Rachel tossed and turned restlessly in her bed. Lately sleep wouldn't come. Often she would get little or no sleep. Finally she sat up in defeat and turned on her bedside lamp. She looked around for a moment, then spotted something that caught her attention.
She tossed the sheets off her and walked over to the other side of her room. She searched through her bookshelf until she found it. She carefully wrapped her hands around it and took it off the shelf.
It was a small white lace photo album. She walked back over to her bed and carefully sat down. She looked at the album. It was something her youngest sister Sara had given her for last year's birthday present. She carefully opened it.
As soon as she saw the first picture she smiled. It was her and Cassie riding horses at Cassie's house. Rachel had looked like she was clinging on for dear life, while Cassie looked like a professional jockey. Rachel smiled again, but this time it was bittersweet.
We had no worries back then. Everything was just the way it should be. We didn't have to think that each day might be our last. She turned the page again. The next picture was of her family. It was before her parents had divorced. Everyone was smiling, but now Rachel noticed something she never had before.
As she looked closer, she could see the apprehesion in her parent's eyes, the look that showed that they were not truly happy. She had been so young and naive then. She could never tell that her parents were having problems. She thought that there could never be any problems, that life was perfect. Perfect. Hah. My life got only worse from there on. She thought. She turned the page again.
It was a recent picture that had just been taken. All the Animorphs were in it. But yet, she couldn't reconize any of the people in it. In all their eyes you could see the toll that the war had taken on them. Even when they were smiling, you could see how much they had aged through their eyes. She noticed Jake's the worst. You could just see the pain and horror that had happened to him. All the decicions he had made that could have gotten them killed.
Rachel quickly turned the page again. The next picture made her stop. It was an old bent and folded school picture. It was Tobias. Not the Tobias with glaring eyes, but the dreamer who never really had a family. The one who was so gentle.
A sudden noise at the window made her drop the photo album. She tiptoed over to the window and opened it. A red-tailed hawk flew in and landed on her desk chair. She carefully went and shut and locked her door then she went and sat back down on her bed.
< Hi. I hope I didn't wake you.> Tobias said, ready to apologize.
"Oh, that's okay. I haven't been able to sleep lately, anyway. I need someone to talk to." She smiled and put a pillow behind her head. Suddenly she noticed that Tobias was morphing to human. She watched curiously. As soon as he finished morphing she asked him a question. "What did you morph to human for?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. I just felt like maybe I should talk to you in person." He walked over to Rachel's bed and sat down by her. Suddenly he noticed the photo album on the floor. Gingerly he picked it up. He looked over at her. "Mind if I look?" She shrugged. He quickly flipped through the pages of family and friends. Suddenly he stopped at a page. He looked up in confusion at Rachel. "What do you have this in here for, Rachel?"
She glanced over at the picture. It was the school picture of him. "I like it. Why? Don't you want to be in my album?" Tobias grinned sheepishly.
"Sure, but I didn't even know you had a picture of me." He brushed her hair back. "Besides, my hair's all messed up in this one and, well, it's just not a very good picture of me..."
Rachel laughed and laid her head on his shoulder. "It's perfect in my eyes, Tobias." He put his arm around her and hugged her gently.
What did I do to deserve Rachel? He thought happily in his mind. He ran his hand through her hair. She was so perfect. Why would she ever care about him?
As he thought about this, he noticed that her breathing had become slow and steady. He looked at her face and found that she had fallen asleep in his arms. Carefully he set her down in the bed and pulled her sheets over her. He noticed the album on the floor and quickly picked it up and set it back on the bookshelf.
As he went to turn off the lamp, he looked at Rachel's face. He gently bent down and kissed her forehead. She stirred in her sleep and smiled slightly. Carefully, he shut off the lamp. He was surrounded in darkness.
"Sweet dreams, Rachel...." He whispered as he began to morph. Once fully hawk again he hopped onto the window sill and spred his wings as he flew into the dampness of night.