Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon nor will I ever. *sigh* This story is mine, so please don't steal. Some of the characters I made up, like Lana. 

The Pangs of Guilt (part A)

Gennai's eyes traveled around the room taking in all the serious faces before him. To his right, he could see Tai and Izzy looking at him expectantly while Kari just had her head down with tears in her eyes. These poor kids…they didn't deserve that…I just don't know how I never could detect those Digispirits… He saw Sora shiver from fear as she looked at Joe and Tk. It saddened him how she turned her gaze away as soon as they tried to make eye contact with their friend. Gennai couldn't help but sigh at the scene before him. "Well I'm guessing that you all would like an explanation as to what's been happening. You see, before the Digiworld's portal closed, two Digispirits escaped from this world. They looked around till they found two hosts, which unfortunately happened to be Tk and Joe. These spirits anchor themselves into the brain and try to magnify the dark sides of their hosts, feeding off all their negative energy and making it grow. There was no way to detect these Digispirits till it was too late."

"So you brought us to the Digiworld?" Izzy asked.

"Yes. I wanted to bring all of you back to the Digiworld to get rid of these spirits. Sora, you might have noticed something with their eyes, right?"

All eyes turned to Sora, who found the floor to be very interesting. "Well," she began as she looked up at Gennai. "I remember that when I got to look deep in his eyes…" Her eyes closed as she painfully remembered. "Right before Tk's hands pressed down harder on my throat…I-I-I could see his eyes…they did look possessed…it was just plain scary," she finished saying in a whisper.

Tk put his head in his hands and closed his eyes. "What have I done?" he asked in a whisper.

Joe also joined him in the same position whispering back to Tk, "I wish we didn't do all those things."

"Would you two just stop it? It's not your fault," Gennai snapped. This caught everyone off-guard when he yelled like that, and as a result, he received quite a few shocked stares. Gennai cleared his throat. "There was no way you could have stopped your actions or words. The spirits were in your brains, controlling everything, right down to your feelings. Those Digispirits intensified all feelings of hatred, anger, pity, greed, envy, and jealousy, twisting them around. And when you found out what had happened to your parents, that was when the spirits began taking full control. You too had no idea what you were doing till I destroyed those spirits from your brains with the Digitech Laser. It was only when you woke up after those spirits were killed that you remembered what had happened. And now you all will stay in the Digiworld until everyone not only feels better, but everyone can trust each other again."

"But what about our parents?" asked Tai.

Gennai smiled. "I managed to take you back to the Digiworld and I will send you home. But no one will have any memory of what had happened."

"So we're returning like none of this ever happened?" asked Izzy.

"And everyone's alive?" asked Sora in a small voice.

"Yes. Now you each have your own rooms. There are clothes in the bureaus and closets in those guestrooms. I have food out on the table, so come on and eat." Gennai said before leaving the room.

One by one, each Digidestined filed out of the room slowly and sat down at the long oval oak table. Dinner went by with loud continuous bursts of painful silence as each ate little.

Joe felt as if his heart was being ripped and twisted from his body as he stared around at his friends. It hurt him to see how afraid everyone was of him and what was worst was that vivid images of what he had done flashed through his mind and cut into his appetite. He caught Tk's eyes and saw his own feelings being reflected in his younger friend's eyes. "Please excuse me from the table Gennai," he said softly as he rose from the table, pushing in his chair.

Gennai looked at the holder of reliability with unsettling eyes as he nodded. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Tk push his plate away and sigh.

Joe left the table and exited his room to head up the stairs. He slowly entered his room and took out a pair of pajamas from a drawer. He wordlessly stared at himself in the mirror as his mind mentally scolded him. You're worthless Joe! So worthless you'd stoop to betraying your friends! Tears began to form in his eyes as he painfully tore his gaze away and began to undress.

"I'm so sorry…" he whispered aloud as his voice and salty tears intertwined in the silent air.

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Blood… The intense site of blood slowly dripped off the dead body swinging from the rope. He watched as it slowly made its way to the white flower petals lying on the ground. Soon, the white petals were stained red as he saw the eyes of the corpse open. He knew those eyes…the beautiful chocolate eyes seemed lifeless now… Tk's eyes widened as the pair of eyes stared back at him accusingly. No! This can't be…

Wide-eyed he stared at the pale face whose features were twisted in horror. No! No! No! "Kari…what have I done?" A cold feeling seemed to fester in the pit of his stomach as he looked down at himself holding a knife, dripping with blood. Shivers ran up his spine at the reality of what he had just done hit him. The knife fell to the floor with a clatter as he slowly backed away from the horrible site in the open closet.

Tk shook his head in disbelief and turned. He ran through the door in panic at the realization of what he had just done. At the same time, he came face to face with a wide-eyed Sora whose face was a deathly pale shade of fear. He reached his hand out to hers but watched as she slowly backed away from him. His eyes followed her stare and saw his hand he was offering was dripping with a crimson blood. "Sora…it's not what you think," he managed to choke out as he took a step towards her.

She took another step back, trembling slightly with fear. "Where's K-Kari? What did you do to her?"

Before Tk could reply, he saw Tai and Matt step behind Sora, each with a hand on her shoulders. He took a step back as he saw the anger in their eyes burning into his.

"Where's my sister you bastard!"

Tk took a step back as he saw Matt step forward. "How could you Tk? I thought you were my brother but I guess I was wrong. You deserve to be locked up from the world," he said with so much venom that it sent shivers up Tk's spine.

Just then, he nearly jumped away as he saw Izzy's vengeful eyes staring back into his. He gasped as he took a step back, eyeing the knife held in Izzy's hand. His blue eyes watched as blood dripped off of Izzy's body, staining the cold floor. A cold shiver ran up his spine as he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to be staring into the eyes of her…Kari… His horrified expression took in his blood stained friend that stared at him with a look of betrayal. "Tk…how could you? I trusted you…I thought we were best friends…inseparable…but you! You have betrayed me!"

Izzy walked beside Kari and added, "We sentence you to death!"

At that precise moment, Tk shot up with a dry mouth, sweating as he put his right hand over his heart. His breathing was heavy as his heart raced. Wide-eyed he looked around the dark room taking in his surroundings. It was a dream…just a dream…

He dropped back down on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling for a little while thinking about how real the dream had felt. It was hard to shake it out of his mind and every time he closed his eyes, glimpses of his dreams would come crashing back to him in vivid flashes. Frustrated, he threw his covers aside, swinging his feet over the bed, and silently making his way out of the room to get a drink of water from the kitchen.

He is about to enter the kitchen when he sees Kari with her head bent over and her hands resting on the countertop in the kitchen. A twinge of guilt hits him in the heart as he sees her. He walks over to her and puts his hand gently on her shoulder so as not to startle her but fails in doing so as she jumps and turns around, gasping in fear. She finds herself looking up into a pair of warm, pain-stricken blue eyes. She unconsciously takes a step back and feels the counter against her back as she turns her gaze away from him.

Tk looks at her hurt and says, "It's ok Kari, it's just me."

"I-I know," she whispers. She still couldn't help but feel betrayed although she knew it really wasn't him…

"Kari, I'm sorry…so sorry…" His voice trails off as he sees a tear roll down her cheek, leaving a salty path behind. He could feel his heart being ripped apart as he looked at her. "Please look at me…I'm not going to hurt you…I care for you too much." When she didn't look at him, he brought his hand up to her chin and raised it delicately till she was eye level with him. His other hand moved to wipe away a tear.

Kari felt as if her whole world had just been turned upside down as she felt a sensation of butterflies in her stomach flutter around. As she looked into his eyes she could see how different they seemed…it saddened her to no end to see the youthful innocence that so often shown in them were gone forever from his eyes. "T-Tk…" she whispered as she looked up at him with sad and confused eyes. Her voice seemed to disappear as she felt his fingers gently and delicately tracing her lips.

Tk noticed the look of bewilderment that graced her face and he continued to stare into her confused eyes. He began to speak, never once breaking eye contact. "Kari…"

Although she could feel her heart beating a million times a minute, she pulled away from. Regret and confusion sparkled in her eyes as she broke their intimate gaze. It was still painful being around him, even though she knew he was back to himself. Yet…she didn't know what to make of her feelings right now…they were all in one big giant mess in her mind and it was hard to think straight. "I-I-I'm s-sorry…it's late," she choked out as she turned away from him. She could feel his eyes watching her retreating form and she paused a moment to look back at him. What she saw, pulled at her heart but somehow she managed to say, "Goodnight".

Tk sank to the floor on his knees once Kari was gone from his sight. His head hung low as he squeezed his eyes shut. Dammit…I wish none of this had ever happened… The familiar wave of guilt rushed over him as his hand flew to his heart. His breathing was coming in gasps, but he fought to control them at a regular pace as he slowly got up, making his way up the stairs.

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Well there it is folks. Another chapter of Be My Valentine. I apologize for making you all wait so long for this to come out but with working and classes at college, I've been busy and then I had a month off before my second semester started. That's right, I'm starting January 22nd! With work and my friends being home from college, I was hardly ever home and was too busy to type.

But (sigh) alas, most of them had to go back to college and I won't be seeing them till Spring Break. So, I've now got time to write until classes for the next semester start for me. Then I guarantee I'll be super busy, so don't expect chapters for all my stories to come out sometime soon. Never fear though, I will try my hardest to find time to write!

Well anyway, I'll quit my babbling and apologize for how short this is. Sorry about that folks but I didn't think it was fair to keep you all waiting for too long. Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. Please review!