"So, how long till she'll be released?" Tai asked Kari's doctor.

"Tomorrow if all goes well." she answered with a smile.

"That's great thank you, I'll go tell her." Tai said as he headed towards Kari's room.

***Inside The Room***

"Kari, I think you should talk to Takeru." Sora told Kari sincerly. Kari just nodded.

Just then Tai walked into the room with a smile on his face, "Good news Kar, you can leave tomorrow!"

"Yeah, great." Kari said without much feeling.

"It is great, we won't have to cancel your sweet sixteen party! It'll be right on your birthday." Tai said happily.

"Oh yeah, my birthday," she paused, "I can't wait... Uh can you guys let me be alone for a bit?" Kari said with an expressionless face.

"Sure." Sora and Tai said and left the room together hand in hand. Kari saw Tai and Sora lost in each others happiness... lost in their love for each other. Kari longed for TK, but she knew the sight of him would make her lose control. Maybe that's what love feels like, she thought. No, she can't think about love or TK. She has to keep her mind on her destiny. She looked down at her wrist, there was her watch only it wasn't a normal one. It has a count down to the final showdown as she called it. Only it was not a battle between two people, it was within one girl... Kari.

Kari reached over to her nightstand and took out her cd collection and a tape recorder. She took out a cd and put it in her cd player. She took a deep breath and pressed record.

***TK***

He looked up at the ceiling of his bedroom and sighed. TK rolled to his side only to see his picture of Kari and himself staring back at him. A tear ran down his cheek as he remembered the night that photo was taken.

FLASHBACK

"TK, where are you taking me?"

"You'll see, just wait one more second.... okay open your eyes."

"Oh... Takeru it's so... wonderful." Kari was astounded at what was infront of her. There was TK sitting on a blanket spread across the grass with a bowl of strawberries and whipped cream to the side and a sky filled with thousands of twinkling stars. He took her hand as she sat down beside him.

"I wanted this night to be perfect for you." She looked up at him like he had offered her the world on a silver platter. They smiled at each other, just lost in a gaze of pure happiness neither of them wanting it to end. Finally TK moved closer to Kari, they slowly began to kiss.

They layed contently in each others arms staring up at the star filled sky late into the night, eventually falling asleep together. They awoke to the marverlous sight of the sun rising over the horizon. Neither wanting to forget that night together, Kari took her camera and snapped a single shot of the two.

END FLASHBACK

Maybe she just doesn't love me like I love her, he thought. As he wiped the tears from his eyes, he remembered that Kari's birthday was the next day. He reached under his matress and took out a small jewelry box. "This time Kari... this time."

***KARI***

She let out a sigh as she looked down at her watch. She had four hours left till it was time. She cursed herself for being born at two in the morning. She slowly took out her tapes and started to label each one. First was Tai's tape, then came Sora's tape, then came her parents' tape and finally Takeru's. His was the hardest to make, mostly because she wasn't sure that she should even be making it.

PLEASE R&R!