According to Angel

By Jazz

Disclaimer:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I no own
So you no sue!

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Part Two

*Reality check*

Angel just found out that her mom (Kari, duh) is going to have a baby. Soon, we learn that there is some mysterious force that is after the "Child of Light." Hint, hint: Angel and her friends know nothing about Digimon! Pretend the epilogue never happened. ^_~

Don't remember whose kids are whose? Here's a reminder:

Kari and TK: Angel, and another on the way
Tai: Brad
Matt and Sora: Chino and Kara
Izzy and Mimi: Flora and Tina
Joe: Jason
Cody: Lei
Davis: Marcus
Yolei and Ken: Sam, Mari, and another on the way
(Tony doesn't have DigiDestined parents)

*Present day--three months later*

I walked into the science lab that morning. Science was first period. As soon as I walked into the room, nearly all the kids burst into applause.

I was stunned. What the heck was going on?

Tony came up to me, grinning. "Congratulations on the soccer victory!"

Huh?

My science teacher, Mrs. Yamasaki, smiled also. "Would you believe me if I had said that that was the team's first soccer victory in over twenty years?"

"No," I said. But I could. I was the captain of the team, and they had been really lousy at the beginning of the season. But my cousin Brad and I had taken a bunch of really sucky girls and molded them into soccer players.

I shrugged and grinned. "We only scored one throughout the entire game."

"You're missing the point!" my teacher said excitedly. "You girls won for the first time in over two decades! Not since Sora Tachinouchi played for the team. Why aren't you excited?"

"I have nothing to be really excited about," I said, offering a half-smile.

Truth be told, I haven't been myself lately. I have nightmares and headaches alot. And--this will sound really creepy--but whenever I turn to look at someone, they seem so unfamiliar and faraway. It takes me a few seconds to even recognize them. I am growing old this fast?

"Hey! Earth to Angel!" Tony waved his hand in front of my face.

"Huh? What? Sorry, I must have spaced out again," I said sheepishly.

Tony frowned. He always knew when something was wrong. "You've been doing that a lot lately. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, TK!" I snapped.

I felt my breath draw inward. Why had I just called Tony by my dad's name? It didn't make sense.

"Angel..." he said slowly. His eyes were full of worry.

"Tony...I'm sorry, I just haven't been myself, okay?" I said. "Please don't worry about me."

Before he could answer, Mrs. Yamasaki belted out, "Alright, class, take your seats, it's time to begin!"

I seated myself as far away from Tony as possible. I didn't want to talk to him, or answer the question he was asking with his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Puppetmon climbed angrily into his master's chamber.

"Hey boss! I've got a bone to pick with you!" he yelled in his annoying voice.

A dark silhouette was seen behind a screen that separated Puppetmon and his master. The voice behind the shadow sighed.

"Now what is it?" he asked, exasperated.

"The natives are getting restless, boss!" Puppetmon said, nastily. "You said the Child of Light would be here by now!"

His master sighed again. He was getting much weaker. "I am sorry, Puppetmon," he said. "But I'm afraid the Child of Light hasn't even been born yet."

Puppetmon's mouth dropped open, and his eyes nearly burst from his face. "What?!?" he screeched. "We're dying, man, and you tell us now that we have to wait even longer?"

"Not much longer...only about eight months..."

"But we've waited twenty-nine years for this!" Puppetmon yelled. "We're not going to get any stronger..."

"Do you think that I am?" his master shouted. "I am much weaker than all of you combined! And without me, the rest of you would just be a bunch of dead failures! I have fed you my blood for nearly three decades now, and what do you have to thank me for it? Impatience, complaining---endless complaining---and taking all the strength I have!"

Puppetmon was silent for a moment. He saw his commander's shadow turn away.

"I am sorry for getting upset with you," he said softly. "But nearly thirty years we have waited. You must understand, Puppetmon, I am growing older. And much weaker. I only have about one more year without the light. But the light will come before my time is done. And you and your petty companions will be free!"

Puppetmon opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He turned his back, and silently walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was running from...something. It was horrible, whatever it was. And it was gaining on me.

I ran faster and faster... I was running from the unknown. My past. It was getting closer and closer.

Suddenly, I wasn't running anymore. I was standing on the commons ground at the junior high. I looked around. I was in the past.

I looked up, and saw a girl with short brown hair sitting on a bench, looking very depressed. Next to her, a boy with very poofy blonde hair stood next to her. They seemed to be in a deep conversation. I moved closer to hear what they were saying. They didn't see me.

The boy said something incoherent, and the girl replied. "No, silly. Digimon. They keep trying to take me to their world. I don't know if I can resist anymore."

"You've got to! Where are they? We'll fight them!"

"I'm sorry. I can't. I'm just not strong like my brother."

"So you're gonna give up? Just like that?" he said, frustrated. "Look, Kari, I care too much about you to let anyone take you without a fight!"

Kari? This girl was my mother? Then the boy must be...

Kari gasped, and looked up at him. He sucked in his breath at his own words, and combed his hair with his hands. "I, uh, I better go now. I'll talk to you later?" Then he dashed off.

Kari was left sitting alone on the bench. To my surprise, she began to disappear right in front of my eyes! Suddenly, she was gone.

I was left alone on the commons ground with so many questions. Were those two kids really my parents, TK and Kari? Why was I seeing them at this time period? Here and now? And...what exactly are Digimon?

I sat down on the bench that the girl had been sitting on to think. No sooner than I had sat down, though, than I felt myself begin to fade.

I was no longer at the school. I was sitting on a small cliff that overlooked the ocean. Only one thing different, though, was that everything was dark. The ocean was dark, the sky was dark, even the light shining from the lighthouse on a strip of land across the water.

Suddenly, there she was! That girl--Kari--that was at the junior high! She was running down the beach, followed close behind by some very strange looking creatures. They were very small, and had flippers and gills on either side of them. Above her flew another odd creature, but this one looked more like a dragon than anything.

She lifted her arm to wave at--me? No. She couldn't see me. She was waving at something behind me. I turned to see what it was...a complete shock.

The blonde headed boy from earlier was riding on the back of a pegasus. That's right. A flying horse. In front of him, a cat/bunny was straddled on it.

"Kari!" he yelled.

"TK!"

TK? I was right; this boy was my dad! Well, sort of.

The cat leaped off the back of the horse, and ran towards Kari. Suddenly, it shouted, "Gatomon, Digivolve to...Angewomon!"

The catlike creature evolved into an angel! Weird. Apparently, its name was Angewomon. I didn't know what to believe--my eyes, or my instincts.

Angewomon and the pegasus flew over to the lighthouse. Just then, the pegasus spoke! "Star Shower!" he yelled.

A meteor shower exploded from the pegasus, knocking the lighthouse over. I was extremely confused. What was going on?

They flew back over to the shore where Kari was standing. Indeed, they both looked how my mom and dad would look like at the age of twelve. But...were they?

TK dismounted the horse, and suddenly, the creatures that had been following Kari suddenly grew larger. Taller. Meaner. One grabbed onto Kari's arm. She tried shake him off, but couldn't. Angewomon shot a spark at him, and he let go. TK ran over to her.

"Leave her alone!"

The sea creature opened his mouth, and he, too, began to speak. "We thought you wanted to be our queen... only you can lead us in the war against our undersea leader... we'll be back... our undersea leader knows of your powers too..."

They entered the water, and submerged themselves. They disappeared in a few ripples, then all was still.

TK put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It could be worse," he said, sympathetically, trying to cheer her up.

Kari lifted her head and raised her eyebrow. How could it possibly be worse?

"We could be scraping gum at school," TK explained, offering a smile.

Kari gave a small smile. Same old Dad. I could recognize him, even with twenty years between the them.

Just then, felt myself fading again, but this time, there was a heavy pain in my chest. It grew quickly, and I screamed in pain, hoping TK or Kari would hear me. But they didn't.

I was fading...faster and faster. I felt a hand grab me from behind and spin me around. I gasped when I saw his face.

"Angel! Time to wake up! You'll be late for school!"

I sat up with a bolt. I looked at my hand. It was shaking. I had broken a cold sweat.

"Come on, Angel, get the lead out!" Dad called. "It's almost 7:30!"

7:30? Yikes! I'd forgotten to set my alarm! Oh, why did this have to happen now?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony waited outside Angel's door. It was getting late; where was she? He tapped his foot, trying not to be impatient with her. It was hard to get mad at her, though.

Just then, the door swung open, and Angel stumbled out, tripping over her own feet. She had a math book tucked under one arm, a hairbrush in her hand, one shoe on her foot, and half of her English homework in her mouth.

"Mmmh mh mmf!" she mumbled. TK followed her outside, holding her other shoe and the other half of her English homework. He rolled his eyes.

"I'll drop you two off on my way to work," he said. Angel stumbled over to the elevator. She couldn't push the button because her hands were full, so she slammed it with the brush.

TK looked over at Tony and rolled his eyes again. Tony covered his mouth so Angel wouldn't see him smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had difficulty concentrating that day. My mind kept going back to that dream. I know it was only a dream, but it had seemed so real. It had provoked so many questions from me. Why had the pain in my chest hurt so bad? Were the boy and the girl on the beach really my mother and father? What were the angel, the sea creatures, and the pegasus? Were they Digimon? What exactly are Digimon?

"Yo! Earth to Angel? Are you there?"

"Huh?" I looked around. I was back at the lunch table. My friends looked at me, concerned.

Lei waved her hand in front of my face. "You have been incredibly spacey lately!" she exclaimed. "Maybe you need to see the school shrink or something."

Kara smiled. "I don't think that," she said. "You're probably just under a lot of stress, with your mother being pregnant and all."

"Yeah!" Tina chorused. "I mean, you're getting a new brother or sister. That's stress all by itself!"

"Seriously, though, you are going to have to learn to deal with it," Brad joined in. "Babies are A LOT to take care of. Feeding them, answering to their endless demands, changing their stinky diapers..."

"Loving them," Flora interjected. "Brad, you don't even have a little brother or sister. How would you know all of this?"

"I have two little cousins," he said, gesturing to Kara and I, but keeping his gaze fixated on Flora.

Kara and I exchanged a glance. It was well known around school that Brad and Flora had huge crushes on each other. Too bad they were the only ones who didn't see it. They would make a great couple.

"Hello? We're eating!" Tina said, disgusted. Flora turned away and blushed, and Brad smiled a little.

"So, anyways," Chino said. "My dad has a concert on Saturday, and wanted to know if you guys could come."

"I don't know," said Lei hesitantly. "I've been to one of his concerts before, and, well...they can get pretty loud."

"Please?" Kara wheedled. "He's gonna perform his newest song, and it's really pretty!"

"I'll probably go," I said. "I have a soccer game that morning, but my dad said something about going. I bet my mom won't though."

"Can I get a ride with you?" Tony asked. "If it'll be okay with your dad?"

"I'm sure it will be fine," I replied absently.

Tony glanced at me out of the corner of his eye suspiciously as my thoughts wandered back to the dream. "You haven't eaten much of your lunch," he pointed out.

"I'm not hungry."

"In that case," Brad said. He scooted my tray over to the other side of the table and began scraping my food onto his tray.

Tina screwed up her face in disgust. "How can you eat that? Are you forgetting who made it? Motymiya Noodle Company! No offense, Marcus."

"None taken. Actually, they just supplied the dry noodles. The cafeteria ladies made it." Marcus looked at his and grew pale.

"That's what I meant." Brad cackled, and scooped a huge forkful into his mouth. He barely finished before the bell rang.

He patted his stomach. "I have my dad's appetite. And you obviously have your mother's, Angel."

"Hmmm?" I asked. I had spaced out again.

Brad raised his eyebrows. "I'm worried about you, kid," he said, concerned. "You hardly eat, you look like you slept half an hour last night, and you aren't paying as much attention to life as you used to."

"Please don't worry about me," I said. "It will only make things worse."

And with that, I hurried off to my next class.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TK typed furiously on his laptop. I have to have this article in by Saturday, or I'll miss the concert, he thought.

He stopped for a minute, and looked over at Kari, asleep on the bed. She was one for naps these days. He smiled softly at her. She breathed heavy once, then her eyes fluttered open.

"Good afternoon, sleepyhead," he said, grinning. Kari didn't seem to hear. She rolled off the bed and stumbled into the bathroom. After a few minutes, TK heard the toilet flush. She walked sleepily out of the bathroom and over to TK.

"Hey, you," she said, sitting in his lap. Kari yawned.

He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. It took a bit of effort to get them all the way around. He rubbed her belly, feeling the baby kick within.

"Have we been gaining a bit of weight?" he teased.

Kari slapped him playfully on the arm. "Shut up." She looked over at the computer. "What are you working on?"

"An article for the paper," he said. "It's about the terrorism in the States."

"How fun," she said sarcastically. Kari reached over and closed it. "I know something that could be much more fun than that."

"Really?" TK said, playing with the drawstring on her nightgown. "What did you have in mind?"

"I think you know exactly what I have in mind," she said, right before Frenching him hard on the mouth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the middle of algebra, I started to feel different. Not a good different, though. Bad different. Muy malo.

I felt dizzy. Woozy. And cold. It was freezing, and I had been wearing a sweater, too.

I should have eaten lunch today, I thought. It's probably just low blood sugar or something.

My head seemed to grow lighter and lighter. My hands began to shake, and sweat dripped from my forehead.

It's hard to explain what happened next. All I can say is that I was suddenly surrounded by water. Dark water. Evil water. An ocean. A force that wanted to take me away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony looked up from his homework. He couldn't explain it, but something kept distracting him. He looked over at Angel, to see if she was okay. He was shocked at what he saw.

Angel was flickering. Like an old, untuned TV set. What the heck?...

"Angel!" he cried, standing up. The teacher turned to him, annoyed. About everyone else in the class turned around also, confused.

Tony ignored them all. He was still concentrating on Angel, even though she had stopped flickering. The class looked over at her.

Angel turned to face him. The light in her eyes was gone. She looked tired. Her face was pale. She stood, only to feel her legs lock and crumple beneath her.

"Angel!" Lei screamed. Lei stood up quickly, and caught her before she fell.

"Angel, are you alright?" the teacher asked, concerned.

"I'm fine--I think," she said softly.

"Maybe you should go lie down in the nurse's office," she suggested. Angel nodded. "Lei, would you escort her, please?"

"Yes, ma'am," she said, looking at Tony suspiciously. He blushed, and sat down. Lei helped Angel out of the classroom.

Tony felt mixed up inside. He was afraid for his best friend; he didn't want anything to happen to her. But, he also felt something inside he hadn't felt before. Tony and Angel had always been best friends, but lately he had found himself wishing they were more.

Tony was developing a crush; he understood that. But he didn't dare tell her, for fear of rejection. Especially rejection by his best friend. If he lost her, who would be left? Nobody, that's who. It was all too painful.

No. He would tell her. He will tell her. When the time is right, she will understand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laying down didn't make me feel any better. I was still dizzy and woozy. My stomach didn't hurt, at least.

The nurse came in to check on me. "Honey, listen, I called your parents and got their answering machine, so I tried your uncles, but they can't come get you since your cousins ride the bus, and I don't want to out you on that filthy thing. I'm gonna let Tony take you home today, alright? You can crash there and get some rest if you need to."

Her words meant little to me. Last period...school was almost over...I could go HOME.

The nurse left the room, and suddenly, I felt the urge to go outside. I sat up, and suddenly I didn't feel so bad anymore. I grabbed my backpack and snuck out of the office. I went outside and sat on a bench to wait for Tony.

Suddenly, my head began to hurt again. Oh please, someone...come help me...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony rushed out of class as soon as the bell rang. He went straight to the office.

"Excuse me, nurse, may I see Angel?"

The nurse looked rather frantic. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but Angel isn't here. I don't know where she went."

Tony's heart beat faster. He had to find her.

He rushed out of the office to search. He looked basically everywhere--the basement, the science room, the soccer field, even the girls' bathroom. That was a mistake.

Tony ran outside to the parking lot. She could be in trouble! She could be in danger! She could be...

Huh?

Right there.

He breathed a sigh of relief. She was alright. He rushed over to her.

Angel had her head in her hands. She kept repeating something over and over again. "Otoutousan...otoutousan..."

Younger brother? What the heck? "Angel, are you alright?"

"Otoutousan...otoutousan..."

"Angel!" he yelled. He grabbed her hands away from her face. "Snap out of it!"

She looked up at him, her eyes blank. Then they suddenly grew softer, and she whispered, "Tony."

"It's me," he whispered back. She looked away.

"Angel," Tony said desperately, "please tell me what's wrong!"

"You wouldn't understand."

"How can you say that? I've known you since we were five! Are you getting sick?"

She shook her head no. "It's not an illness...something is..."

"What? Something is what? Is there someone who is trying to hurt you?" He grew panicky.

"No, silly. It's something else. Something...at the beach." Angel was getting paler by the minute.

"The beach?"

"Yeah. Something keeps trying to take me away. To the beach. I don't know if I can resist anymore."

"You've got to!" Tony yelled. "I'll protect you, no matter what the cost! Where are they, Angel? We'll fight them!"

"I can't. I'm sorry. I'm just not strong like you or Brad or Sam or Chino."

"So you're gonna give up? Just like that? Look, Angel, I care too much about you to let anyone take you without a fight!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whoa. Major deja vu. Freaky. I had this same experience in my dream, only it was two other people, and I was watching them.

I looked up at Tony. "I just got a major case of deja vu," I said, my eyes glittering.

He ran his hands through his hair, still looking at me worriedly. "Yeah, me too."

I looked down at my hands. They were shaking again.

"Come on," Tony said, offering a hand. "I'll walk you home."

I took his hand, and stood up. Tony grabbed my backpack, and we began our walk.

We walked in silence for awhile. After about fifteen minutes, Tony stifled a yawn.

I smiled. "Tired?" He nodded.

We were silent again. I had a question for him, and I knew there was only one way to ask it. The blunt, sutpid way I always do. So, once again, my mouth got ahead of my brain.

"Hey, Tony? Remember earlier when you said you really cared for me? What did you mean by that?"

"Oh, um, well, you know, just...stuff."

"Well, you know what? I care about you, too."

BABOOM! My head started spinning as the feeling of deja vu weighed heavily upon my shoulders. After a minute, it stopped. I turned back to Tony and smiled a little, and he blushed.

The rest of the walk was silent, but satisfying. He walked me to my door.

I turned the knob. It was locked. I dug into my pockets, looking for my key.

"If your parents aren't home, you can come over to my place," he offered.

"Okay." By then, I had the door opened, and walked inside. Tony waited outside the door.

I knew better than to call my parents' names. If one of them wasn't home during the day, them something was definately going on.

I pressed my ear to the bedroom door. Animal noises. I had been right.

I walked back to Tony, closed the door and locked it. His eyes asked a silent question, and I answered by rolling mine.

"Ah."

We walked into his apartment. His parents weren't home, as usual. They were hardly ever home. In fact, I don't remember ever meeting them at all. As far as I know, they have never been to Parent's night, high school orientation, or any of those stupid plays we did when we were little kids.

Tony's life has always been a mystery to everyone. Well, somewhat. No one has seen his parents, or really what his standard of living is. He has a nice apartment and all, but what his family is like...well, we don't know what his family is like. Does he have any brothers or sisters? Are his parents married or divorced? Is he illegitimate? Who does he live with? A parent or guardian?

Tony set my backpack down by the door, and I yawned. "You can lay down on the couch if you want," he offered. "Get some rest. I'll go get you a blanket."

His offer was mighty tempting. "Thanks." I laid down on the couch, feeling my eyes drooping already. He brought me a blanket, and I fell asleep almost immediately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in the Digital World, things were getting chaotic. Black spires that had been destroyed years before were suddenly rising again. Digimon ran to take cover, darting this way and that, dodging this way and that, trying to avoid the dark rings that were comng at them.

The twelve Chosen Digimon sat together in a cave, huddled close to one another. They were scared, angry, and confused. What was making this happen?

Gatomon shivered, huddling close to Gabumon to stay warm. "Oh, Kari, where are you when I need you?" she whispered softly. Her tail flicked back and forth, agitated.

"Don't worry, Gatomon," Patamon said, flying over everyone's heads. "TK and the others are pretty reliable. I don't think they would bail on us when we need them the most."

"But that's just it, Patamon!" Gatomon wailed. "They don't even know we're in trouble!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miraculously enough, I woke up in my own bed. I was confused, dazed, hypnotized...whatever. I got out of bed and walked into the living room.

Mom and Dad were there, waiting for me anxiously on the couch. Mom had her hands folded in her lap--well, what was left of her lap, anyways. They stood when I entered the room.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" Mom asked, worried. "We got a message from your teacher that you nearly fainted during class today. Tony brought you home about an hour ago. Are you alright?"

I looked at my watch. It was nearly midnight! How long had I been asleep, exactly?

"I think so," I said slowly. "I mean, it was weird. I was, like, at the beach. But it was really dark. Not, like, midnight dark or anything, but...evil dark. And there were this boy and girl there..."

Mom paled. Dad raised a suspicious eyebrow. They obviously knew someting I didn't.

"Do you have any idea what it meant?" I asked innocently.

Mom shook her head vigourously. Dad cleared his throat. "It's late. You should go to bed."

I nodded, and headed off to my room. One way or another, I was going to find out what was going on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do you think she knows?" Kari asked, frantically.

"I don't know. I don't think I know anything anymore," TK said, his head in his hands.

"She can't find out about Gatomon or Patamon or the others," Kari said. "We agreed on that when she was a baby. It's best if she never knows."

"What if she does, Kari?" TK said, standing up. "She's curious. She knows we know something. Angel's the kind of girl that won't give up something until she's got it. She's as stubborn as you. You know that."

Kari's eyes welled up with tears. "I just don't want her to go through the same things I went through! What if Angel falls into the darkness? There will be no one there to catch her if she falls! No one there to watch her back! The DigiDestined's jobs ended nearly twenty-five years ago! We can't go back into the Digital World! At least, not the way we are now!" She began to cry.

TK wrapped his arms around her, knowing that this just wasn't another one of her hormonal fits. This was real. He knew this, mainly because he wanted to cry himself.

"I hate this," Kari said, sobbing into his chest. "I hate that she doesn't know. I hate that one day, we might wake up and find that she's been beamed up just like I was, but this time, there won't be anyone to break her fall."

He stroked her hair. "I'm going to call Izzy, maybe find out what's going on," he whispered. "You go on back to bed. I'll be there in a little while."

"I don't want to go to bed without you," she whispered.

TK was growing impatient, but the way he acted, you would't be able to tell. "Alright, I'll stay in there until you fall asleep." He walked her into the bedroom, unaware that Angel was no more than twenty feet behind them, hiding in a doorway, recording every word they said on her hand-hald tape recorder.

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Uh-oh! Angel's been a bad girl! And she's getting closer and closer to the truth about her parents. What will happen next? You'll have to wait and see!

Any questions, comments, criticism welcome! Mail to: jazzgirl1488@yahoo.com.