Chapter Three

Joe nibbled thoughtfully on the end of his already well-gnawed pencil as he thumbed through his school texts, his gangly arms folded on the table in front of him. He had seen that last reference before, or something just like it somewhere, he was certain. If only he could remember…

Philosophy. Ugh. But it seemed like that was the most reasonable place to look, and he'd avoided it long enough. The last of the questions definitely sounded as if it had that sort of twist to it.

There! he thought triumphantly, stabbing his finger down in the middle of the page as the words almost leapt off the page and into his face. 'A man may live a few weeks without food, a few days without water, a few minutes without air... but a man cannot live even one moment without hope.'

He knew that it hadn't been a reference to a medical term. If it had been something that was medically wrong with Kari, the doctors would have found it the first time that she had gone in. He sat back, and stared at the ceiling with deep contemplation as he walked himself through the riddle. "So Kari lost hope, and she can't go on living without T.K. there to give it to her?" he demanded of himself. It sounded far-fetched, but then, he'd accepted long ago that there were some things that his scientific mind just couldn't reason with.

Especially about Kari and T.K. There was something about the two of them that often transcended science, something that he wouldn't understand no matter how many times he turned it over in his mind. So right now the important thing was to get this information back to the others and then decide as a team where to proceed with it.

Joe stifled an enormous yawn. In the morning, he amended. Kari was with T.K. They'd be okay for one more night.

*****

In the digital world:

"What?"

Patamon nodded to his friend. "Don't ask me to explain it, but that's what happened. I saw it. She had already given herself up for dead. Gennai said he thinks that when that happened, she lost something important inside of her that binds the human body and spirit together. Like her life is just bleeding away from her without hope to anchor it in her body." He frowned. "Or something like that. This would be a lot easier if you'd come and talk to him yourself."

Angewoman didn't even dignify that suggestion with a response. "Any of us, or all of us, could have gotten killed dozens of times before that," she protested along her original line of thinking. "Any of us -- including her. Why didn't this all happen before then?"

"I don't know, but you didn't see her just after I saved them. I did. I had just become MagnaAngemon. I thought that my transformation would have astounded both of them, but she hardly even noticed. T.K. spent the entire flight to the ground staring at and congratulating me, but she never once took her eyes off of him. As if she'd just latched on to him in her last moments of life and stayed latched on even after the danger had ended."

"Then what she lost, what T.K. is giving her, and what… what she can't live without?"

"Hope. The spirit inside humans that won't let them just lay down and die when things are at their worst. In that moment when Kari and T.K. had the rope cut out from under them, and there was no one to save them, she lost hope. If I'm right, it was the only time in the entire journey that she was sure that she was going to die."

Angewoman sighed in frustration. "I'm still missing something here. I mean, I suppose that I can see what he's trying to tell us even if it does sound like complete nonsense. He's a human and understands more about them than I do. But Piedmon's long since dead. Why would Kari still not have a grip on her soul when the danger from him passed over two years ago?"

To that question, Patamon could do little but shrug.

*****

"T.K.?" Kari asked quietly, closing the sliding door to the balcony behind her as she stepped to his side. A gentle draft of wind, smelling of rain, ruffled the young boy's hair as he sat alone on the balcony to watch the strongest stars peek through the clouds.

He turned his head and studied her with weary blue eyes. He had known that she was coming. Whatever this sickness was, no matter how much it put him through, it was almost worth it. It was as if they were bonded in some way. Every heartbeat of hers that he felt in his own chest, he was there to push it along and to keep it from failing. He joined with every faltering breath and eased it into her lungs.

She sat down beside him and took his hand, pulling it into her lap. He smiled. This time there was no pain, no weakness. Only a simple physical bond between them that it seemed they would be allowed to share without her life hanging in the balance. She had been well that night, showing no signs of the illness. With the tips of her fingers she absently started to draw patterns on the back of his hand. "What are you thinking about?"

T.K. blushed, though he hoped the darkness hid it from her. Now, or before you came out? he thought. "Just… just thinking about Gennai's questions," he answered hesitantly, tripping over the words.

And then she smiled through the near darkness at him; a small, genuine smile that washed his weariness almost completely away. He couldn't lie to her. "That's not exactly true, is it?"

Sora was right. This is hard... what had she said? The hardest thing I've ever done to talk to her about it? That was true enough. He'd never felt so awkward or embarrassed in his entire life.

The boy turned his eyes back to the stars to try to make it easier. "Not exactly."

~But, Sora. Everyone says I'm too young to be in love with him.~

~Why?~

~Well... we're only eleven. Tai told me that he was at least thirteen before he even felt in love with a girl.~

~And why would that make it true for you? No one can tell you if you're in love, and anyone who tells you that you're not old enough is simply assigning an arbitrary age to it. Did Tai wake up on the morning of his thirteenth birthday and suddenly it was all right for him to be in love? You may not have noticed, Kari, but you and T.K. are much wiser and more mature than others your age.~

~Who said anything about T.K.?~

Sora had responded with a very knowing smile. ~You didn't have to.~

"T.K.?" Kari asked gently, taking his face in her hands and turning him to look at her. "Can I ask you something?"

The boy could feel his hair standing on end and noticed a lump forming in his throat as he turned. "Is... is it what I think it is?" he stammered nervously, drawing a hesitant nod in response. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but it wouldn't move. "Yes," he whispered in response, a word so quiet and hushed that she could not have heard if her face hadn't been so close to his on a night as silent as this one.

Without either of them saying anything further, their faces started inching closer together. Soon a tuft of his golden hair was tickling her forehead, something that sent delightful shivers down her back. Closer, and she could smell the cherry-flavored soda on his breath. The scent at the time was more delicious than she could have imagined, more wonderful than a bouquet of flowers.

T.K. could see his image reflected in her eyes. He looked as nervous as he felt. But again the crest under his shirt warmed, calming him and pressing him forward.

The back door suddenly slid open. "Hey. What are you two doing up this la--?"

The two sprang apart, both turning to look at Matt. T.K.'s older brother put his face in his hands. Things had just gotten much more difficult. "Guys, you two can't be doing this. Not now, please."

"Matt? Ah, we weren't…"

"T.K., stop. Listen. If she's going to be in your room -- in your bed all the time then this just isn't the right time for this."

Now T.K. was feeling a little upset, still not understanding. "Why not? You tell me, Matt!"

The older boy sighed. He looked at Kari. She had asked him earlier how much T.K. knew about what sometimes happened between young men and women in bed together, and it wasn't much. Matt had promised to tell him soon…

"Kari, I think that you'd better go lay down, if you're feeling okay. I need to talk with T.K. about a few things," he said.

The girl nodded and turned to go inside, pausing to look at T.K. one last time. Some of his innocence was about to be stripped away because of her, and she wanted to remember his face as it looked now to see if there was any palpable difference in the morning.

"All right, T.K..." sighed Matt as he closed the sliding window behind her.