I've gotten a lot of reviews saying that I can do better than I have been. Well, let me tell you, my mind knows you're right, but for some reason the rest of me doesn't agree. My last chapter sucked and I know it. But lately my heart has been in other things and this story…as well as Lost…have both been a bit 'dead in the water'. Grass is Greener will probably be done by the time I get this chapter out… and the other on-going Digimon fics are having trouble piecing themselves together. It's frustrating having these ideas…and not being able to work on them…and then reading slightly disappointed reviews…it's rough guys. But bare with me, okay?

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. However, thanks to everyone who gave me the best ideas I've heard! This is great! On with the fic!

Once Was Blind…

Chapter 5: The Offer

T.K. sat dejectedly on a wooden bench inside the almost completely empty park. He heard birds singing in the trees, the water making slow ripples in the lake, and the leaves falling onto the sidewalk. He smelled fresh grass, and could feel the wind gently caress his body, stroking his cheeks like a lover. But he felt cold, deep inside, and his heart ached.

He clutched the short staff in front of him, tapping it against the wood of the bench. It was fall, and the leaves were changing colors, he knew they were. But he couldn't see them…All he saw was darkness…

It had been a week since Kari had yelled at him, and ever since that day not a single one of the other DigiDestined had even given him a second look. They all regarded him with the same cold silences, moving away in the halls when he got close, as though they were afraid he would snap out at them, too.

The only people who paid any attention at all to him were his mother, and Matt. His oni-san came almost daily to visit him, talk to him, make sure he had some kind of interaction. But even their meetings were tensed…the older DigiDestined knew nothing of the younger's spats, so the night before T.K. had bared his heart, then spent an hour sobbing into his brother's shoulder. Matt had left the apartment in such a rage that night T.K. was a bit worried he might hurt someone.

He heard footsteps come closer, but ignored them, figuring they'd just walk on past. A moment later he felt the bench next to him shift, and the breathing of someone next to him.

"What's the matter, kid?" an unfamiliar voice asked, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He turned, out of instinct, and frowned. Even the scent was unfamiliar. "Who are you?"

"Just a friend." the man next to him shrugged. "What's ailing you?"

"Nothing…" T.K. muttered, turning back to look at the ground.

"It sure seams like more than nothing." the man's voice grew alluringly sweet. His hand reached up to touch his dark glasses. "The problem is these awful glasses, isn't it?"

"It's not the glasses." the boy snapped, pulling his head away. "It's the eyes behind them."

"Oh…is that so?" the eyes snatched his glasses away. T.K. grabbed for them, but the man seized him by the chin, turning his head up. "My my…that is a problem, isn't it?"

"Shut up." T.K. pulled away from him. "I don't even know you. Just shut up and go away."

"Such harsh words…" the man clicked his tongue. "What if I told you that I could fix your little predicament?"

"Impossible."

"Really?" T.K. felt the man's hand slip over his eyes, rubbing something hard and grainy against instantly-closed lids. He removed them a second later, and T.K. opened his eyes.

Wait a second…he opened his eyes. And he could see!

His mouth fell open and he gaped around him, taking in all of the sights he could. The trees, all flaming reds and oranges and golds, the grass, such a dark green, giving way to brown in some hidden spots, the sky was so blue, and it was there were only a few puffy white clouds floating past in it.

He turned to the man beside him, but his vision began to blur once more. The only thing he could tell now was that his companion was dressed in black, but he could not see his face.

"That particular cure is only temporary." the enthralling voice came again, brushing a hand along the back of his neck. "But I do have a way to make it permanent… but you must agree to do something for me first…"

"Anything!" T.K. exclaimed, grabbing his hand. The last bit of light faded away, leaving him in the darkness once more. "Please, please, I'll do anything you want me too! Just give me my eyes back, please!"

The man gave a low chuckle, reaching for something around T.K.'s waist. For a moment the boy heard a familiar high-pitched beeping, then felt the air around him change slightly, as though someone had disrupted the way the air flowed, like blocking the filter in a swimming pool.

The man took him by the wrist and pressed something into his hand. He felt the familiar cold, hard plastic cover of his D-3 and folded his fingers around it. The man put both his hands around T.K.'s one, fingers slipping between his hand and the Digivice.

The device grew hot, hot enough that T.K .wasn't sure if he could hold it much longer. Then it seamed to melt down, to a near-liquid state, and the man slipped it out of his hand. He lead the partially-molten device to his arm, wrapped it around his wrist, and began to mold it around in a new shape, a new kind of machine all together…

Then he took a bit of it out of it, rolling it into a ball and pressing it against T.K.'s temple. The Digivice on his arm had already hardened, and this new bit was almost dry by the time the man ran his hand along his eyelids.

Information flooded T.K.'s mind, and he slowly realized exactly who his companion was…no human, but a Digimon, with the powers to do such things…but for some reason, he didn't care…

His companion seamed to be a young man, barely ten years older than he was. His hair was short and black, and his eyes were blue, but such a dark blue that they were almost black. His skin was pale, and he was dressed from head to toe in black.

As for where they were…well, it was clearly the Digital World, as it could never have existed in the Real World. The area around them was completely black, like a cave that sparkled with gems and diamonds of such brilliant colors that they looked more like rhinestones than actual gems, and they shown as though light bulbs were inside of them, like something at a theme park.

"Does it satisfy you?" the man asked. T.K. looked around, smiling at everything. "I can see it does…" the man smiled.

He reached over and took the boy's hand up once more. He tapped the plastic around his wrist, which had turned a hard black and now resembled a plastic sports-watch.

"This is what I call a D-X." he smiled. "It's bi-directionally connected to this piece here." he touched the small piece of metal on his forehead. "Now no one can see this thing but you and me. It projects a very low-frequency wavelength that covers your eyes and has regained your sight…Always keep the D-X on, an hidden. No one should know about it but you."

T.K. examined the D-X in curiosity, then looked up. "This…D-X…" he muttered. "Is it still…?"

"It still has all its normal Digivice functions." the man nodded. "You'll be able to travel freely between your world and the Digital World, and you little friend will still be able to Digivolve. But he is the only one to know what we have been doing. Agreed?"

T.K. nodded. Patamon had always said he would trust him, no matter what choice he made, but the others would condone him for making a deal like this. They didn't understand…they couldn't understand what it was like to be locked in perpetual darkness, knowing there were things out there to see but never being able to see them.

"One more thing." the man mention. "In this world, you'll be able to freely walk around full-sighted. But in the Real World, you will still have to wear those glasses. That is…unless you want people to find out about this."

He held up a mirror. T.K. gazed into it, eyes widening slightly. They were no longer that bright sky-blue, rather, they were pure, blood red. The pupils were still missing, but he could see, and that was all that mattered to him now.

"Fine." he said, voice oddly dark and haunting, changed by the air. "I don't mind. Glasses are nothing for sight."

"Wonderful!" the man's smile widened and sent shivers down the boy's back. "Now…For our deal…"

Heh heh…cliff hanger.

I'm much happier with this chapter!! ^_^ Give me ideas, and please tell me if you like it!

Ja ne!

~GS