A/N:I finally got a reveiw! YAY! Thankies! I love you! then again, I love all my readers! - so... (gets to work on chapter 8)

Chapter 7

Well, here I am again… my secret place… floating on my back in the cool, clear water, in my own little world. How long had I been there? I wasn't sure, but time didn't matter to me very much. At least not right now. As I floated there, I couldn't help but start thinking about why I'd come here in the first place. I still remember that day well… it's as clear in my mind as it was when it happened. I remember exactly how I felt, too. Afraid, alone, angry… it was just too much.

I closed my eyes and thought back to my childhood. Back when dad was alive and well, as were everyone else. I always took the ones I loved for granted. I guess it was because I never thought anything would happen to them. Boy was I wrong… As much as I didn't want to, the memory of the whole thing slowly overthrew the rest of my mind, and all I could do was think about it…

Jakie stood next to her father, tightly gripping his hand. Daxter was on his shoulder, while Dawn was on Jakie's shoulder. Everyone else was standing around, trying to figure out what they were going to do.

"The metal heads are getting closer by the minute! If they reach the city, then we're done for!" Torn exclaimed. Jakie cringed slightly and let out a small whimper. Jak held her hand even tighter to try and comfort her a little more. "Our only chance is if we go out there and take them out before they reach the city!"

"Hey! But that's suicide!" Daxter argued. "Did you see how many of them there were!"

"It's our only chance," Torn continued.

"Torn's right. It's crazy, but it's the only way to save the city," Ashelin agreed. Jakie, being as young as she was, let go of her Jak's hand and stepped up to Torn.

"Uncle Torn…" she started, but she didn't have to finish for Torn to know what she was about to say. He knelt down and patted her head lightly.

"Don't worry, kid. We'll be back before you know it," he assured her. Jakie tried to smile, but had a hard time.

"Right," Ashelin began, "Torn, Jak, Daxter, Sig, and I will head out to try and prevent as many from entering the city as possible. Tess and Samos will get everyone else someplace safe." Everyone agreed. Jak knelt down and hugged Jakie tightly before leaving.

"Don't worry, Jakie. Everything will be fine. I promise," he assured her. Then the group of fighters left.

Yeah… everything was fine all right… Dawn and I were the only one's left of the entire group! It's not nice to lie like that, dad. Especially to me! Your own flesh and blood! You're pride and joy! Why did you have promise me that things would be ok? Things weren't ok, and they never will be! All I want is to have you back…

But I can't…

I opened my eyes again and looked up at the sky. It was already afternoon. Wow, I'd been there for several hours now. But like I really cared. Time could stop completely for all I care! I wonder if dad's back from his mission yet… he probably is, but knowing Uncle Torn, he's sent him out again. But so what? Dad could take care of himself. As long as it's not against a whole fleet of wasteland metal heads, that is. I sighed deeply and finally decided that it was time to leave and get back to the hideout. I took my time swimming back to shore where my stuff was. To tell the truth… I didn't want to leave. But I had to.

Once I was back inside the city walls, I hijacked a zoomer and started back to the hideout. I decided that I'd go with traffic, and take a few 'shortcuts' so it would take me twice as long. Like I said, I was in no hurry to get back. No hurry at all… Well, ok, maybe I was a little anxious to see dad again, but other then that, I just kept things slow and steady… Wow, traffic is slow. Jeeze, they should raise the speed limit in this city a little.

During my long trip, I had to slap myself a couple times mentally to keep myself awake. Luckily I reached the hideout without falling asleep behind the wheel, thank the Precursors. But the moment I walked in the door, I was nearly jumped.

"About time!" Dawn exclaimed. "Where the hell were you this whole time!"

"Trying to forget about how badly I screwed my hand up," I lied.

"We've been trying to contact you for the past hour!" Torn added. I shrugged.

"Sorry, Uncle. Guess I forgot to turn it on," I lied again. He sighed with annoyance. Dawn jumped back on my shoulder.

"Jak still hasn't reported back," he explained. My heart skipped a beat.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, hiding how nervous I was.

"It's been hours since he left, and he hasn't come back, or tried to contact one of us," Torn explained, "I've sent Ashelin after him, and she hasn't reported back yet either." Once again, my heart skipped two beats and jumped into my throat. "Jakie, I want you to go look for them incase something happened." I took a moment to find my voice.

"Where do I go?"

"I can't really tell you. Krew was the one who sent him, so you'll have to go there and ask him yourself." Oh man… dad told me about Krew. I shuddered just thinking about him. But, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

"Ok, then. I'll be back as soon as I can," I assured him.