Ah, editing. One of the joys of being a fanfiction writer who looks back and sees how incredibly bad her writing used to be and feels the urge to just deleted it all but likes the story so she finds herself just slaving through and editing it. (Takes a breath)

Anyway, here we go. :)

Chapter 5 - UFO's?

Mertil

I felt so foolish. I should not have pushed talking about her, but I could not stop thinking about her. About all that we had been...about all that we could have been...

My hearts aching, I headed to the greenhouse for some fresh air. My body was in pain from tension. Worrying about Gafinalan, worrying about what to say and what not to say. I rested on my belly, on the cool concrete floor of the greenhouse, trying to sort out my feelings. 'Sitting,' I mused. 'Humans would call this sitting, perhaps?'

I looked with all four eyes up at the stars. On Earth it gets so very dark at night and you can see billions of stars. Gafinalan says that in the human cities it is harder to see, but since we lived out a little way from all of the city lights, and closer to the fields and forests, I could see many lights at night. I liked to located the home star.

I would ponder sometimes, about how life would be for us if we returned home. Gafinalan and I would be discharged from the military. We would probably have been resigned to staying at our family scoops and since I have no family left alive, I would have come to live with him. We would still be isolated, and we would still only have eachother. The only difference would be the pain of knowing for sure whether Darischa had remarried. So I was comforted, oddly enough, in knowing that at least here, Gafinalan and I were somewhat in peace. It was not terribly comforting, but I was glad, not to have to face Andalite society the way I was. I would never have to bear the pain of ridicule from more than the Aristh Aximili or any other eyes upon me than Gafinalan's, and his eyes were sympathetic.

Then I was startled as I saw something very interesting...I stood slowly. A small light was gliding through the dark night sky of Earth!

Then...more lights! Several, all over the sky! And...beams! Like...Shredder fire! Explosions!

(Impossible!) I laughed, feeling something warm filling my hearts...excitement and hope again!

I could only see distant lights. Firings of ship dracons and shredders, but the thrill of seeing them there - things that were so familiar that had yet become so alien to me, in this new life as a virtual prisoner on an alien world.

(The Andalites!) I cried happily. (They have arrived!)

I ran inside, stumbling over the back steps and through the kitchen, whipping my...well...whipping my tail in my mind. I ignored the sensation of the ghost limb, not wanting to let it drain me of this joy.

(GAFINALAN!!!)

(What?) He jumped up, causing him to hurt his own back.

(GHAAA! Ugh! Ahhh!) He winced and lay back. He glared up at me. (What in the stars is going on?!)

(A BATTLE! Between the Andalites and the Yeerks!) I rambled. (I can scarcely believe it! They're here! They're here!) I ran back out of the bedroom, hoping he'd follow me to the greenhouse.

(What? Mertil, are you sure you're alright?!) his eyes were large and full of worry in the near dark.

(No, really Gafinalan! Look, you Aristh!) I laughed and pulled up the blinds to the bedroom window.

He scrambled up from the bed and moved next to me, looking up in the window.

High up in the stars, the lights blazed. Gafinalan stared. His eyestalks turned to meet mine. Then we grinned at eachother with our main eyes.

(Do you not see Gafinalan?! It is happening! The War on Earth will be over soon!)

(Hold on, Mertil!) he said, though he was still eyesmiling. I could only smile back, feeling his excitement at this too. (We can only hope that they brought enough people...)

I felt myself growing sober at his thought. But in the next moment he was grinning again.

(Oh that we could help them somehow! That we could be up there with them!) I looked at him and his main eyes seared my hearts with pride then, for they burned with a light even greater than that of those in the sky.

(Ohh I know what you mean!) I moaned, bumping my forehead against the glass.

(Well, we can watch, at least,) I could hear the bitterness in his voice, however. We could 'at least' watch, yes, but there was no joy in watching for either of us. There is no joy in fighting, of course, but there is pride at least. My hearts ached again for my friend and I and I longed with my very soul to be up there amongst my Andalite cousins fighting the Abomination's minions.

We watched intently as the lights moved in the sky. We could not really tell in the end who was winning or losing. At last, however, the Shredder lights began to diminish, and we could only see a few Dracon fires here and there.

(Ohhh what does it mean?) I groaned. (You saw only Dracon fires last, yes?)

(Yes...) he said quietly, all four of his eyes intently searching the sky. (I saw only Dracon fires...Oh we could have communicated with them Mertil...if I'd only had that room set up!) he slammed his tail against the wall angrily. Then he cried out and clutched at his lower back with a hand.

(Aaaaauuugh!)

(Gafinalan!) I cried out, tearing myself away from the window after seeing one last red light and another explosion. I moved to help my friend.

(The window!) he cried, brushing my hands away. (I saw one last Dracon fire...what about you?)

(Yes, I saw it too. And there was-)

(An explosion.) We looked to eachother, the words unspoken.

Then we searched the skies again. Nothing.

(Well...we shall know soon enough, somehow...) he said quietly.

(Perhaps we can contact the Animorphs?) I said.

(Perhaps,) his eyes grew dark, and I knew I would have an easier time getting him to trim all of the fur from his body with his own tail blade, than contact the Animorphs again, even just for information.

We resigned ourselves to sleep then. But I slept on the floor near the window, and Gafinalan moved as close to the same window on the bed as he could. I drifted off gazing out of the window at the night sky.