Me: "Wow… I wonder if anyone's still going to read this story… Well if you guys are then I thank you all VERY much for sticking around. You guys mean a lot to me and I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter out."

Davis: "Wow… How long has it been? I would have thought this is a story you weren't going to finish."

Me: "Yeah right Davis you probably just don't want me to finish it since it's a Takari."

Davis: "Hey… I actually kind of missed this story… I missed you getting mad at me!"

Me: "Aww poor lil Davey Wavey."

Davis: "… You did NOT just call me 'Davey Wavey'"

Me: "Uhuh I think I did!"

Davis: -goes and attacks-

Me: -runs-

Ken: "Wow… Okay then… Well while they're back to their old charades I guess I will do the disclaimer AS usual… But this time I don't really mind since I haven't done it in a long time… So without further ado… The characters of this story do not belong to Azn Angel Hikari but the storyline does."

Me: -stops running for a second- "Have a good read!" -goes back to running-

Chapter 13- I'm Lost Without You

It was morning already? No wait. Impossible. Or is it? I don't even remember. What happened? My eyes are closed. It's dark. Am I dead? But I can't be dead! I've still got so much to finish… Wait a light. But light's aren't good are they? Oh no. It can't be. I'm not going there buster. No way. It's not my time to go yet. But otherwise I'm still floating in space? Oh no. What do I do?

Kari…

No! I'm not going there! I can't. Not yet. Don't make me. Please no. I can't go there yet. I'm sure it's nice and all but please no!

Kari?

Hikari's eyes shot open as light flooded into her vision. Breathing heavily, she stared up into violet orbs looking down at her. With a sigh of relief, the teenager let her head fall back against the pillow as she finally became aware of her surroundings.

She was back on the ship. In her cabin safe and sound. Had it all been a dream? No… All the pain on her body reminded her of that as she winced, trying to get up or at least do something.

"Kari thank god! I was worried about you… Oh yeah and don't try and get up, it might be a little painful," Yolei said brightly as she almost squealed, causing Kari's massive headache to start up.

"Thanks for your timing Yolei…" Kari said sarcastically as she winced, shifting her hand towards her head as her eyes closed once more, "What happened? I feel as if I've been hit by a huge boulder."

"You mean you don't remember?" Came another voice. A familiar female one that she could only associate with Sora.

"Remember? No… What am I supposed to remember?" Kari asked as Yolei handed her some sort of painkiller to take, which Kari accepted thankfully.

Everything ran through her. The story. The battle. Everything. They told her all she needed to know… Or was it all she needed to know? They had all been fighting off the other ones while TK had gone and rescued her. They stopped the contruction to break into the Digital World… Binding the gateway with help from old friends. But what had happened with her and TK? Only one person could help with that… But it was funny. For the first time in her life she didn't want to talk to him.

"So…" Hikari began after the story was told and a minute was taken up for her to collect her thoughts, "Where is he then…" She whispered softly as Yolei and the rests of the girls all exchanged caring glances.

"Well… We.. We don't know," Yolei said quietly after awhile, "We told him we would take care of you… And it's been a day already… You sure sleep a lot. But, when he came back with you in his arms… TK looked as if he had been crying a lot. We don't know why… We don't know what happened. Everyone was sort of wishing you would remember so you could tell us. But TK hasn't been around today. Tai and Matt have stopped in to see you, but they always said that he just wasn't ready. Matt thinks he went into town to get a costume for tonight."

"Wait… What town? We're on water…" Hikari asked confused as she squinted, the light shining in her eyes.

"Oh right. Sorry forgot to tell you! We've arrived in a port on Australia. You know, going south and all. Well we have the opportunity to go into town and stuff. I've heard they've got some great shopping Kari with a neat little costume shop," Yolei said as stars almost formed in her eyes.

Laughing at her old friend, Kari smiled a little the painkillers starting to kick in. Tonight she would go to the dance. She needed something fun after all of that… And yet she still wanted to see TK, to find him. To figure out what happened. People assured her that he didn't like Catherine… But she didn't know that for sure. She needed to find out from him and only him. To finally make things right.

The day passed by pretty quickly once everything got going. Kari found out that she had some cuts and bruises but most of them were covered up with bandages. Finally after eating a bit, her strength returned again as all the girls went into town. They all wanted to find pretty costumes to go to the dance in.

After finding the shop in the middle of town, everyone ducked inside and laughed as they started to try on some crazy outfits. Yolei finally decided on hers as an Egyptian style princess with a mask that covered her entire face. Mimi and Sora both found some cute costumes as well. Finally it was Kari's turn to pick. Everyone turned their attention to trying to find the perfect costume for her.

Flipping through the racks, Hikari looked carefully through the outfits. Some were too big, others too small. Some were too weird, others too fancy. Then she saw one that caught her eye as she took it off the rack and looked at it in full light.

It was a white dress. Strapless with a white fur lining at the top and down near the bottom. The dress at the bottom cut from her knees and down to the ground leaving a view of her legs in the front. Along with the dress came beautiful white full wings with a white hair band that had a furry white halo attached to it. To finish it off, Hikari's mask took up half the face, embroidered with shiny white sequins around the edges.

"Oh my god Kari that's perfect!" Yolei almost screamed as she saw what she was holding up.

"You think so?" Kari laughed a bit as she looked over the back and then at the price tag.

"YES! Oh my god Kari you HAVE to get it!"

"Well… It's a little much but I guess I can get it… I'll go try it on to make sure it fits," The teenager flashed her trademark smile as she went off to get changed.

TK's POV

"TK stop throwing that ball against the side of the room, you're going to piss off other people around here," Matt said as he looked through some of his clothes and listened to a ball klunk against the side of the room and then to the sound of his brother catching it.

"Give me a break. I think you can cut me a little slack Matt," TK said absent mindedly and leaned his head back against the back of the wall as he sat on his bed.

"Fine fine. But you should at least get outside. Even if you don't want to see her at least go do something."

"I did go. I went earlier to get a costume just like you wanted me to."

"TK… You know she wants to see you."

TK paused a minute staring down at his hands as Matt looked up at the sound of silence and sighed, "I… Know she might want to see me… But I can't Matt. Not right now."

"If you say so… Anyways, I'm going out so I'll catch you later."

"Yeah sure bye," TK said as he watched his brother go out the door and shut it with a small click.

Sighing he flipped onto his bed and hit his forehead against the matress. Deep down he knew that she wanted to see him. He wanted to see her too… But those words just kept on coming into his mind. Did she really mean it?

"God someone give me answers!" TK yelled in frustration as Tai walked in.

"Woah! What's up with you TK?" Tai asked hearing the younger teenager yell, the boy swiveling around to face the older digidestined.

"Oh Tai jeez you scared me."

"Ha I scared you? I nearly jumped when I walked in here."

"Yeah yeah… What do you want? Matt's not in right now."

"Oh man… Well I wanted to go see if he wanted to go do something with me since the girls are in town but guess that's not happening…"

"The girls are in town?" TK sat up trying to find out any and all piece of information he could about them.

"Yeah… Listen TK I know it's not my business but you better not hurt Kari. I don't know what you'd do but you better not. I don't want to kill you or anything since you're a good guy."

"Tai… Please just leave me alone. I don't know what you think I'll be doing but I won't be hurting Kari. I've already hurt her before without knowing it and I never want to again."

"Yeah… Anyways you should get suited up soon. The dance should be starting soon. We can get something to eat there."

"Okay… I'll see you later Tai," TK said as the older one left the room. Turning back down towards his bed, TK grabbed the nearest pillow and yelled as loud as he could into it before going off to get his new costume.

Kari's POV

It was time. 7 o'clock to be exact. She was ready. Right? Yes she was ready. Nervous as hell, but ready. Why was she nervous though? No one would recognize her… Or would they? What if the mask were too revealing? What if someone guessed her identity before the end of the night? No… No she just had to play it cool and everything would be okay.

"Okay Kari. So we're all going to go out there one at a time so that we're not in a big group. People won't recognize us as much then," Yolei said beneath her bright costume as Kari nodded from underneath her mask. She had brushed her hair and let strands fall in front of her face in a "non-kari-like" fashion just for effect.

Soon it was just her in the room as she smoothed her white skirts out nervously. No one could see the bandages right? No no they couldn't. Yolei and her and spent around an hour fixing herself up so that she didn't look damaged at all. It wasn't just for the effect of beauty, but also people would start to wonder.

Walking outside in her white shoes and costume, Kari walked up the stairs to get to the dance floor. There were a lot of great costumes. Some crazy funny, some absolutely stunning and others not really costumes at all. As she stepped onto the floor though, a few heads turned her way.

Smiling a little shyly with her pink lip gloss on, Hikari flicked back a piece of brown hair only to have it fall back in her face as she proceeded onto the floor. Many guys asked her to dance, and so to be polite she went along with them. It was fun sure, but there was only really one person that she really wanted to dance with.

It was getting down to the end of the night though when Hikari realized that maybe she wouldn't find him tonight. This would be such a great opportunity though… She could spill her feelings to him without him even knowing it were her until the last moment. But how would she ever find him in such a crowd? If he didn't know it was her… Then what were the chances she would know it was him?

Smiling and thanking a guy for a dance after the song ended, Hikari walked over towards the refreshment table and took a cup in her hand. Just as she was about to reach for the spoon to get some punch though, a hand lifted up the spoon and held it out to her.

"Do you mind if I pour you a glass?" A voice said behind a white mask that covered their eyes. Hikari smiled thoughtfully and held out her glass, thanking him as he poured her the drink. It was funny… It was a costume dance, but the boy before her hardly looked like he was in a costume. It was a simple black tux with a cape. A black hat was tipped on top of his head covering most of what looked like blonde hair. Truthfully, the guy before her just looked like Tuxedo mask from Sailor Moon, which she had watched some episodes of.

Turning to place her lower back against the table, the masked tuxedo man made himself a glass and stood beside her. There was something familiar about this… But she couldn't figure it out at the time. Her eyes were too busy scanning for him.

"Looking for someone?" Hikari looked up at him as she smiled a bit and nodded, turning to take a sip from her glass.

"Yes… Although I didn't know it would be this difficult."

"Yeah I know what you mean… I'm looking for someone too, but I can't seem to find her."

"Oh is it your girlfriend?"

The boy paused a minute before turning towards her and thinking a moment, "You… Could say that I guess… She's a friend that I just have some unfinished business to talk to her about."

"Oh I see…" Hikari said quietly as she started to feel a little uncomfortable talking about the same sort of scenario that she wanted to find.

"Hey… Well it's getting late… I don't think we're going to find the people we're looking for. So would you mind giving me the honor of a dance?" The masked person asked as he set down his cup on the table and held out his hand to her.

Smiling at his offer, Hikari set down her cup and put her hand delicately in his as she flashed a smile that seemed very familiar to him.

"Please the honor is mine good sir," The beautiful angel said as she walked out onto the dance floor with him.

The tuxedo boy just smiled as he held her hand in his and brought his other white gloved hand down to the side of her waist, while the angel put her hand on his shoulder as both of them began to dance to the song.

A hundred days have made me older
Since the last time that I saw your pretty face
A thousand lies have made me colder
And I don't think I can look at this the same

All the miles that separate
Disappear now when I'm dreamin' of your face

Hikari looked up at the person in front of her. This just seemed so… Right. For the first time that night, even with dancing with a whole lot of guys, none of them had felt like this. Maybe it was just that this was the last song of the night. Somehow though… Somehow she didn't think so.

I'm here without you baby
But you're still on my lonely mind

I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time
I'm here without you baby
But you're still with me in my dreams
And tonight, there's only you and me.

It was like time stood still. It was just her and him. Together, dancing under a moonlight sky. He was smiling fondly down at her. Almost as if he saw something in her… Was she blushing? She couldn't even tell… Her emotions were too masked. Was this what it was like? It felt like she were falling… But he was catching her.

The miles just keep rollin'
As the people leave their way to say hello
I've heard this life is overrated
But I hope that it gets better as we go.

What about TK though? Where could he be? He was the only other person who could make her feel half this way. And at least she knew him. This person… This person was like a complete stranger. Or was he? Something felt right there. Something felt safe and had an uncanny déja vu feeling to it.

I'm here without you baby
But you're still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time

I'm here without you baby
But you're still with me in my dreams
And tonight girl, there's only you and me.

Yes this was something she could take away from this whole trip. Even if everything had been horrible and she would never see this person again, she would always remember this feeling. This memory and this instant. She would make it be embossed in her mind.

Everything I know, and anywhere I go
It gets hard but it won't take away my love
And when the last one falls, when it's all said and done.
It gets hard but it won't take away my love

"You're beautiful… You know that right?" The masked boy before her said softly as he stared down at her. There had been silence up until then between to the two. But it was okay… It was as if the silence were enough. His voice though… It was complete bliss as she listened to it, her cheeks taking on a rosy hue as she heard his compliment.

"Alright folks. This is it. The last song of the night. I hope you all enjoyed it. At the end everyone can remove their masks… And I wish you all a good night," The DJ said softly as he turned down the music slightly and then back up again after he finished speaking.

I'm here without you baby
But you're still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time

I'm here without you baby
But you're still with me in my dreams
And tonight girl, there's only you and me

This was it. She would finally be able to see who this person was and maybe why she was feeling this way. Would she be good enough for him? And what of that girl he was trying to find? No… No matter what she would always remember that dance. That moment.

Lifting her hands up she placed her fingers on the edge of his mask as he did the same to hers. Smiling they both counted to three as they closed their eyes and lifted off each other's masks.

Blinking slightly to adjust to the mask finally being off her head, Hikari brushed back some of her hair and almost gasped as she looked at who was before her. Of course it was none other than the person she was looking for.

He stared back at her, his mouth in a sort of awe as his fingers lifted to her hair, brushing a strand aside and around her ear as he smiled down at her lovingly.

"Hikari…"

"Takeru…" Hikari whispered back as she stared into his eyes. At that moment it was as if everything were forgiven. She knew how much he loved her. He had demonstrated that enough when he had saved her. No one else had. It was him and him alone. She knew how much he meant to her. She couldn't stand to be without him for long. She didn't want to have to stand to be without him long, and just looking up at his eyes she could tell he meant the same. He was beautiful in every way… And she knew he thought she was as well.

Then, Hikari watched as time started to tick by slowly, his head coming down nearer to hers as she lifted her feet up a bit to meet him. Both their eyes closed and their lips parted slightly before finally connecting after a long awaited kiss. Hikari couldn't even describe what it felt like if she wanted to. His lips were so incredibly soft against hers as warmth flooded through her whole body, his hands snaked around her lower back as hers encircled around his neck. Just through that kiss, she knew the way he felt, and she didn't ever want to forget it. Hikari would make this last. She didn't know what she would do without him. He was her hero, her savior.

"Hikari…" Takeru whispered as the kiss ended and he leant his forehead against hers, staring down into her eyes as she tried to unfog her head, "I love you more than life itself… Please… Tell me what you said to me was true…"

"Takeru… I'm sorry… I can't…" Hikari said quietly as Takeru's eyes shot open in surprise only to have Kari giggle a little and smile back at him, "And that is only because I do not remember what I said… I will however tell you this… I love you Takeru. I always have… Please don't leave me… I'm lost without you."

TK grinned as he received the answer he was looking for and Hikari's heart skipped a beat as he leant down, the two sharing yet another kiss underneath the stars.

The End

Me "Okay… I'm sad… Yes that is it folks. That is the end of my Cruise Ship fanfiction. By the way the song that was in the end was the song "Here Without You" by 3 Doors Down. I hope you all had a good read and I hope it was all good enough for you guys. I'm sorry to see it go, yet I'm glad at the same time. Alas and it is now that I will make an announcement… This will probably be my last fanfiction for a long long time. Unless of course I find a storyline that I really want to post, this will be my last one. I did enjoy it for a long time but now I have moved on from that. If you do see anything from me I cannot imagine it will be more than 3 chapters and it will most likely only be one. And so I will give you all a good farewell and perhaps I you will see something from me in the future again."