Thanks to all who reviewed, and sorry for the wait, but I had my reasons. Anyways this is the last chapter… of this year! lol! In this chapter

most of Izumi's questions will be answered as I said in the previous one.

Hope you had a good year and this is some advice from me before I start the next chappie: if you really want to see, you must believe, but you

should really believe not just repeat after what your friends or parents think or do. So put good thought into your beliefs to make sure you're

on the right track, for then and only then will you be able to open your eyes to life.

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon or the characters (same goes for the previous chapter since I forgot to say this)

On with the fic!

Watching Over You

Chapter five: And So It All Begins

You may not know,

I'm there with you,

Protecting you,

Watching over you


The trap door slammed behind them as they climbed down a rope ladder, Mimi first, Izumi second, and Auron the last. When they reached

the bottom Mimi and Auron lit three torches and passed one to Izumi. Izumi took the torch and looked around her. There were four different

pathways in different directions.

"So which way are we going?" Izumi asked.

"This way", Mimi said taking a path. Izumi and Auron followed close by. "It will take us about a day to get to the end of this tunnel. It will lead us

to the borders of my kingdom. We will rest there, and then continue a day's walk till we get to the borders of the Blue Kingdom. Prince Ryo

should be waiting for us at the end of his tunnel, which we will go through until we reach his palace. Then after that we will head for Prince Kouji's castle."

"Okay I think I got it. So now will you answer my questions?" Izumi asked.

"Yes you can ask all you want now. Auron why don't you take lead so I can fill her in on everything?"

Auron silently walked ahead with no objections, while the two teens followed.

"So tell me about this prophecy again."

"Well I think I should start from the very beginning to make sure you get it all. It's a long story, so get comfortable."

"I'm as comfortable as can be", Izumi replied sarcastically.

The young princess giggled and then began her tail. "Well lets see… where do should I start… okay, so you see along time ago, Memo was a very

wonderful place and everyone was happy. The land was, and still is, made up of six kingdoms: The Pure Kingdom, the Black Kingdom, the

Green Kingdom, the Red Kingdom, the Blue Kingdom, and the Yellow Kingdom. The king and queen of all Memo ruled the pure kingdom.

They had only one daughter and she was very precious to them. All of the problems began about ten years ago. There was a group of deaths of

some of the kings and queens. The high king was one of them, although they were not sure of what. The king of the red kingdom was held

responsible for all of their deaths, but I'm not sure why, and the high queen sent guards to get him, but he somehow slipped away from them and

disappeared. No one has heard of him until today. But as time passed by the high queen ordered everyone to forget about all of their troubles

and move on. Everything was restored to its natural state, and happiness filled the land once again, that is until the big tragedy occurred about

six years ago. No one knows for sure what happened, but the high princess passed away. There are rumors that she was very sick and suffered

from a deadly disease; also that the red king came and killed her. But I don't think so, because what ever the reason was, the high queen developed

a hating for digimon, and wants to destroy them all, but if she does that memo will never be the same, for the digimon are the source of happiness

here. Taking away the digimon would be taking away the people's happiness, but the queen doesn't care. She said that the digimon took away here

happiness so it will make no difference if they are gone. Everyone lost hope, until we were told of a person who will come into the picture to save

the land. This person is also known as the chosen one. We were told that he would use all of the five magical stones and supreme stone together to

get the pure stone which he needs to get in order to face the queen and save the digimon. Once the queen found out about this she locked away all

of the digimon away and made all of the minor kings and queens go to stay at her palace, and sent her followers to watch all of the land and wait for the

chosen one. Till now she hasn't destroyed the digimon because she said she wanted to get rid of the chosen one in front of them so that they can suffer

more. Are you keeping up with me?"

"I think so but it's kinda confusing. So in short the queen wants to kill the digimon because her daughter died and I'm supposed to save them?"

"Close enough. I think that answered most of you're questions. Am I right?"

"Well yeah but it only brought more."

"Well how about you ask later because my mouth is all dry from talking and walking at the same time."

"Fine with me. I think I have to give my mind a rest anyways, because I think that was more complicated than all those math classes I took." Izumi said, then

they both began to laugh, and continued walking along the path.

After about an hour of non-stop walking in silence Izumi finally spoke up. "Can we take a short break now, cuz I'm really hungry and tired." She looked

at the other two and noticed that the princess only looked a little tired while Auron looked no different than he did to begin with. She felt a little embarrassed

that she was totally pooped while they were still in good shape, so she immediately contradicted herself and said, "Never mind I'm just kidding! Let's keep going."

Mimi looked at her concerned, and then she remembered something important, "Hey wait a sec, I just remembered something. There's a cart about

an hour's walk from here and it leads to the end of the tunnel! We can ride it, so it will only take us approximately three hours to get to the end of the tunnel!"

Joy lit up on Izumi face upon hearing the good news. "Well then let's hurry up and get to it cuz I really need to eat!" And with that she sped off ahead

of the other two as if fully energized again. The princess laughed while Auron smirked and hurried after the hyper blonde.

Izumi came to a stop upon seeing a metal cart that was probably big enough to fit ten passengers. Mimi and Auron had caught up to her by now.

"I can't believe I forgot all about this cart. Now I'll have to repeat my time calculations all over again!" the princess complained. Izumi giggled

and said, "don't worry I'll help, cuz I rock in math." The princess's face lit up in relief and thanked Izumi. They all got in the cart, while Auron pushed the

button and they were off. The princess took a small bag out of her pocket, and took three little objects out and gave one to each of them, "These will give

you energy and make you forget you're hunger for now since we don't have any food with us.", she said to Izumi. Izumi looked at the object in her

hand. It looked like a small pill. She threw it into her mouth and chewed it. It tasted really well compared to all the medicine pills she had tried.

After an hour the cart came to a stop, and they all got out. Izumi looked around her and saw another rope ladder leading upward. "So are we going

to go up now or wait till tomorrow like you said before?" she asked.

"Well I think it would save more time if we left now, but it might be safer to leave early tomorrow morning. What do you think Auron?" said the princess.

"I think we should leave now to make better timing. If we wait longer we would be risking more danger in the near future." he replied.

"I guess you're right. Anyways this way we wont have to camp twice in the forest. Are you okay by that Izumi?"

"Yeah, whatever you say. Besides the sooner the better for me."

"Well then after you." said Auron with his arms folded. So Izumi made her way up the ladder as the other two followed. When she got out she was

greeted by the warm sunlight. She took a deep breath and she tasted the sweet air once again. She looked ahead of her and saw a young girl riding a lovely

white horse closely followed by a young boy around the same age also on another beautiful white horse, well at least that's what she thought it was. Izumi

smiled at the sight of them, but then she felt another great pain in her head so she closed her eyes tightly to try to ease the pain. She opened them once

again but the two children were nowhere to be seen. 'They couldn't have got that far in such little time could they?' Then she realized something.

'Wait a sec, weren't they the same two I saw when I first got here?' Her head was still aching when Auron and Mimi finally got out of the tunnel.

She turned around to look at them, but then her eyes opened wide in amazement and she forgot her pain. "Did we just walk out a tree?!" she exclaimed

pointing to the tree behind Mimi. Mimi began to laugh and replied, "Yes and no. It's really just an illusion to hide the path from others. Only the ones

who know about it can enter it, because it feels like a normal tree to those who don't know about it. Clever isn't it?"

"Yes. Very." Izumi replied still not believing she just walked out a tree, "so which way do we go now?"

"Well prince Ryo's castle is that way so follow me", then Auron replied and headed straight ahead of them. The two girls followed. "We have to be more

careful now. We will probably get tomorrow night, right princess?"

"Actually I think we will get there tomorrow like now, because he should be waiting at the end of his tunnel for us, and he has a cart that leads all the way to his castle."

"Good, then let's get a move on." he said and they continued walking.

"Princess…" Izumi started.

"Just call me Mimi."

"Okay then. Mimi how does prince Ryo know that we're coming now?"

"Well remember when my stone glowed yellow by you?"

"Yeah"

"Well all the princes and princess Rika have similar stones but different colored ones according to their kingdoms. Prince Kouji has a black one because

he's the ruler of the black kingdom, and similarly prince Ryo has a blue stone, Prince Yamato has a green one, Princess Rika has a red one, and I have

a yellow one. When one of us finds the chosen one, not only our stones light up, but all the others do as well except they will glow the color of the stone that

is near the chosen one. So to make it clearer to you, when my stone glowed yellow yesterday, so did theirs. So they know that I found you. Keeping up?"

"Yeah I think so. Go on."

"Before the queen found out about the chosen one, but after she took our parents away, we all gathered and decided that when we find the chosen one

we all head to Prince Kouji's castle since it's the closest to the queen's kingdom. But we also agreed that if I or Princess Rika finds you first, then Ryo

and Yamato would have to wait for us to get to them first before heading to Kouji's castle since we live the farthest away. Get it?"

"Yeah, although it's a bit complicated it is a good plan."


They walked for many hours. Izumi looked at her watch. It was 6:43. She heard her stomach rumble and wished she had eaten her breakfast. And as

if Mimi had heard her thoughts she said, "Hey look. It's a meat apple tree!"

Izumi looked up at the tree and saw big round brown balls. Although she didn't know what a meat apple was she guessed it was food, and jumped up and

down with joy mentally. Mimi climbed up the tree while Auron spread his cloak to catch them. "Hey Izumi can you start a fire." Mimi asked.

"Sure thing." And then she went to gather some sticks and rocks, but then she heard nearby voices. She looked up and saw 10 men wearing black cloaks.

She stood there staring at them absentmindedly letting the wind blow threw her hair. It wasn't until one of them spotted her that she realized that they were

probably from the queen's followers. She was about to run away but the sight of their faces stopped her. Pure fear was written over all their faces as

if they were looking at a ghost. After standing there for a moment they all ran away very quickly. 'What the hell? Why did they look at me like that?

Were they even looking at me or something behind me?' She shuddered at the thought and cautiously turned around. 'Nothing. I'm such a coward!

But I'm sure they were looking at me, but then why did they run away?' Her sequence of thoughts was broken by the sound of Mimi's voice. "I thought

you were making a fire", she said coming up to her, but then she said, "What's wrong with you?"

"I just saw a group of about ten men wearing black cloaks."

"OMG! They must be the queen's followers! Did they see you?!" she exclaimed a bit fearful. Auron came up to them as well.

"They did, I'm sorry. But they ran away." she said staring at the ground guiltily, "They looked scared when they looked at me though but I don't know why."

Auron and the princess exchanged looks and looked very uncomfortable. She assumed it was because they were finally spotted, although she had a

suspicion they were hiding something from her, but she shrugged the thought away.

"They probably went to tell the queen. We should get a move on. Word spreads around pretty fast around here." Auron said.

"But why did they look so scared?" she asked.

"Huh.., well um they're probably afraid that you have great power or something, you know, because of the prophecy of the chosen one having the power

to defeat the queen." Mimi answered her.

"But how did they know I was the chosen one? I mean don't I look like everyone else here?"

"Maybe a little too much like people here", Auron said and began to make a fire. Izumi gave him a questioning look, and was about to ask what he meant, but

Mimi cut in but exclaiming, "Let's forget about our troubles now and eat, I'm starved!" She grabbed a meat apple, stuck a stick threw it, and put it over the fire.

"Grab one and do the same." she told Izumi. She did as she was told, and Auron did the same. After about ten minutes the princess pulled hers back and

took a bite out if it, and then said, "I think they're done now. Eat them." Izumi pulled hers back and looked at it. 'What is it supposed to be, an apple that

tastes like meat or meat that tastes like an apple?' Auron must have been reading her mind for he said, "It tastes like any kind of meat you want. Try it."

Izumi still hesitated but took a bite anyhow since she was sooo hungry. 'Wow! This is great! I've never tasted anything so good in my life! Well maybe

except for the water I drank earlier.'

They ate the meat apples silently and calmly. By the time they had finished, the sun was setting. "I think we should camp around here for today. We'll

wake up early tomorrow and start our way again. But I think we should take turn keeping watch overnight just in case we have uninvited guests over the night." said Auron.

"I agree I'll stay on watch first." said Mimi.

"And I'll go next." Izumi suggested.

"Then I'll be last." said Auron.

The two teenage girls each gathered leaves to make a bed while Auron just leaned against a tree. Then Mimi and Izumi sat by the fire and started a conversation.

"Can you tell me about the princes and Princess Rika?" Izumi asked.

"Well okay, but I haven't seen them all since the princess passed away. You see after the queen took our parents away, we became the ones in charge of our

kingdoms, thus we weren't allowed to leave our lands, and still aren't, unless it's for a very important reason and we have to have the queen's permission.

So you might find them different than what I tell you now." she replied.

"Fine with me, I just want to get an idea about them so I don't find them strange."

"Okay then I think I'll start with Ryo since he's the first you're gonna meet. Well he, like the rest of them and me, is an only child. He was going to turn 12

when I last saw him. He should be 18 by now like me but I'm older. He was known as Mr. Perfect because he was like the best at everything he did. He

lived with only his father because his mother died. Then there's Yamato who is also 18 now and almost 19, and also lived with his father because his mother

also died. He was known the most for his bravery. Then there is Princess Rika. Well she used to be a very kindhearted girl and was always happy, that is

until her father was accused to be a murderer. She was only 7 then. Her father wasn't a very good man; I used to be afraid of going to her place back then.

He looked worse than a murderer, but she seemed to think otherwise. She loved him very much and would yell at us if anyone of us said something bad

about him. But after he was accused for killing the high king and Ryo's and Yamato's mothers, and then disappeared, she changed completely. We never

saw her for a whole year after that, but when we did, she was so coldhearted. We felt we couldn't trust her anymore. We were afraid she had chosen to

follow in her father's footsteps. Some of the rumors even say that she killed the princess. Oh and by the way, her mom died too, a little before the other

queens died because she had a disease."

"What? If she killed the princess why would she be helping you save the digimon and if you didn't trust her then why did you trust that if she found me she wouldn't kill me or not tell you all?"

"Because she hated the queen for what she did to her dad so she would want the chosen one to defeat the queen. Anyway she should be 17 now. And at

last there's Prince Kouji. He was 11 then, a year older than the high princess. His parents are divorced, and there are also rumors that Rika's father had

something to do with their breaking up. He used to prefer to be alone and he liked the silence. But you know how they say opposites attract? Well that's

how it was for him and the high princess. Oh and by the way her name was Mia. She was this very cheerful and happy girl, and the complete opposite of

Kouji, but somehow they became the best of friends, and some people believed that they would get married someday, but they would deny it. They used

to hang out in different parts of the land alone only with the princess's digimon fairymon. But when the princess died he returned back into his lone wolf

self. He should be 17 by now. As for me, well, I'm the only one who still has two happy parents, and Auron as a guide, but now he's yours as well. And

also I haven't changed much from the way I used to be except that I became stronger and learned how to fight. I believe the rest decided to train also in

these years while waiting for you so that we could protect you."

"I feel sorry for you all, even more than I am for myself. I never realized how good I have it."

"Well I told you about everyone and myself, why don't you tell me about yourself?"

"Okay but there's not much to tell. You see when I was ten I got into an accident and got amnesia. My parents restored my memory, and then two years

later they adopted another daughter named Ayame who was four years old. I and she were very close, but a week ago we found out that she had a

deadly disease and she was going to die just before I got here, Memo I mean." Izumi replied.

"I see. Well you don't have such a happy life either. I guess it's like that for everyone. No matter how great our lives might look like, we always have problems." said the princess.

"You're right. But we have to compare our lives to those who have it worse to realize how good we have it."

Mimi sighed then said, "I think you should get some rest now. I'll wake you when it's you're turn."

Izumi yawned and did as she was told. She lay down on her leaf bed and covered herself with her cloak. "Goodnight to you both.", and then she drifted off into another nightmare…


The journey has begun,

Risking my life for yours,

And saving other lives on the way,

But is it a journey to the future or the past?

…Watching over you…


What's up with those guys in the cloaks? And who are those two kids she keeps on seeing? What's going to happen next?

Well too bad you're gonna have to wait for next year to find out! lol! Please leave a review!