The Sister

by King12345

I wont tell you what this is about even though the title says it all and also i have written many stories on other websites so dont think i am a novice

ANIMORPHS CONTINUED

© of Akshay

© also of ZeD

ZeD == Akshay

this is the story of what happens after the books. Thus in Rachel book #54 Rachel gets rebroned when Tobias goes into the world of Dragonball ( see dragonball, dragon ball z, dragon ball gt ) as Goku and gets earth's dragon balls reborns some people and then comes back

DONT STEAL.!.!.!.!

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Prologue

Life! Oh, sweet, glorious life! I had only been alive for a few

months, but I knew it, and I cherished it. It just felt so wonderful to

be alive. My mother's womb was warm, and the sound of her heart

beating was as soothing as any music.

I could sense that I wasn't alone in there very early in my life. As

the months passed and I grew, so did the other baby. I had a

brother! After a while, we could see and feel each other. We were

connected, not physically, but in our minds, in our hearts.

We loved to play. If one of us would turn upside down, the other

would copy. Sometimes, my brother and I would try to kick at the

same time, and eventually, we got it down.

Sometimes, we could hear our mother speaking. We didn't know

what she was saying, but the sound of her voice was almost as

soothing as her heartbeat. My brother and I loved when she would

sing.

She would lean over to he belly and sing right to us, which really

made us feel special.

One time, during a copying game with my brother, our special

connection was severed. It felt as if I were alone, which left me

devastated. Just as suddenly, I was no longer in the womb. I hadn't

been born, I knew this. But one thing was for sure: this was

definitely wrong. It wasn't supposed to happen. I began to cry.

I tried to look around, but found myself floating in empty space.

Bright lights whizzed past me and around me. Then, words that

had no meaning to me flowed into my ears and my mind. They

came from every direction, even from within me.

Sweet baby girl, do not weep. You shall return to your brother soon

enough. For now, you belong with me. You are mine until the time

is right.

This voice was not beautiful and soothing like my mothers. It was

loud and frightening. I longed to be back with my brother. It was

safe there. This new place was cold and scary. Suddenly, life didn't

seem so sweet.

1: Aidan

My name is Aidan. I always liked my name, it sounds very

different than any other name I've heard. The Ellimist told me that

it's Irish and that it means "fire", which is really cool. Even though

I have no idea what Irish is. Most of the names I grew up around

were long, three-part things, but not mine. Mine is only one word:

Aidan. I've no middle or last name. Just Aidan.

My name is so different from everyone I grew up around because I

am human. Those whom I grew up with are not. They are

Andalites.

I never wondered why I was the only human on a planet of

Andalites when I was young. They treated me as though I were one

of them. No questions asked. I went to an Andalite school, was

raised by an Andalite family, and had a lot of friends. They even

made me able to morph, as they do to all students when they reach

a certain level. It seemed like I was an Andalite. The only things

that were different were my appearance, the fact that I wore

clothing (a long skirt made of silky, red cloth and a tank top of

silky, blue cloth), and what I ate, which was an oatmeal-like food

made from the silar plant, sometimes a galor (a small animal

similar to a rabbit), and the fruits off of the trees near our scoop.

Also, I had a small hammock that I slept in, which no one else had.

One day, while I was talking to my shorm

Arelini-Serrobrial-Elonea, my adopted mother called me back to

our scoop.

"What is it?" I asked.

Aidan, something is on my mind, the Andalite woman replied.

I believe it is something you won't like.

"Tell me," I said.

You know that you are not an Andalite. You also know that I

found you in my scoop, she began. I nodded and she continued.

Well, the Ellimist has informed me of your true origin.

This definitely interested me. "Where?!" I demanded eagerly. I bit

my lip. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."

I understand. As for your origin, Aidan, you are a human, and you

are from a planet called Earth. The Ellimist said that you are to

meet with him and he will return you there, my "mother" said

sadly.

"When am I to meet with the Ellimist?" I asked, nervously playing

with my hair, which, I later found out, was a color called

dirty-blond.

Right now, I am afraid, she replied. Do not talk to any of your

friends, do not gather your things. Simply go to your Guide Tree.

"Good bye," I said, embracing her. A tear fell down my cheek.

You will be missed, she said, with no emotion.

I turned away from her and began walking to my guide tree, which

I called Loren. It wasn't an Andalite name, but it was a name that

appeared in my mind.

Greetings, Aidan, the Ellimist's "voice" said. You do know why

you're here, don't you?

I nodded solemnly.

Good. I suppose you are ready to return to your home planet, are

you not?

"I am ready," I declared, though I knew I hadn't fooled the

Ellimist. I hadn't even fooled myself.

I then found myself in the Ellimist's world, floating in a 10

dimensional place. I could see everything at once! Even inside my

own body! I screamed, and saw my lungs expand then deflate as I

did it.

Then, images appeared in my mind. They were faces, human faces.

As they appeared, a name was said.

Jake. Marco. Rachel. Cassie. Then an Andalite. Aximili. Then a

bird (a hawk, my mind told me). Tobias. Then another human face.

Erek the Chee.

Find these people. You will be safe with them. They will protect

you.

A sudden flash of unbearably bright light, then, I was falling! I was

in a tunnel! Falling to the place I would soon call home.

2: Tobias

My name is Tobias. I have a human name, but I am not human. I

used to be, until a couple years ago. That was when I became stuck

as a hawk.

Right about now, I'd usually tell you why, how, and all I knew

about the Yeerks and all that, but I'm sure you know all that stuff

by now. So I'll just start my story, okay?

It was a beautiful day for flying. There were thermals all over the

place. I should have been happy.

But I wasn't.

Something felt off, wrong. I usually went to Rachel when

something was up, and I was on my way there when it happened.

I was getting some altitude, scanning the sky. Then I saw it:

something appeared out of thin air. I focused my laser- sharp vision

and saw that it was a girl. She appeared about 10 feet over the

ground above the open field I was flying over. I dove to the ground.

"AAAAAAAH!" she shrieked. Then she landed with a thud in a

patch of daisies.

Are you okay? I demanded. Normally, I wouldn't just talk to

people, but there was something, well, familiar about her presence.

Like a memory of a dream I had when I was a child. And she had

just fallen from the sky.

She stared at me - this talking bird - for a few moments. "Y-Yeah, I

think so," she whispered. Then, she studied me again. After a

pause, she said to herself, "It's the bird he told me to find!"

What are you talking about?! I yelled.

"Are you Tobias?" she asked. My blood ran cold.

Yes, I replied. Why?

"I've been sent by the Ellimist. My name is Aidan," she replied.

There was something so familiar. . .

Then, a sudden shooting pain in my spine, which stopped as

suddenly as it started. Aaaaaaagh! I screamed.

"What's wrong?" the girl asked.

I don't know, I admitted, fear spreading through me. I then

realized, to my sheer horror, that I was changing to human. But I

hadn't tried morphing, and I couldn't make it stop! What the he-

I began, but at that moment, my thought-speech was cut off. Soon,

I was sitting on the ground, human, in my morphing outfit, and

totally confused.

Aidan and I walked to Cassie's barn. We talked on the way.

"I can do that, too," she said.

"What?" I asked, distracted.

"Morph. I can morph," she said, looking straight ahead.

"How?!" I demanded.

She laughed, sort of, like she was remembering a happy memory.

"I was raised on the Andalite home world." She still looked

forward.

Pretty much the entire trip, she wouldn't look at me. I didn't

understand it. When she did, she'd look away quickly, like my

appearance disturbed her.

We remained silent until we reached Cassie's barn. Peering

through the back door, I saw Cassie inside.

"Cassie, we have a problem," I said.

"Tobias! You're human!" Cassie exclaimed.

"That's half of the problem."

"What's the other half?" Cassie asked.

Aidan walked in through the barn door behind me. She waved at

Cassie. "Hi," she said.

Cassie's jaw dropped open. "I'll get the others. You two go wait up

in the hayloft."

3:Aidan

This bird-turned-human, Tobias, and I climbed up the ladder that

led to the hayloft. I knew we were both thinking the same thing,

but I said it first.

"There's something so familiar about you," I said. "No, not you

yourself. . . It's hard to explain."

"Like. . . like a. . . a connection," he replied, nodding. "I know

what you mean."

He leaned against the wall behind him at the same time as I did.

Then we both stretched our arms to the ceiling in unison, and

stopped in mid-motion when we realized what we were doing.

"Woah, that was creepy," he commented. We sat like that, side by

side against the back wall of the hayloft, for a long time. Finally,

the girl, Cassie, returned with other kids.

Every single face was one that I saw in the vision the Ellimist gave

me. The only one missing was Erek the Chee, whatever a Chee

was. He looked like a human when the Ellimist showed me his

face.

Tobias climbed down the ladder, and I followed. Everyone stared

at us. The one called Jake threw a bag of clothes at Tobias, which

he caught and put on over his "morphing outfit", as he called it.

"This is like this one episode of the Twilight Zone I saw once," the

one called Marco said, "where it was raining chicks. Oh, wait, that

was a dream."

Everyone laughed at that except me. "Also, there's the whole

morphing thing," Jake added.

"At least I was on the ground when it happened," Tobias said.

"Otherwise, I would be in serious pain. There was a really sweet

thermal I was riding, like, a million miles in the air!"

"Have you tried morphing, just to see if you can?" Rachel asked.

"No, but don't you think we should deal with Aidan first?" he said.

"Who?" everyone asked.

Tobias pointed at me.

"Hi," I said.

"So, Aidan," Marco said, sidling up to me and placing his arm

around my shoulder, "where did you fall from? Heaven?"

"The Andalite home world," I replied, ducking out of his hold on

me. Everyone stared, astonished.

How did you get there?! Aximili demanded.

"I was raised there, by adoptive Andalite parents," I said,

defensive. "I was born here, though, I think. That's the impression

I get from seeing that you are all like me."

How would you be born on Earth, but raised on my home

planet? Ax asked.

I shrugged. "The Ellimist?"

"You know about him?" Jake asked.

"He's the one who sent me here," I said, shrugging again.

"Hmmmmmmm," Jake said, his hand on his chin.

"You know who you kinda remind me of?" Marco asked. "Tobias.

I think it's the hair color, and the eyes, and the shape of your faces.

. ." he trailed off. After a beat, he added, "But you're pleasing to

the eyes, so I don't know. . ."

Tobias's eyes narrowed at Marco. Then Tobias and I turned to look

at each other in unison, then turned back to the others and shrugged

simultaniously.

"Woah," Rachel commented. "This is way beyond weird."

You don't know the half of it.

We all groaned. The Ellimist.

"Oh great, Obi-Wan decided to pay us a visit." Marco said.

Aidan, do you remember the boy next to you? The one called

Tobias? You should.

Everyone looked at me. I shook my head, hesitated, then said, "I'd

never seen him before today."

Let me refresh your memory, you two. The rest of you may see as

well.

Suddenly, I was in my mother's womb. But I wasn't alone. It was

like deja vu. I turned over to see. . . my brother. We kicked our legs

in unison, then I turned on my head, inviting him to play. Tobias

was my brother. . . my twin brother.

Then we were back in the barn. I opened my mouth, but no words

came out. Everyone was staring at Tobias and I, curiosity building

in their minds. Then, impulsively, Tobias and I turned and

embraced each other at the same time. A tear ran down my cheek.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Marco rolled his eyes.

"Why were they separated?" Jake wondered aloud.

It had to be done. If raised on Earth, with her brother, Aidan would

not be prepared for what is to come. The Yeerks, this war. So I

took her right out of her mother so she would not be missed, and

took her to the Andalite home world. She is strong and brave now,

like all of you.

"What about Tobias?" Rachel asked. "He's a human again. How'd

it happen?"

I did this. He is human, like he asked to be long ago. You can

morph all the animals you had acquired as a hawk, Tobias. That is

all I will tell you. Goodbye.

"Well, at least this is one of the weirdest things that happened all

day," Marco said.

"It's getting close to lunch," Jake said. "I'm hungry."

"Me too," Rachel said. "Tobias?"

"I guess I'm kinda hungry," he said. "How about you, Aidan?"

"Not really," I said. "I ate before I, um, fell."

"Well, where shall we eat?" Marco asked, rubbing his hands

together greedily.

"My mom and sisters aren't home. Why don't we go there?"

Rachel suggested. "Besides, we need to figure out the situation,

and get Aiden some new clothes."

So everyone morphed birds of prey (I acquired a hawk - a red-tail

like my brother). Then we flew to Rachel's house. She demorphed

and went in, then we all flew in through the window she opened.

After everyone demorphed, they stood waiting for me to. But see,

they all demorphed into some clothes, which I wasn't trained to do.

Rachel? I, uh, can't do the clothing thing when I morph, I said.

My other clothes are in Cassie's barn. Do you have any I could

use?

Rachel nodded. "Boys, out," she instructed, pointing to the door.

Jake, Marco, and Tobias all filed out obediently, leaving me with

Rachel and Cassie.

"Okay, you can demorph," Cassie said. I demorphed, embarrassed

that I had no clothes on.

Rachel rummaged around in a drawer and pulled out a black

garment that looked like it covered my torso. "This is a leotard. Put

it on how I have mine on."

So I did, without difficulty. "At least she doesn't dress herself the

way Ax does," Cassie said.

After a few moments, Rachel had a long, blue, silk skirt with what

she called "Hindu-inspired" print on it, and a white short-sleeve

shirt with the same print around the bottom.

Rachel then brushed my hair. "It's very soft, and I like the color,"

she said. My hair fell to my waist, which I told her I thought was

too long, and I usually wore it plaited down my back. Rachel took

some scissors out, saying, "Don't worry, I cut my own hair once.

It's really easy." She shortened it so it fell to my chin. Cassie

smiled, which I took to mean it looked good. Then I looked in the

mirror. It was my turn to smile. Rachel looked very pleased with

what she'd done.

Then the boys came back in. I think they were pleased, too. Marco

had a look of surprise on his face. "Uh......" he said. Jake smiled at

me, then looked away. Tobias had an unreadable look on his face,

like he wasn't sure what to say.

"What do you think?" Rachel asked.

4:Tobias

Marco nudged me. "Hey Tobias, your sister's pretty cute. Do you

think maybe you could-"

I cut him off. "Nope."

Marco looked disappointed. He also looked annoyed.

After Rachel was done with her, Aidan was beautiful. As beautiful

as Rachel, which is seriously hot. I had to remind myself that

Aidan was my sister. Then I didn't think much of her beauty. Kind

of like how Jake didn't think anything of Rachel's beauty because

they're cousins.

"You two are twins?" Marco asked, both complimenting Aidan

and insulting me at the same time.

"No offense, but I think your sister got the good side of the egg."

"Well, with Rachel fixing her up, of course she'll look good," I

replied. "Rachel might even be able to make you look halfway

decent, Marco." Jake slid me a low five behind Marco's back.

"Ha. Ha. Ha," Marco said. "Well, why don't we get her to

re-model you as her next project?" Before anyone could realize

what he said, he went on. "I'm hungry, let's eat." Then it sank in,

but no one said anything. Oh, I was definitely mad enough, but I'm

not one to pick random fights. I'm not like Marco. I like to think

that I'm more mature than that. We went downstairs in silence.

Rachel opened the fridge and we all grabbed a can of Pepsi. Then

each of us made a sandwich and sat at the large table in the dining

room.

"If Tobias is human now, and his sister Aidan is here now, where

are they gonna stay?" Jake asked. "No offense, but I don't think

that your tree is gonna cut it, Tobias."

"Also, Aidan never attended a human school, so we don't know if

they'll even let her in," I said.

"And there's the two missing years that I was a hawk."

"I went to school back at the Andalite home world," Aidan said.

"All I need to know is human history, maybe geography."

"Well, it's summer, so school doesn't start for a while," Jake said.

"If she were to study over the summer, we could probably get her

in. And you know the stuff you missed-"

"-'Cause I'd do your guys's homework with you," I finished.

"If we could convince the school board to let them in, Aidan could

probably stay with me," Rachel said.

"Tobias, you could move in with me," Jake offered.

"No. I want to stay with my brother," Aidan said. "I just got

reunited with him, and you're going to take him away!"

"Aidan, no one's taking anyone away," I said

"Well, I don't think that Rachel's family would want to take both

of you in, and my family can't afford it either," Jake said. "Or any

of the others. We'll have to split you up."

I turned to Aidan and gave a slight nod, as if to say, "It's all right."

"Okay," Aidan said. "But how are we gonna convince your parents

to take us in?"

"Yeah, mom, this is Aidan. She just flew in from another planet.

Can we keep her?" Marco joked.

Rachel shot him an evil look. "I'm sure we can work it out," she

said.

"What about my. . . our uncle?" I asked. "Couldn't we just go stay

with him?"

"Maybe you, but not Aidan. Until now, to him and the rest of the

world, she never existed," Jake said. "There isn't even a birth

certificate for her, or a social security number, or school records. .

." he trailed off.

"What about the Ellimist?" I asked. "He could make some

magically appear, couldn't he?"

"I doubt it," Marco replied. "He has that hypocritical no

interfering with other species' rule."

"Hmmmmmmm," Jake said.

"I hate when he does that," Marco sighed. "When he does that, it

usually means something hard is gonna have to be solved."

We all thought for a moment. I snapped my fingers. "That's it!" I

exclaimed.

"What's it?" Jake asked.

"Well, Ax live in the woods, right?" I began. "He has a scoop.

What if he helped Aidan and I create scoops of our own?"

The others considered this. "You know, that's not a bad idea. But I

don't know."

"But it would work!" I insisted. "Ax has a TV, so I could show

Aidan about Earth, and we could get a video game system to hook

up to it for when we get bored."

"Don't you think we should still try with getting them into a house

with us and getting them into school?" Cassie asked. "The scoop

thing could be a backup plan."

"Okay. . ." I trailed off, my tone of voice expressing how I thought

it wouldn't work.

"Well, my mom is a lawyer," Rachel said. "If we got her on our

side, maybe we could get you two in school."

"But what would we tell her, Rach?" Marco asked. "We gotta tell

her something."

"How about the truth?" Rachel replied. "I don't think she's a

Controller."

"She isn't," I said. "I keep an eye on her and your sisters, and none

of them have been taken."

"See?" Rachel said. "We'll tell her the truth. We can tell her

everything, that way Aidan and Tobias can stay with my family.

Once she knows the situation, I'm sure she'll let them both stay."

"I don't know, Rachel." Jake ran his hand through his hair in a way

that showed he was thinking.

"What if she tells someone that's a Controller?"

"She won't," Rachel replied flatly. "If we tell her how terrible it

would be to tell, and what all is at stake, she won't tell anybody,

just like we don't tell."

"Maybe, but if she knows how dangerous it is, she may not even

allow you to continue fighting,"

Aidan spoke up for the first time. "Then where would we be? One

person short in a war where it's billions to seven? I don't think I

like that."

"New Girl has a point," Marco sighed.

"Aidan," I corrected. "Not New Girl."

"Protective, much?" Marco mocked, narrowing his eyes. He

growled, "You've been like that since you two found out! Listen,

man, just cause she's your sister-"

"Shut up, Marco," Rachel spat. "I'm sick of you always being so

mean to Tobias. He, unlike some certain Animorphs, hasn't done

anything to anyone. Tobias isn't like that. What did he ever do to

you?!"

Marco found something on the floor to look at. He didn't answer

her, but I knew. Marco liked Rachel as much as I did, but the

feeling wasn't mutual. Plus, she and I were really close. He

couldn't handle what he thought of as rejection. Now he liked my

sister, and I wasn't sure I was okay with that. I knew how he could

be, and I didn't trust him. He must have thought I was keeping all

the girls away from him or something.

We continued our conversation, with Marco only quietly adding

comments to show why a plan wouldn't work. Jake decided that

we should all go home for the night and think about it the next day.

So Aidan and I spent the night in Cassie's hayloft.

Cassie could only grab one blanket for us, and I was going to let

Aidan have it. But when she unfolded it, it was a huge, queen-size

bed blanket, so Aidan and I decided it was definitely big enough to

share. For pillows, which Cassie couldn't supply without her

parents getting suspicious, we gathered hay into small piles and

laid some clean rags we found over them. They were surprisingly

comfy.

I lay on my back, hands behind my head, looking at the stars that

were visible through the cracks in the roof. Aidan sat at the other

side of the huge blanket. She was deep in thought. Suddenly, she

looked over at me, so I sat up too.

"I didn't mention it while the others were around, because no one

else did, but why can't we live with our parents?" Aidan asked

quietly. My throat tightened.

Our parents. Our mother, Loren, who disappeared, and our father,

the great Elfangor, who died before my eyes.

I looked at my sister, ready to tell her the details. But she looked so

sweet and innocent, I almost didn't tell her. I bit my lip.

"We. . . You and I. . . We don't have parents," I said. "At least, not

anymore." Aidan gasped, but said nothing, so I kept talking. "Our

mother disappeared when I was very little. I don't even really

remember her. After she left, I got passed around from an aunt to

an uncle, both of whom didn't like or want me. I was a burden they

shoved onto each other when they felt like bugging the other one."

"What about our father?" Aidan asked, fear in her eyes.

"You're from the Andalite home world, right?" I began. "So

you've heard of War-Prince Elfangor, right?" She nodded, I went

on. I don't really like to talk about it, so I went as fast as I could.

"He came to Earth a long time ago and became human, and he

married Loren. When she was pregnant with us, the Ellimist took

him back to the Andalite home world and erased all of Loren's

memory of him. But Elfangor remembered. Then, about two years

ago, he returned to Earth to fight the Yeerks, and his ship crashed.

Visser Three killed him, but not before he could give me and the

other Animorphs the ability to morph so we could fight the

Yeerks." I had tears in my eyes now, as did Aidan. "That's how our

father died. And I had to see it, not knowing he was my father until

many months later."

"That's so terrible," Aidan whispered. She came over to where I sat

and wrapped her arms around me. We sat like that for a while,

crying. Then I looked at the watch Rachel had given me.

"It's late," I said. "If we fall asleep right now, we can get a good

five hours before Rachel's mom wakes up at 7:00."

So I lay back down, and Aidan went back to her side of the

makeshift bed and lay down. "Good night, brother," Aidan said.

"Good night," I replied.

I slept, dreamlessly, until Aidan woke me.

5: Aidan

According to Tobias's watch, it was 4:00 a.m. when Cassie,

Marco, Rachel, and Jake ran into the barn. I sat up, instantly alert.

Tobias just mumbled in gibberish and turned onto his other side.

"Tobias! Wake up!" I cried, shaking him. He didn't stir. What the.

. . ? I slapped him across the face.

"Huh?!" he yelled, sitting bolt upright. Then he relaxed when he

saw it was me.

"Tobias, Aidan, get up!" Jake said. He climbed up the ladder to the

hayloft where I was folding up the blanket. "We have an

emergency mission."

"What's wrong?" Tobias asked.

"It's Jara," Cassie whispered. "He's really sick."

Tobias didn't wait for Jake to get off of the ladder. He jumped out

of the hayloft and had turned to hawk before he even reached the

ground.

"Woah, woah, calm down, dude," Jake said, snatching Tobias up

and looking into his eyes. "Morph out." Then he sat the hawk

down.

Tobias demorphed and said, "Sorry, but when you burst in here and

tell me something's wrong at 4:00a.m., I have a tendency to be

jumpy."

"It's okay, Tobias," Rachel said. "Don't wig out."

"So, what's wrong with Jara?" I asked. "Better yet, who is Jara?"

"Jara Hamee is one of the free Hork-Bajir," Jake explained. "The

free Hork-Bajir like in a valley in the mountains."

"Free Hork-Bajir?!" I cried. "This is wonderful! How were they set

free?"

Tobias raised his hand. "That would be me," he sighed. "The

Ellimist used me as a guide for the Hork-Bajir. For that, I got my

morphing powers back."

"But you remained a nothlit?" I asked. "The Ellimist didn't even

return you to your human form?"

He shook his head sadly. "Not until now."

I was very mad at the Ellimist. Not only had he taken me away

from Earth, he also used my brother and made him stay in his hawk

form for two years! This was definitely not a very considerate

person.

"So what do we do about Jara?" I asked.

"First, we gotta fly to the Hork-Bajir Valley," Jake said. "Then we

figure out from Toby if there's a cure-"

"Who's Toby?" I asked.

"Jara and his wife Ket's daughter, named after Tobias for helping

them," Cassie responded. "She's a seer, which is a Hork-Bajir

that's as smart as a human."

I raised my right eyebrow. A smart Hork-Bajir? This I had to see.

"If there is a cure, we get it," Jake went on. "If there's not, there

isn't anything we can do."

"How did you guys know Jara's sick?" I asked. "Obviously you

haven't been to the Hork-Bajir Valley, or you'd have already asked

for the cure, right?"

"Toby kind of sent a vision to Cassie, who morphed a osprey and

told the rest of us," Jake said.

"Well, we were right here in the barn, Cass, why didn't you come

here first?" Tobias asked. "We could have helped gather the

others."

"Well, to tell you the truth, I forgot you guys were in here," Cassie

replied, biting her lip. "I'm used to Tobias being in his territory."

"Oh, well, now I really feel loved," Tobias said sarcastically,

rolling his eyes. The others paused, as if they weren't sure if my

brother was joking or serious. But as a smile creeped across

Tobias's face, it was followed by the ones on the others' faces.

"Well, I guess we should fly to the Hork-Bajir Valley as soon as

possible," Jake said. "If we take more than three hours, Rachel will

have missed her chance with her mom."

"Yeah, let's go bird," Tobias confirmed, nodding his head, which

was already beginning to change. I had to acquire it first, but soon

we were all in our owl morphs.

Wow, Earth sure does have some excellent animals, I said,

thinking aloud. I hadn't meant to say it.

You think this is cool, wait till we show you a wolf, Marco

replied. Or a dolphin, a dog. Wolves and dogs have excellent

senses of smell. A wolf could probably smell what you ate for

breakfast a day before you even came here.

What about a dolphin? I asked.

They're just fun, Marco said, sounding like he was trying not to

laugh. Man, those guys like to play.

Well, he was certainly sounding less upset than the night before. I

took it as a good sign, that maybe I would fit in with these humans.

Don't forget about an elephant, Rachel added. Stepping on

stuff and crashing around!

After a while, we made it to the Hork-Bajir valley. We all

demorphed to normal, and I remembered to morph the leotard

Rachel gave me. At first, I was worried that it might not be enough

clothing, but I saw that the other girls also had only a leotard on,

the boys had some really tight/small shorts and t-shirts.

Then, a Hork-Bajir came up to us. She was a young Hork-Bajir, so

I figured it was the one they were talking about earlier, Toby the

seer. "Greetings, friends," she said. "Where is friend Tobias?"

Tobias cleared his throat. "I'm right here, I'm just not a hawk

anymore."

"Ah, I see," Toby replied, looking Tobias over. Then she pointed at

me. "Who is this new human?"

"Toby, this is Aidan," Rachel said. "She's Tobias's twin sister."

The Hork-Bajir nodded at me in acknowledgment, then said,

"Well, as you know, my father is very sick."

"What's wrong with him?" Cassie asked gently. "Is there some

way we can help him?"

"He has an illness that isn't known to us," Toby replied sadly, "so

we don't know if there is a treatment. We were hoping maybe you

could see him and figure out if it is an Earth illness."

So we all walked over to where Jara lay. He looked terrible. His

nose has stuff running out of it, his eyes watered badly, and every

few seconds, he would cough. I had no idea what it was.

"It's a cold," Marco said simply. "Jara has a cold. I didn't know

Hork-Bajir could get colds."

"What is a cold?" I asked. Everyone stared at me for a moment.

"Oh, that's right, they probably wouldn't have colds on the

Andalite Home World, since there weren't any humans other than

you," Cassie said. "A cold is where you cough and sneeze, and

your nose runs, your eyes water. You can even have a fever with a

cold. They make you feel miserable."

My eyes were wide. It sounded awful!

Tobias saw my fear as I slowly backed away from Jara. "Don't

worry, Aidan, colds are really easy to treat. All you need is some

medicine from the drug store."

"Can we use cough syrup and stuff like that on Jara?" Jake asked

Cassie.

"I don't know, I'm not exactly an expert on Hork-Bajir," Cassie

said. "We can try, though."

We figured it only took one person to run home for cold medicine.

Jake remorphed to his owl form and took off at top speed. He

returned a short while later with a leather pouch around his neck.

Marco took it off of him before he demorphed. Then Jake pulled a

small container of liquid and a small container of pills out of the

pouch.

"The liquid is cold stuff, you know, for his cough and if he has a

fever," Jake said, reading the label on the bottle. "The pills are

decongestants. They'll take the snot out of his nose." Then he

pulled some tissues from the pouch. "And these are to blow your

nose with, Jara."

As Jake explained to Jara about blowing his nose and told Toby

when he should take which medicine, the rest of us began

morphing owls. That went a whole lot quicker than I thought it

would, Marco said.

At least we knew what it was right away, Rachel replied.

And how to treat it, Cassie added. Now we can all go home.

Then Jake morphed owl and we began flying back to our homes.

Tobias and I, though, flew to the barn.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not going to sleep for only an

hour. Pointless," Tobias said. "It takes me that long to fall asleep

anyway."

"Yeah, me too," I replied. "So let me get the plan strait: First, we

go to Rachel's at 7:00a.m., then we lock her, Rachel, and us into a

room and tell her about the morphing, the Andalites, the Ellimist,

and the Yeerks."

Tobias nodded. "Then we explain our situation, and we ask if we

can stay at her house, cause we can't live in Cassie's barn

forever."

"And we pray that she says yes," I added.

"Pretty much," he replied.

"Nice plan," I said. "Will she be able to get us into school with the

others?"

"I honestly don't know," Tobias replied. "Rachel thinks maybe if

we asked, they'd let you test into our grade. But try not to go

higher than our grade in school, okay? That would kind of be

missing the point."

"I'll try not to, brother," I replied. "You'll have to help me study

for the things I don't know, though."

"Of course," Tobias smiled. "What do you think brothers are for?

Besides, we can help each other if we can get ahold of some

books."

Then I caught a glance of his watch. "It's 10 to 7:00, Tobias," I

said. "If we want to meet Rachel in her room first, we should leave

now."

So we both morphed our red-tail hawk morphs and flew out. The

sun was low, but it still sent a few thermals rising off the ground.

Especially over pavement.

We flew over Jakes house and saw his head was out the window,

looking at the sky for us. Wish us luck, fearless leader, Tobias

called to him. Jake nodded.

Then we reached our destination: Rachel's house. Tobias landed on

the bird house, and I landed on a low branch. My brother

"knocked" on the window with his wing; a sound that wouldn't be

noticed unless you were used to listening for it. Rachel got out of

her bed and opened the window, which Tobias and I flew in

through.

We demorphed and Rachel handed Tobias a pair of jeans and a

shirt. For me, she opened he closet and brought out a short-sleeve

shirt and a pair of kakhis. We were still barefoot, but it was a vast

improvement from our morphing outfits.

Then the three of us walked silently to Rachel's mother's room and

opened the door. The woman was still asleep, because it wasn't

quite seven yet.

"Mom, wake up," Rachel said, shaking her mother gently. "I need

to ask you something."

Her mom sat up and opened her eyes sleepily. They snapped open

at the sight of my brother and me. "Honey, who are your friends,

and why are they over at 7:00 a.m.?" She eyed Tobias suspiciously.

"Mom this is Tobias," she said, pointing at my brother, "and

Aidan," she said, pointing at me. "We need to tell you a few things,

but first have to swear you won't be mad or tell a single soul.

Ever."

Her mom nodded, and again, glared at Tobias suspiciously. Tobias

looked at her as though he was saying, "What? I didn't do anything

wrong."

"Okay, what we're going to tell you is kind of hard to believe, and

you probably won't like it-" Rachel began.

"What is it?!" Naomi demanded, her temper short.

"Mom, just let me finish!"

"Sorry."

"Anyway, you might not believe it, so we're going to give you a

demonstration first," Rachel concluded.

"But don't flip out," Tobias added.

"Tobias, go hawk, then immediately demorph. Aidan, ditto," she

whispered. "I'll go eagle."

Her mom waited impatiently. "Well?"

So we got to work. Tobias and I began morphing our red-tails, and

Rachel began her eagle morph.

Rachel's mom hadn't listened to Tobias; she was screaming.

Mom! Shut up! Rachel exclaimed. You'll scare the girls!

Tobias went over to her and placed his half-morphed hand over her

mouth. Shhhhhhhhhhhh, he said. We aren't going to hurt you.

Trust us, I added.

Rachel's mom nodded, and Tobias removed his hand. "What are

you?" she whispered. "You aren't my daughter."

Yes I am, mom, Rachel replied calmly. I can just do this

thing. Then, in a private message, she told us, Morph back.

Don't finish.

"Ma'am, Rachel's right," I said. "We're normal, sort of, but we can

morph."

"We have to," Rachel added. "It's our duty."

"Why?!" she demanded. "Why would my daughter and two total

strangers-"

"They aren't strangers, mom, I've known Tobias for two years,"

Rachel cut her off. "And Aidan's his sister. Plus there's cousin

Jake, Cassie, and Jake's friend Marco." Naomi was shocked upon

hearing the familiar names. Her nephew, Rachel's best friend.

"Well, then why do you, this boy you know, his sister, your cousin,

your best friend, and Jake's friend need to turn into birds?!" Her

mother got out of bed and put on her robe.

"Well, that's the part you won't believe." I said.

6: Tobias

"Honey, what are you talking about?" Rachel's mom asked.

"Naomi, listen," I said to Rachel's mom. "Haven't you ever

wondered if maybe we aren't alone in the universe? Well, we

aren't. There are Yeerks, Hork-Bajir, Taxxons, and Andalites. And

that's just on this planet."

"The Andalites are the good guys, along with a few Hork-Bajir, but

the Yeerks, Taxxons, and most of the Hork-Bajir are evil," Rachel

said. Then she explained the Yeerks and other assorted aliens.

Aidan even morphed an Andalite (one of her friends from the

Andalite Home World), and I morphed Jara Hamee.

"Well, I don't know what to say," Naomi said after a moment.

"Why haven't you told me before?"

"We weren't sure if you were a Controller, and there wasn't ever a

reason to," Rachel replied. "But now there is."

"What is it?" Rachel's mom asked.

"Mom, remember when I said that if you stay in morph too long,

you can't change back? Well, that happened to Tobias. For the last

two years, he's been a hawk, but the Ellimist changed him back

again," Rachel explained.

"But my uncle and aunt have passed away, so I have nowhere to

go," I added. "And you remember the Andalites? Well, Aidan had

lived on the Andalite Home World until yesterday, when the

Ellimist brought her back here. That's when we discovered Aidan

and I were twins. So we both haven't got anywhere to stay."

"We were wondering if they could live here," Rachel asked. "They

wouldn't be any trouble, we swear."

"This is a bit much," Naomi said. "I mean, all the things you've

told me, and then hitting me with two more kids? It's not just

insanity, it's surreal!"

"Well, where will they live? The woods?! Come on, mom!" Rachel

exclaimed. "Tobias and Aidan are two of my best friends.

Wouldn't you do everything in your power to help out your best

friends if they needed it?"

Rachel's mom didn't speak for a few moments. Finally, she said, "I

suppose that Sarah and Jordan could share Sarah's room, Aidan

could share your room, and Tobias could have Jordan's room.

You'll have to get jobs for after-school and on weekends to soften

the finical blow. But I guess that they can stay, given their. . .

unique situation."

Rachel hugged me. Then, feeling self-concious, she let go and

embraced her mother, and we ended up in one huge group hug.

"Thank you, Mrs. Rachel's Mom," I said. Naomi smiled at my

attempt to cheer her up. "We also have another question: Can you

get Aidan and me into school? I missed two years when I was a

hawk, and Aidan's been on another planet, so it's not like we can

just show up. But I've been keeping up by helping Rachel with her

homework, and Aidan went to an Andalite school, so all she has to

learn is history and geography. Is there some way we can get in?

Some test we can take?" I asked.

"I don't know, but if you know the stuff like you say you do, and

you went to school here before, then I'd bet there's some way we

could get you in," Naomi replied. "Let's see how it goes. First, we

have to move you two in."

"That shouldn't be too hard. They have no belongings. Tobias's

were all lost when his uncle died, and Aidan's aren't on Earth,"

Rachel said sadly. "But it's not like their uncle gave Tobias much,

anyways. He was a jerk."

Naomi looked at me, then Aidan, then me again, and for the first

time, there was sympathy in he eyes. "Why do you keep saying

uncle'?" she asked.

I looked down for a second, then re-met her gaze. It was for

dramatic effect. I'd told and re-told the story so long that it didn't

bother me too much anymore. "My mom disappeared when I was

really little, and I never really had a dad. I always lived with either

an aunt or uncle. When they were sick of having some kid live in

their house that knew they were a drunk or a jerk, breathing up

their air and taking up the empty space in their house, they'd send

me to the other one for a while."

"I was raised by aliens, so I never knew my real parents either, as

you know." Aidan added. "I didn't even know about them till

yesterday when Tobias told me."

"I'm sorry," Naomi said quietly.

"Wow, it just occurred to me how insane this conversation is," I

laughed after a pause. "Aliens, disappearing moms. Madness."

"Well, to totally change the subject, it's 10 after 7:00, and you need

to get ready for work," Rachel said, sensing my discomfort on the

subject of my past.

"And not to worry, ma'am, we won't have any wild parties while

you're gone," I winked and added for humor. It worked. The girls

laughed.

Rachel's mom sort of half-smiled. "Rachel, despite what you guys

do for kicks, I think I like your friends."

THAT EVENING

Naomi walked in as I hung up the phone. I'd called Jake and

briefly told him (in code) that Aidan and I would be staying at

Rachel's, and her mom knew about us now. His brother needed the

phone, though, so we had to hang up.

"Who was that?" Rachel's mom asked, setting down her briefcase.

"Oh, just Jake," I replied casually. Her brow creased. She knows

that Jake is our sort-of-leader. "I was just filling him in, Mrs.

Rachel's Mom, there was no business in that call."

"Call me Naomi," she said absently as she pulled her briefcase

onto a table and took several papers out of it. "Where are Rachel

and Aidan?"

"Rachel, being Rachel, insisted on taking Aidan to the mall to get

some new clothes," I laughed, rolling my eyes. "She tried to make

me come too, but I know how Rachel gets in that mall when she's

on a mission; we'd be there till sunrise."

"Well, my daughter does have a thing for the mall, doesn't she?"

Naomi replied. "I swear that girl was born with a credit card in her

hand."

"That's my Rachel," I said affectionately. We laughed, but then she

grew suddenly serious. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Tobias, can I ask you a personal question?" she asked. I nodded.

She put her hand on her chin.

"Okay, good. Um, you and Rachel are just friends, right? I mean,

you aren't her boyfriend or anything, are you? I could have sworn I

heard your name come up before, and I kind of noticed a bit of a,

um, how can I put this delicately? Closeness? Am I right in my

suspicions?" she asked.

I felt my face turn red. "Uh, just really close friends. I've known

the girl for two years. But, yeah, friends," I said, feeling more than

slightly stupid. "No matter how much I wish otherwise," I muttered

under my breath. I guess it was louder than I intended, though,

because Naomi cocked an eyebrow after I said it. I could have

kicked myself.

"Really?" she said. "Well, I was just checking, because I don't

want any raging hormones or awkward breakups. Understood?"

"Don't worry, ma'am, I've got my hormones in check," I replied.

"Besides, Rachel's the most beautiful, popular girl in school. Guys

would die for her. I'll bet when the school year starts, she'll have

so many guys -more important, popular guys mind you- lined up to

go out with her, I'll be vapor," I added sadly. Then I laughed.

"She'll figure I'm just one of the girls."

Rachel's mom laughed at the joke. I was relieved, as I'm not the

funniest guy around. "One of the girls, eh?" She laughed again.

"Well, I must say, Rachel has some pretty funny friends."

Naomi laughed and it was then that I noticed the little white boxes

on the kitchen table. "Ooooh, are we having Chinese takeout for

dinner?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Yes. Can you go tell Jordan and Sarah to come downstairs and

wash their hands?" she asked.

I hesitated. "Uh, yeah. No prob." See, I had gone flying that day, so

the girls had never met me.

Jordan was about two years younger than Rachel, so she was

around 14, and Rachel had said Sarah was about 7 and a half.

I slowly climbed the stairs and approached a door that I knew was

one of their bedrooms. I knocked on the door with the knuckle of

my index finger. There was no answer. I knocked louder. No reply.

I pressed my ear to the door. Jordan was talking on the phone.

"Jordan?" I called, knocking on the door again.

She hung up the phone, opened the door and gave me an evil look.

Then her look softened and she looked me up and down (typical

girl). "Who are you?" she asked.

"Tobias," I said, not really explaining anything. "It's time for

dinner. Your mom said to tell you to come downstairs and wash

your hands."

"Okay, hang on," she said, slamming the door on my face. I sighed

and moved on to Sarah's room.

"Sarah?" I said gently, in my talking-to-little-kids voice, knocking

on the door. "Are you in there?"

A little girl opened it and asked. "Do you wanna play Barbies?"

"Uh, no," I replied. "Your mom said it's time for you to wash your

hands and get ready for dinner."

She came out and we started down the stairs. Jordan, finally

emerging from her room, was right behind us. "Are you sure you

don't wanna play Barbies? You can be Ken," Sarah persisted.

"Of course he doesn't," Jordan replied for me. "He's a guy. Duh.

Guys don't play Barbies." Sarah looked at me with the sad

puppy-dog look.

I sighed. "Maybe later, okay?" I lied. As we reached the bottom of

the stairs, Rachel and Aidan walked in. Each carried at least 3 or 4

full shopping bags. "Hi," I called to them.

"Everyone, come to the kitchen," Naomi said. "Dinner's ready."

So we all assembled in the kitchen, and Rachel's mom gave us

each a soda and a plate of Chinese food.

"Mommy, who are those people?" Sarah asked, pointing at me and

my sister.

"Girls, I need to talk to you about that," Naomi replied. She said

our names and told Jordan and Sarah that we were Rachel's

friends. "They're going to be living with us."

"Why?" Jordan asked.

Naomi looked at me, and I said, "Our parent's died a long time

ago, and we lived with our uncle. But he just passed away." Aidan

nodded at Jordan, who gave her a questioning look.

"I'm sorry," Jordan said. "So, you two are brother and sister?" she

asked.

"Twins," Rachel replied.

"Cool!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Do you guys have that psychic twin bond thing that twins have on

TV?" Jordan asked.

"Yeah," Aidan and I said at the same time. Rachel's sisters

laughed. When we both sat down our forks and took a drink of our

sodas in unison, the girls were awestruck.

"So, what rooms are you guys gonna have?" Jordan asked.

"Actually, Jordan," Naomi said, "you'll share a room with Sarah,

Aidan will share with Rachel, and Tobias will have your old

room."

"Why does Tobias get his own room?" Sarah whined.

"Because girls and boys don't share rooms," Rachel replied. "And

there aren't any boys for him to share with, are there?"

"Oh," Sarah said.

"Well, dinner was really good, ma'am," I said, taking my plate to

the sink.

"Tobias, do you want to go for a walk after I'm finished?" Rachel

asked.

"Sure," I replied. "I'd love to."

"Well, then, I'm done," Rachel said, putting her plate in the sink as

well. "Mom, while we're gone, do you think you can find some

history and geography books for Aidan?"

"Sure," Naomi replied. "You guys don't stay out too long. Be

home by 9:00."

"We will," I said, as Rachel and I walked out the door. The sun

was setting, creating a beautiful blaze across the sky.

"Hey, you'll never believe what your mom asked me today," I said,

making conversation. Rachel stopped walking and looked at me.

"She asked if we were, you know, together."

"And what did you say?" Rachel asked.

"I told her the answer she wanted to hear," I replied. "We're just

friends."

"Oh," Rachel said quietly. We walked in silence. "Are we?" she

asked after a while.

"I don't know," I said. We stopped walking. "It seems like it,

doesn't it? That we're just friends?" I winced as I noticed how

harsh my voice sounded.

We stood for a moment, looking into each other's eyes. I looked at

the ground. "You know how I feel," Rachel said, her voice barely

above a whisper.

I shook my head. "Actually, I don't," I said, almost bitterly.

"I care about you, Tobias."

I met her gaze. "You do?" I asked.

"Of course I do," Rachel replied. "I have for the past two years."

My heart skipped a beat. "I care about you, too, Rachel."

Now it was her turn to be surprised. "Really? I never knew. . . well,

that's not right, I thought that maybe, but I didn't know. . ."

"Shhhhhhh," I whispered. I leaned forward and met her lips with

mine. We kissed, and it was gentle and sweet.

Then we pulled apart, realizing we were on the sidewalk in front of

a house. I turned and looked at the house, and to my complete

horror, saw the face of Matt (one of the guys from school that

hated me and loved Rachel) gazing back at me. He glared at me.

"Oh, great," I muttered. I grabbed Rachel's hand and we jetted out

of there.

We walked around the streets of the town. Then we walked

through the park. In the park, we stopped and kissed again. I was in

Heaven.

As we walked in the door, Rachel's mom called us into her room.

"I told you two not to be out too late. Do you know what time it

is?"

I looked at my watch. "Uh, 9:37," I said.

Rachel's mom had a stern look on her face. "I'm very disappointed

in both of you. Rachel, go to your room. Tobias, I made up the

couch for tonight."

"Sorry, mom," Rachel said as she left the room. I headed

downstairs and saw Aidan asleep on the recliner. I lay on the couch

and fell asleep.

The next day, Cassie called and said we had to meet in the barn.

"So, how are things at Rachel's working out?" Jake asked us.

"Well, we told her mom about the Yeerks and the Animorphs like

we planned, but decided not to tell her sisters. They might tell other

people," I replied. "At first, she didn't believe us and said we

couldn't stay, but after a while she agreed."

"Good, that's one problem off our shoulders," Jake said. "Now we

have to worry about Jara."

"Why don't we fly out there and check on him?" Marco asked.

So we all morphed birds. Halfway there, though, it began to rain.

Lets demorph, then go wolf, Rachel suggested.

Okay, Jake said. Soon, we weren't six wet birds, we were six

wet wolves. I have the feeling that wolves aren't water proof.

We arrived at the Hork-Bajir Valley and demorphed. Toby came

and showed us to Jara's area of the Rain Cave.

"I don't know how, but the things you gave us have worked. My

father is feeling much better," Toby said. "Thank you, friends."

"Any time, Toby," Marco replied. Out of the corner of my eye, I

saw his hand brush against Aidan's.

Unlike every other girl in the universe, though, she didn't seem to

mind.

"Well, let's head back," I said. "I don't want to get caught in a

storm or anything." We all remorphed and ran as fat as our wolf

legs could carry us.

"Where were you three?" Rachel's mom asked when we returned.

"Duty called," Rachel answered. "We were at the Hork-Bajir

Valley."

"Oh," Naomi said, shuddering at the memory of my H-B morph.

"Well, for lunch, how does SubWay sound? I don't feel like

making anything."

"Sounds good to me," Rachel said.

"Yeah, me too," I added.

"What's a SubWay?" Aidan asked. We all laughed.

7: Aidan

I was getting used to Earth quicker than I thought I would. It

wasn't much like the place I grew up at, but I still loved it. The

food didn't all taste the same, and their were different things to

wear, and there were so many humans! I already had 5 new friends.

We ate lunch at a restaurant called SubWay. It was great! Jordan

and Sarah

were at friends' houses, so they didn't come.

Rachel got a salad instead of a sub, and it looked better than the

sandwich Tobias and Rachel's mother got. I got the same thing as

Rachel. The flavor of the salad reminded me of my old home.

After lunch, Rachel's mom went home. The three of us went to a

movie. It was about people in love who couldn't be together.

Tobias said it was a total rip off of Romeo and Juliet. I had no idea

what he was talking about.

A few times, when I turned to Rachel for popcorn (a wonderful

food), she and Tobias would be kissing, so I wouldn't ask for the

popcorn. I figured that they'd probably be mad if I bothered them.

Later that day, when we got home, I pulled Rachel into her room.

"Rachel, are you in love with my brother?" I asked.

Rachel blushed and said, "Um, I really care about him. Why do you

ask?"

"Oh, I was just wondering," I said, sitting down on the bed.

"I hope you aren't mad or grossed out or whatever," she said. "I

hate it when guys have brothers or sisters that can't stand their

brothers being with someone."

"Oh, don't worry, it's not like that," I said reassuringly.

"Okay, good."

"I mean, it isn't my business, I just kind of noticed little things

between you two."

"Well, he's your brother, and as long as you're okay with it. . ." she

trailed off.

I smiled. "Personally, I think it's kind of cute."

"What's kind of cute?" Tobias said. I spun around to see him in the

doorway, a big grin across his face. When we didn't answer, he

said, "C'mon, girls, what are you two talking about?"

"Nothing," I said. "Absolutely nothing."

He laughed out loud. "Whatever you say, Aidan. Anyway, I was

just going to tell you two that I was going to the mall with Jake and

Marco. I need clothes, and, unfortunately, a job."

"I want to come," I said.

"Me too," Rachel added.

Tobias rolled his eyes and groaned. "Okay, but no dragging me into

stores."

"Oh, of course not," Rachel said innocently. "I'll just lend you my

fashion expertise. And stop you from buying ugly clothes."

We walked to the mall and met Marco and Jake in the food court.

"Somehow, I knew that Rachel would be coming. You can't say

mall' without Rachel coming along," Marco said. "It's inevitable."

"Yeah," Jake laughed.

"So, where are we going first?" I asked.

"How about Sears?" Rachel said. "They're having a-"

"-Sale?" everyone finished. Everyone but me, that is.

"Oh, shut up, you guys," Rachel said. "And yes, they just so

happen to be having a sale, and there is nothing wrong with that."

"Well, can we just go get it over with?" Marco said. "Shopping

with Rachel in the mall on a Saturday when there are sales

running? Not exactly my idea of a relaxing day."

I laughed. "I know, I went shopping with her yesterday."

"How about you and I sneak away once Rachel goes into

full-fledged shoppaholic mode?" Marco whispered. "I'll buy you a

soda or something girlie."

"Okay," I laughed.

We didn't have to wait long. Soon enough, Rachel was pulling my

poor brother around the mall like a maniac. When Tobias saw

Marco and I subtly slip away, he silently pleaded, "Take me with

you!"

Marco and I slipped out of the department store and walked to the

music store. "Have you heard human music before?" he asked.

"No," I replied. He spotted a display with headphones and different

musicians and led me over there. Then he coaxed me to put on the

headphones over the display of a band called the Backstreet Boys.

"All the girls I know like them," he said. I put on the headphones

and he pushed the button. All I heard was a group of voices talking

in a whiney tone, with little to no talent, and it sounded like they

were all competing against one another, as well as the music. Not

beautiful and harmonious, like music should be, like music I've

heard. I took the headphones off.

"Eeeew, that's human music?!" I demanded. "That was terrible!"

"Finally, a girl with good music taste!" Marco exclaimed. Then he

convinced me to put on the headphones of the band Silverchair.

The song was called "Emotion Sickness". It was a work of beauty.

"I like this one," I said. I also liked Jewel, Limp Bizkit, and Green

Day. "I think humans are confused when it comes to music. It's all

so different."

"Yeah, but that's what makes it so cool, ya see," Marco replied.

Then a couple of guys Marco knew came over to him.

"Hey, Marco, who's the dame?" one of them asked. "She's pretty

cute."

"This is Aidan," he replied. "Aidan, this is Luke and Seth."

"Hello," I said shyly.

"You know what," Luke said, "this girl Aidan looks kind of

familiar. Like someone that used to go to our school, only you

didn't go to our school, did you?"

"No, I don't," I replied. "But I might be."

"Oh, well that's cool," Luke smiled. "At least we'll have one

beautiful girl at our school. "

"Hey, Luke, what's wrong with you?" Seth asked. "Stop flirting

with Marco's girl."

"Marco's girl?" Luke laughed. "Never thought I'd hear that

phrase."

"Shut up," Marco said, punching his friends playfully on the arm.

"Besides, I thought you liked Rachel. She's pretty cute."

Luke blushed. "Yeah, well, she's been blowing me off lately."

"Oh, come on, Luke," Seth laughed. "You and I both know that the

only time you've ever talked to Rachel was when she woke you up

in science last year."

"Um, Marco? Can we leave?" I asked.

"Yeah, come on," Marco replied. He paid for the Silverchair CD's

I liked, Freak Show and Neon Ballroom, and said, "See you guys

later," to Luke and Seth.

"Nice meeting you," I added.

We walked to a store called Spencer's Gifts. "Ah, now this is my

kind of store," Marco said. There were all sorts of weird lights,

posters, toys, and even some jewelry. Marco was showing me the

jewelry.

He took a choker off the rack. It had flowers made out of beads in

tones of black, brown, tan, and white on it. "This one would really

look good with your hair color," he said, holding it up to my neck.

I turned it over. "Isn't this kind of expensive?" The price tag said it

was $12.95.

Marco winced. "Oh, yeah." He put it back. Then we saw Rachel

and the others. They saw us, too.

"There you guys are!" Rachel exclaimed. "We were about to go to

Abercrombie-"

"No. We are not going to that store." Tobias said firmly. "I refuse

to wear that stuff."

I laughed at my brother. "We've been walking around the mall," I

said. "And Marco even bought me this music." I pulled out the

Silverchair CD's. "See?" I asked.

All eyes turned to Marco. "What?" he asked. "So I bought the girl

a present. Big deal."

"Well, I'm really beginning to get tired of shopping," Tobias said.

He seemed to give Marco a weird look, a definitely unpleasant

look.

"Me, too," Jake added. "Let's go home."

We walked home. "Kids?" Rachel's mom called from upstairs.

"Come here!"

Tobias, Rachel, and I all exchanged a look. Then we dashed

upstairs. Rachel's

mom was in Rachel's room. "What is it? Did I do something

wrong?" Tobias joked.

We looked around. There were two beds, two dressers, each filled

with beautiful clothing, bookshelves, a computer for each of us.

There were all sorts of things for me and Rachel. Then we moved

over to Jordan's room. Only, it wasn't Jordan's room anymore, it

was Tobias's. There was a bed, dresser, desk with a computer on it,

bookshelf, and all sorts of cool stuff. On the pillow was a note:

"Children: I am sorry for all of the trouble and confusion I have

caused in your lives. I know this will not make up for the hardship

I've caused, but perhaps it will help. The Ellimist."

Tobias and I exchanged a look. "I wonder if he did this for all the

Animorphs, or just us three?" he asked. "Should I call Jake?"

Rachel's mom nodded. "Go ahead."

So he went over to his desk and picked up his phone. "Hey, Jake. I

have a question," he began. "Is there anything different about your

stuff? How about your room? No? Okay, bye, man." He hung up

the phone. "I guess we're just the lucky ones."

"Well, maybe he knew they couldn't get all new stuff because

they'd have to explain it," Rachel offered. "With us, there's no

explanation needed."

"So, I guess the Ellimist isn't so bad after all," I said.

8:Tobias

Rachel, Aidan, Naomi, and I were blown away by the decency of

the Ellimist. He just sort of made all this cool stuff appear,

rearranged the rooms like we were going to, and even left a note.

Before, I was definitely not the Ellimist's biggest fan, but now I

was beginning to sort of like him.

I was hanging out in my new room when I realized the Ellimist

gave me a computer. It was a really nice one, an IMAC, and it was

blue. I knew that the IMAC's were Internet computers, and so I

turned it on.

"Welcome," it greeted. "You have mail."

"What? I haven't even signed on yet."

"You have mail," it repeated.

"Okay, the weirdness scale ranks this about an 9.0," I muttered. I

moved the mouse and clicked on the mail icon. When it asked for

my name and password, the keyboard typed it for me. The screen

name that the Ellimist had chosen for me was RedTail_16, and the

password was Honor. After the name and password were approved,

it said, "You have one message."

I clicked on the icon to read the message. "Tobias, I know you've

never had a lot of personal belongings. Although material

possessions do not define true happiness, you now have the world

at your fingertips with this wonderful device. But be careful with it.

Again, I am sorry for all the hardship I've caused, from taking your

father and sister away, to making you remain a hawk. I hope you

understand that it was all in you and your sister's best interests.

The Ellimist."

The Ellimist had e-mailed me. With all his power, he could have

just stopped time and talked to me face to face. Instead, he

e-mailed me!

"Hey, Tobias," Rachel said. I turned around. "What're you doing?"

"Just playing with my new toys," I grinned. "The Ellimist e-mailed

me. Isn't that wild? He also set up my sign-on stuff for me. He

made my screen name RedTail_16."

"Well, at least we know one intergalactic being that has a sense of

humor," Rachel laughed. "I didn't know you were an Internet

junkie."

"Oh, I'm not, but I used to go on-line with Marco, and he taught

me the tricks of the web," I replied.

"It really isn't that hard."

I went to the chat area and began watching. Sometimes, it's more

fun to watch than talk.

"Why don't you say anything?" Rachel asked.

"Well, most of the time, people use the chat rooms like a dating

service," I said. "Watch this."

I typed "Hey, 16/m here. If anyone wants to chat, send me a pm."

"What's a pm?" Rachel asked.

"A pm is a private message," I replied. "It's easier to talk to people

if you use a private message box than if you used the room itself.

Now watch the screen."

That second, 17 girls sent me a pm. "Every last one of them are

girls looking for their own personal Romeo. A few are even

offering pictures."

"What kind of pictures?" Rachel asked suspiciously.

"You don't want to know," I said. "But see, if I don't talk to all of

them, then I'm a jerk. But I can't possibly hold a conversation with

all of em. That's why I don't talk in chatrooms." Then I sat there

and told each one that I was already talking to someone else who

sent me a pm before theirs got to me, left the chatroom, and shut

down the computer.

"So, do you wanna go for a walk?" I asked.

"I was gonna ask if you wanted to walk the beach to look for shells

with me," Rachel replied. "I haven't done that in years."

"Sure," I said, looking at my watch. It was almost 6:00pm. "But we

should go now if we want to see the sunset.." So we told Naomi

where we were going, and left.

The beach was beautiful. It was warm, and the sun was just starting

to set. The sand was kind of hot, but since we were both wearing

shorts, we just walked up to our ankles in water. Rachel had a

small plastic bucket, and when we saw a shell that was pretty

enough, she'd put it in her bucket.

There was a large rock that jutted up about 5 feet tall from the

beach near the water. Rachel and I climbed up on it with the bucket

and watched the waves. We sat next to each other, with her head

leaned on my shoulder. "Isn't the sunset beautiful?" I asked. But

when I turned to Rachel, she was asleep, leaned against me. I

stroked her long, blond hair affectionately, and began to hum a

song that I couldn't remember the words to.

THE NEXT DAY

We were in the barn. Aidan was at home studying with Naomi.

"Well, Jara's feeling as good as new," Cassie said, tending a

raccoon's broken foot.

"Cool," Jake said. "Did you go see them today?"

"Yeah," Cassie replied. She closed and locked the cage door. "I

hope you guys aren't mad at me for going alone, but I wasn't sure

what you guys were doing."

"News from our house," I announced. "Rachel, Naomi, and I have

been helping Aidan learn history and geography."

"She's learning really fast," Rachel added. "My mom says that

she'll know as much in a few days as we learned as long as we've

been in school. Aidan should have no problem testing in."

"Sweet," Marco said. "So Aidan's a brain, eh?"

Well, she was raised on the Andalite Home World, Ax said

smugly. That should be of some benefit. We all ignored Ax's

comment.

"Yeah," I replied to Marco, "I guess so. But you know those

Silverchair CD's you got her?" Marco nodded. "She listens to them

all the time. When I was on-line yesterday, she made me go to a

Silverchair web site so she could see what the band looks like. She

threatened to hurt me if I didn't. Then she went on to tell me that

she heard me singing Itsy bitsy spider' to Sarah, and that I sound

like the singer in that group. It's really funny."

"It is funny," Marco giggled. "You sang itsy bitsy spider'?" He

giggled some more.

"The kid's 7," I replied defensively. "All she knows is Itsy bitsy

spider' and Mary had a little lamb'. What can you do?"

"Aidan printed out a picture of Daniel Johns, the lead singer, to

show me," Rachel said. "I discovered something. It's really weird."

"What?" Jake asked, curious.

"Daniel Johns looks almost exactly like Tobias," she announced.

"Except Daniel is 19."

"That is creepy," Marco said, looking at me. "But isn't the Daniel

guy, like, anorexic?"

Rachel shrugged. "I dunno. He's pretty skinny."

"I think Daniel was anorexic at one time, but he got over it, and

that's what Ana's Song' is about," I spoke up. Everyone stared at

me. "What? She's my sister, she tells me stuff."

"Well, if Jara's okay, and there's nothing else, can we go home?"

Marco asked. "The National Cheerleading Competition is on in ten

minutes."

"Sure," Jake said.

9: Aidan

I sat at the table with Naomi, and she had many books about the

history of the world stacked up. The one in front of me told of so

many wars. The funny thing was, the wars were all with other

humans, all on the same planet! It was ludicrous. I almost laughed.

"Now, Aidan, when was the war of 1812?" Naomi asked.

I gave her a look. "1812?" I offered, in a tone Rachel told me was

sarcasm as ditz'. "And the Second World War was from

1939-1945."

"Very good. Where's Canada?"

I pointed on a map. It was almost too much. "Why don't you ask

me something harder?" I suggested politely.

"Okay," Naomi said. "What's the capitol of the USSR?"

"There is no USSR anymore," I sighed.

"Very good," Naomi said. "Who was involved in the Civil War?

And what was it over?"

This was the war I hated. It involved the slavery of humans to other

humans. I shuddered at the very thought. "The Confederacy and the

Union, and it was over the Confederacy feeling oppressed by the

Union," I recited. "Also, over the slavery thing," I added with sheer

disgust.

Then Rachel, Tobias, and Marco walked in, chatting amongst

themselves. "Hi," I greeted.

"Hi," they all replied. "Working hard or hardly working?" Marco

joked. He walked over to where I sat and rested his chin on the top

of my head. Naomi looked at Marco nervously. She knew he was

one of us. I don't think the idea of having four of the six

Animorphs together was very appealing to her.

"Neither, both, I dunno," I replied, rolling my eyes. He laughed and

took his chin off my head, and Rachel and Tobias walked into the

kitchen and sat down at the table around me. I handed the book to

Tobias. "Here, quiz me on something hard."

He flipped it open to a random page, scanned it, then shut it.

"Okay, sis, who was the President during the Spanish-American

War?"

"Um, McKinley? Or was it Roosevelt?" I thought aloud. "It was

McKinley," I finally said.

"Yep," Tobias said. "Good job, I didn't even know that one. Okay,

what was the thing that started the Second World War?"

"The German invasion of Poland."

Marco nodded approvingly. "You'll do great, Aidan. This stuff is

really boring, but you seem to know it well enough."

"Yeah, well, I wanna get in school," I said. "I've been studying all

day."

Naomi must have thought we had a mission, cause she asked, "So,

um, what are you guys doing today?"

Rachel read her mom's expression. "Oh, no, mom, there's no

mission right now. We Animorphs are friends in real life, too.

Friends hang out." We all nodded at that. "We're teenagers, mom."

"Oh, well, I just wanted to know what you guys were going to be

doing. Three of you are my responsibility, Rachel."

"We know, Naomi, and don't think we aren't grateful," Tobias

said. "We are! But paranoia won't help our situation."

Rachel added, "We planned on going to a movie if that's all right.

And maybe some other stuff too." Naomi nodded, and she said,

"Not sure when we'll be back. What time is it?"

"10:23 a.m.," Marco said. "We'll be back before dinner."

"Okay, have fun," Naomi said. We were out the door.

"So, um, what movie do you want to see?" Tobias asked Rachel.

"Something scary? Or something funny?"

"Hmmmm, I was actually thinking more along the lines of

something we aren't going to really watch," Rachel said. Tobias

turned red, smiled, and Rachel put her arm around him. Marco

cleared his throat.

"Ahem, lovebirds, some of us aren't going to be all over each

other, so it would be nice to pick out a good movie," Marco

grinned.

Tobias snapped out of his Rachel-daze. "Oh, um, yeah, how about

the Blair Witch movie? I mean, it's been out for a while, but it's

supposed to be cool." We all agreed on that. So we walked to the

movie theater, talking and flirting amongst ourselves. You know,

Rachel and Tobias flirting, Marco flirting with Rachel and me, and

me not sure what to do.

The theater was dark, darker than it had been when I went with

Rachel and my brother. Tobias and Rachel sat on one side in the

very back, and Marco and I sat on the other side, in the very back.

"We should probably leave those two alone, if you know what I

mean." The movie started, and I didn't really understand it, but

Marco tried to explain what witches and such were to help. I

glanced over at Rachel and Tobias, looking for some comforting

sign that it was supposed to be this dark, and it was supposed to be

this loud. They were of little help, though, because Rachel was

acting like she was scared and was cuddling up to Tobias. I looked

back at the screen.

Marco yawned, stretched his arms up, and brought one arm down

around my shoulder. Just then, there was a loud, long thing of

shrieks in the movie, and without really thinking, I buried my head

in Marco's shoulder to block them out. He kind of smiled, putting

his arm around me for comfort and holding my hand.

"It's okay, it's just a movie," he whispered. I knew how silly I

looked, all huddled against this boy, but I was scared. I'd never

heard such a terrible sound as a shriek. Marco squeezed my hand

till the end credits. "See? The movie's over. No more Blair Witch

Project." I looked up and to my relief, the screen had only words

on it.

When we met up with Rachel and my brother in the lobby

afterwards, I glared at Tobias accusingly.

"I thought you said that was a good movie! It was terribly loud, and

scary, and-"

Marco laughed. "Tobias, your sister spent the whole time using me

as a shield from the screen, she was terrified." After a pause, he

added, "But then again, you two didn't actually pay attention, so

you don't know how scary the movie really was. You had your

own little method of avoiding the screen." Tobias looked away,

then cracked up.

We all laughed. Marco was good at that, lightening the mood by

making everyone laugh. I admired that in him. Now that I thought

about it, I admired a lot in Marco. His wit, his sense of humor, his

taste in music, even his looks, a little. Okay, a lot.

10: Rachel

We walked to the mall, much to my delight. I thought it would be

fun. Apparently, the others thought differently. Tobias's mood

sagged. Aidan wrinkled her nose. Marco whispered something to

Aidan, and she laughed.

"Hey, guys, Aidan and I wanna go check out the art and music

stores," Marco said, pointing down the mall at the stores.

"Me too," Tobias added. My jaw dropped. "No offense, Rach, I

just wanted to go, cause I've never been there before."

"Okay," I said warily. "I'll go too. Maybe we can stop at American

Eagle along the-"

"NO!" Tobias and Marco said in unison. Then they busted up

laughing. "Sorry, Rach, but we don't want to be here all day, and

I've got about $8 to my name," Tobias said, seeing the hurt look on

my face. "Next time, okay?"

So that's what they thought, eh? That I was some shopoholic who

gets into a mall and can't control herself? I could control myself, I

could.

We went into the Camelot Music store, and the first thing Tobias

did was go up to the counter and ask how old you had to be to

work there. "16," the guy grunted. Tobias thanked him and grabbed

up an application.

Then we went to the art store. It wasn't very big, but it had so

many paintings. They hung on the walls, leaned against the walls

and shelves in horizontal stacks. Both Aidan and Tobias's eyes

brightened at the sight of all the art. I had never known Tobias to

be an art lover, but there he was, explaining to his sister about the

great French Impressionists, and the Surrealism Movement of the

20's. I was amazed. I was also a bit upset.

"Why didn't you ever tell me you liked art?" I asked.

Tobias gave me the idiot look. You know, that look that tells you

that you just asked a really stupid question. "Puh-leeze!" he

whispered. "And suffer the needless torture from not only Marco

but school punks as well? No way. Would you also like me to tell

you that I used to want to be in a band? And I draw, and write

songs and poems? Want me to let that out, too?" he asked bitterly.

I could have kicked myself. Tobias has had enough trouble with

people beating him up for no reason from the get-go. He had a

different, I don't know, aura about him, and I always thought that

was so cool. The big punks at school thought he should be

punished for it. Of course he wouldn't tell anyone things that were

sure to get him twice the beat-downs.

"Sorry," I said. I walked over to him and whispered softly in his

ear, "I think it's cool. Our Tobias, a little cultured intellectual.

Almost. . . sexy."

Tobias had a look of total shock on his face. "R-really?" he

managed to stammer out. "I could show you some drawings and

songs when we get home. It's not good, but it's still something to

show."

I nodded. "Cool, I can't wait." See? Not just a ditz with a credit

card. I care. That right there could have taken Tobias to a whole

different level of his happiness, knowing someone cared. He didn't

have a great history of people caring.

We went home a bit later, about 4:30. Tobias and I went to his

room and he pulled out a thin notebook out from under his bed.

"It's, uh, it's got some stuff in it from memory. The real ones are at

my uncles, but I'm copying them over from memory." He handed

the notebook to me.

I opened it to the middle page. On the right hand page was a poem,

on the left was a sketch. It was of a kid sitting on the ground with

his head in his hands, a framed picture beside him of a beautiful

girl with long blond hair. I looked at the poem. It was untitled, in

Tobias's unique handwriting. It read:

Halfway through the night,

alone in a place I call my own

(sacred to me

unknown to the world)

I think of so many things

until my jumbled mind rests

(so tired of racing)

on a thought of my desire

for the warrior whom I adore

(God knows I love her)

and know I can never be with

from the difference that can't change

(flesh and feathers)

and I come down from my tree

melting away the feathers

(I emerge from within)

jumbled mind scolding me

and sit in the place I call my own

(sacred to me

unknown to the world)

with my head in my trembling hands

weeping untill the tears run dry.

It was my turn to be surprised. I looked at the date, realizing that

he'd written it so long ago, a week after he got his morphing power

back. Back then I hadn't realized how I felt about him, or if he felt

the same. It was almost a shock. It was so long ago. . .

"Oh, I guess it's too late to tell you not to read that one," Tobias

winced, looking over at me. "It's terrible. It was really late at night,

and I was kind of messed up from a battle. If I knew you were

reading that one, I'd have told you not to."

"No," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "It's really

beautiful."

I turned the page. The title was "Abuse Me", and I noticed that it

wasn't by Tobias, it was by Silverchair, that band Aidan liked so

much. The focus was on a pencil sketch, on the facing page, of a

little boy all huddled in a corner, a man with a beer bottle in one

hand, a thick leathery belt in the other hand, and a guy standing

defiantly between them, forming a barrier between the man and his

prey, protecting the boy. It was obvious who they all stood for. The

child was Tobias's childhood, the man was his past, and the guy

between them was supposed to be Tobias in the present.

The poem, or song, actually, read:

Need to ask a question

Calling out my name

Nothing seems to bother

Wish I had a clue

C'mon, abuse me more, I like it

Well I don't think you like me

Well I hate you as well

No one seems to like you

Wish I couldn't tell

C'mon abuse me more, I like it

C'mon keep talking cause it's true

C'mon abuse me more I like it

C'mon keep talking cause it's true

Throw the sailors overboard

Overboard

I didn't know what to say. The song, written as a poem, was really

dark, a sharp contrast to the previous poem. I had never seen

Tobias as a dark person. The picture was even darker, because the

figures were all backlit, so they had a shadowy look about them,

making them almost cryptic looking. I looked up at Tobias. He

wasn't looking at me, he was rummaging through some of the

drawers of clothes the Ellimist gave him. "Rachel," he asked

sweetly, "can you help me pick out something for tomorrow?"

"What's tomorrow so important for?" I asked.

"Job interview," he replied, wrinkling his nose to show he wasn't

thrilled. "It's at this little cafe right next to the mall."

I closed the notebook and sat it on his bed. Then I found him a pair

of jeans and a dark red t-shirt with a black star on the chest. Red

was definitely a good color for Tobias. And black. Then I realized

that I'd never seen Tobias in anything white, or light colored. Ever.

In one day, I realize Tobias's softer side, and his darker side, and

the way they intertwined. That was almost unsettling.

That night, I couldn't sleep. I plotted an idea to sneak into Tobias's

room and steal that notebook to look at. As quietly as I could (so as

not to wake Aidan), I crept down the hall. When I opened the door,

though, Tobias wasn't asleep. He was sitting on his bed, writing in

that notebook.

"Hey," he greeted. "What's up? Or are you just being a little

insomniac, like me?"

"I'm a bit of an insomniac," I replied. "Actually, I was gonna come

in here to look at that notebook of yours some more. It's really

cool."

"You think so?" Tobias asked. "I thought you'd think it was too

dark, too not me' like everyone else who saw it."

"It's you," I confirmed. "That's why it's so beautiful, because it is

you."

"Well, I'm glad someone likes it," Tobias smiled. "Wanna go

flying? Right now? We could go owl. It'd be fun, and maybe the

morphing will help get us tired."

"Sure," I said. He climbed out of bed, shut and locked his door,

and opened the window. He stuffed the notebook under his

mattress. We morphed our great horned owl morphs and flew out

into the cool night air. It felt good to be doing something instead of

sitting around. The Yeerks had been unusually quiet, and so flying

was one of the few things that was almost like a joyride. It took our

minds away from the bad stuff like Yeerks. We just focused on

flying. So that's what Tobias and I did; we flew.

Ahhhh, feels good to stretch my wings, Tobias said. Woah,

haven't mentioned the wings in a while, huh? That was different.

Yeah, I said, distracted. There was a nice plump mouse on the

ground, and my owl brain wanted so badly to eat it. Hey, want a

mouse? For old time's sake? There's one down there.

I know, Rachel, Tobias said, a smile in his voice. I was a

predator for two years. I can spot a mouse. He swooped down,

snagged it, and then let it drop. Actually, I guess I'm not too

hungry.

Well, just thought I'd tell you in case you were slacking off, I

joked. You've been a human for a while now, out of practice.

Well, thank ye kindly, miss, Tobias drawled. Then he laughed.

You know what you said about wanting to be in a band when you

were younger? I asked.

Yeah, but I don't-

I think you should meet this kid I know, Benji. He and some of

his friends are looking for a lead singer in their band, I said.

They just fired the old one, cause he stole some stuff from

Benji,

I'm not really good, Rachel. Besides, why would they want me in

their band? he asked.

Well, if what Aidan said is any indication, you are good. And if

that notebook is any indication, you have a lot of emotion built up

inside you, and you can use that to your advantage. It would be a

good way to start off life back here. A touch of normalcy.

Well, I don't think I can sing in front of those people, Tobias

said, still trying to weasel out.

Show me when we get home. I'll swipe one of those CD's Aidan

loves so much, and you can sing along and show me how you

sound. It wasn't an suggestion, it was a statement.

We flew home before the sun came up and snuck in. Mom had no

clue. After breakfast, we went up to his room and put the Neon

Ballroom CD in. Tobias put it on track 8, "Black Tangled Heart."

"I like this one, and I actually know the words," he shrugged. The

music started, and a weird glare got over his eyes, like I've never

seen in him. I recognized it. I saw it in the mirror after the first

fight. The look of shifting into a new gear, the one that comes

naturally to you, but you never knew about until that moment.

"Maybe your luck has changed. Settle down. Maybe I'm just

deranged and on the rebound. Maybe love was the thing holding

me back from it all. Maybe I'm just the thing to break my own fall.

Take the rope to my heart and fall. You may just be the last before

you see the black tangled heart fall. Maybe departure's good,

makes room for more. Start to mass produce for a chance to ignore.

Maybe you'll kill yourself before I get a turn. Maybe I'll fall in

love and never learn. Take the rope to my heart and fall. You may

just be the last before you see the black tangled heart fall. Take the

rope to my heart and fall. You may just be the last before you see

the black tangled heart fall."

The song was really cool (if you've never heard it, I suggest you

do). Aidan was right, Tobias did sound a lot like the Silverchair

guy, Daniel. When the song was over, he looked at me sheepishly,

not knowing that his voice would be that powerful. He was

probably used to quietly singing along to the radio or to himself,

but that voice held power. It was all raspy and sexy, not to mention

quite loud. And, like I thought, he put himself into it, so it wasn't

like he was singing like you do at school or whatever, where it's all

forced and mechanical. He was singing as though those were words

straight outta him.

"That was really good," I said nodding. "I mean, really good."

There was a knock at the door. "Hey, turn that down, I could hear it

from the kitchen!" my mom scolded. She thought Tobias's singing

was a CD.

I raised my right eyebrow at him, and he looked down, defeated.

"Okay, you win, I'll talk to the Benji dude. I just hope this turns

out okay."

"It will, Tobias, I know it," I reassured him. "You need a bit of

normalcy in your life, not connected with Yeerks, or Eliminates, or

us. You gotta do your own thing. I do gymnastics, Marco flirts

around,

Cassie's got the clinic, Jake's into basketball, and you. . ."

He thought about that a second. "Yeah, I guess you're right.

Everything for the past two years has been this damn war. I need an

outlet."

The next day, Tobias and I walked over to Being's place. It was on

the other side

of town. The band was having practice that day (without a singer),

so they were in the garage.

"BENJI!" I yelled over the loud music. Benji looked up and made a

slashing motion with his arm, which made the band stop playing.

"Rachel?" he replied. "How long since I've seen my sis? What's

up?"

"This is Tobias," I said, pointing to Tobias. "I think I may have

found your band a singer."

11: Tobias

Benji smiled. He was dressed in baggy black jeans, frayed at the

bottom, a long sleeved black tee shirt, a green Blink 182 shirt over

that, and a few chains; one around his neck as a choker, one as a

belt, and one as a guitar strap. He had short brown hair that he

wore with three blond spikes in the front.

I liked the band, they had a sound like Korn/Silverchair/Green Day.

And Benji seemed nice enough. At least he seemed to like Rachel.

But he's a guy, so liking Rachel was what he was pretty much

inevitable. But what had he called her? Sis?

"Ahhhh, lovely, lovely," Benji said, rubbing his hands together.

"We need a vocalist. So, Tobias, you ever been in a band before?

Or write songs? Do you play guitar?"

"Uh, no, yeah, and no," I replied. "I played guitar when I was

younger, like 11, but it was stolen, and I never got a new one."

"Hmmmm, well, it's not too hard to re-learn if you knew before,"

Benji nodded. "Wanna sing for us?"

I nodded. We walked over to the band, I took my place in front of

the mic. "Freak on a Leash!" Benji yelled out. I sighed in relief. I

knew this song better than I knew Black Tangled Heart. The band

played, and I did my thing, singing loudly, "Feeling like a freak on

a leash, felling like I have no release. How many times have I felt

diseased? Nothing in my life is free, is free."

After the song, Rachel smiled and nodded. Benji looked very

pleased. "I'll call you later, okay?" he said. Then he winked. "I'm

not gonna give it away, but I think you made it. See ya, Tobias.

Bye, sis."

We walked away, but not back toward home. We walked around,

talking. "You were so good! I can't believe it! You guys could

become famous, on MTV or something."

"Maybe they will, but I don't think I could," I countered. "Hey,

how exactly do you know this Benji dude? He called you sis.

Why?"

"Oh, we grew up next door to each other. He and his dad moved to

their new house after his mom died in 6th grade. My mom and his

mom were best friends, and we grew up practically brother and

sister, though we drifted apart after he moved. He's in the same

grade as us, in case you were wondering. The other guys are Jack

on drums and Chris on bass. As you saw, Benji plays lead guitar."

"Well, the band was tight!" I said enthusiastically. "What's their

name?"

"Shade's Children, after a weird book Benji read a while ago,"

Rachel replied. "But I think they're gonna change it to just Shade."

"I like both of those," I said. I took her hand casually. We walked

downtown. After a spell of silence, I said, "Thanks Rachel. You're

so cool to me. I know that if you were like any other girl, you

probably wouldn't talk to me at all, this dweeby kid. But you're so.

. . special. You do all this nice stuff for me and help me out. I feel

like I don't deserve it."

She gave my hand a quick squeeze. "No, you're the special one,

Tobias," she said. "As for those any other girls', forget them." We

stopped walking. We leaned toward each other so her forehead

rested on mine. "They aren't worth your time." Then she took her

head away and kissed my hand quickly and let go of it.

I wanted to kiss her beautiful lips, but I saw why she hadn't given

me a regular kiss. Her mom was at the store across the street and

had seen us. She began crossing the street.

"Hi, Naomi," I said cheerfully. "Guess what? I might be in a band."

"A garage band?" she asked. I nodded. "Benji's band?" Again I

nodded. "Oh, that's good. That Benji is a really nice young man."

"What's up mom?" Rachel asked.

"Just seeing what you guys were up to," Naomi replied. "I was

shopping for Sarah's school clothes. You two and Aidan are pretty

much set, right? Thanks to a certain person."

"Yeah," I responded, looking a bit past her. I thought I saw. . . Nah,

it was just my mind. She couldn't be. . .

"Well, come on, I'll treat you two to lunch," Naomi said, breaking

me out of my trance. "How about the cafe next to the mall?"

"Okay, yeah. I might be working there soon," I said. "My

interview's today."

I realized how every-day that sounded. Life was beginning to be

regular, normal. My life had never been this good, not that I can

remember. It was always sad or lonely or hawk-like. This felt like

one of those tv shows from the 60's, where everything was cookies

and hugs. Things were falling into place, it seemed, in the last

weeks, making up for the last 16 years.

Lunch was good. I decided to stay, since I had my interview in

about ten minutes anyway. Rachel and Naomi left the cafe. I sat at

a table waiting for the interview, looking out the window, when I

saw Aidan and Marco walking toward the cafe. This was definitely

weird. On a whim, I moved to the back corner and sat low in my

chair, so they couldn't see me. I hadn't told either of them I'd be

there, so they wouldn't

know.

Aidan was laughing as they came in. "Well, I like cappuccino,

Marco," my sister said.

"It's nasty. But I'll buy you one if you want," Marco offered.

"No, I can get it myself," Aidan replied. Marco sat at a table and

watched Aidan order a vanilla cappuccino and two brownies.

"Here, I got you one too," she said, handing Marco a brownie.

They chatted and ate, and Aidan sipped the cappuccino.

Aidan kept looking around, and I pulled my hat down lower,

covering my eyes. I had forgot about the whole connection thing

between my sister and I. We could kind of sense when the other

was around and what mood they were in. It's not like we can talk

to each other or read each other's minds, just know if the other was

close by, and sometimes we'd do or say things at the same time. At

that moment, I got a cool "happy" vibe off of Aidan, as well as a

bit of confusion. She sensed me, but didn't see me. I tried to block

my mood and presence. Soon she gave up.

"Wanna go to the park?" Marco asked. They both got up and stood

by a wall with art done by the local kindergartners last year.

"Nah, we went there yesterday," Aidan replied. Now I was getting

confused. They went out yesterday? Aidan and Marco were

together a lot, often doing stuff like this. I knew he liked her, but I

didn't think she liked him. I realized just how wrong that was when

they got up to leave.

"How about the beach?" Marco tried again. "The school year's

only a few weeks away, not much beach-time left."

"Okay," Aidan replied. "Let me do this first." She leaned toward

him and kissed him. He smiled and kissed her back, and I just

about threw up. That kid disgusted me, so seeing him with my

sister. . . I guess I forgot to keep my mental sheild up, because

suddenly she broke away from Marco and looked around.

Then she looked right at me. I'd been spotted. They walked to the

table I was at.

I pulled the hat off. "Hey, guys."

Marco was beet-red. "Hey, Tobias. How's it going?" I tried not to

laugh as I realized something. So many times, It'd been the other

way around, with me all embarrassed, and Marco laughing.

"Nothing much. Rachel took me down to this dude Benji, and I

tried out for his band. He said I'm probably in," I said

nonchalantly.

Marco stood slack-jawed. "You? In Benji's band? Everyone in

school knows about them! They've rejected so many people,

joining them is an honor! How did you manage that?"

"Um, let's see, Marco? Talent?" Aidan said. "Contrary to what you

may believe, my brother's pretty cool." She put her arm around my

shoulder and gave me a sort of sideways-hug. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," I replied, squeezing my sister back.

Then she shifted back to holding Marco's arm. "Well, I guess the

secret isn't a secret anymore," she said, looking almost relieved.

"Well, then I guess it's my turn to tell you congratulations," I said.

To Marco, I grinned and punched his shoulder playfully. Then I

raised my eyebrow. "Just don't hurt her, man. Or you'll have to

answer to me and Rachel."

"Hey, speaking of you and Rachel," he asked, returning the grin. "I

saw you guys a little while ago, on the street. You were, like,

holding hands, and being all lovey."

"Well, looks like my secret's out, too," I shrugged. Then I smiled.

"Pretty cool, huh? The group's all together. Jake and Cassie, me

and Rachel, you guys. It's like Grease. Only we don't randomly

break out into song," I laughed.

Marco laughed. "You know, Tobias, I never noticed before, but

you're pretty cool."

"Yeah, well," I joked, "when you're as cool as me, you can't help

but try not to be. Makes the common people happy." We all

laughed. "Nah, I'm just kidding. I'm not cool, but it's nice of you

to say that."

"No, I'm serious," Marco persisted. "I've been such a jerk to you

lately, but then you find out about me and Aidan, and you're not

mad or anything, you're okay with it. Even making a few jokes. I

probably wouldn't be if it were my sister and some dude who was a

jerk."

"Well, Marco, no offense, but some people are more mature about

stuff like that than others," I replied coolly. I wanted so much to

get in his face and tell him about how yeah, he was a jerk. All he'd

ever been to me lately was a jerk. But then wasn't the time. Not

around Aidan. And if he was who she liked, I wasn't going to get

in the way of my sister's happiness.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Marco said. He looked genuinely

sorry. "But we're cool now, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we're cool." I turned to Aidan. "Hey, can I have

some of that? It smells so good."

"Sure," she smiled, handing me her cappuccino. I took a sip and

handed it back. "So what are you doing here? I don't see Rachel

around."

"Actually, you just missed her," I said. "But I have a job interview

in like five minutes."

"Cool," Marco said. "Maybe you could hook me up with some of

those brownies if you get the job," he joked. But then I saw her

again. . . from the street. . . No, it wasn't her. When I'd seen her on

the street with Naomi and Rachel, it wasn't her. It wasn't her now

either. Couldn't be her. It was inconceivable. She isn't coming

back, I told myself. But she walked toward the cafe.

She had golden hair, and sea blue eyes. She was a very beautiful

woman, about Naomi's age, maybe a tad younger. Her face was

tired and sad, yet you could sense that she had spirit in her eyes. I

realized I was staring at her as she glanced at me, so I looked away.

Not her, I told myself. It's not her. Can't be. She's gone.

She eyed me, looking me up and down. Then she looked at Aidan,

and she looked troubled. She walked over to us and asked, "Um,

excuse me, would any of you know a boy named Tobias

________?"

I stepped forward. My voice wasn't cooperating with me, my throat

was clenched. So were my fists, I realized, relaxing my hands. "I'm

Tobias," I said quietly.

The woman breathed in a short gasp, then wrapped her arms

around me. "Oh, just look at you! You've gotten so big! I can't

believe I found you!" I pushed her away, glaring at her. "Tobias?"

she asked. "Don't you remember me? It's me."

It's not her, I thought. Can't be her. She's gone. Left me. "No," I

said, my voice

wavering.

"It's me, honey. It's your mother, Loren."

That was when the world stopped spinning. My newfound life of

normalcy , as undeveloped as it was, halted. I was in a state of

shock. "Mom?" I asked, my expression softening. "But-"

"I'm sorry, Toby. It's me," she said.

"Oh. My. God," Marco said. "Not another one."

Loren looked at him weirdly. "Another one?"

"More family," Marco went on. "He's lived without em his whole

life, then they suddenly all show up." He poked Aidan in the side,

indicating that she should speak up.

My sister looked brave, but her voice wavered. "Mom?" she asked

quietly.

"I don't. . . I don't have a daughter," Loren said, puzzled. She

stepped away from Aidan, toward me.

I walked over to my sister and stood shoulder to shoulder with her.

"Mom, there's something that happened before we were born that

you don't know about," I said. "Why don't you come over to our

place and we'll talk. Now."

"Your interview?" Marco reminded me.

"Screw the interview, this is more important," I whispered. "Go

home, Aidan'll call you later." He nodded ad left the cafe.

We got into her car and drove to Rachel's. "Rachel! Naomi! Get in

here! Now!" I roared as we walked in. They entered the living

room, and as soon as they saw Loren, looked uneasy.

"Tobias, is that . . ?" Rachel trailed off. She sat on the couch, her

mouth open in disbelief.

"This is my mother," I said. "Loren, this is my friend Rachel and

her mom Naomi. Aidan and I have been staying here for the past

few weeks."

Loren was still confused, but she just nodded hello to them.

"Aidan?" she asked my twin. "Such a pretty name. That's what I

was going to name Tobias if he was a girl."

Aidan looked our mother in the eyes. "Loren, we need to talk. I'm

Tobias's twin. The Ellimist took me away before I was born-"

Loren went pale. "Ellimist," she hissed. "You mean. . . The

dreams. . .No." she concluded firmly, shaking her head.

"Mom, what are you talking about?" I asked. Loren looked at me,

then Aidan, then at the floor.

"It's just, these dreams I have tell me things about Ellimists, and an

Andalite named Elfangor, and Yeerks. You probably think I'm

crazy like everyone else, don't you?"

I stared at her. "Um, Loren? Those aren't just any dreams, those

are memories. About your past, about the events that led to Aidan

and I. You must have blocked them out after I was born."

"Or that Ellimist did," my mother sneered. "In my dreams he can

do anything he wants."

Aidan and I nodded. "He must have wiped your memory of

Elfangor, our dad, and everything that happened that led up to you

meeting and falling in love with him," Aidan said.

"But he didn't take away my memory of you, Tobias," Loren

smiled. "I remember when you were two, when I gave you over to

your uncle, Tony. You didn't cry out loud, only one tear fell down

your cheek. I wished you would have made it more difficult," she

said, a tear sliding down her own cheek. "Maybe I wouldn't have

done it then."

"If you didn't want to leave him, then what the hell possesed you to

do so?" Rachel asked, anger tinged in her voice. "Do you know

how much he's suffered? What he's been through?"

There was so much pain in my mother's eyes. "I couldn't take care

of him. His father had left before he was born, and after he turned

one, I lost my job. There was no money. I had to get away for a

while and save enough to take care of us. I had to!" Her face had a

painful expression. Then she smiled. "I went to a really good

medical school, I'm a nurse now, and pretty well-off. I can take

care of us, Tobias. I can."

"What about Aidan? Her too?" I asked. "She's your daughter."

There was doubt in her eyes. "I never saw her before in my life.

She can't be mine, I think I'd remember having two children."

Aidan stood and walked over to Loren. She held up a mirror so that

Loren could see both herself and Aidan in the reflection. My sister

was just a younger version of my mother, they looked so much

alike.

More alike than she and I do, which is very alike.

"The Ellimist did it, mom. He took me out of you," Aidan spoke

slowly. "I wasn't born. I was translocated to the Andalite Home

World. You never even knew I existed." Slowly, accenting every

word, she added, "But I do, and I'm your daughter, and Tobias's

sister."

Loren nodded. "I know, I know. But I don't know anything about

you! I've only just met you."

"You think you know me?" I asked, a bit mad. "You had me for

two years and dumped me! That was almost a decade and a half

ago, need I remind you, when I could barely talk, let alone tell you

what I liked, who I was. You have no idea who I am."

Again, my mother nodded. "You're right. I know you're right.

Both of you are. But this is a shock. To suddenly have two kids

instead of one-"

"Excuse me?" Naomi cut in. She stood before Loren, her hand on

her hip. "You think I just randomly take kids in? I have three girls

already, but it's a responsibility. They aren't even my children. I

didn't have any idea who they were until a couple weeks ago, but I

treat them as my own. And they're really great kids, Loren. If you

can't accept responsibility for your own children like I took

responsibility for them, you don't deserve to have them. Not even

just Tobias, let alone he and his sister. Now, unless you are willing

to love and care for Tobias and Aidan, get out of my house."

Loren sat there, slack-jawed, gaping at Naomi. Then she looked

away, ashamed. "I'm sorry. I was wrong. Of course I'll take care of

both of you. It's just that 3 years of therapy convinced me that

there were no aliens, no Andalites or Ellimists, yet my own

daughter has been living among them her whole life. Every time I

see her, I'll think of that contradiction. Either that or the fact that I

wasted $100 a week for 3 years."

We laughed at her strained attempt at humor. "Don't think of the

loss, think of the gain!" Rachel said enthusiastically. "You don't

just have a son to love you, you have a son and a daughter. That's

more than you could have said before you came back here. Isn't

that worth something?"

Loren laughed through a tear of what I hoped was joy. "Yes. Yes it

does."

"So, um, where have you been these past 14 years?" Naomi asked.

"At first, here, but for the past 12, New York," Loren replied. "I've

been working my way up in my job, and now they'll actually listen

when I want to transfer. Isn't that great?"

"Where are you going to transfer?" I asked. "Here, right?"

"Well, I've always wanted to work in San Francisco or New York

City-"

"Mom," I said firmly. "Could you just move back here? Aidan and

I kind of have a, uh, arrangement that we can't get out of."

"Yeah, I suppose," she said. "I haven't been here in so long. Maybe

you could show me around?"

I nodded. "Sure, some friends and I could. You can meet some

people." I ran upstairs to my room and picked up the phone. Then I

realized that Loren was there too. "Oh, I was just going to call

some of my friends, tell them what's going on."

She nodded. "Well, you seem to have a good life," she said,

looking around at my things.

I snorted. "Yeah, within the last week or two. Before that, I

wouldn't wish it upon anyone. Do you have any idea how I was

treated? Tony was a drunken bastard, Alicia wasn't much better.

When I got into their space' they'd shove me off. I went back and

forth from one state to the other, and I wasn't welcome at either

home. He hit me, she ignored me. Don't tell me I have a good life."

"I'm. . . I'm sorry, Tobias," she sighed. "I didn't think. . . I thought

Tony was a good man. But I was wrong. I didn't realize things

would turn out how they did. You know that."

I looked down. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But still." I picked up the

phone and dialed up Jake. "Hey, Jake, what's up? Uh huh? Really?

Cool. Well, I have some news. Yeah. Uh, why don't you come

over and see. Yep. Bye." I hung up the phone. Then I picked it

back up and dialed Marco. "Hey, Marco. Yeah, she's here. Uh huh,

her too. Yeah, come over. Meeting." I hung the phone up.

"You know, you seem to have enough friends," Loren said.

"There's that girl Rachel downstairs, and Jake, and Marco. Of

course, your sister."

"Yeah, I guess," I replied, picking up the phone again and dialing

Cassie's number. "Hey, Cassie? Hi, it's me. Yeah. Well, um, I

need you to come over for a special meeting. Yep, I called Jake and

Marco. Okay, I will. Could you tell Erek for me? Cool, see ya in a

few." Then I hung up the phone.

"So, how long have you known these kids?" Loren asked.

"About two years," I replied. "After Alicia kicked me over to

Tony's."

"Speaking of which, Tony passed away last year, but you didn't

move in with your friend Rachel until a couple weeks ago. How

so?" she asked.

I hesitated. "Um, I'll have to tell you that extremely long story

later," I said slowly.

"Okay," Loren nodded. "So, I guess this means I'll get to meet

your friends. That's such a mom thing. I'm so out of practice at

being a mom. Then again, I never really had much experience

anyway, huh?" She walked around my room, picking stuff up,

looking through my stuff.

"Okay, lesson #1," I said, taking a notebook out of her hand.

"Don't go through all your son's stuff, as this may cause him to get

upset and kick you out of his room," I joked. I hugged her. "Thanks

for coming back, Loren," I whispered.

She broke away. "Tobias, here's rule #1 about being a son. Call me

mom." She smiled. "And thank you for being here."

We turned and went back downstairs. Jake and Marco were already

there, they live in the same subdivision. Erek walked in moments

later, because he does too. "Hey, guys," I greeted. They waved

back. But then they got distracted.

Jake stared behind me at Loren. "Who's that?" he asked. "She

looks kind of like Aidan."

"This is my mom," I said. Jake and Erek were shocked. They

stared at her, open mouthed.

Marco laughed. "Yeah, that's what Tobias did, too."

"So, uh, hi," Jake said. "I'm Jake." He shook her hand.

The doorbell rang. Rachel answered it and soon her and Cassie

walked into the living room. "Hey, everyone." Then she looked at

Loren and said, "Woah. You're. . ." Loren nodded. "Cool. I'm

Cassie." She shook Loren's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Um, okay, guys, girls, people," I said. "This is Aidan's and my

mother, Loren. The reason you're all here is because we have a bit

of a problem. She kind of knows about Andalites and Ellimists and

such."

Jake went a bit pale. "Well, uh, given who your father was, you'd

think she would. Unless the Ellimist wiped her memory."

"That's just it. He did, I remember now that Elfangor said so in

that letter DeGroot showed me last year. He said that all evidence

of his life here were erased. But she remembers in dreams, right

Loren?"

"It's Mom, Tobias," she replied. I rolled my eyes. "And yes, that's

right. Andalites, Ellimists, Yeerks, and Taxxons. Those are the

names I hear over and over in my dreams. But how do you guys

know? Everyone else said I was crazy."

"That is a very long story," Marco said. "Why don't you do the

honors, fearless leader?"

Jake opened his mouth, but I stopped him. "Not now, not here.

Rachel has two little sisters that should be home any time now," I

said. "Aidan and I can fill her in later. For now, we should talk

about more pressing matters. Like when are you moving back here,

mom?"

"As soon as I can, Tobias," Loren replied. "Maybe you, your sister,

and I can go looking at houses later, all right? Then we can go out

to eat. You like pizza?"

I nodded. Nobody spoke for a moment, and there was an awkward

pause. "So," I whispered. I cleared my throat and in a louder voice,

I said, "Um, so, Loren wanted us to show her around town. Do you

think we should? I don't think it would be bad security, because

Aidan and I live with Rachel, Aidan and Marco are going out. Jake

and Marco are best friends, and Rachel and Cassie are best friends.

We shouldn't look too suspicious."

Jake nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. We could show you all the

good restaurants and stuff." A slow grin spread across his face.

"Maybe we could go to the movies? I hear Stigmata is a good one.

It's scary, too, so it would be so cool to see it at night."

He glanced at Cassie and looked at me. I grinned at him. It was the

secret guy look. If you aren't a guy, you wouldn't really get it. But

it has to do with girls. Then I turned to my mother. "Yeah, how

bout it, mom? Up for a midnight movie? The theater downtown

isn't too expensive."

Loren smiled. "Sure, why not? I haven't seen a movie in a while."

TWO MONTHS LATER

Life was great. Aidan and I moved in with mom, filled her in on

everything. She got most of her old memories back, and Naomi got

Aidan and I into school.

On the first day, I walked into class a bit nervous. School wasn't

my favorite place to be. Looking around, I identified two kids that

used to beat me up, a girl that I used to like, and Jake. They

recognized me too. I sat by Jake.

"Hey, man," he said. "Welcome back."

"Thanks," I replied. I had a false look of confidence on, and

casually chatted with Jake and a few other people. Then Benji

walked in. Thank you God, I thought.

Benji and I had become pretty good friends. I got into the band, and

I bought a guitar with the money I got working at the cafe. He

re-taught me how to play (I'm pretty good if I do say so myself). I

wished he could be an Animorph with us, but Jake said he wasn't

ready to get another new member, we still had to fine-tune

Aidan. But maybe in the near future.

Benji had a big grin on his face as he plopped down in the seat next

to mine. Everyone sort of watched us as he said, "Hey, Tobias,

Jake. What's up, fellas?"

"Not too much," Jake replied.

"Cool. Tobias, you ready for that gig next Friday?" Several pairs of

eyes found their way to me.

"Yeah, man, you know it!" I replied. "I'm psyched. What's it

paying again?"

"$200 for each of us," Benji grinned. "Not the highest wages, but

still pretty decent." Then he looked around and noticed everyone

watching us. "What?" he asked them, laughing. "You never seen

guys talk before?" I laughed too, as did Jake. The tension around

everyone broke, and they went back to their individual

conversations.

Benji and I talked Shade stuff and girls, and Jake and I talked

basketball, because he wanted to join the team. Then someone

came in the room. Jake froze, mid-sentence.

It was Chapman. He cleared his throat. Everyone snapped to

attention. "Your teacher is ill today, so they've asked me to take

over untill she recovers."

Jake and I exchanged a look. Benji groaned. "Not him," he

muttered. "I never liked him in middle school. Now we're juniors

and he's still hanging around."

I grinned at Benji's complaint. If only he knew how much he'd

have to "hang around" Chapman if he was one of us. "Be glad you

aren't Mellissa," I whispered to him. He grinned and stifled a

laugh.

Sure, my life didn't turn into warm fuzzies and perfection. There

was still the war, still the rest of the world to deal with. Not to

mention school. But I had my mom, my sister (who became my

best friend and is still with Marco to this day), and my friends.

Since I wasn't a weak little thing, and probably because of the

band, virtually no one ever bad mouthed me or picked on me. I had

so many friends, it felt a bit strange. A good strange, though.

Oh, and of course there was Rachel. She really helps with keeping

life sane. I won't go into the full extent of our relationship, that's

for me to know and you to imagine, but I will tell you that love

isn't always bittersweet. Our love is just sweet.

The End