There'll Always
Be Hope: Part Three
By: Sakura
Dylan quietly entered the area surrounding Master Gennai's home.
He had stayed by the cliffside for a long time and believed everyone to be
asleep when he came back. Moving silently, he caught the murmur of voices just
on the porch of the main building. Entering his room (which was separate from
the main building), he saw Kari sitting with T.K. The two DigiDestined seemed
to be sharing a quiet moment alone together, but far behind them, unnoticed by
anyone except Dylan, their brothers kept silent vigil.
Kari was sitting in T.K.'s lap, who had his arms wrapped around
her tightly, and her hands on top of his. Her head was leaning against his
chest, and T.K. rested his head against hers. They were conversing to each
other in low tones, trying to remain as quiet as possible.
Sitting up a little, Kari turned around and looked at T.K. He had
taken off his sunglasses earlier. Looking into his clear blue eyes, she could
see the blank look in them and it crushed her. She could no longer see the
warmth and love that had filled them not long ago. A sob welled up in her
throat, but Kari kept it down. She didn't want to make T.K. worried. Instead,
she hugged him. T.K., not expecting such a gesture, but not minding it
nonetheless, held her closer to him. Though he couldn't see her, he could
almost sense that Kari was close to tears.
"Don't worry," whispered T.K. into her ear, "everything will be
okay." Kari closed her eyes and responded by tightening her embrace. T.K. had
also closed his sightless eyes.
"I guess I should help them prepare for their upcoming battle,"
thought Dylan, "because they'll need it."
Dylan left his room and headed for the main building. T.K.'s ears
pricked as he heard someone walking onto the porch. "Who's that?" he asked
Kari.
"It's Dylan," she answered. The older boy stopped in front of
them, not moving a muscle. By this time, T.K. and Kari had broken the embrace
and just sat by each other on the porch. "Hello, Dylan," greeted Kari. Dylan
gazed at her wordlessly for a moment before turning to T.K.
"How much do you want your sight back, T.K.?" he asked gruffly.
T.K. stood up, Kari still supporting him.
"What do you think?" replied T.K. coldly, a tone that T.K. hardly
used before on anyone, excepting Davis.
"And what if you could never get it back?" asked Dylan. Kari
glanced sharply at Dylan, a look of anger in her eyes. T.K. fell silent for a
moment. He wanted his sight back, almost desperately. He wanted to see
everything again, like the clear blue sky and the starry nights. But most
importantly, he wanted to see Kari's beautiful face; the sweet smile that
always cheered him up, the bright light in her warm, laughter-filled eyes…When
T.K. opened his mouth to answer, Dylan interrupted him.
"Wait," he said, "don't say it. I know what you're thinking."
Dylan paced the floorboards for a few minutes. "T.K.," he said, finally
stopping, "I'll help you. I can't guarantee you'll get your eyesight back, but
I can promise you that when I'm through with you, you won't even need it. In
return, all I ask is for one thing; that we leave here and work outside the
safety of Gennai's home. Also, no one else is to come with us. No one at all.
Agreed?"
"But…no, you can't!" cried Kari. Dylan turned to face her with
cold eyes.
"You wanted to help him, am I right?" he said. "Would you keep him
from this opportunity?"
Tears sprang to Kari's eyes, nearly driving away the forced
iciness Dylan kept in his. She could always melt him with just one gaze…but he
wouldn't let her this time. T.K. placed a hand on Kari's shoulder. Kari turned
and looked up into his blank blue eyes.
"Don't worry about me," he said with a soft smile. "I promise I'll
return to you." He turned and nodded to Dylan. "Agreed."
Dylan smiled, though it almost turned into a grimace. "Good. Then
we leave here in twenty minutes."
"Why so soon?" asked T.K.
"It's because we don't have much time," answered Dylan, "and you
must be ready."
"All right," answered T.K. "Just give me a few moments to say
goodbye to my friends." Dylan nodded. They all turned around immediately when
they heard a branch snap behind them. They saw Tai a few metres away holding
back Matt, who looked ready to go on a rampage. Tai grinned nervously while he
sweatdropped. Obviously, Matt wasn't too happy about Dylan's plan.
~*~*~*~*~*~
In twenty minutes time, T.K. was on the porch again, holding Kari
in his arms. They had all gone inside earlier and told Izzy, Davis, and Gennai
about Dylan's plans. The DigiDestined were surprised by the news, but Gennai
wasn't. Matt continued to seethe and - now and then - glared angrily at Dylan.
His little brother needed to stay with his friends, where he could find their
constant support, not go off someplace with a strange kid he barely knew. The
rest of the group gathered outside now, saying their farewells to T.K. and
Dylan.
T.K. and Kari were still trying to say goodbye to each other. They
had stood in that same embrace for more than ten minutes now and neither wanted
to break it. "T.K.…" started Kari, brokenly.
"I love you, Kari," said T.K. quietly. "Don't forget me."
Kari answered him in the same soft tone. "I'll never-" She was cut
off when T.K. brought his lips over hers and they met in a long soft kiss, much
to Davis' anger at having witnessed it, to Tai, Matt, and Izzy's feelings that
all would be all right, and to Dylan's hope that they would both be ready in time
for…
"Break it up already!" scowled Davis, breaking into Dylan's
thoughts. Matt and Tai clamped their hands over Davis' mouth and dragged him
inside Gennai's house, then went back outside.
When the two DigiDestined ended their kiss, Dylan said, "It's time
to go, T.K." T.K. nodded in response and Dylan directed him to the stairway
leading into the open air, away from the peaceful pink waters surrounding
Gennai's home. They bother vanished from view after they finished their ascent
and the waters closed up again.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"How long are they going to be gone? I want to go home already!"
whined Davis.
"You're the one that wanted to come!" cried an exasperated Matt,
thoroughly irritated by the younger boy's constant whining. "So don't complain.
Besides, if we could send you back, we would!" Davis sulked after
Matt's words, but he didn't say anything anymore.
Izzy sat in front of his computer, deep in thought. The
DigiDestined were isolated from the rest of the Digital World in Gennai's
abode. It had been more than a fortnight since T.K. had left and the
DigiDestined had made an astonishing discovery; the gate to the Real World was
closed and could not be opened, not even with the D-3's.
"I wonder what happened to Agumon and the other Digimon," thought
Tai. He was sitting in a corner of the room, Kari leaning quietly against him.
The door slid open and everyone turned to see who it was. Gennai entered the
room.
"Such gloomy expressions," he commented, "but I'm afraid I have
more bad news."
Kari jumped up immediately as did Matt. "Did something happen to
T.K.?" they both asked at the same time, anxiously.
"T.K.'s fine," answered Gennai. "Dylan has constant contact with
me and he informed me that while progress was rough, T.K. will do okay." Matt
and Kari breathed a sigh of relief.
"So what's the bad news, Gennai?" asked Izzy.
"DarkAngemon has appeared again," answered Gennai, "and he's
beginning to turn the Digital World into a black husk of a planet. I'd say he
wants to destroy it."
"How about our Digimon?" asked Davis. "Where are they?"
"I still haven't been able to make contact with any of your
Digimon," replied Gennai gravely. "They're nowhere to be found. I'm sorry."
"Gatomon…" thought Kari. As she looked around the room at the
faces of her fellow DigiDestined, their expressions mirrored hers. "We're
going," she said resolutely. "We'll leave here and find our Digimon. Then we'll
be able to defeat DarkAngemon."
"I'm with you, Kari," said Tai immediately. The other DigiDestined
nodded their agreement.
"I can see there's no stopping you," said Gennai. "So I have only
one thing to say: good luck."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Come on, you're not a weakling. It's only a little mountain. Climb
it!"
T.K. gritted his teeth and pulled himself up the cliffside. Dylan
was beginning to remind him of a really nasty gym teacher he had once. Pulling
himself over the ledge, T.K. dropped on the ground, utterly exhausted, beads of
sweat rolling down his forehead. Dylan smiled to himself, even though he knew
T.K. couldn't see it.
"I told you so," said Dylan gruffly, then went on pretending T.K.
was failing miserably. "I don't see how you can help yourself or even your
friends if you can't climb a little mountain."
"Well, maybe some of us just can't see," muttered T.K. to himself.
"T.K.…" warned Dylan. T.K. murmured his apologies and fell silent.
"Sight isn't everything, remember that. What matters most is you have courage
and a strong heart. And you should always have faith in yourself, as your crest
denotes." He chuckled. "Besides, you're doing a lot better than I thought you
would. You have the initiative to work hard; and I think we both know where you
get that initiative."
A girl with short brown hair and warm cinnamon eyes appeared in
T.K.'s mind. "I want to see her again…" said T.K. quietly. "Even if I can't see
her literally, I just want to hear her voice. There's no one else like her…"
"I know what you mean," commented Dylan, just as quietly, a far
away look in his eyes. T.K. sat up with surprise.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, a hint of jealousy in his
voice.
"You don't have to worry," reassured Dylan, "you'll remember soon
enough." T.K. heard Dylan begin to walk away from him. "Come on, we haven't
much time. We really need to get you in shape." T.K., not budging an inch,
could only face the direction Dylan had left, confusion in his expression.
"I'll remember soon enough?" thought T.K. "What did he mean by
that?"
Author's Note: Oh my…I've seriously been neglecting this fan
fic…The last chapter was finished in December 2000…and it's July 2001 now -_-.
I'm really sorry about that. Anyone still following this fic or did you all
give up? Besides being busy and having the worst case of writer's block, I
gradually lost interest in Digimon…I hated the ending. Not because there wasn't
Takari, but for an entirely different reason. I know, that wasn't an excuse
o_O. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon.
*Sakura
~The Animé Archives Team