For a very curious writer who wants to know more about her reviewers… I have a little poll for you. Where are y'all from? You don't have to be really specific, but the general area where you are from. Like me—I live in Southern California (in the U.S.)
AN: If you read "Together Again" (which I encourage you to do if you have not), you'll recognize the beginning of this chapter. =D hehe. You'll also recognize the song—"Only Hope" by Mandy Moore. The other song (the one that T.K. "writes") is "Before Your Love," sung by Kelly Clarkson.
Merry Christmas to all my readers!
And—another "Together Again" interlude is coming up! So watch for that. I forgot you tell you guys that eventually this story and the Together Again storyline will merge. But I haven't gotten there yet. So yeah.
Be nice and review for me, yeah? I've uploaded tons and tons of stuff in the last week and haven't gotten a single review for any of it, so I'm very sad. This seems to be the only story people like reviewing. *tear*
Disclaimer: It's in the first four chapters. Go away.
Okay, now read! And enjoy. (It's Takari fluff, people. I know you'll enjoy it.)
One Light, One Hope
Chapter Six: Love
Ding-dong!
I stood on the doorstep of the Kamiya household nervously; I adjusted my tie for the seventeenth time that night. I tapped my foot impatiently. "What's taking them so long?"
Suddenly, the door was thrown open and there stood Tai. I gulped involuntarily; Tai had always been a good friend and respected leader, but now he was playing the part of overprotective big brother, and I didn't know what to expect. "Hey, T.K. Come on in."
I stepped inside, ever so nervously, and planted my feet at that spot. Tai smiled at me reassuringly. "T.K., come on now. Don't be so nervous. You've known Kari for practically your whole life, and if there was one person I could choose to be with her, it'd be you. But you know, if anything should happen to her, if you should break her heart… you know who you're gonna answer to."
I nodded quickly. "You've made that clear, Tai. It's just… gosh, I just hope she likes tonight."
"That's up to you, kiddo," Tai advised me. "Make it the best that you can make it." He went over to the stairs and yelled, "Kari! T.K's waiting for you!"
A faint "I'm coming!" could be heard from the upstairs, and my heart began to race. And in the next few moments, she appeared before me: a vision of iridescent pink, her hair up in a simple ponytail with a few strands framing her face, my Christmas present hanging nicely from her neck, and a dazzling smile to complete the look. I gasped. "Kari… you look beautiful."
She smiled shyly. "Thanks."
I took the flower that I was holding behind my back and offered it to her. "For you."
"Oh, T.K…." She took the single pink rose and lifted it to her nose, inhaling the sweet scent. "Thank you."
"So, T.K., when do you expect to be back?" Tai grilled. And so it began.
After dodging all the questions Tai had thrown at us, Kari and I set off… out to our first dance, and our first date.
That night, after lots of mingling and dancing, we were taking a break from everyone and just having some "us" time. We sat down on a bench just outside and I took Kari's hand into mine, lacing our fingers together. She smiled. "I kinda like the way that feels," she said.
"Then I'll make sure I do this all the time." I smiled back at her, and lifted our hands to my heart. "I'll keep it close to here."
Kari jumped a bit, and I looked at her in concern, but she shook her head. "It's nothing. I just… I can feel your heart beating."
"Oh." Relief washed over me. "It's a nice feeling," Kari commented. I looked at her, looked into her deep scarlet-brown eyes, and felt this feeling come over me… one that I had never experienced before. "You know what, Kari?"
"What?"
"You're very special to me. I'm so lucky to be here with you right now."
Kari said nothing, only leaned in closer to me and rested her head on my chest. "I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be right now," she whispered, as I held her closely, kissing her forehead softly. Just then, a slow song started, and Kari gasped. "Okay, just kidding," she said, as she got back up and pulled me with her. "How about we dance?"
"Okay, I guess…"
"Come on, T.K., do it for me," she pleaded, looking up at me with those huge doe eyes that she knew I couldn't say no to. "Okay, Kari, you win."
Her bright smile lit up her face and she led me in, as I took her in my arms and we began to sway to the music, slowly getting lost in our own world.
There's a song that's inside of my soul
It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again
I'm awake in the infinite cold,
but you sing to me over and over and over again
So I lay my head back down
and I lift my hands and pray to be only yours
I pray to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope
Kari and I gazed intently into each other's eyes, forgetting about everyone else in the room. It was just the two of us. We had been together only two weeks, but every day I knew more and more that this was right. I remembered something Kari had said months before we became a "couple": You'll know love when it comes to you. Was this it? I mean, there had been other girls… I stopped my train of thought when I realized that unlike the many guys who had said, "there were other girls, but none compared to you," there were no other girls. Kari had always been in my heart from the moment I met her—first as a peer and playmate, then as a friend, then as a best friend, and now… Somehow I couldn't describe how I felt for her, but I knew that it would constantly grow and couldn't compare to how I felt for anyone else.
"T.K.?" Kari whispered.
"Yes?" I whispered back.
"What are you thinking about?"
"You," I told her, holding her more tightly. "I was thinking about you and how much you mean to me."
She smiled lightly and I smoothed back her hair. "What is it, Kari?"
"Oh, nothing. I was just listening to the words of the song and how much they work with us… like when I'm sad and feel like there's no hope for me, that you'll always be there, my Hope." She smiled and caressed my cheek with her hand, and I placed my hand above hers. I loved the feeling that came whenever we touched—it was like a little spark that was always there, every time we made contact.
Sing to me the song of the stars,
of your galaxies dancing and laughing and laughing again
When it feels like my dreams are so far,
sing to me of the plans that you have for me over again
So I lay my head back down
and I lift my hands and pray to be only yours
I pray to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope
I watched Kari intently as we slow danced. "Kari, you're so beautiful."
"Thank you." Kari smiled shyly. "Thank you so much for all that you've done for me. You know, I pray to God every day thanking Him that He placed you in my life. I don't know where I'd be without you."
"And I probably wouldn't be able to live without you, Light," I whispered back, kissing her forehead and then resting my own against hers.
"That's a new one," Kari said, but she was smiling brightly. Not only was Light her crest, but it was also her name (Hikari means light in Japanese, for all you who didn't know), and I knew how much she loved it. "But I love it. Only you are allowed to call me that, okay?"
"Okay, Light." Kari smiled again, making me smile. Her smile was so pretty, it just lit up her whole face… it made her look even more beautiful, if that was possible. I leaned down to kiss her, and it became one of the most meaningful kisses in all my life—it felt like we both knew that this was something really special, and we were trying to tell each other that.
I give you my destiny
I'm giving you all of me
I want your symphony singing in all that I am
At the top of my lungs,
I'm giving it back
So I lay my head back down
and I lift my hand and pray to be only yours
I pray to be only yours
I pray to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope
"I love that song," Kari sighed wistfully as the song ended and a fast one started, while we went over to the refreshments table. "It makes me think of you… of us."
"So why don't we make it 'our' song?" I suggested, making the quote sign with my fingers. Kari smiled her pretty smile again and nodded happily, hugging me and kissing me on the cheek. "Okay. It's perfect."
-A few weeks later… beginning of February-
Life as an eighth grader was starting to become challenging. I wanted to spend all my free time with Kari—every moment I spent with her was just amazing—but there were issues like school, basketball, my novel (which had been placed on hold, coincidentally, since I had so many other things to do) and checking in with the Digimon and how the Digital World was doing once in a while. I found it harder and harder to spend time with Kari when school got more and more challenging, but she didn't seem to mind. At least, I didn't think she minded too much… we were both pretty busy.
One day Kari came into the classroom and sat down, but not before giving me a hug. "Hey, T.K., check this out," she said. She handed me a folded piece of paper and I opened it to see:
Odaiba High School Art Department, calling all Eighth Graders!
Do you like singing, dancing, acting, playing an instrument, writing, drawing, painting, or sculpting? If you do, this is for you! Interviews and auditions are being held the week of February 10-14 for all those interested in becoming one of Odaiba High's great creative Jaguars! If you are interested, sign up in the office. Interview times will be announced. Please present an original composition (or write one to be presented) based upon the medium of your choice. This is not a competition, only a call to see who is interested in becoming another member of our wonderful Art Department. Thank you for your interest and we hope to see you next week!
I looked at Kari. "This would be great!" But she didn't look too happy. "Light, what's wrong?"
A faint smile played on her lips at my fond nickname for her, but she sighed. "I want to sing in the choir. But I have to write an original composition! I'm not talented enough for that!"
"How about this—I'll write one for you, okay?"
"Really?" Kari's eyes lit up. "You'll write a song for me?"
"Sure! I'd love to be part of a creative writing class there anyway… if I write your song, does that count as my audition too?"
Kari furrowed her eyebrows. "I think so. We'll check and make sure. How about we sign up together so that they know it's the two of us auditioning?"
"Okay." I looked at my watch. "Do we have time right now?"
"I don't think so. How about during lunch?"
"That'd be great. I'll meet you then?"
"Okay." She kissed me on the cheek, and I blushed a bit at the semi-public display of affection. "Thank you."
"You know I'd do anything for you, right, Kari?" I whispered to her.
She nodded. "I know, T.K. I know."
"Hikari Kamiya, singing an original song written by Takeru Takaishi."
Kari wrote the sentence down with a flourish and smiled. "How about that?"
"Perfect. Does it say that I get to try out with the original composition?" I asked her, holding her with my arms around her waist as she looked at the flyer on the wall.
"Let's see… yeah! You can write anything—a play, a song, or just an essay—and they'll count it as a creative writing submission."
"Yes!" I cheered. "I'm excited."
Kari turned to face me. "Me too. I can't wait."
Every time I tried to concentrate on the song I would write for Kari, either I wouldn't be able to write something, or something came up. I really wanted to work on the song that night (Monday) but nothing came to me. Tuesday was basketball practice; Wednesday I had tons of homework. Kari would ask me about the song—not bother me about it, but just hint at things ("So, T.K., what did you do last night?"), and as days went on I felt more and more guilty. On Thursday night (the compositions were due Friday and the interviews would start the Monday of the week after), right as I was sitting down to think about what to write about as a song, the phone rang. I hoped it was Kari.
"T.K.?" a panicked voice asked. Not Kari's, but Matt's.
"Matt? What's wrong?"
"Um, we have a gig tomorrow and our guitarist is sick, do you think you can fill in for him, just for tonight?"
I exhaled. "Matt, I have something really important to do. Can't you find someone else?"
"I tried, T.K., I really did. I know you're busy and so I didn't want to ask you, but no one else is available. Please, T.K., the Wolves need you. This is our breakout performance—record companies are going to be there!"
"I don't know, Matt…"
"Please?" The request was more like a whimper, a small glimpse of the vulnerable, little-boy Matt that still peeped out once in a while.
"Okay, okay, I'll do it. But not for long. I have a song to write."
"You do?" Matt asked.
"Yeah. It's for trying to get into the high school's creative writing program."
"Well, why didn't you tell me? I'll help you out! That is, if you come and help me out."
"Okay, fine. Only because I need your help, and only because this is so important to you."
"T.K., thanks so much. I owe you one. I would hug you right now but I can't exactly do that, now can I?"
"Nah. Go away, I'll see you later."
"Okay, fine, be that way, Teeks. Later." I smiled as I hung up the phone. My brother and I messed around like that all the time. I was still really worried… I hope Kari wouldn't be mad at me if she called me tonight. And sure enough, right when I was about to leave for the practice, my phone rang again. "Hello?" I picked up breathlessly.
"T.K.? I was just wondering… have you written the song yet?" It was Kari.
"No… I'm sorry, but I have to go to Matt's band practice to fill in for one of his members who's sick. I'm only going because tomorrow is the first biggest performance for his band and because he'll help me write the song."
"But you said you were going to do it!" Kari protested.
"Don't worry, I will. I promise."
"That's what you said on Monday and it's Thursday now. They're due first thing tomorrow. Remember, this is our only way to get into the programs we want."
"I know, I know… listen, Kari, I hate to cut this short, but I gotta leave now if I want to make it to Matt's practice on time. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"But T.K.—"
"I'm sorry, Kari, but I have to go now. I hope you'll understand."
"Fine." I heard her exhale angrily and hang up. I did the same (not angrily, though) and hoped to God I could write a great song that was enough to make her forgive me.
-At the Teenage Wolves practice-
"Okay, guys, that's a wrap. Take 5!" Matt yelled, and the other members of his band happily obliged. It was just him and me in the warehouse, and I sat on an old wood block and put my head in my hands. "Hey, T.K.!" Matt called from across the room.
"What?" I mumbled, not looking up.
"I want you to listen to this," Matt said. "It's a riff that we came up with and eventually made into a song, but we have no words to it."
That caught my attention. I lifted my head expectantly, and Matt pushed play on a tape deck set up in the room. A very pretty melody spread through the room, and as I listened to it, it reminded me a whole lot of Kari. Suddenly, words started flowing together and I grabbed a nearby notebook and a pencil and started scribbling down ideas. As the whole song played through, a rush of inspiration came through me and I was able to jot down a lot of words. I smiled to myself and nodded as I read them over and made sense of them. This was going to be perfect.
"T.K.? So what do you think?" Matt asked me, pulling me for a moment out of my creative state of mind.
I grinned at him. "Matt, you're the best. Do you think I could borrow that?"
"Sure, why? Do you have words for it now?"
"Oh, yeah. This is exactly what I needed. Thanks, bro."
~*~
I lay in bed that night, thinking over the words I had written down and the message they conveyed. Kari and I had been together for about a month and a half now, but I knew it was something really special. I realized that night that maybe Kari was the one person whom I was destined to spend the rest of my life with, my soulmate, my one true love. I furrowed my eyebrows at the word "love." It was so overrated and so commonly used that I didn't want to use it lightly. But the more I dwelled on it, the more I realized—I was in love with Kari. Her beautiful smile, her kind words, her ruby eyes… everything about her was just so perfect, and I cringed at the pain I must have caused her earlier. But that song… those words that had come together to form that song… they explained exactly how I felt about her, something words alone couldn't express. I just hoped it would be enough to make Kari forgive me.
~*~
Kari wouldn't even look at me the next day, and I felt something totally new and totally different. It wasn't jealousy, or anything like that… it felt more like an emptiness, and as the day went on, I realized how dull my life was without Kari in it like the way she was now. Knowing that, I came to a decision.
During lunch, I sat down next to her, but she just scooted away from me. "Kari?" I asked, again. She didn't answer.
"Kari."
She looked at me, but still no answer. She didn't have to speak—her eyes said it all. I saw all the pain in them that I knew would be there, and I sighed heavily. "Light, I'm sorry."
"I tried to understand that you were busy, but you did everything except the one little thing I needed. So everything else is more important than I am? T.K., I just asked you for one simple favor, and you didn't deliver. You promised me you'd always be there when I needed you, but you didn't come through!" Kari burst out. It was the most she'd said to me all day. And I realized that I was wrong to assume she wouldn't mind my busyness.
"Look, Kari, you have to believe me when I say that I really was trying to write something, but nothing came to me."
"So does that mean we forfeit our audition?" she asked, her eyes still narrowed.
"No. I submitted a song."
Kari crossed her arms. "Really. Must I sing some meaningless thrown-together ideas that probably have no real sense to them?"
I ran my hand through my hair, sighing. Kari was really upset. "Kari, I'm sorry. And no, you don't have to sing meaningless thrown-together ideas."
"Why should I believe you, after you broke your promise?" Kari countered.
I took a deep breath and said the five words that would change everything.
"Because I love you, Hikari."
Her expression suddenly softened from one of anger to one of surprise. "Really?" she breathed.
I nodded. "Yes, I do. I've always loved you. I just didn't realize how much until last night. And if you still don't believe me, read this." I pushed a folded-up piece of paper into her hand.
She took it, opened it, and smiled, small pools of tears forming in her eyes. "Oh, T.K., that is so sweet of you."
"It's true, you know. All of it."
Kari looked up at me, and then suddenly kissed me, with a passion that I didn't know she had. We were going at it for a few minutes, her sitting in my lap, my hands running up and down her back, her hands in my hair, when she pulled away abruptly. "I… what… whoa."
"Nice vocabulary, Teeks." Kari smiled.
"Teeks, huh? Not sure if I like that one."
"Well, you're stuck with it. Anyway, I forgot to tell you something."
"Yes?" I asked, still holding her closely.
"I love you, too, T.K. More than anything."
I smiled brightly and kissed my love's forehead, then smiled more as she leaned in closer to me, resting her head on my chest. How did I ever survive without this precious gift in my life?
~*~
I wonder how I ever made it through a day
How did I settle for a world in shades of gray?
When you go in circles, all the scenery looks the same
and you don't know why
Then I looked into your eyes,
where the road stretched out in front of me, and I realized
I never lived before your love
I never felt before your touch
I never needed anyone to make me feel alive
But then again, I wasn't really living
I never lived before your love
I was sitting in the very empty room, watching Kari sing my song for her. As the words flowed from her mouth, I watched in awe. The words themselves were meaningful on paper, but with Kari's voice delivering them, their meaning was taken to a whole new level. Kari had told me earlier that the second time she read through the song, she realized that it described her life perfectly, and tearfully, gratefully, threw her arms around me and hugged me tight. "You've done so much for me, T.K., that I can't imagine my life without you." And we officially declared it our other song, with more meaning, since it really was based on us… we had inspired it.
Now, during her audition, I was confident that she would make it into the performing arts department. Kari had such an awesome voice, but it was one of those talents that she kept hidden.
I wanted more than just an ordinary life
All of my dreams seemed like castles in the sky
I stand before you and my heart is in your hands
and I don't know how I survived without your kiss
'cause you've given me a reason to exist
And I don't know why,
why the sun decides to shine,
but you breathed your love into me just in time
I never lived before your love
I never felt before your touch
I never needed anyone to make me feel alive
But then again, I wasn't really living
I never lived,
I never lived before your love
~*~
(a week later)
It was now Valentine's Day, and instead of eating lunch with everyone else, Kari and I decided we were going to have a picnic on the grassy area behind one of the buildings. Actually, it was Kari's idea. We were heading out to lunch when I realized that the results of the interviews/auditions would be up. Basically, it was the callback list, and if we made the callback list, they would ask us each to submit a work of ours (or a live audition for the performing arts). I caught a glimpse of it on my way out, and we had both made it onto the list (yes!). Kari was too preoccupied with something—I found out what later—to notice. I was heading out to where we usually hung out, but then Kari tugged on my arm. "Yes?"
"We're not going that way today," she told me, a twinkle in her eye.
"Really. And where would we be going, then?"
"You'll see." She took my hand and led me to a semi-secluded area at the school that I didn't even know about. "Here we are."
I saw a simple blanket with a basket on it. We sat down and began to eat, as I looked intently at Kari. She saw this and looked at me wonderingly. "What?"
"Nothing… it's just that I love a woman who takes initiative," I told her.
She looked down meekly. "It's just my way of thanking you for all you do for me," she told me, softly. Kari looked back up at me, right into my eyes, and that strange feeling I'd had the night I'd asked her out, feeling vulnerable but at the same time in the safest place in the world, came over me again. A chill went down my spine and as I gazed back at her, I realized I could read not just what Kari was feeling, but it felt like I could see into her very essence. It was like I was seeing into her soul… a glimpse of who she really was. I opened my arms to her and she willingly came to them, as I held her tight and kissed the crown of her head. "Thank you," I whispered. "Thank you so much."
"I love you, Takeru," Kari replied simply. And somehow, in those four words, she told me all I really needed to know.
So what did you think, guys? Let me know! Review review review review review review review! (You get the point.) Please? I'm going through review withdrawal—I have 8 stories up here and haven't gotten a single review in a week! *tear* Give me a Christmas present!