Summary: It's TK and Kari's senior year in high school and they take a surprise Thanksgiving trip to America where things get super complicated. It doesn't look good for TK and Kari's relationship when Kari decides to move back to America and have nothing to do with TK. Can their relationship survive the test of time or will Kari's stubbornness keep them apart forever?

Hard to Love You
'More Than a Memory'
(don't own Garth Brooks either)

As the months passed by, Kari helplessly watched as Sora, Ingrid and Chandra planned her wedding for her. Nothing Kari said or did could convince Sora to keep the wedding in America. She begged and pleaded Brian to get married in America but he was too excited to get married anywhere else. Kari had to slowly accept the fact she was getting married in her hometown.

Kari hated the fact she was almost done planning her wedding and now it was all for nothing. Sora was very good about letting Kari pick and choose everything but Kari was still very upset about getting married in Japan. It was her fear that was holding her back. She was secretly afraid to see TK again. What would she say to him? What would he say to her? Would he even come to her wedding?

As far as Kari knew, all the digidestin were coming to the wedding. Kari was proud of herself for keeping in touch with them all after the reunion however there was one person she couldn't get herself to e-mail or call. She would write TK a long e-mail only to end up deleting it. She would dial his number only hang up before he answered. Kari occasionally received e-mails from TK but she couldn't get herself to open them and read them. Whenever TK would call, she would watch her phone ring but never answer it.

Each week that passed, the more stressed Kari got. She did her best to juggle her career and Brian's. Kari knew if she was going to get married to Brian and go to all the races with him, she would have to give up her dream job of teaching. Each Nascar race that passed added even more stress as she watched Brian compete in the Chase for the Cup.

Kari thought about TK often, he was more than a memory. She often caught herself daydreaming about him and what could have been. Kari blamed herself for the destruction for her old neighborhood, the death of TK's parents and she even blamed herself for the way TK's life turned out. She had always thought TK would be a famous basketball player. Who knew his life would have turned out so crummy? She knew if they had never broken up, Kari would have gone to college with him and she would have never let him go on academic probation, lose his scholarship and drop out.

Kari hoped after the Nascar season ended, things would slow down but she was wrong. Sora called her several times day, asking her hundreds of questions about the wedding. Brian was dragging her to places with him, Rick Hendrick's house for Thanksgiving, to Florida for the Nationwide banquet, to New York City for the Sprint Cup banquet. Kari was having a hard time trying to find the time to finalize things and ship things to Japan for the wedding.

"I can't believe ya agreed with Sora about getting married in Japan! We could have gone to Japan anytime!" Kari started having another fit. Kari said this at least once everyday since Sora suggested the idea. As soon as the Sprint Cup banquet ended, Brian and Kari rushed back home to their house on Lake Norman to pack and get ready to hop on a flight to Japan. Kari stubbornly and lazily took her suitcase and dumped its contents on the floor as she started packing fresh, new clothes in it. "Like we could have gotten married here in Charlotte and had the honeymoon in Japan!"

"Kari, everything will be fine!" Brian tried to calm her down.

"Ya know, this is my wedding too!" Kari continued her little tirade."I should have a say in where we get married! If I didn't know any better, I would swear ya and Sora were getting married!"

Brian rolled his eyes as he picked up her dirty clothes and threw them down the laundry chute. He finished packing his bags and carried them down to the car. When he came back, he found Kari stubbornly sitting on the bed. Brian sighed has he grabbed her bags and carried them down to the car for her as well.

"Ok Kari, stop acting like a little kid and lets go," said Brian sternly when he came back.

"I don't want to get married in Japan!" Kari retorted and crossed her arms defiantly.

"Ugh...if I had know ya would have been this much of a pain about this whole thing, I wouldn't have agreed to get married in Japan!" Brian admitted frustratedly.

"I tried to tell ya I didn't want to get married in Japan in the first place!" Kari said angrily.

"I'm so sorry Kari. At the time it sounded like a good idea." Brian apologized, "but if we don't get going, we're going to miss our flight and then we're going to have a whole bunch of angry guests."

Kari reluctantly got up and followed Brian to the car. He held her hand as they boarded the flight. Kari was beginning to feel guilty again. All the memories she had repressed were starting to come back again. Brian could feel her body tightening up as the plane started to take off. He knew she wasn't afraid to fly and was starting to become worried about her.

"Are ya alright?"

"Yeah...I'm fine," lied Kari.

"Are ya sure?" Brian asked concerned.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Kari angrily snapped back. Brian knew there was something wrong but accepted the fact she wasn't going to tell him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at ya like that. I'm just really stressed."

"It's alright babe," replied Brian and he grabbed her hand and kissed it. "I know things have been stressful for ya lately."

Kari smiled and laid her head on his chest. Immediately she felt some what relaxed. Kari felt so relaxed she feel asleep in Brian's arms. When she woke up, the plane was halfway across the Pacific Ocean. She didn't even remember switching planes. Kari looked up at her fiance to find him sleeping against the window. She smiled to think this was the man she was going to marry. But her smile quickly turned to a frown. Was she doing the right thing? Was this man she was going to share the rest of her life? For better or for worse? The wedding was a week away and Kari was starting to have some major second thoughts. She quickly grabbed her cell phone and texted Sora.

Did you have second thoughts before you got married?

Kari didn't have to wait long. Sora quickly replied back.

Yeah...almost everyone has them. It's normal.

Kari felt relieved but she still felt uncomfortable grasping the fact she was getting married. She loved Brian, she always had. Kari knew when she first met him, there was something special about him. They had a special connection she didn't share with anyone else. Kari felt bad for breaking up Brian and his girlfriend twelve years ago, even though she didn't try to. Yet at the same time, she loved that she meant so much to Brian that he would break up with his long time girlfriend to be with her. Kari texted Chandra and Ingrid the same question and they both said the same thing as Sora. She felt even more relieved but the closer she got to Japan, the more nervous she got. She was afraid to see TK again. How would she act around him? What would she say to him? Would he be upset or angry with her?

"Ugh...things were so much easier when I was single."