I didn't have much time. Not even the day I'd wanted. But I had to do this, for me and for the rest of us. I had a gut feeling they'd need me. And that's why I would stow away on the ship going on the mission to rescue Ax. It would be hard to survive, hard to keep from getting caught, and just plain tiring, I knew. And I would love it. It was something Rachel might do for fun. I was doing it to get back the life I'd loved.
I left during the night to avoid any akward conversations with Ronnie. I left a note, saying that I was going on an "extended vacation". I felt completely horrible about it, after all, I felt I had to be honest with Ronnie, we had lately been seriously considering taking our relationship to the next level with marraige. After this, he'd never trust me again. If I were him, I wouldn't trust me either. I would miss him, though. I'm not going to pretend I don't love him, I do, with all my heart. It's just that I could see now that a life with me and him would never work out. Not in this world.
It hadn't been too hard to figure out the details of Jake's plan. In Marco's words, I was still an Animorph, and Jake didn't expect spying from me. After hearing his plan, I began to form my own.
I didn't expect to stay hidden the whole time, but I did need to keep out of the way for a few days until it would be too late to take me back. After throwing away the brief idea of morphing one of the "newbies" on board (I still had my ethics and morals. No morphing sentient beings. Period.), I decided to go the good old-fashioned way. Morph something small and hang on for your life. Of course, I would have to demorph at some point, so a safe place for that was needed. I'd figure that out when it came to that.
Now the only problem was how to actually get with them without being noticed. I wanted as much time in morph as possible, but I really didn't have much of a clue where they were going, so I'd have to start with them. Looking back, I realize it wasn't much of a plan, and certainly didn't prepare me for anything that would happen.
Fly was never one of my favorite morphs. It was downright disgusting to turn into, even for me. But, as in so many situations before, it was necessary. I hadn't had too much trouble getting into the truck. Of course security was tight, there were three Animorphs there. But I had the advantage, knowing their plan, while they were still thinking I was off hiking in some national park. Okay, so there'd been that close call with Marco. Something to do with one of Jake's students. That...situation provided me with plenty of entertainment.
Unfortunately, I had looked over one small detail. Or perhaps a big one. See, I hadn't realized they had to stage a fight. It's not good to be in the middle of battle, even a mock battle, as a fly. Especially when a demorph is needed ASAP. I had been on Marco's head, and, somehow, when he morphed, I ended up on his palm. When the two Andalites came off of the shuttle, Marco banged their heads together. This requires grabbing a head with his palm. I became fly mush. I swear I could see my guts spilling out. Now, I've been in some pretty sticky situations. This was one of the worst.
I realized, in some sane, conscious part of me, that if I demorphed right there, my chances of going on this mission went from bad to gone. My panicked, adrenilated part knew that if I didn't demorph, I'd die and my chance would be gone for sure. I listened to the terrified side. I spiralled through the air, trying to fly with my one good wing as my guts and blood spilled all over. Thoughts ran through my head, of all the things I'd miss of semi-normal life. Flashes. Faces. Regrets. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Ronnie's face, asking me why. Why...
AN: So, how'd ya like this part? I know it's kinda short, but it was just a perfect place to stop. I do have an idea of what I'm going to do next, so the next part should be out soon. And, before I forget, I got some people saying there were too many flashbacks in the first part. I know there were a lot, but that was just kind of a prologue, just to get the story started. I hope you liked this part better. Adios!