Chapter 10: Sunrise and New Plans
Hi everyone. I'd like to say another big thanks to those of you who reviewed the last chapter and to those of you who have given me the motivation to get ten chapters into this fic.
I still don't own Digimon or anything else copyrighted that I mention in this fic. I'm running out of lines to put in here after the disclaimers … hmm … err … nope nothing witty is coming to mind. Oh well, on with the story …
Kari felt a freezing wind blow through her clothes, making her shiver. She found the ground she was lying on was cold, hard, unforgiving rock. The Digidestined of Light could sense darkness all around her as she attempted to figure out where she was. Everything felt vague and fuzzy as her senses tried to register what was going on. She could hear the explosions and roars of a battle raging above her as sounds finally registered in her ears.
The brunette had no idea how she got there, her memory being as blurred as her vision when she opened her eyes. Everything appeared dark, like daylight tainted by the evil darkness only a demonic Digimon could create. Kari's eyesight slowly returned to her. She made out several figures running around, trying to get to cover. She then saw other figures already in cover behind large rocks outcropping from the ground or behind the remains of the Greek-like marble temples. Her eyes then noticed there were bodies lying still on the ground of what she now recognised as the Plateau of Infinity Mountain.
She had no idea when or why TK had allowed the Digidestined into the Digiworld to fight Neodevimon but she put that aside as the prone bodies told her they were definitely in a rough fight. She turned her head up to the sky to try and locate her Digimon partner amongst the many combatants in the battle raging above her. Her mahogany eyes located the eight white wings of Angewomon as well as the orange metal armour of Wargreymon. She mentally noted there were less Digimon than humans, something that seriously worried her.
Kari suddenly became aware of a person next to her. She turned to face them and found TK's sapphire eyes staring back at her. His face was full of pain and anxiety. Kari attributed this to the battle not going the way they had intended.
The Digidestined of Light then sensed the darkness they were fighting. Her sixth sense located it right above her and her boyfriend and it was now homing in on them. Kari, for reasons she still couldn't remember, believed the source of this evil was Neodevimon and he was now diving down towards them. She could feel his presence getting closer and closer without even turning to look at the devil. Fear gripped the teen girl's entire body as she froze on the spot. She tried to force her legs to move but they just wouldn't. It felt like they belonged to someone else or they were concreted to the ground. Neodevimon was right on top of them and she realised she was going to die.
Suddenly someone pushed her to one side. The force of the shove lifted her off her feet and sent her flying several metres through the air. It was more like she had been thrown than pushed. She landed hard on the front of her body as her sixth sense told her who had thrown her to safety. Kari's sense recognised the light from TK's body that was emitted by the Crest of Hope. She always sensed it in his body every time they were close. He had pushed her away in an attempt to save her. The brunette's extra sense sent a wave of horror through her body as she felt the warm light of TK collide with the cold dark evil of Neodevimon. The darkness won.
Kari lurched forward, her eyes now wide open and her lungs gasping for air. She began panting heavily as her soft brown eyes refocused, telling her it was night time and she was safe in her bedroom. She was sweating heavily as she threw her pink bed covers to one side.
"Kari, what's wrong?" Gatomon asked with her concern clear in her voice.
"Nothing, I hope. It was just a nightmare," Kari sighed in relief and wiped the sweat off her face with the pink sleeve of her pyjama top. She turned to look at her alarm clock that read 4:28 in deep red numbers. Her eyes then caught on the pink flip phone next to it.
"Do you mind if I ask what it was about?" Gatomon asked as she watched Kari reach over to the phone sat on the pine bedside table. "It appeared really bad from the way you were constantly moving."
"It was about TK," Kari answered as she flipped open her phone. She felt as if she had to check on him to see if he was ok, even if it was the middle of the night. Her delicate fingers pressed the buttons, opening her contact list and scrolling down to TK. She selected his name and pressed the green dial button. Kari placed the ear piece to the side of her head and listened to the dial tone.
"Hello," TK answered the phone almost straightaway. Kari noticed his breathing appeared heavy and his voice sounded slightly worried.
"Hi TK," Kari replied as wave of relief flowed through her body. He was ok but she felt she had better ask to make sure. She also felt a little guilty for waking him at this time of night. The teen girl knew her boyfriend needed all the sleep he could get at the moment.
"I'm sorry if I woke you," she continued after a brief pause. "Are you ok? Did I wake you?"
"I'm fine thanks and no, you didn't wake me. I had a really bad nightmare and I haven't been able to get back to sleep. I'm actually kind of relieved to hear your voice," she listened to TK's replied leave the speaker in her phone and remove her guilt about the timing of her call. "How about you? What's wrong?"
Kari noticed the concern still in his voice as he spoke. She took a deep breath before she replied into the mouth piece of her phone. "I had a nightmare too, TK. It left me with a feeling that I just had to ring you and check that you're ok. It's stupid, I know. I'm sorry."
"It's not stupid," TK reassured her in a caring tone. "And you have nothing to be sorry about."
"Thanks," Kari replied as a smiled formed on her lips.
The couple entered a brief pause where neither said anything and they just sat there listening to each other's breathing. It was TK who finally broke the silence.
"Listen Kari," the brunette sat more upright as she heard his words leave the speaker of her phone. "I don't think I'm going to be able to get back to sleep tonight and … err … I was wondering if you wanted to meet up and watch the sunrise? That is if you're not too tired and you don't want more sleep."
"I'd love to do that, TK," Kari's voice portrayed her obvious enthusiasm over the phone. "Besides, after that nightmare I don't think I'd be able to go back to sleep either."
"Ok," she listened to his answer. "Then how about we meet in the park at five thirty?"
"It's a date," Kari responded in a playful tone and heard TK laugh on the other side. "I'll see you there. Love you."
"I love you too," he replied with his affection clearly showing as he made a kiss sound down the phone. "See you in a bit."
"See you in a bit, love." Calling TK "love" sent a wave of pleasure and optimism through Kari's body. It was something she couldn't quite put her finger on as she climbed out of bed to get ready to meet her boyfriend in the middle of the night.
TK's right hand caressed the soft skin of Kari's blushing cheek, tilting her head to the right as he did so. His left arm, which was wrapped around her waist, pulled her body as close as it could get to his. Kari's arms mimicked TK's as the couple entered a tight embrace. They both slowly closed their eyes as the distance between their faces became less and less. The lovers opened their lips slightly in anticipation of the kiss they were about to receive.
The teen's soft lips met sending a wave of joy through their bodies as a reward for kissing the one they love. They slowly pulled back, brushing their lips against the other's before opening their mouth slight wider and gently pushing forward for more. They kept going, brushing their lips back and forth and savouring the kiss. Time felt as if it had stopped completely. Neither of the two teenagers cared because they wished they could stay like that forever.
They realised their bodies had begun to cry out for air and that the kiss was coming to an end. Then a sudden revelation occurred to them, they could breathe out of their noses. This allowed them to continue with the kiss and enjoy the pleasures it brought for longer. All thoughts of their nightmares had definitely left their minds now.
Patamon and Gatomon glanced at each other, both of them wondering how long the kiss would last for. They then looked around the park, taking in the atmosphere. The cool summer morning air was gently propelled along by a soft breeze that swayed the leaves of the trees in the park. The sky was a cloudless lightening blue and the increasing brightness of the sky suggested the Sun would soon rise over the eastern horizon. It was by all accounts a perfect summer morning.
Patamon, who was sat on a stone wall at the entrance to the park, turned to face Gatomon. "How long can they stay like that?"
Gatomon turned to face the friend she was sat next to and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I've never timed how long humans kiss for. I've never had the chance either because TK is the first person Kari's kissed."
"I'm sure kisses haven't been this long when I've seen Matt and Sora or Yolei and Ken kiss," Patamon thought aloud as he scratched the back of his head with his black paw. "I wonder when they'll need to stop for air."
After hearing this, TK and Kari broke the kiss and burst out laughing. They turned their heads to face the Digimon sitting on the sandstone wall next to them.
"You don't see them kiss like that because they only do it when there's nobody around," TK winked at his partner.
"And we were breathing through our noses," Kari giggled at the innocence of their Digimon before glancing around to make sure nobody had caught her and TK. The streets around the park were empty with nobody walking or even driving around at this early hour of the day. It was unusually peaceful for Odaiba, or for any part of Tokyo for that matter.
"Ah," Patamon realised he hadn't thought about that. "That explains why you could kiss for that long."
The humans giggled again before TK glanced to the sky. "Come on. Let's head to the seafront to watch the sunrise. We'll get a better view from there."
Kari smiled as she reluctantly released the embrace of her love. "Ok, let's go," she said as she kept her right arm across TK's back. TK returned the gesture, leaving his left arm around her waist as they walked in the direction of the sea. Patamon and Gatomon followed behind them, talking about the strange and different combinations of Digimon kissing.
"How would an Orgemon and a Parrotmon kiss?" Patamon asked as he tried to imagine the two Digimon trying to show affection towards each other.
"I don't think they could," laughed Gatomon. "But I think it would work better than a Whamon trying to kiss a Shellmon."
"I think Whamon would look like he's trying to eat someone when he tries to kiss them," Patamon laughed at the image as it appeared in his mind.
Eventually, after a few minutes with lots of strange Digimon pairings and lots of laughter from the Digimon and humans, they finally reached the seafront. TK and Kari, still with their arms around each other, made their way to a white bench that over looked the sea.
The group took a seat on the bench and fell into a comfortable silence. Kari sat up against TK with her arm still around him and her head resting on his shoulder. TK's arm was also still around the brunette's back as he gently rested his blonde head on top of hers.
As if on cue, the first rays of light from the bright orange orb, which is the Sun, hit the city. They spread out majestically, illuminating the Tokyo skyline as the top to the great sphere of fire peeped above the tower blocks of the eastern horizon. The Sun continued to gradually rise, revealing more of itself into the lightening sky.
Kari thought the sight was beautiful but she sighed as thoughts of her nightmare returned. She found herself subconsciously tightening her embrace of her boyfriend. "I guess you already know what my nightmare was about."
"I think so," TK's grip tightened too as he spoke in a solemn tone similar to Kari's. "I'm guessing it was like mine, us four with some of the other Digidestined and Neodevimon."
"Yep," Kari nodded as she continued to watch the Sun climb over the Tokyo tower blocks.
"The last week has felt like I've been in a dream," TK's sapphire eyes glanced down to Kari. "I'm now living my greatest dream with you and at the same time I'm living my worst nightmare by having to face Devimon again."
Kari tilted her head and allowed her mahogany eyes to meet TK's gaze. She gave him a reassuring smile. "I know what you mean. It does feel a bit surreal. When you defeat Neodevimon we'll be able to live our greatest dream out together and not have to worry about any nightmares."
"Yeah," TK smiled back before glancing over to the Sun. It had now risen over the tower blocks and into the sky, shining its light over the whole city. Then an idea came into the blonde boy's head. "Let's get some breakfast, I'm buying."
"Ok," Kari replied as she shifted to stand up. "This has sure been an interesting way to spend our first date."
The thick blinds stopped most of the sunlight from entering the nearly empty classroom in the main building Odaiba Junior High. Instead of being outside in the good weather like the other teens at the school, four figures perched on their individual wooden desks and had entered a difficult conversation. There was definite tension hanging in the air.
"Dude, you need a new tactic," Davis spoke with a slight hint of exasperation in his voice. It had taken a lot of persuading from him and Ken to get TK to have this conversation.
"Davis is right," Ken added somewhat reluctantly. "Who is going to fight Neodevimon if you get injured?"
"We'd have to fight and I'm sure you don't want that," Davis finished his point and emphasised the end of the sentence.
TK groaned and rubbed the side of his head. His body language clearly said he didn't want to be involved in this conversation. He took a quick glance for support from Kari, who was sitting with her legs crossed on the table next to his. "You know I don't want anyone else getting involved in this."
"We might have to get involved if you get torn up every time you fight." The result from TK's last battle with Neodevimon was still clear in Davis' mind as he spoke. "How long would it be before he does what he did last time again and actually does more than just scratch you?"
"No one else is going to get involved, Davis," TK's words were stern this time. He even sounded slightly agitated by the direction of the conversation. "Neodevimon would start killing you all and not give a damn. It is exactly what he wants to happen."
Kari let out a cough to get the group's attention before she added her view to the conversation. "Listen guys, TK knows we care about him and that we don't want him to get hurt again. That means he will do his best to make sure we don't worry by keeping himself safe. Won't you, TK?"
"Of course," TK replied with a matter of fact tone as he looked over at the girl he was in a secret relationship with. "As Tai said; if anyone dies then we've lost and that includes me. Besides, I don't want to die because I have too much to live for."
"How can we be sure that he won't do that same thing again and kill you next time?" Ken asked in a tenor that still showed his concern.
"I told you he wants me alive, remember?" TK took a deep breath and clenched his fist. "He wants to make me suffer by forcing me to watch him kill everyone I care about. That's why Patamon and I have to do this alone."
Although Ken and Davis were definitely not convinced, they decided to leave the subject and try to move on. They had managed to get their point across. Unfortunately, they had not managed to get TK to come up with a new tactic but there was still time for him to do that.
Tai, Matt, Sora and Izzy all sat on the sofa and chairs in the living area of the Kamiya apartment. They all were wearing the green and white school uniforms that both Odaiba Junior High and Senior High wore. Izzy was busy setting up his laptop to show his friends some important information on the current condition of the Digiworld. The computer genius had met up with the others after their classes had ended an hour ago.
"Normally I'm happy at the start of summer break but at the moment …" Matt trailed off, knowing he didn't need to finish his sentence. The blonde rock star was sat with his right arm around Sora's shoulders.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Tai sounded somewhat worried. "Neodevimon is too much of a problem for us to be able to relax."
"Just think how TK feels about all of it," Sora added as she rested her head on Matt's shoulder and slipped her arm around his back. "I wonder how he's coping."
"The best person to ask would be Kari," Tai glanced over to Sora as he spoke. "She's been with him everyday since Neodevimon returned. We can ask her when she gets home, assuming she hasn't gone to straight to TK's."
"May I interrupt you guys for a moment?" Izzy asked as he finished typing on his laptop.
"Sure Izzy," Tai said as he turned his attention him. "We all met up because you wanted to talk to us. Now, what is it you wanted to show us?"
"This," Izzy pointed to the screen. It was a map of File Island that had a grid over laying it. The centre of the map consisted of solid black squares which changed to grey and eventually white squares as the distance increased from the centre.
"That looks like one of the maps you used two years ago to show which areas had control spires in," Matt recalled the image from the time when the Digidestined faced the Digimon Emperor.
"It's the same software. It is what I've been using to track the dark disturbances in the Digital World," Izzy informed them. "This is a live image from File Island."
"What?" Tai asked as a look of shock formed on his and the other's faces. "Where did the control spires come from?"
"They're not control spires, Tai," Izzy corrected the older boy. "This is the dark disturbance that Neodevimon has been creating since he arrived in the Digital World. It originally was only in the square that represents the Peak of Infinity Mountain but now, as you can see, it has spread far beyond it."
"How is he creating it?" Sora asked as she stared at the black area on the laptop screen.
"Probably the same way all evil Digimon create areas of darkness for themselves," the red haired boy answered.
"Will it stop our Digimon from digivolving like the control spires did?" Matt asked with his growing concern evident in his voice.
"I don't know," Izzy shook his head. "So far it hasn't stopped Patamon digivolving."
"How long have we got until the darkness covers all of File Island?" Tai spoke in a serious tone that matched his facial expressions.
The genius sighed. He was becoming slightly annoyed with all the questions he was being bombarded with. "I don't know yet. It seems to grow sporadically, some days it grows a lot and others it only grows a bit. I'll need a few more days to come up with a decent estimation."
"Hi guys." The group jumped in surprise and turned around to see Kari standing behind them, waving her greeting. They hadn't heard her come in.
"Hi Kari," Izzy, Matt and Sora replied in unison and returned the wave.
"Please excuse me for a minute, guys, I'm just going to get changed." Kari gave the group a polite bow before heading into her room and closing the door.
"I think we should show this to TK," Matt turned back and pointed to the laptop screen.
"I was thinking of going to see him after we finished here," Izzy turned back to his laptop and closed the window containing the information on the Digiworld.
"That sounds like a good idea. I think I might join you," Matt added before turning to Sora. "Are you coming?"
"Yeah," Sora replied. "I can see if he's alright after what happened on Wednesday."
"I'll come too. Maybe we can help TK come up with a new plan of attack," Tai added as he stood up. The others did the same and headed over to the exit of the apartment.
"Where are you going?" Kari asked as she left her room after quickly changing into a pink tank top and a denim skirt.
"We're going to TK's to speak with him," Tai answered as he slipped on his shoes. "Izzy has got some information he wants to show him. Are you coming?"
"Yeah," Kari sounded a little disappointed as she spoke. It suggested to the others that she wanted to be alone with her best friend. "I was already going to see him. I just needed to get changed before I went over to his apartment."
"That's good. When we get there, we can show you what's happening to File Island too," Tai replied. "And maybe we can help TK plan for his next battle."
"I'm not sure he'd like that," Kari informed the group in a concerned voice.
"Why not?" Matt asked as worry entered his tone too.
Kari pursed her lips and furrowed her brows. "Davis and Ken spoke to him earlier about fighting Neodevimon and I could tell he didn't want to talk about it. He's under a lot of stress at the moment and he doesn't want people trying to make him do things in a way he's not comfortable with."
"As you'd expect for someone in his position," Sora thought aloud in a caring manner.
"I think we shouldn't push him to come up with anything," Matt interjected. "TK could become very upset with us if we go about this the wrong way. Trust me I know. He didn't speak to me for a few weeks after I told Cody about his history with Devimon."
"I say we just remind him we are here to help if he needs us," Izzy placed his right hand on his chin as he thought. "And maybe try and give him a few ideas if any come into our heads."
"Does anyone know how much sleep he's been getting?" Sora asked as the thought came into her head. She looked to Matt for an answer. "I can imagine he's having nightmares about the whole situation."
It was Kari who responded instead. "Not a lot. It stops him from getting to sleep and his nightmares wake him up when he does finally get some sleep."
"Is that why you were on the phone at whatever time it was during the night?" Tai asked with a raised eyebrow. "And then you went off to meet him before breakfast too."
"Yeah," Kari answered quietly as her cheeks turned a light pink. She shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.
"You two are having breakfast now? Not even Sora and I do that," Matt teased the younger girl, not knowing that she actually was in a secret relationship with his younger brother.
"Was it at Tiffany's?" Tai added with a smirk growing on his face as he watched his younger sister's blush deepen.
"And I said what about breakfast at Tiffany's," Matt started to sing as he made a mental note to tease TK about it later.
Sora jabbed Matt in the side with her elbow to make him stop. "Come on guys, we should be heading to TK's. This information is quiet important you know."
TK led his visitors to the lounge of the Takaishi apartment, offering them all a seat on the sofas. The blonde boy glanced over to Kari and gave her a questioning look as he took a seat on the edge of one of the sofas.
Kari recognised the look. She knew it was one asking how did everyone else ended up with her when they were planning to have some time alone. The brunette sat down on the sofa next to TK. She sighed, wanting to be alone with her boyfriend as well so they could share their feelings. Kari offered him an apologetic look that showed she had not intended it. She was relieved when he gave her a knowing and forgiving smile that let her know he now understood.
"Tai told me earlier that Kari had left for school really early today. In fact it was so early that nobody else in their apartment was up," Matt teased his brother and Kari as he took a seat next to Sora.
"I wonder who she could have been having breakfast with," Tai joined before both he and Matt started singing the lyrics to Breakfast at Tiffany's again.
Kari again gazed over to her right to TK, who gazed back at her. She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks and realised her face was probably the same rosy pink colour as her secret boyfriend's.
"They've been singing that all the way here," the brunette girl huffed to illustrate her annoyance to the older boys.
"Can we be serious for a minute?" Izzy interrupted as he opened his laptop and set it down on the wooden table in front of the sofas. The genius knelt down on the floor and began typing away so he could retrieve the information he was showing the others earlier.
"Sorry Izzy," Tai stopped his singing and lent against the wall that the TV was hung on.
"Thank you," Izzy said as he turned to face TK. "There's a growing problem in the Digital World."
"What do you mean?" TK asked with concern as the blush started to fade from his face and was replaced with a serious expression.
"Look at this," Izzy turned the laptop in the direction of the younger teen.
"That looks like a control spire map," said Kari as she recognised the software her friend was using.
"That's what we said," Matt interjected. "It isn't monitoring control spires though."
"No, it picks up the dark disturbances in the Digiworld …"
"That's the darkness of Neodevimon spreading," TK interrupted Izzy. The blonde wanted to get straight to the point. "How fast is it spreading?"
"I don't know," Izzy sighed. "I'll need a couple of days to work out a decent estimation. It has being growing sporadically so far."
TK groaned and placed his head in his palms. He ruffled his hair as he though over how he was going to solve the problem. "I'll go and face him tomorrow."
"Are you sure you're ready after last time?" Sora's face mirrored the concern in her voice.
"They were only scratches," the blonde teen reassured the older girl. "It looked worse than it was."
The group suddenly went silent as they heard the apartment door close and someone walk in.
"Hi TK, I'm home." It was Matt and TK's mother, Nancy, arriving home from work. "I see you've got guests around."
"Hi Mom," TK and Matt called in unison to their mother as they watched her enter the living area of the apartment.
"Hi Ms. Takaishi," the other Digidestined added as she waved to them all.
Nancy had a serious expression on her face as she looked over the teenagers sat around the laptop. "I want to know what's going on. I found one of TK's school shirts torn and covered in blood this morning before I went to work. There's something going on in the Digiworld, right?"
Looks of anxiety were shared between the Digidestined as they tried to work out who was going to respond.
"I was there and it looked worse than it was, Mom," Matt answered, trying to cover for his younger brother. "TK slipped and ended up sliding down a small rocky hill while we were looking for something in the Digiworld on Wednesday."
"Yeah," Tai added. "The hill wasn't that big and he only ripped his shirt and got a few small grazes."
Nancy sighed. She couldn't prove them wrong because she had no evidence to do so, but she knew something else was going on. "You know I worry when you kids go off into the Digital World to fight."
"We know, Mom," TK responded in a sombre tone.
She glanced to the floor before looking over to both of her sons sitting next to each other on the sofas. "Are you fighting something again? I just need to know."
"Yes," Matt replied simply after a brief silence where he exchanged glances with his brother.
"Please, just keep safe," Nancy spoke in a caring tone. "That goes for all of you. I don't want to come home one day and find out that one of you had got more than just scratches from falling."
"We will keep ourselves safe, Mom," TK reassured her. His mother nodded before going to her bedroom and leaving the teenagers to continue their business.
Ok guys, you know what to do now. Click that review button below and leave your comments. Thanks =D
And just so you know, the action returns in the next chapter.