Edited 4/10/2021

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or the song "Champagne's For Celebrating (I'll Have A Martini)" by Mayday Parade.

"She left her books, her car, her clothes, and a note

But all she wrote was, "Tonight I'm leaving on a train."

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" She looked up at me, the light glittering against her eyes, with a small pout on her lips.

I was already seeing my Dad that night, but I would have loved to bail at the moment, even if it meant eating whatever weird concoction her mom had come up with that day.

I held her tighter and inhaled her scent, it was warm, woodsy, with a hint of vanilla. I knew it would be attached to me once I left, the way it was on my couch or bed after she had been over for the day.

"You know I would if I could," I said.

I held her in the hallway of her apartment complex, my head rested gently against the top of hers. Sometimes it annoyed me to think about how long it took us to stop seeing each other just as friends, but honestly I was just grateful that we were together now. No reason to dwell when we had so much time in front of us. We had plans for the next day to hang out with our friends at the beach, and a million other little things we wanted to do this summer.

"I should get going," I said reluctantly. She nodded against my chest. I pulled away and leaned down to kiss her goodbye, she responded and pulled me in deeper. She always made me wish for more at the most inappropriate times.

As we pulled apart I placed my forehead against hers. I opened my eyes and saw she was clenching hers tightly shut like she was in pain.

I pulled away and gently grabbed her chin, tilting her face up towards mine, "Is everything ok?"

She blinked, smiling now, her normal self again, "Of course, sorry ... just a little tired."

I nodded, deciding not to push it, she always talked to me when she needed to so I had no reason to think anything else. She pulled me in for one more hug, and as we parted, I gave her one last kiss.

"Love you, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Love you too," She responded, as I finally made my way to the elevator.

At that moment, I only thought of how lucky I was but I should have looked back. Walked back. Checked to see if she was really okay. Maybe I would have seen her looking at me with tears in her eyes. Maybe I would have seen her reach back out to me. Maybe I would have seen anything that would have given me a clue as to what was about to happen to us.

I was jolted awake the next morning by a mixture of my phone ringing, and someone franticly banging on my door. I sat up, still half asleep, trying to decipher what was happening. In my groggy clumsiness, I ended up knocking my phone on the floor.

"Damnit," I prodded around for it but the pounding persisted.

I finally woke enough to place the voice that was calling my name, Tai.

I grabbed my shirt from the floor and ran to the front of the apartment, unlatched the door, and pulled it open, almost bringing Tai careening into the apartment. He placed both hands on my shoulders to steady himself, panting, looking a wreck. "Get," he gasped, "dressed."

"Tai, what's wrong?" Seeing him like that was horrifying. I hadn't seen him this distressed since we were kids.

"She's gone," he said. My stomach dropped. "But if we hurry we might be able to catch her."

"What?" I was so confused. For a moment I thought that meant... but now.

I tried to ask him more but he cut me off. "TK, we don't have time. I'll explain in the car!"

I dressed quickly, following orders, and we headed out. We were quiet in the car for a few moments, his breath ragged and me holding mine, waiting for answers.

"Tai, what's going on? Where is she?" He sighed and dug into his pocket, swerving a bit as he did. He pulled out a crumpled mess of papers and handed them to me.

One was a note that just said, "I'm sorry it needed to be this way. I love you all. I'll call once I'm settled."

The next was an acceptance letter to a school in the United States. I read it three times as the words slowly processed in my head, 'We are pleased to offer you acceptance...' The school, she had talked about it, about being wait-listed. She said it was fine and she would go to school here, with me.

There was one more piece of paper but I was afraid to shift my focus, afraid of what it would reveal. I carefully folded the other two before pulling the last one into my view. The last note had my name on top. It said, "I'll always love you most. I'll try to explain one day. I'm sorry. Forgive me."

I wanted to believe it wasn't true, but there it was in front of me, in her rough and scratchy handwriting. I looked at Tai for some sort of answer, but he was avoiding my gaze, his focus steady on the road in front of us.

He took a deep breath, exhaling until there was nothing left in his chest, "She was gone when I got home today. I had Izzy hack into her email to see if he could find anything." He looked so guilty saying this. I'm surprised Izzy even agreed, but hearing the frantic tone of Tai's voice, I can only imagine how hard it was to argue with him.

"He found her flight plan."

We'd been on the plane for about an hour and everyone was out except for TK and me. He had his tray down, scribbling away in his notebook. Every once in a while he would start chewing on the bottom of his pen, face all scrunched up and lost in thought, then his face would light up and he'd start writing again.

I fought the urge to reach over and ruffle up his hair like I would when he was younger. I'd really missed him. His charming easy nature, and the way he could lighten up a room, even when it felt like it was closing in around us. He had this way of making Matt softer and more laid back. I mean, he honestly had that effect on anyone, but I was partial to anything that had a positive effect on my boyfriend. Matt had been so worried when Kari first asked to stay. He knew TK would never say anything against the choice, but he didn't want him to be uncomfortable. He also knew he couldn't turn away the girl that had been like a sister to him since he was a kid. I hoped TK would be okay though, he was always the one to roll with the punches, even if they were set against him.

I remember when Kari first left and how angry Yolei and Davis had been. Both feeling so disappointed that she left TK behind the way she did, and both so hurt themselves. It was TK who finally told everyone to stop trashing her. "She has a reason," he held on to that for a long time, like a mantra you say to keep yourself sane.

I spent weeks trying to come up with a conclusion until Matt finally told me to let it go. He found her at school and talked to her, but wouldn't say a thing to any of us. TK didn't even know. I was so angry at him and it put a pretty big rift between us for a while. I was the one here, picking up the pieces of our best friend and his own brother, and there he was telling me to let it go. Like it was something simple, like a five-dollar bet I lost, and not the most painful and dramatic thing that had happened to our group of friends in years.

I was the one who was there that day. Tai and TK came over to my place, after they tried to catch her at the airport, neither feeling like they could be in their own homes. Tai paced a lot, talking to himself mostly, going between confusion, anger, and sadness. They were so close, closer than most siblings, it always made me slightly jealous that I never had a sister or a brother. I never knew exactly what to make of them. Matt and TK made sense, clinging on to any time they had together due to their parent's divorce. Plus, they were both boys so they had that in common to fall back on. Tai and Kari were special, they confided in each other like the best of friends instead of siblings, and they didn't fight the way most did. My heart ached so much for him.

Eventually, his mother called and asked him to come home. They were trying to reach her from there and she wanted him around when they finally got in touch with her.

TK said he would walk himself home. I sat down next to him and put my arm around his shoulders, and he finally let go and broke down. He sobbed, shaking in my arms. She was his best friend for ten years and it was like mourning a death. He didn't understand what he had done to make her think she couldn't tell him absolutely anything. He couldn't think of what could be so bad that she would just run away. He felt abandoned, and in a way I don't think he'd felt since his parents split. I've never felt so much pain for another person in my life, what I thought I felt for Tai twenty minutes earlier, was nothing compared to what I felt for this younger boy in my arms.

He never publicly said a bad word against her, always defending her, and that one moment was the only time I ever saw him break down. We never spoke of it again.

I had no idea how he was now, that she was so suddenly thrust back into his life, and with everything that was happening around us.

Seeing Kari, Michael grabbing her, and the marks he had left on her, was one of the scariest things I have ever seen, and we saw plenty of frightening things growing up. I was still conflicted about not telling Tai, I was constantly opening, starting, and closing a message to him. I felt like after everything, he should know what was happening in her life.

She eventually reached out to Tai after running away, but there was still this feeling of betrayal I think he held on to, this sense of loss. He never talked about her the same way, and it hurt so much to see the relationship I envied so much torn to shreds, for a reason we still didn't know. I closed the message again and sighed. I would give her more time. I knew I would want it if I was her.

I jump, startled, too lost up in my head when I felt someone gently wrap their hand around mine. "His scratching keeping you awake too?" I looked at Matt, the corners of his mouth turned up while his eyes were still closed. TK stopped writing and glared at him. I stifled a laugh, trying not to disturb everyone on the plane.

"Note to self. Make Matt look bad," TK whispered, as he scribbled in his notebook again.

"Hey now, that's not nice," Matt mocked, grabbing for his notebook.

They struggled a bit before I pulled it out of their hands. "Alright kids, that's enough."

"Probably time for some sleep anyways," TK said, leaning back into his seat.

I handed him his notebook and he placed it in his backpack by his feet.

"How much longer anyway?" He asked.

"We still have like six hours, so settle in," Matt replied, laying his head against my shoulder.

I leaned into him, letting myself relax, and let go of my worries. At least for a little while.