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A/N: Five chapters left to go! Reviews would make my day!

One World Away From Darkness

Chapter 15: Preparing For Battle

T.K. Takaishi

T.K. slowly opened his eyes and blinked at the bright sunshine streaming into his open window. He turned onto his side and found Ken sleeping peacefully next to him. He smiled softly. Ken's slender fingers were wrapped tightly around his Crest of Hope, and the former Emperor's skin had a rosy glow.

Stretching, T.K. sat up and propped himself against a pillow. Last night's events still did not really explain how his problems were connected to Ken's , but he knew in his heart that they were. The things Ken had revealed to him were shocking, and they had saddened him. He had thought that Ken was doing really well, but the Dark Ocean seemed to suggest otherwise.

He shivered. He did not want to go back there again. The place disturbed him. I have to though, for Ken's sake. He needs me.

Now that Ken had finally allowed him to help, he could not resist feeling an overwhelming sense of relief. The best part was that, near the end of their conversation, Ken had no longer seemed afraid of him. Maybe there was hope for their friendship after all.

He smiled brilliantly at his reflection in the windowpane and leaned over Ken's sleeping form to wake his friend.

"Ken," he murmured, gently shaking the other boy's shoulder. "It's time to get up. We have to get ready for school."

Ken stirred slightly and rolled onto his back. The former Emperor sighed softly, but he did not wake up.

T.K. studied his friend's slim form with curiosity. One way or another, he was going to find out why the darkness was haunting Ken. I fought off the darkness in my room last night with ease. If I can do that, than there's no reason why I can't help Ken. He still could not believe that he had gotten rid of all those shadows. When Ken had described the scene to him, it had left him speechless. I guess I'm a lot stronger than I thought I was. The thought comforted him. He was going to need that strength to help Ken and to keep himself free from the darkness at the same time.

"Ken, open your eyes," he said softly, gently taking hold of the hand that held the crest. "I hate to wake you when I know how much you could use a good rest, but we have to go soon."

Ken's long lashes fluttered open, and T.K. found himself gazing into his friend's deep violet eyes.

"You're awake," he murmured, squeezing his friend's hand.

Ken blinked sleepily at him in confusion, and then his eyes widened in shock.

T.K. leaped back, but Ken had sat up so fast that the former Emperor's head collided with his chin.

"Sorry," Ken mumbled, rubbing his forehead and looking embarrassed.

T.K. raised an eyebrow and tried not to smile. "Did you forget where you were?"

Ken's blush confirmed his words and a laugh escaped his lips. "Come on, Ken. We have to get dressed." He pulled his raven haired friend out of the bed and began to root through his drawers for some clean clothes. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ken glancing shyly at him every few minutes. Apparently the events of last night had left Ken feeling a little uncertain.

"Now that it's about to happen, it seems more frightening, doesn't it?" he said with a sympathetic understanding.

Ken jumped when he realized that he was being watched and shrugged looking flustered. "I guess."

"You haven't forgotten what we have to do today, have you?"

"I haven't forgotten," said Ken quietly, pulling on a clean shirt.

"It'll be okay," he whispered, pulling on his own shirt.

Ken nodded, and his fingers closed unconsciously around the Crest of Hope. "I know," his friend whispered back.

They finished dressing in silence and quickly headed for the door.

T.K. led the way out of the apartment and kept his eyes on Ken who was walking silently beside him. The former Emperor's face was pale and his eyes anxious.

Don't worry, Ken. Angemon and I will protect you if it's the last thing we do.

Ken Ichijouji

Ken sat in the computer room waiting anxiously for the others to arrive. His nerves were at a breaking point. All day he had been unable to concentrate on his school work, and the closer the clock ticked towards the time when they would have to head to the Digital World the worse his anxiety had become. By the time the Dark Ocean comes for me, I won't have to worry about the shadows stealing my soul. I'll probably die of exhaustion first.

The worst part of the whole thing was that Davis and the others were suspicious. He had seen the looks that his best friend and Kari had been giving him in biology. Yolei and Cody were not much better. Soon every Digidestined on the planet was going to know that he was a walking disaster. The only thing that had kept him sane so far were the encouraging looks that T.K. had been sending his way at every opportunity.

Things had been a little awkward between himself and T.K. ever since he had awakened that morning. Well it's no wonder after what happened last night. His head was still spinning with all the emotions and feelings that he had experienced since T.K. had driven the darkness away. Even though he had had time to think about it, he still could not decide if T.K. was being sincere. As much as he wanted to believe everything that T.K. had said, some doubts still remained.

He was scared, and he had a feeling that things were only going to get worse.

The door suddenly flew open, and he jerked up to see Yolei, Cody, Davis and Kari enter the room.

"There you are, Ken. I've been looking all over for you," Davis said. "Are you ready to go?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," he murmured.

Yolei frowned at him and gave him a concerned look. "Ken, are you feeling okay? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine," he said quietly, ignoring the skeptical expression on Cody's face.

"Alright, then lets go. Where's T.I.?" Davis demanded.

"Oh please, like you've never held us up before," Yolei snapped, giving Davis a dirty look.

"I'm right here," T.K. said calmly, striding through the open door and coming to a stop next to Kari.

"We were wondering what happened to you," Kari said with a smile. "What took you so long?"

"One of the guys from the basketball team held me up. Sorry about that."

Ken was careful not to focus too closely on his blond friend. After the events of last night, being around T.K. made him very nervous. He knows about the darkness. What if he tells the others? He had not thought about that before, and it terrified him so much that he sent T.K. a panicked look before he realized what he was doing.

T.K. seemed to understand what was going through his head because the blond gave him a warm smile of reassurance.

Ken let out a sigh of relief and tucked T.K.'s crest deeper into his shirt. He did not want the others to know what was happening between himself and T.K. because he had a nasty feeling that it would jinx the whole thing. If the others knew about his feelings for T.K., and T.K. decided to turn on him, he would never be able to live down the humiliation. To have all of his friends as witnesses to his pain would just be too much. Besides, T.K. and I have a fragile hold on our friendship at the moment. If they knew, it would just make things worse.

Surprisingly, T.K. seemed to feel the same way because his friend did not look at all eager to start blabbing to the others.

"Everyone's here now, lets go," Cody said, getting the group's attention.

Ken turned and held his Digivice up to the computer, doing his best to ignore the butterflies in his stomache. He felt T.K. step up beside him and glanced at the blond from beneath his eyelashes.

T.K. touched his arm, a small gesture of reassurance, and he took a deep breath.

"Are you sure you're alright, Ken?" Kari whispered on his other side.

"Fine," he whispered back.

Crossing his fingers, he allowed himself to be pulled through the gate.