Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon!!

emichii presents:

A Different Taiora story

It sucked so much that she had let it happen. And she knew it was all her fault. She hated herself for being so foolish and taking everything for granted. She should've realized what she had once had was so precious but no, she just had to go and lose it. As Sora gazed down at her feet, she felt the tears fill up in her eyes. Dammit. It was all because of her.

Because she had never told him she loved him.

ONE: 'cause I was stupid

Sora bit her lip and tried to calm herself down. She swiped angrily at the tears threatening to rush down her cheeks but her sight was still unclear and blurry from the tears filling up her red eyes.

She swore, first at the lift in front of her that was taking so long to arrive and then at herself. When at last the stupid lift doors opened, she rushed in and gazed at the closing doors, her thoughts far away.

Sora was so deep in thought she almost didn't notice the doors opening once again when she had arrived at the floor she had wanted. She was almost squished by the closing doors as she hurriedly ran through them, down the narrow corridor and to the apartment door around the corner.

She tearfully stared up at the door, the familiar door and the little doorbell. Before she could even reach up to ring the doorbell, the door swung wide open with a screech and there was her best friend Mimi, her eyes also wide and full of deep worry for her friend.

"Sora!!" She cried out.

The tears already overflowing in Sora's eyes exploded forth into torrents rushing down her cheeks. "…Mimi…!!" she sobbed.

Mimi smiled with sincere sadness for her friend and pulled Sora forward into a loving hug, letting her cry out with all the pain she wanted. And even then, Sora couldn't stop thinking of him.

Tai…

--

Tai was someone that Sora had always taken for granted. And now she had lost him. And now she sat, besides Mimi on the couch, pouring out the burdens and pains from her heart.

Tai had always been there, no matter what. He was always beside her, and always there for her. She could always depend on him and she knew he would do anything for her. Anything. Because he loved her.

Tai had loved Sora unconditionally for so long. Even though so many times Sora had maybe turned away from him or hurt him, Tai never gave up. And he was always there with a shoulder to cry on and a comforting hug and willing to listen to whatever she said. Sora covered her face with her hands in despair. Someone like Tai… she never deserved him anyway.

The thing was Sora knew Tai loved her. And although Tai found it ever so hard to say it to her and tell her face to face, he managed to prove his undying love for her every single day. Tai, goofy Tai, clueless Tai… she had really loved him too.

But dammit, she was a coward. She could never tell him that she felt the same way. She could never admit his love for him and she just couldn't tell him. She had loved him all along, she had!!

And yeah, every day, for as long as she could imagine, she would battle inside her, fight for the courage to reach out and tell Tai that she loved him. But every day, she lost her nerve and lost the precious chance. Eventually, after all these days of inner struggle, she gave up, something she knew she never should have done, but she pathetically gave in anyway. And like that, she thought she would get the chance one day to finally tell him. She began to believe that she had forever to delay the truth. And then she began to take Tai's undying devotion for granted.

How… stupid she had been.

--

"Mimi…" she sobbed, hiccups breaking up her speech. "Now I've lost him!! I've lost Tai! It's all my fault!! Why didn't I tell him that I loved him from the start? Mimi…!!" she wailed.

Mimi stayed calm and watched her crying friend. It was a bit ironic actually. She was the more ditzy and foolish one. Normally, she'd be crying to Sora for help while Sora sat calmly and gave her encouraging and comforting words. And now here she was, beside Sora, her own head frazzled and worried.

"What do you mean by you lost him?" Mimi tried to say calmly. "I've noticed that while he seems like goofy Tai as always, he has been acting different towards you nowadays. What happened?"

"I should've known," Sora hiccupped, trying to regain her composure. "Someone like Tai… who's so wonderful and kind… who's so caring and hard to come by… wouldn't be admired by others. But she came the other day… the new girl. She's so… beautiful and nice and incredible… She really likes Tai and why wouldn't Tai like someone like her? I know that they really do like each other by the way they can talk for so long and how happy they are when they're together… and when I watch them I realize just what a beautiful pair they are together, and how they're so good for each other. But while this is selfish of me, and I know I had the chance before, I can't help getting really hurt and jealous by it. Why did I have to be like this?? I had Tai who loved me like nobody else could, yet I never accepted his feelings!! And now, he might finally be happy with someone else who loves him so much and I'm being so horrible and mean!!"

Sora wiped tears from her eyes and bit her lip. "I don't want to stand in between their happiness and this perfect love growing between them, but… I… I had really… really… loved him!!" she couldn't help the tears flooding down her face once again.

Mimi knew that she couldn't be the great understanding and comforting friend that Sora was to her when she was having a breakdown. But she wanted so badly to be able to help Sora the way she had always helped her.

"Sora…" she started, voice a little cynical and disapproving from the cowardice of Sora. "If you want to win Tai back then you're going to have to stop crying. I know about the battles of love and boys way better than you do, believe me, and I'll be able to help you get him back."

"…really?" Sora's voice was only slightly hopeful.

"Yep!!" Mimi's cheerfulness returned to her. She hoped that maybe a bit of energy would brighten Sora up and give her the determination she normally had. "We'll definitely win Tai back, that's for sure!!"

Sora gazed at her for a moment. And then lowered her head again with hopelessness. "But she's so much better than me…"

Mimi crossed her arms, irritated. She narrowed her eyes at Sora and said accusingly, "Sora!! How could you have let it get this bad?!"

Sora couldn't meet her gaze. Her voice was hoarse and painful, hiccups still in her throat. "'cause I was stupid…"

Mimi threw up her hands in exasperation. "Heck, Sora!! Stop being so miserable before you even try!! If you know it was your fault for letting this happen, then do something about it!! Stop sitting around, crying and think about how much you really love this guy!! Think about how he's always been there for you, and think about you really want him! You love Tai, Sora!! All you ever had to do was tell him!!"

Sora sank back into the couch, the tears gone from her eyes, just the stains still on her face. Her eyes were widened and she was listening to everything Mimi was saying.

Mimi gave a triumphant smirk. "Besides, if Tai ever was the right guy for you, then he couldn't stop loving you even if he tried. And trust me, Sora," a tear sparkled in Mimi's eyes. "He is."

Sora's hands were clutched into fists in her lap. Her limp red hair hung by her face and her throat now felt sore and scratchy from all her crying. Even so, she raised her head and found her spirit again. A brave smile appeared on her face and she straightened up and found determination.

After all… it had been so long now. For such a long time, Tai had always been there, loving her like no-one else could, and proving his love and affection all along. Sora smiled and shook away the remains of any tears on her face.

Ha, she knew it.

It was her turn to finally repay Tai for everything he'd ever done for her.

Yep. As I said, it's a different taiora to the Taioras I've written in the past. I like this new twist though. Haha, never thought I'd see Sora running for Mimi's help, but ahh, I love having Mimi back, being her matchmaking self. Heh… takes me back to old I'm Still Hopeful, yeah, it brings back memories. Still, I'm so used to writing in Tai's POV and I love writing as Tai… ah well… this will be interesting, that's for sure. Thankyou for reading!! Please review!!