I know, I know…This is a little faster-paced then my other one. The last chapter was just to get it out. This time I've got a bit of a problem with how to piece all my ideas together…but I got that on the other fic too, and it turned out great! So…just wait, okay?

The answer to the question: In the Manga, Rini calls Bunny's parents Ikku-mama and Kenji-papa, the names Naoko Takeuchi calls her folks. I had no idea about Haruka-papa or Michiru-mama ('course, I've never read the whole thing, it's hard to find stuff out here). And I'm working on why Hikaru doesn't disappear…you just have to be patient about it.

Believe it or not, I didn't work quite so long on this one as usual. After an e-mail from Salamon2, I got to work on the next chapter of another story called The Grass Is Greener. Go read it, it's kinda cool, and has T.K. and Kari as Digimon…

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, I never have and I probably never will. Shucks.

The Future's Course

Chapter 3: England

But for the first three days, nothing seamed to happen. Nothing unusual, that is. T.K. had been notified and rightly shocked, e-mailed daily, as promised, but nothing had happened to him either. Not a Digimon to be seen, save their partners. As for Hikaru and school…after several almost disastrous ideas (the back of the auditorium, in the computer lab with the Digimon, and sitting outside on the bench…) They finally decided to leave him hidden in the park across the street, as long as the Digimon stayed with him.

Kari gazed down at the blonde-haired boy in the sleeping bag beside her bed. Hikaru was a relatively light sleeper. It was curious, at least to her, the way he'd reacted. Carie had clung to her immediately, latching on and diving straight into her heart. Hikaru, on the other hand, was either more of a daddy's boy, or he just didn't really believe that she was his mother, but he wasn't as close to her as Carie had been.

Strange… Kari wondered to herself. In some ways…He's a bit like Carie. But in others, he's completely different…

She stroked his hair a moment, giggling to herself. He's Carie's little brother!…That makes him my second child with T.K……My second…Baby…

With one last, contented sigh, she dropped off into a deep sleep.

In the dark of her sleep, she had a dream she'd been having often these past two years. A young man…T.K., older, but not the T.K. they'd seen in the future. He was only about a year or so older. They were sitting together on a soft couch, as usual, while a little girl sat in Kari's lap, laughing at everything. Six-year-old Carie, the way Kari remembered her. Something new, different than her dreams had been before. A little baby, nestled in T.K.'s arms, with blue eyes and a small tuff of blonde hair. Hikaru.

Kari always loved these dreams, because she knew they would come true. She'd be there, someday, with T.K. as her loving husband, Carie as her sweet daughter, and now Hikaru, as a darling baby boy.

But it all suddenly stopped. With a gust of wind, the little boy was gone from T.K.'s arms, and a loud crying filled the air. "T.K…" Kari gasped. "W-What's happening?!"

T.K. opened his mouth to answer her, but as he did he just sort've melted away, like a wax figure under intense heat. "T.K.!" Kari screamed as his flesh melted and bones crumbled. "Takeru!"

He vanished before her eyes. Kari was shocked. This wasn't supposed to happen! Not at all! This wasn't a dream, this was a nightmare!

With a forceful tug, the little girl in her arms was pulled away by a strange force, hidden in the darkness. "Momma!" she screamed, kicking against her captor. "Momma!"

"Carie!" Kari shouted, raising from the couch and trying to grasp her hand. "Carie, hold on! Carie!"

She stumbled forward and dropped to her hands and knees on the ground. Carie was gone. The couch was gone. There was sparse grass under her. A large slab of stone, covered with ivy, was in front of her. A tombstone.

For some reason, she wanted to see what it said. Something drove her to push away the ivy and read the name of who was buried there…

"Takeru…Takaishai?!" she read in horror. And the dates ended just in this year, her children, her family, her happy life with him gone without ever have started. "No…No!" she cried out horribly, clutching her head, "Oh god, no! This is a nightmare!"

Kari burst awake, drenched in a cold sweat. She gazed around the darkened room a moment before she realized, with relief, that it was just a dream.

Someone tugged at her hand. She looked down, into Hikaru's big blue eyes, serious and worried. "Bad dream, mom?" he asked.

"H-Hikaru…" Kari gasped. "I-I'm sorry…Did I wake you?"

Hikaru shook his head. "It's okay." he whispered. "You're worried about dad, aren't you?"

Kari's breath caught in her thought. "Am I that obvious?" she asked quietly. For a moment she forgot that she was talking to a child, but rather could see T.K.'s smile in those eyes of his.

Hikaru smiled, a rare thing for him. "You want me to stay here?" he asked, and settled down next to her. "I will, if you want."

Kari gave him a grateful smile, then put her head back on the pillow. They fell asleep together, Kari holding her son close.

~ * ~ * ~

T.K. walked back towards his apartment after school. It was odd to him, and his mind was busy as he crossed through the English streets, trying not to get hit. He'd had an odd dream the night before…

Coming home, in his dream, he'd found Kari crying in his room back in Japan. When he tried to ask her what was wrong, she didn't answer. She just kept crying. Then T.K. realized there was a body in the bed…completely wrapped in a sheet with the face covered.

He touched her shoulder and asked again. "What happened?! Kari, what's going on?"

Without looking at him, she sobbed out. "It's T.K.! He's dead!"

It was all rather disturbing. Although T.K. knew it was only a dream, he remembered that American President Abraham Lincoln had an almost identical dream three days before his death. So it lingered in his mind, and he resolved to call Kari the minute he got home.

There was a giggling voice from behind him as he tried to cut down a back alley. He took a deep breath and turned to face the red-haired girl standing there. "Hiya, T.K." she giggled, "Sure you don't wanna go see a movie or somethin' with me?"

He took a deep breath. "For the last time, Sara." he sighed. "I've already got a girlfriend."

The girl tried to saddle up to him, tried to take his hand. "But she's so far away…"

T.K. pulled back. "I said no." he insisted. "Now I've gotta get home…"

He turned to go. Karen suddenly grabbed his shoulder. "I tried to be nice about it, T.K." she growled, and her voice suddenly became deep. "Now I shall have to call the mistress."

"What are you…" T.K. turned to face the girl, but she had gone. In her place was a being that looked as though made of black goo. It struck him in the gut with a hard punch, one that sent him flying into the wall.

As he groaned, trying to right himself, the black creature threw its head back and let out a high-pitched shriek. T.K. struggled to his feet, leaning against the wall for support.

A purple figure suddenly grasped him by the collar, just as he was getting his breath back, and hoisted him to his feet, releasing once he could stand. He suddenly met a pair of hauntingly enchanting pale blue eyes, so deep they practically drilled into his soul.

"My my." a female voice hissed, and it was as alluring as Aphrodite. "So the brave little lad refuses the simple offer separation brings you? Then I'm afraid I'll have to be a bit more forceful…"

She…the figure, that is…took out a highly jeweled and decorated box. She opened the hinged lid, and there was a flash of black light…

The boy's body dropped to the ground limply and lay still.

~ * ~ * ~

Kari was restless. She'd been calling T.K.'s number in England ever since she got home from school. It was an expensive call, she knew that, but she just had to talk to him. The time now about 9:00 PM, which would make it somewhere around…well, about 6 AM in England, if her calculations were correct. But T.K. had sworn he had his own line, and it didn't bother him a bit to get an early-morning/late-night call, as long as it was from her.

She finally tried one more time. A very tired voice came over on the third ring: "Hello?"

"Ms. Takaishai?!" Kari gasped. "Oh gosh…I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"No…No…" the woman sounded dizzy. "I haven't slept a wink all night…"

Kari started to get worried. Hikaru, who seamed to have some strange sort of sixth sense in these matters, looked up from his place on her bed and listened to her end of the conversation with interest.

"Ms. Takaishai…Nancy…" Kari corrected herself. "Is T.K. there at all?"

"I'm very sorry, Kari." Nancy whispered. "But T.K.'s been in a coma since last night."

Kari's whole body went numb and she nearly dropped the phone. "Kari? Somethin' wrong?" Tai asked.

"Mom?" Hikaru looked up at her.

"Kari?" Ms. Takaishai came back over. "Kari, honey, are you alright?"

"A…A coma?" Kari finally gasped. "What happened to him?"

Ms. Takaishai was very anxious and sleepy. "Someone found him like this in the middle of an alley…" she muttered. "They found his school ID at the hospital and called me. I was there all night, they made me leave an hour ago. No one has any idea what happened…"