Disclaimer: I do not own Max Ride, if I did this is what I'd do:

*flail* Anyway, yea. Enjoy :)

Alphabet

I sighed as we flew through the sky; Gazzy was humming softly, and it was actually kind of peaceful. I sighed. Then, I did a little swooping maneuver, feeling the air rush through my wings.

I took a moment to look at my flock; Gazzy, eyes closed, still humming, the wind tousling his blond hair and white wings; Nudge, who was, for once, quiet, her chocolate brown eyes shining; Angel, my baby, her pearly white wings reflecting the sunlight; Fang, his dark eyes on the ground, no doubt scouting for a place to land; and Iggy, who had a small smile on his face, his blind eyes shut.

"Max," Fang said softly, swooping in next to me. "Yea?" I asked tiredly. "Land there." And there you have it, folks. Another beautiful speech, brought to you by the Man of Many Words himself. I nodded.

"Guys, land in that patch of trees down there!" I called. There were a couple of "okie dokies" and then we were diving, trying to see who could reach the ground first. Gazzy won, his ratty little sneakers kicking up dust in the rest of our faces as we followed suit.

"Max, can we eat?" Guess who that was? Yep, Nudge.

"Sure Nudge, just a sec." I turned to Fang, who already had an answer to my unasked question. "There was a McDonald's not that far from here. I'll go."

"I'll come, too!" Angel offered. Fang smiled affectionately, a pleasant surprise. The only time he ever acted like that was around Angel. I smiled. Angel put her tiny hand into Fang's bigger one and they were off.

Iggy and Gazzy sat huddled by a tree. At first I thought they were discussing bombs, but then I heard what Gazzy was saying.

"This is what an "A" looks like," Gazzy said, drawing an A in the sand. Then, he took Iggy's hand, gently trailing the blind boy's fingers over the inscription. "A," Iggy repeated. "Yep," said Gazzy. "Now you try."

Iggy took a pale finger and placed it in the dirt. Then, slowly, he drew a slightly crooked A that was missing the line in the middle. Gazzy gently pointed this out, showing Iggy where to draw the line.

"And this is a "B"..." It went on like that. I smiled as Iggy's face lit up when Gazzy told him he did it right. I had forgotten that Iggy was only nine when he went blind, and didn't know much about the alphabet.

"Max?" Nudge's concerned voice startled me. "Yea, Nudge?" I asked, my eyes still on Gazzy, who was now drawing a C.

"Why are you crying?"

I snapped back to reality and quickly drew a hand to my face. Tears. "I'm fine, don't worry. Why don't you go help Gazzy teach Iggy the alphabet?"

Nudge's face lit up. "Okay!"

I smiled. I had such an amazing family.