AN: Chapter 12 here. If any of you read my Naruto fic, you know this already, but I've finally moved in with my gf. That said, chapters should be coming faster now (which should be made obvious by this, considering I hadn't even started typing it until I posted the chapter for Naruto) which is great! Anyway, I won't bore you guys with a long AN. I've said what I wanted to say, so... moving on then.

SilverIcy:They do. or Did. I'll get to how they got over it within the next 5 or so chapters, I think.

Was so excited to have this for you guys that it's not beta'd yet. I'll have the Beta'd version up after I get it back from Sightbent, but until then... Hopefully, I didn't make too many mistakes.

Well, let the show begin.

Reflections and Reparations

The Chosen Children slowly made their way to the train station, the evening turning out nothing like they'd hoped or anticipated. Instead of a fun night out with new friends, secrets were revealed and life views were challenged. Kari and he friends wanted to be able to disregard everything the Legendary Warriors had said, but they couldn't. They couldn't say without a shadow of a doubt that the warriors were wrong.

They had taken the lives of Digimon. They may not have done so directly, but they'd given the order. Despite understanding this much though… They weren't sure what to feel about it now.

"Well, this certainly didn't go according to plan," Izzy spoke, breaking the silence that had fallen over the group.

"Yeah, who woulda' thought that Takuya guy would be such a liar, huh? He totally could have told us the truth before now," grouched Davis, earning him an elbow to the gut courtesy of Yolei as Mimi spoke up.

"It's not really that odd… If we hadn't seen his Digivice we wouldn't have said anything at all. Besides, we still don't know what their adventures were like or how much it affected their personalities. One thing we do know is that whatever they went through made them overly cautious and forced them to get used to taking lives." Sora nods here, agreeing with her friend.

"I think they all deserve a second chance. We're going to need to work with them from now on anyway and they saved Matt and the others. They can't be that bad," added the crest bearer of love. She wanted to trust their predecessors – and she wanted the others to trust them too. Kari especially.

Personally, she thought the way the warriors went about things could have been better, but that was already the past. Besides, she'd seen Takuya's face when Kari questioned him. He'd looked genuinely regretful. That boy cared about Kari in a way more than just acquaintances or simple friends; he had an interest in her. Sora knew Kari at least had an interest in him as well. She didn't want to see the girls first crush end before it could even begin and as the bearer of the Crest of Love – well – she figured she could do a little something about that.

Davis frowned at the joint response from Mimi and Sora, still feeling upset with the Legendary Warriors. He wasn't angry at them (if you don't count Takuya) per se, but he was still very flustered about how they'd made them question their views.

"So what? We're just supposed to let them hang with us like they didn't lie to our faces multiple times?" Davis questioned with a huff. It was obvious the second – ah… third generation leader of the Chosen was incensed. Of course, considering how hot headed he was, that wasn't a particularly hard thing to do to him. Angering Davis was almost as easy as lighting a candle.

"That's not what she meant, Davis," T.K. spoke up, "But we have to do battle alongside them from now on. I feel the same way you do," the bearer of hope trailed off here, locking eyes with Davis. A sort of understanding passed between them in that moment before T.K. continued,

"but since we have to work with them, we need to at least tolerate them."

"We'll certainly need to go further than that. These will be the people we will have to rely on now. They will be watching our backs as we will need to watch theirs," says Ken, attempting to truly elaborate on what Mimi and Sora were trying to get across to the more upset members of their group, "It would not do for us to dwell too deeply on the fact that they lied. Presently, they hold no ill will towards us and will help us to the best of their abilities. They've proven as much already when they fought Merukimon and Dianamon. We are the only ones who have any misgivings about this partnership and if we act in a caustic, or otherwise mean manner it will strain our relationship with them and make our chances of success drop. If we want this to work, we need to hear them out and accept their apology if they give one. As Mimi said, we know nothing of what they've gone through. Before we grow angry with them we should discover this and give them time to explain themselves."

The other members of the Chosen voiced their varying opinions on this. Some of them agreed with Ken, Mimi, and Sora while others, like Cody and (surprisingly) Joe, leaned more towards T.K. and Davis' views due to their own personal feelings or ethics. Then there were those like Yolei and Izzy who didn't really know how to feel about it at all. Throughout this though, Kari stayed silent while absently paying attention to the discussion. She didn't know how to feel herself. She was upset with Takuya for sure; she'd trusted him and she'd hoped he trusted her as well, yet the fact that he hadn't told her that he was one of the first Destined or really anything about himself and his friends made her think that he didn't trust her at all.

Kari felt like she'd been letting her feelings get carried away when it came to the boy. She'd not intended to look for a relationship, yet she found herself staring at what could have been the starting line for one with Takuya. His lack of trust in her and his lies got rid of those thoughts though – but then she had to consider Sora and Mimi's words. Everyone deserved a second chance and she would be working closely with Takuya from now until the defeat of the Olympus XII, Plutomon, and Titamon at least.

Could I trust him again? Kari wondered.

Heaving an inaudible sigh, Kari was preparing herself to finally join the conversation before her cell let off a short tune, alerting her to a new text. Unlocking her phone, she read the message and stopped in her tracks before interrupting all of her companions.

"Takuya asked me to meet him at a café here in Shibuya. Right now."

The rest of her companions stopped walking now too. Silence reigned for a beat.

"Well, that was a little sooner than I expected," said Mimi thoughtfully, breaking the quiet amongst them, one of her delicate fingers pressed to her slightly curved lips.

"Huh?" scowled Davis, "you expected this?"

"Well… yes," Mimi replied, "Takuya knew Kari best among us and he's not a very hard person to read in situations like this. He certainly knows what he wants," she smiled. Kari cocked a brow as Davis' furrowed in confusion.

"She means he cares more about her opinion of him than our opinion of him, obviously. He didn't want her to leave Shibuya with a bad impression of him tonight it seems."

Sora to the rescue.

"But… why?"frowned Izzy. For all his knowledge, the boy was quite dense when it came to human relations. He was certainly getting better, but he still fell short in some areas.

"Ha! I knew it!" Squealed Yolei as she walked over to Kari so she could glomp the girl in a mighty hug – she'd already been suspecting what Sora meant for a while now.

"Oh, I get it," Joe adds with raised brows and slightly widened eyes as Ken rubs his chin thoughtfully.

"Huh, I am surprised I did not see it," was the only indicator that the owner of the Crest of Kindness understood what was going on.

"See what?" Tai frowns, earning him a complete and utter lack of reply from his friends as Sora shook her head in his direction.

Poor Mimi, she thought, she's got a handful with that one…

The remaining male members of the group kept their silence, whether they understood and didn't voice it or didn't understand and didn't voice that either was a mystery to the others.

"Well?" questioned Yolei with a grin as she released the girl from her grip, "what are you going to do, Kari?"

Kari merely frowned. What was she going to do?

"I think you should go," Mimi intoned with a smile, "like Sora said, they all deserve a second chance. Besides, maybe with this, he'll actually tell you more about himself and their adventures."

Kari looked from the supportive visages of Mimi and Sora, to the excited Yolei, to her still confused older brother before giving a small nod.

"I'll go… I'll be back before the last train…" With that, she walked off leaving her friends behind as she headed for the meeting place Takuya had set up. As Tai watched his little sister's retreating form, his brows still furrowed, a single thought went through his mind.

See what…?

Pitying his friend, Matt placed a hand on Tai's shoulder, prompting the boy to look his way. Pointing to himself, Matt whispered Takuya's name before pointing to Sora and whispering Kari's. Tai's response was a once again furrowed brow before his eyes widened.

"You don't mean…" Tai trailed off, not wanting to believe it. Matt merely nodded. Looking to his sister, who'd gotten even further away, Tai's mouth hung slightly agape – right before he whispered something else out, his tone very obviously upset.

"Son of a bi-"

Takuya waited patiently outside the doors of a small café near the park, hoping Kari would show up. Honestly, he wasn't completely expecting her to, not based off the look he saw on her face earlier, but a man could hope, right? Even though they hadn't technically met face to face since the day she returned his D-Tector until today, the two of them had been getting to know each other pretty well through texts and phone calls. He hadn't told her anything truthful about his adventures in the Digital World – mainly because with how they'd initially lied, they weren't supposed to have even been to the Digital World yet. That wasn't all there was to him though, and he regretted lying to her – he wanted her to understand that. He wanted her to know that just because he hadn't said anything about his digital adventures didn't mean he didn't trust her. That was just how his group was.

The Legendary Warriors weren't free with their information. They'd had enough Digimon in the Digital World lie to them or take advantage of them to force them to be more cautious. Having Koji around to always point out what could be the worst case scenario probably didn't help either, but they all had o admit that he was a great help. His paranoia had gotten them out of a few very tight spots too, so Takuya couldn't really complain in the end. The Legendary Warrior of Flames knew he could trust Kari and the other Destined, but protecting his group's own interests had become second nature to them. Even when they had no ill will towards the Digidestined or any reason to mistrust them, they couldn't stop themselves from masking the truth.

Maybe I need to have a talk with everyone. We don't really need to be this cautious, do we? Sure it's gotten us out of trouble… but now it's gotten us into trouble too, mused Takuya. So lost in thought, he didn't even notice that Kari was now standing in front of him, staring at his thoughtful expression. She'd been in front of him for nearly a minute now, wondering if he'd notice her. Kari had just concluded that he most likely would not – not unless she got his attention.

"Takuya," she called, startling the boy. His head flew up, his eyes catching hers, causing him to freeze up. She didn't look as upset as he'd been expecting, but she was definitely not happy either. Her expression betrayed nothing and Takuya was definitely feeling uncomfortable with the way she was looking at him.

"H-hey, Hikari…"

"Takuya," she repeated, this time in greeting, little inflection in her voice. With her tone not changing in anyway, Takuya figured that no more words would be exchanged out here on the sidewalk. Taking a deep breath, he spoke once more.

"Shall we head inside?" Kari merely nodded, her silence unnerving him further. When they would talk on the phone, Kari wasn't really a quiet girl. Not like this. Takuya wouldn't go so far as to call her chatty, but she wasn't one for this type of silence. He couldn't find the right words for it – he never was very eloquent – but he knew it wasn't like her and he didn't like it.

And he knew this was his fault.

Stepping towards the door Takuya pulled at the handle and held it open for her, allowing Kari to walk in first. Following her inside, he led her to the counter where they placed their orders. Both of them got hot chocolate, which Takuya had been expecting. They'd found out a while back that they had a love for it in common. After ordering and paying, Takuya led Kari to a somewhat isolated booth in one of the corners of the establishment. The two of them sat down – and immediately entered into a staring contest.

But not the playful kind.

Takuya stared at Kari, wondering where to begin and she, in turn, stared at him. She wondered if she really wanted to be here right now. She could just leave when their drinks came and catch the next train to Odaiba, but Sora's words made her second guess that decision and Takuya had been the one to reach out to her. He'd even done so in a timely fashion. She supposed she could stay – just listening to what he had to say didn't mean she had to forgive him or anything. She only needed to give him an opportunity to explain himself.

"So…" started Takuya awkwardly, scratching at his cheek in unease. It was now or never so he figured he needed to just get this over with.

"You lied to us… to me," she said, her hands clenching her skirt beneath the table.

"I – yeah…" Takuya sighed, lowering his head, "I did. I'm sorry."

"Why did you do that? I trusted you… could you not trust me?"

"N-no. I could – I do. I trust you, Hikari… it's just. That's just our way. The things we went through in the Digital World – it shaped us that way; it made us cautious with everything. We'd been tricked enough, you know? I'm not sure if all the Digimon you faced were as conniving as the ones we did… but they changed how we deal with people and we're just… set in our ways, I guess."

"But you knew we were Destined. You knew we just wanted what was best for the Digital World. You knew. And yet you still – You still never told us anything…"

You never told me anything…

Yes, that's what it really came down to in the end – and Takuya could see it in her eyes. More than lying to the rest of the Digidestined, Kari was more upset that he'd lied to her. She'd thought they could tell each other things – their relationship had been shaping up to end up that way, but him lying to her about something that important made her think otherwise. He couldn't blame her either, if the roles had been reversed, he doubted he wouldn't feel the same.

"I… I'm sorry, Hikari. Protecting our group is just – second nature now. Masking the truth was like a reflex. I didn't want this to happen; I didn't want you to feel like this. I'm sorry… I don't have any excuse. What we – I did… it was wrong. You didn't deserve that. All I ask is that you give me a chance to make up for it," Takuya replied. This was it. The ball was in Kari's court now.

"I hope everything is going well with Taku and Kari," sighed Zoe, earning a snort from Koji as the two of them walked just behind their three other friends. They'd all decided to catch a late movie after their rocky meeting with the Chosen Children.

"Does it really matter? Those guys don't really need to like us to work with us. As long as they don't do anything to get in the way of saving the Digital World they can hate us for all I care."

"Why are you always so anti-social, Koji? Learn to make more friends. Your mother worries about you," Zoe chastised. Shooting her a glare from the corner of his eyes, Koji responded.

"Since when do you know how my mother feels about my social life?" he sneered. Zoe ignored his expression, having long since gotten used to Koji and his moods, and smirked at him.

"We speak on occasion…" she replied cryptically, "anyway, although I suppose it's not necessary, it would be best if we actually got along with them. Working alongside people we like and not just people we tolerate would produce far better results, I'm sure. That's not what I meant when I brought this up though. I was talking about Taku and Kari – specifically." Catching on to what Zoe meant now, Koji scoffed.

"Knowing that idiot he's probably screwed things up with her completely." Zoe nudged Koji in his side for his response, a frown on her face as she rolled her eyes. Really, what had she been expecting? An encouraging response? From Koji? About Takuya?

Not on the bandana wearing boy's life.

"Don't say that. Takuya likes that girl, you know? If he screws this up they may not end up together," Zoe huffed back. Koji walked on in silence for a beat, his eyes narrowing at his comrades words.

"And you want them ending up together?"

"Should I not?" Zoe challenged immediately, looking his way with a nearly unreadable expression. Koji wasn't buying it though.

"You like the idiot. He's just dense and misunderstood it. I have no idea how though; you're so obvious. How the hell has he been thinking of you as nothing but a sister?"

"Shut up, Koji. He's not as dense as everyone seems to think he is."

Koji merely grunted at her response.

"And don't concern yourself with how I feel about Taku. This isn't about me. It's about Taku and Kari. If he likes her I'm going to support him and if they end up together I'll support them," Zoe replied with finality.

Catching her implication that this conversation was over, Koji stuck his hands in his pockets before opening his mouth, intending to have the last word.

"Whatever you say, Izumi. Don't come crying to me if you end up regretting this though."

Zoe huffed at Koji's stubbornness. She couldn't understand why he seemed to always want the last word. Maybe it was a boy thing?

More likely to be a Koji thing, she decided.

"As if I would."

Kari looked at Takuya from across the table, wondering if she should just forgive him now and move forward from there. Her heart was all confused – he lied to her, that was true. He'd hurt her when she had nothing but trust for him, but now he was apologizing. He was trying to let her understand why he did what he did and he wasn't trying to make an excuse for his actions. He was deferring to her judgment now, willingly letting himself be at her mercy.

She couldn't deny that took some courage, a quality she was beginning to wonder if leaders of every generation of destined shared. That, she decided, was a thought that could wait though. For now, she had to respond to him.

"You really hurt me, Takuya… I know you didn't mean to now, but you did…"

Kari didn't catch his fingers twitching and before she could speak again, a waitress walked over and set down their drinks. Takuya wrapped his hands around the cup, finding comfort in the warmth. Reminders of his element always helped to calm the boy and calm was definitely something he needed right now.

"Still… My friends think everyone deserves a second chance… and we don't really know what you all have gone through, so I'll forgive you. This time. Don't lie to me again, please."

Takuya's heart swelled as a smile spread across his face.

"Believe me, it won't happen again."

Hours later, as Zoe was snacking in the kitchen as she chatted with her mother, she got a phone call. Apologizing to her mother, she took the call once she saw it was Takuya and walked to another room just in case Digimon would be a subject of conversation.

"Hi, Taku. What's up?" the response to her question came swiftly.

"Do me a favor, Zoe…?"

"A favor? Oh no, was Koji right?" she sighed, "Did you screw things up with Kari and now you're hoping to have me mediate or something?"

"What? What does Koji have to do with – you know what? Never mind. Whatever that jerk said doesn't matter. He's wrong. I didn't screw anything up; Kari's not mad at me. Just… well, after she accepted my apology we ended up talking. Lost track of time, you know? Anyway, she missed the last train so I was hoping she could stay over at your place."

Glancing at the clock in the living room, Zoe noted that it was indeed too late to catch the train. She considered teasingly denying Takuya, but ended up deciding against it. The sooner she said yes, the sooner she could have some one-on-one girl time with Kari. Talking to her mother was nice, but she definitely needed someone of the womanly persuasion whom she could talk with about everything.

"Yeah, sure. I'm sure my mom and dad will say yes. Drop her off."

"You're the best, Zoe. Thanks. I'll see you soon!"

"Yeah, I'm awesome," smiled Zoe, "and don't you forget it. See you soon, Taku." The two hung up after Zoe's parting words and the Legendary Warrior of Wind headed back into the kitchen to ask.

"Mom, can a friend stay over tonight?"

Takuya slipped his cell back into his pocket as Kari finished texting her brother that she'd be staying at Zoe's, having to assure him more than once that Zoe would be the only one there. Kari assumed her brother must have finally figured out that something was going on between her and Takuya. She'd deny it if she could, but even she admitted that there must be something between them. Or there was. She wasn't too sure anymore. She'd forgiven him, but she hadn't forgotten what he'd done. She definitely wasn't sure if she wanted to pursue a relationship with him.

"Sorry for making you miss the train," Takuya apologized as they walked on through the night. Kari merely waved him off.

"It's fine. You don't need to keep apologizing. Besides, I – enjoyed myself. Talking with you was nice… and you even told me about some of your adventures." Takuya nodded here, a little glad he'd noticed the time before he moved on with telling her the rest of his time in the Digital World. He'd gotten up to the first encounter with Duskmon and well, he didn't want to go too much further than that at the moment. He could tell from their adventures that they didn't have a very good opinion of Digimon who wielded the power of darkness.

"Yeah… I had fun too," Takuya replied, the two of them lapsing into a silence after that. Kari's view of the silence was a comfortable one, but Takuya's? He was anxious. His nerves were getting to him because he knew what he was about to ask would either make the night's end great or very awkward. Still, he had to do it now. He didn't want to risk waiting until he got to Zoe's. The chance of her somehow getting involved and having something over his head because of it were too high.

His friend was a crafty one.

"Um… Hikari?" Kari looked Takuya's way, an arched brow and an ever so slightly tilted head looking up at him made the boy's heart beat quicken.

She's really cute, whined Takuya, it's not fair at all.

"Hm?"

"Ah… I – uh, like I said… I had a lot of fun today. So I was wondering... if… we could, you know, do this… again? Um… officially next time?" stammered out Takuya, fidgeting as he walked. He couldn't believe how unsmooth that had been.

Ugh, I'm so lame, he thought, thank god none of my friends saw that… I'd never live it down.

Kari's eyes widened as her cheeks flushed, realizing what she was being asked.

"Are you – are you asking me out…? On a date…?" Takuya scratched his cheek at her question. Of course he'd have to go and say the actual word. What could have possibly made him think otherwise? His obviously rising embarrassment?

"Yeah..." he replied, his voice wavering just slightly.

Eloquent, Takuya. Very Eloquent.

"A date." Kari didn't say anything for a moment. She just stared at him and the two weren't even moving.

When did we stop walking? Takuya groaned in his mind, wishing this situation would just come to an end.

And that Kari would stop looking at him with surprise written all over her face. Feeling even more awkward now, the Warrior of Flame averted his gaze. As this happened, Kari blinked. Her cheeks flushed even more and she blinked again before looking down at the ground shyly.

"O-okay…"

Takuya's eyes whipped back to her as he watched her mess with her fingers, her own embarrassment now showing through. The boy's eyes softened then, followed by a smile making its way to his lips.

She'd said yes.

Takuya's day had been one of the most awkward days of his life, some of that was good awkward and some if it was bad, but as he watched Kari raise her head again and look at him with her cheeks flaming he decided that it was worth it.

And he'd do it all over again for a moment like this.

To Be Continued…

So, here is chapter twelve. This is just an intermission of sorts before the two groups meet back up and things get more serious again. I really just wanted to focus on a few things this chapter, which was basically how the two groups were feeling after everything was finally revealed. As you can see, aside from Takuya, no one amongst the warriors is too perturbed Aside from thinking it may affect their battle potential they don't care too much. While on the other hand, the Chosen Children are varied in their feelings. Some are understanding, some don't know what to think, and some of them are very upset. That said though, these feelings are more due to having their moral views shaken and in Davis' case, a combination of that and jealousy. And no, the ending of this chapter does not mean Kari and Takuya are a couple from now on. All he did was ask her out and depending on how I want things to go, them actually becoming an item could still be a ways off. Regardless, this is progress.

Next chapter the two groups will most likely meet back up, talk, and have their first excursion into the Digital World together. See you guys then!