Alright…I'll start again. I really hope you guys are liking this, 'cause I've had so many re-writes my head hurts. And uh…Sorato in this chapter. Sorry, Taiora fans.

Someone said they were thinking of make some fan art to go with this. I'm perfectly fine with that…As long as you send it to me! I wanna see what you got!

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. But this story is mine. Okay?

Chapter 6

T.K. and Kari traveled together for another two days. It took them a while, about eight hours a day, stopping half an hour for food around noon, and camping out every night. Now finally, they were at the end of the woods.

"Look!" Kari called, pointing at yellow-white beams through the trees. "Light!"

"Finally…" T.K. sighed, unrolling the map Ken had given them. "This is where the path picks up. We follow this, and we'll be in Westwood in under a day!"

Thwpt-pang.

Kari stopped, perking her ears. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Thwpt-pang.

"That!" Kari pointed to the bushes on the side. "It's coming from over here."

T.K. listened a moment. It sounded like firing an arrow, while the pang was hitting its target. But Kari's bow was still firmly in its place. And she was right, it was coming from the bushes. "What in the…"

The two peeked through, just for a moment, and then both hit the ground. An arrow zipped barely an inch above their heads, embedding itself into a tree behind them. They blinked and started to get up.

A new figure stuck their head out of the trees it had come from, searching for their arrow. When he spotted the others, his eyes widened. "Holy…"

A moment later, he was helping Kari to her feet like a real gentleman. "I'm really sorry about that." he muttered sheepishly. "No one comes through here this time of year. I was just practicing…are you alright?"

"Fine…Fine…" Kari smiled, brushing herself off. "We're okay."

They took a moment to look each other over. This new man was older than T.K. or Kari, about the same age as Tai. His hair was golden blonde, just like T.K.'s, and his eyes were deep, deep, dark blue, like watering holes. He was dressed in a woodman's garb, browns and greens, with a quiver over his back and a sheaf at his side.

"Here you go." he muttered, helping T.K. to his feet. "Not hurt?"

"Nope." Kari smiled. "We're fine, really. Right?"

"Yeah…Fine…" T.K. muttered, not taking his eyes off the stranger.

The elder cocked his head. "Somethin' wrong?" he asked. "You look a little spaced."

T.K. shook his head, like trying to get water out of his ears. "I'm sorry…I don't mean to stare, but…" he took a closer look. "You look awfully familiar."

"I was…Just about to say the same thing about you!" the older one gasped.

Both of them took a very close look at each other as Kari stood by. After a moment, both sets of blue eyes widened suddenly.

"Yamato?!"

"Takeru?!"

Kari nearly fainted as the two brothers embraced for the first time in nine years. When they separated, they both were so busy exclaiming over each other to notice her much at all.

"Good Lord, T.K.!" Yamato exclaimed, measuring his brother against himself. "Look at you! You've gotten huge!"

"Look at me?" T.K. laughed, motioning to his huntsman's garb. "Look at you, Matt! What on earth are you dressed as?"

Matt laughed and gripped his brother again, then looked over at Kari with a smile. "And who is this lovely young companion?"

"This is Kari." T.K. made the introductions. "She's the sister of the village innkeeper."

Kari suddenly came to her senses and gave the customary curtsy. "P-Pleased to meet you." she whispered.

"The pleasure's all mine." Matt smiled warmly, giving his brother a joking sideways glance. T.K. grinned sheepishly and put his arm over Kari's shoulder.

Matt nodded, picking up Kari's bag and turning toward the road. "Come on. You could use a little rest."

~ * ~ * ~

Sora sighed as she hung the wash out on the line to dry. Movement from the path caught her eye. When she saw who it was, she dropped the wash onto the line and ran down the path to meet him joyously.

Matt accepted Sora's embrace graciously, and returned it with a small kiss. She glanced behind him and spotted two youngers, one she recognized.

"Takeru?" she gasped, moving to him. "Is it really you?"

T.K. shifted his weight. "Hello Sora." he muttered quietly.

Sora smiled and mussed the young man's hair. Then she turned to Kari. "You look familiar." she said. "Are you from the village?"

"Yes!" Kari gasped. "You're Sora Takanuchi, right? The miller's daughter that disappeared all those years ago?"

Sora nodded. Kari turned to T.K. in a bit of surprise. "You know her, Takeru?" she asked in a low whisper as Sora turned back to Matt.

T.K. grinned. "They'd been having this affair for a year before he left."

"That'd be the one." Matt laughed, putting his arm around Sora. "I can hear you, T.K. And its more than an affair now. This is my wife."

T.K. nearly fell over when he heard that. "Wife?!" he gasped, close to laughing. "Good word…Matt, I never thought…"

"Why else would he leave such a high place?" Sora laughed, kissing her husband's hand.

Matt nodded, gazing between his brother and the younger girl. After a moment of silence, he spoke. "Sora…Why don't you take Kari down to that nice little spring to freshen up? I'd like to speak with my brother a moment."

Sora nodded and lead Kari down to the river, to a special trove she used for bathing. It was in the darker side of the river, and a long weeping willow hung over it, with thick bows that hid anyone inside from view completely.

Matt, meanwhile, took his brother up to the hut on top of the grassy green hill. It was pleasant, with white stone walls and a yellow thatched hut, and a good stone chimney. Once inside, Matt brought out a bottle of some kind of bubbly fruit drink that focused your concentration rather than make you lose it.

"Here ya go." he said, holding the purple liquid out to his brother. "Take it."

T.K. took a sip. It was rather good, but not as tasty as the drink from Izumi's inn. Matt settled down across from him at the wooden table, sipping his own glass. For a moment there was silence, and the sounds of laughing and splashing floated over from the river.

"She's a good catch, T.K." Matt finally sighed. "Smart, pretty, and obviously talented."

"Who? Kari?" T.K. muttered setting down his glass. "Yeah…I guess so."

Matt sipped his glass, deep in thought. "Do you understand now?" he asked, leaning back. "Why I left?"

T.K. shrugged. "You met a beautiful woman. You fell in love. Dad died, and you ran off together. What's there left?"

"Plenty." Matt set his glass back down on the table, glaring seriously. T.K. looked up at his brother, wondering where this was going. "T.K.…When it's your turn, which one will you choose?"

T.K. thought about that a moment, then realized what he meant. The law said that he couldn't marry anyone but one of those princesses that hounded him all the time and tried to change him. Kari never did that, she was happy with who he was. But he was a prince…There was nothing he could do.

He finally sighed, letting his head drop a moment. "I don't know, Yamato…I just don't know…"

~ * ~ * ~

That evening, Kari and T.K. explained everything that had happened to the former prince and his wife. Matt promptly decided to go with the back to Westwood, and help bring Daricon down.

They set off the next morning and about two hours later, found themselves at the gate to the city. And it was not a pretty sight.

Kari had to keep from crying out when she saw her home. It was dirtier than usual, and the buildings had all fallen into disrepair. The streets were bare, not a person in site, and the air reeked of decay.

T.K. and Matt gazed around in horrified awe. "Good Lord…" the elder whispered. "This is…Inhumane…"

T.K. suddenly stopped. "The…The inn…" he gasped, pointing.

The dear old place was more crumpled and wrecked than the others. The windows were dark, and it looked like it hadn't been occupied in a good, long time.

Kari cupped her hands over her mouth and cried behind them. She swallowed and ran forward, knocking on the door.

"Tai?" she called. "Tai, are you there? It's me! It's Kari! Can you hear me?"

There was movement inside the windows. Kari could see the curtain inside pull back and a weary face gaze out. "Tai! Please open up! It's me! Tai, please!"

The face disappeared. A moment later, the door creaked open. Tai, looking about twenty years older than he was, stood in the doorway. "K-Kari?" he gasped.

"Tai!" Kari threw her arms around her brother, joyous to see him after days of worrying.

"Kari…It's really you…" was all he could say, returning the hug. "Oh, thank God…Kari, I thought you were dead!"

They separated as T.K. and his brother approached. "Tai…" Kari coughed. "You remember T.K., right?"

"Of course!" Tai shook T.K.'s hand, dropping about ten years from his weary face. "This is wonderful…Your advisor is here too!"

T.K. started. "Cody?" he asked in a breath.

"Yes…" Tai was a little disturbed. "Daricon kicked him out and would've had him killed, if he hadn't hidden here. He's in the bedroom on the second floor. It's the only one with a closed door."

T.K. didn't need to hear anymore. He ran up the stairs and pounded at the closed door. "Cody? Cody, are you in there? Cody!"

The door opened. The dark-haired young man stood there, massaging his temples. "T…Takeru?" he whispered in shock.

"Cody." T.K. sighed. "Thank goodness you're still in one piece!"

Cody's face flooded with happiness. "Master Takeru…Thank the Lord!" he exclaimed, embracing the prince joyously. "I thought for sure…"

"It's alright, my old friend." T.K. laughed. "It's alright."

Matt came up the stairs, smiling. "Well, if it isn't Cody Hida." he said. "It has been a while."

Cody's eyes widened. "M-Master Yamato?"

Matt just laughed. "Cody, I'm not a prince anymore, you don't have to act like it."

Tai turned to Kari. "Is he really…?"

"Yup." she grinned.

T.K., Matt and Cody came back down the stairs. "Now." T.K. said quietly. "We've got to start planning."

~ * ~ * ~

An hour later, the five men sat around the wooden table. Despite warnings of Daricon's Elite 'Black Guards', a group of soldiers loyal only to him, Kari had taken her chances to go to the town fountain for some water. The loyal guards had been locked up in the palace dungeons.

"Alright then." Tai sighed. "So our best plan is to sneak into the place, free the guards, and then take on Daricon."

"Right." Matt nodded. "It's getting in that's the problem. The only time we could sneak in is if we got the front centuries by surprise. Then we'd only have about half an hour before they realized we were in there."

Some frantic knock came at the door. Tai looked up, then answered the door. "Yes?"

"Mr. Kamiya!" two kids, one boy and one girl, stood on the doorstep. They were breathing hard and seamed kind of upset.

"Thomas? Anne?" Tai gasped. "What're you two doing here?"

"Who's that?" Cody asked.

"Two of the kids from in town." T.K. told them. "Kari tells them stories sometimes."

"What's up, kids?" Tai asked, bringing the children inside.

"It's Kari, Mr. Kamiya!" Anne gasped. "She's in trouble!"

That got the men's attention. "Trouble?" Matt gasped. "Where? What?"

Thomas patted his younger sister on the shoulder before turning to speak to the elders. "We were gonna get some water from the fountain…we saw Kari there. It's been so long since we've seen her, we thought we'd say hello…But the Black Guard came."

Tai's eyes widened. "No…" he whispered.

"One of their horsemen appeared outta nowhere!" Thomas continued. "We tried to warn 'er…but he got there first. He scooped her up and rode off!"

"Which way did he go?" Tai asked, leaning down so he was even with the kids.

"To the palace." Anne gasped. "He took 'er up der."

After a moment of silence, Matt nodded. "Alright kids…Go on home now." he soothed the youngsters. "Don't you worry 'bout Kari. She'll be fine."

The kids headed out the door and down the street. Tai shut the door and turned to the others. "He's got her…" T.K. whispered. "Daricon's taken Kari…"

Cody was deep in thought. "He must've heard you were back in town…And took her as a hostage against us…"

Tai sat down with a sigh. "What do we do now?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Matt asked, tapping his fingers on the table. "She's your sister. We've gotta go save her."

T.K. closed his eyes a moment, then stood. "Right!" he exclaimed. "No matter what it takes, we've gotta get her back!"