Author's Note / Disclaimer: Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed this story. I am greatly honored. I've written this story over a period of four years... and now it is finally done.
I don't own the Animorphs. I do, however, own the hope that the Animorphs and what they stand for will always be in our hearts and minds.
I felt myself floating. I still didn't want to open my eyes.
Rachel was alive, I told myself. The seventeen thousand Yeerks were alive.
But Tom was dead. The soldiers that had helped us - dead. The auxiliary Animorphs - dead.
How could the Ellimist deal with it? He was, in a way, responsible for everything - him and his stupid games.
You go to war, you fight, you have to make choices that maybe end up killing your best friend. Your brother. That's what Jake had done.
As for me... I had left David behind.
I had left a lot of things behind.
I opened my eyes. I was floating, again, among thousands of stars, each a glowing pinpoint in the vastness of space.
The others were there. Jake was there. All alive, five humans, an Andalite, just like we started, two and a half years ago.
Except not just like we started.
The old man was there, too.
Jake squeezed my hand. For a while, no one said anything.
The Ellimist looked at each of us in turn. Then he bowed.
"You cannot possibly imagine what you have done," he said quietly.
In an instant, we were flying through space, weightless, the stars rushing past us. A planet! We flew closer, down through the atmosphere, impossibly fast. Below us were fantastic trees and sleek starships and endless, endless fields of lush, blue-green grass. Though I had never before seen this exact place, I knew what it must be.
"The Andalite home world," Ax whispered.
YOU CANNOT KNOW HOW MANY WORLDS HAVE BEEN SAVED.
Vibrant splashes of green, of blue, of red, of white. Unknown planets and peoples flashed before our eyes. Most of the worlds were foreign, but we recognized some. The Hork-Bajir home world. The Taxxon world and Leera.
YOU CANNOT COUNT HOW MANY SLAVES HAVE BEEN FREED
Countless oceans and valleys, mountain peaks and rolling fields. Dozens of galaxies, hundreds of planets, thousands of free, sentient races, millions of species of life and wondrous splendor.
HISTORY IS CHANGED FOREVER BECAUSE OF YOUR ACTIONS.
An Andalite tactical display rose among the visions. A small model of the galaxy, covered in glowing red areas under Yeerk control. The galaxy began to rotate as time sped up. And the red shrank and dwindled and became nothing.
Then, we came to a final, very familiar planet.
AND YOU HAVE SAVED YOUR WORLD, AS WELL. SO MUCH THAT IS BEAUTIFUL IS NOT LOST TO THE YEERKS. SO MUCH ART AND LIFE AND LOVE.
We were floating above our beloved planet, for which so much blood had been spilled, for which so many people had died. We looked at the light that shone from our own world - the points of light that were cities in Europe and Asia, the line that heralded the arrival of day from night.
"What happened?" Marco demanded. "Where's the Drode, where's the Time Matrix?"
"The Time Matrix is destroyed," I said.
"What - the Time Matrix is indestructible!" Ax said.
"So the legend of your people says," the Ellimist agreed. "And the myth has some basis in fact - it is immune to physical destruction. But it was always vulnerable to someone who had the Time Matrix in their grasp - who had the power to do anything they wished - and yet wished only for the destruction of the very device that gave them such absolute power."
The Ellimist looked at me. Jake looked at me, too. I looked away.
"Cassie destroyed the Time Matrix?" Marco asked.
"Not too quick on the up-take, are you?" Rachel said. "What about the Drode?"
"The Drode was also destroyed," said the Ellimist. "Crayak's wild card balanced out Elfangor's limited use of the Time Matrix. The Drode was connected to the Matrix so that Crayak would know instantly if I let it be used again. When it was destroyed, so was the Drode."
"Cassie knew this would happen?" Tobias demanded.
"No, I didn't," I said angrily.
"No," the Ellimist agreed. "You didn't know. But you had a feeling. You had a hope."
The old man looked at me with a mixed expression - pain, regret, compassion.
"You put a tortured soul to rest," he said. "There is nothing more difficult, nor more kind."
I met Rachel's gaze. Tell Rachel... tell her I'm sorry.
"Why did Crayak let us live?" Jake asked.
"He did not," the Ellimist said heavily. "But before it was destroyed, the Time Matrix, for the first time in its many histories, was put to good use."
"What does that mean?" Jake asked.
"It means, Jake," I said, a single tear rolling down my cheek, "that you died."
(Marco)
"You and Marco and Tobias were on a mission to save Ax from imprisonment," Cassie said, her voice quavering. "Then..."
I looked at Cassie. Then it hit me: a ghostly echo. Like a half-forgotten memory fragment, the flash of a dream.
Jake's voice: Ram the Blade ship.
He was wearing Rachel's smile. But Rachel wasn't here... Rachel was...
Ram the Blade ship.
I looked up at Jake. Ax was shaking.
"We sacrificed ourselves," I said. "To stop...to destroy -"
"The One," Tobias said. "The third power, greater than you and Crayak."
"Yes," the Ellimist agreed. "You did."
"I died, too," Rachel said, very quietly, her eyes widening. "I died on the Blade ship."
I shook my head, trying to clear the eerie feeling, the faint dream-memory of my own death.
"So why aren't we still dead?" Jake demanded. "No way Crayak would let us live. No way. What about the Rules?"
In reponse, the Ellimist laughed - a gentle, shimmering feeling that seemed to fill each of us to the brim with energy. "There are no more Rules," he said. "Crayak is gone. The universe has its own rules, and they are far more complex than those of our little game - our ended game."
There was another silence. I felt just a little overwhelmed. It's not every day you win an intergalactic space-time war.
"What are you going to do now?" Tobias asked.
The most powerful being left in the galaxy gave a small, sad smile. "It is time for me to leave."
"What?" Cassie cried. "Why?"
"The One is vanquished. Crayak and the Drode are gone. My time in this universe is over."
"Why can't you stay here and make sure things go right?" Rachel demanded. "You could help people, you have the power!"
The Ellimist sighed. "I have long given up on the notion that I could ever truly know what is best for the universe. The six of you will soon have your own great influence on your world and the galaxy."
"No way," Tobias argued. "We don't know a billionth of what you know. We can't change history!"
"You have already done so," he said simply.
"So you're just going on permanent vacation?" Jake said. "What about us? Earth is a mess, if you haven't noticed. The Andalites are ready to fry us."
He nodded. "That is still a possibility; however, it is now very unlikely - "
"Oh good," I interrupted.
" - because, based on immense popular resistance from the Electorate, the Andalite high command refrained from destroying Earth. They have agreed to make the morphing technology available to the Yeerks and Taxxons so that an armistice can be reached and the Great War can finally be ended."
Ax nodded, but the Andalites' sudden change of heart seemed pretty suspicious to me. Unless -
"And all this happened without any interference from you?" Tobias asked skeptically.
The Ellimist merely smiled.
Great. The biggest non-answer of them all... and yet, I wasn't going to complain. None of us were.
I took a deep breath and looked at my friends, all slowly processing the weight of the Ellimist's words. I felt an awkward, touchy-feely moment coming up. Of course, I had to do something to stop it.
"Okay, so," I said briskly, "before you go 'poof' for good, I must know: what happens to us in the end? Do I become rich and famous? Do I get my own TV show?"
"Will he ever become mature? Does he ever get a girlfriend?" Rachel asked sardonically.
"Hey, my questions were rhetorical," I said.
"So were mine," Rachel shot back.
"How about a simple 'do we all turn out okay?'" Cassie asked.
The Ellimist winked at us. Then, just like that, he vanished.
"I hate it when he does that!" Rachel said. "I'm gonna kill him."
"You can't kill him, he's an interdimensional being," Tobias said, fluffing his wings against the backdrop of stars.
"Hey, we killed Crayak," I said. "Too bad the Ellimist isn't evil incarnate."
"As I said," Ax said, smugly, "never trust an Ellimist."
"I really think he's gone this time," Cassie said thoughtfully.
"Oh, I don't know," Tobias said. "With the Ellimist, you can never be entirely sure..."
Jake laughed. "He never even answered our question... I guess he doesn't really know the answer."
"He didn't want to admit it, of course," I said. "Would you?"
(Marco)
We were in an Andalite ship en route to Washington, D.C., the nation's capitol, to tell the world the story of our war with the Yeerks and where things stood now. We called ahead so no one would be freaked out - and to make sure there was a proper welcoming committee.
The violence we had dealt with for two years would always be with us. You can never forget war. But in life, you always have a choice. You can focus on what's cool and good in the world, or you can focus on what's not.
And we were still together. We had fought. We had won.
"The ship has landed," Ax announced.
I looked outside at the thousands of reporters and police who were waiting for us. I felt a huge surge of excitement. It was our first well-earned moment in the spotlight. Yes!
"You know, for losing my childhood innocence and all, I think I could get used to this kind of fame," I said, gesturing to the huge throng of people around us.
"Marco," Rachel said, "you were never exactly innocent in the first place."
"Well, Xena..." I began. My carefully planned, perfect comeback was ready!
Nothing could stop me from utterly crushing her on our day of victory...
Nothing except Tobias, who chose that exact moment to lean over and start kissing Rachel like today was ending and there wasn't going to be a tomorrow.
Somehow I forgot my joke.
I sighed. Made a mental note to kill Tobias later, when Rachel wasn't around.
"Great," I said. "Just great. Hey, fearless leader, I don't think Rachel and Tobias are going to be able to give a speech -"
That was when I noticed that Jake and Cassie were pretty busy too.
"That's it, Ax. Open the freaking door."
Ax and I, followed a few moments later by Jake, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias, walked onto a sort of stage in front of the largest crowd of people I had ever seen, half applauding and cheering, half yelling and demanding answers. We would give them answers.
The Animorphs stood there, in a line, facing the Washington Monument.
I caught Rachel's gleaming eye, and I couldn't help it, I grinned too. So cool.
It was time.
Jake stepped up to the podium. The roar of the crowd went down about three percent.
He adjusted the microphone, looked at me. And I saw Jake, my oldest and best friend. On the outside he was the same Jake that I had always known, but inside everything had changed. He knew he had come close to losing it too many times, but the worst was behind him, and he knew that, too. At some point, he would have to deal with his inner demons, and when the time came, I would do my best to help him.
But all that would come later. In the meantime...
I winked at the leader of the Animorphs. He smiled and turned to the crowd.
"People of America - people of the world," he began, in a strong, clear voice. "My name is Jake..."
(Jake)
I was at Tom's memorial site. He was heavily honored, as evidenced by the dozens of medals and numerous other posthumous awards that decorated his grave.
I shivered in the cold. But I wasn't alone.
There aren't many decisions that are black-and-white, good and evil. Life is more complicated than that.
How many people had died to save this planet? How much pain was Elfangor suffering, knowing the burden he would place upon us?
How can you return to a normal life, after you've been through war? Day after day you go on, searching for answers... until finally, you realize you can never really go back.
Even if you desperately want to.
Even if that's the only thing that seems to matter.
We were silent for a while.
Cassie put her arms around me.
"Tom would have been proud," Cassie said gently. "We needed you then, and you saved the world."
I closed my eyes.
"You saved me," I whispered.
We stayed there, together, for a long time.
TWO YEARS LATER
(Jake)
The intercom beeped. "Sir, I am sorry to wake you, but there appears to be an elephant, a hawk, and a young man waiting to see you."
"All right, Jeffrey," I groaned, yawning. "Send them in."
"Of course, sir," the voice said. "Also, the young man asked if I had any cinnamon buns -"
"Urh, yeah, we do," I muttered, and slammed the button for "end."
Cassie raised an eyebrow. "I wonder who that could possibly be?" she smiled wryly.
A minute later, the sound of multiple feet running echoed throughout my hallway.
"JAKE! We know you're in there. Hand over Cassie, now!" a familiar voice rang out.
"Hey, I live here, now, you know," Cassie protested.
"Sorry you had to demorph," I said. "I guess I forgot to make my house elephant-accessible - "
"Cut his door down, Ax," Tobias interjected.
"Wait, wait!" I said, laughing. I opened the door to find Rachel, Tobias, and Ax. "Hey, where's the gorilla?"
Then a door to my side room opened, revealing my best friend. "Jake, man, you are in serious need of my expert advice. Both your video game and your fine wine selections are totally inadequate."
"Marco, I don't have any wine - "
"That's exactly the problem - "
"Prince Jake!" Ax cried, stepping into the room, sounding quite delighted. "Your dwelling place is very impressive, but I must ask: do cinnamon buns exist here?"
"You know, Jake, we really should have Animorph-proofed this room," Cassie said, giggling as she stood up and stretched.
"It's a great day for flying," Tobias said, preening himself. "Nice and warm, perfect for thermals..."
The intercom beeped again. "Will you be coming down, sir?" a now-worried voice asked.
"No," I said, smiling. 'I don't think so."
The horizon was still hazy, but the sun was out and the sky was clear... Tobias was right. It was going to be one of those days.
Rachel crossed the room to my view of the beach, the Pacific ocean stretching endlessly beyond. "Are we going to fly, or what?" she demanded, throwing the window open. "Come on!"
I looked at Cassie, smiling. "Let's do it," I said.
We morphed.