Litanya: Eep… I had almost forgotten about this fic. I could lie and say that I have been extremely busy and that was why I hadn't finished this, but that is not true. It wasn't because I was being lazy either. It is just that I cannot end things, and since this is the last chapter… yeah. Anyway, I don't own Digimon. Thanks to everyone who reviewed- you don't know how much those reviews have meant to me. To everyone else who has read this, thanks for reading it anyway. Oh, and thank you Steph for reminding me to update this!

Worlds Apart

Chapter 8

It was a week later and it was time for Tai and Kari to say goodbye to the planet Earth and return to their respective planets. T.K had decided to go with Kari straight away, but Sora had given one condition. She would go with Tai only if he and Kari told the other digidestined what was going on. She probably would have gone with him anyway, but she wanted to humour him a little. He had told her that he would do almost anything for her and so she had decided to test it out. After he had had a lengthy discussion with Marnia, Tai had finally given in to her request. This was why Tai, Kari, Avi, Pohe, Sora and T.K were now making their way to Izzy's apartment, where the whole group of digidestined was to meet.

"Have you planned what you're going to say Tai?" Kari asked, knowing that Marnia had told him to explain as he knew more than Kari. The brunette sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, I think I do anyway. I was thinking about telling them about how Earth came about as it is now and about the war… then maybe how we were picked to be Guardians and stuff. But everything depends on their reactions. I mean, what would you do if you saw people you knew turn into other people that you knew? I would freak out! So… it just depends on their reactions," he had managed to confuse himself over the past few hours, trying to think of what to say. The group turned the corner of the street and arrived at Izzy's apartment building. Sora squeezed Tai's hand, knowing that he was a little worried.

"Come on… it's just the other digidestined in there. They will be so glad that you're alive that they'll forget anything else. We'll be going anyway, so even if they don't take it very well, everything will sort itself out. Besides, Matt, Izzy and the rest deserve to know what has happened. If T.K and I go missing like you did, they'll become suspicious and then when they can find no trace of a Kari Yagami or a Tai Yagami, they will think that you guys have abducted us and killed us off somewhere. It is just easier if you tell them all what's happening. It will only take a few minutes and it will stop them from suffering the rest of their lives wondering if they could have stopped it from happening," he already knew her reasons, and they were all good, but it wasn't her reasons that was making him calm down. Her presence was enough to do that.

"Hey Tai, are you sure that you need to tell them the history of our planet?" Pohe asked in their language, not wanting anyone but Tai to understand in case they misunderstood. Tai gave him a quizzical glance and so he continued, "I mean, if you tell them then they might try and come visit and that could be disastrous."

"Pohe, you worry too much. There is no way that that will happen. Izzy is curious, but not that curious. Besides, even if I tell the history of the place, I won't tell them where it is. Relax, they're not going to come charging into Malorin," Tai answered in Japanese, knowing that Sora in particular was interested in what they were saying. He needed to teach her that language, and soon. They continued on their way to Izzy's apartment and finally arrived at the door. Avi, Pohe, Tai and Kari were still under Tai's illusion, so they looked exactly like the Yagamis. All of the digidestined now knew, and were not very surprised about, the fact that Sora and Tai were dating, and that the same went for T.K and Kari. They had all known that it was going to happen someday, although they never said their thoughts aloud.

"Come on in guys! You are the last ones here," Izzy ushered them in warmly, not surprised that they had all arrived together. The six of them had been almost inseparable for the past week or so.

"We thought that we'd be the last ones. Avi had to stop off and dump her 'boyfriend'," Kari told them, laughing when Avi glared at her. Avi's 'boyfriend' was a sixteen year old boy who had followed her for two weeks. At first Avi had thought that he was cute, but he had grown to be very annoying.

"Hey guys!" Matt called from the living room, where he and his new girlfriend Melissa were flipping through an anime magazine, "Now why did you call us here?" He seemed a little impatient and Tai realised that it was because he was supposed to have a band meeting in an hour. That meant that Tai's explanation had to be quick and concise. He waited until everyone had settled down and were paying attention before he started.

"As you guys have already noticed, my sister looks a lot like a girl called Kari Kamiya, except that my sister has blue eyes, right?" the digidestined around him all nodded. They were confused as to what Tai was saying. Only those that knew the truth were looking normal, "Watch my sister." They did what they were told, but only after throwing puzzled glances around the room. Tai concentrated for a minute and the illusion surrounding his sister disappeared. Mimi gasped as Kari returned to normal.

"You didn't make me invisible or something did you?" Kari jokingly asked her brother. He just stuck his tongue out at her in reply.

"K-Kari? As in Kari Kamiya?" Mimi asked. Kari nodded.

"The one and the same."

"H-How did you do that?" Izzy always wanted to know the hows and whys of everything. Kari shrugged.

"Ask him. He's the one that has been manipulating my appearance," all eyes switched from Kari to Tai.

"Ah, stuff this illusion. Everything will be easier to explain if I don't have to think about them," Tai muttered to himself. He closed his eyes and the illusions around Avi, Pohe and himself wavered before disappearing completely, "There… that's better. Now I can actually explain what is going on. As you can see, I am not Tai Yagami, but Tai Kamiya. I disappeared…"

"…four years ago," Sora supplied, seeing that he was struggling to remember this piece of information. He shot her a grateful look and continued to ignore the bewildered looks on the faces of his other friends.

"However, I was not kidnapped and then killed and I didn't run away either. It's a long story, but I will make it as short as I can…"

"Wait… let me get this straight… you are Tai Kamiya, as in the Tai that is the leader of the original digidestined and one of our best friends? If you are that Tai, then why didn't you let us know where you went? You left us here for four years, worried sick that you were dead or injured somewhere, being held hostage or something. Why should we believe you if we know that you can easily change your appearances without even moving?" Matt demanded to know. As much as he hoped that they were his friends, he had to tell himself that they most likely were not. After all... if this guy really was Tai Kamiya, then why hadn't he told them where he was going before he had left?

"I couldn't tell you. It's not that it was a secret government operation or anything like that, but it… it is almost like a mission for the Digital World… or maybe one for the universe. Before what we know as 'human life' came to Earth, no one was aware that this planet existed. However, there were 'humans' in the universe. These 'humans' belonged to the same universe, but different… what do you call them… not quite dimensions… but I guess that word will have to do. Anyway, they lived on two different worlds- well, they still do live on them- but these worlds were completely different. I believe a few of you have visited Malorin- more commonly known here as 'The Dark Ocean'," they were staring at him as though he was crazy. He started to fidget with what he liked to call 'the precious illusion-making things' or the 'glass ball thingies'. Sora sensed that they weren't buying what he was saying.

"We all knew that there was more to the Dark Ocean than we could see," she said evenly, trying to help them believe in Tai's story. He shot her a grateful look.

"You knew about all of this, didn't you?" Joe accused, his glasses slipping down his nose whilst he was distracted. Both Sora and T.K turned pink.

"We only found out last week. We didn't really know anything before that… or if we guessed at the truth, we never really thought about it," T.K admitted, "But Tai's story is important somehow, so you should listen." The others were still a little doubtful, but as T.K and Sora seemed to fully believe in Tai's story, they found it easier to believe too. Tai found himself laughing at the way in which people followed the people they considered to be 'authorities' in their lives.

"Anyway… these two planets- Malorin the planet of Darkness and Livania, the planet of Light, are polar opposites in a way. Everything on Malorin is made from darkness… and the people's souls are made with the essence of darkness. We're not evil or anything, as darkness is neither good nor evil, but darkness controls our souls. Livania is made from light, and the people there have souls of light. That does not mean that evil does not exist there, as Avi can probably tell you. Anyway, a group of travellers from Malorin found this planet that we now fondly call Earth…"

"Hey! Travellers from Livania found this planet. Those people from Malorin just stormed in and said that they found it first!" Kari argued unintentionally. She supposed that it was a part of her nature to oppose Malorin as it was her rival planet. It was hard to hate the planet though, when her brother was in charge of it. She supposed that that was why the pair of them had been chosen.

"That could be true, I have no idea. But anyway, groups of travellers from both planets ended up here, both at the same spot at the same time. There was a little bit of an argument among the Elders, but whilst they were arguing a young Malorinen traveller happened to fall in love with a girl from Livania. Of course it was forbidden, but they didn't care. By the time they were found out- and believe me it took a long time because the Elders were having a huge argument- the young couple had gotten married and had a two year old daughter. This little girl was like nothing the Elders had seen before- she was neither of darkness or light. This sealed the future of Earth. This planet is a home for those who reject being either of the Light or of Darkness. Nobody really migrates now from Livania or Malorin, but the people of Earth are related to both planets. However, the Elders had a vision of the future. Around about the year 2005 the planets of Malorin and Livania would engage in a war that would destroy the whole universe unless there was someone to guide each planet to a path of peace. The entire universe- all the stars, planets, galaxies and dimensions would disappear. That was when the Elders were struck with their big idea…" he trailed off, uncertain of how to phrase the next part.

"So the Dark Ocean is another planet? Can we still get there?" Izzy's eyes had an evil glint and he was desperate for the information.

"No! I won't let you loose on my home planet!" Pohe exclaimed, truly horrified at Izzy's idea. Tai mentally told him to calm down.

"As you just found out, Pohe comes from Malorin. No, you cannot get to the Dark Ocean anymore. The only reason that Kari was taken there in the first place is that they were trying to remind me of my promise. That is the next part. The Elders big idea was that one day someone on Earth would be born of Darkness. That person would become the leader of Malorin and hopefully stop the war. Another child of Light would be born to, to be the Guardian of Livania, just in case the leader of Malorin got caught up in the idea of war. Now… when I was born I was perfectly normal. I didn't have a soul of Darkness or anything, but the Elders instantly knew that I was the 'Chosen One,'" he then proceeded to tell them about how the Elders had contacted him in the hospital when he was three and a half.

"What was wrong with Kari when she was being born?" Joe asked, the doctor curiosity shining through. Tai shrugged.

"I don't think anything was wrong with her really. The Elders just wanted to use emotional blackmail to get me to go along with them. Anyway, that promise was a strong one. Kari had to promise a similar thing when she was three and a half years old too. And then, around the time I disappeared, I started to get a lot of signs that told me that the time to leave Earth was getting closer, until the day my mobile rang in the library. The Elders were telling me that I had to leave, so I did. Kari and I are only here now because we were moping around too much on our respective planets. However, we have to go back today," he finished his story and there was silence. He could have sworn that he could hear crickets in the background.

"So… in other words you guys are leaving again. Why did you even bother to tell us that you are… you?" Mimi asked, not being intentionally mean, but wondering why on Earth they would make them go through the pain of losing them again.

"Because… well… this time Sora and I are going with them. We didn't want you guys to think that 'the Yagamis' had abducted and murdered us or anything like that. Actually, they weren't going to tell you, but Sora blackmailed Tai into it," T.K said chirpily. He was so happy to have Kari back these days that it didn't matter that he had to leave his friends and family behind.

"Mum and Dad won't let you," Matt replied promptly, being the 'big-brother' he was supposed to be; "Besides… you don't have a soul of Light or Darkness. You're just another Earthling." T.K and Sora exchanged glances.

"Actually… we're not. I have a soul of Darkness now and T.K has one of Light. And your parents know about this. T.K told them that he'd either go with Kari or commit suicide, so they chose the first option," Matt opened his mouth to protest, but then he thought better of it.

"I suppose that this is my fault for telling you to find Kari. Just make sure you keep in contact every once in a while," maybe it was because of the Digital World, but Matt trusted that his brother would be safe on another world. In fact, he found himself almost wishing that his brother would just leave and get on with it. Tai tried to hide a smile as he realised that Marnia was helping them out. She was making sure that the digidestined would let them go. That indicated that they were supposed to get out of there now.

"Well guys, we'd better go. It was nice to come back for a visit. Goodbye guys!" they all said quick goodbyes and then Tai, Sora, Kari, T.K, Pohe and Avi disappeared to live out the rest of their lives on their respective planets, all at peace knowing that even though they were worlds apart, they were still together in spirit.

THE END

Litanya: I finally finished this! I am really sick of this fic to tell the truth. It turned out nothing like I imagined, except for the Taiora chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this. Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a review if you can be bothered. I won't be writing any chaptered fics for a while now, as my exams are drawing nearer and I need to spend more time on work. But I will write a few one-shots when I'm frustrated at my work, so they'll probably be angsty fics. Anyway, good night/morning/afternoon!