The noise…
Was it coming from my right? My left? It was too hard to tell in my stupor, and then it stopped. But I couldn't go back to sleep. Not now.
Carefully, trying not to step on Cassie or my sisters, I exited Jake's room and peeked into his parents'. It looked fine. Tom's? Nope. A shadow was moving across the room...an inhuman shadow.
I opened the door. Somebody groaned. (Who slept that close to a door?) Then again, four to a room sucked.
"Is everyone ok?" I whispered.
>I am fine, as are Prince Jake and the others.> Ax was in his Andalite form.
"Doncallmeprinzzzzz…" The noise was not enough to fully waken Jake.
"I'd heard a noise…"
>That would probably have been the alarm clock.> Of course. Ax needed to awake at two-hour intervals.
Ax looked down at Tom, sleeping on his bed. (By process of elimination, Marco had been the one stuck with the sleeping bag by the door.) >How does Prince Jake handle-my tail!>
"If pulling on your tail's what it's going to take, pulling on your tail is what it's going to be."
>What is going to be taken?>
"Don't call me prince."
>I don't understand.>
"Never mind. Anyhow, you'd said my name. Were you talking about me?"
>To some degree. I'm curious as to how you maintain a calm exterior in the midst of…> With his tail blade, Ax pointed to Tom.
"Do I?" Jake sighed.
>You appear calm.>
"Well, I'm not."
"None of us are," I told him.
"It's not fair. I want it to be over."
>I believe we all do.>
We stood there in silence, Ax's tail blade a twitch away from killing two, until Jake got back into his sleeping bag. Ax demorphed and climbed into his own. I stayed for a moment longer, then tiptoed into Jake's room, where my sisters and Cassie slept in peace.