Epilogue (Part two)

Tobias

The day after the big landing ceremony, it was business as usual. The president had a country –scratch that- a world to run, and the congressmen and senators had more important things to do than hang out with a bunch of kids – even if we were heroes. Politics – image is everything. The politicians would have gladly talked to us and we'd have let them, but I guess they were all scared that they wouldn't get to us first, and negative public relations would be the result of the population thinking they'd copied the guy before them. The consensus among them seemed to be that they should ignore the Animorphs.

I was in the mall, fulfilling my promise to Rachel. We were suppose to be getting clothes for me, since I was now a human. When I was a hawk, I obviously didn't need clothes. Now I did. The simple solution: let Rachel take me shopping. Quality time with her during her favorite activity, although the shopping for me thing evaporated the second we walked in through the food court.

"Holy crap!" Rachel exclaimed, holding up a sheer, form-fitting, turquoise sweater. "This sweater is normally sixty bucks. It's half off right now, and I take an additional twenty-five percent off for the one day sale. A sixty dollar sweater for fifteen bucks!"

I scratched my head. "Um, Rachel? You do realize we're not paying for any of this, right?" Due to our hero status, we'd been treated like royalty. Everyone knew us, including the owners of stores, and they showed their gratitude by not accepting money from us. Like we had any. We'd kind of been busy saving entire species, so we didn't exactly have time to get jobs. We'd had offers from every major beer company to endorse their product. They were talking seven digits for a fifteen second commercial. Donald Trump even went so far as to offer Rachel and I a penthouse suite in his swankiest hotel. It would have been cool as hell, but we'd be too far away from the others. Instead, we talked a major construction comparny into building us a house down the street from Marco – after the government gave us the land, anyway.

"Yeah, but it's the thrill, not the money. Finding a bargain like this…well, it would have been like you swooping down on a plump mouse."

I sighed inwardly. The war was over and the Ellimist had made me human. There was no need to morph – I was just sure going to miss flying. The fear of other predators, scarcity of food, and the lonely nights I would not miss. Flying? Well, just thinking about it depressed me.

Rachel's cell phone rang and she answered it. She listened to the voice on the other end for a moment, then said, "Uh-huh, cool. Meet me at American Eagle."

"What was that all about?" I asked. I knew it had to either be one of her family members or one of the other Animorphs. Rachel hadn't had the phone long enough to give the number to anyone else.

"That was Cassie. I talked her into picking out a bikini for Marco's pool party. I feel bad, because I'm working the sympathy angle to even get her here. Then again, I actually get to help my best friend pick out a provocative swimsuit. How can you feel bad when you're not hurting anybody and you're getting exactly what you want?"

I laughed. "That's the good thing about you, Rachel – you never have a friend you're not willing to do anything for, even if Cassie will be mortified. You always do what's best, but I think sometimes what you think is best for someone isn't the same as their idea."

"Come on, now," she said, taking her sweater to the checkout counter.

The lady smiled at us and said, "Rachel, Tobias. It's on the house. Come back and visit!"

"C'mon. We're all okay. Cassie's cute, she can bare a little skin. Jake has the right to know the ins and outs of what he's getting into, right?" Rachel smirked.

I spotted Cassie standing outside of American Eagle waiting for us. She looked more nervous than I ever remember her being in battle. Rachel walked briskly by her, not even looking at her as she grabbed her wrist and bodily hauled her into the story. Rachel's eyes were already glued to the racks. She went right to the back section where the swimsuits hung and immediately began surveying them, backing up to look at them the way an artist studies a painting. "Oh yes, Cassie…that blue one with the white flowers is so you.

"Nice to see you too, Rachel," Cassie said. "And about the swimsuit…I'll trust your judgement."

Rachel practically threw the swimsuit into Cassie's chest. "Go try it on while I look for a backup."

"A backup?" I said, not knowing what the heck she was talking about.

"You know, a backup! What if this one snags on something? What if the fit isn't right? What if you accidentally spill something on it? You can never be too careful."

I laughed. "You might as well go along for the ride," I told Cassie playfully. "Rachel in full shopping mode."

Rachel spared a glance at me for a split second as Cassie wandered off towards the fitting rooms. "Keep it up, Tobias. I'll have you looking like a member of the Village People if you don't watch it." The funny thing about that was I knew she was probably more than halfway serious. Rachel's eyes glazed over for a moment, and she grabbed two more swimsuits.

Cassie walked out of the dressing room holding the top and bottom pieces of the suit. "Did it fit?" Rachel demanded. Cassie nodded. "Well? Why the long face?" Rachel asked, genuinely perplexed.

"It's not me," Cassie said. "I don't wear bikinis, Rachel. I don't even like swimming!"

Rachel led us out of the store. "Well, I don't really like to swim either. That's not the point."

Cassie shot me a sideways look. "What is the point of a swimsuit, if not for swimming?" she asked.

"Style! Sunbathing! Freedom! Don't you know anything? Swimming is the last thing you do in a bikini!"

I caught another look from Cassie, this one more amused than anything. I smiled back and held Rachel's hand as we walked through the mall. People stared, but it wasn't as bad as I'd expected. Nobody mobbed us or asked us for autographs. I guess shock troopers utilizing alien technology were a little less inviting than the Backstreet Boys or whatever. I would sure miss flying – but even just holding Rachel's hand made me feel like I was flying again, and I told myself that being human again – permanently – wasn't a bad thing at all.