Disclaimer: If I owned Digimon, this would have been written by a professional writer and not a college student.
Davis sighed as he lay back on his bed. Today had officially been the worst day of his life. It was supposed to have been a fun get-together with friends, but now there was a new evil force threatening to destroy the Digital World within a week, and four DigiDestined were down for the count. Tai's kidnapping had also thrust the leadership role right back onto Davis's shoulders, so Davis was now supposed to find a way to fix this. He was aching to go and solve the problem immediately, but with how well rushing in had worked the last time, he knew there was nothing he would be able to accomplish. So, his first order was for everyone to return to Earth and take a night off in order to recuperate. Frankly, he hated the waiting, but seeing how run down everybody was, it was the only plan he could think of that had a positive outcome. So, last night everyone went back home to rest and try to think of a solution, with the exception of TK and Kari who had been taken to a hospital for overnight observation. Apparently, Dr. Kido managed to pull a few strings so nobody would question how they were hurt, which was just about the only positive thing that could be said about the previous day's events.
While Davis had given the order for everyone to rest, he found a hard time following his own advice as he kept trying to think of ways to turn this situation around. He knew he wasn't the brightest, but he had always managed to hit on the right idea when the fate of the world depended on it. Thinking back, he found four fights in the past that could provide a solution. Having at least some semblance of a plan forming in his mind for getting Matt and Tai back, he spent a few more hours thinking on how best to convey his ideas to the others and break the news to TK and Kari when they woke up. Today may have been the worst day ever, but tomorrow it was time to regroup and start fighting back to save the Digital World.
Across town, Izzy was also having a difficult time sleeping. However, his main worry wasn't so much what Lilithmon had done, but what she had said. First, there was the clear fact that she had the ability to destroy all of them, and even prevent their partners from coming back as Digi-Eggs. She had willingly provided this information, as well as all the information relating to her attacks. In all these cases, she had been completely honest, even though it would have been to her benefit to lie. Then, she had chosen to spare everyone but Tai and Matt, even though there wasn't a good reason to do so. Even if she wanted someone to send a message back to the other DigiDestined, it didn't take three people to send a message. She could have easily taking control of Davis and Ken as well, since Kabuterimon could have easily flown back to the sanctuary in ten minutes from where they fought. So, when Lilithmon said she needed to leave Imperialdramon, there was no reason to do so. It was as if Lilithmon just didn't want to destroy them, which begged the question of why. Was she actually showing mercy to the group most likely to stop her plans? Were they even her plans, or was she just following along with Daemon or someone else?
Izzy knew the only way to get a sure answer to these questions was to ask Lilithmon herself, but she had disappeared to the Dark Ocean along with Tai and Matt. Izzy could only think of four ways into that realm, all of which were exceedingly difficult to pull off. They could be called in by Daemon in much the same way Kari was called in by Dragomon, but he doubted their enemy would invite them into its stronghold unless they had a trap with an extremely high rate of success. A second option was to have TK and Kari open a gate using the powers of Hope and Light as they had before, but Gennai claimed that would only work if one of the two were already inside the Dark Ocean, since the powers of light were the key to leaving the world of darkness, not entering it. The third way was to randomly stumble into a phase warp like Ken, Yolei, and Kari had done the first time Gatomon and Aquilamon DNA Digivolved, but such warps were incredibly rare and unpredictable. This left only option number 4: having Ken open a gate to the Dark Ocean using his D3 and Dark Spore. However, this method was extremely difficult for Ken six years ago, and without the inner darkness of the Digimon Emperor feeding it, there was no guarantee the Dark Spore had any energy left to open the gate. So, if this final method didn't work, Izzy was at a loss on how to save Tai and Matt, reclaim the Digimentals to stop whatever plan was in the works, and get at the evil that was organizing this to destroy it. He didn't know how he could ever find the solution to this impossible puzzle.
As soon as Izzy thought that, he remembered Lilithmon's advice about Knowledge and Wisdom. He didn't have the slightest clue on where to look for answers on his own, and hadn't Lilithmon claimed that wisdom was the quality of knowing where to find answers? She had even claimed there was a Goddess of Wisdom somewhere in the Digital World that he should go talk to. Lilithmon hadn't ever tried to feed them false information before, so could he trust her advice now? His gut instinct said no, but his head claimed it might be the only option available. Resolved to go questing for this Goddess if everything else failed, Izzy finally was able to fall asleep.
In Tamachi, Ken was also disobeying Davis's order to rest. Knowing that he might be the only possible entrance into the Dark Ocean, he had been up all night trying to conjure up his guilt and regrets from his time as the Digimon Emperor. However, even thinking back on how horrible he acted didn't help him open a gate. In the five and a half years he had been friends with the DigiDestined, he had helped save the world and come into his true nature as the DigiDestined of Kindness. With all the good he had done, he could not convince himself that he had willfully done those horrible things. This made it look like the Dark Spore had been fully responsible for his actions. While he would always feel guilty about what he had done, this simple knowledge prevented him from fully blaming himself. Thus, he was unable to truly feel the guilt and regret needed to open a gate, things which could only come from someone who believed they had chosen to do such horrible things.
Trying not to let his night be completely wasted, Ken re-entered the Digital World. Since the Digimentals of Hope and Light were in the hands of the enemy, Gennai could no longer prevent evil from spreading beyond the Dark Ocean with his barrier. As such, he had taken the barrier down since the only purpose it served now was hindering the DigiDestined instead of their enemies. Ken gathered Patamon and Gatomon from the courtyard of the sanctuary, figuring they would want to see their partners as soon as they got out of the hospital. The two Digimon had stayed behind when TK and Kari left since they wouldn't be welcome in the hospital anyway, and after Tai and Matt were taken over by Lilithmon everyone had been too defeated to think about them. Ken was about to return home when he spotted Michael walking out of the sanctuary building. Surprised that he wasn't the only one in the Digital World, Ken walked up to him and asked what he was doing here.
"Oh, hi Ken," Michael responded. "I couldn't really sleep-even though it's the middle of the night for you in Japan, back in America it's almost noon-so I decided to come talk to Gennai about what's going on. He told me that Earth can also be attacked from the Dark Ocean at any time, so I was thinking it might be best if I went back to America for a little bit. I could rally the American DigiDestined to help out here, or at the very least help organize everyone to defend Earth against any attacks. Mimi volunteered to come with me, but I told her she needed to stay. If I end up not being able to help because I'm organizing defenses in America, you're just missing out on a Champion level. If Mimi were gone, you'd be missing an Ultimate. I told her that you'd need Lillymon much more than I would, so I'm going to head back alone. Good luck winning this time, and if you ever need me just send me a message and I'll be right there. I'm sorry to leave like this, but I feel like I can do the most good preparing a second line of defense."
With that, Michael transported himself back to his home computer in New York and immediately began calling his other DigiDestined friends. He had a lot of work to do alerting all the international DigiDestined and he wanted to make sure Earth was protected from any threat the Dark Ocean could throw at it. Meanwhile, Ken also went to his house, having Patamon and Gatomon stay over so they could see their partners as soon as TK and Kari got out of the hospital. Michael was doing his best to prepare the world for an attack, so Ken vowed that he would do his best to end the threat of an attack by whatever means he could. With that, he too closed his eyes and waited for the coming dawn.
However, as Ken was going to sleep, Mimi was being kept awake by a crying Sora. Michael had been right about her being needed here in Japan in order to help her friends, but she hadn't planned for a place to stay. Luckily for her, Mrs. Takenouchi was kind enough to invite Mimi into her house for the upcoming week. However, this meant that she was the only one around who could comfort Sora about Matt's disappearance, since Mrs. Takenouchi hadn't been in the Digital World and didn't really understand the situation.
"It's okay, Sora. I know it hurts, but you have to look on the bright side. Matt isn't really hurt, he's just being controlled. If we can beat Lilithmon, he'll go back to normal. Besides, he promised he'd come back, and he's stubborn enough that I'm sure Lilithmon won't be able to control him for long. I guarantee that he's fighting as hard as he can to get back, so we have to fight as hard as we can to help him. I promise to do whatever it takes to help you enjoy your six year anniversary, and my recently re-obtained necklace ought to show you exactly how sincere I am when I say that."
Hearing that, Sora couldn't help but brighten a little bit. "I'm sorry for being such a wreck about this, Mimi. My boyfriend gets kidnaped, and here I go crying like he broke up with me. We'll just have to fight until we get him back. He's still in there somewhere, and I know he wouldn't let an old hag like Lilithmon control him- he is a bit too stubborn for that. I'll fight for the ones I love, and my recently re-obtained necklace ought to show you exactly how loving I can be. First thing tomorrow, we're taking that witch down."
With Sora calmed down and both girls determined to fight as soon as they could, they simply said good night and both went to bed, eagerly looking forward to saving Matt and Tai in the coming days.
The next morning found Davis fuming in the living room of the Takaishi apartment. Seeing as TK had either been unconscious or in the hospital since the disastrous second fight with Lilithmon, he was unaware of the fact that his brother was currently in Lilithmon's thrall. Deciding that TK needed to know about it sooner rather than later, Davis and Cody had gone over to his apartment as soon as they heard he was out of the hospital. Ms. Takaishi had answered the door, and explained that despite his night in the hospital, he was recovering fine. His hearing had started to come back, though it would be a while before he would be back to normal, and the doctors couldn't find any lingering effects from him passing out. She told them he would be fine as long as he avoided stressful situations, but one look at their faces told her that was a luxury he didn't have.
"There's something wrong in the Digital World again, isn't there?" she asked. "That's where TK got hurt, but whatever did it is still running around and you'll need him to help stop it."
Cody wished he didn't have to be the bearer of bad news, but decided that at the very least Ms. Takaishi deserved to know more about the truth. "Unfortunately, that is an optimistic view of the situation. What hurt TK is gone, but there is a much greater threat that he doesn't know about yet, so we have to tell him and then we will need his help."
After Ms. Takaishi had left the room to get TK, Davis leaned over to Cody and asked, "So, what happened to lying being the worst thing ever? You didn't tell her that TK pretty much knocked himself unconscious or that Matt and Tai are now working on the side of evil."
Cody merely glared at him before responding, "Sometimes you have to lie in order to help people. Telling her that one of her sons gave himself a panic attack while the other got brainwashed by an incarnation of lust and we have no idea how to help him wouldn't do anything but hurt her. Besides, I technically didn't lie. Gulfmon hurt TK and he's gone, and there is a much greater threat. I merely did not tell the entire truth."
Davis only had time to mutter "Man, you really are becoming a lawyer" before Ms. Takaishi had come back into the room and said, "It's strange, but he says he doesn't want to see anybody and he won't come out of his room. Is there something that happened in the Digital World that you aren't telling me?"
Cody quickly responded in an attempt to defuse the situation. "Sorry Ms. Takaishi, but it would take too long to explain. I do have a pretty good idea what this is about, so maybe if Davis and I talk to him he might snap out of it."
However, Cody's assurances proved to be insignificant compared to the resiliency of TK's locked bedroom door. With no other option, Cody and Davis had to repeat the narration of their failed battle through the door, causing Ms. Takaishi to go into a worried frenzy. Unsure if TK was even listening, Davis was about to leave when the door suddenly opened. TK stood there, but Cody saw the face of the angry TK who had once punched out the Digimon Emperor instead of the usually happy TK that was so hopeful. TK merely said, "So, let's do a recap of everything that's happened since I last went to the Digital World. My best friend receives injuries that send her to the hospital, she gets kidnapped, I get so desperate to save her that I force my other best friend to change into the very thing that KILLED him nine years ago, he flies off to who knows where and might not have survived, and then my brother gets brainwashed and turns evil just because I lost something. At least he has the excuse that he's being forced to use darkness. I chose to embrace it. I don't really think the Digital World would be better if I went to help it right now." He then slammed the door shut, which had resulted in Davis needing to fume for a while in the living room. Cody had absolutely no idea how to handle this situation. Clearly, he wasn't as close to a lawyer as Davis thought if he couldn't even convince his close friend that he hadn't done anything wrong. However, Cody's musings were interrupted when Davis sprang to his feet and started leaving. Cody followed him, unsure of what he was planning, but Davis answered his question before he could even ask it.
"Fine," Davis grumbled, "if that's the way he wants to play, I guess we'll just have to get the big guns here. He can ignore us all he wants, but let's see if he can ignore Kari and Patamon. We're heading to the Kamiya apartment."
"I'm not so sure if that's the best idea. Kari and Patamon are the main factors that are causing this depression. Forcing him to face them could just make him worse. Maybe he just needs a little bit of time to get over this on his own. He sees himself as the problem, so he might need to find the solution by himself."
"That would be great if we had any time," Davis countered, "but in case you forgot Lilithmon said she was a week away from finishing whatever world-ending plan they are working on. We don't exactly have time to waste. Besides, right now TK is blaming himself for hurting Patamon and Kari. The only people who could convince him that that isn't the case are his imagined victims. You know about his issues with losing Patamon better than most, so do you really think if Patamon showed up at his door he'd keep being so distant? And if anything, he'd have an even harder time pushing Kari away. They've been best friends since they were eight, and he's obviously had a crush on her at least since he was eleven, speaking as someone with a bit of experience in the 'obvious crushes on Kari' department. Seriously, you don't fling yourself into another dimension or trigger a miraculous Digivolution in the middle of a no-Digivolving zone to save a girl when she's just a friend. If he's so torn up about hurting Kari, do you really think he would hurt her more by ignoring her?"
Realizing that he had no way to counter this argument, Cody merely shook his head. For trying to be a lawyer, he certainly was having a hard time winning any arguments. They continued the walk in silence until they arrived at the Kamiya apartment. When they knocked on the door, Mrs. Kamiya let them in, and after somehow managing to avoid the offer to try a piece of her newest cake—they knew about her cooking skills—they entered the living room to find Yolei sitting on the couch with her head in her hands. Seeing this, Davis started to fear that Kari was taking the explanation just as poorly as TK had. Bracing himself for the worst, he asked "So, how did briefing Kari go?"
Yolei just shook her head before answering. "Well, Sora and Mimi are still in there trying to convince her not to just offer herself as a hostage in exchange for Tai and Matt. Seriously, I know we're DNA partners and that should make it easy for me to understand her, but why is she convinced everything is her fault? Sure, this time they were chasing down her Digimental, but only because she happened to get saddled with the Crest of Light. If being such a good person means you have to make such stupid sacrifices as giving up the one thing evil needs to take over the world in order to save a couple of people, I'm sort of glad there aren't that many good people in the world."
Davis quirked an eyebrow and responded, "You think that's bad? Cody and I just got back from TK's. Not only is he convinced that this whole mess is his fault, he berated himself for being the kind of person who would embrace darkness and doesn't seem to realize that doing it to save a friend is a pretty darn good reason. He also thinks he really hurt Patamon when he became Devimon, so he pretty much shut himself in his room and bit our heads off when we came over. Seriously, I know TK and Kari are normally such great people, but why are they convinced that everything bad is their fault? They'd probably blame themselves if their kids get pimples!"
"Not to interrupt before Davis starts going on a rant about TK and Kari's married life," Cody interrupted to prevent Davis from ranting about how TK and Kari acted like a married couple, "but other than blaming herself, is she holding up okay? We are going to need both TK and Kari if we want to have any hope of winning this battle, but we need Kari to get TK to come along with us. Davis thinks if we get Kari and Patamon to convince him they are okay and that it wasn't his fault they got hurt, he'll snap out of it."
Yolei considered this for a second before replying, "You know, I think that might be one more brilliant idea from Davis. Keep this up and people might forget that you used to be our little bone-headed leader. So, Kari and TK are both angsting up a storm over how everything bad that happens is their fault. Well, we can work with this. Get them both in the same room, have them argue about which one of them is really to blame until Kari convinces TK it isn't his fault and vice versa, and maybe even provide the push so they finally see that they are madly in love with each other so they can start dating and I can finally double date with them."
Cody rolled his eyes at the last part of that statement, but rather than argue with Yolei over her playing matchmaker—she always complained that the only other DigiDestined couple lived in Kyoto now and thus none of her friends were available to double date, so she tried setting up various pairings with no success yet—Cody merely agreed with her plan on the merit of the first two points. Seeing as Kari was still locked in discussion with Sora and Mimi, Davis decided to act on getting Patamon over to TK's house as well. He sent a message to Gennai to ask if Patamon was still with him, but was surprised to learn Ken had taken Patamon with him last night. He was about to send a message asking Ken to bring Patamon to Kari's apartment when Ken himself appeared at the door, carrying Wormmon and followed by Patamon and Gatomon. He seemed surprised to see Davis, Cody and Yolei all gathered at the Kamiya apartment, but after a quick explanation agreed with the plan to get TK and Kari to talk each other out of their current funks. With that, Gatomon went off to Kari's room, and with Gatomon's encouragement, Kari finally agreed to leave the room and go with the other DigiDestined to try to help Tai and Matt without giving herself up. Not wanting to set her back into a mild depression by telling her about TK's condition, they merely told her that they were going to make a quick stop at TK's apartment before having the remainder of the DigiDestined meet at Izzy's house to discuss a plan of action for the upcoming week. With that, they all once again headed outside.
Kari could only stare at the locked door to TK's room. While she had initially thought they were only coming here to pick up TK, when they arrived Davis told everyone to go on without them before quickly pulling her aside and telling her that TK had entered some sort of depression and that he and Cody hadn't been able to talk him out of it. He said he thought she might be the only one besides Patamon who could get through to him, so he soon left her alone with Patamon and Gatomon in the hopes that she could talk some sense into him. Immediately, Kari was torn. One part of her desperately wanted to tear down the door and do whatever she could to help him until he felt better. The other part was scared of what might happen if she did just that. If she started talking to TK about his problems, he'd probably turn the conversation to her problems. It was what he always did, trying to focus on making her feel better even if he was having a bad day.
Unfortunately, that was part of the main problem with this plan: she liked this about him way more than any friend should. If he tried asking if she was okay, she might have to explain that she had a panic attack just seeing him pass out. If the implications of that didn't immediately make things awkward, she had no idea what would. However, the part of her that was worried about TK won out, and she softly knocked on the door. Not getting a response, she knocked louder, and asked "TK? Are you in there?" She thought she heard the sound of someone sitting up on a bed inside, but got no other response. Finally, Patamon shouted "Don't make me blow your door down, TK!" and TK finally opened his door. Kari was shocked to see the hurt and fear clearly displayed in his eyes, which had usually been full of cheer and hope. She hadn't seen him like this except during their fight with BlackWarGreymon and whenever she had been taken to the Dark Ocean. However, some of the usual joy managed to find its way into his face when Patamon flew up and landed on his head.
"Patamon, you're okay!" TK exclaimed. "I thought I had lost you again. When I forced you to become Devimon, I wasn't sure if you'd ever be able to come back to me, or even if you could I wasn't sure you'd want to."
Patamon merely shook his head. "Why wouldn't I ever want to see you again, TK? You're my best friend. Besides, just because I became Devimon didn't mean I really changed. You don't freak out about never seeing me again when I become Angemon, do you? Just because I looked different on the outside didn't mean I was different on the inside. About the only change was feeling really angry at all the Bakemon and Vilemon for hurting you and Kari. Even then, that wasn't that big of a change since I'd get angry in any form if anyone tried to hurt you anyway. It was just a little bit more than usual."
TK started to argue back. "But that doesn't really matter. The last time you saw Devimon, you died. I forced you to face that memory again. How can you forgive me for making you turn into the very evil you killed yourself to destroy?"
Gatomon had had enough of his sulking, and interrupted him before he could continue. "So what, you made him Dark Digivolve. Let's see what happened because of it: he saves Kari from being kidnapped, goes after a bunch of Bakemon and Vilemon in order to protect you, and then comes right back as Patamon wondering why you got all depressed about it. Does any of that sound evil to you? Evil is a matter of choice, and he still chose to do the right thing despite being shrouded in darkness."
"So, I guess that makes me the evil one then, huh? Patamon didn't choose to do the wrong thing despite being shrouded in darkness, but I'm the one who was so desperate to save Kari that I forced my best friend to be shrouded in darkness in the first place."
Kari's eyes widened at this last statement. "Is that why all of this happened? You're convinced you're evil just because you were helping me?" TK's face clearly displayed that he had said much more than he meant to in the situation, but before he could start backpedaling Kari continued, "Because if that's the case, at least you have a much better excuse for having your panic attack than I did. You freaked out in order to save me. I freaked out because you were hurt and I didn't know what to do. At least you were trying to help out."
"Wait, you had a panic attack too? What else did I miss when I passed out?"
Now it was Kari who was looking as if she had said a little bit more than she had originally meant to. However, TK's face now showed genuine concern instead of the near depression that had been evident when she first arrived, so she decided not to bother taking back anything she said. "Yeah, I thought you knew. Right after Devimon came and talked to you, you sort of passed out in my arms. I sort of lost it right after that happened, so after that the others will have to fill you in. I was just so worried about you I couldn't think clearly anymore. I'm sorry for not being able to help you when you really needed it."
TK was quick to stop her from falling into her own spiral of self-pity. "You don't have to apologize for that, Kari. I did pretty much the same thing just by you being threatened. I don't know what I would do if you actually got hurt. If anyone needs to apologize, it's me."
"I don't think so, TK," Kari countered. "How many times do Patamon and I have to tell you? You didn't do anything wrong. You did the only thing you could do to help me, and you didn't hurt anyone in the process, not counting the Vilemon and Bakemon. If you want to apologize for doing that, you'd have to apologize for fighting Myotismon, the Dark Masters, and Piedmon as well. And if saving the world needs an apology, all of us need to apologize, not just you."
TK grinned sheepishly. "Okay, fine. I won't feel sorry about saving you. But I will apologize for being so desperate to save you. Not that I ever want you to get hurt, but I know how much you hate people treating you like you are helpless. If I was so desperate to help you, doesn't that mean that I didn't think you could save yourself?"
Kari just shook her head and smiled. "There's a difference between thinking I can't help myself and saving me whenever I actually can't help myself. Gatomon couldn't Digivolve, so she couldn't fly in to save me like Devimon did. I don't think anyone else was close to us, so if Devimon didn't save me, the only way I was getting saved would be if I somehow managed to defeat five Bakemon on my own. So, in this one case, I think I might have been as close to helpless as I could ever be, so you get a pass on acting like I was helpless. Besides, do you want to know a secret? Whenever you try to help me, I don't really think it's insulting, but actually kind of sweet. It just shows that you really care about me a lot, and it always inspires me to do all I can to help you out just as much so you can see how much I care about you too."
Gatomon had to smile at this. Not only were TK and Kari both back to their normal, much happier selves, but they actually seemed like they were starting to admit that their feelings extended beyond normal friendship. Now, Gatomon wasn't quite sure exactly how human relationships worked, but she had seen how much happier Sora and Yolei were once they started dating Matt and Ken, and she wanted Kari to experience that happiness as well. And since TK was Kari's best friend and the DigiDestined Gatomon was closest to outside of her partner, she wanted him to be able to share in the happiness. It was painfully obvious that both of them wanted to have a relationship, so Gatomon was glad that they were starting to admit it. In fact, it seemed to be going exceptionally well, as TK and Kari had been staring into each other's eyes for a few seconds before slowly leaning towards each other. From Gatomon's experience with human movies, this was usually a sign of two humans about to kiss, which then started a relationship that ended with "happily ever after." It was looking like TK and Kari would finally-
Suddenly, Kari's D-Terminal pinged. The innocent sound was still enough to make TK and Kari realize exactly what they had been about to do, and both could only blush and avert their eyes. Gatomon hissed in annoyance at the interruption, but the moment had effectively ended. Kari checked the offending message.
"Well," Kari said sheepishly, "apparently Izzy's parents are having some friends over, so we won't be able to meet there to discuss a plan of action for saving Matt and Tai. Everyone else is heading to the sanctuary in the Digital World. I guess we shouldn't keep them waiting, should we?"
TK quickly replied, "Yeah, sounds like a plan. And, uh, Kari?"
"Yes?"
"Thanks for the talk. It really helped. I'll try not to get so down on myself again."
"I'm glad I could help. And thanks for always being there to save me when I need it."
With that, they both turned toward TK's computer and opened a gate, followed by two very disappointed Digimon partners. However, the two DigiDestined had a little bit more hope at seeing the other seemed to share their feelings. With that small light to keep up their spirits, they found they had a hard time keeping their pessimistic feelings from earlier with regards to the current situation in the Digital World. As long as they gave their best shot, they were certain they could save their brothers and stop whatever plan the forces of evil were currently putting into motion.
Author's Note: In case you couldn't get the romantic hints here, the romance in this story is pretty much going to be limited to TK and Kari. You are allowed to support your own pairings, but that is my favorite pairing so I'll obviously be supporting it. As this is my first attempt at portraying romance, I'm not sure how well it went, but that's what practice is for. Anyway, it served to snap TK out of his poorly-written depression, and now the team's starting to get a plan together to hopefully get Tai and Matt back before time runs out. Now, it might be a couple of days before I next update (I have a final and then a three hour car ride tomorrow, then a family Christmas celebration on Saturday), so I hope you've been enjoying the story so far!