Disclaimer: No own, no money, no sue.
AN: Wow, thanks for the extremely introspective and informative reviews. To answer a few questions, the younger kids are around fifteen, and the older kids are around eighteen. They still have their Crests, but they're kind of crippled by the poor morale of the group, and so are less powerful than the new kids. Time was aligned in the digital world early on by a program created by Izzy and Gennai, which is mentioned in this chapter. There will be no Jogress or DNA evolving, because, well, have you seen what those things look like? Besides which, I really don't understand the entire concept behind that, and this fic is complicated enough already. Ummm… what else… the crest of Hope has foiled all attempts by the sisters to find Takeru's family (an example of this is given in one of the earlier chapters, when Hashiba tries to find TK on the computer), and his temporary last name, which hasn't yet been mentioned, is St. Joseph, after the convent he lives in. Everything else is covered in this chapter, or will be shortly, I think.
Please keep up the reviews, as you can see, they really make me think about my work.
While trucking down the road of life,
Although all hope seems gone…
I just move on…I move on.
When I can't find a single star
To hang my wish upon,
I just move on… I move on.
So as we play in life's ballet,
We're not the dieing swans…
So there's no doubt
We're well cut out
To run life's marathon!
We just move on, we move on!
"I Move On"
Chicago
Sora smiled at Kari as she entered the apartment, her uniform rumpled and limp from the long, hot walk home through the broiling city. The younger girl stood in the doorway for a long moment, allowing the glorious miracle that was air-conditioning to wash over. She dropped her obviously overloaded book bag to the floor with an unceremonious thump, and both girls jumped when a disgruntled yowl came from within.
Sora hid a laugh behind her hand as Kari gasped. "Oh! Gatomon! I'm so sorry, I forgot you were in there!"
The feline digimon leapt out with an extremely irritated flick of her tail, straightening her gloves with great dignity. "It was hotter in that bag than it is outside! I though I was going to cook to death in there!"
The partners turned in surprise as the sound of merry laughter burst from the couch, as Sora lost her battle of will to keep it restrained. The auburn haired young woman was sitting on the couch, a textbook open on her lap, reading in the fresh, clear diffused sunlight that filled the apartment from the large glass balcony doors. Despite the chilly temperature in the apartment, she was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, with her hair bound up in a messy bun to keep her neck cool. She smiled at the straggly, heat worn pair who were still disheveled and red faced from their trek through the blazing streets. "The air-conditioning in my building is broken, so Tai said I could study here while he's at practice. I hope you don't mind some company."
Kari swiftly zipped her book bag, nudging Gatomon as she shouldered it. 'Oh, no, it's no problem. We were just going to take a nap," she smiled innocently, "Long day, you know? When Tai comes home, tell him if he knocks on my door he dies."
Sora smiled understandingly, turning back to her text. "Say no more, I'll take care of it."
Kari and Gatomon smiled at each other as they hurried to the girl's room at the back of the apartment, closing the door quickly behind them. Kari ripped the bag open once more, allowing a sweaty and exhausted Patamon to tumble out. He sat on the cool floor for a long moment, his ears drooping as he panted.
"Gatomon was right, it was killer in there! Whose idea was it for both of us to get in there?"
Kari tossed the now empty bag in the general direction of her closet, her uniform jacket and knee socks swiftly following it.
"It wasn't a parade for me, either. You two aren't exactly light." To emphasize her point, she stretched her back thoroughly, sighing as the tensions of the day slowly eased away. She hopped up onto her bed, making herself comfortable, before turning serious brown eyes to the digimon before her.
"Okay, Patamon… how about you take this from the beginning?"
The little digimon shifted slightly, gathering his thoughts. "Well, this all begins twelve years ago, when I rescued TK from Spiral Mountain. I had, ummm, acquired his digivice and tag from Gennai, and had gone to find his crest myself. He had been in enough pain and danger that I was able to digivolve, but after I defeated Devimon I was about to devolve, and I knew the rest of the Dark Masters would be on their way, so I pushed him into the Gate of Destiny to save him. It should have brought him here, to his destiny. I don't know why it didn't, unless his destiny changed when the Dark Masters kidnapped him. It wasn't until your brother and the others arrived in the Digital World that I realized that he hadn't gotten home, and from there you know what happened. I—I wish I'd chosen some other way… any other way, to save him…"
Patamon trailed off, his voice heavy with guilt, as Kari and Gatomon tried to piece together what had happened, tactfully giving the flying digimon a moment to collect himself. Gatomon was nodding thoughtfully, her blue eyes dark with sympathy. She knew what it was like to be separated from your chosen child, to be used by someone you trusted, to lose a friend. She knew all too well.
"So that was you I sent off of Spiral Mountain. That was TK crying all that time…" she trailed off, trying to contain a guilty sense of relief that it had been Hope, and not Light, that had been taken all those years ago. Kari was silent, her face pale, biting her lip as she considered the implications of what was happening.
"The Dark Masters had TK when he was three…they kidnapped him and that's why the police never found anything. They must have opened a portal and snatched him right off the street. I remember the day it happened… Good God, they took him because they wanted us to have no Hope! But the Crest of Hope works! I've seen it work…" she trailed off, her eyes focused on nothing except the puzzle inside her mind. "That's what Gennai said… it's keeping us from finding him. It must be blocking the police and the government from making the connection between wherever he is now, and here. It keeps me from really talking to him in my dreams; it blocks us whenever we start to talk about names or places. How can we get around it to find him?"
Patamon looked up, a strange look in his eyes. "You talk to him in your dreams?"
Kari had the grace to blush, her eyes casting downward. "Yes… he saved me from the dark, and now the light separates us… but it is him, he looks a great deal like Ishida-san. Gennai said the connection had something to do with Hope and Light being the pillars of the digital world, but I'm not sure I know what he meant by that."
"Maybe it has something to do with us both having Angels as our evolutions?" Patamon supplied helpfully, filing away another guilty flare of jealousy that someone had more contact with TK than he had. Somehow, though, he wasn't surprised that Kari was connected to TK in some way. He'd felt it from her in the past, when he'd been secretly trailing the destined, mostly her, for years. She exuded the same sort of energy that TK had, different from all the other destined, but very similar to Hope. He wasn't sure exactly what the connection was, or if the other digimon could feel it, but it was as plain as day to him.
Kari, her hand on her Crest, shook her head, her eyes distant. "That's part of it, but… it seems like there should be more. There's a deeper connection, between Hope and Light and between them and the digital world. Like, when Gennai and Izzy had to make all those powerful computer programs to realign the digital world to real time, and to maintain the balance until the last Crest bearer could be found, I could feel the change. It was subtle, but I noticed and nobody else did. At the time, I though it was just relief that time had been fixed so I wouldn't have to explain to Mom and Dad why we had aged three years in a few days. But recently, it seems like more… like the balance is slowly deteriorating despite Izzy's programs. And even though we still have our Crests, they don't really do much anymore, especially since the Emperor blocked the old Digivices so the older kids can't digivolve."
Gatomon spoke up this time, her voice thoughtful. "Yes, but do you get power from your Crests, or do your Crests help utilize the power that's inherently yours? You, especially, Kari, seem to power your Crest, not the other way around. With their Digivices useless now, the older kids are getting run down and discouraged. Especially with two Crests missing in action."
Patamon looked startled. "Two?"
Kari nodded bleakly, exchanging a dark look with her partner. "Yes, two. Hope, and Friendship. TK's brother isn't exactly friendly… ever since TK's been missing, and then, Sora… damn it! We need Hope so badly! The Dark Masters seemed pretty stupid sometimes, but they really thought this one out. The repercussions…" she trailed off, her grip on her delicate Crest tightening until her knuckles turned pale.
A grim look came over the girl's bright features, and a faint pink glow came from within the small, tightly clenched fist. "We have to change it. We can't change the past, but we certainly can't sit and wait for something to happen. You've been waiting too long for that, Patamon. This ends now, today."
Gatomon grinned fiercely, shining with pride for her tremendously strong partner who so rarely showed her true colors. Patamon smiled gratefully, determination written in his features. Blue eyes shining, he waited eagerly for the headstrong young girl to continue.
"So, how will we find him? If the Crest of Hope is hiding him, how will we beat it?"
Kari smiled, loosening her fist so she could look down at the faint aura of her Crest. "We can't beat Hope. That's the point of Hope, isn't it? That it can't lose or fall? So if you can't beat it, use it!"
She grinned at the dumbfounded look the two digimon gave her as she hopped off the bed and behind her closet door to change her uniform into street clothes. Gatomon and Patamon exchanged a look of confusion, easily communicating in gestures as if they had been friends for years. Patamon shrugged at the female digimon, glancing back at Kari, who was currently running a brush through her hair.
"Don't look at me," the flying digimon muttered. "She's your partner."
Gatomon narrowed her eyes at him in mock annoyance, before duly turning to her Chosen, adopting her signature cool sarcasm. "Well, Kari? Are you going to explain, or are we playing charades and the answer has something to do with personal hygiene?"
Kari gave her digimon a patronizing look, ignoring the sarcasm. "I meant exactly what I said. Even with the Crest of Light we can't beat the Crest of Hope, especially since it's protecting its bearer. So, if Hope and Light are as connected as everyone seems to think, then why can't I use it to find TK?"
Now both digimon were speechless, staring at the girl with their mouths hanging. Patamon spluttered slightly, when he'd thought they were going to do something it certainly hadn't been this. "But—but you can't use someone else's Crest! Ummm… can you?"
He glanced at Gatomon, who shrugged. She certainly didn't know. Kari sighed, sitting on the bed between the two digimon. "I'm not going to use it to try to make you digivolve or anything. I just thought, if I'm wearing it when I dream of TK, maybe I can break down the wall between us. Just maybe, if I have the Crest, it will see that we only want to help TK, and all of us, and it will let us find him."
Gatomon still looked troubled. "But Kari, Yamato has the Crest of Hope. You're Tai's younger sister. You'll be lucky if he opens the door for you, let alone gives you his brother's crest!"
Kari grabbed her backpack from the corner, emptying it quickly. "I really wasn't planning on asking him, Gato. In fact," she said, dropping the backpack onto the bed where she'd been sitting and grabbing her phone, she smirked as she hit a number on the speed dial. "It will be best for all involved if he's not home at all."
"How will you find out when he's not home? Stalk him until you know his routine?" Gatomon really, really didn't like the sound of this, but obediently fell silent when Kari shushed her.
The two digimon, after moving away from the despised bag they'd spent the afternoon in, watched her curiously.
After a moment, Kari began to speak into the phone, honey practically dripping from her words. "Hi Davis! Yeah, it's REALLY great to talk to you, too! Yeah… uh-huh… actually, I really need to speak to Jun… …OH! Just girl stuff… …oh, she's not? That's too bad… she's at Ishida-san's band practice… until five… oh, no, no, don't worry about a message; I'll just catch her later. Thanks sooo much. Bye Davis!"
Hanging up the phone with a satisfied click, the teenager smiled at the two. "Great! He's not home, thank God Jun's a stalker."
Gatomon folded her arms over her chest, fixing her destined with a stern look. "You should talk. Let me get this straight… we're going to break into the Ishida apartment, and heaven help us if he catches us there because if he doesn't kill us Tai certainly will, and then we're going to STEAL the Crest of Hope, even though we don't know where it is? You realize how illegal this is, of course."
Kari simply continued to grin at the digimon, motioning them to jump into the backpack, which they reluctantly did. "It is very illegal, Gato… IF we get caught." With those words, she zipped the bag closed, her last view of its interior being the dumbfounded faces of it's occupants.
Swinging the now heavy bag carefully onto her shoulders, she smirked in satisfaction. "That should keep them quiet for awhile."
You tell me you want a woman whoIs simple as a flower…
Well if you want me to act like that,
You'd better pay me by the hour…
Don't want to travel in the danger zone?
Take another number!
Don't want a lover who can hold her own?
Baby, step aside if you don't want to ride,
Because…
Wild women do, and they don't regret it…
"Wild Women Do"
Natalie Cole
Kari stood behind the building the Ishidas lived in, looking around for a back door. It was a little bit cooler in the shade behind the building, but her hair and clothes were still stuck to her, sweat and general grunge from crossing the city making her feel disgusting. Considering how she looked, she couldn't blame the doorman for not letting her in. He'd probably thought she was some crazed fan-girl trying to steal Ishida-san's underwear.
Her backpack shifted slightly and through it a muffled voice, Gatomon's, spoke in an annoyed tone. "We can't get in… we'll have to try another way. Can we go home now?"
The last part was delivered in a petulant whine, but Kari, though sympathetic, ignored her partner's discomfort. "No way, guys. I'm not giving up yet, not while I know he's out of the apartment."
"Yes, but what about his father?"
Kari didn't dignify that ridiculous question with an answer, instead turning her attention to two fire escapes on the building. She considered the option carefully, knowing full well that if she got arrested her parents would skin her alive and then let Tai have the leftovers to punish her for doing something so dangerous, but still…
Making her decision, she began to climb the escape for the front apartments, thanking God she hadn't worn her uniform, which included a skirt and less than sensible shoes. Kari was much like Sora in her opinion that the only sensible shoes were sneakers. She never could understand how Mimi and lately Yolei could walk in their platforms, and not get nosebleeds from the extra altitude. Not that she'd seen much of Mimi since she'd moved to New York, but she'd known her for years and never once seen her in sneakers, so it was a safe assumption that she hadn't changed much.
Kari gulped slightly as she looked down at her sneakers, and past them down to the ground far below. My God…I'm thinking about shoes while scaling the side of a seventy story building in an attempt to break into the apartment of someone who would probably run my brother down if he saw him on the street. What is WRONG with me?
If only the others could see their little Angel of Light now…"Ummm…. Kari? What's going on out there?"
Kari hesitated slightly, panting as sweat dripped off her, falling to the distant ground below, before answering Patamon. "I—I'm climbing the fire escape."
"WHAT!?!?"
"What's a fire escape?"
"Something she shouldn't be climbing!!! If Tai finds out I let her do this, he'll make a fuzzy white doormat out of me!"
If she'd had the breath, she would have laughed at Gatomon's ire and Patamon's innocent question… as it was, she spotted what she was looking for. "Here we are. And thankfully, I don't think anyone spotted us!"
"What are you going to do now? Break the window with your bare hands, perhaps?"
"Nothing so gauche, Gato… I'm disappointed that you, of all people, underestimated me. Watch this."
Kari knocked on the window, ignoring Gatomon's muttering about not being able to see anything because she was stuffed in a bag. She knocked again, louder.
"Is she knocking?!?"
"It—it sounds like it."
"How is she even sure this is the right apartment?"
Kari answered before Patamon could, her voice wry. "Well, Gatomon, how many people in this building have Gabumons sleeping in their back bedrooms?"
"…"
"Exactly." Kari said, as Gabumon opened the window, having finally been roused by her insistent knocking. His fur was rumpled from sleep, and he was looking at her like he wasn't sure if he was awake yet, or still dreaming.
"Hikari? What are you doing here?"
Kari smiled sweetly, as if she climbed skyscrapers and knocked on people's rear windows every day. "May I come in for a moment, Gabumon? I really need a favor from you."
She gave him her best Child of Light look of infinite innocent sweetness, which worked on almost all the digimon she knew and every single one of the humans she knew. He caved quickly, moving so she could climb in the window, and shut it behind her.
She fanned herself for a moment, looking around at the immaculately neat bedroom; complete with a perfectly made bed she was sure she could have bounced a coin on. Gabumon let her cool off for a long moment, waiting patiently for her to explain herself.
Kneeling down to his level, she opened her bag and let Gatomon hop out, followed quickly by Patamon. Gabumon did a double take when the second digimon appeared, staring at the stranger. Patamon smiled hesitantly, remaining silent in the presence of his Chosen's brother's digimon, a creature he should have known well, but as fate had decreed, was instead a stranger.
"Gabumon, this is Patamon, TK's digimon. He's part of the reason I'm here."
Kari smiled softly as realization and respect dawned on the canine face. She continued, "I'm actually surprised you guys didn't know him, or mention him before."
At this, all three of the digimon looked away from her, not making eye contact with each other. Gatomon put a paw on her arm, her eyes gentle.
"A digimon losing his partner isn't something discussed between digimon, ever… it just isn't discussed. We—we did hear about a Patamon defeating Devimon, but there are a lot of Patamon out there, and well, it's not something you'd ever ask about."
Patamon stared at the floor, carefully not looking at the girl, whose breath caught as she realized what she said. Reaching out, she put her finger on his tiny furred chin, tilting his face up to look directly into the suspiciously moist eyes. Her voice was soft, but firm, and hearing it, the digimon present understood why she was the inspiration of the digital world.
"I promise you, Patamon, we will find him. No matter what, I will make this happen for you."
A tremulous smile broke out on the rookie's face, and he blinked away his tears. She smiled at him, her light shining in her features, and patted his head slightly before letting him go. "Now, Gabumon, this is where you come in. We need your help."
Gabumon gaped at her, "Me? How can I help?"
Kari's smile went from sweet to beseeching in flash. "We need the Crest of Hope."
The furry digimon choked, his eyes going round. "Oh, but I can't… Matt would, he'd…"
"Would he even notice, Gabumon? When was the last time he wore it? Besides, doesn't it by all rights belong to Patamon, until it can be returned to TK?"
Gabumon wavered, biting his lip hesitantly. "Gennai gave it to Matt…"
His objecting sounded weak, even to him, and Kari pressed her attack, sensing his indecision. "Isn't finding TK what's best for Ishida-san?"
Dropping his head, Gabumon nodded slowly, defeated. "It's in his underwear drawer," he muttered, gesturing lamely towards the bureau. He jumped slightly when Kari threw her arms around him, hugging him impulsively and giving him a brief kiss on the forehead. The canine digimon blushed straight through to his fur, grinning goofily at the affectionate girl as she scrambled towards the bureau. Gatomon gave the blushing digimon a cold look, her arms crossed.
"Don't get used to it." She muttered, cooling the other's blush like ice water.
Kari, busily pulling open drawers, admonished her absently, "Gato! That wasn't nice."
Gabumon grinned smugly at Gatomon as the feline protested in an injured tone, "What did I say?"
The teenager didn't answer, instead pulling open a final drawer and grinning in triumph, her grin quickly turning to a fierce blush. "Oh… my… god… Matt wears tightie whities!" She tried in vain to suppress a giggle as she gingerly began to shift the bleached articles, looking for a small object. Suddenly, her hands froze in the drawer, and her blush disappeared as the color ran from her face.
Moving slowly, she pulled a battered green hat out of the drawer. It was dark brown in places from dried blood, and had a cheesy blue plastic jewel affixed to the front. Despite its terrible condition, she would have known it anywhere. When she was younger, and had dreamed about how the war with the Dark Masters should have happened, the Child of Hope had always, always been wearing this hat. Suddenly, feeling the stiffness of the long dried blood under her hands, the suffering TK must have endured became terribly real, as real as the object she now held in shaking hands.
Patamon, his small voice heavy with unexpressed grief, grief Kari realized now she might never understand, spoke softly into the stunned silence. "He found it after Omnimon defeated the last of the Dark Masters, right before he fought with Tai for the last time… I think that was when he gave TK up for dead."
Four years earlier:
Matt groaned in exhaustion as he and Gabumon continued to search the fortress at Spiral Mountain for any last pockets of resistance. Gabumon looked as tired as Matt felt, which was understandable since he'd just reached the highest form of evolution Matt had ever seen from him.
It had happened just an hour before, when Matt and Tai had put their fight aside for a moment to co-operate. Their crests had activated and allowed Gabumon and Agumon to digivolve together into Omnimon who had, with the aid of the others, been able to defeat Peidmon and Apocalymon, deleting them completely.
After celebrating, Tai had suggested they make sure all the Darkness was gone, by searching the fortress. In the interest of not having to deal with him for a while, Matt had agreed readily, and was now combing what appeared to be the dungeons. He was about to turn back, so Gabumon could rest, when a flash of green in a mostly destroyed cell caught his eye.
He moved towards it, his feet seeming to move by themselves, and he found himself on his knees, feverishly attempting to unearth the object, ignoring Gabumon's questions. With a final twist, the object came free, and he felt as though he turned to ice, as time froze around him. He could no longer hear Gabumon's voice, or even his own thoughts, just silence and the object before him, burning into his memory.
His hat. Takeru's hat… covered in dirt and dried blood.
Dried blood.
Gabumon had fallen silent behind him, and for a long moment Matt just looked around the ruins of the cell, trying to picture in his mind the battle that had been fought here. Trying to picture TK here, in this dark place. But for the first time in years, he couldn't bring an image of TK to his mind. Even trying to picture him wearing the hat he now held in his hands didn't work, and his mind remained blank of everything but grief.
It wasn't until the hat became soaked with tears that he even realized he was crying.
At the moment, Tai arrived behind him, speaking in an irritated voice he probably wouldn't have used if he'd noticed Matt's state. Being Tai, however, he didn't notice a thing and simply spoke, an action he would later regret.
"Geez, have you been sitting here this whole time?"
It was innocent enough, but grief gave way to fury in Matt's mind, and clutching the precious hat in trembling fists, he turned to Tai.
In the rubble of a battle long since past, in the shadow of Spiral Mountain, and upon ground once soaked with the blood of Hope, Matt and Tai fought for the final time.
Kari slowly placed the hat back in the drawer, ignoring the slight tingling in her arms as she handled it. Right beneath where the hat had lain was the object she was seeking, glimmering faintly in the cast shadow of the drawer, making it stand out beside the completely dimmed Crest of Friendship. Her hand hesitated over it for a split second before she picked it up, in a quick decisive movement.
To her surprise and slight disappointment, nothing happened. No flash of light, no thunder, no tingle… nothing at all. She may as well have picked up her brother's Crest for all the reaction she got. Straightening up the underwear, she shut the drawer quickly, standing up and turning towards the door.
Standing directly behind her was Ishida Yamato, looking angrier than she'd ever seen him. His eyes flicked from her face, to the Crest, and back to her face.
Something told her that her innocent 'Angel of Light' expression wasn't going to get her out of this one.