By: Sakura
Fourteen-year-old T.K. sat on the steps to his apartment building, his head in his hands, and a rather forlorn expression on his face.
"Hey, little bro," called Matt, walking over to him. He studied T.K.'s expression. "What's on your mind?"
T.K. looked up at Matt. "I want to ask Kari out." He looked down again. "But everytime I try to, Davis always seems to show up, and I can't ask her in front of him."
Matt looked thoughtful for a moment. "I think I can help you out," he said. "Let's go in, and I'll give Tai a call."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Sure, see ya." Tai hung up the phone.
"Who was that, Tai?" asked Kari.
"Matt," he replied. "He wants the four of us to have a little get together." Tai smiled. "Wanna go skating?"
Kari clasped her hands together, with a delighted smile on her face, for she loved skating. "I'd love to! When?" she asked.
"In an hour." answered Tai. "Come on, let's dig out our skates and head out!"
~*~*~*~*~*~
In an hour's time, Tai and Kari arrived at the skating rink, with their
skates hanging over their shoulders. They met Matt and T.K. and the entrance.
The four of them entered the building together.
"T.K. looks so cute." thought Kari, glancing sideways at him.
"Kari looks so pretty today." T.K. though to himself. "What am I thinking? She always looks pretty."
They dropped their stuff on one of the side benches. Kari began lacing up her skates.
"Where can I get a pair of skates?" asked T.K.
"Here," replied Tai, handing T.K. his skates. "Use mine." T.K. accepted them questioningly.
Kari finished and stood up. "But what about you and Matt?" she asked.
Tai looked at Matt. "We have some place we have to be right now," said Matt. "Have fun!" he called over his shoulder, pushing Tai outside.
T.K. and Kari watched their hasty retreat. "They set us up." Kari said with a laugh. T.K. turned red, and to hide it, he picked up the skate and started to lace up quickly.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kari stepped onto the ice and skated in a little circle. Looking over to T.K., she noticed that he was hanging on to the doorway.
"Come on, T.K.," said Kari, skating up to him. She offered him a hand, which he took rather uncertainly. T.K. slowly let go of the doorway. He skated a little way with Kari guiding him.
"Hey," said T.K. "This isn't so ba-!" His sentence was cut short when he fell flat on his back. He also made Kari fall, too. The other skaters on the rink skated around them.
T.K. sat up, rubbing his head. He helped Kari sit up. "Kari," he started. "I'm really sorr-"
T.K. stopped talking when Kari put her finger to his lips. She smiled sweetly at him. "Don't worry about it," she said. "Everyone has to start sometime. You'll know how to skate by the time the day is over."
T.K. and Kari stood up. She indicated for him to hang onto her, so she could guide him. He placed his hands around her waist as she began to skate forward. They skated together for a few minutes before T.K. noticed the close contact he had with Kari. He then lost his concentration and fell again, also pulling Kari down. She sat up and shook her head. "This is going to be harder than I thought." she mumbled.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kari felt sore all over.
"I've never fallen so much in one hour." she reflected. But she really didn't mind. She had spent the past hour with T.K. and only him. They were both having fun.
T.K. brought Kari a soda. They were taking a little break at a snack bar. Kari smiled and thanked him. T.K. couldn't have felt happier. Between falling down and getting knocked about, Kari was always there to laugh with or to help out. The best thing yet was that Davis was nowhere in sight.
Kari put down her soda. She looked at T.K. "Ready for the ice?"
T.K. grimaced a bit as he looked out at the ice. He looked back at Kari and nodded slowly.
~*~*~*~*~*~
On the ice, T.K. no longer needed to hang on to Kari, but he still held her hand, anyway. Kari noted this with a little blush. She didn't mind and neither did he.
After a few minutes, the both noticed a small crowd of people down at the other end of the rink. They seemed to be circling around something and they were all cheering. Kari and T.K. exchanged a glance that both said, "let's take a look". The pair skated to the other end together.
Joining the crowd, they caught a glimpse of someone in the center. He had dark spiky hair and sported a pair of goggles on his head. "It's Davis." Kari whispered to T.K. He nodded rather unhappily.
In the crowd, exclamations could be heard by many different girls, like "isn't he good?" "he's so cute!" "fantastic!" "I wanna marry him". Sighs could also be heard. Kari turned to T.K. and rolled her eyes at the comments made. T.K. covered his mouth to suppress a giggle.
Catching another viewpoint, they saw Davis skate to a finish and take a little bow. All of the other girls in the crowd cheered or clapped wildly. The crowd soon began to diminish, but several girls still hung around and was asking for his autograph. He conceded to their request. After they left, Davis noticed Kari a few feet away, and his face lit up. But then he saw T.K., and his smile faltered a bit. He skated up to the pair with a bright smile pasted on his face.
"Hi, Kari. Hey, T.K.," he greeted. "What brings you two here?"
Kari smiled. "We just came to see what all the commotion was about," she said. "I didn't know you could skate."
Davis noted T.K. didn't look especially happy and answered with an even brighter smile on his face. "I love to skate!"
Kari returned the smile. "Me, too!"
"Come on, Kari," Davis said, taking her hand in his. He started to skate, with Kari in tow. "Let me show you a few moves."
By this time, Davis and Kari were too far away from T.K. for him to hear Kari's reply. He watched them for a few minutes, without moving from his spot. Upon hearing Kari and Davis share a laugh, his shoulders slumped dejectedly and he slowly skated toward the exit. He crashed into another skater and they both fell. The other skater shook his fist at T.K. and yelled some rather harsh comments, but T.K. took no notice and stepped off the rink. Taking off his skates, he donned his shoes. With the skates over his shoulder, he left the building.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"You know, Kari," said Davis. "We should do this more often." Kari was silent and didn't even look at him. Davis guided her to the side of the rink and stopped. He looked at Kari. "What's wrong?" he asked. Kari still didn't answer. Instead, she was looking at something outside of the rink. Following her gaze, Davis saw T.K.'s retreating back.
"I'm gonna hate myself for this." thought Davis. Turning back to Kari, he uttered one word. "Go."
Kari's gaze turned to him abruptly. "What did you say?"
"I said 'go'." Davis smiled wanly. "Go to him. T.K. I know you want to."
Kari was taken aback. Has she been so obvious? "Davis?I?um?" she lowered her face. "I'm sorry."
Davis used his index finger to lift Kari's face gently, to face him. "Don't worry. I understand. Just go." He let go of her. Kari surprised Davis with a hug and tears forming in her eyes. She surprised him further by kissing him on the cheek.
"Thank you," she whispered. "You're a great friend." She skated toward the exit and left the rink.
Davis sighed inwardly, his hand on the spot where Kari had kissed him. "You're an idiot, Davis." he told himself.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"He's probably holding her right now. Maybe he's even hugging her. What if he's kissing her?" T.K. shook his head. "Get a grip!" he told himself. "You've got to stop tormenting yourself like this!" He sighed. "I have to do whatever I can to make her happy, even if it means letting her be with Davis instead of me." He continued his walk home in silence, trying to block out all thoughts of Davis and Kari together. He couldn't, though. In his mind, he kept seeing Davis and Kari, drawing closer and closer to a?
"T.K.!"
"To a T.K.? Huh?" thought T.K. "That didn't make any sense."
"T.K., wait!"
With his thoughts interrupted, T.K. turned around and Kari collided into him. They both lay in a heap on the ground. Kari sat up and rubbed her head sheepishly. "Sorry." she murmured.
"It's not your fault." T.K. stood up and helped Kari up. He looked around, half expecting to see Davis. Not seeing him anywhere, he looked back at Kari. She suddenly seemed nervous about something.
"Do you want me to walk you home?" asked T.K. Kari nodded, rather shyly. The pair slowly walked toward Kari's home in silence.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Outside Kari's apartment, both Digi-Destined stood on the doorstep, neither making a move. "Thanks, Kari," started T.K., breaking the silence. "For teaching me how to skate."
"It was nothing," she answered. "Thanks for walking me home."
T.K. nodded wordlessly. With a quick wave, he turned around and began to walk away.
"T.K., wait." T.K. stopped and turned to face Kari. "I?um?I?" she stammered. She paused for a moment. After taking a deep breath, the words flew out of her mouth in a rush. "I don't love Davis!" As soon as those words left her mouth, Kari heard the stupidity in them. She shifted her gaze to the ground and her face turned crimson red.
T.K. slowly took a step toward her. "Do you really mean that?" he asked. Kari looked up and nodded.
"How could I love him," she started. "If I already love?um?"
"Someone else?"
Kari nodded again. T.K. took another step forward. "Do I know this person?" he asked.
Kari also took a step toward him. "Oh, you could say that." She said with a small smile on her face.
T.K. took another step. "So, what's he like?" he asked, in an innocent tone.
Kari took one more step and stopped. "He's the sweetest person in the whole world." she answered, dreamily. "He's tall, has blond hair, warm blue eyes, and always makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the entire world."
T.K. took a final step and stopped in front of Kari. His face had a serious look. "I have one more question." He said. Their gazes locked together. "Is it me?"
"What if?what if I were to tell you it is?" asked Kari with a whisper, eyes shining.
T.K. didn't answer with words. Instead, he cupped her face with both of his hands and gently lifted her lips to his. Kari's eyes widened at this, but closed as soon as their lips met. The feeling she felt in her was indescribable. The love she felt hit her like a giant wave. It was the same for T.K. He bet that if they still had their crests, they would be shining out the Hope and Light they both felt in and for each other. They shared the kiss for a few minutes longer.
Regretfully, T.K. slowly pulled away, thinking of what Tai might do if he caught him kissing his little sister. Kari caught hold of T.K.'s shirt and wouldn't let him go any further. A blush crept up her cheeks. T.K. smiled at her, took her into his arms, and held her. Kari rested her head on his chest, while T.K. rested his head gently atop of hers. After a few moments, T.K. lowered his head and whispered in Kari's ear, "I love you, Kari."
A tear slid down her cheek as she whispered softly to him, "I love you, too, T.K." The two hugged each other even tighter.
Moving from their hiding spot behind a curtain, Tai and Matt gave each other a high five.
~*End*~
Author's Note: I'm done, I'm done, I'm done! *Skips around the room ten times.* ^_^ My second Takari fan fic is complete! (My first one isn't done yet.) Well, now, what did you think of it? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Was it too mushy? Or not mushy enough? Let me know what you think by e-mailing me at taateam@hotmail.com Comments and criticism are welcome. Just to let you know, I know nothing about skating, except that it hurts a lot when you fall!
*Sakura