The Reunion

I pushed aside the branches of the trees that got in my face as I walked towards where the Animorphs and I usually found Ax.

I glanced up overhead, realizing that there was no open spot in the branches overhead that revealed the sky.

I felt captured, I felt like I was in danger, I felt like I was cornered, like I was prey that had fallen into a predator's trap.

I had to find a clearing with an open sky. I just simply had to.

I felt like my life depended on it.

Tree branches smacked my face as I ran at full-speed, terror running through my veins and the feeling of being captured with no escape was overwhelming.

Whoa!

I heard a scamper of hooves and a rustling of bushes as I burst into a clearing. I suddenly felt air beneath my feet as I landed face-first onto the ground as I tripped over a root of a tree.

Eliza? Is that you? I heard a voice coming from where I had heard the rustling bushes. It wasn't exactly a voice, and I couldn't really hear it. It was just like a thought, a thought that came from someone else, to put it simple.

"Ax?" I managed to breath as I struggled to get to my feet.

It IS you!

"Yes, it's me," I spoke softly, tasting dirt in my mouth.

Do the others know you're here?

"No - hey, Ax, where are you?" I spun around, looking in every direction I could, in search of Ax.

Right here, Ax stepped out of the bushes.

There's a thing you should know about Ax. He's an Andalite. Andalites look like a crossbreed between a deer and a human - sort of like a centaur. His lower half was deer-like, the upper half was like a human's. He had blue fur, like all male Andalites had. You would think that an Andalite would be actually pretty cute, then you notice the eyes. Andalites had four eyes. The first two were where they should be, while the other two stood on stalks, enabling Andalites to look in practically all directions at once. Then he had no mouth, just three slits where it should have been. Two bonuses on the creepy side, but still - you might think that they were still cute. Until you catch a glimpse of their tails. Their tails stand out the most, even against an Andalite's body, eyes, or mouth. Their tails are like a scorpion's, and makes you think: Hey, he can deal some real damage if he wanted to.

So, an Andalite goes from cute, to slightly on the creepy side, to dangerous. But oddly enough, I still find them harmless looking.

I grinned. He grinned - in his Andalite way, which is with his eyes. Creepy.

The others thought that you wouldn't come back.

"I sort of figured as much…" I sighed, it was so like the other Animorphs.

Where did you go?

"To live with my Dad," I replied simply.

Why? I thought you loved living here.

"I did… it's just… I no longer had a home to come home to after school…" My voice sounded sad, which Ax had noticed.

Why didn't you have a home to go to?

"My Mom…" I choked as I struggled to swallow tears, "My Mom died…"

Oh… I am sorry.

I looked away, I couldn't say anything else, not to a reply like that. And I couldn't look at his eyes - no, I simply couldn't. Andalites may be good at hiding their emotions, but I could see the sadness in his eyes when he had learned of my mother's death.

Why did you come to see me? Why not the others?

"I couldn't," I shrugged, "they were all asleep. So I figured I would go and visit you."

Oh… His thought-voice thing trailed off in silence, finally he continued, You didn't answer my first question - in a way…

I shrugged again, "I guess I wanted to go exploring with you." I semi-grinned - a semi-grin referring to a grin halfway between a happy grin and a different kind of grin. My semi-grin was a sad and happy grin.

Ax didn't grin, only faintly smiled.

Shall I morph into a human? Ax asked.

I shrugged once more, "It's up to you, I suppose."

OK.

I watched him in awe as he morphed into his human morph, but I looked away when he was half-way through the morphing process. I heard a ruffle of clothes as he took them out from under some bushes.

Still, I didn't dare look, I just stared forwards -or backwards- as he put on some clothes.

"Ready? Red-E?" he asked.

"Yup," I whipped around and grinned.

"Then let's go," he said and lead the way.