I was getting seriously exhausted. Birds of prey, like my osprey and Jake's peregrine falcon, are not meant to fly long distances. That's kinda why Tobias, Ax and I had to acquire ducks when we went to find the governor. We were not about to have to work our way across the state. Ducks do it easy. New plan.

((Hey, Jake-o, I've got an idea.)) I flapped madly for a few minutes, trying to get a little altitude. Jake was a couple of miles away from me, trying to make it look like we were just two completely random birds out for a completely random flight. Completely natural.

Jake's thought-speak sighed in my head. ((Marco, does this idea have purpose? Or is this another one of your 'we-should-acquire-a-private-jet' kind of idea?))

Ouch. That stung. I'll have you know that when I suggested we acquire a private jet, I wasn't meaning literally. I just meant we should get a private jet, perhaps illegally, a couple of Baywatch girls as flight attendants, and go places in style. No one liked my idea. ((I'm hurt, Jake. I can't believe you think so lowly of my ideas. I am the master planner. Heck, face it. I'm just the master. And this idea is genius. Genius.)) If I'd had hands right then, I'd have patted myself on the back. I tried to do it with talons. Didn't quite work.

((Just tell me your plan, Marco. As long as it doesn't involve bugs, I'm game.)) The peregrine falcon folded its wings tight against its body and plummeted a few feet, very fast. It makes him look really cool actually 'cause he's just this gray blur streaking towards the ground. Kinda scares the poo out of unsuspecting birds. I almost got creamed once by a peregrine trying to attack me. Scared me peeless. Anyway, Jake's dive was cool until I saw him laboring to get height again. Then it was funny.

((Enjoying the workout, Big Jake?)) I laughed. ((Not so cool doing a dive when you've got to make it back to the top, is it?)) I couldn't help myself. I kept laughing. After about two minutes of shameless laughing, I gathered my composure – or as much of it as I could find – and told him my idea. ((So remember how whenever we needed to travel long distances, we had to get creative? Flies on planes, stowing away on boats and jumping overboard to morph dolphin and swim, giant squid, and so much flapping. Dude, when we went on a mission across the street, I rejoiced. Still insane but a 'my own backyard' kind of insane. Now here we are again, back to the crazy flapping and crazy missions. Dude. All I'm saying is let's go duck. Ducks rule in long-distance. Duck.))

((I'll…think…about…it…)) Jake's thought-speak was strained as he flapped madly. He was still several feet below me when he spoke again. ((How much…further is…it to the…Valley?))

((Well, I don't know, do I? Just gotta let go and fly and we'll find it.)) Let go and fly, my butt. I sound like Tobias or some crazy old hermit. Nevertheless, I tried to stop thinking – a hard thing for me to do – and let the bird mind take over. And, as I kept methodically pumping my wings, I just enjoyed the scenery. The trees down below, the small river winding its way through the forest, a deer and two fawns that emerged from the treeline and ducked their heads to graze. My osprey eyes could make out a school of fish in the river. I did a lazy circle in the air, losing altitude slowly and not caring, and saw Jake a couple hundred yards away from me.

Then, suddenly, the Valley was spread out below us. There was no distinction that I could see from the forest around us and the clearing directly below. It just sort of appeared. Poof. Man, sometimes I hate the Ellimist, but the dude sure does know how to put on a good show. There were Hork-Bajir spread out all over the valley floor below us, some in trees, some walking on the ground. But I didn't see any humans. No Rachel, no Cassie, no Tobias. I did see my Mom but she was engaged in conversation with a Hork-Bajir.

((Do you see Tom or Ax? Or Jara or Ket?)) Jake wheeled in the air above the Valley, his falcon eyes trained on the ground. The hopeful tone in his thought-speak told me that he was worried his brother and his guards wouldn't have made it, that something had gone wrong. Truth be told, I was a little apprehensive too. But since when has the truth ever needed to be told?

That's when I spotted the flash of blue down in the Valley. And, since Hork-Bajir don't usually wear clothes or the blue bands of shock troops, I deduced that it must be our friendly neighborhood Andalite. ((Hey, Ax-Man, that you? You look at home down there with the other aliens.))

((No, Marco, this isn't my home. I have my scoop, remember? Although I could put another television here in the Valley and then we could watch The Young and the Restless even when we are here. Is that not a good plan?)) I could see one of Ax's stalk eyes twist to look up at us.

Jake swooped towards the ground and I followed, mentally rolling my eyes at the Andalite's comment. Seriously. Whose bright idea was it to get the guy a television? Right. Probably mine. Anyway…I landed in front of Ax and began to demorph right away. My beak was sucked back into my head as lips and a nose appeared. The feathers faded away to be replaced by pink skin and my morphing outfit. Suddenly, I shot up to my normally average height. I turned my head to see Jake as a tiny human. Everything had changed about him except his size and the fact that he had a pair of lips on the end of his beak.

"Honey? Honey I shrunk the bird-kid." I laughed and pointed at Jake. Just then, Jake began to grow as his beak disappeared.

"Haha, Marco. Very funny." Jake turned to Ax. "You guys made it okay? My parents, Tom? They're here?" I could hear the hope ringing in his voice. Thought about making a crack about it. Decided now wasn't the time. Instead, I waited to see what Ax would say.

((Yes, Prince Jake, we made it okay. Your brother is tied up in Marco's parent's house, under guard by two Hork-Bajir. Your parents are with Marco's mother and father right now, in the meeting area. I believe they are still, as you would put it, freaked out.)) Ax's tail twitched slightly and he turned one stalk-eye to look at me while he kept his other three eyes trained on Jake.

Jake nodded. "I'll go talk to them. Does Tom's Yeerk seem to be close to starving yet, Ax, or do you think it's got time yet?" Even as he spoke, Jake was walking away. I stared at his retreating back for a moment and then started after him.

"Hang on, Jake! Wait a second. Don't you want to know about the others before you go off to check on your family? What if something happened to one of the others?" I laid my hand on Jake's shoulder but he shook it off. He turned to face me and I was surprised by the hardness, the coldness that I saw in his expression.

"You want to know about the others, Marco? Fine. You find out. Me? I'm going to check on my parents. You know what happened to me the last time, Marco? I didn't get my family out. My mom and dad? Infested. Tom? Killed. Your family? Fine, living happily ever after. Rachel's family? Happily ever after. Tobias and his mom, Cassie and her parents? Happily ever after. When do I get my happily ever after, Marco? When? I'll tell you when. Now. So get out of my way." He turned and strode off. I let him get about two paces away before I jogged after him and grabbed his shoulder, spinning him back towards me.

His fist came up like he was going to punch me but I laughed. "You gonna hit me, big Jake? Listen, pal, I don't know what your deal is but you need to chill out. I'm glad you got your parents back, ecstatic even. I really love your family and I've been in this to save Tom from the beginning. So, yay, we saved Tom, I'm super happy. But you can't check out now. I don't give a crap about your happily ever after. And I'm sure I don't even need to correct you when you said Rachel's family had a happily ever after. Remember what you did to your cousin, Jake? Her family didn't ever have a freakin' happily ever after. Neither did Tobias. Everyone wants a freakin' happily ever after this time, Jake. Not just you. But you, you man are the leader. You're the one everyone looks to. You're the one who needs to care about the others. Care about your family. But care about everyone else too. Cause I'm not doing it for you."

Ax was keeping out of the conversation but his tail was twitching uncontrollably, twitching this way and that way. It almost looked like he was trying to decide if he should use his tail blade on Jake or me or both. There was a long moment of silence when Jake just stared at me and I glared back at him, unwilling to be the first to break.

Then he shoved my hand off of his shoulder and stuck his own finger in my face. "Listen, Marco. I'm sick of your crap. You think it was easy for me after the war with no family? Having sent my cousin to her death and ordered her to kill my brother? You think it was easy for me to just try and fade into obscurity? Knowing that I was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Yeerks, all the Auxiliary Animorphs, Rachel and Tom?" He breathed out a short laugh. "Yeah. Okay. This is my chance, Marco! My chance to have what you had after the war the first time. This is my chance to have my family back. And I'm not gonna blow it. You know what? You be leader. I'm sick of the decisions. I don't want a second chance at making the big decisions. I don't want to send people to their deaths again. I'm done. Leave me alone with my family, Marco. Just leave me alone."

Jake turned again and started to walk away. Just then, a Hork-Bajir shouted from the edge of the Valley, right where the cleared area ends and the forest begins. I whirled around to see what was wrong and heard the rustling of leaves behind me as Jake stepped up to my shoulder. For all his talk, he was still anxious to see what was going on.

Six figures stepped out of the treeline. Two were small, two were slightly taller than me, one was slightly taller than those two and one was huge. I squinted but couldn't make out who the people were so decided the only sensible thing to do was walk closer. I could pick out the sounds of Jake's footfalls right behind me and smiled to myself. He can't just walk away. It doesn't work that way for him. The closer I got, the easier it was to see the people entering the Valley. One was a Hork-Bajir I didn't recognize, another was a woman who looked familiar but I couldn't place. Two were young, maybe nine or ten, both with long blonde hair. They looked just like the slightly taller girl I recognized as Rachel, which must make the woman her mother, Naomi.

"Rachel!" I called, waving at her. I know, I know, Marco excited to see Rachel? Crazy, right? Don't worry, I wasn't going crazy. I just had this feeling that something was going to go wrong and I was glad to see at least one other family make it to the valley okay.

She waved back with one hand, her other hand resting on Sara's shoulder. Her mom was looking around like she was in a dream and Jordan's attention seemed to jerk from one Hork-Bajir to the next and then…she saw Ax. And screamed.

Rachel waved her hand in the air. "Jordan, Jordan, it's ok! He's a friend, the Andalite I was telling you about, remember?" She laid her free hand on Jordan's shoulder. "Geez, you don't freak out at a bladed hobgoblin but you do at a four-legged blue deer-man? It's okay. He's a friend."

Ax walked closer to Jordan and ducked his head. He brought his tail close to the ground and folded his arms across his chest. I got the feeling he was trying to appear non-threatening. ((My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. I will not hurt you. It is nice to meet you, sisters of Rachel.))

While Ax introduced himself to Rachel's family, Rachel approached Jake and myself. "Hey, guys." She looked at Jake. "You get your family out?" He nodded. Rachel pressed for more information. "Tom, too?"

"Yeah, he got 'em. I see you got your family." I noted, pointing at Rachel's stricken mother. "Your mom looks real thrilled to be here. She didn't take to the 'I'm the mother of Xena' thing?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Marco. She's here, isn't she?" Then she sneered. "Of course, I did have to threaten to take Jordan and Sara and leave her to get killed before she actually came. And, no, she's not happy about it. But she's here." Rachel looked around. "Where's Cassie and Tobias?"

((Above you, oh fearless leader, Xena, Marco.)) A new voice entered the conversation just as Toby Hamee loped out of the forest, a drawstring bag in one hand and dog under her other arm. The bag I knew contained the blue box. I sighed in relief. The line was starting to straighten out as all the unknown elements were revealed. I hadn't known for sure if the blue box would make it safely to the Valley. Man, was I glad to see that it was. The Hork-Bajir dumped Champ at Jordan and Sara's feet and the two instantly fell to their knees, petting and rubbing the dog's fur until he woke up and sat up with a bark.

"What? I don't get a nickname?" I complained, looking up to see two birds floating above us. They seemed to be identical. Loren and Tobias.

"Like what?" Rachel shot at me. "Shorty? Munchkin? Mush-for-brains?"

"Stop it, stop it. You're going to make me blush." I waved lazily at her, as if brushing off her insults. Tobias and Loren came to land on a tree branch above us and I turned slightly to have a better look at them. "Hey there, Mommy Tobias. It's nice to meet you again."

((You were the other one there, weren't you? The one who put my dog outside and told me he'd had to take a hike?)) Loren's thought-speak voice was thoughtful and I slowly stepped sideways, out from below her. ((You better be glad he was still outside when we left or I'd be really angry right now.))

I shrugged. "Whatever. Listen, you guys going to morph or sit around in your bird bodies for the rest of your lives?" I realized a second after I said it that it might not have been the most tactful thing I could have said.

((This is me for the rest of my life.)) Tobias's voice was sad but Loren fluttered over to him and rested her wing on his back. Now there's something you don't see every day. Hawk comforting hawk. Weird.

Jake opened his mouth to say something but Ax's thought-speak interrupted him. ((Actually, Tobias, that is something I have been thinking about for a while, my shorm. I have wondered sometimes what would happen if you were to get stuck in another body. Not your hawk's form but another form.))

Tobias didn't even let him finish. ((Ax, I think we've been over this. If I get stuck again, I'm a nothlit for good. No more morphing, no more fighting. No more Animorph for me. And you all know I won't let that happen. Why are you even wondering about that?))

Obviously Tobias is a little sore about that subject. Ax huffed slightly and scuffed his hoof in the dirt before answering. ((Because you did not let me finish. As I was saying, I have often wondered what would happen if you were to morph, say, an Andalite and then overstay the two-hour limit. You would be trapped as an Andalite, of course, but most Andalites have the morphing power. Would you then conceivably have the morphing power?))

No one spoke for a moment. Then Rachel threw her arms around Ax. "Ax, you're a genius! Of course! It's the perfect solution! Tobias, you can morph Ax and become an Andalite! Then you'll have your morphing powers back but you won't be a hawk anymore! This is what you want!"

Tobias' voice was sharp. ((And how is that any better than I have it now? I still wouldn't be a human; I wouldn't be someone you could be with, Rachel. I would still be trapped. Besides, Ax, you're not born with the morphing power, right? Even Andalites have to use the Escafil Device to become morph-capable. So it wouldn't be there if I morphed you, right?))

Ax shook his head slowly. ((We did have a class at the Academy on the irregularities of the Escafil Device but I was not paying much attention. It was a large class and there was this-))

I cut him off, laughing. "A female, we know. She was just so drop-dead, you couldn't take your eyes off of her, isn't that right?"

((No, Marco, she was very much alive. But she was very pretty and I could not keep focused in class. It is possible I missed something. Though I do remember my teacher saying something about the Escafil Device altering your DNA. So it is possible that the device mutates your DNA to where if you were to acquire an Andalite with the morphing technology and become a nothlit, you would still be able to morph. But I do not know for certain. It would have to be tested.))

Jake sighed. "Too bad there's no way to test it without overstaying the time limit. Not exactly how I want to find out whether or not Ax's theory is true. Now come on, Loren, you'll want to demorph, you don't want to push the time limit. Tobias, once everyone's here, we'll have a meeting, so if you want to let Toby know – hey," he said suddenly, "has anyone seen Cassie or her parents?"

Rachel shook her head. "Nope. But her farm is the furthest out, it makes sense she'd be the last one back. Still…"

There was an awkward silence after that as no one said what they were thinking. So I said it. "She should be here by now. I don't think anything has happened or would have happened but maybe Tobias should fly out and see if he can meet Cassie and her parents half-way, maybe give Cassie a break from trying to explain the whole 'I-can-turn-into-animals' thing. You think, big Jake?" I knew he didn't want to make decisions anymore but he was the leader. The only way to get him to do what he had to do was force him. Jake just shrugged. I looked at Tobias and rolled my eyes. "Oooookay. I'll make the call. Tobias, you fly towards Cassie's farm and see if you catch them along the way. But hang on, I'll morph wolf and come with you. See what that nose can sniff out." I turned to Rachel. "You might want to get your family comfortable; we'll be back in a jiff." I had already begun the morph to wolf and, by the time Jake spoke, I was more wolf than human.

"Find her, Marco. Find her and bring her back. We'll talk about…well, you know what, when you get back. But find her, Marco. Please."

((Come on, Jake.)) I tried to make a joke. ((Cassie and her parents walking in the woods? They've probably come across a den of skunks they have to save. Seriously. We'll be back soon.))

Tobias flapped up into the air and I raced off through the trees. I kept an eye on the red-tailed hawk flying a few feet ahead of me since he knew the way to Cassie's farm and I didn't. Finally, tired of the silence, I decided to make small-talk.

((So…your mom seems pretty cool.)) I said lamely. ((We didn't really get to hang out, me and her, the last time we saved her, you know. Maybe my Mom and me and you and your Mom could, get dinner or something.))

((You're worried, aren't you?)) Tobias seemed so sure of what he was saying and I wondered how he had figured out I was worried sick about Cassie.

I tried to force my wolf legs to go faster but I was already running in a full-out sprint. ((Yeah, man, I'm worried. Her family lives the most out of town of any of us. She would have been the last one to reach them and tell them what was going on. What if the Yeerks figured out what was going on and was there to meet her? Then what? What if we run right into a battle? You think the dynamic duo of Wolf-Man and Bird-Boy are going to do much damage?))

Tobias swooped low, just over my head and did a barrel-roll. ((I'm worried too, man. Something just doesn't feel right. But if you think we're going to get into a battle, stop and go gorilla. Do what you think you need to do, Marco.))

Shaking my wolf head, I plunged my nose towards the ground and kept running. ((No, man, we need the – ugh! What the crap is that smell???))

A pungent odor had just assailed my nostrils. I couldn't place the smell but it was the most disgusting thing I had ever smelled. Worse than Jake's gym socks. Guh-ross. ((Dude! Tobias! What died?))

There was a pause. Then Tobias's thought-speak, very soft, filled my head. ((Dude…there's Cassie's barn.))

And there was the line, filling my mind. The line that made all life, for everyone, hell.