By Admiral_Albia and D_D_Duley
First, a bit of an explanation. Neither of the authors of this story
have read the last Animorphs book yet. However, we've read the spoilers
and we both agree that almost everyone has missed a vital point; technology.
Remember Animorphs 34 (The Prophecy), with Aldrea? Well.
Anyway, we've read all the other sequels and we disagree... here's
our version. It's a bit (well, a lot) happier and we hope it inspires people
to keep writing.
Three warnings; One. We're English. A vacation is a holiday,
candy is sweets, the sidewalk is the pavement and pants are trousers. Two.
Parts of this are based on Admiral Albia's other Animorphs story, which
she hasn't finished yet. Three. We're writing this alternatively; part
two will be by d_d_duley.
Happy reading, and have hope for the future!
Animorphs 55; The Reunion - Part One (written by admiral_albia)
Tobias
I soared out over the forest until I saw a large boulder which
hadn't been there yesterday. Hey, Erek. Good to see you. Or, well,
the boulder that I assume is you.>
He dropped his hologram as I landed on the brach above his head.
"Is there even a slight chance I can fool you?"
Nope. Are you sure you want to do this?> Erek smiled his
weird android smile.
"Tobias, you and your friends won this war. You and your other
friends brought back the Pemalites. I owe you at least this. And besides,
Rachel shouldn't have died."
Fair enough. Follow me.> I led him down to the valley and
into my cave; the one which I always swore I'd never let anyone but myself
and Loki into. I guess I've changed a lot. Once inside, I began the demorph
to human.
Erek was grinning again. "You know, I never think of that as
demorphing, even now. It's weird.>
"Mmm, but useful. Right. Please listen to this..."
Erek
"Please listen to this..." I nodded, and opened an area of read-only
memory. Tobias took a deep breath. "This," he said, holding up a tube containing
some blue liquid, "is Rachel's DNA, which is stored in MorphTricker. This"
a greenish bottle now, "is an ixcila of Rachel which I took just seconds
before she died. And this is MorphTricker, which I don't need to explain."
I nodded again. MorphTricker was the pride and joy of the Andalite genius
Arbron; it probably contained Rachel's morphs.
"Using them you can recreate Rachel."
"Yes; but only with help. When Rachel's body regrowth stops,
we'll have to activate the ixcila instantly otherwise her body'll realise
it's being controlled. It won't recognise Rachel's personality. Also, she'll
be naked. That's where you come in."
"That and it'll take about a week to regrow her body."
"Yeah, and that. So," Tobias took a breath for the first time
trhoughout his long speech, "do you still want to help?"
"Of course I'll help, Tobias," I told him. "After all, you brought
my masters back to life for me." And he smiled suddenly, the first time
I'd ever seen such an expression on his face.
ONE WEEK LATER
Tobias
"Tobias! One minute to go!" I bolted out of my makeshift bed
and into the main lab, still trying to drag my clothes on. I fell down
the stairs, then realised that I had both legs down one trouser.
"Thirty seconds..." I grabbed the ixcila bottle and rammed it
into the hole. This was where we'd either get Rachel back... or get Rachel's
body and instincts.
Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four...
"Three. Two. One. UNCORK THAT BOTTLE!" Erek yelled as I did so.
The greenish mist of the ixcila wafted into the DNA chamber and seconds
later, the hatch opened. I crossed my fingers and Erek dropped his hologram;
Rachel's body was suddenly fully clothed.
"What's your name?" I blurted as soon as soon as she stepped
out.
"Rachel, why... Tobias!"
And it feels almost shameful to admit it, but right then I broke
down completely. Before I really knew what was happening I was hugging
Rachel, and she was hugging back; I was vaguely aware that I could feel
her skin through her `clothes`.
Erek coughed loudly and we broke apart. "What am I doing here?"
Rachel asked me, sounding thoroughly confused. Then she must have realised.
"Oh, God... I died, didn't I?" I nodded. "So I'm what... a copy? A memory?"
"An ixcila of yourself put into a regrown version of your body,"
I told her. "Ixcila being what the Arn used with Aldrea, remember? Only
this one is waaay more advanced. Now, here's MorphTricker. There's your
morphing powers back. We'd better go to Cassie's and get you some clothes."
"Cassie? For clothes? Forget that. Hey... did we win?"
"Oh, yes. We won all right. But please, Rachel, I think Erek
wants to look human again."
"OK." And she smiled that old Rachel grin, looked straight at
me and said, "Let's fly."
Cassie
It was early morning, and I was in bed. I sleep with the window
open, so obviously Tobias and Rachel could get right in. Or even Jake,
if he chanced to drop by. Hmm...
Anyway, this meant that the first thing I knew of the proceedings
that night was when I woke up with a red-tail on my bed.
"Tobias? What're you doing here? It's" I glanced at my alarm
clock, "Four-thirty."
Cassie, there's a bit of a surprise for you if you put the
light on. Me, though, I'm keeping my back turned.>
I reached over and switched my light on; I got such a shock I
nearly fell out of bed. "Rachel!"