I would like to welcome you to my new story, but this technically isn't a new story. It's a revamp of my previously completed work, Dark Waters. For a while now I've been tossing around the idea of a rewrite in order to make up for quite a few areas I feel I fell short on during the original story. For those who haven't read Dark Waters, I don't recommend you do until this has been completed. For those who have... look forward to an epic revamp, but also be on the look out for certain passages that made the cut and have been kept from the original text. They'll be few and far in between.

With that being said, read on and enjoy!

Rated PG-13 for violence throughout, mild language, and strong thematic material (a step up in intensity from the original).

Recall initiated.


Laughter

I remember the sound of laughter…

An indignant voice rose over the dying cackles. "Okay, okay, guys! It's not that funny!"

"Can you blame them, Davis?" A softer tone came in reply. "Even I didn't expect you to actually trip on the ball."

"Maybe I did it as a joke," Davis replied, picking himself up and brushing off. "Ever think of that?"

A younger boy walked over. "I would think that kind of joke is a little beyond you."

"Put a sock in it, Cody, would ya?" Davis said, casting a glower at the kid. Cody only gave him a smile, while Yolei next to him began to crack up once more. "What are you two even doing here?"

"Well jeez," Yolei said, composing herself. "We come to say 'see you later' and that's all you have to say?"

"Gimme a break, you all just showed up and started laughing!"

Davis was given only more laughing as a response, to which he reddened.

"Okay, fine! Be that way. See you around."

The two turned and ran off the fields, Cody turning once to call back. "Good luck in practice today!"

"Watch your step!" Yolei added.

Davis glared down at the offending soccer ball as the two left. He delivered it an angry strike, sending the ball reeling towards the goal. Ken, serving as goalie, defended with ease.

"Take it easy, Davis," said Ken.

"I know, I know. Some people are just too good at getting on my nerves."

Ken kicked the ball back at Davis to give him another shot. "Just think of it as them getting you fired up for today."

Davis grinned. "Well, if you say so."

He lined up the ball for a shot, and examined Ken's stance within the goal. Davis strode forward from the left. Normally, he would have feigned shooting towards the right, and then hook the ball in the opposite direction. Ken was too smart for that though. Davis followed through as he struck the ball towards the right, smiling as Ken fell the other way. The goalie corrected his mistake with prodigious speed, planting his feet and launching himself in front of the ball. His body stretched out to full length as he strained to save the goal. He managed to tip the soccerball just enough for it to go soaring above and beyond the net.

Davis stomped his foot in frustration as Ken fell face first in the turf. "How do you do that, man?"

Ken smiled meekly as he picked himself up. "That was a great move. Almost got me."

Though he might not be as quick as the Rocket Ichijouji once was, Ken was still quicker on his feet than the average player. No one would let him forget it, though all he ever responded with was a small, embarrassed thanks. He was too modest for his own good. Davis knew that if he ever managed to score on Ken, he could score on anyone in all their matchups for the year. Fortunately for him, Tamachi wasn't on the schedule.

Ken had retrieved the ball to give Davis another try. This time, he drove the ball wide to the left, seemingly beyond reach of the goal. However, he had put just enough spin to it that the ball began to pull inward. A normal goalie might have let it go, but Ken followed all the way through to the post. He was there in time to make the save, earning another bout of frustration from his friend.

"You're crazy, man!" Davis yelled, smacking his hands together.

The goalie tossed the soccer ball back to him. "Look on the bright side. You—"

"I won't have to play you. I know!"

Ken laughed softly, "No, that's not it. Think about it. If you're doing this good now, think about when you're actually playing with the team. I'm sure you'll have plenty of chances to score easily."

Davis straightened up, his face brightening. "Can't go wrong, can I?"

"No…" Ken said slowly, and then shrugged. "Not in soccer."

"Now whaddaya mean by that?!" The gogglehead bellowed in mock offense. Ken took a few steps forward, holding up his hands as if in an effort to calm his friend. In return, Davis drop kicked the soccer ball and sent it high over Ken's head. Out of instinct, the goalie leapt up to at least tip it, but the ball went right over his fingertips. Normally, this would have meant the soccer ball was on a course to go over the goal and out of bounds, but with a trick kick, Davis had managed to put a certain special spin on the strike. The ball dropped sharply out of the air and landed in the net.

"GOAL!" Davis shouted, thrusting a fist in the air. Ken was smiling wide at his friend's jubilee.

"Nice shot! …Cheap shot."

"Hey," Davis countered, pointing to a spot on the field. "You snuck up too far, man. That's all on you."

"I know, I know," Ken gave a laugh. "You feel ready for practice?"

"You know it!" The gogglehead exclaimed as the two watched other players filter onto the fields and prepare for warmups. Davis was the first to notice a very familiar brunette arriving on the field. She was heading their way. "Hey! Kari!"

She waved back as she came up to the two. "Hi, guys!"

"Come to watch me beat Ken?" Davis grinned.

"Actually," Kari said, glancing around. "Do you know where TK is?"

The gogglehead had to force himself not to roll his eyes. He should have figured as much. All that he expressed instead was a shake of the shoulders. "Haven't seen him. Doesn't he have a basketball thing today?"

Ken confirmed, "Yeah, there was a meeting for the team right after school. They should be out soon by now."

"Okay," said Kari. "Can you guys meet me after school tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" Davis' face lit up.

But then Ken walked over and gently rapped a knuckle on his head. "We'd love to, if we could."

Davis threw his hands in front of him, palms up. "And why wouldn't we?!"

"Did you lose your practice schedule?" Ken asked.

"Practice…" Davis said, remembering the upcoming dates. "Aw man…"

Kari giggled, "That's okay. It doesn't have to be tomorrow."

"We're good on Wednesday, though, if that's alright," said Ken.

"Sure!" Kari smiled, and turned to leave. She paused momentarily to ask over her shoulder. "Have either of you seen Yolei or Cody?"

"Just missed 'em," replied Davis. "They went home a few minutes ago."

"Okay. I'm going to see if they can come too."

"Want us to tell TP when he shows up?"

The girl cast one more smile their way, and put a finger to her lips and shook her head. Davis and Ken watched her confusedly as she trotted off.

"That's a first," said Davis.

Ken nodded, humming his agreement.

Kari, meanwhile, hurried out of the fields and onto the sidewalk, following the route she knew her other two friends had taken. She wasn't in any real rush, but Kari walked at a brisk pace in hopes of catching Yolei and Cody before they reached their apartment building. She found them at the end of the block, just before the crosswalk light went green.

"Hey, Kari!" Yolei said, noticing her the moment she filed in next to them.

"Are either of you busy on Wednesday after school?"

Cody nodded, "I have a lesson with my grandpa."

"Well, I'm free," said Yolei. "What're you planning?"

"Just a little meeting. Is there any other time this week you can come, Cody?"

"No," the boy replied. "I've got a lot going on, sorry."

"It's okay," Kari said, and began to pick her pace back up.

Yolei called at her as she hurried off. "What're we meeting about?"

"I'll tell you later!" Kari replied. She moved past the apartment building where the Inoue's convenience store was based and soon arrived at the tennis courts in Rainbow Park.

After a short scan of the area, Kari let her shoulders slump. She intended to meet Sora here and invite her as well, but it looked like her older friend had other things to do. Kari headed home, deciding to send out the rest of her invitations via email.

It was late October, but the seasons had, so far, refused to change. The days remained sunny and warm, warranting the hundreds of children on Odabia to rush down to spend happy school afternoons on the beach. This week was the beginning of the sports season for most of the schools in the area, but though the amount of kids on the waterfront park had decreased, the overall attitude of the island remained high and bright.

Kari was walking leisurely at the moment, letting herself relax now that there was no one else she wanted to see before everyone went their separate ways for the evening. She enjoyed the warmth of the stubborn late summer, knowing in the back of her mind that autumn would be just around the corner, arriving with November.

It wasn't a sad thought. November had its own share of things to enjoy. TK's birthday was the first date to come to mind, and that was exactly what she had wanted to meet with her fellow DigiDestined about. They never had the chance to celebrate his 13th last year, since he was on a trip with his mother. Kari was in the midst of orchestrating a huge surprise party for this year to make up for that. Her first step was getting whoever she could together to talk about what they should even do. Kari wasn't about to put all her money on the surprise aspect of it, however. Knowing TK and how close he was to everyone, chances are he would find out about it long before the event.

Gradually, Kari arrived at her apartment complex, and proceeded to thoughtlessly march up the last few flights of stairs to her home. Upon opening the front door, she was greeted by the din of her mother in the kitchen and the television in the living room. Only Tai would have the TV on that loud, which confused Kari as to why he was home so early. She had assumed he would be at some soccer practice like Ken and Davis. She made her way through the entryway, poking her head into the kitchen as she passed.

"I'm home, Mom."

"Welcome back, sweetie! Did you have a good day?"

"Yep, just fine."

"Oh, good. Fried banana casserole's almost out of the oven. Hope you're hungry!"

Kari was already out in the living room. She dropped her backpack off in her room on the way, and came to check on Tai. He lay sprawled out, feet up on the back of the couch, barely even making an effort to face the TV save for moments where he heard something that caught his interest. He was a touch more lazy than she normally found him.

"Rough day, Tai?"

"Mm," he grunted, hardly acknowledging her.

"Are you busy Wednesday afternoon?"

"M-mm," Tai replied with a barely noticeable shake of the head that Kari interpreted as a no.

"Want to meet up with everyone in the park after school?"

This time was a shrug and an affirmative, "Mhmm."

Kari left him at that, knowing that Tai was prone to get cranky if anyone bothered him too much when he was tired. She returned to her room and proceeded to unpack her things and sort out her homework for the evening. Before she started however, Kari pulled out her D-Terminal and got to work on a group email to her older friends. She didn't invite Mimi to their little meeting, but Kari definitely kept in mind to ask for her input.

The answers from the others came quickly – it was that ideal time of evening where the student world was transitioning from school activities to dinner, and later, homework. That time of day where seemingly everyone was checking their emails and cell phones.

Sora was a yes. Joe, surprisingly, was a yes as well. Izzy had a club meeting that afternoon – such activities had recently kept him out of the DigiDestined loop. Fortunately enough, the DigiWorld was in a time of calm, so there was no need for everyone to rally together. Kari was happy enough with those who could come. Matt's reply came last; he was unavailable.

Six DigiDestined in all for Wednesday. Kari decided not to push the matter any further.

Mrs Kamiya's notorious dinner was ready soon afterwards, and once that was finished, the siblings settled in for the average night of homework. It wasn't a late night, but most of their evening was spent poring over textbooks, taking turns at the computer, Tai yelling at a malfunctioning printer. A soft breeze flowed through a partially open window, complementing the upbeat music that the siblings kept playing through the majority of their working hours.

Kari finished her homework first, and proceeded to spend a relaxing few minutes on the balcony with Gatomon. Though their apartment didn't have the best view of the sunset, Kari did enjoy watching the clouds overhead change color throughout the twilight hours. Only now, in late October, the sun was already far below the horizon. She leaned forward with her elbows crossed over the railing, while Gatomon perched on the thin bar right next to her. They watched the last edges of light slip off the clouds and release the stars to shine.

"You okay, Kari?" Gatomon said suddenly.

Kari looked straight at her partner. "Of course. Why would you ask that?"

Gatomon swivelled her head around, as if searching for something in the surrounding cityscape. "Just checking, I guess."

"Everything's going fine," Kari smiled at her digimon. "I appreciate it."

Gatomon nodded back. "I've been feeling like things are a little off recently, but it's probably nothing if you're not sensing it."

"I wouldn't know about that," Kari said, slightly flattered. She paused a moment, reminiscing, trying to recall anything seemingly out of place or ill at ease. Nothing came to mind, but it was nice to know her digimon was still sharp on the lookout. "Thanks for checking, Gatomon."

The white cat hopped down from the railing. "If everything's cool, then, I'm going for a nap."

Kari followed her inside, and locked up the balcony doors for the night. Once she drew the blinds, Kari retired to her room. Tai sat at their desk, sitting low over a thick textbook with a face that was either half confused or half asleep. Kari smiled to herself, knowing that though dusk had long since fallen, their bedtimes were still a few hours away. Tai was usually as animated as his hair until around ten o'clock, despite their mother always egging him to get in bed no later than nine. He was two hours too early to be dozing off now.

She stepped into the room and began shuffling through her things, packing up homework and organizing her backpack. Kari had no subtlety in her actions, thinking that perhaps her noise would wake Tai up some. She glanced over at him just in time to see him drop his head in a painfully obvious nod.

"Are you alright?" She said.

Tai sat back and rubbed his eyes. "Y'know how many times Mom has asked me that in the last couple hours?"

His voice was filled with pure exhaustion, and Kari caught no trace of annoyance or irritation. She apologized anyway, but Tai shrugged it off.

"Whatever, I'm almost done."

Kari pulled her backpack up over one shoulder and walked out to put it by the front door. She stopped for an instant and stuck her head back in the room. Tai had returned to his first position – elbows on table, palms to his forehead, staring with wide, unseeing eyes at the book in his lap.

"Tai, I'm getting some milk, how about you?"

She saw him attempt to blink the sleep out of his eyes. "Uh-huh."

"Chocolate?"

"…sure."

The younger Kamiya trotted over to place her bag in the entryway, and then proceeded to the kitchen. After a short moment of leafing through the contents of the fridge, shoving aside the potato juice and parsley soda, she retrieved the milk and chocolate syrup. A couple minutes of pouring and stirring, and she returned to her and her brother's room with the refreshments.

This time around, Kari was positive that Tai was asleep. She set the glass down next to his head. "Here you go, Tai."

He started awake, and for a moment looked like he was trying to focus on something in front of him, though nothing was there but a darkened window. He groaned and started slapping his cheeks. "Man, I thought I was in class for a sec."

Kari laughed shortly. "Nope, not here."

He noticed the glass in front of him, and let out a tired sigh. "Thanks, Kari."

"You're welcome," she replied as she walked over and sat on the lower bed. "How much more do you have?"

Tai flipped through a couple pages and scanned each side. "Just another page. I don't think I'm gonna remember any of this tomorrow."

"Skim through it, then."

"Not as good at that as you are."

Kari smiled as she took a swig of her drink. "What subject is that?"

"History."

"So all you have to do is remember dates, people, and what they did."

Tai whined, "That's a lot." He looked over at her with a pouting face.

"Then look it over a couple times before class," she replied with a giggle.

A groan. "Y'know what, I'm speed-reading the rest. No use staying up if I'm just gonna be dozing the whole time." Tai gulped down half his milk and set to his final stretch. Shortly, a page flipped, and he took another drink. Kari grinned as she watched his eyes dart to and fro, knowing he probably wasn't learning much at all in this moment. She couldn't blame him though. It had been some time since she'd seen him this tired. One more page, one last guzzle, and Tai finally slammed his book shut. "Okay, I'm hittin the sack."

He stumbled out of the room and into the bathroom to make a measly effort to wash off for bed. Kari finished the last of her own glass of milk and grabbed his on the way to the kitchen. She returned to their room to find Tai already collapsed on the bottom bunk, fast asleep. Kari shook her head in wonder, not able to recall the last time he went to bed ahead of her. She noticed Gatomon snoozing on the top bunk as well. Both brother and partner down for the count. Kari sighed and decided to get herself ready for bed too, with the intent of curling up with a book for the next hour. Yet, after she was all washed and changed and under the covers with Gatomon at her feet, Kari felt the weariness fall over her.

Only one thing kept her from falling asleep right there, and that was the sudden rush of cold in the room. Neither Gatomon nor Tai seemed to react at all to it, but to Kari it felt like the breeze from the still-open window had rushed right under her blankets. Shivering, she rolled the covers off and climbed out of bed to close the window. She stared out over the sparkling skyline for a few moments longer, but didn't see or sense anything out of place. Kari looked over at Tai who was flat on his stomach. Not only was he still on top of his covers, but he hadn't even changed out of his clothes.

The clock on her desk read 8:30 by now, and Kari decided it would be best to follow her brother and get in bed. She climbed up the short ladder and bundled up under the covers. The heaviness on her eyes pulled her straight into a deep sleep.

And yet, after only a few moments, another chill ran through her. Kari's eyes fluttered open, and she pulled the blankets close to her face as she lifted her head to look at the digital clock. 11:47. Her eyes narrowed. It certainly didn't feel like she had slept a wink during those three hours. Kari noticed the lower panes on the window had fogged up, telling her that the temperature outside had dropped considerably. It was strange, knowing how summer-like the entire week had been. Kari's eyes felt heavy still, and she let her head drop back to the pillow for a second try to get some rest.

It only felt like ten minutes, but the next time she checked, the clock read 5:54. Kari groaned softly as she lay back down. She didn't particularly enjoy waking up before the alarm, but it was as much a blessing as it was a curse. She would be awake to hear the alarm go off within the next few minutes, and have the rare opportunity to hear Tai fall out of bed and crawl across the floor in a panicked attempt to shut it off. Then came the bonus content containing a string of unkind, though not obscene, words that Tai had prepared for the digital timekeeper. Kari peered over the edge of the bed at him just in time to see him slap the snooze button with an attitude that made the whole affair seem very personal.

He stood there, leaning heavily on the desk as Kari sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes.

"It's too early for this," muttered Tai.

"How're you feeling?"

"Tired."

"Same," Kari replied mournfully. This was going to be a long day.


I'll be taking my time with this story, updating when I can. So don't expect the daily chapters like how I did with the first installment.

Hope you guys will stay with me for the long haul, welcome aboard!

til next time.

PS - Two Pair might eventually be put on hiatus, since this is a prequel. Wouldn't want to spoil anything now, would we?