The rain had finally stopped, and T.K. was dozing when he felt her scream.

"Kari!" Jolted awake, he tried to leap to his feet, but only succeeded on hitting his head on the bottom of the bridge, dropping himself back into the dust. "Kari!"

"T.K., what is it?" Gatomon asked worriedly, shaking his crumpled form. "It's Kari, isn't it? What's happened to her? T.K.!" she was almost shouting now.

But the tall blonde didn't even seem to have heard her; his legs were drawn up to his chest, his head dropped onto his knees, his entire body shaking. "Kari . . ." he moaned, his breath coming in gasps. "Kari . . ."

Suddenly he was on his feet, climbing down from their shelter, stepping to the edge of the wall that plunged downwards into the bay. His eyes were bright and unseeing as he stared before him fixedly, as if searching the empty air before him for something.

"T.K., what is it?" Patamon asked, hovering slightly behind his friend.

Once again T.K. didn't reply. Not to Patamon, anyway. The two digimon could hear him muttering something under his breath, the same words over and over; straining her ears Gatomon finally made it out: "I'm here, Kari, I'm here. Let me help you. Let me come to you. Please . . . you can't do this alone . . ."

After a moment he fell silent, his eyes half-closing and filling with tears, hot tears of distress, frustration, and regret. When he spoke again, it was barely a whisper: "Kari . . . I should have told you . . . I should have told you long ago . . . I . . . Kari, I l—"

There was a sudden burst of light, and there she was once again, just as before. Her arms outstretched, she was surrounded by a pink circle of light . . . but the light was edged with a strange sort of darkness. Kari was pale, a grey-hued version of herself, as if all her color had been removed, or was being drawn out of her somehow.

"T.K.," she said, her face troubled, her voice frightened and unsteady.

"Kari," he breathed, then clenched his fists at his sides. "I'm coming!"

And with that he leapt forward, both digimon at his sides.

There was a flash of light, then a swirl of colors, first magenta, then shafts of turquoise, cobalt, silver, and grey, then pale lilac. Strange symbols raced by them, twining in and out of the kaleidoscope, and they were spinning, spinning, spinning towards a dark globe that suddenly blazed forth with a strange, pale luminance . . .

Another flash of rose, and all three landed in a heap, panting heavily.

"T.K. . . . I thought I made you promise we wouldn't do that ever again," Gatomon said from her where she was awkwardly sprawled across his lower back. Patamon, one ear pinned under T.K.'s stomach, let out a little moan of agreement.

T.K. didn't reply; instead he slowly got to his feet, staring out over the dark, tempestuous waves washing up on the beach, a cold wind tugging at him, as if trying to pull him off the cliff.

He'd made it. He'd made it back to the World of Darkness.

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