Khgirl08: Howdy! This is the first official chapter of any story that I have started as a college student! Yay! :3 Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I think that this story is going to end up being between six and eight chapters long, depending on how long I make the chapters. I don't want to make it too short, but it's already progressing faster than I had originally planned. So, yeah. Thank you to everyone who reviewed!

-FireFairy219, I hope this answers your plea from the review. My reasoning for the non-recognition will be explained soon enough…

-RainbowSprinkle, I hope that he's the only one hunting… :D

-Twiinklestar, I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but they were in the Digital World, and then they went to the real world, and then I didn't write them in because I didn't want the others to talk to Gatomon until they could have a meeting. TK had just been tortured and held prisoner, so I didn't think it would be very nice to make him go to a morning meeting… I suppose I could have out in a little more about them in the last chapter, but I didn't feel like it. .

Disclaimer: If I owned Digimon, do you honestly think that I would need to go to college to support myself for the rest of my life? I think not.

"Alright, Yolei, here we are." Hikari flung the front door of her apartment open. "Home, sweet home. Does it look different?"

Yolei looked around the living room, and her eyes began to tear up. "No, it really doesn't. It's the same furniture and everything… I can't believe how many memories are rushing back into my mind. Hikari, I… Do you mind if I look around?"

Hikari smiled warmly. "Of course I don't, Yolei. I'll start making lunch. Just call me if you need anything, alright?"

"Hikari? Who is this?" Nobunari stumbled out of the bathroom, his face already red from too much beer. "Did I give you permission to bring anyone home with you?!"

"Father! I thought that you had to work today…" Hikari pulled Yolei away from Nobunari and his fierce glare. "This is my friend Yolei. I invited her over to eat lunch with me today. It's not like I was doing anything wrong…"

"What did you do to your hair? Why isn't it black, Hikari Kurayami?! I thought I told you to dye it black, and you show up and it's this ugly brown color?! And why do you look so plain… You aren't wearing any make-up! Did I give you permission to not wear any make-up?!"

"You didn't tell me that I had to wear it, either. And I felt like going back to my original hair color. What's so bad about that?"

"You look nothing like me, that's what's so bad! Do you want people to think you're not my baby?! You send your 'friend' home and go back to the store and buy yourself some black dye!"

"No! Nobunari, it doesn't matter if I don't have the same hair as you or not, I'm still your daughter! Although I will admit, the way you treat me would make anyone think that I'm not your daughter!"

Nobunari lunged forward and smacked Hikari across the mouth. "Don't youdare talk back to me, young lady! Yola or whatever her name is needs to go right now!"

"I'm going with her, then. Come on, Yolei, let's go." Hikari steered her astonished friend out the door, blinking back tears of embarrassment and shame.

"Hikari, you aren't just going to let him get away with that, are you? He just hit you!" Yolei grabbed her friend by the shoulders and shook her slightly as soon as the door was shut. "What's up with that?!"

"He didn't mean it, he was drunk. I deserved it for what I said, anyhow."

"No, you did not!" Yolei sighed unhappily. "Crap. Hikari, I left my purse on the couch. Can we go back inside and get it?"

"Um… Sure, as long as we're quiet. If he sees you again he'll go ballistic." Hikari slowly reopened the door. Nobunari was nowhere in sight, but he was talking to someone over the phone. "Quickly, come on!"

Yolei and Hikari tiptoed across the carpet as quietly as they could, Yolei creeping over to the couch and Hikari trying to hear the conversation her father was having. "… getting too friendly with other people. Remind me again why I had to come back here?"

"They were closing in on you, and they will never suspect to look for you here again." A menacing voice that seemed even louder than Nobunari's screeched from the master bedroom. "You must make sure they don't find you. Make sure that neither of you are discovered."

"Hikari, let's go!" Yolei was beckoning frantically from the door, and Hikari was forced to abandon her eavesdropping and escape with her friend. "There, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No, I suppose it wasn't." Hikari sighed and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. "Still, I believe that I should apologize for bringing you over. You just met him on a bad day, that's all…"

"Yolei? What are you doing up here?" A tall blond boy about Hikari's age interrupted their conversation, and Hikari blushed immediately when his sparkling blue eyes met her own.

Oh, wow… He's so cute! Hey, wait a second… Why does he look so familiar? Oh, yeah, he's that boy from that picture in Kari's room!

"… Hikari? Are you there?" Hikari had been thinking so hard that she hadn't even noticed that Yolei had introduced the blond boy.

"Um… Hi. I'm Hikari Kurayami. I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name…"

"TK Takaishi. It's nice to meet you, Hikari." TK smiled, and Hikari's blush deepened. Kami! He's so cute!

"Hikari lives in the Kamiya's old apartment, and I came over to eat lunch with her. What are you doing here, TK?" Yolei was eyeing TK suspiciously.

"I… uh… Well, I wanted to see if anyone had moved in here yet. It's really not good for places like this to stay unoccupied for so long." TK laughed nervously.

Hikari leaned against her door to stare at TK, not really caring that he was obviously lying, but jumped when she heard loud footsteps approaching the door. "Quick! Go down the hall, Nobunari's coming out and he won't be happy to see us!" She pushed an angry Yolei and a bemused TK down the hall and around the corner before she heard her father open the door and call the elevator.

"What's up? Who's Nobunari?"

Yolei sighed impatiently. "Nobunari is Hikari's psycho dad. He went all crazy on her because she brought me over for lunch, and because she said something about him not acting like she was really his daughter or something, and he smacked her! Can you believe it?! And she actually feels bad for saying it to him!"

"Yolei, please stop." Hikari peered around the corner. Nobunari was completely out of sight. "Come on, then, we're going back inside. Whenever he leaves he either goes to work or to get drunk, and he won't be home anytime soon no matter which he is doing. I know both of you want to see this Kari's room, so…" Hikari jumped when a warm hand squeezed her shoulder.

"Hikari, you remind me so much of Kari. You both try to put all of your problems behind what everyone else wants or needs, regardless of the pain it may cause you." TK turned her around and smiled, and Hikari felt like she was going to be lost in his blue eyes. "Just remember to never, ever give up hope."

Hikari blinked and felt her cheeks warm. "Erm… Let's go inside…"

"Alright, Yolei and I will join you in a minute." Hikari smiled back at TK and walked around the corner.

"What gives, TK? You didn't come up here to talk to me, and both of us know it!" Yolei shoved her glasses farther up her nose.

"I came to see if I could get to Kari's D-3, because I thought it could help Gatomon, but that isn't the point. Yolei, I wasn't kidding when I told Hikari that she reminded me of Kari. Can't you see it? That is Kari, I'm sure of it."

"TK, I think you were in the Digital World for too long. We're all meeting over at Davis' house tonight, so we'll figure out about that then. Come inside, before she comes looking for us and hears your crazy ideas." Yolei tried to follow her new friend, but TK caught her arm and pulled her back.

"Seriously, Yolei! Just look at her, her hair, her eyes, even the way she smiles! I just know it's Kari, it has to be!" I know it doesn't make any sense, but I just have this feeling in my gut… No, in my heart.

"TK, please stop. Just stop." Yolei tore her arm away from him and turned her back. TK could hear her sniffling. "I miss her just like you do, every single day, but this isn't going to do anything. Kari's gone. She was taken away by the government, and nothing's going to change that. We'll never get to see her again, never get to hear her laugh again, read her emails, never have anything but ancient memories of her, because she'll never remember us. TK, I know that you're the bearer of hope, but sometimes there is such a thing as too much hope. Let's just go, and pretend that this never happened."

TK followed Yolei, thinking deeply about her words. I had no idea Yolei had given up on Kari coming home… I wonder if any of the others have, as well? Why would they do something like that, anyhow? It doesn't make sense that they would just give up on her… Well, I know one thing for sure. I'm never going to give up on Kari. Not now, not ever, even if she isn't Hikari…

"Welcome to my apartment, TK. Welcome back, Yolei." Hikari may have been speaking to both of her new friends, but she was obviously staring at TK and TK alone. "Please, come in. Yolei, may I have the key so I can unlock the door for you?"

"Of course! Here you go." Hikari took the key and abruptly turned around. As soon as she was out of earshot, Yolei nudged TK in the side. "Hey, TK, I think someone has little crush on a certain blondie… How cute!"

Yeah, and the feeling's mutual… Except for the fact that mine is just because she reminds me of the love of my life… "Whatever, Yolei. Come on, let's go. I have to get back to a certain finicky feline…"

"Alright, and remember to bring her to the meeting tonight. We all have a whole lot to discuss with her, and I'm decently sure she'll want to talk to us, as well." Yolei bounced over to the now open door, TK following a little bit slower.

He wasn't prepared for the whirlwind of emotions and memories that created a tangled net of confusion in his mind the moment he walked into the dusty room; there was the time when he had first come to visit Kari, and she had shown him her room. She had just gotten a new computer to share with Tai, and she was super psyched to show it off. Then there was the time when she brought him over to help her pick out the best pictures for the scrapbook that she had never finished. And there was the time when she had quietly told him to get out and never let her see his face again. That one hurt the most, by far, especially since he couldn't remember why she had been so angry with him in the first place.

"Are you alright?" Hikari's soft voice invaded and destroyed the whirlwind of crazy memories and emotions. "TK, you don't look very well. Maybe you should sit down."

TK nodded wordlessly, staring around at his best friend's room one more time before turning on his heel and leaving, sitting down on the old couch and burying his face in his hands.

"TK…" A pair of warm arms wrapped around his shoulders, and he opened one bleary eye to see Hikari staring at him with her cinnamon eyes, the same eyes that always smiled when Kari looked his way. "She was your best friend, wasn't she?"

"Well, she used to be… The last time I spoke to her, though, it wasn't under such pleasant circumstances. She was really angry with me, but I can't even remember why. It's like my mind is doing as much as possible to make sure I forget those last days with her. I just wish I could remember…"

"Weren't you the one who told me not to give up hope, TK?" Hikari smiled at him, and he felt that sickening jolt of recognition. "Everything will work out for the better. We'll both regain all of our memories, and then you'll be able to find Kari again."

Wait, Hikari doesn't remember anything either?! "You'll regain your memories? What happened to make you forget them?"

As Hikari quietly spewed out the story of the fire and of her mother's death, TK became more and more convinced that she really was Kari Kamiya. When she got to the part about the 'dream boy', TK was completely sure that he was staring into the eyes of his best friend. "Um… Are you sure that he's a dream?"

"Positive, TK. It wouldn't make any sense if I were to just remember him and no one else…" Hikari brushed her hair off of her forehead and blew out a sigh. "I hate this, not knowing anything about my past except for what Nobunari has told me. He won't tell me anything about my life before the fire, except that he and my mom were recently divorced."

TK pulled out his wallet and sifted through the pictures he kept with him of every Digidestined before pulling out Tai's picture. "Is this him?"

Hikari rolled her eyes incredulously. "TK, I'm telling you, he doesn't really exist. He's just a… dream…" Her eyes had finally fallen on the soccer player, and her forehead creased in confusion. "What on Earth?! That is him, but… How and why do you have a picture of that boy I've been dreaming about?"

"Hikari, we need to talk more about this, somewhere private. How about you come over to my apartment after Yolei is done?" Hikari slowly nodded and suddenly grinned.

"TK, you're the greatest!" TK blushed as she threw her arms around him again before returning the hug. Yolei, who had been watching them from the corner of her eye, sighed happily, although she would have been quite angry if she had heard the conversation.

Another entity was watching the proceedings, as well. From the doorway of the master bedroom a shadow chuckled slightly at the sight of the embrace before closing the door with a soft click.

"Aargh!" Tai was thrown against the wall of his new cell by a Veggiemon who had come to announce the escape of TK.

"You actually thought that your friend would escape and then come back for you? You were quite wrong, Courage! Hope isn't coming back for you, because he doesn't care. He just wants to make sure he isn't hurt, and other than that he could care less about the Digital World or anything that happens here. The same was true for your other Digidestined pals, but all of them but two have a new view of life in the Digital World. First Reliability, then Sincerity, and most recently Knowledge bowed to our ruler's power and accepted him as their master. It's only a matter of time before Friendship and Love crack, as well. What is Courage without his buddies? Courage is worthless alone, as are you." The Veggiemon slugged him again, and Tai felt blood trickling down the back of his head.

"I'm never alone. Even if the others have all been forced to obey Myotismon, they are still good, and they will never side with the darkness when the time for us to save the worlds comes. We are the Digidestined, and we will destroy any evils that try to destroy this world or any other that needs us, no matter what happens!" Another blow to the side of the head and Tai slumped to the ground, pretending to be unconscious but miraculously being relatively alert.

"Hm. You humans are so weak!" The Veggiemon hopped out of the cell, slamming the door behind him and leaving Tai in complete darkness.

Weak, eh? We'll see who's weak once I find Agumon… Wait, that's it! Joe got Gomamon when he fell to Myotismon! Maybe if I just pretend to do that… Later, maybe… As Tai succumbed to the pounding in his head, he saw a vision of a skinny girl with brown hair laughing alongside Yolei and TK. Kari…?

LINElineLINE

"Alright, Hikari, this is where we get off. See you tonight, Yolei." TK and Hikari stepped from the elevator, the latter looking around the area in confusion. "What's the matter, Hikari?"

"I'm not sure… It's just that I feel like I've been here before… And for some reason that makes me feel kind of sick…" As TK watched in alarm Hikari collapsed against the wall, sobbing as she slid to the floor.

"Hikari!" TK picked her up and carried her down the hall to his apartment as quickly as he could. The door, luckily, was unlocked, and he laid her down on the couch as gently as possible. She was still sobbing slightly, and her eyes were twitching underneath her lids. "Hikari, are you alright?"

"TK? What's going on?" Gatomon leaped onto the back of the couch and almost fell right back off. "Hye, where'd you pick up Kari?!"

"So you recognize her too! She thinks she's a girl named Hikari Kurayami, and she has this crazy 'dad' who hits her and tries to control her entire life. She keeps having dreams about Tai, and when she came up here she got really dizzy and fainted. Something's really wrong with her, though, look at her…"

Hikari suddenly stopped crying and began talking through her slumber. "TK, I don't want to see you again. Get out, I don't want anything to do with you anymore. You thought you could get away with it, but you were wrong. I found out, and I know everything. You disgust me, TK. Get out of my sight! Go, just go!"

"What is that about?" Gatomon reached down to touch Hikari's face, but TK put out a hand to stop her.

"Gatomon, wait. Maybe if I ask her what she's talking about she'll answer me, so I can finally remember what that memory is…" TK knelt next to the girl on the sofa, torn between hoping she was Kari and believing that maybe she was just Hikari having a dream about their conversation from earlier. "Hikari… No, Kari, what did I do? Why did you get so mad at TK?"

"He told me that he loved me. He said that he was completely in love with me, just after I had seen him with that other girl, and he then he said that I should just forget the past and become his girl. Not girlfriend, just his girl. It sickened me…" Hikari's, or Kari's, voice was dull and slow, almost as if she was in a trance. "I wish I hadn't remembered him…"

Her eyes flew open as soon as she said this, but they weren't brown. For that matter, they were glowing pink, and focused themselves on TK. "Young Hope, your thoughts were correct. This is Light, but she isn't herself." Kari's voice was now oddly calm, and she sounded older than she really was.

"Huh? Who are you?" TK backed away from the couch, his eyes wide with terror. "What did you do to Kari? Are you the reason why she can't remember anything about herself?!"

"TK, don't be so stupid. Don't you remember this voice from your first adventure in the Digital World, the time when Tai and Wargreymon were trying to duel Matt and Metalgarurumon? Try to show some respect that she would even show up to help us!" Gatomon jumped from her perch and landed in a graceful bow next to TK. "Please, great one, help us get Kari back."

The girl laughed. "I am not great by any means; no, I am only the Light Deity of the Digital World, come to return Light to her former self. Only Hope can bring back Light, but it must not happen just yet."

"What?! Why not?!" TK's blue eyes blazed with anger as he leaped to his feet. "If I can bring back Kari then I'm going to do it now!"

"Young Hope, think of what you are saying. If you were to force Light to return to her own mind now, the effects could be catastrophic. The Lord of the Dead is not the only digital presence who wishes to have control of the light. There is another, the one who caused these problems in the first place, and he would jump at the chance to have Light in her true form." The deity sighed, brushing Hikari's or Kari's or whoever's hair out of her eyes. "You must first discover how she is being kept in this condition and make sure they are rendered helpless to hurt her anymore before you can bring her back."

TK looked down. Maybe she's right… I just want her to come back so that I can apologize to her… Then again, if she doesn't consciously remember me, maybe I should just let her be… She might still hate me if she remembers me…

"Hope, think logically. Everyone but Courage and yourself have given up on Light ever remembering herself. There is a reason. False memories have been planted into each of their minds, as they have been in the minds of all of the Digidestined, including the small portion of Light's mind that knows who she really is. You must separate myth from reality and face your fears, otherwise Light will be lost forever."

TK nodded. "Alright, tell me what I have to do."

"You must help Hikari defeat the darkness both around and inside her before she will be able to become the true Light. Trust yourself, and you will not fail. I must go, but remember this; where there is darkness, there is always light. Goodbye." The light deity closed her eyes, and moments later Hikari opened her big brown eyes.

"TK? What happened?" Gatomon instantly went into stuffed animal mode as the girl sat up and stared around her. "How did I get in here?"

"You kind of fainted in the hallway, so I brought you in here. I could have left you outside, but I was having a kind hearted moment." TK grinned at her. "Seriously, though, we need to talk. What Yolei told me earlier really ticked me off, about your dad abusing you, and I-"

"He's not abusing me; he's just confused, really." Hikari looked at her hands, which were folded in her lap, and TK thought he saw her lips tremble. "He told me that if I dyed my hair black it would make people think I was his daughter, because he has black hair, so I did. I guess he's just used to me wearing a lot of make-up, and that's why he didn't like how I looked without it. I've always thought that I might look a lot like my mom. That would explain why he wants me to wear make-up, so I don't remind him of her every time he sees me." A tear ran down her cheek as she looked back up at TK, and his heart almost ripped in two. "TK, I know he loves me, and that's why he's so sensitive about what I do and how I look. He's just afraid of losing me, like he lost my mom."

TK sat beside her on the couch and put an arm around her. "Hikari, maybe you need to tell him how you feel. I think that if he knew how much he hurts you, he would stop. Maybe that's why he drinks so much, because he thinks you don't love him. Does that make any sense to you?" Yeah, and on the way make him tell you that he's not really your dad, and that you still have family and friends who love you…

Hikari nodded and buried her face in his shoulder, muffling her words. "Yeah, but what if he doesn't listen to me? What if he just gets angry again? I know he loves me, and I love him too, but sometimes it feels like he's really not my father, or that if he is my real dad he doesn't want me. He scares me so much sometimes… TK, I don't think I can talk to him. I just…" Hikari sobbed against his shoulder, her frail body shaking.

'You must help Hikari defeat the darkness both around and inside her before she will be able to become the true light…' That's what I have to do. I have to help her figure out that her 'father' is actually evil! But wait a second… Does that means he's a Digimon? Wow. This is going to be harder than I thought. "Don't worry, Hikari, I'll help you. I'll be there with you, alright?" TK held her close to him and buried his face in her hair, breathing in the scent of raspberries and creme. I'll help you remember me, Kari...

Tai woke up to the sound of crying Digimon. A moment after his eyes flew open, the door to his cell burst open and a group of baby Digimon were forced inside with him, followed by one very angry Elecmon and one very lofty looking group of Veggiemon. "Try and wake Courage, would you? We need to ask him some questions…"

"Courage? Who is that?" Elecmon stopped growling at the Veggiemon long enough to see Tai's crumpled form. "Oh, no! Not Tai, not him! Please, Tai, wake up! Don't be hurt, or- or…" The baby Digimon all began squeaking and crying, and soon they were jumping all over the Digidestined leader.

"Get these babies off of me!" Tai stood up, throwing all of the babies to the floor, being very careful not to accidentally step on any of them. Sorry, Elecmon, but this might be the only chance I have to get out of here alive and non-evil.

"Good, you decided to join the waking world. Now, get out here!" The lead Veggiemon tried to pull him over the sea of wailing baby Digimon, but Tai swatted his fist away.

"I only take orders from Lord Myotismon. Take me to see him, and maybe I'll tell you what I know. Otherwise, you can forget it. I don't listen to a weak, worthless champion such as yourself!" Come on, take the bait, take the bait…

"Eh? So, you have decided to join us, Courage! Come this way, then. Actually, we have been instructed to test you first." The lead Veggiemon closed his eyes for a moment before smiling darkly. "If you really think champion Digimon are worthless, why don't you show us how worthless this Elecmon is by hurting him, right in front of his precious little babies."

No! I can't do it, I won't do it! I… I kind of don't have much of a choice… Straining his mouth to grin as darkly as possible, Tai hopped over the tiny squalling Digimon and stood over Elecmon, who was now trembling with fear. His back was to the door and the Veggiemon, and he whispered to Elecmon as quietly as possible, knowing that the big red ears he possessed would allow him to understand. "Fake it, Elecmon. I won't kick you, but just pretend that I did so I can get out of here and save all of us." Out loud, Tai laughed and added a dark undertone to his voice. "With pleasure. Let the babies cry!" Tai shot his foot out, and right on cue Elecmon fell over backwards, clutching his stomach and screeching in pain. "What did I tell you. Weak."

"Alright, Courage. Let's go pay a visit to Lord Myotismon." The Veggiemon led Tai out of the small cell, laughing when Elecmon's babies sobbed behind them.

I really hope that this was worth all of the trouble… TK, hurry up and bring Davis and the others. We need help!

ENDendEND

Khgirl08: yup, yup, this is a short chapter, but just because I wanted to put certain things that will be happening quite soon into one chapter, and if I put all of them into this chapter it would be almost twenty two pages long (that's just a guesstimate, but still, it's probably about right.) Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy it, because I'm updating Princess of the Keyblade next, followed by Pokemon Retour, if I can write the next chapter. I'm thinking about deleting that story and restarting it a little later… Yeah… Bye! Please review, please!