DISCLAIMER: I'm not sure if I was supposed to do this in every chapter or just at the beginning, but I didn't create the Animorphs – KA Applegate did. I just realized that the name "Ganlor" is the same as it is in The Final Case by Weird Blondy. I'm not good at coming up with names, so hopefully he/she isn't offended that I borrowed/stole hers.

-Marco-

I think I'm going to be in shock for the next week. Rachel kissed me! Rachel kissed me! I never thought it would happen, especially since she'd made such a big deal out of it at the wedding and stuff!

I stared at the door to the bathroom for a couple seconds after she closed it and then realized I should probably change too. I quickly changed into a pair of dry pajama pants and sat down on the end of the bed, wondering what to do next.

A couple minutes later, Rachel came out of the bathroom. Oh boy. I just kinda stared at her and she was staring back at me. She sat down on a chair, across from the bed and looked at me.

I finally couldn't stand the silence any longer. "What changed?" I asked, hoping I sounded as dumbfounded as I felt.

She glanced down, "I ... I let go." She said simply and looked back up into my eyes. "Eight years is long enough. I need to grow up and move on. He's gone. I'm just sorry it took me so long to realize that." She looked down again, as if embarrassed.

I'm sure I had a shocked look on my face, so I looked at the floor. I didn't know what to say. I'd dreamed of the day when she might change her mind, but I thought it wouldn't ever happen. I'd had a crush on her for a very long time, but it had developed into far more than that during the years we'd been working together. I had thought I could never tell her, but I was in love with her. I had been for a long time.

Now definitely wasn't the time to say anything, though. We were still on a mission. We could easily both get killed or infested. We couldn't afford to get distracted now. Oh man. I knew what I had to do, and I didn't think Rachel was going to like it much. I wasn't too happy about it myself, but I could see how the mission should go. The line from A to B didn't include Rachel and I getting involved – emotionally or physically. Oh, the irony!

Rachel and I were on our "honeymoon" after getting "married" and she was finally letting go of Tobias and moving on! And I couldn't do anything about it because we had to focus on finishing the mission to save Earth, the Andalites, and ourselves.

I looked up at her. God, she was beautiful. I was almost ready to forget the mission right then . . . No. "Later," I promised myself. "We can worry about it later. If we don't focus on the mission, there might not be a later."

I stood up and looked at the bed. "I'll take the floor." I walked over to grab my pillow and blanket.

Rachel gave me a confused look as she stood up too. "You don't have to . . . "

"Yeah, I do." I interrupted her, smiling weakly. "We're still on a mission. It wasn't too distracting to share a bed with you before, but now..." I looked suggestively over at the bathroom and then looked back at her.

She pressed her lips together and looked down. Not that I was staring at her lips or anything . . . "Keep talking," I said to myself, "Stop thinking about her and keep talking."

So I continued my little speech, "If we don't concentrate on this mission, life as we know it could be over, along with the possibility of any future relationship between us. You know I'm right. I know I'm right and I'm really not happy about it." She kinda smiled at that, so I kept talking, more to convince myself than anything. "It is incentive, though. I mean, the sooner we take care of the Yeerks and Ganlor, the sooner we can ... uh ... distract each other?"

She smirked when I said that. "OK," she said still snickering, "I'll try not to distract you anymore. . . . But you started it!" She was smiling at me, even as she joked.

"I did not!" I said indignantly, "You kissed me! How did I start anything?" I was smiling too, not really being serious.

She rolled her eyes at me and shook her head, still smiling. "Goodnight, Marco." She said walking over to the bed.

"G'night Princess." I said grinning at her as I made my bed on the floor and laid on it.

She shut the light off and I tried to go to sleep. I couldn't sleep. It wasn't the floor – it wasn't too cold and the carpet made it pretty comfortable, but I couldn't seem to turn off my mind. How could I? The evening kept replaying itself in my head – sitting in the hot tub, giving her a foot massage, kissing. I guess it's too late to not be distracted. How could I even think about anything else? So I just lay there, smiling, thinking about Rachel and what might happen once this mission was finally over.

-Rachel-

I lay in bed, alone, just thinking. Tobias and Marco were so completely different. How could I love both of them? But I knew the answer. I wasn't the same person I was during the war. I had grown up.

At the time, I was imagining getting married, settling down with Tobias to a quiet life. Having kids and just living like normal humans. Now I know that it wouldn't have been enough. I loved the excitement of the war, even if the battles were dangerous and stressful. And my job now was similar – exciting, sometimes dangerous . . . and very fulfilling. Sitting at home all the time wouldn't have been satisfying, even if it had been with Tobias.

I knew that if something were happening between Marco and I, that we wouldn't quit all the missions. We were a good team and if he were my husband rather than . . . whoops, that's a little too fast, isn't it? Doesn't seem like it. We've known each other forever, and he's been my best friend for quite a long time too.

As partners, we seem to work well together. I can be reckless and all gung-ho when we need to be, but he keeps that at bay and knows when we need to plan things out first. He's really good at planning and thinking through all the options. It's strange that I never realized how well we complement one another before...

I woke up the next morning, turned the light on low and looked over at Marco – he was still asleep. Should I wake him? I looked at the clock and thought about how silly it was to keep time. There was no night or day in space – just time continuing endlessly. In New York on Earth it would have been 7AM, so I decided to get up and shower and leave Marco asleep. By the time I got out of the shower, Marco was sitting at the computer desk.

He looked at me when I opened the door, a troubled look on his face. "Houston, we have a problem."

(A/N: Don't worry, I have the next chapter started already. Sorry it took so long to get this one out – I couldn't figure out how to say what I wanted to say. What do you think?)