Sorry for the delay in this. I actually have about 4 chapters written right now. I'm just lazy when it comes to typing them up (I blame my recent addiction to Dark Souls - great game for a masochist btw).

Oh and I'm bumping up the rating for some mild language use.

The usual copyright BS. I don't own Animorphs and I ain't makin any money off this.

~The Last Ronin~

I sigh. My daughter hasn't said half a dozen words all night. When I got home and my nose told me that Tobias was back I'd expected Raquel's bad mood to be gone. Far from it though. If anything it seems worse than before.

Although I'm sure that boy has a lot to do with it I wonder if perhaps it isn't just her time of the month? She hasn't mentioned anything to me and I haven't smelled anything different about her. Still, I suppose it's possible. Even if it's true though, I don't recall ever being this moody when I was her age - my time of the month or no.

Without a word she gets up from the table, her dinner untouched, and heads for the front door. Kyle watches her go and then grabs for her plate. I smack his hand away and take the uneaten food into the kitchen to wrap for later.

"No one better touch that," I glare at my boys, "assuming you want to eat for the rest of the month yourselves."

Logan won't touch it anyway, but Kyle and Alex are another story entirely.

"I take it this has something to do with Tobias?" Logan catches me in the hallway. This is starting to become a habit.

"I'd bet on it," I shake my head at the same time he does. We both laugh and then sigh.

"I'm going to talk to him, see if I can't figure out what's going on. You're going to speak to Raquel?"

"Yeah, although I'm mostly going to try and get her to eat something," I grimace. My daughter has already dropped several pounds - something very bad for a werewolf of her age, "just when you talk to Tobias, keep in mind that this is a weird situation for him."

"Lily," he shakes his head, "Raquel comes first."

I stare after him as he returns to the dinning room to check on the boys, more than a little hurt that he'd suggest I'm not thinking of what's best for our daughter. Of course Raquel comes first, but with how she feels about Tobias, hurting him will only hurt her as well.

Once again I sigh...something else I've been doing a lot lately. This whole situation has me worried. I'm just afraid that no matter what happens, my daughter is going to end up hurt.

x-x-x-x-x

"Are you and Raquel fighting again?"

I look up to see Alex dropping to the ground next to me, a serious expression on his face. I almost laugh at how comical he looks but manage to hold it in. A six year old should never try to act serious.

"You shouldn't fight with her," he continues without waiting for an answer, not that I can answer really, "it makes her sad."

He stops, distracted by a bird chattering away in a bush. A small breeze blows some snow from the trees and their branches groan in protest.

"I don't like it when she's sad," he remembers me once more, "so stop making her sad!"

He nods and stands, still trying to look serious. Again I manage to hold in a laugh, but Logan doesn't bother and his chuckles reach my ears.

I look up, startled. When did he arrive?

"Thanks big guy," he ruffles his son's hair, "but I got this. Get back inside."

The boy beams up at his father and takes off in a dead sprint for the house, twenty feet away. Skidding, he tumbles forward and disappears into the open door.

"We need to talk," Logan says, turning towards me, "so get changed."

I grumble a bit but do as I'm told. I've actually been waiting for this conversation since coming here. I'm just surprised its taken Logan this long to get around to it.

Once I'm changed and dressed he climbs into his truck and motions for me to join him. Fantastic; I wonder if he has a shotgun in there too? I get in anyway and try not to jump when the engine roars to life.

We drive in silence for a long time, the only sound the hum of the car and the wind whipping by the old vehicle. I stare out the window, waiting. He'll say whatever it is he wants to say when he's ready.

Finally he pulls off onto the side of the road and shuts the engine off. I suppose calling this the middle of nowhere is cliché, but that's exactly where we seem to be.

"Look son, I realize I'm not your father so I don't want to lecture you but I need you to understand me," he begins at last, "I know this wasn't something you asked for and I don't know why my daughter changed you. I am sorry for that though. For that reason I offered you a home, an offer you are free to refuse now that I know you're not a danger to anyone.

"I actually realized that a few months ago. But the reason I haven't tossed you out is because, for some reason or another, Raquel seems to want you around. Although I'll be the first to admit that I don't know you all that well, from what I've seen, she could do a lot worse than be around you. I don't expect you to understand this, but I want her happy above all else.

"However, you are hurting her with your inability to make up your damn mind about who she is to you. So that's what this is. There's the door. Get out and don't come back until you reach a decision. Actually, scratch that. If your decision is one that will make her happy, you're welcome back in my home. If it isn't then I don't want to see you again.

"If what you want is to be a part of her life though, you damn well better be a part of it. None of this half-assed, 'here today, gone tomorrow' shit."

He hands me a knapsack that I can wear while human or wolf, reaches across me to open the door, and shoves me out. Closing the door behind me, he starts the truck again and takes off while I sit in the dirt, stunned by his actions. Whatever I'd been expecting, this wasn't it.

I stand and brush myself off, taking in my surroundings as I do. The air is somewhat warm, but very damp and the ground is fairly squishy beneath a layer of slush. With a sight I strip out of my clothes and stuff them into my bag.

Of all the places he could have left me, why a swamp?

x-x-x-x-x

"Raquel, eat something," my mother says. I look down at my dinner but I'm just not hungry. She sighs as I continue to push food around my plate.

"I'm going to bed," I whisper and push myself away from the table. Distantly I hear my parents start to argue but I ignore them. Besides, I already know what they're arguing about and I don't care.

I flop onto my bed and bury my face into my pillow, trying to shut out the world. It doesn't work though and a familiar scent drifts into my nose. My head shoots up before I even register who the smell belongs to and my eyes instantly zero in on the figure sitting by the window.

"Thought that would get your attention," he chuckles, his eyes holding mine.

"You're back," I whisper and smile, despite myself, when he nods. I shouldn't get my hopes up.

For a few minutes we just watch one another; each waiting for the other to speak.

"I think we need to talk," he says at last in a quiet voice, "but would you like to go for a run with me first?"

Go for a run? So he's leaving and doesn't want to be around someone who might attack him when he tells me. He starts to turn and reach for the window.

"No," I say as he grabs the latch.

"No?" he turns back to me, confusion on his face.

"No," I repeat, a bit more forcefully, "say what you want to here, now. I'm not in the mood for games."

He looks at me closer, his confusion having turned into surprise. He shakes his head and rubs his hand over his face. For a minute I think he's just going to shrug, say 'whatever' and walk out and I have to squash the panic that burns through me with that thought.

"Fine," he does shrug, "here works too. I just thought you'd want to go someplace with fewer ears."

That almost breaks my resolve. Do I really want my parents listening to this conversation? I can hear that they've stopped arguing downstairs. Certainly they know Tobias is back and that I'm talking to him.

"Just spit it out already," I growl, annoyed that he's pretending I don't already know what he's going to say.

Downstairs I hear a floorboard creak, followed by my mother breathing a quiet curse. I ignore her and get up to close my door loudly. Not that it'll help any but at least they'll be aware that I know they're spying on us.

"Alright," he murmurs, so low that I can barely hear it from ten feet away, and then moves to stand in front of me.

My heart leaps at his closeness and I clamor to get it under control. A bemused grin slides across his face and I nearly deck him. If he thinks anything about this is funny...He ignores my clenched fist though and continues on in a voice so low that I find myself leaning closer still to even hear it.

"You know who I am and what I was, correct?"

I nod, my eyes not leaving his as I wait for the hammer to drop.

"Then you know how much older than you I am, as well as who I lost in the war?"

Again I nod. Here it comes.

"So you understand why I'm hesitant to start something with you."

"I get it," I whisper back and my voice cracks, "I'm too young and I look too much like...like her. And that's why you won't be with me."

So there it is. Who am I kidding though? I knew from the moment I realized who he was that it would turn out this way. I do my best to hold back my tears but a few leak out anyway.

"Hey," he brushes my tears from my cheeks and forces me to look at him again, "I said hesitant, not unwilling."

Wait...what? I must be hearing things. He couldn't have just...

"What did you say?" I can scarcely hide the hope in my voice. Surely I heard wrong though.

"I'm not promising anything, but if you still want, we'll give it a shot and see," he smiles at me, "just please don't attack me like you did the other day. You surprised the hell outta me and I came very close to doing something we both would've regretted."

"So you're saying you'll stay...with me?" Fate I must sound like such an idiot! But I'm still trying to wrap my head around...I rerun his words, looking for some other meaning to them that I might be missing but I can't find one, "you'll stay with me?"

"If you want me to," he chuckles slightly, "I'll stay with you."

Answer him! I scream silently to myself. But my mouth has gone dry and I seem to have forgotten how to breathe. Unable to form words, I settle for nodding.

He smiles again and holds out his hand.

"So how about that run?"

Still incapable of speech, I take it.