Chapter 41: Darkness and Light

We all returned to the real world, and we spent the day running around the city, basically doing nothing. We had lunch at a small shop near Yolei's family's store, and then went to the park to fool around for a few hours. At last we ended up in my apartment, where we all just sat and laughed about everything that had happened. Koromon, Tsunomon, Dremon, Betamon, and Wormmon all fell asleep pretty quickly in Tai's bed. Veemon seemed to have an infinite store of energy, and he wouldn't stop talking all night about how intense the battle had been. TK, Matt, Davis, and Sora were sitting in chairs we had brought into the room from the kitchen. Cody, Yolei, Tai, Ken, and Izzy were all sitting on the bed, and they were bouncing around so much that I was afraid they would wake the sleeping digimon. Will, Mimi, Joe, and I were standing or leaning on the walls around the room. The digimon were either perched on something or rolling around on the floor, or sleeping, of course. I was right next to Will. Michael, Shark, Jesse, Ricky, and Laura were all leaning on the furniture along the remaining wall. Michael occasionally translated stuff for them, but for the most part they conversed with each other. Sometimes if there was a funny joke it would be translated for everybody.

"When do you think our next big adventure will be?" TK asked after a little while.

"Who knows? It doesn't really matter though. We're all way to strong to lose to anything now!" Tai said happily.

"Don't get too cocky, Tai. When something does come up, we don't want to underestimate it," Sora reminded him.

"I'd be just as happy if nothing ever happened again," Mimi said. "Of course, that's an awful lot to hope for."

"Well, whatever happens, we'll face it together," Yolei declared.

"And Joe can be the leader!" Gomamon said with a good-humored grin. Everyone laughed, even Joe.

"Alright, but then somebody else has to carry the supply bag," Joe said. We all smiled again.

"Hey, how about we hear a little music?" Matt suggested.

"Are you offering to play?" Sora asked.

"No, my voice is a little hoarse. I was thinking Will could play something," Matt said.

"But I don't have my guitar, and I don't know any lyrics in Japanese anyways," Will said.

"I brought mine. I grabbed it earlier when we passed my apartment," Matt said, lifting up his guitar. "And don't worry about the lyrics. Just try to translate as you go, and we'll all have a good laugh," he smiled.

"Alright, I'll give it a shot," Will said, accepting the guitar. He played a few notes to make sure the tuning was right, and then broke into a song.

Bear paws and rascal power, Watching us in your garage
Big girl you ate the neighbor, The nova is over
Wake up and play, Balleradio
Make room for Clara's bare feet
The love of a Martian

Tick tock and waiting for the meteor
This clock is opening another door

Lots of love just keep it comin', Making something out of nothin'
These are the best that I . . .
I don't know how to say, Losin' what I love today
These are the best that I . . .
Lots of love just keep it comin', Making something out of nothin'
These are the best that I . . .
I don't know what to say, Look at what I lost today
And these are the things that I . . .

Blood flowers in the kitchen, Signing off and winding down
This Martian ends her mission ,The nova is over
She caught the ball, By the mission bell
Chase lizards bark at donkeys
The love of a Martian

Let's bow our heads
And let the trumpets blow
Our girl is gone
God bless her little soul

She's got a sword in case / Though this is not her lord in case
The one who can't afford to face her image is restored to grace.
Disappeared/ No trace. / Musky tears. / Suitcase.
The down turn brave little burncub
Bear careless turnip snare rampages / Pitch color pages...
Down and out but not in Vegas/ Disembarks and disengages.
No loft.
Sweet pink canary cages plummet
Pop dewskin fortitude for the sniffing black noses
That snort and allude to the dangling trinkets
That mimic the dirt cough go drink its.
It's for you.
Blue battered naval town slip kisses
Delivered by duck muscles and bottlenosed grifters
Arrive in time to catch the late show.
It's a beehive barrel race.
A shehive stare and chase wasted feature
Who tried and failed to reach her.
Embossed beneath a box in the closet / That's lost.
The kind that you find when you mind your own business.
Shiv sister to the quickness before it blisters / Into newmorning milk blanket.
Your ilk is funny to the turnstyle touch
Bunny whose bouquet set a course for bloom without decay.
Get your broom and sweep the echoes of yesternights fallen freckles...away...

He finished the song and pulled the guitar off, laughing hysterically at how bad the mid-song translation had gone. Months later, when I was more proficient in English, he would play the song for me in English, and I found that it was actually a very sad song. He was right when he said that meanings could be lost in translation, especially such a short-notice translation.

We all were cracking up. The words had neither rhymed nor matched the beat. Of course, we hadn't expected anything better, seeing as he was trying to translate the song while singing it. I couldn't imagine how hard that must have been. Once I calmed myself down, I looked at his laughing face. I had learned a lot from our adventures, and I know he did too. We had helped each other discover what the sand and the branch meant, and I felt close to Will because of that.

I tapped him lightly on the shoulder while everyone was still laughing. He turned to me, trying to quell his hysteria at his own failed translation. I waited a few seconds in silence, until his face straightened itself out.

"Kari, what is it?" he asked after I didn't say anything for a few seconds. I just smiled at him, then leaned forward and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

It only lasted for a second, but I could instantly feel the blood rushing into my cheeks. I couldn't see a mirror clearly, but I knew my face must have been every bit as red as his. This had sent everyone into a kind of stunned surprise, until Shark burst out laughing. Everyone else soon fell to laughing about it, too, and I got a lot of kidding from Yolei and Tai about it. After a few minutes, it had passed over and everyone was joking about other things, except for Will and I, who smiled at each other quickly. Then I noticed that Davis wasn't in the room.

I walked out, telling Tai that I was going to get some water, and I looked around for Davis. He wasn't in the apartment anywhere. I walked to the door and opened it out onto the balcony. High above, the stars were shining softly in the giant expanse of sky, each one straining against the slowly fading lights of the surrounding apartments. The night air was chilly, and a soft wind blew my hair into my face. I brushed it away and looked around. A little ways down, leaning on the railing and staring up at the sky, was Davis.

"Davis, are you okay?" I asked, genuinely concerned. I knew he had a crush on me. He had made that clear for the past year, and I used to flirt with TK just to tease him. This, of course, was different, and he understood that right away. I hadn't thought about how he'd feel about me kissing Will.

"Oh, hi Kari," he said quietly. I walked over to him and put my hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Davis, but, I just,"

"It's okay," he cut in. "I understand."

"I should have just told you," I said.

"It's okay, Kari. I'm fine with it. I just needed to step outside for a second." He explained.

"So we're still friends?" I asked hopefully.

"Of course! We'll always be friends," he said with a smile. I hugged him quickly.

"Don't you want to go back inside?" I asked.

"I'll go back in a few minutes. I promise," he told me.

"Okay," I said as I turned to leave. "Uh, Davis," I stopped and turned back for a second.

"Yeah?" he asked, looking back to me.

"Thanks," I said with a smile. He just smiled back.

I walked back into the apartment and headed for Tai's room again. I remembered my excuse for leaving as I reached the door, and walked over to the sink to pour a glass of water. My mind began to drift back to the time I had spent with Will in the digital world, when he had struggled to teach me the little English I now knew. I somehow thought that it might be a metaphor for what he had taught me over the past week or so, and for everything that I still didn't know. I smiled to myself.

I suddenly had the feeling that someone was watching me, but as I scanned the room there was nobody. I could have almost sworn that I heard a sound outside the back window of the apartment, but it must have just been the wind.