Last chapter already? Yep, like I told you before, this is a short story. And if you're looking for this song, it's not the Phil Collins version. It's the other version. Enjoy!

Everything That I Am

Nessarose stood in the doorway of the tree house Horton had shown her, taking it all in. The room was a mess, but that wasn't what she was looking at. She was looking at the house in general. In some part of her brain, a voice kept telling her that she'd been here before.

Taking cautious steps, Nessarose walked inside. The house was filled with objects only humans could have made, as well as leafs which had blown in through the open windows. Her eyes caught sight of a crib in the corner of the room. Her crib, she discovered, when she saw her name on it.

But as she took a step towards it, Nessarose trod on something.

She looked down, removing her foot, and gasped. It was a picture. Nessarose picked it up and looked at the figures in it.

A man with brown hair, like hers, and brown eyes sat in a chair, smiling at the camera. But his smile was strained, as if he was worried about something. Next to him, in a bed, lay a woman. Her hair was blonde, and she had green eyes, like Nessarose. She was smiling, too, but like the man's, her smile was strained. And she also looked weak. Very weak.

And finally, in the woman's arms, Nessarose saw a tiny baby.

“Is...is this...me?” she asked Horton.

He stood in the doorway, watching Nessarose.

“Yes,” he said. “From what I assumed, your mother died of childbirth. Your father brought you here, and built this tree house, and some bridge not far from here. He was killed by a leopard, but not before he fatally injured it. You were crying for hours, which was when I found you.”

Nessarose looked back at the picture. Her hand rubbed her parent's faces, as if she was trying to touch them. As she did, she remembered the song she had been singing some ten minutes before.

Will someone tell me where I belong? Where I should go? Can someone tell me where I'm going wrong? I need to know.

Nessarose took a deep breath.

“Is this my past here before me?” she began to sing. “Is this my story unfolding? It's all here to discover; everything that I am.”

She stepped over to the crib, running her hand along the edge.

“Can this be what I've been seeking?” she continued. “All my life I've been waiting for this. And now these memories; will they make me see more?”

Nessarose gazed into the crib, and touched the blanket that lay inside it. The blanket she once slept in.

“Ooh, I wanna know where I belong,” she sang. “I wanna know where I came from. I wanna know the reason why I'm here, the way I am, feeling the things I feel.”

Taking her hand out of the crib, Nessarose looked back at the picture in her other hand.

“Is this my family?” she continued to sing. “Can it really be them, that I see? My father, and mother. And in her arms, can it really be me?”

She walked over to the open window, gazing out into the jungle below.

“All these emotions,” she sang. “I can barely control.”

She looked back down at the picture, tears starting to form in her eyes.

“'Cause the family I had, is not, the family I know.”

She placed the picture down on the table next to her crib, before leaning up against the wall.

“Ooh, and I, gotta know where I belong,” she sang. “I gotta know where I came from. I gotta know the reason, why I'm here, the way I am, feeling the things I feel.”

Looking around her, Nessarose thought she saw the spirits of her parents.

“These spirits, calling me,” she sang. “Familiar voices, haunting.”

A mind-trick in the form of her father appeared in front of her, holding out a hand towards her. Nessarose held out her hand to touch him, but he vanished before their hands could even brush each other.

“Disappearing, taunting me,” she continued to sing, pulling her hand back. “This, is the choice, I must make.”

Nessarose turned to face the window again, closing her eyes.

“'Cause I know where I...belong,” she sang. “I know where I, I came from. I know the reason why; I must decide. And leave here, the girl I am, inside.”

She looked out over the jungle through the open window. Her home. That was how it was going to stay. And nothing could change that.

“My future is clear for me to see; to be the girl I'm meant to be,” she sang. “Like my mother with my head held high, standing tall, and proud of all, that I am.”

Nessarose gave a deep sigh.

She was proud of who she was. And nothing the Kangaroo could say would ever change that.

“Are you OK, Nessa?” Horton asked.

Nessarose nodded.

“Yeah, I'm fine,” she said.

“Well then, it's getting dark. Should we go, now?” he suggested.

Nessarose shook her head.

“No,” she said. “I think I'm gonna sleep here from now on. It feels right.”

“I understand,” Horton said, turning to leave. “Goodnight.”

When he had gone, Nessarose crawled into the bed her father had made for himself all those years ago, and snuggled down into the covers.

Even though she was a human, Nessarose knew that she belonged in the jungle, and always will.

Finished! Thanks to all those who have reviewed, and a special thanks to pachysam for some of the lines used in this story.

The sequel to Horton And Nessarose should be up in a few days, so watch out for that! The summary is on my profile, if you want to know what it's about.

But until the sequel, peace out!