Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon nor any of the associated characters, places, or events. This story as far as I know is in no way a plagiarism of another story. Should some part of the story resemble another piece it was completely unintentional.
Matt had seen TK a couple more times than the other digidestined. Aside from the fact that he was his brother he was fairly close to England. Their reunions were always friendly, nothing too fancy. But now that they were both back at their childhood home, his perception changed. Nostalgia hit him like a moving train and he started to reflect on his life. The only thing he had accomplished on his life was sing. He wanted to do something more with his life. Tai had just started studying External Relations and planned to join the UN. He had been quite shocked because everyone expected him to play soccer, even more when he said why.
As much as I would love to, playing soccer will not help anyone. I've spent half of my life helping others, and I'm not going to stop now. This got Mat thinking. He wasn't very useful when it came to politics or speeches. In fact the good memories he had in the Digiworld involved him and his friends traveling to new places. With given time this thought developed into the idea of becoming an astronaut, going places that few people could ever dream of visiting. Everyone was happy for him when he told them about his dream, but of course there was one thing he didn't mention. Part of the training program would include moving to the US for quite a long time. He didn't want to leave them behind, but it was the only way... right?
For now he was happy that the original group was once again reunited, and with their Christmas reunion coming up he would enjoy as much as he could. After hall, he was the original bearer of the Crest of Friendship. He chuckled at this thought, for it seemed that the only thing he messed up was precisely that. His eyes traveled all around the room he was in, the photos of his friends around the walls only made his decision harder. Eventually the stress was just too much, so he picked up his keys and his wallet and let the apartment, TK would be terribly affected by jet lag so he wouldn't wake up for another couple of hours. Or so he thought, just when he closed the door the door to TK's room opened wide. The young man stood there with one eye open and his hair in a golden mess. He rubbed his eyes and looked around for his brother.
"Matt! You here bro?" No answer. He walked out of his room and was about to go into Matt's room when something caught his eye. A letter, sitting on the desk for all to see. He must have forgotten to put it back, he thought. He was about to walk past it when he read the last sentence.
TRAINING PROGRAM ESTIMATED DURATION: 36-48 months
Takeru picked up the paper and read all of it. When he finished he ws speechless, on one hand his brother would get the opportunity of a life time. On the other he would be gone for a long time, perhaps for too long. He decided that Matt would eventually talk to him about it so he left the letter where he found it. Seeing that he ws now far too excited to sleep he decided to get dressed and visit his friends. He got into the shower and then picked his clothes, he had stopped wearing hats long ago so his outfit was just a pair of jeans, a button-up shirt, a simple winter coat, and some vans. He took his D-3 and left the apartment.
Odaiba wasn't among the most beautiful cities in the world, but it still had its charms. And for her right now it couldn't be more perfect. A thin and soft layer of snow blanketed her surroundings. She found it so beautiful and relaxing. Even if the occasional gust of wind threatened to freeze her nose. She put on her fluffy coat and hat and ran out like a little kid.
"Bye Tai, I'm going to the park!" Before his brother could answer she had already left. He just smiled faintly and returned to his business. Having a chance to visit his family was a very rare occasion indeed. Even more if he stayed with them on his own initiative. It seemed that this time he felt the need to relieve his old memories of him and his friends. College sure took a toll on him and most nights he had to give up sleep just to keep up with his work. In all honesty he now doubted that he could achieve his goal of becoming a delegate. No matter how much time he spent studying it was not enough. As time passed he was so caught up in his studies that he started to loose contact with his friends. Sometimes weeks would pass before he answered their messages. All of those sacrifices were starting to take their toll on him. His once confident stare was now tired and broken most of the time. His laid back attitude grew dreary with every passing day. He was the leader of the Digidestined. He had fought through hell. He had been the one to keep his team together through thick and thin. He had been the supporting beam for them, but now... he felt scared. How stupid, he thought, I am supposed to be the bravest, and here I am sitting like a scared kitten. Of course being the headstrong person he is he tried day and night to not show that he was afraid. But it seemed that his strength was starting to run out and he would often catch himself trembling. It was only a matter of time before the others caught on as well. For now he would have to fake a smile.
The snow made a soft crunching sound as she walked through the streets. Winter had always been her favorite, but now the snow wasn't the only thing in her mind. Her thoughts drifted back to a day similar to this one, in which she gave her first kiss to her best friend. It began with a stupid tradition, but she felt so much more. Her face began to blush a little as she began to recall the events. She shook her head and decided to clear her mind walking through the ponds. Even with the beautiful scenery in front of her, her mind still went back to the cerulean eyes that had captured her heart. She was so lost in her thoughts that she did not hear someone calling out to her until she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Earth to crazy cat lady!" She was snapped back into reality and immediately smiled. There was only one person who called her that.
"TK!" She threw her arms around his neck and snuggled against his chest. The force made TK loose his balance and he stumbled back, landing on his back. He started laughing and Kari soon joined him.
"You've gotten heavy." He said. He had always enjoyed messing with her. And having known her for years gave him plenty of available jokes. She softly punched him in the arm and chuckled.
"And you've gotten more annoying!" TK laughed again while he stood up. He offered his hand to Kari, but when she took it she felt a jolt of electricity that ran up her arm all the way to her head, where it smacked made her legs go numb like jelly. She fell down again and heard TK's concerned voice.
"KARI! Are you okay?" When she turned to look at him, her heart skipped a beat. His eyes, his cerulean eyes that could light up any rainy day, were now broken with worry. She felt guilty, and frankly confused. She knew that she had missed him, but why wouldn;t she. He was... Is her best friend. Nothing more. But no matter how many times she repeated that in her head, she was starting to think it wasn't true.
"Yes TK, I just... Huh... Tripped." His expression immediately changed and he once again gave her one of his signature smiles while he arched one of his eyebrows.
"It seems that you are also clumsy." He helped her up and she smacked his arm.
"Jerk." She immediately started laughing. No matter what happened, she could never stay mad at anyone. Specially him.
"It's been so long Kar, how have you been? His words snapped her back to reality, not like her thoughts varied much from the person that was standing right in front of her.
"Yeah, it's been quite some time. But you know, it's been good. I have been working on some soup kitchens. Volunteering to read for little kids. Helping out at the animal shelter."
"Good ol' Kari, still thinking of others before herself." It was not so much as a critique towards her lifestyle, but more like a concern. "I guess it can't be helped," he said while grabbing the small pendant that hung on her neck, "you were born with it." The pendant was the Crest of Light. And no doubt it was given to the right person. She could never act with selfishness. No matter how bad things got, how much she was hurting, she always thought on the wellbeing of others before her own. She had a special way of making everyone feel important by only smiling. That, was only one of the reasons why he loved her.
"And what have you been up to?"
"Apart from college. I also volunteered to work with little kids, but I taught them how to play basketball. I also traveled quite a lot around Europe. I met some great people. Here, I took some pictures." He walked up to a bench and sat down, he took out his phone and started showing her several pictures of himself with many different people. But one picture stood out from the others. He was kneeling beside a young boy in a hospital bed, he had several tubes going attached through his wrist and a breathing aid on his nose. The hair that was supposed to be on his head was gone. It looked like he wasn't in a very good state. But still, both him and Takeru were holding out three fingers each. And they were both smiling.
"TK, who is this?" When he looked at the picture with more detail his expression softened.
"This is Jacques. He is a friend I made in France. I had been feeling bad for some days so I went to the hospital to get a checkup and that's when I met him. He was crying saying that it hurt going to the doctor. His mother was begging him to behave, but he kept on crying. You know he wasn't doing it out of stubbornness." He turned to look at her. "He was afraid. So I walked up to him and talked to him a little bit. Eventually he agreed to continue his therapy, but on one condition. I had to be there with him every single time. I had a schedule to keep with my travels, so I did what anyone would have done." Kari smiled at him and finished his sentence.
"You stayed with him." He softly nodded his head.
"I showed up everyday, 1 o'clock, and stayed with him for as long as it took. Eventually his mother told me that the doctors said there was no point in continuing the therapy. He had less than two months left. Also his mother was running out of money, she had already spent it all with his treatment of the last 6 months. They told me it was hopeless. You know what I did?" Once again Kari smiled, already knowing what he was going to say.
"I took out my wallet, I got my credit card, shoved it in the doctor's hand and said 'there is no such thing as hopeless'. I admit the next weeks were rough, his condition was worsening, but I wasn't going to leave him alone, I showed up every day and told Jacques, his mothers, even some doctors, that everything was going to be okay. This picture, was taken three months after he was given only two. Unfortunately I had to leave, my money ran out as well and it seemed that Jacques didn't need me anymore. When I told him I had to leave he started crying. It broke my heart but I promised him I would see him again. His mother also started crying and thanking me for what I did, I gave them my email so they could contact me no matter where I went. Look, this picture was sent the day I started traveling to come here." TK opened up a picture of a smiling James, but he was different. Small stubbs of hair could be seen growing, and his face had regained some of the lost color. Kari had to wipe a few tears of her eyes after he was done telling the story.
"It was only natural of you to do that," she picked up the amulet that was dangling on his chest and flipped it over, revealing it was the Crest of Hope, " you were born for it." She let go of the amulet and once again embraced him, but this time she didn't let go.
"I missed you TK" She said. He returned the gesture and nuzzled his head on her hair..
"I missed you too, Kari." The snow was still falling, the wind was still blowing, but they kept each other warm. Sadly, things wouldn't stay like that for long.