~*Fateful Destinies*~
~*Prologue~*
The woman sitting in the middle of the room took a deep, shaking breath, trying to blink back her tears. Her hands rested upon the weather-stained pages of the manuscript that lay in her lap. No one forced her to begin.
Finally, she looked up, her gaze cutting through the still air. Taking a deep breath, she spoke.
"It will be hard for me…for all of us…to do this. To read about our children’s death. But, in his will, the author requested it. His dying wish. So we must."
With that, she, TK’s mother, read from the first page.
"A Fateful Destiny: A tribute to the Digidestined. Written by: Ken Ichijouji."
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~*A Fateful Destiny: A tribute to the Digidestined*~
I, Ken Ichijouji, write this book in memory of my friends, the digidestined. Each and everyone of them have departed this world, so, here is my tribute to them.
Each of them died or was killed in different ways, and each time it was anticipated by the victim. So I feel the need to write this, so that the whole world can read what really happened.
I request that, upon the fifth anniversary of my death, this shall be read. Read, by the parents of the Digidestined.
And so, now, I transport you into a world of happiness shared between loved ones. A world of wonder, the wonder of the wonderful things that they did. And a world of death. For each of them is gone.
~*Chapter 1*~
~*When hope departs*~
Name: TK Takaishi
Crest: Hope
Digimon: Patamon.
Birth Date: April 22, 1989
Death Date: January 5, 2015
Age when killed: 26
Cause of death: Plane Crash.
I first came to know TK at the age of 11. As it was, we were enemies. But, later on, it turned out, we became friends. Strange, how one of your worst enemies can one day become one of your best friends.
To me, TK was always hopeful. Always held hope for the future. Always. He was usually a kind person, to everyone and everything that he met. Except when playing basketball. Then he could get aggressive. But that’s beside the point.
Almost innocent in his younger years, as he became a youth, he loved to tease and joke around. In my opinion, he died way to young.
He was in love with Kari Kamiya, and, luckily for him, she returned that love. On the evening of January 3, 2015, they were wed, with all of us, the Digidestined, in attendance. Following, from my memory, is a narrative of that night.
January 3, 2015—Wedding night of TK Takaishi to Kari Kamiya
I watched as Kari Kamiya, soon to be Kari Takaishi, walked down the aisle. Her face seemed to glow with an inner light, as she walked forward to join the one that she loved. She wore a gown of shining white satin and lace.
TK was standing up front, his eyes never leaving her face.
I was standing with my friends, the rest of the Digidestined. Mimi was trying her hardest not to cry, but finally gave up and broke down. Matt was holding her hand, also looking quite emotion ridden…but also looking determined not to cry.
Sora, Yolei, and Davis, however, shamelessly cried right along with her. Sora and Yolei, I knew, were overridden with the beauty of it all. But Davis, it was obvious, wept because the one he loved would never be his.
The vows were said, the presents opened, the cake cut. All of it shined with the simplicity of it. Both Kari and TK’s faces reflected their happiness; they were shining with joy. Joy unaffected by the invisible shadow of death that hung over them.
~*End of Narrative*~
I truly hope that he was really as happy as he seemed. He deserved all of the happiness that he could get out of his short life.
Funny, how the good always seem to suffer for the bad. I was the evil one. He was one of the good ones. He died. I still live. It just didn’t make sense.
They left for their honeymoon, that night, on a flight to Hawaii.
I can still remember the night they left…the 4th of January, 2015…TK pulled me to one side.
He said that he had a feeling. A feeling that he would never return. He didn’t know why he felt so. But he couldn’t shake it off.
I told him that he was wrong. He would come back, and he and Kari would live happily ever after. I mean…it was just a plane flight.
He still insisted that he believed that he would never return. I remember him asking me to remember him, if anything happened. I promised, though I still didn’t believe him. Still argued that he was wrong.
I guess I was wrong.
Because, the next night, the moment of 8:12 would forever be burned into my mind.
The phone rang, and an unfamiliar voice greeted me. That voice was the bearer of bad news. Of death.
The plane had crashed, just hours before. His body had been found, mangled almost beyond recognition. Everyone on the plane had died. All but one.
Kari, the only survivor.
I can’t even imagine the pain that she must have gone through, knowing that TK was gone…a bare two days after their wedding. She later talked to me…she needed to talk to someone, she said, and I was the closest one. I can still remember the words she said. Following, from my memory of what she said to me, is another narrative, relaying the moment right before, and, right after his death, as told by Kari Takaishi.
January 9, 2015—Kari’s feelings on the death of her husband, 4 days later.
A spare hour before the plane crash and TK’s death, the two of them had been sitting in their seats, relaxing. Talking about what their life would be like together.
Their words had been full of hope. Of light. Oh hopeful light, I guess it would be proper to say.
They had seemed to be in their own little world, just the two of them, and their happiness of being together.
An hour later, something had gone wrong with the plane engines. It had plunged downwards, through the sky, spiraling all the way.
The two of them crashed to the ground together. Before loosing consciousness, Kari remembers that TK had still been alive. Had been holding her in his arms. Whispering words of love and assurance. Telling her that she would live, and, that if she did, and he did not, that she would have to go on without him.
The next day, Kari Takaishi awoke from a coma. Upon hearing of TK’s death, she says that she wished that she, too, had been killed.
~*End of Narrative*~
The funeral was held, there, in America. All of us, the remaining Digidestined, traveled the distance to be there, to see him one last time.
Kari, being an emotional wreck, was left in America, with her mother. She said that she would return home in one month. She never did.
TK reassuring Kari is not a hard picture to imagine. Even had Kari not told me this, I would have known it. He always tried to think of others before himself. I know, for certain, that, even though he must have been wracked with unimaginable pain, that he had tried to hold onto his consciousness…to live through the pain, if only for Kari’s sake.
But, I guess, with all of the injuries he suffered, both external, and internal, that that would have been almost impossible. And so, hope had departed, leaving us.
~*End of Chapter 1*~
TK’s mother set down the faded papers, tears running freely down her face. The pain of the death of her youngest son was still coursing strongly through her.
But…in a way…it was almost a happy pain. Remembering him. Remembering his hopeful ways. Oh, yes, it hurt, but it also brought back happy memories.
