Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon

Chapter One

Whisperings of Darkness

Kari grunted and turned over in her sleep. Darkness slipped into her dreams. Faces spiralled around her, memories of terrible times: the death of Wizardmon, the arrival of the Dark Masters, Apocalymon, Ken as the Digimon Emperor, the return of Myotismon, being captured by Dragomon, losing TK and Davis.

She gasped and shot up, sweating. Grunting angrily, she got into her slipper and went out onto the balcony. The cool air whipped at her hair.

She sighed sadly. She wished she had someone to comfort her. Not Tai, or Gatomon, but a boyfriend. However, due to Ghoulmon's interference, she'd given her one up, and the other who loved her never had her either. She hated herself for what she had done to TK and Davis, but she couldn't bring herself to decide between the two of them.

However, she wished that she had either of them with the way she felt.

Her dreams had returned. Which could only mean one thing. The Dark Ocean was active again. Last time, she and TK had barely survived their encounter with Dragomon, the evil ruler of the Dark Ocean. Gatomon and Patamon had unlocked their Mega forms and had destroyed him, but it had been a close call. She didn't want to imagine who was behind her recurrent dreams. She knew Daemon was still meant to be there, however, the Sovereigns hadn't been able to find him. That was a source of serious concern for the Digidestined and their allies in the Digital World.

"Kari?" Tai asked.

She turned to her brother as he came out to check up on her.

"Gatomon said she was going to come, but she was having an argument with Miko over who's litter box is who's." he said wryly.

Kari smiled. Gatomon had been arguing with their cat Miko for ages.

"What's up?" he asked, leaning on the balcony with her.

She wondered whether or not to tell him. She decided that it would save her time and strength if she did.

"My dreams are back." she admitted.

Tai's face was immediately etched with concern.

"Dark Ocean dreams?" he demanded.

"Yes." she sighed.

He looked at her in concern.

"When did they start?"

"A few nights ago."

Tai gave an irritated sound.

"For goodness sake Tai, I cant run to you lot every time I have a bad dream."

"Kari, what if it's Daemon? We need to be ready!"

"Shut up you two! I'm trying to sleep!" their mother yelled.

Tai rolled his eyes, but before he could talk again, Kari cut him off.

"Tai, I would know if it's Daemon. And let's face it, we can all get Mega forms now. We'd just let them loose and he'd be finished." she said.

Tai shook his head, his wild mane of hair shaking as he did so.

"Kari, Ghoulmon nearly got us because he digivolved beyond Mega. Arukenimon, Mummymon and Wizardmon have been talking with the Sovereigns, but they're clueless. If it happens again, our luck could run out." he growled.

Kari narrowed her eyes.

"Tai, I appreciate you wanting to look after me, but I'm a big girl. I can look after myself."

She then went inside, angry.

Tai frowned, then sighed unhappily.

"That's what you said to TK. Then look what happened." he said sadly, and followed.

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The next day, their cousin Rana was coming to visit. She lived outside Odaiba with their uncle, and was fun to be with. However, Kari hadn't told her that she'd broken up with TK, and she knew she would be grilled on all the details for ages.

School dragged on that day.

"Hey Kari." TK said, sitting beside her.

"Morning."

Though they were no longer going out, they were still friends, though their was now a frostiness in their relationship.

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking at her in concern.

"I'm fine." she said firmly.

TK retreated after the frosty response, and didn't talk to her for the rest of the lesson, knowing she wanted space. When the bell rang, she left without saying a word.

"What's wrong with Kari?" Davis asked.

"No clue. And it's not as if we're going to find out is it? I asked her what was wrong and she nearly bit my head off." he said unhappily.

Yolei frowned, as did TK. An unpleasant thought had just dawned on him.

"What?" she asked worriedly.

"Yolei, I need you to find out if she's having dreams again." he said.

Ken frowned.

"As in Dark Ocean?" he asked in fear.

"Yes."

Yolei shook her head adamantly.

"No. It cant be. Dragomon's gone." she said adamantly.

TK looked at her sadly.

"So was Myotismon." he mused sadly.

If Kari didn't want his help, that was fair enough. But he still loved her, and wasn't going to allow anything to happen to her.

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Tai picked her up and they drove to the train station to meet their cousin. They had made up after their little spat and talked normally, but Tai could see how worried Kari was.

"Are you sure she cant know about us?" Gatomon asked grumpily from Kari's bag.

"Yes. We don't want to be known as Digidestined, or we'll never hear the end of it." Tai said.

"I look positively sinister." Agumon said, admiring himself in the mirror, dressed in a dark trench coat with a hat.

"Well, you would if you weren't waist height." Kari teased, and she got out and trotted to the platform.

"Gatomon, watch out for Kari." Tai said.

She shot him an icy glare.

"Do you think I haven't noticed she's been having dreams? She knocked me off the bed two nights ago with one of them. I'm looking after her Tai." she said icily.

"Alright sorry. Sheesh, keep your whiskers on." he said and went to meet his cousin.

The two of them went to the country train stopping at the left platform.

"There she is! Rana! Over here!" Tai yelled at a girl.

A tall, beautiful girl turned to face them.

"Tai! Kari!" she cried.

She had brown eyes, had long legs and dark, curly hair that went past her shoulders. She rushed to them and hugged them.

"You look great Tai! Kari, whats wrong?" she asked in immediate concern.

"Just tired Rana." she said.

Rana fixed her with a beady eye.

"Well, I'll keep an eye on you."

Tai winked at her, as Kari frowned in annoyance.

"How've you been?" Tai asked, picking up her case.

"Alright. How have you two been?"

"We've been…what is it Kari?"

Kari whispered to him.

"I cant see Agumon." she grumbled.

Tai looked around for his partner. He was indeed nowhere to be seen.

"Oh oh."

"Oh oh?" Rana asked suspiciously.

"Um, I've misplaced my keys." Tai said, patting his jacket.

Kari was scanning the station.

"Found him." she said in fear.

"What's wrong? Oh no." he moaned.

Agumon had started a fight with some unknown Digimon.

"Come on!" he shouted, and he and Kari ran off, leaving Rana slightly mystified.

"Guys, what's going on? Oh crap." she hissed.

Agumon was fighting a small Digimon, who was a purple version of Gatomon. Tai fired his keys at the car door, and Gatomon leapt out.

"Stick 'em up short stuff!" she demanded, extracting her claws.

"You should know that we can kick your ass. We can go all the way to Mega, so just run back to whoever you're working for." Agumon growled.

Tai and Kari skidded to a stop.

"Agumon, who is that?" Tai asked.

Tsukimon: The virus form of Patamon. Commonly used as a messenger between evil Digimon, his attacks are nasty for one so small.

"Tsukimon! what're you doing!?" Rana demanded, coming to a stop.

"They're snooping around Rana! I don't trust them!" he squeaked.

"Wait. He's your Digimon?" Kari asked incredulously.

Silence emanated between the three.

"Let's talk about this on the way home." Tai said, and they got into the car.

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"I got him ages ago. I just opened my email account and he appeared. I've had him ever since." Rana said fondly, stroking Tsukimon's head.

"Sorry we got off on the wrong foot. But we've had bad experiences with small winged Digimon." Agumon said, holding out is claw.

Tsukimon shook.

"I know. Patamon's aren't as good as they're meant to be."

"We were talking about DemiDevimon." Gatomon said, purri9ng on Kari's lap.

"Same difference." Tsukimon said.

"So Kari, why do you look so tired?" Rana asked in concern.

"I haven't been sleeping."

Rana narrowed her eyes.

"Well, that'll have to change. You look terrible Kari. What's TK saying about it?" Rana asked.

Silence met these words.

"He isn't saying anything." she said quietly.

The rest of the journey was silent.

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Tai entered the apartment.

"TK, I want you to keep an eye on her." he said, getting straight to the point.

After dropping Kari and Rana off, he had immediately enlisted Rana's help. With the Dark Ocean threatening Kari again, he had to be careful. And he didn't want her being miserable anymore. Rana had promised to get to the bottom of things her end. As such, he, she and Gatomon, reluctantly receiving help from Agumon, were trying to get TK and Kari back together.

Kari had been so miserable since she had split from TK, and since she had left Davis high and dry. While Davis seemed to have taken this in his stride, it was affecting TK too, and their love for each other was plain to all of them. Enlisting the help of the rest of the Digidestined, and now having Rana along to help, Tai intended to make his sister happy again, and at the same time protect her from a possibly resurgent Dark Ocean.

"She doesn't want me to keep an eye on her Tai. That's part of the reason we broke up. She's perfectly capable of looking after herself." TK said grimly.

"Not if Dragomon's back. And while I'm not particularly thrilled that I might be putting you in danger telling you to watch her, I don't like the idea of her being taken again.

TK narrowed his eyes to slits.

"And you think I do?" he challenged.

Tai was taken aback.

"I didn't mean it like that!"

Patamon surveyed him.

"Tai, we'll need both of them to work on this. Sure, we can all watch Kari. But if she catches us, she'll blow a gasket. I remember all too keenly the last time you all went nuts." he said, wincing at the memory.

Mimi had pulled one of his ears, TK had kicked him up the back end and Kari had been very nasty when snarling.

"Well, that was your own fault. If it wasn't for you lot, we wouldn't be in this position." Tai reminded him darkly.

TK shook his head.

"I was already losing her Tai. Mind you, this lot didn't help." he said, and Patamon and Agumon shifted guiltily.

"I'll watch her Tai." TK said wearily.

As Tai and Agumon walked out, Tai looked over his shoulder in worry.

"He looks terrible." he commented.

Agumon nodded.

"I think it's the worry of the Dark Ocean being back. He fears it Tai. Not because of what happened to him. Because he nearly lost Kari." he said.

Tai pondered this, then stopped. The entire city was covered in thick fog.

"Where did that come from?" he asked.

Agumon frowned.

"I don't like it. There wasn't any mention of fog before." he said worriedly.

"Come on. And have the D-Terminal ready." Tai said, and they ran to the car.

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"I shouldn't have done it, I know. But, I just couldn't stop my self. And now I don't have either of them." Kari said, sighing.

"Why not go back?" Tsukimon asked.

Rana shook her head.

"Too much has happened, and there's been too much hurt for everyone. Kari, anyone can see you're exhausted, and that you're miserable. Have you been happy since you ended it with TK?" she asked.

Kari sighed, and looked at her cousin. Rana wouldn't let it rest until she had an answer. And Kari knew what the answer was.

"No." she admitted.

"Then why all this then?" Rana demanded.

"Rana, its not as that!"

"Love's way too confusing." Tsukimon, and Gatomon fervently agreed.

Gatomon then turned to Kari.

"Kari, I know you still love him. And even if you do love Davis, you don't love him nearly as much as you love TK. And I'll let you in on a little secret: TK loves you more than anyone else can ever manage. He loves you more than I do, more than your mum and dad do, more than Tai does, more than Davis does, more than of the others do. You two together fits. And always will. I know you love him."

Kari sighed tiredly, about to try to explain, then noticed the fog.

"Gatomon, why do I feel really bad all of a sudden?" Kari asked in a scared voice.

"I don't know, but I don't like this. I remember all too keenly the last time this place was covered in fog." she said darkly.

Rana frowned, and pointed.

"There's something out there."

Kari looked at where her finger was pointing. There was nothing there.

"I cant see anything." she said.

As soon as she said it, three pairs of scarlet eyes appeared before her.

"Oh no." she breathed, and the screams began.

It's good to be back!

Hello folks, I hope you like the beginning of my latest story. Dont worry, it'll get better.

Kari and TK still arent together, though Davis does seem to be out of the picture. I promise this story will resolve all this once and for all!

Rana is a new character, and the first of many. Watch this space.

The Dark Ocean dreams are returning. What does this mean? Only that an insidious new force is on the rise. More on that next chapter.

Well, this is the first chapter, and I'm away to jiggle the plot a bit for chapter 3-5. Chapter two may get started tonight if I feel ambitious.

Until next time gentlebeings, please read and review, and if it tickles your fancy, please vote in my poll! Bye for now!