Okay, I'm doing another fic cause it is just so hard to let my main character go… (sad face). So… I've decided to do it on Jade's first mission alone with the Animorphs. I've set it in book 40, but I promise I'll try not to change it too much… I hope you all enjoy.

Oh, also, I've set it between my first two stories. It's after Jade's secret, and before David's back!, ok? Coolies, read on now… :)

Chapter One: What is normal?

My name is Jade. I'm an average kind of girl, not someone you're likely to look twice at, given the chance. I'm a weird mix of French and Australian. I used to live in Australia, and I guess that's the only thing most people notice about me. My 'aussie' accent. No, it's not like that blockhead, Steve Irwin (we do not all speak like that), it's very subtle.

Next to Rachel, I'm short. Next to Cassie, I guess you could say I have some sort of weird fashion sense. My best friend, Amanda, once said I have a 'in-between' style. Don't ask me what that is.

I have average shoulder length chestnut kind of brown hair, and green eyes. All in all, I'm average. Yeah, I am a bit of a tom-boy, but… other than that, I'm nothing much to look at.

But… I am not normal. Haven't been for at least five years. And a few months ago, I met up with the Animorphs. Another bunch of 'not normal' kids.

Well, by now you probably all know about Yeerks and how the Animorphs fight them. And about Visser Three and stuff. So I won't bother you with those details. Neither will I retell my own story. It just kind of gets repetitive after a while.

I guess you could say that when I came to America, I kind of traded one 'not-normal' group of friends for another. Great. When will it ever end?

I'd come to know them all in different ways. Rachel, who was the tall model, and a lot like Amanda in some ways. Cassie, the animal lover (I spent a lot of my time with her, helping out) Jake, the 'fearless leader'. Tobias, the boy turned into a bird. Marco, the joker. And Ax. Ax was… I don't know what to make of him. He still seems a little edgy about me though. Can't blame him. I opened his eyes to a lot of things.

But tonight, I was stuck being 'normal'. Or, at least, an image of normal. I was babysitting my little brother and sisters. We were watching a movie my parents had rented for us, George of the Jungle. You know, the one with that Brendan Fraser guy in it? My parents thought it would be good for all of us. And it was. Even Phoebe laughed at the talking 'monkey'. They left us alone for a few hours, and when they came back they went straight to bed. By then the movie was over, and we were channel surfing. Well, Ryan was. Phoebe, who had been sitting on my lap, had fallen asleep with her head against my left shoulder. Tina was on my right shoulder, and she'd fallen asleep too. She'd gotten a little too into the movie, and had snuggled into me for some comfort. Ryan was on my left side, feet on the coffee table, and looking like he was about to drift off soon too. He flipped channels mindlessly.

"There's nothing on" he whined, and I shushed him and indicated to him to lower the volume. I didn't mind being used as a human pillow. I was used to it. After all, the countless drives to my grandparents place back in Australia were long and boring.

"Well, why don't you got to bed then?" I whispered to him.

"Don't want to" he mumbled, still flipping channels. Then, I guess he found something he liked. He sat up, and I turned back to the screen. Unsolved Mysteries. Oh great. He'd be up a while longer. And I wanted to go back to that cooking show. It looked interesting.

I sat there and watched with him, fighting back a tidal wave of yawns. Nightmares had kept me up and…

"Oh! Watch this!" Ryan said in an exited whisper. He leaned forward to watch. Ok, we went through god knows how many damn ads first, before it actually got back to the show. And then, the world crumbled.

---------------------------------------x-------------------------

It was an Andalite. I was sure of it. That type of blue was unmistakable, anywhere to me. And… it had four legs, and what I thought was a human top half… what else could it be?

"Oh that is so fake" Ryan said, forgetting about whispering. About to change the channel.

"No, wait Ryan" I said, and Tina started to stir.

"What's fake?" She murmured. But I hardly heard her. My full attention was on the screen. They showed it again, the video tape some idiot amateur video artist taped. And then, I was sure of it.

"Just this thing they showed. A blue blob of something. Come on! Anyone ever heard of computer generated?"

"And what makes you such an expert?" Tina retorted.

"Enough you guys. Go to bed, and… take Phoebe with you" I said handing her to Ryan, before getting up and moving to turn the TV off.

"But… she sleeps in your room!" Tina protested, and I shushed her. She was going to wake our parents up, and that was not what I wanted right then.

"Look, take her, just for tonight, ok? I need a good night's sleep for once, and if both of you are gonna argue, you might as well take her"

"Why? What's so important? Got a dream date?" Tina laughed.

"No. I have a test in the morning. Now go to bed, both of you. No more arguments or I'll tell mum and dad about what you did last night" That got them. They both went into their room and shut the door. Then, I went into my own room, shutting and locking the door. I slipped on some actual clothes, tossing my nightie aside. I then opened my window, as far as it would go. I thought I saw someone moving in one of the apartments across from ours. Uh-oh. This was going to be difficult. If someone saw me go out the window as a bird…

I leaned my upper half out the window, as far as it would go. I searched for the fire escape on our building. If I was going to get out of here, I was going to have to do it as a human.

I searched for another way down, but there wasn't any. I saw a thick pole not to far from my window, but that couldn't possibly hold my weight. And if it broke, I'd probably kill myself and wake up the entire neighbourhood in the process. Not something I wanted to try.

So, back to the fire escape. How did I get to it? It was too far… unless I tried to jump. Might be able to make it if I jumped….

"Oh god" I breathed, knowing it was the only way. Something inside told me to forget about it, and talk to Jake and the others in the morning. But… if it was true… if that video was real, that meant it could be Ax, and we could all be in danger…

"This better be worth it" I breathed, shoving my window up as far as it could go, and locking it in place. At least I'd be able to get back in. That is, if I survived the next few minutes. I managed to get my feet up on the narrow ledge, and crouched there, judging the distance from it. I knew, whatever happened, it was definitely going to hurt.

I took a deep breath, getting up on the outside of the window (and nearly falling in the process) then put all the force I had into a leap, stretching my arms out as far as they could go. For a second, I felt like I was just frozen in the air. Or… like flying. But as I moved towards the escape, I knew it definitely wasn't like flying. I was falling… falling… almost there…

No! I missed the fire escape! My left hand didn't…

Clank! Clankclankclankclankclank…

Right hand caught the fire escapes ladder, and seconds later I was falling again. I was pulling the ladder down with me!

I saw the ground, metres below, and I let go, trying to push myself away from it as I did so. I hit the ground, fell backwards, and seconds later the bottom of the ladder landed in front of me. I scrambled up, realising I had come inches from being skewered by the ladder. And knowing I'd watched Final Destination 2 just a few nights before didn't help. I had an image of my head of what would have happened…

Seconds later, I was up and running out of the alleyway, my back screaming in pain, and crying out words that will never be repeated here.

"I hope you're goddamn worth it Ax!" I screamed without meaning to. I had come inches from death… from something normal. As you could tell, that thought did not make me happy.