I flew into my bedroom window. An almost impossible task considering I was a bald eagle with a six-foot wing span. I closed my bird eyes and concentrated on my own human form. The feathers that covered my skin shrank up and disappeared leaving a truly bald eagle. My rough, clawed talons softened and turned into human feet with pink toes. Then my legs shot up like beanstalks and filled out. My pointed wings formed into human arms. Finally, my peak withered and turned into soft human lips and my blonde hair shot out of my head. I was fully human. I stripped from my skin-tight morphing outfit and threw on some comfy pajamas. I pulled back the covers on my bed and threw myself down, landing face first on my pillow.
"Ugh!" I groaned.
I was ticked. We had just experienced yet another failed mission. It gets really tiring putting your whole life on hold to fight a losing battle. There was no way we were going to win this war! Visser Three is unstoppable! He has way too many men! The Animorphs were outnumbered by like ten million! It would just be nice to have a mission go right for a change. It would help me feel like at least we're accomplishing something. Like the fight wasn't completely pointless. I was sick of brushing arm and arm with death. And watching my friends do the same. I was sick of living each and every day wondering if this is the day one of us is going to die. Wondering when the Yeerks are finally going to discover who we are. That we're not a band of Andalites; that we're just a handful of amateur, punk kids. Living in fear of being killed, or worse, infested. A tap on the window yanked me from my thoughts…and almost gave me a heart attack!
"YAAAH!" I yelled, nearly jumping out of my skin.
I jerked my head over to the window and saw a bird standing on the sill, tapping with his beak to come in. I opened the window.
Jeez Rach. A little tense tonight? an all too familiar voice chuckled.
"Marco?! Is that you?"
The god of good looks. One and the same.
"What are you doing here?" I wondered.
Well gee, thanks for the warm welcome. And for inviting me in. he sneered as he hopped off the windowsill onto my bedroom floor and began to dimorph.
"Mind answering my question?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
I knew you were upset when we split up tonight. I thought you might need someone to talk to. That's what friends do.
I was actually taken by surprise that he so easily admitted to me being his friend considering the forever long rivalry Marco and I have carried.
"Oh yes. That's just what I wanted. A stream of lame and annoying jokes constantly spit out by a short, annoying shrimp." What can I say? I have swelled pride.
But I had been looking at him very differently lately. I didn't think it was possible, but I had started to find Marco's feeble jokes not lame, but actually kind of funny. He wasn't just some annoying, short kid. I found myself staring at his brown eyes from time to time. His skin was so…young.
"Well if you want to be like that, I can leave." Marco said with his now human mouth.
Giving in slightly, I slumped back down on my bed. Marco sat next to me.
"I know how you're feeling." he said, looking straight into my eyes. I brushed off the wave of warmth that swept through me.
"I feel the same way." he continued "We all do. It's frustrating losing battle after battle. Especially for a crazed warmongering lunatic like you." he chuckled. I shot him an evil glare. So much for wave of warmth.
"Hey, just kidding!" he grinned, putting up his hands in a surrendering motion. His playfulness actually made me smile. But suddenly, he was serious again. He looked at me.
"Listen, Rach, just hang in there ok?" he said reassuringly, placing a hand on my shoulder. My spine tingled at the touch. Wait, my spine tingled?! Ok, what was wrong with me? This was Marco! I ignored it.
"Yeah. Thanks Marco." I said placing a hand on his shoulder as well.
"Then again, I could help ease the tension." he said, smirking. He began to slide his hand down my arm suggestively. I smacked his hand away.
"You couldn't keep being serious for ten minutes could you?" I snapped. Then I realized…I kind of liked it.
Stop it Rachel! I thought to myself. This is Marco we're talking about! The short, annoying little twat! No, not short and annoying. Actually kind of cute. And funny. Aaaagh! NO! STOP IT!
I was yanked from my little mental argument when his fingers brushed over mine. And I found myself in shock when he began to gently stroke my fingers with his. But I couldn't bring myself to pull away. I looked up and made eye contact with Marco. I got lost in his magnificent brown eyes. His shiny, silky black hair. His creamy, coffee colored skin. His full, pouty lips. Before I could stop myself, I reached and began to trace a finger over his lips. They were so soft.
He began to lean in slowly. Agonizingly slowly. He inched closer and closer until those wonderfully soft lips pressed against mine. Out of reflex, I tensed up. Marco pulled away.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I, I just…This is weird." I blurted.
"Come on Rachel. You think I haven't noticed how you've been looking at me? Earlier in the barn, you didn't take your eyes off me once. Not even when Jake mentioned vicious battle and almost certain death."
Had he noticed that? I wasn't even sure I noticed that. I smiled sheepishly.
"Well I guess you've been waiting a long time for it to happen huh?"
Marco grinned. "You have no idea."
This time I leaned in for the kiss. Once more, his beautifully soft lips pressed against my own. Instantly, a wave of bliss washed over me. He reached up and softly caressed my cheek. His tongue traced my bottom lip, asking for entry. I obliged and we both explored the other's mouth with our tongues. Suddenly, we were all hands. Caressing faces and running our fingers through each other's hair in a tangled frenzy of wild tongue hockey.
Marco laid me down on my bed and straddled my hips.
"You know when I said I could help relieve the tension?" he said with a smirk, "I was being serious.
I grinned. "Just don't tell Tobias."
And all I'm gonna say is…I fell asleep that night with a grin on my face, feeling considerably less tense than I had a couple hours before.