Whoo! Chapter one! (Aren't you all excited? .) I really need to work on longer chapters. But me and describing things aren't exactly on good terms.

"Just A Girl"

Chapter 1

Years had passed since that night. A war was fought, and the chosen children had prevailed. Now the digital world was enjoying a time of feigned peace, living in the brief calm between to great conflicts.

It was a time of renewal, and no sight encompassed this more than that of two young creatures frolicking in their newfound freedom. A young girl and her best friend, a rather pink creature resembling a very small horse: Ponymon.

The two had wandered from Elecmon's overprotective radar to a far more secluded (and dangerous) 'playground.' The large grassy expanse covered the landscape for acres, ending in a dark forest neither one was brave enough to enter, let alone go near.

The sounds of giggles and joyous shouts rang from the apparently abandoned meadow, the rustling of tall weeds and the occasional peek of a white head poking out of the grass the only other clue that two small somethings were at mischief there.

"Ponymon! PONYMON!" The young girl, barely eight or nine by the looks of her, called half-exasperated, half-amused. She could only see over the tall (to her) foliage by jumping above the tops of the stalks, and pursuit in this manner was next to impossible. "C'mon, you know this isn't fair!"

"But Nozomi, it's not my fault I have four legs and you don't." The singsong taunt came from behind Nozomi, causing her to yelp and spin at the unexpected appearance of her digimon friend.

At that age, gracefulness isn't something young girls really have, and this particular one was no difference. Therefore it was hardly a surprise when she toppled to the ground with an undignified "urf."

Ponymon, while greatly amused, wasn't also one to 'kick someone while they're down' so to speak, and so helped the girl to her feet as best she could.

Trying desperately to regain some dignity, Nozomi began pulling sticks and clumps of dirt out of her not-so-white-anymore hair. "Thanks." She mumbled. Ponymon grinned.

"No problem. We should probably head back anyway, no doubt Elecmon's gone into a nervous meltdown by now."

Nozomi narrowed her sea-green eyes and tried her best to contain a chuckle. "I thought he was like that when we are around."

The pink digimon laughed. "You're right. I guess this is the lesser of two evils."

………………………….

The funeral service lasted most of the afternoon, passing by in a blur of black and rain and consoling from others. Yet long as it was, Ken Ichijouji was only aware of one thing.

Sam was gone.

His brother. His best friend, and it was all his fault. The young boy closed his eyes against the painful memory, but still it surfaced inside his guilty conscience.

"…I wish Sam would just disappear!"

I didn't mean it, really. I didn't want you to go away, Sam. I'm sorry. Please forgive me.

Ken, so wrapped up in guilt, hardly noticed they were leaving until his father ushered him and his weeping mother into the car. The drive was remotely silent, the still mourning broken only by his mother's sobs she tried unsuccessfully to muffle.

All too soon, they arrived back at their apartment building. Ken looked up at the tall complex, so cold and uninviting now that it's light was gone. Now that their light was gone.

"Oh," his mother moaned, "I can't stay here. I can't." She turned and cried fresh tears into her husband's shoulder, who himself seemed on the brink of breaking down. Ken had to admire his father's strength.

Holding his wife close, Mr. Ichijouji took a deep breath. "We'll move, love. I promise. But we have to go in at least once to pack." Yet even as he finished his sentence, she recoiled.

"NO! I can't!" She was on the verge of hysteria. "I can't."

And so they moved, Ken never saw his mother reenter her former home once more. She stayed in a hotel alone that night, and the next few Ken and his father joined her until they found another apartment.

Ken had his own room now, and the once-bunk bed was turned into a loft. All of Sam's belongings were put into storage except his computer, which stayed in Ken's new room.

Ken spent all his time in his room on it, playing games and visiting websites. And it was through this software that the boy received an email, and his second trip to the digital world.

………………………….

"YOU TWO ARE GROUNDED!"

Elecmon was ranting again. Nozomi tried her best not to roll her eyes in Ponymon's direction. This wasn't the first time the girls had been grounded. In fact, if someone had actually been able to keep count, it would be their 537th time.

The protective digimon had swooped down on them just as they returned from their play date and, after a very long and angry tirade about how dangerous it was outside the grounds even with the dark masters gone, had finally gotten around to their punishment.

"You are not to leave Primary Village for one week!"

Nozomi could have laughed. He'd tried this tactic before, and Ponymon and herself had drove him so batty being cooped up that he'd had to shorten their sentence. To one day.

"And I don't want to hear any whining, either!"

Ponymon shot Nozomi an incredulous look. She sure as heck wasn't about to argue with this lenient punishment. Nozomi grinned.

"STOP SMILING! Now where was I…"

Ponymon could hardly bite back a laugh, while her compadre had given up the fight entirely, and was now rolling about on the ground giggling like a hyena.

"Oh so you think it's FUNNY do you? Fine then, you are both also responsible for changing each and every one of these baby digimon's diapers!" And with that, he strode away looking rather haughty.

That wiped the humor off the two's faces in a hurry. With a groan, Ponymon turned to Nozomi.

"I think he's even angrier this time than when we dyed his fur blue."

Nozomi snickered, her good mood never diminished for long.

"No that was you, remember? I was sick and you did it to cheer me up."

"Oh…But I remember both of us getting punished."

The girl shot her friend a wide grin.

"That's because we did."

"But I thought you said I did it."

"You did, but I helped you shave him."

A long pause, and then…

"What?"

"He was complaining about how the color would never grow out."

"Oh." Ponymon laughed. "Right."

………………………….

Nearby, a young boy held a glowing digivice in his hand.

Kneeling in the water, a sadistic smirk upon his face, Ken Ichijouji uttered the first words of a tyrant that would change an entire world forever.

"This is mine now!"

Gah. Yay! I got the first chapter done! Enjoy!