Chapter 15
After the Shredder beam fired at the Blade Ship and blew it apart, I slumped. So, I was not going to die, after all. There was no way I could ever bring myself to actually commit suicide, but I had been hoping for death when we crashed. I looked at Jake. He looked nearly as depressed about living as I did. I wanted to die, I wanted to see Rachel again. Maybe I could meet with my father, Elfangor, as well. Why wouldn't the fates let me die? I started to cry, right then. Now, not only was Rachel, the only person to truly love me, dead, but so was my uncle and shorm Ax. There was no way he could have survived that explosion, besides, I saw people being sucked into space. He had to be dead. I sat, sobbing in a corner. It was like all the emotion I had kept bottled up inside me for the past three years was finally coming out. Not even paying attention, I watched as Jake, Menderash, Marco, Jeanne, and Santorelli prepared to allow the people on the supposedly Andalite ship on board. I felt as though my heart were ripped in two.
Suddenly, with a popping noise, Ax appeared in front of me. I rubbed my eyes. Stupid, weak human eyes. He was still there. Now Jake, Marco, Menderash, Santorelli, and Jeanne were staring too. So it was not just me. I had not finally cracked, and was seeing hallucinations. I blinked again though, just to make sure. I still saw Ax.
Hello, Jake, Marco, Tobias, other humans, said Ax.
"Ax?" I asked. "What- How- Why are you here? You should have died!"
He then proceeded to explain what the One was, and what had happened after the ship was blown apart. All the others had stopped trying to open a gate between our ship and the other, mysterious one. We were all mystified by the Ellimist and Crayak's conversation, although Menderash stubbornly believed that it was a fairy tale, and Santorelli and Jeanne had no idea what the Ellimist and Crayak were. However, needless to say, we were glad to have Ax back. I could not help myself, and ran up and hugged him. As an Andalite, he had never been one for the need for contact like humans had, but he did not flinch very much this time. I guess he was glad to be back too. If Cassie and Rachel were here, it would almost be like old times. If.
"It's great to have you back, Ax," I said. "We missed you."
He lifted his tail, and put it against my neck, the symbol of a shorm. Then he smiled the subtle Andalite smile. I felt better, but my heart still felt empty.
"God, Rachel," I thought, "I miss you."
Introductions were made between Ax and Santorelli and Jeanne, and Ax tried to introduce himself to Menderash, but before he could, Menderash smiled, and bowed. Then he said, "Prince Aximili, the Andalites will be honored to have you back among them."
Ax looked at him quizically for a moment, and asked him what he meant.
"I am Menderash, Prince Aximili. I was the sole survivor of the Intrepid."
Ax looked shocked, but quickly regained his composure and eyed him. You are a human now, Menderash? He questioned. It was direct, and to the point.
"Yes," he answered. He did not ellaborate, and Ax did not ask him to.
Jake and Marco had finally gotten back to opening the door between our ship and the other one. After a few more moments, it opened. I blinked. I blinked again. I rubbed my eyes. She was still there. Beautiful, lovely, wonderful Rachel was standing in the entrance.
"Well," she said, "What took so long?"
Before I even knew what I was doing, I took off across the command deck, and embraced her. I twined my fingers through her hair, and she held me close. I pressed my lips against hers, and for a moment it seemed like nothing had happened, and the world was still good. We stood like that for what seemed like hours, and I would have been glad to stay for more, but we broke after we heard Marco whistling.
"Rachel, how...?" I asked. I still did not believe that it was not a dream, a cruel trick.
"There was a Sario Rip," she whispered back. "I came back through it."
I did not press her for details, I was too overjoyed by the sheer impossibility and wonderfulness of it all. Ax was back. Rachel was back. Rachel. I kissed her again, and she kissed back.
"All right, you two," I heard another voice say, "There are other people trying to get through here, so move it!" Rachel and I moved to the side, still holding each other in our arms. I looked up, and then looked at Jake. His jaw had dropped open. His eyes were bulging out.
"Tom!" He said, disbelief in his voice.
Tom answered. "Yeah, it's me. Jake, I'm free. The Yeerk is gone. I'm free." Tears were welling up in his eyes. Tom walked over, and hugged Jake. "It's good to see you again, Midget," he said.
Jake looked as though he might cry.
"Alright," Marco said, "As much as I hate to ruin such a happy moment, but WHY ARE YOU TWO ALIVE WHEN WE SAW YOU DIE?!" I could tell that he was happy at seeing Rachel and Tom alive again too, but he was also annoyed, because he did not know how it could be. I was happy to just accept that she was back, and there was no way I was going to let her go again.
I heard another new voice. One that I had not heard in months. "Everybody sit down, it's a long story," it said.
Jake was staring again. Marco was really starting to look confused. Rachel smiled. I turned around, and saw Cassie now standing in the door. She walked in, followed by Toby, General Doubleday, and an Andalite I did not recognize. Jake sat down suddenly. It was like his legs just gave out underneath him. Then Cassie started to explain how she had the feeling after Jake left that she would need to help us, how she enlisted the help of Toby, General Doubleday, and Yahal, and took off after us. She told us about the meteor and the Sario Rip. She told us how she managed to take Rachel and Tom before they got onto the Blade Ship, and had the Chee replace them. She told how they starved the Yeerk out of Tom's head, and came after us. She had followed us from a distance the entire time, she said. I felt a stupid grin all over my face. I did not care. I was just so happy, Rachel was here. Here, with me. I would never let her go again.
After Cassie finished her story, Jake stood up again. He looked as though he had seen a ghost. Stiffly, carefully, looking as though the slightest breath of wind would blow her away and break her, he walked up to her, and hugged her. She started to cry. He looked back, and brushed the tears off her cheek. She buried her head in his shoulder.
Rachel leaned onto me.
"Well, Jeanne, as long as everybody else here is being all lovey-dovey," Marco said as her smirked, "I don't know why we shouldn't." Then, he leaned forward and puckered his lips for a kiss.
Rachel started to laugh. "Over three years, and you still don't know how to get a girl to pay attention to you." We all laughed. She was back.
Marco looked sheepish, and backed off, but not without saying, "Hmph, well, at least I've grown!"
I felt like I was floating. Rachel was back, and she still loved me, and Ax was back and healthy, and Jake was happy because Tom and Rachel were back, Cassie was here, Marco was himself, and I was ecstatic. I saw Jake's hand go down and intertwine with Cassie's. I looked at Rachel, still unable to comprehend why something this great had happened to me, but I accepted it. I realized the time, and pulled away from Rachel. She looked at me, confused, until I started to morph back to hawk. Understanding came into her eyes, and she cast them down. She had always wished I could stay human, have a normal life, have a family. I actually enjoyed my life as a hawk much more than my life when I was human, being thrown back and forth between an uncle and aunt, both of which hated me. We had once believed that I had a chance to live in a normal family again, when my so-called long-lost cousin who had been living in Africa came back and offered to let me live with her. We later learned that my cousin was actually Visser One in morph, and the only reason he cared about me was because he had learned that my father was Elfangor, an Andalite, and Ax's brother.
My hawk body was getting old. I had been in the hawk body for over six years now, plus at least three years for the hawk I had acquired. Hawks usually live only ten to twenty years. I was old. If I wanted to keep on living for years, I would have to give up my body. I did want to live, now that Rachel was back. I wanted to live for a long time.
I remorphed to human, and kissed Rachel again. I had missed her so much. I would never let her go again.
