Chapter 26

Kari let out a loud, shuddering gasp, staring off into the distance. Davis was by her side in an instant. "Kari, what's wrong? What happened?" Davis asked, his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye.

She slowly shook her head, and then squeezed her eyes shut as if she had a headache. "We have to get to the others. Something's wrong. We need to help them."

"Kari, we don't even know where they are," Sora pointed out.

"We can try to find them. We're not good as a group separated like this. We need to be back together. Haven't we learned that by now?"

"Kari, it would take us longer to defeat that DarkMasters if we were together. Staying split up would probably help us in the long run," Tai said.

She shook her head. "I think you're wrong."

"Remember when we fought them before? Remember when we fought Machinedramon? We were able to defeat him with just WarGreymon. We don't necessarily need the others."

"WarGreymon…the light was what helped us defeat Machinedramon, Tai," Kari whispered. "We wouldn't have been able to defeat him without the others if the light hadn't stepped in. We need the others, Tai, and if you don't want to go look for them, I'll go by myself."

Tai grumbled under his breath as he ran a hand through his hair. Deep down he knew that Kari was right, that they had to find the others. But the DigitalWorld was so big, he didn't even know where to start looking for them. And what if the DarkMasters attacked while they were looking for their friends? They wouldn't stand a chance unless a miracle happened. They've gotten lucky before but he didn't know how much longer their luck was going to stick around with them. He could feel everyone's' eyes on him, waiting for him to make a decision, he was the leader after all. "We should…go look in the morning. There's no point in trying to find them tonight. We need to be well rested. So, you younger ones can go to sleep and Matt, Sora, and I will take turns being on the lookout."

"No Tai, let me stay up with the rest of you," Kari said defiantly.

Tai smiled, walked over to his sister, and put his hands on her shoulders. "I appreciate the help, Hikari, but some of us need to be rested just in case something happens. It's only right that Matt, Sora, and I are the ones who should guard the rest of you. Ok? So get some sleep, we'll head out early tomorrow." He kissed her forehead.

"Ok Tai," she sighed.

"Come on, Kari," Yolei said as she grasped her friend's hand and led her to the back of the cave, away from the entrance.

"Tai's just doing what he thinks is right, Kari," Gatomon told her as she walked in circles, finding the right place to lie down before curling up into a ball as the group pulled out their sleeping bags.

"But what if he's not right this time," Kari whispered, getting into her sleeping bag. "I felt something, Gato'. I felt…scared, fear, and adrenaline rushing through me all at once. And it wasn't because of something that was happening to us. It was something that was happening to the others, I'm sure. I just don't know what and I'm scared that TK—" she stopped and looked at Gatomon who opened one eye and smiled at her "—that one of the others got seriously hurt."

"Running off blindly into the middle of the night isn't going to help anyone," Gatomon yawned. "Might as well stay put. No need in getting more people hurt running around like chickens without heads."

"I know you're right. I know you're all right but I just can't shake this feeling," she sighed. She laid on her back and stared up at the ceiling of the cave as, one by one, the others fell asleep. She could hear Tai, Matt, and Sora talking quietly near the front of the cave.

Kari felt bad for Tai. She knew all along that he had a crush on his best friend but didn't want to do anything about it once Matt fell for her. Really, Tai liked her first and it seemed as if they would finally get together but then Matt stepped in. Tai was always the outgoing one yet whenever it came to liking a girl it was as if he and Matt switched roles. Matt was never shy when it came to girls, he was so confident he could even be referred to as a player, but Matt was respectful towards women.

Just like TK.

Kari sighed again. She didn't know when her feelings for TK changed but they were causing her more harm than good. She hated waiting around, analyzing everything he did or said to see if it meant he felt the same way. By the end of the day she always convinced herself that they were to remain friends but the next day would make her hopes soar even higher before plummeting again.

They were like a yo-yo. One day she was sure she was going to tell him how she felt because he would show signs that he felt the same way but then he'd do or say something that would get her to change her mind.

Kari sat up and let out a small breath. Gatomon's ear twitched and she opened her eyes slightly to see Kari sitting up. "What are you doing?" Gatomon asked.

"Sssh," Kari hissed. "I can't sleep. I just want to take a look around."

"I think you should stay here," Gatomon replied, opening her eyes all the way. "Tai would have a fit if he sees you gone."

"Tai has a fit when I take out the garbage. Apparently he doesn't know how long it takes to walk down the stairs to the garbage room," Kari said with an eyeroll. "Besides, I won't be gone long."

"Ok, I'm coming. I'm coming." Gatomon got up and stretched, leaning far back on her haunches before following Kari to the back of the cave. She quietly tiptoed towards the back of the cave. She turned on her flashlight when the light from the fire weakened. Kari kept her other hand on the wall just in case another tunnel opened up. "Something feels weird," Gatomon muttered.

"You feel that too?" Kari asked. A weird feeling had washed over her, like something warm had started to fill up her insides from her toes up to her head but the higher the heat went coldness settled in behind it.

She stopped when her fingers slid across a wet surface. She turned the flashlight to the wall and saw that the rock was dry. She looked down at her fingers and saw that they were shiny as if they had touched water. "Is the ground wet?" She turned the flashlight to the ground.

"No," Gatomon said as she checked her paws.

"But why…?" Her voice cut off when the sound of waves crashing filled her ears. "No," she whispered. "No, not again!" She dropped the flashlight and brought her hands up to her ears to block 'em out. "Anything but that, please!"

Fight it Kari, fight it. Think of the light. Think of the light! She gritted her teeth together and focused on trying to get light to invade the darkness that was swirling around her, crushing her. There was a bright flash of pink light and Kari suddenly found herself able to breathe.

She wiped at her face and noticed that tears had fallen. She hastily wiped them away and crouched down to get her flashlight but what was bathed in the flashlight was what made her stop in her tracks.

"Gatomon…why are you all black?"

A/N: Finally an update. It's short but it's an update, right? I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter anyway. Sorry it took me so long, I've had to deal with life and my computer was busted but now it's fixed and everything should work accordingly. Thanks for bearing with me.