Here's part 2 of my mass update. THANKS AGAIN FOR READING! YOU'RE AWESOME!

"Hey, bro, can I come in?"

Jake knocked on the door of Marco's room.

Marco hadn't shown up at their meetings for the past week, not to mention school- or outside the house at all, and Jake and the others had begun to get worried.

"No. Go away." he heard a muffled voice from behind the door

"Marco?" Rachel tried. For once, she wasn't making biting remarks about him.

Mostly because she was too worried to do anything else.

"I just wanted you to know, we found Lex's journal... And we thought you might like to see it."

The door swung open to reveal Marco, who looked like ha had been crying for days.

His eyes were red, and he looked like he practically hadn't gotten up from bed at all.

When his dad let them in, he admitted that Marco had told him a close friend had died, but that he was also beginning to worry.

Jake now saw why.

Without a word, Rachel handed him the notebook, her cheeks also streaked with dried tears.

Lex had been like a sister to her for this short week.

It was dark green, with a black panther on it with incredible green eyes.

Eyes like Lex's.

"Listen, Marco, you can't stay cooped up in here forever." Jake said.

"Yes I can. Who's going to stop me?" Marco challenged.

"Read the last entry." Rachel said gently, opening the journal at the end.

After her final, determined letter was through, Marco closed his eyes, his hands shaking.

Something fell out of the notebook. A piece of paper.

It read: "To Marco. I'll never forget you. I will find you. I promise."

His hand slowly clamped down on it, crumpling the small slip of paper.

"I will find you." He repeated. His eyes shone with a new fire.

"She's not dead. Not if she wrote something like this. She can't be.

She's out there somewhere. And I'm going to find her."

Rachel met Cassie's eyes. There was no way Lex could have known she wasn't going to die. In fact, there was only one way that this note could find its way into that journal...

...Ellimist?

The glint of understanding came o both girls' eyes at the same time. It was faint but possible. But there was no need to say anything to Marco. Not after he had finally gotten up and going.

Once the other Animorphs were gone, Marco pulled up the Internet browser on his computer.

If anyone could find anything, even a clue in the Net, it would be him.

The window with his mailbox popped up.

{One new message.}

He ignored it and was about to shut it off when the date caught his eye.

{March 20}

Something stopped him from simply deleting it.

It was from an unidentified user.

He tapped it, a pillow of growing excitement expanding in his chest as the computer processed it.

Finally, a user popped up:

lexsan

No. It wasn't possible.

Someone was pranking him.

It wasn't possible.

He began to read.

{Hey, Marco.

Your first thought right now is that this is a dream, isn't it? Or a prank?

Remember your answer?

"Do you think you could dream up somebody like me?"}

Marco's heart hammered. Only Lex had heard that. Only she had been there when he said it.

{I'm still not sure how it happened, but I'm not dead.

I'm not really alive, either.

I'm a computer virus, Marco. A living program.

I just want you to know that I'm always here. I can't contact you again.

Directly.

Be on the lookout. When something happens, I'll be there, in one way or another. You just have to look.

Never forget your digital ally :)

Lex}

Marco placed his head on his desk and cried, and cried. But they were tears of joy.

There were so many things he wanted to tell Lex. He didn't know how to say them to her, now that she was just a computer program.

Not just, he corrected himself.

Also. Because Lex was also Lex, the Animorph.

Lex, Rachel and Cassie's best friend.

Lex, who had dark red hair and incredible green eyes. Greener than you thought possible.

Who loved playing Tetris on her iPhone.

Lex, who they would never forget.

Never.

THE END OF BOOK 1
I know it's sort of short. Sorry.
This is the end of the first book, but I'll make Book 2 in this same story. I hope you liked it and thanks for sticking with me!
This is the first story I've actually completed, minus oneshots.
Thank you to everyone who's been with me through the thick and thin.
Thank you, iris129, for being a loyal reader until the end.
Thank you, Elfera (formerly known as ILoveElfangor), for being a great friend, for cheering me up and for keeping me writing.
Thank you, StormGirl15 for being the best Beta I could ever ask for.
But most of all, thank YOU for reading!
Meagan Snow
12/19/12