Time Lapse

…Four Years Later…

Four years had passed since that eye-opening day in the Digital World, and T.K. and Kari were on a Digidestined team of their own now, attending the seventh grade together, along with the rest of their team. It seemed that T.K. had forgotten all about the promise he'd made, but, in truth, its essence was still engraved in his heart. He still made sure she was protected from any Digimon that tried to harm her, and comfort her when she was sad. He never wasn't there when she needed him; he was always there, ready to give her a smile of encouragement and strength, ready to put his life at risk for her own, if the need arose. Maybe it was because a part of him still remembered that promise he'd made to her so long ago. Or maybe it was because he loved her. Truly, he loved her with all his heart. He could swear she knew that, and yet, she never seemed to mind when he let something slip, something they both knew should have been kept inside. That was another reason he loved her so much; he could say anything, anything at all, and she'd never take offense to it, or use it against him later. He'd never known that anyone could be as close to him as she was, but here he was, waiting for his 'best friend' to walk to school with him.

Sometimes, it hurt to say those words; sometimes he wished they could be, or mean, so much more than they did. Then, other times, he found himself glad that they were merely that, 'best friends'; unfortunately, his conscience would quickly remind him that he absolutely adored and cared for this Kamiya girl more than anyone else in the world, and his heart would begin to ache with confusion and an unwanted pain. However, he would always come back to the conclusion that he loved this girl completely, and that would never change. His thoughts were abruptly cut short as he heard Kari call down to him from the balcony of her apartment.

"I'm coming, T.K., sorry! I'll be right down!" She reentered her bedroom and exited her home, thus running down the apartment stairs until she stopped in front of him, smiling brightly. Even so, T.K. could tell something was off.

"Are you feeling okay today, Kari?" He asked worriedly, and she gave him a look of confusion.

"What do you mean? I feel fine. Are you feeling all right?" She asked, and gently pressed her palm against his forehead to make sure he didn't have a fever. He simply smiled and blushed only slightly as she pulled her hand away and grinned. "Well, you feel normal to me. But as I said, I'm perfectly fine. Thanks for being concerned, T.K." He smiled back, but eyed her worriedly as they began the long walk to school.

Cody and Yolei, the rest of their team besides Davis and Ken, had gone ahead of them to prepare for the County Science Fair they'd managed to finalize in, so it was just the two of them today. Not that they minded; they loved each other's company more than anyone else's, and it was nice to get some time alone like this once in awhile. After all, it was an absolute ingredient required in every friendship if it is to survive. They'd just crossed the street that was taken over by Yolei's parent's general store customers when T.K. noticed that Kari was beginning to fall behind. He stopped and walked back to her side, leaning down slightly to peer into her face as best he could, what with her head bent toward the ground.

"Are you all right?" She opened her eyes tiredly and nodded, smiling slightly.

"Y-Yeah, I just got really tired all of a sudden. Maybe I didn't get as much sleep last night as I thought. Don't worry, I'll be okay." He stared at her, searching her face for any sign that she something was wrong on the inside, that she really was in some kind of pain, but she didn't let anything show if that was the case. He nodded, and replied,

"All right…" but his voice and eyes revealed hesitance and worry. He resumed his place beside her, glancing at her every once in awhile as his thoughts ran wild. 'She's acting really weird…I hope she's doing all right. If something happened to her…I don't know what I'd do. She means everything to me...I love her, after all. What if…there really is something wrong? What if…she really is sick, and it's life threatening or something? She wouldn't tell me if there was something wrong because she wouldn't want me to worry…I learned that four years ago when she had that bad fever in the Digital World, and she didn't say anything because she didn't want to slow us down…Please, please let her be all right!' He prayed silently, and looked at the ground in worry as he did so. He turned to her nervously and was about to speak, when she pulled him out of the way of a gang of skateboarding troublemakers from their school, whom had been about to run over him. He sighed in relief as the gang rode away, and twisted around to thank her, when he noticed she was simply lying there on the ground, scarcely shallowly. He gasped and knelt down beside her, trying to wake her as fear ran through his veins, his heart pounding rapidly.

"Kari…?" He asked fearfully, but the girl never budged. "Kari, wake up! We're going to be late for school!" He knew how much she hated missing her classes, and he remembered Tai telling him that was his best tactic for getting her out of bed every morning on a school day. But now, it did nothing but send him into even more of a panic. "Kari, please, open your eyes! Come, on, please don't do this to your best friend! You have to wake up now! You're really scaring me! Please, come on!"

"T.K.!!" The distraught boy looked up to find Cody, Yolei, Ken, and Davis at his side, ready to help in any way they could.

"What happened? Is Kari all right?" Ken inquired hastily.

"I-I don't know! S-She just collapsed, I…I don't know." He quieted and stared at her.

"Well, we can't just sit here and waste time like this! We have to get her to the hospital before she gets any worse!" The youngest of the new Digidestined pointed out smartly.

"Cody's right! Let's do it, fast!" Yolei cried impulsively, and T.K. tenderly lifted Kari into his arms as they made a run for it to the city hospital.