Chapter 21

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I collapsed to my knees, feeling myself fall forward and catching myself with my hands. Around me, I heard small thuds as the others collapsed around me in the tallish grass.

It had been a long night. We had managed to get past the human controllers, only to come face to face with a small Hork-Bajir troop. And now... all the turtles would have some new battle scars.

From what Ithiell could work out, Visser One had tracked Serah to the mall, and had pretty much brought a small army with her. And, being the egotistical bitch she was, came herself to make sure that Serah would be captured. So that would explain the fight we had just endured... but...

There were still so many questions.

We had managed to get to a dense wooded area not far from the mall, all of us exhausted. I could see the sky was starting to lighten far off...

"Sleep would be good about now" Rachel muttered as she collapsed beside me, falling onto her back and looking up at the sky. I leaned back on my legs and nodded, too tired right now to answer. I saw April near us, sitting with her knees pulled up, arms around her legs and her head resting on the top of her knees.

I looked over as Ithiell set Serah on the ground, checking her pulse. She was still out. Ithiell must have really knocked the wind out of her when he caught her.

That girl always passed out...

Ithiell then frowned, going to sit, but something made him stand instead, pacing a little.

"All right, what the hell is your deal!" I heard Ithiell snap after a few minutes, glaring at Mihra. I looked up to her, seeing her look away, folding her ears up against her head a little.

"You keep staring at me. And frankly I'm sick of it! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Ithiell?" Was all she said. I saw Ithiell bare his teeth a little.

"And that! How do you know my name?!"

She looked genuinely shocked.

"You don't recognize me?"

"Should I?" He shot back. Even for Ithiell, he was unusually hostile. I could see he was starting to flare his wings a little, the veins in his wings starting to turn red. This wasn't good...

"It's...it's Mihra"

Ithiell's whole demeanor changed. The anger was gone, replaced by pure and utter shock. His eyes, which had been narrowed to almost slits, were now wide open as he stared at her.

"I know... I know you were young when you last saw me. Possibly the human age of nine or ten..."

"I...I..." Ithiell was lost for words.

Silence descended on all of us, and I took the chance to look at the turtles. Most were bleeding from open wounds, so I took the chance to get up, shifting my hands into claws and ripping at my shirt, cutting around just under the bra to make my shirt a midriff, then taking the cloth I'd ripped off and cutting it into strips I could use.

I went over to Leo first, seeing he had a head wound which was starting to bleed over his bandanna and into his eye. He tried to stop me, but I gave him a look, and he sighed, letting me wrap the strip of cloth around his forehead. I tugged it as tight as I dared, tying it off and seeing the blood still slowly seeping through. It wouldn't stop the bleeding, but I knew it would slow it down just enough.

Next I went to Mikey, who was cradling his leg a little, moving his arms off and seeing the large cut on his thigh.

"This doesn't look good" He muttered, trying to joke but sounding more tired than anything as I had to wrap two strips around his wound. Mikey had been lucky... he had gone to gloat over a Hork-Bajir on the ground, and had been kicked by one of it's ankle blades...

"Just don't die" I muttered, patting his shoulder and moving to Raph. He gave me he usual go away look, but I ignored him, going to look at the cut on his right arm. It was deep, but he was lucky... if Rachel hadn't been there, his arm may have been severed off...

"Don't-"He started to say, but I shushed him, starting to wrap another strip of cloth around it, finding it was a little harder since his arm was so big. I finally had to tie two strips together to get it around his arm, barely covering the wound. He would still bleed, but at least it would slow for long enough to get him back home, and where we had supplies.

As I was heading to Donnie, I heard Ithiell finally find his voice again.

"This makes no sense!"

I looked over as I reached Donnie, watching the two Chanaibens. Ithiell still looked in utter shock, and Mihra looked almost embarrassed.

"I know"

"The last time I saw you was at the Giulan! You were there, but you didn't... you never had any children with you!"

"Because I did not bring her with me"

"But it...but it..." Ithiell let out a sound of utter frustration, going and hitting a tree with his tail, hearing something in it crack. The branches themselves shook.

"Gee, anyone else here utterly confused" I muttered, finally kneeling in front of Donnie, watching as he flinched a little when I pressed the cloth on his neck. He'd almost had his head cut off. Luckily he'd moved, but now the deep wound was bleeding heavily.

"Jade" He huffed a little from the pain, trying to move me away but I escaped his grasp, continuing to put pressure on the wound with the last of my cloth strips, hoping I could slow it down just enough so he wouldn't loose too much blood.

"Don't even" I grunted back at him, half sitting in his lap as I applied the pressure, seeing him close his eyes a little, leaning his head against the tree he'd fallen back on instead.

Behind me, I heard Mihra speak up, finally sounding a little annoyed.

"I did not bring my child with me, as I was afraid of what our family would say if they saw I had given birth to a human child!"

"Wait, family?" I looked at Ithiell. He was still glaring at her.

"Yes, she is my cousin"

"Whoa, that was unexpected" I heard Rachel say.

"Wait...what... cousin?!" My jaw dropped, looking from Mihra to Ithiell.

Those two were related?

"Yes. My fathers brothers daughter" Ithiell explained, seeing some of the anger dissipating, but he was still tense.

"I left when I was young, to explore the galaxy on my own. I found earth... found a boy who wasn't afraid of me... all those years ago"

"And you didn't think to tell us... when you came back?! Yipke had no idea where you'd been! She thought you were dead for so long! Then you show up once...and then disappear again!" Ithiell snapped again.

"I did come back, several times" She protested "But it seems you, my dear tileh had vanished as well!"

"I didn't vanish... I was..." Ithiell now seemed lost for words, and I could see the pain on his face.

"Ithiell stowed away on a ship that his parents were on, which came here to a town I used to live in. They were fighting the Terinans..." I explained, seeing Ithiell look over at me, looking genuinely upset.

"What happened to them?" Mihra caught on fast, going and putting her hands on Ithiell's arms, but Ithiell yanked himself out of her grasp and pulled back a little, closing his eyes and letting his head drop.

"They died" Was all he got out.

"I am so sorry tileh"

They stood like that for a while, before Mihra pointed towards me.

"And what about these human girls? They can-"

"Uh, morpher, not a shifter" Rachel managed to lift her arm, waving it around before dropping it down "Not a part of that story"

Now Mihra looked more confused. Ithiell sighed, rubbing his eyes a little.

"I got caught up in the battle. Jade and two other humans did as well. I pulled them to safety... my blood mixed with theirs..."

"Fascinating" She looked at me, and I felt Donnie put an arm protectively around me, pulling me closer.

Soon Rachel gave her a quick run down of the Animorphs, and she looked at all of us.

"So what were you doing at the mall anyhow?" Leo spoke up, his eyes now locked on Mihra.

She looked sad, going to sit down near Serah, curling her tail up beside her.

"I was looking for my daughter. My husband had tried to put one of those grey slugs...a Yeerk...in my head one night, but I stopped him, managing to escape as a large army of those... creatures... came to my door. When I went to go back for my children, I found they too had been Yeerked. I noticed Serah wasn't with them, so I went looking..."

"Were you at the school that afternoon?" I asked, seeing her look at me. She nodded, lowering her head.

"Yes, I was hoping she would be there, and I would reach her before..."

"But you did, and then threw her into a supply closet? Why?"

Now she looked at me, a little shocked "How did you-"

"Jinnaws are excellent for sniffing out people"

She frowned, but nodded "Yes, I went in as my human myself, and managed to get her free of the boy who was holding her. But... there were too many people, and I had to hide her, shifting myself to something small and hiding myself in another part of the school. I decided to wait for the Yeerk controlled humans to leave. By the time I returned for her, she was gone"

"So... you didn't catch the huge battle just outside the school?" Rachel asked, almost annoyed.

"No, I did hear a commotion, but did not think much of it"

"Convenient. So.. how did you track her to the mall?"

She looked ashamed all of a sudden "It was the only place I had not looked for her"

"Wait...so... does Serah know you're...and that shes..." I trailed off, seeing those grey eyes look at me. She shook her head.

"No. I had hoped to give her a normal human life, without the worry of knowing-"

"So she knows nothing of us?" Ithiell was angry again "She doesn't know she can shift. She doesn't know her heritage, or anything to do with what's a part of her?"

She shook her head.

"Mihra!" Now he was arcing up again "You were the one who taught me to be proud of who I was, to not give up and to always remember where I came from, even after Inaad went... missing..."

He shook his head, then continued "If it wasn't for you, I would never have gone looking for her! I would never have..."

It now seemed like Ithiell was gone, replaced by the scared little boy he used to be. The one I remembered meeting that day, who screamed at me and jumped into a tree when I woke up...

He collapsed down, curling into himself a little, and I saw Mihra go to him, her arms around him and hugging him as best she could. Ithiell looked truly broken, and my heart ached, wanting to help him with his pain, but knowing I wouldn't do any good. If I understood what I thought he was saying...

"Guys?" Came a shaky voice, and we all looked over as Serah sat up, looking around and seeing Ithiell and Mihra, her jaw dropping.

"Well, now you'll have to tell her" April muttered, suddenly being deafened by Serah's horrid scream.

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Donnie rolled off me, panting heavily. I took in a deep breath as well, turning to my side to look at him.

He'd pretty much jumped me as soon as I'd come into his room, and I'd been unable to deny his need. It was strange for him, as he wasn't one to initiate that kind of contact. It was also nothing like the first time we'd been intimate. To me, it almost seemed like he was worried about something...

"Are you okay?" He finally asked, and I nodded. He kissed my forehead, pulling me close and hugging me as tight as he dared.

"I hope no one heard us" I muttered, resting my head on his chest and closing my eyes a little. He hummed and I felt him shrug a little.

"You little devil, you want them to hear us?" I looked up at him, the look on his face unreadable. Then again, he probably wasn't thinking properly after that.

I slapped his chest a little, going to rest my head against his chest again, my hand going up to where stitches were now at his neck.

Rtaia had fixed all the boys up, and made sure the rest of us weren't hurt when we got back. We were all exhausted. Even Ithiell seemed to find it hard to stay on his feet.

Mihra had to sit down and tell her daughter what she was, after we'd filled her in on what else was happening.

From what she could tell us, she'd woken up in that supply closet hours later, going up to try and find me (as I'd suspected) and seeing shattered glass on the ground. After that she'd managed to hide in the mall at night, trying to look for me or her family, or even the turtles during the day. I had been right as well, she had forgotten how to get to the lair, and had been trying to find it.

She had come out when she had heard the horrible explosion in the mall, venturing out and finding our messy battle. Before she could move to hide, she'd run into Visser One, who had grabbed her, as well as one of her henchmen. That was when April had seen her, and pointed her out to me.

We had left Mihra to explain to Serah about who she was, and all gone to head to bed. I had gone to check on Kristiana first, seeing she looked much brighter than before, knowing whatever Rtaia was doing it was working. There was now colour in her cheeks, and a light in her eyes that I didn't see when she had first woken up.

When I'd shut Donnie's bedroom door behind me though, I'd found a very active turtle. He'd pinned me against the closed door...

And now, we were laying on his bed, and I looked up at him.

"Is everything okay Donnie?" I asked finally, seeing his eyes open to slits.

"Yeah, why?" He responded, rubbing an eye with the back of his hand.

"Well... that wasn't like you" I smiled up at him, and he closed his eyes, laying back down and sighing. I could tell he was exhausted now. So was I, even more so than before.

"It's why I did it" He yawned, then nuzzled his head into my neck, pulling me closer.

"Uh... what?" I didn't understand. But he was gone, and I soon joined him.

I don't know how long we slept for, but I felt when I woke up again, neither of us had really moved. I yawned heavily, feeling him grumble something, lifting his head and putting it on the pillow as he squeezed me a little.

I felt my stomach protest then, and I realised I was hungry.

I went to turn around, moving to get up and go find food, finding it was hard to get out his grasp. He protested in his sleep, and I kicked my legs.

"Dooonniiie, leemmmee uuup" I whined, hearing him take a deep breath.

"No" He mumbled "My Jade"

"Your Jade is hungry, now lemme go" I kicked a little again, feeling him let out a strange sigh. His grip loosened, and I finally slipped out of it, moving to find my clothes.

"My Jade is yummy"

I flushed, throwing my shirt on finally and turning to look at his still sleepy face "Your Jade is not a pizza"

"No, but-" He smiled, sitting up and looking at me hungrily. I shook my head.

"No you don't. I'm hungry and I'm going to-"

Both of us stopped as we heard a loud grumble coming from Donnie's stomach. I giggled a little.

"Sounds like you're hungry too... for food" I added as he got up, moving to get his bandanna and glasses back on.

He started to put some of his gear on, and I turned to the door, opening and saying "I'll go start the search"

"Okay" I heard him yawn again, shutting the door behind me.

I looked around the room, surprised to see Serah of all people sitting on one of the couches, grinning at me.

Oh no...

"Uh, hey" I moved to go over to her, finding she still had a big grin on her face, her eyes alight. She still hadn't said anything, which made me worry.

"Uh..sleep okay?" I asked her, sitting on the edge of the couch.

She nodded "Not too bad"

Silence, then "So uh... how you feeling?"

"Not as good as you I bet" She giggled. My heart dropped.

"Uh... what?"

"I heard alot of what happened last night. Or...this morning" Her grin widened, and I groaned, putting a hand over my eyes. Of all the things she had to comment on...

At that moment Donnie stepped out of his bedroom, shutting the door and looking at us two girls.

"Uh, hey Serah" He said shyly, almost like he wasn't sure whether to move towards us, or walk away. I kind of felt the same.

"So, you are good in bed!" Was her response, and I didn't know who was more embarrassed.

"Serah!" I hissed, watching as Donnie shifted his weight.

"Well...um...uh... I'm gonna go get food" He headed towards the kitchen, and I swear I'd never seen him move so fast.

"Well, from what I could hear..." She moved to nudge me a little "He really rocked your world"

"Please stop embarrassing me" I muttered, my head in my hands.

"So, what did he do when you yelled-"

"Whelp, I'm gonna go get food too" I interrupted her "I'll talk to you later"

With that I dove into the kitchen after Donnie, hoping to hide for a while.

Even after all she'd been through. After all she'd heard, seen, done...experienced... all she could comment on was my love life.

That girl had her priorities all wrong...

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