The Ultimate Summer Vacation

Chapter 2

"Kari."

"Kari." She knew that voice. She had heard it before. She shivered involuntarily. The last time she had heard it, it had penetrated her mind and spoke to her of terrible things.

"Kari." No, she thought as she realized this voice was much softer, not menacing or frightening. She knew this voice much better than the other one. This voice brought happiness to her, not sadness.

She opened her eyes to see T.K. staring down at her, gently waking her from her nap. Kari sat up and looked around to see that the cabin was almost completely empty, the other passengers already filing out the exit doors. With no one left around them, Gatomon and Patamon had hopped down from the overhead compartment and were staring at her too.

"Having a bad dream?" Gatomon asked. She hadn't told Gatomon her secret either, though the catlike digimon was much more intuitive than she seemed. Gatomon knew something was bothering Kari and even had an idea of what it was, but she knew better than to ask or force what Kari wouldn't freely tell her.

"Nope," Kari smiled, "a good one, actually. Are we in America already?"

"Yep," T.K. told her, grabbing their bags from the compartment. They followed the line of people off the plane, into the terminal, and to the baggage claim. Kari stretched her arms up as she walked, they had been cramped on the plane for the last thirteen hours. It was nice to finally be able to use her legs.

After retrieving their bags, they followed the crowd to the line outside of the U.S. Customs. T.K. and Kari were a little wary as to how they would get their digimon friends through. They debated having them hide in their bags, but the possibility of a search deterred them. The guard looked rather bored as he asked them the typical questions and examined their passports. He didn't give the digimon a second glance, probably assuming they were stuffed toys.

Once past, the four of them sighed together in relief. Beyond another long hallway, it was easy from them to spot where Mimi was waiting for them with her friend Michael, whom they had met before in the digital world during one of their not-so-pleasant encounters with Digitamamon.

"Gosh, it's so nice to see you guys again!" Mimi squealed. She greeted the two of them with giant hugs. Kari was glad to see that Mimi's hair was no longer pink, and back to its natural honey blonde color. "And Gatomon and Patamon came too! I sure wish Palmon were here, I know she'd love to see you guys."

"We just saw her last Tuesday," Patamon told her.

"Yep, we all had lunch at Primary Village," said Gatomon. "She told us to tell you that she loves you and that she can't wait until the next time she sees you."

Mimi looked like she was going to cry, so Kari grabbed her hand as they exited the terminal, leaving T.K. and Michael to carry their bags. "I've really missed you, Mimi."

"I missed you too Kari, I'm so glad you guys decided to come here. Neither of you have ever been to America, have you? What do you want to do first?"

T.K.'s stomach grumbled behind them. "How about lunch?" he asked.

"Lunch?" Gatomon asked. "Don't you mean breakfast?"

Kari looked down at her watch. Their flight had left Tokyo at three o'clock in the afternoon and after the extremely long flight, her watch read that it should be half past three in the morning. When they stepped outside the terminal doors, however, it was bright and sunny.

"What time is it here, Mimi?" Kari asked, already preparing to adjust her watch.

"It's half past two, which means lunch time!" Michael told her as they piled into his small car.

There was a ton of traffic as they drove through the city; Kari didn't think she had ever seen so many yellow taxi cabs in her life. They ate at a very nice restaurant, located in Greenwich Village, Mimi told them, but by the end of the meal T.K. and Kari could barely keep their eyes open. Though they had both slept a while on the plane, they were still on Tokyo time. Michael drove them uptown to Mimi's apartment and helped them carry their bags inside. As they entered the apartment building's elevator, Mimi explained to them how her dad had been very successful since their move to America.

When the elevator doors opened, Kari was expecting to see a hallway, but instead, they were standing in a grand foyer. Beyond the wood paneled walls Kari could see the living room beyond, and many other rooms beyond that.

"Welcome to the penthouse!" Mimi told them, guiding them out of the elevator and into the apartment.

T.K. and Kari looked at each other in amazement. Mimi led them to a guest bedroom where Kari could stay. There was only one bed, so Mimi asked T.K. if he would mind sleeping on the couch.

"We have three other guest rooms," she told him, "But they're all jam packed with my clothes."

T.K. laughed, thinking she was joking, but when he realized she was serious he told her the couch would be just fine.

After they had completed the grand tour of the apartment, which had taken about thirty minutes, Kari hoisted her suitcase onto her bed to begin unpacking. Instead of helping, Gatomon made herself comfortable among the many throw pillows piled on the bed.

"You're not going to help me?" Kari asked her, pouting.

"No, I'm due for my catnap." It seemed that digimon were also affected by the time zone shift.

Kari sat down beside her. "I think you've got the right idea. A nap would be really nice, but I've got to unpack." As soon as her head landed against a soft, frilly pillow, she was sound asleep.

Some hours later, she was woken once again by a voice in the distance. Climbing out of the massive bed, Kari cautiously opened her bedroom door. It was dark now, not a single light shown in the apartment. They were on the top floor of the building, so high up that not even the glow from the street lights could touch the windows.

Kari crept silently down the hallway to the living room, where she suspected the noise was coming from. As she got closer, she realized it was T.K. speaking. He was sprawled out on the couch, a blanket twisted around his body. His brow was glistening with sweat as he spoke aloud again in his sleep.

"No…I have to go…Matt…"

It was then that an interesting thought occurred to Kari. Maybe he already knew what she knew. Maybe he was keeping it from her, thinking to protect her, like she was doing for him. If he already knew then she wouldn't have to lie to him anymore. She felt somewhat more hopeful as she thought about it. It would be such a relief if he knew, she would have someone to share her opinion with and her fears, but what she liked most about it was that it meant she wouldn't have to be the one to break the horrible news to him.

Kari looked around for Patamon, thinking he must've been woken by T.K.'s distress as well, but she found him snoring between the arms of an enormous reclining chair. She took a seat on the plush carpet beside the couch, reaching a hand up to stroke his hair.

"No! Let me go! Matt!" T.K. was shouting now. Not wanting him to wake anyone else, she gripped his shoulder and gently shook him awake.

"T.K., wake up," she whispered to him.

"Huh?" She gave him a moment to remember where he was.

"You were shouting," she told him. "Do you always talk in your sleep?"

"Uhh, no, at least I don't think so." He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he acknowledged her and his surroundings. "What was I saying?" he asked, sitting up.

"You were talking about Matt." They were both silent for a moment. "You know," she told him, "I think we're most vulnerable when we're asleep. When we let our guard down it's easier for the darkness to sneak in."

"I don't know what you mean, Kari. It was just a bad dream."

"What was it about?" she asked, curious now.

"It's kind of fuzzy now," he said. "Matt was in trouble and I was far away, but I knew I had to try to get to him. Every time I tried to go, though, Angemon kept holding me back."

Although Kari was deeply troubled by his dream, she moved to sit on the couch beside him, making it easier for her to look him in the eye.

"T.K., I have to ask you something, and I need you to give me an honest answer."

"Okay, what is it?"

"What do you know about the Sphere of Hope?"

Sadly, she believed the confusion in his face was genuine.
"I've never heard of it," he told her. "It does sound sort of familiar, though. What is it?"

"It's nothing," she told him, wanting to end this conversation now that she was sure he didn't know anything she didn't. She lay down lengthwise on the couch so he could lay down beside her. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close to him.

"Kari, tell me about the Sphere of Hope," he begged. When she didn't respond he said, "I know you're keeping things from me. At least tell me why we're here? Why did you to visit Mimi so badly?"

"Because," she said, her voice soft as she drifted back to sleep, "We're never going to see her again."