Summary: TK and Kari are pretty much 'the perfect couple' in their sophomore class and two of the most popular kids in high school. But when someone from Kari's not so long ago past moves to Odiaba, will "the perfect couple" stay "the perfect couple" or will everything come to a crashing end?
You Save Me
'Just A Dream'
(don't own Carrie Underwood either)
"I don't know what to do Gatomon," said Kari when she got home. "Part of me loves TK and another part of me loves Willis. I feel like no matter who I choose, I'm gonna regret my decision either way!"
"Kari, I'm not quite sure what to tell ya. Just listen to your heart, it will tell you who to choose," replied Gatomon. "Tell me this, who can ya see yourself getting married to? Who can ya see having kids with? Who can ya see growing old with?"
"But I'm too young to get married and have kids, I'm only a sophomore in high school! I do want to get married and have a family someday, but I still have a few more years to decide who I want to marry." Kari said as she sighed again. Her headache seemed to be getting worse and worse by the hour.
"I know that Kari, but ya have to think long term. TK and Willis are two very special people in your life and if you can't see yourself getting married to one of them, then obviously you weren't meant to be with that one," explained Gatomon.
"Why me? Why do I have to choose?" Kari complained, "why can't Willis just like me as a friend? Why must he make it so complicated? I am the worst girlfriend ever."
"I'm sure you'll figure things out Kari. Ya always have before," assured Gatomon.
Kari's headache was getting worse and worse. She took some aspirin but nothing seemed to relieve the pain and the tension in her head. Kari went to bed early, hoping a good night's rest would relieve the pain. She tossed and turned all night and when she woke up, she was covered in a cold sweat. As if the pain wasn't bad enough already, it seem like her headache was even worse.
As Kari got ready for school, she felt mentally drained. It was a struggle to stay awake to apply her make up and eat breakfast. She was so tired, she couldn't tell if she was awake or day dreaming. Kari kept seeing shadows out from the corner of her eyes and felt like she was going crazy. When she asked Gatomon if she saw them too, she replied, "ya must be crazy."
Kari walked to school all alone. She hadn't talked to TK or Willis since last Saturday night and now she only had three and a half days to decide who to choose. She kept changing her mind every minute. Kari had a hard time paying attention in her classes because of the huge distraction in her personal life.
Of course, TK and Willis tried to talk to Kari. However, when she would see one of them walking towards her, she'd quickly run away. They both tried texting her, leaving notes in her locker and calling her non-stop but she ignored their pleas.
Wednesday was even worse for Kari. She tossed and turned all night and woke up in a cold sweat once again. She was beginning to have nightmares and the same shadows she saw during the day were slipping into her dreams. The shadows she kept seeing during the day were becoming more and more predominate. She felt like she was drifting away and she was losing control of her mind. Now Kari only had two and a half days to choose and she began to feel like she was on one of those reality dating shows. Only, this was real life and she had no big time TV producer telling her who to choose.
Every time Kari saw Cody in the hallway, he stopped and pointed to his watch, implying she needed to hurry up and choose already. It seemed like Cody was following her everywhere, being a constant reminder and being a constant pest. Everywhere Kari looked, there he was. Seeing him only made her more stressed and upset about the situation she was in. Yolie, Davis, Ken, Jake and TK were starting to worry about her. Each one of them tried to talk to her but she avoided them all. Kari didn't want anyone to influence her decision in any way.
By Thursday, Kari knew there was definitely something wrong with her. Half the time she couldn't tell if she was in some sort of dream world or in the real world. She kept drifting back in forth between her horrible nightmares and real life. She was not only seeing shadows, she was starting to hear voices the in her mind. Kari took Gatomon to school to help her stay in reality. During lunch, Gatomon snuck away for a few minutes to talk to Yolie, Davis, Ken, TK, Jake and Cody about Kari.
"There is something seriously wrong with her!" Gatomon told them. "She keeps tossing and turning at night and she wakes up in a cold sweat every morning. She can't tell if she's awake or dreaming half the time. Each day she has gotten worse and worse and she's becoming more and more distant. We need to do something before I'm afraid we're going to lose her!"
"I didn't know it was that bad." Yolie replied, "I noticed she hasn't been quite herself."
"Maybe if I went to go talk to her," suggested TK.
"NO! That could be possibly the worse thing ya could do!" Gatomon exclaimed, "I'm no therapist but her mind is so unstable right now. Ya might send her over the edge and she might fall into her dream world forever!"
"I feel so helpless. I'm her boyfriend...I think... but I should try to help her!" TK replied.
"I know it's hard TK but she needs to figure this out on her own," explained Gatomon. "I just wish I knew what set her off her kilter."
"Do you think she'll come out of this funk?" Jake asked concerned.
"I sure hope so," answered Gatomon as she looked back to see Kari staring at her plate. "I should get back to her."
As Gatomon walked away, the others stared at Kari. They were all worried about her, even Cody. He was starting to feel guilty. He knew it was his fault she was acting like this. If he wouldn't have pushed her to choose maybe she would still be acting normal.
"This is all my fault," TK said, starting one of his 'I could have' speeches again. "I could have done something. I could have tried to stop this whole thing. I could have tried to prevent Willis from even getting close to Kari."
"TK, will you just shut up!" Cody snapped, "it is not your fault she's like this!"
"Cody's right TK. There is probably nothing you could have done to prevent this," Ken agreed.
"It's my fault," admitted Cody.
"Why is it your fault?" Davis asked confused.
"Yeah, why?" TK asked curiously.
"On Monday, I was so annoyed with you complaining about Kari that I told her that she needed to choose between you and Willis. I said some other things and I think I set her over the edge cause it wasn't until Tuesday she started acting weird. I only did it to help her choose faster and resolve this whole situation but I think I only made her go crazy."
"I'm going to fucking kill you, you fucking little brat!" TK exclaimed and reached out his arms to choke him.
Davis grabbed TK and pulled him away from Cody as Ken grabbed Cody away from TK. Jake helped Davis keep and hold TK back from attacking Cody.
"TK! Knock it off!" Yolie yelled at him. "Fighting is not gonna solve anything!"
TK started to calm down and Davis and Jake let him go. "I'm sorry Cody."
"I'm sorry too TK."
Friday finally came and it came sooner than Kari would have liked it to. She still didn't know who to choose and her mind was all mixed up. In a few hours, she knew Cody was ready to tell TK everything about her and Willis and possibly lose TK forever. She was physically and mentally tired but she was too scared to fall asleep. Kari dreamed the same nightmare every night. In her dreams, she was at a cold, dreary beach and the shadows kept trying to take her to their world. She couldn't tell Gatomon about her dreams. She was afraid Gatomon would think she was even crazier than normal.
In her classes, Kari tried to keep her attention on the teacher but mind would always wonder off into her dream world. It was becoming too much for her to fight it off and her dreams were starting to become too real.
During third period Algebra II, Miss Harrison was teaching the factoring rules. Kari tried her best to pay attention but the more she tried, the more the room became foggier. Soon the room started to disappear in the thick fog and she was sitting in the classroom all alone. She looked down to find herself ankle deep in water.
'This is crazy! I'm not going crazy! Maybe the boys bathroom flooded again!' Kari thought to herself
"Kari!" Gatomon whispered to her from her backpack. "Kari"!
TK looked over at Kari and Gatomon and suddenly became worried. 'She must be in that dream world Gatomon was talking about,' TK thought to himself. Slowly, TK saw Kari start to fade away into nothing.
'Where am I? Why do I keep ending up here?' Kari asked herself. 'Somebody please help me!'
"What's the answer to example number two?" Miss Harrison asked the class. When no one answered, she scanned the classroom and randomly called on Kari. "Kari?"
"Kari?" Gatomon whispered.
"Kari?" TK whispered.
The familiar voices brought Kari back to reality. She looked around to see everyone staring at her. Suddenly, Kari began to feel light headed. She felt so light headed, Kari fainted in her desk. TK jumped from his desk across from her and caught her before she hit the hard tile floor. Willis, who sat behind her, helped TK help Kari up off the floor.
"Kari, are you alright?" Miss Harrison asked concerned. "Would you like to go to the nurse's office?"
Kari nodded and she slowly walked to the door. She walked down the long hallway to the nurse's office. As she walked, Kari had a feeling she was being watched. She quickly turned around and saw nothing.
"I am not going crazy. This is just a dream. I will wake up and everything will be back to normal." She told herself. Kari kept walking down the hallway but still felt like someone was watching her. She turned around again and saw the shadows right behind her. She screamed in horror.
The bell finally rang. TK and Willis ran out the door. The two boys raced each other to the nurse's office, pushing and shoving each other to get there first. TK narrowly beat Willis there.
"Excuse me nurse, may I see Kari?" TK politely asked.
"Me too!" Willis said huffing and puffing.
"I'm sorry boys, Kari's not here," the nurse replied.
"What? Where would she be?" Willis asked aloud.
"Maybe she's in the computer lab." TK said to himself.
"Why would she be there? She's probably in the library," said Willis.
TK ignored him and ran to the computer lab while Willis ran to the library. It was a race to find Kari and TK wanted to find her before Willis did. When TK didn't find her in the computer lab he was afraid Willis had probably already found her. TK knew she loved to read and if Kari was in the library it would make sense. TK ran down the hallway to the library when he heard his name being called.
"TK!"
TK turned around to find Gatomon running after him.
"Do ya know where Kari is?" She asked worriedly.
"No, I can't find her," answered TK concerned.
"Let's keep looking," suggested Gatomon.
TK picked her up and they continued looking for Kari. TK checked the library, the cafeteria, the gym and even the girls bathroom. When they couldn't find her, they wandered around the school.
"Where is she? It's like she just disappeared! What if she's trouble? What if she's in danger?" TK kept rambling on. "What if she's..."
"Right there!" Gatomon exclaimed. Gatomon saw her sitting the courtyard all alone. They quickly ran up to her.
"Kari are you okay? We've been looking all over for you!" TK asked and he sat down beside her and this time she didn't try to runaway from him.
"It was weird. I was at the beach," she replied in a daze.
"You ditched school?" TK asked confused.
"No... the beach in my dreams," explained Kari. "You saw me in class. I was just sitting there and all of sudden I was... at the beach."
"Huh? Now you've totally lost me!" TK replied.
"And on the way to the nurse's office, it happened again," Kari continued to explain. "I was surrounded by a whole bunch of them."
"What do you mean, 'a whole bunch of them?'" TK asked worriedly.
"The shadows. I started seeing them a few days ago and just recently they have been appearing in my dreams. Every time I see them, I end up at the beach," said Kari. "I've been mentally fighting them but now I don't know if I can resist anymore!"
"Kari, you've got to keep fighting!" TK said, getting up and pacing in front of her. He kneeled down in front of her and took her hands and held them tightly, "where are they Kari? We'll fight them together. You don't have to go through this alone!"
"I can't TK," replied Kari, almost in tears. "I'm not strong like you and Tai."
"So you're gonna quit? Give up? Just like that?" TK asked. When she didn't reply, he sat down next to her and gently turned her face to face him. "Look Kari, I love you too much to lose you again. I'm not gonna let anyone take you without a fight!"
Kari looked deep into his ocean blue eyes and she knew he was completely honest about what he had just said. Her tired eyes blinked and then she looked away. She was too embarrassed to let TK know she had already given up. They were interrupted by an announcement on the school intercom.
"There will be a short varsity boys basketball meeting in the gym in five minutes."
"I gotta go. I'll talk to you later, okay?" TK said as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left.
"Kari, ya need to choose him," Gatomon said after TK left.
Kari groaned as she held her head in her hands. She didn't know what to do. She decided it was best if she went home. Kari went back to math room to get her backpack and started walking home. As Kari left the school she could see the beach and the ocean from across the street.
"The beach," Kari said to herself.
"Kari wait up!" Gatomon yelled as she ran after her, trying not to be noticed by other students.
However, Kari didn't hear her. Instead of turning left to go home, Kari walked across the street to the beach. She stopped when she reached the sidewalk that led down to the beach.
"Kari" Gatomon yelled again, now stuck on the other side of the street. Gatomon watched as Kari started disappearing into thin air. "Kari! Are you okay? What's happening to ya?"
The digidestin had always told the digimon to never cross the street without them but she needed to save Kari. Just as Gatomon started to cross the street, a huge semi-truck speed by. When the semi-truck pasted, Kari was no where to be found.
"Where'd she go?" Gatomon asked frantically.
