Chapter Sixteen: Knowing the Person Behind You

Elias

The power to foresee...

I remember little of it when I first had it...but I assumed it was there since I was born. This ability has aided me many times, predicting whenever the Yeerks will strike next and what the Animorphs shall do to prevent that from happening. When David will attack and how he will do so to eliminate me or the children.

And more importantly, what my other self is doing right this minute.

I can accurately foretell everything right this instance. I used to see them in visions at night but in a way, my nightly dreams evolved into premonitions that I can willingly control. Because of this power, I had anticipated the Animorphs would find the girl very soon, if there aren't any interruptions.

You could call it a useful biological monitor on whichever futuristic scenario comes. Crayak calls it a cheat. The Ellimist calls it a marvel. I do not care what it's called. It is my power, my gift, my burden.

My curse. A power always comes with a price, such as that with morphing. Foreseeing the future can give the advantage of being three steps ahead, predicting every move of the Yeerks and saving endangered lives from being hosts.

However if you attempt to change what future you see, there will be a twist. You can change a second, a minute, an hour or a day of the future but either something happens in exchange for the alteration or what you've changed will come back. Save a group of Controllers and they end up being caught later. Stop a Visser from accelerating the invasion and another in the current time will have already succeeded.

The lives saved are equal to the lives lost. I have always wondered if it was Crayak's meddling but that would be given him credit.

In the end, the truth about most of these visions is nothing goes without payment. Whether I try to stop it from happening or can't do anything to prevent it.

And that is something those children, including my other self will learn.

Marco

The day we found Kimberly, Cassie and Rachel brought her back to the barn to clean her wounds again. Ax soon disappeared after they left and Tobias went to look for him. Me and Jake, well, after a while, we decided to head home.

After what happened that day, it took me some time to think about it. First that Black Massacre came out of nowhere and purposely gave me a heart attack with her shooting and karate moves. Then Rachel and I later learned that the mall cop is alive, breathing and without any parasite in his head and the lady had freaky technology that weren't supposed be around in the first place. And finally, Kimberly nearly had a nervous breakdown.

At the beginning, I kept saying to myself her dreams were ridiculous. They were just dreams to begin with but then they became some kind of premonitions that terrorized her every night. And seeing her crack up like that was giving me second thoughts. We never realized how much suffering she had.

When she broke down, I just couldn't bare look at her face. I couldn't help it when I looked away. In an annoying way, I felt a bit sorry for her. I kept thinking she was going to blow our cover when in fact she has her own secrets too.

It's been three days since we've found Kimberly. Jake, Rachel, Tobias and me went over to the barn in the afternoon to find out if Oddball Kim had recovered yet. And you know something, Cassie didn't leave Kimberly in the barn to rest. She let her stay in her bedroom. From what I heard from Rachel, she had a hard time convincing her mom from entering the room where there was laundry to do.

We met each other in front of the barn, barely said any words and just us three humans went inside Cassie's house. Tobias perched at a tree close to an open window at the kitchen. And luckily, Cassie's parents weren't in today to overhear our conversation.

"How's Kimberly?" Jake was the first to ask.

A minute later, Cassie shook her head.

"She didn't sleep much for three straight days...but she has been eating. I was afraid she was wasting herself away."

"She's still traumatized, huh?" said Jake.

"Can you blame her?" inquired Rachel. "She had the most terrible time in her life."

(She just needs more time,) Tobias pointed out. (It's been rough for her.)

Cassie looked about, realizing someone was missing. "Where's Ax?"

(He's at the woods. He's not coming.)

Figures.

"I know he feels awful about Kimberly but he should at least come and see her," Rachel remarked, her tone a bit harsh.

(I don't think that's the case. He sounded like he regretted the whole thing.)

"Poor Ax." Cassie glanced down with a concerned face.

The whole kitchen went still.

I clicked my fingers to snap everyone out of their gloomy faces. "Hey, people. Don't you think we've got other things to think of?"

Cassie then turned upset, knowing where this conversation would go.

"She's been through enough. Can't we discuss this after she's better?"

"I mean, Kimberly can't stay here forever. Your folks are bound to find her eventually."

And that was a good point. Cassie relaxed a bit but began fiddled with her fingers anxiously.

"True, but where else can she stay? She doesn't want to go back to her family and if she goes anywhere, the Yeerks will get her," said Cassie.

"What about Erek? He's good at hiding people."

"Um..." Jake

"Yeah." Rachel agreed. "Kimberly will be a lot safer than being chased by Controllers every second."

"I...don't think that's a good idea." This was new, hearing that from Jake. How could he disagree with that?

"Why?" I asked.

"How should I say this... Kimberly...is still tied to the Black Massacre. I know it sounds bad but if she leaves, the woman may not appear and give us the answers we want."

"Exactly why would a murderous assassin come forth to us and explain to us what the heck she's doing here when she can kill us right on the spot?" I asked sarcastically.

"Marco, has she once tried to hurt us so far?" Rachel said.

"No, but you can't be sure."

She rolled her eyes. "But we got David coming after her. If she stays, she's toast."

Xena was right. David was still out there somewhere. He was perhaps, waiting for a chance to butcher us if we'd even turn a blind eye. Man, was hoping not to think about that danger for a while. At least maybe in twenty years but not now.

Jake, however, persuaded. "Don't you remember what she said? Kimberly's invaluable to us. And she's already involved too deep in this war."

"Jake, why are you so keen on her staying? There are too many things that can happen to her. She can't hang around here."

"Well, she could camp in the woods again," I said. "That worked for her."

Our leader sighed. He couldn't get us to think otherwise. With that, he got up from his seat and headed to the window.

"Jake?" Cassie called, wondering what he was doing.

He peered out, looking everywhere outside. "Tobias, did you double-check the area?"

(Yeah. I did it again before I arrived.)

He kept on looking nervously. "Wonder if she's out there..."

"Ok, Jake, what's going on?" Rachel questioned, crossing her arms.

Jake looked back at us. He opened his mouth at first, then shut it. He thought hard, like he was trying to find the right words.

He then walked away from the window until he stopped at the other side of the kitchen.

"Remember she came to us and she had a Time Matrix look-alike? And...something happened to me?"

"Yeah?"

"Well...she...did say something important to me."

"What!" Rachel uttered.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" I shouted at Jake.

"Geez, there is a good reason and I don't want to look forward to it."

"You're not making any sense. Nothing so far makes sense!"

"What did she say to you?" Cassie asked him.

"I don't think I should...or else I'll be having a bullet to my head."

I cocked up an eyebrow. Made us wonder if he was about to lose it.

"Come on, Great Leader. We're your comrades and by right, you have to tell us too. What, did she threaten you or something?"

"Something like that..."

"Jake, just tell us," Cassie pleaded softly.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. You're gonna have to trust me on this one."

The girls and I weren't sure. Trust him? Heck! That woman could have wiped out his memory that time or brainwashed him! Or she could have aimed the barrel of her weird gun at his head!

"Alright, we won't ask," said Rachel.

My jaw just dropped. "Wait a minute, Xena! He won't tell us what that lady told him and you're ok with that!"

"If she did threaten Jake not to tell us, then it must really be important. But at least give us some clue. And a reason why Kimberly should stay."

"Let's just say...she and the Black Massacre has one very common thing between them," he said and wouldn't go further than that. "But all we know is that Kimberly is important."

"Ok, so got a plan?"

His mouth opened and no words came out again. All he did was widened his eyes and shook his head. "...Not that I know of."

It was quiet once again. Then Tobias broke the silence.

(I know this sounds stupid but...what if we recruit her?)

That, everyone, was a very VERY BAD IDEA!

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold everything! Time out! Aren't we going too fast?"

(What's the problem?)

"This is Kimberly we're talking about! You want her to be one of us! An Animorph!"

"He's right," uttered Cassie worriedly. "She might not handle it well."

"Yeah, Kimberly? She doesn't look like the fighting kind," Rachel stated.

(What's wrong with that? Think about it, she doesn't have to go anywhere and she can fight if she wants to. She'd at least have the morphing power to protect herself.)

"Plus, she can predict everything we do with just her dreams. We can be five steps ahead before the Yeerks even have a chance to fight back," Jake pointed.

"You got a point there," said Rachel.

"Are you kidding me! You're agreeing with this!"

"Well, there's no other option but to recruit her, Marco," said Jake

"You're not thinking straight. You got threatened few days ago! Recruiting Oddball Kim is totally a bad idea! I'm against it!"

(Are you sure you're not still hung over what Kimberly did to you-)

"God, people! Drop it! This matter is not me, it's how can we guarantee she won't be like David!"

That really silenced everybody up. They suddenly looked at me like I stepped on a thin line. But it was the truth, they knew it. It's been barely a month since young David found the cube, tried to sell it only to get the Yeerks right at his front door, be recruited by us and then betrayed us all.

The girls frowned – both differently – at the thought of another traitor and Tobias said nothing outside. Jake however, looked as calm as ever.

"But Kimberly is Kimberly," said Cassie. "She's not a monster. She's just scared."

(Yeah, how can you say she'll turn into David?)

"Then can she be trusted with this amazing power? We can't take the chance if she turns her back on us!" I continued.

Rachel sighed. What she would say next would make her regret herself on the spot. "You're right about that."

"Rachel!" Cassie yelled.

"I'm sorry but he is right! It's only been weeks since we got rid of David. Having a new recruit so soon...might be a bad idea."

"So you two are saying we should get rid of her too?"

"That's harsh, Cassie," I said. "But she just can't be one of us-"

"Then don't!" She stood up, banging her hands on the table. "Kimberly didn't want anything of this to happen. All she wanted was to be saved from her dreams!"

I had never seen her throw her temper like that. It shocked me and Rachel.

"Cassie-" Rachel started but was cut short by Jake.

"Then how about a vote?"

(How can you think of voting at a time like this?)

"Well, this discussion isn't going to end without a vote. It's better than arguing to no end."

"Fine," I said. We would probably go on for eons anyway.

"All those who's against recruiting her."

"Do you have to ask me? Of course, I'm against it."

"I'm in," Rachel uttered."

"All those who thinks she should stay."

Cassie looked unsure. "I do...not because she should be one of us but because she needs us."

(Same vote too.)

"That's 2 against 2."

"Wait, what about you?" I asked.

"I already made a vote. It's neutral."

"...Oh our great leader," I droned. "Good joke but seriously, pick one."

"I'm not joking."

Alright, it's confirmed. He has lost his mind.

"Then it's a tie," said Rachel. "You've got to choose one, Jake."

"Yeah," I said. "You can't be indecisive now."

"I'm not going to change my vote."

"We'll still argue on if we don't put an end to it."

"If that's the case, let me tell you something someone told me," he continued. "There can never be another David."

That caught us four off guard.

"Nor can there be another Kimberly."

And that got us too.

"She can or can't be like David but before you say anything, answer this. Do you really think she's that kind of person?"

We said nothing. He struck us hard with that question and the answer was biting back at me. Kimberly was an oddball, a clumsy girl who was always cheery for no apparent reason. That was the side we saw at school. The other side was her misery, her wanting to be taken away from that but she was willing to sacrifice that and run away just so that nobody would get hurt from her dreams.

David was totally the opposite.

"And you think she won't betray us?" I asked.

"There's nothing to prove she will," was his straight answer.

"But what if-"

"If she does, then we'll stop her. We did it once and we will do it again. But for now, we shouldn't judge her just because of our mistake. She's involved in this, so she needs to choose too."

Another moment of silence hung in the air.

"She can choose to fight, deceive us or run away," said our leader seriously. "It's up to her."

"...Alright. You've convinced me," Rachel uttered, folding her arms. "She really isn't the bad type anyway. But I want to say we should keep watch on her."

"Hey, Xena. You've been changing your mind a lot. What gives?"

"Something wrong with what I think?" she hissed. "I do think she may be trouble but I don't want to think that way. After everything that has happened, I've been having second thoughts. I guess I want to keep an open mind about her."

"That's a first, coming out from you."

"Do you really want to irritate me more?"

Cassie looked much better, her grimace turned into a beam. "My vote stays the same."

(Ditto.)

"Marco?"

They all looked at me once more, waiting for an answer. Great, down to 1 vote and I had to change it. The reasons were all there like a straight flush thrown on the table and I had bad cards in my hand.

And those reasons were right.

"I cannot believe I'm saying this...ok, fine." I gave in, rolling my eyes.

"That's 4 votes. I'm changing my vote too."

"You never did vote 'neutral', did you?"

(Better make it 5. I'm sure Ax would want that. He'd be happy,) said Tobias.

Jake smiled. "5, it is. She stays. Now all we need is her answer. If she joins, we give her the morphing power. If not and she just wants nothing to do with it, we'll keep her safe."

"I still think this is a bad idea. And if it goes bad, I want nothing to do with it," I told them truthfully.

(Marco, we think you're just upset about what Kimberly did to you.)

"Why are you all so persistent? I keep telling you all that's not the reason! And if it was that reason, not that I'm saying it is, she could have said it gently!"

"Right, like she would to you," Rachel remarked.

"You know, you could have just asked any other girl to the dance," said Jake.

"Instead, you picked Kimberly."

"Well, I did have one in mind. She was one of Oddball Kim's best friends. But I couldn't find her before the dance. I don't even know her name-"

"Her name was Lauren Brown."

We turned our heads. Standing there was Kimberly in clean clothes Cassie had given. Cassie was right about earlier, she wasn't doing so good. Kimberly hadn't recovered much and certainly not enough. Her black ring under her green eye became darker than they were before. Beside her was Malcolm, sitting as close as possible to his master. Apparently, Cassie let him in from the barn earlier in hopes he'd cheer her up.

Her face was hollowed with gloom and she was staring straight at me with that face for some reason.

"She sat behind you in Science every Tuesday and Friday."

"Kimberly, you shouldn't be out of bed. You still need rest," Cassie told her as she got up from her seat and took her hand to bring her back to rest.

She jerked it away and didn't take her eye off of me. That surprised Cassie, making her wonder if she had upset her.

"What's with the attitude?" I uttered. And what was with the past tense?

Kimberly didn't hear. Or at least she didn't want to listen.

"Lauren was my best friend. She lived next door to me... Lauren liked reading and swimming...loved music more than the next person. She would play her CD player and sing along with the lyrics..."

She bit her lower lip, trying her best not to cry.

"She was proud and...always active. She would admit everything that's bad about her without a care in the world...like the time she was afraid of a spider and asked me to get rid of it...or the time she ran to my house because she couldn't face her father shouting at her for a bad grade..."

The whole kitchen fell silent again. I thought that was the end of it. It wasn't.

"And the time she wanted to tell someone she liked him...but was just too afraid to. And she always would say, "You know me...I'm just yellow"."

She never let her gaze down. She kept on staring at me, ignoring everything else around her.

"And your point?"

Man, did I say the stupidest thing. Those words got her mad. Kimberly grounded her teeth and glared at me angrily. Before I knew it, she walked right to me.

SLAP!

And slapped my face.

"Ouch! What was that-"

POW!

Her balled fist whacked right at my jaw. I, not even the others, couldn't believe what just happened. I just got punched in the face by a girl. And by Kimberly, for that matter.

I fell on the linoleum floor. Hard.

"Marco! Are you alright!" Cassie shouted.

"What's your problem? You didn't have to punch him!" Rachel yelled and tried to hold her back.

Kimberly didn't care. She was too angry at me.

"You jerk!" Kimberly screamed at me. Tears started to pour down and I didn't know why she was crying about.

"Kimberly, calm down!" hollered Jake.

Then we were stopped by what she said next.

"How could you ignore her! How could you not tell it was you who she liked? She sat behind you! Always behind and you never looked back at her!"

I was shocked at what she said. The girl behind me...Lauren liked me? Liked like me?

"She always laughed at your jokes! She always told me how she felt about you but never had the guts to tell you! Because she was frightened you wouldn't like her! Because of the stupid rumors about her!"

But I wouldn't do that. That was what I wanted to tell her. But this time, I kept my mouth shut.

There were rumors about Lauren. How her parents drove her to exhaustion to be top student and their future cash cow, only to land in hospital three times. How she was seen with an older guy and thought to be his girlfriend.

And the latest rumor was she ran away because her father was doing something bad to her. But that one turned out to be a lie when Kimberly said the awful truth right before me.

"But she died!"

Dread took hold of me. All of us. Cassie covered her mouth with anguish in her eyes. Jake and Rachel couldn't say a thing, too alarmed by the sudden news of a classmate's death. Tobias, even though he was a hawk with no expression, was just as shocked as we were.

"Three weeks ago, she died from cancer! And nobody knew about that! She didn't tell anyone she was sick because she wanted to study hard so that her parents could be proud of her!"

Kimberly couldn't stop crying.

"But I knew! I saw her in my dreams! I told her something bad would happen but she thought it was my imagination! And I didn't keep telling her! I was the only one from school who went to her funeral! It's my fault she'd dead. Because of that, I'm a terrible person!"

Cassie tried to speak. "Kimberly-"

"But you," Kimberly snapped at me. "You're the worse!"

Me? Worse than her?

"You're worse than her father! You're worse than anyone!"

"What-" I spoke out.

"You asked me to the dance instead of her!" she sobbed loudly. "That's why I said no. If I said yes to you, I'd be betraying Lauren! How could I go through with that! She's my best friend!"

She gave me her reason why she wouldn't go out with me. All because she didn't want to be a traitor to her dead friend.

"Isn't that the same if I betray you!"How How

She overheard us. She heard we would react if she let us down just as she felt she would when I asked her one question three weeks ago: to go out with me to the dance.

"That's why I said no. I never wanted to hurt Lauren and I don't intend to... Lauren liked you. You should have asked her!"

"I...I didn't know."

"Didn't know!" She shoved Rachel aside and grabbed me by the shirt. Her angry green eye pierced into me like a dagger. "How could you not know! She was behind you for so long! That's why I asked your friend if there was nobody going out with you! So that I could push her forward to meet you!"

Jake gave a shocked face.

"She was supposed to go out with you! If you'd ask her, it'll make her so happy! Even if she was going to die, she would have been thrilled! So why didn't Lauren go out with you! Why did it turn out to be me! Why didn't you choose her!"

Why?

Because before the dance, Jake came up to me and said Kimberly asked if I was going out. Because I thought she wanted me instead of any other guy. Because I couldn't find the one I wanted to ask first anywhere at school so I figured I should just ask Kimberly to the dance. That was why I chose her and didn't try harder to find Lauren.

"Answer me, Marco!"

But I couldn't say them to her.

"ANSWER ME!"

I just couldn't.

Rachel grabbed her arms and pulled her back as she kept on yelling at me, crying her heart out. Jake helped out but Kimberly pushed them away and marched out of the kitchen, Malcolm following her. Cassie tried to stop her but she looked down at me. So did Jake and Rachel.

I did nothing but sit there, taking it all in.

"Marco, you ok?" Jake asked.

Jake, you knew the answer. I wasn't. I found out a lot of things. I felt like I was being eaten by everything Kimberly had told me. And it came to one conclusion.

"So basically...it's my fault."

It hit me, more painful than the slap and punch I got. I couldn't joke about it. I couldn't deny it, not even ignore it. It was just like the time I found out my mom became Visser One. But this time was different. I could have done something.

Right there on the kitchen floor, I wondered...had I asked Lauren out, would she be delighted even though she wouldn't have made it to that night? Would Kimberly have not run away in the first place if her friend was happy to have been asked by me?

Before anyone could say something, we heard the back door slam.

(Not good! Kimberly just ran out with her dog!)

"Not again!" Rachel. "Doesn't she know when to stop?"

"All the more reason not to," I said blankly. I didn't care much to drone on with sarcasm.

"...Marco, it's not your fault. You didn't know," Cassie explained.

"Shouldn't it be my fault? She was right behind me and all I had to do was just look back and notice her. I could have asked something to borrow from her. I could have talked to her, say "Hello, I'm the funny guy who sits in front of you," to her. But I didn't because of those rumors I heard..."

"So? You're no different than us. We heard about them," Jake stated. "But they're just rumors."

"Rumors or not, I should have done something. Maybe Kimberly wouldn't have run away and found out about this war."

"Marco..." He patiently took time to say the right words to me. "Things happen. We didn't know about Kimberly's friend from the beginning."

I said no reply.

"Tobias, follow Kimberly and keep an eye on her."

(On it.)

"We need to catch her again," he ordered. "She's not safe out there without us. Come on."

Jake and Cassie ran out of the kitchen, leaving me and Rachel behind. I didn't feel like getting up. Getting up meant I'd have to face Kimberly again and get that angry face from her. And I would have to think about that girl I didn't know about.

And the more I would think about her, the more I'd feel disgust to myself.

"Are you going to sit there all day?"

"Feels comfortable. So it doesn't seem like a bad idea," I told Rachel.

She folded her arms. "This isn't like you. You should be saying something comical by now, shake it off and join us."

I heaved a deep sigh. She was right about that but I didn't feel like joking around still time. "This fight...we are so focused on the Yeerks that we never take time to see everything else. I've been too busy to notice anything."

Morphing, fighting the bad guys, trying to cope with the amount of homework. Joking about making it out alive to see the next day and hope nothing bad happens.

But bad things did happen to Lauren and she was right behind me in class. I should have seen it coming.

"...I think I know what kind of person Kimberly's like. She's the kind who doesn't know who to blame."

I looked at Rachel with a raised eyebrow. Why was she going with this?

"Do you know why? I was like that. I know what it's like losing someone," she said and let out a sigh. "...When my parents divorced, I couldn't stop thinking who's fault was it that they divorced. Me, my sisters, my mom or my dad? I wanted to blame someone...but in the end, there's just nobody for me to blame."

"Is that supposed to make me better? You all saw her get mad at me."

"And I know right now, she feels awful," Rachel explained. "She will realize what she did and when she does, she's going to feel sorry and take the blame on herself for everything. I did that too but Kimberly, she's going to get worse... So c'mon. Get up." She held her hand to me. "You, me, and the others are going to look for her. And when you see her, tell her you're sorry too."

I looked at her like she had gone crazy. What, I have to say sorry to Oddball Kim?

"There was nobody to help me then. I had to grow up on my own. But Kimberly is not like me. She's not strong enough to do that. She needs to hear from someone it's not her fault or anyone's fault for that matter. So tell her what you just said and that you're are as sorry as she is. Then you both can stop blaming yourselves."

"What makes you so sure it'll make us feel better?"

"...If it was me who died, I wouldn't want anyone to be upset over me."

I didn't like the sound of that. The word 'died' coming out from Warrior Princess Xena.

"And Lauren would probably not want you or Kimberly to."

"...Isn't that what we all wouldn't want if we died?" I said. If I died, Dad would be devastated. If anyone else died, I'd be miserable about it.

Lauren passed away, leaving this world too suddenly. And thanks to Rachel's words, even if I didn't know her that well, she'd not want the guy she really liked to sad about her.

"I now hate something about you," I told her.

"What's that?"

"You counseling me."

"Is that so? Well, I hate this ugly side of you. This is going to be the first and last time I'm helping you like this."

I felt a bit better. "Yeah, and the same goes for the horrible side of me."

"So are you getting up or not?"

"Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses, Xena," I got up slowly and rubbed the sore on my chin. "But you know it's not my nature to apologize. Even to that oddball."

"I know that. That's why I'm going to make you say sorry to Kimberly."

I smirked. Forceful but she gets her way.

Because of that, I realized the truth. I couldn't blame myself. There was nothing I could have done if I had notice the brunette with brown eyes who sat behind me every Tuesday and Friday. I could have made her happy before she died from cancer but that would have been as far as I could go. Like Jake said, things happened.

But there was something I could now. Maybe it could make it up for the mistake I made. Maybe it would make Lauren pleased if I did it. Maybe not. But it was better than nothing.

I'd talk to Kimberly.

"Alright, let's look for her...yet again." I droned and we both went out the back door.

Realizing something that seemed impossible is the hardest thing to accept but when you are in a conflict like this, nothing is impossible. Not even to me. Henceforth, those dream-like prophecies begin to seem less unfeasible as time goes on.

For once, those children now believed my other self was telling the truth. Her dreams were true. They could somehow predict something would happen when they shouldn't. However, it cost her best friend for them to realize that. And at that moment, they would not give up on her or cast her aside in fear of losing loyalty to their team.

That is what I called ignorant. They have no idea what they will gain or lose with the usage of my young self's power.

Then again, neither do I. The power I have, I can't foretell what would happen if she'd fight these battles or run in fear. Ironic.

I couldn't predict so all I could do is think. My other self is still young, her ability still new. Those children are young, much too young to be thrown into the battlefield. As they fight, they will make one mistake with or without her foresight and be torn down at their failure. However, they cannot stop in a continuing war and have to stand up to fight, hoping they can correct their mistakes by winning.

And during their long fight, they are willing to reach out and held my other self onto her feet.

In the Original, such thing never happened to me. I was involved in this war long when I was a child. I had no one to help me in the beginning and in the end, I relied only on myself. Has been that way ever since. There were several times when I was not alone in the battlefield...several times, my comrades in the guerilla unit had done the same thing as these children were about to do but I rejected their offer because...I knew I cannot be saved, no matter how many times I fell in this war. I kept pushing myself and fought on. Even now, I regretted having not taken their hands to lift me up.

I guess that is why I want those children to enlist her: so she can have a chance to be saved.

Vickie: Hey, everyone! Latest chp is up and running! :D The best parts are gonna come right after this chp! It's action time! Woo-hoo!

I'm still kinda sad I've been having few reviews (which I do appreciate! Thank ya all) but I wish for more...PLEASE PEOPLE! I BREATHE ON REVIEWS! jxj

Anyhow, I'm planning to draw out what seems like an Animorphs book cover and an advertisement on this fanfic of mine to get more readers...which I hope will work. Fingers cross if I can make it into a nice masterpiece. I'll put up the link for you all to see when I'm done.

(crickets in the background)

...Ok, it's kinda lonely without Marco to torture but hey, good news. He'll be back from the hospital in the next chp so till then, ciao!

(At the hospital, Marco groans with a predicting omen in his sleep)