Hello!

Thank you to everyone who has been leaving reviews for me. Each and every one motivates me to write more and inspires me so much. I'm amazed to see the review count has almost reached 100! You're the best!

I'm happy to write something that brings joy to others.

I'm having a lot of fun writing this and the next two chapters are going to be worthwhile. Parts I've been waiting to write since I started this like, what, 4 years ago? So, yeah. Big chapters.

Please review

T.K.'s eyes met with Kari's and although brief, he knew he didn't have the ability to fight her, not right now—he turned and ran. He had to get away. If she stopped him. She'd break his resolve.

Just as he was out of the cathedral, she grabbed his arm, the momentum throwing them both down onto their knees. It took every ounce of strength in his body to keep from collapsing on top of Patamon, who was quick to squirm out of his tight grasp.

T.K. wouldn't look up at her, her grip so tight, she was shaking. "T.K.!" She gasped.

T.K. shut his eyes tightly and shook his head. He couldn't move his legs. "Don't do this…" his voice was trembling; he wasn't even sure she could hear him.

"I'm not letting you go." She reached her other hand up and grabbed the side of his face, trying to make him look at her. "T.K., please." He couldn't fight her. He looked up to see her face just inches away from his. A mixture of concern and determination in her eyes. "You don't have to fight alone." She stared at the cut on his face—the same one that she'd seen in the dream.

T.K. swallowed. He couldn't find his voice; he closed his eyes and tears streaked down his dirty face. She wasn't letting go and he honestly didn't want her to. She pulled him closer and tried to embrace him. "Kari…" he breathed her name, trying to pull away again.

"T.K., you have to listen to me." She pleaded.

"No. Leave me alone…" he coughed. "Get away from me."

"No." she replied firmly.

T.K. knew the words he needed to say. He knew, but they were so hard to form. "Kari, you…rejected me. You stopped talking to me for over a year. You don't have any right…"

Kari's voice didn't waver. "You may be right. But I don't care because I l—"

T.K. started to open his eyes, but then a pain shot through his head. "Gah!"

You are the gate.

Wisemon's voice echoed inside his mind. T.K. choked. He pulled away from her and she faltered, allowing him the freedom. He felt his chest tightening and he coughed, desperate for air. They were in danger. Kari was in danger. He pressed his hands into the ground, trying to focus on anything to get his breathing under control.

"T.K.?" Kari's voice faded in and out. "What's wrong?"

Patamon was standing in front of T.K., looking up at his partner. His voice was muffled, and he couldn't hardly make out what he was saying.

He grabbed at his chest and then he felt someone pull him up by the shoulders—Ken.

The gate.

He choked again. Gasping for air he tried to wrench himself from Ken's grip, unsuccessfully.

"T.K. you're having a panic attack. You need to calm down." Ken's voice sounded a mile away. "Just breathe."

He couldn't though. He couldn't breathe. They were in danger. All of them.

Gate.

#

T.K. didn't know where he got the strength from, but he'd managed free himself and sprint through the dark forest for several minutes before he collapsed. Just barely keeping himself from falling onto his face, he groaned at the pain in his body. "Damn it." He breathed heavily.

"T.K.?" Patamon had somehow managed to follow him, seeming to have some strength since they'd left the cathedral. "Let me armor digivolve and get us out of here."

T.K. shook his head. "You're hurt and they'll know which way we headed."

"You're hurt! Angewomon's powers helped rejuvenate me a bit. I'm just a little sore now…" he landed in front of T.K. "You're a mess. Let me…" his eyes fell to T.K.'s left wrist and he went silent.

T.K. shifted the wound out of Patamon's view. "Between the Crest of Light and Angewomon's Heaven's Charm the bleedings stopped."

Patamon closed his eyes in a grimace. "You didn't have to do that."

"What was I supposed to do? You were pinned down." T.K. snapped.

"Not give up on me, that's what!" Patamon yelled. "You have the literal Crest of Hope inside of you and you can't have an ounce of faith in me?"

"Keep your voice down." T.K. hissed. He shook his head, tears falling freely down his face. "I've never been good at hoping."

"You weren't given the Crest of Hope for your lack of it." Patamon huffed.

T.K. struggled to his feet avoiding Patamon's gaze. "Why do you think every time I needed the power of the crest in the past, I could never use it? I found my crest before we even beat Etemon. We needed MagnaAngemon during the fight with Myotismon, the Dark Masters—how many friends died that may have been spared if I could have just hoped a little!"

Patamon's downcast expression mirrored T.K.'s. "That wasn't your fault. You had hope, T.K."

"Yeah, when only my life was on the line." He scoffed.

Patamon shook his head, looking up at T.K. with glossy eyes. "When Kari and everyone else's life was on the line."

T.K. let out an involuntary laugh. "Give me a break. I watched my own brother get captured by Piedmon and did nothing."

"You were seven, T.K.!" Patamon let out an exasperated breath.

T.K. nodded and leaned up against a tree. "We need to get out of here."

"Where?" Patamon snapped.

T.K. attempted a shrug. "I don't care. Out of this forest." his voice barely audible.

Davis' voice sent fear pulsing through him. "Kari, stop!"

Patamon and T.K. looked up at the thick forest, kneeling, T.K. held his breath. He heard them stop on the other side of the thick line of trees and bushes, just out of sight.

#

"Kari, stop!" Davis finally caught up to her, grabbing her arm. "Stop!"

Gatomon and Veemon were behind them within seconds. Gatomon ran around to face her partner. "Kari!"

She struggled to free herself from Davis' grip, but he wasn't letting go. "No!" she cried. "I'm not going to stop!"

Gatomon held up her arms. "T.K.'s hurt, but he'll be alright."

Kari shook her head. "You call that alright!"

Gatomon's glared at her. "No, but you aren't helping!"

"Let me go!" She tried to wrench her arm from Davis' grasp, again unsuccessful. "Davis!"

Davis turned Kari to face him, gripping her shoulders tightly. "Were you even listening to Gatomon back there? She said not to chase him. She said Tai was right. That means that we're putting him in danger right now, right?"

Kari shook her head, she refused to listen, she could feel him, he was close. "I'm not letting him fight this alone."

"Maybe it's the only way he can." Davis pulled Kari into his arms, giving her an unwanted embrace. "Kari, please, I want to help him too, but we need to be smart about this."

"I don't accept that!" She struggled against him at first, but then burst into tears and allowed Davis to comfort her. "I don't want to lose him…" she murmured into his shirt as tears poured down her face.

Gatomon could feel it too, T.K. was close—the Crest of Light was close. But she ignored it, she had to, until she knew more about the dangers, she had to take precautions, for both Kari and T.K.'s sake. She just hoped Patamon wouldn't lose again, because the outcome she had walked in on earlier, would have been devastating.

#

An hour later…

Davis sat across the room from Kari, it'd been over a month since they'd all congregated at Izzy's. The only other older kids that were there were Tai, Matt and Sora, of course. Joe and Mimi were yet again absent. Not that they hadn't expressed their concerns of course, but with the state of things, there wasn't much that they could do.

Izzy was discussing something with Tai while everyone waited for the talking to start—for Gatomon to begin. She sat on the table in the middle of the room, right in front of where Kari sat. It was obvious the girl was lost in thought, as she didn't even look up when Tai walked over and cleared his throat to get things started.

Matt looked up, but he remained placid. His elbows were rested on his knees, his chin resting on his clasped hands. It was unsettling to see Matt so calm. He wasn't usually. Sora clung to his side, watching Tai anxiously.

"I guess Gatomon has some information for us?"

Yolei crossed her arms frustratedly. "Let's hear it already."

Cody gave her a slight jab in the side. "Yolei." He scolded.

Ken gave her a look, but he was too exhausted to reprimand her, instead he turned to look back at Gatomon, where everyone else's attention had now fallen.

Gatomon wasn't one for being the center of attention, but this was more than just being uncomfortable, she looked downcast and out of sorts.

Davis and Kari knew the most, as Gatomon had to divulge some information to get Kari to stop chasing after T.K. It wasn't like she didn't want to tell them everything before, but it made more sense to wait for everyone.

Gatomon sighed and began calmly. "This morning I was scouting the outskirts of our normal area and I felt…" she paused. "I felt the Crest of Light."

It was a unanimous reaction across the whole room—shock. Kari was the first to ask. "My crest? It's back?"

She didn't answer right away. "I felt it. So, I followed the energy. That's when I found that cathedral. I felt a surge of power as I got closer and I digivolved into Angewomon."

Another round of perplexed gazes and stifled gasps. "Without Kari?" Matt was the one to ask this time.

Gatomon nodded. "Kari wasn't in the digital world at that point. At least, as far as I was aware."

Kari shifted, catching everyone's attention. "T.K., he made you digivolve?"

She nodded. "I couldn't be sure at first, but when I entered the ruins, T.K. was about to be struck by Mephistomon."

Izzy was the one to speak this time, stepping aside from his monitor to show the digimon in question. "He's an ultimate level digimon. Virus type." He ran down the basic description quickly, he was dangerous and without question evil.

"He was going to kill Patamon." Gatomon said the words calmly, but her expression was anything but. "I arrived just in time to stop him. We fought and I told T.K. to run—he couldn't."

Matt tensed at that. "He was hurt?"

Gatomon nodded. "He was."

Matt inhaled deeply, his hands shaking subtly with anger. "How bad?"

Gatomon shook her head. "The power of the crest seemed to have healed his wounds to an extent."

Ken spoke this time. "How was his shoulder?"

Gatomon shook her head. "It was covered, but there was no evidence that it was causing him pain at the time."

Ken seemed to relax a little at that, but his frown didn't fade. "So, all his injuries were new?"

Gatomon nodded and continued. "There was a point that I was struggling to fend off Mephistomon when T.K. did something—it caused him a lot of pain, but I felt a burst of strength."

Izzy eyed Gatomon curiously. "Do any of us have the ability to use the other crests like that?"

"No. This was different. T.K. said that the crest was inside of him." Gatomon winced as Matt stood over her.

"What do you mean inside of him?" Matt growled.

Izzy placed his fingers on his chin thoughtfully. "If that was an option, what was the point of our original crests needing tags? Was it like what happened to us when Apocalymon destroyed them and they went inside of us?"

Gatomon grimaced. "The instance with Apocalymon was different, so I don't know. Humans wouldn't normally be able to withstand the power of the crest unaided."

Matt's mouth fell open and then he clenched his jaw tightly, closing his eyes. "Normally?"

Izzy nodded. "That would make sense. The tags acted as a sort of mediator for the power of the crests to go from us to the digivice, to the digimon. So, two questions: One, how is T.K. using the crests without a facilitator of some kind. And two, how is he using someone else's crest."

"He wasn't using the crest intentionally. It seemed to be reacting as a crest normally would when its user is in trouble. T.K. was in danger and I was able to draw that power and utilize it." Gatomon pursed her lips before continuing. "I think that the raw power of the crest was causing him pain. When I realized what was going on, I chased Mephistomon away with my Heaven's Charm. Which, in turn, healed his injuries even further than the Crest of Light had done on its own."

Tai knelt next to Gatomon. "What did he tell you?"

Davis knew this was going to cause another fight between Tai and Kari, but he remained in the corner of the room, waiting.

"Your theory was correct. T.K. said that helping him would not only put us in danger but put him at greater risk."

Matt groaned loudly. "A risk from what, exactly? Who is this Mephistomon? Is he connected to that Wisemon?"

Gatomon shook her head. "I don't know. He wouldn't tell me. I begged him. But he kept saying he didn't want our help, that helping him…"

Tai finished for her. "Will put him in more danger."

She nodded. "He's in over his head, but…" she looked to Izzy as she spoke. "There's one more thing he mentioned. He's working with Gennai."

Izzy looked at Gatomon with surprise and then realization. "Ahh…Perhaps that explains why I haven't heard from him through this whole ordeal. If he is working with T.K., his silence would coincide with T.K. avoiding us."

"What about when you guys showed up?" Tai looked around at the young kids. None of them looked up at him.

Ken shook his head. "He was in bad shape, but he was strong enough to pull out of my grip and run off…"

Matt inhaled deeply. "Define, bad shape."

Cody shrugged. "He had cuts and bruises and maybe he was starting to have a panic attack?"

Tai looked concerned, but he spoke calmly. "Did you chase after him?"

Ken looked to Gatomon then.

"I stopped them. Or, I tried to." She glanced at Kari. "I didn't think it was wise to pursue him. He was determined to get away and chasing him down in that condition was going to do more harm, than good. Me and Davis chased after Kari because she didn't listen, but we lost T.K."

Tai looked at his sister solemnly. "Kari…"

Gatomon sighed. "The fact is, Gennai and Patamon are backing T.K.'s decision to do this, whatever this is, alone."

"But we can't." Kari's voice cut through the tension in the room. "We can't accept that. We can't let him face this alone. He…" she stopped, making eye contact with Matt. "He was hurt today. Badly."

Matt didn't break eye contact with her. "So? How do we help him, then?"

Kari let out a breath and looked down at her hands, the blood long washed away, but the memory holding tight. "I don't know, but we have to find a way."

Tai ran his hands through his hair. "T.K. basically confirmed my theory, Kari. But you're still going to go after him?"

Kari glared at her brother. "Of course, I am! This doesn't change anything. I never said you were wrong!"

Ken stood up, interrupting the sibling squabbling. Matt looked like he was about to lose it, at who, Ken couldn't be sure. "I think that this changes a lot, actually. T.K. isn't fighting this as alone we thought. Gennai is helping him. Which begs the question, if T.K. needed help, wouldn't Gennai have come to us with something by now?"

Izzy nodded in agreement. "Ken makes a good point. If the digital world were facing a new threat, surely, we would all be involved. The fact that he hasn't, must mean we're not needed."

Tai sighed and looked at Kari. "I don't want to abandon T.K., you know that. But I also don't want to cause him more problems, it seems like he's having a hard time as is."

Davis saw the anger and fear growing in Kari's expression, her hands furiously wringing at the hem of her shirt. Pushing away from the corner, Davis straightened and caught everyone's attention. "So, has anyone changed their minds?"

Everyone looked at him curiously. Unsure what exactly he meant. Sora shifted and turned to face him. "Changed our minds?"

"Everyone in this room had an opinion on this situation before we met today. To go after T.K. or to let him handle this on his own. So, has anyone changed their minds? One way or the other?"

Matt scoffed. "Give me a break." He stood up and walked away from the group, making his way toward Izzy's kitchen. Still within earshot, but out of everyone's view.

Sora shook her head. "I still agree with Tai."

Tai nodded. "This only further solidified my decision."

Izzy shrugged. "I can't say I've ever left the fence on this one, but hearing what Gatomon had to say, I'm more convinced that Tai is right, but I'll continue to do what I've been doing, researching and monitoring the digital world."

Yolei and Cody remained silent, clearly their convictions wavering.

Ken shifted uncomfortably. "I…" he finally looked over at Kari, who looked up at him pleadingly. "I won't argue that I think T.K. needs our help. But I can't ignore the facts, and the facts are telling…no, warning us to stay back. For now."

Kari closed her eyes, tears falling down her cheeks, a look of utter defeat washing over her.

Cody and Yolei were quick to murmur similar statements in agreement with Ken.

Davis held his breath as he waited for Kari to open her eyes and look at him. He'd promised, hadn't he? He'd promised he'd help her save T.K.

Finally, she did. She looked up at him, almost begging. "Davis?" her voice broke.

Davis didn't dare take his eyes from hers. "I think, until we know more, we shouldn't pursue T.K." Kari closed her eyes, betrayal written on her face, she pushed herself up from the couch and started for the front door, but Davis added, loudly. "We aren't giving up, Kari. There's just nothing else we can do right now."

Kari stopped, her hand resting on the door handle. "Yes, there is." She turned and stared at Davis. "You didn't wake up with his blood all over your hands. This is what the enemy wants. They want him alone." She slammed the door as she left.

Davis shook his head and lowered his gaze; it was Matt's voice that drew his attention again. "What did she mean by that?"

They'd all left that part out. Deliberately? He wasn't sure. He didn't feel comfortable bringing it up since it still felt so questionable. "Kari had another dream about T.K. this morning, just before we caught his signal."

Ken and Yolei waited to see if he'd elaborate further, when he didn't, they knew it was for a reason. The connection Kari had with T.K., with the digital world, it was mysterious and inexplicable.

"But she said she woke up with blood on her hands." Matt wasn't going to drop it.

Yolei saw that neither of the boys were going to speak, she volunteered what she could. "Kari's hands were covered in blood, but she wasn't hurt. We… don't know where it came from."

Tai looked like he wanted to run after Kari, but he hesitated—they were already on such thin ice, he wasn't sure he could face her. "You're sure she wasn't hurt?"

Yolei nodded.

Matt walked to the door without saying anything, Gatomon leapt down from the table she'd been perched on and ran up his back and plopped on his shoulder just as he closed the door behind himself.

#

Kari had made it to the bottom of the first flight of stairs before she broke down crying, sitting at the bottom of the steps.

After a few minutes of silently crying into her arms, Kari felt Matt sit down beside her. She couldn't look up at him. She knew why he had followed and not her own brother.

"You okay?" he asked lightly. She was surprised by his tone. His genuine concern making her vision blur with more tears. Worried about her? When his brother was…

She gave a slight nod. "Mm." was all she could muster.

"Another dream?" he asked, he wasn't looking at her, just straight ahead at the wall. Gatomon was sitting on the step directly behind Kari—she was also in the dark about the dream.

She took her time, composing herself with slow deep breaths. "Yeah." She was finally able to say.

"How badly was he hurt?" he asked gently, trying not to scare her.

Kari frowned. "He wasn't, at first."

Matt looked up at that. "Did you talk to him?"

She shook her head. "I wouldn't say we talked much. He was avoiding my questions. Telling me to stop chasing after him."

Matt grimaced and turned his gaze to the floor. "He's pushing us all away…"

"He hugged me." She swallowed down the lump in her throat. "For a second, he stopped pretending he didn't need anyone, and he let me in. I felt his heartbeat. I felt him take in my warmth." She had a sad smile on her face. "He needed me."

"That…" Matt sighed. "…sounds like my brother."

"I think, at first, he thought it was just a dream. And he let down his guard." Kari looked over at Matt. "That's why I can't just abandon him. I can't let him face this alone. Because underneath it all, he's scared and needs help."

Matt looked at Kari, their gaze meeting again. "But you need to trust him. I'm choosing to accept the facts, even though everything inside of me is screaming to go running after him."

"You can feel it too." Kari shifted uncomfortably. "That instinct that's saying, don't let him out of your sight or you may never see him again."

Matt nodded. "I felt it since the second I realized he'd ran off."

Kari glanced at him, seeing the frown on his face deepen. "Matt…"

"You have to stop, Kari." He closed his eyes, clearly the request was a painful one. "He's begging you. He's begging us all. The things he's said to us to get us to stop. There's so much more to all of this than we know."

"I'm bringing him home, Matt." She gave him a look that told him not to argue any further.

Matt looked down at the floor awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't want you to get hurt. If something happens to you, T.K. would…" he paused, like he was contemplating his next words. "He'd never forgive himself."

She nodded. "And if I stay here, safe, surrounding by the people who love me, and he dies all alone…" fresh tears fell down her face. "I'd never be able to live through that." She smiled through her tears at Matt. "I love him."

#

Kari's eyes were raw from crying, a blank expression cast over her face. Once she'd gotten home, she locked herself in her room and broke down. No one was listening to her. No one.

She eyed Gatomon who was looking outside forlornly, it was dark now, eerie shadows bounced around her room from the pouring rain that splattered across the window. "Gatomon…"

Her partner shifted, slightly startled by the sudden break in silence. "Hm?"

"He cut his wrist, didn't he…?" Gatomon grimaced but nodded. "I didn't want to bring it up in front of the others…"

Gatomon sighed. "It may have convinced them to side more with you."

Kari's expression didn't change, but her eyes fell back to the floor. "I couldn't. Not in front of Matt."

"We don't know for sure he's the one who did it." Gatomon offered.

"But it looked like he did. And just the possibility alone…" her blank expression twisting with a scowl. "If you knew…why did you stop me from chasing after him?"

"You know why." Gatomon said firmly.

"No, I don't. Putting T.K. in danger? He's already in danger, Gatomon." The venom in her voice made Gatomon cower in the windowsill.

"He said…" she paused. "He said I could choose to protect him or you, I couldn't do both."

Kari scoffed. "You think I'd choose myself over T.K.?"

"No." Gatomon shook her head. "But you can't be mad at me for choosing you."

Kari finally looked up to meet Gatomon's eyes. Fresh tears stung her sore eyes. "I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself for letting you stop me so easily."

Gatomon nodded. She didn't know what else to say, her eyes fell back down to her paws, guiltily. "I'm sorry."

"I'm done playing this game with T.K." Kari's voice broke. "I'm done."