Ice Angels of Hope and Light

by Angel lover

This is my first fic.^^ I hope you like it. What happens when TK and Kari try out for ice skating and get accepted? What about when they get stuck together in one room for three days?!?!

Ice Angels of Hope and Light

Don't read this unless you have a good hour or two. I recommend downloading it for later reading offline. Trust me, it's really long. I got the idea for Ice Angels of Hope and Light after watching the National Figure Skating Competition. Don't ask me how, it just seemed to be hitting me in the face. ^^' I will warn all you Daikari fans. I am a Takari fan and this is a Takari fic. It also has a little Taiora and Mimato in it. Who knows, maybe some Kenyako. It depends… Either way, I hope you like the fic. The characters might seem a bit ooc and I'm really sorry about that. It takes place somewhere in between after BlackWarGreymon disappeared but before this new season. You know, Digimon World Tour. I can't wait until they show the first episode this weekend. *author starts mumbling and squealing with delight at the expectation of the new season* I'm sorry about my ramblings. ^^; I would like to apologize again for the ooc-ness. Gomen ne… I hope you like it though. I'm new at writing and this is my first fanfic I've posted but still R&R! PPPPLLLLLEEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEEE!!!!! Now, on with the fic!

Note: This is not a song-fic but it does have some songs in it.

I do not own Digimon, or anything for that matter, that is actually of worth. So don't sue me. It is for your best interest and also mine.

Key:

"…" = talking

(author's comments ^^)

italics-song lyrics

'…' = thought speech (confused? Read to find out! ^.~)

~~ TK's POV ~~

Kari and I were going back to her house after a really long and tiring figure skating tryout. God knows how she talked me into trying out. But I just couldn't say no to her. I knew that the moment we walked through the door of her family's apartment we would be bombarded by all the digidestined asking questions of how it went. If visitors weren't allowed during tryouts I knew they all would have been there, watching. I was right. Kari opened the door and immediately we were surrounded by all the digidestined including Michael and Willis. I felt Matt grab me by the shoulders push me onto the couch. Tai did the same to Kari. After we had both been seated people gathered around us and began to ask questions. I soon got fed up. "QQUUIIEETT!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Everyone stopped startled. "One at a time." I said through clenched teeth. "How did it go?" Yolei asked. "Well we won't know till Friday but I say we did pretty well," Kari answered. "What did you try out for?" Davis asked. Everyone sweatdropped. We had told them what we were going to try out for a week before the tryouts. "Kari tried out for the women's competition and I tried out for the men's." I replied. "We both tried out for the couples competition." I braced myself for a tornado. I didn't have long to wait.

~~ Kari's POV ~~

I knew Davis was going to blow up when he heard that we had tried out for the couples' competition. We hadn't told anyone of that and they all looked a bit surprised. It was sort of a last minute decision. Poor TK got the brunt of Davis's explosion. "HOW DARE YOU TA! I WILL RIP YOU TO SHREDS!" For some reason TK was completely calm. "We don't even know if we got that position yet. If we do, then you can try to rip me to shreds. Otherwise you don't have a reason to rip me to shreds." Davis lost his wind. I giggled at how TK was able to calm him down so quickly and he did have a point. Finally after answering a few more questions we were able to rest a bit. TK went home with Yolei and Cody and the rest went to their respective homes. I went into my bedroom and plopped down on the top bunk. Just before I fell asleep I secretly hoped that TK and I did get the position in the couples section.

~~ Kari's POV – Next Week ~~

It was Friday morning. All the digidestined were at my house cause today was the day the skating people said they would call. They said they would call at 9:30. It was 9:29. The seconds seemed to drag and it seemed like eternity before the digits of the built-in clock our digivices had, changed. A few seconds went by. RING!! RING!! It was the phone. TK went to pick up the phone. "Kamiya Residence." After a short conversation of "yes's" and "okay's" he hung up. He turned to us looking dejected. I was ready to cry. "We're in!!" he said looking up brightly. Everyone sighed in relief. I practically threw myself at TK and hugged him so tight he probably couldn't breathe. I was sobbing tears of joy. I finally detached myself from him and stood next to him. "What section are you in?" I heard Sora ask.

~~ TK's POV ~~

"What section are you in?" Sora asked me. "Well, we're both in the individual sections we tried out for and we also made it into the couples section." "That's great!" Mimi exclaimed. I thought so too. I had been hoping that we had gotten the couples section and we did. I could clearly see Davis turning red from anger. "Even if you pulverize me there's nothing you can do to change the fact that we got into the couples section Davis." Again the wind blew out of his sails. I turned to Kari. "Should we go practice our routine for tomorrow?" "Yup!" she chirped. "Do you guys want to come?" I asked them all. "Yeah!!" they chorused.

At the ice skating arena Kari and I went into the dressing rooms to change into something that would give us more mobility. I changed into a pair of close-fitting slacks and a light blue sleeve-less top. When I got out I saw Kari had changed into a close-fitting leotard and a pair of tight leggings. We both had our skates on. We went around the rink warming up and then I sat down on the bench. Using the arena's tape player I popped Kari's routine music tape in and pushed play. Grieg's Solvieg's Song started to flow out through the speakers. Kari began to slowly skate around the rink until the music started to become faster. Here she did a couple of spins picking up the pace. Then it became slow and sad again. She slowed down. And again it sped up. She kept this up throughout the song adding spins here, toe loops there, and an occasional triple jump. When the music ended I quickly pressed pause and started for the ice. On my way, I thought that Kari captured the essence of the music extremely well. She looked so beautiful and elegant out there it caught my breath. "You did great out there for just a practice," I told her. "Thank you," she replied happily.

~~ Kari's POV ~~

I walked over to the tape player and pressed play. I saw TK do some quick stretches before the music started. Bach's Air on a 'G' String seemed to fit him quite well. He was able to express the emotion easily. He would glide around the rink and going with the music he would do turns and spins and a jump here and there. Personally, I never knew he could be so graceful. It isn't hard though if you compare him with Davis. Anybody is more graceful than Davis is.

The music ended and I went out onto the ice leaving the tape playing. We took our starting positions. Soon I heard Mozart's Romanze from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik start to play. We started gliding around the ring. I had my arms stretched out while his were carefully guiding me from their position on my waist. I felt so safe and secure in his arms. We separated for a short period of time until he grabbed me from my waist and threw me up in the air. I did a flip and grabbed onto his hands with mine and held my body straight above me. I held that position while he glided around a bit and then did a couple of turns until he was holding me by my waist and I was in a sort of flying position. He then carefully threw me away from him so I did a spin and landed about 5 feet from him. We glided at about 3 feet away from each other and did a fully synchronized triple toe loop jump and landed perfectly at the same time. He again took me in his arms and held me in the flying position while spinning around in a circle. Still spinning he brought me down slowly and we exchanged brief smiles and then he brought me down even further until I was in a sort of laying down position on the ice with only one skate touching the ice and the other held straight. He held me up so my body didn't touch the ice by one hand and I had the other stretched out from my side as he kept spinning. As we finished the program with a couple more spins, turns, and jumps I marveled at how strong he was. I mean he had to hold me above his head for so long. I'm lightweight but still, I must be around 60 pounds. When the music finished we took a small bow at the others who were looking at us shocked. I was sweating, but it was nothing compared with TK. He had skated two programs one right after the other and had to bear my weight and still have enough control to skate smoothly and quickly. We gave each other a thumbs-up and headed towards the showers.

~~ TK's POV ~~

When I got out of the locker room in my normal street clothes after a shower I noticed Kari was already there, waiting for me, showered and changed as well. "Let's go," I said. "Okay."

As we reached where the others were sitting we were once again surrounded. This time not just by our friends but by complete strangers all complementing our performance. We both blushed with pleasure, unused to so many compliments. Just then a tall man approached us. "Are you TK Takashi and Kari Kamiya?" he asked. "Yes," I replied. "I'm your coach. That was a wonderful performance, especially for newcomers. My name is Mr. Kirada. I'm supposed to train you for the National Youth Figure Skating Competition or NYFSC"(note: I just made that up. To my knowledge there is no NYFSC) "Oh, hi. When do we start training Kirada-sensei?" Kari asked. "Tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. I'll see you then." We managed to extract ourselves from the mob and find our friends.

On the way home everyone kept complimenting us. Our faces were permanently red throughout the remainder of the way home. At Kari's house, Tai and Kari's parents insisted on throwing a big slumber party in our honor. All the girls would be in Kari's room while the boys were split between Tai's room and the guestroom. Everyone headed home to pack for it. On the way to my house I wondered how my biggest crush, the love of my life, Kari, had asked me to try out for figure skating with her. I made a mental note to thank her someday.

~~ 8:00 p.m. Kari's POV ~~

We were sitting in the living room playing truth or dare. Matt was up. "TK truth or dare?" Matt asked TK. "Dare." Matt whispered something in Tai's ear and he nodded furiously with a devilish grin on his face. Somehow I don't think TK was going to like what he was planning for him. I could tell by the look on his face. "You have to sleep in the girls room tonight!" he said laughing. TK got red with embarrassment and shouted, "No! I won't do it!" "A dare is a dare," Tai replied impishly. "He's right TK," a voice from behind said. I turned to see my dad standing behind me. "Dad!" I exclaimed, annoyed at him. I could tell the other girls were feeling the same way. "A dare is a dare," he replied copying Tai. I turned to see TK had buried his face in his hands from embarrassment. I looked pleadingly at my mother but she just shrugged as if to say 'a dare is a dare.' Sometimes I wonder about my family. We decided to stop playing truth or dare since no one wanted to get the same punishment TK had gotten. We decided to watch movies until 10:45 when my mother said it was time for bed. TK's face flushed red again as he realized his fate. He went off toward Tai's room to change.

All the girls followed me to my room and we changed and started to set up the sleeping bags. We heard a knock at our door. I figured it was TK. "One moment," I called as we set up the last sleeping bag. I opened the door and found a very embarrassed, very red, TK. I noticed the snickering forms of all the boys from across the hall in Tai's room but said nothing. I opened the door wider to let him pass, which he did so after a lot of hesitation. He kept his eyes on the floor as he walked inside. "Um…you can have that sleeping bag over there," I said pointing to one in the corner of the room. He went over to it and hid inside probably due to embarrassment. I called all the girls over to one corner of the room and held a little conference. We finally decided to try to make TK at least a little bit more comfortable. "Uh…TK, do you want to play a game?" "Is it truth or dare?" came the muffled response from inside the sleeping bag. "No. We're going to play Monopoly." "Fine. I want blue." he replied coming out of the sleeping bag. His face was still really red and all the girls' were too. I found out why. TK was only wearing a pair of boxers. For the first time I saw that TK was pretty muscular. That answered my question of how he was able to hold me up on the ice. Flushing red myself, I got out the Monopoly board and handed him the blue piece. We had to add pieces because we had more people playing than there were pieces for. I took pink, Sora took red, Mimi took green, and Yolei took orange. After a while of playing our faces took back their normal color and we started to have fun.

~~ Tai's POV ~~

I wondered how TK was doing in the girls' room. He was probably hiding in his sleeping bag. "Hey Matt." "Yeah Tai." "You wanna go see how TK's doing?" "Yeah, lets." All of us crept out my door and across the hall to Kari's room. The door was open a bit so we could all peek inside. I didn't expect to see what I saw. I saw TK playing Monopoly with Kari and the others, laughing and having fun with them. I had expected to see him hiding in his sleeping bag red from embarrassment. Matt was just as disappointed. So were the other guys. "Our plan failed miserably," I said as we walked toward my room. "Yup." seconded Matt.

~~ TK's POV ~~

I was actually having fun with the girls playing Monopoly. Isn't it funny how things that seem impossible really aren't? I was glad of that at this point. I thought my life was over when Matt dared me to sleep in the girls' room. But now I felt myself actually relaxing as I played Monopoly with them. Sora ended up winning but I really didn't care. I was having a lot of fun as it was. Eventually we ended up talking about things that really didn't apply to me but I listened anyway. I ended up learning that Yolei had a crush on Ken and Sora liked Tai but that didn't surprise me. I also learned that Mimi liked my brother. As far as I was concerned that didn't bother me at all. They ended up making me promise not to tell any of the guys. They trusted me and I decided to keep their secrets. When they asked me and Kari who we liked though, we didn't reveal anything. How could I say that I liked Kari when she was right there in front of me? I would die if I had to tell her like that. I wondered if I would ever tell her at all. "TTTTTTKKKKK…" "Huh?" I said jolting out of my thoughts. "You finally decided to come back to earth," Kari said with a grin. I blushed when I realized I had been spacing out. "So do you know any other moves for the skating competition." Kari and I both suddenly shied. "Well, yeah…" Kari said a little embarrassed. "SHOW US!!!!" all the girls cried at once. I sighed. "Fine," I said. We both stood up. She was standing in front of me waiting for me to call a move. I whispered something in her ear. She nodded.

~~ Kari's POV ~~

I heard him whisper the move in my ear. I nodded. He lifted me up by my waist with his strong arms and gently threw up in the air. I again maneuvered my body so I could grasp his hands holding my body straight above me. This time though, we were facing different directions. Then I slowly lowered my lower body so I was still holding his hands but in a sitting position so that if I let go of hands I would be sitting on his shoulders. After staying in that position for awhile I lowered my body more so it looked like I was holding my body up solely by the strength of my arms. Of course it was much harder on TK. He held up pretty well though. After a minute or so in that position I let go of his hands and dropped lightly to the floor. Everyone clapped. Then my mom went around saying it was lights out. So everyone began to get ready for sleep. The girls tried to convince me that it wasn't fair for me to get the bed while the rest slept on the floor even if it was my house. "What do you think TK?" Yolei asked. He shrugged. "I don't know and quite frankly I don't care." It apparently wasn't the answer she was looking for. She began to threaten him and push him back into a corner of my room. "S-S-Stop I-I-I t-t-take it back. You're right, you're right!" Satisfied she turned back to me. I heard him breathe a sigh of relief. "See," Yolei said. "Even TK agrees." I saw him sweatdrop and face fault. "And since the sleeping bags have already been claimed, the only one left is that one." She pointed to the one next to TK's. I sighed. Sometimes I wondered if they did this to me on purpose. I gave TK a death glare as I walked over to the sleeping bag. He gave me an apologetic look. I knew that Yolei had been threatening him but still. Mimi turned off the light and we all just lay there in the dark for awhile. "Doesn't this remind you of the digiworld only without the sleeping bags?" I heard TK ask. "Yeah it does," I replied. "Uh huh," agreed Sora. "What do you mean?" Yolei asked confused. "Well, you see," Mimi began. "When we first went to the digiworld we technically had to live there. Even though we stayed what probably seemed like about a year, it was in the real world, only about a minute." "That's weird." Yolei replied. "Yeah, but we got used to it." I told her.

After talking for a little while longer about how much the digiworld had changed since the last time we were there we all finally fell asleep.

~~ Sora's POV - Next Day – Saturday ~~

I was the first one up this morning. I sat up and looked around. Everyone was sleeping peacefully. I think I know why TK and Kari didn't want to say who they liked last night. I think it was because they liked each other but were too afraid to say for fear of being rejected. I personally think that they would make a cute couple. A lot better than Kari and Davis. Way better. I wondered if Davis would ever get through his thick skull that Kari wasn't interested in him. It just never seemed to register. I saw that they had unconsciously moved closer to each other in their sleep. Now I was sure. They definitely did love each other. I decided I would help them out a bit. I wondered how I would do it. I finally decided it would be best to fix my problem first and then help them. Everyone began to wake up so I came back down to earth. TK got up and left the room to go change. We all changed into comfortable clothes and headed out into the kitchen. TK was the only one there.

~~ Kari's POV ~~

I saw TK sitting at the table waiting for us. We all sat down. Somehow I ended up next to him. "Your parents probably aren't up yet," he told me. "Yeah. They usually sleep in on weekends." I replied. "I could make breakfast," he offered. "Yeah!" agreed the rest of the girls. "Sure. Help yourself." I told him. With a grin he got up from the table and walked into the kitchen. "You like him don't you?" Sora asked me. I blushed crimson. How could she know?!?! "I knew it!" exclaimed Mimi. I looked down embarrassed. "He probably really likes you too," Yolei told me. "How do you know?" I asked. "Are you really that dense?" Sora asked me. "It's obvious that he's head over heels for you. Don't you see how he keeps blushing around you, how girls are always staring daggers at you because they can plainly see that he likes you?" I wondered. Did he really like me, or was it just friendship? I didn't have time to finish my train of thought, because at that moment TK came in carrying a large tray full of plates of scrambled eggs, sausage links, and strips of bacon. Giving a plate to everyone he disappeared into the kitchen again. This time he came out with glasses of orange juice, which he passed out. Then he sat down at his seat and we began to eat. "TK this is delicious!" Sora exclaimed. "I agree," I said shoving another forkful of his delicious food in my mouth. "Thank you," he replied. As soon as we had finished my parents came into the kitchen. "You already ate?" my mother asked in disbelief. "Yup! TK cooked. It was really good." "All right then, you guys can go play." We just sat and talked until the rest of the boys had gotten up and eaten breakfast. Then we watched another movie until it was time to go to the skating rink.

~~ TK's POV ~~

Kari and I already had our stuff there so we picked up our gym bags and walked to the rink with the rest of the group trailing behind us. When we got there Kirada-sensei was already waiting for us. "These are your training outfits," he said handing us both a pile of clothes. "Change and meet on the ice." We nodded and left for the dressing rooms. My outfit was a pair of close-fitting white slacks and a sleeveless white tank with NYFSC printed on the front. I laced up my black skates and went out onto the ice. Kari's outfit was a tight white sleeveless leotard with white leggings. NYFSC was printed on the front of her leotard. Her white skates matched perfectly. "Okay. I want you two to show me your separate routines first and them show me the couples." Kari went first and then I went. Finally we did the couples routine. "Very good," Kirada-sensei replied. "The routines are perfect. You have everything right. So instead of working on the routines I'm going to teach you advanced skating. That includes quadruple and quintuple jumps. You'll probably have the hand of it by the time the competition gets here. It will be in three weeks." So we set to work on those. He was right. We caught on quickly and by the time the three weeks were over we could do them perfectly.

~~ TK's POV – Three weeks later – Friday ~~

It was Friday. Kirada-sensei was going over our routines making sure everything was right for the competition tomorrow. "You're ready." He told us. "I need you to be here tomorrow by 5:00 am to get to the arena at 6. That way we can get the best rooms for the 3-day stay for the championship tomorrow." We agreed and left.

Kari's parents again decided to throw a sleepover so we could all go at the same time. So, we all went home to pack. When I got back I found that everyone's parents had let them come with us with my mom, dad, and Kari's parents as chaperones. Even Michael and Willis. Again we ended up playing truth or dare. For some stupid reason I told Matt "dare" when he asked me. It came out automatically. I tried to take it back but he wouldn't listen. "You have to sleep in the girls' room again!!" he said. I groaned. "Can't you give me something else?" I asked desperately. "Nope." He replied stupidly. I groaned again and hung my head in shame. I never thought I would be so stupid as to fall in his trap twice. Again Kari's parents said that I had to carry out the dare. Again we quit playing that right after I was dared. And again we watched movies till bedtime. Again I reluctantly walked up to Kari's door and knocked. And again Kari opened the door and let me in. This time though, they already had a game board set up. This time we were playing Payday. We had the same color pieces as last time but Mimi won. Since there was nothing knew to talk about we decided to play Mario Party 2 on Kari's N64. The girls played, I just watched and helped out anyone who needed help. When more than one person wanted help I just told them to pick a number from 1 to 10 and whoever got closer I would help. To make it fair, I would tell the person who didn't need help what the number was. Again around 11:15 Mrs. Kamiya went around saying it was lights out. And again the girls told Kari that it wasn't fair and made her sleep on the floor in the sleeping bag next to mine. And again we ended up talking about the digiworld until we fell asleep.

~~ Kari's POV-Next Day ~~

A awoke the earliest today to find that me and TK had again moved unconsciously closer to each other in our sleep. Or was it just me that moved closer? I wondered. We were about 3 feet apart. The sleeping bags had originally been about 5 feet apart. No one would notice though. I was thinking about what the tournament would be like and pretty soon I heard TK get up. I glanced at the clock. It read 3:15. "Nervous?" he asked me. "Yeah. I wonder what it'll be like." "I know. I keep thinking that we're probably going to choke at the last minute and totally blow it or something when I already know that we can do it." "It's scary." I told him. "I know. Miles from home. Away for three days." "Gee, thanks. I feel a lot better." I told him sarcastically. "Sorry." "It's okay." Just then the other girls started the wake up so TK left to go change. This time when we got to the kitchen though, my parents were already up and had made breakfast. TK, being the nice guy that he was, was waiting for us to sit down and get served before beginning to eat. While we ate we talked about the things we would do while on the trip. We finished and went to go sit in the living room while waiting for the guys to wake up and eat. When they finished everyone grabbed their bags. Everyone had only one bag except me and TK. We had our overnight bag and our gym bag with our skating stuff in it. Then we got divided up between my parents' car, TK's dad's car, and his mom's car. After that we all headed towards the skating rink. Kirada-sensei was waiting for us when we got there. He told our parents to follow him in his car. With that we set our for the championship arena.

We got there at around 5:56 and checked in at reception. We were the third group to come in for the championship. He told our parents and friends that there was a hotel across the street reserved for the family and friends of the competitors that had come along with them. With that they left to get good rooms. The receptionist said that the competitors under the same coach had to share a room. TK and I both groaned. We had to share a room, again?!?!

~~ TK's POV ~~

When we got to the room we were assigned we found out that it wasn't that bad. We had a kitchen, a personal bathroom, and even a TV set and phone. There were two doors left. We thought they were two separate bedrooms. Boy, were we wrong. One was a closet and the other was the bedroom. Thankfully, the beds were two twin beds at separate corners of the room. We hated the arrangement. At least we got one of the best rooms in the hotel. After resting a bit I went into the bathroom to change into my practice clothes while Kari changed in the room. Then we went to meet Kirada-sensei downstairs in the practice ice arena for some early practice before other teams got here where they could easily study our technique. We went through our routines and we discovered that they were perfect. So, we went back upstairs to rest until the short program competition at 3:00 today.

It was about 2:30 so we went down to wardrobe to select our costumes. When we had finished changing I was wearing dark blue slacks that fit close and a light blue tank. Kari was wearing a pink leotard-style bodysuit complete with a short see-through type skirt. (a/n: NO SICK THOUGHTS. If you have ever seen figure skating, which I'm sure most of you have, you will notice that most of the skirts that the women wear are short, and look like they were made out of colored mesh except they're not stiff. They wear a bodysuit or leotard so nothing is shown. NO SICK THOUGHTS!!!! *muttering under breath* "hentai baka ppl.") After dressing we went to the scheduling table to pick up a schedule so we would know when we were due on the ice. Kari's performance was at 4:15 and mine was at 5:09 so we had a lot of time in between to get something to eat and rest. We went up to our room and I made some sandwiches so we could eat something light so we wouldn't run out of energy before our performance. We ate and then we went to the competition ice arena. While waiting for Kari's turn we watched the other competitors' performance. They were all pretty good. I didn't think that there was anyone as good as Kari though. Pretty soon her turn was up. "Good luck," I told her. "Thanks," she replied.

~~ Kari's POV ~~

I was really nervous. TK wished me good luck and I stepped out onto the ice. My butterflies seemed to calm down. I had chosen "Crazy for this Girl," by Even and Jaron for my short program. Sometimes I wondered if TK felt like that about me. I doubted it. It consisted of a lot of spins and turns and couple moves I made up myself with lots of gymnastics in it. Pretty soon it was over. I took a bow and then got off the ice and went over to where TK was sitting and sat down next to him. He handed me my water bottle and I smiled gratefully at him. I drank deeply while I waited for my marks to come up. Finally the announcer called out, "Technical marks for Kari Kamiya: 5.8, 5.9, 5.8, 6.0, 5.8, 6.0,6.0, and 5.9. Artistic marks for Kari Kamiya: 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, and 6.0." I squealed with joy and hugged TK. Then we both settled down to watch the rest of the women's program and to wait for TK's turn. Very soon it was time for the men's program. We watched it in relative comfort with being together. Soon it was TK's turn. "Good luck," I told him. "Thanks."

~~ TK's POV ~~

I did a few quick warm-ups to calm the butterflies fluttering in my stomach. I took my starting position and waited for the music to start. For some reason I had chosen "I Knew I Loved Her Before I Met Her," by Savage Garden. I wondered who I felt about like that. The answer hit me almost before I finished asking myself the question, Kari. My body did the movements without my even thinking about them. Maybe because I wasn't worried about them I was able to do them without choking. I quickly finished the routine. I took a small bow toward the clapping crowd and walked off the ice. Kari handed me my water bottle when I sat down and we waited for my marks. "Technical marks for TK Takashi: 5.8, 5.9, 6.0, 5.8, 6.0, 5.9, 5.8, and 5.9. Artistic marks for TK Takashi: 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, and 6.0." I felt really relieved and happy. Kari hugged me to congratulate me on my performance. Then we sat back to watch the end of the program.

After it was over we went over to the stands where our parents and friends were waiting. They all congratulated us. After chatting with them for a while we went to meet our coach. He told us that we were to report to the practice arena at 6:00 for early morning practice. Then we went to our room to rest.

~~ Kari's POV ~~

When we got to our room TK decided to make dinner for the both of us. I had to admit it was pretty good. The first course was beef soup and then it was teriyaki chicken with white rice. For dessert he had made a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and rainbow colored sprinkles on top. For some reason he had drawn the crest of light with light pink frosting and the crest of hope with yellow frosting on the cake also. After dinner we went to the room to get our stuff to get ready for bed. To our horror we found that the person who cleaned our room had moved the beds together while cleaning and had obviously forgotten to move them back. We also discovered that the beds were bolted down, which means that probably a room inspector had seen the unbolted bed and thought that the maid or whoever had moved the bed back but forgotten to bolt them so he had bolted them instead. We both just stared at the one big bed that was made up of the two twin ones. "Uh…I'll go sleep on the couch," TK said. "Uh…no, it's gonna be really cold at night since it's the middle of winter." I said trying very hard not to blush but failing miserably. (a/n: Sorry I didn't mention this before but they're in the middle of winter. School is going on.) "S-S-Sure, w-w-w-whatever." Also blushing like mad. He got his things and stumbled into the bathroom to change.

About fifteen minutes later we were in bed both blushing like crazy. We were as far apart from each other as possible but it didn't help at all. It also didn't help that the stupid person who had pushed the beds together had taken away the twin-size bed stuff and replaced it with the queen-size stuff, so basically it was as if it was just one big bed. I tried to start a conversation to ease both our embarrassments. His face was so red it was practically glowing in the darkness of the room and I was pretty sure my face was the same. "Um…so anything new happen at school lately?" I asked him trying not to sound as embarrassed as I was. "N-Not r-really," he replied, his voice giving him away. Suddenly I decided to ask him the question I had wanted to ask him for a long time and to tell him the truth. "Uh…umm…TK?" "Yeah." "Do you…um…do you love someone?" "Well, actually yeah, yeah I do" My heart seemed to sink and to shatter into little tiny pieces. "Who?" I asked in a strained whisper, afraid of the answer. "It's you." I turned onto my side to face him. My eyes had grown accustomed to the dark and I could see that he was on his side too, staring at me, a light pink blush on his cheeks. I told him. "I love you too." We unconsciously moved closer to each other until we were about a foot apart. Our faces seemed to get closer and closer until he finally leaned his head toward mine and kissed me.

I felt light-headed and dizzy. I technically couldn't think in coherent sentences. It felt like I was flying. I kissed him back and he deepened the kiss. I felt his strong arms wrap around my waist and pull me closer to him. I opened my lips slightly to invite him in and I felt him slip his tongue inside my mouth. When we finally broke apart we were both gasping for air. We didn't say anything, for there was nothing needed to be said. I just curled up next to him and laid my head on his chest while he wrapped his arms around me tighter. Then we both fell asleep.

~~ TK's POV ~~

I woke up first the next morning. I felt surprisingly calm and peaceful. I looked at Kari who was still sleeping peacefully in my arms. I was thinking about all the things that had happened to us since we met all those years ago in the digiworld. The fight with Myotismon, the fight with Piedmon, then not seeing each other for three years, meeting up again and now fighting for the digiworld again. I was so deep in thought that I didn't even notice when Kari woke up. That is, of course, until she waved her hand in front of my face. Then I snapped out of it. She giggled. "I didn't think you were one to space out." "Not all the time," I said embarrassed. "What time is it?" she asked me. I glanced at the clock. "About 5:17." "We better start getting ready for early morning practice." "Yeah, you're right." We both got out of bed got our clothes and I went to the bathroom to change. When I got out Kari was already sitting at the table in the kitchen. I made breakfast for the both of us and then we went down to the practice arena.

~~ Kari's POV ~~

I have to admit that nothing really changed between us except that we were a little more open with our feelings. Not in public, but to ourselves. Maybe we had always acted like a couple but were just too dense to notice. We went through the tiring long program routine to be ready for the competition today. Since everything was fine we decided to do some advanced stuff for fun. By the time we were tired out, a giant crowd had grouped around us, including our friends and family. We sweatdropped and desperately looked for a way out of the crowd. We saw a small pathway so we speed-skated over to it and practically ran from the crowd chasing us. "Now I know how you feel when you have to run from your personal fanclub everyday." I told him panting as we ran to our room. "So next time you won't make fun of me when I reach the computer lab panting and gasping for air cause I've been running from them." "Nope, I promise." "Okay." We finally got to our room and locked the door behind us. "I'm gonna go take a shower," I told him. "Sure, go ahead."

When I got out, fully dressed, TK grabbed his stuff and went to take a shower himself. I served myself a glass of milk and cut out a piece of the crest of light on the cake and was about to sit down to eat when I heard the doorbell ring. I was surprised; I hadn't known we had a doorbell. I peeked through the peephole and saw our parents and our friends. I was relieved that it wasn't that mob. I opened the door to let them in. As soon as they did I glanced around quickly to make sure no one was there and then closed the door. I went back to my piece of cake and milk. "Where's TK?" Matt asked. "Taking a shower," I replied. "Are you okay? Do you eat well? Do you need anything?" my mom asked frantically. "Mom, we're fine. As for food, TK cooks really good." My mother seemed satisfied and settled back into the couch. The rest of the people were sitting here and there on couches and chairs. As usual Davis was trying to sit as close to me as possible. Just then TK came into the living room holding a piece of the crest of hope from the cake in one hand and a glass of milk in the other. He was wearing pale yellow jeans and a light green shirt with the crest of hope in gold of the front. We had all gotten shirts with our crests on them made for all us old digidestined soon after we got back from the digiworld. Every time they got too small we just had another made. He had a towel draped across his shoulders. He sat down in the chair next to me before Davis could reach it. He sulked and went to go sit in the empty space next to Cody. We all started talking. TK half listened until he had finished eating and then got into the conversation. We were talking about what we would say when we got back to school. Our parents were in a separate 'adult' conversation. We decided to finally tell the truth instead of making up some excuse. All the teachers would probably see the program anyway and know where we were anyway. After awhile they got up to go to their rooms across the street. We bid them farewell, closed the door, and with a sigh slumped against the door. We both glanced at the clock. It was 10:00 a.m. "I'll make us something to eat and then we'll go down to wardrobe." I nodded. I already had knots in my stomach.

~~ TK's POV ~~

I went into the kitchen to make us a light snack before the competition. It was just a hot dog for each of us. We were hungry. While we ate we talked about what would be the best way to break the news of our little confessions and realizations to Davis and the others. Tai and Matt and the others probably wouldn't make a big deal about it. Matt had been teasing me about how much me and Kari acted like a couple. Davis would be the big problem though. He would probably want to strangle me. So we decided we would ask the announcer to say a message over the loudspeaker for Davis. We wouldn't tell him flat out but we would give clues that could get through even his thick skull.

After eating we went down to wardrobe to select our costumes. I chose black pants and a dark, midnight blue tank. Kari selected a light blue bodysuit and skirt that complemented my outfit. Going back to our room to wait out the time until the start of the program, I dumped all our clothes into the washing machine to wash. Half an hour later I dumped them all in the drier and we went down to rink-side. We sat down in the same chairs as yesterday and settled in to watch the program until Kari's turn came up. I gave her a quick hug and wished her good luck. Then the announcer called out, "Next up is Kari Kamiya. She and her partner TK Takashi are the youngest in this competition but are already in the first place spot so we can expect to see a great show tonight. She has a request that before I start the program that I send out a message to a Davis Motomiya in the stands tonight. She says she's sorry. I wonder what about but I should start the program now. She's skating to 'It's True' by the Backstreet Boys." The music came on and Kari started her routine.

Even a lover makes some mistakes sometimes

Like any other

Fall out and lose his mind

And I'm sorry for the things I did

For your teardrops over words I said

It's true

I mean it

From the bottom of my heart

Yeah, it's true

Without you I fall apart

Whatever happened

I know that I was wrong, oh yes

Can you believe me

Maybe your faith is gone

But I love you and I always will

So I wonder if you want me still

Can you forgive me and open your

Heart once again, oh yeah

It's true

I mean it

From the bottom of my heart

Yeah, it's true

Without you I would fall apart

I'd do anything to make it up to you

So please understand

And open your heart once again

It's true

I mean it

From the bottom of my heart

Yeah, it's true

Without you I would fall apart

The song ended and Kari took her bow toward the crowd. The announcer came on again as she was gliding toward me with a smile on her face. "Kari also asked for me to say that the song she just skated to IS NOT dedicated to Davis." I saw Kari's smile turn into a smirk directed toward Davis. I saw him staring at her in disbelief. Everybody else was looking toward the scoreboard waiting for Kari's marks not at all surprised at what the announcer had said. I went over to Kari and wrapped my arms around her shoulders and saw Davis turn an angry shade of red in anger. No one else saw except for Davis. We sat back down and waited for her marks.

~~ Kari's POV ~~

I could've sworn I would have died laughing when I saw the look on his face when I told the announcer to say it wasn't dedicated to him. It was funnier to see him turn red when TK put his arms around my shoulders. I could practically see the steam coming out of his ears. We went to sit down to wait for my marks. "Technical marks for Kari Kamiya: 5.9, 5.8, 6.0, 5.8, 5.8, 6.0, 5.9, and 6.0. Artistic marks for Kari Kamiya: 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, and 6.0." I squealed with delight and wrapped my arms around TK in a tight hug. I let go and sat back down into the chair to watch the rest of the program very comfortable with sitting with TK. Pretty soon his turn came up. I gave him a quick hug and a kiss for luck. I knew he would be needing it. With the message we had left with the announcer he was sure to blow up. He walked out onto the ice and stared straight at Davis with a smirk on his face for what was to come. I heard the announcer speaking. "Here we have TK Takashi. Like his partner Kari Kamiya he also has a message for Davis. It reads: 'Davis, you're my friend and rival. I have to say I'm sorry. You lost. You never had a chance to begin with. You were just too dense to see it. So was I. We've been fighting over nothing. I've known her longer than you have and you basically don't know anything about her. So, I'm sorry.' Wow! I wonder who he's talking about. I'm sure Davis knows." Suddenly I heard a scream coming from the stands. I knew it had come from Davis. I was so right. "TTTTTTTTTTAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" Since there was no railing separating the ice from the stands and Davis was in the first row, he stood up on the ice and stalked over to TK who was standing on the ice smirking at him. After what seemed to be like a half-hour of arguing, Davis sulked back to his seat, looking dejected and beaten. The announcer came on again. "I'm guessing that was Davis. Anyway, TK is skating to 'All I Have To Give' also by the Backstreet Boys." I heard the music start as he began to skate around the rink beginning his well-practiced routine.

I don't know what he does to make you cry,

But I'll be there to make you smile.

I don't have a fancy car,

To get to you I'd walk a thousand miles

I don't care if he buys you nice things

Does his gifts come from the heart-I don't know…

But if you were my girl…

I'd make it so we'd never be apart.

But love is all I have to give

Without you I don't think I can live

I wish I could give the world to you…but

Love is all I can give.

When you talk-does it seem like he's not

Even listening to a word you say?

That's okay babe, just tell me your problems

I'll try my best to kiss then all away…

Does he leave when you need him the most?

Does his friends get all your time?

Baby please…I'm on my knees

Praying for the day that you'll be mine!!

But love is all I have to give

Without you I think I can live

I wish I could give the world to you…but

Love is all I have to give.

To you…Hey girl, I don't want you to cry no more-inside

All the money in the world could never add up to all the love

I have inside…I love you

And I will give it to you

All I can give, all I can give

Everything I have is for you

But love is all I have to give

But my love is all I have to give

Without you I don't think I can live

I wish I could give the world to you…but

Love is all I have to give…to you

By the time the song was over I had tears in my eyes. I knew that he had dedicated that song to me. He took a bow toward the crowd and them rushed over to me. I threw myself in his arms when he got to where we were sitting. I knew that all the others including our parents knew what we were talking about and I was pretty sure the whole world knew by now. I didn't care. It didn't matter. What mattered to me was being with TK. His marks were the same as mine. We sat down together to watch the rest of the program. Oddly, I felt calm, safe, and secure around TK. I always felt a warmth when I was with him. I knew what it was…it was…love.

~~ TK's POV ~~

When the program finished we went up to our room. We changed and I started on dinner. I cooked for about eighteen people because I knew that our friends and parents would be coming up soon. I knew they wouldn't want to wait just for something to eat when they could find out what in the world we were talking about. I had told Davis to keep his mouth shut. Kari and I wanted to tell them ourselves. Sure enough as soon as I had the table set for everyone the doorbell rang. Kari got the door. The mob surrounded us. There was a jumble of questions and voices, all mingling together into one big angry sound. "BE QUIET!!!!" I shouted. I was just fed up. "While we're eating," I told them indicating to the set table. They just looked at it, mouths agape. "I figured you guys would come. So, I cooked for all of us." Kari and I sat at our usual places next to each other while the others found places to sit. We both dug in but the others hesitated as if doubting my cooking. As soon as they one bite though, they started shoveling food into their mouths. I figured they would be hungry. When we finished they asked a couple of questions. "Are you two a couple now?" asked a very confused Yolei. We both just blushed crimson, looked at each other, and looked back at them. That seemed to answer their question. They asked a few more about how things were going for us. I had noticed that Tai and Sora were sitting next to each other. So were Matt and Mimi and Ken and Yolei. I also had noticed that they had all been sitting next to each other during the competition. I decided to ask them about it. They all promptly blushed crimson and looked down. "Let me guess," I said, "When you got to the hotel across the street the manager split you up into groups of two. He put all you couples together and then just split the remaining boys up. When you got to your rooms you found they weren't all that bad. You went around exploring and two rooms were left. You thought that they were two separate bedrooms but it turns out that one was a closet and the other was a bedroom with two twin beds at the corners of the room." At the end of my explanation they were all looking at me shocked at how I could have figured it all out. "We went through the same thing." Kari said after seeing our friends' shocked looks. They all seemed to be satisfied at this explanation. "Yeah, but unfortunately the stupid cleaning people pushed the beds together and bolted them down," said Tai. "Yeah, ours too," Matt said. "So was ours," replied Ken. "Yup, we went through that too," I answered them. They immediately understood what had happened to us, I guess, by the looks of understanding they gave us. I figured the same thing happened to them too.

~~ Kari's POV ~~

I was relieved when they finally left after hours of talking and arguing and trying to give us suggestions on our costumes for tomorrow's competition. We both already had our costumes planned. It was already 11:00 at night and we decided to go to sleep for the competition tomorrow. TK got his clothes and changed into his pajamas in the bathroom while Kari changed in the room. TK knocked and asked if I was finished. I told him I was and he came in. The beds were the same as before, still together making the queen-size bed. We both blushed and laid down on the bed after turning off the lights. I could tell TK was embarrassed but he tried very hard to hide it. He couldn't hide it from me though. I knew him too well and for far too long to have him fool me. I snuggled up to him and lay my head on his chest. I could feel his rapid heartbeat that went in time with his rapid breathing. I giggled. I felt him calm down and he wrapped his arms around me comfortingly. I felt so safe in his arms, as if I knew that nothing in the world could hurt me while I was with him. I definitely knew that he would fight to protect me and keep me safe from harm. My feelings for him went deeper than love. I looked up into his eyes. I felt as if I could see his soul and know what he was thinking if I just looked past his beautiful baby blue eyes. I knew I could. I snuggled in deeper and matched my breathing with his. I felt my heart beating in time with his and I knew at once. We were more than friends, we were soul-mates, destined to be together. I had heard once that hope and light went hand in hand, that one couldn't live without the other. I really believed it.

~~ Sora's POV ~~

I was really happy for Kari and TK. I wondered. How in the world did I ever fall in love with, of all people, Tai? TAI!!! I mean, it's not that I didn't like him or anything, because it's not like that. It's just that, after being friends with him for so long, I never really considered the possibility of liking him, much less love him. He always seemed to be busy with something or other but he somehow was able to find time for me between school, homework, soccer practice, chores, and taking care of Kari. He was always there for me and I appreciated him for it. I never told him I loved him though, for fear that he never saw me in that way and that it would ruin our friendship. That is until last night. Funny how you never admit things until you're in the most compromising positions. But I guess that's how people are. We were telling each other our secrets to help relieve the embarrassment of having to sleep in the same bed and the subject of who we liked came up. At the same time we just blurted out the word 'you' and it seemed like the world had stopped. I bet you can guess what happened after that. (a/n:NO SICK THOUGHTS PEOPLE!!!! *mutters under breath* "sick hentai ppl.") I finished changing and opened the door to let Tai in. The beds were still pushed together so we each lay down either side of the bed. It was a bit uncomfortable at first but pretty soon I got cold. Before I knew what I was doing I found myself snuggling up next to Tai. I felt him wrap his arms around me and I dozed of in his arms.

~~ TK's POV ~~

Well, Monday morning was dull and gray when I got up, seeing as I got up at 5:00 in the morning. I just lay in bed with my arms still around the sleeping figure of Kari, just thinking about things past. By 6:00 a.m. I began to watch the sunrise through the open window until I felt Kari stir in my arms. I looked down at her and smiled. "Rise and shine." "I always hated that phrase," she told me. "Why?" "Because I never want to wake up." "Well, today we have to wake up. The couples competition is today at 11:00." "What time is it now?" "6:45." She snuggled up closer against me and I figured that meant that we should stay in bed for at least a little while longer. Pretty soon I dozed off. When I woke up I found Kari grinning at me. "Well I never thought that TK the great figure skater could fall asleep. It's already almost 8:00." It took me a while to register that in my brain. "I dozed for an hour?!?!" "Yup!" she replied brightly. She began tugging on my arm. "C'mon TK!! If you don't hurry we're gonna be late! Why don't you go make breakfast while I take a shower and then when I get out you can take your shower." "Okay. But please don't pull my arm off. I'm gonna need it today for the competition." I got up, pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a shirt, and went out to the kitchen to make breakfast while Kari showered. When she got out I went to shower while Kari ate. I came out in a pair of shorts and a green shirt. I sat down at my place at the table and began to eat. When we both finished we began to get ready for the competition. It was already 9:00. I grabbed my stuff and went to change in the bathroom. When I got out Kari was waiting for me in the living room. We had decided to make our costumes similar. I was wearing dark blue close-fitting slacks and my green shirt with the crest of hope. Kari was wearing baby blue leggings and a light purple shirt with the crest of light in a soft, silvery pink on the front. "I hope Kirada-sensei isn't mad at us for skipping early morning practice," Kari said worriedly "I share your fears. Let's go down and see." We went down to the ice-arena and saw Kirada-sensei waiting for us. He didn't say anything about the missed practice so we decided not to bring it up. We followed him to a room in the back of the building. When we went in we found it was a picture-taking room. Kirada-sensei told us that it was so we could take pictures from the competition. All the contestants had to take pictures at least for the newspapers and magazines if not for themselves. We took a couple of Kirada-sensei and us all together and then singles pictures of both of us. We also asked if we could take a picture with just Kari and me. After pictures we went out to watch the start of the competition. We ended up being last.

~~ Kari's POV ~~

I was worried and I was scared out of my mind. All the competitors seemed so good and experienced. Not to mention that they had all already been here and were all older that us. We were the only newcomers and the youngest of them all. I knew TK could see my feelings just by looking into my eyes. It was something that had developed from our bond. I felt him place a reassuring hand on my shoulder and I looked up into his deep baby blue pools and smiled. It was our turn. We both stepped out onto the ice amidst the cheering crowd. I quickly spotted our parents and friends in the first row. That calmed me somewhat. We took our starting positions. I was standing in front of TK and he had his hands on my waist. It calmed me even more knowing TK was with me and that we were gonna go through with it together. "Well here we are folks, the couple that we have been waiting for, Kari Kamiya and TK Takashi. They will be skating to 'Don't Want To Lose You Now' by the Backstreet Boys." I heard the music start. I didn't even pay attention to what I was doing. My body was doing the movements automatically. I just enjoyed being in the company of TK and just listened to the song…

I never thought that I would lose my mind

That I could control this

Never thought that I'd be left behind

That I was stronger than you, baby

Girl if only I knew what I've done

You know, so why don't you tell me

And I, would bring back the moon and the sun

To show how much I care

Don't wanna lose you now

Baby, I know we can win this

Don't wanna lose you now

No no, or ever again

I've got this feeling you're not gonna stay

It's burning within me

The fear of losing

Of slipping away

It just keeps getting closer, baby

Whatever reason to leave that I've had

My place was always behind you

And I wish I didn't need you so bad

Your face just won't go away

Don't wanna lose you now

Baby, I know we can win this

Don't wanna lose you now

No no, or ever again

I never thought that I would lose my mind

That I could control this

Never thought that I'd be left behind

That I was stronger than you

Don't wanna lose to the loneliness

Girl I know we can win

Don't wanna lose to the emptiness, oh no

Never again

Don't wanna lose you now

Baby, I know we can win this

Don't wanna lose you now

No no, or ever again…

We finished. The competition was over. We walked over to the chairs we had been sitting in earlier to wait for our marks. "Technical marks for Kari Kamiya and TK Takashi: 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, and 6.0. Artistic marks for Kari Kamiya and TK Takashi: 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, and 6.0." We just sat there dumbstruck. It finally registered in our heads that we had gotten perfect marks. We both hugged each other in delight. "Um…Kari?" "Yes?" "Um… I kinda…um…got something for you. I meant to give it to you before the program but I guess I kinda forgot." I saw him take out a small jewelry box from his pocket and handed it to me. I opened it confused. When I saw it I just began to cry. It was a necklace, a thin delicate chain but that wasn't what made me cry. Hanging from the chain was a carefully carved figure that looked exactly like my crest of light. "It's the real thing." I looked up at him confused once more. He began to explain. "One time when I went out to the digiworld I found your crest laying on the ground. I picked it up and made it into a necklace hoping to give it to you but I never had the chance until now." I hugged TK tightly. "Thank you," I whispered to him. "I also found your crest. I was also hoping to give it to you." I took out the small box that contained his crest on a thicker chain than mine. He took it questioningly but when he opened it his eyes filled with tears also. He gave me a quick hug and we put our crests on. Then we stepped onto the ice to join the other contestants.

~~ TK's POV ~~

We got to where the other people were standing while one of the competition coordinators called out the first second and third place winners for all three sections. Kari and I both won the first place prize for the separate competitions and the first place prize for couples. The people who lost walked off the ice leaving the winners on. The announcer called out the places. "Third place, women's competition: Akira Mio. Second place, women's competition: Carri Hiroshi. First place, women's competition: Kari Kamiya." I watched as the coordinator placed the medal around Kari's neck. Pretty soon they were calling out the winners for the men's competition. "Third place, men's competition: Torii Terioka. Second place, men's competition, Rekuu Niokiri. First place, men's competition: TK Takashi." I wasn't really paying attention while they placed the gold medal around my neck until they started calling out the winners for the couple's sections. "Third place, couple's competition: Iri Tokiyama and Tolii Richiruu. Second place, couple's competition: Midori Kazasuke and Aruuku Metirori. First place, couple's competition: Kari Kamiya and TK Takashi." We simply smiled at each other as they put the medals around our necks.

~~ Kari's POV ~~

When we finally reached our room we plopped on the bed. We were so tired. We were somehow able to get up to finish packing though. Then we both changed into what we were going to wear home. Then we both plopped back onto the bed. We both fell asleep. The next thing I knew an alarm clock was ringing in my ear. I opened my eyes to see all our friends and family standing over us. Yolei had the alarm clock in her hand. "Glad to see you finally woke up. We've been standing here for over an hour trying to get you or TK up." I glanced next to me and sure enough there was TK sleeping peacefully. "What time is it?" I asked groggily. "6:00 p.m." "What?!?! We probably fell asleep at 3:00." "Geez you guys must've been tired. Can't you wake up sleeping beauty there so we can go home?" asked Matt impatiently. "I heard that Matt," came the muffled and disgruntled voice from the pillow. "Well, so sleeping beauty awakens." TK threw the pillow at Matt and it hit him smack in the face. "I'm tired I want to go home," TK said, sitting up. "Let's go then little bro," Matt said, ruffling TK's hair even more than it already was. I could see TK getting angry. "I wouldn't tease him right now if I were you," I told Matt calmly. "Why not? He is my little brother," Matt replied stupidly ruffling TK's hair again. TK whirled around and punched his brother in the stomach, not hard but enough so as to tell him to not try that again. "That's why," I told the cringing form of Matt who was holding his stomach from on the floor. "Point taken," gasped Matt. Everyone was alarmed, except me of course. TK had never punched anyone in his life, much less his own brother. I knew it wasn't a good idea to tease or annoy TK right now when he was so tired and cross. I was the same way myself. Everyone decided not to mess with us until we had gotten a proper rest. On the drive home I sat next to TK in the back of the car. I leaned my head on his shoulder and we both fell asleep.

~~ Yolei's POV ~~

I was sitting next to Ken on one side and Kari on the other. She had fallen asleep with her head rested on TK's shoulder. I was still shocked at how TK had punched Matt. I supposed Matt deserved it though. He kept on teasing TK even though he knew he was not in the mood for it. I suppose I would be cross too if I got up at the hours they did for practice and only getting about 8 hours of sleep for three days. I myself didn't get as much sleep as I usually did. I snuggled up next to Ken and dozed off.

~~ Ken's POV ~~

I really didn't know what to do when Yolei just snuggled into my arms and fell asleep. I didn't have the heart to wake her so I just wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. I'm pretty sure I dozed off as well. When I woke, TK's mom was parking the car. I gently shook Yolei awake and she woke Kari and TK. They seemed to be in a better mood than before. I was glad of that. Kari's parents again threw a sleepover to honor the three first-place wins by TK and Kari. We all called our parents and they all said yes. This time though all the sleeping bags were set up in the living room to make getting ready easier, since there was school tomorrow. We went to different rooms to change. When we got back out, everything was set up already. All the couples had their sleeping bags set up close to each other including me and Yolei. The rest of the boys were just scattered here and there. We were all tired so we decided to go straight to sleep instead of play a game or watch a movie.

~~ Kari's POV ~~

I woke up the next morning to find my hand touching TK's. Even in my sleep I reached out for him. I felt something in the back of my mind. It was like a surge of emotions being portrayed as colors. I veiwed them as they soared around my mind like a movie on fast forward until all your could see were the colors. As each one told me a feeling or emotion I soon realized that they were TK's thoughts and feelings. I was so surprised that I'm pretty sure I fainted, 'cause the next thing I knew I was looking up into TK's worried eyes. "What happened?" I asked dazed. "I don't know. I woke up and saw you faint." I decided to make sure it wasn't a dream. 'We have a mental link' I told him mentally. I saw as a look of confusion, realization, horror, and a dazed look crossed his face. Then he fainted. I giggled. I noticed that he was already dressed for school. I went to my room, changed, and came back out. When I did I saw everybody look at me with looks of utter confusion on their faces. All except for TK of course, who was still out cold on the floor. "What in the world happened that made TK faint. I know for a fact that it had to have been really bad if TK fainted because I've never seen him faint. Ever!!!!" Matt said, sounding a bit pissed off. I could see everyone silently agreeing with him. I decided to tell them. "We just found out that we can read each other's mind," I told them simply. I saw the same emotions fly past their faces simultaneously. But they didn't faint. At this point TK started to stir. He blinked a couple times and I could hear him trying to process his thoughts in his head. 'Don't try to fight it' I told him, 'just accept it.' He whipped his head up and looked oddly at me. I just grinned back. He returned the grin and shook his head in accepted disbelief. 'Thanks Kari.' 'Your welcome.' Everyone had been watching us in utter disbelief and now just decided to believe us and dismissed it without further question. With that they all left to change.

~~ TK's POV ~~

I will admit I was a bit weirded out, but who wouldn't be? Sharing a mind with someone. I would consider that a bit weird. 'Hey I heard that!! So now I'm a "someone!!!" I'm hurt.' 'I'm sorry Kari. I've been wondering, can we close this link somehow?' 'What you don't like sharing minds with me?!' 'No, it's nothing like that Kari, I was just wondering if we could could close the link and then open it when we wanted, so we could get a little privacy.' 'Hmm. You know, I'm not quite sure. We could try to keep the link closed until, let's say 4^th period when I go to social studies and you go to english. That way you can help me with my test!' 'Kari, you know you're not supposed to cheat during the test.' 'Oh come on TK! Pllllleeeeeaaaaassssssseeeeeee!!!!' 'One of these day I'm gonna have to figure out how to say no to you.' 'THANK YOU!!!!!' I quickly focused on closing the link and I felt the bright colors in the back of my mind slowly fade and disappear. During our little mental conversation we had been eating and we had been getting strange looks from our friends at our changing facial expressions for no apparent reason. I think they were staring to believe that we really did have a mental link and that we weren't just making it up. "I would like to know though," Tai began, "how in the world can you communicate mentally?" "Yes, I does seem impossible," Izzy stated. "I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with our crests." "What do you mean?" Mimi asked, really confused. We both took our crests out from under our shirts. All the old digid. fell out of their chairs. The newer digid. who hadn't the slightest clue about the crests just looked at us strangely, except for Ken, he had his crest. "If you have your crests back, that means you can digivolve into ultimate and mega," Joe stated. "Hey that's right," we both chirped at the same time. The others just sweatdropped.

~~ Kari's POV ~~

We got to school without incident and went to 1^st period gym. (a/n: I'm just making up the periods as the story goes on. J) We went our separate ways to the locker rooms to change. While I was changing one of my friends from cheerleading noticed my crest. "Hey, cool necklace. Where'd you get it, I want one." "TK got it for me. I think he made it himself," I replied. This was probably true. The crest must have been totally crushed like his was. I had to practically rebuild it. "Oooo. So are you and TK a couple?" "You could say that." She was about to say something else but a glare stopped her. I quickly finished changing and walked into the gym. TK was waiting for me by the door. "I figured we could tell Ms. Rikaano where we were. To tell you the truth I don't want to face her alone. She's scary." I saw him give an involuntary shiver. I giggled. "Big bad TK scared of our gym teacher. I agree with you though. I would rather go up against Apocolymon again than face her." "Definitely." With that we walked in together only to be immediately assaulted by our gym teacher. We cringed. But instead of being reprimanded we were being…praised?!?! …by…Ms. Rikaano?!?! "You two were wonderful. I didn't know you had so much talent. Don't worry about being absent yesterday. I gave you both full credit." We were so shocked that to say we were shocked would be an understatement. All our classmates were looking at us strangely wondering what we had done to get on our gym teacher's good side…if she even had one. She finally stopped complimenting us. "That was all good and fine yesterday but today you have to GO SIT DOWN AND START STRETCHING." We sighed and walked to our places. They were right next to each other so I often wondered why we never talked to each other while stretching. I knew why, Ms. Rikaano could hear a fly bat it's wings a mile away. So instead I tried opening the mental link. I felt the bright, colorful cascade of TK's emotions come back into the back of my mind. 'It was too good to be true' I told him mentally. 'Yeah, whoever believes that Ms. Rikaano has a good side must be just as cranky and evil as she is. You know, she's so evil that sometimes I wonder if she isn't a digimon in disguise, you know, like Arukenimon' (a/n: is that spelled right??) 'I know.' We both silently agreed to close the link as our gym teacher started finishing the stretches. Today was basketball. One sport I am actually good at. So is TK. We both ended up being on the same team. He was center and I was right wing. By the end of the period our team was ahead by 20 points becase of us. The final score ended up being 35 – 55 our favor. We went back to the locker rooms to change and then headed for our 15 minute homeroom. I was very glad that I sat next to TK in all the classes we were in together because, even though the girls were all nice and everything, all they cared about were looks, guys, and gossip. The boys were just jerks, except TK and Davis. I just couldn't stand Davis. He didn't have a clue about me. After announcements and stuff we quickly lined upfor 2^nd period reading. That passed without incident. Miss Toriyana had seen the tv broadcast and knew where we had been. At 3^rd period I left for english while he went to s.s. that happened without incident also. So did 4^th when he went to english and I went to s.s. Problems finally arose when we came for 5^th period science together. Mrs. Nirako wasn't happy that we had missed class yesterday. She made us explain where we were to the whole class. So we told them we had been competing in the NYFSC. A couple people who had seen it knew that we were telling the truth while others were skeptical, that is until we showed them our medals. We also had to bail out Davis, Yolei, Cody, and Ken. (a/n: Ken transferred to their school and is in Yolei's class. They had to go down to the office and inform them where they had been J') the teacher seemed satisfied and we encountered no future problems. All during 7^th period lunch people kept pointing at us and whispering. TK's fanclub tried to fawn all over him even more that usual saying "He skates, plays basketball, and had a perfect body." TK of course ignored them and we really didn't care. We went to study hall and them our 8^th period special, which was art for both of us. Since we had finished all our other projects, Mrs. Satori let us choose what we wanted to do next. We both picked metal-crafting. I opened our link. 'What are you gonna make?' 'The crests of light and hope intertwined.' 'That's what I was gonna make.' 'I think we can make the same thing.' 'Yay!!!' 'Don't scream into my mind. You're bound to rupture some cells.' 'Sorry. Well let's get to work.' 'Right.' Using my little chisel and knife I stared peeling away little scraps of metal to shape it into the figure. I was struck with an idea. 'Hey TK, why don't you make the crest of hope, I'll make the crest of light, and them we'll link them together.' 'Great idea.' We set to work. Halfway throught the period we already had our separate crests finished and were trying to figure out a way to link them together. We decided to try to melt a small part of the crests and then put them together. We went up to the teacher and asked for a small metal heater. We went back to our seats, pluged in the heater, and then waited fo it to become hot enough. When it finally was we carefully put one edge of each our crests over the heater and melted them. we put the edges together and waited until it cooled. Then we went up to the teacher and showed her the finished project.

~~ TK's POV ~~

I have to admit, I liked the way our project turned out. The teacher asked if we wanted to paint it and when we said we did she handed us a container of small bottles of fast-drying metal-crafting paints. We picked out yellow and pink and set everything up to paint. Kari painted her crest and I painted mine. When we finished we stil had about 10 min. left of class so we put everything away and sat and talked for a while. By the end of the period the crests were dry and we could take it with us. We had chiseled a hole at the top for a chain to go through and Mrs. Satori gave us a gold chain we could thread it through. "You can have it if you want Kari. We can just make another one tomorrow and then I'd have one." "Okay. Thanks TK." "Your welcome," I told her as we walked toward 9^th period math with Mr. Natashi.

After being bombarded with questions Mr. Natashi decided that instead of math class today we would go down to the school's ice arena. Mr. Natashi wanted proof that we were good enough to be in the NYFSC. We luckily had our practice tape with us because we were going to go to the local ice arena after our daily trip to the digiworld for some practice. It seemed he had called all the teachers and they had araged a last minute assembly with all the students from all the grades just to watch us skate. We went to our respective locker rooms and changed into our NYFSC training clothes. We walked out onto the ice and saw the stands filled with all the students in the entire school. We sweatdropped and I just popped the practice tape into the tape player. We had decided to just do the couples routine. We got into the starting positions and whan the music beagn so did we. We had decided to do the more advanced techniques, not because we wanted to show off, but because we were bored and the easier ones were just that, too easy. It didn't give us any challenges. When we finished the room was deathly silent. I could tell that some of the teachers had fainted. Suddenly the whole room exploded into applause. We just collapsed.

~~ Kari's POV ~~

The next thing I knew, I woke up in the school's infirmary. I groaned and tried to remember what in the world had happened. I suddenly remembered…TK!!! I sat up and frantically searched around for him. I could't see him. I reached out for him mentally. I felt his presence in the back of my mind. It was small but there. At least I knew he wasn't dead. I got up off the bed I was laying on and walked around searching for him. I found him in another room. He was unusually pale and for some reason looked so weak and helpless. That wasn't right. TK was never weak and helpless. This reminded me of what the guardian of the east of the digital world had said. He said that hope was the thing that kept light shining bright. Hope. How ironic was this? That in the digiworld I knew for sure that the digimon were losing hope that we would save them. I knew that the only thing that kept TK going was the hope that me and the rest of the digidestined had. I also knew that without hope the digiworld was losing it's light. All that kept me going was the light of the other digidestined and TK. TK. I knew that he was giving his energy to me. His hope. Hope that if he died that I would at least live. My light was fading but TK was trying to keep it from fading even more. Now I knew. Our crests were different from the others in the fact that, while the other crests came from inside of the owners' hearts, the crests of hope and light not only came from the owners' hearts but also from the hearts of others. Meaning that, even if people and digimon alike lost a trait like courage, love, knowledge, friendship, sincerity, and reliability the crests' owners wouldn't be affected by that. They would stay strong. But if people and digimon lose hope, they lose the light, since without hope, light cannot live. Not only that but the owners of the crests of hope and light would be affected too. For they were the channels of hope and light. Through them. It was connected to their lives. If hope died so did light. Either way I couldn't live without TK. If he died that meant that hope died and my light would die meaning that I died. Even if our crests weren't connected to our life force I still wouldn't be able live without him. Maybe I would, but in reality I wouldn't even be living. How does that saying go? A life without love isn't a life worth living. I wondered if that was true. I believe it is. I don't think that I could live without TK. The nurse came in at that moment. "Do you know what's wrong with him?" she asked concerned. "Yes I do." "Tell me so that I can treat him." "There is no medicine for a loss of hope," I told her seriously. She looked at me confused. "Well I might as well give him a pain killer since he looks so much in pain." "NO!! DON'T!!" she looked at me startled. "Why not?" "Because he's not sick. If you give him anything you just might make him weaker." I collapsed from the exertion I had put my body through. She looked at me and she seemingly understood. She nodded and left. Regaining my strength I went over to TK and knelt by his bedside. The bed was low enough that I could still see TK. His hand seemed so cold when I picked it up. Just then Davis and the others burst in along with Tai, Matt, Sora, and Izzy. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw TK. We just sat in silence for about 2 hours watching over TK. Then Davis spoke up, "I'm sorry Kari. It seems that there's no hope that he'll get better soon." As soon as he said that I felt a little weaker. Davis had lost hope. That meant TK was losing hope and since he was giving me his hope he wasn't going to hold out much longer. I saw the others agree silently, even Matt. I felt so weak. I collapsed onto the floor. Alarmed Tai reached out to help me. I pushed his hand away. He looked at me shocked. Gathering all the strength I had left I stood up and slapped Davis as hard as I could. It wasn't very hard but it still left a mark. "Don't you dare give up hope Davis. Can't you see that's what's killing him? Killing me? People all over the world are losing hope and that weakens his crest. His crest's power is connected to his life. If hope dies so does he. If hope dies so does light. That means me. He's giving all his hope to me. To try to save me because he knows that if you all lose hope he will die and he doesn't want me to die. Can't you see that?" I cried. They all looked at me shocked. I slowly felt some strength return to me. They had regained hope. Hope for the future, for the millions of lives that hope and light touched. Hope for things to come, hope for things that could be better. I felt even more strength flow into me. I knew that digimon and people alike were regaining their hope. I saw the color return to TK's pale face slowly. At the back of my mind I felt the colors brighten. The nurse who had been standing at the doorway listening had absolutely no idea what we had been talking about but was staring at TK as if a miracle was happening. I felt my crest begin to glow. The odd thing was that it didn't glow pink like it usually did but a bright yellow. His crest began glowing pink. Beams shot out from our crests and met in the middle. It looked like a small explosion had happened and then the beams shot back into our crests. Curious, I took my crest out from under my shirt to examine it. It looked exactly like the pendant we had made in art class. Hope and Light intertwined. TK's eyes slowly opened and he sat up carefully. I hugged him tightly and wouldn't let go until Sora told me he was turning blue from lack of air. I immediately let go and he gave a large gasp for air. His face thankfully went from a pale blue to his normal color.

~~ TK's POV ~~

When we were finally able to get out of the infirmary I was happy and relieved. 'Look at your crest' I heard Kari tell me mentally. I took it out of my shirt and looked at it. It was the same as the one we had made in art class. Light and Hope intertwined. I clutched it tightly to my chest. 'I could never live without you TK, Keeper of Hope.' 'Neither could I Kari, Keeper of Light.' 'Sure you could TK' 'You seem to be forgetting something the guardian of the east said. (a/n: I'm sorry. I forgot what it's name was.) light cannot live without hope, and hope cannot live without light. Besides, even if I could I would still be dead without you. I would be living but not really living. You know the saying, a life without love isn't a life worth living.' 'Yes, I know it well.' 'You know what I mean then don't you.' 'Yes I do.' 'Good.' I smiled as I felt the colors in my mind fade as she closed the link. She did understand. I knew. By that time we had already reached the computer lab. Yolei opened the digiport and Davis, Yolei, Ken, Cody, Kari, and I went through. I was content because I knew that no matter what happened to us me and Kari would go through it together. We would share the pain, heartbreak, despair, and danger. We would share the victory. Above all we would share the love. Together.

~~~ Fin ~~~

So how'd you like it? You probably think it sucked don't you? I told you. If you actually think it was even a little bit good please tell me. I need encouragement!!! A lot of it. Really. ^^;; I originally hadn't planned the little part about TK losing hope and all at the end but it just seemed to take a mind of it's own. ~.~' I would've put up the lyrics to "Crazy for this Girl" and "I Knew I Loved Her Before I Met Her" but I couldn't remember the lyrics to the second one. -.-; If anyone remembers the name of the guardian of the digiworld of the east please tell me. It's the big dragon one that knocked some sense into BlackWarGreymon. ^^ I hope you liked my story. I might post a sequel if I get enough reveiws. I already have some ideas. But I need feedback!!! Ideas are welcome too!!!!! So please, R/R!!!! Thanks, Angel-chan ^.~