Hidden
By: ~Kay~
A/N: Long. Very long. Five pages. Kyra, ~Lys~, eat your hearts out. I am not telling you which coupling I'm using. I repeat, I will not tell you- ::crashes are heard. Kay re-enters, chased by people bearing knives:: All right! It's...Kari/Andromon. ::watches people drop dead:: Oh hush. It's not that bad, in fact, I've been told it's very good. So read. PLEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSEEEE!
Disclaimer: Me no own. Me shall will own :(
Hidden.
Half his face and his ruined left eye.
Missing.
His left arm and leg, replaced by robotic appendages.
Lost.
The vital spark in his remaining eye, slashed over with a scar.
Gone.
The confidence he had once felt.
Needing.
The one girl who had showed him a reason to live...............
"Help! Somebody, please! Help me!"
Her hysterical cries echo into nothingness. No one could hear her. No one would come.
She'd remain here forever, trapped beneath the crushing weight of the rocks holding her prisoner. The rocks that fell down on top of her when an explosion rocked the underground room. The explosion caused by Flamedramon and Drimogemon. The explosion that had sent all of the others running, not realizing she had been left behind.
Now she was trapped, and the rocks seemed to be pressing closer and closer....
Gatomon was the only one that knew she was claustrophobic.
A vague, throbbing pain came from her left ankle. She'd probably twisted it.
Despairing tears flowed unceasingly down her face, and she was unable to bring her arm around to wipe them away. Her arms were pinned down, along with the rest of her body.
'I'm going to die in here..' she thought in terror, tears coursing down her face like rain.
"Help..." she croaked, voice under to much strain from all the shouting.
"....Kari!...."
'I'm dreaming.' She thought. I didn't just hear someone's voice call. There's no one here.
"Kari!" the voice was closer. And it was definitely familiar.
A scrapping sound of metal against rock was all she heard, along with the grunts of someone's effort. And with a startling suddenness, she was free.
Not completely, however. Rocks still pinned down her arm and legs, but the large rock that had covered her had been removed.
She sighed in relief at the sight of her rescuer.
"Andromon!" she exclaimed happily. He smiled at her briefly, and went back to moving aside the rocks imprisoning her. Within moments, she was free.
She tottered unsteadily to her feet, and flung her arms around the robot's waist (as she couldn't reach his neck).
"Thank you." she whispered, starting to cry again. He awkwardly put his metal arms around her, returning the hug.
Kari gave a muffled cry of pain, and almost fell. Her ankle had given out. Andromon caught her before she fell.
"Here," he said, scooping her up like a baby "I'll carry you."
"Thanks," she murmured again, suddenly exhausted. The relief set in, and the adrenaline wore off. She was dead tired.
"I'll take you to the city above. It'd be a better idea for you to spend the night, as there are no TVs in this area."
The city, of course. The one in snowglobe. They had been in the tunnels beneath it. Now she remembered.
And without really meaning to, she fell asleep, letting all her exhaustion catch up with her.
She woke up with a start.
She was in small room, bare of anything but a computer. The lights were off, but light came from a room somewhere down the hall.
Stiffly she rose from her position on the ground, and noticed her twisted ankle had been set in a splint made of two strips of metal. Unconsciously, her eyes dampened at the sign of caring the android Digimon had shown her.
She gingerly placed her weight on it, and to her relief she was able to stand.
Now she stood silently, listening to a faint whirring sound echoing slightly off the smooth metal walls.
A quiet sound caught her attention.
A sound that sounded almost like a sob.
Curious, she limped to the doorway, and seeing no one, she cautiously entered the hall.
Doorway after doorway lined the walls, stretching into forever practically. The hallway was also dark, but the light was from the door across the hall, slightly ajar.
As silently as possible, she peeked in.
The person in the room had his back to her, sitting on a plain metal bench. For a second she thought it was Andromon, but that wasn't possible.....
The boy, because that's what he was, looked barely human. His entire left side seemed to have been replaced by robotic parts, including his entire arm and leg. A metal plate seemed to cover half his head, but it didn't hide the boy's dark blue hair. A plain black T-shirt and jeans were over both the normal and robotic appendages.
The boy had his face buried in his arms on his lap, and had apparently just been crying. He was silent now, but he shook slightly.
Realization dawned on Kari in a frightening wave.
It WAS Andromon.
"A-Andromon?" she practically whispered. The boy froze, and turned around.
The metal covered his left eye and part of his face, but his other eye had a scar across in and was a clear, almost icy blue.
With a frightened exclamation, the boy hid his face in his hands, shielding himself from view.
"No, no, no" the boy just about whimpered, still hiding his face. Kari approached him carefully.
The shock still had not worn off. Andromon was HUMAN! Or at least partly.
She gently tried to pry the boy's hands away from his face, but only got the normal hand off. The metal one was too strong.
"Hey," she said quietly, trying to get him to look at her. He removed his hand from his face but refused to look up.
Kari bit her lip. "I guess you're not Andromon anymore.....what's your name?" she asked kindly.
"K-Kenji." The boy barely whispered. Kari was taken aback. His voice was different, though familiar in a way she could not put her finger on.
She lifted his chin so their eyes would meet. He looked at her through his single eye with a mixture of fear and something she couldn't identify.
"What happened.." she asked, trailing off. Kenji smiled ruefully.
"I guess I should start at the beginning." Kari nodded.
"When I was in the Real World, I had a younger brother. He looked up to me a lot, though my parents made him go away so I could work. I hated that.
Then one day I was walking home. I had bought my brother a computer game." Kenji smiled briefly "I taught him how to use a computer, and he loved it.
Well, I was crossing the road. It was dark, and I didn't see the car until it hit me."
Kenji tapped his robotic arm "I lost that, my leg, my side, and my eye." He shuddered briefly. "I would have died, if Gennai hadn't transported me to the Digital World immediately. He gave me these..." he pointed to his false arm and leg again "And he gave me a Digimon attack and a hologram. The hologram is what you think of as Andromon. I have it because....because I don't want anyone to see me like this."
"Especially my brother."
Kari looked at him in a sad kind of respect. He was hiding, frightened to show what he had become for so long....
Especially his brother.... Who was his brother anyway?
I didn't matter.
"Andro-I mean, Kenji, could I ask you something?" she asked timidly. He nodded.
"Why do you and the other Digimon call me 'queen'?"
Kenji actually smiled.
"Because that's what you are," he said softly "You're the symbol of good throughout the Digital World. You're loved and honored by all Digimon. Especially me."
He suddenly clamped his metallic hand over his mouth.
"Did I just say that?" he asked Kari fearfully. She smiled happily.
He cared about her. Not just because she was a Digidestined. Because of who she was. Her.
Kenji groaned and brought his hand to his forehead.
"Blurted one thing, might as well blurt everything." He muttered "When I first saw you, you were helping the Numemon, oblivious to the fact that WaruMonzaemon could return at any moment. When I found Tai and he told me you were his sister..." he grinned faintly "I didn't believe him at first. No offense to your brother, but he's not the smartest being on the planet. When we first met he had been trying to knock me upside the head." Kari giggled. "To tell the truth, up to the point when I saw you, I wasn't raising any sort of army or anything. I had just come to fight Machinedramon. A fight I knew I would lose. Better to die honorably in battle than live as a deformed cripple." Kenji said his last comment with such bitterness it made Kari wince.
"But then I saw you. For some reason, you convinced me not to. You gave me a reason to keep on living."
Kari could do nothing but stare at him, straight into his eye.
"What I'm saying is....I love you Kari."
Kenji bent his head, staring at the ground again, ashamed.
'He loves me....' She thought in amazement. 'He really LOVES me....'
"Kenji..." she said softly, tilting his chin up so she could look at his face.
"I love you too...." she whispered.
He looked at her in amazement.
"But-you-TK-" he stuttered. Kari laughed, the light sound echoing off the walls gaily.
"TK and I are best friends. We both put on that act to drive Davis out of his mind."
Kenji smiled widely, and laughed. The sound was rusty, as if this was the first time he had laughed in years.
He took Kari's head in his hands, and kissed her.
She kissed back and wrapped her arms around his neck.
This was both of their dreams come true.
But one, faint thought refused to leave Kari be. It tugged at her insistently. At first she ignored it. Then she realized the significance.
She went rigid as the frightening realization crashed through her.
The eye.
The hair.
The BROTHER.....
"What's wrong Kari?" Kenji asked, holding her shoulders worriedly. He'd felt her go motionless.
"Kenji," she said urgently "Who was your brother?"
"Why-"
"Who was he?!" she demanded. Realization hit him.
He looked at the ground with his eye.
"Ken." He said quietly. "Ken Ichijouji."
The pieces fell into place more or less perfectly. The irony was sickening.
"I didn't want to tell you that," Kenji whispered. Kari looked both sad and exasperated.
"The reason Ken IS the Digimon Emperor is because YOU died! Why don't you tell him?!"
Kenji listened silently to her exclamations. Now he spoke.
"Because I'm not the brother he misses. I'm not the person I was, the person he looked up to."
Kari looked at him sadly, and hugged him.
"Kenji, you NEED to!" she whispered urgently "It'll change everything!"
Kenji smiled ruefully.
"Do you mean it?" he asked quietly.
"Yes!!"
He smiled, though it was one of happiness.
"All right, my queen. Let us go give the Emperor the shock of his life."
Kari laughed appreciatively.
"And I am NEVER turning that hologram back on." He said firmly. Kari smiled adoringly.
"Just one more time, Kenji-kun." She assured him.
"You have a plan?" he asked in surprise. She grinned.
"Yup."
Half an hour later Kari was stationed in a barren corner not to far from the Snowglobe city. To any watching, she would have appeared completely defenseless.
Looks can be deceiving.
"Ready?" Kari spoke into her D-3. A reply came.
"Ready." Andromon's voice assured her.
"Well well well." A sneering voice intruded on the silence. Kari looked up in mock surprise at the Airdramon hovering in the sky above her. As she watched, the Emperor leapt down from its back onto the ground in front of her.
As the Emperor stalked towards her, the Airdramon landed respectfully on the ground behind him. Right were Kenji was hidden.
"Please, leave me alone," Kari begged convincingly "I don't have Gatomon with me, I can't even fight."
"How sad," Ken said in fake sympathy "Find someone who cares. I'll have a much easier time capturing you."
Kari broke down and grinned. She couldn't act anymore.
"I'm afraid YOU'RE the one who's going to be captured, Ken." She said with a triumphant grin.
"Really," the Emperor said in mock surprise "Aridramon, attack!"
Nothing happened. Kari broke down and laughed as Ken turned to see no Airdramon, only Andromon and a very confused, very frightened Wormmon.
"Surprised?" Andromon asked casually.
Ken's face was livid.
"You-you-you worthless pile of scrap metal!!!" he shouted.
Andromon smiled. "You know, LadyDevimon once called me that...."
Kari giggled.
Ken, finally overcoming his original shock did the first thing he could think of.
He lunged at Kari.
Andromon grabbed him before he intercepted her.
"Let me go!" Ken shouted. Andromon didn't let go.
"We're going to have a talk." Kari said firmly to the struggling boy.
They all but dragged Ken to the building inside the city, and into an empty room. Once there Andromon erected a force field around Ken.
The boy kicked at the barrier again, receiving only a crackle of electricity in response. He was probably as mad as was physically possible.
He finally gave up and leaned against the wall.
"What do you want?!" he demanded of Kari and Andromon, who were standing a ways back from him, in the shadows.
Kenji deactivated the hologram. The air around him rippled.
"I want my brother back." Kenji said softly as the image of Andromon vanished. His voice, one so like Ken's, spoke the words.
Ken had stood back up, but now he froze. Completely still, not moving a muscle.
This was probably the most nerve wracking moment for Kenji, thought Kari. Now we find out if Ken will change.....
To her shock, she saw a single tear course down Ken's face, which he did not bother to brush aside.
A moment of silence followed, and Kari silently deactivated the force field.
"Kenji...?" he finally said in a choked voice "Is that really you?"
The half robotic boy nodded.
Ken walked forward slowly, as if he was afraid Kenji would vanish. He finally came to a stop right in front of Kenji, and did the last thing Kari expected.
He threw his arms around his older brother and cried.
"I-I thought you were dead," he sobbed into his brother's metal shoulder "Mom-dad, they didn't care-"
"I know," Kenji said grimly, hugging his brother back "We haven't got the best set of parents, case you haven't noticed."
Kari watched silently, smiling. Now THIS, was something much needed in coming.
Ken ceased crying, released his brother, and turned to Kari. For one wild moment she thought he would attack her.
But he smiled. A tearstained smile of happiness and gratitude.
"Thank you, Kari."
"Your welcome, Ken."
It would have been an odd sight to any watching.
There were no control spires. They had all vanished not even an hour ago.
Digimon looked curiously at the passing people. A very strange sight indeed.
Kari's ankle was better, but she was still limping slightly. She hung onto Kenji's robotic arm for support.
On Kenji's other side stood Ken. But it wasn't the Ken the Digital World remembered.
His face was alight with happiness and content. He was laughing, because of something Kenji had said. In his arms was a sleeping Wormmon.
The trio burst out laughing at another strange story Kenji had told about the Digimon he'd seen around the Digital World.
A person knowing the situation of the Digital World watching would have left the area immediately and sought out medical help.
A naive person watching would have smiled and been glad for their happiness.
"Where to next, Queen Kari?" Kenji asked Kari playfully. She laughed.
"As much fun as this is, I should go home. I've been gone all night." She said with a grin.
"Just tell Tai you've been hanging out with the Digimon Emperor and his half machine older brother who is now your boyfriend." Ken suggested. Kenji looked at him sternly.
"Ken, do not flirt with my girlfriend."
Ken went red.
"I am not-" he stuttered, but he was cut off by Kari's laughter. Kenji grinned.
"I was kidding, little brother." He teased.
"Surrreee."
"Tai is going to kill me." Kari grumbled. She suddenly let out a loud exclamation.
"Speak of the devil....." she muttered, and both Ken and Kenji laughed.
Tai and the rest of the new Digidestined were coming over the next hill.
"I am sooooooo dead." Kari moaned. The others continued laughing, and Wormmon awoke.
"KARI!!!!" both Tai and Gatomon shouted, running up to her. They took in the sight of the Digimon Emperor, Kari, and a strange person made half out of machines, all laughing.
"You-" Tai prepared to tackle Ken. Kari, still shaking from laughter, held up her hand.
"Don't *laugh* attack *giggle* him. He's on our side now." She stopped speaking, and tried to stop laughing. She was unsuccessful. The expression on Tai's face was absolutely hilarious.
"Who's he?" Tai demanded, pointing at Kenji. They managed to stop laughing, and Kenji put a loving arm around Kari's shoulder's.
"My name is Kenji Ichijouji." He said formally "But you may know me better as Andromon. Or you could refer to me as Kari's humble servant."
Kenji smiled teasingly, and Kari kissed him, right in front of Tai.
The look on his face almost knocked Ken over with hysterics.
By now the rest of the group had caught up.
"Kari!? What is Ken doing-Who the heck are you kissing?!"
Yolei.
"I see you've found your man." TK said with a grin.
"You-you are-you are-"
Davis seemed unable to complete his sentence.
Kari broke away from Kenji and grinned at the rest of the group.
This would take a lot of explaining.
But that didn't matter much.
All that mattered was that Ken was back in the light, and that Kenji and her were together.
Forever.
The love, the most important thing of all, was no longer hidden.
Found.
THE END
A/N: I TOLD you it wasn't so bad! Right? ::sees angry Takari fans wave knives:: Hey! I'm a Takari fan too! It was a contest! ::sticks tongue out::
Arigatou to:
Kyra&~Lys~: Thanks for the contest!
Alchemine: You WILL read this! Even if I have to force you to! Hahah! Anyway, thanks!
My 'Savage Garden: Affirmation' CD: ::watches others sweatdrop:: Why can't I thank my CD? It inspires me, so there! I love Savage Garden.....::starts humming 'Hold Me' until Alchemine bonks her on the head.::
By: ~Kay~
A/N: Long. Very long. Five pages. Kyra, ~Lys~, eat your hearts out. I am not telling you which coupling I'm using. I repeat, I will not tell you- ::crashes are heard. Kay re-enters, chased by people bearing knives:: All right! It's...Kari/Andromon. ::watches people drop dead:: Oh hush. It's not that bad, in fact, I've been told it's very good. So read. PLEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSEEEE!
Disclaimer: Me no own. Me shall will own :(
Hidden.
Half his face and his ruined left eye.
Missing.
His left arm and leg, replaced by robotic appendages.
Lost.
The vital spark in his remaining eye, slashed over with a scar.
Gone.
The confidence he had once felt.
Needing.
The one girl who had showed him a reason to live...............
"Help! Somebody, please! Help me!"
Her hysterical cries echo into nothingness. No one could hear her. No one would come.
She'd remain here forever, trapped beneath the crushing weight of the rocks holding her prisoner. The rocks that fell down on top of her when an explosion rocked the underground room. The explosion caused by Flamedramon and Drimogemon. The explosion that had sent all of the others running, not realizing she had been left behind.
Now she was trapped, and the rocks seemed to be pressing closer and closer....
Gatomon was the only one that knew she was claustrophobic.
A vague, throbbing pain came from her left ankle. She'd probably twisted it.
Despairing tears flowed unceasingly down her face, and she was unable to bring her arm around to wipe them away. Her arms were pinned down, along with the rest of her body.
'I'm going to die in here..' she thought in terror, tears coursing down her face like rain.
"Help..." she croaked, voice under to much strain from all the shouting.
"....Kari!...."
'I'm dreaming.' She thought. I didn't just hear someone's voice call. There's no one here.
"Kari!" the voice was closer. And it was definitely familiar.
A scrapping sound of metal against rock was all she heard, along with the grunts of someone's effort. And with a startling suddenness, she was free.
Not completely, however. Rocks still pinned down her arm and legs, but the large rock that had covered her had been removed.
She sighed in relief at the sight of her rescuer.
"Andromon!" she exclaimed happily. He smiled at her briefly, and went back to moving aside the rocks imprisoning her. Within moments, she was free.
She tottered unsteadily to her feet, and flung her arms around the robot's waist (as she couldn't reach his neck).
"Thank you." she whispered, starting to cry again. He awkwardly put his metal arms around her, returning the hug.
Kari gave a muffled cry of pain, and almost fell. Her ankle had given out. Andromon caught her before she fell.
"Here," he said, scooping her up like a baby "I'll carry you."
"Thanks," she murmured again, suddenly exhausted. The relief set in, and the adrenaline wore off. She was dead tired.
"I'll take you to the city above. It'd be a better idea for you to spend the night, as there are no TVs in this area."
The city, of course. The one in snowglobe. They had been in the tunnels beneath it. Now she remembered.
And without really meaning to, she fell asleep, letting all her exhaustion catch up with her.
She woke up with a start.
She was in small room, bare of anything but a computer. The lights were off, but light came from a room somewhere down the hall.
Stiffly she rose from her position on the ground, and noticed her twisted ankle had been set in a splint made of two strips of metal. Unconsciously, her eyes dampened at the sign of caring the android Digimon had shown her.
She gingerly placed her weight on it, and to her relief she was able to stand.
Now she stood silently, listening to a faint whirring sound echoing slightly off the smooth metal walls.
A quiet sound caught her attention.
A sound that sounded almost like a sob.
Curious, she limped to the doorway, and seeing no one, she cautiously entered the hall.
Doorway after doorway lined the walls, stretching into forever practically. The hallway was also dark, but the light was from the door across the hall, slightly ajar.
As silently as possible, she peeked in.
The person in the room had his back to her, sitting on a plain metal bench. For a second she thought it was Andromon, but that wasn't possible.....
The boy, because that's what he was, looked barely human. His entire left side seemed to have been replaced by robotic parts, including his entire arm and leg. A metal plate seemed to cover half his head, but it didn't hide the boy's dark blue hair. A plain black T-shirt and jeans were over both the normal and robotic appendages.
The boy had his face buried in his arms on his lap, and had apparently just been crying. He was silent now, but he shook slightly.
Realization dawned on Kari in a frightening wave.
It WAS Andromon.
"A-Andromon?" she practically whispered. The boy froze, and turned around.
The metal covered his left eye and part of his face, but his other eye had a scar across in and was a clear, almost icy blue.
With a frightened exclamation, the boy hid his face in his hands, shielding himself from view.
"No, no, no" the boy just about whimpered, still hiding his face. Kari approached him carefully.
The shock still had not worn off. Andromon was HUMAN! Or at least partly.
She gently tried to pry the boy's hands away from his face, but only got the normal hand off. The metal one was too strong.
"Hey," she said quietly, trying to get him to look at her. He removed his hand from his face but refused to look up.
Kari bit her lip. "I guess you're not Andromon anymore.....what's your name?" she asked kindly.
"K-Kenji." The boy barely whispered. Kari was taken aback. His voice was different, though familiar in a way she could not put her finger on.
She lifted his chin so their eyes would meet. He looked at her through his single eye with a mixture of fear and something she couldn't identify.
"What happened.." she asked, trailing off. Kenji smiled ruefully.
"I guess I should start at the beginning." Kari nodded.
"When I was in the Real World, I had a younger brother. He looked up to me a lot, though my parents made him go away so I could work. I hated that.
Then one day I was walking home. I had bought my brother a computer game." Kenji smiled briefly "I taught him how to use a computer, and he loved it.
Well, I was crossing the road. It was dark, and I didn't see the car until it hit me."
Kenji tapped his robotic arm "I lost that, my leg, my side, and my eye." He shuddered briefly. "I would have died, if Gennai hadn't transported me to the Digital World immediately. He gave me these..." he pointed to his false arm and leg again "And he gave me a Digimon attack and a hologram. The hologram is what you think of as Andromon. I have it because....because I don't want anyone to see me like this."
"Especially my brother."
Kari looked at him in a sad kind of respect. He was hiding, frightened to show what he had become for so long....
Especially his brother.... Who was his brother anyway?
I didn't matter.
"Andro-I mean, Kenji, could I ask you something?" she asked timidly. He nodded.
"Why do you and the other Digimon call me 'queen'?"
Kenji actually smiled.
"Because that's what you are," he said softly "You're the symbol of good throughout the Digital World. You're loved and honored by all Digimon. Especially me."
He suddenly clamped his metallic hand over his mouth.
"Did I just say that?" he asked Kari fearfully. She smiled happily.
He cared about her. Not just because she was a Digidestined. Because of who she was. Her.
Kenji groaned and brought his hand to his forehead.
"Blurted one thing, might as well blurt everything." He muttered "When I first saw you, you were helping the Numemon, oblivious to the fact that WaruMonzaemon could return at any moment. When I found Tai and he told me you were his sister..." he grinned faintly "I didn't believe him at first. No offense to your brother, but he's not the smartest being on the planet. When we first met he had been trying to knock me upside the head." Kari giggled. "To tell the truth, up to the point when I saw you, I wasn't raising any sort of army or anything. I had just come to fight Machinedramon. A fight I knew I would lose. Better to die honorably in battle than live as a deformed cripple." Kenji said his last comment with such bitterness it made Kari wince.
"But then I saw you. For some reason, you convinced me not to. You gave me a reason to keep on living."
Kari could do nothing but stare at him, straight into his eye.
"What I'm saying is....I love you Kari."
Kenji bent his head, staring at the ground again, ashamed.
'He loves me....' She thought in amazement. 'He really LOVES me....'
"Kenji..." she said softly, tilting his chin up so she could look at his face.
"I love you too...." she whispered.
He looked at her in amazement.
"But-you-TK-" he stuttered. Kari laughed, the light sound echoing off the walls gaily.
"TK and I are best friends. We both put on that act to drive Davis out of his mind."
Kenji smiled widely, and laughed. The sound was rusty, as if this was the first time he had laughed in years.
He took Kari's head in his hands, and kissed her.
She kissed back and wrapped her arms around his neck.
This was both of their dreams come true.
But one, faint thought refused to leave Kari be. It tugged at her insistently. At first she ignored it. Then she realized the significance.
She went rigid as the frightening realization crashed through her.
The eye.
The hair.
The BROTHER.....
"What's wrong Kari?" Kenji asked, holding her shoulders worriedly. He'd felt her go motionless.
"Kenji," she said urgently "Who was your brother?"
"Why-"
"Who was he?!" she demanded. Realization hit him.
He looked at the ground with his eye.
"Ken." He said quietly. "Ken Ichijouji."
The pieces fell into place more or less perfectly. The irony was sickening.
"I didn't want to tell you that," Kenji whispered. Kari looked both sad and exasperated.
"The reason Ken IS the Digimon Emperor is because YOU died! Why don't you tell him?!"
Kenji listened silently to her exclamations. Now he spoke.
"Because I'm not the brother he misses. I'm not the person I was, the person he looked up to."
Kari looked at him sadly, and hugged him.
"Kenji, you NEED to!" she whispered urgently "It'll change everything!"
Kenji smiled ruefully.
"Do you mean it?" he asked quietly.
"Yes!!"
He smiled, though it was one of happiness.
"All right, my queen. Let us go give the Emperor the shock of his life."
Kari laughed appreciatively.
"And I am NEVER turning that hologram back on." He said firmly. Kari smiled adoringly.
"Just one more time, Kenji-kun." She assured him.
"You have a plan?" he asked in surprise. She grinned.
"Yup."
Half an hour later Kari was stationed in a barren corner not to far from the Snowglobe city. To any watching, she would have appeared completely defenseless.
Looks can be deceiving.
"Ready?" Kari spoke into her D-3. A reply came.
"Ready." Andromon's voice assured her.
"Well well well." A sneering voice intruded on the silence. Kari looked up in mock surprise at the Airdramon hovering in the sky above her. As she watched, the Emperor leapt down from its back onto the ground in front of her.
As the Emperor stalked towards her, the Airdramon landed respectfully on the ground behind him. Right were Kenji was hidden.
"Please, leave me alone," Kari begged convincingly "I don't have Gatomon with me, I can't even fight."
"How sad," Ken said in fake sympathy "Find someone who cares. I'll have a much easier time capturing you."
Kari broke down and grinned. She couldn't act anymore.
"I'm afraid YOU'RE the one who's going to be captured, Ken." She said with a triumphant grin.
"Really," the Emperor said in mock surprise "Aridramon, attack!"
Nothing happened. Kari broke down and laughed as Ken turned to see no Airdramon, only Andromon and a very confused, very frightened Wormmon.
"Surprised?" Andromon asked casually.
Ken's face was livid.
"You-you-you worthless pile of scrap metal!!!" he shouted.
Andromon smiled. "You know, LadyDevimon once called me that...."
Kari giggled.
Ken, finally overcoming his original shock did the first thing he could think of.
He lunged at Kari.
Andromon grabbed him before he intercepted her.
"Let me go!" Ken shouted. Andromon didn't let go.
"We're going to have a talk." Kari said firmly to the struggling boy.
They all but dragged Ken to the building inside the city, and into an empty room. Once there Andromon erected a force field around Ken.
The boy kicked at the barrier again, receiving only a crackle of electricity in response. He was probably as mad as was physically possible.
He finally gave up and leaned against the wall.
"What do you want?!" he demanded of Kari and Andromon, who were standing a ways back from him, in the shadows.
Kenji deactivated the hologram. The air around him rippled.
"I want my brother back." Kenji said softly as the image of Andromon vanished. His voice, one so like Ken's, spoke the words.
Ken had stood back up, but now he froze. Completely still, not moving a muscle.
This was probably the most nerve wracking moment for Kenji, thought Kari. Now we find out if Ken will change.....
To her shock, she saw a single tear course down Ken's face, which he did not bother to brush aside.
A moment of silence followed, and Kari silently deactivated the force field.
"Kenji...?" he finally said in a choked voice "Is that really you?"
The half robotic boy nodded.
Ken walked forward slowly, as if he was afraid Kenji would vanish. He finally came to a stop right in front of Kenji, and did the last thing Kari expected.
He threw his arms around his older brother and cried.
"I-I thought you were dead," he sobbed into his brother's metal shoulder "Mom-dad, they didn't care-"
"I know," Kenji said grimly, hugging his brother back "We haven't got the best set of parents, case you haven't noticed."
Kari watched silently, smiling. Now THIS, was something much needed in coming.
Ken ceased crying, released his brother, and turned to Kari. For one wild moment she thought he would attack her.
But he smiled. A tearstained smile of happiness and gratitude.
"Thank you, Kari."
"Your welcome, Ken."
It would have been an odd sight to any watching.
There were no control spires. They had all vanished not even an hour ago.
Digimon looked curiously at the passing people. A very strange sight indeed.
Kari's ankle was better, but she was still limping slightly. She hung onto Kenji's robotic arm for support.
On Kenji's other side stood Ken. But it wasn't the Ken the Digital World remembered.
His face was alight with happiness and content. He was laughing, because of something Kenji had said. In his arms was a sleeping Wormmon.
The trio burst out laughing at another strange story Kenji had told about the Digimon he'd seen around the Digital World.
A person knowing the situation of the Digital World watching would have left the area immediately and sought out medical help.
A naive person watching would have smiled and been glad for their happiness.
"Where to next, Queen Kari?" Kenji asked Kari playfully. She laughed.
"As much fun as this is, I should go home. I've been gone all night." She said with a grin.
"Just tell Tai you've been hanging out with the Digimon Emperor and his half machine older brother who is now your boyfriend." Ken suggested. Kenji looked at him sternly.
"Ken, do not flirt with my girlfriend."
Ken went red.
"I am not-" he stuttered, but he was cut off by Kari's laughter. Kenji grinned.
"I was kidding, little brother." He teased.
"Surrreee."
"Tai is going to kill me." Kari grumbled. She suddenly let out a loud exclamation.
"Speak of the devil....." she muttered, and both Ken and Kenji laughed.
Tai and the rest of the new Digidestined were coming over the next hill.
"I am sooooooo dead." Kari moaned. The others continued laughing, and Wormmon awoke.
"KARI!!!!" both Tai and Gatomon shouted, running up to her. They took in the sight of the Digimon Emperor, Kari, and a strange person made half out of machines, all laughing.
"You-" Tai prepared to tackle Ken. Kari, still shaking from laughter, held up her hand.
"Don't *laugh* attack *giggle* him. He's on our side now." She stopped speaking, and tried to stop laughing. She was unsuccessful. The expression on Tai's face was absolutely hilarious.
"Who's he?" Tai demanded, pointing at Kenji. They managed to stop laughing, and Kenji put a loving arm around Kari's shoulder's.
"My name is Kenji Ichijouji." He said formally "But you may know me better as Andromon. Or you could refer to me as Kari's humble servant."
Kenji smiled teasingly, and Kari kissed him, right in front of Tai.
The look on his face almost knocked Ken over with hysterics.
By now the rest of the group had caught up.
"Kari!? What is Ken doing-Who the heck are you kissing?!"
Yolei.
"I see you've found your man." TK said with a grin.
"You-you are-you are-"
Davis seemed unable to complete his sentence.
Kari broke away from Kenji and grinned at the rest of the group.
This would take a lot of explaining.
But that didn't matter much.
All that mattered was that Ken was back in the light, and that Kenji and her were together.
Forever.
The love, the most important thing of all, was no longer hidden.
Found.
THE END
A/N: I TOLD you it wasn't so bad! Right? ::sees angry Takari fans wave knives:: Hey! I'm a Takari fan too! It was a contest! ::sticks tongue out::
Arigatou to:
Kyra&~Lys~: Thanks for the contest!
Alchemine: You WILL read this! Even if I have to force you to! Hahah! Anyway, thanks!
My 'Savage Garden: Affirmation' CD: ::watches others sweatdrop:: Why can't I thank my CD? It inspires me, so there! I love Savage Garden.....::starts humming 'Hold Me' until Alchemine bonks her on the head.::