Chapter 2

I morphed into an ocelot. My favorite wild cat morph as of lately. I haven't morphed into a tiger, or a lion, or a mountain lion, since the last battle. I couldn't bare the strength or power those morphs gave. I simply couldn't. The ocelot on the other hand, was smaller, a predator and a prey at the same time. It felt fear. It felt the sheer power and strength, but it also knew fear. It was exactly like me.

"Kanzii? Is that you?" Jakilyn called. I didn't realize she was here. I didn't realize Jake's mother would let her come to the cemetery alone. Though I should have. Jake's mom knew that Jakilyn wasn't fully human, and she accepted that she was a lot more advanced and mature than a normal six year old girl.

Yes, Jakey, morph kitten, I'll take you for a fast run, I said. Jakilyn loved running with me, or flying with Tobias, but she normally wasn't allowed to. Jake's mom was more concerned about her learning how to be normal. Jakilyn was placed in 7th grade at the age of six, so she didn't exactly classify as normal.

Jakilyn's mother was my mother. But Jakilyn and I did not share the same father. Though I wasn't fully human either. My father was an Andalite, just like Jakilyn's, but our fathers were from different sides. Visser Three/One was her father. He used his stolen Andalite body to...well do the deed with my mother, who was enslaved by a yeerk herself, and in the end, it ended up with Jakilyn being born. Half Andalite, half human. I on the other hand, am the daughter of Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, Ax's older brother, and Tobias's father. So when I say Tobias is the closest thing to a brother I've had since my own was murdered, I mean that seriously. Tobias and I are half siblings. I know, weird.

But unlike my younger brother, Jakilyn and I have been able to morph since birth. Somehow, we got lucky. We haven't figured out if it was passed by gender, or what, but either way, Jakilyn is almost a carbon copy of myself. She's small, with light brown hair and deep blue eyes. She has dimples that make any adult coo over her. She can get her way, simply for being the sweetest child alive. But that's not how she acts. She's sweet, because she knows that her life, her being alive, is a miracle. I had taken a huge risk snatching her from our mother's arms, but it was a risk I had to take.

Jakilyn was named after Jake and Rachel, in honor of all they both gave for our mission, and the human race. She idolizes Jake, and looks up to him like an older brother, and in a way, her own person idol. She always tells people how much she wants to grow up and be exactly like her "uncle Jake".

"I don't want to run today. I want you to talk to Tobias. Daddy told me that you were upset, and Mommy, let's be real, you're a mess," she said. Even though she knows Marco and I are not her parents, and that I am actually her half sister, when she wants her own way, she'll kiss up by calling Marco and I her parents.

Fine. Listen, Marco should be at the house still, morph something with wings, and be careful, alright Jakey? I'll be home soon, I said. I gave her the "or else" look and she dashed off to morph a red-tailed hawk. She loved the power that morph gave her, but she always has me worried when I see her as one. I am terrified she'll end up like Tobias did in the very beginning.

I demorphed and watched the sky until I saw a red-tailed hawk fly overhead. She was slightly larger than Tobias's morph, and I knew that it was Jakilyn. Though she was young, she was not stupid, and wouldn't disobey me on a day like today. I took a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair. Though I knew I looked like crap, I wasn't going to let that stop me from at least trying, in honor of Rachel, to look a little less like a depressed, lost dog.

"There you are. I was wondering if you left for good," Tobias said softly when he saw me walk out from behind a tree. On my way back to him, I had stopped at Tom's grave. Though his body was never recovered, due to him dying in his snake morph, we still had a memorial placed, against many of the town's preferences. I hadn't killed my mother for nothing, you know?

"Naw, I was going to run for a while, but Jakilyn stopped me," I whispered. I looked at Tobias. My heart broke when I saw the sadness in his eyes. Somehow, I knew he was far from okay, still, after all these years.

"Well, I'm glad you stayed. Jake told me you wanted to talk?" He said softly. He took my hand and led me a ways away from the grave sites, to a heavily worn picnic bench.

"That night...So much happened that night, Tobias, I don't even know where to begin...I've kept most of the truth from everyone. Even Jake and Marco...Even Ax. Even when Jake made me swear that I remembered nothing, I couldn't tell him the truth, you know? Sometimes, you see something, or do something, that you just want to forget, forever," I said softly. I felt my hands tremble. I felt my heart start to race, and I felt the world begin to sway.

"Kanzii, focus. Breathe," Tobias said softly. He pulled me close, so my head was resting on his chest. He rubbed my back softly. The way he did after everything was over. I was the only one he'd talk to. He knew more of the truth that anyone else, and I was the only one he didn't blame, even in the beginning.

"My mother wanted to kill Tom. She said he was pure evil, she said he threatened Jakilyn. She swore that he was plotting with Rachel to overthrow Jake and eliminate us all. I couldn't let her get away with a threat like that, controller or not," I said in barely a whisper.

"But when you agreed to go with Rachel, you said you were only going in to get your mom out alive. You made it clear that you weren't going to risk getting your mom back, and that you weren't concerned about anyone else. Not Tom, not Rachel, not anyone," Tobias said slowly.

"I wasn't going to let Tom and Rachel be killed because of my mother, just because she was being controlled by a half starved, completely psychotic yeerk. I know Jake sent Rachel in to kill Tom, but that didn't mean...I didn't want..." I couldn't finish. I broke into tears, shaking violently. Tobias hugged me tight. He seemed to understand.

"You didn't want to believe her. You wanted to get Rachel out alive. But why not let your mother kill Tom?" He asked gently, not accusing me of anything.

"Because. My mother was going to shoot Rachel in the head, while Tom was in her mouth," I said simply. "She was going to, in a sense, kill two birds with one stone,"

"Oh man. No wonder you...Kanzii, why didn't you tell anyone? We wouldn't have...oh man!" He shook his head, trying to take in what I just told him.

"Tobias, I wanted to save them all. All three of them. But it didn't work that way. Tom...well Tom was beyond saving. Jake saw that. Jake accepted that. I couldn't. I've seen Jake fight so freaking hard to save him, only to quit at the very end. I've seen Jake cry for him. That isn't something you easily forget. As for my mother, I'd known she was doomed since the beginning. I accepted that when I finally saw her true intentions. But I had to try. I had to try to save someone. If I hadn't been attacked...if I hadn't been half dead, on the brink of bleeding to death, I could have saved Rachel. I could have gotten her out alive. But I was greedy. I was worried about making it out alive myself. I was too worried about living to sacrifice myself for Rachel. I blew it. I blew it big time, because I had a newborn sister to raise, a team to make sure got out alive...Being Jake's second in command, that was the hardest part. Knowing that if I didn't survive, I'd never know for certain that you, Jake, Marco, Cassie, Ax...God, the human race made it out of that alive. I had to know. I couldn't die without knowing we won...And by being so selfish...by being so self absorbed, I lost. I lost Rachel. I lost the closest thing to a sister I ever knew. Jakilyn? She's practically my daughter. I'd trade her life and my own, ten times over if it would bring Rachel back. I'd give up everything I know and love, to have her back. I'd kill a million humans, shit, I'd wipe out the human race, if it meant having Rachel back with us right now," I cried. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe, but I couldn't get enough air. I gasped, and felt the world sway. I listened as my heart hammered in my chest, as my lungs cried for air.

Oh god. I'm dying. I thought weakly. I'm going to die after all. Six years later, and the Grimm Reaper is going to take me. I should have known that I had gotten too lucky.

The world flashed red, then white, then black. I knew no more.