Title: Her Hope

Summary: "No matter how lost she felt, no matter how scared she felt of the Dark Ocean trying to take her again, he would always be there to help her"

Prompt: Nightmare

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

Kari instantly knew where she was as soon as she could sense it. The cold feeling of the place penetrated her being and caused her to shiver with fear, bringing back the terrifying memories of when she was last brought here.

The Dark Ocean.

"Not this place, please anywhere but here!" The brunette looked around her, trying to establish her whereabouts, but the fog surrounding was thick, showing no clear sign of her surroundings.

She felt her body shiver with cold, feeling freezing air chilling her insides. She began to rub her arms, trying to create some sort of warmth similar to what she was feeling before she was taken here.

"This has got to be some terrifying nightmare, just a bad dream that I'll wake up from soon and everything will be alright" But the chill that reached Kari's bones felt all too real, the goose bumps littered on her arms looked too real as well. She stared at her arms, her eyes wide with fright at the worry that she might actually be in the Dark Ocean.

"Please no!" Her mind screamed, urging her to cry out for help or to at least run, to get away before those corrupted Scubamon found her, or worse, their master. She really didn't want to come face to face with the thing ruling this world that wanted to make her his queen.

Ignoring the piercing cold, Kari forced her body to move, lifting herself off the cold ground to try and get a better look at her surroundings. It was then that she noticed that she was wearing a t-shirt that was too large for her small frame; it was baggy and reached to the middle of her thighs. That's when it hit her.

"This is TK's shirt!" This is what prompted the memories to invade the fogginess in her mind. She often wore TK's old basketball shirts to bed as she found them the most comfy. This fact alone gave her a little reassurance that this might just be a very bad dream and she'll wake up next to him any minute.

"It's just a dream! It has to be, all I have to do is wake up and-"

"Well well, it seems our queen has made an appearance"

Kari froze as she heard the menacing voice somewhere around her, panic beginning to build up inside her as she tried to see anything through the fog around her. She whipped her head back and forth, trying to pinpoint the location of the voice, her breathing becoming shallow as she became even more frightened.

The fog around her began to dissipate as she picked up the sounds that could only be the corrupted Scubamon she came across all those years ago when she first came here, the very ones that tried to take her to their master had not been for TK and Angewomon. She began to make out the shapes as the fog became thinner, and gulped when she noticed a huge figure in the ocean, towering menacingly above her. She sincerely hope that any minute, TK would come running to find her and take her home just like last time, back to the safety of their own apartment. But she was here, alone and facing probably one of the scariest monsters she's ever faced.

"Somebody help!'

"It's finally good to get a glimpse of the Child of Light, the one who will become my queen and rule in the darkness" the tall monster said, fully coming into Kari's view. The monster stood above, slimy blue tentacles disappearing into the ocean. The monster;s torso was muscular, almost humanoid, with red, demonic wings protruding from his back. The head was huge, and the tentacles that covered most of this monster's body also covered the upper part of the mouth, with large teeth protruding from them.

Some sort of shackles bound most of the tentacles but there were a few loose ones that wriggled about. The very sight of the monster made Kari sick to the stomach, made even worse when the putrid smell hit her nostrils, reminding her of this awful place that she was in.

The glowing red eyes of the monster stared at Kari, eyeing her up in the way that made her feel exposed, weak, and frightened with fear. She wanted nothing more than to scream for TK.

"It seems that wretched Child of Hope has staked a claim on my prize, his foul scent is covering what is mine" the monster growled. Kari gripped the shirt she was currently wearing, wishing more than anything that TK was here to help her. She lifted the material up slightly, taking in TK's scent to cover up the awful smell of the Ocean around her.

"I will not allow a spoilt brat to steal my claim!" The digimon snarled, baring his teeth to Kari to induce fear into the brunette. She tried to scramble away from him but her limbs felt too heavy to run. The air suddenly felt thicker and she felt like she was being slowly suffocated.

"What do you want with me?" She tried to scream at him, to make herself feel brave so she had a chance of facing up to this horrid monster and squash the fear rising within her. She didn't want to feel weak and useless, but her voice betrayed her, sounding as feeble as she felt.

The monster chuckled above her. "Isn't it obvious? I want you as my queen. To rule the Dark Ocean at my side and to let darkness consume both the real world and the digital world"

The DigiDestined of Light shivered at thought of being this monster's queen, a queen to the darkness. "What makes you think I will join you!? I would never do something like that!" Her voice was unsteady but she had to try and fight this thing. She was here alone so she had to try.

"Ah but you see, you hold a power much stronger than my own. A power that could easily defeat myself, and could eradicate the Dark Ocean, if given the chance. I can't let that happen now. I did consider killing you at first, wiping you out proved the more easy route".

Kari's eyes widen at the thought that this digimon wanted her dead. Now she felt really afraid, without her friends or her own digimon by her side this monster could easily overpower her and kill her if he wanted. She had to get out of here and fast but her body was frozen with fear. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes at how weak she felt.

"But if I could capture you and make you my queen, to corrupt your light and turn it into darkness, I could have the power to rule all the worlds! To eradicate all my enemies, including all your DigiDestined friends!"

The image of all her friends killed by this monster invaded Kari's mind and made her freeze. She couldn't let this monster use her to kill all her friends, her brother, her parents- her best friend and lover. If Kari knew that she let this monster use her Light to hurt others, she would never be able to live with herself.

The fact that this monster wanted to use her to kill all her friends made her stomach flip and she felt like she was going to throw up, the tears now slipping from her eyes and she tried to compose herself so she could fight this thing and get back to TK.

"I will NEVER allow you to use me like that!" She glared at the digimon as best she could through her clouded eyes, trying to remain strong in order to protect those dear to her. She stood before the digimon, keeping her eyes on him and showing that she was not afraid.

It seemed futile though as the digimon saw right through her, chuckling to himself before it exploded into a menacing laughter that boomed across the wretched dimension. Kari wanted nothing more than to curl up and block out the sounds of the monster above her and the smells of the Dark Ocean. She wanted to scream until someone, anyone, came to her aid.

The dark ruler stopped his laughter before he started back at her, his toothy grin sending a chill right through Kari's body and freezing her on the spot. "But you see my child, you won't have a choice in any of this. I will force you if I have to, and I'll make you watch with your own eyes as I wipe out the Child of Hope that dared to even touch what is rightfully mine. I'll make it so you never forget any detail as his life fades and your light will fall into despair"

The tears were falling from Kari's eyes now as the monster threatened to kill her lover. It would tear her heart into pieces to see TK killed by this monster, to see her only hope snuffed out right before her before darkness took over. She lifted her hands over her mouth to suppress a sob that wrecked her body, even the very image shook her body with fear and heartbreak. She covered her head with her heads and shut her eyes tight, trying to block out the images of TK dying at the hands of this monster, or even worse, herself.

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU TOUCH HIM!" She screamed and clutched her head even tighter, letting the sobs take over. She tried to regain her self-control but she felt too overwhelmed with fear. "I need you TK!" Her mind screamed out for her best friend, wishing with all her being that he would appear beside her and take her home, where he could wrap her in his arms and protect her from this darkness.

"Like I said, you have no choice" the rulers hissed as she heard more of his dark followers emerge from the murky waters, looking exactly like those dark beings the Scubamon turned into after she removed the dark rings the first time she got caught up in all this. She looked up to see that there more than two dozen of these beings, ready to obey their master. She was severely outnumbered.

"Get her." The second the dark digimon gave the command the beings pounced on her, fully intent on making her escape impossible. Kari tried to scramble to feet so she could run, or have a chance at running, but she found it hard to run on the murky sand. She only managed a few feet before someone grabbed her ankle, making her trip and halting her attempt to run. She whipped her head behind her to see one of the dark beings had its clammy claws wrapped tightly around her ankle.

"LET GO!" She kicked at the thing holding her ankle it an attempt to loosen its painful grip but the others soon caught up, clawing at her legs and arms in an attempt to restrain her.

"This can't be happening! I've failed everyone…."

The darkness started to surround her, clouding her vision and pressing down on her, almost like it was trying to suffocate the very life out of her body. Kari tried desperately to protect her body from the beings but they kept clawing and dragging her towards their master.

"He's gonna kill everyone and it's all my fault"

She felt the little strength she had left drain from her body as the darkness took over, drowning her in a sea of despair and sadness at the thought of her friends being defeated by this ruler. Of the thought of her Light being wiped out and replaced by darkness.

"I'm so sorry everyone"

She felt consciousness beginning to fade, and just as she was about to close her eyes she saw the master lift one of his tentacles above her, ready to corrupt her and take her into the very depth of his kingdom. The tears continued to fall as she closed her eyes and tried to visualize all her loved ones before she was lost for good, to have some last happy memories with them before they faded into nothingness.

"I'm sorry. TK I-"

She felt like she was drowning, her body heavy and her lungs felt like they were on fire. She was slowly succumbing to the darkness and she couldn't fight it off.

"TK I lo-"

"KARI!"

It was fight but she swore she heard an echo of her name, almost like someone was crying out for her. But that couldn't be true, she was here all alone.

Suddenly she started feeling a slight warmth course through her, replacing the cold chill that had invaded her body since she got her. She heard the beings grunt and shift away, almost as if they were in pain. She heard the ruler hiss in pain as well. She sensed the darkness retreating, but what were they retreating from? And what was this voice and warmth that had suddenly appeared?

"Kari! Wake up!"

Her eyes suddenly snapped open.

"Kari! Wake up!"

Kari felt her whole body being shook violently by a force on her shoulder. She instantly panicked, thinking the beings had come back for her and quickly turned around, her hand flying out to grip whatever had a hold of her and to defend herself.

Instead of coming face to face with those corrupt beings or the master, she instead saw a pair of worried blue eyes staring back at her and a mop of blonde hair.

She slowly began to realize that she was no longer in the Dark Ocean but in fact in her bed and she was staring up at TK who leaned over her cautiously, almost as if scared to frighten her even more. Her hand had a death grip on his shoulder, almost as if making sure that this was real and not some other horrible dream she was in.

She felt one of TK's hands rubbing her back, soothing her back into a calmed state.

"Ssh, it's okay. You're here with me. You're safe" He continued to rub her back as he placed a soft kiss on her forehead, coaxing her body to relax and release the death grip she had on his shoulder and for her breathing to even out. The wave of relief Kari felt overwhelmed her and she felt her eyes tear up.

"Are you okay? You started thrashing around, almost as if you were having a nightmare," TK said, concerning etched on his features as he stared at his girlfriend; she looked on the edge of a panic attack.

That's all it was. A terrifying nightmare. But Kari couldn't get Dragomon's words out of her head and the thoughts came back to her in an instant. She swallowed down her sobs and closed her eyes, refusing to show TK just how bad it was.

"It's nothing. I'm sorry if I woke you" Her voice was quiet as she said it, fearing that it would betray her fear to the one she loved most. But it wasn't easy to fool TK, considering he was her best friend and all.

"I doubt it's hardly nothing if it's got you in state like this." He kept his eyes on her, refusing to let something like this go.

Kari lifted her head to look at him again, seeing the worry and another emotion written in his eyes. That emotion, was it fear? But she couldn't bear to burden him with this, not when his life could be in danger by Dragomon. "I told you, it's noth-"

"Kari, you were thrashing about and started flickering just like that time you did in class before you were taken to the Dark Ocean! Now don't tell me that's nothing when there's a possibility I could lose you again!" TK snapped, not directly at Kari but because of his worry.

After he was woken up by murmuring and the bed moving violently, TK turned on the bedside lamp to fight his girlfriend's body flickering in and out, almost like static. It was exactly like the time he first saw disappearing like this in class, and the fear he felt that day came back tenfold.

Kari stared up at him in shock at his outburst, watching him as he closed his eyes and moved his hand on her back to her shoulder, squeezing it as if to reassure him that she had stopped disappearing.

"No matter what happens Kari, you can always rely on me to help. I can't stand it when you try to shoulder everything yourself. That's what the Dark Ocean feeds on and I can't bear to lose you again" His voice faltered and Kari's heart broke at the sight on his face. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes. "Remember what I said to you that day? That I care too much about you to let you go without a fight? It still stands Kari. I won't let them have you".

Kari couldn't hold it in any longer and the dam broke. The sobs that she held back broke free as she wrapped her arms around TK's neck, anchoring herself to him to keep this reality from fading. She instantly felt his arms go around her middle, steady and strong as they held up her shaking body to his.

"I'm sorry TK! It-it's just that they threatened to k-kill you, using me as their source of power!" She tried to continue but her voice died as more sobs wrecked her frame. She felt TK's hand stroke her hair as she continued to shake. "I d-didn't want to put you at risk, I was so-so scared of losing you"

She felt TK's arms release her only to rest on her face and gently move her so his forehead was resting on hers and he could stare directly in her eyes. "Don't be scared Kari, you know that I'll always find you whenever you are in danger. After all, Hope and Light always have a way of finding themselves back to one another" He smiled before he placed a chaste kiss on the end of her nose. Kari let more tears fall but this time, they were tears of happiness. She wrapped her arms around TK again and buried her face in his neck, breathing in his scent and warmth that she had grown to love since getting together with him.

She murmured a soft "thank you" in his neck, too exhausted to move but she knew he had heard her. He wrapped his arms around her and settled both of on the bed, bringing the duvet over them and holding Kari tightly against him. Now encased safely in his arms, Kari allowed herself to drift off into a peaceful sleep, one void of nightmares about the Dark Ocean.

After all, she knew he would always be her hope in the darkness.

I'm thinking of doing a Takari drabble collection as a way to keep me writing. I'm a bit rusty as I haven't written anything in years but hopefully my writing will refine itself as I continue to do this mini-series. This collection is mainly prompt based so if you have any prompt ideas then let me know and I will do my best to write a good oneshot with it :)