DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon or any of its characters. I just like to torture them. Please don't sue.
A/N: Huh. Not much to say. Just, read. I love this fic, I'm so proud of myself!
In the morning, Ken woke to find Wormmon still on his bed, asleep. He wasn't in the same mood he'd been in when he went to sleep, and he pushed Wormmon off to wake him up. Wormmon was startled awake long before he reached the edge of the bed, though, and Ken saw his expression when he toppled over the edge.
He was honestly hurt, had honestly been hoping that Ken's mood was permanent.
Ken heard the thud Wormmon made as he hit the floor, and for a fleeting second, he was sorry. ~That's no way to think about your servant,~ his inner Kaiser told him. He sighed quietly. "Get my clothes ready while I'm in the bathroom," he ordered, "And make me some coffee."
"What kind?" Wormmon ventured to speak.
Ken sighed in irritation. "No flavors or anything, just...plain...black."
"Yes, Master." Wormmon crawled off toward the kitchen.
After a long, hot shower, Ken dressed in the clothes Wormmon had left. The same old jumpsuit, cape, and glasses, only washed. He thought about the night before while he played with his hair.
~I wonder if I really could make them my friends.~ He knew better. He knew the only way to do that was to give up being the Kaiser. And that was something he never wanted to do.
Still, the idea about spending an hour with them in their prison every day appealed to him.
He decided that after he got the Davis/Kari matter settled, he would try it out.
Actually, the whole marriage laws thing would be pretty easy. When Ken wanted to make a law, he told his Dark-Spiraled Datamon, who wrote it out in legal terms, and then Ken signed it, making it law. Simple as that.
That afternoon, he read over what the Datamon had come up with. ~Okay. This makes sense.~ Ken signed it and took it down to the prisoners personally.
T.K. was in the living room reading a book when Ken entered.
"Where are Kamiya and Motomiya?" Ken asked harshly.
T.K. looked at him levelly. "In Motomiya's suite," he said in a cold, flat tone. He then returned to his book.
Ken turned to the enslaved Piximon guard. "Lock the outer door behind me and don't open it until I return."
The Piximon saluted and carried out his orders. Ken walked towards the door of Davis's suite. T.K. looked up. "You might wanna knock first...I think they're...*busy*..."
Ken raised an eyebrow. "Then why the fuss over a ceremony?"
"Huh? *Oh!* No! I didn't mean *that* kind of busy...I mean, not going that far...I...well...you know, just...kissing. None of...*that*." T.K. was turning beet red.
Ken nodded skeptically and knocked before pushing the door open. Sure enough, Davis and Kari were sitting on the couch, blushing the same as T.K..
"Anytime you want, I can call up a digimon to perform the ceremony. Here's the laws regarding everything you'll need to know." Ken dropped copies of the papers he had just signed onto the coffee table, and then spun on his heel, leaving the room.
As he went through the main room, Yolei came out of her suite and they ran smack into each other.
She gasped. She was leaning on his arm, and he just stood there, not knowing what to think. If she had been a digimon, he would have pushed her away and kicked her, but, there she was, blushing--in a trance, almost.
Finally he moved his arm away from his body, thereby pushing her back, and she took a step away. "I--I'm sorry, Kaiser, sir, your highness..."
"Kaiser will do nicely." Ken continued on his way wordlessly.
After the Piximon let him out the door, Yolei sank to her knees and clasped her hands to her chest.
T.K. came to her side, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"
She nodded. "I was...so scared, T.K.. I was sure we was going to whip me, or hurt me, or something..."
"Well, he didn't. It's okay." He helped her to her feet. "But are you gonna be?"
Yolei nodded.
T.K. went back to the couch and his book.
Yolei had been going to see if Cody wanted to play a game of cards, but suddenly she wasn't in the mood. She went back into her room and laid down on her bed.
Those old feelings...
She thought back, back to when they'd been free, when they'd been battling Ken.
Funny, after they found out who he was in the real world, she could not think of him as the Kaiser. He was Ken. Before they'd found out, she'd had a crush on Ken. Of course, that had been all it was, a crush. They never even met in person until they met in the Digital World.
But now...all that had changed.
Hadn't it?
She'd been scared when Ken had come in the day before. She'd been shocked when he was offering things. Being...nice? No. Not nice. Kindly, but not outright kind.
She was sure he got lonely. When he'd come, she'd been scared for herself and Kari. She'd thought he was after something for sure. At first, she had only worried for herself because Kari had Davis, but then she thought that Ken might be just that cruel as to take Kari, just to spite the pair.
And then she'd looked into his eyes.
He was not being vengeful. He was honestly curious as to how they'd fared. It had surprised her.
And then he'd had to go and make that remark. She'd mouthed off. Her head was still sore from that smack.
What were these feelings? Yolei thought for a few minutes that they resembled the feelings she'd had towards her first boyfriend when they argued. That he was to blame, and yet it really wasn't his fault that he was the way he was.
~No...surely not. I don't still like him. Why would I? As the Kaiser, he's not even handsome. And there's certainly nothing going for him in the personality department.~
Yolei fell asleep mulling over it and didn't wake up until dinner.
When the dinner trays were delivered by a Gazimon, Davis gave it a piece of paper. "Get this to the Kaiser, would ya? It's some very important information he requested, okay?"
The under-the-influence Gazimon just nodded. Enslaved digimon rarely spoke, even when spoken to.
After they ate, Davis stood. "I want to announce something. Kari and I are getting married tomorrow evening."
Yolei hugged Kari. "I'm so happy for you!"
"Congratulations!" Cody said. "Are we invited?"
"You all are. It'd be kind of hard to stop you since we have to do it right here. I just sent the message to Ken a few minutes ago. I--I asked him if all our Digimon could have their Spirals taken off long enough to watch, since we don't have our D-3s anyway. I haven't got an answer yet."
"Thanks, Davis..." T.K. choked, speaking for all of them. "That was a really great thing for you to do, even if he says no."
"I'll be so happy to see Hawkmon, even if it's only for a few minutes..." Yolei sighed.
"Yeah, and Patamon..."
"Armadillomon..."
"Gatomon..."
"Veemon..."
Ken read Davis's message over again. ~Well...I do have their D-3s locked away...~
He glanced across the room, up near the ceiling. Patamon was cleaning cobwebs away. There was a Dark Spiral wrapped around his ear.
~I don't think it'll hurt anything.~
The next morning, after breakfast, a big box arrived for Kari.
She took it into her room, and then had Yolei come look at what she'd gotten.
There was a handwritten note from Ken:
"Kari. I had some Floramon up all night working on this, so it had better be good enough. --The Digimon Kaiser"
"Just like Ken," Yolei sighed.
"But look, Yolei," Kari said. She pulled a bundle of white satin out of the box.
"A wedding gown?" Yolei blinked. "Perfecto!"
Yolei helped Kari into it to see if it would fit, and it did. There was also a veil, and a bouquet of pink rosebuds.
They carefully packed it back until later that afternoon, when Kari would wear it for Davis. Then they went to tell the guys what it was, but of course the guys weren't allowed to see it. Davis got even with Kari by telling her that just after she'd gone into her room a suit had arrived for him and she couldn't see it until he saw her gown.
Then all five of them pitched in, moving most of Kari's stuff into Davis's room, everything except the things that she would need to get ready later.
Ken was debating whether or not to stick around for the wedding. He knew he'd have to be there when the Digimon's Dark Spirals were removed, but he thought maybe he should leave after that.
He'd feel like he was...
Intruding?
Yes, that was it. It wasn't any of his business.
He had already appointed an Elecmon to do the ceremony so he wouldn't have to. He had already taken care of the Digimon who would remove the Dark Spirals. He knew nothing would go wrong.
So should he go?
~Yes. Why should I feel like I'm intruding? It's my base. My prisoners. I *ought* to go, just to intimidate.~
One hour before the time of the wedding, Ken appeared with five enslaved digimon, and the DigiDestined's digimon.
Kari started crying. The five digimon were in a trance and didn't even recognize them. They looked like they had been doing a lot of hard work.
Ken started barking orders. "I want each of you to take your digimon and hold it while the Spiral is removed. As soon as it is off, you need to explain the situation and that you don't want them to attack. If any one of them *does* attack, the spiral will be put back on immediately."
Each of the DigiDestined ran to their Digimon and hugged it. None of them hugged back.
One of Ken's slaves went to each one and began fiddling with the Spiral.
Gatomon's was the first to come off.
"Kari! You're alive! You're all right! You've changed...how long has it been?"
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm so happy to see you! Calm down. Don't attack. Let me explain..."
Patamon was next. "T.K.! You're taller...what happened?"
"Oh, Patamon, I missed you. I need to fill you in..."
Hawkmon. "Yo--"
"Oh, Hawkmon!" Yolei hugged him tightly.
"Yo--lei! I--can't--breathe--"
"But I'm so happy to see you!"
"I--won't--be--here--much--lon--ger--if--you're--cho--king--meeeee--"
Armadillomon. "Huh? Cody! You've grown so much! What happened?"
"Armadillomon! You're all right! You remembered me! See, Armadillomon, it's like this..."
Veemon. "Huh? Davis! Did I fall asleep? What's going on? Weren't we fighting? How did you get so tall?"
"Hey, buddy, great to see you! It's been forever, man...Calm down so I can tell you..."
Ken watched with wonder. ~How can anyone become so attached to a digimon? If Wormmon was gone for a long time, would I honestly miss him at all?~ Finally he shoved the thoughts aside. "I will be back in one hour to witness the ceremony." He left with no further words, leaving his enslaved Digimon to watch the freed ones.
"Ceremony?" the digimon asked in unison. Somehow in the few seconds that had passed, the DigiDestined had gotten them to understand that they were all happy as things were and they didn't want to put a up a fight.
Kari spoke up. "Gatomon...everyone...Davis and I are getting married."
Gatomon looked up into her eyes incredulously. "Kari...?"
"Gatomon, I love him, and we're going to be very happy together."
Gatomon wrinkled her nose. "Are you sure, Kari? If you're sure..."
"I am sure, Gatomon. I love Davis."
"Then I'm happy," Gatomon said.
Veemon was giving Davis five, applauding him, slapping him on the back. "Way to go, Davis!"
"When's the wedding?" Patamon asked.
"In one hour," Davis said, grinning at Kari.
"And I need to start getting ready," Kari said. "Gatomon, Yolei, come on."
The two girls and their digimon headed into Kari's room.
Kari was ready long before time, so Yolei quickly went and got herself ready (which basically meant putting on a nicer skirt and messing with her hair), and then went back to Kari's room to keep her company.
Kari was sitting at her dresser, fiddling with her veil.
"Kari, you are a beautiful bride," Yolei said, coming into her room.
It was true. The milky white dress set off her complexion perfectly. It had a full skirt, but no train (there wasn't room for a decent train in their prison). The neckline was nicely low but not revealing, and the sleeves were short and swingy. The veil came down to Kari's fingertips, and was held in place by a headband of seed pearls--the real thing.
"Thank you, Yolei," Kari said, blushing. "Do you think Davis will like it?"
Yolei smiled. "I don't think he'd care if you came out there in your bathrobe, girlfriend, but I do think he'll like it. It's not like you could pick your own, anyway." Yolei came closer, and sat down on Kari's bed.
Gatomon could not stop staring at her Digipartner. "You know, Ken has better taste than I would have thought."
Kari smiled. "Me too. You know, there's just one thing..."
"You're not having cold feet now, are you?" Hawkmon asked. "I don't think that it would be prudent at this juncture...especially since the Kaiser is relenting with no questions..."
Kari shook her head. "Never. I just wish that Tai and my parents could be here...or that they could just know..." she wiped away a tear. "And I'm sure Davis would want his family to know."
Yolei put a hand on her shoulder. "It's all right. It's all right. Kari, you know what?"
"What?"
Yolei smiled. "I think Tai will know anyway. He's been to the Digital World too, and I think it has its own way of taking care of that kind of thing."
Kari smiled, too. "Maybe so."
Ken arrived at the appointed time, along with Wormmon and the Elecmon who officiated. Kari and Davis were married by the American ceremony, and then a fancy meal was held in the dining room. Ken had even sprung for a wedding cake.
The DigiDestined all said goodbye to their Digimon, who were then escorted off to have the Spirals put back on--something the DigiDestined did not want to watch and the digimon did not want them to see.
Kari and Davis retreated to his room, and locked the door behind them.
Ken left then, not having said a single word other than to issue orders.
Yolei frowned as the lock clicked. "He is being so...I don't know...it's just weird."
"I know," Cody agreed. "And I'm not sure I like it. Something bad is on the way."
Davis and Kari embraced tightly, leaning against the bedroom door.
"Davis...we are *actually*...*married*..." she whispered.
"I know! This is wonderful!" He picked her up and swung her around, and ended up falling backwards onto the bed.
She smiled, laying there on top of him. She kissed the tip of his nose. "I am so happy...it just feels like I am so happy it's wrong to be this happy, you know?"
"I know..." he kissed her passionately. "But it's not." His hand was inching its way up her back, one finger following the zipper, finally finding the top of it. "May I?" he asked suggestively, giving it a little tug downward.
"Please do..."
Cody, T.K., and Yolei sat in the living room, all three of them too wound up to go to sleep. They were trying to find something decent on TV. One of the benefits of TV in the Digital World was getting every channel (real-)worldwide for free.
"Hopefully these walls are as soundproof as we were always led to believe..." T.K. said.
"Why's that?" Yolei asked.
"Because I know those two are going to make a lot of noise at night...don't get me wrong, they deserve it, but I don't wanna be kept up at night just because *they* want to."
Yolei and Cody both sweatdropped.
"Hopefully it won't be *that* bad..." Cody squeaked.
The threesome heard a muffled moan. "Daisukeee..."
They all sweatdropped.
"I don't think we could hear that from in our rooms..." Cody offered.
"Should we go?" Yolei asked.
"Nah," T.K. said. "If that's all the louder they're gonna be, we can turn up the TV high enough to drown it out."
"Okay..." Yolei said, cranking the volume.
Ken was lying in his bed awake again. He was thinking of what he had seen that day.
~Everyone seemed so happy.~
They had been happy to see their Digimon. Happy on account of Davis and Kari. Just--happy. That was it. Happy. He had not been happy in a long time. Pleased, yes, amused, yes, but not happy. He had his small victories and gains, but nothing made him truly happy.
He wondered if Wormmon might be right--if loneliness was making him sick and unhappy.
And he wondered, if so, what might be the right remedy?
The next morning, Kari woke up, covered only with a comforter, in Davis's arms. She could hear his heavy breathing. For a few seconds she was afraid of what they had done, but then her brain started working and the wedding came back to her. That made all the difference.
She started kissing his cheek right at the jawline. He stirred, and woke. His eyes slowly blinked open.
There was Kari, wrapped up in nothing but his arms, smiling at him.
"Yesterday really happened," he whispered, almost not believing it.
"Yes, it did," she whispered. "And how glad I am that it did..."
He smiled, and kissed her.
They were both very much awake, but it was going to be a while before they got out of bed.
Cody, T.K., and Yolei sat in the living room, trying to act nonchalant.
"It's nine o'clock," Cody said.
"They probably picked up this morning right where they left off last night," Yolei said, trying to keep herself from knocking on the door and seeing what was going on.
T.K. smirked. "Left off? I think they're still *going* from last night."
Yolei tried to hide her laughter. They really shouldn't be talking like that in front of Cody. Of course he knew exactly what was going on, but still--
The door to the (two) Motomiya's suite opened.
Davis stepped out, all smiles and blushing quite red. "Ohayo..." he said.
"Ohayo," the other three chorused.
"My *wife* will be out in a few minutes..." Davis smiled.
"Your breakfast in is in the dining room, being kept warm," Yolei said, trying to make it easier on him. She knew he was embarrassed, just because. She thought she probably would be, too.
He nodded and rushed off into the other room.
Kari peeked her head out few minutes later. "Ohayo gozaimasu."
Again, the other three chorused. "Ohayo."
T.K. smiled at her. He knew his best friend was so high on happiness she was probably going to be a little ditzy for quite a while. "Your *husband*, is in the dining room, *Mrs. Motomiya.*"
Kari flushed. "You know, T.K., I like the sound of that." She went to join Davis.
"Satisfied?" Yolei asked T.K..
"Yup." He returned to his book.
A/N: I'm liking this! Uh, let me make it clear, even though he was there for her when she had her little run-in (pun intended) with the Kaiser, Yolei is NOT going to fall for T.K.. NOT. I hate Miykeru as a romance. They're just friends. Anyhoo, please review.
A/N: Huh. Not much to say. Just, read. I love this fic, I'm so proud of myself!
In the morning, Ken woke to find Wormmon still on his bed, asleep. He wasn't in the same mood he'd been in when he went to sleep, and he pushed Wormmon off to wake him up. Wormmon was startled awake long before he reached the edge of the bed, though, and Ken saw his expression when he toppled over the edge.
He was honestly hurt, had honestly been hoping that Ken's mood was permanent.
Ken heard the thud Wormmon made as he hit the floor, and for a fleeting second, he was sorry. ~That's no way to think about your servant,~ his inner Kaiser told him. He sighed quietly. "Get my clothes ready while I'm in the bathroom," he ordered, "And make me some coffee."
"What kind?" Wormmon ventured to speak.
Ken sighed in irritation. "No flavors or anything, just...plain...black."
"Yes, Master." Wormmon crawled off toward the kitchen.
After a long, hot shower, Ken dressed in the clothes Wormmon had left. The same old jumpsuit, cape, and glasses, only washed. He thought about the night before while he played with his hair.
~I wonder if I really could make them my friends.~ He knew better. He knew the only way to do that was to give up being the Kaiser. And that was something he never wanted to do.
Still, the idea about spending an hour with them in their prison every day appealed to him.
He decided that after he got the Davis/Kari matter settled, he would try it out.
Actually, the whole marriage laws thing would be pretty easy. When Ken wanted to make a law, he told his Dark-Spiraled Datamon, who wrote it out in legal terms, and then Ken signed it, making it law. Simple as that.
That afternoon, he read over what the Datamon had come up with. ~Okay. This makes sense.~ Ken signed it and took it down to the prisoners personally.
T.K. was in the living room reading a book when Ken entered.
"Where are Kamiya and Motomiya?" Ken asked harshly.
T.K. looked at him levelly. "In Motomiya's suite," he said in a cold, flat tone. He then returned to his book.
Ken turned to the enslaved Piximon guard. "Lock the outer door behind me and don't open it until I return."
The Piximon saluted and carried out his orders. Ken walked towards the door of Davis's suite. T.K. looked up. "You might wanna knock first...I think they're...*busy*..."
Ken raised an eyebrow. "Then why the fuss over a ceremony?"
"Huh? *Oh!* No! I didn't mean *that* kind of busy...I mean, not going that far...I...well...you know, just...kissing. None of...*that*." T.K. was turning beet red.
Ken nodded skeptically and knocked before pushing the door open. Sure enough, Davis and Kari were sitting on the couch, blushing the same as T.K..
"Anytime you want, I can call up a digimon to perform the ceremony. Here's the laws regarding everything you'll need to know." Ken dropped copies of the papers he had just signed onto the coffee table, and then spun on his heel, leaving the room.
As he went through the main room, Yolei came out of her suite and they ran smack into each other.
She gasped. She was leaning on his arm, and he just stood there, not knowing what to think. If she had been a digimon, he would have pushed her away and kicked her, but, there she was, blushing--in a trance, almost.
Finally he moved his arm away from his body, thereby pushing her back, and she took a step away. "I--I'm sorry, Kaiser, sir, your highness..."
"Kaiser will do nicely." Ken continued on his way wordlessly.
After the Piximon let him out the door, Yolei sank to her knees and clasped her hands to her chest.
T.K. came to her side, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"
She nodded. "I was...so scared, T.K.. I was sure we was going to whip me, or hurt me, or something..."
"Well, he didn't. It's okay." He helped her to her feet. "But are you gonna be?"
Yolei nodded.
T.K. went back to the couch and his book.
Yolei had been going to see if Cody wanted to play a game of cards, but suddenly she wasn't in the mood. She went back into her room and laid down on her bed.
Those old feelings...
She thought back, back to when they'd been free, when they'd been battling Ken.
Funny, after they found out who he was in the real world, she could not think of him as the Kaiser. He was Ken. Before they'd found out, she'd had a crush on Ken. Of course, that had been all it was, a crush. They never even met in person until they met in the Digital World.
But now...all that had changed.
Hadn't it?
She'd been scared when Ken had come in the day before. She'd been shocked when he was offering things. Being...nice? No. Not nice. Kindly, but not outright kind.
She was sure he got lonely. When he'd come, she'd been scared for herself and Kari. She'd thought he was after something for sure. At first, she had only worried for herself because Kari had Davis, but then she thought that Ken might be just that cruel as to take Kari, just to spite the pair.
And then she'd looked into his eyes.
He was not being vengeful. He was honestly curious as to how they'd fared. It had surprised her.
And then he'd had to go and make that remark. She'd mouthed off. Her head was still sore from that smack.
What were these feelings? Yolei thought for a few minutes that they resembled the feelings she'd had towards her first boyfriend when they argued. That he was to blame, and yet it really wasn't his fault that he was the way he was.
~No...surely not. I don't still like him. Why would I? As the Kaiser, he's not even handsome. And there's certainly nothing going for him in the personality department.~
Yolei fell asleep mulling over it and didn't wake up until dinner.
When the dinner trays were delivered by a Gazimon, Davis gave it a piece of paper. "Get this to the Kaiser, would ya? It's some very important information he requested, okay?"
The under-the-influence Gazimon just nodded. Enslaved digimon rarely spoke, even when spoken to.
After they ate, Davis stood. "I want to announce something. Kari and I are getting married tomorrow evening."
Yolei hugged Kari. "I'm so happy for you!"
"Congratulations!" Cody said. "Are we invited?"
"You all are. It'd be kind of hard to stop you since we have to do it right here. I just sent the message to Ken a few minutes ago. I--I asked him if all our Digimon could have their Spirals taken off long enough to watch, since we don't have our D-3s anyway. I haven't got an answer yet."
"Thanks, Davis..." T.K. choked, speaking for all of them. "That was a really great thing for you to do, even if he says no."
"I'll be so happy to see Hawkmon, even if it's only for a few minutes..." Yolei sighed.
"Yeah, and Patamon..."
"Armadillomon..."
"Gatomon..."
"Veemon..."
Ken read Davis's message over again. ~Well...I do have their D-3s locked away...~
He glanced across the room, up near the ceiling. Patamon was cleaning cobwebs away. There was a Dark Spiral wrapped around his ear.
~I don't think it'll hurt anything.~
The next morning, after breakfast, a big box arrived for Kari.
She took it into her room, and then had Yolei come look at what she'd gotten.
There was a handwritten note from Ken:
"Kari. I had some Floramon up all night working on this, so it had better be good enough. --The Digimon Kaiser"
"Just like Ken," Yolei sighed.
"But look, Yolei," Kari said. She pulled a bundle of white satin out of the box.
"A wedding gown?" Yolei blinked. "Perfecto!"
Yolei helped Kari into it to see if it would fit, and it did. There was also a veil, and a bouquet of pink rosebuds.
They carefully packed it back until later that afternoon, when Kari would wear it for Davis. Then they went to tell the guys what it was, but of course the guys weren't allowed to see it. Davis got even with Kari by telling her that just after she'd gone into her room a suit had arrived for him and she couldn't see it until he saw her gown.
Then all five of them pitched in, moving most of Kari's stuff into Davis's room, everything except the things that she would need to get ready later.
Ken was debating whether or not to stick around for the wedding. He knew he'd have to be there when the Digimon's Dark Spirals were removed, but he thought maybe he should leave after that.
He'd feel like he was...
Intruding?
Yes, that was it. It wasn't any of his business.
He had already appointed an Elecmon to do the ceremony so he wouldn't have to. He had already taken care of the Digimon who would remove the Dark Spirals. He knew nothing would go wrong.
So should he go?
~Yes. Why should I feel like I'm intruding? It's my base. My prisoners. I *ought* to go, just to intimidate.~
One hour before the time of the wedding, Ken appeared with five enslaved digimon, and the DigiDestined's digimon.
Kari started crying. The five digimon were in a trance and didn't even recognize them. They looked like they had been doing a lot of hard work.
Ken started barking orders. "I want each of you to take your digimon and hold it while the Spiral is removed. As soon as it is off, you need to explain the situation and that you don't want them to attack. If any one of them *does* attack, the spiral will be put back on immediately."
Each of the DigiDestined ran to their Digimon and hugged it. None of them hugged back.
One of Ken's slaves went to each one and began fiddling with the Spiral.
Gatomon's was the first to come off.
"Kari! You're alive! You're all right! You've changed...how long has it been?"
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm so happy to see you! Calm down. Don't attack. Let me explain..."
Patamon was next. "T.K.! You're taller...what happened?"
"Oh, Patamon, I missed you. I need to fill you in..."
Hawkmon. "Yo--"
"Oh, Hawkmon!" Yolei hugged him tightly.
"Yo--lei! I--can't--breathe--"
"But I'm so happy to see you!"
"I--won't--be--here--much--lon--ger--if--you're--cho--king--meeeee--"
Armadillomon. "Huh? Cody! You've grown so much! What happened?"
"Armadillomon! You're all right! You remembered me! See, Armadillomon, it's like this..."
Veemon. "Huh? Davis! Did I fall asleep? What's going on? Weren't we fighting? How did you get so tall?"
"Hey, buddy, great to see you! It's been forever, man...Calm down so I can tell you..."
Ken watched with wonder. ~How can anyone become so attached to a digimon? If Wormmon was gone for a long time, would I honestly miss him at all?~ Finally he shoved the thoughts aside. "I will be back in one hour to witness the ceremony." He left with no further words, leaving his enslaved Digimon to watch the freed ones.
"Ceremony?" the digimon asked in unison. Somehow in the few seconds that had passed, the DigiDestined had gotten them to understand that they were all happy as things were and they didn't want to put a up a fight.
Kari spoke up. "Gatomon...everyone...Davis and I are getting married."
Gatomon looked up into her eyes incredulously. "Kari...?"
"Gatomon, I love him, and we're going to be very happy together."
Gatomon wrinkled her nose. "Are you sure, Kari? If you're sure..."
"I am sure, Gatomon. I love Davis."
"Then I'm happy," Gatomon said.
Veemon was giving Davis five, applauding him, slapping him on the back. "Way to go, Davis!"
"When's the wedding?" Patamon asked.
"In one hour," Davis said, grinning at Kari.
"And I need to start getting ready," Kari said. "Gatomon, Yolei, come on."
The two girls and their digimon headed into Kari's room.
Kari was ready long before time, so Yolei quickly went and got herself ready (which basically meant putting on a nicer skirt and messing with her hair), and then went back to Kari's room to keep her company.
Kari was sitting at her dresser, fiddling with her veil.
"Kari, you are a beautiful bride," Yolei said, coming into her room.
It was true. The milky white dress set off her complexion perfectly. It had a full skirt, but no train (there wasn't room for a decent train in their prison). The neckline was nicely low but not revealing, and the sleeves were short and swingy. The veil came down to Kari's fingertips, and was held in place by a headband of seed pearls--the real thing.
"Thank you, Yolei," Kari said, blushing. "Do you think Davis will like it?"
Yolei smiled. "I don't think he'd care if you came out there in your bathrobe, girlfriend, but I do think he'll like it. It's not like you could pick your own, anyway." Yolei came closer, and sat down on Kari's bed.
Gatomon could not stop staring at her Digipartner. "You know, Ken has better taste than I would have thought."
Kari smiled. "Me too. You know, there's just one thing..."
"You're not having cold feet now, are you?" Hawkmon asked. "I don't think that it would be prudent at this juncture...especially since the Kaiser is relenting with no questions..."
Kari shook her head. "Never. I just wish that Tai and my parents could be here...or that they could just know..." she wiped away a tear. "And I'm sure Davis would want his family to know."
Yolei put a hand on her shoulder. "It's all right. It's all right. Kari, you know what?"
"What?"
Yolei smiled. "I think Tai will know anyway. He's been to the Digital World too, and I think it has its own way of taking care of that kind of thing."
Kari smiled, too. "Maybe so."
Ken arrived at the appointed time, along with Wormmon and the Elecmon who officiated. Kari and Davis were married by the American ceremony, and then a fancy meal was held in the dining room. Ken had even sprung for a wedding cake.
The DigiDestined all said goodbye to their Digimon, who were then escorted off to have the Spirals put back on--something the DigiDestined did not want to watch and the digimon did not want them to see.
Kari and Davis retreated to his room, and locked the door behind them.
Ken left then, not having said a single word other than to issue orders.
Yolei frowned as the lock clicked. "He is being so...I don't know...it's just weird."
"I know," Cody agreed. "And I'm not sure I like it. Something bad is on the way."
Davis and Kari embraced tightly, leaning against the bedroom door.
"Davis...we are *actually*...*married*..." she whispered.
"I know! This is wonderful!" He picked her up and swung her around, and ended up falling backwards onto the bed.
She smiled, laying there on top of him. She kissed the tip of his nose. "I am so happy...it just feels like I am so happy it's wrong to be this happy, you know?"
"I know..." he kissed her passionately. "But it's not." His hand was inching its way up her back, one finger following the zipper, finally finding the top of it. "May I?" he asked suggestively, giving it a little tug downward.
"Please do..."
Cody, T.K., and Yolei sat in the living room, all three of them too wound up to go to sleep. They were trying to find something decent on TV. One of the benefits of TV in the Digital World was getting every channel (real-)worldwide for free.
"Hopefully these walls are as soundproof as we were always led to believe..." T.K. said.
"Why's that?" Yolei asked.
"Because I know those two are going to make a lot of noise at night...don't get me wrong, they deserve it, but I don't wanna be kept up at night just because *they* want to."
Yolei and Cody both sweatdropped.
"Hopefully it won't be *that* bad..." Cody squeaked.
The threesome heard a muffled moan. "Daisukeee..."
They all sweatdropped.
"I don't think we could hear that from in our rooms..." Cody offered.
"Should we go?" Yolei asked.
"Nah," T.K. said. "If that's all the louder they're gonna be, we can turn up the TV high enough to drown it out."
"Okay..." Yolei said, cranking the volume.
Ken was lying in his bed awake again. He was thinking of what he had seen that day.
~Everyone seemed so happy.~
They had been happy to see their Digimon. Happy on account of Davis and Kari. Just--happy. That was it. Happy. He had not been happy in a long time. Pleased, yes, amused, yes, but not happy. He had his small victories and gains, but nothing made him truly happy.
He wondered if Wormmon might be right--if loneliness was making him sick and unhappy.
And he wondered, if so, what might be the right remedy?
The next morning, Kari woke up, covered only with a comforter, in Davis's arms. She could hear his heavy breathing. For a few seconds she was afraid of what they had done, but then her brain started working and the wedding came back to her. That made all the difference.
She started kissing his cheek right at the jawline. He stirred, and woke. His eyes slowly blinked open.
There was Kari, wrapped up in nothing but his arms, smiling at him.
"Yesterday really happened," he whispered, almost not believing it.
"Yes, it did," she whispered. "And how glad I am that it did..."
He smiled, and kissed her.
They were both very much awake, but it was going to be a while before they got out of bed.
Cody, T.K., and Yolei sat in the living room, trying to act nonchalant.
"It's nine o'clock," Cody said.
"They probably picked up this morning right where they left off last night," Yolei said, trying to keep herself from knocking on the door and seeing what was going on.
T.K. smirked. "Left off? I think they're still *going* from last night."
Yolei tried to hide her laughter. They really shouldn't be talking like that in front of Cody. Of course he knew exactly what was going on, but still--
The door to the (two) Motomiya's suite opened.
Davis stepped out, all smiles and blushing quite red. "Ohayo..." he said.
"Ohayo," the other three chorused.
"My *wife* will be out in a few minutes..." Davis smiled.
"Your breakfast in is in the dining room, being kept warm," Yolei said, trying to make it easier on him. She knew he was embarrassed, just because. She thought she probably would be, too.
He nodded and rushed off into the other room.
Kari peeked her head out few minutes later. "Ohayo gozaimasu."
Again, the other three chorused. "Ohayo."
T.K. smiled at her. He knew his best friend was so high on happiness she was probably going to be a little ditzy for quite a while. "Your *husband*, is in the dining room, *Mrs. Motomiya.*"
Kari flushed. "You know, T.K., I like the sound of that." She went to join Davis.
"Satisfied?" Yolei asked T.K..
"Yup." He returned to his book.
A/N: I'm liking this! Uh, let me make it clear, even though he was there for her when she had her little run-in (pun intended) with the Kaiser, Yolei is NOT going to fall for T.K.. NOT. I hate Miykeru as a romance. They're just friends. Anyhoo, please review.