CHAPTER TWO
I struggled for altitude as I neared the peak of the mountain. I continued flapping as I finally soared over the mountain and came upon the scene I had been dreading to look at for days. It had been less than three weeks since Visser One ordered the destruction of the area surrounding the former Yeerk Pool. I had watched as the hoards of Bug Fighters carried out his order.
The destruction was still very evident. Very little of the city had survived. There was nothing but destruction for miles. It normally would have been difficult to spot a crowd of people in this city. But the city was still almost completely deserted. The clean-up crews hadn't made it far in clearing the destruction. But with my hawk vision, it wasn't difficult to spot the crowd surrounding a surviving cemetery near the coast.
That was where Rachel would be. But that was also where Jake would be. I was nothing close to being ready to face him again. But I had to be there. For Rachel, and no one else. I glided down toward the cemetery.
As I neared, I noticed the Hork-Bajir, standing in rows, forming an honor guard. Toby was standing with them. There were Andalites there as well, standing at attention as soldiers do. It didn't take too much effort to spot Alloran off to the side. It was still strange to look at the face that had been that of our enemy's for so long. But on his face, all the malevolence, and all the hatred that we always saw on Visser One's face was gone. Alloran looked as humble as any Andalite is capable of.
I circled the cemetery, but kept my distance. I didn't want to be seen yet. As I continued through the air, I noticed General Doubleday, along with many other men and women dressed in military uniforms. And soon after I saw the President. He was surrounded by at least a dozen secret service agents.
And then I saw the urn. Inside of it must have been all that was left of Rachel. It was small and white, with a simple design lacing around it. It had a simple beauty that reminded me so much of Rachel. Though it wasn't big, it would still be a challenge for me to carry. But that would wait until after the service.
And finally, I saw them. The rest of the surviving Animorphs were seated near the urn, except for Ax, of course, who was standing. Cassie kept looking toward the sky, as though looking for something. Me, I realized. She was searching the sky for me. I smiled internally. She still knew me too well. But I was still well out of her sight. Jake sat at her side, with an almost blank expression on his face. He looked so sad, so regretful. Marco was on his other side, though he was putting on a good face for the media. If any of us would be able to benefit from this war, I could tell it would be him.
I watched as the memorial service started. I continued circling, and riding thermals through all the speeches, though I was too far away to hear what was said. As the final speaker sat down, I came closer. Cassie finally spotted me as I rode one more thermal directly overhead. As the band began playing some music that had matched my mood, I made my approach. I began my dive, coming closer. I then flared my wings and landed on the box where the urn rested.
One of the ushers ran up and tried to shoo me off. Jake surprised me by grabbing the man's arm and pulling him away. Thank you, I said to him in private thoughtspeech. He nodded slightly.
I flapped a little and grasped the urn's handle with my talons. I turned toward Rachel's mother, who was sitting with Jordan and Sara on the other side of Cassie. Her eyes were red from crying, and her face was tear-stained. But she looked toward me and nodded as she sobbed.
I then turned toward Cassie. I think she had already suspected this. She opened her mouth and spoke. "Yes, Tobias," she said quietly. "She would want it."
With strength I didn't realize I had, I lifted the urn and took to the sky, leaving the mourning crowd behind me. I caught a thermal and flew across the ruins of the city with Rachel. I struggled to keep altitude.
As I neared the hole that marked the location where the Yeerk Pool had been located, something caught my eye. It was almost exactly where the Pool Ship had landed. As I thought through the geography, I realized that it was where the construction site once stood. That was a twisted irony. The same location that Elfangor had given us the power to morph was where we boarded the Pool Ship as we began the final battle. Our involvement with the Yeerk invasion of Earth had started and ended in almost exactly the same place.
I swooped closer to the ground, wanting a closer look. What I saw shocked me! It was almost completely buried. It must have taken a lot of destruction to uncover it. First our destruction of the Yeerk Pool, followed by Visser One's destruction of the surrounding area, and then the slaughter of the auxiliary Animorphs, all in this spot. The dracon beams had dug right through the bedrock, leaving a crater in what used to be the construction site. But I could still make out the tank tracks from General Doubleday's army. A lot of destruction had happened here. A lot of death as well.
No wonder we had never seen it before. It had to be buried about nine or ten feet down. Even now I could barely see it under a thin layer of dirt. But the light and energy that emanated was unmistakable. I had only seen this device once before. It was during the incident when we were chasing Visser Four through time. We had used it to undo the timeline Visser Four had created. It was the Time Matrix.
I nearly forgot my purpose in carrying the urn. With a mental sigh, I left the Time Matrix and again flapped for altitude. The Time Matrix could wait an hour. I finally left the edge of the ring of destruction and landed in a tree I was very familiar with. I rested the urn against the trunk. I was back in my meadow. I was directly over the spot that Rachel and I had eaten lunch several months earlier.
I was struggling to find food then. She had thoughtfully gone to McDonald's and bought Big Macs and fries for us. It was an interesting date. It was the last one we'd had before she, Jake, and Cassie were forced to flee from their homes when Visser One had discovered we were human.
I carefully lifted the lid from the urn and once again took the handle in my talons. I spread her ashes across my meadow. This would be Rachel's final resting place. I knew she'd be happy here. It was a place that was filled with memories for both of us.
I retrieved the lid for the urn and carefully set it and the urn at the base of the tree. This would be my memorial to Rachel.
I stayed for some time and pondered on Rachel. I then remembered the Time Matrix. Of course! The Time Matrix! Why hadn't I realized it before? With the Time Matrix I could fix what had gone wrong. With the Time Matrix, I could go back and change things so that Rachel would not have died senselessly. I could erase my loneliness and bring Rachel back to life.
Visser Four had messed up when he changed time. He had changed so much that he outsmarted himself. But I wouldn't repeat his mistakes. He had changed time because he was power-hungry. I would do it out of love and caring. I would do it to save Rachel. And who knows how many lives I could save with the Time Matrix? I could make things right.
I laughed, thinking of the possibilities. I would show whoever it was that said you couldn't change the past. He didn't have his own Time Matrix. I once again flew toward the place where I had first met my father, the place where the Time Matrix had been hidden. I thought of how it would only be a matter of time. Soon, Rachel would once again be alive. Yes, soon I would be with her again.
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Author's notes: I wasn't planning on getting Chapter Two up so quickly. But I finished it early, so here it is. Tobias has seen the Time Matrix and embraced the idea of using it. We'll see what he does with it in the next chapter. Please review. I'd also like to thank my beta readers, Ruby and Gooner, for their help with this story. If you liked this, read and review my other story, "The Upperhand."