yym: Voting is still going on. So far, I've gotten a few, but please vote. Your opinions could help this story!

Ryuu: But it won't help me.

yym: SHUT UP RYUU!!! NOW DO THE DISCLAIMER!!!

Ryuu: Uh-oh. She's mad! (speaks very fast) yinyangmatrix does not own Digimon, but owns Kasumi, Bunnyumon, and me! Gotta go! (runs away)

yym: GET BACK HERE!!! (chases after him)

Tommy: yym is pissed off because her allergies are bothering her, not to mention homework and projects.

Kumamon: So please R&R! (Before yym gets really mad! Just kidding!)

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Child of the Stars

Chapter 9: Celebimon, Goddess of Nature

"WHAT?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Agunimon yelled, outraged. All the warriors have gathered in the meeting place with the three Celestials. Seraphimon nodded.

"Yes, we are serious. This is no joke", he said sternly. He turned to Ophanimon and she nodded.

"The children must fight alone against the new evil. They must find their strengths individually. If you intervene, then the world will stand no chance against the evil", Ophanimon explained, looking at each and every one of them. Beetlemon looked disgusted.

"So we can't do anything but watch. Boy, aren't we useless?" The warriors all murmured in agreement. Cherubimon quieted them down by glaring.

"You aren't useless. When they have found their strengths, we will fight with them. For now, we'll send Lobomon, Lowemon, and Kumamon with them to observe how they are developing" he told them.

"Aww! I wanted to go!" Agunimon whined. Kazemon and Beetlemon joined in with his whining.

"Yeah! Us too!" Seraphimon raised his hand up to calm them down.

"Only they will go. You will stay back with us to support them. I'm sure you know why Lobomon and Lowemon are coming with them."

"Oh yeah! They're Princess Jirachimon's closest confidants! But... why is Kumamon coming with them?"

"Because I'm smart, adorable, and oh-so-fluffy."

"No, you're not!

"Okay, that's part of the reason why but the main reason is because of my intelligence."

"WHAT?! YOU'RE NOT SMART!!!"

"That is the main reason why Kumamon is coming. He's very intelligent and you shouldn't underestimate him", Ophanimon said simply. Kumamon stuck out his tongue at Agunimon. Agunimon bristled angrily.

"So is that all?" he said in annoyed tone. Ophanimon paused, thinking for a moment and said:

"Well... Bokomon and Neemon shall be going with them to translate future prophecies. And also… we will especially watch how Kasumi develops. Okay, this meeting is adjourned!" The warriors all nodded and left. Kumamon stayed behind and looked solemnly at the three Celestials.

"The real reason why I'm going is to prevent it from happening again, right?" They all nodded and Ophanimon put her hands on Kumamon's shoulders.

"Just do your best, Kumamon... for the sake of the two worlds."

(Kasumi)

I woke up from my dream, feeling a bit groggy. Was that dream real? Who was that princess? Then I realized I was in a bed. Am I home? I heard soft breathing beside me and found Bunnyumon sleeping. I crept out of bed to the door and opened it gently. I felt the breeze of the cold night air. No… I'm not home. So just where am I? I went outside and found that the room was actually a tree. Okay then… someone brought me to a tree-house, I thought. I looked around to see if there was anyone who brought me here. No one. The trees were shadowed by the moon's eerie light. I felt a teensy bit scared. I wanted to wake up Bunnyumon, but decided against it. She needed some sleep. I jumped at the sound of leaves rustling. Maybe that's the wind, I thought. I felt really scared. Great. Just great. I'm officially scared. In a tiny, trembling voice, I asked:

"Is anybody there?" I heard no response, but more rustling. So I decided to say it louder.

"Is anybody there?" Suddenly, a hand went over my mouth.

"Mmmph!" I screamed, muffled by the hand.

"Shh… Do you want the enemy to find you?" I realized the voice belonged to Koji. He let go of me and I turned around to take a good look at him. He looked very much like Kouichi, but his eyes were very deep and cold. His face was very serious and his long black hair shone with the tinge of moonlight. I couldn't help blushing. He was just as handsome as Kouichi. Then I remembered where I was and looked at him.

"Where am I?" I whispered.

"You're at our friend Bokomon's house," he replied silently, "We found you unconscious and brought you here. What happened to you at that place?"

"What place?" I asked and then I remembered what happened, "Oh yeah… Well, I don't remember why but…"

"But what?"

"I remembered seeing this statue of a goddess and then I had this really weird dream of this princess…"

"That's probably Princess Jirachimon. So you are the girl in the prophecy." I sighed. That dream convinced me that I was the girl in the prophecy. I couldn't doubt it.

"So… Koji… what am I supposed to do? I'm just one person and the 'evil' is against me. How am I supposed to save the world?" I waited for an answer. Koji didn't respond.

"Well?"

"We'll be there for you. Don't worry. We'll protect you", he said quietly. I glared at him.

"What did I just say about that? I don't want to be protected!" I yelled. Koji moved in close to me and put his finger to my lips. I blushed.

"Shh… Calm down. Maybe we could work this out." He moved his finger away. I glared at him again, bristling. He sighed.

"How about this? You travel with us to find Princess Jirachimon's spirits. If you can show that you can protect yourself without our help, we'll leave you alone." He waited for an answer. I thought about it. Then I made my decision.

"I'll come with you if we find Ryuu. Plus, I want to get stronger to protect myself and not watch people get hurt because of me." I remembered what had happened to Bunnyumon. And Kouichi. I was too weak to help them.

-Flashback-

"Hey, little rich girl! I heard you're home schooled! Wow, and I thought spoiled brats like you go to academies!" The boys burst out laughing. Tears streamed down my cheeks. A group of older boys had me cornered.

"Hey, look! She's crying! What happened to pride?" One of the boys pointed out. They started to laugh even harder. I was crying even harder. Then I heard a voice.

"Hey, stop picking on Kasumi!" I saw who my savior was. It was a boy wearing a blue baseball cap. Kouichi, Ryuu's best friend. The boys just glared at him.

"You got a problem with that, Kimura?" The leader said, shooting Kouichi a dirty look. Kouichi just shot one back.

"Yes, I do. Stop picking on Kasumi or else."

"Or else what?"

"I'll fight you." The boys snickered.

"Five against one. That sounds fair." Then they all lunged for Kouichi. I watched in horror as Kouichi was getting beaten very badly. Out of nowhere, Ryuu came in and rushed to Kouichi's defense. He knew aikido and taught those boys a lesson. But Kouichi was in bad shape. I rushed over to him.

"Are you okay, Kouichi? You didn't have to do that. You got hurt", I said, with tears in my eyes. He looked me with his bruised face and managed a smile.

"I did that because… I wanted to protect you, Kasumi."

-End of Flashback-

I was too weak to do anything. Kouichi got hurt by those bullies. Bunnyumon got hurt by those knights and BlackGatomon. That's why I wanted to get stronger. My thoughts were interrupted by Koji's question.

"So do we have a deal?" I nodded.

"Only if we find Ryuu."

"That's fine. We'll help you find your brother."

"Okay." Then there was an awkward pause. I felt a little bit uncomfortable and I could sense Koji felt the same way. So I decided to ask him a question.

"Hey, Koji?"

"Huh?"

"Have we met somewhere before?" There was another pause. Koji didn't respond.

"Koji?"

"I really don't know… Hey, look out!" Koji pushed me down and out of nowhere a blast came. I heard some laughter.

"Well, well. Still up at this hour?" In the moonlight, I saw Crusadermon and Dynasmon. Koji took out a Bo staff and lunged for them.

"Hah! Take this!" Crusadermon blocked it and slammed Koji down. He let out a cry of pain and fell to the ground. I gasped and rushed over to him.

"Koji!" I cried. Then I heard a shout.

"Mistress!" It was Bunnyumon. She rushed over to us.

"Are you okay?" she asked frantically.

"I'm okay, but Koji's not."

"Mistress, I'm going to digivolve!"

"But Bunnyumon! You'll get hurt!"

"I'm sorry Mistress but I must!" Then she rushed into the fight. I took out my D-tector. It started to glow.

"Bunnyumon digivolve to… RABBITUMON!!!" Rabbitumon let out a blast at Dynasmon but he deflected it. He shot a blast at her and it hit Rabbitumon directly. She fell to the ground, her fractal code showing.

"NO!" I cried. Crusadermon laughed and Dynasmon lunged for me. I screamed but he never touched me. Kouichi and the others jumped out of nowhere.

"You're not taking Kasumi!" Kouichi yelled as he blocked Dynasmon. Takuya lunged at Dynasmon with his fiery sword but he retaliate Kouichi and Takuya. They fell to the ground. I notice Crusadermon was closing in on Rabbitumon. Zoe, Tommy, and J.P tried to stop her, but it was all in vain. She just pushed them away forcibly and step in front of Rabbitumon. Everybody was down and hurt. Nobody could save Rabbitumon. It's happening again. They're all hurt because of me. Why is it happening again? Why? Crusadermon laughed wickedly and looked at Dynasmon. He nodded at her.

"It's been so long since I had some fractal code. This is so splendid! The strong and elegant must feed off the poorly weak in order to survive! This is the end for you!" she said cheerfully. She was ready to absorb Rabbitumon's data.

"NO!!!" I screamed and I ran over to her with my D-tector in my hand. I felt my birthmark burn on my neck.

"YOU CAN'T TAKE BUNNYUMON AWAY!!!" It burned even harder and I felt a power rushing to my chest. My D-tector started to glow brighter. I saw a flash of the goddess I saw at the tunnel. She let out her hand and I grabbed it. The goddess was guiding me on what to do. It's my turn now.

(Kouichi)

I watched in horror as Crusadermon stepped in front of Rabbitumon. I tried to get up but I felt a pain in my ribs. Crusadermon laughed evilly and was ready to absorb Rabbitumon's data until I heard Kasumi scream.

"NO!!! YOU CAN'T TAKE BUNNYUMON AWAY!!!" She ran towards them. I called out to her.

"Oh no! Kasumi!" She suddenly stopped and her D-tector was shining brightly. She lifted it up in the air. Immediately, my D-tector and everyone else's shot a beam of light at hers.

"EXECUTE!!! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!!!" Kasumi started to glow and rings of data surrounded her. In a flash of light, she was no longer there but in her place was a goddess with a pair of golden delicate wings. She had dark violet hair and eyes and wore a green dress. In her hands, there was a bow and arrow. I gasped. Did Kasumi spirit evolve?

"CELEBIMON!!!" So that's her name. Celebimon aimed her arrow at Crusadermon and launched it.

"Elemental Arrow!" The arrow hit Crusadermon indirectly but was still effective. Crusadermon shrieked in pain.

"AH!!! You'll pay for that!" And then she lunged for Celebimon, but Dynasmon held her back.

"Now, now Crusadermon. Don't forget we can't hurt her. She is needed by the master." An arrow nearly hit Dynasmon but he managed to dodge it.

"Who needs me?" Celebimon replied coldly, "I want to find that person for hurting the people I care for. He will pay." She aimed her arrow directly at them. They just laughed.

"I don't think you'll have the will to kill anyone", Dynasmon chuckled.

"What?"

"Crusadermon, Dynasmon. The master wants you to return. He says the girl has found the first spirit, so we must plan ahead for the second spirit." We all turned around to see BlackGatomon. Rabbitumon de-digivolve back into Bunnyumon and limped towards Kasumi. BlackGatomon purred until she saw Bunnyumon. She glared at her and growled.

"Grr… It's you, that dumb bunny who ruined my mission. I swear I'll get revenge on you and that dumb mutt Lobomon if it's the last thing I do." Bunnyumon just glared right back.

"Just see if you can try, BlackGatomon."

"Maybe I will. BlackGatomon digivolve-"

"You were supposed to retrieve the Royal Knights back. Was there anymore to the mission, BlackGatomon?" A BlackAgumon came out of the shadows.

"Come on, the master wants us. Let's go."

"Aww… poo. You ruin my fun", BlackGatomon pouted. Then she shot another dirty glare at Bunnyumon. Bunnyumon shot one back.

"Guess I'll have to deal with you and that dumb mutt later! Bye-bye!" Then she disappeared into the shadows. The Royal Knights flew away. Celebimon tried to pursue them but immediately she turned back to Kasumi. Kasumi collapsed to the ground on her knees. She was looking at her hands. I ran up to her, clutching on to my hurt arm.

"Are you all right, Kasumi?" I said, worried. She nodded, trembling, looking at her hands.

"I can't believe I actually fought, but they still managed to get away. I'm still weak." I heard her whisper. I shook my head. That moment, the pain went away as I wrapped my arms around her and brought her close to me.

"I'm just glad that you saved us all, Kasumi", I whispered in her ear. I'm just really glad that you're safe, I thought as a tear trickled down my cheek.

As I watched Kouichi hug Kasumi, I couldn't help noticing Koji had a look of jealousy on his face. I couldn't help but chuckle in the shadows. Love is such a strange thing. It'll get more intense soon so they better be aware.

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yym: Now that Chapter 9 is out of the way, I have to work on a school project. So I might not be able to update for about two weeks. Sorry.

J.P: YES!!! WE WON'T BE BOTHERED!!!!

Takuya: WOO-HOO!!!! FREEDOM!!!

yym: WHAT?! (takes out Beezlemon's gun)

J.P & Takuya: Uh-oh. (runs away) AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zoe: Don't forget that voting is still going on so please vote.

Ryuu: And review please! (or we'll all suffer.)

yym: Shut up Ryuu! Oh yeah since this chapter is almost 2,500 words, my friend told me I should shout out something. So… HAPPY LATE VALENTINE'S DAY!!!