DISCLAIMER: It's all in Chapter One, what I own, what I don't. A friend granted me use of her character and the character's digimon. I own a character and HER digimon. I DON'T OWN DIGIMON! (WAAAH!)
Authoress's Notes: Next-to last chapter! Big surprise in here! Really! I'm not kidding! You'll never guess what--or who, rather--Kacie finds! Um, recap: All the kids but Kacie and all the other digimon are in a dungeon--somewhere. Cabaiyomon digivolved to Librimon, Kacie got the Crest of Determination, Librimon digivolved to Cielomon. Now she is battling Ferodramon alone! Heaven help the DigiWorld...
"Ehh..." Matt shook his head and returned to consciousness. The sensation of hanging from a wall hit him, and he found it to be unpleasant at best. His ankles and wrists were in irons, that was why it felt that way.
The only light was through a small slit of a window in the rock above, so he couldn't see much. "Is anyone here?" he called out.
"We're all here, Matt," came Tai's voice. "You're the last one to wake up."
"At least we know no one is comatose," Joe said. "That's good, because there's nothing I can do for that."
Matt looked around. Even in the darkness, he could make out the faces of most of the DigiDestined. "I thought you said we were *all* here, Tai. I don't see Kacie, or any of our digimon."
Izzy cut in. "I think that we have been separated from our digimon, to prevent them from digivolving. Kari said that Ferodramon told her and Kacie that they were in irons."
"And we're not?"
Kari hung her head. She started crying. "He...he said...he said we're on...on...Death Row..."
Tai jerked his head up, purposely banging his head on the wall behind him. "It doesn't get any better than this."
Matt looked down, for no particular reason. "Uh, Tai..."
"WHAT?"
"It just got better...look down..."
Tai looked down.
The floor of the room was a good hundred feet below them.
Kari, T.K., Mimi, and Joe screamed.
"I guess we can rule out trying to file off the irons?" Tai cracked.
T.K. then began to cry as well, although a bit louder than Kari had. "Matt, Matt, we're gonna be okay, right?"
Matt bit his lip. He did not want to lie, but if this truly was the end, he had to give his little brother some hope. "Sure, T.K.. Hey--I know where the digimon are, but you never did say what Kacie was doing..."
"Fighting Ferodramon, unless he got her, too..." Kari whimpered.
"She'd be here if he did," Sora pointed out.
"Unless he 'got her' in a very different way," Tai said.
Matt had had just about all he could take. "How can you talk like that, Tai? I know you don't like her, but she's as much a part of the team as you are! At the very least you could show some mutual respect!"
"Fine. I'm just saying, we should hope for the best but be prepared for the worst."
"If she's out there all alone, she's got to be getting drained...we need to help her," Matt said.
"Oh, and how do we do that?" Tai asked. The sarcasm in his voice was so sharp it could have cut granite like half-melted butter.
"We have to concentrate...on...on helping her...we have to let her tap into our strength, like we let the digimon when they digivolve."
"And how do we do *that*?" Tai cried. He was getting fed up with it.
Joe turned toward Sora. "Hey, do you remember what we did with the Bakemon?"
Sora rolled her eyes. "*Baka*-mon, yes...we did that mind-over-matter chant...worked like a charm."
"Do you think the same thing could work here? Ferodramon-lose-your-power..."
Everyone turned their heads and gave Joe a strange look.
Matt spoke up. "You know, I think that Ferodramon is stronger than Bakemon are...it may not work so well...we would be better off focusing to make Kacie--or Librimon--or maybe even Librimon has digivolved--at any rate, our side, stronger."
Everyone was silent for a minute, except Izzy, who muttered things like "Carry the 4, divide by seven...formula...add thirty..." Finally he piped up. "It took me a minute longer to do the calculations in my head, but I think Matt is right. Everyone concentrate."
"On what?" T.K. asked.
Matt wasn't sure himself. "Uh...think how badly we need to defeat this guy, and then think how Kacie is our only hope..."
T.K. cocked an eyebrow skeptically. "Well...okay..." He closed his eyes.
Everyone else followed suit.
"We have to help her," Matt said.
"We have no other line of defense right now," Joe agreed, trying to be encouraging in his own disconsolate way.
"Cheer up!" cried Sora. "Of course we--uh, she--can beat this guy!"
Matt's crest began to faintly glow, but no one noticed.
"Yeah!" Kari cried. "Before I got here, I heard her promise Angewomon she would."
"We can't let a little thing like getting locked up a hundred feet above a stone floor get in our way..." Izzy said.
"That's little?" Tai asked.
"Compared to wiping a virus off a motherboard without damaging it..."
Tai wasn't in the mood for computer talk. "Nevermind."
"Hey, if she made a promise, she has to do it!" T.K. cried. "A promise is a promise!"
Mimi giggled. "Yeah...she better do it, I have a big party planned for next week when we get home..."
"You do?" Sora asked. "Why didn't you tell me? Aren't I invited?"
"I just planned it, Sora...of course you're invited! You're all invited! It's going to be a victory party for us!"
"That's the idea!" Matt cheered his friends on. "Keep it up, guys!"
Katina bit her lip. "Kacie...she needs us. We are depending on her, but she is depending on us as well! We're a team! We've got to do this!"
Joe wrinkled his nose, trying to push up his glasses without a free hand. The result was they went farther down the bridge of his nose. "She has to do it, before my glasses drive me nuts! Come on, Kacie!"
Mimi laughed. It seemed out of character for Joe, and yet so like something he would say.
Matt's Crest had grown brighter with each one's expression of support.
Matt closed his eyes. "I have a lot of hopes and dreams...and things I need to do when we get home..."
"Like clean out your closet?" T.K. suggested.
Matt snickered, but continued. "She has to do it...she knows she's part of the team, and she knows she has an obligation to try. And we all want her to try! She's just *gotta* win!"
His Crest was suddenly *very* bright, and everyone noticed.
Matt looked down, and noticed it had fallen out of his shirt while they had been transported. "It's glowing...but with no results..."
Sora and Kari turned to Tai.
Kari frowned, becoming very stern. "Taichi...you have to help too."
"Yeah," Sora agreed. "If you don't want to think of helping her, think of the cause *behind* helping her..."
Tai winced. "Fine." He writhed against his bonds as he shouted at the top of his lungs, "SHE BETTER WIN AND GET US OUT OF THIS PLACE, BECAUSE IF WE BOTH END UP IN THE HEREAFTER, I'M GONNA KICK HER HEAVENLY--"
"Tai! There are kids here!" Sora reminded him.
"BUTT!"
"Well, it's better than nothing!" Matt yelled.
His Crest glowed its brightest, and filled the room with the ever-appearing blinding light. He noticed that this time it was not plain white, but blue, the color of his Crest.
"Friendship! I think that for the first time since Kacie has arrived, there's a real spirit of Friendship here!"
Then, suddenly, the light was gone, and their eyes readjusted to the semidarkness that the tiny window afforded.
Kacie was sitting on Cielomon's back, clinging to the strands of mane at the bottom of her digimon's neck for dear life. With Cielomon's wings had come the ability to fly, and fly she did to avoid getting blasted.
Kacie was amazed at just how HUGE she was. There was room on her back for all ten of the DigiDestined--although it would probably be a tight squeeze with the digimon. The strands in her mane--it was a long mane, even for her size--were as long as Kacie's arm from her shoulder. Kacie had seen the feathers on her wings, and she didn't even want to think how big of a quill pen that they would make.
Cielomon concentrated on blasting the bottom half of Ferodramon--apparently he was anchored in place and that part could not dodge. "Violet Lightning!"
Again the attack hit, and it caused him pain, but he always had time to recover before Cielomon had gathered enough energy to fire again.
"If only my attack was just a little bit stronger, Kacie!"
"Don't look at me! It's taking all my concentration just to stay on!"
"Sorry!"
"Fiery Shock!"
Cielomon dodged yet again.
And then, out of the blue, the room was filled with blue light.
Ferodramon screamed, but to Kacie, it was comforting. The light actually seemed to embrace her. She thought she heard Matt's voice say, "We believe in you," but she told herself she was imagining things.
Suddenly everything went in slow motion.
Ferodramon whirled to face Cielomon, who had moved yet again.
"Vi-o-let Light-ning!"
The light was gone. Ferodramon screamed one last time, and in a shower of sparks--or perhaps they were fireworks--he vanished.
Kacie breathed for the first time since the light had appeared. "WE DID IT!" she screamed, wanting to throw her arms up in the air, but at the same time, not wanting to fall off.
"Was there any doubt?" Cielomon laughed.
And then the walls started to crumble.
"Nooo!" Kacie screamed. "I don't wanna be a martyr!"
And then, before anything else had so much as a chance to happen, everything went black.
Kacie had no idea where she was when she woke up. She sat up. She was glad to find no debris on top of her, and every part of her seemed to be working.
"Kacie-san! You're up!" It was Izzy.
"Izzy? What--? Where--? But--*HUH*?" She shook her head, trying to clear the mental fuzz.
"Half of us woke up outside the ruins of Ferodramon's castle. Kat, Kari, T.K., Matt and you were all out. So the rest of us each carried one of you to this cave, and we built the fire over there--you're the next to last to wake up..."
Kacie looked about. There was a fire near the front of the cave, and her duffel was next to her. "How is everyone? In general? And where are the digimon? Cabaiyo?"
"The digis are all by the fire, asleep. Cabaiyomon too. There were no serious injuries, except one...Joe did what he could..."
"Who?" Kacie's eyes filled with fear. ~It can't be Cat, or he'd be with her, and obviously it's not me...~
Izzy took a deep breath. He thought he had some idea of how she felt about Matt, and wanted to break it to her gently, but there was no way to do it but bluntly. "Well, Kacie...it's Matt..."
Shock and horror were written all over her expression. "No! What happened?"
"No one really knows what, or why it was only him. He was at the end of the line of us while we were in irons, and my guess would be that he simply didn't fall clear of the castle debris like the rest of us did..."
"Where is he? I have to see him."
Izzy raised an eyebrow. Now he truly understood. She had not been trying to make a friend, she had been trying to catch Matt's attention, and now she was truly worried for his well-being. "He's on the other side of the fire...Joe and Kat are taking turns watching him...T.K. is probably there as well..."
But Kacie was already heading toward the source of light. Izzy got up and took his laptop outside with the others. Only Matt, Kacie, Joe, and the adorable sleeping digis were left inside.
She stopped, seeing Matt lying there.
Joe was sitting next to him, and Kacie was not sure if he looked bored or worried.
"Joe...?"
"Oh. You're up. There wasn't anything wrong with you, you were just conked out, so Izzy was watching you..."
"I know there's nothing wrong with me. You don't have to explain. What I want to know is how is *he*?" She pointed to Matt.
Joe let his eyes travel over the blond boy's resting form before speaking. "Kacie, come here. Around to this side."
Kacie frowned, but did so.
She watched Joe's finger point out gashes and cuts and bruises all along Matt's right side. There was one from his shoulder down to his elbow, and all over the palm of his hand. "I think what happened is he fell and landed on his hand, and then that gave out, of course, and his whole body slammed down on that side."
Kacie choked back tears. "Where--where *did* he land?"
"On the debris...fortunately we were pretty high up and nothing landed on top of him. His injuries are not too serious, but if he doesn't wake up soon we might have cause to worry."
"Why didn't the rest of you fall there, too? And me?"
"He was the one closest to the center of the castle. T.K. was closest to him and *he* landed only a few feet away from the wall. You must have been carried some distance by your digimon before the thing totally collapsed."
Kacie bit her lip. "I don't know much about medical stuff, but if you could explain what he needs, I'll help you and Cat..."
Joe frowned, then thought of the extra sleep her offer would get him. The things Matt needed *were* few and pretty simple. He showed her the ropes quickly and left her alone with him, joining the others outside.
Kacie heard T.K. pelt Joe with questions. ~I'll have to be ready to answer the same questions when Cat takes over--~ And with that thought, Kacie realized she did not want to leave his side, not now, not ever. She sat quietly, knees to her chest, head on her knees, and wept.
Kacie sat in the closest spot possible when Katina took over. She, Joe, and Katina went in one-hour shifts, and were exempt from watches until Matt woke up.
T.K. was never far away from Matt either. Katina would play a quiet game with him, such as tic-tac-toe or the like, or doodle him a picture. Joe didn't play, but Gomamon would. They tried to keep his mind off of how bad Matt really was.
Patamon was always right there for T.K., always understood when the small boy cried for his brother.
When Kacie was watching Matt, T.K. would usually try to vent frustration by talking it over with Kari. Kacie was far too worried over Matt to try to cheer T.K. up. She knew that he was Matt's little brother and she ought to try to be his friend, but she had too much on her mind. ~I think I worry over Matt as much or more than he does.~
Gabumon constantly kept vigil over his Digipartner. He slept when he needed it, but he never left Matt's side.
Two days passed in the same fashion.
Kacie took over for Joe sometime late that evening. Gabumon was already sleeping for the night, and Cabaiyomon had dozed off as well. T.K. had been playing with Goma, who now apologized and bounded off after Joe, who went outside. It was so nice outside that Sora, Mimi, Izzy, Tai and Kari had taken to even sleeping out there. Katina, Joe, and Kacie found it easier to change shifts without disturbing anyone if they slept inside, and T.K. just wanted to be close to Matt.
T.K. was restless, but he did not feel like getting up to do anything else.
Kacie glanced at him, and then turned her gaze back to Matt. Even in his current state, she took the time to admire his face, his hair. It irritated her that the eyes she found so attractive were constantly closed.
~Poor Matt...poor T.K..~
T.K. looked up at her. "Kacie?" he tried, hoping he'd remembered her name correctly.
"Yeah?"
"Is my brother gonna be okay?"
Kacie tilted her head towards him. She was used to him asking that when she was through with her shift, but never at this time. Still, she answered. "Joe's spent the past hour with him, and he knows more about it anyway. You'd be better off asking him."
"Don't you know?"
"Well, T.K., I--I--" She shook her head. The quality that had earned her her Crest rose within her. "What's wrong with me? Of course he will! I can't make you any promises as to when, T.K., but he *will* be better."
T.K. smiled, and then ran over and gave her a hug. "Thanks, Kacie!"
She managed her first smile since she'd woken up and even giggled a little.
T.K. seemed content after that to sit still and watch Matt. After a while, he fell asleep. Kacie picked him up and laid him in his spot.
She returned to Matt. "Are you ever going to wake up?" she asked him aloud.
The next day, Kacie was at her shift yet again. She was comparatively alone--Tai had suggested a game of soccer, and everyone was playing except herself, the still-silent Gabumon, and Katina. Even the digimon were trying. Kacie sat parallel to Matt and she could watch both him and the other kids.
Kacie laughed at them. Katina, her back to Kacie but nearer than anyone else, was drawing them, all of the other kids and digimon running around kicking the soccer ball that Tai seemed to always carry. Judging by the shade of orange she was using, she was drawing Izzy at that particular moment.
The soccer game was funny to watch. Palmon was one of the goalies, and used her long tendrils of fingers to her advantage. Patamon, Biyomon and Tentomon could bounce the high kicks off their heads. Agumon had a lot of head to bounce the ball off of, although with his claws he had to be careful when he kicked it so he wouldn't pop it. Havamon could change its direction with a flick of his tail, and Gatomon followed suit when she saw him doing it. Gomamon had a lot of trouble with it until they gave him special permission to use his hands--or front paws, however they figured it. Cabaiyomon could bounce herself over Kacie's head, so she often leapt up and head-butted the ball.
While Kacie was watching, she felt her heart grow lighter. The digimon were funny to watch playing, period, and to hear the kids complain about the digimon was just plain hilarious. Mimi said something about all the flying ones (apparently she could kick pretty high despite her long skirt) and Tai kept warning Agumon what would happen if the ball were to pop.
Kacie was watching Izzy pass the ball to Tentomon, and then she heard a groan.
Instantly she was focused on Matt. ~If I talk, it may encourage him to wake up and see what's going on...~ "Matt...Matt...wake up...please...you gotta get up..."
Another groan, louder. He shifted his position slightly, voluntarily for the first time in days.
"Matt...please?" Her eyes were brimming with tears she willed herself not to shed, but a few escaped anyway. ~Kacie...pull yourself together...you don't want him to see you all teary.~
"Uhnnn...Kacie?" His eyelids cracked open, and then suddenly the eyes Kacie admired were looking up at her. "What just happened?"
"*Just* happened? You've been out for three days."
He blinked, and cocked himself up on his elbows. His right side felt a little tingly, but there was virtually no pain. "How are--"
"Everyone is fine. Gabumon is sleeping, right there, and everyone else is out there playing soccer."
He smiled. "Good. Hey, are you going to tell me what happened or not?"
"Oh. Yeah. You fell and landed on the rocks of the palace, and scratched up your side, and hit your head. That's why you've been out. Everyone else landed on the grass and so no one else was really hurt."
Matt's main concerns were for his brother. "And T.K.?"
"He's doing just fine except missing you."
Again he smiled. "Then everything is okay." He sighed contentedly. "Kacie..."
~What? Is he finally going to tell me what he thinks of me?~
"Kacie, I..."
Just then there was a yell from the "soccer field". It was T.K. "MATT! Hey, everyone, Matt's awake!"
The soccer game was forgotten, and the ball left behind, as everyone followed T.K. to see for themselves.
The next day Matt was up and walking around, and even kicked the soccer ball around with T.K. and Tai just to prove that he felt fine. Of course his hand was still sore, but for the most part he was cured.
The next question on everyone's mind was why they were still in the DigiWorld.
That afternoon, an e-mail from Gennai answered that.
Izzy read the e-mail aloud.
"Greetings! You must be wondering why you are all still here. Truth is, I just wanted to give Matt time to wake up, rather than return you to your world to have to explain it. At any rate, congratulations, Kacie!"
Kacie glowed with pleasure. She had not really had time to think over it with all her worry over Matt.
"Now, I know you're all thinking that it will be difficult to keep in contact with Kacie, since you all live in Tokyo, and she lives in Chicago. I have the means to bypass high phone bills and millions of wordy e-mails. Izzy, you need to hook your laptop up to hers and install the attached program. There are sufficient directions in its help files. I need to go feed the fish some pretzels, so goodbye for now, and please recycle!"
Izzy got a cable out of his backpack while Kacie got her laptop out of her duffel and booted it up. He hooked them together and began downloading the file to her hard drive. When it was done, a small icon appeared on her desktop labeled "PORTAL".
"Do I even want to know?" she asked.
"Click it!" Izzy said, having unplugged the connection. "Click it!"
She double-clicked it and on her screen came a very plain program. It had only two items in the menu bar, "Help" and "Shortcuts". Below that there were two bars much like the kind where one enters webpage addresses, one was labeled "Address:" and one "Items to Send:". Next to those, there was a button that said "Transport".
"Simple, that's for sure," Izzy remarked.
She clicked on "Help" and everyone left her alone to read it and master the program.
After about ten minutes she yelled, "I've got it!"
"Huh?" Izzy looked up from his laptop and came over. He was curious as to just what Gennai had sent, so he was eager to see what she "got".
"It's kind of like e-mail, but instead of sending a message, I can send myself, and anyone else I want along with me."
Izzy nodded. He had done similar things in the DigiWorld with the team of DigiDestined.
"It works by sending me to the DigiWorld and then back out to whatever address I've typed in."
Izzy nodded. "I get it. I can do that *within* the DigiWorld, but not Earth...hey, can I copy your program?"
"Sorry, Izzy, it has one of those Licensing Agreement document things that says I can't copy it." (A/N: Pathetic, I know, but this has to be exclusive to Kacie.)
Izzy was disappointed, but he didn't let it bother him. "Hey, are you going to test it?"
"Of course...whenever we get back to Earth. It won't work here, it said so."
And with that, they were gone.
They were all in Tokyo, and it was still the same day, still just after school, in the middle of the park.
"Weird," Kacie said. That said it all.
"So now what?" Matt asked. "Are you going on home, Kacie, or what?"
"I left all my schoolbooks at Izzy's house...I emptied them out because I knew I would not need them at your school..."
"Good thing, because if your bag gets any fuller, I won't fit..." Cabaiyomon said.
"Well, come get them, then," Izzy said.
"Okay...bubbye, all of you!"
"If that thing works, we'll expect to be seeing a lot of you!" Matt said, taking T.K. by the hand.
"If it doesn't, you'll see me every day!" Kacie called cheerfully over her shoulder, chasing after Izzy and Katina.
At the apartment, she stuffed her books into her duffel and she was about to leave when Izzy's mother invited her to stay for one last dinner.
~What can it hurt? My parents have waited this long, another two hours won't kill them.~
She sat in Katina's room for a while. Their two digimon sat talking. She knew that she was better friends with Izzy, but she also knew she had to learn to get along with the entire group, and even if Katina was silent, she was intriguing at the least. She asked to see the picture that Katina had drawn the digital day before, of the kids playing soccer.
Katina blushed, but nodded and got it out of her backpack nonetheless.
Kacie stared as the paper was placed in her hands. "This is like a photograph, Cat!"
It was. The main focus of the picture was Izzy passing the ball to Tentomon, and the expressions on everyone's faces were down to a tee. Katina had captured the moment perfectly.
"She's good, huh?" Havamon asked, causing Katina to blush even deeper.
"Havamon..."
~Captured the moment...only once before in my life have I seen art such as this...~ "Cat, how long have you been drawing?"
Katina shrugged. "All my life..."
Kacie stared at the picture, but was not admiring it. It was worthy of it, but her mind was wandering. "Cat is a nickname, isn't it? And it's not from Catherine or Cathleen, is it?"
Kat frowned. "Why." It wasn't a question.
"Please, Cat...just tell me your whole first name, and spell it."
Katina blinked at her, but did what the girl requested. "Katina. K-A-T-I-N-A."
A light came into Kacie's eyes, but lingered only seconds. "No, that's still impossible."
Cabaiyomon frowned up at her, but said nothing. She had a lot to learn about her Digipartner and her ways of thinking.
Katina just shook her head, and turned to start a new drawing. She paused. "What's impossible." Another statement.
"Oh, before I lived in Chicago, I had a friend...but no. You're too different from her..."
Katina frowned. "But you...Chicago...all your life..."
"Did I ever say I lived in Chicago all my life? No. As a matter of fact, I was telling Matt just the other day about when I lived in Arkansas..."
"Arkansas?" Katina frowned. "You lived in Arkansas?"
"When I was younger, yes..." Kacie flopped backward on the bed. "Although I will say I like Chicago much better--"
Katina barreled on ahead, ignoring Kacie's ramblings. "When?"
Kacie blinked. "Oh, up until about five years ago...my best friend had just moved away, she traveled the world, and her family moved on...my father got promoted, and we moved to Chicago."
"Kacie...You are Kacie *Kensingten*?"
"Last I checked."
"Kacie Kerrianne Juliet Kensingten?"
Kacie sat straight up. "There's no way you could know my whole name! I haven't told anyone my *whole* name since I told my best friend! None of the DigiDestined...Unless...Kat? Katina Dianne Ashton?"
Katina nodded. "Foxx! I can't believe it!"
"It's you! You're the only one who ever called me that!"
The two girls hugged each other there in the middle of Katina's room.
Their digimon watched, curious but having no clue what was going on.
Izzy walked in to tell them dinner was ready. "Uh...Kat? Kacie-san?"
They let go of each other.
"Anyone care to explain?" Izzy queried.
Katina was very excited in manner and tone, and getting Spanish, Japanese and English all jumbled together. "Izzy! Izzychan, you remember I told you about Foxx? The Americano girl I met in Arkansas, a long time ago? Mi amiga?"
Izzy could barely follow her rapidly moving hands. "Uhh...yeah...what has that got to do with Kacie-san?"
"Kacie *IS* Foxx!" Katina announced triumphantly.
Izzy's eyes widened. He looked at Katina, then Kacie, then back at Katina, and then back at Kacie. "Are you sure?"
"Who else would know both my middle names?" Kacie asked. "And draw like that, and resemble the Kat I knew back then? Of course, she was only ten. We lived in Arkansas at the same time for only about a year..."
"Come on, you two. You can come tell the whole story at the dinner table. Mom and Dad will find this interesting, too..."
A/N: I *TOLD* you you'd never guess!!! Now how cool is that? Okay, we've defeated Ferodramon, reunited Kacie with her best friend, posed a few questions as to Matt's feelings for our heroine...Come back for the final chapter...Kacie tests the portal Gennai gave her, we tie up a few emotional loose ends, her parents' reaction to all this...See ya there!
Authoress's Notes: Next-to last chapter! Big surprise in here! Really! I'm not kidding! You'll never guess what--or who, rather--Kacie finds! Um, recap: All the kids but Kacie and all the other digimon are in a dungeon--somewhere. Cabaiyomon digivolved to Librimon, Kacie got the Crest of Determination, Librimon digivolved to Cielomon. Now she is battling Ferodramon alone! Heaven help the DigiWorld...
"Ehh..." Matt shook his head and returned to consciousness. The sensation of hanging from a wall hit him, and he found it to be unpleasant at best. His ankles and wrists were in irons, that was why it felt that way.
The only light was through a small slit of a window in the rock above, so he couldn't see much. "Is anyone here?" he called out.
"We're all here, Matt," came Tai's voice. "You're the last one to wake up."
"At least we know no one is comatose," Joe said. "That's good, because there's nothing I can do for that."
Matt looked around. Even in the darkness, he could make out the faces of most of the DigiDestined. "I thought you said we were *all* here, Tai. I don't see Kacie, or any of our digimon."
Izzy cut in. "I think that we have been separated from our digimon, to prevent them from digivolving. Kari said that Ferodramon told her and Kacie that they were in irons."
"And we're not?"
Kari hung her head. She started crying. "He...he said...he said we're on...on...Death Row..."
Tai jerked his head up, purposely banging his head on the wall behind him. "It doesn't get any better than this."
Matt looked down, for no particular reason. "Uh, Tai..."
"WHAT?"
"It just got better...look down..."
Tai looked down.
The floor of the room was a good hundred feet below them.
Kari, T.K., Mimi, and Joe screamed.
"I guess we can rule out trying to file off the irons?" Tai cracked.
T.K. then began to cry as well, although a bit louder than Kari had. "Matt, Matt, we're gonna be okay, right?"
Matt bit his lip. He did not want to lie, but if this truly was the end, he had to give his little brother some hope. "Sure, T.K.. Hey--I know where the digimon are, but you never did say what Kacie was doing..."
"Fighting Ferodramon, unless he got her, too..." Kari whimpered.
"She'd be here if he did," Sora pointed out.
"Unless he 'got her' in a very different way," Tai said.
Matt had had just about all he could take. "How can you talk like that, Tai? I know you don't like her, but she's as much a part of the team as you are! At the very least you could show some mutual respect!"
"Fine. I'm just saying, we should hope for the best but be prepared for the worst."
"If she's out there all alone, she's got to be getting drained...we need to help her," Matt said.
"Oh, and how do we do that?" Tai asked. The sarcasm in his voice was so sharp it could have cut granite like half-melted butter.
"We have to concentrate...on...on helping her...we have to let her tap into our strength, like we let the digimon when they digivolve."
"And how do we do *that*?" Tai cried. He was getting fed up with it.
Joe turned toward Sora. "Hey, do you remember what we did with the Bakemon?"
Sora rolled her eyes. "*Baka*-mon, yes...we did that mind-over-matter chant...worked like a charm."
"Do you think the same thing could work here? Ferodramon-lose-your-power..."
Everyone turned their heads and gave Joe a strange look.
Matt spoke up. "You know, I think that Ferodramon is stronger than Bakemon are...it may not work so well...we would be better off focusing to make Kacie--or Librimon--or maybe even Librimon has digivolved--at any rate, our side, stronger."
Everyone was silent for a minute, except Izzy, who muttered things like "Carry the 4, divide by seven...formula...add thirty..." Finally he piped up. "It took me a minute longer to do the calculations in my head, but I think Matt is right. Everyone concentrate."
"On what?" T.K. asked.
Matt wasn't sure himself. "Uh...think how badly we need to defeat this guy, and then think how Kacie is our only hope..."
T.K. cocked an eyebrow skeptically. "Well...okay..." He closed his eyes.
Everyone else followed suit.
"We have to help her," Matt said.
"We have no other line of defense right now," Joe agreed, trying to be encouraging in his own disconsolate way.
"Cheer up!" cried Sora. "Of course we--uh, she--can beat this guy!"
Matt's crest began to faintly glow, but no one noticed.
"Yeah!" Kari cried. "Before I got here, I heard her promise Angewomon she would."
"We can't let a little thing like getting locked up a hundred feet above a stone floor get in our way..." Izzy said.
"That's little?" Tai asked.
"Compared to wiping a virus off a motherboard without damaging it..."
Tai wasn't in the mood for computer talk. "Nevermind."
"Hey, if she made a promise, she has to do it!" T.K. cried. "A promise is a promise!"
Mimi giggled. "Yeah...she better do it, I have a big party planned for next week when we get home..."
"You do?" Sora asked. "Why didn't you tell me? Aren't I invited?"
"I just planned it, Sora...of course you're invited! You're all invited! It's going to be a victory party for us!"
"That's the idea!" Matt cheered his friends on. "Keep it up, guys!"
Katina bit her lip. "Kacie...she needs us. We are depending on her, but she is depending on us as well! We're a team! We've got to do this!"
Joe wrinkled his nose, trying to push up his glasses without a free hand. The result was they went farther down the bridge of his nose. "She has to do it, before my glasses drive me nuts! Come on, Kacie!"
Mimi laughed. It seemed out of character for Joe, and yet so like something he would say.
Matt's Crest had grown brighter with each one's expression of support.
Matt closed his eyes. "I have a lot of hopes and dreams...and things I need to do when we get home..."
"Like clean out your closet?" T.K. suggested.
Matt snickered, but continued. "She has to do it...she knows she's part of the team, and she knows she has an obligation to try. And we all want her to try! She's just *gotta* win!"
His Crest was suddenly *very* bright, and everyone noticed.
Matt looked down, and noticed it had fallen out of his shirt while they had been transported. "It's glowing...but with no results..."
Sora and Kari turned to Tai.
Kari frowned, becoming very stern. "Taichi...you have to help too."
"Yeah," Sora agreed. "If you don't want to think of helping her, think of the cause *behind* helping her..."
Tai winced. "Fine." He writhed against his bonds as he shouted at the top of his lungs, "SHE BETTER WIN AND GET US OUT OF THIS PLACE, BECAUSE IF WE BOTH END UP IN THE HEREAFTER, I'M GONNA KICK HER HEAVENLY--"
"Tai! There are kids here!" Sora reminded him.
"BUTT!"
"Well, it's better than nothing!" Matt yelled.
His Crest glowed its brightest, and filled the room with the ever-appearing blinding light. He noticed that this time it was not plain white, but blue, the color of his Crest.
"Friendship! I think that for the first time since Kacie has arrived, there's a real spirit of Friendship here!"
Then, suddenly, the light was gone, and their eyes readjusted to the semidarkness that the tiny window afforded.
Kacie was sitting on Cielomon's back, clinging to the strands of mane at the bottom of her digimon's neck for dear life. With Cielomon's wings had come the ability to fly, and fly she did to avoid getting blasted.
Kacie was amazed at just how HUGE she was. There was room on her back for all ten of the DigiDestined--although it would probably be a tight squeeze with the digimon. The strands in her mane--it was a long mane, even for her size--were as long as Kacie's arm from her shoulder. Kacie had seen the feathers on her wings, and she didn't even want to think how big of a quill pen that they would make.
Cielomon concentrated on blasting the bottom half of Ferodramon--apparently he was anchored in place and that part could not dodge. "Violet Lightning!"
Again the attack hit, and it caused him pain, but he always had time to recover before Cielomon had gathered enough energy to fire again.
"If only my attack was just a little bit stronger, Kacie!"
"Don't look at me! It's taking all my concentration just to stay on!"
"Sorry!"
"Fiery Shock!"
Cielomon dodged yet again.
And then, out of the blue, the room was filled with blue light.
Ferodramon screamed, but to Kacie, it was comforting. The light actually seemed to embrace her. She thought she heard Matt's voice say, "We believe in you," but she told herself she was imagining things.
Suddenly everything went in slow motion.
Ferodramon whirled to face Cielomon, who had moved yet again.
"Vi-o-let Light-ning!"
The light was gone. Ferodramon screamed one last time, and in a shower of sparks--or perhaps they were fireworks--he vanished.
Kacie breathed for the first time since the light had appeared. "WE DID IT!" she screamed, wanting to throw her arms up in the air, but at the same time, not wanting to fall off.
"Was there any doubt?" Cielomon laughed.
And then the walls started to crumble.
"Nooo!" Kacie screamed. "I don't wanna be a martyr!"
And then, before anything else had so much as a chance to happen, everything went black.
Kacie had no idea where she was when she woke up. She sat up. She was glad to find no debris on top of her, and every part of her seemed to be working.
"Kacie-san! You're up!" It was Izzy.
"Izzy? What--? Where--? But--*HUH*?" She shook her head, trying to clear the mental fuzz.
"Half of us woke up outside the ruins of Ferodramon's castle. Kat, Kari, T.K., Matt and you were all out. So the rest of us each carried one of you to this cave, and we built the fire over there--you're the next to last to wake up..."
Kacie looked about. There was a fire near the front of the cave, and her duffel was next to her. "How is everyone? In general? And where are the digimon? Cabaiyo?"
"The digis are all by the fire, asleep. Cabaiyomon too. There were no serious injuries, except one...Joe did what he could..."
"Who?" Kacie's eyes filled with fear. ~It can't be Cat, or he'd be with her, and obviously it's not me...~
Izzy took a deep breath. He thought he had some idea of how she felt about Matt, and wanted to break it to her gently, but there was no way to do it but bluntly. "Well, Kacie...it's Matt..."
Shock and horror were written all over her expression. "No! What happened?"
"No one really knows what, or why it was only him. He was at the end of the line of us while we were in irons, and my guess would be that he simply didn't fall clear of the castle debris like the rest of us did..."
"Where is he? I have to see him."
Izzy raised an eyebrow. Now he truly understood. She had not been trying to make a friend, she had been trying to catch Matt's attention, and now she was truly worried for his well-being. "He's on the other side of the fire...Joe and Kat are taking turns watching him...T.K. is probably there as well..."
But Kacie was already heading toward the source of light. Izzy got up and took his laptop outside with the others. Only Matt, Kacie, Joe, and the adorable sleeping digis were left inside.
She stopped, seeing Matt lying there.
Joe was sitting next to him, and Kacie was not sure if he looked bored or worried.
"Joe...?"
"Oh. You're up. There wasn't anything wrong with you, you were just conked out, so Izzy was watching you..."
"I know there's nothing wrong with me. You don't have to explain. What I want to know is how is *he*?" She pointed to Matt.
Joe let his eyes travel over the blond boy's resting form before speaking. "Kacie, come here. Around to this side."
Kacie frowned, but did so.
She watched Joe's finger point out gashes and cuts and bruises all along Matt's right side. There was one from his shoulder down to his elbow, and all over the palm of his hand. "I think what happened is he fell and landed on his hand, and then that gave out, of course, and his whole body slammed down on that side."
Kacie choked back tears. "Where--where *did* he land?"
"On the debris...fortunately we were pretty high up and nothing landed on top of him. His injuries are not too serious, but if he doesn't wake up soon we might have cause to worry."
"Why didn't the rest of you fall there, too? And me?"
"He was the one closest to the center of the castle. T.K. was closest to him and *he* landed only a few feet away from the wall. You must have been carried some distance by your digimon before the thing totally collapsed."
Kacie bit her lip. "I don't know much about medical stuff, but if you could explain what he needs, I'll help you and Cat..."
Joe frowned, then thought of the extra sleep her offer would get him. The things Matt needed *were* few and pretty simple. He showed her the ropes quickly and left her alone with him, joining the others outside.
Kacie heard T.K. pelt Joe with questions. ~I'll have to be ready to answer the same questions when Cat takes over--~ And with that thought, Kacie realized she did not want to leave his side, not now, not ever. She sat quietly, knees to her chest, head on her knees, and wept.
Kacie sat in the closest spot possible when Katina took over. She, Joe, and Katina went in one-hour shifts, and were exempt from watches until Matt woke up.
T.K. was never far away from Matt either. Katina would play a quiet game with him, such as tic-tac-toe or the like, or doodle him a picture. Joe didn't play, but Gomamon would. They tried to keep his mind off of how bad Matt really was.
Patamon was always right there for T.K., always understood when the small boy cried for his brother.
When Kacie was watching Matt, T.K. would usually try to vent frustration by talking it over with Kari. Kacie was far too worried over Matt to try to cheer T.K. up. She knew that he was Matt's little brother and she ought to try to be his friend, but she had too much on her mind. ~I think I worry over Matt as much or more than he does.~
Gabumon constantly kept vigil over his Digipartner. He slept when he needed it, but he never left Matt's side.
Two days passed in the same fashion.
Kacie took over for Joe sometime late that evening. Gabumon was already sleeping for the night, and Cabaiyomon had dozed off as well. T.K. had been playing with Goma, who now apologized and bounded off after Joe, who went outside. It was so nice outside that Sora, Mimi, Izzy, Tai and Kari had taken to even sleeping out there. Katina, Joe, and Kacie found it easier to change shifts without disturbing anyone if they slept inside, and T.K. just wanted to be close to Matt.
T.K. was restless, but he did not feel like getting up to do anything else.
Kacie glanced at him, and then turned her gaze back to Matt. Even in his current state, she took the time to admire his face, his hair. It irritated her that the eyes she found so attractive were constantly closed.
~Poor Matt...poor T.K..~
T.K. looked up at her. "Kacie?" he tried, hoping he'd remembered her name correctly.
"Yeah?"
"Is my brother gonna be okay?"
Kacie tilted her head towards him. She was used to him asking that when she was through with her shift, but never at this time. Still, she answered. "Joe's spent the past hour with him, and he knows more about it anyway. You'd be better off asking him."
"Don't you know?"
"Well, T.K., I--I--" She shook her head. The quality that had earned her her Crest rose within her. "What's wrong with me? Of course he will! I can't make you any promises as to when, T.K., but he *will* be better."
T.K. smiled, and then ran over and gave her a hug. "Thanks, Kacie!"
She managed her first smile since she'd woken up and even giggled a little.
T.K. seemed content after that to sit still and watch Matt. After a while, he fell asleep. Kacie picked him up and laid him in his spot.
She returned to Matt. "Are you ever going to wake up?" she asked him aloud.
The next day, Kacie was at her shift yet again. She was comparatively alone--Tai had suggested a game of soccer, and everyone was playing except herself, the still-silent Gabumon, and Katina. Even the digimon were trying. Kacie sat parallel to Matt and she could watch both him and the other kids.
Kacie laughed at them. Katina, her back to Kacie but nearer than anyone else, was drawing them, all of the other kids and digimon running around kicking the soccer ball that Tai seemed to always carry. Judging by the shade of orange she was using, she was drawing Izzy at that particular moment.
The soccer game was funny to watch. Palmon was one of the goalies, and used her long tendrils of fingers to her advantage. Patamon, Biyomon and Tentomon could bounce the high kicks off their heads. Agumon had a lot of head to bounce the ball off of, although with his claws he had to be careful when he kicked it so he wouldn't pop it. Havamon could change its direction with a flick of his tail, and Gatomon followed suit when she saw him doing it. Gomamon had a lot of trouble with it until they gave him special permission to use his hands--or front paws, however they figured it. Cabaiyomon could bounce herself over Kacie's head, so she often leapt up and head-butted the ball.
While Kacie was watching, she felt her heart grow lighter. The digimon were funny to watch playing, period, and to hear the kids complain about the digimon was just plain hilarious. Mimi said something about all the flying ones (apparently she could kick pretty high despite her long skirt) and Tai kept warning Agumon what would happen if the ball were to pop.
Kacie was watching Izzy pass the ball to Tentomon, and then she heard a groan.
Instantly she was focused on Matt. ~If I talk, it may encourage him to wake up and see what's going on...~ "Matt...Matt...wake up...please...you gotta get up..."
Another groan, louder. He shifted his position slightly, voluntarily for the first time in days.
"Matt...please?" Her eyes were brimming with tears she willed herself not to shed, but a few escaped anyway. ~Kacie...pull yourself together...you don't want him to see you all teary.~
"Uhnnn...Kacie?" His eyelids cracked open, and then suddenly the eyes Kacie admired were looking up at her. "What just happened?"
"*Just* happened? You've been out for three days."
He blinked, and cocked himself up on his elbows. His right side felt a little tingly, but there was virtually no pain. "How are--"
"Everyone is fine. Gabumon is sleeping, right there, and everyone else is out there playing soccer."
He smiled. "Good. Hey, are you going to tell me what happened or not?"
"Oh. Yeah. You fell and landed on the rocks of the palace, and scratched up your side, and hit your head. That's why you've been out. Everyone else landed on the grass and so no one else was really hurt."
Matt's main concerns were for his brother. "And T.K.?"
"He's doing just fine except missing you."
Again he smiled. "Then everything is okay." He sighed contentedly. "Kacie..."
~What? Is he finally going to tell me what he thinks of me?~
"Kacie, I..."
Just then there was a yell from the "soccer field". It was T.K. "MATT! Hey, everyone, Matt's awake!"
The soccer game was forgotten, and the ball left behind, as everyone followed T.K. to see for themselves.
The next day Matt was up and walking around, and even kicked the soccer ball around with T.K. and Tai just to prove that he felt fine. Of course his hand was still sore, but for the most part he was cured.
The next question on everyone's mind was why they were still in the DigiWorld.
That afternoon, an e-mail from Gennai answered that.
Izzy read the e-mail aloud.
"Greetings! You must be wondering why you are all still here. Truth is, I just wanted to give Matt time to wake up, rather than return you to your world to have to explain it. At any rate, congratulations, Kacie!"
Kacie glowed with pleasure. She had not really had time to think over it with all her worry over Matt.
"Now, I know you're all thinking that it will be difficult to keep in contact with Kacie, since you all live in Tokyo, and she lives in Chicago. I have the means to bypass high phone bills and millions of wordy e-mails. Izzy, you need to hook your laptop up to hers and install the attached program. There are sufficient directions in its help files. I need to go feed the fish some pretzels, so goodbye for now, and please recycle!"
Izzy got a cable out of his backpack while Kacie got her laptop out of her duffel and booted it up. He hooked them together and began downloading the file to her hard drive. When it was done, a small icon appeared on her desktop labeled "PORTAL".
"Do I even want to know?" she asked.
"Click it!" Izzy said, having unplugged the connection. "Click it!"
She double-clicked it and on her screen came a very plain program. It had only two items in the menu bar, "Help" and "Shortcuts". Below that there were two bars much like the kind where one enters webpage addresses, one was labeled "Address:" and one "Items to Send:". Next to those, there was a button that said "Transport".
"Simple, that's for sure," Izzy remarked.
She clicked on "Help" and everyone left her alone to read it and master the program.
After about ten minutes she yelled, "I've got it!"
"Huh?" Izzy looked up from his laptop and came over. He was curious as to just what Gennai had sent, so he was eager to see what she "got".
"It's kind of like e-mail, but instead of sending a message, I can send myself, and anyone else I want along with me."
Izzy nodded. He had done similar things in the DigiWorld with the team of DigiDestined.
"It works by sending me to the DigiWorld and then back out to whatever address I've typed in."
Izzy nodded. "I get it. I can do that *within* the DigiWorld, but not Earth...hey, can I copy your program?"
"Sorry, Izzy, it has one of those Licensing Agreement document things that says I can't copy it." (A/N: Pathetic, I know, but this has to be exclusive to Kacie.)
Izzy was disappointed, but he didn't let it bother him. "Hey, are you going to test it?"
"Of course...whenever we get back to Earth. It won't work here, it said so."
And with that, they were gone.
They were all in Tokyo, and it was still the same day, still just after school, in the middle of the park.
"Weird," Kacie said. That said it all.
"So now what?" Matt asked. "Are you going on home, Kacie, or what?"
"I left all my schoolbooks at Izzy's house...I emptied them out because I knew I would not need them at your school..."
"Good thing, because if your bag gets any fuller, I won't fit..." Cabaiyomon said.
"Well, come get them, then," Izzy said.
"Okay...bubbye, all of you!"
"If that thing works, we'll expect to be seeing a lot of you!" Matt said, taking T.K. by the hand.
"If it doesn't, you'll see me every day!" Kacie called cheerfully over her shoulder, chasing after Izzy and Katina.
At the apartment, she stuffed her books into her duffel and she was about to leave when Izzy's mother invited her to stay for one last dinner.
~What can it hurt? My parents have waited this long, another two hours won't kill them.~
She sat in Katina's room for a while. Their two digimon sat talking. She knew that she was better friends with Izzy, but she also knew she had to learn to get along with the entire group, and even if Katina was silent, she was intriguing at the least. She asked to see the picture that Katina had drawn the digital day before, of the kids playing soccer.
Katina blushed, but nodded and got it out of her backpack nonetheless.
Kacie stared as the paper was placed in her hands. "This is like a photograph, Cat!"
It was. The main focus of the picture was Izzy passing the ball to Tentomon, and the expressions on everyone's faces were down to a tee. Katina had captured the moment perfectly.
"She's good, huh?" Havamon asked, causing Katina to blush even deeper.
"Havamon..."
~Captured the moment...only once before in my life have I seen art such as this...~ "Cat, how long have you been drawing?"
Katina shrugged. "All my life..."
Kacie stared at the picture, but was not admiring it. It was worthy of it, but her mind was wandering. "Cat is a nickname, isn't it? And it's not from Catherine or Cathleen, is it?"
Kat frowned. "Why." It wasn't a question.
"Please, Cat...just tell me your whole first name, and spell it."
Katina blinked at her, but did what the girl requested. "Katina. K-A-T-I-N-A."
A light came into Kacie's eyes, but lingered only seconds. "No, that's still impossible."
Cabaiyomon frowned up at her, but said nothing. She had a lot to learn about her Digipartner and her ways of thinking.
Katina just shook her head, and turned to start a new drawing. She paused. "What's impossible." Another statement.
"Oh, before I lived in Chicago, I had a friend...but no. You're too different from her..."
Katina frowned. "But you...Chicago...all your life..."
"Did I ever say I lived in Chicago all my life? No. As a matter of fact, I was telling Matt just the other day about when I lived in Arkansas..."
"Arkansas?" Katina frowned. "You lived in Arkansas?"
"When I was younger, yes..." Kacie flopped backward on the bed. "Although I will say I like Chicago much better--"
Katina barreled on ahead, ignoring Kacie's ramblings. "When?"
Kacie blinked. "Oh, up until about five years ago...my best friend had just moved away, she traveled the world, and her family moved on...my father got promoted, and we moved to Chicago."
"Kacie...You are Kacie *Kensingten*?"
"Last I checked."
"Kacie Kerrianne Juliet Kensingten?"
Kacie sat straight up. "There's no way you could know my whole name! I haven't told anyone my *whole* name since I told my best friend! None of the DigiDestined...Unless...Kat? Katina Dianne Ashton?"
Katina nodded. "Foxx! I can't believe it!"
"It's you! You're the only one who ever called me that!"
The two girls hugged each other there in the middle of Katina's room.
Their digimon watched, curious but having no clue what was going on.
Izzy walked in to tell them dinner was ready. "Uh...Kat? Kacie-san?"
They let go of each other.
"Anyone care to explain?" Izzy queried.
Katina was very excited in manner and tone, and getting Spanish, Japanese and English all jumbled together. "Izzy! Izzychan, you remember I told you about Foxx? The Americano girl I met in Arkansas, a long time ago? Mi amiga?"
Izzy could barely follow her rapidly moving hands. "Uhh...yeah...what has that got to do with Kacie-san?"
"Kacie *IS* Foxx!" Katina announced triumphantly.
Izzy's eyes widened. He looked at Katina, then Kacie, then back at Katina, and then back at Kacie. "Are you sure?"
"Who else would know both my middle names?" Kacie asked. "And draw like that, and resemble the Kat I knew back then? Of course, she was only ten. We lived in Arkansas at the same time for only about a year..."
"Come on, you two. You can come tell the whole story at the dinner table. Mom and Dad will find this interesting, too..."
A/N: I *TOLD* you you'd never guess!!! Now how cool is that? Okay, we've defeated Ferodramon, reunited Kacie with her best friend, posed a few questions as to Matt's feelings for our heroine...Come back for the final chapter...Kacie tests the portal Gennai gave her, we tie up a few emotional loose ends, her parents' reaction to all this...See ya there!