Matt groaned in pain as shafts of sunlight filtered through the curtains of the room.  His head was splitting and his mouth tasted like a sewage duct.  He tried to sit up, but that only made the pain in his head that much worse.  He lay there for a minute trying to remember where he was and why he was there.  After a moment of looking around, he recognized it as Sora's room.  He opened his eyes in response to the bed sagging and was greeted by the sight of Sora siting down next to him, dressed in a red kimono that perfectly matched her hair.

            "Take it easy," Sora giggled as Matt tried to sit up.  "Here," she handed him a glass of water and some aspirin.  "This should help your head."  Matt downed the pills and leaned back against the headboard.  After a few moments, his head began to clear and he managed to sit up.  Sora leaned over to the table next to the bed and grabbed some soup.  She handed one of the bowls to Matt and began to eat her own.  Matt took a taste of the soup and immediately recognized it as one of his own recipes.  They both ate in silence and Sora took their bowls when they were finished and put them back on the table.  She then leaned back into his embrace.  The two lay there for a while before Matt finally spoke up.

            "What happened last night that made me feel so terrible?"  Sora looked up at him, her emerald eyes twinkling with amusement.

            "You seriously don't remember?"

            "Cross my heart," Matt promised.

            "Well," Sora began to run her fingers lightly up and down Matt's naked chest, "after the concert, Kari and I went back stage to see you and TK.  The four of you were still cooling down and Jordan and Ryu were both ready to go clubbing.  You and I decided to go with them while TK and Kari vanished."  She paused and looked back up at him.  "How long were you guys working on that song?"

            "Not that long," Matt replied.  "One day at practice, TK just started playing it as a warm up song.  We all joined in and it just came naturally.  When we were done I suggested playing it at the concert, but TK was reluctant, since his relationship with Kari was low key then.  The day after the picnic in the digital world, when TK told Kari that she couldn't come?" he prompted.  Sora nodded.  "Well when we got to practice, he told us that he wanted to do the song as a finale.  We though it was a cool idea and started working on it."

            "Anyway," Sora continued, "you and I went out clubbing with the others.  We stayed out until about one and then we decided to come back here since Mom is out of town at a convention."  Sora smiled seductively.  "Of course, we didn't get to sleep for a few hours after we got back."  Matt smiled and pulled Sora down for a kiss.  The two lay like that for a few minutes.

            "When is your Mom due back?" Matt asked.

            "The convention was up in Kyoto, so she'll probably stop by to see dad.  That usually takes several days."

            "Good," Matt grinned and leaned over to kiss her.  They both stopped at the sound of the front door opening.  Their reactions were instinctive.  Sora grabbed Matt's boxers from where they were laying on the floor and tossed them to him.  He quickly pulled them on and pulled up the covers as Sora climbed into the bed.  Matt lay his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes, feigning sleep as Sora lay her head on his chest and pretended to be dozing just as the door to the bedroom door opened.

            "Sora, honey," Mrs. Takenouchi called out as she opened the bedroom door.  "Are you…"  She stopped as she caught sight of the bed and it's seemingly sleeping occupants.  Mrs. Takenouchi had long ago accepted Sora's relationship with this dark and brooding musician.  As she had come to know Matt more and more, she began to see through the mask that he put on for his adoring public just as Sora had.  She realized exactly how much Sora meant to him and how much Sora loved him.  She had also resigned herself to the fact that they were most likely having sex, but knew that there wasn't much that she could do to stop it.  She walked over to the bed and smiled down for a moment before speaking.

            "You just can't fake sleep honey.  You try too hard and your face isn't relaxed enough."  She paused for a moment.  "Neither can you Matt."  They both opened their eyes and smiled up at her.

            "Hi Mom," Sora greeted.  "We weren't trying to fake anything.  We just woke up and we didn't want to move."

            "That doesn't explain the soup," she pointed out.

            "You're home early," Matt observed, trying desperately to change the subject.

            "I brought home a surprise and I thought you would want to see it as soon as possible," she answered.  "Besides, the convention was boring," she admitted.  "Now get dressed and come down stairs."  With that she turned around and left.  The couple got up and got dressed.  Matt pulled on a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt from some clothes that he left at Sora's just in case.  Sora took of her kimono, revealing a pair of green panties and a matching bra.  She sorted through her closet for a moment and finally pulled on a pair of running shorts and a tank top.

            They padded down the hall hand in hand towards the living room.  The living room of the Takenouchi house had a small, almost quaint, atmosphere to it.  Sora's mother was seated on an easy chair facing them, while a man was seated on the couch facing her.  The two where chatting over tea, and there were two more cups waiting on the table.  Mrs. Takenouchi looked up and spotted them as they came into the room.

            "There you are, dear."

            "Mom, who is this?" Sora asked, indicating the man siting on the couch facing away from her.

            "I hate to think that it's been that long since I saw you last that you wouldn't recognize me," he replied, standing up and turning around.  Sora let out a squeal of delight and launched herself into his arms.

            "Dad!  It's great to see you again!  How long are you going to be staying?"

            "How does forever sound?"  Sora pulled away from him to look at his face.

            "Your coming back home?"

            "Yep.  All the preliminary research I needed to do is done.  I can finish most of my work here at home.  Besides, I was starting to really miss you and your mother."  Sora and her father sat down on the couch and began to get reacquainted.  Matt watched for a moment and then went back to Sora's room to pack up and leave.  He didn't want to interfere with Sora's reunion with her workaholic father.  He was glad that Sora's father was going to be back, but he wondered where that left him.  They were supposed to leave for the cabin in two days, but with her father returning for good, Matt wondered whether Sora might pass on the trip to get to know him better.  His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.  He turned to see Mrs. Takenouchi standing in the doorframe.

            "Is something wrong?" she asked, her concern evident on her face.

            "No, I just thought I should get going," Matt replied.

            "Why?"  It was pretty obvious that she wasn't just going to let this go.

            "I didn't want to interfere with their reunion.  I should really get going," he indicated the doorway that she was blocking.

            "She still loves you."

            "I know.  Look, I really need to go."  Mrs. Takenouchi sighed and moved out of the doorway.  Matt moved towards the entrance hall to get his shoes.

            "Matt," Sora's voice stopped him.  "Where are you going?"  He plastered a cheerful grin on his face and turned around to face her.

            "Just thought I'd head home, maybe cheek in on TK.  Leave you and your dad to reminisce with out me underfoot."

            "You aren't being underfoot," she protested.  "I love you and I want you to be here."  She took his hand and brought it up to her face.  His fingers began to gently trace a line along her cheek from her jaw to her eye and back.

            "I love you too.  But I need to go check on TK.  Mom's still away on her trip and I kind of want to keep an eye on him.  Especially after last night."  Sora raised an eyebrow in question.  "He and Kari disappeared kind of quickly last night."

            "Matt, they can take care of themselves," she chided.

            "That doesn't mean that I don't want to protect them both."  He lightly kissed her and turned to leave.

            "I'm sorry," Sora whispered.  Matt stopped and turned around.

            "What could you possibly have to be sorry for?"

            "That my family is going to be together again while yours is still in ruins."  Matt walked back to her and kissed her on her forehead.

            "That's not your fault.  You don't need to be sorry for something that you have no control over."  As he walked out the door, he turned and looked directly into her eyes.  "I love you."  Sora nodded and smiled as he left.

            Kari woke slowly, her mind still clinging desperately to the comforting darkness of her dreams.  As her mind began to fight off the last remnants of dream induced fog she became aware of two things.  The first was that she was in TK's bed.  The second was that she was alone.  A part of her subconscious began to scream at her that this was not right.  As her conscious mind began to assert itself, she finally made out the sound of voices in the living room.  She pulled on a kimono that she kept at TK's and walked into the hall, still slightly drowsy.  As she entered the living room she immediately recognized both people in the room.  The first was TK.  The second was Nancy Takeshi, TK's mother.  TK got up from where he was sitting at the kitchen counter and came over to her.

            "I take it we're busted," Kari murmured into his ear as they hugged.

            "I love you," he whispered back.

            "We must be in even more trouble than I thought," she giggled.

            "If you two are done conspiring," Nancy broke in, "you need to sit down so that we can talk."  The couple moved over to the couch and sat down.  "Now I want to know everything.  How long have you two been…well…" she trailed off, her face beat-red.

            "How long have we been sleeping together?" TK asked innocently.  Nancy scowled at him but nodded.  "Since Kari first joined us in the digital world," he shrugged, his face still a portrait of innocence.  Nancy, however, had a look of pure horror on her face.

            "TK, that's cruel," Kari chided, trying to stifle her laughter.  "We all slept close by each other when we were in the digital world," she explained.  "TK was just trying to be funny."  Nancy looked relieved, and then annoyed as she turned to scrutinize TK.

            "And what, exactly, is there to joke about?"  TK leaned forward and took his mother's hands in his and looked directly into her eyes.

            "Mom," he began.  "I know that you worry about me, but Kari and I love each other.  The age of consent in Japan is thirteen, so what we're doing isn't illegal.  Even if you over look the fact that I'm physically almost nineteen and Kari is eighteen.  We don't have sex very often and we use protection every time that we do."

            "I've been on birth-control since last March," Kari added.  "Well before we began sleeping together."

            "We waited for a couple months before we started having sex, even though we knew that we wanted to.  We wanted to move carefully and now we've reached the point where we want to express to each other how much we love each other."

            "You've really thought this all out, haven't you?" Nancy quietly asked.  The expression on her face was thoughtful.

            "All the way," Kari replied, holding up her left hand.  A few rays of sunshine glittered off the gold band encircling her ring finger.  Nancy stared at it for a moment and then stood up and went around and hugged them both.

            "My baby's all grown up," she smiled looking down at him.  TK smiled back up at her.

            "So, you're not mad at us?" Kari asked.

            "You made it pretty clear that I can't stop you."  She smiled at them again.  "Now why don't you be a dear and make lunch while your fiancé and I talk."

            TK and Kari lay together in his bed that night.  TK had made a wonderful lunch and the two of them and Nancy had spent the rest of the afternoon talking.  Matt had come by later in the afternoon, just beating the rain storm that was now pouring rain on Odiba, and the four of them had eaten dinner together.  TK had tried calling his father, but had been unable to reach him.  He sighed and shifted slightly as he thought about his father.

            "Penny for your thoughts?"  TK looked down at the beautiful woman in his arms and smiled.

            "Sorry.  Didn't mean to wake you."  Kari chuckled and snuggled closer to his chest.

            "It's hard to wake up someone who isn't sleeping.  Now what's bothering you?"

            "Just thinking about dad.  I wish he could have made it to dinner.  It would have been nice to be a family again."

            "I'm sorry," Kari whispered.  "I know that it's hard on you but you just have to respect their wishes.  Your mom and dad still love you.  They just don't love each other enough to stay together."

            "So when do your parents get home?" TK asked to change the subject.

            "Tomorrow," Kari sighed.  "Then I have to start sleeping alone again."

            "We have to," TK reminded her.  "My mom wasn't that thrilled about the fact that we sleep together.  Your parents are much more protective of you."

            "What if we didn't wait," Kari whispered.

            "No.  No way.  We are NOT ready to get married yet Kari.  We aren't even out of school yet."

                "I wasn't thinking of marrying just yet," Kari defended.  "What if we just started living together."

            "How?  I'm the only one of us with a constant source of income, and that just dried up."

            "There has to be a way!"  Kari pounded her hands against his chest.  "I don't want to be separated from you anymore," she whispered as tears began to run down her cheeks.  TK lifted his hand up and wiped her tears away.

            "I wish that there was too," he whispered in her ear.  The two lay there, listening to the rain hit the window.

            Tai lay awake, listening to the sound of the rain hitting the windows, wondering where the downward spiral of his life had begun.  He and Sora had always been best friends.  He had expected them to be a couple as soon as they were old enough.  Instead, now she was all over the news on the arm of Matt Ishida.  His little sister was physically intimate with her boyfriend, TK Takeshi.  Matt's brother.  For a brief moment, his mind blamed all of his problems on the two brothers.  If they hadn't come along, then everything would be fine.  Then his rational mind took over.  If it hadn't been for Matt and TK, they would have been screwed in the digital world.  And TK made Kari happy.  Completely happy.  That was probably the only reason that he hadn't told their parents yet.  TK made Kari happy.  Matt made Sora happy.  He was just left out in the cold.

            He turned over and punched his pillow in disgust.  Losing Sora was probably his own fault.  Their had been enough times when he could have said or done something, but he was always sure that they were still too young.  But she hadn't thought so.  He had waited too long, and so she had moved on to another.  If only he had actually lived up to his crest.  He was a coward.  He couldn't tell the woman he loved how he felt in time, and now it was too late.
            "What's bothering you Tai?"  Tai rolled over to look at the orange T-rex sitting on the floor by his bed.

            "Nothing, Agumon."

            "Really?  Because you've been kind of quiet and you just sit there.  That usually means that your trying to think and that means that something's bothering you.  So what's bothering you."

            "Nothing is bothering me," Tai asserted.

            "Wow, nothing must be really important for you to spend so much thought on it."  Agumon looked at Tai for a moment.  "This wouldn't have anything to do with Matt and Sora, would it?"  Tai had the good manners to look ashamed.

            "You aren't still beating yourself up about Sora being with Matt, are you?  I thought that you were happy for them?"

            "I am," Tai protested.  "But I wish that she were with me," he admitted.

            "Well, why don't you tell her how you feel?" Agumon protested.  "The worst that can happen is that she won't feel the same way about you, and you stay friends."

            "Maybe," Tai relented.  "I just don't know how to tell her."

            "I can't help you there," Agumon admitted.

            The two remained silent for the rest of the night as they listened to the sound of the rainfall.

            Sora lay in her bed, thinking of everything that had happened to her recently as the rain fell across Odiba.  She was ecstatic that her father was coming home, but she knew that her parents still had some issues to work out.  She wasn't sure that she should really be around as they worked that out.  For the second time that day, she entertained the notion of moving in with Matt.  His father wasn't home that often, and she could help around the house a lot.  And it wasn't like sleeping arrangements would be a problem.  She smiled as she remembered how gentle Matt had been last night.  She stretched as she snuggled deeper into her bed as she prepared to fall asleep.  Glancing at her nightstand, she noticed that the drawer was slightly open, and the red box that she and Matt kept there was in sight.  She leaned over to close the drawer, but stopped when a thought came to her.  She took out the box and checked.  Empty.  Her face paled as she remembered that she had meant to replace it two days ago, but had run out of money.  She couldn't remember whether Matt had had one on him or not.  Sora finally fell asleep, wondering whether or not they had used protection, and what it might mean for their relationship.