Author's Note: I'm back! And in defense of Cassie I am writing this chapter from her prospective.

Mob: DIE, CASSIE HATERS' CLUB MEMBERS!

Disclaimer: Animorphs are mine, The Mob agrees with me on everything, the moon is made of cheese, and if you believe any of this you should get your head examined.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Cassie's POV

Ricky took almost an hour down at the Yeerk pool. Tom was ready to have a nervous breakdown by the time that Ricky did finally get back. He was trembling when he took Esp and placed him next to his ear.

"I'm confused," said Ricky, once he pried Amy off him and sat down. "What's all this 'bout time travel?"

"Well," said Elfangor hesitantly, "we had to go forward in time for complicated reasons, and then when we were trying to get back we went back in time a week further than we meant to."

"I'm still confused. That's why you've gotta hang out here?"

"Yes." Ricky continued to look baffled.

"So," said Tom/Esp, deftly changing the subject, "will this be how things go every three days while we're back in time? 'Cause I'll need to change my schedule when I get back-"

"Nah, just sneak down there for the last feed, then follow the thing like normal."

"I'm not going to feed when I don't need to."

"Yes, you are, or you'll make people suspicious." Ricky clearly knew exactly how Esp could be manipulated. Esp had been in favor of starving himself rather than risk suspicion. I didn't know all the details, not being a Yeerk, but I'd been told that Kandrona starvation is very painful.

Esp made a growling sound. "You win," he snarled.

Ricky smiled benignly. "I always do." He stood up. "I've got to go to work, I'll be back tonight." With that, he left abruptly.

"Does he ever take a day off?" Tom/Esp asked no one.

"He did the day you came," said Amy. My heart melted every time I looked at her. She was so cute. "What do you guys want to do?"

"What do you usually do when Ricky's not here?" I asked her. We'd been trying to get her to tell us about herself since Ricky left to take Esp and Eftlak to the pool. She didn't seem overly willing to tell us, though. This was starting to worry all of us.

"If he's at the pool, I wait. If he's at work, I play Game."

"What game would that be?" Loren prodded gently.

"Not a game. It's called Game," said Amy, like that was obvious. To her, it probably was. "I pretend stuff."

"That sounds fun," said Loren, apparently intent about entertaining the five-year-old. "Could we play, too?"

"Okay!" said Amy eagerly. She probably didn't have anyone to play with most of the time. She ran off and came back with a bunch of stuffed animals. "You can play Ricky Junior," she said, handing Loren a ragged Cabbage Patch Kids doll. "You can be Bunny," she added, handing me a toy rabbit with chewed up ears.

She turned and looked at Rachel hopefully. "You want to be Becky?" she asked, holding up an old stuffed turtle. Rachel smiled at Amy, who took that as a yes. She joyfully handed the turtle over, and approached Tom. "You can be Remy, like last time," she declared, earning Tom several surprised looks as he graciously accepted the dog. She then turned to Ax. "Hey, Axi, do you want to play? You can be Owl." She held up a stuffed bird that I was pretty sure was a parrot.

Ax looked completely lost, but nodded, a human gesture he had picked up. Amy beamed. "And I'll be Nicky," she announced, holding up her new toy, the unicorn. She then looked at Elfangor, Jake, Marco, and Tobias, and got a guilty look on her face. "Or maybe we should all share the toys," she said, more quietly. "Or take turns. That way nobody's left out."

"It's alright," said Tobias, thinking fast. "You can pretend it's a play and we've come to watch or something."

Amy looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"A play is when people act out a story," I explained.

"Like a fairy tale? Could we do Sleeping Beauty? Are there enough people?"

"Why don't you count? Can you?"

Amy beamed. "A little." She surveyed the room. "Ricky Junior and Becky can be King and Queen, Bunny and Owl can be the good fairies, Nicky can be the princess, and Remy can be the prince. We need an evil fairy."

"Maybe Remy could be the evil fairy and the prince," Tom/Esp suggested. "They're never together."

"What are you all talking about? A-bou-tuh. Tuh."

"It's a human story, Ax," I told him. Everyone else decided to help me out, and we spent the next few hours trying to explain Sleeping Beauty to a very perplexed Andalite.

Suddenly, we all jumped at the sound of a door being opened and shut. Ricky came in a moment later.

"You're home early," Amy commented innocently. She gave her brother a curious look.

"Boss has something happening at the store soon, so I'm off shift."

Amy cocked her head. "Why?"

"I don't know why. I just know it happened."

"Any idea what's going on?" I asked. Ricky shrugged. I remembered Tom/Esp telling us that Ricky didn't ask questions.

We were all starting to chat about five minutes later, no particular subject, when somebody knocked.

Ricky jumped to his feet—he had been sitting on the floor, chatting with Marco—and stared at the door like it was about to attack him.

"What's wrong?" Tom asked, also looking apprehensive.

Ricky turned to Tom with a look of utter shock on his face. "You're the only person who ever knocks."

Author's Note: Cliffie! I'm so evil! Though I'm not as evil as writers' block...

Anonymous-cat: Yes, Taxxon hibernation was mentioned in book 43. Good idea—Let's all have a Cassie's Defenders' Club! We protect her and prevent unnecessary pain on her part!

Korean Pearl: Yes, they are waiting a week to catch up with themselves, and yes, I have read The Healing. I really like it. I think that you're using the idea I suggested, with the Yeerks seeing Maya in Elemaki form and thinking she's an Andalite.

galaxytree: I don't know if it's against the rules. I suppose if you post it all at once it won't be, though. Sorry about the frustration. It doesn't keep you from writing, though—use a notebook if you must. What rule did you supposedly break? (If you don't mind my asking.)

Tobias1452: It is I who should be thanking you. You rock! You're brilliant! I love cookies!

Aldrea: I'll stick with this curse, thanks. If one of its curses was destroyed, the Demon of Writers' Block would be out for revenge, and then we'd both be in trouble. I appreciate the offer, though.

tayk: I agree: school is too easy. What's worse, it takes away time that we could spend reading, writing, and reviewing!