tomorrow it will be just us...

That is... if you still want to.........." he smirked

"Kamiya....shut up..." she grinned as she pulled him to her lips.

********************

They had chosen to have the ceremony outside away from the stuffiness of the churches. The place chosen was as tai described it "closer to heaven then any church could have been." it was surrounded by ancient trees with hanging branches. The branches stretched out their arms in embrace with one another, and through their fingertips filtered beams of golden light.

Matt and izzy had taken the task of informing the non digidestined guests about some of the "guests" that would seem somewhat out of place...

Several of their acquaintances went pale as the large and Nobel Leomon strided forward. He wore no suit or tai, mearly a regal cloak which lay cascading over his broad and well defined features. He addressed the terror stricken humans with the utmost courtesy... so much so you would expect him to be a good will ambassador to his race....

This was less the case for Ogremon who seemed to lack Leomon's diplomatic flare when one of the guests used him as a coatrack without looking. All it took was a short snarl from the large digimon to encourage the young man to be more attentive. Ogremon was one of a very short list of viral digimon who would be attending... his only condition to attending such a "mushy human mating ritual" was the assurance that etemon would not be acting as wedding singer.... this was readily agreed upon......

The digidestined spent the beginning of the ceremony catching up with their respective digimon. They had all managed to keep in touch after they had mastered the art of opening the gate.

Tai, TK who had been nominated as best man, and augumon who had taken the tittle of best mon were sitting in un-breaking silence as they awaited their cues to take position... tai leisurely scratched augumon's head as he had done back when they were new to eachother. Tai smiled at the gentle reptilian purr that the lizard's lips were gently breathing out. It was strange to find a hiss as a term of affection, yet augumon's low growl was as threatening as a kitten's purr.

The landscape was breathtaking..... it had elements that reminded tai of Rome, or perhaps the garden of Eden, for as he looked over his surroundings he couldn't help but awe at them. the reception had been placed at the edge of a gentle brook which stretched from a small pond through an elevation of rock and earth upward to some small crevice where the path became obscure. The air smelled of clean cool water, and as he listened tai could almost hear congratulations the babbling water seemed to whisper to him.

From the recesses of the pond the ruined stones that had once been pillars in some great shrine now lost and forgotten stretched outward in an effort to touch the top of the canopy overhead. Upon their weather smoothed exterior a vast network of vines crisscrossed with the same detail and beauty of a spiders web caught in the sunlight. The earth was blanketed in a soft dusting of purple and white flowers. They cast their heavenly aroma into the air, perfuming the breeze which swelled in the clean air.

As a figure of great strength tai rose to his feet in such a way as to imply great weight upon his shoulders. TK awed at the expression upon his eyes... it was unreadable to the younger blond who could detect such a magnitude of emotion that he could not get his bearings as to see if tai would leap for joy, or vomit in a bush... he imagined the strongest member of the digidestined would elect to do both before this day was done. Offering tai a solemn pat on the shoulder the two looked at one another silently. TK had been dating Kari for over three years now, and tai had gradually began to trust the intents of the young man. Ishidas were not known for their honorable intentions with women, so for this reason tai had hesitated to give the younger TK any room. But in all tai's deepest criticisms of him, tai could find no time when he had done anything other then respect his baby sister... for this reason tai liked the young man enough to ask him to be his best man. Though he was sure TK would have taken Kari's place as maid of honor if it would assure he would not be the ring bearer... for some reason everyone still considered him to be the cute little blond boy he had been years ago...

********************

Sora looked at herself in the mirror in awe... she still failed to recognize this bride as herself... it startled her to think of herself as a girl on the verge of being a wife. Her hair hung lightly at her sides framing her smiling face. Kari awed at the young woman who was now family...

"Ok Sora... you need something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue...." Kari puzzled as Sora opened a small brown bag she had concealed previously.

"Ok you know I hate these silly traditions, but ok:

something borrowed... the dress.

Something new... the hair clips." she smiled lightly as she ran her fingers over the same present tai had given her all those years ago, then rescued from the floor where Sora had thrown them in a fit of anger, then to be wearily given again as a birthday present.... she still chuckled as she recalled the hesitance of tai as he gave them to her for the second time...

"And for something old and blue...." she reached into the bag and withdrew a blue strip of fabric that suddenly was recognized by Kari. Sora tied the blue strap around her right wrist as she smiled at it. To her this was an old friend who had come to pay their respects to Sora's wedding. She had removed a strap from her once prized blue helmet and now wore it once more...

Kari smiled as she gave Sora a tight hug. "We had better get ready.... come on biyomon..."

With a light squawk the pink bird joined Kari as they left to help in the preparations.

Sora watched them leave silently. She appreciated the opportunity that their absence had granted her. She though over the endless horizon of questions and plans... tai and her had decided to move in together about a year ago... they just liked the idea of not having to get into a world war over it with their parents as soon as the sleeping arrangements would be questioned....

Sora paled lightly at her own thoughts....

The sleeping arrangements.... she laughed nervously as she contemplated what would be happening at the end of this day.... a cherry blush crept over her face as she pictured it... she had thought of this before, but then it seemed so far away... tai and Sora were open about the subject of sex, but neither had planned to force the issue, to them it would be best left to happen in its' own good time. They had come close on numerous occasions but in the end both had decided it was not the time.... now Sora found there was a time, and that time was drawing ever closer... Sora also pictured herself with tai's child. The image was so alien to her. To feel a baby within her own body seemed strangely pleasant to her.. To feel it's heartbeat beating in time with her own... and tai would make such an incredible father... Sora didn't remember her father... he was more of a impression now then a actual image... she missed him... but tai.... he would be an incredible father... Sora found herself looking to the coming time without trepidation and more with enthusiasm....

"Hi sweetie.." Sora's mother entered the makeshift dressing room with a solumn smile upon her lips.

Sora panicked lightly as she forced the blush from her cheeks. In a moment of startled panic she thought her mother would be able to read her train of thought...

"Hi momma... so how do I look?" she grinned...

"Like an angel...." she smiled

they embraced happily as ms. Takenouchi clutched Sora so tight that she feared her ribs would break under her mother's pressure. Yet she hugged back and bore the pain of the embrace.. Sora mused at the idea of her mother having a secret life as a weightlifter, for if this hug got any more "loving" Sora wound need to postpone this wedding and make a flying trip to the ER instead.

She felt wetness spreading against her shoulder, and for a moment was puzzled to its' origin. Then as the realization of her mother's tears upon her came she found a distinct sense of closeness to her. Their relationship had been a rocky one, far more so then tai's to his parents. Tai's mother had never truly forgiven him for his irresponsibility, which had once almost cost the life of his sister...

Sora had grown to understand the woman before her.. Yet tenderness was limited between them as each seemed to be capable of existing happily without the other. it had always pained Sora to know that her mother never would depend on her for support, and vice-versa...

"Come on momma... I have managed to get this far without crying like a baby... I don't think my makeup could withstand a water show...." Sora smiled lovingly at the teary eyes of her mother.

"At what point did you grow up without me?.... I closed my eyes on a little girl, and open them to find a strong and capable young woman before me... it's amazing... god Sora... you grew up so fast....." tears ran down her cheeks as rain glides against windowsills.

"Momma, you never lost me.... plus Tai and I have been together so much the last few years this shouldn't be a culture shock.... he loves me momma... and I love him.... we'll live close, and I promise to visit often....

Plus......

We Takenouchi women are a lot of things, but we are not criers......"

The woman broke into a laugh from her sobs. Sora drew her hand to a clenched fist, and held it upward in a show of power, the action was mimicked by ms. Takenouchi.

"Damn right!" she chucked.

********************

"You ready to do this?" joe asked with a small grin upon his lips.

"Never been more ready for anything......."

"You look radiant Sora... tai's a lucky man...." joe offered his arm which she took. The two began to walk down the isle... he had been honored to be chosen to give her away..

the music faded through the crowd of people who stood in awe at the woman making her way down the path which was darted with small budding white flowers. It was a breath taking moment for the group of humans and digimon who awed at the bearer of the crest of love. She seemed to radiate scarlet light as she passed by. Her feet fell so softly against the grassy carpet that she appeared to glide upon currents of air. Her eyes had never sparkled in such a way... and as Taichi looked over her with a wide grin he expected the dull cry of his alarm to end this wonderful, incredible, dream.......

As she stepped forward lilymon raised her hands to the sky, and with a light flash of green, the air began to rain down rose petals. The petals danced in the wind gracefully as the onlookers awed at the strange weather that had developed.. All but two sets of eyes went to the sky.. The eyes remained locked on one another in the most intense gaze they had ever known....

Sora came to a rest at tai's side... and was vaguely aware that the minister had began to speak, or that joe had squeezed her hand before joining the other guests. All that was, was tai and herself. He mouthed out a soft "I love you" and smiled so warmly that it filtered through her body.

"I have been informed that the bride and groom have written their own vows.. So I will now let them read them." he motioned to tai to begin. Tai didn't notice the silence of the minister at first, he didn't register that it was his time to speak... all that existed was smiling back at him with those soft pink lips... his mind suddenly cleared enough so that he could realize it was his time to speak.. He drew in a deep breath, and without taking his eyes from her he began.......

"I sat alone at night for two hours thinking of what to say here... how could you describe something you love more then life? You can't find words capable of showing what you truly feel, they just don't exist. I tried to recall exactly when it was I fell in love with Sora, only to find that I can't. As long as there has been a Taichi there has been a Sora, and as long as there has been a Sora Taichi was in love with her. They say that love can't last when it begins so young. I know this to be a lie now... because I have loved her since my first memory and in every day that passed I fell deeper in love with her. My unconditional love for Sora grew with me, it aged and matured as I did... and today I find myself incapable of wording how perfect she is in my eyes, or how I would give my life to avoid ever seeing a tear within her eyes... marriage isn't a big step for me... because I have been monogamous with her since childhood. Because I have loved her with the same innocence, passion, and tenderness for as long as I have lived.... this is just the final act of actually putting on the ring that I have worn my life through.... I can honestly say that I am truly ready.... I love you Sora, I promise to do my best for you for as long as I live..."

The silence was broken by a sharp and prolonged sob from Ogremon who was bawling like a baby. One of the human guests reached over and handed the spiked warrior a handkerchief which he quickly put to use

The minister opened his mouth to speak but was quickly cut off by tai. "I do..."

With teary eyes Sora slid the silver ring on his finger. He drew his hand to his eyes and flexed the finger lightly, judging the feel of the band upon his digit. He looked up and smiled lightly.

"I have been afraid of Taichi for as long as I can remember... I have seen love start out so strong, then vanish like a puff of smoke, gone forever... I didn't want to give my heart to anyone for years... I just didn't want to be hurt... and I felt myself falling in love with tai... god I was so afraid of you. I knew that if I wasn't strong enough to resist I would loose myself with you tai... and I couldn't bear the pain of losing you as a lover or as a friend. well for all my trying I did... I fell so deeply in love with you that I forgot where you stopped and I began.... I found that despite my fears of love, I had fallen into it years ago.... people call a husband their better half.... I have known you to be that my entire life.... you never once gave up on me... it was you that made my crest glow all those years ago... it was you that never lost faith in me.... I offer my heart, my mind, and my soul to you Taichi... you are all I preyed for in life.. You are so much a part of me that I would die without you... I want to spend the rest of my life with you tai....

if you'll have me...."

She looked up to the minister who stood expectantly as he prepared to ask, only to be cut off once more... "I do...."

She smiled lightly as tai delicately slid the ring of pure shimmering silver onto her finger. It glistened as though it were carved from diamonds, and as far as Sora was considered it was more valuable than if it actually were. Tai grinned through teary eyes... "I'll have you..."

"By the power intrusted in me... I pronounce you husband and....." he was cut off by the scene of the two kissing happily. He sighed heavily... "wife. You may... errrr... continue kissing your bride..."

********************

the hall was full of laughter which seemed to radiate through the large room. The music wafted through the congregation of people as fog drifts through the landscape. It was a warm and happy atmosphere as the crowd of humans and digimon shared stories and accounts of the happy couple... matt took the stage and after commandeering a microphone spoke. "It's time for the couple's first dance..." he pressed a short series of buttons on the large black amplifier, then motioned to his band, who took their positions and awaited the signal from matt.

Tai and Sora stepped forward tword one another. He brushed his arm against her cheek which soon drew a soft blush.

The music started, and much to tai's delight it was not one of the heavy metal songs that had put matt's group on the top of a list of bands hated by the elderly. It was a soft song.. And Sora found it strangely familiar...

Ms. Takenouchi put her hand to her mouth in shock as she recognized the song.

Tai and Sora began to dance slowly. His arms encircled her waist as hers snaked around his neck. They smiled softly as they leaned in to one another... his lips were to her ear as he began to softly kiss her neck and ear while they danced. Sora giggled lightly at tai's actions...

"down boy.." she commanded. Tai responded by whimpering as a puppy. She tried in vein to stifle her laughter.

She sobered as the lyrics began. Matt was a very gifted musician... he was an expert guitarist, while he was also a very gifted singer....

"See the storm set in her eyes...

Feel the thorn twist in your side...

I'll wait, for you.....

Slight of hand and twist of faith...

On a bed of nails she makes me wait...

And I'll wait... without you....

With or without you....

With or without you....

Through the storm, we reach the shore...

You give it all, but I want more...

And I'm waiting for you....

With or without you...."

The song continued as Sora pulled away lightly in shock.

"Tai... this was my parent's song....

how did you know that?....." she awed.

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve that you don't know about....." he grinned lightly as they continued dancing....

Sora pressed herself to her husband happily. The feeling of her being married to the boy she truly loved was a euphoric one. It was so much more then she had ever dreamed it could be.... The feel of his breath on her skin... the feel of his touch as they gracefully swayed to the rhythm was somehow able to stir her blood to an impassioned frenzy....

"I love you Sora..." he murmured dreamily...

"I love you tai..." the words echoed through her entire body...

The evening moved onward as if in dreamlike speed. Sora and tai danced for hours with seemingly endless endurance. Augumon and biyomon had curled themselves into a ball and now slept happily in the corner... the two angel digimon had also attempted to mimic the human method of dancing. They found it somewhat more difficult to do with wings arching outward in various directions. But they succeeded with some effort....

TK and Kari had danced for almost as long as tai and Sora. They swayed happily within one another's arms. TK leaned forward candidly and whispered into her ear. "I love you with all my heart Hikari..." she mearly smiled back and kissed his bottom lip seductively. They danced happily, perfectly content in spending the night within this embrace... they were completely oblivious to Davis spending his time growling from his territory at the Buffett table.

Finally TK motioned to him with a smile. Kari grinned lightly and kissed TK's cheek.

She walked over to where he was brooding and with a soft smile offered him her hand. The boy leapt for it with enthusiasm.

"You want to dance... as a friend?"

"Yeah..." he was slightly downhearted at the "friend" comment, but he still was happy to accept the offer....

The evening turned to night and time flew upon swift wings. The couple was awed at how fast it seemed to pass. The evening was filled with memories of the lives of Taichi and Sora. Past dates, and first kisses, seemed to blend into this vast canvas of their lives. It was a tapestry of love and memory, a tapestry that they had created thread by thread... Sora smashed a piece of cake into tai's face.... tai groaned as the garter-belt landed effortlessly upon TK's head... and in tern the bouquet landed in Kari's open arms... tai smirked at the memory of matt dropping to his knees and preying that Jun would not be the one to catch it. And just like that the party was concluded, and Sora was now married to tai....

They said their goodbyes and vanished through the open doors as a puff of smoke vanishes into the night. Eager to race to the airport and be whisked away to their honeymoon Ken guessed as he and a few of the digidestined had decided to aid the Kamiyas in the cleanup effort...

Yet several minutes later a man in a chauffeur uniform stepped through the door with a look of bewilderment on his distinguished face...

"Excuse me... but weren't the bride and groom supposed to be getting picked up by me?"

Ken stood, and looked puzzled at him... "why yes they were, they left almost a half hour ago..." he walked outside with matt and the man..

"They didn't make it to you?" matt puzzled, before looking to ken's pale expression....

"W... W... Where's my car?....." he choked out as the realization hit him....

"Oh dammit..."

********************

Sora smiled lightly from her place in the passenger side of the shimmering black jaguar which had just been "borrowed" by her newfound husband. Sora grinned lovingly at tai who flashed her a tender smile before putting his attention back to the road. The wind from the open convertible top played with her hair wildly and caressed her face. Sora looked to her closed hand, then drawing it up to her lips kissed the object within, then released it to the wind which took it from her quickly. The solitary rose petal drifted on the currents of air dancingly before it was lifted upward into the heavens by a sharp upward draft where it vanished amidst the sea of black and shimmering stars... Sora watched it fly away until it was assimilated into the perfect sky.

She smiled lightly.......











< p class="c2">The nature of love is an eternal wind...

it can drift as delicately as a summer breeze

or it can swell and rage as the gale force winds of a hurricane

reducing the strongest of man's achievements to little more than sand within the wind

love is unpredictable as a wind

it glides along easily, then dies suddenly to stillness

it is both predictable and chaotic

we people are petals upon that wind that moves us so effortlessly in ways we cannot resist

love is everything to us, we live through, and for it...

We endure joys and pain through it's efforts

and still....

The eternal wind blows onward

The end