Star Light
A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to get another fic out, I know that there are at least some people reading them, but I don't get as much drive when I'm under my own steam I'll say it now, please review, it helps me to concentrate if I know that there are people waiting to find out what happens next. Anyway please read on and those of you who choose to write a review, thanks and please go easy, this is my first romance (ish) fic, anyway, I also hope those Takari fans out there will enjoy this too, the two are 16 ½, and this has Morgan in it, but it has no holding toward any story that I may write at a time after this, you could say it's a alternate reality, a possibility that never came to be. Read on!
The night was still as Kari sat beneath a tree, beside her was a small roll of paper, she looked up at the stars and then down at her hands, on her left hand sparkled a crystal engagement ring, the diamonds arranged into the shape of her crest with a tiny representation of hope in the center of light. She looked back to the stars and sighed.
"Oh TK, I love you, why did it have to happen?" she said to herself, the stars only winked back and the memories began to float back to her from the depths of her mind…
**FLASHBACK**
Kari sat staring at the wall in the living room of her apartment wondering when TK was going to arrive when the front door slammed, and she looked up expectantly and heard someone walking forward and then TK appeared from the hallway,
"hey Kari" he said,
"your finally here" she sighed with mock irritation,
"sorry it took me so long, I had to pick something up on the way over" replied TK, "so are you ready to go?" they had made plans earlier that week to go to the movies and then to dinner, she had been waiting for the past half-hour for TK to show up, but he had only been five minutes late.
"yea, lets get going" TK helped her up and they walked outside and to the elevator, and from there proceeded to race to where TK had parked his Goldwing, TK unhooked Kari's helmet and handed it to her,
"you know Dad doesn't like it when I ride that with you, he thinks it's to dangerous and we get to close on it" Kari said,
"aww, but it's the only thing I got, besides I thought that you liked riding with me" TK replied, Kari smiled at him and said,
"I do, I just thought I'd say that to see how you reacted" she pulled her helmet on and buttoned her jacket shut, TK pulled his on and go onto the big cycle, he kicked it into life and waited for Kari to get on. She climbed on and wrapped her arms around his waist, her fingers bounced off of something in his jacket pocket but she ignored it and settled back to enjoy the ride to the theater.
**********
They reached the theater in about fifteen minutes, TK waited for Kari to get off before he shut the bike off and stowed their gear away in the saddlebags,
"sorry, I know that wasn't to romantic…" TK started to say, but Kari hushed him,
"you know how much I like our rides, so hush and get me that comb you have stashed in there" TK fished around in his saddlebags and came up with a comb that he kept there for Kari to use after their rides. He watched her as she combed her golden-brown hair back out of the tangles that the helmet has put it in.
"all done?" asked TK, Kari nodded and with a kiss handed the brush back. They headed toward the theater arm in arm.
**ENDFLASHBACK
…Kari's eyes sparkled at the happy memory, as others began to surface from her mind to tell of what happened later that night…
**FLASHBACK**
They went to their favorite restaurant for dinner after the movie and sat together talking until their friend and the owner appeared from the hot kitchen with their pizza,
"here you go…hope you enjoy it" as Tiyira settled their pizza in front of them, they talked and occasionally they might catch a glimpse of Tiyira, as she worked back in the kitchen, or brought pizza to one of the other customers sitting in the large restaurant. Suddenly Kari said,
"Can we go for one more ride before you take me home?", TK looked at her with his intensely blue eyes and nodded, "then lets go!" said Kari, TK got up and walked over to the register, and as if by magic Tiyira appeared from her kitchen realm and said,
"all done?" she punched a few buttons on the register and it beeped, TK pulled the money out of his wallet and paid Tiyira. They walked out of the restaurant, Kari with her arm around TK's waist and his around hers.
"so where is it that you want to go" asked TK as they pulled their helmets on, Kari flipped her faceplate up and said,
"it's over on the edge of town, near the old Kimona sawmill, TK thought for a second and said,
"I think I know what you are talking about" Kari smiled as TK climbed on and kicked the bike to life once more, he reminds me of Morgan, she thought, her mind wandered to her friend who had just returned from a run to Tokyo, he had been picking up something but when she had asked he had said,
"I can't tell you just yet, but you'll find out what it was eventually."
Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by TK's voice,
"hey Kari, get on, lets get going" Kari shook her head and stared at TK for a second before she blushed and climbed on behind him. They made good time and reached the sawmill with minimum problems, Kari got off and TK parked his bike underneath a nearby tree, away from the road.
"So what is it that you wanted to show me" TK said, Kari grabbed his hand and led him off into the woods near the sawmill. The route was impeded by some bushes but eventually they reached a tall hill with a single spreading rowan tree on the top, Kari led him up to the tree and she settled down into a crook in the roots,
"Tai and I used to come here to look at the stars and think" Kari said, TK settled down next to her and looked up,
"yea, this would be a good place to think, it's so peaceful" replied TK. Kari leaned against him and he wrapped an arm around her and they sat there watching the stars twinkle down at them, as if they were smiling at the young couple. Oh I wish this would never end thought Kari I love just sitting here with TK…I love the warm feeling of his arm around me…her thoughts were interrupted by TK shifting, she sat up and looked at him, wondering if she had done something to make him uncomfortable, TK smiled at her reassuringly and she settled back down. She felt TK shift again, she turned to look up at him and he smiled down at her and kissed her on the tip of her nose,
"Kari, I have something for you…" TK said, she sat up and turned to look at him,
"what?" she said, TK held out his fist and slowly opened it, set in-between his middle and ring finger was a ring, it had diamonds arrayed in the shape of Light and a tiny topaz formation that was Hope in the center of Light, TK took a deep breath and slide closer to her,
"Kari, light of my soul, would you marry me?" Kari just stared for a second before she could reply,
"TK…I don't know what to say……" TK's face fell and Kari added quickly, "yes! TK I have hoped that this would come to be" TK slipped the ring onto her finger and it fit perfectly, Kari looked down at it in wonderment and asked,
"how did you know my ring size?" TK blushed and looked down,
"well…I had a little help in finding that for you." Kari looked up and her mind raced,
"it was Morgan wasn't it?" she asked, remembering Morgan's secretive reply, and the reason that he went to Tokyo and came back without some huge item strapped to the back of his bike,
"got it in one. He was the one who had that made for me…that's why he was gone so long." Kari smiled and kissed TK, TK wrapped his arms around her and they kissed again, holding it for as long as they could until they both had to come up for air. Kari lifted her head from TK's chest and said,
"we should probably get back, Tai'll call out the army if I'm late" TK looked down into her liquid, crimson-brown eyes and smiled,
"yea, and Morgan would be out hunting for us on his bike with his katana too" Kari smiled as the picture came to her of Morgan on his bike with his katana in it's old sheath across his back, TK stood and gently pulled Kari to her feet. They walked back toward the bike, Kari with her head on TK's shoulder…
**ENDFLASHBACK
…tear's sparkled in Kari's eyes,
"I remember how happy I was when TK asked me" she whispered, she shook her head in an attempt to stop the memories but stubbornly they continued stronger and more painful than ever…
**FLASHBACK**
They were riding back to Kari's home on the freeway, for once it was silent, no cars were with them and the only sound was that of TK's motor and it's echo's. Kari tapped TK on the shoulder and pushed the button on the side of her helmet,
"can you hear me?" she asked,
"yea" replied TK,
"what made you decided to propose to me earlier?"
"the fact that it was the perfect moment, alone, under the stars…ahhh so romantic…" Kari poked him in the back and laughed,
"now seriously, what made you decided?"
"those exact facts and also I doubted that I would have the courage to do it later" Kari giggled and was about to say something when she heard and odd sound behind her, she looked over her shoulder and saw what appeared to be a small truck barreling around the corner toward them,
"oh crap" she gasped, TK glanced in his mirror and gasped to as the truck barreled closer, TK tried to pull off to the side but the drive who must have just noticed them pulled the same way and they collided, the front bumper of the truck hit the back wheel of the bike, giving them the equivalent of a flat tire on a human, except the truck was turning at the time and the grill came swinging around and smashed into the side of the bike, Kari felt herself flying and then she landed on her back, something behind her went pop and she blacked out…
**END FLASHBACK**
"please…no more" she moaned but the starlight shined down on her and the rest came floating from where she had locked it away, released by the influence of the stars above and her other memories…
**FLASHBACK**
Kari was wandering through a dark place, occasionally she would be pulled from the darkness into a bright place but pain and drugs would send her back into the dark place wandering until she was pulled free once again. She finally saw a light in the distance and made for it, but it was as if she walked through molasses, when she finally did reach the light and woke, she immediately wished that she hadn't, she was lying in a clean white bed all around her stood the digidestined, New and Original, Matt, Tai, Sora, Mimi, and Yolei were standing on her right side and Davis, Cody, Joe, Izzy, and Ken were standing on her left, poking up from the foot of her bed was a brown forehead and a long mop of black hair, she groaned and tried to sit up, immediately the forehead and hair became a head, and Morgan jumped to his feet, and she was flooded with questions,
"Kari are you…"
"what happened…"
"can I help you with something…" she shook her head and then,
"QUIET PLEASE" everyone fell silent and turned to see Jim standing in the doorway, he walked quickly over to the side of Kari's bed, "you ok?" he asked in a calm but concerned voice, Kari nodded and said,
"Jim? What happened?" Jim looked away and said,
"I can only tell you that you are lucky to be alive after the crash the rest I promised that I wouldn't tell you, your brother wanted too tell you" Jim proceeded to check Kari over and then he left them alone, Kari looked up at Tai expectantly, Tai sighed and motioned for everyone to leave, Matt, Sora, Mimi, Izzy, Davis, Cody, Joe, Ken, and Yolei left, but Morgan remained at the foot of Kari's bed, Tai looked at him and Morgan shook his head saying,
"I have something to tell her when you are done" was all he said, Morgan walked over to the right side of her bed, sat down against the wall, and waited patiently. Tai turned back to Kari and cleared his throat,
"well, you and TK were pretty bad when the paramedics got there, but you were able to hang on…
**FLASHBACK**
Tai had been sitting in his apartment watching TV with Sora, they had been married for three months now and were just enjoying some time alone together when he heard the phone ring, he sighed and got up to get it,
"Hello, Tai Kamiya speaking"
"Hey Tai, Kari was out riding with TK when they were hit from behind, your sisters in ER right now, TK was also badly beaten-up, what I need is for you to call the others and get your butt's here as soon as you can" Tai could tell that it was Jim, but as what he said, sunk in he gasped and dropped the phone back onto the hook,
"SORA, we have trouble, run outside and start the car, TK and Kari are in ER at General, I'll meet you out there" Sora jumped up and jogged over to Tai,
"are they hurt bad?" she asked, Tai nodded, Sora bit her lip and headed out the door, Tai ran into their room and grabbed his cell phone off it's charger and some other things and was out the door like a flash, locking it behind him he offered a silent prayer that his sister and TK would be ok.
**********
As soon as he got to the hospital he and Sora parked themselves in the waiting room and started madly dialing the other Digidestined. Twenty minutes later all of the digidestined, except Joe who was working with Jim, and Kari's and TK parents,
"so what happened?" asked Mimi confused,
"all that Jim told me was that TK and Kari were in an accident and that they were both in ER" Tai replied, he looked down at his feet and felt a numbness in his chest. Joe came by later to tell them that Kari were stable for the time being and TK was ok,
"…but their chances don't look to good, Kari has lost a lot of blood and was wounded internally, a couple of her ribs are broken, one damaged her heart and she's on a machine that will keep her going for the time being but she'll need a new one…and soon, TK…well lets just say were lucky he's conscious right now he won't be that way for long………he's dying, I'm sorry Matt, there was nothing we could do, it was a miracle that he even survived this long, their both in room 229 if you want to check on them, but be quiet, Kari's been through a lot and it would only worsen her condition if she is woken right now, but you should talk with TK…" Joe fell silent and looked down at his feet and sighed, Tai looked at Matt and saw silent tears running down his face, looming behind the blonde was Morgan who's eyes were dry but the big man had a sag to him, Tai felt tears prickle in his own eyes but he stopped them, Matt nodded and started walking away towards the patients rooms, the others followed him. It took them a little time to find the room but once they did they all quietly filed inside, Tai looked at his sister, she was laying in her bed hooked up to several machines with a white cast to her features, TK was on the other side of the room also hooked up to several machines, only he was watching them with sad eyes,
"hey guys…" he said weakly, Matt collapsed next to the bed and just stared at TK, while the others gathered around them, they talked with the young man for a while before TK asked them to leave him alone for a few minutes, they stood and started for the door but TK's arm shot out and grabbed the back of Morgan's vest,
"wait Morgan, stay here, I have something I need you to do for me" he gasped, Morgan nodded and stood back, Tai looked over his shoulder as he closed the door and saw Morgan settling before the young man with a small pad of paper in his hand. Morgan came out a few minutes later tucking the pad of paper into his vest and refused to say anything more, but when Tai and Matt went in they found TK's bed closer to Kari's and his hand on her arm…TK's eyes were closed…
**ENDFLASHBACK**
"so TK died?" asked Kari, tears were in her eyes and she felt as though the whole world was crumbling around her,
"yes he did, his last words were a message for you and they gave you a new chance at life, do you want to hear them?" asked Morgan, Kari nodded numbly, "he had me write a message down for you, I was to hold onto for him and give it to you at a certain time, but he told me to get Jim…" Morgan fell silent for a second and then cleared his throat, "Kari, inside your chest beats the heart of your lover, he told me to have Jim give you his…" Morgan fell silent and a tear pricked his eye, Kari just stared dumbly at Morgan for a second, she looked down at her chest and laid her hand over her new heart and felt it thump strong and determined, she felt a flood of tears begin and did not try to stop it.
**********
Four days later TK was buried, Tai and Kari's parents tried to keep her in the hospital but she refused to stay and had Morgan take her, dressed in a black gown, to the funeral. It was a beautiful one, all of his relatives and most of the kids he knew at school were there, but there was a special place up in the front for the digidestined alone and their families. Kari rode in the hearse along with Matt, Tai, Morgan, Davis, Ken, and Cody, they were the pallbearers, and at the grave site she stood even after they had lowered TK down into the grave and had started to cover him up. Suddenly she felt something touch her shoulder, she reached up and her fingers closed on a small tube of paper tied with a sky blue ribbon with a small silver stripe down the center, she looked over her shoulder to see Morgan behind her
"those are TK's last words to you, remember them my friend", she looked down at the roll of paper and back at Morgan who waited to take her back to the hospital, she pulled the ribbon off and unrolled the paper, inside was a poem she read it out loud to herself,
"Do not stand at the grave and weep,
I am not there, I will not sleep,
To you this vow I will keep,
While you stand to cry and weep,
In this life, I shall not sleep,
I am the ray of mornings light,
I am the one who stills your fright,
I am the breeze that cools your face,
I am your small and silent place,
I am the mists in which you hide,
I am the tears which you have cried,
I am the swift heartening rush,
That comes to you in the mornings hush,
I am the tree in which you climb,
Do not forget me, it was not my time
I am the one who protects you now,
I'll always be with you, you know how,
Sister of my soul, whose heart I touched,
Do not stand at the grave and cry…
I am not there, I did not die."
**END FLASHBACK**
Kari stood, she glanced down at the poem in her hand and wiped her tears away, she rolled the poem back up and slipped the ribbon back onto it, she held the paper over her heart for a moment and then slipped it into her coat, in a pocket that was next to her heart,
"I'll never forget you TK, thank you my love" she whispered, and she walked down the small hill to where a old motorcycle was propped up, it was well used and had been rebuilt, but the some of the scars from an old accident still showed themselves as she mounted it and kicked it's old engine into life and roared away……trailing behind Kari was a small golden glow, like a lost shimmer of golden starlight that shimmered and faded away and came back slowly, never leaving her.
The End
A/N: Well what do you think for my first shot at a Takari, and a romance at all? Well I hope that you enjoyed your read and if you feel as that you should leave a message behind like TK did, well go ahead, any and all comments will be greatly appreciated, and tell me honestly, should I make another stab at the romance, or should I just stick with Action/Adventure stories.
Sayonara
DigiDragonLord