"Enough!" Carbuncle yelled from the sidelines. "Would you kill your own
soldier? Besides, you know what he says is true, our numbers won't support
it. And I saw what that 'little one' did out there, he very well could
have killed himself, but didn't worry, as is the nature of this pair, so
perhaps they deserve more respect that you give them." Alexander turned
reluctantly and re-sheathed the sword. "As with you three, this is our
leader, show some respect yourselves."
"I, I'm sorry for my rudeness. My name is Daisuke Motomiya, I am Veemon's partner, and I had to come here to save him from what Odin did, and now from my future," Davis was being reluctantly polite.
"You apology is accepted. Now tell me what you talk of, this future?" Alexander said, thinking with reason now, and in a friendlier tone, he moved toward the throne, and sat down again.
"He has dreamt of his demise, I must know if it would be possible for that which affects us to be affecting him?"
"Very much so, perhaps the time has come for you to return to your dimension."
"There's more sir."
"And?"
"I wish to accompany him, I must go with."
"Really, you would abandon your own world for that of one human child?"
"I am not abandoning the cause, but as long as Bahamut is trapped there it is a beacon for the evil ones, and I must protect him."
"Then go you shall. You have proven your dedication to you're the boy, and it may be a better idea to have more than one of us there,"
"Thank you sir."
"Then go now, before I think again." Ifrit, Davis and Veemon made their way to the centre of the room, and stood in a makeshift triangle.
"Veemon, just concentrate on home, and we'll be there before you know it," Davis advised, as he knew Veemon would not know what to expect. Davis looked now to Ifrit, he nodded, and they closed their eyes. Carbuncle and Alexander watched as the fiery symbol appeared on the floor. Light outlined their bodies, and they vanished from view.
"If I may speak freely?" Carbuncle stared.
"Please," Alexander gestured her to continue.
"Why were you so harsh on him, he did just take out one of their lead reconnaissance operatives."
"I knew from the moment Ifrit arrived back here that he would not leave the boy, especially once you told him that they were linked. What I put forward was a test of dedication, I wanted to see that boy's raw personality, and of test Ifrit's will to protect him. I got the results I had hoped for, he will not let the boy perish, a good thing too, I feel the humans have more of a role to play in this than we had first hoped."
"What do you mean?"
"I sense a cover up at play, they take me for a fool. A cross dimensional journey just to dispose of Bahamut, no, there's more that that at play here, they were after something, and I can only hope my fears are not true. Ready the others, they must make the journey soon."
"Yes sir, they will be prepared."
*******Back in the digital world******
The group had dispersed, Ramuh sat on a large rock, Izzy interrogating him, with Tai and Sora right next to him. He had his arm around her, and the were seated comfortably. The rest of the group were resting near the water's edge. Kari and T.K. hand in hand, right near them was Catherine. She clutched Davis's flame jacket, worrying deeply about him, and when she would see him next. Matt and Mimi had their feet in the water, with Joe near by in his own thoughts. All the digimon were close by their partners, after the last attack everyone was on edge, and they felt the need to be ready, a small thread of fear in their minds after seeing what had happened to Veemon. In the back of everyone's minds was the nagging question - 'what if he doesn't make it?' - a thought they didn't want to consider, but they all wondered what lay ahead.
On a small out crop not too far from the lake area, in plane sight of everyone, the fiery symbol appeared. It scorched the ground, and crashing through it came Ifrit, Davis and Veemon. The group froze, looking over to the trio, perplexed by who the carrot-haired figure was. Catherine jumped to her feet, dropped the jacket and sprinted over to him. She practically jumped into Davis's arms, knocking him off balance, and almost right over. She burst into tears, squeezing onto him hard. He recovered from the onslaught, and place his arms around her, holding her tight,
"It's okay now, it's all okay," he whispered. Her tears kept coming, she pulled back a little looking deep into his chocolate eyes. She peered down to where Veemon stood, a smile erupted on her face, as on his,
"Hey," he greeted softly. She knelt down, and gave him the same hug treatment, then returned to her feet. She slowly pushed back the tears, but grabbed Davis back into a hug. Meanwhile the group merely watched on, knowing they needed their space.
"Come on, let's go say hello to everyone," Davis suggested. Catherine gasped for air, then nodded. They slowly approached the others, who were all standing in a line waiting for them. Davis had his arm around Catherine's waist, and held her tightly. His she could feel his bare chest's warmth radiating onto her body, comforted by the humanitarian feeling. Davis smiled as they neared the group, Tai, as the leader, advanced. He left Sora's side, squeezing her hand gently as he deprived it of his own, and walked toward the arrivals, his wings back, and his tail was doing it's now usual small swinging.
"Hey guys," Davis said bluntly.
"Hey, you all okay?" Tai asked.
"Yeah, we're just fine," Davis replied, his grin getting bigger.
"Good to hear," Tai responded. Now it was time to drop the leader role, and return to the best friend. "You did a brave thing Davis, I'm proud of you," he said patting him on the back.
"Thanks Tai," Davis replied, incredibly happy with the words of praise he had just received. "I think I'm gonna sit down, it's been a long day," Davis said, almost asking. He decided that the spot he was on would, and sat down, Catherine falling with him. The rest of the group moved near them and did the same.
"Hey Davis," Matt said, then tossed Davis's jacket to him, "Put some clothes on," he finished with a grin. Davis was more than happy to oblige, he was getting pretty cold, as daytime was coming to an end.
"Um, can I just ask, who is this guy?" Kari asked apprehensively.
"Yeah, did he just follow you home?" T.K. added.
"Excuse my rudeness, I am Ifrit. I must apologise for my actions before, I was. wrong," Ifrit replied, reluctantly admitting his mistake.
"Well, you did the right thing in the end," Tai said, a forgiving look in his eye.
"How are you my friend?" Ramuh said warmly.
"It's been an. interesting day," he replied smiling.
"That it has, have you been told of your relation with the boy?"
"Yes, Carbuncle filled me in."
"Good, then I assume you understand why I pushed you so hard?"
"Yeah, I know." All but Davis and Veemon were incredible confused, they had no idea what was being spoken about.
"Um, yeah, what?" Tai asked abruptly.
"I think what my 'well spoken' friend means to say is, what relation?" Izzy corrected.
"Oh, I'll field this I suppose," Davis offered.
"Go ahead, they're your friends," Ifrit replied.
"Well, it's kinda weird, but kinda nice I guess. Carbuncle said that just like the digital world and our world are linked, so are the realm or dimension of legends. So basically, Veemon is my relation here, created from my data and born here in the digital world. We're kinda one in the same, while being separate. So it would be the same for Ifrit and I, but not as closely, because he wasn't created from me, but we share the same thread of existence kind of thing." Davis was battling, and the group were very stunned, and confused. "I don't think I'm explaining this very well," Davis said in semi-frustration.
"On the contrary, you're doing fine," Ramuh commented.
"Well I think maybe you should continue," Davis suggested.
"As you wish." Ifrit felt very out of place, and stood stationary behind Davis, seeing this Tai thought he should do something,
"You can sit you know," he offered.
"It is not my place, I would be. in the way."
"No you won't," Davis replied. he spun round and grabbed the spectre's arm, and yanked him down to the ground. Ifrit sat, with an indignant look on his face.
"Now that we're settled. What Davis has said is quite correct, you share the same thread of existence, you are linked by it, but not physically, only metaphysically. That is why Tai has survived with Bahamut in him for so long, and why he can continue to do so, they are almost of the same soul. Let me simplify it here. Picture one big stone, this stone represents, a big soul. Now picture this being split up into many pieces of even size. You see, one of those would be Davis's, and another would be Ifrit's. We can take this further and say that if Davis's split like a cell does, duplicating itself, we would get Veemon's. This is how the relation works, and why you humans are more strongly linked to your digimon than to the spectre." The group was still stunned, no one was ready for this.
"So, so, does that mean we all have a spectre relation?" Izzy stuttered.
"Perhaps, I mean, it is likely, but I am not sure, I only knew of Tai's relation to Bahamut, and when Davis was to make the journey, I had to look inside him to find his relation to Ifrit."
"You looked inside him?" T.K. asked nervously.
"Yeah, you looked in me?" Davis asked.
"It's not nearly as intrusive as it sounds, I looked at your actions and you feelings, one's soul is not hard to read, it is evident in everything they do, like an aura."
"Okay, good. I don't like the thought that you can just peer inside our minds," T.K. replied relieved.
"Oh but we can," Ifrit said menacingly. The group look afraid now, all but Davis and Veemon not picking up on Ifrit's raw humour, they said nothing. Ramuh frowned at him, he was just smirking.
"Guys, he's kidding," Davis said trying to mask his laughter.
"Uh huh," Tai replied.
"Ease up guys, it's really not that weird," Davis said a little frustrated.
"If you say so," Joe replied.
"Come on, I'm not worried about this, why should you be? It's comforting to know that you're not alone. Ifrit helped me more than once to save Veemon, he's like having another digimon almost."
"Yeah, we're partners in crime," Veemon said nudging Ifrit.
"That we are, the three of us," Ifrit added. They'd almost formed a clique, and Catherine felt a little left out, and as such she was very unreceptive of the good mood that the three were giving off. She shifted away a little, and he looked over to her,
"Is everything okay?" he asked.
"No, I'm fine, you're enjoy your friends," she replied coldly.
"Hey, come on now, please don't be like that. I'm still here for you, and I still care about you, nothing's changed." Catherine's expression lightened up, and she looked hopefully into his chocolate orbs.
"You really mean that?" She replied, now more hopeful.
"Of course," he said pulling her close to him, "I'll never stop caring about you, I promise." She gleamed her smile at him, grabbing hold of his hand. He looked into her eyes now, the cobalt glow in them was peaceful, calming, she seemed eased. He could feel her taking hold of the edges of his fingers, pulling them out flat. She placed her left pinkie around his right, and tensed it, he did the same.
"Promise?" she said softly.
"Promise." He replied. She let go of his hand and grabbed him, practically glomping them both, but he didn't mind. He rubbed her back reassuringly, then whispered, "Now how about we fix up all these problems, and go home?"
"Sure." They broke off the hug. The rest of the group had not been idly watching, but as the opportunity had arisen, they we looking at their respective lovers, knowing that they too had felt the same as Davis and Catherine were now, and knew how it would turn out for them. "Sorry for the trouble everyone," Catherine announced sheepishly.
"No trouble at all," Tai replied, "As long as everything's okay now."
"Sure is," Davis took the liberty of replying, his usual energetic tone adorned his voice.
"If I may suggest this, we really do need to pose the question, what next?" Izzy said finding the logic in a situation as he always did.
"Well, that's just it, we don't know, I have not been informed about what we are to do next," Ramuh replied.
"And our situation meant that we had to leave before I could ask what we were to do upon our return," Ifrit added.
"Wait, what situation?" Tai asked
"Don't worry, I'll tell you about it later, what we need to worry about now is what we have to do now," Davis said affirmatively.
"Well said, but how do we find that out?" Joe posed the question that they all didn't want to face, they were back to how it was before, not knowing what to do. And this time there was no fall back plan to make them feel better, there was no gate to go to, there was only long hard thinking, and dealing with the fact that, at least for a while, they would be flying blind.
"We need to think about this logically, what are our options?" T.K. suggested an avenue of thought.
"Well, there are two main things at hand. Of concern to you, is Tai - his condition, and how to resolve it. Of concern to Ifrit and myself, is what exactly we are to do about the evil spectres," Ramuh replied entering his 'thinking mode'.
"I'm not sure if those two are completely separate, If we heal Tai, we can solve you problem. You could also reverse it, if we solve your problem then Tai will be healed," Izzy posed the logic in the situation.
"That's true," Tai started, "but I think that the second is the most logical. One because I'm not in any physical danger here anymore, I don't exactly need 'healing' as such, and two because we are gonna need to know what exactly was done to us to reverse it," Tai stated.
"Well, couldn't you friend who saved Veemon analyse him? Could they not find out what happened to him?" Kari asked.
"I'm afraid not, Tai has no avenue to get there. You see, Davis could hitchhike on Ifrit's thoughts, Ifrit was physically strong enough for him to support his own transferral, and half of Davis's. But with Tai, Bahamut is inside of Tai, and is weakened, so it would seem easier, but he just would not be able to carry him there. Even so, I'm not sure if Carbuncle would be able to find it, these are new magics, not heard of before, it was never thought that it could be done, especially then transferred into a human. I'm afraid to reverse this we're gonna need Hades right here."
"Okay, well there goes that plan." T.K. replied.
"Yeah, but don't worry, we are brainstorming after all, we'll figure it out!" Davis said brightly, trying to lift the mood.
"Well, how do we get Hades?" Agumon asked, adding a digimon perspective to the conversation.
"Well, short of a mass exodus to the our dimension, we can't do much. Even if we tried that, we'd need the spectres here, and it's still be very risky, seeing as it would definitely start a massive battle. And then there's the fact that Tai cannot go with us, so we'd have to bring him back here, and that's just not possible, there's not way we could force him to come, due to the nature of the journey," Ifrit said, inadvertently crushing the plan they had just semi formulated.
"Well this is great, there doesn't seem to be much we can do now does there!" Mimi said in a huff.
"Mimi." Matt said consolingly, taking her hand and turning to face her, "It'll be alright. Sora was also looking down, but she tried not to let the depression get to her.
"Come on guys, if we cant go to him, how about we make him come to us!" Davis said enthusiastically.
"What do you mean, set a trap?" Ramuh asked.
"Yup, we lure him our here, and ambush him, there are two of you and only one of him."
"That's true, but he would most likely not be alone, they know just as we do that he is the key to both Bahamut and Tai's fate right now. And we would need something to bait the trap with," Ifrit replied.
"Okay, so you go back and get help, bring some of your allies back here or something, then we can all think of something to bait the trap."
"Me," Tai said softly. They all turned to face him, wondering exactly what tangent he was on.
"What are you talking about?" Sora asked, worried that perhaps he was feeling ill or something.
"Simple, the bait is me. They know you're trying to save Bahamut, and would probably want to take me out like they had planned to even more now, so lets give them the chance, and stop them in their tracks," Tai replied.
"No Tai, uh uh, I won't let you!" Sora protested, shaking her copper head furiously.
"I don't like the sound of that," Ramuh added.
"You gotta admit Tai, that is pretty risky," Davis added, whilst Kari was lost for words at what he was suggesting.
"I know that guys," he replied, now turning to Sora, "I know," he repeated in a softer, warmer tone. "But I also know that it's just about the only thing we are gonna come up with right now."
"I disagree, there has to be a better plan," Izzy argued.
"Think about it Tai, if they came out in force, then what would we do, there are only two of them and it would be unfair on them to expect that they hold off an army. And Agumon, how would he feel knowing there was nothing he could do," Matt added.
"Then what are we supposed to do, just wait until our guard is down so they can take me out on their terms?" Tai replied coldly.
"Don't say things like that Tai," Matt replied angrily, looking at Sora's worried expression. Tai had to rethink the way he was going to say things,
"Look, I didn't mean like I was giving up, but you cant think that I haven't thought about this, they are looking for me, and they do want me. gotten rid of."
"Well then we just wont give them the chance, we wont let our guard down," Ifrit said affirmatively.
"Yeah, but we still have the problem of there only being two of us, and who knows how many of them," Joe added.
"That's true, then perhaps it would be best for you not to stay here?" Ramuh suggested.
"What do you mean?" Izzy asked.
"Simple, run and hide in our world, literally with my tail between my legs," Tai said disappointedly, he was hoping for a solution on coming here, and after two days they were pretty much back where they had started. Izzy had to try very hard not to chuckle at the irony, because laughter seemed inappropriate at this time.
"Maybe, it's for the best, till we come up with a better plan," Sora said consolingly.
"We should return, perhaps consult Alexander on this?" Ramuh suggested looking toward Ifrit. Ifrit looked to Davis, concern in his eyes, then back to Ramuh,
"If I may, I'd like to."
"You're staying with him aren't you?" Ramuh replied.
"That is, if it's alright?"
"Who am I to say no to it, just be careful," Ramuh answered.
"You're sure that you wanna do this?" Davis asked concernedly.
"Very," Ifrit replied.
"Then I guess you come with us," Tai announced.
"If I may, I shall take my leave now?" Ramuh asked.
"Please, but how will we know what we're supposed to do, like what out next move's gonna be?" Izzy asked.
"I'll contact Ifrit, it should not be too hard from here."
"Okay, good luck," Tai said.
"And the same to you, give me a day at most. Now if you would all stand back, I can be on my way." They did as he said, and all took a step back, forming a make-shift line in front of him. Clouds gathered in the sky, and out of no where a flash of lightning stuck the spectre. When the lighted dimmed, the sky was clear, and Ramuh was gone. A little stunned, the group also now felt a little unweary. Having Ramuh with them had a security blanket effect, especially for Tai, as he had told them so much, and seemed to know what to do.
"Well guys, we may as well get outta here now," Matt suggested.
"Mmm, good idea," Izzy said in agreement. Matt held out his hand, Mimi took a hold of it, Gabumon and Palmon joined them, and they began walking. This set off a chain reaction in the group, Izzy and Tentomon were next to follow. Joe, Gomamon, Tai - with his arm around Sora, Agumon and Biyomon were next to join in the trend. T.K. and Kari, Patamon atop his hat, while Gatomon was at Kari's feet all followed on, and lastly it was Catherine, Veemon, Davis and Ifrit. Ifrit was at the rear, keeping a close guard, his eye our for any abnormalities. He moved closer to Davis so that he could have a more private conversation,
"Uh, can I just ask exactly how we get there?" he said, not really sure of what to expect.
"Well, you remember how we got to your world?" Davis paused for effect, "It's nothing like that. Just stand with us and you'll be fine, it may seem strange, but it's really quick," He added all-knowingly.
"Okay I guess," Ifrit replied.
"Don't worry, It's not hard, just weird," Catherine said reassuringly. They walked the rest of the way quietly, just enjoying the uneventful calm, but constantly casting thought to the uncertainty the future held. The reached the nearest exit without much trouble, it turned out to not be very far away. T.K. had been keeping track of the direction they should be travelling in via his d-terminal, and slipped it back into his pocket now that the job was done.
"Well, this is it," Tai announced. They gathered around the exit, a bright light began to emit from it. The light intensified and soon they were on their was to the human world.
Their journey was short, but their arrival was less than eloquent. Seeing as the van was not very big, they fell onto the floor in a rather large pile. This was followed by a myriad of moans and groans. Tai had gotten the lucky end of the draw, as he was pretty much on top, Sora by his side. This was a good thing, his wings and tail would not have been pleasant for anyone to land on, let alone his horns. T.K. on the other hand, was not so fortunate, he was on the bottom of the pile. He wrenched his arm out, and slid open the door. Carefully one by one they clambered out of the van.
"Is it always like that?" Ifrit asked disgruntled at the end of the trip back.
"No, it's usually less, um, less of a pile up," he said chuckling to himself.
"Easy for you to say, you weren't on the bottom," T.K. replied, which only cause him to laugh more. There was no following comments, they just took in the sight of home, it had been a long 24 hours, and they were finally home. It felt like a lot longer for each and every one of them, each with the knowledge that they had failed their goal, and all they had returned with was knowledge of just how complex the situation was. That and a new friend, who was currently amazed by his new surroundings.
"You okay?" Davis said, noticing his wonderment.
"No. Well, I'm fine, but this is just amazing," he said, pausing to admire the world around him some more.
"What is?" Catherine asked.
"This place, it's so beautiful. I mean, snow, actual snow, I haven't seen it in centuries. it's, it's unbelievable. And the trees, they're so real, so amazingly wonderful." the surroundings were getting to him.
"Um, what's the problem, doesn't it snow in your dimension or something?" Matt asked, rather tactlessly.
"No, well, not anymore. I haven't seen it in at least a millennium," Ifrit replied maintain his nostalgic tone. The group was puzzled, and Davis knew that as long as Ifrit was with them there was going to be a lot of stopping to explain things, and some of it would be his second time, so he knew that if necessary he would play 'translator'.
"How come, what happened that it just stopped?" Sora asked.
"We did, we've destroyed our atmosphere almost completely, heck, we've destroyed most of out biosphere."
"But why?" Izzy asked.
"A battle over the ages taking it's toll. So many battles, massive battles, they leave their scars on our world. It's amazing just how much has disappeared, where there are trees, they haven't had green leaves in over five hundred years, and even those are rare."
"That's sad," Mimi commented depressingly.
"Indeed, it is, but we must fight, if we don't, the we can just farewell what is left."
"That's something I've been wondering since Ramuh told us about your war. Why exactly are you fighting each other, if you don't mind me asking."
"I can explain it in more detail later, but the evil one's resent their creators, they resent their existence, take us out, they can take the world out, and they'll go down with it, thus solving their problem." Sobriety had taken over the groups mood, they were all silenced by the sad tale.
"What do you say we get going?" Matt suggested.
"Yeah." Mimi agreed in her depressing tone.
"Can I ask where exactly 'home' is?" Ifrit asked. Davis fielded the question,
"See those buildings down there, that's our town, we're headed for pretty much the centre of it," Davis explained, pointing down the mountain at the city scape in the distance.
"And how exactly are we to get there, I can't take you all, so do we walk?" he said admiring the view.
"Um, no, and I don't suggest we travel your way around here, people will ask to many questions, just follow my lead, k?" Davis replied positively.
"Alright, but it's gonna be a long walk."
"Oh, we're not walking, take a look behind you." Ifrit cast his gaze to the van.
"Who or what is that?" he asked, a sense of childish innocence now snick it's way into his voice.
"It's a, well, just get in, you'll see."
"Me first, hehe," Veemon said energetically as he rushed through the van door. He primarily did this to raise the mood, but also so he could get the best seat. Ifrit followed him inside. Veemon gestured him to take a seat at the rear, whilst he himself took the floor. The group pretty much all clambered in, Catherine and Davis filling up the rest of the back seat. T.K. and Kari were on the left side, accompanied by Joe. Tai, Sora and Izzy filled in the other side, and the digimon shared the middle section. To make it easier, Gatomon took Kari's lap and Patamon took T.K.'s head. Even so, it was still a tight squeeze, but liveable. Matt was of course driving, Mimi riding shotgun. He turned the key, and started it up. He flicked the headlights on as twilight was approaching, then drove off. Ifrit was taken back by the sudden movement of the vehicle, but adjusted quickly.
"I see, what an interesting vehicle. How long will it take to get there though?" Ifrit asked.
"I don't think it should be too long, an hour maybe, the traffic shouldn't be too bad," Matt replied, he sounded 'out of it' but he had to concentrate on the narrow mountain road.
"What do you mean traffic? So there are a lot of these vehicles around here then?" Ifrit asked inquisitively, Davis had to sigh, he knew the nature of Tokyo.
"Yeah, there are a lot of them," Davis replied.
"Well this slow us down much?" he continued his line of questioning.
"If there is traffic, the we could be at a standstill, actually, it's like that often," Davis replied. Everyone in the van was rather tired, it had been a long forty eight hours, and so most of them were just sitting quietly. Tai had his head rested against the wall of the van, Sora was resting on his shoulder. They were both asleep. T.K. and Kari were just snuggling up close together. Izzy was having a joyous reunion with his laptop, and was already madly typing away to his internet friends, via his wireless mobile connection. He was really doing work on the myths surrounding Hades, just as some recon for the group. He really wanted to just let loose and tell them all that the legends were real, but he knew he shouldn't. Joe was trying not to fall asleep, but failing, if anyone asked, he was just 'resting his eyes'. He felt that he should be awake in case anything happened to Tai, just so that he could help however he could with the medical expertise he had. T.K. looked into Kari's eyes, and held her hand in his tightly,
"So how you doing?" he said almost playfully.
"I'm, holding up," Kari replied unenergetically.
"You sure? If you need me, you know I'm here," T.K. replied caringly.
"I know, it's just, I'm so. I'm so afraid for him. He's being so brave, and I'm not." Kari said, tears forming in her eyes.
"Come on now, he's your brother, it's okay for you to be afraid for him. Don't think you're weak either, you're not. You're the most important thing in the world to him, and I know he is to you, so if you're afraid for him, it is only natural. And he is being brave for you, so you don't have to worry so much."
"But what if I don't want him to be. It's unfair for him to have to hold it in, it's jot fair for me to make him," Kari replied woefully. T.K. squeezed her hands gently,
"He wont think that, maybe he's doing this for himself," T.K. suggested softly.
"But then I'm only making it harder for him." Kari wept a little, but tried to force the tears back. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked up slowly and was greeted by the warming smile of her older brother.
"Kari, I think you're doing just fine," Tai said warmly. He had been almost dropping off to sleep, and had heard the beginning of the conversation. Although he knew it was wrong to eavesdrop like that, he had to make sure she wasn't having the wrong idea. So he just listened with his eyes closed, so that she would go on.
"Tai?" she said, knowing that when she put her head down he had been fast asleep - or so she had thought.
"I'm sorry for listening in, but you're wrong. Kari, I'm not afraid for myself, okay, well maybe a little. But if I start thinking about it, I know I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. So you know what I do, I do what I always do, I think about you."
"You do?"
"Of course I do, I have to look out for you. Just because I'm stuck with wings and a tail, doesn't mean you're not my little sister, and doesn't mean I should stop worrying about you. But you know what, in the back of my mind I know I don't have to, because I know that you've grown up now, you're strong, it's in the family of course. So maybe what we should both do, is agree not to worry about each other, and instead, to look out for each other."
"You really think that I'm strong?"
"Yup, and I know that deep down you know it too. So what do you say, we have a deal?"
"Deal," she replied, and for the first time, in a long time, a grin adorned her face.
Well, there you have it, chapter eighteen finished. So maybe it wasn't as plot-filled, or action filled as they have been of late, but we need to over the 'tween' times. Sorry if I missed any apostrophes here or there, apparently I'm "forgetting them all over the place" (hehe, PP is funni). You can probably see that there's gonna be a little time for some romance now huh? Well, I'm going to make sure that every relationship get some time in the limelight, especially takari, and mimato. Sorry if I have been neglecting them, but they aren't focal characters, Davis was for a while, and so Daithrine go a fair bit in there, but it was only for a while. I'll try to balance it out moire in future, but I have 4 working relationships, and when you include everyone's digimon, I actually have 19 characters that can talk at one point, so I do sometimes have people taking a back seat and watching. Sorry, but sometimes there really isn't anything for them to say\do. Any way, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it, and sorry it took a while, had to get back into the swing of school. Give chap 19 at most 2 weeks.
"I, I'm sorry for my rudeness. My name is Daisuke Motomiya, I am Veemon's partner, and I had to come here to save him from what Odin did, and now from my future," Davis was being reluctantly polite.
"You apology is accepted. Now tell me what you talk of, this future?" Alexander said, thinking with reason now, and in a friendlier tone, he moved toward the throne, and sat down again.
"He has dreamt of his demise, I must know if it would be possible for that which affects us to be affecting him?"
"Very much so, perhaps the time has come for you to return to your dimension."
"There's more sir."
"And?"
"I wish to accompany him, I must go with."
"Really, you would abandon your own world for that of one human child?"
"I am not abandoning the cause, but as long as Bahamut is trapped there it is a beacon for the evil ones, and I must protect him."
"Then go you shall. You have proven your dedication to you're the boy, and it may be a better idea to have more than one of us there,"
"Thank you sir."
"Then go now, before I think again." Ifrit, Davis and Veemon made their way to the centre of the room, and stood in a makeshift triangle.
"Veemon, just concentrate on home, and we'll be there before you know it," Davis advised, as he knew Veemon would not know what to expect. Davis looked now to Ifrit, he nodded, and they closed their eyes. Carbuncle and Alexander watched as the fiery symbol appeared on the floor. Light outlined their bodies, and they vanished from view.
"If I may speak freely?" Carbuncle stared.
"Please," Alexander gestured her to continue.
"Why were you so harsh on him, he did just take out one of their lead reconnaissance operatives."
"I knew from the moment Ifrit arrived back here that he would not leave the boy, especially once you told him that they were linked. What I put forward was a test of dedication, I wanted to see that boy's raw personality, and of test Ifrit's will to protect him. I got the results I had hoped for, he will not let the boy perish, a good thing too, I feel the humans have more of a role to play in this than we had first hoped."
"What do you mean?"
"I sense a cover up at play, they take me for a fool. A cross dimensional journey just to dispose of Bahamut, no, there's more that that at play here, they were after something, and I can only hope my fears are not true. Ready the others, they must make the journey soon."
"Yes sir, they will be prepared."
*******Back in the digital world******
The group had dispersed, Ramuh sat on a large rock, Izzy interrogating him, with Tai and Sora right next to him. He had his arm around her, and the were seated comfortably. The rest of the group were resting near the water's edge. Kari and T.K. hand in hand, right near them was Catherine. She clutched Davis's flame jacket, worrying deeply about him, and when she would see him next. Matt and Mimi had their feet in the water, with Joe near by in his own thoughts. All the digimon were close by their partners, after the last attack everyone was on edge, and they felt the need to be ready, a small thread of fear in their minds after seeing what had happened to Veemon. In the back of everyone's minds was the nagging question - 'what if he doesn't make it?' - a thought they didn't want to consider, but they all wondered what lay ahead.
On a small out crop not too far from the lake area, in plane sight of everyone, the fiery symbol appeared. It scorched the ground, and crashing through it came Ifrit, Davis and Veemon. The group froze, looking over to the trio, perplexed by who the carrot-haired figure was. Catherine jumped to her feet, dropped the jacket and sprinted over to him. She practically jumped into Davis's arms, knocking him off balance, and almost right over. She burst into tears, squeezing onto him hard. He recovered from the onslaught, and place his arms around her, holding her tight,
"It's okay now, it's all okay," he whispered. Her tears kept coming, she pulled back a little looking deep into his chocolate eyes. She peered down to where Veemon stood, a smile erupted on her face, as on his,
"Hey," he greeted softly. She knelt down, and gave him the same hug treatment, then returned to her feet. She slowly pushed back the tears, but grabbed Davis back into a hug. Meanwhile the group merely watched on, knowing they needed their space.
"Come on, let's go say hello to everyone," Davis suggested. Catherine gasped for air, then nodded. They slowly approached the others, who were all standing in a line waiting for them. Davis had his arm around Catherine's waist, and held her tightly. His she could feel his bare chest's warmth radiating onto her body, comforted by the humanitarian feeling. Davis smiled as they neared the group, Tai, as the leader, advanced. He left Sora's side, squeezing her hand gently as he deprived it of his own, and walked toward the arrivals, his wings back, and his tail was doing it's now usual small swinging.
"Hey guys," Davis said bluntly.
"Hey, you all okay?" Tai asked.
"Yeah, we're just fine," Davis replied, his grin getting bigger.
"Good to hear," Tai responded. Now it was time to drop the leader role, and return to the best friend. "You did a brave thing Davis, I'm proud of you," he said patting him on the back.
"Thanks Tai," Davis replied, incredibly happy with the words of praise he had just received. "I think I'm gonna sit down, it's been a long day," Davis said, almost asking. He decided that the spot he was on would, and sat down, Catherine falling with him. The rest of the group moved near them and did the same.
"Hey Davis," Matt said, then tossed Davis's jacket to him, "Put some clothes on," he finished with a grin. Davis was more than happy to oblige, he was getting pretty cold, as daytime was coming to an end.
"Um, can I just ask, who is this guy?" Kari asked apprehensively.
"Yeah, did he just follow you home?" T.K. added.
"Excuse my rudeness, I am Ifrit. I must apologise for my actions before, I was. wrong," Ifrit replied, reluctantly admitting his mistake.
"Well, you did the right thing in the end," Tai said, a forgiving look in his eye.
"How are you my friend?" Ramuh said warmly.
"It's been an. interesting day," he replied smiling.
"That it has, have you been told of your relation with the boy?"
"Yes, Carbuncle filled me in."
"Good, then I assume you understand why I pushed you so hard?"
"Yeah, I know." All but Davis and Veemon were incredible confused, they had no idea what was being spoken about.
"Um, yeah, what?" Tai asked abruptly.
"I think what my 'well spoken' friend means to say is, what relation?" Izzy corrected.
"Oh, I'll field this I suppose," Davis offered.
"Go ahead, they're your friends," Ifrit replied.
"Well, it's kinda weird, but kinda nice I guess. Carbuncle said that just like the digital world and our world are linked, so are the realm or dimension of legends. So basically, Veemon is my relation here, created from my data and born here in the digital world. We're kinda one in the same, while being separate. So it would be the same for Ifrit and I, but not as closely, because he wasn't created from me, but we share the same thread of existence kind of thing." Davis was battling, and the group were very stunned, and confused. "I don't think I'm explaining this very well," Davis said in semi-frustration.
"On the contrary, you're doing fine," Ramuh commented.
"Well I think maybe you should continue," Davis suggested.
"As you wish." Ifrit felt very out of place, and stood stationary behind Davis, seeing this Tai thought he should do something,
"You can sit you know," he offered.
"It is not my place, I would be. in the way."
"No you won't," Davis replied. he spun round and grabbed the spectre's arm, and yanked him down to the ground. Ifrit sat, with an indignant look on his face.
"Now that we're settled. What Davis has said is quite correct, you share the same thread of existence, you are linked by it, but not physically, only metaphysically. That is why Tai has survived with Bahamut in him for so long, and why he can continue to do so, they are almost of the same soul. Let me simplify it here. Picture one big stone, this stone represents, a big soul. Now picture this being split up into many pieces of even size. You see, one of those would be Davis's, and another would be Ifrit's. We can take this further and say that if Davis's split like a cell does, duplicating itself, we would get Veemon's. This is how the relation works, and why you humans are more strongly linked to your digimon than to the spectre." The group was still stunned, no one was ready for this.
"So, so, does that mean we all have a spectre relation?" Izzy stuttered.
"Perhaps, I mean, it is likely, but I am not sure, I only knew of Tai's relation to Bahamut, and when Davis was to make the journey, I had to look inside him to find his relation to Ifrit."
"You looked inside him?" T.K. asked nervously.
"Yeah, you looked in me?" Davis asked.
"It's not nearly as intrusive as it sounds, I looked at your actions and you feelings, one's soul is not hard to read, it is evident in everything they do, like an aura."
"Okay, good. I don't like the thought that you can just peer inside our minds," T.K. replied relieved.
"Oh but we can," Ifrit said menacingly. The group look afraid now, all but Davis and Veemon not picking up on Ifrit's raw humour, they said nothing. Ramuh frowned at him, he was just smirking.
"Guys, he's kidding," Davis said trying to mask his laughter.
"Uh huh," Tai replied.
"Ease up guys, it's really not that weird," Davis said a little frustrated.
"If you say so," Joe replied.
"Come on, I'm not worried about this, why should you be? It's comforting to know that you're not alone. Ifrit helped me more than once to save Veemon, he's like having another digimon almost."
"Yeah, we're partners in crime," Veemon said nudging Ifrit.
"That we are, the three of us," Ifrit added. They'd almost formed a clique, and Catherine felt a little left out, and as such she was very unreceptive of the good mood that the three were giving off. She shifted away a little, and he looked over to her,
"Is everything okay?" he asked.
"No, I'm fine, you're enjoy your friends," she replied coldly.
"Hey, come on now, please don't be like that. I'm still here for you, and I still care about you, nothing's changed." Catherine's expression lightened up, and she looked hopefully into his chocolate orbs.
"You really mean that?" She replied, now more hopeful.
"Of course," he said pulling her close to him, "I'll never stop caring about you, I promise." She gleamed her smile at him, grabbing hold of his hand. He looked into her eyes now, the cobalt glow in them was peaceful, calming, she seemed eased. He could feel her taking hold of the edges of his fingers, pulling them out flat. She placed her left pinkie around his right, and tensed it, he did the same.
"Promise?" she said softly.
"Promise." He replied. She let go of his hand and grabbed him, practically glomping them both, but he didn't mind. He rubbed her back reassuringly, then whispered, "Now how about we fix up all these problems, and go home?"
"Sure." They broke off the hug. The rest of the group had not been idly watching, but as the opportunity had arisen, they we looking at their respective lovers, knowing that they too had felt the same as Davis and Catherine were now, and knew how it would turn out for them. "Sorry for the trouble everyone," Catherine announced sheepishly.
"No trouble at all," Tai replied, "As long as everything's okay now."
"Sure is," Davis took the liberty of replying, his usual energetic tone adorned his voice.
"If I may suggest this, we really do need to pose the question, what next?" Izzy said finding the logic in a situation as he always did.
"Well, that's just it, we don't know, I have not been informed about what we are to do next," Ramuh replied.
"And our situation meant that we had to leave before I could ask what we were to do upon our return," Ifrit added.
"Wait, what situation?" Tai asked
"Don't worry, I'll tell you about it later, what we need to worry about now is what we have to do now," Davis said affirmatively.
"Well said, but how do we find that out?" Joe posed the question that they all didn't want to face, they were back to how it was before, not knowing what to do. And this time there was no fall back plan to make them feel better, there was no gate to go to, there was only long hard thinking, and dealing with the fact that, at least for a while, they would be flying blind.
"We need to think about this logically, what are our options?" T.K. suggested an avenue of thought.
"Well, there are two main things at hand. Of concern to you, is Tai - his condition, and how to resolve it. Of concern to Ifrit and myself, is what exactly we are to do about the evil spectres," Ramuh replied entering his 'thinking mode'.
"I'm not sure if those two are completely separate, If we heal Tai, we can solve you problem. You could also reverse it, if we solve your problem then Tai will be healed," Izzy posed the logic in the situation.
"That's true," Tai started, "but I think that the second is the most logical. One because I'm not in any physical danger here anymore, I don't exactly need 'healing' as such, and two because we are gonna need to know what exactly was done to us to reverse it," Tai stated.
"Well, couldn't you friend who saved Veemon analyse him? Could they not find out what happened to him?" Kari asked.
"I'm afraid not, Tai has no avenue to get there. You see, Davis could hitchhike on Ifrit's thoughts, Ifrit was physically strong enough for him to support his own transferral, and half of Davis's. But with Tai, Bahamut is inside of Tai, and is weakened, so it would seem easier, but he just would not be able to carry him there. Even so, I'm not sure if Carbuncle would be able to find it, these are new magics, not heard of before, it was never thought that it could be done, especially then transferred into a human. I'm afraid to reverse this we're gonna need Hades right here."
"Okay, well there goes that plan." T.K. replied.
"Yeah, but don't worry, we are brainstorming after all, we'll figure it out!" Davis said brightly, trying to lift the mood.
"Well, how do we get Hades?" Agumon asked, adding a digimon perspective to the conversation.
"Well, short of a mass exodus to the our dimension, we can't do much. Even if we tried that, we'd need the spectres here, and it's still be very risky, seeing as it would definitely start a massive battle. And then there's the fact that Tai cannot go with us, so we'd have to bring him back here, and that's just not possible, there's not way we could force him to come, due to the nature of the journey," Ifrit said, inadvertently crushing the plan they had just semi formulated.
"Well this is great, there doesn't seem to be much we can do now does there!" Mimi said in a huff.
"Mimi." Matt said consolingly, taking her hand and turning to face her, "It'll be alright. Sora was also looking down, but she tried not to let the depression get to her.
"Come on guys, if we cant go to him, how about we make him come to us!" Davis said enthusiastically.
"What do you mean, set a trap?" Ramuh asked.
"Yup, we lure him our here, and ambush him, there are two of you and only one of him."
"That's true, but he would most likely not be alone, they know just as we do that he is the key to both Bahamut and Tai's fate right now. And we would need something to bait the trap with," Ifrit replied.
"Okay, so you go back and get help, bring some of your allies back here or something, then we can all think of something to bait the trap."
"Me," Tai said softly. They all turned to face him, wondering exactly what tangent he was on.
"What are you talking about?" Sora asked, worried that perhaps he was feeling ill or something.
"Simple, the bait is me. They know you're trying to save Bahamut, and would probably want to take me out like they had planned to even more now, so lets give them the chance, and stop them in their tracks," Tai replied.
"No Tai, uh uh, I won't let you!" Sora protested, shaking her copper head furiously.
"I don't like the sound of that," Ramuh added.
"You gotta admit Tai, that is pretty risky," Davis added, whilst Kari was lost for words at what he was suggesting.
"I know that guys," he replied, now turning to Sora, "I know," he repeated in a softer, warmer tone. "But I also know that it's just about the only thing we are gonna come up with right now."
"I disagree, there has to be a better plan," Izzy argued.
"Think about it Tai, if they came out in force, then what would we do, there are only two of them and it would be unfair on them to expect that they hold off an army. And Agumon, how would he feel knowing there was nothing he could do," Matt added.
"Then what are we supposed to do, just wait until our guard is down so they can take me out on their terms?" Tai replied coldly.
"Don't say things like that Tai," Matt replied angrily, looking at Sora's worried expression. Tai had to rethink the way he was going to say things,
"Look, I didn't mean like I was giving up, but you cant think that I haven't thought about this, they are looking for me, and they do want me. gotten rid of."
"Well then we just wont give them the chance, we wont let our guard down," Ifrit said affirmatively.
"Yeah, but we still have the problem of there only being two of us, and who knows how many of them," Joe added.
"That's true, then perhaps it would be best for you not to stay here?" Ramuh suggested.
"What do you mean?" Izzy asked.
"Simple, run and hide in our world, literally with my tail between my legs," Tai said disappointedly, he was hoping for a solution on coming here, and after two days they were pretty much back where they had started. Izzy had to try very hard not to chuckle at the irony, because laughter seemed inappropriate at this time.
"Maybe, it's for the best, till we come up with a better plan," Sora said consolingly.
"We should return, perhaps consult Alexander on this?" Ramuh suggested looking toward Ifrit. Ifrit looked to Davis, concern in his eyes, then back to Ramuh,
"If I may, I'd like to."
"You're staying with him aren't you?" Ramuh replied.
"That is, if it's alright?"
"Who am I to say no to it, just be careful," Ramuh answered.
"You're sure that you wanna do this?" Davis asked concernedly.
"Very," Ifrit replied.
"Then I guess you come with us," Tai announced.
"If I may, I shall take my leave now?" Ramuh asked.
"Please, but how will we know what we're supposed to do, like what out next move's gonna be?" Izzy asked.
"I'll contact Ifrit, it should not be too hard from here."
"Okay, good luck," Tai said.
"And the same to you, give me a day at most. Now if you would all stand back, I can be on my way." They did as he said, and all took a step back, forming a make-shift line in front of him. Clouds gathered in the sky, and out of no where a flash of lightning stuck the spectre. When the lighted dimmed, the sky was clear, and Ramuh was gone. A little stunned, the group also now felt a little unweary. Having Ramuh with them had a security blanket effect, especially for Tai, as he had told them so much, and seemed to know what to do.
"Well guys, we may as well get outta here now," Matt suggested.
"Mmm, good idea," Izzy said in agreement. Matt held out his hand, Mimi took a hold of it, Gabumon and Palmon joined them, and they began walking. This set off a chain reaction in the group, Izzy and Tentomon were next to follow. Joe, Gomamon, Tai - with his arm around Sora, Agumon and Biyomon were next to join in the trend. T.K. and Kari, Patamon atop his hat, while Gatomon was at Kari's feet all followed on, and lastly it was Catherine, Veemon, Davis and Ifrit. Ifrit was at the rear, keeping a close guard, his eye our for any abnormalities. He moved closer to Davis so that he could have a more private conversation,
"Uh, can I just ask exactly how we get there?" he said, not really sure of what to expect.
"Well, you remember how we got to your world?" Davis paused for effect, "It's nothing like that. Just stand with us and you'll be fine, it may seem strange, but it's really quick," He added all-knowingly.
"Okay I guess," Ifrit replied.
"Don't worry, It's not hard, just weird," Catherine said reassuringly. They walked the rest of the way quietly, just enjoying the uneventful calm, but constantly casting thought to the uncertainty the future held. The reached the nearest exit without much trouble, it turned out to not be very far away. T.K. had been keeping track of the direction they should be travelling in via his d-terminal, and slipped it back into his pocket now that the job was done.
"Well, this is it," Tai announced. They gathered around the exit, a bright light began to emit from it. The light intensified and soon they were on their was to the human world.
Their journey was short, but their arrival was less than eloquent. Seeing as the van was not very big, they fell onto the floor in a rather large pile. This was followed by a myriad of moans and groans. Tai had gotten the lucky end of the draw, as he was pretty much on top, Sora by his side. This was a good thing, his wings and tail would not have been pleasant for anyone to land on, let alone his horns. T.K. on the other hand, was not so fortunate, he was on the bottom of the pile. He wrenched his arm out, and slid open the door. Carefully one by one they clambered out of the van.
"Is it always like that?" Ifrit asked disgruntled at the end of the trip back.
"No, it's usually less, um, less of a pile up," he said chuckling to himself.
"Easy for you to say, you weren't on the bottom," T.K. replied, which only cause him to laugh more. There was no following comments, they just took in the sight of home, it had been a long 24 hours, and they were finally home. It felt like a lot longer for each and every one of them, each with the knowledge that they had failed their goal, and all they had returned with was knowledge of just how complex the situation was. That and a new friend, who was currently amazed by his new surroundings.
"You okay?" Davis said, noticing his wonderment.
"No. Well, I'm fine, but this is just amazing," he said, pausing to admire the world around him some more.
"What is?" Catherine asked.
"This place, it's so beautiful. I mean, snow, actual snow, I haven't seen it in centuries. it's, it's unbelievable. And the trees, they're so real, so amazingly wonderful." the surroundings were getting to him.
"Um, what's the problem, doesn't it snow in your dimension or something?" Matt asked, rather tactlessly.
"No, well, not anymore. I haven't seen it in at least a millennium," Ifrit replied maintain his nostalgic tone. The group was puzzled, and Davis knew that as long as Ifrit was with them there was going to be a lot of stopping to explain things, and some of it would be his second time, so he knew that if necessary he would play 'translator'.
"How come, what happened that it just stopped?" Sora asked.
"We did, we've destroyed our atmosphere almost completely, heck, we've destroyed most of out biosphere."
"But why?" Izzy asked.
"A battle over the ages taking it's toll. So many battles, massive battles, they leave their scars on our world. It's amazing just how much has disappeared, where there are trees, they haven't had green leaves in over five hundred years, and even those are rare."
"That's sad," Mimi commented depressingly.
"Indeed, it is, but we must fight, if we don't, the we can just farewell what is left."
"That's something I've been wondering since Ramuh told us about your war. Why exactly are you fighting each other, if you don't mind me asking."
"I can explain it in more detail later, but the evil one's resent their creators, they resent their existence, take us out, they can take the world out, and they'll go down with it, thus solving their problem." Sobriety had taken over the groups mood, they were all silenced by the sad tale.
"What do you say we get going?" Matt suggested.
"Yeah." Mimi agreed in her depressing tone.
"Can I ask where exactly 'home' is?" Ifrit asked. Davis fielded the question,
"See those buildings down there, that's our town, we're headed for pretty much the centre of it," Davis explained, pointing down the mountain at the city scape in the distance.
"And how exactly are we to get there, I can't take you all, so do we walk?" he said admiring the view.
"Um, no, and I don't suggest we travel your way around here, people will ask to many questions, just follow my lead, k?" Davis replied positively.
"Alright, but it's gonna be a long walk."
"Oh, we're not walking, take a look behind you." Ifrit cast his gaze to the van.
"Who or what is that?" he asked, a sense of childish innocence now snick it's way into his voice.
"It's a, well, just get in, you'll see."
"Me first, hehe," Veemon said energetically as he rushed through the van door. He primarily did this to raise the mood, but also so he could get the best seat. Ifrit followed him inside. Veemon gestured him to take a seat at the rear, whilst he himself took the floor. The group pretty much all clambered in, Catherine and Davis filling up the rest of the back seat. T.K. and Kari were on the left side, accompanied by Joe. Tai, Sora and Izzy filled in the other side, and the digimon shared the middle section. To make it easier, Gatomon took Kari's lap and Patamon took T.K.'s head. Even so, it was still a tight squeeze, but liveable. Matt was of course driving, Mimi riding shotgun. He turned the key, and started it up. He flicked the headlights on as twilight was approaching, then drove off. Ifrit was taken back by the sudden movement of the vehicle, but adjusted quickly.
"I see, what an interesting vehicle. How long will it take to get there though?" Ifrit asked.
"I don't think it should be too long, an hour maybe, the traffic shouldn't be too bad," Matt replied, he sounded 'out of it' but he had to concentrate on the narrow mountain road.
"What do you mean traffic? So there are a lot of these vehicles around here then?" Ifrit asked inquisitively, Davis had to sigh, he knew the nature of Tokyo.
"Yeah, there are a lot of them," Davis replied.
"Well this slow us down much?" he continued his line of questioning.
"If there is traffic, the we could be at a standstill, actually, it's like that often," Davis replied. Everyone in the van was rather tired, it had been a long forty eight hours, and so most of them were just sitting quietly. Tai had his head rested against the wall of the van, Sora was resting on his shoulder. They were both asleep. T.K. and Kari were just snuggling up close together. Izzy was having a joyous reunion with his laptop, and was already madly typing away to his internet friends, via his wireless mobile connection. He was really doing work on the myths surrounding Hades, just as some recon for the group. He really wanted to just let loose and tell them all that the legends were real, but he knew he shouldn't. Joe was trying not to fall asleep, but failing, if anyone asked, he was just 'resting his eyes'. He felt that he should be awake in case anything happened to Tai, just so that he could help however he could with the medical expertise he had. T.K. looked into Kari's eyes, and held her hand in his tightly,
"So how you doing?" he said almost playfully.
"I'm, holding up," Kari replied unenergetically.
"You sure? If you need me, you know I'm here," T.K. replied caringly.
"I know, it's just, I'm so. I'm so afraid for him. He's being so brave, and I'm not." Kari said, tears forming in her eyes.
"Come on now, he's your brother, it's okay for you to be afraid for him. Don't think you're weak either, you're not. You're the most important thing in the world to him, and I know he is to you, so if you're afraid for him, it is only natural. And he is being brave for you, so you don't have to worry so much."
"But what if I don't want him to be. It's unfair for him to have to hold it in, it's jot fair for me to make him," Kari replied woefully. T.K. squeezed her hands gently,
"He wont think that, maybe he's doing this for himself," T.K. suggested softly.
"But then I'm only making it harder for him." Kari wept a little, but tried to force the tears back. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked up slowly and was greeted by the warming smile of her older brother.
"Kari, I think you're doing just fine," Tai said warmly. He had been almost dropping off to sleep, and had heard the beginning of the conversation. Although he knew it was wrong to eavesdrop like that, he had to make sure she wasn't having the wrong idea. So he just listened with his eyes closed, so that she would go on.
"Tai?" she said, knowing that when she put her head down he had been fast asleep - or so she had thought.
"I'm sorry for listening in, but you're wrong. Kari, I'm not afraid for myself, okay, well maybe a little. But if I start thinking about it, I know I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. So you know what I do, I do what I always do, I think about you."
"You do?"
"Of course I do, I have to look out for you. Just because I'm stuck with wings and a tail, doesn't mean you're not my little sister, and doesn't mean I should stop worrying about you. But you know what, in the back of my mind I know I don't have to, because I know that you've grown up now, you're strong, it's in the family of course. So maybe what we should both do, is agree not to worry about each other, and instead, to look out for each other."
"You really think that I'm strong?"
"Yup, and I know that deep down you know it too. So what do you say, we have a deal?"
"Deal," she replied, and for the first time, in a long time, a grin adorned her face.
Well, there you have it, chapter eighteen finished. So maybe it wasn't as plot-filled, or action filled as they have been of late, but we need to over the 'tween' times. Sorry if I missed any apostrophes here or there, apparently I'm "forgetting them all over the place" (hehe, PP is funni). You can probably see that there's gonna be a little time for some romance now huh? Well, I'm going to make sure that every relationship get some time in the limelight, especially takari, and mimato. Sorry if I have been neglecting them, but they aren't focal characters, Davis was for a while, and so Daithrine go a fair bit in there, but it was only for a while. I'll try to balance it out moire in future, but I have 4 working relationships, and when you include everyone's digimon, I actually have 19 characters that can talk at one point, so I do sometimes have people taking a back seat and watching. Sorry, but sometimes there really isn't anything for them to say\do. Any way, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it, and sorry it took a while, had to get back into the swing of school. Give chap 19 at most 2 weeks.
