I don't own anything except the story idea. This is before they know Ken is the emperor.

It was a beautiful day and the digidestined were having a picnic in the digital world.

"Hopefully we won't get attacked by the emperor," Yolei worried, throwing a blanket down.

"It's such a nice day!" Davis said throwing himself on the ground.

"At least we are here Yolei, if the emperor does attack, we'll protect you," Hawkmon said.

TK and Kari sat down and opened the picnic basket. "Why does TS get to sit by Kari?" Davis complained.

"Oh shut up Davis, you sat down first," Cody said joining them, "She must not have wanted to sit by you."

Everyone but Davis laughed.

"Hey Kari, do you want a sandwich?" TK asked his best friend.

"Sure, thanks," she smiled. She then started laughing, "Gatomon!" Her digimon had whip cream all over her face.

"The whip cream is for later!" Yolei yelled.

"But it tastes so good," Armadillomon replied.

Just then, they heard something in the sky. It was the emperor on an airdramon.

"Why would you think I'd leave you alone?" He asked in all seriousness.

"We didn't, we just wanted to enjoy the day," TK said.

"Ok," he said flying off.

"Umm…" Yolei voiced their confusion.

"That was weird," Cody said.

When the emperor got back Wormmon asked, "Why didn't you attack them Ken?"

For once he didn't hit Wormmon for calling him Ken.

"I'm not in the mood to fight today," he turned on the screen and watched what the digidestined were saying.

"He's probably going to attack at any minute," TK said.

"Maybe he was just curious?" Kari suggested quietly.

"Kari, when has he been known to be just curious? Or to not attack us?" Davis asked.

"There's a first for everything," Kari replied.

"Well I think he's planning something," Cody said.

"Me too," a few of the Digimon agreed.

'That girl has hope for me? Why? None of the others do, she's different. But why?' The emperor thought to himself.

The Digidestined weren't bothered the rest of the day which raised their suspicions.

The next day, they didn't have school so they met up at a park. Kari was running a bit late, but when she got there she saw they were playing soccer.

"Hey Kari! You want to join the game?" Davis yelled across the park's soccer field.

"Sure!" she smiled.

Yolei kicked the ball toward her, unfortunately she missed and the ball rolled past her through some bushes.

"Sorry," she said. She went to get the ball. The bushes were tall, taller than her, so no one could see behind them. She walked around them and went to locate the ball. She saw it, but a boy kicked it up and it landed in his hands.

"Is this yours?" the boy asked.

"Yes," Kari replied, blushing. She knew who he was, Ken Ichijoji, the genius soccer player.

"Here," He handed it to her, "I'm Ken."

"Thanks. I'm Kari," She smiled. Yolei was the one who loved Ken. Actually, everyone seemed to love him but her. Today however, he did look extremely cute in the sweater he was wearing.

"Kari, what's taking so long?" TK yelled at the bushes.

"Do you want to join our game?" Kari asked Ken.

"Sure," he said. They walked around the bushes.

"It's Ken Ichijoji!" Yolei yelled, her eyes glazed dreamily.

"Hey Ken, how's the world's second greatest soccer player?" Davis asked, inferring he is the best.

"Pretty good," Ken replied.

They started playing soccer, but it ended up being a one on one game between Ken and Davis. Yolei was standing up cheering for Ken while Kari, TK and Cody were sitting on the ground. Kari was watching the game, but TK and Cody were talking to each other.

"Why do all the girls love Ken?" Cody asked.

"I guess they like the genius athlete types."

"Whoooo! Go Ken!" Yolei yelled. Ken scored another goal. The game ended with Davis losing horribly.

"Well, that was fun," Ken said as he and Davis walked over to the group. "I better get going. I've got to walk to the train station."

"I'll go with you, I live over near there," Kari said.

"Thanks," he smiled. 'More time to figure you out,' he thought. He was actually starting to like her.

After saying goodbye, they started walking in silence. Ken tried to think of something to say, "So Davis thinks he's the best at soccer, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, Davis always exaggerates and think things that aren't true," She laughed.

"What else does he think?"

"Well, he thinks I'm supposed to be his girl. He gets jealous of TK when we do anything but I keep telling him I'm not his girl. He's like a brother to me."

"So you are dating TK then?"

"No, many people think we are, and I think he likes me, but I just see him as my best friend."

"I see… So you are single then?"

"Yeah," she said looking down, "I guess I just haven't found the right guy yet."

'Yes,' Ken thought. 'This is my chance. Why do I like her though? She's a digidestined. Tons of girls love me, so why her?' he questioned himself.

"Do you want to go to dinner sometime?" Ken asked shyly.

"Sure, that would be fun," she smiled.

Over the next few months Ken and Kari went on many dates and started to hang out more and more. The digidestined got used to it, and so Kari spent time with them at school and in the Digital world, but when she wasn't there, she was with Ken. They had their first kiss, their first "I love you" and even their first time.

"What's wrong?" Ken asked Kari as they watched a movie at her house. "Nothing, she said.

"I know when something is wrong with you."

"Well, there is this place my friends and I can go to. We were chosen. Remember a few years ago when monsters attacked? We were the ones to stop them. We all have a digimon and can go to the digital world."

"Ok…" he said, going along with it, although he already knew this. "So what's the problem?"

"There's a guy, who I don't know what his problem is, but he hunts the digimon and tries to take over. But he hasn't done anything in a while. I think he's planning something big. At first, I thought he might have just been busy, or taking a break. But he can't have just vanished, so he must be planning."

"Maybe he's distracted with other things, or maybe he's become good?" Ken offered. Knowing it was true. He really does love Kari; he's giving up the digital world to be with her. 'I should let her know it was me,' he thought.

"Do you want to meet my Digimon? Her name is Gatomon, and she's my best friend." Kari said, "I knew I'd have to tell you about her sometime."

"Sure," he said nervously.

"Gatomon," Kari called. Her parents and Tai were out so she didn't have to hide her.
Gatomon walked out of the room.

'Wait… they came to our world.. They are real!' Ken looked shocked. "Hi," he said nervously. 'What have I done? They are real; I really hurt digimon, living creatures…' He tried to hide his pain while thinking about wormmon.

"Hi Ken," Gatomon smiled. "Your voice sounds familiar, but I can't place it."

"It's probably because he is on TV a lot," Kari said.

"I-I have to go," Ken stuttered getting up and leaving.

"Was that because of me?" Gatomon asked sadly.

"I don't know, but if he can't accept you, I won't accept him," she smiled trying to hide her emotions.

'He left his jacket' Kari thought while picking it up, and walking to her room. She closed the door and laid on her bed. She knew tears would come soon, but she couldn't bring herself to cry yet. She also knew she needed help.

Angemon: "Why does Kari need help? What will happen with Ken? Find out on the next Digimon Digital Monsters!"