Still, why would she hold on like this? After some more pondering, the fifteen-year-old turned to peer intensely at a certain blue-eyed, blond-haired boy that was being held by his family. "T.K.," The boy looked at him and Tai went forth. "See how she reacts to you." He gently slipped his hand from his sister's, and though T.K. was unsure, he was more than ready to take his place. He tentatively reached out his hand to take hers, but as soon as he had, a soft ringing sound filled his ears, and he suddenly heard the voice of a girl, crying and screaming, from all around him. He looked about to find himself still in the hospital room with his friends and family, but somehow, it seemed that time had stopped for a moment, as everyone had been in the same positions as before, and yet when he called out to them, they didn't move. Then he thought about it: maybe it was he who had ceased from moving, not them, and he was somehow caught in a place where time was caught and halted… Abruptly, the landscape changed, and he found himself in a star-filled place, a brown meadow filled with dying flowers and weeping willows; a horrifying place, to say the least. He shook himself from those thoughts as he heard another wail from the supposed girl, and decided to find her and help, if he could. It came again, and it struck him like a cold shower: that was Kari! Kari was the one who was screaming! But why? It didn't matter; he ran until he found her by a bridge over a black abyss, much like the one they'd had to cross in the Digital World a while back. He knelt down beside her shaking form, and he could tell from the tears showering down her face that she was in pain. He carefully reached out and stroked her cheek to wipe the tears away, and she immediately jumped on him, embracing him tighter than she ever had in her life. After recovering from the shock of her action, T.K. finally relaxed and clutched onto her the same way she held him.

"I-I don't want to die, T.K.!" That one sentence only made him hold her stronger, and he finally had to face the reality that his best friend and secret love…was going to be leaving him soon. He didn't want to think about it, but what else was there to think about? Honestly, what do you think about when the girl you love is dying before your eyes? He simply rubbed her back soothingly and let a few of his own pent up tears fall to the dead earth at heir feet. "I…I tried to fight, T.K., I did, but-!"

"Shh…" The boy whispered, and smiled affectionately as he gazed at the girl's tear streaked face. "I know you did. We all know; Tai, your parents, Yolei, Izzy, Mimi, Joe, that nurse Clairice, Dr. Fransou, Dr. Kayo…we all know you fought your hardest. You don't have to prove anything to us."

"Then why do I feel so alone right now, T.K.? Answer me that single question. I know you all love me, and I'm was using that as my strength before, along with my own, but right now, I don't feel like all the love in the world can save me. I really don't get it…even with you here, the best friend I could ever ask for, I still feel like the end is coming closer."

"Don't talk like that, okay?!" The boy shouted and stood, as the girl gasped and stared at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. This wasn't the first time T.K. had blown up this way; he'd done it every time some evil force appeared in the Digital World…but he had never blown up at her, not ever. His eyes grew wide then, and he collapsed to his knees in recognition of what he'd done. He closed his eyes, clenched his fists firmly, and then released them with a heavy sigh, looking up at the girl with shining, apologetic blue eyes staring back into her fiery amber. She crept over to him and pulled him to her, now telling him that it would be okay. "I'm sorry. I just-"

"I know." That was all that was said for a long time, and they just sat there in the grass together, consoling each other, chasing the other's fears away.

All of a sudden, the wind began to pick up around them, and T.K. alarmingly felt himself begin to be ripped from Kari's grasp. He called her name, and she called his, trying to run after him to keep him with her, but just as she was about to reach him, the ground surrounding her rose and fell in a million earthquakes at once, and she was thrown into the air. He watched in terror as she came crashing back down, landing on the hard, barren earth, unconscious, so it seemed, as she didn't move a millimeter more.

"Kari!!" He called frantically, but the wind still swept him up towards a black and navy blue hole in the sky, and soon, all he could hear was her subconscious mind mumbling weakly to him.

'Stay with me…'

/ \ / \

"Kari!!" He shouted, and breathed briskly as he looked around and found that he was back in is hospital room, sweating while everyone stared at him worriedly.

"Honey, are you all right?" His Mom asked, and he felt his Father's calloused hand on his shoulder, telling him that they were there, there was nothing to be afraid of anymore.

"What happened?" His Mother asked again, and he finally regained his breath enough to speak.

"I…I was with all of you before I touched Kari's hand, but when I did, it was as if time had halted or something. All of you were the same way you looked before I touched her; then the setting changed, and I was in a dying meadow. I heard a girl yelling and sobbing, and when I heard it again, I knew it was Kari's voice. I ran until I found her by a bridge, and she and I talked for awhile. I'd never seen her so distraught before; she was so afraid to die, she told me, and she said how alone she felt then, how not all the love in the world could save her. I got so worried that I yelled at her, like Tai sometimes does when it involves Kari, but then I apologized and she told me it was all right. After awhile, the wind began blowing harder, pulling me from her, and she tried to get to me, to help me, but suddenly all of the earth near her split into many crevices, and she was thrown into the air. The last thing I saw was her falling back to the ground, unconscious and unmoving, and she unknowingly pleaded with me to stay with her one more time before I was sucked back here. I'm sorry, Tai. I just wish I knew what was happening to her right now." He frowned as he finally took a look at her, and his eyes went wide as he found that she was a smidgen from being death-white.

"So…my sister's really going to die." Tai stated tearfully, and everyone looked at him. He'd never been this dark before; they'd never heard him say outright that he was giving up. T.K. wiped his own eyes, and peered into his fiery eyes with hopeful blue ones.

"No. She won't if we keep believing in and loving her. She needs us now more than ever, Tai, and you have to know me well enough by now to see that I would never walk out on her, not when she needs me. Even if she didn't need me here, I'd stay until she was up and going to school with her team and I again, and that's not only because I've known her for a good portion of my life; it's also because I love her everything that I am, and I would never abandon her. It's almost heartbreaking to know that her own brother would give up on her before her best friend."

"I'm not giving up! I'm simply…" He shouted, and then looked away, trying to think of a proper excuse to cover up the name he was being crowned with, but sighed as he came up with nothing. "I can't take this anymore." He huffed and hastily strode out of the room, T.K. stroking Kari's ashen hand in a means of comfort, both to himself and her.

/ \ / \

Tai walked quickly west down the hall of Kari's room, but was unexpectedly pinned powerfully against the wall.

"Tai!"

"What?!" He shouted, but didn't realize whom he was shouting at until he opened his eyes. It was Sora, and tears were shining in her eyes, no matter how hard she tried to hide them.

"What do you mean, what?! Did you see the pain in T.K.'s eyes when you made it sound like there was no other option but for Kari to die? Did you notice the glares and strange glances you were getting from the others in there? Those looks were because we love you, Tai, and we've never seen you act like that, ever! Do you know how hard this is for me, to have to go this far to knock some sense into you?! I can't comprehend why the boy I love would treat his friends, or me, or most importantly his dying sister the way you did, but I am hoping you can tell me, hot shot!" She finally lowered him to the floor, and he stared at her in incredulity, eyes wide. He looked down, guilt filling him as he eyed the tile flooring of the hospital as he spoke.

"I didn't mean to hurt any of you. I just couldn't handle the thought that my sister was probably going to die soon, and the entire time, I hadn't done anything to stop it. Then I realized that there wasn't anything I could have done in the first place, and so, in my grief, I took my anger out on T.K. and the rest of you with that one sentence. I'm so sorry, Sora. Please forgive me." He pleaded, as four pairs of lone tears fell onto said tile. She sighed roughly, but clenched him tightly while he calmed down.

"It's okay. I forgive you."

"What about the others?"

"You talk to them and see what they say." He pulled away the hug and stared at her, slightly afraid of what Matt would say for hurting his little brother the way he had, but the high school girl gave him a wink and a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry. I won't let him beat on you." He grinned gratefully and asked worriedly,

"So, are we cool?"

"Yeah, cool as the ice cream cone that's been in my freezer since I was in the first grade." They laughed and brought their fists together in a signature of friendship, heading back to the room to discover how Kari was doing and apologize to possibly be saved from being beat up by Matt.