Are we the same?

Mean Tokomon

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. I swear, if I did, it would be an anime/soap-opera.

A/N: This story is from Takeru's POV. He is 14 and the rest of the guys are a little older too. Since T.K. was 11 and now 14, do the math! Oh.he's not in Japan anymore, neither is Matt.

***

"Hey, Matt, do you ever want to go back home?"-I asked my brother. "Well.I'm happy here. I made more money than I did in Japan, that's for sure." "I just had this dream last night." "In which what happened?"-he asked me. "Uhh. Well, we were in Japan. I know I saw Kari, I haven't seen her the last three years. But we still e-mail each other and send photos and stuff." "Isn't Davis her boyfriend?"-he asked moving to the kitchen. "Yeah.took him long enough to ask her out. Well, she accepted right away." "So what happened in your dream?" "She was.drinking coffee." "Drinking coffee? Kari? Isn't she allergic to coffee?" "It was a dream, Yamato!"-I yelled. "Right." "And.I couldn't move. She just kept drinking her coffee." "Weird. I had a dream just like that once. Turns out the girl who was drinking coffee was raped and murdered the next morning." "Matt.?" "I'm just kidding." "MATT!!!"-I jumped on him.

We've been living in Spain the last three years. Right now, I live in an apartment with my brother, Matt. I, always copying my brother, have a rock band, were not very high on the charts, but the girls like us as much as they liked Matt when he was in "Teenage Wolves". My band is called "Esperanza en la Oscuridad" which is just Spanish for "Hope in the Darkness". Living in Spain surely changed everything for me. Even know, instead of speaking in English or Japanese I had to talk Spanish. My tone of voice and my accent has obviously changed.

As for the rest of the digidestined, Mimi lives now in England with her family, as she soon will start a studying to become a photographer. Joe, as opposed as before, decided not to be a doctor, but a teacher, he said he would get more benefits if he'd ever go crazy.

Kari, along with Davis, Cody, Ken, Izzy, Sora and Tai lived in Japan. Davis decided to ask Kari out and now they are inseparable (according to Tai's last e-mail in which he said he's going nuts) and from what I see, they'll wait to get married. It is said of Cody that he's studying so much, he hardly has any time for digital world, outside activities and that he eats in front of his computer! There's a rumor that Ken will be moving to Italy; good thing too, because, I can ask Matt to visit him. Sora, Izzy and Tai live together, but they're staying with a few of their college classmates as well.

Yolei is in New York, working on a project for various things. I think that from her last e-mail she said she will use the government's help. I wish her luck with that; USA doesn't have a good line when it comes to their president's behavior.

As for my brother, Matt, he works at a bar late in the nights as either a bar-tender or a musician. He's back again with his harmonica, but he never leaves his guitar behind, of course.

"So.I know you have been hanging a lot with the computer lately. Is Kari e- mailing a lot again?"-Matt asked. "I wished. The inbox is pretty empty these days. I just feel something's wrong. Ken's usually the one who e-mails me everyday and he hasn't e-mailed in a week, now." "Why don't you try calling? It surely beats staying there to ponder what's wrong."

I move to where the phone was and picked it up. I'm not sure what to expect, it's been a long time since I talked to everyone. I can hardly remember their voices. They won't recognize mine much. But I'm really worried because of Kari. So I dial to the Kamiya's house.

"This is the Kamiya family; Tai speaking. Who is it, and.HEY!!! I'm on the phone here!"-Tai said after the phone rang a few seconds. "Hi, Tai! It's me, Takeru!"-I was already adjusting to my real name since everyone thought 'T.K.' was too kiddy for me. "Shut up! .Uhh.T.K.?!"-I heard Tai scream. "Yeah, it's me. Everything okay there?"-I asked. "Yeah.well, not really. I think Kari should tell you what's happening."

I heard Kari's voice when she said 'Is it really him?' I have longed to hear her voice the first months I left Japan. This was the second time I'd call to Japan. And Kari's voice.was amazing. It was hypnotizing to the very end.

"Hi, Takeru."-she sighed. "Hi, Kari. You seem a little down, is something wrong?" "Everyone's trying to cheer me up. Yolei came from New York and Mimi from London. All I really want is your company, though." "I don't understand.what's wrong?" "."-I could hear her sniff and sigh. "Kari! Tell me! What's happening?" "Hey, man. Hurry up, the phone bill doesn't pay itself you know."-Matt shook his head. "They've detected a tumor...on the top of my brain." "I." "Please, T.K. Come back to Japan, I beg you. I don't want anyone else but you."-the connection was cut.

I looked at Matt. Crying, I told him everything. He said he'd been saving for an emergency and that he thought this was it. I just hope that I can stay long enough with Kari. I don't wish to loose her, and less like this!

Three days after, we managed to fly back to Japan. I only thought about Kari. I couldn't eat, I hardly slept and my fear of not being there on time grew. Although Matt said that I didn't have to worry, because she had that tumor just detected, it'll take a lot of time to grow.

In Japan, I hurried to get to the Kamiya's house (they lived in the same house). I wanted Kari to smile, I wanted to smile myself. All I could hear was a voice telling me 'Light without hope is darkness'. I wanted to be her hope; I wanted to there for her thru thick and thin.

"Takeru."-I saw her as I walked in to the Kamiya residence. "Kari."-my eyes filled up with tears.

We both knew what each other was thinking, it was the same: "This is goodbye." I didn't want it to end like this. Why wasn't I there for her when she needed me? How could I be so clumsy? I could've stayed with mom. Why did I follow my brother? I hugged her tight and told her everything was going to be okay.

"Angels never die, Kari." "You really think so?" "I don't think so, I know so." "T.K. This is all I ever wanted,"-she hugged me.

She wasn't a girl anymore, I had to understand that. She won't smile as much now that she knows she's going to die before all of us. But I still wanted to believe she would; I know the dream will break my heart when she parts, but I want to believe I can feel, hear and see her anywhere.

She explained to me the reason why she has a tumor. She said she had it since se was born and that the doctors never did anything in order to save her. She never noticed, but her headaches grew worse and worse by the years and that's why she was always so weak. I asked her why she never told us before, but she said her parents told her when she was 12.

"I'm gonna die in year or less."-she cried. "No. You're not gonna die. You will be with me always. I'll keep you where I can.in a song, in a poem. or wherever!" "Do you really care that Davis is my boyfriend? .Or.maybe." "Are we the same?"- I looked at her, "We're not. We're different now. I don't care if Davis is or isn't your boyfriend. You know you're the only one who makes me feel like me. I love you, Kari." "I love you too."

The years passed and she overcame her limit and reached her eighteenth birthday. Already in February, I was ready to give her a Valentine's Day gift. It's something she wanted for a very long time and maybe, I wanted it myself.

"Hi, Kari. Feeling good today?" "What did you plan this year?" "Oh, nothing." "Come on, Takeru! Stop fooling around!"-she smiled at me, lying in her bed; most of her hair was gone.

I kissed her. She was stunned and smiled blushing. She shook her head; she still couldn't believe I kissed her. I grab her hand and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I kissed her once more. This time, there was no reaction from her.

"Kari.?"-I touched her pale skin, "Kari? Are you alright?"

And that's how she died.With me, on a Valentine's Day, kissing her and loving her with all I am. I felt it was right for her that if she died, she'd die this way. I loved her, and though she's not here with me, physically, she's in my heart. I'll never forget her, I'll love her forever. And until my day comes, to meet her once again, I'll still remember that question I asked her: "Are we the same?"