A/N Typical stuff. I in no way, shape, or form own the Animorphs though I love them unconditionally...Except for #54. Damn #54. I won't be making any cash from this, so please don't sue, cause trust me, it won't net you anything. Enjoy. And please R/R!

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Chapter 1

Tobias:

I watched, half-mesmerized, half-numb as Ax ran nimble fingers over holographic screens and physical controls. Jake watched from just beside. Jake, his Prince, our fearless leader, who had ordered his cousin on a suicide mission. Who had ordered the only girl who ever loved me, the only person who had ever loved me, on a suicide mission. I had every dark emotion possible roiling through me at that thought and right then and there, I made myself a promise: If Rachel dies, she won't be the only one.

{There is a flush sequence,} Ax said. {I have to override the safety protocols.}

He swiveled his stalk eyes towards Jake and kept his main eyes and fingers trained on the controls.

{It can be done.}

{Okay,} Jake said.

{The pool is full to capacity. These are the Yeerks that were rescued from the earth-based Yeerk pool. Plus the bulk of the unhosted Yeerks recently transported here.}

{Some reason you're telling me all this, Axman?}

{Jake, there are seventeen thousand, three hundred seventy-two Yeerks in this pool.}

I whistled silently. Seventeen thousand? I glanced at Jake and could practically see the wheels turning in his head. He wouldn't? Would he? And I knew at that moment he would. The war had changed Jake. In some ways more than the rest of us. And I knew the Jake I was looking at wasn't the one who pulled my head out of a toilet or found his greatest joy in beating Marco at video games. This was the Jake who'd sent in the auxiliary Animorphs as cannon fodder for a distraction. This was the Jake who'd sent his cousin on a suicide mission to kill his brother. And this was the Jake who was about to sentence seventeen thousand sentient creatures, Yeerks admittedly, but sentient none-the-less, to the freezing void.

{Flush them.}

Chapter 2

{Let's go.}

The others started out the door as if speed would erase the memory.

{Ax!} I said privately.

He turned to me, keeping his stalk eyes on the retreating backs of our friends. {Yes Tobias? What is it? We must continue.}

{No Ax, we must not. We have to save her.}

{Tobias, I understand your distress but Pri-...Jake and the others need us. There may be coded doors or-}

{No Ax, they don't, she does. If there's any codes Marco will resort to his patented punch-it-till-it-opens technique.}

{The Yeerks could still fight, Tobias, please-}

{No Ax!} I whispered fiercely, desperately. {There won't be a fight. They just saw seventeen thousand of their people flushed into space. I didn't agree, but I understood. It's demoralizing Ax. You're a warrior, what would you do if you saw your force go from eighteen thousand to three hundred in ninety seconds?}

{I would fight!} Ax declared defiantly, though there was a catch at the end, as if he understood where the point lay.

{That's because you're a warrior Ax. What would you do if you were a parasite?}

{I-I would...find a way to save myself. I would negotiate.}

{Listen to me, have I ever steered you wrong? You helped me rewire the bomb against the Mercora, a species that only tried to help us, because we knew it was right! I helped you launch a jet with a nuke, against our leader's orders, aimed for my own hometown, an act that would've killed tens of thousands of innocents, because we knew it was right! Ax, help me save her - this is right!}

I was praying Andalite logic would hold fast in the situation but Ax had spent a lot of time with humans, and with me especially so I wasn't above trying the emotional side.

{Ax, listen to me, you're my shorm so try to understand, Rachel is everything to me. If she dies I may as well launch myself out the nearest airlock because I'll be dead already. I need her to save me and I need you to save her!}

Ax took one last look at our friends rushing down the corridor and gave a resigned sigh. {All right Tobias. What do we do?}

Chapter 3

We raced desperately towards what Ax thought would be the nearest hangar bay, me struggling through dead air in the hallways, his delicate hooves clip-clopping as he galloped along the steel floor. The bay was close enough thank God. We launched ourself into the closest Bug fighter and I went Hork-Bajir in case Ax needed any assistance. I outlined the plan as we rose from the bay floor.

{Look, by now the others will have noticed we're not with them. They'll stop, confused for a bit, Cassie arguing they have to come back for us, Marco arguing they have to continue to the bridge, catch the Visser while he's off-guard, but Jake's smart. He knows me, he knows you, and he knows himself. He knows where I'm going and he knows I dragged you with me. We have a headstart. If we don't want to be found, we won't be. And time wasted on us is time for the Yeerks to regroup. He'll deliberate it but not for long, so that buys us another two minutes, max.}

I figured we had fifteen maybe twenty minutes tops and I thanked the laws of physics for the speed we gained in vacuum. I watched the starry emptiness fill the viewscreen as Ax took us out of the bay and away from the Pool Ship, turning towards the Blade Ship. Towards Rachel.

{They'll find the Visser, who has to know he's defeated by now and inform his of his betrayal by Tom if he doesn't already know.}

We raced towards the Blade Ship, blacker than black. A sight which had once filled me with unspeakable dread now gave me the greatest of hope.

{Either way Tobias, Jake cannot allow the Blade ship to escape, carrying Yeerks with a morphing cube, not even if he suspects we are there as well,} Ax pointed out.

{No, I know. They'll aim for the engines, but what do you think the odds of hitting the engines of a ship as fast as the Blade Ship with the Pool Ship's Dracon deams are?}

{Slim-to-none, is the term you humans prefer, I believe,} Ax said dryly.

My heart raced as we neared the Blade Ship. I knew we were already taking a chance, even approaching from an oblique angle but I was counting on their focus on the Pool Ship to prevent them from noticing and blasting an approaching Bug Fighter.

{Exactly, so Jake will send in Rachel. Now the only reason Rachel will stand a chance of stopping all this in the first place is because -}

{Tom's Yeerk will contact the Visser, to gloat in person before killing him,} Ax said, the realization dawning on him.

{Right. All eyes on that Blade Ship are forward. Now as far as Tom knows, he's won, Jake's dead, only thing left is the Visser. Maybe he notices Jake right away, maybe not, but as soon as he does he'll want him dead, gloating be damned. Which means we're running out of time.} Desperation tinged my voice. {Do you have anywhere remotely close to the bridge to dock this thing?}

Ax smiled at me the way only an Andalite can. {I believe I have the perfect spot, not far aft of the bridge, perhaps fifty feet} Ax explained, {The Visser was always very careful about potential dangers inside when docking. The port on the long, narrow part between the bridge, the handle I believe you refer to it as, and the rest of the ship allowed him to land as close to the bridge as possible. To minimize the danger of ambush on the off chance of infiltration.}

{Is that section important?}

{The section closest to the bridge can be detached from the rest of the Blade Ship and function independently in times of extreme emergency, the Visser always had a plan to save himself if need be. It can be stationed but barring impending conflict, there is no need to do so.}

{Numbers?}

{Under the Visser? A guard detail of perhaps four or six. Under Tom, I do not know.}

{And on the bridge with Rach- Tom?}

Ax swiveled one stalk eye towards me. {Most likely Tom himself, and perhaps a half-dozen others for weapons, comms, navigation etc.}

{Seven on one? She won't hesitate.}

{No,} Ax said, a grim smile forming in his thoughtspeech, {She will not. However given the placement of the docking, we should face a bare minimum of the hundred on board.}

{And the Visser's paranoia is our saviour yet again.} I smiled the vicious Hork-Bajir smile as I began to demorph. I needed to be big enough to matter, but small enough to get around - I needed polar bear. Another minute, and we'd be docked. Another minute and I could keep Rachel alive. Another minute and I could save her. And myself.

The space nearby lit-up and the Blade Ship danced away as a Dracon Beam split the darkness. A miss.

{No!} I cursed as distance was lost and time with it. Ax swore as well, though whether from the loss of time or the fact we'd narrowly avoided a Dracon beam the size of a tree trunk was hard to determine, and edged the fighter back towards the Blade Ship. We had almost locked docking clamps when I heard the words I'd been terrified of hearing. The words that I'd been praying not to hear since we took off. Jake's words.

{Rachel. Go.}

{NO!}

Chapter 4

Rachel:

{Rachel. Go.}

{NO!} I heard Tobias' thought-speech cry, louder than I expected but I took it as a measure of his grief. God, what have I done?

{I know Tobias,} I whispered. {I know.}

I had decided on grizzly. He was an old friend of mine, he'd help me to do what needed to be done, to kill Tom.

I was still not completely morphed when someone shrieked. "Animorph!"

After all these years of the Yeerks thinking we were Andalites, always yelling "Andalite!" whenever they saw a morph. It was strangely gratifying that at last they knew who we were.

I said, {That's right, genius: Animorph.}

I did what I do better than anyone. What Jake counted on me to do. I attacked.

Chapter 5

I charged straight for Tom, on all fours, head down, an express train of muscle and fur, claws and teeth. I hit him with my lowered head and knocked him back into the viewscreen. Not enough to take Tom out, but I had to try and damage the ship.

Tseeew!

Someone fired a Dracon beam. I felt the searing pain in my right flank but it didn't matter. I was in berserk mode. Pain was something that could be stored up for later. Right now I was an enraged bear. I slammed a shoulder left, slammed a shoulder right and felt crumpling metal.

Tom yelled, "No shooting! You'll destroy the bridge! Morph! Morph you idiots!"
I swung a paw at him, and it should have been all over right then, but I missed. He dropped and I missed. I reared up to my full height and Tom rolled into a ball. He was down under my legs. I swiped his back and laid his spine open. But I didn't stop him. He was through my legs and behind me and staggering toward the exit. I spun, dropped to all fours and bounded to cut him off. I reached the exit a split second before him and shouldered him aside in the process. He spun like a top and fell on his butt. I was in a clumsy stance so I just sort of dropped on him. It was like some WWF body slam, only I wasn't faking it. He grunted and I saw blood gush from his nose and mouth.

Too easy.

My final battle. It couldn't be this easy. I drew back, ready to go in and finish the job. But I had wasted too much time. There were others on the bridge. And I had overlooked the fact that we were no longer the only ones who could morph. Every member of Tom's hand-picked crew could morph, and I was surrounded now by a half dozen half-morphed beasts. Tom himself was starting to morph, but he wasn't my main problem now.

{Rachel! Behind!}

It was Jake. He was watching the fight from the Pool ship. I spun, slashed horizontally and something that may have been a half-morphed leopard crumpled like a Dixie cup. The main weapons station was right there, a sort of waist-high, freestanding lectern. I threw myself back into it and heard a nice crunch as it toppled. But that was more seconds lost while the Yeerks were completing their morphs. All but Tom. His scarred back was crusting over with reptilian scales, but he was nothing recognizable yet. And in any case, I had plenty to keep me busy. I faced two lionesses, a cape buffalo, and a polar bear. It was a whole zoo full of dangerous animals. The polar bear was my equal all by himself. The cape buffalo maybe as well. I could take either lioness, but the combination was going to be rough.
For a wondrous, frozen moment we all waited, stared, breathed, tensed, expectant.

I felt. . .

I felt exalted. It was my moment. This was my place and my time and my own perfection. I was no longer afraid. Weird. If I'd had a mouth I'd have smiled.

{Well?} I said. No one moved.

{Scared?} I asked. No answer.

{You should be,} I said, almost laughing. I lunged, straight for the polar bear. Go for the main opponent first. Go for the danger. I barrelled straight into him. It was a train crash. I slammed him, my shoulder into the side of his head. He had a bear morph. I was my bear morph. Experience is very helpful. The polar bear staggered. I extended my claws and in a move no real bear had ever learned, I drove them straight into him, like four daggers, right beneath the front right shoulder: the heart. I hit him again before the cape buffalo slammed me and knocked me, windless, rolling into the bulkhead. The buffalo backed up and came at me again, the wide, thick horns like a battering ram. But the beast's hooves were designed for dirt and grass, not the slippery floor. He didn't fall but he
lost a lot of speed and momentum. He hit me in my exposed belly. It would have killed me if he'd been up to speed. Even so it crushed the last ounce of air from my lungs. I felt like someone had dropped a house on me.

A lioness was on my face, clawing madly, like a crazed alley cat. The other one was trying to bite my neck — a waste of time. No one bites through a grizzly's fur. I was down, buried under mad fur. I was down, slashed at, punched, hammered, clawed. My legs were in the air, helpless! I drew my legs close and shifted my weight. Got my legs under me. I lifted myself and the two lions. I shook myself violently and threw off the lion who'd been on my face. I aimed a blow at her but she was too fast. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the polar bear demorphing. It's the only way when your morph body is dying: demorph and fast. Die in morph and you're dead. Period. But I was missing something. Something nagged at me...

{Tom!} Jake yelled. {Tom!}

The cape buffalo butted me in the hindquarters and spun me around. The lion on my back was reaching around like it was trying to strangle me, digging busy claws into the folds of loose skin around my throat. The second lion charged gamely, leaped and sank its teeth into my left haunch. Had to take down the Yeerk with the polar bear morph. Had to stop him remorphing. I'd been lucky once, experience had told. But I couldn't count on a second easy win against a polar bear. I tried to stagger forward, but the buffalo had done some damage now. My hindquarters were numb and weak. He was hitting me with short, sharp blows, like a boxer rabbit-punching. He'd figured out that he couldn't really wind up and deliver a killing blow.

{Tom! Rachel, Tom! Look out for Tom!} Jake's voice was far away. Strange. The slick floor that handicapped the buffalo now worked against me, too. I couldn't get enough traction with my blood-slicked pads. Had to get the Yeerk with the polar bear morph. He was demorphed now. Ready to start morphing and come back rejuvenated. So heavy. Floor all covered in blood. Wow, they were really bleeding. My front right leg suddenly buckled. It was a pail of ice water in my face, a sudden realization. My blood. That was my blood on the floor. White fur began to ripple across the morphing Yeerk.

{He's a snake!} a voice cried. {Rachel!}

No, he's a bear, I thought. A flash of movement, so fast it was a blur. Something in my eyes! Burning. I couldn't see. That's okay, okay, bears can't see alt that well anyway, I had . . . I had . . .
A cobra, some distant, strange, analytical part of my brain noted. Tom's morph: a cobra. The venom was in my eyes. I couldn't think. Couldn't see. Demorph.
No. Bear. The lions on me. Weak. Strange to be the bear and be weak.
Strange.
I realized I was no longer standing. I was flat on the floor. I heard my own slow breathing. I should be panting. Something striking at my face again and again.
The cobra. Couldn't even see him. I had failed. Tom. Alive.

{Die, human,} he said. {Just die.}

{Help me, Tobias,} I pleaded.

{Rachel! Rachel, hold on just a bit longer!}

{Tobias, please.}

{Arrrggghhh, RACHEL!}

I heard the sound of more large animals in the hallway. Reinforcements I was sure, coming to protect their leader. Ah, sorry boys, but I think you missed the party.

{Help me get him. Help me get Tom!}

{Rachel!} Marco's voice? Strange, why wasn't Tobias helping? {Rachel! He's . . . your left paw, toward
your face. Get ready. Has to be fast.}

{l'm ready.}

{Now!}

I jerked my paw, claws extended toward my face.
Tom shrieked. I couldn't see him. But I felt something squirming. Like a worm on a fishhook. The snake was impaled on my claws.

{No!} Tom cried in outrage.

I brought my paw to my mouth.

{Sorry,} I said vaguely.

{Jake, stop her!} the Yeerk screamed with Tom's voice.

I bit down on the snake.

I lay there in suspended animation.

I felt myself floating.

The bear was melting. Old grizzly bear, my friend. Good old bear. I demorphed. The snake was still in my mouth. Motionless. I demorphed.
I was Rachel again, the human Rachel, alive, unhurt. I could have bounded up and gone off to the mall to shop. But I didn't kid myself. I didn't hope.
I spit the snake out. I was surrounded on all sides. I was only a weak human girl now. The polar bear loomed over me, his strength the equal of my own grizzly, but now I was just me, just Rachel. I could see the viewscreen. I could see my best friend Cassie. Jake. Marco, funny Marco.

But where was Tobias? Oh no, oh nonononono. I knew I should've done it when I had the chance. I knew I should've said it.

"I love you."

And now I was going to die, and the only boy I'd ever kissed, ever loved, would never get to hear me tell him.

{RACHEL!}

I glanced around the room, the lioness was struggling to her feet against her wounds, beginning to demorph. The buffalo was trying to stand on hooves and a deck slippery with blood, also starting to demorph. Between them I saw the cabin door slide open. Ah the reinforcements. No fun for you today. Another polar bear bounded through. Already bloodied up. Hmm, maybe he'd already had some fun. Jeez, two polar bears? I was flattered but come on. Kind of overkill. Had I not begun to immediately refocus on the bear on his hind legs above me, I might've seen what followed.

The bear loomed over me, and though I wasn't eager, I at least felt a sort of peace. Maybe this is what understanding finality feels like.

{You fight well human.}

And his paw came down.

Chapter 6

{NOOOOOO!}

RWWOOOAARRR!

A primal roar and a thoughtspeech voice that I recognized cried out in unison and the bear standing over me was suddenly launched forward as he was hit by the freight train of the second from behind, his swing doing little more than leaving some shallow claw marks in my shoulder. I rolled away and leaned up against a console, shimmying away from the colossi that battled to my left.

{Hello, Rachel. I'm glad to see you still alive,} Ax said calmly as walked through the open door and quickly dispatched the half-morphed lioness and buffalo. Not a terribly difficult job given the advantage of surprise against two opponents in mid-morph. His gaze landed on the enormous combatants at the helm. {Do you know which one is Tobias?}

"Tobias," I whispered, looking back as two monsters raged at one another. Oh God, if we got out of this I'd never stop telling him how much I loved him. I wanted to morph and join in but by now both bears were so bloody as to be indistinguishable from one another. They circled, biting, roaring, swiping. It went back and forth for a few moments until WHAM!
A quick paw connected with the side of one's head, smashing it back into the console.
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! Three more and the bear was down as sparks flew from the console. The one still standing rose up on it's hind legs, put both front paws together, and dropped with a sickening crunch, as nine hundred pounds smashed a skull into paste. Then he did it again. And again. Oh please don't let it be...

{AAARRRGGGGGHHHHH!} Tobias bellowed as he dropped again, and again, on a body that was already beginning to look like little more than a messy pulp.

"Tobias!" He ignored me. Whatever state he was in, he wasn't hearing anything else.

{Tobias, please, that is enough!} Ax pleaded from behind me.

"Tobias!"

Again.

"Tobias!"

Again.

"TOBIAS!" A scream finally got through and he stopped. He looked at the blood on his paws and the mess beneath him, then stood to his full nine feet and let out a bellow unlike any I've heard. The sort that would've impressed Jake's tiger.

"Ooookkaayy. Bird-boy's got some rage issues; never threaten Rachel. Lesson of the day kids. Listen well," I heard Marco mutter from over the viewscreen.

"Tobias?"

Chapter 7

Tobias:

I was the personification of rage.

Ax's estimate of fewer enemies in the neck of the ship had been almost fatally optimistic. Whatever paranoia the Visser had felt, these were Tom's hand-picked yeerks, and he obviously didn't share the same reservations. We lucked out in that the ones present, while maybe not expecting a bug fighter to dock, or perhaps actually expecting one with reinforcements, apparently didn't find it unusual enough to bother morphing. So when a fully grown polar bear and a hated Andalite stepped out, there was something close to panic.

We had always tried our best, to avoid human fatalities where possible, but right now I didn't care. From the moment I heard Jake say, {Rachel. Go.} I seethed. I used the memory of every awful thing that'd ever happened to me as fuel. Every bottle thrown by my uncle, every backhanded slap from my aunt, the moment I realized I was trapped as a hawk, my time spent in a torture cube trapped and alone, the Taxxon's hunger, every burn, every cut, every broken bone, everything.

By the time I stepped off that Bug fighter, I could not be contained. I had checked the direction of the bridge and that was where I went, and nothing was stopping me. I bit, slashed, stomped, roared and just generally tore whatever was in my way, out of my way. Swiped obstacles out of my way with enough force to kill with one hit. Later I would learn that I had lucked out. I didn't know if all Tom's chosen Yeerks all had human hosts, but these ones did. And they barely slowed me down. All I saw was red, and all I left was red. Ax clopped along behind me, dispatching any I may have missed but truth be told there weren't many. Most were just beginning to morph or only midmorph by the time I reached them. Inexperienced. Weak. Vulnerable. Helpless.

Enemies.

The only real trouble we faced was just outside the bridge door. Five, fully morphed, and ready to go. A leopard, a lioness, a cougar, a wolf, and a Hork-Bajir. So it seemed cats were popular. Though I found the Hork-Bajir a tad foolish, given how many the Yeerks had seen us dispatch over the years. Ax had caught up with me by this point and gave me a look.

{Well?} he asked.

{Help me, Tobias.} Rachel! Hurt, disorientated. Pleading.

{Rachel! Rachel, hold on just a bit longer!}

{Tobias, please.}

{Arrrggghhh, RACHEL!}

I let out a bellow and charged, Ax right there with me.

In a flash the three cats were on me. Wolf and Hork-Bajir on Ax. I didn't care, I charged right through them. The cougar was more or less directly on my head, the leopard and lioness on either side of me. Tearing as best they could.

The wolf and Hork-Bajir had backed Ax up and I used the small space and my bulk to my advantage. I charged, with the cougar on my head directly into the wall beside the door, hard enough that I heard something snap in it, and it's paws went suddenly limp. I shook, and dislodged the lioness before slamming my body against the wall with the leopard between me and it. Those two would be a moment before they could get repaired and back in the fight but I couldn't waste time.

I heard a yip followed by whimpering. Ax must've gotten his wolf.

The lioness was back on her feet and charged so I did the unexpected and punched straight forward as best I could, catching her with my claws in the face. A move I'd learned from Rachel.

One of my claws must've gone deep enough to hit brain cause she dropped without a sound and I could hear no breathing.

I turned back to the other two cats to find the cougar halfway back into morph and the leopard halfway out. I smashed them both where they stood. I didn't like it. It wasn't fair, but it was efficient. And at that moment, for her, I needed efficiency.

I looked back to see Ax cantering up, his tailblade coated in blue-green blood. He must've got his Hork-Bajir too. He moved to the control pad and his fingers flew over the keys. I stood at the edge ready to leap in.

{Ax! Get this door open!}

{Yes, Tobias, I am working on it, just a moment,} He said tersely.

{No! Not a moment! Now!} I shouted back. {RACHEL!}

Chapter 8

The door slid open to a scene of carnage. I vaguely noticed an animal to either side of the door trying to stand and demorph, but they weren't my concern. My concern was Rachel. My concern was the polar bear looming over a blond-haired girl, down but alive. My concern was violence. I charged.

{You fight well, human,} the polar bear said, then he brought down his paw.

{NOOOOOOOO!}

RWWOOAARRR!

My thoughtspeech and berserker roar melded into one as I hit him from behind with all the speed and momentum of a Mack truck.

WHAM! We rolled over and straight into the bulkhead, a small piece of my mind noticed Rachel roll away and I could've sobbed with joy. The rest of my mind was focused on teaching a lesson to the Yeerk who had dared to threaten her. On ending it.

We circled, slashing, roaring, biting, looking for an advantage, any advantage. And then I saw one. Maybe it had been a lifetime of being bullied, or living with a boxing-enthusiast uncle who had no compunctions with demonstrating that enthusiasm on me, but I saw it. He tensed to pull back and I did a short swipe, just enough to crack his head off the console. Enough to stun him, so I could finish him.

WHAM! The stun.

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! Three more that could've easily been killing blows in themselves. I didn't care. I was fury. Sparks flew from the console as I rose up to my full height, put my paws together into one huge oval and dropped. Heard the crunch, got back up, and dropped again. And again. And again.

{AARRRRGGGHHHH!} I was putting my fear and fury into every blow though they were beyond necessary by that point.

"Tobias!"

Sound is irrelevant. Focus. Kill the bear. Save Rachel.

{Tobias, please, that is enough!}

Kill the bear. Save Rachel.

"Tobias!"

Kill the bear.

"Tobias!"

Save Rachel.

"TOBIAS!" That one got through. I stopped. Looked at my paws. At the mess on the floor that had once been powerful enough to stand a chance in a fight with me. Then I rose to my full height and gave a bellow of the sort I didn't know I could.

"Ooookkaayy. Bird-boy's got some rage issues; never threaten Rachel. Lesson of the day kids. Listen well," I heard Marco mutter from over the viewscreen. I ignored him.

"Tobias?"

I turned and laid eyes on the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Chapter 9

Rachel:

Tobias spun on his two back feet then dropped on all fours to face me.

{Oh, God. Rachel? You're hurt,} he said, nodding his massive head in the direction of my shoulder.

He'd just fought through God knows how many morphing controllers to get to me and his first worry is about four little scratches on my shoulder?

"Idiot," I smiled with all the affection I could muster. And before I knew it I had my arms around his enormous neck, my face buried in his bristly hair. I didn't care that someone in this exact morph had almost taken my head from my shoulders a couple minutes ago. I didn't care that I was getting blood from his fur all over my face, shirt, and hair. I cared that it was Tobias. That he was here. And that I finally got to tell him what I should've told him so many months before.

"I love you."

{Oh God, Rachel, I love you too.} I felt him shift as he gingerly raised a paw and wrapped me tight as he dared in his massive embrace.

"Ahahahaheeemmm," Marco coughed over the viewscreen.

Tobias and I disengaged from our hug. Hardly embarrassed but aware that now might not be the best time. I shifted my gaze back to the viewscreen as Tobias began to demorph.

Cassie kept shifting her hands from her mouth to her eyes and back, crying her eyes out and mouthing, 'thank you, thank you' over and over again.

I switched my gaze to Marco who had a grin from ear to ear. "Yeeaahhh Bird-boy! Way to ride in on a blue horse wearing fuzzy white armour and save the day!"

I snatched a quick glance to my right where, much to my joy, Tobias was already halfway to human. But a murderous look appeared on his face as he glanced at the viewscreen-

And then I switched back to focus on Jake. And my heart broke. He had unshed tears in his eyes and a smile on his face that looked both genuine and like he hated wearing it. "You made it cuz," he whispered, "You have no idea how happy I am about that."

Marco gave him a look but shifted his gaze quickly.

"Jake," I began, "Jake, I'm so sorry about Tom. If there had been a way, any way-"

"Rach, please. Tom's free now, in his own way. And you're still here, I couldn't have asked for anything better." He smiled again. Genuine, but sad.

I smiled sadly myself and averted my gaze to the other side of the viewscreen. To see an Andalite behind but standing well within striking range.

No. No!

"Guys, the Visser!"

"Ah, ye of little faith Xena," Marco crowed. "That is no longer Visser One, he is War-Prince Alloran-Semitur-Corrass. I tapped him on the head, Gorilla-mode of course, he took a nap, we convinced the Yeerk to come on out, and now here we are. Not gonna lie," he winked, "He was pretty stoked about it."

Alloran looked at the view screen and smiled his Andalite smile.

{Elfangor's brother,} he said nodding approvingly at Ax, {and Elfangor's son,} he said nodding with something approaching awe at Tobias. {I look forward to meeting you both. I knew Elfangor well.}

He turned to me, {and you must be the mighty Xena.}

Marco's grin could've probably been measured in feet. Tobias, despite himself, snickered. I sighed, "You can call me Rachel, War-Prince, though I do not blame you for it. Our friend Marco is what we humans call 'an idiot'."

Alloran smiled again, {Yes, I made that assumption after speaking with him.}

Marco's grin disappeared though mine spread all the wider. Tobias outright laughed at that.

{Um. Ahem, my friends, War-Prince,} Ax interjected delicately, shifting on his hooves and seemingly unsure of protocol at the moment, {I do not wish to interrupt, but while Tobias and I were able to...incapacitate twenty-three controllers on the way-}

I shot Tobias a look. Ax's hesitation confused me a bit but still: Twenty-three? Jeez, he really did love me. He looked like he was vibrating with barely suppressed energy and I knew the only reason he had yet to leap over and sweep me in his arms was out of respect for what Jake was going through. I was impressed. I knew what Tobias would've thought of Jake sending me alone, hell, that he'd come for me when he found out, was evidence enough. And I also saw the look of pure murder Tobias had shot at Jake when he'd finally morphed human. But he still held back out of respect. God, I loved him.

{-as well as the seven in here,} Ax continued, {that still leaves approximately seventy morph-capable controllers on this ship with us. I have disabled the door controls to the bridge but I would suggest we dock with the Pool Ship as soon as possible. Those on board would be advised to bring as much security as can be spared. War-Prince Alloran, with all due respect and no offence intended, I know your years spent...recently, have left you with a number of extremely powerful morphs. Though I would by no means ask under ordinary circumstances...}

{These are extraordinary circumstances,} Alloran finished. {I will find one suiting the situation. No offence taken.}

"Dock as soon as you can," Jake declared switching over into leader mode, even with tears in eyes. It was moments like when I remembered why we'd picked him. And why I pitied him most sometimes. Orange stripes were already starting on his skin, "and we'll bring up everybody we have. We'll see you when you get here."

The viewscreen flipped off and Tobias had his arms around me, and his lips against mine so fast I barely had time to draw a breath. We held each other like that for a while before breaking off and just standing there with our faces buried in each other's hair.

"Close," he said.

"Real close. I can't believe you came for me."

He pulled back with a sheepish grin on his face. "Rach, how could you ever think I wouldn't?"

I looked away, both embarrassed that I would think that way and thrilled by his answer. I stammered. I never stammered.

"Uh, I don't know, I mean, I guess, uh, we both knew how we felt, but, it's just-"

{Pardon my interruption,}

Thank you Ax!

{But would either of you object were I to take the Blade Ship to dock while you continue?}

"Not at all Ax-man." Tobias grinned.

"And thanks Ax, ya know, for helping Tobias out with the saving me from certain death and all."

{It is not a problem Rachel. I am rather glad you did not die. Besides,} He said, taking his place at the helm, and sweeping a look at us that I swear was a mischevious grin, {he was quite adamant.}

Tobias gave him a look to melt steel while turning about eight shades of red, before turning to me.

"Um, look Tobias," I began, "you deserve to know why I agreed to this. It's just, Jake trusts me, Tom's fam-"

He put a finger against my lips to shush me. "Rachel, you did it for the same reason that I love you. You're Rachel."

I would've cried at that, had he given me time. Instead he pulled me into a quick embrace and quick kiss again before holding me just a bit away.

"Now, seeing as I spent my morning going from thinking you'd be dead by now, to you alive and in my arms, what would you say to dinner tonight? Maybe a fancy restaurant, ya know, the three full course meal sort, the sort that usually takes a few hours..."

He grinned at me as my heart stopped. He'd do it. He'd do it for me. We could date, hold hands, walk beaches, he'd do it. He'd go full human, I'd never have to worry, he'd never have to sleep outside, he'd never have to hunt for his food, morph, be in danger...fly.

I grinned back up at him, "Tell you what, my hero, let's go take some surrenders, deal with what I'm almost certain will be a media storm-"

He winked, "don't worry, you look good, red suits you." I punched him playfully.

"-and maybe we can talk about a fancy dinner in a little while. I would be ecstatic over even some Burger King at the moment and something tells me I'm still a few hours away from even that."

He smiled, "I'd like that."

{We've docked,} Ax announced.

I sighed and felt the shaggy brown fur erupt from my skin. With seventy morph-capable controllers aboard, the truth was we were still being damn optimistic. Maybe they'd play it smart, accept defeat, take whatever deal we gave them. The only other option was eventual death and I'd yet to meet a Yeerk eager for that. But given our luck maybe they'd fight till- I stopped myself. Looked at Tobias. No, it started with six, we still were six. Without our "bad luck" I'd never have found myself. Without our "bad luck" I'd have never found him. Maybe our luck's better than we cared to admit. Tobias looked back at me as shaggy white fur started to show under the feathers of an already enormous hawk. Stopped himself. Reversed it.

{Heh. Uh, Ax-man, with your permission?}

{Of course, Tobias.}

A blue tail appeared and extra legs grew from his chest as he began to turn into a mirror image of Ax.

He smiled an Andalite smile at me and winked three of his four eyes, {Maybe we've seen enough polar bears for the day.} He gave a resigned sigh and faced the door, {Well? Shall we?}

I grinned my grizzly grin back at him.

{Let's do it.}

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So, hope you guys enjoyed. My first fanfic so be gentle. I only got into this recently and I know there's a lot of The Beginning ones so I'm hoping I didn't take anything from anyone. I didn't have time to read all 5000. I'd like to actually do a full rewrite of The Beginning, based off at least Tobias and Rachel's POV cause let's face it, if anyone deserved a happier ending, it was those two. If you got this far, you probably read it, so please review!. If the work's well liked I'll be all the more motivated to continue. I'll probably do it anyway but still - motivation.