Neo's challenge keeps bringing out more fics. Okay, to be fair, this came out of my head first and then I decided it fit well with an album I found. This chapter also reminded me of my friendship with Neo, especially when we're dealing with a bad day, so NeoMiniTails, my Oniichan, this is for you. I love you. I keep writing fics for my friends but I'm selfish cause they're the stories that make me the happiest.


1. Fading

Splashes of water clearly could be heard, echoing through her ears like a steady rhythm and a voice that spoke softly. Her hands grew cold as she shifted against something warm…a type of cushioning that wrapped itself around her and pulled her back. Was it coming for her again? Wake up! Something screamed at her, but she didn't recognise the voice. She felt as if it should be something she knew – something she recognised but it was distorted, and she couldn't make out who it was. Was she dreaming? Or experiencing something was very real?

"Kari! Wake up!" The voice was softer yet somehow much clearer and she forced her eyes open, sitting up in her bed, shaking slightly as she saw her mother sitting beside her. Had she always had such a commanding voice? Enough to scare away the darkness as well as the waves. She wasn't sure.

'Mom?' Kari had to made to actually speak those words, but nothing came out of her mouth no matter how hard she tried. Why couldn't she speak? Her throat felt as if it were closing in on her, her eyes widening as she realised, she was surrounded by water. No. Not again. Was that world calling for her again? Would it take her this time before she could reach out for her brother? Her partner, her precious friends?

"Where did all that water come from, sweetheart?" Her mother asked and Kari had to stare. Her mother could see it too but how? Why? What did it mean? What could it mean? Okay, so her mother knew about the Digimon given everything that had happened with Myotismon years ago but being able to see Dark Ocean water…couldn't be a good sign. She needed to talk to someone about this but who? Tai had moved out a couple of months ago into his new apartment although he did check in now and again, it did make him a lot harder to reach than he had been before.

Kari got out of bed, running towards the house phone but then stopped. How was she going to explain this to Yolei when she didn't even know if she could talk anymore? The Dark Ocean couldn't have stolen her voice, could it have? You've always been special, Kari. Different. If only you stopped holding back. The voice slithered inside of her ear, like a slithering snake that had taken a hold of her, biting into her neck, and inserting a venom into her that she could not get out. It spread through her body like a virus, beginning to drain her of her energy. She fell to her knees, feeling herself sinking in like she had when she was just a child.

No, she wasn't weak. She had fought this off once before when she was younger– twice too and she could do it again. She could do it. I won't let them. I won't let them steal anything. Something glowed inside of her heart, and it took her a couple of seconds to realise that it was her Crest. The power of the crests lay within their hearts, after all. Help…help me. I can't do this alone. Her brother's face appeared in front of her eyes, his hand reaching out to her and then Gatomon's paw rested on her other hand. Yolei. Davis. Ken. TK. Cody. Her friends were still with her. They may not talk as often as they used to, but she knew with one call, they would be here.

"Kari, are you okay?" Her mother's voice sounded alarmed causing her to look up.

"Mom," She managed to speak out loud this time, nearly choking on her own words as she began coughing as if someone had forced cold water down her throat by force. "I…I need my friends. Please." Her head spun and it took it all within her not to cave in and collapse to the strong pull, but she couldn't. She wouldn't. She could be just as strong as her brother and stand back up. Her legs shook and a shiver ran down her spine

Sounds of shuffling crossed her attention and she blinked, realising her mother was calling her friends, her posture relaxing despite the constant yanking and pulling that was going on inside of her mind. All she had to do was not go near water or her computer until they got there. A voice laughed in her head, mocking her. She wasn't eight years old anymore, but the darkness was just a call to loneliness. A reminder that she was still a child scared of the monsters under her bed. Her hand closed around her crest, it being the only thing providing a light in this very moment.

"You just leave everything to me."

Tai had spoken those words to her when she was eight years old and Myotismon was tearing up everything to find her. The words were spoken so strongly that she had latched onto them, at least for a little while. But did that work? The cold voice came back, enveloping her whole body in a sudden chill once more. No, the call was getting stronger again and her eyes closed. Wizardmon's death flashed in the back of her mind – no one had been able to stop that. Another innocent lost because Myotismon had wanted her.

"Kari," Her mom's voice interrupted her again, the chill still there but loosening its almost stranglehold grip around her. "Someone on the phone for you."

Kari reached out, grabbing the phone, hands shaking as she did, attempting to steady them as she held it to her ear, wondering who it could be. Would her friends be unable to come when she needed them the most? "Hello?"


Moving out had not been an easy feat especially when Tai knew he and Kari had always been together. She had always relied on him more than her dad, but he didn't think he would have been proven right this soon. He had been working on his university paper when his cell phone rang and he answered it, recognising it as his home number. He should probably go to bed soon since it was nearly 3 am but he had left his assignment long enough. Wait a minute, it's 3 am, Mom and my family should be asleep by now.

"Hello, Mom, what's going on? Is everything ok?" Tai asked, knowing his mom would just drop in without calling and while it could grate his nerves at times, the fact that she was calling, especially at this time meant something was wrong.

"Tai, sweetie, it's…it's Kari," His Mom said softly, her voice choking up. "She's been really strange."

Tai blinked a bit. "Strange? What kind of strange, Mom?" Being a DigiDestined made him used to strange a lot, but even now, she was still his little sister.

"She woke up in the middle of the night, drenched in water and then it felt like she was disappearing," His Mom said. "I've called her friends as an emergency, but I thought she could use her big brother as well."

Drenched in water? Disappearing? His heart clenched into his chest. No, it couldn't be. Things were going fine in Kari's life; then why would that place call for her again? She had fought it off with Yolei's help when she was just a child.

"I'll be right over, Mom," Tai quickly hung up the phone and rushed out of the apartment and into the car, beginning to drive as his heart raced. Was this his fault? Should he have mentally prepared Kari before moving out to live on his own? Should they have had a proper conversation about it? What if he didn't make it in time and the ocean ended up taking her? She had seemed okay when he was leaving, in fact, she had seemed happy for him. Yeah, real smart Tai. Just like she seemed okay when all you could care about was your soccer game.

It didn't matter if he was a child or an adult. All he did was let her down. She looked up to him – relied on him and for what? What had he ever done for her other than fail her constantly? Myotismon, when she fell sick in the digital world, the first time that the Dark Ocean had targeted her, she had called for him. She had called out for him, but he hadn't been able to reach her. He still remembered the time – the conversation afterwards.

"Did something happen today?" Tai asked Kari when she had come home that day. Kari looked up at him and blinked.

"Something…like what?" Kari asked him softly and he frowned. Had he just been hearing things? Imagining that she was reaching out for him? He wasn't sure but he felt as if he had let her down somehow by not being able to be there with whatever she was going through.

"I just felt…it felt like you were calling for me," Tai admitted, realising that sounded a lot stranger out loud than it had in his head. He bit his lip. "Were you?"

Kari walked over and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head against his shoulder. "Everything is okay now, Tai. I felt you were with me anyway."

What did that mean? So, something had happened then…it hadn't been his imagination. Still, he had to be patient.

"Kari, what happened?" Tai asked her gently. "Did something bad happen in the digital world?"

Kari slowly pulled away and looked at him, locking eyes with him. "Not the digital world. The Dark Ocean. It's a world different from our one, different from the digital world too. Its ruler…wanted me. Forever but Gatomon and T.K. came for me and I fought back. Like you would have, Tai. I didn't let them keep me for themselves."

Tai felt his heart becoming enveloped by a chill and he pulled Kari close into a hug, holding her for a few moments. He would have to thank T.K. for helping later because he didn't know what he would have done if he had lost her. "Thank god you're okay. I don't know what I would have done if I lost you. I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"You're always there with me, Tai," Kari spoke softly, relaxing in the hug. "Everything I do, I keep going because of you."

Her words then resounded in his head. It wasn't just because she had been a young child who looked up to her big brother. It had been more than that. It had always been more than that. As he arrived at his old apartment complex, dread filled inside him as he took a step forward. What if he was too late? What if that horrible place had already taken her? No. No, I can't think that way. I'm not giving up on her. If he had something to do with it, Kari would never have to deal with that place alone ever again. He slowly pulled out the key, it feeling heavy in his hands as he took another step forward. This was it.