Litanya: Hi again. I'm sorry that I confused people with my first chapter… it's meant to be confusing I think. But everything will become clear in a few chapters. Basically the main part of this story is a romance between my two favourite digimon characters, so it shouldn't be too confusing after the first part of this chapter. Anyway, thank you to all who reviewed and I do not own Digimon, but I do own Pohe, Aviana and Marnia.

Worlds Apart

Chapter 2:

Another member of the digidestined had gone missing, ironically on the same day that her brother had disappeared three years earlier. Sora could not believe that it was happening. After they had read Kari's note, she and Matt had called the other digidestined and organized a meeting at Sora's apartment for the next day. Now all ten of them had gathered and were thanking God that it was a weekend.

"So she just disappeared, just like that?" T.K asked unable to believe what Matt had just relayed to them. The seventeen year old was perched on one side of Sora's desk chair, allowing Davis to sit on the other side. They had been mucking around whilst everyone had been arriving, and they had reminded Sora so much of Matt and Tai that she had almost believed that she had dreamed everything since Matt's concert.

"Well, at least she left a note. We would all have had heart attacks worrying if she hadn't," Mimi pointed out to him, trying her best to understand the situation herself, "But didn't she promise us that she wouldn't go looking for Tai?" She was referring to an incident two years ago, when the older digidestined had had to persuade Kari from leaving then. It seemed a long time ago now, and Sora had almost forgotten about it.

"She's just upset that Tai is still gone. I'm sure that she will come to her senses by tomorrow and she'll be back before we know it," Joe tried to sound sure, but instead he just sounded like he was trying to convince himself of that. As their leader was gone, he felt obliged to look after everyone, being the oldest out of all of them. It hurt to know that Kari had left them all without saying a proper goodbye.

"But why would she leave after exactly three years, to the very day? She knows how we all hate this time of year. Why would she hurt us more than we are already hurting, on purpose? There is just something not right about this whole affair, from Tai's disappearance to Kari leaving. It's like a fantasy novel from a land far, far away, where the characters are transported to different worlds where they are supposed to fulfill some kind of prophecy. Nothing like this is ever supposed to happen here in our world, and definitely not to our friends. How are we ever supposed to 'get over' this? How are we ever supposed to accept the fact that one of our best friends has probably been murdered and that another has ran away? Why do things like this happen?" there was a long silence after Sora's outburst, as everyone struggled to find an answer.

"Did you ever think that the Digital World would happen to us? Maybe we are the main characters in a fantasy that someone on another planet has created. Tai and Kari could come back to us any day. If they don't, or until they do, we just have to keep on going with our lives. I don't mean that we should forget them, but we cannot live our lives properly if we dwell only on the past. And for all we know, Kari could come back in a few days if she doesn't find Tai. In the end, all we can do is hope that everything is alright," everyone listened to Ken's advice quietly, almost looking for a point over which they could argue with him. The eighteen year olds words held too much common sense however, and no one could find anything to debate over in them.

"Ken's right. We can only hope that everything turns out good. But until then we should stop worrying about the past and enjoy each other's company whenever we are together. We take too much for granted when we meet up these days," Yolie backed up her boyfriend's wise words with what she hoped were a few of her own, "Now I am sorry that I have to go now, but I promised my sister that I would take her shift at the store tonight. I didn't know at the time that Kari was going to… you know. I'll see you guys tomorrow." She gathered her things together and Ken stood up with her.

"I will go now too. I have a big Uni project due in on Monday and… I would like to see that Yolie makes it back safely," he admitted, avoiding looking at anyone because he was embarrassed at saying his fear aloud, "But I'll see you tomorrow too." The pair departed and soon everyone was leaving, except for Sora and Matt. They were both silent for a long time after everyone had gone, and they did not move from where they were seated on the couch.

"Do you think that Ken's right?" Sora asked him softly after almost half an hour had gone by, "Do you think that we can do nothing but hope that they return?" Matt was not sure how to answer.

"I don't know," he told her honestly, "But he could be right. We did so much to try and find Tai, but in a way it was all for nothing. Maybe… maybe everything will turn back to normal if we leave everything alone. I know that it's hard to just sit here and not go looking for Kari but… in a way it seems to make sense. Oh, I don't know!" His words did not seem to have any effect on her, and so he gave up.

"Yeah… I'd better start making lunch now; otherwise we'll be eating it at dinner-time. Salad sandwiches okay?" he nodded and she quickly leapt up and went into the kitchen. As much as Matt tried, he would never understand how she was feeling. She was so confused. She had dumped Tai because she had thought that she loved Matt, but ever since Tai had disappeared she had felt… empty would be one word to describe it. She had tried to shake the feeling away and she had told herself that it was only there because her best friend wasn't. But she knew, deep down she knew, that it was more than that. She and Tai hadn't been called the 'perfect couple' several times for nothing, she knew that now. But it was too late for her to do anything about it now.

Pohe watched as Tai aimlessly drew another line on the sheet of paper in front of them. They were playing a game called 'Paddocks,' but the younger boy knew that Tai wasn't really paying much attention.

"Come on Tai, this is the tenth time in a row that I have won. What's troubling you?" the fifteen year old asked, finishing of the game with a few strokes of his pen. Four years had passed since Tai had come to their world, and although he did all of his tasks well and he had made a lot of friends, he always seemed to be thinking about something else, something far, far away.

"I'm sorry Pohe, I just can't concentrate. I guess I have been a little preoccupied lately," Tai admitted, lifting his brown eyes to meet Pohe's clear blue ones, "I guess… I miss my friends back where I grew up. I love everyone over here and this planet is very beautiful but… I miss my friends there. And my sister… I know that she made it to Livania, but I know that she is feeling a lot like I am now. I… I should get over it soon. When I have to do my duties and everything, it's not so bad, but when I am just talking to you and everything… it reminds me of Earth. I love talking to you and all, but at the same time it hurts because I can't see if Sora and Matt are still together, or if Ken actually got the courage to ask Yolie out or if Davis has actually been on a date yet. But you don't need to worry about all of that; once it turns to May and the harvesting starts again, I'll stop brooding. I'll be fine; I promise you that I will. Now, let's play another game." But Pohe could tell that Tai's heart wasn't in it and he declined.

"I'm sorry, but there is something that I have to do. Maybe in a couple of hours, if you are free then of course," he stood up and left the room, leaving Tai with his thoughts. He had an idea, and if the elders would agree to it, Tai might be a little happier for a while. He left the building and crossed the street carefully, aware that the elders may not agree easily with his reasoning. He entered the building that housed the elders without having to go through the process of gaining permission. The elders knew him now.

"Pohe, it's good to see you again child. What brings you here today?" Marnia, one of the head elders asked. She was an elderly lady with cheerful green eyes. Pohe had always liked her best because she was always nice to him.

"I'm actually here on behalf of Tai," people usually went to the elders when they needed to talk to Tai, instead of the other way around, but with Pohe it was different, "I would like to propose something to you which might help him in the long run." Marnia looked interested at this. She had been worried about the twenty-one year old Guardian too. She had noticed that he had been distracted, but unlike Pohe she had seen him staring at a photo that he kept with him at all times. She knew that the photo meant something to Tai, and that it was the person or thing in the photo that was somehow making him unhappy.

"Well, go on child and I will listen to your proposal. I know that you are worried about him, probably as much as I am and you know him better than any of us here. So please go on," Pohe bowed respectfully and started his story.

"I was just talking with him and playing Paddocks and he didn't even get one square in our last game. Anyway, I asked him what was wrong and he said that he had probably been a little preoccupied lately. He told me that it was because he really misses some of his friends back on Earth. He also told me that although he loves it here, he misses his friends. I was wondering if we could somehow let him go back there, just for a few minutes, to see what was happening with his friends," Marnia frowned as she considered the idea.

"I don't think that will work Pohe," she finally told him softly, "It is true that Tai misses his friends, but seeing them for five minutes or so would not make him feel better." Pohe looked at the ground, disappointed that his plan had not worked.

"I just thought… I'm sorry to bother you," he turned to leave, but Marnia called him back.

"Pohe, come here for a moment," he turned around and went back to her. She took his hand and motioned for him to kneel down, so that they were almost at eye-level with each other, "I will let you in on a secret. I think that Tai is unhappy because he misses a certain someone back on Earth. I'm sure that he misses all of his friends, but I have seen him looking at a photo whenever he thinks that no one is watching him. I don't know for sure, but I think that the picture is of a girl. He is unhappy because he is away from his love, or at least that is what I believe. And that is why it wouldn't help if he just went and saw them for five minutes. Do you understand what I mean now?" Pohe nodded. It was all finally making sense.

"I suppose we can't do anything about that then," he said sadly, his blue eyes clouding over with disappointment. Tai had been his best friend for the past four years and he had always done nice things for him. Now Pohe wanted to return the favour, but he couldn't find a way.

"Well… there could be a way, but it would include his sister as well. You do know his sister, don't you? The Guardian of Livania? There is a small chance of us finding a way to make Tai happier… I will have to think about it for a few days. I will call you when I think of something. When I call you, please come straight away because I think everyone wants this problem with Tai over as soon as possible. Thank you for coming to me about this Pohe; you are being an excellent friend to Tai. Now, you'd better get going because I have to go and help Shender with something. I will speak with you later, okay?" Pohe cheered up as he heard her words and nodded quickly.

"Thank you Marnia. I will go back to Tai now. I appreciate your help," the old woman nodded and stood from her chair, soon disappearing through a door into another room. Pohe left the elder's building, a lot of things racing through his brain.

'What did Marnia mean when she said that there could be a way, but it would include Tai's sister? Livania is completely different to here; we are polar opposites. Darkness and Light… but why would Light be needed in a problem that only affects this place?' he quickly crossed the road and entered the room in which Tai was seated. Pohe caught a quick flash as the photo Tai had been looking at disappeared into a pocket and Tai stood to greet him.

"Welcome back. Did you get answers for whatever you wanted to know from the elders?" Pohe blinked in shock. How did Tai know that he had gone to see Marnia? Seeing Pohe's shocked look, Tai continued, "Being Guardian of a planet with a population of one million makes it easy to keep track of those you wish to watch. I can just tell where you are, not what you're doing, but it comes in handy. Do you want to watch a movie? I am free for a few hours, unless an emergency comes up." Pohe just nodded before something crossed his mind.

"Hey, don't you have that meeting with Marnia in a couple of hours?"

"She cancelled it before, when you first came here today. So, what movie do you want to watch? I have a great big collection," he smiled at the younger boy, but Pohe could tell that he was only faking it.

"One might wonder what a Guardian does if they watch you," Pohe told him jokingly, knowing how much of a burden it was for Tai to be the Guardian, "all you seem to do is watch movies and play games." Tai knew that he was joking, and his response was to poke out his tongue.

"If that is the case then I'll just stop doing m duty and then see if they can spot the difference. When millions of floods and tornadoes completely destroy the harvest, then we'll see what they think of my job," he crossed the room and picked up what everyone called the 'movie sphere'. It was a small round ball that was made up of a jelly-like substance. The sides of the sphere were rough and in odd spots there were small round dents in the surface. The ball was blue and as Tai pushed on one of the small dents, the ball seemed to expand to an impossible size, with Tai and Pohe now standing inside of it.

"Can I choose the movie this time then? Last time we had to watch some boring movie from Earth. I want to watch 'Scariana' which is a movie that I think you'll like," Tai shrugged and clicked another button on the now visible screen, which had appeared at one end of the 'movie sphere'. Pohe grabbed a box of popcorn from the kiosk which had appeared to his right before he joined Tai, who had sat down on a couch.

"I still can't get used to these 'movie spheres.' We had nothing like this back on Earth and I don't think that we will have them for a long time. We have to go to a cinema to watch a movie like this," Tai commented as they watched the warnings come up on the screen. He grabbed a handful of popcorn and sat back to enjoy the movie. But as the plot began to unravel, Tai could not help but let his thoughts drift to his life back on Earth. The movie was about a boy who fell in love with his childhood best friend, but she was in love with his other best friend. Then the main character was in a car accident and the girl realised how much she actually cared for him, but now it seemed as though she was going to lose him forever. In the end though, it was a happy ending as everyone ended up with the one that they loved. Tai almost laughed at the ending. Movies always had happy endings whereas reality was… well, reality didn't always have a happy ending.

"Did you enjoy the movie?" Pohe asked him as he returned the movie sphere to its normal shape, "You seemed to like it."

"It was a good storyline, although somewhat overused. The happy ending was stupid though, because from the beginning we knew that the girl loved that other guy… what's his name? Selmik, that's it. Why would she change her mind all of a sudden and end up with Rage? That just doesn't happen in reality," Pohe looked puzzled at this rather pessimistic side of Tai.

"But that's the whole point; the movie is to give people hope that even if life is looking bad, good things can happen. Maya was just trying to convince herself that she loved Selmik because she didn't want to lose her best friend. In the end, when she almost lost him, she realised that in a way she had lost Rage as a best friend because she was too afraid of losing him. It's pretty ironic, isn't it?" Tai just shrugged.

"Anyway, won't your mother kill you if you don't leave for home now? I don't want to get another call from your mother," Pohe made a face and turned towards the door.

"You're right. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon then, after school."

"Yeah, see you then," Pohe left and Tai relaxed. Although the boy was a good friend, there were times when Tai just wanted to be alone. He went into his bedroom and collapsed on the bed. Then he took out the photo that meant the world to him. It was a photo that Kari had taken of Sora and himself, a few weeks before Sora had broken up with him. They were standing under a cherry blossom tree, and Tai was standing behind Sora, with his arms around her waist. She was leaning back against him and winking at the camera. It had been a beautiful day and the sun was setting in the background of the photo, casting rays of red and orange around the couple. They had spent the day at a theme park and they had had a picnic in the park for lunch. Kari had caught up with them just as the sun had been starting to set and had requested that she take a photo of them. He had treasured the photo ever since that day, and it constantly lived in his pocket. He didn't go anywhere without it.

"Ah Sora, if only I could see how you and the others were doing, I would be eternally happy," he whispered to the photo before he put it back in his pocket and drifted off to sleep.

"Hey Kari, do you think I should wear the pink or the yellow?" Aviana held up the different dresses and looked helplessly at the other female in the room. Kari frowned and finally made her decision.

"I think you should go with the pink one. The yellow is nice and all, but the pink one has a better design. I don't really know why you're bothering to go to such trouble you know, you'll look gorgeous in anything and it's just a small dinner with your family. I didn't know that it was so important," Kari finished adjusting her own top and grabbed her bag. Pulling out a small device she quickly tapped a few buttons before reading what came up on the screen.

"What's wrong Kari?" Aviana asked as she saw Kari frown.

"Nothing Avi, it's just that that was a message from Marnia, one of the elders of Malorin. She needs me to be free tomorrow morning at ten. I don't have any meetings, so I guess I can go. I wonder what it is about though… I haven't heard from them since I arrived here," she stared off into the distance, deep in thought about what Marnia could possibly want. Aviana sighed and waved her hand in front of Kari's face.

"Come on Kari, snap out of it! We planned this dinner so that we could all get together and have fun! Don't you dare waste time wondering about something that you are going to find out about tomorrow. We're here to party!" she flung her arms out wide and twirled around. When Kari had first arrived on Livania, she had thought that the people were very formal. She had been wrong. It was just that ceremony which was formal. Aviana was a fun-loving party-girl and she often stayed out late dancing. The only difference was that on Livania they danced to classical music, as it was their favourite.

"I guess you're right. So hurry up and get changed so we can get there on time!" whilst Aviana was changing, Kari sent Marnia a message back saying that she could talk with her the next day. Then she flopped down on the bed and examined the disaster area that her room had turned into. Aviana was a little… destructive when it came to finding the right dress. Her eyes landed on a white dress which instantly reminded of a wedding dress. Almost immediately a dream which she had had years ago came flooding back. It had been a dream about her wedding, a beautiful wedding in a small chapel which was covered in ivy. She had been marrying T.K in this dream, and although many people say that dreams can never be remembered for very long after they have been dreamed, she could remember every detail. It was one of her most treasured memories, and she had often wished that it would come true.

'Some dreams do come true,' she heard her own voice whispering to herself, 'but I wouldn't get your hopes up on this one.' She shook her head to clear her thoughts as Aviana came back into the room, fully changed into her dress.

"How do I look?" she asked girlishly, swirling around.

"You look beautiful Avi, just like always. I don't know how all of the males are going to resist you," Kari complimented her absently, her thoughts still lingering on her dream.

"Thanks Kari. I can say the same for you too. Where did you find that dress?"

"Oh, it's one I had back on Earth. I managed to bring it with me when I left. I wore it to my school's dance once," she stood up and grabbed her bag, "Anyway; don't we have to go now? We don't want to keep your parents waiting, do we?" she laughed as Aviana grabbed her bag and almost ran out of the door.

"I almost forgot about the time! They'll kill me if we're late!" Kari only laughed and raced after her friend. After all, there was time to think about T.K later.

Kari awoke early the next day and after getting ready for her meeting with Marnia, she had a couple of hours to wait before she could turn on the machine that would enable her to communicate with the other world. The dinner with Aviana's family had been very fun and she had had a great time and they had stayed up very late, but Kari had not been able to sleep easily. She could not stop wondering what Marnia wanted with her.

"Kari, are you there?" she blinked as the machine in front of her turned itself on and Marnia's face appeared in front of her.

"Yeah, I'm here. I didn't realise that it was ten o'clock though," she looked at her watch and found that she was correct. It was only nine-thirty.

"Well, your brother was a little impatient, and Pohe was worried about being late to class, so I thought that I would chance it and try to catch you earlier. Is Aviana around?" Kari looked over her shoulder, where the girl usually turned up, but she wasn't there. However, Aviana had had a lot of wine the night before…

"AVI! Come here, the building is on fire!" Marnia looked puzzled at Kari's message, but Kari herself knew that that was the only sentence that could rouse Aviana from her bed. Three seconds later Aviana raced out of her room and stopped dead when she saw Kari calmly sitting in front of the screen.

"Kari! I'm going to kill you for lying like that," Aviana threatened before she turned and bowed to Marnia.

"It's nice of you to join us Aviana. Now I'll get this over with as soon as possible. Both Pohe and Aviana have noticed that the two of you have been distracted by something. Pohe came and had a chat to me about it the other day," Tai glared at the teenager, who only shrugged, "And I have heard that Aviana has spoken to Sonota. I have seen signs that the two of you are still stuck on Earth in spiritual ways, and that your duties are being hindered by it." Kari frowned at Aviana, confused a little by what Marnia was saying.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked Marnia, whilst Aviana rolled her eyes at Pohe through the screen.

"Well… things like the photo that Tai keeps on looking at when no one's looking," Tai froze. He didn't know that anyone had seen him looking at it, "And things like Kari just day-dreaming whenever she sees a white dress. These things are due to connections on Earth that should technically be severed by now. But, for some reasons which I do not know, the two of you have kept on revisiting these memories, these spiritual connections to Earth, and as a result, you cannot do your duties here to your full capabilities. The elders of both worlds have met and we have come to a decision. The two of you have until the harvest begins to let go of what you are holding onto from Earth. By this I mean that you are going back to Earth with identities which are not your own and you are either going to either get over the people you are thinking about, or you are going to bring them back here, if they want to. Aviana and Pohe will be going with you, to keep you safe. There is one catch however: if one of you can bring someone here, the other has to. It cannot work if only one of you succeed. I wish the both of you the best of luck and Aviana and Pohe, good luck guarding them. This decision has been made by all of the elders and time is running out for my little speech, so I will now let you go. And remember, you will be back here for the harvest. Good luck." The four of them blinked and in a flash of light, they disappeared from their respective worlds and landed in a heap back on Earth…

End of Chapter 2

Litanya: Okay… I'm sorry if that confused anyone, but I hope that the next chapters will not be confusing. I think I even managed to confuse myself back there for a second. Anyway, please review if you want and I will update when I can. I hope you enjoyed reading this and goodnight/morning etc.