(Digimon: Digital Monsters does not belong to me. I'm not sure who owns it now, so to whoever owns it, I'm not making any money!)

Kasey: Konnichi wa minna-chan! I know I started this nearly two years ago, and I said I would finish it, but so much has gone on, and I sorta lost interest in it for awhile. I'm now ready to complete it though, so I hope you all enjoy it!

The Discovery of the Ninth Digidestined

by Kasey Sanada

Chapter 1: Arrival of the Peace Keeper

"Koushiro! Help me!" A young girl around the age of six stretched her arms out as she floated up towards the bright hole in the sky.

"NO!" Izzy tried to grab her hand, but misses it by mere inches. He watched helplessly as she disappeared into the hole. "Sakura!"

Izzy woke up with a cry. Sweat dripped down his face as he forced himself to calm down. He buried his face in his knees wept silently. 'Sakura....'

Tai stirred when he heard what sounded like someone crying. Getting up, he looked around, expecting to find Kari or T.K. crying, but then he saw a head of red hair. 'Izzy? What happened to make him cry like this?' he asked himself as he went over to see what was the matter.

Izzy's head snapped up when a hand settled on his shoulder. He quickly dried his eyes and looked up to see Tai. "M-morning Tai. You're up early."

Tai looked up at the sky. From what he could tell from the sun, it was close to seven in the morning. Looking back at Izzy, he said, "It's not that early. Now tell me, what happened?"

"What are you talking about Tai?" Izzy asked, putting on a fake smile. Tai narrowed his eyes.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about Koushiro." Izzy blinked. None of the others had called him that in a long time. "This is the fifth time this has happened since we've returned to the digital world." Tai's eyes softened. "Something is bothering you. Please Izzy, I want to help."

Izzy shook his head, tears threatening to break. "I....I can't, at least not yet."

"But Izzy...."

Izzy looked up at Tai, his eyes full of pain. "Tai, please," he begged.

Tai looked at him friend for a moment before sighing. "Alright, but please tell me or one of the others when you're ready."

Izzy nodded, this time giving Tai a real smile. "Arigato Tai. You're a great friend." He wrapped his arms around the brunette.

Tai froze for a moment before returning the hug. His feelings towards the redhead were confusing to him, but he wasn't going to push him away, not when Izzy need him the most. After a moment he stood up. "I'm going to catch some fish for breakfast. Tell the others that I'll be back soon." Izzy just nodded as he watched Tai went over and woke Agumon up before they left together in search of breakfast.

Dizzy sighed as he got out his laptop. What was this strange feeling he was experiencing whenever he was around Tai? He'd have to look into it later. He worked on his computer as everyone started to wake up. He didn't even notice Kari walk up to him. He was so engrossed in what he was doing, he didn't notice Kari trying to get his attention. "Izzy?" No answer. Kari tried several more times. Still no luck.

"Whatcha doing Kari?" T.K. asked as he walked up to her.

"I'm trying to get Izzy's attention," Kari said, looking at her best friend, "but he's not listening.

Sora, overhearing the two talk, walked up to them. "Sometimes you have to try the direct approach." With that Sora snatched the laptop off of Izzy's lap.

Izzy snapped out of his trance. "Sora! Why did you do that for?" he complained as he reached for his Pineapple computer.

Sora just raised it higher. "Kari's been trying to get your attention for the past ten minutes!"

Izzy blinked and looked at Kari. "Gomen nasai Kari-chan. What did you need?"

Kari smiled brightly at Izzy. "It's alright Izzy. I was just wondering where Tai was."

Just as Izzy was about to answer, Agumon cam running out of the woods, and by the look on his face, something was definitely wrong. "Agumon, what's wrong?" Patamon asked in a worried voice.

"Tai's in trouble! He was captured by Puppetmon!"

Sora gasped. "Oh no! We have to go save him! Agumon, take us to him!"

The four remaining Digidestined and their Digimon followed Agumon to where Tai was being held.

"Puppetmon, let me go!" Tai yelled as he fought the restraints that were holding him up in the air.

"Ha ha!" Puppetmon jumped off from a tree limb. "You wish! Pidemon will be so pleased! I might just get a raise for this."

"In your dreams!"

"Who said that?!?" Puppetmon looked around, trying to find where the voice came from. Suddenly, up in the trees, he saw a girl with long red hair the was braided and went down to the center of her back, and black eyes that were like the night sky. She was wearing a orange skirt, a orange sleeveless shirt that showed her stomach, and orange boots.

Tai looked up at the girl, surprised. 'Another human? But I thought only the Digidestined could come to the Digital World.' Suddenly he noticed something. 'She looks really familiar....'

The girl looked at Puppetmon with a unnerving calmness in her eyes. "Puppetmon, I suggest you let him go, or I'll....."

Puppetmon just laughed. "Or what? Nobody can defeat me!! Ha ha!"

The girl said nothing as she raised a hand and a bow appeared. Holding up her other hand, a energy-like arrow appear and she set inside the bow and pulled back. "I'm warning you....."

"What, you think your little toy is going to hurt me?" Puppetmon laughed harder. "I'm so scared."

"You should be, because you're messing with the Peace Keeper of the Digital World!"

Tai's eyes widened slightly. 'Peace Keeper?'

Puppetmon stopped laughing and he had a scared look on his face. Slowly he began backing away from Tai and the girl and laughing nervously he said, "Oh my, look at the time. It's time for me to go!" And with that he ran.

"You're not getting away that easily!" she cried. "Arrow of Courage!" She let go of the arrow and missed Puppetmon by mere inches, but the blast still nipped him. The Dark Master yelped as he disappeared into the forest. The girl shook her head as the bow disappeared. "When will they ever learn...." She then turned and looked up at Tai and smiled lightly. "Need some help?"

Tai just stared as the girl started to untie him. After a few moments he asked, "Who are you?" She continued to be silent as she finished untying him. Finally she just him loose and he fell the few feet to the ground. "OW!" He looked up just as the girl was leaving. "Wait!"

The girl turned back to look at Tai. "Hai?"

"I want to know who you are!"

She smiled. "You'll find out soon enough. She turned and a moment later she was gone.

Tai was still staring after the mystery girl even as everyone came running to him. "TAI! You're alright!" Kari cried as she threw herself at her brother.

"Oof! Kari, you're choking me!"

"Oh, gomen ne." Kari let go of Tai's neck.

Agumon went up to his partner. "Tai, what happened? Where's Puppetmon?"

"Some girl saved me."

T.K.'s eyes widened. "You mean another person is here in the Digital World?"

Tai nodded. "Hai, and she looked real familiar too. I couldn't place where at first, but now I can." He looked up at Izzy. "She looked a lot like Izzy."

Izzy blinked, not believing what he was hearing. 'It... it can't be...'

"Izzy, are you alright?" Sora asked, worried that Izzy had suddenly become pale.

"Sakura...." He passed out before he could finish.

"Joe, I'm tired!" Mimi whined as they walked through the forest. She tripped on a tree root and fell. "OW!"

"Mimi, are you alright?" Palmon asked her hurt friend.

"Yeah, just my pride hurts though," she said as she rubbed her bottom.

Joe sighed as he helped Mimi up. "Mimi, you have to be more careful."

"I know..." Mimi looked around. "Hey, has anyone seen Orgemon?"

'Great, now I'm lost.' Orgemon looked around to see if anything looked familiar.

"Aw, lose your friends Orgemon?" Orgemon turned around and laughing maliciously was Puppetmon. "Time to say goodbye! Puppet Pummel!"

Mimi, Joe, Gomamon and Palmon heard a loud yell coming not too far from where they were. "That was Orgemon!" Gomamon exclaimed.

"Come on!" Joe yelled to everyone. They all ran to where the yell came from. Mimi and Palmon gasped when they saw Orgemon. "Orgemon!" They ran over to their Digimon friend.

Joe and Gomamon turned angrily to Puppetmon. "Fighting the injured is low, even for you!" Joe yelled.

Gomamon stepped forward. "Yeah! Pick on someone your own size!"

Joe brought out his digivice. "Let's do it Gomamon!" His digivice began to shake.

"Gomamon digivolve to....Ikkakumon!"

Joe's crest then began to glow.

"Ikkakumon digivolve to....Zudomon!"

Zudomon charged towards Puppetmon. "Take this!" He brought his hammer over his head and slammed it down. "Vulcan's Hammer!!"

Puppetmon dodged the attack. "Puppet Pummel!" The attack slammed into Zudomon dead on.

"AHH!" Zudomon fell backwards and de-digivolved into Gomamon. "That hurt....."

"Gomamon!" Joe ran over to his friend.

"Ha ha! Now to finish all you off! Puppet...."

"Arrow of Courage!" A arrow of light hit Pupetmon in the back. Joe and Mimi looked at each other, both wondering where the light came from.

A girl stepped out of the bushes, hands on her hips. "I thought we already went through this."

If wood could turn white, that would be the color he would be right now. "H-hi Peace Keeper. Nice seeing you again." He laughed nervously as he backed up.

"This will be the last time too." The girl put her hands out to the side and yelled, "Peace Keeper Digivolve!" A bright light covered the girl and when it disappeared, instead of being clad in orange, she was now clad in white, with white boots and gloves, much like what Angewomon wore.

The children and their digimon looked on in awe. "The legend it true!" Palmon said excitedly.

"What legend?" Mimi asked.

"We were told of a legend of a human that was also part Digimon," Gomamon explained. "She fell from the sky, and ever since then, she has protected the good Digimon. We thought it was just a legend, but it's really true!"

The girl glared at the wooden digimon. "Puppetmon, you have disgraced the digimon name. What have you got to say for yourself?"

"I don't regret what I did!" Puppetmon yelled, getting ready to attack. "Puppet....."

She sighed. "I didn't want to have to do this....." She raised her arms over her head, and a bright ball of light appeared. "Light of Knowledge!" She spun around once before sending the attack at Puppetmon.

"Pum....AHHH!" Puppetmon screamed when the light hit him, making him disappear forever.

Mimi and Joe, along with their digimon, watched in amazement. "She destroyed him in just one blast," Joe said.

"Wait!" Mimi cried as the girl turned to go. "Could you please save our friend? He's hurt."

The girl looked at Mimi for a moment before nodding. "Alright." She walked over to Orgemon and placed a hand on him. She closed her eyes and a warm light surrounded him. After a few minutes the light disappeared. She stood up and said, "He should be fine in a few hours." She began to walk away.

"Wait!" Gomamon called out. The girl looked over at him. "Are you really the Peace Keeper?"

The girl was quiet before smiling and nodding. "Hai, I am." With that said, she jumped onto a tree branch and disappeared.

Izzy slowly opened his eyes and immediately wish he hadn't when the sun hit him in the eyes. "Awww man...."

"Hey everyone!" Biyomon cried. "Izzy's awake!"

The group quickly ran over to their friend. "Izzy, what happened?" Sora asked in a worried voice.

"Nothing. The sun just got to me, that's all."

"But the sun hasn't been out long enough for that," T.K. pointed out.

"T.K.'s right Izzy," Kari said softly. Gatomon nodded.

Tai put a hand on his friend's shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "Izzy, you need to tell us what's the matter. It's obviously upsetting you."

Izzy looked back at Tai and saw the pleading look in his eyes. 'Maybe it's time I told them,' he thought wearily. He took a deep breath. "It all started four years ago...." he began.

The young girl walked through the forest, thinking about Tai, Sora, and Joe. 'Why are they all here? Could they be the digidestined, the ones she told me about?' Just then she thought she heard voices. 'Could their more?' A bow and arrow appeared just in case as she walked closer to the voices. Finally she saw a digimon and a human in a dark cave. 'Oh no. The Cave of Self-Doubt,' she thought gloomily to herself as she walked over to them.

"Matt, please talk to me!" Gabumon pleaded with his slouched best friend.

Matt continued to have his head buried in between his leg, muttering things like, "My brother hates me," and "Why am I needed here?"

The young girl knelt down next to Gabumon. "What's wrong with your friend?" She blinked when the digimon just stared at him. "Nani?"

"You're a human, like Matt!"

"Last time I checked I was." She looked back at Matt, and a sudden pain entered her heart, though she couldn't figure out why. "What's wrong with him?"

Gabumon looked sadly at his friend. "I don't know. Ever since we split from our friends, he's been like this, and we haven't been able to get out of this cave for hours." He blinked. "Wait, how did you get in her?!?"

The girl looked at Gabumon with a serious look in her eyes. "I was able to get in here because this is just a illusion to you two. This is the Cave of Self-Doubt, and if Matt doesn't stop doubting his friends, or himself, he'll be stuck in here forever."

Kasey: Minna-chan! Finally I've finished revising this first chapter. Sorry it took so long. Email me at kasey_sanada@hotmail.com and please tell me what you think! Ja ne!

Chapter 1 first completed sometime in 2000

Chapter 1 revised December 4, 2002