When Kari opened her eyes, she was once again standing on the beach. The Dark Ocean stretched to the shadowy horizon, joining with the ashen-hued sky.

She had opened the Digiport, just as if she were going to the DigiWorld, but as the light engulfed her, she had felt a thread of darkness in its pure white brilliance. The thread had grown, swallowing the light, which seemed to feed it, and the thread--now a thick cord--wrapped itself around Kari. It cut into her, burned against her wherever it touched; it tore her from the path to the Digital World--Kari had soon closed her eyes, unable to bear watching any longer--and dragged her into the path to the World of Darkness.

And the Dark Ocean was the heart of that world.

A cool breeze blew out from the sea, and Kari shivered, from the subtle menace in the wind's caress as much as from the cold. And the cold did not pass with the simple gust of wind; the coldness stayed, wrapping itself around her like a blanket . . . or a shroud.

Kari stared out at the dark water in front of her, so black that it looked as if the night itself had melted and trickled down from the heavens to rest on the ground before her feet, an endless mass of smooth, shining jet. So dark . . .

She shook her head, an uneasiness entering her mind for the first time, a nagging twinge of doubt. What have I gotten myself into?

¤ ¤ - ¤ ¤

T.K. squinted, blinking water out of his eyes as he dashed after Matt down the rain-soaked streets of Tokyo. His older brother hadn't told him where they were going, or even why, and all that Matt would say about his conversation with Tai was that it was an urgent issue that needed to be addressed--immediately.

Matt caught a glimpse of T.K.'s face as his little brother followed him up and down the streets. He gritted his teeth against a pain he knew T.K. would experience many times more severely. He has no idea what's happened. He and Kari are so close--they're like best friends . . . I just don't know how he'll take this news.

Matt closed his eyes and ran on.

They had been running for some time now--T.K. had actually begun to feel it--when Matt suddenly stopped in front of a building. T.K. recognized it instantly. "Hey, this is my old Junior Highschool!" he yelled over the roar of the torrential rain. "What—" He started to ask a question, but Matt was already halfway across the courtyard, heading for the main door.

Well, T.K. thought as he hurried to catch up with his brother, I'll be glad to get out of this rain at least . . .

The brothers stepped into the welcome refuge of their old school, pushing back their hoods with relief. Then, without even pausing to catch his breath, Matt started off down the corridors; T.K. fell in to step beside him, matching his brother's rapid stride. I wonder what the big hurry is? he mused to himself.

Soon T.K. knew where they were going: the computer lab. Maybe we're taking a trip to the Digital World. In his pocket, his hand closed around his D-3, and he felt Patamon move inside his backpack. He hoped it was waterproof; otherwise he'd have one wet digimon on his hands in a few minutes. Good ol' Patamon, he smiled, but then slowly it faded again. Matt's really worried about something, he thought, carefully scanning his brother's face and easily picking out all the usual little tell-tale signs, which were often the only indicators of Yamato's inner strain and stress. Well, I guess I'll find out in a few minutes. T.K. shrugged inwardly. We're almost to the lab.

Tai looked up as Matt and T.K. slid to a stop in front of the computer lab's open door, then went back to typing furiously. T.K. dropped exhaustedly into a chair, trying to catch his breath, but Matt immediately made his way to Tai's side.

"Did you tell him?" the brown-haired boy asked under his breath, not looking away from the computer's screen.

"Couldn't." Matt's voice sounded choked, and Tai's eyes flicked over to rest on his best friend's pale face. "They're so close, and he--he has no idea--"

"Then we'll tell him together," Tai said, rising and putting a reassuring hand on Matt's shoulder. The blonde nodded, and both turned to the younger boy. "T.K.," Tai began, "I had Matt bring you here for a reason. It's . . . about Kari." Tai paused, unsure of what to say next.

T.K. blinked. "What about her?"

"Well—"

"If she doesn't want to go to the Dance with me anymore, she should tell me herself."

"No . . . no, that's not it. You've got it all wrong . . ." Tai looked uncomfortable. "Kari still wants to go to the Dance with you, at least I think she does, but, well . . . she might not be able to go."

Huh? T.K. blinked, several times and rapidly. She wants to but she might not be able to? His blue eyes narrowed suddenly. There's more going on here than they're telling me, he thought, looking at the half-guilty faces of the university students standing before him.

"What do you mean?" he demanded aloud, unconsciously clenching his hands into fists. "What's happened to Kari? And you can't say nothing's happened," he continued relentlessly, noting the look that passed between the two older boys, "I won't believe that for an instant."

Tai nodded slowly, rubbing a hand over his face. He opened his mouth, but no words would come out. Finally Matt spoke:

"T.K. . . . she's disappeared."

T.K. took an involuntary step back. "Wh-what?"

"She was having nightmares." Tai finally seemed to have found his voice, shaky though it was. " And . . . and then she got a bunch of e-mails from some evil digimon, telling her that someone she cared for very deeply would be in terrible danger if she didn't come to the World of Darkness . . . alone."

"But . . . who was . . ."

"You. It was you, T.K., she—" Tai's voice broke, and he had to pause to regain his composure.

What? T.K.'s mind was reeling. Why would she do something like this? She knows better than—oh! His mind suddenly jumped back to an event that had taken place more than five years ago, when he had first moved to Odaiba and come to this school: Kari had been having nightmares then, too, and they weren't that far from being reality: evil digimon had tried to drag her to their world and, once successful, tried to keep her there as their Queen . . .

"She didn't tell anyone," Tai, voice and composure both recovered, broke in on his thoughts, "Not even Gatomon. She just left a note saying not to worry, she'd be fine."

That's so typically Kari, T.K. thought, a bitter taste filling his mouth. Never wanting others to worry about her, even when it's something as big as this, even when she needs others to worry about her. He drew a deep, shuddering breath. "So what are we going to do?"

"What can we do?" Matt said. "We don't really even know where Kari is, or even how she got there, so how can we help her?"

"I don't know," Tai said, brown eyes flashing. "But we have to do something!"

"Do we?"

Both Matt and Tai turned to look at T.K., their mouths agape, shock written across their faces as clearly as if it had been done with a black permanent marker.

"What . . . did you . . . say?"

T.K. stood with his head down, the brim of his hat covering his eyes, easily his most expressive feature; he'd learned long ago to hide them from others at times like this. His shoulders were hunched as he spoke, but his voice was clear. "You guys may think this sounds crazy, but I'm going to say it anyway. Kari said that she'd be fine and that she didn't need any help. I think we should trust her judgment." Whirling suddenly, he bolted for the door.

"T.K. . . ."

He heard the concern in his brother's voice, and he paused in the doorway. "When she wants our help, she'll ask for it!" he said in a low voice, then ran on.

"T.K.!"

Matt lunged after him, stopping for a brief moment in the doorway to call his brother's name again. He started to follow, but Tai laid a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Let him go."

The tall blonde nodded slowly. He knew T.K. needed to be alone right now.

And if anyone understood needing to be alone sometimes, it was Matt Ishida.

"Do you think he's right?" he finally asked, glancing back at Tai.

"I don't know," Tai said softly, looking down the hall. "But I hope so."

¤ ¤ - ¤ ¤

T.K. didn't stop running until he reached his destination: the beach. This is where she disappeared last time, he thought, panting. Shaking his head, he set off down the beach. Maybe this is some sort of gate to the World of Darkness.

It was still raining, and the wind of the first typhoon of the year whipped his short blonde hair around his face with hurricane force, making his eyes water. He looked out at the stormy sea through moisture-filled eyes, and its grey crests reminded him of the Dark Ocean, where he knew Kari must be right now. His sighed and closed his eyes, misery pounding through every square inch of his body. He liked how the storm pummeled him: he felt deserving of the punishment. He should have looked after Kari. He should have been more responsible. He should have remembered her past encounter with the World of Darkness, remembered about her nightmares, and put two and two together.

He clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles going white. Why didn't I learn my lesson years ago, when she got left behind in the DigiWorld? If she hadn't had Gatomon . . . if Davis and I hadn't gotten there when we did . . . He didn't want to think about what might have happened if they hadn't gotten there in time.

The truth was, no matter what he had said to Matt and Tai, he sincerely wanted nothing more than to rush off to save Kari. But how could you rush off somewhere if you didn't know where that somewhere was? It was frustrating, maddening even, but T.K. knew impatience would get him nowhere.

Deep in his heart of hearts, there was only one thing that Takeru Takashi feared: losing the ones he loved most dearly. Kari held a very special spot in his heart, and if he lost her . . . He shook his head hard, as if attempting to quite literally shake the thought out of his head. However, it refused to dislodge itself—

"T.K."

The quiet voice startled him out of the torturous whirl of thoughts that hammered his mind, much like the storm hammered at his body. Turning, he was surprised to find Gatomon standing behind him. Her normally-clean white fur was muddied, and she was drenched from the drooping tufts of her ears to the tip of her long tail, but it was definitely Gatomon.

"Gatomon," he managed to say at last. "What are you doing here?"

¤ ¤ - ¤ ¤

A/N: "...shock written across their faces as clearly as if it had been done with a black permanent marker."

Yes, that's meant to be funny. I laughed when I wrote it. Just trying to make you folks smile a bit.

Did it work?