004 - Catching You
It had started with a simple phone call.
Now, as he finished arriving through a portal into the Digital World, T.K. was beginning to wonder if what he had done was a god idea. His feet were telling him to run to the nearest phone and say it was nothing important. However, after he had mentioned possibly meeting in the Digital World, he knew he was screwed.
'Meet me at the portal overlooking the beach,' that was what Kari had told him, and here he was waiting for her.
Holding his white hat in his hands, T.K. wished he had at least dressed better for this. Wearing a light green long sleeved shirt and jeans, proper spring wear back home and not exactly something he' wear to anything resembling a date.
"I hope I can go through with this," he said, looking out at the beach from the cliff he was standing on. The place was familiar to when he and the other Digidestined had arrived in the Digital World all those years ago. T.K. had been a young kid back then, the kid brother of the group, but he had grown considerably by the end of the first journey. Now, he was an older teenager, having just graduated the previous spring, and getting ready to go off to college in Tokyo in the fall.
That meant spending less time with the others. Such was life.
It was with that thought that he had called Kari to ask her to meet him in the Digital World, so he could spend some time with her.
"Oh, T.K., I know you can do it," Said the flying Digimon known as Patamon, who was hovering around his friend T.K.
T.K. gave a small smile to his friend of many years. "I sure hope I can." 'It might be the last time I have the courage to do so.'
Meanwhile, back in the real world, a certain white cat Digimon was sitting on her friend's bed. "You're gonna be late, Kari."
Kari was going through her closet, finishing putting away the outfits she had tried on earlier. "Hold your horses; I'm not going to leave in a rush. Besides, I'm not always on time, and T.K. knows that." She had gone through at least a half dozen outfits in the course of the morning, with Gatomon being the judge. After T.K. had called her during breakfast, she had pretty much dropped her plan of relaxing for the day and went to get ready for their meeting. She had finally settled on a light pink knee length Sunday dress, and since the meeting would take place near a beach she decided to wear flip-flops. She even did up her hair, something she never really did unless the occasion was special, and this meeting with T.K. she considered special enough to warrant such a tactic.
"I forget sometimes, sorry, it's been awhile since we talked with him after all," the cat said, her tail ring jingling as it moved.
Kari closed her closet doors, "Not since we graduated, right?"
Immediately after high school ended, Kari had moved to an apartment not too far from her old place, and in the confusion that followed she tried to keep contact with the other Digidestined. Everyone went in separate directions after the final battle with MaloMyotismon, and it was rather strange the silence was afterward considering how close everyone was. So, when T.K. called this morning it was refreshing to hear such a familiar voice.
She had always considered T.K. to be one of her closest friends, and while it had never been asked, she knew they had to be something going on between them. Such chemistry couldn't simply be called friendship, at least that is what Kari believed. She even thought they were more than just friends at times.
That was what her opinion was, but she was afraid to say anything on the matter to anyone, as she believed she would grow out of it eventually and view him as a friend. Now here she was, less than a year out of high school, and the thoughts were still there. That had to mean something, right?
Gatomon yawned, "Yeah well, a lot of things happened since then. I bet he'll be surprised in how much you've changed."
Kari smiled as she went over to her computer, which served as her personal gateway to the Digital World. The old one at the school was taken down by Izzy just before graduation, in order to prevent others from using it. He ended up giving it to Tai, who then gave it to his little sister as a way to hang out with Gatomon. He hadn't counted on Gatomon staying in Kari's apartment though, and that was a bit of a secret between them. No one else in the building knew of the cat Digimon, and she was virtually stuck in the house every day until Kari came home in the evening, since her paws kept her from using the mouse of keyboard.
The computer was booting up, and as it went through all the menus, Kari went and did some last minute touch ups with her outfit.
"So, do you going to say anything this time?"
Kari turned away from the mirror, "What?"
The cat shook her head, "Come on Kari, even I notice how you two are when you're alone. The others are either blind to it or they are not paying attention, but I can see it."
'Observant cat...' Kari thought as she put in a hair clip near her ear. "Well, truth be told, I was never too sure there was anything there to begin with. He didn't say anything to me."
"That's what the problem is between you two; you 'never' say anything. Nothing at all," Gatomon said, climbing up and sitting on the computer chair. "Still, you humans have trouble with sharing your thoughts on such things. It's entertaining at first but eventually it gets frustrating. You two have some other less obvious connection that you need to talk about."
Kari grabbed her Digivice from her bedside table with a trembling hand, "Dealing with emotions is like handling a fragile piece of glass. It breaks easily if handled poorly."
Gatomon jumped onto her friend's shoulder, "Trust me, you two have your hearts wrapped tightly in miles of bubble wrap. I think you're good."
Kari giggled a little, and she sighed, "Guess I could ask him."
"That's a good girl," Gatomon said, pleased with her friend.
As the gateway in the computer began to open, Kari had one last question to ask, and she did it playfully. "Anything else I should know, Dr. Phil?"
Appreciating her playfulness, the cat smiled, "If he hesitates, do something drastic to make him act."
Kari turned to face the computer, and as the gate opened to the Digital World she began to wonder what she would do should that happen.
T.K. had taken a seat on a bench near the cliff, and Patamon had gone to see if Kari had arrived.
'She's almost late...' he thought being a little impatient, tapping his foot in the grass.
Suddenly the flutter of wings came into his ears, and T.K. looked to see Patamon flying towards him. He didn't even ask if she had arrived, because he saw her walking not too far behind. T.K. stood up quickly and stood sharp, but relaxed and smiled as she got closer. "Hey..."
Gatomon waved, and Kari smiled back, "Hey T.K."
Patamon took his spot on top of T.K.'s head, he was weightless so it didn't affect him at all.
Taking a deep breath, T.K. was about to speak when the sun started to shine through the trees behind Kari, and this caused her to glow. In that pink dress of hers, she looked like a pretty flower blooming in the sunlight. It took T.K.'s breath away, literally. He had grown up with Kari since before they were ten, now she was a young woman, there was a big difference between then and now.
"T.K., you alright?"
Realizing he had been caught with his mouth open, T.K. quickly shut it. "Y-Yeah...sorry. Thanks for coming."
Kari smiled, "I should say thanks for calling me. I didn't have much planned for the day."
The two went and, instead of sitting down at the bench, decided to take a stroll up the hill on the cliff. T.K. tried to keep his own head in the game and concentrate on telling her what he felt, but he became somewhat mesmerized by what Kari was talking about. Patamon tried to steer the conversation back to T.K. but a glare from Gatomon stopped him in his tracks. Gatomon was hell-bent on making Kari confess, and wanted her friend to do so before the date ended.
Kari eventually stopped talking to take in the view of the ocean from the cliff, and T.K. watched her.
"Beautiful view, huh," Kari said, not knowing that T.K., while he heard what she had said, was more into her than the view at the moment.
'Oh man...' he thought. He swore the loveliness of her appearance hit him like a truck.
Then he sensed something of an opening and decided to take it.
"Hey Kari...I need to tell you something," he said rather shyly.
Patamon could have gasped but Gatomon kept that from happening with that mean stare of hers.
Gatomon calmed down when Kari began to speak, "Um, sure, but first...do you mind if I ask you something first?"
T.K. hadn't seen that coming, and his opening was shut tight. "Uh...sure. Go ahead."
"During the years we fought side by side, what did you think of us?"
Kind of confused, T.K. answered honestly, "Of us? Like my best friends in the entire world, of course!"
Kari turned to him, "Sorry, let me rephrase that. What I meant was, what did you think of you and me?"
Seemed the door was wide open again, but this time T.K. almost failed to take action. "Well...I huh thought of you as a great partner, one who would always watch my back and who I would know would be there to help whenever there was trouble-"
Kari seemed almost disappointed, but she turned away before T.K. could notice her expression. She took a few steps forward, nearing the edge of the cliff to gaze down at the beach below, "You never thought it was any deeper than that?"
Suddenly, thoughts of years ago came into T.K.'s mind. The day he had almost lost Kari to the Dark Ocean. Well, back then it was more serious than it was now, but he still felt that familiar feeling. She had been drifting into despair and had just about gone into the abyss when...well, he had said something he didn't regret. And he still didn't regret saying it, but maybe he meant more than what he had said
"Well...I did say you were too important to me to lose...maybe that day I was ready to say more but couldn't. But I think I'm ready to say more this time," he said. T.K. forced himself to respond, go past the shyness and just say it. Like hot steam in a closed container, he finally let it out, "I'd never say this to anyone but you, Kari. I really like you. Not just as a friend or partner, but more than that."
He didn't see it, but Kari smiled. "You know, I was afraid that we'd never have this conversation, that's one of the reasons I'm glad you called. I was afraid I'd never find out how you felt about me. It's a relief now that I know we feel the same about each other."
Gatomon sighed in relief, and gave a smile to Patamon, who returned with one of his own.
T.K. felt a weight on his shoulders lift, and was happy to know that Kari felt the same.
"Well, should we go and try to have some fun before we head back?"
Kari nodded once, and took one step. One step was all she got before the ground under her feet gave out. The rocks fell quickly, and Kari had no time to try to grab for the edge as she fell from T.K.'s view. Her scream echoed down onto the beach below as she fell. Gatomon had grabbed the edge of her dress and fell with her.
T.K. gasped, "KARI!" He didn't hesitate, as his feet started moving a split second after she screamed, and he jumped over the edge to get her.
Time seemed to slow down as Kari saw T.K. falling towards her, and reached her hands out to him, and he somehow got her, but without any help they'd hit the ground-
A light pink light engulfed Kari, as Kari's Digivice began to glow, "Gatomon Digivolve to...Angewomon!" The light exploded, and the female angel Digimon Angewomon had a tight hold of Kari's waist and her eight wings tried to halt their decent.
Luckily help came in the form of Patamon, who had begun to glow the moment Gatomon started. "Patamon Digivolve to...Angemon!" The white light that had taken Patamon exploded and the angel Digimon of hope grabbed T.K. and his other hand took hold of Angewomon's free hand. "I got you!" When this happened Angewomon was able to right herself and the fall stopped with a flap of her eight wings. The quick Digivolving had saved the two humans from falling to their deaths, and now they were flying just above the halfway point down the cliff.
It had all happened so quickly, but when they reached the ground and her feet were firmly placed in the sand Kari was able to open her eyes again.
And what she saw made her really happy.
Even though they were safe and sound on the ground, T.K. still held onto Kari, with his arms still around her shoulders.
Such a thing was comforting to Kari, who felt even better than before, "Thanks, T.K."
This seemed to snap the boy out of it, and he put some space between himself and Kari. "Oh, sorry..."
Again, Kari found herself laughing a bit.
The two angel Digimon returned to their original forms as T.K. tried to not make a fool of himself, and Patamon returned to his spot on top of T.K.'s head, "Well, what an exciting turn for this date, huh?"
T.K. silently agreed, and his attention was back on Kari, 'That wasn't as hard as I had figured it would be.'
Gatomon rubbed Kari's leg and said, "Well, Kari, I'm glad you're okay."
The girl took her eyes off the shy T.K. to say to the cat, "Looks like I didn't have to do something drastic after all."
T.K. looked confused, "What do you mean by 'drastic'?"
Kari ignored that, and grabbed his hand, "Care for a walk?"
As much as he wanted to know what the girls were talking about, T.K. let it go.
Kari pulled him with her the first few steps, and he eventually got to match her pace, and the two went merrily along with their date.
Through the rest of the day, as well from that day on, their hands remained together as did their hearts.
A/N: I have always believed that these two belonged together, but while the ending on Season 2 pretty much screwed that up I made this to maybe make it easier to digest. Takari 4ever!