A/N: Silver Eyed, you're right about what you said. They are cousins, but throughout the series, I noticed some similarities between the two characters' personalities. In #54, the characters notice those similarities because Rachel is gone. In this, over two decades have passed, and the other characters are seeing similarities because Serenity is acting just a tiny bit like Rachel (the combination of DNA may have caused a tiny bit of it—that may be in a future chapter, I don't know yet)—And about the name, I just was thinking of a name that would completely contrast with her personality, and I figured that she was definitely not 'serene' (calm, tranquil, pacific, peaceful—none of those would make a good name), so that's why I chose 'Serenity'. Thank you for your comments and reviews. I really appreciate them. I'm open to suggestions about the plot or anything. Just e-mail or IM them to me (see my bio). I'll keep posting more chapters as soon as I write them!

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Everybody stared at me in silence.

Then they walked back to the car.

"What? What did I do?" I cried, following them. "Did I say something wrong?"

I jumped in the car and we took off down the road.

"No, you didn't say something wrong," Jake said, staring straight ahead.

"Then what's the problem?" I asked as we got onto the freeway.

Marco had the answer. "You're too Rachel-ish. It's scary, because you actually love what you're doing. You just jumped on the back of a fully-grown male Hork-Bajir that could have sliced you into millions of tiny pieces! You're insane! Crazy. Nuts. Wacko."

I was a little angry, and when I'm angry, I lash out at people. "So lock me up. It won't be any different from how my life has been so far."

"Marco," Tobias began, "Serenity is our only chance of beating those Yeerks once and for all. You've said it before: you're too old to fight. I guess you're right, if you consider forty to be old. But you can fight if you have to. I'm stuck here, in this morph, a nothlit again, because my hawk body got too old. So I think you need to lay off."

"Jake," Marco whined like a two-year old, "Tobias is being mean to me."

"Marco," Jake warned, looking at him in the rearview mirror. Marco slumped down in his seat.

"Prince Jake, are you going to tell Serenity why she is to reside at your house?" Ax asked, changing the subject.

"Don't call me Prince," Jake responded automatically.

I looked at Ax, and he grinned. Marco was stifling a laugh.

"Yes, Prince Jake."

Maybe Andalites do have a sense of humor.

Jake sighed. "It never ends, does it? Well…okay, I'll tell you. Serenity, you are going to live at my house not because I live alone, but because, as of last month, I am your legal guardian."

"But it's only for one year, right?" I asked him. "I mean, most children move out when they're eighteen."

"When you're eighteen, you may do whatever you want. Leave, stay, whatever. Move to the other end of the world if you want to. I just offered you a place to stay. I will provide food, clothing, shelter, whatever. You name it, you've got it," Jake said.

"So if I wanted a…a…Ferrari…yeah, that's it. If I wanted one of those, would I get it?"

Jake laughed, and I thought for sure that he would say yes.

"Absolutely not."

Marco cracked up in the back seat.

Jake looked at me, then back to the road. "Not unless I get one first."

Tobias, Jake, and I all started to laugh.

Ax was confused. "I do not understand. What is a Ferrari? Arrreee. Eee."

Tobias calmed down. "I'll explain it when we get home, Ax-man."

We turned into a large neighborhood with very large houses. Jake pulled into the driveway of the largest one.

I got out of my seat, and took my first look at my new home.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Marco said from the front door. "Come on in."

I walked through the door and stepped into a different world. His house was magnificent. He didn't decorate anything, I noticed. In each room was some basic furniture. Maybe a picture here and there. That was it.

Until we got to my room.

It was well furnished, and the walls were sky blue, which was my favorite color. Along one wall were thousands of books. In one corner was a laptop computer, printer, everything. Inside the closet were at least a hundred outfits, maybe more.

"I think I got the sizes right," Jake said. "I hope. I don't want to have to take all of those back. It was hard getting them here in the first place."

I looked at one of the shirts. It was cute.

"They're perfect, Jake. This entire house is absolutely perfect. I'll be delighted to live with you," I said, hugging him.

He looked down at me and said, "I'll be delighted to have you live with me too."