This chapter has been edited.

Adeliea

Chapter Two: Disappearing

Kari was silently plotting out how to kill her brother in his sleep. It had started out as such a nice Sunday, too. Yolie had gotten off work early and the gang had decided to spend part of the afternoon in the Digital World. Tai had overhead part of Kari's phone conversation with TK and asked if he could tag along. That wasn't the problem; Kari just assumed that he missed Agumon and wanted to see him. She didn't know that he was plotting against her.

He'd agreed to meet them at Izzy's since the school was locked. Davis had come over to walk with Kari but Tai wasn't ready yet so he asked for them to wait for him there. Tai showed up at Izzy's ten minutes after Davis and Kari had arrived. Matt was with him. Kari did not understand her brother in the least. He never approved of any of Kari's boyfriends, but suddenly he's in love with the idea of his little sister getting back together with the older guy that had cheated on her. Kari could only assume that her brother had gone mental.

Nothing was actually said about Matt's being there. Cold stares from TK and Davis and a dreamy sigh from Yolie were the only acknowledgements. Yolie loved a good drama and Kari's love life was like one of those really pathetic soap operas that only Americans watch. She wanted to get her back together with Matt, but Kari wouldn't listen. If she had a gorgeous rock star after her, she would give him another chance. Hell, she'd give him as many chances as he wanted!

"Well, maybe someone should open up the portal now," Izzy suggested in a worried voice. He had never seen so much tension among the males of the group and didn't care to see his room become the place where the tension became too great.

"I will," TK said finally. He held up his D3 to the computer. "Digiport open!"

They arrived on the other side of the digiport in a forest. Two reptile digimon were waiting for them. "Agumon!" Tai yelled, opening his arms to grab onto the orange digimon that was running towards him.

"Tai, I've missed you!" Agumon buried his snout into Tai's chest. "It's been far too long since you've visited!"

The second digimon, Gabumon, ran to his partner as well. "Matt, I'm glad you decided to come too." He hugged his human partner fiercely.

"Anytime," Matt replied.

Kari made a disgusted face and walked off. TK was quick to follow her. Taking a step forward, Matt was ready to follow as well, but Tai grabbed his arm. "Remember what we talked about," he warned.

Matt sighed in defeat. Tai knew Kari better than anyone, except maybe Gatomon, and he knew Matt wasn't about to win Kari back by nagging her. She needed space; when someone tried to push Kari into something, she backed off. Matt had only tagged along to keep an eye on TK and Davis and prove that he wasn't just a jerk, not to harass Kari. He sunk down to the ground heavily.

"So," Yolie said, taking a seat on the ground right after Matt had, "what's your plan?"

Davis snorted. "Maybe he could jump off a cliff and die. That would make everyone a whole lot happier."

Cody wrapped his hand around Davis' forearm and dragged him away. "Come on Davis, let's go somewhere else." Their digimon partners followed close behind as Cody led Davis away.

Yolie smiled gratefully at her younger friend's actions. Cody had read her mind. As odd as it was, Cody was the most mature of the group and although 'love' wasn't really his area of expertise, he knew that Davis and Matt would quarrel over their shared love interest. What he lacked in years he made up for in maturity. "Well?" Yolie asked, returning her attention to Matt.

"Plan? What are you talking about?" he asked innocently.

"Don't act like I'm an idiot. How many times has Kari broken up with you now? Seven?" She watched Matt cringe. "Exactly, you better have one hell of a plan if you're going to try to get her to forget about that."

"I don't have a plan; I just need to make sure that my dear little brother doesn't do anything to sabotage my chances before I figure one out. I just need to prove that I'm not the same jerk I was before."

"That's going to be hard," Yolie replied harshly. "She won't even let me bring you up. Believe me, I've tried to get information about your current relationship but she just refuses to talk about it. But, luckily for you, she doesn't like TK or Davis or anyone else in our school."

Tai joined the circle and sat down. "So she hasn't said anything to you about Matt?"

"She never tells me anything when it comes to her and guys. She doesn't like sharing her problems with anyone."

"She doesn't like talking to me, either." Yolie whipped her head around and found Gatomon was behind her. Hawkmon, Patamon, Agumon, and Gabumon were nearby, but they didn't want to interrupt their partners. "Not a lot, anyway, but I can get some things out of her. I can always tell when something is wrong so I can sometimes convince her to talk to me."

"Anything about me?" Matt wondered aloud.

"Nothing you'ld want me to repeat. You should give up on her; even if she does forgive you, the last thing she needs is a boyfriend. She won't open her heart up to you or anyone for that matter. Not with what's happening-" the white feline covered her mouth instantly.

"What are you talking about?" Tai asked.

"Nothing!" Gatomon shouted.

"Gatomon! Tell me!"

"Damn it. Alright, I'll tell you what I know, but I can't say much since Kari won't tell me what's going on. She's been sensing something; something big is going to happen, and soon."

"Why hasn't she mentioned this to anyone?" Yolie asked.

"Because she doesn't want to worry anyone when she doesn't know for sure if she's right. All she has to go off of is her dreams, but she can't remember what they're about after she wakes up. Every night she wakes up in a cold sweat and ready to scream, but she can't remember what her nightmares are about. All I know for sure is what I get from her talking in her sleep."

"What does she say in her sleep?" Tai inquired, suddenly feeling ashamed that he knew nothing about this.

"She always says the word 'Adeliea.' I don't know who or what it is, though." Gatomon frowned slightly. "If you say anything about this, I'll kill you in your sleep."

"Note taken," Tai replied. "How long has this been going on?"

"A few weeks. She's been really fatigued and on edge lately, too." The cat's ears perked up. "Something is wrong!" She took off in the direction that Kari and TK had headed.

(0)

Pacing back and forth as he often did, Ken tried to focus his mind. Sundays were supposed to be work days; the digidestined seldom ever came to the Digital World on Sundays. But Ken couldn't concentrate on work. Other things were occupying his attention.

He'd slept well for the first time in weeks that Friday night. It took him forever to fall asleep, but his dreams were pleasant and the sleep was refreshing. Still, all Ken could think about was when he'd met up with Kari alone. He tapped his fingers against the desk as he passed it. He had work to do but he was so distracted. He had even turned off all of the alarms and told Wormmon that no one was to disturb him, but his mind wandered despite the lack of external distractions.

He thought that he had kissed Kari to scare her, but he had been more affected than he had anticipated. Ken's lips still tingled from their meeting.

Slamming his fist against the desk, Ken cursed aloud. "Goddamn stupid, idiot Kaiser! What were you thinking?" You were thinking that you wanted her, Kaiser. He turned and left the lab knowing that he wasn't going to be able to concentrate on his work.

He walked briskly to the Control Room and sat down in front of the computer. The surveillance cameras went set to shift from one area to another in periods of ten seconds. Ken pressed the button to freeze the cameras. Damn it! He stared in disbelief at two of his enemies. "Why did I turn off the alarms?" Shifting the focus to that area alone, Ken did not find any of the other digidestined in that location. "Cody and Davis would not come alone…"

Ken let the cameras shift to another area. When it changed again, Ken saw Yolie, Tai, and Matt sitting in a circle. Gatomon was there also, but not Kari. Where is she? Something wasn't right, since when was the Kaiser concerned about his enemy? The lavender haired girl did not affect him like this. He didn't even want to send out his slave digimon in case she was nearby.

A giant envelop appeared and covered the camera shots. Ken clicked on it suspiciously and gasped when the message popped up. One word was written in the e-mail, filling a vertical space of five feet and a horizontal space of about ten feet. The word was Adeliea.

Wormmon had told Ken that he;d been saying that word in his sleep, but Ken dismissed it as meaningless because he could not remember his dreams. He checked for a sender address, but there was none.

The lights in the Control Room flickered and then went out, leaving Ken standing in the dark. He panicked, looking around himself in vain for any sign of light. A sharp pain shoot across his forehead and Ken fell to his knees. He looked around and saw the room warping in and out of existence. No, he was warping in and out of existence.

The lights turned back of and the e-mail shut down. The room was empty.

(0)

Kari sat herself down on a fallen tree. She ignored TK as he sat down beside her. "Do you still love him?" he asked abruptly.

Kari looked up at TK, surprised by his question. "Sort of," she admitted, letting her attention wander to the tree bark as she traced her finger along the crevices. "But it doesn't matter, we won't get back together."

"And what about me?"

Kari sighed deeply. She was hoping TK would not get into their relationship. He had made it pretty obvious when she first started dating Matt that he didn't approve and his recent feuding with Davis made his intentions clear. She preferred TK's usual style of not asking questions and figuring things out for himself. She didn't want to hurt her best friend, but Kari failed to realize that her silence was breaking his heart.

"Do you think you could ever love me the way you love Matt?" TK lifted her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"I don't know…I don't know how I'm going to feel about you or Matt or anyone else, or when I'm going to feel it. Honestly, the last thing I need right now is a boyfriend." She stopped before she said anything incriminating.

That wasn't really what TK wanted to hear. He was hoping for a more solid yes or no type of answer, but the Chosen of Hope received no such vindication. He wanted to know, at least, that a piece of her heart belonged to him.

Kari stood and turned away from him. "We should start heading back," she whispered, her voice full of sadness. Why did everyone want her to choose all of a sudden? She just wanted to get over Matt and not have to worry about getting involved with another guy that could break her heart. At least she knew that Davis didn't really love her; just the idea of being with her. She had that at least, knowing that his crush on her couldn't last forever.

The thought of boys was giving her a headache. Or, maybe, it was the lack of restful sleep she had been getting. Either way, her head began pounding.

TK looked up towards Kari as she began walking away. She staggered slightly and then fell backwards. TK jumped up and caught her in his arms.

"Kari!" TK heard Gatomon's voice a short distance off.

"Gatomon," he called back. Gatomon came through the clearing with Yolie, Matt, Tai, and their digimon following close behind.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I don't know, we were talking and she was fine, and then she just passed out." TK cradled Kari closer in his arms, subconsciously trying to hurt his brother.

Matt kneeled down in the dirt. TK glared a warning to his older brother. "Relax, TK" Matt chided. He placed two fingers on her wrist. "Her pulse is normal."

"…Adeliea…" Kari mumbled.

Tai looked nervously at Gatomon. The feline offered no condolences as her eyes grew wide with worry. "This may be the something that she's been expecting to happen," she spoke softly.

Clouds gathered in the sky and blocked out the sun. The shadows from the trees and the darkness from the sky made it nearly impossible to see. TK could be heard screaming out Kari's name.

The clouds dispersed as quickly as they had come. TK was on his knees; his arms still out and empty. He dropped them to his sides. He looked up at Matt. "She disappeared," he whispered. "I felt her just vanish…"

(00)

Better?

Chapter revision completed June 27, 2006

Chapter reposted June 29, 2006