A/N: As noted in the summary, while these stories are about post-war Rachel this is not a correction!fic. It's just that multiple characters wonder several times over the course of the book how exactly Rachel would deal with the end of the war she seemed to thrive on. Do to...unfortunate circumstances, we never found out. This fanfic is designed to be a collection of stories based on a variety of prompt tables that answer that question. Unless otherwise noted each story is stand alone. Do not expect consistent chronology or even continuity. It is possible that one story may contradict another because let's face it, there were several different paths Rachel could take post-war and still be in character and I don't want to limit myself to just one of those. This fic is all about exploring possibilities. If one of those possibilities gets a lot of response or I become particularly attached to it I may write a separate story expanding it but it will be posted separately. Okay I think that's everything. I promise author's notes won't normally be this long.
Please review and let me know if you have any ideas in mind for Rachel's life after the war that you would like my to write.
This first chapter is based on the prompts "Evidence" and "I'm here".
Disclaimer: I have a friend named Kathryn but her last name isn't Applegate and neither is mine.
Evidence/I'm Here
My name is Rachel. I am a member of the guerilla warfare group known as the Animorphs or (as Marco has just informed me) the Earth Liberation Force. So I guess that makes me a shape-shifter and an elf. Great I'm cracking jokes worthy of Marco. I'm still in shock. We appear to have won the fight for Earth. I know this. I can see it, but I can't seem to believe it.
This is was I wanted isn't it? To see Visser One completely at our mercy. To crush the yeerks beneath our paws. Today ten thousand yeerks died. Today my cousin died. I killed him. In a way I feel like I have done Crayak's bidding. He ordered me to kill my cousin and I have. Maybe it wasn't the cousin he wanted me to kill but I wonder if that will make much difference. I look into the face of our fearless leader and I wonder if it truly mattered to Crayak which cousin I killed.
The reporters surround us. We have just parked the blade ship on the White House lawn. The president has thanked us and the Visser is at our mercy. All the evidence points to a victory, so why doesn't it feel like one?
It's takes four days and a lot of effort for our families to make it out from the Hork-Bajir valley to Washington and when they finally arrived no one told us. It is highly doubtful that they forgot. Marco suspects that they kept it a secret because our surprise would make for better television. Later I will be angry at being used like this. At the moment though I'm just thrilled to see my family. I hear my mother's voice shouting for me. The fear in her voice is intense. It's almost like she doesn't expect me to respond.
I shout over the inane chatter and insistent screaming of the reporters. "I'm over here. I'm here Mom." I shout and I shout until she and my sisters make it over to me. Sara and Jordan are wearing clean clothes. They're faces have been washed free of the mud of the Valley that was their refuge and their prison. They are smiling. I bend down and hug them tight, tears in my eyes, and I finally acknowledge that we have won.
I am here, my sisters are here, my mother is here, even my father has been found and is here. We are here we are alive and the yeerks have been defeated. I hug my family and then I laugh. It's a wild laugh full of victory. After all these years, battles and pain we have finally won. The reporters back off, but my family stays close. I think they understand. I grin with savage glee finally enjoying the taste of victory.