Forgiveness and Revelations

by Angel of Hope1

the second part of my Takari saga. TK and Kari try to deal with the aftermath of the events of part one, leading to a surprising discovery. Please R&R!

Forgiveness and Revelations

            Ken Ichijouji sighed as he looked out the window for the eighth time that hour.  Normally he was the most diligent of all of the students in Odiba High School, but even he felt the eagerness to escape that came with the last day of school.  And he and all of the digidestined had a reason to need the summer off.  It had been four months since TK and Kari had lost their digimon during the battle in the Dark Ocean.  To say that the two were cooping would by a bald-faced lie.  Kari was going out with Davis, but Tai had secretly told the others that she often woke screaming and crying and that now she simply avoided sleep all together.  TK wasn't in much better shape.  He had withdrawn completely, rarely talking to people, burying himself in his work.  Ken sighed again and looked at the clock.  Five minutes left in the school year.  He sighed again as he remembered that they didn't even get a break after school that day.  TK and Kari were going back to the digital world.  They had gone everyday since the battle.  Primary Village, the place where digimon are reborn and reformatted after they die.  They were looking for their digimon and Ken really couldn't blame them.  After all, he had gotten Wormmon back in only a few days, but it had been months since Patamon and Gatomon had given their lives.  As he was brooding, the bell finally rang.  The teacher called out his good wishes as the students scrambled for the door.  Ken didn't worry about it.  He had to go to the computer lab, anyway, so he didn't need to worry about the front door.  He made his way to the lab and found the rest of the digidestined waiting.

            "Alright, Ken you made it!"  Ken had to smile at Davis' enthusiasm.  The team was missing its two most powerful and experienced digimon, yet he still thought it was a great time.  "Let's get going!  The others said they'd meet up with us there.  Digiport, open!"  In a bright flash of light, the group of six kids was pulled through the intense light and into the digital world.

            "Guys, you made it!"  Tai shouted as he Izzy, Joe and the recently returned Mimi ran down to meet the new arrivals.  "I'm glad you made it!  Matt and Sora couldn't, they already had plans for the day."

            "Now that everyone's here, let me go over the information that Gennai gave me."  Izzy briefly consulted his laptop before beginning.  "There's a rumor of a large nest of Vilemon in Sector 15.  The local digimon have been harassed and attacked, so Gennai wants some of us to deal with them.  Tai, take Davis and put the fear of God in them."

            "Right," the pair chorused.

            "Next up, Andromon is having a problem with a group of Dark Flarezimon.  He would normally deal with it himself, but a virus has broken out among the Gardromon.  Yolei and I will help him with the virus, while Mimi and Cody deal with the Dark Flarezimon.

            "Perfecto!"

            "Sounds good to me."

            "Are we going to have time to go shopping?"

            "A MarineDevimon is attacking several of the cities and villages on the coast of Server.  Joe, Whalemon and MegaSeadramon are on their way, but I want you and Zudomon to go help them out.  Here are the coordinates."

            "Good thing I brought my sea sickness pills."

            "Lastly, Ken, Elecmon asked for us to finish helping rebuild Primary Village.  Would you mind?"

            "Not at all."  'After all, it's my turn to watch over them,' he thought.

            "Alright, everyone has their assignments, now lets get to work."  The digidestined headed off on their various missions while Ken had Wormmon digivolve to Stingmon.

            "Do you two want a lift?"  The pair looked at him and Stingmon for a moment before they nodded, reluctantly.  They made good time and got to Primary Village within the hour.  Ken and Stingmon knew exactly where they needed to start, so they got to work immediately while TK and Kari settled against a tree.  After a few minutes, Elecmon came up to Ken.

            "They're here again."

            "Yes.  I don't have the heart to tell them that their digimon might not be reborn.  I knew what it was like for a few days, but Patamon and Gatomon have been gone for three months now."

            "I've always liked TK and I've liked Kari since he introduced us.  I don't want to break their hearts, but I might have to.  I've never seen a digimon come back after this long except when the Dark Masters stopped anyone from ever being reborn.  And that defiantly doesn't apply here."  Ken sighed and wiped his brow.

            "Are you going to tell them?"

            "Not today.  Maybe never.  TK's a smart kid.  Surely after a while he'll realize that it's hopeless?"

            "I was a genies, and I didn't exactly make smart decisions," Ken pointed out.

            "Dark Spores; doesn't count," Elecmon countered, secretly happy that the child of Kindness was truly beginning to let go of his past as the Digimon Emperor.

            "Look, just go talk to them," Stingmon put in.  "TK has been really withdrawn recently.  At least Kari cries sometimes.  TK's a zombie.  It's unnerving."

            "I don't have to," Elecmon sighed.  "Gennai should be here any moment now."

            "Gennai?"  Ken was truly confussed now, but before he could ask anything, his D-terminal went off.

            "Ken, very high level virus has turned the Gardromon against us.  Andromon down, Izzy and I pinned.  HELP!  Love Yolei," he read.  "Sorry, Elecmon, but we have to leave.  Stingmon, lets go."

            "Right."  Ken jumped on the massive green insect's shoulder and the two flew off.  Stingmon could sense Ken's anxiety and poured on the speed.  They made it to Andromon's domed city in record time.  The door was sealed, but that didn't represent a problem for the massive insect warrior.

            "Spiking Strike!"

            "You know, it would have taken me all of ten seconds to get that door open," Ken commented as Stingmon moved through the city.

            "I thought this was an industrial complex?  Something like a new door should be easy."  Ken sighed and grinned at his partner.

            "Lets find Yolei and Izzy.  I hope that Cody and Mimi are alright.  Over there!"  He had just spotted a mass of red plumage.

            "Ken, you made it!  Hop on so Stingmon is at his best," Yolei called from atop Aquillamon.  Ken grinned and launched himself from his seat as Stingmon moved to deal with the Gardromon that were shooting at them.  Yolei gave a shriek and Aquillamon plummeted to catch Ken before he hit the pavement.

            "You suicidal idiot!" she screamed.  "Did you want to die?"

            "I knew you would catch me in time," Ken replied confidently.  "I love you too much to not believe that."

            "Oh, no.  I am way too pissed at you right now for charm to work."

            "How about dinner?"

            "You're getting warmer, but you're still in the doghouse.  Aquillamon?  Lets get back to Izzy before Ken finds something to get him out from my righteous anger."

            "Heaven forbid that happen," the massive bird replied.

            "Are you on my side or his?" she demanded as they neared the center of the city.  It was rapidly obvious where Izzy was.  First off, it was the largest building in the city.  Secondly, it was surrounded by hundreds of Gardromon.  Third, a massive red inset stood at the entrance, swatting away the Gardromon and occasionally hitting the more determined ones with it's lightning attack.

            "Good work, Aquillamon, now go help MegaKabuterimon."

            "Right."  Aquillamon dropped the pair off at an open window and flew down to help out with the defense.  Yolei and Ken made their way down to the center of the building, which turned out to be a massive computer center.

            "Wow," Ken whispered as he looked around.

            "Impressive, isn't it?"  Ken turned to see Izzy, bent over a computer, rapidly typing.  Andromon sat in a corner, letting his self-repair systems do their work.  He was interfaced with the systems, however and Izzy seemed deeply engrossed in whatever it was that was on the monitor.

            "Fairly, yes," Ken admitted while moving to stand next to Izzy.  "So, what have we got?"

            "It's an invasive virus, designed to alter the Gardromon's friend/foe protocols," Yolei answered, moving next to Ken.  "High level stuff.  It's well beyond the ability of anyone from the digital world, but only someone from the real world would have this kind of virus writing skill.  Andromon managed to monitor one of the Gardromon as it became infected.  That's what we're looking at."

            "I am hoping that it will be enough to facilitate a cure," Andromon added.

            "What happened to you?' Ken wondered.

            "The protocol overwrite is nearly instantaneous," Izzy spoke up.  "It simply alters one subsystem, but it completely flips the protocols.  All friends become hunted, while all foes are allowed free access to the city.  At first, Andromon and I thought it might be an invasion, what with the Dark Flarezimon, but they haven't moved since the outbreak started, just before we got here."

            "I hope Cody and Mimi are alright," Yolei added.  Meanwhile, Ken was staring intently at the screen.

            "Izzy, may I?"  Izzy nodded and moved aside to give Ken access to the keyboard.  Ken typed furiously and finally pointed at a line of code on the screen.

            "I knew it!  Someone hacked my code!  This is the same command line that was in the dark rings and dark spirals!"

            "WHAT!?!?"  Izzy looked closely at the screen.

            "The majority of the code is just random C++ coding," Ken elaborated.  "It's all there to hide these five lines of code.  These are the command lines that we need to concentrate on."

            "Then it has to have been written by someone whose been in the digital world before.  Probably someone who had access to the dark rings," Izzy surmised.

            "Impossible," Ken replied.  "The only people who had any access to the dark rings were myself and the other younger digidestined.  And none of them have the computing skills to duplicate this code except for myself and Yolei."

            "And Ken and I don't exactly have a reason to do this," Yolie pointed out.

            "I know," Izzy reassured them.  "But for right now, we need to concentrate on how to free the Gardromon."

            "That's easy," Ken answered.  "None of the programming has changed.  There has to be a central point where the signal is being broadcast from, like the control spires."

            "A new tower was recently constructed in the city," Andromon spoke up.  "It might be the place to try.  I will come with you."  He stood up as his repair program finished the final parts and retreated back inside his chest plate.

            "Now we just need to figure out how to get our digimon back here," Yolei pointed out.

            "I should be able to distract the Gardromon long enough for MegaKabuterimon and Aquillamon to escape," Andromon offered.

            "No good," Izzy disagreed.  "We're going to need you to help us get through the tower.  If it is the sending point, then it's probably going to heavily guarded.  MegaKabuterimon and Aquillamon wouldn't be much of an asset in such cramped corners."

            "What about Shurimon?"  Yolei wondered.  "If we can find Stingmon, then he and Shurimon should be able to help us inside along with Andromon while MegaKabuterimon defends the doors."  Izzy nodded.

            "That should work.  Now, we need to find Stingmon.  Yolei, Why don't you send Aquillamon to find Stingmon so that we can get started?"

            "Right.  Coming, Ken?  Hey Aquillamon!  We need a lift!"

            "I'm on it!  Good luck MegaKabuterimon."

            "Thanks.  I shouldn't have a problem.  There's just a lot of them."  Aquillamon flew past the window and Ken and Yolei jumped onto his back.

            "We need to find Stingmon," Ken explained.

            "I think I saw him over this way a minute ago," Aquillamon offered as he flew off.  A moment later, they could clearly see the form of the green armored insect fighting off a group of Gardromon.

            "Stingmon!  We need to get going!" Ken yelled.

            "Just give me a minute," he called back.  "Spiking Strike!"  A pair of glowing blades grew out of the back's of Stingmon's hands and he used them to force his way through the Gardromon.  "So what's up?" he asked as he got airborne.

            "The virus that's infecting the Gardromon is based off of the command codes I used for the dark rings," Ken explained.  "We need to go back and pick up Izzy, Andromon, and MegaKabuterimon.  Then we need to get to the tower, where MegaKabuterimon is going to guard the door, while all of us are going to go in and shut down the signal."

            "And how are you getting in?" Stingmon asked Aquillamon.

            "Yolei's going to armor-digivolve me to Shurimon," he replied.  "Between all of us, we should be more than enough to handle whatever is inside that tower."

            "Unless it's a mega."

            "Well aren't you just being a ray of sunshine," Yolei snapped.

            "Sorry, I'm just worried about Mimi, Palmon, Cody, and Armadillomon.  They could be ion serious trouble."

            "We're just going to have to concentrate on us for right now," Ken pointed out.  They flew back to the central complex, where Izzy and Andromon were already airborne on MegaKabuterimon.

            "There just got to be too many of them," the massive red beetle explained as they neared the complex.  "I couldn't hold them off any longer, so I took to the sky and picked up these two.  There it is."  In front of them was a massive tower, built almost exactly in the shape of one of the control spires.  Ken's face hardened as they flew on.

            "I think who ever created this virus is mocking me," he growled.  Yolei laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder.  He smiled back and they flew on and came to the spire.  They flew around the base for several moments before Ken spoke up.

            "There aren't any guards."

            "There aren't any doors, either," MegaKabuterimon pointed out.  "How do we get you guys inside?"  Ken's face suddenly hardened.

            "Yolei, fly us closer!"  He studied the spire for a moment before letting out an inhuman howl of fury.  "STINGMON!  Destroy it!  NOW!"

            "Ken, wait a second," Izzy protested, but it was too late.

            "Spiking Strike!"  It only took a moment for Stingmon to reduce the spire to rubble.  The digimon landed and Izzy jumped off of MegaKabuterimon and marched over to Ken.

            "Nice work.  Now how are we supposed to take care of the virus?  With no control center to work on the signal…"

            "There was no control center," Ken replied in a flat, even voice.  "It was a control spire.  Nothing more.  Someone found a control spire that I had missed and brought it here.  I'm willing to bet you that the Gardromon all have some kind of device inside of them that's working the same as the dark rings did."  Ken's hands were balled into fists and the skin around his fingers was white.  He shook with fury, and Yolei pulled him into a hug, trying to calm him.  After a moment in her embrace, his body collapsed into her arms.  Yolei held him, conning reassuring words into his ear.  He straightened after a moment and looked at Izzy with eyes that had held tears just a moment ago.

            "We need to check on Cody and Mimi.  I've got a bad feeling about this.   Get in touch with the others.  Make sure that they're alright.  TK and Kari!  I left them alone at Primary Village!  We need to go back for…"

            "Ken, calm down!  I'm going to email the others, then MegaKabuterimon, and I are going to go check on Cody and Mimi.  Yolei, you go with Ken and check on TK and Kari."

            "I would like to go with you, Izzy," Andromon spoke up.  "The Gardromon should be in shut down mode, so I will lockdown the city and it should be alright."

            "Alright," Izzy nodded.  By now, they were walking to the main gates.  They had discovered on their walk that all of the Gardromon had shut down with the destruction of the control spire.  They went outside and Andromon looked at the remains of the gates.

            "Sorry about that," Stingmon grimaced.  "We were kind of in a hurry to get here."

            "That's alright," Andromon reassured him.  "The secondary blast doors are still functional.  They are what I was planning on using anyway."  He interlinked with the door controls for a moment and three massive blast doors swung down to cover the entrance.  "That should do it."  He and Izzy climbed on MegaKabuterimon's back and flew off in the direction of the canyons where Mimi and Cody had gone.  Ken looked after them for a moment and then climbed behind Yolei onto Aquillamon.  A part of him missed riding on Stingmon's shoulder, but this was slightly more practical.  Aquillamon was designed more to be a passenger digimon, while Stingmon was a fighter.  Having Ken on his shoulder would just be a burden if they suddenly needed to fight.  They took off in the direction of Primary Village, Ken still worrying about the others.

            "That's very peculiar," Izzy murmured.

            "What is it?" Andromon asked.

            "I just got the replies from the others," the boy explained.  "Tai and Davis haven't seen a single Vilemon and Joe meet up with the others, only to find out that the "MarineDevimon," was actually a Gesomon.  Something is wrong.  I'm ordering everyone back to Primary Village.  Pour on the speed, MegaKabuterimon.  We have to find Mimi and Cody."

            "There they are," Andromon pointed to a pair of figures down along the canyon.  MegaKabuterimon angled his descent and land next to the pair.  Armadillomon and Palmon sat next to their partners.  Mimi was sunbathing, while Cody played cards with the digimon.

            "Hey, Izzy," Mimi pulled off her sunglasses and gave him a cheerful smile.

            "Did you guys defeat the Dark Flareizamon already?"

            "What Dark Flareizamon?" Cody asked.  "We searched these canyons for hours, and we didn't find anything.  We sent you an email, telling you we were going to stay here, incase you needed us.  Didn't you get it?"  Izzy pulled out his D-terminal, and checked.

            "No, I didn't.  Hhmm, I wonder if the control spire might have blocked the signal?" he mussed.

            "Control spire!  What control spire?" Cody demanded, jumping to his feet.  Mimi also rose.

            "What happened?" she demanded.

            "Later.  Right now, something strange is going on.  We're all meeting back at Primary Village.  Ken has a bad feeling, and I'm beginning to agree with him.  Something odd is definitely going on."  They took off in the direction of Primary Village, everyone riding on MegaKabuterimon except for Lillymon, who flew alongside.  It took them roughly an hour to reach Primary Village, where all of the others were waiting, except for TK and Kari.

            "They were gone when I arrived," Ken explained.  "Elecmon says that Gennai came and talked to them, and that they left the digital world shortly afterwards.  I don't like it.  I already scanned the digital world, but there's no sign of them in here."

            "But why would Kari just run off?" Davis wondered.

            "Probably because they didn't like what Azulongmon and I had to tell them."

            "Gennai," everyone chorused.

            "What did you have to tell them that made them upset?" Tai demanded.

            "I can't tell you."  Gennai held up his hand to forestall any protests.  "It was something very personal.  If they want you to know, that's their decision to make.  Not mine.  You should all get back to the real world now.  It's getting late."  With that, Gennai turned and left, vanishing into thin air.

            "I guess we go home," Tai sighed.  "We should find TK and Kari."

            "No, I don't think we should," Joe disagreed.  "Whatever TK and Kari learned from Gennai and Azulongmon today, it obviously upset them.  They probably need time to work through it.  They'll come to us when they're ready.  Besides, I have an exam in a few days that I need to study for."  The others nodded in agreement and they all left, still concerned about their missing comrades.

            It had been two days, and no one had heard from TK and Kari.  Kari had briefly called Tai and told him that she was alright, but she was staying at a friends house and would not be home for a few days.  She never told him which friend.  Matt had tried calling TK all weekend, but with no success.  Nancy was out of town for the weekend, but Matt was still concerned.  So he and Tai finally decided to go over and check on TK.  Matt was worried about his little brother, while Tai was also hoping that TK might know where Kari was.  Sora decided to tag along, just incase TK needed a shoulder to cry on.  So, they arrived at the door of TK and Nancy's apartment around ten in the morning on Monday.

            Matt frowned as he knocked on the door for the third time.  Tai and Sora stood slightly behind him, both with curious expressions on their faces.

            "Maybe he's not home," Tai ventured.  Matt turned to reply, when the door opened and a disheveled TK peered out.

            "Bro?  Tai?  What are you doing here?"

            "We're checking up on you little man," Matt joked.  "Can we come in?"

            "Uh, actually, the place is really a mess right now, can you come back later?"

            "Come on TK, we're family."  TK did a half of a double take at Matt's comment before he caught himself.

            "Well, I was about to take a shower…"

            "We can wait for you," Tai protested.  Sora, however saw the slight fear in his eyes.

            "TK?  What's wrong?  What is it?"

            "Takeru, who's at the door?"  It was a female voice that made TK wince and Tai start in surprise.

            "KARI!"  Tai shoved TK aside to let himself in.  Kari sat on the couch in the living room, her hair drawn back into a ponytail and her legs curled underneath her.  She was only wearing one of TK's button up shirts.  She looked up as her brother charged into the room and her eyes went as wide as saucers.

            "oh, shit," she murmured.  Tai simply stood, his mouth gaping at his younger sisters state of undress.  Matt and Sora came in and closed the door behind them.  Sora helped TK up from where Tai's shove had thrown him.  He was only wearing a pair of boxers, and Sora caught a specific scent on him.  It was the same way she and Matt smelled after they had been…  Her train of thought stopped right there with a violent shudder.

            "TK, sit down."  Matt's voice was like ice, and Sora had to look closely at him to reassure herself that he wasn't going to go off the handle.  His eyes held a mixture of emotions; surprise, shock, betrayal, and the sense of growing up right on the spot and letting go.  TK sat down next to Kari, but the two didn't try and hold hands or anything.  Matt took a deep breath and pulled Tai into a corner of the room where the two began to talk.  After a minute they nodded and moved back to stand next before TK and Kari.

            "All right, we've agreed to try and be adult about this," Tai started.  "That does not mean that you two are in any less trouble, it just means that we're going to hear your excuses first.  So, get started."  Kari began to study her hands in intensive detail, while TK suddenly found the ceiling to be of incredible significance.  Tai sighed and Matt took over.

            "Alright, I guess we do twenty questions, then.  How many times have you two had sex?"

            "Twice," TK managed, although his eyes betrayed the fact that he was hiding something.  Matt glanced at Sora, who shook her head.  He quickly abandoned the idea of pushing too much.

            "Alright, did you use protection?"

            "Yes, and I've been on the pill for three months," Kari admitted.

            "Since when?" Tai demanded.

            "Since mom took me in to see a doctor and he put me on the pill as a precaution," Kari explained.

            "Alright, I'll buy that," Tai conceded.  "Why weren't you two in the digital world?"  TK wrapped his arms around Kari as her body began to shake from the force of her sudden tears.  TK's own eyes were wet as he looked up and answered.

            "Patamon and Gatomon are gone."

            "Gone?  What do you mean gone?" Matt demanded.

            "Gennai and Azulongmon, they told us…they…told us…"  That was the most that Kari could get out as her onslaught of tears continued.  TK picked up from her beginning.

            "They came to Primary Village and told us to stop wasting our time.  Patamon and Gatomon aren't going to be reborn.  They're gone."  The three older children simply stood in stunned silence, none of them knowing what to say.

            TK vanished five days later.  He left a note for his mother.  She brought it to Matt who showed it to the rest of the digidestined.  He read it aloud to them.

            To all of my friends,

            I know that I began to worry you all recently with my silence and I would guess that my sudden disappearance isn't helping.  This is mostly to reassure all of you that I am fine.  I am in the digital world, and Izzy, before you try and track me down, listen to what I have to say.  I am on a walkabout.  When Patamon died, I lost something and I need to find it again.  Kari knows what I'm talking about.  I'm certain that what I'm looking for is in the digital world, and I'm going to wander until I find it.  All of you take care and don't worry about me.  I'll be fine.  And Izzy?  I reset my D-3 a week ago so that you can't trace it.  Goodbye and I'll see you all once I'm whole again.

TK                              

            Matt lowered the piece of paper and looked around the assembled group.

            "That's it.  Izzy, could he have done what he said he did to his D-3?"

            "I don't see why he couldn't have," Izzy shrugged.  "Ken and I may get all of the attention for our brains, but TK is probably as intelligent as we are.  He just doesn't flaunt it like we do.  I don't doubt that he could do it.  Of course, it's not like I'm not going to look for him anyway."

            "Why not?" Davis demanded.  "We need him back here!"

            "Why?" Kari demanded.  "TK and I don't have digimon anymore, remember Davis?  Why would we need him back here?  He needs to find what he's looking for."

            "You knew that he was going to do this," Matt accused.

            "I knew that he was still missing that part of himself.  I didn't know that details, but I had a general idea of what probably would happen.  And no, I didn't try and stop him."

            "So, what do we do?" Joe asked.  "Do we try and find him?  If so, what do we do when we find him?  Well, Tai?"  Tai sighed and slowly shook his head.

            "We leave him alone.  Even if we found him, I doubt very much that we'd be able to convince him to come back until he's found what he's looking for."  There was a general consensus to that point.  The digidestined tried to go about their business as usual, but most of the time, their thoughts were on the missing child of Hope.  They kept track of him through Kari, who got regular emails from him, detailing everything he had done.  He always sent the emails well after he had left his location.  He moved all over the digital world, training and learning.

            "Concentrate," Leomon growled at his new pupil.  TK sat on the ground, stripped to the waist, meditating.  His brow was covered in sweat from the burning sun and he wanted nothing more than for Leomon to turn around for a second so he could brush away the water coalescing near his eyes.  But the lion-man digimon didn't let his eyes leave his new pupil, not even when Ogremon returned with dinner.  Leomon and Ogremon had put aside their differences years ago and now taught digimon to digivolve to higher levels and to become stronger in all of their forms.  Still, they had been surprised when the child of Hope had come to them and asked for training.

            TK tried to concentrate, but as always, his thoughts drifted back to Kari.  He had just read her last email, detailing her break up with Davis.  Part of him wanted to rush back to the real world and tell her how he felt.  Unfortunately, he also knew that he couldn't stop himself in the middle of his training.  He hadn't written back yet, and he truly didn't know what to say when he did.  Kari had always been on his thoughts for his entire stay in the digital world.  He had moved across the digital world, seemingly at random, but he had a specific pattern he was following.  He had trained under Centarumon and learned all about the history and mythology of the digital world.  He had then traveled to the Temple of the Dragon and trained under Gennai, learning about his powers and their nature.  He had then traveled to train under Andromon and learned everything that the cyborg-digimon could teach him about computers and programming.  His current training under Leomon and Ogremon was some of the most demanding that he had faced.  He rose at the crack of dawn and trained until well after the sun set.  It was a vigorus routine that he had quickly adapted to and thrived on.

            "You have done well," Leomon commented as Ogremon began to set up dinner.  "Few digimon have come as far in their training as quickly as you have.  I am truly impressed and saddened.  You have surpassed what we can teach you, my pupil."  TK rose and bowed to the two.

            "It was an honor to learn from two such distinguished masters," he intoned.  I shall keep you in my thoughts always as I continue my journeys."      

            "So where are you off to next?" Ogremon asked as he began to turn a hunk of meat over their fire.

            "Oh no, I'm not telling you," TK protested as he walked around, easing the cramps in his legs.  "I don't want the others finding me and I really don't know where I'm going."  Actually that wasn't quite true.  He had a few ideas of where to go, but he didn't know which one he would pursue yet.

            "Your friends are very worried about you," Leomon pointed out.  "They are concerned about your health, mental in addition to physical."

            "I know they are, but I need to finish this by myself," TK protested.  "I'm not the scared little eight year old kid whoneeds his brother to watch out for him anymore.  Nor am I the upbeat, confident eleven year old who is always hopeful about the outcome, no matter the odds.  I was never my own person, I was always what everyone else needed me to be.  Now, all I want is a chance to find out who I am.  The others would only interfere in that."

            "But I thought that you still talked to the girl, what's her name, Kari pretty regularly," Ogremon pointed out.  TK hung his head and his next words were soft and thoughtful.

            "Kari has been my friend for a long time.  She's probably the only one that I feel like I can be myself around.  She doesn't need someone to find the upside to everything.  She just needs a friend to talk to and to listen.  It's different with her."

            "You love her."  Leomon's statement was of a fact, and TK treated it as such.

            "Yes.  She knows that, it's one of the reasons that I had to do this.  When we were young, we were always together, and our brothers would always make fun of what a cute couple we were.  When Kari didn't return my feelings, I had to step back and make sure that they really were mine, and not some attempt to please Tai and Matt."

            "And what have you discovered?"  Leomon's voice once more assumed the familiar tone of a teacher coaxing a student.

            "I don't know whether the feelings started out as mine or not, but they have evolved to the point where they are mine.  I know that much."

            "Then we wish you good luck on your journey," Ogremon responded.  Leomon nodded in agreement.  "Now, lets eat and celebrate."

            TK rose early the next morning, packed and left.  Leomon and Ogremon pretended to be asleep, but in truth, they watched him go.

            "Good luck, my friend," Leomon whispered as TK departed.

            It had been three months since TK had left, and school was starting once more in Japan.  TK was still traveling in the digital world, but he still had not found what he sought.  His journeys brought no relief to the sense that something was wrong.  He had heard many stories among the digimon about a force that seemed to be infecting the digital world.  Various "accidents" were happening all over the digital world and none of them were really connected.  TK had sent all he knew and learned to Izzy, hoping that he and Ken might work out a solution to the problem.  Still, he was no longer a digidestined and his journey had finally taken him to the one place in the digital world where he had not wanted to go.  Infinity Mountain, for some unknown reason, had been rebuilt along with the rest of the digital world when Owikawa gave his life-energy after the battle with Malo-Myotismon.  Now, TK wished that there were somewhere else he could be going.  Unfortunately, his dreams had all led him here.  Back to the one place that he wanted never to return to.

            TK crawled up the last few feet of Infinity Mountain and reached the summit.  A part of him expected Piedmon's black castle to still be there, but it was absent.  Along with anything else.  The entire mountain was bare except for a massive stone tower in the center.  TK sighed and dropped to the ground, once more thanking Leomon and Ogremon for their training.  The mountain side had been a sheer cliff face for a good deal of the climb, and his arms and legs screamed in relief as he simply collapsed on the mountain summit.  After a few minutes, though, he stood once more and pulled on his backpack again.  The stone tower was calling to him.  For some reason, he knew that the end of his journey was inside.  It took him close to an hour to reach his destination.  It was a massive tower, several stories high, with no windows or doors that he could see.  As he walked around it, he could still find nothing that looked like an entrance.  Finally, he returned to where he had started and began to contemplate how to get inside.  He finally noticed a section of rock that was colored slightly differently than the rest of the tower.  Curious, he walked over and pushed on it slightly, only to find that it gave way slightly.   With more confidence, TK pushed harder until the section finally swung open, revealing a doorway leading inside the tower.  TK gripped his backpack and walked inside.  He entered a tunnel, leading to the heart of the tower.  The walls of the tunnel glowed with an eerie light.  Not for the first time, TK wished that Patamon were there.

            'But he isn't here,' TK mentally chided himself.  'He died saving me and I have to move on.'  Steeling himself, TK walked on down the twisting tunnel.  After about an hour of walking, TK emerged in a massive chamber.  It had high vaulted ceilings and an intricately carved mural around the circumference of the room.

            "What is this place?" TK wondered aloud.

            "What you've been searching for," a voice in the shadows responded.  "The place where you finally confront that which you lost."  A shadow formed out of the inky darkness and quickly took form.  TK stared at it for a moment, his mind trying to register what he was seeing.  It was himself.

            "Long time, no see, brother," the shadow mocked him.

            "Who are you?" TK demanded.

            "Everything that you've been searching for," the double laughed.  "I am all that you repressed in order to be what everyone else wanted you to be.  I am your fear, your sense of loss, your sorrow, your lust.  All of it.  I must say, you certainly have strengthened me over the years."

            "You're lying," TK growled.

            "Now you don't believe that any more than I do," the shadow replied.  "I know how you think, Takeshi.  After all, I am you.  Right now, you're trying to analyze me to pick up on a weakness that you can exploit.  Well, brother, I don't have any.  Or, rather, I am all of your weaknesses that you suppressed, just so Kari could go fall into the arms of another."  TK clenched his fists in rage.  "Did I touch a nerve?"  The double laughed.  "Face facts, TK.  You and I are one and the same."

            "I deny you, then," TK growled.

            "Like that will work," the double laughed.  "You've been denying me for years now.  It finally got o the point where you couldn't thought, so you unconsciously used our powers to channel all of your "dark and evil" thoughts into a form and sealed them in the digital world.  And here I am."

            "If I did it once, I can do it again," TK threatened.

            "Bull shit," the double rebuked.  "You don't have your powers anymore, remember?  You gave them up when Patamon died."

            "I didn't give them up!" TK protested.  "They left when Patamon died!"

            "NO!  They didn't leave, it doesn't work that way!  You gave them up after you failed!  You failed to protect Kari and you failed to protect Patamon!"

            "I did not fail!"  TK clutched his hands to his ears and fell to his knees, sobbing.  "I didn't fail," he weakly repeated.

            "Pathetic," the double sneered.  "You can't even admit to what you did.  If you hadn't been mooning over Kari, then you would have been focused enough to use your powers correctly in the Dark Ocean, and Patamon and Gatomon wouldn't have died.  You blew it TK, again."

            "No I didn't," TK repeated.  TK's double sighed and sat down on one of the rocks lying around the room.

            "Look, this is what you've been searching for.  The truth.  It's harsh, painful, and you won't accept it even from yourself.  You think I like being half of a person?  You and I should be one, not a pair of ghosts, facing off in a tower.  And don't mistake me, TK.  You are a ghost.  A non-person.  You aren't the paragon of virtue that everyone makes you out to be, and you know that.  But, after the divorce, you didn't want to cause any more trouble, so you started creating me.  I'm not evil, TK, I'm you; plain and simple."

            "But, even if that's true," TK protested "then how do we become one again?"

            "You used your powers to pull us apart, you can use them to put us back together."

            "But I told you, I lost them after Patamon died."

            "No, you didn't."  The double sounded like he was trying to explain to a child.  "You can't lose the powers, they're a part of you.  You just suppressed them.  You didn't feel that you were worthy of the powers and so you gave up Hope and submerged them in self-doubt and guilt.  The only way fro us to become one is for you to remember what you are.  You are the child of Hope.  You are one of the two strongest individuals in the digital world.  You are a combination of all of the other crests, and as of such, are the strongest of all."

            "You need to listen to him, TK."

            "Gennai?  What are you doing here?"

            "I'm trying to help a friend.  Why do you think I agreed to teach you all about your powers, if you didn't have them?  You had them all along.  You just need to unleash them."

            "But what if I mess up again?" TK wondered.

            "Then that is a chance we will have to take," a forth voice boomed.  The cave faded and TK found himself once more standing on Infinity Mountain.  In front of him where the Four Guardians; Azulongmon, Ebonwumon, Baihumon, and Zhuqiaomon.  They towered over the three humans and Azulongmon moved forward to speak.

            "The digital world is decaying with out the presence of Hope.  If you do not reclaim that which is your birth right, than Oikawa's sacrifice will not be enough.  The barrier he erected and maintains is a second shield to protect the digital world.  The first is the power of Hope and Light.  That barrier has been fading.  If it is not soon strengthened, the entire digital world will be in danger."

            "Do you have to go on like that?" Baihumon demanded.

            "I was trying to make a point," the massive dragon protested.

            "Move aside," Baihumon commanded, moving forward.  "Scaring him isn't going to help."  The massive wolfish digimon moved up to the three and sat down, staring at TK.  "Do you understand why we are so worried about you?"

            "Yes," TK replied.  "I just don't know what to do."

            "Neither did Ryu," Baihumon reminisced.

            "Who is that?"

            "Originally," Baihumon began "there were four digidestined.  The eight crests that you know no had been four back then; Love and Sincerity, Friendship and Courage, Knowledge and Reliability, and of course, Light and Hope.  The four of us were their digimon.  Ryu was the digidestined of Hope and Light.  He was the strongest of the original four, but at first, even he didn't know what to do.  None of them did, and their problems were much bigger than what you face today."  Baihumon grinned.  "Still, None of you turned out too badly, did you Gennai?"  Gennai threw back his head and laughed.

            "No, I suppose we didn't.  I was the original digidestined of Knowledge and Reliability and Zhuqiaomon was my digimon partner.  So, you have to understand that I know what you are feeling."

            "Listen to them," the double of TK encouraged.  "They are all telling you what needs to be done, so do it!"

            "But I don't know how!" TK protested.

            "Are you sure?" Ebonwumon asked from her perch on the tip of Infinity Mountain.  "Look deep in your soul, young one.  You may be surprised."  TK closed his eyes and concentrated.

            "I don't think…" he started.

            "Don't think," his double interrupted, grabbing his hand.  "Feel; and act on that."  A light enveloped the two and TK opened his eyes, only to find both himself and the double dissolving into particles of energy.  "It will feel good to be whole once more," TK grinned.

            "Yeah," TK grinned back.  Their bodies dissolved and the particles merged.  In a bright flash of light, Takeru Takeshi was reborn.  He simply stood there for a moment, eyes closed.  He finally opened them and grinned.

            "It's good to be whole again," he commented.  "Now to fix things."  He looked up at the sky and concentrated.  All over the digital world, they saw it happen.  The sky glowed, a bright yellow light that enveloped the digital world and beyond.

            Kari bolted up in her seat at the picnic table.  Ken and Yolei looked over at her in concern.

            "Kari?  Is something wrong?"  Ken looked at her in worry as her eyes spaced out for a moment.

            "TK?"  The soft question was barely audible, but the response was quite clear.  A beam of yellow light engulfed her and the sky above Highten View Terrace opened, revealing a gate to the digital world.

            "What the hell happened?" Tai demanded as he and the rest of the digidestined ran up to Kari.

            "Izzy, how did the gate open?" Cody demanded.  "BlackWargreymon sealed it!"

            "I know," Izzy protested.  "I don't know how the gate opened."

            "Is that Infinity Mountain?" Sora demanded, looking at the gate.

            "KARI!"  All heads turned at Yolei's shout, only to see Kari rise into the air.

            "Damn it!"  With that, Tai jumped into the light and began to rise as well.  All of the digidestined and their digimon followed, and rode the light to the gate.

            TK stood on the top of Infinity Mountain, eyes closed, waiting.  The Four Guardians and Gennai stood with him, also waiting.  Finally, his eyes opened as a gate opened in front of him and the digidestined emerged.  Everyone else was babbling questions or preparing for a fight except for Kari.  She was staring at TK.

            "TAKERU!"  With that one cry, she threw herself into his open arms.  The digidestined and their digimon quieted and simply watched the reunion with teary eyes.  With one motion, the pair put them all in shock.  TK dipped his head down and caught Kari's lips in a passionate kiss.

            "I love you," he whispered as they parted.

            "I love you," she replied.  As they stood entwined, their bodies began to glow a golden radiance.  It enveloped themselves and the entire mountain top.  Finally, the glow died down, only to reveal a marvelous sight.  Angemon and Angewoman silently hovered above their partners, glowing with energy.  The glow began to spread once more, spreading out across the digital world.  Everything it touched dissolved into data, only to be reborn once more.

            "And so the two shall once more become one," Gennai intoned.  "And in this act, shall the digital world be reborn.  This shall be the end of an age, and a new world shall be born.  The doors that once were locked shall be torn down, and all shall be as it should be."  Izzy started and pulled out his laptop.

            "Oh my God," he whispered in shocked awe.

            "What?" Matt demanded.  Izzy turned his laptop to show the others the picture of the gates to the digital world opening all across the world.

            "The digital world and the real world are merging."

            "No, they are simply learning to coexist," Gennai corrected.  "That was the oldest prophesy of the digital world.  It foretold the work of the digidestined from first to second to third.  The first generation of digidestined was to combat the darkness and help to create the digital world.  The second, that's you guys, were to eliminate the darkness and rebuild the digital world.  The third are to be the gatekeepers.  They will protect both the real and digital worlds."

            "So, where does the third generation of digidestined come from?" Sora demanded.

            "You'll know," Gennai winked.  "Now, I think you need to get home."  Tai nodded as Kari led a weary TK over to the rest of the group.

            "Lets all go home."

            "It isn't over yet, is it?" TK asked the Four.

            "What do you mean?" Azulongmon asked.

            "The attacks on the digital world.  Who started them?  Where did they come from?  Where are they going to strike next?"

            "We do not know," Zhuqiaomon admitted.  "However, with the barrier restored, they should have a harder time threatening the digital world."

            "Will that be enough?" Kari asked

            "It has to be for right now," Gennai confessed.  "We don't really have a plan B."

            "Hey, what are you worried about?" Davis demanded.  "At the worst, they've got us looking out for them!"

            "Yeah, you're right," TK weakly smiled.

            "Now can we go home?" Tai asked plaintively.

The End