Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: This chapter is also short, but the next four will be longer. I promise! That reminds me, only four left to go! I'm so excited! You may have noticed that I changed the rating for this fic. If you want to know why, check out my profile page. Please review!

One World Away From Darkness

Chapter 16: Nightmares Become Reality

Ken Ichijouji

They found themselves standing at the edge of a large forest within sight of a small digimon town. The sun was shining, and it seemed peaceful enough, but Ken was not convinced. He quickly scanned the edges of the forest, in search of dark shadows that were more solid than any regular shadows, but there was nothing there.

"I thought it would be nice to visit one of the digimon villages today," said Yolei, smiling brightly. "Hawkmon and the others are already inside waiting for us."

"This time, if we split up, I get to pick who goes where," Davis announced, sending Yolei a dirty look.

Yolei just rolled her eyes and stalked off towards the town with her nose in the air.

Ken walked silently at the back of the group, keeping one eye on the landscape at all times. The shadows were going to be back. He could almost feel their eyes between his shoulder blades, watching him. They were not going to let him off the hook that easily. The price still had to be paid. He just hoped that they would not decide to go after T.K. again. I won't let that happen. This time I'm going to be ready for them.

T.K., who was walking next to Cody, glanced back at him with a worried expression.

He shrugged and managed a shy smile, but T.K.'s blue gaze did not lose it's concern.

They stepped into the town and were immediately surrounded by their digimon.

"Ken!" Wormon gasped, staring at him with wide eyes. "I've been so worried about you ever since you left the last time. Are you okay?"

Ken picked Wormon up and held the little digimon tightly to his chest. "No, Wormon," he mumbled, hiding his face against his partner's small, warm body. "Everything's not okay. I'm so glad that you're here with me. I don't think I could do this without you."

Patamon, who had flown into T.K.'s arms, sent him a frightened look. "Ken, wh-"

T.K. placed a finger over Patamon's mouth to quiet him and glanced uneasily at Davis who was staring suspiciously at himself and T.K. "Not here, Patamon," T.K. whispered softly in the digimon's ear. "We'll explain everything later."

Ken stared at Patamon in shock. What has T.K. been telling him? If Patamon is aware of the fact that I haven't been myself lately, then T.K. must have known since our last trip to the Digital World! In all that time, T.K. had not treated him like someone with a horrible disease. T.K. had treated him like a...like a friend... This sudden revelation hit him like a ton of bricks. He barely restrained himself from gasping out loud and held on tightly to the Crest of Hope instead.

"What are we going to do today, Yolei?" Hawkmon asked.

Yolei glanced around at everyone and smiled. "We're going to give these little digimon a day of some fun in the sun! I say we split up into pairs and each pair take a group of digimon to entertain. Afterwards we can meet back here for a picnic." Yolei held up a couple of picnic baskets that she had brought along which no doubt contained compliments of the Inoue convenience store.

"Sounds good to me, and this time I'm picking the pairs," Davis said before Yolei could open her mouth. "Kari, you can be with me."

"Why does that not surprise me," Kari muttered, moving over to stand next to the goggle headed leader. Davis beamed at her, and Ken held his breath as Davis turned to look at him.

Davis was about to open his mouth when T.K. suddenly stepped forward. "I can go with Ken," the blond said, and Ken jumped as T.K.'s hand closed around his upper arm.

Everybody stared at them, and Ken felt his face heat up. The others were looking at him and T.K. as if they had gone crazy.

Davis blinked in surprise and said, "Er...okay. I guess that means Yolei is with Cody."

Yolei sent him a disappointed look, but Ken was too busy staring at T.K. in shock to notice. At the moment, T.K. did not appear to care who Davis was with, despite the fact that Kari kept sending his blond friend meaningful looks.

"Come on, Davis. The sooner we get this done the sooner we can eat!" Veemon cheered.

"That's my kind of plan!" Davis laughed, grabbing Kari's hand and dragging her off into the heart of the village.

"I can tell this is going to be one of those days," Gatomon groaned, following after them and muttering something about using Davis as a scratching post.

"I guess we'll see you guys later," Yolei said, giving himself and T.K. a searching look.

Cody, too, glanced curiously at them before turning to follow Yolei, Hawkmon, and Armadillomon.

The second they were alone, T.K. grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him behind a building under the shade of a large overhang.

"What's going on?" Patamon asked, fluttering anxiously at T.K.'s shoulder.

T.K. sighed, and reaching out, he gently stroked Wormon's head. "Ken, you'd better tell our digimon what's going on."

Ken sighed and repeated everything to the digimon that he had told T.K. the night before. When he was done, Patamon flew into his arms next to Wormon and softly stroked his cheek with one long ear.

"I'm really sorry, Ken," Patamon said quietly. "But don't worry. We will help you out." The little digimon glanced meaningfully at T.K. who nodded in return.

"I knew there was something wrong," Wormon moaned, snuggling against him. "Why didn't you tell me some of this before?"

"I was going to ask the same thing," T.K. said quietly, staring hard at him. "If I had known that these shadows have been stalking you for a while now, I would have tried to put a stop to it sooner."

Ken bit his lip and shrugged. "I didn't think that anyone would believe me," he said before he could stop himself.

T.K. stepped closer to him until their foreheads were touching. "I'll always believe in you," his friend said softly, staring into his eyes.

Ken turned his face away, his emotions uncertain, but T.K. had already directed his attention to the surrounding area.

"I can feel it," the blond murmured, glancing anxiously at the forest behind them. "It's close."

Ken did not have to ask what his friend was talking about. He could feel it, too, and this time it was stronger than anything he had experienced so far. "It's coming for me," he whispered.

T.K.'s face had grown pale, and Ken felt the blond grab him in what was obviously a protective gesture.

"What are we going to do?" Patamon whispered, fluttering onto T.K's head and looking scared.

"Their master's really angry," he moaned, clutching Wormon tightly. "I broke the deal and now he's come for me himself instead of sending his servants. I can feel it in my bones."

"What deal?" T.K. asked, looking confused.

Ken did not answer. Instead he buried his face against T.K.'s shoulder and shivered.

"Ken," T.K. said softly, gently rubbing his back. "Kari and I have learned to fight the darkness, but that does not mean that we can't still feel it when it tries to hurt someone else. You, Kari, and I have always been sensitive that way. I'm not going to let you fight this alone."

"They're going to take me," Ken sobbed quietly into his friend's neck. "I know it."

"No!" T.K. said sharply. "I won't let them."

"We'll protect you," Wormon whispered.

Ken wanted to believe them, but he did not see how that was going to be possible.

T.K.'s eyes suddenly shifted towards the village, and Ken watched his friend's gaze fill with horror.

"No, my dream," T.K. whispered, his fingers tightening on Ken's arms. "It can't be!"

Ken was about to ask what T.K. meant when he realized that the taint of evil was not coming from the forest. It was coming from the town. The darkness was not coming after him. It was coming for his friends. That's when he heard Yolei scream.