The final chapter! It took me over two years to write this story and I remember when I finished it I was almost in tears. Of all the stories I've written ( and I've written quite a few) I think this one is my favorite. I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I have other things I'm working on but right now nothing Digimon realated. So, if any of you have an idea for a Digimon story that you would like to see up here I'd love to write it. You can send it to me in a PM. I'd just need to know what you want it to be about, the characters/pairings and the rating. Please note that I don't write M rated stories or yaoi/yuri. Anything else, from any season I might aded, is fair game. So again, thank you all who have read and reviewed and I can't wait to write for you again. Peace out.
~Water Wolf 100
Chapter 36: Reunited
Kari wasn't sure what time it was when she woke up, all she knew was that it was still very early and no one else was up yet. She swiftly sat up, as silently as she could and looked at each of her sleeping friends. Even in the dim light, she could make out their faces. The only two faces that were missing were Scott and Abby. Bearmon and Liollmon were still sound asleep near the other Digimon but their partners were nowhere in sight.
Next to her, TK and Patamon were sleeping soundly. Their breathing matched and Kari watched as TK's chest rose and fell with each breath. "Kari is something wrong?" a voice from the other side of the fire asked. Kari looked over to see her brother staring at her.
Kari shook her head and smiled. "Everything's fine Tai. I just woke up early that's all. Did I wake you up?" This time it was Tai's turn to shake his head. He stood up and dusted his jeans off.
"Come on, we need to talk about something," Tai said. He walked over to her and extended his hand. Kari happily took it and Tai lifted her to her feet. Together they walked in silence until Tai abruptly stopped. He turned around to face her and then sighed. "Kari, you want to tell me what's going on between you and TK? I can tell something has changed between the two of you. I want to know and I want to know now," Tai said sternly. He looked down at Kari and waited for an answer.
"Well Tai, it's like this; TK said he loves me. And I told him the same thing," Kari mumbled. She watched as his face twisted, fury set in his eyes. "Tai please don't be mad. Over the years TK has been there for me in ways that no else could have ever been. Ever since we were little kids he protected me. If it wasn't for TK, why we wouldn't have gotten out of Pidemon's castle and he was the one who went after me the first time I got sucked into the Dark Ocean," Kari pleaded. Tai's face settled, but his eyes were still furious.
"I don't know how I feel about this Kar," Tai remarked. Kari noticed he used his old nickname for her, which he only used when he was in 'big brother mode'. "I mean, TK's a great kid. He's like a little brother to me but it's just I worry about what might happen if you two become a couple. You have the rest of your life for relationships. You should be focusing on graduating right now," Tai said sternly. Kari stared at him in amazement. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Tai, do you not trust me? I know school is the most important thing. I can't believe you're saying this…" Kari yelled
"Kar, please understand. I'm not saying I don't trust you. Its, its complicated. As your big brother it's my job to protect you and what not. But since you live in America I can't do that as easily. I just don't want to see you get hurt," Tai apologized. His eyes softened and he looked at Kari with a love that only a brother could have for his sister.
"Oh Tai…" Kari murmured. She flung her arms around her brother and practically squeezed the life out of him. "Thank you Tai. I'm so happy that you didn't get to mad."
"Just make sure to tell TK one thing for me. If I find out he even thinks about doing anything to hurt you; I'm going to come after him and make his life a nightmare. I'll make fighting Myotismon seem like taking the trash out; compared to what I'll do to him," Tai hissed through his teeth. Kari stared at him, half annoyed and half terrified. She knew that Tai was serious but at the same time she was irritated that he didn't trust TK.
"I'll be sure to tell him. We better get back now; the others will be waking up soon. What happened to Abby and Scott?"
"No clue. I'm guessing they went somewhere to talk and stuff; since they haven't seen each other in seven years. So are you ready for today?"
"I can't lie; I'm a little nervous. What if she isn't there?"
"She'll be there, she has to be." Tai and Kari had reached the campsite where the others were all still sound asleep. The sun was getting higher in the sky and slowly some of the others began to wake up. Sora was the first to sit up; she looked over at Tai and Kari and gave a small smile. Izzy woke up next and the first thing he did was open up his laptop. The Digimon were starting to awaken too, they all sat up and stretched.
Davis and TK were still sleeping, as was Mimi. None of them were major morning people so the others knew that getting them up would be a long task. Kari walked over to TK and began poking him repeatedly. TK groaned and rolled over, away from Kari. Tai wasn't having much luck trying to get Mimi up either. She just smacked him in the face, mumbled something about a snooze button and went back to sleep.
Davis was snoring so loudly, Kari was amazed that TK and Mimi were able to sleep through it. Then Kari had an idea. "Cover your ears guys," she said a wicked smile on her face. Kari lifted her old whistle to her lips, took a big breath and blew into it as loudly as she could. The shrill sound echoed all through the forest, causing many small Digimon to wake up in alarm.
It had the same effect on the Digidestined. TK bolted up and looked around in terror, as did Mimi. Only Davis still slept, on top of that he was still snoring. "How did that not work?" Sora wondered.
"Davis can sleep through anything," Veemon replied, "Except for one thing, someone mentioning food.
"Davis, there are chocolate chip pancakes!" Yolei yelled at the top of her lungs. Davis snapped his eyes open and shot up from the ground. He looked around hungrily but his face slowly fell.
"Man, where's the food?" he asked sadly.
"You can get some when after we get to Primary Village. Or you can just wait until we go home," Joe told him. Davis grumbled but got up anyway.
"What was that racket?" Scott asked coming up behind them. He and Abby were standing there, rubbing their ears in pain.
"It's just a little wake up call, nothing to out of the ordinary for us," Kari replied hanging the whistle back around her neck. Abby and Scott stared in wonder but shrugged it off.
"Well, now that we're all present and accounted for, let's get going!" Matt said calmly. One by one they walked away from the campsite in almost complete silence. After ten minutes without talking, they began to have small conversations among each other. Mostly about what they'll do when they get back to the real world.
"Sora, will I get to see you more now that the gate is open?" Biomon asked. She looked up at her partner hopefully.
"Of course Biomon. We'll see each other as much as possible. It may not be every day but I'll come and see you every chance I get," Sora said sweetly.
"The same goes for you and me Tentomon," Izzy said to his friend.
"Hey guys look! It's Primary Village!" Cody yelled suddenly. Everyone looked ahead to see brightly colored blocks and balloons rising up over the trees.
"Then why are we still over here?" Hawkmon asked. The Digidestined all looked at each other and broke into a run. Davis and TK made it to the village entrance first and stood waiting for the others to catch up.
Kari reached the gate next, followed by Tai and Matt. Soon all of the Digidestined were standing in front of the gate to Primary Village. "Well this is it. You ready Kari?" Tai asked looking at his sister. Kari nodded and walked into Primary Village. They made their way through all the buildings, walking past many baby Digimon but Kari didn't stop until she was standing at the top of the hill that over looked the egg hatching grounds.
"What are all of those?" Scott asked as he marveled at the sight before him. Hundreds of Digieggs sat on the soft ground. Farther back there were cradles all with baby Digimon inside of them. "They look like eggs."
"That's because they are Scott. Digimon hatch from eggs. Did you think we just fall out of the sky?" Liollmon asked. For a few moments they all stood at the top of the hill looking at the Digieggs.
"Well, we won't find Gatomon standing here. Let's go down and take a look around," Gabumon said. Kari didn't need to be told twice. She ran down the hill and stood before the multitude of eggs before her.
"How will you know which one Gatomon is?" Susan asked coming up behind her. Kari turned to her friend and put her hand on her heart.
"I'll just know. It's hard to explain but it's like a special bond between Digimon and human. Their hearts are connected so strongly that nothing will ever break them apart," Kari walked into the sea of Digieggs and started looking at each one. The others watched with interest and followed her. Some of them had split off from the group and were looking at other things in the village and Patamon had gone off to see Electmon.
Kari continued to look at each egg, some of them she stopped to touch but she never gave much attention to any particular egg. After fifteen minutes of searching, Kari was feeling discouraged. "Kari…" a soft voice whispered. "Kari I'm here."
"Gatomon?" Kari asked whipping her head around. She knew that voice anywhere. It was coming from one of the eggs close by. Kari ran over to where she heard the voice and stopped in front of an egg. It was a beautiful pink egg with several large darker pink circles on it. "Gatomon?" Kari asked. She knelt on the ground and touched the egg. There was a bright flash of light and when it faded, instead of an egg there was a cradle with a tiny white fluff ball in it. "YukimiBotamon!" Kari screamed. She picked up the little puff ball and hugged her tightly.
"Kari, you found her!" TK yelled coming up next to Kari. Soon all of the Digidestined were gathered around Kari and the Baby Digimon. Kari didn't pay any attention to her friends around her, at that moment the only thing that mattered was the tiny Digimon in her arms.
"Oh YukimiBotamon, I've missed you so much," Kari sobbed. She nuzzled her head against Kari's and shut her eyes. Kari finally stood up, still holding her Digimon and smiled. "Now everything is the way it should be. We all ended this battle safely and I think it's time to go back home. There's one person I have to apologize to."
"Are we really going home? It feels like we've been gone forever. How long have we been gone?" Susan asked.
"About 5 days. I bet our parents are in a panic right now, so we should go home soon. Before they think we'll never come home again," Ken said.
"Let's go then. I saw a TV near the gate to the village that we can use. So I guess this is goodbye for now you guys. Let's meet up here this weekend for a picnic. The new kids need to experience some fun in the Digital World," Mimi said excitedly.
"So that's it? We're leaving? What about the Digimon? They're coming with us right?" Scott asked rapidly. Tai stood in front of the younger boy and put his hand on his head.
"Don't worry Scott. They're coming back with us, for now at least. As long as the gate is open we can come here as much as we want.
"That's right. And since we all live so far apart from each other we can come and see each other as much as we want as well. You new kids will soon learn about the good things the Digital World has to offer," TK added. "Patamon, we're leaving. Come on pal!" he called. Patamon flew over the hill and landed on TK's head.
"Let's go. I want to go back and eat some of your human food," Patamon chirped. The Digidestined all ran up the hill to the TV and stopped and looked at each other.
"Well this is it. We'll have to say good-bye for now I suppose," Joe said sadly. "Keep in touch guys, OK. We'll see you around." Joe held up his Digivice and he and Gomomon vanished into the TV. Mimi gave a quick hug to each of her friends and then followed Joe through the TV. One by one all of the Digidestined went back to their homes. Soon only Kari, TK, Izzy, Scott, Abby and Susan remained.
"It's our turn. You guys ready to go home?" Izzy asked holding up his Digivice. The others nodded and held out their Digivices to the TV.
There was a flash of light and they were gone from the Digital World. With a crash, the group of humans and Digimon landed in a help on the floor. "Are we back?" Scott asked weakly. They untangled themselves and looked around. They were back in Izzy's dorm room and luckily his roommate wasn't there.
"Where are we?" Abby asked. She looked around the room, almost confused by all the stuff she was seeing.
"My dorm room, University of Southern California. Come on; let's get you guys back home. I'm sure your parents want to see you guys," Izzy said. He opened the door to his room and ushered them all outside. "And Tentomon, you need to stay out of sight, so do you Liollmon. We don't want to scare anyone on campus."
"I forgot what the real world looked like. It's been so long since I've been here," Abby said in wonder. She looked right and left at every single thing they passed until they reached the student parking lot.
"Get in everyone. We have a two hour drive ahead of us," Izzy said as he ushered them into his beat up Civic. "OK I normally don't do this but four of you are going to have to squeeze into the back seat. Tentomon, Liollmon, Bearmon, I think you three will have to ride in the trunk. There's no room for you in the front of the car." He pulled open the door to the trunk and the three Digimon piled inside.
It was a tight squeeze but they were all able to fit inside the car. Izzy drove, Abby sat next to him in the front seat and TK, Kari, Scott and Susan forced themselves into the backseat. Kari held YukimiBotamon, Patamon sat on TK's head and Lunamon was able to fit in on the floor by Susan's feet.
"We're all set back here Izzy," Kari called when they were finally settled. "You can go whenever you're ready." Izzy gave her a thumbs-up, started his engine and backed out of the parking spot. He got on the highway and threw it into cruise and concentrated on finding the right exit to head east.
Abby spent the entire time staring out the window, amazed by everything to see around her. TK, Kari, Susan, and Scott talked for a while but soon fell asleep. Izzy and Abby started talking about the scenery around them and whatever popped into their minds. In the back, the Digimon were practically silent.
"Guys wake up! We're here," Izzy called when he found the exit for Bear Mountain Lake. Slowly the others woke up and rubbed their eyes. "All right, who am I dropping off first?"
"I live the closest. When you get off the ramp take a left," Susan instructed. Izzy did as she told and the others looked around at the familiar sights of their home. "OK, now make a right at this stop light." Izzy followed Susan's instructions until she led him to a small white house in a quiet neighborhood.
"Is this where you live Susan?" Lunamon asked climbing on her lap.
"This is it. Well, time to go break the news to my parents that I've actually been in another world fighting the forces of darkness. I can't thank you guys enough for everything; this has been the experience of a lifetime. I'll see you guys around, bye!" Susan climbed out of the car and walked with Lunamon up to her front door. Everyone watched as she knocked on the door and a woman with blond hair opened it up. As soon as she saw Susan she burst into tears and hugged her tightly.
"I guess it's time for us to go," Izzy sighed. He pulled out of the driveway and turned back onto the main street. Scott then directed him to his mom's house.
As he pulled into the driveway Abby whispered, "I don't think I can do this."
"Aw come on Abbs, you've fought giant evil Digimon. How bad can seeing your parents that you haven't seen in seven years be any harder?" Bearmon asked from the trunk.
"He's right. Come one Abby, let's go home," Scott said as he opened the door. "I'll see you around Kari. TK, dude, it was great getting to fight alongside you," Scott waved from outside the car. He opened the trunk and let Bearmon and Liollmon climb out. Abby got out of the front seat and slowly walked over to Scott. Together they walked up the front path and knocked on the door. A few moments later a man opened the door and Scott seemed surprised to see him. Soon a woman with red hair ran outside and threw her arms around Scott.
"That must be Scott's mom," Izzy figured. Then she looked at Abby and gently touched her face, as if to see if she was real or not. Then she wrapped her arms around her. The man joined in on the hug and Scott smiled happily and waved to his friends. The woman put her arms around both of her children and all of them walked inside, including Bearmon and Liollmon.
"Well that was nice. I just love happy endings," Tentomon cried from the trunk. Izzy pulled out of the driveway and headed towards Kari's house.
"What about you TK? I can't exactly drive to Japan," Izzy commented.
"Don't worry about it Izzy, something tells me my mom will be waiting at Kari's house." TK looked over at Kari and smiled. "Things are finally getting back to normal."
"TK, you know things are never normal among us. We're Digidestined. But I think things will be better, just not normal," Kari said with a laugh. Izzy continued to drive through Bear Mountain Lake until he reached the Kamyia house. It was a cute little one story house. It had a white picket fence around it and several tall trees stood waiting for the weather to get warmer.
Izzy pulled into the driveway and stopped the car. "Well, there you guys go. I'll be seeing you two soon. Tentomon, do you want to come sit up front now?" Tentomon scrambled to the front seat as TK and Kari climbed out.
TK and Kari stood there and waved as Izzy pulled out of the driveway and turned onto the main street. "This is it. You ready?" Kari asked. TK nodded and gave Kari's hand a squeeze.
"It's you and me, I'm ready for anything," TK replied sweetly. Together they walked up to Kari's front door and Kari rang the bell. A few seconds later the door opened to reveal Kari's father standing there.
"Kari? TK? You're home!" he exclaimed. Mr. Kamyia threw his arms around his daughter and squeezed her tightly. "Yuuko, Nancy, come here! The kids are home!" There was a sound of chairs scraping against the floor and seconds later two hysterical women appeared in the door.
"TK!" Ms. Takashi cried throwing her arms around her son. TK returned the hug and Ms. Takashi cried and cried. Mrs. Kamiya stood in front of her daughter, almost unsure of what to do.
"Mom…"Kari cried. She ran to her mom and hugged her tightly. "Mom, I'm so sorry. All those things I said before I left; I'm just so sorry," Kari sobbed. Mrs. Kamiya ran her hand through Kari's hair and cried.
"No Kari, I'm sorry. I-I didn't treat you as an adult. You knew what you were doing and I didn't respect that. I love you so much sweetheart. I thought I lost you," Mrs. Kamiya cried. She let go of her daughter and wiped the tears out of her eyes. Ms. Takashi was still crying, but had finally let go of TK.
"Mom, I don't think you've ever been properly introduced to my other best friend. You know TK, but you don't know YukimiBotamon. Mom, Dad, this is YukimiBotamon, my Digimon. She used to be Gatomon, you remember her don't you?" Kari said. She held up YukimiBotamon so her parents could see her. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya stared at the little white fluff ball Kari was holding. Even Ms. Takashi seemed interested.
"And Mom, you remember Patamon," TK said pointing to Patamon sitting on the ground next to him.
"Hi Ms. Takashi, it's great to see you again. It's been quite a long time," Patamon said happily. Ms. Takashi stared at the talking guinea pig in front of her.
"There's a lot to tell you all," Kari said, "Why don't we all go inside and tell you the most amazing story you'll ever hear. The time for secrets is finally over."
"I think that's a wonderful idea. Come on kids, are you hungry? I have some liver sticks cooking in the over right now. As they walked inside, the entire house began to smell like smoke. Mrs. Kamiya yelped and ran into the kitchen, where the liver sticks were burning.
"How about we call in for a pizza?" Mr. Kamiya asked. He went to go find a phone book and Ms. Takashi went to go help Mrs. Kamiya put out the flaming liver sticks. TK and Kari stood in the entry way, laughing at the scene before them.
"I told you TK, our lives aren't normal at all," Kari said between fits of laughter. She set YukimiBotamon down and held her sides in laughter. TK then came over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"No they aren't. But I don't my life to be any other way, as long as you're in my life then it's perfect," TK whispered. He leaned towards Kari and kissed her. Kari lost herself in TK's arms, and even with the panic around her, everything felt to perfect to her as well. With TK by her side, everything was complete.