Part of the Gang

By: Rio

Disclaimer: Ya'll know what this is

Dedication: This is to Melinda Cadarette because I really like her poem 'Different' and 'I don't beleive you' and this is sort of the story dedication thingy... you know what I mean... I highly recomend her poems cause they are very touching.

*~*

Ken watched Kari, Tk, Davis, Yolei and Cody through his balcony window. They were over at his Christmas Party, and he had excused himself from the laughter and fun for some time to himself. He sighed heavily as Wormon crawled over to him.

"I'm still not one of them, am I, Wormon?" Ken asked, sounding slightly depressed. Wormon looked down at the ground, not sure how to reply honestly but comfortingly at the same time. It had been several years since Ken's first Christmas party with the digidested - three years to be exact - and yet he still felt like an outsider looking in. Ken turned away to look out to the dark street from his balcony.

"It's hopeless. It's been years now, Wormon. I was never one of them. If I haven't been excepted yet, well..." Ken trailed off as he looked down to the streetlights lining the road. Wormon still struggled to find words.

"Well, maybe you're just being paranoid, Ken. I know you have a pure heart and a pure soul, and I'm sure that they do too. Wounds from you're past shouldn't affect your future once they've healed." Wormon said, trying to cheer up the blue haired boy next to him. Ken looked down upon Wormon and merely sighed.

"But the scars still show like the wound. They might not be as obvious, but people still know that they're there. Wondering if the wound will ever be re-opened." Ken said bitterly, thinking about the conversation he had overheard a few days ago. But Wormon, however, was not aware of any of this.

"What do you mean, Ken? The digidestined told you themselves that they trust you!" Wormon said brightly. Ken turned his head away from Wormon's tiny one and stared into the sky, his teeth gritting.

*Flashback*

Ken walked past a sushi bar, his head bowed against the frigged winds of the winter. But as he looked in the window, he saw his five friends huddled in what appeared to be a rather heated conversation. Ken's brow furrowed as he walked into 'The Sushi Shak'. He was about to approch the digidestined when he heard his name being mentioned. He wasn't an eavedropper as such, but hearing his name interested him slightly, so he moved concealed towards the table of the digidestined. As he got closer, the words of the digidestined became clearer to him.

"I really don't see the point of dragging me all the way out here just to talk," Kari said, sounding rather annoyed. "I think he is perfectly trustworthy. He did help us destroy and fix everything he did in the digiworld, after all."

"But I'm just not sure about him." Davis said, shaking his head slightly. Kari raised her eyebrows at him.

"Davis, you were the one who wanted Ken to join us in the begining! He has changed his ways, we all know that, right guys.... right?" Kari asked, waiting for a responce. To her shock she only got bad ones.

"Kari, I think Davis might be right on this one..." Tk said gently. Kari's jaw dropped in shock.

"Davis was the one who wanted Ken to join us in the first place!" She snapped right back at him.

"Kari, I know what I said, but I think I might have made a mistake! I mean, I make them often enough, so, well, you know..."

"Well, I'm with Kari. I think Ken was bad before, but I mean, just look at all the good he's done since then!" Yolei pointed out. "What do you think Cody?"

"Well, er, I think that, um, well..." Cody mumbled, a little overwhelmed by the four faces staring waitingly at him. "Maybe he's, like, um, er...."

"Why do you think that Ken might still be bad?" Yolei cut across Cody's ramblings. Tk and Davis exchanged a glance.

"Well, I don't know if you guys remember that Ken had a device inserted into his back. I don't know if you remember that the divice never got removed." Tk said.

"So what?" Kari asked.

"So, the thing that was controling him was a digimon. And all digimon get reborn in the digiworld. When the digimon is reborn, he has the power to destroy the whole digiworld once again through Ken." Davis said. Silence bestowed upon them. Ken waited with bated breath to hear more.

"I suppose you're right..." Yolei mumbled, admiting defeat. Kari looked subdued as well.

"Well, Ken's Christmas party is in three days," Cody piped up, "so why don't we see how everything goes before we make hasty decisions, okay?"

The other four nodded their heads simutaneously, then sat in silence for a few moments before Kari checked her watch and jumped up in shock.

"Oh, far out! I told Tai I'd be back by four! It's three fifty-five, and it's a half hour drive, let alone bus ride! I gotta go guys, see ya later!" The four farewelled Kari as she raced out the door, not noticing Ken in her rush.

"Guys, I'd better go too. If I'm not home when I say I will, my mom freaks out. I'll see you all later, okay?" Yolei said. The others nodded their heads, and got up to leave. Ken quickly dodged the four and ran outside, and didn't stop until he reached an alley, where he sat down and leant against the wall. They don't trust me... Ken thought miserably. Tears formed in his eyes, then begun to freely flow down his face.

*End Flashback*

"Ken?" Wormon asked as he looked up at Ken curiously. Ken shook the memory out of his head and faced his digimon once again.

"You know Ken, you might feel a bit better once you join in the fun. Maybe it will relax you and the others?" Wormon suggested. Ken shrugged his shoulders, and looked back into the room. They were all dancing to a Destiny's Child Christmas C.D. Kari had her arms wrapped around Tk's neck, and his hands were on her waist. Davis and Yolei were fast dancing and Cody was practising his break dancing in the middle. He turned back to Wormon, who was looking sorely tempted by the music coming from his house. Ken gave a small smile.

"You go join them, Wormon." Ken said to his green friend. Wormon could hardly hold it in much longer.

"Are you sure? I mean, you'd be all by yourself and stuff..." Wormon said. But Ken rolled his eyes, seeing how much Wormon wanted to join in.

"Nah, it's all right. You go enjoy yourself. Don't let me spoil your fun," Ken said. Wormon couldn't resist. He gave a small squeal of excitment, then went and joined in the fun. Ken chuckled to himself as he watched Wormon trying to copy Cody's technical moves. Yolei, who had been caught up in the moment, suddenly realised that Ken had been missing for several minutes. She looked around the room, and spotted the glass door to the balcony where Ken stood. She gave him a curious look, then walked over to the door, and walking out to the cold night.

"Ken... what are you doing all alone out here?" Yolei asked, giving her friend a concerned look. He shrugged, trying to avoid making eye contact with the girl. He turned, and leaned over his iron-railed balcony, as if trying to get a closer look at the stars. Yolei's brow furrowed as she looked closely at Ken.

"Ken...? Is everything all right?" Yolei asked, deeply worried about Ken. And, for reasoned unknown to Ken, it was very important to him for Yolei to worry about him. When he thought about it, Yolei's confirmation of being part of the gang was very important to him. The way she viewed him as a person was the most important thing in the world to him. When he had heard Yolei agree that he wasn't trustworthy, it had crushed him more that anything else.

"Ken? Are you ignoring me?" Yolei questioned him sternly. Ken quickly snapped out of his trance that the thought of Yolei had put him in, and looked the girl straight in the eye.

"I'm not ignoring you." Ken said firmly. Yolei rolled her eyes.

"Then talk to me!" Yolei said, exasperated.

"Why should I?" Ken asked, in a rather spiteful tone of voice. Yolei's mouth dropped open.

"Er, I dunno, maybe because you are one of my best friends in the whole world?!?! If you're gonna chuck a sad at me, at least tell me why!" Yolei said, trying to keep her voice down. Ken pursed his lips.

"Does a place called 'The Sushi Shak' ring any bells?" Ken asked, giving her a steely glare. Yolei gasped.

"Yeah, I was there. I heard everything. I know that no-one here trusts me. I know that you all think I'm some big spooky digimon emperor person who's going to backstab you all. It doesn't take a genius to work it out." Ken said, doing his best to look at Yolei without tears welling up in his eyes.

"Ken... Ken, I'm... I'm so sorry..." Yolei said, not really knowing the best way of comforting her friend.

"No. No you're not. You couldn't care less. Just like the others. You all lied to me." Ken said, his voice becoming wobbly. Yolei looked at him with a sad expression on her face.

"Ken, what's happening to you? What happened to the boy I used to know?" Yolei took a very hesistant breath, then continued. "What happened to... to the boy I fell in love with?"

Ken felt his heart stop suddenly, then speed up. He stared deep into Yolei's eyes, trying to see if she was lying or not. To his complete joy, he saw nothing but pureness.

"Ken... say something!" Yolei said rather desperatly, hoping not to have made a complete fool of herself. Ken smiled at her.

"I couldn't have asked for anything more that for those words to come out of your mouth." Ken said, staring deep into her eyes. Yolei's heart swelled with happiness and love for the male opposite her. Then, he leaned forward and gently pressed his lips onto hers. She leaned into his touch, and finaly, Ken felt accepted - maybe not by all the members of the group, but by the person most important to him. Finaly, after several minutes of joy for the pair, Ken pulled away, looked at Yolei, and gave out a snort of laughter.

"Hey mister, what's so funny?" Yolei asked in a mock pout. Ken pointed at her face.

"You're glasses have all fogged up," Ken said, trying to hold it in. But Yolei couldn't. She burst out laughing, gripping onto Ken for support. Ken released all of his laughter, and leaned onto the railing for support. From inside the house, Wormon watched the pair happily giggling away. He smiled to himself. For he knew that Ken deserved a kind, gentle - but fun - girl. And everything that was happening to Ken in that half hour - love, laughter, fun and happiness - were exactly what Ken needed. And now, finaly, that's what Ken had.

*~*

Okay, it's done! It's the first pairing other than Takari that I've written about, so I don't know - was it good or bad? Any spelling errors? I'm really bad with that sort of stuff. I had to write something other than Takari because I've written nothing but Takari so far, and I'm almost finished writing this really long one, so I needed to write something different. I thought it was kind of short - but was it? Okay, IÕm gonna leave it up to anyone reading this. Please review!

Rio