DISCLAIMER: See Ch. 1.

A/N: And now, back to Jake's POV…

CHAPTER 20

Jake

I was walking with Ax and Tobias towards Saventi's ambassador shuttle. "Off to war again," I said, with mixed emotions about it.

(This is not much of a surprise to me,) Ax said. (As an Andalite warrior, as a Prince, I live for this sort of thing.)

"And I'll have plenty of time to prepare for war while I'm with the Kelbrid," Tobias said matter-of-factly.

Both Ax and I turned to him. I took a quick glance at Ax, and he seemed to be just as surprised as I was.

Seeing the looks on our faces, Tobias explained.

"I've just been hanging out with the Kelbrid so much lately that I just get along with them a lot. In fact… Vegren even invited me to join them when they fight off Setheon's troops on the Norshk home world."

I raised an eyebrow. "Not that I have anything against you being friendly with the Kelbrid, Tobias… but for some strange reason, that old saying about 'birds of a feather' comes to mind," I said, trying to sound un-Marco-ish as possible.

Tobias chuckled a little. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I know…"

As we continued to walk, Ax said to both of us in what I was sure was private thought-speak, (I know I shouldn't be telling anyone this… but I might also be going to the Norshk home world. That has yet to be decided, however.)

"Well… actually, I need to meet with certain people over the next few days… so just in case I forget, I'll say it now: Wherever you go, good luck… to the both of you."

(Indeed,) Ax said just as Tobias said, "You're welcome."

As we parted ways, I thought about how I was going to spend the remaining time with my parents.

They had already lost one son, even long before they realized it. This was all very hard at first for them to come to grips with, not just before they got captured, but also with learning the truth about their oldest son's activities with The Sharing; as they put it, dealing with your children being controlled by elusive parasitic aliens was one scenario that no human parents had ever really prepared for. Even as I avoided the spotlight as much as possible during the first year of the war, I had as a result become closer to them. Even as the rest of the world saw me as some sort of near-invincible hero, they saw me as the struggling teenager I was, albeit one who had done the best he could after being thrown into an interplanetary war between other alien races.

And now, with the progression of how things were going, the things which people already cherish were going to become even more worth cherishing.

Some things change, and some things just never do change.

That mantra would become fitting for all that I was about to go through.

TBC…

A/N: So, how was this chapter, as brief as it was?

Next chapter is the final chapter, so you might want to review now, BECAUSE THE END IS NEAR… –Quillian