So I call up a trusty friend to give me her diagnosis on the story, and she says sure. And I waited… and waited… and then found out that she left for vacation and she wouldn't be back for another week. Somewhere between fuming and extremely furious though, she came back and told me that I wouldn't do any justice to myself by changing it around. So I'm back, same story, same plotline, and I decided that I found the perfect ending.
So here I am, and don't worry, it'll be fun. And sorry to those who looked for the humor… at one point it turned out bad didn't it? I'll try making more humor in the final few chapters. If fluff could go for strange humor… and if TK and Kari get over this roadblock. Well, I found something I'd like to write. If I have time… maybe sometime in the next couple weeks. I don't wanna leave this hanging. So oh well to all the other ideas.
Oh yeah, I'm having some trouble deciding… what characters work best for bickering? Then again, I'm not sure if it's gonna be a Digimon fanfic or not.
One more thing, I sound like Jackie Chan's uncle ^_^, about Kari being OOC… sorrie…but it is kinda how she's been portrayed from the beginning… and… well, there's a reason for the craziness…
Cya at the bottom!!!
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A Lifetime to Know You
Chapter 9-3
Matchmaker troubles Part 3
Kari plopped against the wall. Why was she so angry with him when all he did was act courteous and polite? All guests are supposed to behave and that's what he did… then why? 'Maybe you're jealous,' the little voice in her head taunted. 'Maybe you, who sounds so familiar, should get OUT of my head,' she replied. The voice gruffly said, 'so I'm right. Cheeri-o then. I have no business here.' Kari sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Could it be that the stupid voice, not that it is possible, is right? "Oh well," she sighed, "I'll just apologize to him when he gets back…"
And saying that… the girl who was yet to know that she was indeed in love… fell asleep…
~*~*~*~In the carriage~*~*~*~
TK looked out the window and simply watched the blurry colors of the country wiz by. He was snapped out of his trance when the carriage came to a full stop. Never had he seen anything like this. The town was large, he could almost see for miles, and it was so colorful. Even in his kingdom there wasn't as large a variety of colors as there were here. He got engulfed in the bustles and busy talks of the merchants and the customers, who could not be called peasants seeing that they were also appearing very well fed and moderately clothed.
Celene took him by his hand and lead him away from the scene. He looked at her confused and she simply stated, "It's lunch time already. I was thinking we could eat first?" TK nodded and sat down on the picnic table while Celene's driver brought the food to the area.
She suggested that they sit on the ground, and with the help of TK, Celene put the picnic blanket under the shade of a large tree and they unpacked the lunch. She gave the driver an adequate portion and he in turn bowed and departed from the area. So now, it was just TK and Celene. He ate his sandwich quietly while looking up at the various clouds that floated by. He tried to find shapes for them, names, anything so that he could avoid her conversation.
Celene quietly ate her fruit as well, thinking about him and her. She did not know Prince Takeru; she didn't not even know anything about him, except that he loved her best friend. Oh that she knew; she could see it in his every moment and his eyes spoke for him as well. 'What should I do?' she thought sadly. It was true that she was doing this for her other best friend Davis, but-
Davis. His name itself made her cheeks slightly rosier than they were. She had fallen deeply for the boy, and she could admit it too, just that he was engaged and was going to get married in a couple months. His brown eyes, his ##### grin, she loved everything. 'Too bad he wouldn't ever be mine,' she thought depressed.
Celene looked over at TK observed him gaze at the clouds. Wanting to escape her thoughts she said softly, "You love her don't you?" TK snapped and turned towards and said, "What?" She looked at him and said, "You love Kari."
TK looked down at the ground. 'How did she know,' he thought confused. He turned to her again, and now she was gazing up at the clouds, with longing. Something hit him and he cleared his throat and said, "I-". She interrupted him and said, "Just tell me the truth please." He said softly, "Yeah, I do."
He then added, "You love Davis don't you." To this question, Celene reacted in a most strange way. She remained indifferent. "Yes," she spoke and it was in the smallest voice one could imagine, but it rang through the quiet and serene environment.
He then replied, "Then why are you doing this?" She couldn't answer his question. Celene said softly, "Tell me TK, do you think, suppose you didn't love Kari, and you were doing this as a friend, do you think that you're doing the right thing?" TK looked at her for a long while but he could not decide. The same question had run through his head since morning. Was he? Then he remembered his brother's many marriage proposals and how he denied saying that even if she loved him, he didn't love her, and things don't work out.
He looked at her and said, "You know what? I don't think so. Because, although Davis loves Kari from the bottom of his heart, they can never be a happy couple, because she has no feelings for him." Celene then said, "But don't you think that they could fall in love afterwards?" TK said, "that case scenario has a very small probability and for those situations, Davis is neither the right type of guy, nor is Kari the right girl."
Celene sighed and looked up at the sky once more. It was a carefree day, but her heart was burdened immensely. Then she asked him one final question, just to confirm or deny her doubts. She said, "Do you think Davis and I are doing the right thing?" He looked at her. So she WAS a part of a counter plan. 'Oh well, might as well tell her the truth,' he thought. "The answer is in your heart Celene. I am not a mind reader or a heart reader," he stated. Seeing as their lunch was over, they packed the remaining items up into the basket, and Celene waited for TK to climb into the carriage. She got in afterwards and as the carriage jerked forward to it's next destination, Celene said softly, "I'm not doing the right thing."
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They got off at what looked like the town's center. Celene made her way through the busy crowds and TK followed, glancing at the little shops and markets that he could see. Celene entered a store that had mannequins with dresses that looked fit for any formal event. As they waited for the shopkeeper to show up, Celene explained that this store was a very special store that was only open during the time of the Spring Festival, and that it had all the supplies for the festival. She then continued by saying that it was usually very full, but most people were looking through other stores as well for dresses for the ball. TK nodded taking in most of what she said.
Then he noticed it.
It was in the back, hiding as if it didn't want to be found. But it already was, and the person was already walking towards it. He stood in front of it, debating whether he wanted to touch it or not. Finally, he brought his hand up, gently tracing the fabric. It flowed through his fingers, the silky feel moving away from him fast. It wasn't vibrant; on the contrary, it was a very light shade of pink, which, if placed under the right light, almost looked like it was white. Something about the dress…
Celene walked towards him and the dress. Really, a guy completely entranced by a dress, 'well, I guess there's a first time for everything,' Celene thought. She cleared her throat, but TK didn't hear her. Then she lightly tapped him on the shoulder. He shrugged her hand away without even moving an inch. Finally, ready to take some drastic action, she pulled his ear and yelled, "There's a mouse eating your shoe!"
He jerked away at the loud voice, but the shout did its purpose and in the next second TK turned around saying, "And what was that about??" Celene smiled sweetly and replied, "well you wouldn't respond the normal way. So what d'you think of the dress?" He turned back to the dress and whispered, "Kari did say that she didn't bring any dress clothes." Celene contradicted, "She said she ONLY had one!"
He smiled and turned around facing her and said, "Well there you go then… she'll love it." Celene stared at him for a second and said, "I don't deny that it would be perfect for her, but aren't you forgetting that a) she's angry with you and b) Kari isn't really the… er… dressy type?"
He shrugged and said, "Well, this could be my apology present and she does like dresses, just sometimes." She smiled knowingly and said, "You're annoying. But since you want to buy it so bad, go ahead. And if you get her to wear it, I'll be your slave for a day." He scrunched up his face as if in great thought and then said, "though the deal does sound amusing… I don't want your services. So I'll get her to wear it, and we'll call things a truce for one day." Celene smiled and nodded, and then they shook on the deal.
The storekeeper finally came around, apologizing for her lateness, and then the two bought the supplies Celene needed. Or rather ordered everything and simply carried out two bags, one with the dress for Kari and the other with the dress that Celene decided on buying. It was an emerald green sleeveless dress with no shoulder straps and it belled out past her waist. A/N: I'm not really one for describing clothes, but gonna try… The back had straps that criss-crossed forming a pattern of Vs. She had the necessary accessories to go along with it, including a clear see-through cover that belled out at her hands, and followed the dress, stopping only about an inch above the edge. It was simple yet shimmered whenever she moved.
As they walked back to the carriage, Celene stopped and said, "could we visit someplace before we head back?" TK said, "Sure, I guess." The carriage stopped next to a small trail, and Celene lead TK through it. The trail came out to a little clearing, where there were a couple benches and a tiny lake. Celene sat down on the bench and said, "This is why there's a lake by the castle." TK looked at her and said, "What do you mean?" She said softly, "When I was little, when my mother and I came into the town, we ran our errands and went home. One day, I was angry for not getting something and so I ran away from the town centre and ended up here.
I was so confused, but I sat on the bench and waited, afraid that I might get lost if I ventured in. Finally my mother found me, and she was very angry, to say the least. But I really liked this place. It's so serene and calm, and at the age of five, if you were lost, you definitely weren't that. I felt protected here, so my mother decided to attempt to make a replica. But even though it's peaceful there, it isn't in any way like this place."
TK smiled and sat down, the trees behind them, moving with the wind and discarding some more brown leaves. Celene continued by saying, "I guess I had to come back today, because here I always feel like I belong to a greater and more beautiful world. It's almost always like autumn in this little patch. So it's magical and beautiful."
Then she turned to TK, who was sitting next to her and said, "I know what I'm doing with Davis is remotely wrong. But I can't help now that I've gotten myself in this. Even if he never loves me, I want to be there for him. But I don't want to lose another friendship over this." TK looked at her and said, "So, you don't want this to affect your friendship with Kari…"
She shook her head and said, "I don't know if Kari will ever forgive me if we win. But no matter what, I don't want to lose my friendship with you. I mean, we're both doing what we're doing for our good friends, so you over anyone would understand me." TK nodded and then placed his hand in front of her for the second time that day, "It'll be a friendly competition, we can use any methods we want, to win, as long as it doesn't become a fight for life. And no matter whether we win or you and Davis, we'll still be friends." Celene smiled and shook his hand and said, "Thanks."
They got off the benches and walked back to the carriage, with Celene feeling a bit more content with what happened.
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Kari got off her bed and went to the bathroom to freshen up. How long was she sleeping? Was he back yet? All those questions buzzed around her head and she walked towards the window. She felt horrible for yelling at TK, and was planning on how to apologize.
He was pretty nice to go far out of his way to do this for her so the least she could do is be nice back. Maybe, if he agreed, she would also add on that she really likes him, but that was getting too far ahead. She saw a carriage coming in and stopping at a corner of the road, where she could see two people getting off.
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TK got off as the carriage came to a stop and Celene followed closely, holding the two bags. Suddenly, an idea came to her mind, as she saw Kari looking out the window. 'He DID say by any method,' she thought smugly. He was walking away from her, and she was already half way up the road to the front of the palace.
She abruptly turned around and yelled, "TK WAIT!!" He turned around, and then got a big surprise as Celene ran really fast towards him, and bombarded him with a very large hug. He looked down at her head confused and then she let go, smiling sweetly and then handed him the bag that had Kari's dress. He said small thanks and almost turned away when she came even closer to him and put both hands on his cheeks and brought him close for a quick kiss…
…on the cheek.
He blinked and then copied her grin, not comprehending what had happened and asked, "What was that for?" Celene's smile widened, well, as much as possible so that it didn't look like her cheeks were glued to her ears and then said, "Kari's watching, and from her window, it just looked like I kissed you on your lips." TK's grin transformed into a frown in a record time and then she turned away flipping her hair back and started walking to the castle.
She raised a hand and waved without looking back and said, "You did say any method Takeru."
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Meanwhile, two faces fumed from their windows, while one thought, 'I don't get it. She can't like him… what does TE have that I don't?'
…the other fumed a bit more and said softly and angrily, "forget apologizing, he better be ready to be murdered."
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A/N: Can I stop now? Huh? Huh? Huh? *dodges tomatoes* Oh fine… I was going to put the duel and the day in town together anyways…
*mumbles and walks away*
*whip cracks from audience*
All right, all right, I'm going. Hold all your horses already.
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Dinner was a nightmare for TK. The poor guy was now the receiver of not one but two pairs of death glares. And to say the least, compared to Kari's glare, Davis was merely staring really hard at him. She seemed to be even more angry, and TK knew perfectly well why. But the surprise was Davis.
Even Celene looked a little disturbed at him glaring at TK. Wasn't it his idea to separate TK and Kari? But when Celene went to his room to talk to him, he simply turned away from her, refusing to meet with her.
TK was glad when dinner was over. He ran away as fast as he could without appearing like he was running, but when he was about to lie down on his bed, a paper airplane came flying in through the bathroom and hit him in the forehead. He opened the airplane and groaned reading the message.
See you down in 10 minutes. Prepare to duel- Hikari Kamiya
TK groaned and got off the bed. He walked down to his drawer and got out his training clothes. After getting changed, he got his sword, the one that Kari had given to him. He walked out the room and down the stairs. Something was bugging him, but he couldn't place his figure on it. The environment was so surreal; he almost got scared that something possessed him to do this. Or rather someone…
TK was already at the garden by then and he turned around looking up at the castle in the moonlight. He mumbled, "I wonder how many ghosts there are here…" He shook his head then and walked towards a familiar figure that was shadowed by the trees. A breeze came by and he could swear that he heard it say, "no ghosts… just really friendly spirits."
She looked up as he walked forward. 'How could he cheat me like this?' she thought angrily. He anger got worse by the second and then she heard the strangest comment ever. She heard TK, no, Prince Takeru say, "Is Kari being possessed too?"
She rolled up her sleeves and came out of the shadow of the tree. The boy was really going ballistic, Kari being possessed? But was she?
She shook her head of the thoughts, and then led him to the middle of the garden.
A/N: I should probably warn you right now that I suck at action scenes… so if you want to skip ahead… be my guest
She turned to face him, a little startled at the angelic appearance he gave out under the moonlight, but quickly set a determined face and said, "Ready?" TK nodded, but added, "and you're sure that we can't talk this out…" Without even letting him take a stance she moved forward, her sword grazing very closely to his chest, when he stepped back. This ended in creating enough distance for him to raise his sword and block the attack.
Kari drew back, and attacked once again, but this time she went for the other side of him. He blocked once again, and this time launched his own set of attacks, all of which were blocked by Kari. Some instinct kicked in, as Kari raised her sword, this time finding her chance, and flipped backwards.
As she expected, TK ran forward ready to attack, and he was on his back in less than a second. She had swiped her sword across his feet and tripped him. Then he had to roll out of the way as she was about to dive with the sword.
Breathing unsteadily TK got to his feet. Kari really was going for the kill. She launched another set of attacks and only the last one managed to split the skin on his upper arm. TK could feel the sting but before he could react, she was cornering him so he had to figure out a way to get out of the compromising situation first. He blocked her sword with his, and he could feel her rage building as she pushed harder and he held his ground as well as he could.
TK abruptly turned around, leaving her shocked for a slight second, and her sword, with the force that was still being applied, immediately got stuck in the tree that was behind him. He managed to get behind her, and he was pretty sure that the end was soon since Kari was still struggling to get her sword out. All he wanted was to talk and she was making it rather impossible. She finally growled and got her sword out of the tree, and turned around making TK come out of his trance.
But it was a second too late. Kari tripped him again. But this time from behind, and he lost his grip on his sword, and ended up on his back again, but this time Kari was standing over him, her sword's tip lightly pressuring his neck. He looked up and their eyes met, the moonlight shining in his and make his cerulean blues eyes appear darker.
She stood there, breathing heavily, and not being able to tear her gaze away from his… one more step and she could….
Wait… what was she thinking? Why was she letting her anger take over her… this was TK! Takeru, the guy she considered her best friend… the person she fell in love with, yes love. She loved him. There was no other explanation to what she'd been feeling all day. She dropped her sword to the side, tears trailing down her face and then ran. He got up and said, "Wait! Kari, please!" But she kept running. She felt horrible and didn't even stop till she reached her room.
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Yes, well, end of chapter. And the next one's almost ready to go. Then again… maybe I'll finish it now… hard to believe so many things came between me and updating… vacations and summer. Never underestimate your free time I guess…
Sucks, I know… but please review?
Celene needed to be developed a bit more too, dontcha think? I mean, she is playing a sorta large part so, now you see the girl for who she is.
Oh yes, thanks goes out to:
Shink a.k.a. Anime Master – wow, you've been reviewing from like, way in the beginning. Thank you for sticking with me and my story
Linkin Park – ehe, thanks for the compliment. Hoep this one lived up to expections. Sorry for the late update
FireGurl2334 – thanks. I hope there are less author's notes in this chapter. *glances up* didn't exactly check -_-''
Firegurl4314 – here I am. Hope you liked this chapter
Dd – wow, thanks
Story Weaver – thanks for reading Collision ^-^ And of course, Kari's predicament's going to be explained in the next chapter
???????? – Hopefully he won't be too late. Can't go on for much longer can it?
Nature_luver – I'll try to update faster, only thing on the agenda now is keep out of the sun and drink lots of fluids. So I finally have time!
Branding20 – Thankyou! Hope you enjoy the end as much as you seem to like the beginning.
LightHopemayshine – Thanks ^_^ It seems that my crazy friend, or should I say trusty, I can see her coming with a hammer behind her back, agrees with you.
Tk, the wanderer – Celene's not a real person in Digmon. I don't think so anyways… then again, haven't really watched Frontier so…
Not much to say… My compy's acting strange and won't let me go to ff.net. Whenever this is up; it's probably when my compy problem's solved. And for once I'm shutting up with a lack of words.
Review!
~*Spectraangel*~