T.K. gulped and felt as if his own heart had stopped beating.

"What…what do you mean 'too late'?" He demanded, and Joe knelt in front of him, sighing in despair, the tears still flowing.

"It means…that she's not going to make it…T.K."

"No! No, she has to! You're…You're readings! They-They have to be wrong! Please tell me they're not real!" The boy yelled hysterically as he began to cry at full force; even his hands were shaking by now.

"I'm sorry-"

"No, you're not! If you were, you could do something!"

"T.K.!" He whirled around as he heard his Mother shout at him, and gave her a look of impatience and never-ending anger before storming out of the room. "T.K.?!" The woman began to follow, but her ex-husband held her back.

"Not now, Nancy."

"But he-"

"I know, I know. Just let him cool off." She sighed.

"Fine…" Cody, however, wasn't going to let that go. He silently crept form the room and ran down the hall after him.

"T.K.!" The boy didn't turn around, so the Child of both Knowledge and Reliability called his name even louder. "T.K.!" This time the twelve-year-old turned on his heel like a bull ready to charge, his eye glowering with more tears.

"What, Cody?! What?!" The boy stepped back and gulped; he'd never seen the Child of Hope get this angry with anyone, not even LadyDevimon or the Digimon Emperor Ken! He kept on, though, staring right back at the boy.

"T.K., how could you yell at Joe like that, or stomp out on your Mother? Joe was only trying to help, and your Mom was simply going to tell you that what you were doing to one of your friends was wrong! They didn't deserve to be treated like that, and you know that just as well as I do. I know you're upset, and I'm not so happy about it either, and you have to know our friends and family are most definitely not either, but that doesn't mean you should scream at everyone!" The child sighed and led the taller boy over to the chairs in front of an empty room, and resumed the conversation. "We all know how much you love her, and we love her too, and I can understand why this is such a dire situation for you, really. You're not the only one who's had someone die before, you know-"

"And who says she's gonna die, huh?!" The blond jumped up from his seat and turned on him, his face clearly showing he was in angry denial.

"T.K., please sit down-"

"Not until you give me proof of what you're saying!"

"Proof of wh-"

"That Kari's going to die." He spoke harshly, and the wise boy sighed again, heavier this time, as he withdrew a paper from his pocket. "I snatched this off of Joe's clipboard on the end of Kari's bed just before I left," He turned the paper around, and there on the page were expert-made calculations that were most definitely in the sixteen-year-old's surprisingly clear handwriting.

"What are these?" He asked as he scanned the paper, not comprehending a single thing.

"They're calculations of blood flow, lung capacity, brain activity, heart failure, and other vital functions and parts of the body that are in grave danger inside Kari while she's in this condition, " Even if he couldn't see the page because it was facing away from him, Cody pointed to what he'd been intending; he'd memorized it in his head as T.K. had yelled at Joe in the room (he'd been curious to know what was on them and how they could be so sure on their evaluation). T.K. gave him a perturbed look, and Cody took that as a 'keep going'. "If one of these organs dies, all of them die, and that means Kari's gone as well. These calculations are made to find out which of them is going to give out first, but by the looks of it, it seems that all of them are in the exact same condition. It's impossible to differentiate between these percentages, and so all we can do is wait and see what happens…" He looked up from his lap and stared into his friend's eyes. "Look, T.K…we're DNA Digivolution partners; I can tell when you're upset or scared or lonely better than anyone else on the team, just as Kari and Yolei, and Davis and Ken can. I can feel that you're exasperated, completely afraid, but you don't want to allow anyone else in one your innermost thoughts and feelings. I can completely understand that, but you have to understand that…" He trailed, and decided to take a safer route. "Do you remember what Joe, Matt, and Sora told all of us earlier? How your brother didn't let anyone else in after your parents divorced, and how much that truly ate at his soul on the inside?"

"Yeah…I do. I was there when it happened in the Digital World remember? Well, for Sora's, anyway." The Child of Knowledge nodded carefully.

"Yes, and that's why you should pay attention to Matt's story a bit more," The blue-eyed adolescent looked at him with questioning eyes. "What I'm saying is, Matt wasn't letting anyone truly know him on the inside because he was afraid…and that's exactly what you're doing as we speak."

"What?!"

"I said, let me help you, T.K.! Could you just listen, for once?!" The normally reserved, quiet boy gasped as he finished, shocking himself as well as the boy next to him at his unusually loud outburst, and he was sure he heard Yolei ask if the others had heard what she had. The boy grimaced at the floor of the death trap they were caught inside, and clenched his fists tightly as he realized what he'd done. The Chosen Child of Hope simply stared at the boy who'd just yelled at him.

'Could he possibly be right? Have I just failed to see it all this time, just like my brother did? Am I following in his footsteps? But, I…' His eyes widened. 'I get it now. I am like my brother...I haven't let anyone in except Tai, and that was only for a minute or so; other than that…' "I've had my heart closed off to everyone since the beginning...haven't I?" The fatherless child looked up at him, and reluctantly nodded his head once. "So…I am turning out like Matt. I just hope I don't become a rock star. He knows how tone deaf I am." His eyes welled with tears and he smiled a little, just before he collapsed to his knees in front of the tyke, and Cody looked at him, stunned that the boy would do something such as that. It didn't matter then, though, because he was immediately by the blonde's side, hugging him tightly like he'd wished his own Father to do so many times before.

"I'm sorry for yelling, T.K. I don't know why I did it; it was almost as if someone else was saying the words through me. You know I'd never hurt you on purpose…I guess, you were just getting on my nerves somehow." The boy barely looked up at him, his face a massive iceberg that had just been melted by the hot sun's rays, and he smiled slightly. Cody was suddenly taken by surprise again when T.K. embraced him strongly, but quickly returned it, as he understood how much the boy yearned for someone to lean on. "It's okay…It's okay. Go ahead and cry as long as you need. I'll be right here with you, I promise." The boy made a grunt, and Cody recognized it as a gesture of uncertainty. "I don't mind; I'm glad to help. Please don't worry." He felt the boy nod, and he smiled; perhaps his 'method' was working. He then heard the Takashi boy begin to whisper, and he leaned his head down farther to hear.

"I'm sorry for being so difficult, Cody. I never meant what I said, I just…I didn't know how long I was going to be able to handle this place for much longer anyway, and I guess…I just couldn't take it anymore, and that's why I flipped out on Joe. I don't know what I'm supposed to do now…he'll probably hate me for the way I acted, not to mention my parents..."

"Just do what Tai did for you," T.K. finally lifted his head as Cody moved, and the boy stared at the wise child's face. "He apologized to those he made angry and hurt, so you should do the same. I know Joe will forgive you; he's just that nice of a guy." Cody smiled at him, and the seventh grader grinned as a small ray of hope filled a small portion of his heart as he nodded. Cody stood, and then helped T.K. to his feet, leading the nervous boy down the corridor with a comforting hand on his back. "Don't be afraid, I'll be right next to you. If he gets mad, which I highly doubt, I'll take that chance to just step in and explain, okay?" The original, and at the same time, new Digidestined, nodded silently, as was expected. "I've got your back, T.K. It'll work out. You'll see." Even with the positive boy at his side, however, the more experienced of the team other than Kari was still doubtful that the high school student would 'forgive and forget' so easily.

Pardon this being a short chapter who this as such. I apologize. As I said last chapter, any suggestions, go ahead and throw them:D ;D :) ;)