A/N ~ Sorry, sorry, sorry this took so long. It took me way to long to come up with a song, and then I had school stuff… The next chapter should go much faster. I already have a song.
Disclaimer: Animorphs does not belong to me, yadda, yadda, yadda… it all belongs to K.A.A. and Scholastic. The song "This Is Where I Belong" belongs to Bryan Adams and Hans Zimmer. It's from the movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron… Yeah, I think that about covers it.
I stood in a small hidden clearing in the mountains. At least this was still how I remembered it. I quickly set about the task at hand. I had to rebury the Time Matrix using my tail and the shredder I'd taken from the ship. I busied myself with the work, trying not to think about the weight that rested on my shoulders.
When I was finished, I started to concentrate on the kafit bird morph inside me. But before the morph started, I felt a sharp pain on my back. I quickly reached back and grabbed the tiny flea that had bitten me. I held it carefully in my fingers and concentrated instead on letting the flea's DNA flow into me.
I was nervous about morphing the kafit bird because it was obviously not an Earth bird, but I needed wings and it was the only bird morph I had.
As I was preparing once more to morph, a familiar voice in my head. Hey, Ax-man. What are you doing?
I hear the wind across the plain.
A sound so strong that calls my name.
I swiveled one stalk-eye up to see a red-tailed hawk circling overhead. Hello, Tobias. I said.
There was a long pause. Then he landed on a tree branch in front of me. His fierce hawk eyes bored into me. Okay, he said, forcibly calm. You're not Ax. And you're not Visser Three. You can't possibly be who you look like. So, who are you?
I was surprised at his words. Did he really recognize me?
And who is it that I look like, Tobias?
How do you know my name? he asked sharply.
We have met before, I said simply, though this was not the Tobias I'd met only hours ago and yet many years ago at the same time.
There was a long pause, and then he said, You look like someone who died a long time ago. There was a deep sadness in his voice.
That was me, I responded. And it was not.
Uh-huh, he said, skeptically.
I sighed. This was going to be harder than I thought. I am Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, I said. When he didn't say anything, I continued. On my way down to Earth for the last time, a young man appeared inside my fighter. He had with him an extraordinary machine and weapon, I gestured toward the ground where I'd buried it. The Time Matrix. The young man told me a story and asked for help. He was desperate, and so I agreed, I paused. You and your friends watched me die, but it was not me. It was you.
Silence. Then, Excuse me?
It was you from the future. A future that will not be if I succeed. You – he morphed me and reenacted the scene in the construction site as he remembered it.
So, you're telling me that my future self came to you in the past with the Time Matrix and died instead of you?
Yes, I said simply.
Well, you'll have to excuse me if I have a little trouble believing that. I mean, how do I know you're even Elfangor? Sure, you look like him, and sound like him and everything, but – I watched you die! He sounded a little frantic when he said the last part.
Tobias, I said carefully. Did you get the letter I left for you?
It's wild like the river; it's warm like the sun.
Yeah, it's here – this where I belong.
He was quiet for a moment. Yeah, he said softly. Yeah, I did.
When you – the other you came to me, he was quite distressed. Almost all of his friends had died. Some only very recently for him, but one had died a long time ago. Today. He wanted me to save her. And to save you from becoming him. He wanted you to have a better life than he did.
He stared at me with his fierce hawk eyes. After a moment, he said, Which one?
Softly, I answered, Rachel.
He said a word I won't repeat, and then, I'm probably making a really bad decision right now, but I guess I'm going to have to trust you. So, what do we have to do?
Under the starry skies, where eagles have flown,
This place is paradise – it's the place I call home.
Five minutes later, we flew out over the trees away from the valley. We were two identical red-tailed hawks, since I'd decided the kafit bird was too conspicuous. We headed for the ocean. I needed something even less obvious.
The moon on the mountains,
The whisper through the trees,
We landed by the river, hidden in the trees. I demorphed, and Tobias flew overhead checking to make sure we were clear. When he came back, he had a seagull in his talons. It was flapping franticly, trying to get free. He flew down, and I took the gull from him, immediately concentrating, since Andalite hands aren't as strong as humans, and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to hold tightly enough.
The seagull went into the aquiring trance, and I carefully set it on the ground. Ready? asked Tobias.
Ready, I replied, and began to morph.
The waves on the water –
Let nothing come between this and me.
We flew back to the valley and I managed to find a spot where I could remain hidden in the trees, but still see most of the valley. It was truly a remarkable place, and I was amazed at how much the five young humans had accomplished. I watched the activity with great interest. I watched as Jake gathered his army. I was stunned to see the large group he had gathered of morph-capable humans and wondered how they'd managed to get an Escafil device.
I knew Rachel had was already gone and I should be going after her, but there was one thing I had to see first. I saw Aximili, my brother standing with the other Animorphs and was relieved to see that he was still alive. Tobias had told me he was, but it was different seeing it for myself. My sharp hawk eyes scanned the valley. I looked closely at the cluster of humans that was the families of the Animorphs.
'Cause everything I want is everything that's here.
And when we're all together, there's nothing to fear.
Then I saw her. She was by herself, walking into the woods. Loren. Watching her made my heart hurt. I knew she didn't remember me, and I wondered how I would be able to live on Earth when she didn't know me. And I realized then that I'd been thinking of staying here. It was a problem I would have to figure out, but not now. I had other things to focus on. I opened my wings, and dropped out of the tree, flying away from the valley toward danger and one last battle.
I was leaving, but I knew somehow, as I flew away, that I'd be back. I wasn't done here yet.
And wherever I wander, the one thing I've learned –
It's to here I will always, always return.
A/N ~ Alright! This chapter is finally over! All you Loren fans out there should like the next chapter. I really hope it doesn't end up being too corny. That's not what I meant to do when I started out, but this story has changed so much already. By the way, if you like this song, I have a short song fic using another song from Spirit, called Sound the Bugle. Well, thanks for hanging in with me so far. Reviews are nice…
