Hi readers!
This may seem a bit confusing at first, and the pace kind of slow, but believe me, it picks up very quickly in the third chapter on up. And this chapter on out will be in third person, just so you know.
Neri-I'm gonna spatter some background throughout the fic, but basically this is just occurring during the time they were in the valley. I might and probably will extend the time, and some of the stuff that happened in the books might not in this fic, just so you're sure. :)
Silent Hunter-I'm glad you like it! This is a very old fic, and I was desperate to just post it up already.
Third Reviewer-Gah I'm lazy to look up your name, but thanks for your thoughts! I'm glad you like the story thus far.
Thanks Early for your beta's, sorry I forgot to mention that in the first chapter!
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Cassie was a morning person. Or at least, she used to be.
Back on the farm, she loved waking up and watching the faded pastel colors of early dawn melt into each other, until the sun peeked over the cloudy mountain horizon. It was her time to reflect. Get her thoughts straight for the day. When the weather permitted, she saddled up her favorite mare and rode through their woods for hours, past the quiet brook along the boundaries of the entire farm.
It was small comforts like those that made it even harder to be away from home. They were living day to day, not knowing whether the one approaching would be their last. It was making them all stir crazy.
Cassie knew she basically destroyed any chance they had in winning the war, and that the consequences of her actions only just barely started.
She smirked to herself.
She imagined Jake was all too ready to say something like that to her.
But that would take actual verbal communication, she mused silently, searching a small sack for some herbal throat drops. Everyone figured his depression was escalated by the blue box incident, although Cassie wondered when exactly it took hold of him. In a way, she was at least partly to blame for not being more attentive to the tell-tale signs over the years.
But he's not a little boy, I'm not his mother and he's not my responsibility, she told herself, realizing the frosty rebuffs the night before were becoming more and more frequent. She didn't regret her decision, she didn't think she did anyway. And it was hard to imagine what he would be like if she let him kill Tom. Cassie was starting to think he couldn't be much worse than he was now.
She sighed and rolled off her mother's quilt onto the cold hard-wood floor. The Hork-Bajir had spent days rebuilding each of their huts for stability, and Cassie couldn't have thanked them enough for it. Nights were cold and they couldn't afford to be sick all the time.
She quickly gathered a few clothes and a clean towel, then headed down to the cool stream to wash, making sure not to intrude on anyone else. After doing so, she returned to the hut and brushed her wet hair, vowing to let up on the self-pity.
Cassie took the medicine before eating half of a slightly bruised banana, then walked the quarter mile to the main camp where she greeted Marco's mom, who was putting up wet clothes on a makeshift clothesline she put together.
"Good morning, dear," the dark brunette woman said, smiling over her shoulder.
"'Morning, Eva."
Having seen her in person, Cassie couldn't believe how much Marco truly resembled his mother. They had the same eyes, mouth, and hair, but her skin was darker, and she had a soft accent.
"Can you hand me those pins?" she asked. Cassie kneeled down to gather them.
Eva became their surrogate mother after the rest of the families had been captured weeks before. Her presence was bittersweet, as Marco had only regained his parent after almost everyone else lost theirs.
"Thanks. I was starting to think I was the hired help, especially from the way my lazy mijo complained to me about itchy socks," Eva said wryly. Cassie grinned, handing her the wooden pins one by one.
"I wasn't doing anything else, and you've been washing everyone's clothes for the longest. I'll finish the rest up if you want."
The line hung between two short trees along the water on the other opposite side of the woods, isolated from nearly everything else, including the fire pit where people usually ate.
The older woman wiped her hands on her shorts and raised her eyebrows, sighing.
"And just as I was about to give up all hope on teenagers," she said, kissing Cassie's left cheek briefly before walking back towards camp. She stared at her retreating form for a moment, slightly worried. The older woman covered it well, but Cassie knew why Eva was always up so early. She barely got any sleep, if any. The years serving as Visser Two's host body supplied enough nightmares to last a lifetime. She made a note to maybe talk to Marco about it.
Cassie fell into a steady rhythm, and as she was adding the last of the garments to the line, she caught a glimpse of a thin girl in the distance. Quickly recognizing Rachel, she waved.
"Laundry? You're braver than I am," was the first thing out of the taller girl's mouth as she approached Cassie. She grinned and sat a few feet away, turning her lovely face up to the rays of the rising sun.
"You look refreshed," Cassie commented, swatting a mosquito from her arm.
Lately Rachel was more mellow, calm, and Cassie thought this was because both her mom and her sisters were safe in the valley with the rest of them.
Rachel had been shocked when they found them, wandering the streets during their last mission. She thought she'd never see them again, as their house had been virtually destroyed. Along with Eva, who hadn't voluntarily become a part of the war, they were the only real civilians hiding in the valley.
"It feels good to be alive," Rachel said, with only a tiny hint of sarcasm in her voice.
Having more time to spend with Tobias couldn't have hurt either, Cassie thought silently. They weren't as inconspicuous as they hoped. She was just happy that her troubled friend had finally found a little peace. She of all people deserved that.
Glimpses of Jake's lost family crossed her mind again, but Cassie refused to dwell on it. It was too soon; too soon to give up hope for them. She could only pray they and her own parents were
still living. She didn't think anyone else did.
She looked over her shoulder at her, but Rachel only glanced back mysteriously, resting her hands in the slightly overgrown grass and weeds.
"What's the occasion?" Cassie finally asked, pausing her work.
She just kept grinning enigmatically and crawled over to hand her friend the rest of the wet clothes.
"Nothing, you'll find out soon enough."
Rachel paused.
"Just...happy, you know?"
Not really, Cassie thought darkly. Instead she smiled softly.
"Sure. I'm glad they're safe too. So, um, how is your mom taking everything?"
Rachel pursed her lips and looked at her, then continued a bit slower.
"Mom's in denial. She doesn't want to believe I'm capable of doing half the things I've started to tell her. The thing is, what I have told her isn't even the tip of the iceberg. I'm afraid she might get her own ideas of what this is all about, even try to leave," she admitted.
Cassie raised her eyebrows. Naomi didn't seem like the kind of person who would act on impulse.
Needless to say, she wasn't much like her daughter in that way.
Cassie rubbed her hands dry and picked up the empty basket, then started towards camp with Rachel beside her.
"Are you sure she's not just scared? I mean, it is a lot to take in, but she trusts you. And she would never do anything to put us in danger."
Rachel pushed a lock of flaxen hair behind her ear, and sighed, walking around squirrel running wildly across the ground and towards a cluster of oaks.
"I don't know if trust is the issue with her. I keep trying to put myself in her place, and the more I think of it, the more I believe she thinks I'm crazy."
Cassie frowned.
"For what?"
"For doing this, being here. Mom thought I was in some kind of cult before all of this came out-you know, all those nights and weekends where we'd go on missions for hours? It's hard for her to forget that. And she knows that's not it now, but she still doesn't get why we can't just go to the government with our information," she explained, shielding her eyes from the sun.
"The government's full of Yeerks."
"Yup, but she doesn't want to believe she could've missed something this big."
"Your mom knows how good people can be at pretending. She's a lawyer, right?" Cassie asked, smiling. Rachel glanced at her sideways.
"I swear you've been spending too much time around Marco. Anyway, I just don't think she understands exactly how much power the Yeerks actually have. I'm glad Sara is kinda clueless to the whole thing, she thinks this is a camping trip. But Jordan..." Rachel trailed.
"She is assertive Rach, but she knows where we stand," Cassie told her.
"Yeah, I guess."
Cassie could tell she wasn't reassured.
"So what was it you were grinning about a few minutes ago?"
Almost immediately, Rachel's 100 watt smile returned.
"Tobias wants to become human," she said.
"He can," Cassie answered blithely. Rachel gave her a somewhat sarcastic look.
"Yeah, I definitely think Marco's the culprit for your decrease in deduction skills. I meant for good, not just for two hours."
She paused, her bright blue eyes meeting Cassie's darker ones.
"He wants to become human so we can be together."
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Please tell me any and all comments, constructive especially! Thanks!