Alone Again Naturally
Alone Again Naturally
Disclaimer: I do not own Animorphs or the song Along Again Naturally.
Rachel POV
I went up the tower. It wasn't that big. I had a cloak on over my head. The war was finally over, but the others and I had been hiding for years. We had left our families. We had left our lives. And now I'm the only one left. Everyone else is dead.
When I reached the top I heard a girl say, "What a freak. She can turn into any animal she wants!" I looked and saw that the girl was my former little sister. She looked as if she was a teenager now. I couldn't remember her name. She didn't know that she was talking about her sister. I couldn't bring myself to myself to go and talk to her, so I sat down near the edge.
In a little while from now
If I'm not feeling any less sour
I promise myself to treat myself
And visit a nearby tower
And climbing to the top will throw myself off
In an effort to make it clear to who
Ever what it's like when you're shattered
Left standing in the lurch at a church
Where people saying: "My God, that's tough
She's stood him up"
No point in us remaining
We may as well go home
As I did on my own
Alone again, naturally
I took off the cloak and threw it on the floor, leaving only my morphing outfit on.
"Isn't that your sister?" the girl who was with my sister said.
I was shocked, but did not acknowledge the fact. Who the hell could recognize me as the beautiful young girl I use to be?
Morphing fixes injures, but I had let my body go. I had stopped taking care of my hair, and now instead of blonde, my hair was snow white. The outside of my body now matched how much I had aged on the inside.
"Rachel?"
I only gave a little look at the mention of my name.
"What happened to you?" she asked, trying to make heads or tails of how her sister became what she was today.
To think all this happen because when I was about 13, my best friend Cassie, my cousin Jake, my cousin best friend Marco, a boy I didn't even know at the time named Tobias, and I, decided to take a short cut home from the mall. At the time I loved the mall; I was happy then. On that shortcut home we met Prince Elfangor, learned about the yeerks, and were given the ability to become any animal we touched. A little while later we met Ax, Prince Elfangor's little brother.
I loved the war. I was the reckless one who loved the fight; yet somehow, I am the only one still alive today.
To think that only yesterday
I was cheerful, bright and gay
Looking forward to well wouldn't do
The role I was about to play
But as if to knock me down
Reality came around
And without so much, as a mere touch
Cut me into little pieces
Leaving me to doubt
Talk about God and His mercy
Or if He really does exist
Why did He desert me in my hour of need
I truly am indeed Alone again, naturally
"Rachel," my sister said, "Talk to me."
"Why should I? I'm just a freak, aren't I?" I said. My voice was cold. I hadn't used it in so long.
She didn't say anything for a moment. Talking about someone who can turn into a bear and tear you into two is one thing when they can't hear you; however, it's another thing when it's your older sister.
"I didn't know," my sister whispered at last. She looked close to tears, but it didn't affect me. Nothing affected me anymore.
It seems to me that there are more hearts
Broken in the world that can't be mended
Left unattended
What do we do? What do we do?
"Sara, Kate," a voice said. I knew who she was right away. "Don't annoy people." Melissa Chapmen looked at me and her eyes grew wide. "Rachel, what happened to you?"
I looked at her and gave a laugh. It wasn't a humorous laugh; it was an evil laugh.
"Did it hurt Melissa?" Melissa looked at me with a questioning look. "Did it hurt when I killed you're father? Did you cry?"
Melissa's mouth dropped open. She looked ready to cry, but I didn't care. Chapmen had killed Tobias. He had shot him down. Tobias was our first death. I went crazy. Powered by anger, I not only killed Chapmen, but also all the other Yeerks there. I refused to leave without Tobias's body.
We buried him in the Hork- Baji village. I cried watching Marco and Jake put the dirt over Tobias's dead body. Not even Cassie, my best friend, was able to talk to me for the rest of the day. I cried until the next day, when I emerged ready to fight, ready to kill.
Jake and Marco were the next to go. We had put bombs inside a Yeerks building. There was an opening to the Yeerk pool there and some of it would get destroyed too. Cassie, Ax, and I made it out, but Jake and Marco weren't able. Their bodies were destroyed in the fire.
Ax was killed trying to get his revenge against Visser Three. Visser Three killed Ax. His body was gone long before Cassie and I managed to escape.
Cassie and I had fought for years together. We made a pretty good team. Then the Andalites came. I lead an army of Andalites, the free hork- baji, and Cassie into battle. We won the final battle, but all the free hork- baji and Cassie died. I didn't even know where Cassie's body was. I let myself one more cry for everyone I had lost in this war. After that there would be no more tears.
Alone again, naturally
Now looking back over the years
And whatever else that appears
I remember I cried when my father died
Never wishing to hide the tears
Melissa had tears in her eyes.
Sara looked at me and asked, "Don't you care?"
"I didn't care about killing Tom, why should I care about Chapmen?" I answered coldly.
Tom had become a pain. It was right after Tobias died. We were trapped and the only way out was to kill Tom. Jake couldn't give the order, so I did it on my own. I killed Tom and we escaped safely. After that Jake just looked at me, he didn't say a word; he just nodded.
I felt old then and I felt older standing there looking at Sara and Melissa, Sara's friend had left when I mentioned Tom. They stared at me unable to say anything. I knew what was going through their mind. When they first saw me, they saw the girl they once knew. Now they saw someone who had grown old and cold.
I wasn't young and beautiful anymore. I didn't want to be. I was used to what I was. Someone who had lost everything to save everything, I was alone now, no Animorphs, no friends, and no family.
And at sixty-five years old
My mother, God rest her soul,
Couldn't understand why the only man
She had ever loved had been taken
Leaving her to start with a heart so badly broken
Despite encouragement from me
No words were ever spoken
And when she passed away
I cried and cried all day
Alone again, naturally
Sara and Melissa at last turned away. I gave another laugh and jumped off the tower, morphing into a bald eagle. I had become a faster morpher than when I was younger. My wings came before I was completely turned. When I was a bold eagle I flew back up to the tower.
(Keep the cloak) I thought spoke to the person who was once my little sister. I caught a thermal up leaving everyone I once cared about behind.
Alone again, naturally
I flew to the hork- baji valley. I landed and demorphed in front of a tree. I half expected for Toby, a hork- baji seer named after Tobias, to come up and greet me, but no one came.
I looked at the tree. Ax had put the words into the tree all those years ago. It read, 'Tobias, a good friend and an Animorph.' There was no last name. I couldn't even remember Tobias's last name. It had never mattered.
The sky was a nice shade of blue. I half thought the Ellimist would pop in and bring them all back, but I knew he wouldn't. It was against his rules. A red tail hawk looked at me from a tree. It was a female red tail hawk, not a male like Tobias. I looked back and remembered all the battles. All the victories and every time we lost, and my friends. Funny that little things remind you of something big. I didn't cry though, I had no tears left and I couldn't cry at the memories that will haunt me forever.
My name was Rachel. I was part of a group fighting alien slugs named the Animorphs. I was the reckless one who loved to fight. I was the only one who survived. It's funny how things work out. I am alone now and for the rest of my life.
AN: Sad, but I couldn't get it out of my head. R&R.
