I guess it doesn't really matter how many reviews I get. I'm mainly doing this for my own amusement. And I'm just putting this up to in case any curious readers want to see.

Hehe, I like chapters six and seven. Good silly stuff! XD

Chapter 6: Four More People to Care For

Cassie

The Ellimist had left shortly afterwards. The rest of us stood around. Jake suggested Ax to morph into his human body, since we were outdoors. There wasn't worry of any Yeerks around us, but if normal people saw Ax, they'd run away screaming. Possibly worse.

"So, do we get started right away?" I asked, curiously. The deal was to give Marianne some motivation, or inspiration in order to write out our lives better. Then we could return to where we came from, and have no memory of all this. What else could we do? Go back to a life, a future that scared Jake to death? A life that scared me as much?

"So, the Ellimist says you write pretty good at writing," Marco recalled, rubbing a hand over his face. "I'm not brilliant at it, so how are we supposed to help?" Marianne shrugged her shoulders, perplexed as he was. "Well, you don't have to give me ideas directly. And we don't have to start right away." She smiled. "We could just…have some fun. Maybe live a little. Get to know each other a bit. It might be a while before I get anything into my mind's eye."

Marianne, for the first time, had seen one of us morph. Not reading about it in the books. Actually seeing it with her own eyes. "Oh…my. That's…disturbing," the fanfiction writer said as she stared, eyes wide in shock, watching Ax's two front legs were sucked into his chest. SCHLOOP! A few of his fingers mended together to form five fingers on each of his hands. Yes, I had to agree with Marianne. Morphing is something that we humans will never get used to. I'm not even sure if Ax is used to morphing, but I know the rest of us weren't.

All of us, but Tobias (who wanted to hunt down a mouse or something for food) went back inside Marianne's home. Into the basement area. It was sort of big, but mostly filled with these adorable little cement statues, there was an open tool box up ahead, beneath a single light bulb that hung from the ceiling. "I wonder what time it is," Marianne wondered out loud as we followed her to the living room. "Like Tobias, I'm starting to get a little hungry myself." "It is a little past noon," Ax informed. "Nooooooon-nuh. Neeeeewwwwn-uh?"

I looked back to the pile of books that had our faces on them, changing into the animals we acquired on the covers. They were strewn about in the living room, on the floor or on the couches. We left them like that in a hurry to go see the Ellimist. I had no idea… None of us did. Marianne didn't even know we were real. Until now.

"Oh, and if you people wish to help me," Marianne began. "I just have something to say." "Well, say it already!" Rachel said. "Rachel, don't," I told her. "None of us are exactly happy to be in this situation, so let's make the best of this, okay?" She calmed down once I was done talking. "I forgive you, for what you did," Marianne said, and then held up a hand like a crossing guard in the middle of a street, hand signaling some pedestrians to halt. "No, there's no need to start apologizing. I totally understand all the possible reasons behind your actions. Even though I'm still a little sore…"

"Cool," Marco cut her off in mid-sentence, moving past her to go into the little kitchen. "No harm done then. So, what's for lunch?" Marianne glared at the back of his head. I felt myself feeling the same way. She willingly decides to help all of us, and welcome us into her home. Rachel and Marco were just being rude. I understood how my two friends felt too. So I didn't say anything.

Marianne was just like any other human being, living in any other normal looking house. I mean, her family's kitchen was no more bigger than my family's. There was a sink full of dirty dishes. I saw one of Marianne's black cats lying on the floor. I noticed she had two of them, and that they were both wearing white flea collars. Poor things. The house must've been crawling with the nasty little bugs. I've morphed a flea before, and being one is not quite pleasant. Of course, Marianne would have to know that, because she's read all the books about us, right?

Marco was poking his head into Marianne's refrigerator, looking for anything edible to eat. "Hm," Marianne said, in thought. "Maybe we could have some of these…" Marco was looking in the lower part of the fridge, while Marianne was opening the freezer door. He closed the larger door of the two. Marianne pulled out something, and showed it to us. From the package, it looked like some sort of burrito. "What is that? That-tuh? Is it some kind of food?" Ax wondered. "Yeah, and I'm wondering if these are microwavable," she replied. Rachel dug into the big package and pulled out some more of the frozen burritos. "Cool, looks like there's plenty for all of us." Marianne was at the cutting board by the fridge, doing her best to rip one of the small packages open.

Then she got out a paper plate and placed both burrito and plate into the microwave. Closing the door, her right hand hovered over the buttons. "What is that device?" Ax asked. "It's a microwave, Ax-man," Marco explained. "You put food into it, set the timer, and it'll heat it up. It beeps to let you know when it's done." "Ah, very primitive," Ax commented. Being the Andalite he was, he'd always have to let us know every once in a while how his race's technology is more superior than ours. Sometimes Ax does that to be funny. Or to try to be funny. He has a very dry sense of humor.

"So, do you live alone?" I asked Marianne. I had to be sure. It may take some time, so… "Well, my mom and dad are at work. My mom's a substitute teacher, and my dad's a teacher." "So, it's four more mouths to feed," Marco calculated effortlessly. "Yeah, and I'll have to pitch in and go broke to help you guys get some clothes," Marianne groaned. "But I don't mind all that much. It's worth it." "I'm sorry," I said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it," she countered. "I'm a big saver, and I'm sure I won't go entirely broke." "How much money do you have?" Jake asked. "I know I at least have one hundred stored in my wallet," Marianne said, and trailed off on the answer.

"Jeez!" Marco said, surprised. "That's way more than any of us would have, and you're worried about going broke?" "It still could be very expensive. A few days' worth of clothing could cost a lot of money," Rachel added helpfully. Back in our town, she's like the shopping queen. She knows all the sales at every clothing at department store. It's like she owns the mall.

"Okay," Marianne said, getting our attention. "Put the burritos in vertically for two minutes, turn it sideways, and let it heat up again for about one minute. Does that sound good?" "Yeah, that sounds reasonable," Marco said, nodding. Marianne heated up her burrito first. I decided to help out by getting the silverware. Some of it had to be scrubbed and rinsed clean. There weren't enough clean knives and forks in the drawer and in the tub thing to the right of the sink.