Finishing touches
There, Tobias found me.
Jackie, is that you? he called, from about fifty feet away.
Yes, it's me. I said.
Where have you been! We've been looking everywhere! Why did you run like that?
I don't' know. I just, well, I don't know. I feel really confused.
Tobias was silent for a minute.
We totally trashed the Yeerk Pool, you know. There isn't really anything left, just a lot of garbage. He chuckled in thought speak. Rhino's in a Yeerk Pool. That's like a bull in a china shop.
Yeah. I giggled to myself. We took off, flying fast as we could.
Tobias dived down to Cassie's barn. Cassie was just coming out.
I guess Tobias told her where I was, because she looked up at me, then ran in the house. I could see her making a phone call through the window.
A few minutes later, Jake showed up. I was still in the air, still flying around.
I landed hard. I demorphed quickly, and ran up to Jake.
"Jake.. I.."
"Wait until the others get here, Ok?" Jake was using the calm voice, but you could tell he was really angry. A few minutes later the others arrived. They demorphed. Marco came up to me and started yelling at me. He got right up in my face.
"Where the heck have you been! Why did you run off like that !" He then said a word that I shouldn't repeat.
Rachel was just as steamed. Cassie looked calm, but worried. Ax didn't look angry or worried. Then again, what can you expect from someone with no mouth?
Tobias morphed into his human form. He walked over to us.
Jake shut Marco up, whispered something to Rachel(I couldn't hear it, but it sounded like '…explain….morph…don't ….elephant ..don't stomp her…') and looked me in the eye.
"Alright, Jackie. Would you mind explaining to us exactly why you ran away like that?"
I thought a lot. "Because… because I felt angry at myself for not being able to get out. I also felt guilty that you had to come rescue me. I was hurt badly, and I was scared. I was more scared than ever, because I thought you guys were gonna get killed because of me."
Marco looked ready to yell again. Jake looked at him, and nodded. Marco burst out.
"Listen, we have done this a billion times before. We have gone completely insane in battle, and we're all still here. We've never run away. We've never taken a break. Jake's the leader, we listen to him. WE don't run back to the place where we're most likely to get captured because we were scared!"
"You've never tried to take a break from all this? You've never gotten so scared that you just spend a day doing normal stuff? I mean, you guys have to have a few days to just chill, without having meetings or anything. It's not like the Yeerks are going to ask you to come and annihilate them, you know."
Marco, Jake, Cassie and Rachel all made funny faces at that, as if they were trying hard not to smile. Then Cassie cracked.
We were all laughing so hard, we could barely breath. It was weird, we were so tense one minute, and laughing the next. But that's part of what made this group special.
Jake and the others left, except for Marco.
"Hey, Jackie? Sorry I yelled at you like that. You're still just a kid, a lot younger than the rest of us. I guess we should cut you some slack."
"Just a kid? A lot younger? Hey, I can morph the same size gorilla as you, Marco."
We laughed again. Then he put his hand on my shoulder.
"You're pretty tough, you know? Got a good sense of humour, and you're more sane then the rest of us. You're pretty cool."
I smiled.
FLASH!
Suddenly, I wasn't there! I was floating in a light lilac coloured mist.
When I closed my eyes, I could see Marco glance up.
"Jackie? Jackie, where did you go? Jackie!"
I opened my eyes. Standing before me(or should I say, floating before me) was a creature that looked human, except it had no features. It was all one glowing blob of light, with red, blue all colours of specks floating through it.
Hello, Jacqueline.
A voice that went through my head! Like thought-speak, but much more powerful.
"Who are you? What are you?"
I am the Ellimist. The Animorphs may have told you a little about me.
"Yeah, they told me you were a jerk who plays games with time and space, who risks their lives to defeat your enemies."
I am here to help you Jacqueline. There has been a tangle in the time-space fabric. You should not be here. You would not be here, except for a young Andalite's adventures with my invention, the Time Matrix. Your parents should not have been on earth. You should not be here. If I do not untangle this knot in the time fabric, Earth will have a worse chance of defeating the Yeerks. To fix this tangle, I must have your permission.
"What is this tangle? What does it have to do with me?"
If you were not here, the Animorphs would have discovered and stopped the Yeerks at the Center. There would be no new Yeerk Pool, for lack of workers. There would be no incubators, for lack of the girl, Rebecca Stevenson, the controller, who thought of the idea. The Animorphs would have destroyed the Yeerk Pool long before she became a controller. But, if you did not exist ever, then all would be lost. You are an important part of history and future. But, not here.
"So, what are you going to do?"
I must fix this problem, with your permission. You will always have your memory, as will the Animorphs. But, time will be rewinded, with you in your rightful place. Do I have your permission?
"Yeah, I guess. But what exactly are you going to do?"
Before I finished my sentence, I had disappeared out of the mist..
I was seeing my self! I was in space, seeing the stretch of time flow like threads in a tapestry across the universe.
Then I opened my eyes.
There, Tobias found me.
Jackie, is that you? he called, from about fifty feet away.
Yes, it's me. I said.
Where have you been! We've been looking everywhere! Why did you run like that?
I don't' know. I just, well, I don't know. I feel really confused.
Tobias was silent for a minute.
We totally trashed the Yeerk Pool, you know. There isn't really anything left, just a lot of garbage. He chuckled in thought speak. Rhino's in a Yeerk Pool. That's like a bull in a china shop.
Yeah. I giggled to myself. We took off, flying fast as we could.
Tobias dived down to Cassie's barn. Cassie was just coming out.
I guess Tobias told her where I was, because she looked up at me, then ran in the house. I could see her making a phone call through the window.
A few minutes later, Jake showed up. I was still in the air, still flying around.
I landed hard. I demorphed quickly, and ran up to Jake.
"Jake.. I.."
"Wait until the others get here, Ok?" Jake was using the calm voice, but you could tell he was really angry. A few minutes later the others arrived. They demorphed. Marco came up to me and started yelling at me. He got right up in my face.
"Where the heck have you been! Why did you run off like that !" He then said a word that I shouldn't repeat.
Rachel was just as steamed. Cassie looked calm, but worried. Ax didn't look angry or worried. Then again, what can you expect from someone with no mouth?
Tobias morphed into his human form. He walked over to us.
Jake shut Marco up, whispered something to Rachel(I couldn't hear it, but it sounded like '…explain….morph…don't ….elephant ..don't stomp her…') and looked me in the eye.
"Alright, Jackie. Would you mind explaining to us exactly why you ran away like that?"
I thought a lot. "Because… because I felt angry at myself for not being able to get out. I also felt guilty that you had to come rescue me. I was hurt badly, and I was scared. I was more scared than ever, because I thought you guys were gonna get killed because of me."
Marco looked ready to yell again. Jake looked at him, and nodded. Marco burst out.
"Listen, we have done this a billion times before. We have gone completely insane in battle, and we're all still here. We've never run away. We've never taken a break. Jake's the leader, we listen to him. WE don't run back to the place where we're most likely to get captured because we were scared!"
"You've never tried to take a break from all this? You've never gotten so scared that you just spend a day doing normal stuff? I mean, you guys have to have a few days to just chill, without having meetings or anything. It's not like the Yeerks are going to ask you to come and annihilate them, you know."
Marco, Jake, Cassie and Rachel all made funny faces at that, as if they were trying hard not to smile. Then Cassie cracked.
We were all laughing so hard, we could barely breath. It was weird, we were so tense one minute, and laughing the next. But that's part of what made this group special.
Jake and the others left, except for Marco.
"Hey, Jackie? Sorry I yelled at you like that. You're still just a kid, a lot younger than the rest of us. I guess we should cut you some slack."
"Just a kid? A lot younger? Hey, I can morph the same size gorilla as you, Marco."
We laughed again. Then he put his hand on my shoulder.
"You're pretty tough, you know? Got a good sense of humour, and you're more sane then the rest of us. You're pretty cool."
I smiled.
FLASH!
Suddenly, I wasn't there! I was floating in a light lilac coloured mist.
When I closed my eyes, I could see Marco glance up.
"Jackie? Jackie, where did you go? Jackie!"
I opened my eyes. Standing before me(or should I say, floating before me) was a creature that looked human, except it had no features. It was all one glowing blob of light, with red, blue all colours of specks floating through it.
Hello, Jacqueline.
A voice that went through my head! Like thought-speak, but much more powerful.
"Who are you? What are you?"
I am the Ellimist. The Animorphs may have told you a little about me.
"Yeah, they told me you were a jerk who plays games with time and space, who risks their lives to defeat your enemies."
I am here to help you Jacqueline. There has been a tangle in the time-space fabric. You should not be here. You would not be here, except for a young Andalite's adventures with my invention, the Time Matrix. Your parents should not have been on earth. You should not be here. If I do not untangle this knot in the time fabric, Earth will have a worse chance of defeating the Yeerks. To fix this tangle, I must have your permission.
"What is this tangle? What does it have to do with me?"
If you were not here, the Animorphs would have discovered and stopped the Yeerks at the Center. There would be no new Yeerk Pool, for lack of workers. There would be no incubators, for lack of the girl, Rebecca Stevenson, the controller, who thought of the idea. The Animorphs would have destroyed the Yeerk Pool long before she became a controller. But, if you did not exist ever, then all would be lost. You are an important part of history and future. But, not here.
"So, what are you going to do?"
I must fix this problem, with your permission. You will always have your memory, as will the Animorphs. But, time will be rewinded, with you in your rightful place. Do I have your permission?
"Yeah, I guess. But what exactly are you going to do?"
Before I finished my sentence, I had disappeared out of the mist..
I was seeing my self! I was in space, seeing the stretch of time flow like threads in a tapestry across the universe.
Then I opened my eyes.