Ebacusta: Welcome back. I hope you like this chapter as well as the rest. Thank you everyone who reviewed. I really hate my computer because it just erased my whole file an hour ago.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A Mistake Can Last A Lifetime

By ebacusta

Chapter 4

More to It

TK woke himself up the next day. After his usual showering routine, he stumbled into the kitchen and was surprised to see his mother sitting there with a cup of coffee in her hands.

"Good morning TK," his mother said.

"Mom," was all he managed to gasp. His mother was never home, always away at work or something, but never there especially when he woke up.

"Please, eat your breakfast," she said gesturing towards the stove. He approached it slowly as though it might explode of jump out to eat him. He peered into the pan. There was a normal breakfast: eggs, bacon, and a pancake. Beside the pan sat a plate that held some toast. He tipped the contents of the pan onto the plate and sat across from his mother and ate.

"Did you enjoy it?" she asked when he's finished. He jumped; he'd almost forgotten she was there.

"Yes," he said. "Thank you."

She smiled, "Sure, anything for my baby." TK blushed, even though no one was there but them, it was still embarrassing.

"Why are you here Mom?" he asked hoping he didn't sound rude. "Don't you have work?"

"The dance is at the end of next week," she said bluntly. "I want you to ask her."

"No," he replied.

"TK, I think you'll be very happy with her," his mother told him.

"I'll be happy with no one but myself," TK replied.

"TK, you don't have to love her, but you have to like her, and whether you like it or not, I can tell that you like her," his mother said.

"I don't. She's annoying," he said.

"TK, ask her."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Fine," he said. His mother stared. She didn't think he'd have given in that easily. TK was surprised with himself. He had just agreed. What was wrong with him?

"Well, you don't want to be late for school," she told him. It being Saturday, he only had a half-day. He grabbed his bag and left, anxious to get away from his mistake. As he walked, one thought was clear in his head.

Kari, what are you doing to me?

"Hey, watch it!" somebody exclaimed as he ran into him.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"TK!" a voice exclaimed. It was feminine. His heart sank. He hadn't been planning on asking her now. But, it was not Kari's face that popped up beside him. It was Yolei. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"What is it?" she asked.

"What? Oh nothing," he said. She looked at him and giggled.

"It looks like you have a crush TK," she said to him.

"I do not!" he said in his defense even though he didn't quite believe it himself. Was it possible that even with all his complete and utter defiance, some feeling had wiggled its way into his heart? NO! NO! NOT AFTER ALL THIS HARD WORK! YOU WILL NOT ASK KARI OUT. AND YOU WILL NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH HER!

"TK, there's no use denying it," Yolei said looking at him. It was as if she'd read his mind. "Love is a matter that your brain cannot control." He stared at her, his mouth hanging open.

So basically, no matter how cold, or mean, or even how hard he tried not to fall in love, his heart would betray him, and he would fall in love anyway?

How is this fair? You are a cruel world you are. You are a cruel world.

- - - 10:25 p.m. - - -

During his break, he saw Kari, and beside her was Yolei. His stomach lurched. Was she telling Kari about their encounter earlier? About the feelings she'd read from his heart? This can't be happening. Kari spotted TK and pointed, and with a giggle and a wave, Yolei went on and she approached him.

"Good morning TK," she said. "How are you?"

"Fine," he said, although he was feeling very sick to his stomach.

"That's good," she said. "Listen ... um ... as a thanks ... for ... walking me home last night ... I got you something on my way to school today." She unfolded her slim, elegant looking fingers, and what lay in the palm of her hand was a keychain with the picture of them as children in it.

He took it from her hand.

"I hope you like it," she said nervously. He could tell she was fighting the urge to look away and was looking at him.

"I love it," he said. And before he could stop himself, he pulled her close to him and hugged her.

She blushed. "I'm glad."

He looked at her. "After detention, meet me by the pond in the school gardens. There's something I want to do with you." Holy crap! That came out as sounding totally wrong and disgusting! And like I have a crush on her ... which I don't.

"Sure thing," she said smiling. She walked off. He hadn't asked. Good, you can't get yourself into anything.

- - - 3:00 p.m. - - -

"You may go Miss Yagami," the teacher said.

"Thank you Miss," Kari said standing up quickly. "Have a good evening!" She ran from the room. She ran by her locker, and grabbed something out of it. Once outside, she dashed around the side of the building and headed towards the pond. When she neared the area of the headmistress's desk, she crawled in between the bushes. When she emerged by the pond, she ran alongside the bushes and then crawled through them. A bench was in her way. She crawled under it and crawled out in between a pair of lonesome legs.

"Hi TK," she said still halfway out from under the bench.

He nearly yelled in fright. "Kari, you scared me."

"Sorry," she said. She crawled all the way out. "What did you want to do?" she asked.

"Come on," he grabbed her hand. Together they ran back through the bushes, and emerged at the other side of the school grounds. The wall the surrounded the school grounds towered in front of them. Together, they climbed the wall and fell over it into a park. They ran across it, crossed the street, and stopped in front of an arcade. He pulled her inside, and over to a photo both. They climbed in together. He inserted the money.

"You pick the background," he said. Kari thought for a minute and then picked a background with blue, pink, and yellow flowers surrounding it. He pulled her closer and he looked at her.

"Do you remember?"

"Of course," she said. Both of them threw and arm around the other and raised their free hand in a peace sign. They smiled and took the picture. They exited the booth. It printed out two sheets of stickers. TK reached in her bag and pulled out her cell. He put one of the stickers on it. He put one on his cell.

"There," he said thrusting her cell back into her hands. Kari, who had watched all this amazed, said, "Thanks." She turned to leave but then stopped and turned back.

"This isn't really a guy thing, but do you want to come to my dance lesson, and we can hang out afterwards," she asked.

"Sure," he said, his eyes brightening. I bet she's a really good dancer with that lean body and all... WHAT AM I SAYING? I JUST DID THIS BECAUSE SHE'S SCARED OF REJECTION. Together the two left the arcade and boarded a subway. TK called his house on the way there. No one answered. He suspected his mother had finally gone to work, so he left a message:

"Hi mom, I'll be home later on. I'm going with Kari to her dance lesson and then we're going to hang out. I see you later. Bye."

When the train finally reached their destination, they got off and there was a five minute walk to her school. They climbed the stairs.

"Hi Kari," a girl with blue hair piped when the opened the door,

"Hi Satsuki," Kari replied. The room they'd entered was a lobby. Kari offered to let him stay in here, or he could come in and watch them stretch and the watch the class. She left him there to decide while she went to change. When she emerged, she was wearing a leotard with a see through skirt.

"Have you decided?" she asked him as she put her hair up into a bun.

His face flushed to a scarlet color, but he said, "I'll watch your class."

She smiled, "Okay then. Come on." He followed her down a short hall and into a small room with bars and a trampoline. There were some chairs lined up, along the wall. He took one of them, and when he turned around, he saw Kari upside down on her hands. He was amazed. She flipped gracefully over onto the trampoline and began to jump, switching her feet in a very tight circle.

Satsuki was at the bar. She put the leg up on the top bar and lowered herself to her knee and then slowly to the ground. TK gulped as he saw her leg practically straight up and down.

"Who's your friend?" Satsuki asked as she rose back up.

Kari who was still jumping and switching her feet said, "This is TK. My friend from school."

"Hello TK," Satsuki said.

"Hi," TK said meekly. "Nice to meet..." he trailed off as Kari jumped off the trampoline and landed with her feet slightly parted. She slid on the wood floor with her slippers and landed in the splits her midsection touching the ground.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. She reached for her foot, but smiled at him.

"I'm fine, are you okay? You look kind of pale," she said.

"You ... just ... went ... all the way down ... that's all," he gasped. Kari giggled silently.

"You could too if you practiced," she told him. Her nose touched her knee. She switched to center splits and lay her upper body flat in between her legs. He gasped. She had to be in pain right now. Kari reached for her other foot, her nose touching that knee as well.

"Do you have your costume?" Satsuki asked.

"Costume?" TK asked as Kari said, "Yeah, do you?"

"Uh-huh," Satsuki said.

"What costume?" TK asked.

Kari said, "Well, this is also a small dress rehearsal for the recital that's coming up in a month."

A girl with red hair entered, "It's time for class." Her eyes landed on TK. "Who's this?"

Kari stood. "This is my friend TK."

"Nice to meet you," he stammered.

"Same," the girl said looking him over. She turned her attention back to Satsuki and Kari. "Anyway, come on. We have to practice the finale before the others get here."

"Okay," Kari and Satsuki said. They followed the red-head out of the room and into a much larger room with a mirror and a bar along one wall.

"Who's she?" TK asked pointing to the red-head.

"Veronica," Kari whispered back.

"Hi Kari," said a tall blonde. "How nice to see you."

"Hi Ms. Tiffany," Kari said. "This is my friend TK. He's watching."

Ms Tiffany looked at him, "Then please do sit down." He sat down and watched Kari and her fellow dancers run through it. But suddenly, the teacher stopped them. She turned to TK.

"Excuse me young man," she said. "May I use your arms and strength for a second." TK nodded and stood up. "Thank you," Ms Tiffany replied. "I need you to hold Kari up by her waist. She needs to get used to doing her moves off the ground.

TK blushed, but he went and stood behind Kari. Ms. Tiffany said, "Start from the turns. Satsuki began to turn first, and then Kari came next and finally Veronica. Kari stopped in front of TK, but her tight turn continued.

"Lift!" Ms. Tiffany instructed. TK put his hands on her waist and lifted Kari's surprisingly light body. She kicked on of her legs up and touched her nose, and then leaned back, leaning over TK's shoulder. She kicked her other leg over herself and TK, and flipped out of his hands onto the ground.

"Thank you," Ms. Tiffany said. She looked at her watch. "Come on, we're going to drive to the stage and try this with props. That's where we're meeting the rest of the students. Your friend can come along too." The girls all grabbed their bags and followed their teacher out of the studio and down the steps. They all got on to bikes that were outside the studio. Kari tucked her skirt underneath her and they all rode for about 10 minutes before they stopped in front of a large building.

"You're going to love this," Satsuki told him as they entered. It was a huge auditorium with hundreds upon hundreds of seats.

"Go put on your costumes," Ms. Tiffany said. Kari, Veronica, and Satsuki all hurried off and disappeared from site. TK followed Ms. Tiffany to a pair of seats right next to the stage. When Kari appeared again, she was wearing a white dress with about seven layers of see through material as the skirt.

"Wow," TK staring. As soon as the others emerged wearing purple dresses, he noticed that Kari's dress sparkled.

"From the top," Ms. Tiffany said. Kari and the others disappeared off stage and then suddenly there was Veronica, and then Satsuki, and then Kari. They did the first part of the dance, and then it was on to the finale of the grand finale scene. They all disappeared off the side of the stage, and there was about a 5 minute space where nothing happened.

"That's where the fill in dancers are going to be," Ms. Tiffany told him. "They're everywhere." And then on to the stage came the spinning Satsuki, and then the spinning Kari, and then the spinning Veronica. The first layer of Kari's dress was floating in the air, and where as the other two, stopped spinning, Kari's tightened, slowly sending a layer of her layered skirt into the air, and then happened the most amazing thing.

Kari had about five of the seven layers in the air. He could hear Ms. Tiffany muttering, "She's got get all seven in the air. She's got to get all seven in the air." Kari's spin tightened even more, allowing the sixth one to go floating into the air, and then, Kari was lifted off the ground. Satsuki and Veronica were as well, but they stopped only 20 feet above the ground. Kari was raised higher and higher, still spinning, and then, Kari managed to get the seventh one out floating. All seven of the layers were floating as Kari continued to spin, and then she slowed, until she stopped.

Her layers of the dress fell but, she began to do the dance he had seen her do before with some added moves. And then she kicked back her leg and then her other one and flipped in the air. And then, swinging out her leg, she started a spin again, and then, she went spinning across the stage in the air and fell, into the waiting arms of a boy with spiky brown hair. She posed and Ms. Tiffany stood and clapped, "Excellent. Excellent work Kari. And perfect timing Tom." Kari slid out of Tom's arms, breathing hard but grinning for all she was worth at TK. TK hadn't even noticed that Tom had danced onto the stage.

"That was wonderful," she said. "Is everyone ready back stage Tom?" Ms. Tiffany asked. Tom nodded. "Well," she said with a look at Kari, who nodded eagerly. "From the top." And TK watched the whole scene again except this time, instead of having a five minute space of nothing, girls in brightly colored short dresses flipped onto the stage, and did a synchronized dance together for the five minutes. TK was amazed, this ... was wonderful.

- - - 7:00 p.m. - - -

Kari and TK walked out of the auditorium. "That was awesome Kari," TK said as soon as they stepped out of the building.

Kari blushed, "Thank you."

"How did you keep spinning all that while?" TK asked. "And how did you not get dizzy?"

"You have to keep yourself tight and locked up. Keep all limbs close, and the way you don't get dizzy, is to spot something," she said.

"What were you spotting?" he asked.

"You," Kari said.

"What's the name of this recital? What are you doing?" he asked.

"Cinderella," Kari said.

"Really?" TK asked. "Who are you?" He felt he already knew the answer but felt it appropriate to ask anyway.

"Cinderella," Kari said

"I'm going to come see it," TK said. "It looks interesting."

"Kari said, "Well, the whole school is coming to see it, so you won't have to pay for another ticked."

"But, I'm going too," TK said. "I could probably see that show 5 times and still find more amazing things with it every single time I see it. For example, then Tom, danced onto the stage I didn't notice at all. But the second time, I did, and I bet that if you'd done that scene a third and forth time before you moved on, I would have seen more and more amazing things that I hadn't noticed before."

"Thank you, TK," Kari said.

"I'm treating you to ice cream," TK said, and he dragged Kari down the street and into an ice cream parlor. He ordered two vanilla cones and then stared at her.

"You know Kari, I never knew you were so acrobatic. Even when we were kids you were kind of clumsy, but now, you're elegant, and serene. And the way you managed to get all seven layers of that dress into the air, was so absolutely stunning yet so beautiful," TK said. Oh my god... Am I flirting... with her? Takaishi, stay firm to your resolve. You are unbeatable.

"Thank you. So how have things been going at home?" she asked.

"Fine, but anyway, back to your dance practice," he said.

Kari interrupted, "You will never be able to move forward if you hold yourself back, TK. I, of all people, would know." TK fell silent. When the woman handed him two cones, he paid and thanked her, but he said no more to Kari until they were back on the street 20 minutes later.

"Kari, would you like to come over?" TK asked. "My mom might be home by now."

"Sure," Kari said.

- - - 7:47 p.m. - - -

TK let himself and Kari into the apartment. Immediately, he regretted it. Raised voices were coming from the kitchen. He took off his shoes. She followed his lead. He loudly proclaimed he was home in hopes of stopping the fighting but it continued. He tried to talking to his mom, but she ignored him. Kari was watching this. He was starting to sink into a depression as he sulked over and joined his brother on the couch. Kari watched this too.

And then something happened that surprised both Matt, and TK.

"SHUT UP!" Kari yelled dragging out the word up. Matt and TK swiveled around in their seats. TK saw a look he had never seen on Kari's face before. Anger. Their parents stopped fighting to look at her.

She walked over to them, drew back her hand and slapped his mother, and then did the same to his father. TK and Matt were on their feet in a second, amazed at what she had just done.

"You are terrible! All you have done, is have your little lovers' quarrel, and you divorced, you were happy, but you son is suffering!" Kari yelled. "You have fought and ignored him, and he has withdrawn himself into a shell to protect himself from others."

His parents stared at Kari, still in shock from the slap. "He has begged, he has labored, and done all he could, to try and get you to notice him and the pain he was feeling, but you never did! Not even after you broke up! Don't you know, a child's home is his castle! You ripped it apart and showed no mercy when you separated him from his brother. You never made an attempt to understand him."

Their mouths slowly began to open. Kari continued, "Maybe you've never experienced this, but, a child, especially a young child, tends to blame himself for the break up of his family, and that's what he has done! All relationships end in failure! That is what he told me, and if this is where and how he grew up, I can understand that. You're never home to spend time with him, and I have seen him, shed secrets tears over this. Even eight years later, he still haunts and glowers over it.

"Everyday, he remembers the day his father and his brother left him, and everyday he remembers the fighting and the insults he heard, and everyday, he rips back open the wounds that this has created to let them bleed. He lives with pain, and he has all his life, and because of you, he doesn't know how to live without it!" Kari yelled, tears began to surface.

"So STOP! Stop acting like you're the only ones affected, because you have two sons, who want love and attention from their parents, and you have one son, who wishes to distance himself from love because he's scared that the same thing will happen to him and his marriage will end in shambles!" Kari yelled. "Maybe that will happen, but maybe it won't! If he's never given a chance to find the right person for him, he will never get a chance to move on with his life, and you will be the cause of it!"

Kari turned, and ran from the house. TK and Matt watched her go but then turned slowly back to his parents. His mother began to cry.

"He's right," she said. "We haven't thought of the kids at all. We didn't even consider them when we went and filed for divorce. We didn't think twice when we separated them. I remember how much TK looked up at Matt, and now, since Matt is never here, who does he have to look up to anymore?"

"It's our fault TK feels this way. It's our fault that this is how he views love, and it's our fault that he has created a shell around himself. And I bet Matt has done the same," their father said.

"Please," Natsuko said looking at her sons. "Find it in your hearts to forgive us. We were wrong, we made a terrible mistake. We should have thought of you as well." Tears welled up in Matt and TK's own eyes as well.

"Mom, Dad," they said as they ran around the couch and joined in a hug with their parents. "We forgive you," they whispered.

- - - 8:00 a.m. - - -

"TK, I'm so sorry," Kari said when she unavoidably bumped into him on Thursday. She had been avoiding him all week. "I'm so sorry. I lost control. I don't know what came over me. Please, forgive me."

"Kari," TK said. "I was wondering... Would you like to go to the dance with me?"

"I ... Yes, I would," she finally managed to stammer out.

- - - - Preview - - - -

The school dance is finally here, and I think my worst fear has arrived as well. Kari is coming with me, and mom has been home lately. What could be better? But wait, I am only doing this to make my mom happy right.

"TK, the stars are like people. They each shine brightly in their own time, and they are each unique."

Kari has a knack for being the poetic type, which I absolutely love... oh no... love! It can't be ... has it finally happened? Have I broken my creed? Or have I simply gone crazy?

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