June 23, 2011
AN: I know I haven't updated in more than a year, but better late than never… right? I've been focusing on another story, a Harry Potter/Charmed crossover that I've been writing for about three years now (I don't remember how many chapters I have posted, but I'm currently writing chapter 17). I sort of forgot about this story – I've had a pretty eventful year and it is now summer and I'm ready to do more writing. I've had this chapter written for a long time, but I like to be ahead of myself when I write - meaning I like to have more written than posted. I hadn't planned on posting this today but I managed to finish chapter 6, write chapter 7, and start chapter 8 all today, so I figured I might as well be nice since I've been taking so long. I hope people still read this because I'm very proud of it! Enjoy!
The Ultimate Sacrifice
Chapter 5
"Kari."
He didn't say anything for a moment; he couldn't even be sure if it was really her. He just stared at her, mouth slightly open, while she smiled slightly. "Hi, Davis," she said.
He cleared his throat. "Hey, Kari." Silence fell between them and he didn't know what else he had to say to her. Assuming that she didn't really want to talk to him either, he stepped around her and began walking to school.
"I see you here every day."
Davis stopped in his tracks and turned back around slowly, where she was facing him. "Excuse me?"
She nodded. "I walk to school this way, too. I see you every day. I see you hold up your –" She paused briefly and swallowed. "— your Digivice and point it out to the ocean. I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to get to the Dark Ocean, aren't you?"
He stared at her. He hadn't spoken to this girl in nearly four years and now they were talking as if it had happened yesterday. He couldn't believe that she watched him every morning and that she never even tried to talk with him. Anger began to bubble inside him. So she would see him but not feel like it was her responsibility to try to help? "Yes," he said shortly.
She smiled sadly. "I don't know how you do it," she said quietly. "I can barely even think about it without feeling –" She stopped suddenly.
His fury grew. "Well, someone has to do it," he snapped. "Everyone else is too busy feeling depressed and sorry for themselves to do anything. If I tried to leave it up to anyone but myself, then there would be no hope at all."
Kari's face fell as he spoke. She looked down to the ground to break off eye contact with him and, after a moment, spoke again. "We tried, Davis," she said softly. "We tried. We just couldn't do it... just because you are more persistent doesn't mean –"
"You didn't try at all!" he yelled, and she jumped and looked up at him again. "All you did was sit around Izzy's computer for a week and talk about how awful you all felt for letting It take him without even trying to come up with any solutions! So we couldn't get through with computers – so what! Why didn't you think outside the box? The first time the Digidestined went to the Digiworld, they weren't transported through a computer. Why didn't we go to that camp? Why didn't you guys stick with it longer? Why didn't you try?"
Kari took a deep breath and said, her voice shaking, "Don't act like you're so much better than us, Davis. You sit here and point your Digivice at an ocean with no results –"
"Don't give me that shit, Kari," he spat, his fury growing with every second he spent looking at her. "I am better than you all. That camp? I went there. I camped out by myself for two weeks to see if there was a portal anywhere. I threw myself off a hill, thinking that it would transport me to the Digiworld. And maybe nothing happens when I come here every day – but at least I'm trying. When's the last time you looked at your Digivice? When's the last time you tried to activate it?" She didn't answer and he grew angrier. "When! Tell me, WHEN?" Her eyes filled with tears. "The week after it happened, right?"
"Stop," she said quietly.
"No, I want you to tell me!" he roared.
Her lower lip quivered. "It was a month after it happened, okay?" she shouted.
Tears were streaming down her cheeks but he felt little sympathy. Once upon a time, he never, ever would have spoken to her like this, but that was years ago. He turned on his heel and stomped off to school, leaving a weeping Kari behind him.
The last person to yell at her like that was T.K. Afterwards, they never spoke again and shortly thereafter he moved away.
She never thought that T.K. could yell at her like that, but she really never thought that Davis would. It surprised her so much that she didn't move for a few moments. Tears streamed down her face before she wiped them away in annoyance and took a few deep breaths.
She wasn't going to let Davis talk to her like that. He couldn't be mad at her for not being as strong as him.
For that reason, when she returned home from school, she knelt down next to her bed and took five deep breaths. Her hands were shaking. She didn't want to do this – in fact, it was the absolute last thing she wanted to do. However, she couldn't stop replaying her fight with Davis over and over again in her mind. She was determined to prove to him that she could be as strong as him – even though part of her knew that he was right.
She peeked underneath her bed and moved aside stacks of books and old papers until she could see the wall her bed was against – the far wall next to which a tiny, extremely dusty red shoebox sat. That box had not been so much as touched in four years. It had barely even been looked at.
She felt the guilt rising from her lower stomach but she swallowed it back down. The more that she tried to pretend the guilt wasn't there, the more it grew. She continued to push her guilt deeper and deeper inside of her, like a child who crams all his or her toys into a closet to avoid cleaning – inevitably, one day it's all going to burst out in one monstrous explosion.
Taking a deep breath, Kari leaned forward and reached as far as she could until her fingers grazed the dusty roof of the shoebox. Curling her fingers around it, she pulled the box out from underneath her bed. Her hands were covered with dust and there was a handprint on top of the box from where she had grabbed it. The box was a much deeper red than she remembered. All the dust had concealed its color.
She never thought that she would ever open this box again and her fingers and lower lip trembled as she touched the sides. She didn't want to, she really didn't want to – she just hated thinking about what she did. Oh God, did she hate it. She closed her eyes, took another deep, calming breath, and then just opened the box before she could change her mind.
Kari opened her eyes and immediately saw her bright pink Digivice staring back at her. This shoebox had always been her junk box – old friendship bracelets, photographs, and hair ties. Sitting right on top, still looking new as ever, was her Digivice.
She wanted to throw up, but instead she picked it up. It felt cold, which surprised her. She squeezed it in her hands and swallowed. It had been four years since she had held it. Four years since she tried to forget, but never did.
Now that she was holding it, she didn't know what to do. Could she get herself to point it at a computer? They weren't able to get through before, but what if, by some miracle, she could? She was almost too afraid to think about it. She didn't want to think about what would happen if she was able to get through the portal. It would be wonderful – but at the same time, terrifying. What would she do? Would she find Cody? What would she tell him if she did? Hi, sorry I let a black orb steal you from us and that we all gave up searching for you and that it took me four years to point my stupid Digivice at a portal to come save you. Your existence has been wiped from our planet, but let's go home now!
Still. While that probably wouldn't go over to well, she thought that she might as well try. She never thought that she would have enough strength to ever look at her Digivice again, and here she was, holding it, and she wasn't sobbing on the floor. Sure, she felt like the shittiest person ever, lower than dirt, but she was holding it. She glanced over at her computer, where the desktop was staring back at her.
She stood up, clutching her Digivice so tightly in her hand that her knuckles turned white, and slowly held it up so that it faced her computer.
Nothing.
She continued pointing it, determined. I want to get to the Digital World. I want to get through the portal. Please, let me in to save my friend.
Her prayers did nothing. Her desktop remained the same, her Digivice did not light up. It's the same thing that they went through four years ago when they couldn't get through and gave up.
Except for Davis. He didn't give up. He never did.
She went to her same spot that morning, like she did every morning. She would have gone to his spot, but she feared that if he saw her there he would leave to avoid speaking to her. He hated her like he hated all the others. It stung, but she knew it was deserved.
After thirty minutes, she began to fear that perhaps he wasn't going to come. Maybe he knew that she would come back and his desire to not speak to her was so great that he was going to go somewhere else. Her heart rate quickened and she began to worry.
But he showed up. He was late, but he showed. He jogged over to his usual cliff, facing the ocean, and dropped his backpack and dutifully pointed his Digivice at the ocean. His eyes were closed and he was mumbling softly to himself.
She suddenly became afraid. What if he yelled at her again? What if he yelled so much that she was unable to show him what she brought? Kari has never been that good at standing up for herself during a confrontation, so if he started to yell she may not be able to accomplish what she came here for.
Because of that, she took the Digivice out of her pocket and clutched it in her hand as she approached him. He heard her footsteps and turned around to see her holding it out to him.
"I brought it," she said quickly before he could explode. "I brought it with me. I took it out of the box I had kept it in for four years. I tried to open the portal but it didn't work."
Davis stared at her for a long time. His eyes darted back and forth between her face and her hands. She didn't know what he was thinking – would he say that that wasn't enough? Or would he be proud and welcome her to help him?
Finally, he just nodded. "Okay." He turned back toward the ocean and held out his own Digivice.
"That's it?"
He glanced back at her; they were both surprised at her words. "What do you mean?"
She wasn't exactly sure. She swallowed and said, "Are you going to ask me to help you?"
He half-shrugged. "You can help if you want. I shouldn't have to ask you. I just don't think you will."
Anger boiled inside of her like guilt had the day before. "What do you mean by that? You don't think I will?"
He sighed irritably and finally turned his entire body to face hers. "No, I don't think you will. Why? Because it's been four fucking years. Did you expect me to rejoice because you finally picked up your Digivice after all this time? Well, congratulations, but I'm not really impressed."
"If I pointed my Digivice at an ocean for an hour every day, then would you accept me?" she snapped.
He stared at her. "If you pointed your Digivice at the ocean for an hour every single day for four years, then maybe."
She was fed up – Kari turned on her heel and stomped away. If she couldn't please Davis, she would do it all on her own.
He didn't understand what was up with Kari. One day, out of the blue, she brings her Digivice and expects him to welcome her back with open arms? Was she sleeping these last four years? Maybe if she'd done this the day after the final time he left Izzy's house, not waited four years.
He started walking to school a few minutes after Kari and lapsed deep into thought. Clearly, trying to get through a portal via the ocean was not working. Where else could he find a portal? He felt himself begin to panic. He was running out of ideas. He couldn't get in through the computer, the ocean, the camp where the Originals got through. What was he going to do?
Because he wasn't paying attention, he walked right into someone. He hit them with enough force to send himself flying backwards, onto the ground.
"Sorry, sorry," mumbled Davis as he scrambled to get up. "I wasn't looking –" He stopped as he finally looked at who he ran into.
Tai was standing in front of him, having not fallen down when they made impact. He was staring at Davis with a completely blank expression on his face. Davis opened his mouth to issue another apology, but decided against it. Instead, he brushed past Tai and continued his walk to school.
"You think you're better than us?" Tai called after him.
"No," Davis called over his shoulder, not stopping. "I know I am."
He knew instantly what effect his words were going to have upon Tai. He heard the scuffling of feet and then Tai had a hold of him. He was gripping Davis by the collar of his shirt, glaring at him like a madman.
"Are you going to hit me?" Davis asked, eerily calm, before Tai could spit any threats at him. "Go ahead, hit me. Hit me because I'm the only one that had enough balls to continue looking for Cody while you were too afraid. That's a great reason to beat me up – so, go on, do it."
Tai stared at him for a long time, their faces inches apart. Davis knew that he had gotten to him – he was always able to. They were all the same.
Instead of punching him, Tai violently threw him to the ground. By the time Davis had stood up again, Tai was gone.
It was a rather warm day – not warm enough to take off his coat, but it was warm compared to most winter days in Odaiba. He was not used to it – he had never, ever seen it this warm before in the dead of winter.
Because of this, Ken Ichijouji decided to eat outside.
He ate alone, as usual.
However, on this already unusual day, his alone time ended after about five minutes when a girl timidly approached him. He didn't notice she was there until her shadow was cast upon him. He looked up and squinted; her face was in front of the sun and he couldn't make it out. "Hello?"
"Hey, Ken." He knew that voice immediately. His eyebrows shot up as Kari Kamiya sat down next to him, gracing him with a half-smile. "How are you? It's been a while."
He gaped for a few seconds. "Uh – yeah, it has been. I'm okay. How are you?"
She shrugged. "I've been better."
Neither of them spoke for about a minute. He glanced at her, but she was staring out into space. He cleared his throat to get her attention and said, "So, not that I'm not happy to see you, Kari, but I haven't seen you in years and I must admit that your presence right now is very strange. Is there a reason you are here, other than to say hello?"
At first, he didn't think she even heard him. Her eyes were glassy and she didn't move or make any other indication that his words had registered in her mind. Just as he was about to ask her again, she said, "Ken. You've been to the Dark Ocean before, right?"
Out of all the things he thought she was going to say, that was not anywhere on the list. "Excuse me?"
"You went there, right?" she asked, finally looking at him. "I remember you telling me about it."
He nodded slowly. "Yes, I have. It's where I went when my Digivice turned black. Why are you asking this, Kari? Haven't you been there, too?"
"Yes," she said. "I have. I was just wondering, though. When you went there, how did you get there?"
"My Digivice," Ken replied. "I just pointed it at my brother's computer and it took me there. How did you get there?"
She paused for a few seconds. "I don't know," she said finally. "When I went there, I was just taken there. I didn't have to use my Digivice."
"Oh." he said, confused. "That's strange."
Kari nodded. "Yes, it is." She glanced at him again. "Do you think that since I've been there before, I can use my Digivice to take me back?"
He frowned deeply at her. "I don't know. Maybe. But why would you want to go back?"
She shrugged. "Hypothetically."
He didn't believe her for one second but he wasn't going to press that matter. A few seconds later she stood up and brushed off her jeans. "Well, thanks, Ken. It was nice seeing you. Bye." She was gone before he even had a chance to respond.
Davis figured that Kari wouldn't be foolish to come to his spot for the third morning in a row, so he relaxed a bit as he pointed his Digivice toward the ocean. He tried to keep himself to thinking about what his next step was. If he gave up on the ocean, what was his next plan?
"Hi, Davis."
He looked up and saw Kari, again, staring at him. He rolled his eyes and turned back to face the ocean, not responding.
"I think I have an idea."
He didn't answer. She ignored his silence and sat down directly next to him. Her shaking fingers were twirling her Digivice.
"I talked to Ken yesterday," she said.
That shocked him. He turned and looked at her, but still said nothing. He knew she wanted him to ask what they spoke about, but he didn't feel like appeasing her. Besides, what the hell did he care what two traitors had to say?
"I asked him how he got to the Dark Ocean. Did you know that he used his Digivice? He just pointed it to a computer and was able to get in."
"I've pointed my Digivice to computers more times than you could imagine," he said finally. "So that doesn't really help me."
Kari nodded. "I tried to get in through a computer, too." She turned to glance at him, but he determinedly did not look at her. "It's not the same, getting from here to the Digital World and here to the Dark Ocean. I've never been able to discover what works and what doesn't. When I went to the Dark Ocean, I was just taken there. I was taken from here." She paused for a second, perhaps thinking to herself. "The portal from here to the Digital World is closed; I think we both know that by now. But what if… what if the portal to the Dark Ocean isn't?"
Finally, Davis turned to stare at her. "What are you talking about?"
"It's worth a shot," she said, and he wasn't sure if she was talking to him or herself. "It's our only hope. The black orb that spoke to us knew that it would be closing the portal from here to the Digital World – It knew we couldn't get back. But I doubt It thought about the Dark Ocean… only Ken and I have been there, after all."
"But how will we get there?" Davis asked.
She stood up and slung her backpack over her shoulder. "I'm going to try." She looked down at him and jerked her head, indicating him to stand as well. "Hold on to me," she said as he obliged. "If this works, you'll need to be touching me."
His heart pulsed violently in his throat. Kari wasn't making total sense but she had a lead that he had not considered. She may not have been the greatest person over the last few years, but he was in no position to be picky about what he tried.
Kari held her Digivice tightly in her hand, staring at it. Davis watched her as she shut her eyes, tightly, concentrating hard. When she opened them again, her eyes shone – they were wet. She looked out over the ocean and, taking one final gasp of air, pointed it out at the ocean.
Immediately, Davis knew that it had worked. The wind picked up and Kari's entire body began to vibrate because of her Digivice. It had lit up for the first time in four years.
A beam of fluorescent light suddenly shot out of her Digivce and into the sky. A portal exploded from the end of the light, a portal made up of light green, yellow, pink, powder blue, and white light.
Kari began to vibrate more violently and Davis held on tighter. Their eyes were both wide, staring at the portal above them. Davis was in shock – he didn't know what to feel. He had been waiting for a breakthrough for years and now that he had experienced one he didn't know what to do with himself.
They began to be pulled by way of Kari's Digivice toward the portal. Soon they were floating through the air towards it. Davis looked over his shoulder and saw the town of Odaiba fading rapidly. He glanced back in front of him and found himself being swallowed by the portal. He was surrounded by colors – he was blinded, all he could feel was Kari's arm gripped in his hand.
As soon as it started, it ended. Davis and Kari were dropped from the air onto the ground, rather roughly. Davis coughed a few times, gasping for breath as the wind had been knocked out of him. Slowly he clambered to his feet, bending down and helping Kari up as well.
He looked around once they had regained composure. They were at the beach, but it was different. After that explosion of color from the portal, there was no color in this place – the water, the sky, the sand that they were standing on – they were all shades of gray.
"This is it." Kari turned to me.
"What now?"