..:Ranamon:..

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The Digital World is finally at peace...something that doesn't usually last very long. But now that the war with Lucemon is over, and the Legendary Warriors are back in action, things have changed. A lot of things. The Legendary Warrior's job description as well...

This is a story about my favorite Legendary Warriors...the ones that everyone likes the least. What is their story? How do they deal with their failure of being evil, and their second chance now that they are good again? There is much they have to learn...Ranamon especially.

This story is about her...and her search for her true character...a quest that will take her to places she never would have gone.

It's a story that even I am inspired by.

Have fun!

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Digimon doesn't belong to me.

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Chapter One

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"Ranamon!"

The harsh sound of Kazemon's scolding voice snapped the water-digimon out of her wandering thoughts back into the present. She glanced upwards lazily, not bothering to move a muscle. Her eyes were half-closed as she lay on her back in the sand, soaking in the sun without a care in the world. What did Kazemon want anyway?

"Ranamon, you know we have duties, remember?" Kazemon floated above her, hands on her slender hips. She frowned, tossed her pink hair, then lighted upon the sandy beech. "We're supposed to be protecting and supervising the rebuilding of the Digital World, and you are not doing the work! You're just lying there on the beech, not even checking up on your sector to make sure things are still going as planned!"

Ranamon sighed deeply, closing her eyes. "Oh Kazemon," she said dramatically. She lifted a hand and scratched her left cheek. It had begun to itch from a speck of sand that would not blow off in the wind. "I do have it all worked out. I've already organized the digimon into their work groups, and they have promised to do the work. What's wrong with taking a break?"

Kazemon reached down and grabbed Ranamon's hand, yanking her to her feet. "What's wrong is that your digimon work crew is not doing any work, and your sector is still in turmoil! This sector is a complete mess! Digimon are fighting each other, not making up, not doing anything, and claiming that if you can not do it, so can they! You need to get in there and fix things!"

Ranamon yanked her arm away, huffing. "I will, I was just taking a nap." She brushed sand off of her skin, avoiding meeting the other Warrior's eyes. "You don't have to tell me what to do."

Kazemon shook her head. "Ranamon…" she sighed. "But I do. You won't work. You won't do your part. Everyone else will, just not you! Why are you so lazy? Don't you know that you can't just do nothing, and expect to get away with it?"

"I'm not doing nothing! I just haven't started yet!"

"Ranamon…"

Ranamon crossed her arms, glancing down at the sand. She bit her lip, struggling to keep her face straight. "Fine, I'll do it. Just…leave me alone. Okay?" She kept her face downward, ignoring the other Warrior until she got tired and left. Then she sat slowly on the ground. Her hand clenched the sand, letting it slip though her fingers, and she stared at the sea helplessly. "Truth is," she whispered, hugging herself with her other arm, "I don't know how to work."

She sat limply on the beech, fingering the coarse sand, until she could sit there no longer. Kazemon would be watching. She stood reluctantly, glancing around her. Then she marched off to find a digimon that needed to work.

That Kazemon…she always was telling people what to do, because she always knew what to do. It got annoying! But she was good at it. Face it; Kazemon was good at giving direction. Agunimon was great at encouraging digimon while leading them. Lobomon was good at leading by example, and so was Lowemon. Kumamon was great at making work fun. Arbormon was obsessed with work, and was an amazing teacher. Grumblemon threatened…but it was all in fun. He made sure digimon did their jobs—in a drill sergeant sort of way…but he did just as much as everyone else. The digital world needed rebuilding, badly! And everyone had to help. Even Mercurymon was good at making things get done. No one knew how he did it, but his digimon were always in line, never complaining, and everything got done fast. But Ranamon?

"Me?" she picked a flower, staring at it angrily. "I don't even know how to work, let alone make digimon work! Kazemon always says you can't make someone do something if you can't do it yourself. Well…she's right." She crushed the flower in her distress, and instantly regretted it. A small tear slipped from her eye. "Digimon used to do things for me because they adored me, but since I turned evil, everyone hates me! But I guess the real truth is…I just don't know how to do any of that stuff!"

She leaned against a tree, failing to find anyone, and pouted for a long time. It was several minutes before she realized that somemon was staring at her. Startled, she jumped back, looked down at the little digimon across from her.

"Who…are you?" she asked, regaining control. She mentally prepared herself, wondering how she could get at least one digimon to do what was required of him. The little digimon stared up at her with large black eyes, and she found herself wanting to pick it up and hug it. For some reason, it just evoked that reaction in her. Probably because it was so cute.

"I'm Salamon," the little floppy-eared cat digimon said quietly. She smiled faintly, and then cocked her head. "Are you Ranamon?"

Ranamon nodded. "Yes, I am. I'm…the leader of this sector. I've come to make sure things shape up." She stood up as tall as she could, wishing she was taller than 4' 11''. It just wasn't very impressive.

"My mom says that you're a lazy wanna-be who spends more time looking at yourself in a mirror than doing what you're supposed to." The little Salamon stared up at her innocently. "She says you're the worst of the Legendary Warriors. Is that true?"

Ranamon's mouth fell open, and she stuttered in complete shock. Worst? Of them all? She closed her mouth, pressing her lips together, and then knelt down on the ground weakly. "I…don't know…maybe it is true…" she swallowed, but the tears came anyway. "I just…never knew how to do anything they could…all I could do was fight…and I was strong…it was the only reason I became a Legendary Warrior…but….I guess I never really fit in to begin with." She covered her face with her hands, crying miserably. "I was never good at anything besides fighting, and now I don't even get to do that anymore!"

She sobbed loudly for a while, trying to force herself to calm down. It was not becoming, and she hating looking weak and miserable, even if that was exactly what she was. She nearly jumped out of her skin when something touched her leg, and she pulled her hands away from her face to look down. It was Salamon.

"Don't cry, Ranamon!" the little digimon sniffed, pawing her leg gently in a comforting motion. "Please don't cry. I don't think you're bad! I don't know how to do hardly anything either!"

"But you're just a kid! I'm supposed to be a Legendary Warrior!" Ranamon wiped her face, turning her head away. "And I don't even know why I became one to begin with." She stood, regaining control, and looked around her. "I have to figure out how to make this sector come back to order, and I can't sit around and cry because I don't know how to do anything. I have to learn somehow."

Salamon leapt at her, grabbing her arm and dragging itself into Ranamon's hold. The little digimon seemed determined to keep Ranamon company. "Why don't you know how to do anything? Didn't you go to Digimon School?"

Ranamon smiled faintly, appreciating the small comfort of a temporary friend. "No," she admitted. "I didn't. I was brought up by my mother, and I was never allowed to do anything with other digimon. You see, I was a…"

"Salamon!"

Ranamon turned to see a Gatomon standing a ways away, a furious expression on her face. Feeling she had just gotten in trouble, Ranamon let Salamon down to the ground, then stepped backwards.

"Salamon, we're going home." Gatomon grabbed the little Salamon, then turned and marched off, not even bothering to lower her voice. "Why are you hanging out with that lousy excuse of a digimon? She's worthless, and I don't want you hanging out with her type!"

Ranamon bit her lip, turned, and fled. She didn't want to hear any more. Maybe it was better if she just ran away and hid…like she always did. She wasn't doing any good here anyway.

-.-

"It's Ranamon," Kazemon sighed. "She's always off playing, and nothing ever gets done in her sector! It's like she doesn't even care!" The fairy digimon brushed away a strand of loose hair, then continued sipping from her cup.

The Legendary Warriors were sitting around the large table in the Hall of Heroes, the large rock with holes in it that belonged to the Legendary Warriors. It was their hideout, where they all stayed. And for the most part, they ate and slept there. Most of them, anyway. Lately, it seemed only six of them ever hung out.

"Well…" Agunimon shrugged, struggling to find something to say in Ranamon's defense, and then shrugged again. "Maybe she needs some help. Encouragement."

"We've given her that and more! All she does is disappear again, and we have to go find her! She's going to give us a bad name!"

"What does it matter?" Lobomon stood up abruptly, decided to stand beside the table instead of sit. Since having humans be the conduits of their spirits, Lobomon had picked up distinct habits of Kouji's that he had never had before. Well…all of them had, really. Sometimes it was hard to get used to. "Who cares what kind of name we have? If we do our job, that's what matters. Maybe she's just not used to this whole idea of rebuilding instead of fighting. Our job status has changed since the beginning."

Lowemon nodded, still sitting in the corner where it was darkest. "Our job used to be protection only. We found, and we stopped fights. That was it. Now we hardly fight at all. Instead, we're rebuilding forests, bridges, cities, and getting digimon to work together. Where once we were warriors, now we're diplomats. We've jumped right into it because that's what the digidestined did, and we were able to follow their example. Ranamon probably just doesn't know how to deal with it."

"Then what about Arbormon? Mercurymon? And Grumblemon? Grumblemon destroys things for fun, and yet even he works his but off!" Kazemon sighed, placing a hand on her forehead. "I just think Ranamon really doesn't care. All she wants to do is sit around and watch everyone else do the work! It's not fair to the rest of us!"

"Perhaps you have all forgotten who Ranamon is." A new voice joined the party of six at the table, and the legendary warriors turned in surprise to see the speaker standing in front of them. Mercurymon's face was serious, and he stood in the shadows in the hallway across from them. Once satisfied at gaining their attention, he stepped in, turning to look at each one of them. "Do you remember who Ranamon really is?"

The blank looks on the Warriors faces answered the question for him, and Mercurymon offered a slight smirk. He leaned against the wall, lifting an arm and showing his mirror to them. "Lowemon was right. We used to be Warriors, not Diplomats. And there was plenty of honor in that. We were chosen because we were the best warriors, not because we were good leaders. We were chosen from each of the ten most powerful elements. But our use has ended. We are no longer Warriors. That job is over. Now we are leaders of restoration, those of us who can do that. Ranamon cannot, because she does not know how."

"What are you talking about?" Agunimon frowned. "We're still Legendary Warriors! Our job description just changed! That's all!"

"You are missing the point." Mercurymon sighed dramatically. "We were only chosen as Legendary Warriors in the beginning because we fit the job description best. Now that the job description has changed, some of us can no longer BE Legendary Warriors."

"Ranamon is still a Legendary Warrior," Agunimon insisted. "I don't know what you're getting at."

"Then look. Ranamon is a fighter and a puppet, and nothing more. She cannot do what you expect of her, if she has never learned how to do it. Neither could you do something that you have never learned. Do not be so quick to judge what you do not understand. Look and see: This is Ranamon. Do not expect her to suddenly become something she is not."

An image appeared on his mirror, an image of a water digimon. The digimon was lovely, dressed in royalty and standing on top of a glass tower. She lifted her right hand upward, and water swirled around her, destroyed anything it touched. Then she lowered her hand, and the water vanished. Then she stood there, waiting, while around her, other less-important water digimon scurried around her, doing everything for her without asking. And she turned and went inside a large blue castle, alone.

"Ranamon is a strong warrior, who has been taught nothing except how to fight. Everything else has been done for her." Mercurymon lowered his arm, then turned and began to walk out. "She was a Princess before she was a Warrior…a prisoner who could do nothing for herself. Do not expect her to suddenly know how to do everything you spent your entire life learning." He stopped and turned back, offering a slight smirk. "You must teach her." Then he left, leaving the six of them completely bewildered.

-.-

"Why did you stand up for her?" Grumblemon asked, fingering with his hammer. He scowled as Mercurymon entered the room. "Just because she doesn't know how to do work doesn't mean we let her get away with it. We don't just pity her and leave it at that!"

"Of course not," Mercurymon snapped. He seated himself on a large stone, glaring at the earth digimon. "I just want them to see that they are addressing the wrong problem. Ranamon has been deprived of a real upbringing. All her life, she was told what to do, and everything else was done for her. When she first joined us, she didn't even know how to think for herself. She just fought when we had to fight because she was good at it, and acted pretty the rest of the time because that was all she knew how to do! We cannot simply expect her to do something she cannot do, nor can we not ask her to do the same work we are doing."

"Then you just created an impossible situation." Grumblemon slammed the hammer into the ground, not very hard, but hard enough to send an echo through the rocks. "We can't do what we have to do, and we have to do what we can't do. What now?"

"We're going to have to force her to learn what we know and take for granted." Mercurymon smiled his secretive smile, and leaned against the wall. "And I have a plan that will probably solve all of our problems."

Grumblemon sat up, frowning. "I don't like that look," he mumbled. "What is your plan?"

Mercurymon's smirk widened. "We're going to send her on a quest…to find her true Beast Spirit."

Grumblemon's eyes widened, and his frown deepened. But he could already tell that Mercurymon was not about to change his mind. Sighing, he lifted his hammer, shaking his head. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Mercurymon's smile faded slightly, and he offered a small sigh. "I do," he whispered, turning away. "But it's not going to be easy…on her…or on me."

He stood and walked out, ignoring Grumblemon's confused expression. He wasn't about to explain himself.

-.-

Welcome to the end of the beginning of a quest that will not be like any other quest that has taken place in the Digital World before.

Do you think you can handle it?

We'll see, I guess.

Comments? Questions? Critiques? Let me know so I can work on it.

Thanks for reading!

rika195