"Davis, remember when you told me it was ok to kiss T.K. before he leaves?" I asked.
"Yeah," Davis smiled.
"Well, Yolei and I were talking about it yesterday…She said that it was ok too. So, I may consider it…Will that be ok?"
"Why wouldn't it?"
"I was just making sure."
"Kari…It will be ok."
I stared at the sky as the sun began to set. "We better get home…"
"But, you have to do something first," Davis told me.
"What?"
Davis leaned over. "Do you love me?"
"Yeah."
"Prove it…"
I slowly pulled myself closer to him and quickly kissed him on the lips. "I love you Davis, but I have to get home."
"I'll walk you home," he got up and took my hand.
We slowly walked home. Davis dropped me off at my apartment and walked the rest of the way to his own.
I walked in the door. It was 8:30PM. Tai was asleep because we had to get up early the next morning. I softly touched his cheek. He slept on the couch, I sat on the floor by him.
"Tai, I'm sorry about last night…You were right. I hope you'll forgive me. Also…Thank you. Now, I know how you truly feel. I'm sorry that I hurt you. I love you Tai," I kissed him on the cheek and walked to our room to go to sleep.
I laid in the bed and quickly fell asleep.
"Kari, time to get up…We have to go," I heard whispering in my ear.
I slowly rolled onto my side, and then I rolled again. This time, I rolled off the bed. "Oww!"
"Hurry, get dressed, everyone is going to be there…We don't want to be late," Tai smiled.
"Ok," I said as I stood up. I quickly got my clothes and changed in the bathroom. I then walked back into the room.
"Lets get going," Tai told me as we walked out the door.
We quickly walked to the airport where we met up with the others.
Davis walked up to me. "Kari! Come on, we're gathering to give T.K. his good-bye presents. You ready for what you want to do?"
"I think I'm ready for just about anything," I smiled.
"That's the spirit," Tai whispered in my ear.
We all lined up. Davis, Yolei, and I were last in the line. Mimi and Izzy were first.
"T.K.!" Mimi hugged the boy. "I wanted to give you something really special…But the only thing I could find was American money…So, you can have it. But, I also made you this card."
"Thanks Mimi, this means a lot to me," T.K. smiled.
"I made you this CD…It has all the pictures we ever taken," Izzy said.
"Great!"
"I made this first aid kit. It will be perfect for everything!" Joe laughed.
"And, I made a card to go with it," Lilly softly said.
"Thanks…This will come in handy," T.K. took the gifts.
"I can't believe you're leaving," Al frowned as she handed him a card.
"It's hard to believe," Josh agreed and gave T.K. another card.
"I know," T.K. nodded.
"I hope you'll come and visit us," Cody said.
"I will…Thanks for the card."
"It was no problem," Liz winked.
Ken handed T.K. a pen.
"What's this?" T.K. questioned.
"My lucky pen…You'll need it more than I will," Ken explained.
"Thanks! I'll only use it when I need the most luck."
"Good luck in America," Jordan smiled as she gave him a card.
"I have all the luck I can get," T.K. waved the pen.
"I know you don't really play soccer…So, I'm not giving you a soccer ball. I bought you a new basketball instead," Tai told him.
"Oh! Awesome! Tai, you're great!" T.K. yelled.
"Don't forget me. I got you something too," Sora said as she handed him a card and a key chain.
"Thanks Sora."
"Here, I got you a card," Sidney smiled.
"Thanks," T.K. said as he walked up to Matt.
"I'm going to miss you…But I know we'll see each other again. Here…I wanted you to have my harmonica," Matt handed him it.
"Matt…This means a lot to me…"
"It was nothing."
T.K. walked up to Davis, Yolei, and myself.
T.K. looked at me. I looked at Yolei, she nodded. I looked at Davis, he nodded. I turned to T.K.
"I'm sorry that I have to leave," T.K. whispered.
I placed my hands on his cheeks and slowly leaned in. I was about to kiss him on the lips, but I turned my head and kissed T.K.'s cheek. "You're like a brother to me…Thank you."
"Kari…"
I took his hand and placed a whistle in it. "This is better with you."
"Kari…You're whistle…But you love this thing…"
"I love you more."
T.K. quickly hugged me and tears fell from our eyes. "Kari! I'm going to miss you so much!"
"Hey! Save some of that love for me!" Yolei yelled.
T.K. let go of me and turned to Yolei. He pulled her close and kissed her on her lips. After pulling away, he began to blush. "Can we still be together?"
"I wouldn't want it any other way," Yolei blushed.
"Hey, where's my present?"
"Right!" she handed him a card.
"That's it?"
"You already have my love…What more do you want?"
"I love you too," T.K. said as he turned to Davis.
"Don't worry, I got you something!" Davis snickered as he handed T.K. a soccer ball.
"What!" T.K. looked confused.
"I won five games with it…It's lucky…I want you to have it."
"Wow, thanks Davis. This means so much to me," T.K. smiled.
"T.K., time to go," Mrs. Takaishi called.
"My mom will have her cell phone still…It will work perfectly fine. If you need anything, call it. I'll call you right when I get to my new home," T.K. promised.
We quickly gave him hugs and he boarded the plane. Tears filled our eyes. We never wanted to see one of our friends leave. The plane flew to the sky…T.K. was gone.
I fell to my knees as more tears filled my eyes. Davis knelt down next to me. He placed his hands on my shoulders.
"He's gone Davis…T.K.'s gone…" I whispered.
"No Kari…He isn't," Davis told me.
"This is it, I have nothing to live for. I lost my best friend."
"You didn't lose him."
"How do you know?" I demanded.
Davis took his hand and placed it on my heart. "T.K. will always be there."
I reached over and hugged Davis. Our cheeks touched as I let my tears run down both of our faces. Davis said that T.K. would always be in our hearts…But he still seems so far away.
"Kari…" a hand was softly placed on my cheek.
I looked up to see Matt. I placed my hand over his.
"Kari…It will hurt…I know. Think about what T.K. is feeling right now. He's looking down from the sky, and he's probably crying. He'll never be able to find what he found here anywhere else. Just…Don't worry too much about it. How about you come over to my apartment tomorrow night for dinner? We can talk more about this," Matt offered.
I closed my eyes tight. It was hard, but I stopped crying. "That's a good idea…"
"I'm glad you agree. I'll come and get you at five tomorrow night. Ok?"
I nodded. Matt helped me up, and I looked at Davis who was still sitting. "Davis, we'll spend Sunday together…Ok? All day, nothing but you and me." I turned to Yolei. "Want to have a sleepover? You can come over to my house…It will be like the day before Willis left to go back to America."
Yolei helped Davis up and smiled at me. "Perfecto!"
"We'll make the best of this…No matter how hard it is," Davis decided.
I looked over towards Tai; he was talking to Izzy.
"What's wrong?"
"I have some unfinished business with Tai," I began to walk away.
Davis held me back. "I don't want to see any fighting between the two of you!"
"There isn't going to be fighting…I need him to know how sorry I am for hurting him."
"He's lucky to have a little sister like you," Matt smiled.
I turned around, flashed a smile, and ran towards Tai.
"Is that a smile on your face?" Tai questioned.
I ignored his question and tightly hugged him.
"Ah!"
"Tai…I never meant to hurt you," I softly spoke.
Tai hugged me back. "Izzy…Could you-"
"I'll stop by your apartment later," I heard Izzy's footsteps as he walked away.
"So, what are you talking about?" Tai pushed me off of him.
"I didn't truly understand what I was doing to you when I started to go out with Davis. I didn't know I was hurting you. Is there anyway I could make you not hate me for what I put you through? I don't want you to be broken hearted because of me," I explained.
He slightly smiled. "I'll never hate you Kari…I might not like you at times, but I can never hate you. And, if anyone should be sorry, it should be me. I shouldn't of hit you or hurt you in anyway. I was being a bad big brother. It just hurt to know that you didn't tell Dad because of not wanting to break his heart. I hope that you'll forgive me."
"I'm going to tell him the next time he's home when I am…Ok?"
"Only if I'm right beside you."
"Fine. We'll do it together."
"Are you going to be ok? I mean about T.K. moving. I'm asking because of the smile on your face."
"Yolei is sleeping over, tomorrow I'm having dinner with Matt…And Sunday, I'm spending the whole day with Davis…I'm going to be ok. I think I'm going to plan a day next weekend to hang out with just Ken…"
"You're going to have very busy week."
I sighed and looked around. "I'm just trying to make the best out of everything."
"And you're doing great."
"Tai…"
"Hey Kari! Lets get going! I need a booster upper!" Yolei yelled.
Everyone was leaving. "Come on Tai." I walked up to Yolei and Davis.
"I better get going…I'll talk to you whenever," Davis hugged and kissed me quickly. He turned to Yolei. He gave her a hug. "It will be ok Yolei." Davis slightly kissed her cheek.
Yolei hugged him back. "Thanks Davis."
"We'll call you later," I smiled to him.
"Yeah, get going," Tai told the boy.
"Ok…I'm going!" Davis turned to see Ken walking away. "Hey! Ken! Wait up!" He ran after him.
"He's crazy," Tai frowned.
"He's sweet and caring," I nodded.
"And a great friend," Yolei agreed.
We walked to my apartment in silence.
"Mom! We're home!" Tai yelled.
"Tai, Izzy has been waiting for you," our mom said.
"It was not that long Mrs. Kamiya," Izzy smiled as he walked into the living room.
"Oh! I forgot…I invited Izzy over for the night…Do you girls mind?" Tai wondered.
"Not at all, it will be fun," I decided.
"Yeah, we'll give you boys make-overs," Yolei said.
"Oh yeah, that's what I need!" Izzy winked.
"We'll need lipstick, blush, eye shadow, nail polish…bows, ribbons…Other girly things," I laughed as we walked to our bedroom.
"Ok, Kari and I get the beds," Yolei called.
"What? No fair!" Tai yelled.
"Yes it is," I frowned. "We're broken hearted…We need the comfort of the bed…It's all we have left to live for."
"Whatever!" Izzy laughed.
Yolei laid herself on the bed. She quickly sat up. "Remember when T.K. told Davis that you like him, Kari?"
"Yeah…I remember. I was so mad at him," I softly smiled.
"You and T.K. have been through a lot…Haven't you?"
"Yep…I've known him since I was nine!"
Tai placed his hand on my shoulder. "Remember the concert? That was the best memory I can remember with all of together."
"Mimi gave me a shock that day," Izzy agreed.
I tightly closed my eyes. I held back the tears and nodded. I showed a smile. "Remember when Tai got hit by a car?"
Tai held his wrists and looked away from me.
"Sorry Tai, I didn't know you were still sensitive about it…"
"It's not that Kari," he sat next to Yolei on the bed. "I just never told you about something."
"Huh?"
"I-I…It's nothing Kari…Anyways, didn't you want to give Izzy a make-over?" Tai changed the subject to cover up what he was hiding from me.
Yolei and I turned to look at Izzy, we gave him evil looks.
"Uh…Uh…No, they didn't want to do that!" Izzy yelled.
"Tai! Kari! Dad's home! Come say hi!" our mom called.
"Be nice, we'll be back," Tai said.
I stared at the door, but didn't move. "Tai, I don't want to tell him."
"It will be fine…Don't worry," Tai smiled as we walked out.
"Hey guys, I can't stay long," Dad told us.
I sighed and looked at Tai. He stared at his wrists.
"Tai, how did the surgery go?" Dad asked.
"Surgery? What surgery?" Tai questioned.
"On your wrists…The one you had a few weeks ago when Kari was over at a sleepover."
"T-Tai? Why didn't you tell me?" I wondered.
"I didn't want to scare you," Tai frowned.
"That's terrible Tai! That's like me not telling Dad that I'm going out with Davis. Or like you not telling him you're going out with Sora…Or like Mom not telling him about my depression!" I screamed.
Our dad looked shocked and confused at the same time. "Depression? Kari, Tai, go to your room, I need to talk to Mom alone."
I looked down at the ground and walked to the room. Tai closed the door behind us.
"How did it go?" Izzy asked.
"Why didn't you tell me about Kari's depression? How long has she had it?" I heard Dad yell.
Izzy was standing in front of me. I fell into his arms crying.
"Kari, Kari, Kari…It will be ok," Izzy whispered.
"Nine? Nine!" Dad yelled.
"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to yell at the doctors like Tai did!" Mom cried.
"No…It won't," I let go of Izzy and walked out the door.
"Kari!" Mom stared at me.
"I'm sorry Mom…I shouldn't of yelled that out. Dad, I'm also sorry…I should of told you when I figured out, but I was young…I didn't understand what depression was. I was nine; I didn't know any better. I hope you can both forgive me for what I did wrong," I frowned.
"This isn't your fault," Dad told me.
I sighed. "You just don't understand…It is my fault…Everything is." I walked back to the room and slammed the door behind me.
"Kari?" Tai questioned.
I walked over to the bottom bunk of the bed. I laid down and shoved my head in the pillow. "I wish I would just die right now! I don't want to suffer anymore. I'm sick of all of this!"
"But Kari," someone placed their hand on my back, "you have so much to live for."
I slightly turned my head to see Tai talking to me. "You don't know anything Tai. You don't know what I'm going through. I hurt in so many places…It's not even funny. I just don't want to feel anything anymore. I just want to jump on a plane and fly to a new life, but I can't."
"You have a great life. You have Davis for a boyfriend, you have Tai for a brother, and you have great friends," Yolei said.
"No I don't! I just want to die and stop living this life! Kill me now…Just get it over with…"
"Kari…Don't make me have to do what Davis did to you," Izzy threatened.
I tried to think about what Davis did to me. At school…He slapped me across my face. It's not like if I got another slap from Izzy would make a difference. "Go ahead…I don't care anymore."
"Don't care? You better start caring Hikari Kamiya!" Tai yelled.
I quickly stood up and whacked my head on the bed. I fell to the ground. "Why should I?"
Tai clenched his fist. "Because if you don't, you're going to knock yourself unconscious!"
The door quickly opened.
"Tai? Kari? What is going on in here?" Mom demanded.
"Mom…It's finally happening to Kari," Tai softly said.
Happening? What is happening to me? I thought.
I was on the floor crying. I was in pain.
"We need to get her to the hospital. Tai, Izzy, could you carry her down to the car? Yolei, try to comfort Kari. I really wish this wasn't happening," she said.
What's happening? I want to know!
I looked up. Tai and Izzy picked me off the floor. They slowly walked me down to the car. Mom got in the car and quickly drove to the hospital. I still didn't know what was going on. I was scared. I was carried into the hospital and sat in a chair.
"My daughter suffers from depression, and she's in the bad stage…She needs to see Dr. Deemer right now," Mom told a woman.
"Right, we've been waiting…It's Hikari Kamiya…Right?" the lady questioned.
"Yes."
"Follow me."
Tai and Izzy picked me back up as I was moved into a new room with many machines.
What's going on? I want to know what's happening to me! I thought.
"Hello Kari," Dr. Deemer smiled.
I looked away with a cold look.
"Kari? What's wrong?"
"Nothing you would understand," I said with a sting in my voice.
"I'm here to help you, please, tell me what's wrong."
"I don't feel like talking to you! There are only two people I want to talk to right now and that is-"
My mom's cell phone began to ring. "Hello…One second…Kari, it's T.K."
I pulled the phone from Mom's hands. "T.K.!"
"We're in the car on the way to my dad's…I couldn't wait any longer to call you," T.K. said.
"Could I have some privacy?" I asked everyone in the room. They left.
"What was that about?"
"It's terrible T.K.!"
"Where are you?"
"The hospital…"
"Uh…Did I call at a bad time?"
"T.K., Mom keeps on saying that something is happening to me. Something about the bad stage of my depression. I don't know what they're talking about!"
"Kari…I'll tell you."
"What? You know what is going on?"
"Once you told us about your depression, Tai told us to watch for something. He told us to watch for signs of…Major depression…"
"Major depression?"
"That's where all you can think about is bad things…Sad things."
"T.K., I'm scared."
"Don't be scared."
The door opened. I jumped up. "Davis!"
"Kari, I can tell Davis came…I have to get off the phone…We're almost at my dad's house. I'll talk to you as soon as possible," T.K. told me.
"Ok, thanks for everything," I hung up the phone and dropped it on the ground. I ran over to Davis and gave him a hug. "Davis…I don't want to fall under major depression."
Davis hugged me back. He pulled his fingers through my hair. "You won't…I won't let this happen. I won't."
I pulled away from him and fell to the ground in tears. "I don't want to be depressed anymore…I want to be normal like everyone else."
"No one is normal Kari," he sat next to me.
"I don't want to be me anymore…"
"But…I love this you…I couldn't love a different Kari."
"I just want to die, die, d-"
Davis stopped me by kissing me on the lips. I closed my eyes and fell back. Davis caught my head as our lips pulled apart.
"I don't want you to die. I want us to live forever…So our love will never be lost. I-I want to be with you forever…And I can't do that if you're dead. I love you Kari…I never want you to change. I wouldn't let you change," Davis told me.
"Dai…" I placed my head in his lap.
"Sleep Kari…I'll stay here all night, I promise…Just…Sleep," Davis whispered
I closed my eyes. "I love you Davis…" I fell asleep there.
"Kari," a voice said. "Kari, wake up." A person was shaking me.
I was shaking; I was cold. I opened my eyes to see that I was still laying in Davis's lap.
"You look cold…I'll warm you," Davis hugged me.
I looked around. "How long have I been sleeping?"
"All night."
"Did you get any sleep?"
"Yeah! I just let myself fall back and slept that way."
"That must have been uncomfortable…Why didn't you move?"
"I promised you that I would stay here all night…So I did."
I smiled weakly. "Why am I so weak?"
"They took some blood from you. That reminds me, take this," Davis handed me a pill and a little glass of water.
"Thanks," I took it.
"Are you feeling better?" Davis wondered.
"I'm weak, but better," I said.
"Good."
"Thanks for coming…And not leaving."
"I'd never leave you. You're my Kari…And I love being around you. I have to make sure you're ok…I hate seeing you get hurt."
"You're my healer and my pain…You're my weakness and my strength…But I wouldn't want it any other way."
"Sorry that you didn't get your sleepover with Yolei."
"It's ok…I needed to see you."
"You needed me?"
"Sure did!"
"Really?"
"Davis…I will always need you…"
"Stop being so sweet."
I laughed a little. I stood up and smiled. "I'm ready to go home…What about you?"
"Yeah," Davis said and stood up with my help. "Kari…Do me a favor…"
"What?"
"Don't ever say that you want to die."
I took his hand. "I won't Davis…That's a promise!"
We left the room and met up with Tai, Yolei, Izzy, and my mom.
The first thing I remembered from when I walked out the room was Tai giving me a hug. It was a shock, a big shock.
"Are you going to be ok? Are you ok? Is anything wrong?" Tai questioned.
"I'm fine Tai…Why all the questions?" I wondered.
"You're my little sister…I have to worry about you."
I was tapped on the shoulder. Yolei was smiling. I gave her a hug.
"I'm glad you're doing better," she said.
"It was nothing…Just a little mental break down," I winked.
Izzy hugged me from behind. "Little? I think it was a little bigger…But, you had your reasonings."
"I guess you could say that," I mumbled.
Mom walked up to me and handed me a pill bottle.
"More medicine?" I asked.
"Dr. Deemer said you needed something stronger," she explained.
I pulled the bottle to my heart. "I bet you my life that it won't help me."
"I couldn't agree with you more, but because you have plans today…We're not going to argue," Tai smiled as he pointed at Davis.
"That's right!" Davis smiled.
"Oh no! I better get home! Matt is going to be coming over soon," I remembered.
"Matt?" Tai looked confused.
"Yeah…I'm going over to his apartment for dinner…I almost forgot!"
"He called in the morning…I didn't want to wake you," Davis whispered in my ear.
I looked at the clock in the room. "4:30 already? I-I have to get home…I have to get ready!"
"Davis, you better get home. Yolei, Izzy, you should head home yourself. Kari and I better get home," Tai softly said.
"Right…Kari, we'll try the sleepover thing another weekend. Ok?" Yolei smiled.
Izzy yawned. "I'm going home and going to bed. Tai kept me up all night."
"Sorry Izzy…I was really worried about Kari. I couldn't help it," Tai frowned.
Davis slightly laughed. "I was worried about Kari, but I still got some sleep."
"Well, you were right by her the whole night. I mean, she was sleeping in your lap," Yolei said.
"How did you know that?" I wondered.
"I took a peek in at around 1AM. I wanted to make sure you two were ok."
"Kari, you better get going. It's already 4:45...Matt said he'd be at your apartment for 5PM," Davis pointed out.
"Right!" I walked out the door as Tai followed me. Everyone left the hospital and went home.
Matt was waiting at the door.
"I'm so sorry to make you wait Matt," I frowned as I walked up to him.
"Kari, Tai…Where have you guys been?" Matt questioned.
"Hospital," Tai said as he unlocked the door.
"Give me ten minutes. I have to get changed," I smiled at him.
"Uh…Sure," Matt looked inside.
"Come on in Matt," Tai laughed as we walked into the apartment.
I quickly walked into the bedroom. I grabbed a pink dress. I closed the door and changed into the fresh outfit. I combed my hair and put the clip back in. I grabbed my nice sandles and ran out of the room.
"Ok, I'm ready now," I looked at the clock.
"Don't worry. Dinner won't be there until 5:15...We have fifteen minutes to get to my apartment. It doesn't take that long," Matt laughed.
I nodded. "I'll be home later Tai."
"Ok. I'll talk to you when you get home," Tai smiled.
"I'll walk Kari home. She should be back no later than nine," Matt said.
Tai rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He waved to us as we left.
