Disclaimer: I don't own anything, of course. Except for Fiona, I think that's it.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE: I've changed Allison's name to Fiona, cuz at least one other story had a new character named Allison/Elli/Allie, and I didn't want my character to have the same name. Also I may have made a few changes in the first 3 chapters, but that shouldn't really affect your understanding of the story. However, if you want, rereading the first 3 chapters may help. Thanks, and R/R!
Chapter 4
Jake's plan was brilliant. Difficult, yes, and complicated, though vague, too. It all depended on our talent for acting. Our talent for acting, and our ability to be sneaky.
For our first mission we used our hated cockroach morphs. Marco groaned and complained. "Do I have to?" he whined.
"Darn, I wish I could be part of the action," said Fiona. She wasn't coming on this mission because she didn't have any morphs. We needed to get to Martha's room as quickly as possible. Fiona would stay in Cassie's room until we were done.
"Let's do it," I said, feeling nostalgic.
We morphed. Then we scurried downstairs to Martha's room. She was on the phone. "May I speak to Rob?" she asked. "I have big news!"
said Cassie in thoughtspeak.
yelled Jake.
We demorphed as quickly as possible. Luckily, Rob hadn't come to the phone yet.
"Aaah!" cried Martha. Luckily, she didn't scream loudly.
I grabbed the receiver from her and hung up the phone.
Marco morphed to gorilla. He swung a fist into the side of her head. That shut her up pretty quick! She slumped to the floor, unconscious.
Jake opened the window. There was a fire escape located right there, which we used to get back to Cassie's room. Marco carried Martha.
wondered Ax. He had morphed human to get up the fire escape easily, then demorphed once more.
"That part I haven't figured out," said Jake uneasily.
"Maybe my parents could keep her at their house," Marco suggested. "My mom would certainly understand. So would my dad."
He called his parents and explained that Martha needed to stay somewhere, and that she couldn't under any circumstances be able to get to a phone or have any contact with anyone outside of the house. Marco's parents were fairly understanding. After a bit of begging, they agreed to let Martha stay at their house for three weeks. That was perfect for us: it wouldn't matter if Tobias's, Ax's, and my return leaked out to the press after three weeks went by.
Cassie accompanied Fiona to a zoo to acquire morphs. While they were gone, Ax contacted some important Andalites. I don't know how, but he managed to avoid answering questions about where he had been and where he was now. He arranged for a Dome ship called The Miracle to be ready for us the next day on the Mall. It would be a little bit too public, but really, where else in D.C. could we land it easily? There weren't too many good areas available. We had to take what we could get.
At the same time, I acquired Marco, Tobias, Jake, and Martha. Marco drove Martha to his parents' house. She was still unconscious.
Cassie knew her way around the area, so after going to the zoo with Fiona, they stopped at a wig shop. She bought a black, shoulder-length wig with bangs. It looked positively ridiculous on me, with my tan skin and blue eyes, but I needed a disguise so nobody would recognize me as Rachel, the dead Animorph. They stopped at a clothing store too, buying things that were completely out of character for me: a black shirt with black lace galore, and a long black skirt (it was too long for me, even though I am tall!). I looked totally Gothic. I was relieved to find, when they returned, that Fiona had good fashion sense and had thought to buy complete outfits for herself and I, since we had no clothes except for the clothes on our back. She made good choices—they were the sort of clothes I would have chosen myself. Leotards were bought as well.
Tobias would have to morph human for his part in the plan, so they bought him some clothes, too.
When Fiona and Cassie returned, I acquired them, then tried on my wig and new outfits. There were only three new outfits. That disgusted me, and when Marco came back he was in an unusually generous, happy mood, so he lent me his credit card. Then I borrowed Cassie's car—electric, of course—and drove to the mall. I was in heaven: it had been years since I had set foot in a mall! I bought a bunch of suitcases for everyone and more outfits. There was this one really beautiful formal dress, and it was over two hundred dollars. I knew Marco was a millionaire, so I hardly thought twice; I bought it! (I couldn't resist.) I bought a few outfits for the rest of the Animorphs, too: formalwear and sporty clothing for the guys, even Ax, a few things for Fiona, and new, STYLISH clothes for Cassie. They were just similar enough to her Wal-Mart poop-stained jeans and flannel shirts that she would feel comfortable in them, but a lot nicer and more fashionably acceptable. I knew her size from years of trying to convince her to buy them for herself. Ha! I would finally succeed in my practically life-long battle with her clothes! (Yeah, I know it sounds funny, but it's true.)
I bought all the latest music and a portable CD player. I was going wild! Jake, who had gone with me to every store that I had, sighed and said, "Don't you think it's time to stop now?"
"Not yet!" I said gleefully.
I went to the drugstore and stocked up on toothpaste, shampoo, things like that. We'd need it while we were traveling. I knew I was the only one who would think of that stuff, so I took it upon myself to buy it.
Finally I was done. At the mall, that is. At the grocery store I bought things that would keep for months and months—frozen dinners, etc. We would need food for the journey, too!
Jake drove us back to the hotel. The small electric car could hardly hold all of my purchases. I had to hold things in my lap, and the backseat and trunk were stuffed so high with bags that Jake could hardly see what was going on behind the car.
Marco practically fainted when he saw the receipts. "Five thousand six hundred eighty-three dollars?!" he cried. "My bank account is gonna be empty!" Then he thought that over and amended, "Well, not really. But dude, it's like a quarter empty!" Again he thought. "Okay, not really. But dude, it's like a two-hundredth empty!"
"Big deal, Marco," I guffawed.
I insisted that everyone try on their clothes so I could see how they looked. Proudly, I surveyed my friends. I had accurately estimated the size clothes they would wear. We snipped off the tags and used the hotel laundry room.
That night Marco rented another hotel room (a suite, of course—he liked to flaunt his money, in my opinion) that he, Jake, Tobias, and Ax stayed in. Fiona and I stayed in Cassie's small room. It was a bit cramped but I didn't mind.
I felt a special kinship with Fiona. We had both been underlings of powerful, mighty creatures, as an alternative to leaving the universe as we knew it. We had had some of the same powers. We had time-traveled in the blink of an eye frequently. We had witnessed wars in other galaxies, between strange alien creatures. We had a lot in common.
Late into the night we talked about what we had been through, and Cassie listened with interest. It was after two in the morning when we all fell asleep.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! went Cassie's alarm clock at 9:30 AM. I groaned and yawned. "Boy, do I miss not needing sleep," I said to nobody in particular.
"Ugh, me too!" exclaimed Fiona. She was obviously a morning person but also clearly tired.
The three of us got dressed. It felt wonderful to be my old self again, to have a human body. I wore a rose-colored dress and platform sandals. Cassie was stubborn about wearing her new striped shirt, jeans, and sneakers, but after I nagged her, she gave in. She looked so good I almost cried! Fiona looked cute in an off-white sweater and short plaid skirt, paired with black shoes.
"We look SO cute!" cried Fiona, looking at each of us in turn.
Hopping in the elevator, we rode up to the boys' suite. "Rise and shine!" Cassie yelled through the locked door.
There was no answer.
I looked both ways to make sure nobody was coming, then morphed cockroach. Fiona and Cassie caught on and morphed as well. We scurried under the door. Before demorphing, we called,
We wandered from room to room, waking the rest of the Animorphs up.
"The ship will be at the mall soon," reminded Fiona.
"Get out before I morph something dangerous and hurt you all," threatened Jake, who was NOT a morning person.
"Remember to put on your morphing suits before you put on your new, fabulous clothes!" I chirped cheerfully.
said Tobias.
The other girls and I waited outside the door for about fifteen minutes.
"Wow, I didn't know it took guys this long to get dressed," Cassie remarked. "They always look like they didn't spend even two minutes getting ready."
I giggled. "That's what they want you to think. Why, you ask? I have no idea." We laughed.
The door opened. Ax was in human morph, as he had been instructed.
"Lookin' good, ladies," said Marco. Fiona stuck her tongue out at him playfully.
"Ready for the next step of our plan?" asked Jake.
"Let's do it," I said, as usual.
We stepped back inside the suite. Marco dialed room service and asked for cinnamon buns (Ax had insisted), orange juice, and other breakfast foods. Tobias morphed gorilla instead of Marco, this time.
Tobias hid behind the door and I hid behind a couch when we heard a knock on the door.
Marco opened the door. "Hello, girls," he said smoothly. "Lookin' good." I stifled a giggle.
I peeked out. The two room-service girls looked awestruck at meeting Marco.
"Could you just wheel that cart over there, by that table, please?" requested Jake.
"Of course," mumbled one, star-struck.
As soon as they entered the room, Tobias jumped out from behind the door and knocked them out. Ax closed the door, then greedily started eating the cinnamon buns. "Not as good as at Cinnabon," he remarked. "But still good. Good-uh. Duh."
Tobias demorphed. He and I acquired each of the girls.
Ax taught us how to do what he had done to make his human morph. When we were done, I was a medium-height, blond, blue-eyed girl, not very different from how I had started. Cassie said I reminded her of Christina Aguilera. Tobias had dark brown hair and looked a lot like Jake, but taller.
"Cool," I said.
When the two girls regained consciousness, Cassie told them that they had fainted.
"Oh my gosh!" the red-haired one said, "I can't believe this! I'm so embarrassed!"
The raven-haired girl just sat there and blushed.
"Don't worry, it happens all the time, I'm used to it," assured Marco arrogantly.
"Well, time to get going," said the red-haired one. They rushed out of the room.
Fiona exploded in giggles. "Those poor girls!" she exclaimed. "That must have been so embarrassing!"
"I feel bad lying," said Cassie.
"Come on, an Animorph's gotta do what an Animorph's gotta do," Tobias told her.
"I guess," Cassie agreed.
Tobias and I demorphed and everyone ate some breakfast. After eating, we packed everything I had bought the day before, and yet other things, into the new suitcases and some shopping bags.
Everybody in human morph again, including Tobias and I in our newly made morphs, set out for the Mall, possessions in tow. We waited around for half an hour, then finally a ship landed. A few people looked curiously, but most figured it was just another Andalite tourist wanting some Cinnabons, although it was a rather unusual docking place for a ship. People stared more often, actually, at the seven of us, with our absolutely enormous amount of luggage.
There were three of Ax's most trusted arisths and pilots on the ship when we entered. Those of us in morph demorphed. Ax told his three staff members that they could have a little vacation on Earth, acquire Marco, Jake, Cassie, Fiona, and I, and taste some yummy foods. They looked doubtful, but acquired us, talked with Ax a little bit more, and left. We knew they wouldn't tell anyone that they had seen any of the supposedly missing or dead Animorphs, because they had promised; Andalites are extremely honorable, according to Ax. If you suggest otherwise he gets quite offended.
"Okay, time to fly this baby," Marco said, rubbing his hands together.
Marco and Ax got the ship en route to the Andalite homeworld. Leaving Ax at the control center, Marco joined the rest of us and we explored the ship.
There were five small rooms with bunk beds in each. It was decided that Ax and Tobias would share a room, Jake and Marco would share another, and Cassie, Fiona, and I got our own rooms. Lucky us!
There was a pretty grazing area for Ax, and a little kitchen that was not unlike the one at my house. I sighed, thinking of my family. They had no idea I was alive. What grade was Sara in now? Sixth? Seventh? Oh, how I wanted to be there; watch my younger sisters grow up; show Sara and Jordan the right way to apply makeup and how to be stylish; give them advice on boys, school, life in general; giggle with them again.
Tobias asked me privately. It was like he read my mind. I nodded almost imperceptibly, so the others wouldn't notice.
—I had a strong desire to giggle, but didn't—
I turned to my left and smiled up at Tobias, who was perched on the top of the refrigerator. "Thanks," I whispered. If our friends heard, they didn't comment.
We continued exploring. There was a dining area with a table and chairs—six chairs, I saw, and figured Ax must have told his employees to get the ship ready for six humans and himself. 'I guess Ax will stand up while he eats—after all, it's not like Andalites sit down in their natural form,' I thought.
In the next room, I burst out laughing. There was a special kitchen for preparing cinnamon buns! Ax had decorated it with pictures of cinnamon buns, and there were several ovens and cabinets to store the ingredients in.
"Ax-man, I think you're a little too into those cinnamon buns!" called Marco.
"I think so too, man," agreed Jake.
I know that I may be a small bit obsessed with the delectable taste of cinnamon buns. However, I cannot help it, Ax replied.
We moved on. Discovering a room with a pool table and some comfortable chairs (obviously Ax and his crew liked Earth a lot!), Cassie, Tobias, Fiona, and Marco played pool for awhile. Jake and I settled into the easy chairs.
"I'm real glad you're back," Jake told me softly. "You have no idea how guilty I felt for sending you with Tom, killing you . . . I sunk into depression for a long time. I taught classes, how ironic is that, and that helped a little; but even when I was busy, I still felt depressed and guilty and sad. You're back and that helps a lot."
"I missed you, too, Jake. Don't blame yourself for a minute. If you hadn't sent me I would have gone anyway."
"I know that, I do. It doesn't ease the guilt at all, though. I still feel like I killed you, and basically killed Tobias when I did."
At that point I got up and hugged my cousin. "But I'm back, and that's all that matters. All that matters," I repeated.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE: I've changed Allison's name to Fiona, cuz at least one other story had a new character named Allison/Elli/Allie, and I didn't want my character to have the same name. Also I may have made a few changes in the first 3 chapters, but that shouldn't really affect your understanding of the story. However, if you want, rereading the first 3 chapters may help. Thanks, and R/R!
Chapter 4
Jake's plan was brilliant. Difficult, yes, and complicated, though vague, too. It all depended on our talent for acting. Our talent for acting, and our ability to be sneaky.
For our first mission we used our hated cockroach morphs. Marco groaned and complained. "Do I have to?" he whined.
"Darn, I wish I could be part of the action," said Fiona. She wasn't coming on this mission because she didn't have any morphs. We needed to get to Martha's room as quickly as possible. Fiona would stay in Cassie's room until we were done.
"Let's do it," I said, feeling nostalgic.
We morphed. Then we scurried downstairs to Martha's room. She was on the phone. "May I speak to Rob?" she asked. "I have big news!"
said Cassie in thoughtspeak.
yelled Jake.
We demorphed as quickly as possible. Luckily, Rob hadn't come to the phone yet.
"Aaah!" cried Martha. Luckily, she didn't scream loudly.
I grabbed the receiver from her and hung up the phone.
Marco morphed to gorilla. He swung a fist into the side of her head. That shut her up pretty quick! She slumped to the floor, unconscious.
Jake opened the window. There was a fire escape located right there, which we used to get back to Cassie's room. Marco carried Martha.
wondered Ax. He had morphed human to get up the fire escape easily, then demorphed once more.
"That part I haven't figured out," said Jake uneasily.
"Maybe my parents could keep her at their house," Marco suggested. "My mom would certainly understand. So would my dad."
He called his parents and explained that Martha needed to stay somewhere, and that she couldn't under any circumstances be able to get to a phone or have any contact with anyone outside of the house. Marco's parents were fairly understanding. After a bit of begging, they agreed to let Martha stay at their house for three weeks. That was perfect for us: it wouldn't matter if Tobias's, Ax's, and my return leaked out to the press after three weeks went by.
Cassie accompanied Fiona to a zoo to acquire morphs. While they were gone, Ax contacted some important Andalites. I don't know how, but he managed to avoid answering questions about where he had been and where he was now. He arranged for a Dome ship called The Miracle to be ready for us the next day on the Mall. It would be a little bit too public, but really, where else in D.C. could we land it easily? There weren't too many good areas available. We had to take what we could get.
At the same time, I acquired Marco, Tobias, Jake, and Martha. Marco drove Martha to his parents' house. She was still unconscious.
Cassie knew her way around the area, so after going to the zoo with Fiona, they stopped at a wig shop. She bought a black, shoulder-length wig with bangs. It looked positively ridiculous on me, with my tan skin and blue eyes, but I needed a disguise so nobody would recognize me as Rachel, the dead Animorph. They stopped at a clothing store too, buying things that were completely out of character for me: a black shirt with black lace galore, and a long black skirt (it was too long for me, even though I am tall!). I looked totally Gothic. I was relieved to find, when they returned, that Fiona had good fashion sense and had thought to buy complete outfits for herself and I, since we had no clothes except for the clothes on our back. She made good choices—they were the sort of clothes I would have chosen myself. Leotards were bought as well.
Tobias would have to morph human for his part in the plan, so they bought him some clothes, too.
When Fiona and Cassie returned, I acquired them, then tried on my wig and new outfits. There were only three new outfits. That disgusted me, and when Marco came back he was in an unusually generous, happy mood, so he lent me his credit card. Then I borrowed Cassie's car—electric, of course—and drove to the mall. I was in heaven: it had been years since I had set foot in a mall! I bought a bunch of suitcases for everyone and more outfits. There was this one really beautiful formal dress, and it was over two hundred dollars. I knew Marco was a millionaire, so I hardly thought twice; I bought it! (I couldn't resist.) I bought a few outfits for the rest of the Animorphs, too: formalwear and sporty clothing for the guys, even Ax, a few things for Fiona, and new, STYLISH clothes for Cassie. They were just similar enough to her Wal-Mart poop-stained jeans and flannel shirts that she would feel comfortable in them, but a lot nicer and more fashionably acceptable. I knew her size from years of trying to convince her to buy them for herself. Ha! I would finally succeed in my practically life-long battle with her clothes! (Yeah, I know it sounds funny, but it's true.)
I bought all the latest music and a portable CD player. I was going wild! Jake, who had gone with me to every store that I had, sighed and said, "Don't you think it's time to stop now?"
"Not yet!" I said gleefully.
I went to the drugstore and stocked up on toothpaste, shampoo, things like that. We'd need it while we were traveling. I knew I was the only one who would think of that stuff, so I took it upon myself to buy it.
Finally I was done. At the mall, that is. At the grocery store I bought things that would keep for months and months—frozen dinners, etc. We would need food for the journey, too!
Jake drove us back to the hotel. The small electric car could hardly hold all of my purchases. I had to hold things in my lap, and the backseat and trunk were stuffed so high with bags that Jake could hardly see what was going on behind the car.
Marco practically fainted when he saw the receipts. "Five thousand six hundred eighty-three dollars?!" he cried. "My bank account is gonna be empty!" Then he thought that over and amended, "Well, not really. But dude, it's like a quarter empty!" Again he thought. "Okay, not really. But dude, it's like a two-hundredth empty!"
"Big deal, Marco," I guffawed.
I insisted that everyone try on their clothes so I could see how they looked. Proudly, I surveyed my friends. I had accurately estimated the size clothes they would wear. We snipped off the tags and used the hotel laundry room.
That night Marco rented another hotel room (a suite, of course—he liked to flaunt his money, in my opinion) that he, Jake, Tobias, and Ax stayed in. Fiona and I stayed in Cassie's small room. It was a bit cramped but I didn't mind.
I felt a special kinship with Fiona. We had both been underlings of powerful, mighty creatures, as an alternative to leaving the universe as we knew it. We had had some of the same powers. We had time-traveled in the blink of an eye frequently. We had witnessed wars in other galaxies, between strange alien creatures. We had a lot in common.
Late into the night we talked about what we had been through, and Cassie listened with interest. It was after two in the morning when we all fell asleep.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! went Cassie's alarm clock at 9:30 AM. I groaned and yawned. "Boy, do I miss not needing sleep," I said to nobody in particular.
"Ugh, me too!" exclaimed Fiona. She was obviously a morning person but also clearly tired.
The three of us got dressed. It felt wonderful to be my old self again, to have a human body. I wore a rose-colored dress and platform sandals. Cassie was stubborn about wearing her new striped shirt, jeans, and sneakers, but after I nagged her, she gave in. She looked so good I almost cried! Fiona looked cute in an off-white sweater and short plaid skirt, paired with black shoes.
"We look SO cute!" cried Fiona, looking at each of us in turn.
Hopping in the elevator, we rode up to the boys' suite. "Rise and shine!" Cassie yelled through the locked door.
There was no answer.
I looked both ways to make sure nobody was coming, then morphed cockroach. Fiona and Cassie caught on and morphed as well. We scurried under the door. Before demorphing, we called,
We wandered from room to room, waking the rest of the Animorphs up.
"The ship will be at the mall soon," reminded Fiona.
"Get out before I morph something dangerous and hurt you all," threatened Jake, who was NOT a morning person.
"Remember to put on your morphing suits before you put on your new, fabulous clothes!" I chirped cheerfully.
said Tobias.
The other girls and I waited outside the door for about fifteen minutes.
"Wow, I didn't know it took guys this long to get dressed," Cassie remarked. "They always look like they didn't spend even two minutes getting ready."
I giggled. "That's what they want you to think. Why, you ask? I have no idea." We laughed.
The door opened. Ax was in human morph, as he had been instructed.
"Lookin' good, ladies," said Marco. Fiona stuck her tongue out at him playfully.
"Ready for the next step of our plan?" asked Jake.
"Let's do it," I said, as usual.
We stepped back inside the suite. Marco dialed room service and asked for cinnamon buns (Ax had insisted), orange juice, and other breakfast foods. Tobias morphed gorilla instead of Marco, this time.
Tobias hid behind the door and I hid behind a couch when we heard a knock on the door.
Marco opened the door. "Hello, girls," he said smoothly. "Lookin' good." I stifled a giggle.
I peeked out. The two room-service girls looked awestruck at meeting Marco.
"Could you just wheel that cart over there, by that table, please?" requested Jake.
"Of course," mumbled one, star-struck.
As soon as they entered the room, Tobias jumped out from behind the door and knocked them out. Ax closed the door, then greedily started eating the cinnamon buns. "Not as good as at Cinnabon," he remarked. "But still good. Good-uh. Duh."
Tobias demorphed. He and I acquired each of the girls.
Ax taught us how to do what he had done to make his human morph. When we were done, I was a medium-height, blond, blue-eyed girl, not very different from how I had started. Cassie said I reminded her of Christina Aguilera. Tobias had dark brown hair and looked a lot like Jake, but taller.
"Cool," I said.
When the two girls regained consciousness, Cassie told them that they had fainted.
"Oh my gosh!" the red-haired one said, "I can't believe this! I'm so embarrassed!"
The raven-haired girl just sat there and blushed.
"Don't worry, it happens all the time, I'm used to it," assured Marco arrogantly.
"Well, time to get going," said the red-haired one. They rushed out of the room.
Fiona exploded in giggles. "Those poor girls!" she exclaimed. "That must have been so embarrassing!"
"I feel bad lying," said Cassie.
"Come on, an Animorph's gotta do what an Animorph's gotta do," Tobias told her.
"I guess," Cassie agreed.
Tobias and I demorphed and everyone ate some breakfast. After eating, we packed everything I had bought the day before, and yet other things, into the new suitcases and some shopping bags.
Everybody in human morph again, including Tobias and I in our newly made morphs, set out for the Mall, possessions in tow. We waited around for half an hour, then finally a ship landed. A few people looked curiously, but most figured it was just another Andalite tourist wanting some Cinnabons, although it was a rather unusual docking place for a ship. People stared more often, actually, at the seven of us, with our absolutely enormous amount of luggage.
There were three of Ax's most trusted arisths and pilots on the ship when we entered. Those of us in morph demorphed. Ax told his three staff members that they could have a little vacation on Earth, acquire Marco, Jake, Cassie, Fiona, and I, and taste some yummy foods. They looked doubtful, but acquired us, talked with Ax a little bit more, and left. We knew they wouldn't tell anyone that they had seen any of the supposedly missing or dead Animorphs, because they had promised; Andalites are extremely honorable, according to Ax. If you suggest otherwise he gets quite offended.
"Okay, time to fly this baby," Marco said, rubbing his hands together.
Marco and Ax got the ship en route to the Andalite homeworld. Leaving Ax at the control center, Marco joined the rest of us and we explored the ship.
There were five small rooms with bunk beds in each. It was decided that Ax and Tobias would share a room, Jake and Marco would share another, and Cassie, Fiona, and I got our own rooms. Lucky us!
There was a pretty grazing area for Ax, and a little kitchen that was not unlike the one at my house. I sighed, thinking of my family. They had no idea I was alive. What grade was Sara in now? Sixth? Seventh? Oh, how I wanted to be there; watch my younger sisters grow up; show Sara and Jordan the right way to apply makeup and how to be stylish; give them advice on boys, school, life in general; giggle with them again.
Tobias asked me privately. It was like he read my mind. I nodded almost imperceptibly, so the others wouldn't notice.
—I had a strong desire to giggle, but didn't—
I turned to my left and smiled up at Tobias, who was perched on the top of the refrigerator. "Thanks," I whispered. If our friends heard, they didn't comment.
We continued exploring. There was a dining area with a table and chairs—six chairs, I saw, and figured Ax must have told his employees to get the ship ready for six humans and himself. 'I guess Ax will stand up while he eats—after all, it's not like Andalites sit down in their natural form,' I thought.
In the next room, I burst out laughing. There was a special kitchen for preparing cinnamon buns! Ax had decorated it with pictures of cinnamon buns, and there were several ovens and cabinets to store the ingredients in.
"Ax-man, I think you're a little too into those cinnamon buns!" called Marco.
"I think so too, man," agreed Jake.
I know that I may be a small bit obsessed with the delectable taste of cinnamon buns. However, I cannot help it, Ax replied.
We moved on. Discovering a room with a pool table and some comfortable chairs (obviously Ax and his crew liked Earth a lot!), Cassie, Tobias, Fiona, and Marco played pool for awhile. Jake and I settled into the easy chairs.
"I'm real glad you're back," Jake told me softly. "You have no idea how guilty I felt for sending you with Tom, killing you . . . I sunk into depression for a long time. I taught classes, how ironic is that, and that helped a little; but even when I was busy, I still felt depressed and guilty and sad. You're back and that helps a lot."
"I missed you, too, Jake. Don't blame yourself for a minute. If you hadn't sent me I would have gone anyway."
"I know that, I do. It doesn't ease the guilt at all, though. I still feel like I killed you, and basically killed Tobias when I did."
At that point I got up and hugged my cousin. "But I'm back, and that's all that matters. All that matters," I repeated.