The Generation

Chapter 26- Michael

We were crammed end on end like sardines in a can that night. Eddy and I were stuck sharing a bed and some people still ended up on the floor. Showering was split between night and day. No more than fifteen minutes and showering in PAIRS. Woah. Did I say we were crammed? It was a good thing that Max's dad had gone back to New York. Judy and Cassie made plans for the next morning. I heard them downstairs.

Tala and Robert had the other bed. I didn't think that they'd mind. I could have sworn I'd seen them making out at the dance. Of course, it could have been some other red head and purple head making out. They weren't upset. Ozuma and Joseph had the floor. Ozuma was making battle plans or something downstairs. Tala and Robert were taking their turn to shower.

We were alone. I rolled over on my back. "Hey Eddy, what do you suppose Tala and Robert are doing in there? Which one do you think is the girl?"

Eddy growled something under his breath. "Do you have something against that Michael?"

"Nope, I just think that it's funny." I chuckled. "Why? You're not Gay are you?" I smirked.

Eddy grumbled something, rolling over so that I couldn't see his face. "I didn't hear you."

"BISEXUAL OKAY!" Eddy snapped. "I don't see how it matters and I don't see why you should care suddenly when Tala and Robert get caught!"

I jumped about a mile. "I'm sorry Eddy!" I hissed. "I'll be more careful not to hurt your feelings next time!"

Silence.

"Eddy?" I asked.

"Hmm?" He asked, back to me.

"How do I tell?"

"How do you tell what?" He asked.

"If I'm gay… if somebody else is gay…" I said softly, shyly.

"If you kiss a guy and you like it you're gay." Eddy snapped.

"So-rry!" I snapped. "What's got you so iffy?" I demanded.

"Because that's just it Mike." Eddy said, turning to face me. "There IS no way to tell if a person is gay or straight from the outside, not unless they tell you!"

I was startled. I saw tears streaming from Eddy's face. "There's no way to tell from the outside. We come from all walks of life. Black, white, Asian, Native American, lawyers, doctors, actors, writers… We are as hard to detect as a controller is Michael! We don't want to be found. We don't want to hide, but we see no choice. Its either that or be hung from a fence with bullets in our brains. It happens Michael. We grow and we lose ourselves in the cities. We abandon ourselves to an unforgiving society. We make the choice, we can lose what is intrinsically valuable to us, the freedom of love or we can live for love and lose our freedoms of employment, of expression, of having children and keeping them. It's misery Michael! You just don't see it because in order to keep our dignity we hide from… from everybody."

I closed my eyes, trying to block out his expression. Eddy is easily the most happy go lucky, the most positive and optimistic member of the team. Eddy crying? I shivered, but I knew.

I turned to face him… I had to know… I leaned in, slowly, so that he could get away. I brought my lips to his.

I felt something like a jolt, almost like electricity, but pleasurable. He leaned into it. He opened his mouth and I slipped my tongue in, seeking comfort, seeking security.

WHAT WAS I DOING??

I pulled apart, panting. "What the Hell do I think I'm doing?" I demanded of myself.

Eddy smiled wanly, like he recognized something about me. "Just go to sleep Michael." He rolled over. "Jake did say to sleep on the whole thing."

I didn't even dream that night.

~Max~

I dreamed. And unlike the last three weeks or so, it wasn't a screaming nightmare. An old man, glowing blue with energy, appeared in my dreams. He was kind, pleasant.

MAX!! His voice rippled through me, through the universe. YOU DID AS YOU SHOULD MAX!! ALL IS RIGHT! THE ONLY THING THAT REMAINS IS FOR YOU TO COME TO GRIPS WITH THE PAST. I CANNOT HELP YOU WITH THAT. HOW YOU REACT IS FOR YOU TO DECIDE.

I woke up. It was still dark. The clock on the wall said, 3:30 a.m. That early?

I was on the bottom of a half dressed pile of Blade Breakers. Tyson's head was resting between my shoulder blades and Kai's elbow was shoved up against my stomach. Rei's head was buried in Kai's chest. Kenny had fallen off the bed in his sleep and was snoring. I heard the soft hum that meant that even Dizzi had gone to sleep.

It took a few minutes to extricate myself from the pile. I went to the window. In the tree outside was a single butterfly, shimmering with energy. "Hey Elemist." I whispered. "I did the right thing?"

The butterfly flapped its wings, up, down, up, down. It didn't answer.

"Maybe, but there's still one thing left to do." I said.

I tiptoed downstairs. Mom was sitting on the couch. She was looking up at the ceiling. I though she was asleep until I heard. "Max, what are you doing up?"

"I woke up and I couldn't go back to sleep." I said, sitting down next to her with a sigh.

"Max, look… I haven't been very honest with you… I'm not human… or I wasn't…"

My head snapped up. Had Marco been right? "You… you aren't?"

"My full name is Judin Olarn Sorath." Mom told me. "I… I was trapped in morph. I didn't want to go back to the Andilite homeworld. I was trapped trying to save Tala's life in a fire. I was so depressed that I set out to become human, completely human. Sometimes it was almost like there were two of me, one human, one andilite."

She pulled me into her arms. "But something happened… I'm not sure what… but I wasn't completely trapped in human form. The genes for Andilite empathy, thoughtspeak, and eye color were the only things that demorphed. My human morph's eyes were originally brown, when I was trapped they became blue."

I leaned my head into her chest, and I let the tears come. "But… but what does that make me?" I asked. My voice was small, pitiful.

"A miracle Max…" Mom sobbed, stroking my hair. "A miracle…"

She paused, considering what to say further. "The Elemist offered to give me the power to morph back. I had hidden my DNA in a morph preservation device, as a female andilite morph. The Elemist had me acquire it."

"I have an andilite morph too." I said with a smile, looking up at her. "I got it from that same device. Ax thought that the Elemist would have wanted me to acquire it."

Mom jumped. "Then its time." She said softly. "Come on, we'll go meet Ax and Tobias early."

I stood up and followed Mom to the Escalade, my heart so incredibly full….