Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or am associated with anyone who does.

I know it's been a while! I just finished up the last bit today. I am participating in Camp NaNoWriMo this month, so my attention has been divided! That being said I'll be focusing the rest of April on my NaNoWriMo, so don't expect an update on here until May. Sorry! Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

-Friday Night-

Kari let out a shaky breath as she sat in Yolie's car. Closing her eyes, she rehashed T.K.'s words in her mind over and over. She couldn't recall a time when she'd heard that tone of voice coming from T.K.'s lips—an agonizing mixture of frustration and sadness.

I don't care if my feelings for you, upset you. You being safe and is what's important.

Kari didn't hear Yolie at first, blinking she turned to her friend who yelled out her name sharply. "Sorry." Her voice shook lightly.

"What happened back there?" Yolie's concern was evident. "Why was T.K. yelling?"

Kari pursed her lips and clenched her teeth to keep her lips from quivering as she looked down at her lap, remaining silent.

Yolie let out an exasperated sigh, refusing to start the ignition until she got some answers. "You've refused to talk about T.K. with me since he left. And now that he's back you're both acting weird. I get the picture—but I need details."

Kari shook her head, her lips trembling now, tears brimming in her eyes. "I can't." her fingers curled around the edge of her hoodie, her thumbs pinching down on the bottom of the zipper to keep her hands still.

"You're scaring me, Kari." Yolie spoke a bit kinder. "Did he hurt you?"

She shook her head, her muscles tightening at Yolie's words, ones similarly asked by Davis. "No." she replied harshly, frustration starting to fester.

"Then what!" Yolie smacked her steering wheel. "This doesn't make any sense!"

Kari looked out the side window at the filled parking lot—an unusual scene for so late at night. "I'm the one." She bit her lip.

"What do you mean you're the one?" Yolie raised an eyebrow at her friend worriedly.

Kari closed her eyes to fight back her tears. "I hurt him." She breathed.

Yolie leaned back in her seat, but didn't take her eyes from Kari. "Because you rejected his feelings?"

Kari's eyes snapped open at Yolie's words, tears freely falling down her cheeks. "I was stupid."

Yolie's eyes widened at the implications her words indicated. "What are you trying to say?"

Kari inhaled shakily. "It's too late now."

"Too late for what exactly?" Yolie pressed.

Kari reached for the door handle. "I'm going to walk home. I need some fresh air."

Yolie reached over and grabbed Kari's wrist, stopping her. "Hold on just a minute! What do you mean you were stupid?"

Kari twisted her wrist from Yolie's grasp easily, as she had no intention of hurting her friend. Kari took her hand off the door handle and looked up at Yolie, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes. "It doesn't matter anymore."

"If you're saying what I think you're saying, I think it does." Yolie narrowed her eyes angrily at her best friend. "Talk to me."

Kari gave Yolie a guilty look. "Please don't do this."

"Do what?" Yolie hissed.

"You're my best friend and I tell you everything. But this, right now, tonight, I can't. I just want to go home. Please." She begged Yolie, tears still sliding down her cheeks every time she blinked.

Yolie felt tears of her own stinging her eyes and looked away in defeat, staring the ignition without another word.

#

Kari managed to slip past her parents with a quick hello and a long day excuse and retreated to her room without notifying them of her shaken state. She pressed her back to her bedroom door, not bothering to turn the lights on she slid down to the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees.

T.K.'s expression when he'd first seen she was being cornered by that guy made her heart quicken—but not in a bad way. It was a look of jealously and concern. Then the cool look that cast over his face as he inhaled and walked steadily toward her, not skipping a beat he fell right into the role of protective boyfriend. She gingerly ran her fingers over her wrist where T.K. had grasped her and pulled her in close. Closing her eyes, she tried to recall his scent, so familiar and comforting. It made her blush thinking about it.

Suddenly her phone vibrated in her back pocket, having forgotten until then it was even there. She knew it wasn't from T.K., but the thought crossed her mind anyway. It was Yolie sending her a text. "Can we go hang out on Sunday?"

Kari felt bad for being so rude to Yolie earlier and let her guilt get the better of her, responding with a quick yes.

Kari sat on her floor for a long time, eventually making it back to her feet, she changed into her pajamas and slipped into her bed. The tears had dried but her heart still ached.

She had felt like she was hiding the pain well, but T.K. must have seen through her, realizing his feelings for her, did hurt. But not for the reasons T.K. probably thought. They hurt because she wanted them—but she did not deserve them. Not now. Especially not now. She couldn't rely on T.K., calling him out there like that was a mistake, but she had done it so hastily and without a thought of what it would do to him.

Before drifting off she prayed that his game had gone well and their exchange had not distracted him from enjoying himself. "I'm sorry, T.K." she whispered, her brow quivering as she fought back another wave of tears.

#

Kari woke up Sunday morning, refreshed from her relaxing and uneventful Saturday. She was in a better mood, though thinking of T.K. made her heart hurt. She put on a smile as she finished her usual modest amount of makeup, trying to put herself back into the frame of mind that she wanted to repair their friendship to any possible extent.

Glancing herself over one last time, she eyed her chosen outfit, having seen the warm temperature for the day and the sun shining outside she had opted for her faded blue jeans with the intentional tears and rips, with a navy blue tank top. She looked pleased with her decision to flat iron her hair, not feeling like the extra effort was wasted.

Yolie's name popped up on her phone, which was lying on the bathroom sink beside her. She picked it up and answered cheerily. "Hey."

"Hey, Kari…" her voice was quiet, not her normal vibrancy.

Kari frowned. "Are you here yet?"

"No. I'm running late. Ken just stopped by on his way…" Yolie paused. "Has Davis talked to you this weekend?"

Kari walked back into her room and sprayed a hint of her favorite perfume on, responding lightly. "Oh no, what'd he do this time?" she let out an exasperated moan.

"No, that's not…" Yolie grumbled under her breath before continuing. "I figured no one told you. Listen, Kari, T.K. got hurt during his game on Friday. He was in the hospital—"

Kari's eyes widened. "What?" Her hands shook as Yolie continued, but she couldn't concentrate on what Yolie was saying. Catching a few words between her whirling thoughts. "…Amura attacked—" her heart raced. "…Davis said he was unconscious…." She dropped the phone to her side and closed her eyes tightly. She could hear Yolie's tiny far away voice, but couldn't make out the words. After a while she realized Yolie was calling her name. "Kari? Kari!"

Kari clenched her teeth and put the phone back to her ear. "Is he alright?"

Yolie hesitated. "Ken hasn't been by his apartment to see him yet."

Kari hung up the phone. She steadied her hands and inhaled deeply to calm herself. Scrolling through her contacts she found T.K.'s name and clicked on it. Putting the phone to her ear she was surprised to hear his voice before it even rang—"Hey there!" his usual eager voice answered.

"T.K.—!" She gasped and then stopped as he continued without a beat.

"Sorry I missed your call. Leave me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!" T.K.'s voicemail continued.

Kari stared at her phone screen for a few seconds hearing the beep go off. "T.K…" her voice shook, barely audible before she clicked the end button. Again she tried his number and found the voicemail came on immediately, not even a single ring.

She took a few more deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves, but she couldn't. "T.K.…"

#

T.K. had fallen asleep on the couch the night before and had quite literally spent most of the day lying on it, watching TV with Matt. With the cushions, the couch somehow had just the right amount of support to keep him comfortable, unlike his flat bed.

Matt stretched and yawned, looking at the clock. "Oh jeez, it's already 3? I'm going to go get Sora. She's going to cook us dinner." He clasped his hands with eagerness.

"Is that because you told her you weren't coming by tonight?" T.K. raised an eyebrow at him.

Matt stared at T.K. blankly for a minute and then looked at the floor angrily. "No." he hissed. "I…"

"Go to her house! Don't make her come all the way over here and cook in our tiny, messy kitchen."

"She wanted to come and check up on you too." Matt defended. Standing he cleared their bowls and cups off the coffee table, which had accumulated over the course of their very lazy day, and dumped them in the sink.

"She's going to do our dishes for us too if you don't before you go get her." T.K. snapped. Reaching gently, he was able to grab the remote with little discomfort, changing the channels on the TV.

"You know what… be quiet." Matt walked past T.K. toward the door, grabbing his keys. "I'll be quick and I'll clean when we get back."

"You're lucky she puts up with your mess." T.K. looked up at him before he closed the front door.

Matt paused. "Heh… no kidding." He shrugged and closed the door.

T.K. rolled his eyes and pushed it to the back of his mind. Clicking the TV off T.K. let the constant sound of the window fan lull him into a nap.

T.K. opened his eyes—it was dark and he was on his hands and knees in the forest, his heart beat quickly as he heard Patamon calling for him. He tried to stand but as he did he felt a chill run down his spine, that feeling of time slowing enveloping him again. He turned around to see Wisemon's hand gripping his shoulder tightly. "You are the gate." His hollow voice repeated in his ear harshly.

A loud knock on the door made T.K. sit bolt upright, startling him awake. Panting he fought back a cry of pain and inhaled deeply, the knock came again, but this time it was much quieter.

Cursing he pushed himself up, straightening his plain black t-shirt he stood and walked toward the door. Assuming it was Ken, T.K. figured he wasn't going to judge his grey sweatpants and mussed hair. Swinging the door open T.K. inhaled deeply to calm his nerves. "Hey K—Kari?" he stuttered with surprise.

Kari stood, seemingly out of breath, sweat beaded across her forehead. "T.K." she gasped, looking him over with concern, seeing his arm in a sling and a bandage on the side of his face.

"What?" He cleared his throat trying to get over the shock of seeing Kari unexpectedly on his doorstep. Her hair and makeup were done and she was wearing a cute outfit. "What are you doing here?"

"I just heard…" she could barely get her words out. "…Are you alright?"

T.K.'s eyes widened at the deepening concern in her expression, tears brimming in her eyes. "What? Yeah. I'm…" he paused as she stared into his eyes. "I'm fine. Did run all the way here?"

"This was my…" her voice cracked. "...fault?" she reached up and gently touched his face near the bandage.

T.K. shook his head. "What? Who told you that? This had nothing to do with you." His heart raced, Kari was close...too close.

"The boy from the other team, it was that Amura kid, right? He attacked you?" she frowned at him.

T.K. frowned. "It was an accident."

"Yolie said—" T.K. interrupted her suddenly.

"Kari, really. I'm fine." He averted his gaze, hoping she hadn't noticed how flushed he had become since she'd placed her hand on the side of his face.

"T.K.…" Kari realized how close she was to him and lowered her hand, pulling it toward her chest hesitantly.

"You could have just called or—"

This time she interrupted him. "I tried!" she had to look away and blink a few times to stop the tears that were so close to falling from her eyes. Calming down she repeated slowly. "I tried."

T.K. frowned and then remembered his battery was almost dead the last time he'd used it. "I didn't plug my phone in last night."

Kari looked worriedly at him still. "I kept getting your voicemail." Her voice was weaker now.

T.K. gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm fine. See?"

Kari nodded. Her cheeks turning rosy with embarrassment. "You were in the hospital?" he nodded lightly. "I just got so worried when you weren't answering…"

T.K. pursed his lips, mumbling under his breath. "That idiot…" cursing Davis in his mind for blabbing to everyone.

"Tell me what happened." Kari asked firmly, gaining some of her confidence back.

T.K. stared at her for a long time before speaking, trying to change the subject. "Were you going somewhere?" he nodded toward her outfit and makeup. Her shiny straight hair gleaming from the afternoon sunlight peering in through the window at the end of the hall.

"That's not important. Don't change the subject." She frowned at him.

T.K. gave her a look before averting his gaze to the floor. "Why are you here Kari?" he asked quietly.

"What do you mean why?" Kari closed her eyes guiltily. "I needed to know you were alright." She looked back up at him, but his eyes were still on the floor. "It was my fault this happened."

T.K. looked up sharply, scowling. "No, it's not." T.K. said with frustration. "You didn't do this." He desperately wanted that look of guilt to leave her eyes. "This happened because I was wiping the floor with their whole team, and Amura was a hot head."

Kari opened her mouth to argue, but stopped. Closing her mouth, she lowered her gaze to the floor. After a few seconds she looked back up at T.K. "You're alright?"

T.K. hesitated—he wasn't, not because of his injuries, but because of what was happening right now. "Yeah." He replied slowly.

He could see the hurt in her eyes as she smiled weakly at him. "Good." She paused. "I'm glad." Giving him a sad, but encouraging smile, Kari stepped back, walking into the hall. "See you at school?"

T.K. had to clench his teeth and exhaled slowly to keep his voice even. "Yeah." He breathed lightly.

Kari stopped before she was out of T.K.'s line of sight. Contemplation on her expression as she turned her gaze to him again. "And T.K., it doesn't upset me."

T.K. frowned, obviously lost. "What?"

Kari's eyes glimmered with tears again, but she managed to blink them away. "Your feelings for me. They don't upset me."

T.K.'s eyes widened at her words, his mouth parted but no words would form.

"And I'm sorry for everything." Kari continued. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry I let my feelings tear us apart like this."

T.K. closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Kari…"

She smiled brightly. "I'm sorry we have to be like this—at arm's length."

T.K. opened his eyes, grimacing. "I'm sorry too." He couldn't return the smile.

"Bye." She continued to smile as she walked away.

Once Kari was down the stairwell she let her tears run down her cheeks freely, her hand shaking as she held them tightly against her chest. "I'm so sorry." She breathed, breaking down in the middle of the stairwell.

#

-Three Weeks Later-

Class had gone late that day, so when Davis and Kari walked into the computer lab, Yolie, Ken and Cody were all waiting for them.

"What took you guys so long?" Cody huffed.

Davis looked exhausted as he plopped down on a nearby chair. Tossing his pack on the floor next to Cody's. "We have a cultural festival when school starts back up after summer break and our teacher made us stay behind to pick out a theme for our class."

Kari laughed at Davis. "You'd have thought our teacher was torturing him with pins and needles the way he looked through the whole thing."

"I don't even care about it!" Davis threw his hands in the air.

Ken laughed. "It's your senior year, enjoy it."

Davis gave Ken a quick glare before glancing around the room expectantly. "Still no T.K.?"

Everyone in the room averted gazes at the mention. Ken shrugged. "I saw him over the weekend, the sling is off, but he says it still acts up sometimes."

Yolie gave Kari a look before turning back to the computer, starting the gate program she opened it and turned to everyone. "Are we ready to go?"

Just as everyone walked toward the computer T.K. walked in—everyone seemed surprised to see him and he in return seemed just as surprised to see them still there.

"Oh, hey." He spoke lightly, smiling.

Cody was the first to greet him. "Hey, we thought you'd never come back."

T.K. smiled politely. "Actually I borrowed this from Ken last week." Reaching into his backpack he pulled out a small compact external hard drive. "I was just going to leave this in here for Ken."

Kari made eye contact with T.K., but he quickly averted his gaze, as he'd done every time they'd passed each other in the hall at school over the past weeks.

Ken walked over and took the drive from T.K. "You done with it already?"

"Yeah. I've had enough free time." He looked wearily toward the door.

Davis smiled encouragingly. "You should come with us today! It's been forever. And Patamon keeps asking how you're doing."

T.K. glanced past Ken to the others and smiled apologetically. "Maybe next time. Matt's waiting for me outside. Tell Patamon I'll see him soon?"

Davis gave him a disappointed look. "Yeah." Everyone said their goodbyes to T.K. and filed over to the computer, disappearing into the gate. Ken had walked over and tossed the drive into Yolie's purse before turning back to T.K.

"You sure everything is alright?"

T.K. shrugged—finally able to do so without much discomfort. "Same as the last time we spoke."

Ken shook his head. "Is Matt really waiting for you?"

T.K. rolled his eyes at Ken. "Don't start."

Ken shot T.K. a frustrated glare. "Ever since your accident you've actively avoided everyone—even me for the most part."

"Yeah, but you're too persistent to avoid." T.K. smiled slyly.

Ken smiled back lightly. "You're coming back, right?"

"Yeah." T.K. nodded. "I'll start coming with you guys until they let me start participating in basketball again."

"When's that?" Ken asked genuinely curious.

T.K. moved his shoulder a little. "Physical therapist said it'd be a few more weeks as long as I don't strain it."

"Coming to the digital world could compromise your recovery. You never know what'll happen." Ken pointed out.

T.K. nodded. "I'll be careful."

"What I'm getting at is, you're not using that as an excuse…how come?" Ken gave him a skeptical look.

T.K. laughed at Ken's suspicion. "I could if you want me to."

Ken looked at him sadly. "That's not what I meant."

"I know." T.K. adjusted his backpack which hung off his right shoulder. "But I took your advice. I made up my mind."

Ken looked curiously at him. "So you're going to stop running away?"

"I'm going to try my best to face my problems." T.K. smiled weakly.

Ken glanced at the computer. "Even if it makes things difficult for Kari?"

T.K.'s face shadowed as he looked away. "I just have to hope I can find a way to stay and not hurt her anymore."

Ken sighed. "I hope so too."

T.K. smiled at Ken a little more confidently. "They're waiting for you. I'll see you later." With a quick wave T.K. turned and walked out of the room quickly.

#

Watching his team practice from the top of the bleachers T.K. was lost in thought. It'd be a very slow, awkward three weeks and he was ready for things to go back to their not normal, normal.

His team mates would periodically look up at him and smile or wave. They idolized him for their win against Azuba and eagerly awaited the doctor's approval for return to normal activity. He almost felt like they were more excited for it than he was.

Suddenly T.K.'s phone vibrated in his pocket, pulling it out he glanced at it, surprised to see a text from Ken—"We can't find Patamon anywhere—none of the other digimon know where he went."

T.K. sat frozen, reading the text over and over. He had to tighten his grip on his phone to keep his hand from shaking. Wisemon's image kept flashing through his mind—if something was targeting him why had he not considered Patamon also a target? Why had he been so caught up in himself to notice. He cursed, clenching his teeth. Grabbing his pack he raced down the bleachers, ignoring his friends worried stares as practice halted at his sprinting across the side of the gym.

"Whoa. Everything alright Takaishi?" One of his teammates hollered. T.K. waved before shoving through the swinging doors, trying to signal there was nothing for them to worry about before running down the hall.

"Patamon…" T.K. felt his heart pounding in his ears as he raced up the stairs toward the computer lab.

Cliff hanger? Sorry. I hope you look forward to the next chapter! I'm excited to write it. But first NaNoWriMo. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed.

As usual, google The Silent Ballad Series to check out my original work! Thanks for your support!

Next Chapter: "Crests Reforged"