OF THIEVERY AND MEMORIES
By: Softball Chicks
Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon. Don't sue. I only own Sean, Gavin, Cheryl, Bryan, Nat, Bitemon, and Sludgemon. Everything else is not mine!! Okay?
A/N - I wanted to write a mystery. Also contains Takari, Kenyako, and Koumi. R&R please.
"Tai! Have you seen the bracelet Mom got me for my birthday?"
My older brother looked up from his place on the couch, where he was watching TV and eating ice cream from the container. "No, why?"
"Because it's missing. And you should really get ready to go." We were on our way to a digidestined reunion.
"You probably just left it somewhere. And I guess I will get ready. Will you get the squirts ready?"
"We're not squirts, Tai." Two identical little boys charged through the living room and leapt onto the couch.
"Gavin, Sean, why don't you guys get ready to go? Don't you want to see all of your cousins' friends?"
Sean obediently went to the guest bedroom to change his clothes. Gavin was a little harder to persuade. "I don't want to change my clothes," he whined.
"But you will, right?" I coaxed.
He shook his head stubbornly. Tai sighed, picked him up by his shirt collar, and dropped him into the guest bedroom as he twin left. "Either you change, or you don't come," Tai reprimanded.
"No fair!" Gavin cried, beating on the door. Tai held the doorknob, and braced himself for the little boy's resistance. Instead, though, Gavin decided to agree and get changed.
"Don't you think that was a little harsh, Tai?" I asked. "He's only eight."
`Tai shrugged. "Well, it worked, didn't it?"
"You're crazy."
I went back to my room to look for my bracelet. I remembered putting back in my jewelry box the last time I'd worn it. "Kari, he's finally ready! Let's go!" I heard Sean call. Then, "Ow! I wasn't talking about you, Gavs. I was talking about Tai!"
"Oh, sorry."
'Maybe Mom took it,' I thought hopefully.
"Ready to go?" I asked, grabbing my coat, and jackets for the twins.
"We don't need jackets," Gavin protested when I tried to make him put it on.
"Gavin!" Tai shouted. "Put the jacket on now!"
Gavin, who'd never heard Tai yell at him before, cowered. He took the jacket from me sheepishly and slid it around his thin shoulders.
Tai turned on the computer after scrawling a note saying we were out. Holding up my digivice, I ordered, "Digi-port open!" We were sucked in.
We landed in a pile in the digital world. "Gatomon!" I called, scanning the area for my little digimon partner. It had been three years since our last digital world adventure and I hadn't seen her. Actually, I hadn't seen anybody in three years. My parents had moved again. I still e-mailed TK, Sora, Yolei, and Mimi, but I never get to see them.
"Kari!" I looked over and so Gatomon and Agumon running towards us, with two in-training digimon. "Gatomon, how have you been?" I asked, hugging my digimon close.
"I'm okay. What about you?"
"Just fine." I smiled through my tears. "Who're they?" I nodded at the two in-training digimon.
"That one over there is Sludgemon. He's a disgusting little digimon with a lot of heart and spirit," Agumon explained.
"And the other one is Bitemon. He's an adorable puppy digimon," Gatomon added.
Gavin moved towards Sludgemon. "Hey, buddy. How's it going?"
I stared at my cousin. "You know him?"
"They're our partners," Sean explained, picking up Bitemon.
"Kari!" I looked over to see TK, Matt, and three younger kids running towards us.
"Hey," Tai called, waving to them.
"Hi," Matt greeted.
"Who're the kids?"
"These are our cousins," TK answered. "This is Cheryl, Bryan, and Nat. Guys, this is Kari and Tai."
"Hi," a solemn little boy said, holding his hand out to me. "I'm Nat."
He was the youngest, clearly, but obviously the most mature.
The other two kids were goofing off. They stopped long enough to smile and say "hi", but then continued playing.
"These two are Gavin and Sean," I introduced. Sean smiled and shook TK's hand, but Gavin was talking to Tai and Matt and didn't even notice I had introduced him to TK.
TK grinned. "Let's go find the others," he suggested.
But we didn't have to go anywhere. I heard a voice yell, "Kari, TP!"
"Davis," I mumbled.
But, to my surprise, TK waved. "Hey, Davis!"
"Since when are you two friends?" I wondered.
"Since we stopped fighting so much," Davis explained.
"Davis!"
TK and I turned around to see my brother walking towards us. "Tai, hi!" Davis replied.
We introduced our cousins just as Yolei and Ken came up. Following them, were Izzy, Cody, and Mimi. Ken and Yolei were holding hands, as were Izzy and Mimi. Cody was shaking his head. "I thought we'd never get here," he complained, rolling his emerald eyes. "They kept stopping to kiss," he added in a disgusted voice.
"You're such a little boy," Yolei chastised.
"Thank you."
Joe came last, with Sora. We finished introducing our cousins and began to lay out lunch.
"Guys, I know this is a weird question," Sora began, "but have any of you seen the diamond necklace my dad bought me for Christmas?"
I looked up, startled. "I'm missing the bracelet my mom bought me for my birthday," I remarked. I caught the weird look TK gave me, but chose to ignore it.
"Women," Davis muttered, but Ken cut him off.
"Come to think of it, I was missing the watch you gave to me last year, Yolei. I thought I'd just put it someplace different, but with all this talk about thievery, I think it may have been stolen."
"Stolen?" Tai asked. "Are you sure?'
"No," the other boy replied. "It's a theory."
"You sound like Izzy," TK grumbled.
"Watch it, TK," Izzy warned.
"Don't threaten my brother," Matt exclaimed.
"Break it up," Mimi ordered. "You're all getting uptight because stuff is missing. Now, I want everyone to think about where they might have put their things."
I concentrated on where I might have left the bracelet, but I knew it was too special for me to have put it anywhere but away. "Sorry, Mimi, but I wouldn't have put that bracelet anywhere but away. Someone took it. I just hope it was my mom."
Sean was watching me strangely now. His brown eyes flickered to his twin brother, then back. He was thinking hard now. Not for the first time, I realized how smart he was.
"I have a question," he announced. "One by one, if you were a thief, where would you hide your stolen loot?"
He looked at Tai first, who answered, "Some kind of vault."
Sean turned to me. "I'd keep it with me at all times."
Sora decided, "I agree with Kari. I wouldn't take the chance of someone finding it."
Matt. "I'd put it under my bed. No one dares go there."
TK. "My closet. It'd be so well-hidden I wouldn't be able to find it."
Mimi. "My purse."
Izzy. "In my laptop case. No one would suspect it, and I could keep it with me all the time."
Ken. "Probably just with me at all times."
Yolei. "In the store. That way, if it's found, I couldn't be blamed."
Cody. "Depending on the size. Something small I would keep with me, but something larger I would store in my room somewhere."
Joe. "I just wouldn't. But if I had to, it would be in a backpack or something."
Bryan. "Please. I wouldn't keep it with me. How stupid! I'd keep it under my bed and lock the room with a key."
Cheryl. "Closet."
Nat. "Um, I don't know. My room, I guess." I don't blame him for not knowing; the kid's five.
Gavin. "I'd probably keep it in a coat or something. No one would ever think to look there. I wouldn't want it with me, though, so I wouldn't wear that coat."
Sean's eyes widened. "Really? I just needed to know that."
We stared at him for a second before resuming our previous conversation about the "old days" in the digital world. Nat, Cheryl, and Gavin sat, transfixed, listening to our stories, but Bryan and Sean were both thinking.
Finally, as we were about to leave, Sean stopped us. "I think I know who did it," he whispered, his eyes roaming the group.
"Who?" I asked.
He dropped his eyes to his feet before answering, "My brother."
I glanced at Gavin, who was staring at Sean. "How would you know?" he demanded, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
Taking a deep breath, Sean replied, "I know that you snuck out every night. I was awake. Then, you were so quick to respond to my question before. Plus, you said you wouldn't wear your coat if you stashed something there, and earlier you protested wearing this jacket. If Tai hadn't forced you, I would never have been able to get the last piece of evidence, but I did. This fell out of your pocket before, Gavs." With that, Sean held up my bracelet.
"Sean," I gasped, taking the bracelet from him. "Thank you so much."
He smiled, then frowned at his twin. "Give me the rest of the stuff, Gavs," he ordered, extending his hand.
Sighing, Gavin emptied his pockets, handing Sean all the stolen items. "What are you going to do with me?" he whispered, tears filling his chocolate eyes.
No one said anything. Surprisingly, it was TK who answered, "We'll let it go. But if we ever see something like this again, we'll report you to the police and you'll go to juvenile court. So don't ever let us catch you doing anything bad again. Understand?"
Gavin nodded vigorously. "You bet," he swore.
"Let's go," TK declared.
I motioned for him to stay behind. "Why did you let Gavin off this time?" I asked.
"I didn't have the heart to let a little boy go to some detention center. I don't think he'll misbehave again."
"That was a really nice thing you did for him. And his parents," I added, moving a little closer to him.
"Are you impressed?" he asked.
"Very."
"Kari, I've waited seven years to tell you this. I... I love you."
I blushed. "I love you, too, TK. I thought you'd never say it." Before he could say anything, I was kissing his lips.
He pulled back, amazed. That's when we heard the other digidestined clapping. "It's about time," Tai teased, ruffling my hair.
TK stared in bewilderment as Matt cuffed his shoulder. "Way to go, little brother," he praised.
"Let's go home," Sean called, steering his twin by the shoulders.
"Digi-port open!" Davis cried.
We landed in a heap in the real world. Smiling, everyone parted to go home, letting the day's memories become dreams in the darkness.
A/N - Did you see that ending coming? Tell me please. R&R.