Kari held Salamon tight as they stood on the ship. Machinedromon and genni had chased them to the water and the group had taken refuge on a ship. Kari watched Joe and gomomon crouch together. She bit her lip and looked at Sora. She sighed seeing Biomon and Sora look at each other. She had felt Soras eyes on her as she had questioned Salamon.
"I'm sorry this is our fault." Kari looked to Mei and meicoomon and felt bad for the two of them. Her eyes traveled to her brother and Kari felt a pang in her chest. She was slightly deflated when it came to Tai. He seemed so conflicted and having a mental war within himself. She wanted to help him but she then looked at Matt and Sora. She frowned, Tai was wrapped up in whatever tug of war game the three of them were tangled in. Kari couldn't help to feel conflicted with a desire to help and slight jealousy towards Sora. Tai seemed so distant from Kari and part of it was due to Sora. The ship rocked violently as an explosion erupted in the water. Kari stood strong and held salamon close. She shook her thoughts away and focused on the task at hand.
"Alright Matt and I will be bait lets go!" Tai shouted and he turned and started running and Kari clenched her teeth.
"Tai!" She screamed and she abandoned the group in favour of going after her brother. She followed the older boys to the beach and into the water. It wasn't cold and Kari pushed through the water towards the others. Tai seemed unaware she was even there and this slightly bothered her. She held onto Salamon and watched Agumon, Gabumon, Matt and Tai battle megaseadromon. Tai went under water and Kari panicked
"Tai!" Matt looked at her and gave her a nod. Kari quickly shut her mouth and watched Matt dive into the water. Time seemed to pass slowly and Kari's heart rate increased the longer she went without seeing Tai resurface. Suddenly Megaseadromon erupted from the water and aimed his nose right at Kari. Kari was frozen unable to make a decision to move or fight. A blast started heading towards her when another red flame intercepted. Kari covered her face and took a moment to adjust herself. She saw Tai, wargreymon and Matt and metalgurumon in the air. She beamed at the boys happy to see them both alive. They started fighting with metalseadromon and Tai and Matt were now safe in shallow water while their partners battled. Victory was near as metalgarurumon iced metalseadromon. Wargreymon attacked the ice block and an explosion erupted. A huge chunk of ice came hurdling towards Kari. She closed her eyes ready for impact when she felt Salamon grow hot and leave her arms. She felt nothing and was shocked to see Gatomon slice the debris and Kari smiled happy to see Gatomon again.
"Kari!" Tai yelled from the beach and Kari turned to look at him. He looked angry and Kari moved through the water towards him. Once she was closer Tai gritted his teeth.
"You should have moved." He scolded and Kari was taken aback.
"I-" Matt then cut her off
"Metalgarurumon!" Tai looked to the sky and Kari was glad his eyes were off of her. She stayed in the water while wargreymon and metalgarurumon joined Tai and Matt. They quickly dedigivolved and Kari slowly trudged through the water towards the others.
Running back to the rest of the group was less difficult then Kari had thought. She was motivated to see TK. She needed to talk to him and get away from Tai for a minute. His anger towards her had startled her and made her feel very conflicted. They ran back to the others and Kari quickly spotted TK. She darted past Tai seeing his focus was on Sora and felt more determined to talk to TK. She smiled at him happy to see he was not hurt and he returned the gesture. She looked past him at Joe and Mimi and gave the two a wave.
"Let's go back." She heard someone call and she looked at TK who gave her a quizzical look. Kari let her guard down and looked to the ground allowing her friend to see that she needed to talk to him. He nodded and she turned and made her way up the bank back to the ship. The two were ahead of the others and Kari suddenly felt slightly light headed. She coughed a moment and TK was quick to shield her from the others and stand in front of her while she hacked away. His face was full of concern and Kari felt bad. She finished her small spout of coughing and TK put his arms on her shoulders
"what's going on?" He asked and Kari grew shy and looked over at Tai who was still talking to Sora and Matt. Izzy was close to herself and TK but paid them no attention. Kari slowly began to speak,
"TK, I-" suddenly there was a loud bang and TK got closer to shield Kari from a possible attack. She was grateful for his protection. Meicoomon appeared and Kari could see a dark aura surrounding the digimon.
"Oh no." Kari whispered and TK looked up to see what Kari was seeing. He then pushed her closer to the rock and put his arms out as the digimon hovered above the group.
"Meicoomon!" Sora yelled and Kari wondered what had happened to Mei.
"TK." She put her hand on his shoulder. TK looked back at her.
"Mei, she must be in trouble!" Kari said in a panicked voice. TK went wide eyed and then nodded,
"we need to find her." He replied and Kari looked at the group, her and TK were the closest to the boat and the only ones who could sneak out undetected.
"TK?" TK waved a hand and Kari closed her mouth understanding he was thinking. She locked eyes with Mimi and moved her head indicating the boat. Mimi was wide eyed and Kari then looked at TK and pointed to herself. Mimi nodded and Kari wrapped her hands around TK's outstretched arm.
"Let's go." Kari instructed and TK's arm relaxed in Kari's
"Tokomon, Gatomon, let's go." TK whispered to the digimon. Kari allowed TK to lead but kept her grip on his arm as they snuck towards the boat. The boat was in sight and TK crouched down. Kari was forced to do the same and TK talked to Gatomon,
"Gatomon, go check on Mei." Gatomon jumped onto the boat and Kari looked back to the others. There was a crack above and Kari looked to the sky.
"TK! A distortion!" She cried and TK yelled to Gatomon,
"Gatomon! Come Back!" Kari wanted to go to her partner but TK must have sensed that would be her reaction. He ripped his arm from Kari's grip and wrapped his arm around her pulling her close with one arm and Tokomon close with the other.
"Gatomon!" Kari cried as the distortion absorbed them.
Kari stood in the desert and bit her lip. She felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped when she saw TK standing next to her.
"You okay?" He asked and Kari nodded,
"you?" TK smiled,
"we're fine." He said and Kari saw Tokomon tucked under his arm. She smiled at Tokomon and pinched his cheek. She then looked at the landscape and frowned,
"gatomon?" She whispered and TK kept his hand on Kari's shoulder. He squeezed and spoke softly
"I haven't seen her but." He stopped and Kari looked up at him. He was all smiles
"come on we'll find her." He then started walking and Kari rolled her eyes.
"So optimistic." Kari watched TK place Tokomon on his head,
"hey we'll be just fine." Kari giggled at TK's optimism and followed her friend through the sand.
"So what was going on before meicoomon showed up?" TK broke the silence and Kari raised her eyebrow.
"What do you mean?" She asked and Tk stopped walking to face her.
"You looked, I don't know, hurt. And then..." he stopped and Kari watched him clench his fists. He released and looked at the ground.
"You started coughing, I just, worry about you." He said sheepishly and Kari smiled.
"You don't have to worry about me TK." TK smiled and then shook his head,
"can't help it. Do you want to talk?" He asked and Kari sighed.
"Tai." TK nodded.
"Him and Matt are like a couple of babies sometimes hey? I'm starting to wonder whose looking out for who anymore." Kari knew he was trying to lighten the mood. She smiled but shook her head.
"It's not about him and Matt." TK stared at her and Kari bit her lip.
"It's, I don't know. It's the whole digital world that's eating away at him. He seems to feel so useless. At least he did. Agumon digivolved to wargreymon." TKs eyes went wide,
"he did! That's great!" Kari nodded
"metalgarurumon was there as well. So maybe that will help." TK shrugged
"So what's bothering you?" Kari paused, she thought about her news before she left to the digital world. She decided to keep that buried deep and focused on the present.
"He just got mad at me and then seemed to be ignoring me. I guess I'm just being sensitive" she conceited. She blushed feeling ashamed but felt Tk put his hands on her shoulders.
"That's not being sensitive. That's being human. You're hurt and that's okay. Tai's your brother he is acting distant and it is odd." He was silent and Kari looked at his face. She was surprised to see TK was looking sternly at her.
"I'm sure that's only part of what's bothering you. You're hiding something." Kari's mouth fell open and Tk held his gaze. Kari then closed her mouth and looked down ashamed. She felt TK's hands slip off of her shoulders and felt him step back.
"Kari, you know I'm here and you know I care. But," He looked at her sternly and Kari felt stunned.
"I won't let this go. You don't have to tell me now but soon. I want to know because I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I let you stay quiet for too long once before and you nearly got hurt. I won't let that happen again." Kari felt heat rise in her face and worried tears may start to form in her eyes. TK then shook his head and smiled.
"Come on, let's find the others." He held his hand out and Kari nodded and took his hand in her own. They made their way in silence although Kari's heart was pounding and her mind was racing. She couldn't tell TK what was going on with her, could she?