A/N: A huge thank you to YPM-33-KI for beta reading, and just letting me pick his brain for information while I worked on this.

Her words echoed in my head.

Aftran wanted me to kill her.

To save her from Kandrona starvation.

But in spite of her request, I couldn't believe that the only options available to Aftran were death at my hands immediately, or a slow painful death by Kandrona starvation in three days.

(How much time do you have before hunger sets in?) I asked her.

I could feel her hesitation before she responded. (Yeerks can live for seventy-two hours without the Kandrona, but the initial hunger sets in earlier. Around sixty hours. That's when we usually try to feed. At sixty-five hours...it changes from normal hunger to painful hunger.)

(You were feeding up until I rescued you from the Pool, right? Visser Three couldn't limit how much of the Kandrona rays you could take in, as long as you were actually in the Yeerk Pool?)

(That's right, Cassie,) Aftran confirmed. (It's been less than two hours since I've fed.)

(Then we have about fifty-eight until you would need to feed.) I spoke with determination. (Look, the rest of the Animorphs are sick, but maybe we can get together for a meeting before then. Figure out a way to save you. If not...) I didn't finish my sentence.

She sighed. (You're impossible, Cassie. But you're right. There's no harm in waiting for a day before making a decision.)

(And you'll stay in my head until then,) I commanded. (If you're going to die in a couple of days no matter what I do, then you should have access to my senses while you can still enjoy it.)

I could feel her gratitude. (Thank you, Cassie. Oh, don't worry-I won't take control of your body, I promise.)

I couldn't deny that was reassuring to hear. The last time Aftran had been in my head, she had taken control. Of course, by putting her in my head, I had basically given consent to this. Still. While the knowledge that my body would be my own even when I had her in my head wasn't exactly unwelcome, I wanted her to know that she could have some control while she was there.

(You can have some control,) I told her, quietly.

I felt her surprise. (I won't abuse it,) she promised.

We were both quiet for a little while. I could feel Aftran's amazement at experiencing my human senses again.

(It's especially wonderful to see again,) she told me. (I hadn't forgotten what it was like. But memory is nothing like experience.)

I sighed, wondering if the whole deal had been a mistake. Or at least, if we could have done it another way. (Maybe what I asked from you was too much. Mr. Tidwell and Illim seem to get along well enough, and he started out involuntary,) I began.

(Your teacher is an adult man, not a seven year old girl,) Aftran interjected. (No. Karen didn't want me in her head. Not after having been taken like she was. And after letting her go, I couldn't have asked for another host without giving myself away. Or you and your friends. It was a necessary sacrifice to make. Besides, it showed other Yeerks that I was serious about peace.)

(It also nearly got you tortured and killed,) I pointed out.

And still might. Well, the killed part.

Aftran's determination showed in her reply. (The Yeerks of the Movement will believe that I died as a martyr to the cause, and as you humans know, that often increases its strength. Cassie, please don't feel sorry for me, or wish you hadn't asked me to do what you did. Remember, you were willing to do the same.) She paused. (Speaking of which...how in the world are you human? Was it the Ellimist?)

My memories of what had happened were available to her, but her promise not to take control of my body must have extended to her not invading my memory. Not intentionally, anyway. Yeerks can't help seeing what their host is thinking about.

I smiled. (Not exactly. Caterpillars have a natural morphing process. They turn into butterflies. According to Ax, when I emerged from the butterfly state, the two hour morphing clock reset itself. They found me, and I was able to demorph in time.)

(Oooh. We knew about caterpillars and butterflies, of course, but it didn't occur to me that the instinct to...) Aftran paused as she tried to think of the right word. (To change, I guess, would be there. Nor would we have guessed that changing into a butterfly would have reset the morphing clock.)

(I guess it was a loophole,) I told her. (But it didn't occur to me at the time.)

(You kept your end of the deal,) Aftran told me, firmly. (At the end of the two hours, I was telling you to demorph. But I guess with those senses, you couldn't hear me.)

I shook my head. (And you didn't have the benefit of thoughtspeach.)

(No.) Relief shone in her emotions. (But I'm so glad that it turned out all right.)

(Me too.)

(You know,) she mused. (Our "cousins", as it were, the Skrit Na, do something similar. The Skrit and the Na are two different species. It's part of the reason they're impossible to be used as hosts. They call it "phasing", though.)

I'd already known about this, which Aftran had to know. But, I guessed, she wanted to keep talking to me. Take her mind off of what felt like the inevitable. In a way, she was back to living in paradise-living in my body-but we both knew that without access to Kandrona rays, it was only temporary.

(It's pretty common among other earth species, too. Plus, there are so many living in the deep ocean that we don't know anything about. It probably takes place there, as well.)

(As though your planet isn't strange enough!) she mused.

I spent the rest of the day engaged in regular farm girl chores, plus taking time to check on Ax. He seemed to be doing better when I checked in on him every so often, but hadn't quite forgiven me for putting Aftran in his head. I could feel her tense in my head when we went to look on him, but she didn't object. I didn't think Ax would actually kill her, but he already disliked her simply for being a Yeerk, and Aftran being in his head-however necessary it was-must have felt like the ultimate invasion.

The next day, everyone was feeling well enough to hold a brief meeting. Aftran was, of course, still in my head when they arrived at the barn and, to my surprise, I realized that I was enjoying having her there.

Not just only did her having me as a host mean that she had access to all of my senses, which made her very happy, I was quickly finding out that Aftran was also good company. The previous night, I had gotten my homework done, with her help, far faster than I would have normally, and with her explanations, felt like I understood the material better than I would have on my own. Her comments to me were kind, often funny, and insightful. If you added in the fact that she didn't search my mind or take over my body, I realized that I would have been happy for this arrangement to continue indefinitely.

While I had offered to be Aftran's host twice-once, to save Karen, and once, to save her from Kandrona starvation-but for the first time, I was just beginning to see what life would be like for me if I stayed her host. It wouldn't mean enslavement to an evil slug set to destroy my family, my planet, and life as I knew it. At least, not for someone who had a Yeerk like Aftran inside them. Probably not for the hosts within in the Peace Movement.

Even for Yeerks who were decent but still loyal to the empire, I could understand why some people chose to become voluntary Controllers.

Sort of. The giving over your life to an alien whose species was set on invading your planet still didn't make sense to me, no matter how bad you thought your life was.

Still, if your Yeerk was decent, and maybe you didn't have close family to worry about...

It was something to consider.

Later.

Right now, with my friends here, we had to find a solution to the problem at hand. I glanced around the barn. Everyone seemed, if not exactly ready for battle, at least healthy enough to function. To my surprise, Erek had arrived with the rest of my friends.

"I thought this would be safest, in case your parents came by," Jake explained.

Erek could sort of emit holograms so that my friends could speak freely and no one would see or hear anything out of the usual. Not as long as they didn't disrupt the hologram.

I smiled at him. "Makes sense. How are you feeling?"

Jake shrugged. "Well enough for a meeting."

"Okay," I began, a little awkwardly. This had been my mission, but usually it was Jake who did the planning. "Well, I got Aftran out of the Yeerk Pool before Visser Three could interrogate her. That's the good news. The bad news is that..."

"The bad news is that she's going to die in three days without access to the Kandrona," said Marco, still looking a little pale, but blunt as ever.

I nodded. "I told her that she could stay in me, like she is right now." A few eyebrows went up, but a look from me prevented anyone from talking. "But she said it's way too dangerous."

"She's right," Rachel practically growled. "No way are you going back to that hell hole every three days. Not to mention what would happen if you were found out. If ALL of us were found out."

I raised a hand to silence her. "I know," I said, simply.

Yes, it was risky, but it was also a life at stake. I refused to dismiss it as an option. Well, at least, to myself.

I could tell Jake was sorting through the facts in his head. "Aftran only needs the Kandrona rays if she's in her Yeerk body, right?"

I checked with Aftran, who agreed with that. "Yes..."

"So, we can give her a new body. Let her pick an animal or something to morph and stay in. Permanently."

(Oooh,) Aftran murmured to me. (That's perfect!)

It sounded like the perfect solution. I would miss her, but at least she would be alive. I was about to voice our agreement when Erek, who had been quiet up until now, spoke up. "That's a good idea, Jake. But there are other options."

Marco and Rachel turned to him, confused. "Like what?"

Erek pointed to himself. "For one thing, I can produce Kandrona rays. I could visit Cassie every three days, or whatever length of time Aftran would need to feed without getting too hungry. Just put her in a glass of water, and I'll stand in front of her for a couple of hours."

Jake nodded as he considered this. "Okay, I can see that as an option...but I kind of prefer the nothlit idea. What about when Cassie has to go to battle? Aftran would have to stand by and watch as we killed her species. Besides, having to visit you every two or three days...wouldn't that be kind of a hassle? For you, as well."

Erek smiled his Chee smile. "That's true. I have a third option that I think you might prefer."

(What's that?) asked Tobias.

Erek glanced at me pointedly, and then at Jake. "Your brother."

"What about Tom?" I asked, a little defensively.

Freeing Tom had been a goal of Jake's since the beginning of the war. I knew this. But as his Yeerk advanced in his empire duties, it was beginning to feel impossible. There was no way to simply attack the pool or starve Tom's Yeerk and have Tom walk away free without drawing major suspicion on his family. Even the idea of him living in the valley with the free Hork-Bajir, though extremely difficult to locate, wasn't foolproof.

In any event, we'd have to find a way to fake his death. And as much as Jake wanted to free his brother, I think he knew it would hurt his family too much to attempt something like that.

"You could capture Tom, and when his Yeerk is hungry enough to negotiate, offer him myself as a host and then replace him with Aftran," Erek replied.

Jake stared at Erek, working it through in his head. "And then Aftran goes with Tom to the Yeerk Pool every three days...and pretends to be Tom's old Yeerk."

"Exactly."

Aftran gasped in my head. (That's ingenious!)