Title: The Twins

Author: Alexis Steele

Fandom: Animorphs

Characters: all the majors

Genre: Alternate Universe, after #23 The Pretender

Series: First story in the "Descendents of the Ellimist" Chronicles

Summary: Tobias is about to find more family than he can deal with

Notes: This fic was my first attempt at fanfiction back in 1999. It has been lying dormant in notebooks and my computer until I pulled it from the Net in 2004. Looking back on the fic about a year ago, I realized that I had a lot of interesting ideas that I wanted to portray in this fic – eventually to become a series – and that I wanted to pick them up again, but I had some major changes that needed to be done to my OC, Shayla. She was a blatant Mary Sue, and now she's become an attempt to see if I can write a competent OC without her becoming a Mary Sue.

And, while I will be following more closely to the events that occurred in the book series, I will always see the characters as their TV counterparts. Let's face it, ladies, the TV series might've deviated a lot away from the books, but it definitely gave us some nice eye candy to glance at. I will also be extending the timeline of the story to five years, instead of three. Therefore, the Animorphs have been fighting the Yeerks for over two years.

Normal speech denoted with "…". Thought-speak denoted in ((italics)). From this chapter onwards, there will also be periods of telepathy written. Telepathy will be shown by ((bold)).

Each chapter heading will tell you who is narrating this part of the story. If you don't see a character's name in the chapter heading, assume that the character from the previous chapter is still narrating.

Disclaimer: With the exception of Shayla and any other minor OCs, all the other characters are the property of K.A. Applegate and Scholastic Books. All feedback is greatly appreciated

2nd Author's Note: There's another throwback to the AniTV series in this chapter. Can anyone guess what it is?

Chapter 6: Rachel

Today was not the start of a good day for me. First I woke up late because I was so worried when Tobias didn't show up to talk to me last night I stayed up until 2:30 in the morning waiting for him. I tried to rush through a quick shower, but I didn't feel any better. Then I was rushed through the rest of my daily routine. I ran downstairs, grabbed a Pop-Tart and bolted to the bus stop. I got there just as the bus was pulling up to the stop. I spotted Cassie sitting with Jake in a seat in the middle of the bus. As soon as Jake saw the kind of mood I was in, he switched seats and sat with Marco, who was sitting across from Cassie. That's just the kind of person my cousin is. I strolled to the seat and sat down.

"You look terrible," Cassie said matter-of-factly.

"I didn't get much sleep last night," I explained.

She whispered, "Worried about Tobias?"

"Yeah, he's so obsessed with this Shayla girl," I said.

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" Marco interrupted.

"Shut up! I am not jealous! I'm just trying to figure out why Tobias was the only person who took the time to look up at the catwalk? What made him suddenly look up? Everyone else was concentrated on Shayla? And why is he so insistent upon trying to find her?"

"Maybe you should ask him?" Jake asked simply.

"Yeah, right."

"Jake has a point. Maybe you should ask him? What's the worst he could do? Not answer you?" Marco explained.

At that point I felt someone brush up against my shoulder. I turned around to see Gerald, star quarterback for the football team, staring at me.

"Hey babe! Wanna go out?"

"Drop dead!" I shouted.

"Ooh feisty. I like that. Come on beautiful. Just one date," he continued.

"I wouldn't cross Rachel if I were you Gerald," Marco interjected.

"Shut up midget! When I want your opinion, I'll give it to ya! So what do you say?" Gerald repeated.

"Okay, but it's your funeral pal!" Marco joked.

"Sorry, I can't. I'm involved with someone right now," I told him.

"Who?" Gerald demanded.

I was just about to say Marco when, saved by the bell, the bus pulled up at school. All the students on board rose from their seats and proceeded out the door. I was so relieved. I walked steadily to my locker. I started on my combination. After I finished, I pulled up, but it wouldn't open. I was starting to get seriously annoyed.

A voice behind me said, "Here, allow me beautiful."

That did it! That jerk was mine! I spun around and stared straight into the face of...Tobias!