Rejoice! There was recently a poll in Japan where fans voted on the 100 greatest anime series of all time, and Digimon Adventure ranked at number eighteen! To put that into perspective, that means original Digimon ranked higher than One Piece, both Fullmetal Alchemist adaptations, Akira, Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Pokemon. I thought I was finally past that old Digimon/Pokemon fan war, but this warmed my heart a bit… The people have spoken. We won. That is all. (Though, in general, I found this list to be really interesting when considering how Japanese audience's thoughts would have differed from a Western poll on the top 100 anime of all time.)

On another note, I got two responses to my question about potentially including characters from seasons three and four. (One via review, the other PM.) First off, thank you both! That decision has now been made, which means the planning for this story is that much closer to being complete. I won't leave you in suspense. I am going to include those characters, (sorry, Guest) though the Adventure and 02 crowd will still be the main characters and play a bigger role. And it will be a while before their inclusion. Moving on!

Thank you for reviewing chapter four: Guest, ToastyToaster22, and Elgv! And thank you, Angelfish369 for reviewing chapter one!

Chapter Five: Sanity

Kari wondered if TK could tell something had shifted in their group dynamic. Because, sympathetic as they may be, no one felt his explanation was enough. Kari figured that if anyone should be able to understand, it was her. She'd seen firsthand the effect each anniversary had on her own parents, and they were always at risk for an errant bad day, all year long. But even she didn't buy it. Not completely. Kari had learned long ago that her intuition was usually pretty good, and something about TK just wasn't right.

Meanwhile, her dreams were getting worse. At first, they were just snatches of memory from that night. Like that last exchange she'd had with Tai. But now, the images were becoming more and more nonsensical. Just last night, she'd found herself on the streets of her old neighborhood again. It had been earlier during that last night, as Tai was leading her to the shelter. The image had been just a split second, really, but had lasted the entire night as only a dream could. She had stopped to stare in horror at a building that was half destroyed, rubble piled up in heaps taller than the remaining streetlamps. She had seen something else amidst the wreckage. Something that didn't belong.

A feather, at least twice as long as she was tall. Kari had watched as, before her eyes, the feather had disintegrated. It had been like something was eating away at it until the feather had vanished completely. By the time Tai had turned back, urging her forward, it was like the feather had never been there at all.

And that had been the entire dream. It was so bizarre. The logical part of her brain told her it had to be a figment of her imagination. Something to fill the space left behind when most of the details from that night had faded. But it had presented as a memory… And she could remember it so clearly…

Hadn't Cody said no one had been able to figure out what had caused the damage?

What exactly are you suggesting? that logical sector shot back. That some giant bird materialized just long enough to destroy the city? And then what? Broke up into molecular fragments and was carried away on the breeze?

She figured it wasn't a good sign that this idea didn't sound quite as crazy as it should.

"What's wrong?" TK asked, and she realized she had sighed aloud. They were on their way to history, the only class she didn't have with Yolei or Davis. Followed by gym, the only class all four had together. It was the final stretch of what had felt like an incredibly long day, and now she'd been caught daydreaming.

She laughed a little awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head. "Oh, uh, nothing. I guess I just zoned out there for a minute. I haven't been sleeping all that well."

"Up late studying for next week's finals?" he guessed with a smile.

"Not as much as I probably should be," she admitted, glad for his assumption. She didn't really want to go into her dreams. "You?"

"Same," he said without a hint of shame. "But I'm not that worried."

Kari tried to study him discreetly as they took their seats and the teacher called the class to order. Not that anything ever seemed to bother TK, but she was a little surprised he didn't appear even a bit worried. Considering he'd just moved here and then missed a week's worth of material so close to finals. Perhaps he was just a really good student.

Speaking of… She really did try to focus. Their history teacher wasn't one to take it easy on them—even at the end of the school year—and she always had trouble remembering all the right dates for each event. But her eyelids were just growing heavier and heavier… It wasn't sleepiness, exactly. More like her brain was being swallowed up by a fog.

Before she knew it, her eyesight began to blur, her classmates growing fuzzier around her. Kari felt a stab of alarm through the fog. She'd often been sickly as a child, and she knew what it felt like to faint. But, despite the blurred vision, most of the usual warning signs were absent. She still felt pleasantly cool, though it was a little strange that the breeze seemed to be blowing on her so directly, given the windows were on the other side of the room. And her ears weren't ringing, exactly. Though a sound almost like waves lapping at a shore was filling her mind.

Kari looked down and gasped. Water? Was the school flooding? Why hadn't anyone else noticed? But when she looked back up, the entire classroom had vanished.

It was like the fog had leaked out of her mind to become a physical thing. And it was endless, leaving Kari and her desk adrift in a foot of water. For the first minute she was frozen, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Had she fallen asleep in class? Or had she officially lost it and started hallucinating?

Before she could come up with a plan, a light floated into her field of vision through the fog. She watched as it drifted nearer. As it got closer, Kari saw that it really was floating. It was a lantern, attached to a small wooden boat that was drifting through the water. Something about that bobbing lantern was utterly captivating. Maybe it was the total nothingness of their surroundings. She remained perfectly still as it drew nearer, waiting to see how this dream or hallucination panned out.

Slowly, the boat parted around her desk. She peered over the side as it passed her by, and she stiffened at what she saw, her breath catching. Tai was lying in that boat. He was curled up on his side and looked as if he could be asleep.

Kari jerked back to life as the tail end of the boat passed by. She was on her feet in an instant, desperate for another glimpse. And then…

"Miss Kamiya, please wait for the bell."

And just like that, it was all back. Kari looked around and saw a classroom in the familiar disarray of a lesson ending. Their teacher's reprimand had had to fight to be heard over the commotion of all the students packing up their things. She was the first one out of her seat, but the bell did indeed ring before she had a chance to sit back down. No one else seemed to notice her odd behavior, and soon she couldn't even see the teacher through the crowd of her classmates mobbing the door.

"That was painful," TK said from his spot beside her, and for one muddled second, she thought he was talking about the fog and the boat. Neither of them had joined the rush to get out the door. "I don't think there's anything more boring than exam review."

"Uh, yeah." She took a deep breath, tried to calm her racing mind. "I'd think you'd be grateful for it, though. Given the time you missed."

TK just shrugged and smiled. "Nah, I'm all caught up. Being stuck at home for a week gave me plenty of time for studying."

She'd almost forgotten that TK was still sticking to that story. That his parents had gotten antsy around the date of the anniversary and needed to keep him close for a while. She still felt a little guilty for doubting him, but she also genuinely believed that there was more to the story. And, though they hadn't discussed it outright, she knew her friends all felt the same. Speaking of…

Davis and Yolei were already waiting for them across the hall, squabbling away about whatever the most recent conflict was. They were meeting up to head to the last class of the day. The only one they all shared together. Gym. Not a bad way to unwind after a long day of classes. Usually.

Kari wasn't sure she was up for it today. She hadn't had the time to process whatever had happened back there. Her dreams had been getting increasingly bizarre lately, but she was positive she hadn't fallen asleep. Which left her with what exactly? Her mind kept shying away from what felt like the obvious answer—that her hold on her sanity was quickly slipping away.

"Kari?" Yolei's voice broke through her thoughts. "Are you okay? You're looking kind of pale."

"Yeah… I'm fine." It didn't sound the slightest bit convincing. Not even to her own ears. Even Davis picked up on it. He came closer and leaned in uncomfortably close.

"Did something happen?" Like a rubber band snapping back, he turned accusatory eyes on TK. "Well? Did you see anything, TC?"

"There was nothing to see. It was just another boring history lesson. And I told you, it's TK."

At this point, Kari was pretty sure Davis was messing up his name just to irritate him. She sighed and intervened. "Relax, Davis. Nothing happened. I'm just tired."

They had reached the point where the group separated to continue on to the locker rooms. And Kari had to say she was grateful for the split. She knew she was acting strangely. She didn't need any extra pairs of eyes watching her every move while she tried to figure it out herself. Even TK was scrutinizing her, his eyes a little harder than usual. She scoffed inwardly. As if he had any right to be the suspicious one here.

Kari shook her head and brought a hand up to her temple as she and Yolei turned the corner, leaving the boys behind. What was wrong with her? When did she start thinking such ugly, suspicious thoughts?

"Sorry about that," Yolei said softly. "I didn't mean to make a spectacle of it. But are you sure you're okay?"

Kari sighed. "No… I don't know. I've just been having these weird dreams lately. And in class today, I thought I… saw something."

They had stopped outside the locker room door. The chatter inside was loud enough to drift out to them, but the hallway itself was quiet. Yolei was watching her with unmasked concern. "Saw something? Like what?"

"Oh… Nothing, really. Everything just got a little blurry for a minute." She held back at the last second. It wasn't that she didn't trust Yolei, but… This was something she felt she needed to keep to herself. At least for now. But this didn't seem to ease her friend's worries.

"Yeah? Maybe you should sit out today. Sleep it off in the nurse's office."

The I'm fine was on the tip of her tongue. But Yolei gave her a particularly stern look and she sighed. "That's probably a good idea."

This seemed to appease Yolei, but she could already see the frown on their teacher's face as Kari headed for her little office rather than the row of gym lockers. It was rare for Kari to get on anyone's bad side. Authority figures in particular, like parents and teachers, loved her. But she'd never been the most athletic person, especially after being so frequently ill throughout her childhood. But with no official diagnosis of anything, teachers were loath to release her from lessons. And symptoms that weren't obvious—like dizziness or general pains—always came with the worst backlash.

Maybe it was the dread talking, but Kari couldn't help reflecting on the state of the gym teacher's tiny office as she hovered in the doorway. The counter was covered in paperwork and personal effects. The whole concept of this office giving the girls some privacy was sort of a joke. As if the prove this point, the teacher didn't even have to move to the doorway to take attendance. She was ticking off names from where she sat, watching them file in through the big window. At last, Kari cleared her throat. "Coach?"

She didn't even look her way. "Skipping out on us again, Miss Kamiya?"

Kari wished she was the type of person who could feel annoyed by her presumptuous, flat tone rather than guilty. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Well, that's your choice. At this point, grades are pretty much set. The chips will fall where they will."

Kari was pretty sure that wasn't how the phrase went, exactly, but she wisely kept her mouth shut as the teacher signed her pass without any more questions. She wasn't worried about her grade. She hadn't missed so many classes that she really needed to worry about attendance, and her scores in everything else were all good. Even so, she kept her head down as she left the locker room. She trusted Yolei to explain her absence to the boys.

Once she was back in the main hallway, on her way to the nurse's office, she was struck by the unnatural silence. A quiet school hallway always gave her the sense of being somewhere she didn't belong. But after a few more steps, she knew the feeling was something more than that.

Abruptly, she stopped. She was expecting the fog this time when it came to drown out the school around her. It was happening again.

Kari took a deep breath and tried to focus. She wouldn't be this clear-headed if she was truly losing it, right? So maybe these… visions were messages from her subconscious. Perhaps she remembered something more than she realized. Something important. After all, she had seen Tai in the last one.

So she was determined to remain calm this time. Channel Cody, maybe, and carefully analyze whatever she might encounter this time. But she couldn't contain a shriek as something small splashed past her. She hadn't even noticed the water rising up around her feet again, as if the school had flooded.

Kari shook her head, reminding herself that she was no longer in the school hallway. She couldn't quite make out what had run past her. The fog was too thick, and the thing was still moving. With renewed resolve, she set off after it. Kari wasn't sure what exactly was hidden in this fog. She supposed she would just have to trust in her subconscious.

As Kari continued on, every single one of her muscles seemed to grow heavier. She was panting before she knew it. Something in this fog was seriously weighing her down. Kari reached a hand out to steady herself, realizing too late that there was nothing in this fog to lean up against… Only to find that her fingertips did graze something solid. She stopped, immediately more alert.

Before her was a big stone something-or-other. Was it supposed to be a castle? If so, it appeared to be in the process of being torn down. Or… perhaps it was the other way around. Not run-down, but only half built. There was a polished look to the structures. Maybe that was the secret to this strange fog world. It was all a work in progress. Something not quite of this world and not quite whatever lay on the other side.

Kari made her way through the grounds of the castle, past incomplete staircases and bridges that ended halfway overhead. At last she came to a towering brick wall. It appeared finished, but there was a half-composed quote etched into the stone.

"Hope is being able to see that there is Light—"

She brought a finger up to her lips, pondering the line. It felt like something she would have to analyze in class. It did hold a certain truth, though, despite being incomplete. And the extra capitalization in 'light' was interesting. Hope and Light… Her eyes swung back and forth between those two points, almost as if the middle was totally inconsequential. But what was their significance?

A sudden wave of wooziness nearly overcame her again. Kari stumbled… right back into the hallway of her school. Behind her, she could already hear the gym class underway. And someone else could come walking down the hall any second now… But for a moment, Kari didn't move.

She couldn't get the unfinished quote out of her head. (She'd already made a mental note to look it up later.) The whole thing was just getting more and more bizarre. Regardless of what the quote itself meant, she worried over where it had come from. The fog world that she kept slipping into… Was it really some message from her subconscious, as she'd hoped? Or something more sinister?

Review please!

I don't own Digimon.

Perhaps it's because the chapter I just finished writing felt shorter than I was expecting, but this one felt particularly long… I now have less than a full month before the new semester starts. I'm hoping to keep the updates to at least once a month, but… I guess we'll see. That'll be the upside to having a few chapters written out ahead of time, if I do have a really busy month. Of course… that means I can only slip up once or twice before that's not the case anymore. Anyway, thanks for reading!