Clarity: Pt 1 - Losing Clarity
By ArchangelUK

I don't own Digimon or any of the characters, no animals or digimon were harmed during the writing of this fic...
Agumon got a cold and Mimi broke a nail, but that was it...

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Izzy bellowed, the group of eleven digidestined looked on amazed as the normally beneign, calm little genius blew his top at Gennai. Tai had been upset, Matt had been upset, but Izzy just didn't accept the reasoning.

"Izzy, I - " Gennai began, but Izzy was having none of it.

"No! You listen to me, there is no way that warp could become too stable."
Gennai sighed, the barer of knowledge was right, knowing he obviously hadn't worded what he said adequately.

It had been two months since MaloMyotismon's final destruction, two months in which the digidestined had sought to return the digital world to a state of balance. TK and Kari had more or less been together constantly in the digital world for these two months and they had enjoyed the time rebuilding and reliving old times. Unfortunately, as it turns out they did too well, as Gennai having regained his composure tried once again to explain.

"The balance of the digital world is a balance."

"We'd never have guessed(!)" Tai snorted, the others too still sounded less than convinced, Matt and Joe narrowed their eyes, arms crossed and looking at the old man with nothing less than total disdain.

"As a balance, the plateau must be level at all times with equal levels to maintain it."

"Levels of what?" Yolei asked, leaning forward intregued. So intrigued was she, that she practically pressed her face right into Gennai's, the now middle-aged man gently pushed her backwards and breathed again.

"Lifeforces, beliefs, good luck, bad luck, not so much good and evil exactly but their constituent parts. The little things that can if unchecked by it's opposite lead to the balance being compromised by an excess of that quality."
They still looked somewhat lost, Gennai mentally shrugged, how was he supposed to explain digiworld quantum and relative theory to a group who were little more than teenagers at best.

"With the previous battles you had been fighting against the evils of Myotismon, etc. This was in essence to combat an excess of evil." Gennai produced some small scales and placed some small black stones in the right hand dish. "This put the digital world off-balance. By fighting him and irradicating him you helped restore the balance." Gennai added some white stones to the scales until they were balanced, he paused and gestured towards the scales making sure everyone noted it was now even then dumped another handful of white stones into the left side. "As you can see the same effect can happen if there is no counter-balance for good. The digital world has been helped by you all to regain it's balance, but in a way you tried too hard and the balance is begining to shift the other way."

"Well, what do you want us to do? Go and destroy stuff??" Tai half-joked, though it seemed rather a pathetic comment even to him.

"No, I have narrowed the cause down to it's source and have discovered the method of regaining equilibrium."

"What is it Gennai?" TK asked, the old man turned towards him a sad look on his face.

"All the digidestined must leave before the warp disturbence prevents them from returning at all....except you TK. You must stay here..."

"What?!" Matt yelled, "What do you mean he must stay here?"

"The barers of hope and light together through their continued presence here over the recent weeks accelerated the rejuvination of the digital world. However, their combined powers here in the digital world and their prolongued absence from your world was the deciding factor in pushing the scales to far. To do this we must seperate light and hope until such a time as the digiworld reaches a more natural balance and all may be reunited again."

"Why can't I stay instead of TK?" Kari asked,

"Kari your powers are stronger here in the digital world, believe me this is the fastest way. If you stayed instead of TK there would be a restoration of harmony here, but it would take much longer."

"What timescale are we looking at here Gennai?"

"It won't be days, it could be weeks, months... I... can't even rule out the prospect of a couple of years."

"A couple of years?!" exclaimed Kari, "You can't ask him to stay here alone for a couple of years!"

"There is no choice in the matter I'm afraid and time grows short. Don't worry, the two years is only a worst case scenario."

"There has to be another way!" Tears were welling in her eyes

"I'm sorry." The old man muttered, the floodgates opened under Kari's eyes and Tai hugged his sister tightly. TK moving around and eventually taking over the hug from her brother, they exchanged looks of worry. There was silence until TK finally found his voice again,

"How long Gennai?"

"Not long, two or three days I think."

"I'll have to make the most of them."

Wormmon nudged Gabumon and whispered something to him, he blinked then nodded when he realised what the little digimon was saying. He in turn nudged Tentomon and relayed the question on to him, he sighed wondering why it was always him who had to ask the 'knife edge' questions. Taking a deep breath the digi-spokesman flew forward.

"Gennai, I don't mean to interrupt," buzzed Tentomon "But what about us digimon?"

"Yeah, what about us?" Agumon said, backing his friend up.

"You all have the ability to stay in the real world without problem for this period, though I suspect Patamon will remain with TK."

"You bet." He chirruped from his favourite perch (TK's head) accidentally pushing forward with his paws causing TK's hat to go over his eyes in the process.

"Thanks Patamon."

Two days...two days...how cruel could fate be to make them go so quickly? Matt thought sadly. Those two days had been a blur of activity, TK saying goodbye to those he loved, friends, family, people who he relied upon and people who relied upon him and who. TK being TK still completed his school duties, it would be some time before he could go back to his education. Yolei had, whilst the warp was still stable, brought Mimi over from America...she would be getting a plane back of course. TK's things had been sent on beforehand, Davis and Ken had volunteered to make sure TK wouldn't be without any of the comforts of home and wanting for nothing....except....

The sun began to set in the digital world on the second and last day. Gathered around the TV outside the Gennai's house where the digidestined and their families. Now that the digiworld was known about all the parents and siblings wanted to see TK off; he had already said goodbye to his friends and family, all that remained in the digiworld now was his closest friends - the digidestined.

"Group hug!" Yolei yelled, and everyone launched themselves at the boy squeezing the dickens out of him. Eventually, Cody realised TK had gone blue and they were in danger of crippling the poor youth so he was released. The death grip gone TK was able to say goodbye, to Joe and Izzy, who had always kept an eye on him when he was little and to an extent still did today. Sora and Mimi who were like big sisters to him, especially Sora.

"Sora."

"Yes TK?"

"I'm gonna to have to negate on my promise for a while."

"I'll keep an eye on her, I'll have some pretty big shoes to fill though."

Yolei, who he had watched grow from being a bit selfish and a bit incensitive into something much more than she had been. Little Cody, his DNA digimon partner and who probably barring Matt and Kari understood his feelings better than anyone. Ken, who TK had once fought with within the Digimon Emporer's flying battle station but had become as strong and as kind a person as TK knew. Ken mimed cracking a whip and TK laughed, a small in-joke they shared about those events that still puzzled most...perhaps in time when they eventually found out all the details. Tai, who TK would trust with his life and who had trusted his sister's life with him. Tai made sure he shook TK's hand, an unspoken request passing between their eyes and agreed upon by Tai nodding slightly. As for Davis, he also made a point of shaking his hand, TK smiled.

"Take care TQ."

"Davis, it's..."

"TK. I know."

"Goodbye Davis," He inclined his head towards Kari, "Try anything, anything at all and end of the world or no end of the world I'll hunt you down and beat the living hell out of you!" Davis went wide eyed at first, but then burst out laughing when he realised TK was joking.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Matt was next, hugging his brother tightly and tears forming in both of their eyes. "You take care bro, okay?"

"I will Matt." TK said blinking back tears, images going through their minds of when they were younger and nowhere near as close as they were now. "I'll see you big bro."

"I'll see you little bro." Matt replied as he released him, ten down, the last and most difficult to go.

"You have to go you know." Everyone save for Kari and Tai had returned to the real world and were watching on Izzy's computer which had been hooked up to a large screen at Mr Ishida's apartment. They had returned so that TK could speak with Kari without distraction; Tai was there on TK's request - they knew too well she might not leave him willingly.

"No I don't."

Kari looked at TK with a mixture of fear and sadness, she spoke not with confidence but almost with a sense of blind determination.

"Yes you do." TK smiled, wiping a tear away from her cheek with his finger.

"I won't leave you." She said looking into those bright blue eyes of his. TK took his finger and tapped it twice to the side of his head, then three times to his heart. He cupped her chin in his hand, then whispered softly.

"You never will..."

TK kissed Kari gently on the cheek, the affection being returned by Kari flinging her arms around his neck and holding him in a vice like grip.

"Oh Takeru!" Kari sobbed as she cried into his shoulder, TK held her crying slightly also. Gennai hated himself for what he had to do now and stepped forward, clearing his throat.

"It is time my child."

"No." Kari cried desperately, "Please..no.."

"I'm sorry, but I can't delay the inevitable." TK tried to gently disentangle himself from Kari but to no avail,

"Please Kari, you must go."

"No. No, no, no, no."

"Tai, please."

Tai half pulled, half dragged Kari away from TK sobbing, she hit Tai in the chest with her fists trying to get her to let go, tears streaming down her face. That hurt TK more than saying goodbye, to see her like that, he blinked away a lens of tears before he slowly held up his digivice.

"Digiport..." He began, taking one last look at her and her at him.
"...Open." The portal opened and they vanished, eyes looking their last for some considerable time.

As soon as the two Kamiya children returned, the picture was lost. Izzy tapped the keyboard frantically, then smacked the side of the laptop with his hand but to no avail. He looked up towards Matt and the others, and shook his head sadly.

"He's gone."

TK fell to his knees, staring at the TV it was so dark, a dark blank screen taunting him. "Gennai."

"Yes TK."

"Why did I have to stay?"

"I told you it was beacuse of t-"

"-The real reason Gennai." The pain and anger in TK's eyes burned into Gennai's so much so that the old man turned away from him. There was no fooling him, TK was smarter than he let on to anyone but then he did have the crest of hope and along with Kari was very much in tune with the digital world.

He knew all along that I was lying and that the warp wasn't as bad as I made out...yet he didn't say....

"Because keeper of hope, sometimes you have to step away - before you realise what you're stepping away from."

Gennai left TK for a while alone with Patamon and made his way back into the little house he called home, they needed to eat,

A fulfilling meal to sooth an aching heart

None of the three however had noticed the digimon in the trees above them, eying the scene with the upmost intensity....

TBC...

Okay, so it isn't as good as some of the other things I've done but it's a nice start. This is part one in a little three part Takari called "Clarity" and was thought up during a time out from writing my "Crest of the Heavens" series. The second part called "Tarnished Clarity" I will start writing soon, along with finalising chapter three of "CotH", and a couple of other stories I've come up with.

The next chapter in this will deal with TK being on his own, revealing who that digimon is - mentioned in the last sentence - and the aftermath in the real world with a possible other couple thrown in for good measure. As always reply with your good (hopefully) comments or questions (which I will try to answer via the reviews page).

AAUK 0:o)