Chapter 8- Pining
Kari was alone, walking through the forest of the digital world. It was raining and she was soaked to the bone. However, it was a warm, summer rain, so Kari didn't even mind that her clothes were now sticking to her skin, getting heavier with every step. Through the mist, a little ways ahead of her, she could make out a figure standing tall.
Kari's pace quickened as she moved toward it, noticing that they were both moving towards each other, as if they were drawn together like polar ends of a magnet.
Then, suddenly, she collided with her tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and very wet best friend.
"T.K.," she whispered with some difficulty, as his lips were caressing hers. "I missed you."
"I missed you too Kari," he mumbled back, as he took her in his arms.
The rain lightened up, but both of them were too distracted to notice. T.K. deepened the kiss, and Kari went weak at the knees, pulling them both to the ground. Gently, he laid Kari down on the soft, mossy ground, his tongue slipping inside her mouth.
His hand slipped underneath her wet T-shirt, and he easily pulled it off her. She shuddered in pleasure as his hands touched her bare skin, and, wanting to return the favor, she quickly stripped him of his shirt as well, running her hands along his muscular chest.
"I love you," he whispered, as he lowered his mouth to her neck. She felt an aching, tingling sensation in her lower regions.
One of his hands was fondling her left breast, while the other one was unbuttoning her shorts, and slipping underneath the top of her underwear. She arched her back, raising her hips to press against his.
She opened her mouth to tell him that she loved him too, but at that moment…she woke up.
Kari's heart was pounding as she sat up in her bed, realizing that it had all been a dream. T.K. wasn't here, it had been almost seven long months of separation, and she was missing him now more than ever.
The new American digi-destined team had been doing a pretty good job of straightening out the digital worlds problems, and Kari was beginning to think that there wasn't any more reason for them to keep returning there.
Their spring break was coming up, and Kari had spent the last two weeks desperately trying to convince her mother that she should let her spend the week back in Japan.
"Absolutely not," was all that her mother ever said in response. So, naturally, Kari had tried to convince her grandmother to let her go. Unfortunately, not letting Kari spend her break in Japan seemed to be the only thing that the two women could ever agree on.
Kari was glad that she hadn't told T.K. that she was planning on visiting, now she wouldn't even have to tell him of her failure. But she did tell him other things, her next letter to him went as follows:
Dear T.K.,
Everyday that goes by makes me miss you more and more, but that doesn't mean that the nights are any easier. Last night I had a very interesting dream about you...and me...together...if you know what I mean. Anyways, I just wish you were here. Things are only getting worse between my mother and grandmother, I swear, they're more immature than we were when we were eight. They refuse to speak to one another, so every time that they have something to say, they have to pass it through me. I think I'm going to go insane if this keeps up.
You said that you've been hanging out with Matt and Tai a lot, and there's something that I need to ask you. Tai completely avoids talking about my dad, as does my mother, though I know that both of them have been in contact with him. You know, I haven't spoken to him or heard from him since before I left Japan, even before I knew about the divorce.
I see the empty look in my mother's eyes when she thinks that I'm not looking, all of the pain that she feels. I came home from school one day and found this huge mess in the kitchen. It was like a tornado came through, there was food everywhere, a layer of flour covering every surface, and there was even something unidentifiable splattered on the ceiling. My mother was sitting on the floor, covered head-to-toe in her awful cooking, but the worst part is that she was sobbing.
I didn't know what to do, so I just sat down next to her and let her cry on my shoulder. She told me that she was trying a bunch of new recipes, hoping that one of them would turn out edible.
"I thought that maybe if I had been a better cook," she said to me through her tears, "then maybe he wouldn't have chosen her over me."
By then I was crying too, I've been thinking the same thing. I know it's probably a dumb, but I keep thinking that maybe if I had gotten better grades in school, or stayed with cheerleading, or just been better at something, he would have stayed with us. How come he doesn't want to talk to me? I feel like I failed at being a daughter, that I just wasn't good enough.
Now I'm just rambling, but thanks for letting me vent. Hope to see you soon.
Love, Kari
Dear Kari,
To begin, I miss you too, and I'm very interested in hearing more about this dream you had. I've had some interesting dreams about you too, but I'm not going to tell you about them, so the next time we see each other I can just demonstrate for you. Secondly, Davis was so excited to get a letter from you. At lunch, he burst into the cafeteria waving it in the air, and it's all he's been talking about for the last few days. Of course, I do that too, but I refrain myself if Davis is around, now that we've finally started to become pretty good friends.
It was kind of ironic that you wrote about your father in your last letter, since I got your letter on Friday, and Davis and I ran into him on Saturday. We were playing basketball at the park when we decided to go get some snacks from Yolei's parent's convenient store, and see if she was working. Well, it turned out that Yolei wasn't working, but anyways, we turned down one of the aisles, and there was your father and his girlfriend.
He was really friendly and nice to us, but that just made me dislike him even more. Then, he even had the nerve to ask me if I still kept in contact with you.
I said, "Of course I've kept in contact with Kari. That's what you do if you love someone."
Then, (I'm only telling you about this because I hope it helps you to realize what a bad choice your father made in picking a twenty-two-year-old bimbo over your mom) the bimbo said, "Oh my God! What a coinkidink! The girl that he loves has the same name as your daughter!"
I have to give Davis some credit here, he tried really hard to hold back his laughter, but really, it was a challenge. She had to be the most brain-dead person I have ever met.
Your father just smiled, and led her out of the store. It was probably a good thing, because if he had said anything else, we might have taken him out. Your father is an idiot for wanting to be with her. It's not your fault that he made the wrong decision, so please don't ever believe that his bad decision had anything to do with you. Kari, you're an amazing person, you're a great daughter, sister, best friend, girlfriend, and I could go on all day listing everything that I love about you. You're smart, you're funny, you're sweet, you're beautiful, you're friendly, you're fun, you're creative, you're passionate…seriously, I could go on all day, but I'm sure you've got things to do, a digital world to save, so I'll let you get on with it.
I love you, I need to see you soon,
Love, T.K.
Dear T.K.,
Thanks for telling me about the bimbo, it does make me feel better, and I want to tell you that I know what you meant at the airport that day. When you said that there were things too important to say in an e-mail, or a letter, but seeing as how I have no other option, I want you to know that I love you. I'm still kicking myself for not saying anything back to you at the airport. You're my best friend, and the sweetest guy I've ever met. You're the only guy I want to have interesting dreams about, the only guy that I ever want to demonstrate them for me.
I know this letter is kind of short, but I don't know what else to say, except for I love you. I've always loved you. It's a relief to finally say it, even through a letter. I can't wait to say it to you in person.
Love, Kari