Hello again, I know, it seems like I pop back up every year to six months and give a little more life to this fic. I have a few chapter ready and will be posting them all, and then hope that I can keep a better pace for further chapters. I'm not even close to finishing this story and I hope that there are still a few people who would like to continue the journey with me. It might be a good idea to jump back a couple of chapters and refresh your memory.
But, in case you don't want to take the time-T.K. had a little breakdown after seeing Wisemon at the basketball game and then left to go to the digital world shortly after, leaving Matt a note. Matt gathered a small group and they headed after T.K., back to the ruins where he found his crest. T.K. avoided running into his friends, except for Davis who kept it to himself, but then T.K. was attacked by an unknown digimon on his way out. He was hurt, but he managed to get away. Kari passed out and the ruins collapsed right after Matt and his group escaped.
Kari opened her eyes wide, lying flat on her back in darkness. She pushed herself up and looked around fearfully. T.K.'s scream penetrated the darkness abruptly. She stood and whirled around. "T.K.!" her voice like a distant whisper.
T.K.'s voice was echoing around her, but he wasn't speaking to her. "Patamon, who is that?" his voice strained, gasping in pain.
She couldn't hear anyone else.
"You need to digivolve!" he screamed desperately. "Do it now!" Everything became hazy and muffled.
Opening her eyes, Kari was staring at the ceiling of Izzy's apartment—her mind clear.
"You're awake."
She turned her head slowly to see someone sitting at her bedside, half expecting it to be T.K., it was always T.K. before. "Davis?" she spoke softly as he smiled worriedly at her.
"How are you?" he asked with concern, reaching his hand to hers.
"What happened?" she asked, trying to collect her thoughts.
"The ruins started collapsing. We all made it out safe, but…"
"T.K.?" She sat up, shifting her hand from his.
Davis hesitated. "We didn't find him. We saw MagnaAngemon and another digimon outside, but they both disappeared."
"Was T.K. still in the—?" she felt her chest tighten.
Davis shook his head quickly. "No, MagnaAngemon was outside, he wouldn't have left T.K."
Kari's eyes lowered to her hands in her lap and she closed them in an attempt to stop the tears. "That's true." She sighed. "Where is everyone?"
Davis shrugged. "They're in the living room, trying to get some sleep."
"You should rest too." She looked up at him tiredly. "What time is it?"
Davis looked at his phone briefly. "It's almost 3AM."
Kari scooted over in the large bed and tried to force a weak smile onto her face. "It's your turn to sleep."
Davis shook his head. "I just couldn't leave until I knew you were alright. I'm going to head home."
"At this hour?" she looked concerned.
"It's fine." Davis stood and pushed the little chair he'd been sitting in back against the wall. "I'll see you soon."
Kari nodded and lowered her face to hide the tears that started sliding down her cheeks.
Davis looked at the ceiling and then sighed. "Kari…"
"When I lost consciousness…" her voice grew quiet. "I could hear him."
Davis frowned and turned to face her. "T.K.?"
She nodded. "I heard him… in pain. He was in so much pain." Tears continued to run down her cheeks, she clenched her jaw to control her crying.
Davis knelt on the bed beside her and pulled her close, speaking softly. "Hey. Kari, please don't cry."
Kari whispered through her tears. "It's my fault."
Davis took Kari by the shoulders. "No, it's not, Kari." he was convinced now, more than ever, that his theory was correct—Kari had confessed and T.K. rejected her.
Kari inhaled slowly. "We have to find him, Davis." she looked at him with desperation.
Davis averted his gaze and then closed his eyes, frowning. Despite how angry he was at T.K. for hurting Kari, he couldn't help worrying about him. "We will. I promise."
#
T.K. held his right shoulder tightly as he walked through the forest, Patamon close behind. Stopping in front of a small stream, T.K. knelt down. He pulled his grey sweater down off his shoulder and slowly slid his injured arm from the sleeve. "Mmm…" he moaned. He lifted the blood stained sleeve of his white t-shirt, up seeing the long, deep cut. The bleeding had slowed, but he knew it was bad.
Patamon stared wide eyed at the wound. "That's really deep, T.K."
T.K.'s voice was strained. "It looks worse than it is." He took slow, deep breaths, trying to lessen the pain.
"She could have killed you." Patamon fought back tears.
T.K. knew the pain was getting to him, but he couldn't stop the snide remark. "Clearly."
"So why didn't she?" Patamon was losing his composure.
T.K. let out an exasperated breath. "How should I know?"
Patamon shook his head. "I felt it. The malice. The desire to kill—she had multiple opportunities to strike, and she didn't take them."
"They want me alive." T.K. closed his eyes and tried to relax the tension from all his muscles, a quiet moan escaping his lips.
"She wanted you to come willingly." Patamon acknowledged. "There's more to it than just wanting you alive."
"I know. She's working with Wisemon." T.K. looked up at Patamon. "I've been alone every time Wisemon has shown up. If they wanted to, they could have just taken me months ago." T.K. sighed. "I kept faltering on my resolve, I was on the verge of telling the others so many times. But tonight, it proved that keeping this to myself was the right thing all along."
Patamon looked away from T.K., frustrated. "Keeping them in dark only makes them more vulnerable."
T.K. shook his head. "No. They were only in danger because they came after me." He slid his sweatshirt all the way off and carefully took his shirt off, biting back a yelp of pain. He held the blood stained white shirt in his hands before he starting ripping the thin material into long strips.
"They're going to keep coming. You do know that, right?" Patamon narrowed his eyes at him.
"I know. And I'm going to stop them, one way or another." T.K. winced as he tried to wrap the torn cloth around the wound. "Ahh…"
Patamon slowly walked up to T.K. and held one end of the material to help him wrap it tightly around the cut. "You're acting like there isn't an 'after this' to think about."
T.K. shook his head slowly. "Honestly? I can't see past what's happening right now."
"You know, T.K." Patamon spoke softly. "I'm worried you're underestimating how much your friends care about you."
T.K. finished tying the cloth and leaned back to look at Patamon. "I know they care. That's why I have to make sure I do whatever it takes."
Patamon looked at T.K. with disappointment. "How badly do you plan on hurting your friends?"
T.K. sighed. "Bad."
Patamon scowled at T.K. "You're just hurting them in a different way then!"
"Patamon, please!" T.K.'s voice broke. He took a shaking breath, closing his eyes in frustration. "I'd rather lose my relationships with them, than watch them die!"
"I just think—" Patamon began to argue.
"They could have been killed inside those ruins tonight! What happens tomorrow when that digimon shows up again and I have no choice but watch my friends get killed or hand myself over?"
"We wouldn't let anything happen to our friends!" Patamon continued to argue.
T.K. went silent, his gaze fixated at the ground where his blood had stained the gravel. "You're right, and that's what I'm terrified of. How long until I'm cornered? Eventually something would force my hand and I would have to go with them, because I wouldn't let them hurt any of you."
"I wouldn't let that happen!" Patamon insisted.
T.K.'s expression darkened. "I don't know what they want from me. I don't know what this 'gate' is. But I know, with every fiber of my being, that if they take me I'm not making it back alive."
"I'll die before I let them get their hands on you!" Patamon shouted without thinking.
T.K. closed his eyes. "I don't ever want that again. Ever." His voice shook. "Promise me, Patamon."
Patamon knew the feelings that his words had surfaced for T.K., but he wasn't taking his words back. "You're being a hypocrite."
T.K. inhaled slowly, obviously in pain. "I'll own that."
Patamon glared at his friend. "That doesn't make it alright!"
T.K. smiled gently. "I know." Shifting slowly he reached for his sweatshirt, and carefully slipped it back on, ignoring the cold, dark red blood covering the right sleeve.
#
Izzy's typing was the only sound in the apartment as Tai, Matt and Sora laid in silence. Sora had taken the couch, Matt laying on the floor besides her. Neither being able to sleep.
Tai was dozing in and out of sleep in the recliner across the room, but wasn't getting any real rest.
Matt stared at the ceiling, lost in his own mind. He knew Sora and Tai were right, but even so, his brother was in some kind of trouble. He couldn't help thinking that T.K. wouldn't be able to overcome this, whatever this was, without them.
Sora reached down her hand and gently ran her fingers across his arm. "I'm sorry." She whispered, clearly fighting a lump in her throat as her voice cracked slightly.
He reached up his hand and grabbed hers tightly. "I keep going over everything that's happened since he got back. I just thought he was going through some teenage depression and just needed some time. Now all this, I'm second guessing every single thing he's said or done and wondering if I missed something obvious."
Sora was silent for a long time. "Thinking about T.K., ever since he was little, he was the optimist. He had that wonderful, childish faith. Even in the face the most terrifying battles of our lives. A lot of times, his innocent, blind faith in us, gave me the confidence I needed to keep fighting." There was a hint of a smile in her tone. "He always looked up at yours and Tai's backs with a determined expression. I'm sure he was thinking something like, 'someday, I'm going to be strong like them.' And I think that maybe, right now, he's showing that he's grown, and that he has that same strength he had admired for so long."
Matt's eyes stung with tears. "But it was never me or Tai that had real strength, Sora, it was all of us together, fighting to protect each other and save our friends and family."
Sora squeezed Matt's hand. "We don't know anything right now. But, what I saw last night, was MagnaAngemon protecting him."
"T.K.'s somehow regained the power of his crest." Matt acknowledged. "But that doesn't mean he doesn't need our help."
Sora agreed. "I know, Matt. But until we can find out how to help him, we know he has Patamon with him, and we both know that he'd never let anything happen to that boy."
Matt exhaled deeply, clearing his throat. "You're right. Thank you."
Davis came out of the bedroom quietly, stirring everyone from their attempt to rest. Izzy didn't take eyes off the computer screen, a concentrated frown wearing on his exhausted face.
Davis walked toward the door and whispered lightly to Tai. "Kari just woke up. I'm going to head home and get some sleep."
Tai nodded groggily. "Is she feeling alright?"
Davis glanced back toward the bedroom. "She's upset, but otherwise seems fine."
Tai stood from the chair and tossed the throw blanket onto the seat, walking toward the bedroom, waving a silent goodbye to Davis before he slipped out the door.
#
Tai knocked lightly on the partially closed door, letting Kari know he was about to come in. He slowly pushed the door open and peaked in. "Hey there…" he knew she'd be crying. He hated seeing her cry.
"Hey…" she wiped her tears, trying to compose herself.
"How are you feeling?" Tai walked in and sat on the end of the bed.
She shrugged and sniffed lightly. "I'm fine now. But…"
"Kari, I haven't been around much lately, so I only know what we were talking about last time I saw you. But, does T.K. running off to the digital world have anything to do with what happened between you guys before he moved away? Did you ever find a way to straighten out the situation?"
Kari laughed through another wave of tears. "I couldn't talk to him. And as soon as I felt like maybe we were getting back to being friends, real friends, he suddenly started making excuses not to be around me or anyone, really." She let out a shaky breath, trying to pull herself together. "I've felt like, this whole time, he was avoiding everyone because of me. I still feel like this is all happening because of me. But I don't know what's going on anymore and I'm so scared for him."
Tai shook his head. "Kari, don't put all this guilt on your shoulders." Tai reached over and wiped the tears off her face, resting his hand on her cheek. "I didn't mean to bring this up as a way to make you feel any worse, but I think that understanding everything going on with T.K., is extremely important. That's why I had to ask, because I think that the conversation you will eventually have with T.K. will be something that changes a lot in both of your lives."
Kari's voice broke. "I don't know if I'll ever see him again, Tai." She pushed herself into Tai's chest and cried softly.
"I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure he comes home safe." Tai hugged Kari tightly.
#
Ken opened his eyes groggily to a knock on his front door. Glancing at the clock on his nightstand he saw that it was almost 4am. He rolled back over, hoping it'd been his imagination—it wasn't. He pushed himself up and stumbled out of his bedroom.
Opening the door partially, Ken glared out at whoever would dare come knocking at this hour. "Davis?" he wrinkled his nose at his friend. "Why?"
Davis pushed the door open and walked in, pushing past Ken without a word, setting his backpack on the floor.
"Come on in…" Ken grumbled tiredly, shutting the door and following Davis into the living room.
Davis sat on the couch heavily. "T.K…"
"Seriously, at 4am Davis?"
"He ran away last night." He finally looked up at Ken.
"Yeah, I was there—" Ken grumbled.
Davis interrupted Ken. "No. He left Matt a note saying he'd be back before school in the fall. We found out he went to the digital world alone."
"Wait, what?" Ken frowned in confusion. "When did you find that out?"
Davis leaned forward, rubbing his face tiredly. "About 6 or 7 hours ago, I'm not sure."
"I don't understand, why are you at my house telling me this now?" Ken narrowed his eyes, trying to collect his thoughts. "Did something else happen?"
"Yeah." Davis spoke shortly. "A lot happened."
"Why didn't you call me?" Ken grew more concerned.
"Matt wouldn't let me." The fatigue in Davis' voice was evident.
Ken stopped and looked at Davis, for the first time acknowledging how exhausted he looked. "You've been up all night, haven't you?"
Davis leaned back, rubbing his eyes. "Yeah."
Ken frowned. "Tell me what happened. Did you find T.K.?"
Davis looked away from Ken guiltily. "No."