Joe: So I have a fake arm?

Davis: Well I'm going to have a fake leg!

Yolei: Oh, boo hoo, missing ligaments, I'm DEAD!

Tai: Yeah, that makes two of us!

Sora: Stop complaining you guys. I think our director is stressed enough as it is.

Zero Unit: F-Four Digimon stories. A T-Total Drama story brewing in back of m-mind. A request for a-another Digimon s-s-story. C-College applications. C-College essay. F-Film and a-a-animation work. C-Creative writing a-and AP G-Government h-h-homework.

Mimi: He's having some sort of mental breakdown.

Izzy: He'll snap out of it eventually.

Cody: I hope so.

Ken: Zero Unit does not own anything except the obvious. Okay, does anybody want to direct in Zero's place?

-X-

The days that passed by came without an incident. The warlock was oddly quiet, only leaving ominous messages or tormenting locals but he hasn't done anything on a large scale as of recently. It was all rather worrying but there wasn't any time to worry. The funeral for the king was going to happen soon and the entire kingdom was in mourning. They had all found out about their ruler's death earlier the previous day.

"The village has never looked so morose" TK remarked.

Kari glanced out the window and even though she couldn't see it, she could feel the negative energy coming from there. Her pupils shifted to the prince for a moment, catching the saddened look in his eyes, and not simply for his father. "It must be hard for you."

"It's harder for my brother than it is for me" TK replied but she didn't miss the heavy undertone in his voice.

The maiden nodded as she refilled his cup of tea. She invited herself to the castle this time; she was concerned with the prince's wellbeing with the burial drawing near. They were left alone in the prince's chamber and it didn't feel nearly as suffocating as she had thought it would be. He kept a respectful distance from her and wasn't too personal unless he was sharing something about himself.

"Why do I feel like you've said this many times before?" Kari inquired.

"Because people keep sending me there regards and condolences" TK replied but he didn't annoyed by it. "I wish they would stop but I feel like that would send the wrong message. I just don't want to be reminded at every turn that…" He trailed off.

"There could've been something you could do different" Kari finished for him.

TK nodded. "I blame myself for what happened just like how…"

"I blame myself for my brother's death" Kari said. "I kept thinking that if I hadn't accepted your invitation, it wouldn't have happened. My brother. Your father. And we could've gotten to know each other in other ways like with what we're doing now."

"Yeah" TK sighed. He leaned back into his chair. "I replay what happened at dinner and I remember thinking that you might've been uncomfortable if it was you and a bunch of royals, along with servants you didn't know. I wanted to ask if the knights who came with you and the princess could stay. Then your brother…"

"You're blaming yourself for my brother's demise?" Kari blinked.

"I was also thinking that maybe those knights would've insisted on going with the princess to the bathroom" TK continued. "Then my father wouldn't have gone himself to check on her so persistently. And even if he did, with two knights nearby, something would've been different."

"So we're blaming ourselves for something we cannot possibly change" Kari muttered.

"Is that not part of human nature?" TK questioned.

It was. Everyone who was involved probably blamed themselves, some more than others.

Knights Cody and Noriko might be thinking that they should've gone to check on Mimi in the king's stead despite his protests. They were probably thinking that if they had insisted, things would be different.

The princess probably wished that she had stayed in her seat like a proper young lady instead of leaving. Then the king would have no reason to leave the dining room in the first place.

Knight Kiriha probably believed that he should've been with Tai and led him back before he could end up getting lost in the massive palace. Then perhaps, if Kiriha was there, he could've done something to prevent Tai's death.

Everyone could blame themselves using 'what ifs' but there was no point. You cannot change what has been done, you can only try to make things better but it's not very easy, everyone knows that. But even though everyone knows that, it's much more difficult to actually put this mindset because it's just too easy to think about the negative situation turning around. Kari hated thinking that way but she couldn't help herself.

"It's the terrible truth about us as humans" Kari nodded solemnly. "We have thoughts, we think, and we can't control them sometimes. They run rampant and we end up thinking about what we can do in order to change that. But that's impossible."

"It is" TK muttered. "It's impossible…"

The two of them paused and stared at each other for a long time. "We can only make our futures seem brighter" Kari finally breathed.

TK nodded in agreement. "The question is how? How are we going to make our futures brighter?"

"By making each other smile through all the disasters" Kari said. She stood up from the table and embraced the prince. "TK, I want you to know that you're my friend and I love you. I don't know if I can love you in the way you have fallen for me but I do think we can give it a try somewhere along the way. But not right now. I'm not ready to fall when I cannot stand just yet. My legs still shake when I try and then I collapse once more."

TK hugged her back. "I don't want you to fall because I'm not quite sure I'm ready to catch you yet so it might be for the best. But thank you. It's been quite some time since I've felt this happy."

Kari released him and then gave him a sisterly peck on the cheek. "I'm always going to be here for you. Even if I cannot fall, I try to rise and lift you with me."

"Like an angel in one of my old storybooks."

Kari nodded. "We'll both be like angels."

TK looked back out the window and the wave of pessimism hit him like a heavy wave. It reminded him of the time he tried to sail out and meet Leviathan to prove something about independency to his brother and that literal wave had crashed into him. It was stupid and he ended up with an ugly gash across his torso. But worst of all, he left the doctor with only one real arm. Now that person has left the entire village out to sea, and has released Leviathan on them.

"I've made up my mind" TK nodded firmly.

Kari, overcome with curiosity, tilted her head to the side. "On what?"

"On what I'm going to do when my brother becomes king of this land" TK told her before returning his gaze to the window. "I'm going to try and make everyone in the village happy. Restore that once positive atmosphere to this forsaken kingdom. I'm going stop crying, cease wishing, and put a halt to all my desires for a different ending. Because I know that's useless but you have shown me that bringing happiness to others is not impossible."

"That is a beautiful dream" Kari commented, remembering that she had once felt that way too. "It's just. I'm not quite sure that bringing happiness to everyone is truly possible. Not everyone is content with the same thing as their neighbor is."

"I'm well aware" the prince nodded. "But I do know that everyone can be content. That in itself makes me believe. I'm holding on to hope that this can happen. It's possible. Just like becoming an angel in one of my storybooks."

"Hope…" Kari repeated. She always loved that word; it always made her feel a little bit happier in a bad situation. "Our dreadful situation could use a lot more of that. It seems like everything has been shrouded in darkness so that hope cannot shine."

"That isn't true" TK shook his head. "People are losing hope but there are few that have not. As long as those few believe, then there is light."

"Light cannot exist without hope."

TK nodded. "No, it can't."

"I know you can do it" Kari finally said after a long period of silence. "If anyone can, it's you. You're still holding onto hope when everyone else has collapsed to their knees and if you stop believing then I will bring you back up. I'll believe in you."

"Thank you Kari…" TK breathed as he hugged one more time. "You really know how to make me happy."

Kari could hear her heart beating in her ears as she melted into his warmth. It was strange, when she had walked into this room earlier, it felt cold. His distance didn't feel respectful, even though it was intended to be, it felt lonely. It had felt so cold this entire time and she hadn't realized it because she had been bathed in this feeling for a long time now. Ever since her brother died. She has felt this way. Only now does she feel what she has been missing.

'And you have no idea how happy you make me…' And apparently, neither did she, not until recently.

-X-

Izzy was moving quickly through the forest with a girl his age running next to him. They were both laughing although the wizard wasn't quite sure why. Finally, they both ended up in front of a beautiful lake with a small waterfall flowing into it.

"It's beautiful" Izzy breathed as he took a step closer to the water. He placed hand in it and he exhaled when he felt how cold it was.

The girl bent down next to him. "This is a royal family secret that I am entrusting you with so you have to promise not to tell anyone or my daddy is going to hunt you down. And it won't matter that you know magic, he'll destroy you."

"I don't doubt that" Izzy chuckled. "I just can't believe you actually trust me enough to show me this. I've only been your personal royal guard for about five years."

"That may not seem long to you magic types but for us regular mortals, it's enough for me to consider you as family" she giggled. "And besides, I've already told you many times how much I love you."

Izzy suddenly tensed up and moved away from her when she tried to touch him. He didn't want to face her; he just had this sad expression on his face that he didn't want her to see. But it was like a knife to the heart for both of them. They had tried so hard to push down their feelings but it was to no avail, they could not help but see each other for a moonlit tryst, whether it was at the palace or in the mage's personal library.

"Have you shown this to Kyle?" Izzy asked suddenly. He didn't even know why he had asked. Of course she would show it to that guy. He was to become the next king.

"No, I haven't…" This surprised him. "But my father has."

That didn't surprise him as much. "Are you really going to marry him?" Izzy asked. He didn't intend it come out as desperate as he had intended it to be.

"I have to" she replied but she was just as bit of sad and desperate as he was. It made him feel rather pathetic; to be putting the girl he loved so much into this corner. "You know that the law requires a royal to marry a royal. Even if it wasn't him, it would be some other duke or baron from another land. We can't be together."

"Princess…"

"And how many times have I told you to stop calling me that? I love you, why can't you just call me by my first name?"

"Because that would make this taboo relationship of ours too real" Izzy replied as he finally turned to face her. He could see that she had started crying, crystalline tears rolling down her snow-white cheeks. He rubbed them away and held out his hand as if he was holding a wand. A spark, and then another, and then another and it soon became an invisible sparkler in his hand. It had gotten dark so the princess believed that it was simply for illuminating the night but the sparkler soon became an electric rose which soon bloomed into a real one but it still sparked along the edges like it was filled with electricity.

"It won't hurt me, right?" she asked hesitantly.

"I would never hurt you" Izzy replied.

She touched the rose tenderly before holding it in her hand. She stared at the blooming bud and smiled. "It's gorgeous."

"You're even more gorgeous than that flower" the mage whispered lovingly.

"Why…Why don't you want this love of ours to be real?" she asked, looking up at him.

Izzy couldn't help it; he pressed his lips against hers and gave her his answer once they had parted. "Because once it becomes real, I will feel this desire to have the world know about us. You do realize what would happen to us if we were found out, right?"

"Of course I do" she said softly and then kissed the wizard again. "But I just feel that if it's not real then it's not worth it. I love you Izzy and all I want is for you to say my name."

Izzy stared at her for a long time and as always, he could feel that magnetic pull towards her. "I suppose there is no arguing with you, is there? I mean, I already feel like screaming to the whole world about how much I love you."

The princess seemed to have relaxed suddenly as they stared into each others' eyes. They stood like that for the longest time. Izzy took the time to study her features even though he had memorized every inch of her body by heart. Her caramel brown hair, her sweet, beautiful eyes, everything about her. And he loved every single inch of the girl standing in front of him.

"…I love you…"

-X-

"Mimi…" Izzy muttered as his vision started coming back to him. He blinked the blurriness out of them and saw the princess standing in front of him.

In most cases, she would be looking at him with a concerned expression because he had been hurt. He certainly felt hurt. The pounding in his head, the aching in his chest, and blood oozing from various cuts on his body. But she simply stared at him with cold, unfeeling eyes but her mouth was twisted into a prideful and triumphant smile.

The wizard felt sick that she could do that with her pretty face. To contort the face he had memorized so well into something so sinister. He wished he had put a stop to those secret meetings of his those years ago. But there was no point in thinking about the possible endings. All he knew was, this was not the ending he wanted. Not for him.

"You've finally awaken…Grandfather."