Story: Secrets

Legal Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Animorphs, they belong to KA. If I did own the Animorphs Rachel would still be alive and the series would still be going!

Summary: Rachel has a secret, but what will she do when the people she usually turns to abandon her. The high rating is for later chapters.

Chapter 1: Normal Days

POV: Rachel

My name is Rachel.

And it's a rare occasion when I actually get to relax. But that's exactly what I'm doing now. It's Saturday and I'm lying on the beach, I'm not here to kick some Yeerk's ass, but to sit back and enjoy myself. The only thing that could make this day better is Tobias. We've grown a lot closer over the past few months. He had decided to come back to school for our senior year. Every one at school knew we were an 'item'. Bullies like Andy and Tap-tap don't really bother him anymore. I didn't have anything to do with that…well not much. I think Tobias knows, but he never says anything and neither do I. He may be a sweet-heart, but he's still got that male ego thing and somehow I don't think his blonde 'mall-rat' girlfriend fighting off bullies makes him feel like a man.

I was so lost in my thought I didn't notice when someone came up behind me. They picked me up by my waist and covered my eyes. I felt them running and my heart began to race. I screamed and kicked but it was no use, the more I fought the stronger their grip became. I thought about morphing but I figured there had to be another way outta this…even if I couldn't think of one at the moment. I don't get scared very easily but this was making me panic. The next thing I knew I was under water. I spun my body around and saw a guy with ear length black hair. I laughed to myself knowing it was Tobias. I stood up ready to push him in the water, but my smirk quickly faded because it wasn't a smiling Toby standing in front of me. It was Rick.

Rick is the captain of the football team. He's tall, built, and he's asked me out about 50 times since our junior year. I got the feeling it was about to be 51.

"Let me guess…you were expecting your dorky boyfriend."

I ignored his smart-ass comment. "What do you want?"

"Nothing much, I've just been thinking a lot, mostly about you." All I could do was roll my eyes, this guy was pathetic. "What does a beautiful girl like you see in a dweeb like Tobias?"

"I'm gunna go back to what I was doing, and you're gunna"

"Go harass somebody else." I spun around to see Tobias standing behind me. The frown on my face disappeared.

"Whatever" Rick said and with a wave of his hand he was gone.

"This is a surprise" I said as Tobias put his arms around my waist.

"Well I figured we have a day off and while I was flying I made a decision" he said as he leaned his forehead against mine.

"Oh really"

"Yeah

"And what did you decide"

"That there is no one I'd rather spend the day with" I just stared at him, getting lost in his brown eyes. There was so much in those eyes. The pain, the fear, the weariness, but the things that stood out most to me was the love. I've gone out with guys and they say they love me, but most of the time its cuz they wanna get lucky. But with Tobias there are times when it's written all over his face and I know that all he really wants is for me to love him back, and I do. I know most people would say that we're too young to know what love is, that it's just a fling or something. But its not, it's so much more then that.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" he asked me, breaking my train of thought. All I did was smile at him and grab his hand. I lead him back up to my towel and pulled him down to sit next to me. We just sat there for about ten minutes, not saying anything.

"It's so gorgeous" I said as I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Yeah, but it doesn't compare to you" I looked up at him. He leaned down and lightly kissed me. God how I wished we could just live in this moment forever. Everything was normal. I was just a girl sitting on the beach with her boyfriend. I felt Tobias's finger wipe my face. I hadn't realized I started crying. It shocked me a little because I don't cry very easily. I looked at him once again mesmerized by those eyes. I reluctantly turned my head to look out at the sunset. The tears started falling again. He wiped the tears away. He put his hand on my forehead.

"I wish this moment could last forever" he said as he gently laid my head on his shoulder. Anyone else would have been terrified that I Rachel Berenson, aka Xena to Marco, was crying. But not Tobias, he knew why. That's one of the things I love about him, I don't have to explain everything, we can just read each other. He always knows how to make me feel better and lately, cuz of the war, I've been needing that a lot.

"I love you Tobias"

"I love you Rach" he said as he wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my forehead. Everything felt right. It was like a movie, a dream. Everything was perfect.