A/N: Yeah, I'm starting a new fic. I'm really excited about this one. This takes place about 13 to 14 years after the incident with the One. So, altogether, I'd say it's about 18 to 19 years after the war. Oh, and no one died when The Rachel rammed the blade ship and Ax is free from the One. You may notice that I have an andalite in this story but I refer to him by a human name. That's because I'm really bad at making up andalite names, plus all the characters have been calling him by his nickname for so long that they've forgotten his real name. I've made up last names for some of the Animorphs.

Okay, this is just a rough summary of what has happened before the story. After the One, no one has seen Tobias and everyone thinks that he

is dead. Rachel's parents got back together shortly after the war and had a son about a month after The Rachel left. Marco's mom and dad gave

Marco a baby brother a few months after he left. Ax also has a younger brother now. Cassie's parents had another girl shortly after Rachel's

brother was born. Jake's parents had another baby, a girl this time, which Jake saw for the first time when he arrived back from his mission to free

Ax from the One about two years after he left. Now all of their siblings are around 15 years old and in their first or second year of high school.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Animorphs, but I do own their siblings. Yay!

My name is Faith Berenson. If you had just picked me out of a crowd, you would think that there was absolutely nothing special about me at all. And you know what? You'd be absolutely right. In reality, there is nothing special about me, but there is something special about my older brother Jake. Yeah, you heard me right, Jake, as in Commander Jake Berenson. He was the leader of the rebellion against the Yeerks. And, if you actually believe everything your history book says, a hero among heroes. Of course, I'm not saying that the history books don't give credit to the other Animorphs. They were all heroes.

However, I can't help but think that the history books are a little shallow. They've never seen my brother's eyes, how they always seem to be tired. They've never seen the wrinkles on my thirty-four year old brother's face caused solely from stress. They've never been there at night, when the dead come back to haunt my dear brother Jake. And they've never heard my brother apologize countless times to me, saying it is all his fault that I never knew my cousin Rachel or my oldest late brother Tom. No, they hadn't been there for any of it.

When I was little and I had first found out about Tom, I was mad. Of course, I couldn't really comprehend any of it, but I did throw a fit. I didn't talk to my brother for a whole year. I had even stopped pretending to be him. I stopped playing games where I was the tiger or I was the bear and the sofa was the Yeerk. It all came to a halt. But, I got over it, and the games started again and I stopped the silent treatment with my brother. However, it had changed me, just not as much as it should have.

It was the last Saturday of summer vacation. I wasn't doing much, just flipping through channels on the television mostly and trying to keep my mind off the approaching school year. Needless to say, I was bored out of my wits. Cooking show…Do-It-Yourself Network…cartoons…cartoons…re-run…seen it. I sighed. It was official. I had done everything there was to do except for one thing.

Mom yelled from across the house, "Faith! Jake wants to talk to you!" How did my brother know that was the one thing left to do?

I picked the phone receiver and heard an unmistakable click as my mom hung up on the other end, "How's it going, bro?"

"Hey, sis. Hope I'm not catching you before a date," my brother joked. I cocked an eyebrow, although he couldn't see it.

"I'm sure the guy I met at the Yeerks Forever rally will understand."

Jake laughed, which was something that was extremely rare these days, "Tell the Yeerk to keep his host's hands to himself."

"Jake!"

My brother's mood turned serious after a minute, "Actually, Faith, there was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"What?" I asked, not very concerned.

"Well, Fiona left me and…"

I was suddenly enraged, "She WHAT! But…she's pregnant with your child. And weren't you making plans to get married!"

My brother gave a dry laugh, "Turns out that the baby was someone else's."

"That bitch!"

"You're sounding like mom more and more everyday. Anyways, well, we had a lease on a two bedroom apartment for six months and I'm on leave for a year," Jake took in a big gulp of air and continued, "I asked mom about it and she said it was okay if you wanted to."

"Want to do what?"

"Faith, if you'd like to come to California and live with me for a year…"

"Are you serious!"

Jake sighed, "I knew you'd say no. Listen, it was just an idea-"

"I'd LOVE to come live with you for a year. When do I leave? What should I pack? When does the school year start in California?"

"Shit, it's hot," I moaned as I walked through the passage way between the airplane and the airport. An old guy next to me looked at me incredulously and raised an eyebrow.

"Where'd you come from, Alaska? It's California, of course it's hot."

"Actually I've just been in an air conditioned house all summer," I said and sat down in one of the plastic seats. The man walked off to get his luggage while I waited for my brother. I mumbled to myself, "When I asked my brother when I could come to live with him, I hadn't expected it to be the next day," I paused and then added, "Not that I mind." I pulled out a magazine and started to thumb through it for lack of anything better to do.

"Faith!" I looked up after page fifteen at the sound of my name. As soon as I saw who it was, I jumped up to give him a hug. Even though it had been a year since I had seen him, he still looked exactly like I remembered him. He had a little bit of a beard, but not much, with dark chocolate brown eyes and light brown hair cut in a sort of sloppy crew cut.

"Jake! I can't believe it," I yelled as he squeezed the life out of him. I finally let go of him after I heard him gasp for air several times. People all around the terminal were looking at us. I blushed and readjusted the black skirt and red T-shirt that I was wearing. I then looked up and grinned at my older brother, "It's good to see you again."

Jake gasped as he recuperated from the hug I gave him, "Obviously. Or were you just trying to kill me because you almost succeeded."

"Sorry, don't know my own strength," I replied sheepishly.

"Come on; let's go before some one recognizes me. How have you been?" Jake hoisted my luggage, about five bags, into a trolley and quickly made his way to our car, a blue SUV similar to those in the pre-Yeerk days but much more superior thanks to the andalites. I strapped myself into a seat as soon as he opened the doors. "Okay, my…er, our apartment isn't too far from here. So, do you want to go to a drive-through or something? Fiona," Jake said his ex-fiancé's name bitterly, "did all the shopping. It's kind of hard when you're famous."

"Yeah, let's just grab some burgers and cinnamon buns at Carl's Jr. I guess I'm going to be doing a lot of you shopping. Can I have this car when I get my license?" I told my brother as he pulled out of the parking lot. Although there was no hover cars like people in the olden days thought there would be, the "future" was very advanced. While Jake told me that a lot of things looked the same, there were many aliens walking around and more inter-planetary and inter-galactic travel than back then.

"Okay, sounds good. I'm really glad that you're here Faith."

"Yeah, everyone knows how you hate shopping and crowds, Jake. Both together must kill you," I said lightly.

"Well, I must say that I have nearly been killed a few times in mobs at the mall…as well as a few other places. Ironic, isn't it?" I knew what he was talking about: the Yeerk pool. It must be hard to go from being nearly killed by race enslaving aliens to a few obsessed fans.

Jake pulled into the drive-through and ordered. After he paid the lady in cash and pulled out, he handed me a cheeseburger and started fiddling with the radio, "Some improved radio system…1000 stations and not one good one." He finally settled for an oldies station.

Jake's cell phone started ringing. He apologized and turned the stereo down enough so you could hear someone talk clearly but just loud enough so you could hear it. "Hello?" he answered.

"WHAT!" Jake yelled into the phone in surprise and in the process made the car almost swerve into the sidewalk. Luckily, he righted himself before he hit any bystanders.

"Well, that doesn't mean anything. Keep me posted…and I DON'T want any screw ups. You got that? Okay, good, bye." Jake ended the conversation.

"Who was that?" I asked him.

"No one," he answered me.

"No Jake you we-"

Jake interrupted me. "Well, Faith, we're here." Jake announced as he parked in front of tall apartment building. The beginning of my new life in California.

Next Chapter: Its Faith's first day at school and she's about to meet some new yet very familiar people…

A/N: What was with that phone call? You'll find out soon enough. All in all, I think this chapter turned out pretty well. I had Faith move in with Jake because it wouldn't have worked if she still lived with her parents when…getting to ahead of myself. Oh, and in another fic, I know I have a girl named Hope because of the war. Faith's name is not based of the same idea. I simply liked the name Faith Berenson.

This fic was actually inspired by a fic by Salamon2 of the digimon section of ffnet. I haven't really read it (maybe a couple of paragraphs) but I liked the sibling idea. Of course, this fic is COMPLETELY different.

People, please review this fic, but could you do me a big favor? When you review, if possible, could you please give me as "meaty" of a review as possible? It's not so much the size of the review but I would like it if people did more that "Good job, keep writing". I do know that this sounds hypocritical, but I am trying to give more constructive criticism as part of my New Year's resolution. I just realize that there are things that need to be improved as since I can't find them, it would be nice if other people pointed them out. Also, if you want to give guesses about what will happen next or suggestions on what should happen next, that would be greatly appreciated. Of course, any type of review is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Now, about the status of my two other fics: "The Confused" and "A New War". I know I have finished "A New War", but I'm not really happy with it. I am sad to say that I will probably be taking it off soon, but alas, I will rewrite it to make it better, and perhaps change around some of the events so that they are more plausible. Now, "The Confused", I will NOT be taking it off any time soon, but I might rework a couple of chapters and change one of the counterpart's names. I, unfortunately, jumped into the fic before I was truly ready, but I do have a basic sequence of events in my head. I'm also planning a fic similar to it, but it won't be going up until EVERY chapter is written. Or I might just turn it into a one-shot.

Anyways, I think that is it, so please review, have a good time between now and the next time I update, and all of you, keep writing!