WARNING: If you hate romance fics or can't stand Ax, DO NOT read this fanfic.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story (as well as all my others) grew out of my desire to see Ax do something other than act superior and try to kill Visser Three. I feel that Ax has the potential to become much more than the brilliant, fact-spouting alien KA has created, so I'd especially appreciate feed-back on my development of his character. Thank you and happy reading.

Chapter One - Kate

"'Bye, Cassie!" I called, waving. She waved back and continued up the road to her farmhouse.

I unlocked the front door and flung my backpack on the bench by the doorway. I automatically turned left and stopped. Wait a sec . . . oh, that's right, I thought, embarrassed even though there was no one home to see me. New house, kitchen on the right, not the left.

I'm really not stupid, I swear. But I'd only been in this house a week, and I'd lived in my old apartment for almost fourteen years. Old habits die hard.

A week . . . I thought as I rummaged through the refrigerator. One week, and I'd already made new friends, started at a new school, found out about an alien invasion, and gotten the ability to turn into any animal I could touch.

Oh, yeah. Hey, did I mention that? Yeah, Earth's being invaded by a species of parasitic slugs called Yeerks. They invade people's brains and take over. No one on Earth - no free people, that is - know about the invasion except my friends and me. Controllers, humans (or Hork Bajir or Taxxons) who are infested by Yeerks, know about the invasion, of course. But they can't do anything to stop it.

By the way, my name's Kate.

My friends (who can also turn into any animal they touch - "morphing," it's called) are Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, Tobias, and Ax. Ax is an Andalite.

A what? you're probably saying.

An Andalite. They're the alien species that invented the morphing technology, but lucky for us, they're the good guys. Ax has four hoofed legs, blue and tan fur, a humanoid upper body with weak arms, a face with no mouth, two big, beautiful, green eyes, another two eyes mounted on stalks on top of his head that can swivel in any direction, and a powerful, dangerous tail that's tipped by a razor-sharp blade.

I don't know him that well, but he seems really nice. He lives in the woods with Tobias, who's a red-tailed hawk. Actually, Tobias is a human trapped in a hawk's body.

You see, that's the down side of morphing. You stay more than two hours, you stay forever.

And that's it. You probably know the rest, so I won't bore you with the details.

Oh, one other thing about me. I have cancer.

And at this point, you're probably saying, Gee, Kate. That's sort of important.

But it's not. Not really. I'm in remission right now, so it's only important for about a 24-hour period every month when I go to the hospital to get a blood work-up and get pumped full of chemicals that make me hurl. The next morning, I'm fine again and I barely think about it. Fortunately, Cassie and Ax and the others seem to be really cool with it. My old "friends" were actually scared of me, like I was contagious or something. Cancer's awful, to say the least, but not contagious.

Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah. I was rummaging through the fridge, looking for something edible. My family and I had been eating out and ordering out a lot, so I came up with a leftover piece of cold veggie pizza. My dad's a vegetarian, so forget pepperoni. If my mom or I want meat, we have to buy it ourselves.

Before I ate my pizza, I called my mom at her office. After I was diagnosed with leukemia, my parents became super over-protective. My mom insists that I call her every day by three-thirty to let her know where I am and what I'm doing. She didn't used to make me do that, even when we lived in a big city. I could tell her at breakfast what was going on after school, and it'd be fine. But now I have to check in.

"Hello?" my mom said, sounding harried. She's been complaining about her new boss, so he was probably giving her a hard time about something.

"Hi, Mom," I answered.

"Oh, hi, Katy. How was school?"

"Fine. I'm at home, but would it be okay if I went over to Cassie's house?"

"How's your homework?"

"Not bad. They don't give as much here as they did at St. Elizabeth's. Besides, it's Friday." When I lived in the city, I went to a super-tough parochial school. All girls, uniforms, the whole bit. Believe me, public school was a huge relief.

"Oh, that's right. Friday. I'd almost forgotten. All right then. Your dad and I are going out tonight, so you'll be on your own for dinner. Is that okay?"

"Sure. There's plenty of pizza in the fridge. Where are you going?"

"Just to a meeting of the Sharing." I froze. The Sharing was a Yeerk front organization, set up to recruit voluntary Controllers. "Katy?" my mom said when I didn't respond. "Sweetie, are you okay?" my mom asked, worried.

"Yeah, yeah," I finally said. "I'm fine. Just sort of spaced out for a second. So I can go over to Cassie's?"

"Yes. Honey, are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"Fine, Mom," I answered reassuringly. Truthfully, I was a little tired, but I figured it was just stress. I mean, it's not like my life had changed in the past week or anything.

"Okay. Your dad and I will be home about ten. Love you."

"Okay. Love you, too. 'Bye." I hung up and ate my pizza. Then I jogged up the road to Cassie's house.

Chapter Two - Cassie

"C'mon, little one," I murmured to a fawn as I prepared his bottle. His mother had been hit by a car and badly injured two days before. She would live, but for the moment she couldn't take care of her baby. So the task fell to me.

"Hi, Cassie," Kate said, walking in. She sounded a little out of breath, like she'd run all the way here.

"Hi, Kate. You ever bottle-fed a fawn?" I asked.

"No, can't say as I have. I've bottle-fed a tiger cub, though."

"Close enough," I said with a laugh. "Can you feed this little guy?"

"Sure, but don't you want to do it?"

"Yeah, but I have ten thousand other things to do in here, and he's such a slow poke. It takes forever to feed him."

"I don't mind," Kate said with a smile, as she took the bottle from me. "What's his name?"

"Schubert." Kate looked at me strangely. "It's some composer guy," I explained. "My dad chose it, not me."

"Ah." She laid the fawn across her lap and showed him the bottle. I'd fed him four times before - he knew what that bottle meant. He grabbed hold and she held the bottle up so he wouldn't suck air in with the formula. "Am I doing okay?" she asked.

"Perfect," I answered. "He usually drinks two." I went back to work, feeding and watering the other patients.

A few minutes later, three birds flew in the hayloft. ^Hello,^ Tobias's voice said in my head. He landed on one of the rafters.

Another bird, a raptor with gray and white feathers, landed on the ground and began to grow larger. Feathers melted to reveal first pink skin, and then blue fur. Stalk eyes sprouted and the tail lengthened until an Andalite stood in front of us. ^Hello, Kate, Cassie.^

"Hi, Ax," Kate answered. She removed the bottle from the fawn's mouth to check how much was left. Schubert tried to grab at it, and she laughed. "Hold on, hold on! There nothing left in this one," she told him affectionately. "I'll get you another." I handed one to her. "Thanks."

The third bird, a massive bald eagle landed on the floor. A tall blond girl (Rachel) began to emerge from its shape.

"So what's up?" I asked.

^I don't know,^ Tobias replied. ^I think this is just a regular meeting.^ Just then I heard the sound of bikes pulling up the path and being leaned against the wall.

"Sorry we're late," Jake said, coming in. "I had to wait for Marco to get out of detention."

"What'd you do this time?" I asked.

"Nothing, absolutely NOTHING," Marco answered.

"Really?" Kate said skeptically.

"Really!" he said honestly. "It was all Old Lady Siller's fault. If her lecture hadn't been so boring, I wouldn't have fallen asleep. And she gave me a fifteen minute detention!"

^And let me guess. When you tried to explain that to her, she made it a half an hour?^ Tobias said jokingly.

"Yeah," Marco admitted. "I don't know why." Jake shook his head and Kate laughed. Ax looked confused.

"So what's up?" Jake asked, lounging on a pile of hay. "Any news?"

"Not that we know of," I replied. "The Yeerks have been really quiet."

"Which may or may not be a good thing," Marco chimed in darkly. "We can't be sure what they're up to."

"No," Jake agreed. "But Erek hasn't said anything, right?" Marco shook his head. "Okay then. Besides, this gives our new member an opportunity to get used to morphing. Much better than . . . well, than last time."

"Last time?" Kate repeated. Everyone just sort of looked at the floor. No one wanted to talk about the disastrous David incident. After a moment, when she realized that no one was going to explain, she said, "Umm, who's Erek?"

^Oh,^ Tobias said, relieved. ^Erek is an android. He belongs to a race called the Chee. They live as humans by projecting very, very, VERY realistic holograms.^

^The Chee are extremely powerful physically, but their creators, the Pemalites, programmed them against violence. They cannot fight with us, but they are quite good at bringing us information, as they are able to easily pass as Controllers,^ Ax added.

"Oh," Kate said. "So, there's nothing going on right now?"

"No, but . . ." I looked at her thoughtfully. "You only have one morph, right? The falcon?"

"Yes."

"Well, you really need more than that. An insect morph, like a fly, and a battle morph, like a tiger or a grizzly bear -"

"Anything except a lion," Marco muttered.

"Also, a dolphin. Sometimes we have to do stuff out in the ocean and dolphins come in handy then. Plus, they're just a lot of fun." I smiled.

"Okay, but how do I acquire these animals?"

"The Gardens," I replied simply. "We can go tonight. They're closed to the public because they're doing some maintenance on a couple of the rides, but we wouldn't exactly go on foot. Can you come?"

"Yeah, my parents won't be home until about ten," she replied. She seemed to want to say more, but decided against it.

"Okay," Jake said. "But I have to get home. It's my parents' anniversary."

"And I'm still grounded from the last time we were out late on a mission," Marco said with a groan.

"Well, we can't be too late, because I have to finish that history paper that's due Monday," I said as Kate handed Schubert's bottle to me. I picked him up and put him back in his pen.

"History paper?" Marco asked, looking confused. Then his eyes flew open and he slapped his forehead. "Oh, man! I completely forgot!"

"You mean you haven't started writing it?"

"Writing it?! I don't even have a topic!" Marco exclaimed in a panic. He jumped up. "I'll see you guys later," he called over his shoulder as he grabbed his bike.

Rachel shook her head. "I can't go either. My mom's going out to dinner with a bunch of really important clients. I have to be home to baby-sit Jordan and Sara." She glanced at her watch. "Whoa. In fact, I need to go now."

Jake left a few minutes later. I looked at Tobias, Ax, and Kate. "Well, I guess it's just us. You ready, Kate?"

"I guess," she replied uncertainly.

Chapter Three - Kate

The four of us circled the Gardens, which is a gigantic amusement park/zoo. ^Ax and Tobias, while Kate's acquiring her morph, you two should stand guard,^ Cassie told them.

^Yes, ma'am,^ Tobias said with a laugh.

Cassie ignored him. ^So, Kate. Where to first?^

^I don't know. I guess . . . maybe I should acquire one of the dolphins. There's no one near their tank.^

^Okay.^ Cassie and I dropped down toward the tank and landed in the shadows. We demorphed and stepped to the edge of the tank. Cassie gently patted the surface of the water, causing one of the dolphins to swim over to investigate. I reached out and stroked her huge, gray head. She rolled over and looked me in the eye as I acquired her.

"That was strange," I remarked after the dolphin had swum off. "She looked me right in the eye."

"Yeah, dolphins are very intelligent. Borderline sentient." Cassie and I were remorphing in the shadows. ^Sometimes it bothers me to morph them,^ she said, almost fully osprey.

"Why?" I asked, only about half-way done.

^Because I'm taking their DNA without asking. Controlling them, in a way. But, then again, if the Yeerks win, all the dolphins will die, too. So I guess that makes it okay.^ She didn't sound as if she really believed what she was saying. I thought about that as we flew up to join Tobias and Ax.

^Next up is your battle morph. Any idea what animal you want?^

^Some sort of cat,^ I replied. I love cats. They're so graceful, almost liquid, unlike the raw strength of dogs.

^Jake has a tiger. How about . . ." Cassie scanned the trees below us for ideas. ^Oh! How about a leopard? They have a female here. My mom mentioned that she was having some minor surgery today. She should be back in her pen by now, but she'll still be a little groggy, so it's probably safe to acquire her.^

^Okay,^ I agreed.

Cassie and I landed in a tree in the leopard's habitat. Luck seemed to be on our side. The big, sleek cat was asleep under one of the other trees, only about seven feet away. I swooped down to the ground and demorphed as quietly as possible. ^Tobias, Ax,^ Cassie called up. ^Are we clear?^

^Yep,^ Tobias answered.

I crept toward the sleeping leopard and softly placed my hand on the thick fur of her neck. She didn't stir as I acquired her and remorphed in the shadows.

^Well,^ Tobias said once we were on our way home. ^That went unusually well.^

^Yes,^ Ax agreed. ^We were extraordinarily lucky.^

^If Marco were here, he'd be saying we were TOO lucky,^ Tobias added with a laugh.

We landed by Ax's scoop, and Tobias flew off to hunt before it became too dark. The rest of us demorphed.

"What time is it?" Cassie asked.

^It is 5:34,^ Ax answered.

"I'd better go," Cassie said. "'Bye, everyone!" she called as she jogged off.

Ax and I looked at each other.

"So," I said. I bit my lip. "Ax . . ." I stopped, hesitating.

^Is everything all right?^ Ax asked.

"Yeah . . . Would you like to come over? My parents are at a . . . a Sharing meeting. They won't be home till about ten. There's pizza in the fridge." I looked at Ax hopefully. I didn't want to eat alone in a house that still wasn't very familiar to me.

^Yes, Kate. I would like that very much.^

I smiled. "Good. Thanks. Okay, then. Why don't you morph to human?"

Chapter Four - Ax

Kate's house was dark, unlike most of the other homes on the street. We went inside and she turned the light on it the "kitchen" - the room in which humans prepare food.

"You like pizza?" she asked.

"Yes, I enjoy pizza. Peezt. Ah. Puh. Puh."

Kate shook her head and pulled a plate out of the refrigerator, the device used to keep food cold. She took two slices and put them in the microwave, which is used to reheat food. She removed the pizza from the microwave and I followed her into the room where her family's television is located. We sat on her couch to eat the pizza.

I finished mine very quickly. The sense of taste is, at times, overwhelming. Kate watched me eat for a few seconds, then shook her head again before biting into her own.

Once I had finished, Kate said, swallowing, "So, tell me. What happened the last time you tried this?"

"This?"

"Yeah. This - making a new Animorph. You guys said it was awful, but you won't tell me what happened."

"Oh, yes," I said with a reluctant sigh. "It was extremely unpleasant. His name was David, and he found the Escafil Device. Deee-viiiisssse. Vuh. Vee."

"Oh," Kate said, looking at me strangely.

"Visser Three learned that David had the Escafil Device and came to . . . relieve him of it. We, of course, came to stop him. In the process, David's house was destroyed and both his parents were taken as Controllers. We managed to rescue David in time, but then we had to decide what to do with him. We made the wrong choice. Chuh. Oissse."

"What happened?"

"David betrayed us. Beee. Tray. Uhduh. He tried kill us. In order to stop him, we trapped him as a nothlit. As a rat."

Kate covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes grew wide. "No wonder you guys were so hesitant to make me one of you. How horrible."

"Yes," I agreed. "I - I'd rather not speak anymore about it." Kate nodded understandingly and went back to eating.

While she ate, I looked around the room. The walls were covered in photographs. Many of them were of a young human girl with long dark hair. I stood up to examine them more closely.

"These are you," I said, unable to keep the surprise out of my voice.

"Yeah," Kate answered. "From . . . before." Her voice carried a note of sadness.

I turned to look at her. "I am no expert on humans, but I believe that you are quite beautiful."

"Well, maybe I was beautiful then," she said with a mirthless laugh.

I sat next to her on the couch. "I think you are still very beautiful."

She laughed quietly and put her plate on the low table in front of the couch. "Then you obviously have a lot to learn about humans, Ax." The sadness had been replaced by bitterness.

"What do you mean?"

"Ax, I have cancer. I went from looking like that" - she indicated the pictures - "to this" - she gestured to herself - "in less than a year. No guy finds this attractive. I'm too skinny and my hair's too short. And no one wants to date someone who might . . . might . . . well, you get the idea."

I studied Kate. I had never found humans attractive. They lack anything and everything that Andalites traditionally consider attractive. But suddenly, sitting there with Kate, watching her sad eyes, I felt something from her. Something that I did find attractive. I couldn't avert my eyes from her face.

For several minutes, neither one of us spoke. We simply stared at one another, as if we'd never seen each other before. "Aximili," Kate said softly. I was surprised to hear her use my full name, because Tobias and the others do not. "Do you mind if I call you that?"

"No," I managed.

"Could you call me Katherine?" Kate asked. Our faces were only inches from each other. I felt a nervous flutter pass through my stomach.

"Yes," I whispered.

Kate - Katherine reached out and took my hand, intertwining our strong human fingers together. "Have you ever been kissed?"

"No," I said. Why was I suddenly reduced to monosyllabic communication?

"Me neither," Katherine murmured. And suddenly the inches separating our faces were gone. Her lips brushed mine softly, and my eyes closed as my head spun in amazement.

Kissing is . . . kissing is . . . there is no way to describe it. Nothing to compare it to. Andalites use touch far less than humans. Perhaps this is because we have no way to express affection the way humans can through kissing.

That first kiss was brief. Almost the instant our lips touched, Katherine pulled back in shock - and I suddenly realized what had happened.

What had I done?

A human! What was happening to me? I stood quickly. "I should go," I said, already walking toward the door. No, no, I thought. Not possible.

"Yeah," Katherine agreed. She stood also and followed me to the door. "Well . . . I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes. Good-bye . . . Katherine." Only moments before I had been unable to look away from her beautiful, dark eyes. Now I couldn't force myself to meet them.

"'Bye . . Aximili."

Chapter Five - Kate

I paced restlessly in my living room. What had just happened? I'd invited Ax over for dinner because I was lonely and wanted some company, not to make out with him.

Oh, yeah, my brain said sarcastically. One two-second kiss is real hot and heavy.

I sighed. I flopped on the couch and stared at the ceiling in confusion. I had never been kissed - never really expected to be, either. Guys, especially guys my age, don't want to deal with having a girlfriend who might get sick and die.

And yes, I could die. That was one of the things I had hated most when I was in the hospital. No one wanted to say that word - death. It was the five-letter swear word. Everyone walked around looking petrified for me, but no one said it. "Oh, honey, you'll be just fine in no time," all the nurses said. And then they'd quote "happy" statistics: "70% of all kids with your type of cancer are just fine in five years," or whatever it was. I never really listened, because when I did, my mind did the math and I wound up thinking, "That means that 30% of all kids with my type of cancer are NOT okay in five years." So I was scared out of my mind and couldn't talk about it with anyone, because if I mentioned dying, everyone went, "Oh, don't be silly. You're not going to die!"

Sorry. I'm babbling.

Anyhow, I had other stuff to think about. Such as . . . I kissed Ax. AX. Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. An Andalite. An ALIEN.

And I liked it.

I really liked it . . . Wait a second! What the heck was I thinking!?

I needed a second opinion. I grabbed the portable phone off the hook and dug my brand-new address book with all my brand-new friends' phone numbers in it out of my brand-new backpack.

My parents seemed to think that if I had all new stuff, it would make me forget about fourteen years worth of memories made with the old stuff.

Fat chance.

Cassie or Rachel? I wondered. Finally, I dialed Cassie's number. She seemed to be better at listening than Rachel. "Hello?" her mom said.

"Hi, is Cassie there?"

"Hold on." There were some clicking noises as the phone was put down. I heard Cassie's mom yelling for her. After a few seconds, she picked the phone up.

"Hello?"

"Cassie? This is Kate."

"Hi. What's up?"

"Um, well, something sorta . . . happened." I suddenly was uncomfortable talking about it over the phone. The others, especially Marco, had warned me not to discuss anything Animorphs over the phone. This wasn't strictly Animorphs, but it had to do with Ax, and my problems had a lot to do with the fact that he was an alien.

"What? Is something wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"Not wrong, just a little weird. Could - could you come over?"

"Oh, Kate. I've got this history report due on Monday. How important is it?"

I hesitated. "What's the history report about?"

Cassie sighed. "The role of women in World War II."

"Perfect!" I cried. "I had to do an oral report on that last year! I'll bring it over."

"You're kidding."

"Nope," I said. "I just have to find it."

"Well, great. Are you walking? It's a little dark out."

"I'll be fine. But could your parents drive me home later?"

"I think so."

"Okay, I'll see you in about twenty minutes."

I hung up and went upstairs to dig my project out. Then I left a note telling my parents that I'd gone to Cassie's to help her with her history project.

Chapter Six - Cassie

After Kate and I hung up, I told my mom what was going on and went back upstairs. The report was supposed to be five to seven pages, and I had about three pages worth of stuff. I got online to do some more research.

About fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang and I heard Kate coming up the stairs. I stuck my head out my bedroom door and said, "Kate. Over here."

She came in carrying her project and sat on my bed since I was in my desk chair. "So what's up?" I asked, scanning an article on the WAVES.

"I kissed Aximili."

The words didn't register at first. Then I sat back in shock. I spun around in the desk chair to face her. "You what?" I said, not sure I'd heard her right.

"I kissed Aximili."

I got up and sat next to her on the bed. "When? What happened?"

She shrugged. "After you and Tobias left, I asked Ax if he wanted to come over. We went to my house and we were just talking and eating pizza. Before I knew what was happening, our faces were about an inch apart and - I don't know what came over me - I . . . I kissed him."

I was shocked. Ax is brilliant, and kind, and honorable, but he's an alien. Neither Rachel nor I had ever considered having more than just a friendship with him.

But then, she and I both had other "more-than-friend" relationships.

"What were you talking about?" I asked.

She sighed. "He was telling me about David. And then we started talking about how cancer had changed my life and how no guy wanted a girlfriend who was sick. He - he saw some pictures of me from before I got sick, and he said he thought I was still beautiful . . ." She trailed off.

"Wow."

"But he's an ALIEN, Cassie." Kate threw her hands up in the air. "He's sweet, and cute, and I like him a lot, and if it weren't for that one little detail, I wouldn't think twice about it. But he's not even human."

"Well, he's human for a couple hours every week. And he likes you a lot. I saw that even before you kissed him."

"I know - but, Cassie . . . let's say that in a couple years the Andalites come and the Yeerks are defeated. What would we do then?"

"Kate, don't think about that - not yet." I paused. "Look - Ax is separated from everything he's ever known. He's a billion miles from his home and family. And you . . . have had your world turned upside down. I think you could really help each other, kinda . . . take care of each other."

"I don't know if I want a relationship where we have to take care of each other. I'm fourteen years old!"

"Technically, yes, but I'll tell you something. One week ago, when you saw Jake morphing, time stopped. Age means nothing now because you're going to have to do stuff that most adults couldn't handle. And I know that it's probably not the first time that's happened to you."

"Exactly. And I don't need something else to add to that." Kate buried her face in her hands. I sighed and gave her a hug. After a few seconds, she pulled back and looked at me, her eyes wet. "But, Cassie . . . he's so . . . I don't know. He's not afraid of me." .

"I know. I know." I squeezed her hand. "Kate - talk to Ax." She didn't answer.

"You wanna work on your history project?" she asked after about a minute of silence. She sounded tired, and looked a little pale.

"Sure," I said with a sigh, going back to my computer.

Chapter Seven - Ax

I left Kate - Katherine's house and walked across the fields, my mind reeling. My system was flooded with strange human hormones, one of which was probably adrenaline, considering the rate at which my single human heart was beating. I reached the edge of the woods and demorphed. This solved the problem of the bizarre chemicals in my blood, but not the problem of my confusion.

Tobias. I needed to speak to someone, and Tobias is my shorm, my best friend, as humans say.

He was perched in his tree. Daylight had already faded, the sun already sunk beneath the horizon, so he was preparing for sleep.

^Tobias?^ I said, standing at the base of his tree.

^Ax-man? What's up? Where were you earlier?^

^I - I was at Katherine's house.^

^Katherine? Oh, you mean Kate,^ he said. I was silent for a few moments, unsure of how to continue. ^Ax, is everything okay?^

I paused. Tobias and I watch a television program called The Young and the Restless. There is a great deal of kissing on that program, and I had long been confused as to its meaning. Tobias had not explained it to me, but I now knew why.

^Tobias - I think I now know the significance of kissing to humans.^ I swung my stalk eyes up to look at him as I said this.

^What?^ he said, staring at me. ^Ax, are you saying that you and Kate . . . ?^

^Yes.^ I sighed. ^Tobias, I am very confused.^

^Well, did you like kissing her?^

^Of course - very much.^

^Then why are you confused? I think it's great.^

^Yes, but we are two different species. From two planets, billions of miles apart.^ I shook my head. ^It simply is not feasible.^

^Ah-hem,^ Tobias said. ^Might I remind you that your own brother fell in love with a human girl and that I am their son?^

^That was very different. Elfangor chose to become a human nothlit. I do not have that option.^

^Did you and Kate talk about this?^

^No,^ I admitted. ^I left rather quickly.^

^I see. Why don't you talk to her tomorrow?^

^I don't know, Tobias. I think that this was a mistake.^

^No, Ax.^ Tobias said. I focused all four of my eyes on him. ^No, I don't think this was a mistake.^

Chapter Eight - Kate

The next morning I got up early. I'm a real morning person, and I'd always liked to walk or jog on weekends, so it wouldn't seem odd to my parents when I left a note saying I'd gone out walking in the fields.

I headed across the field toward the woods. It was overcast and chilly, about 45 degrees, but I had a sweatshirt on and a wind breaker over it, with jeans and sneakers, so it wasn't too cold. It was very early - about 6:30. I hoped Aximili was up.

I was surprised to find that I was tired. I'd stayed at Cassie's until about 9:30 the night before, and gone to bed soon after I got home. I guessed that all the morphing and demorphing at the Gardens yesterday had worn me out. Plus, of course, I was stressed about Aximili.

I walked a little ways into the words and paused, trying to remember exactly how to get to Aximili's scoop.

^Katherine?^ a voice suddenly said, echoing in my head. I looked around, startled. I'd just been about to hop over one of the little streams that ran through the woods. Aximili was standing by the stream with one hoof in the water.

"Aximili. Hi," I said awkwardly.

^Good morning, Katherine,^ he replied, just as awkwardly, as he stepped out of the stream.

"What were you doing?" I asked curiously.

^Drinking,^ he replied. ^We - Andalites, that is - eat by absorbing grass and other material through our hooves, and we drink by absorbing water the same way.^

"Oh," I said. I hesitated.

^I think we need to talk,^ Aximili said, practically reading my mind.

"Yeah, I think so, too. How about your scoop?"

^That is fine,^ he said somewhat stiffly.

Aximili and I didn't speak as we walked to his scoop. He pulled it out of the ground and we went inside the sheltered area. I sat on the floor and looked at him. Neither of us wanted to be the one to start.

^This certainly is awkward, isn't it?^ he finally said.

"Yeah, it is," I agreed. "Well, I might as well come right out and say it." I looked at my hands as I formed the words in my head. "Aximili, I like you a lot. I think you're absolutely wonderful, but there's this one tiny detail that gets in the way whenever I think about us . . ."

^The fact that we are two different species,^ he supplied.

"Yeah. If it weren't for that . . ." I trailed off and studied his strange and beautiful face.

^I know. I feel the same.^ He looked at the ground and then focused on some point on the wall of his scoop.

At last he turned his eyes back to me. ^You do not appear very happy with our decision,^ he remarked, not sounding any happier than I looked.

"I'm not. But let's face it, it's just not possible."

^No. It is definitely not a logical course of action.^

'Not a logical course of action.' I thought about those words for a moment. No, a romantic relationship with an alien was definitely anything but logical. In fact, considering my health circumstances, it was probably even less logical than it would be for someone else.

But who ever said love or romance was logical? No one. And if someone did, they had obviously never read Shakespeare or watched TV or movies, or had any exposure to any romance of any kind.

Crazy thoughts, I told myself, shaking my head, as if that would clear them away. But it didn't.

"Okay, then," I said, as if Aximili's words had settled the matter. "I'll see you later, Aximili - Ax." I tried to revert to thinking of him as Ax, instead of Aximili. "Aximili" now carried a special, romantic connotation for me, one that I needed to get rid of.

^Yes, Kate. Good-bye.^

I walked back home through the woods, biting my lip. Why had I done that? I wondered, over and over again. Because he's from a different planet, I reminded myself each time.

I got to my house and discovered a note from my parents. "Went to the beach to pick up garbage with the Sharing. Back at two." Great. The Sharing. More fantastic news.

I sighed. I was about to run upstairs to take a shower, hoping it would make me feel better physically so I would feel better emotionally, when the phone rang.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hello, my name is Regina. I'm with Dr. Lowe's office. I'm calling regarding Katherine ________." Dr. Samantha Lowe was my new oncologist.

My heart skipped a beat. At my old doctor's office, they didn't call unless something was wrong. Don't panic, I said to myself. Maybe this office calls to tell you everything's fine.

"Yes, this is Katherine."

"Good morning, Katherine. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you. Is there a problem?"

"Well, Dr. Lowe wants you and your parents to come in for a conference."

"A conference?" I repeated.

"Yes, it appears that there were some abnormalities in your last blood work-up."

Abnormalities. The day just kept getting better and better.

"Oh," I said, trying not to sound like I was flipping out. "Um, when would she like us to come in?"

"Monday afternoon, around four."

I checked Mom's date book. It looked clear. "Monday at four looks fine, but I'll have to check with my parents."

"Okay, just call me back sometime today before three."

"Sure. 'Bye." I hung up.

I swallowed hard and sat down at the kitchen table. No. This wasn't happening. Not now. I had only been out of the hospital two months. I had just become an Animorph. No. It had to be a mistake. I felt fine.

But what if it wasn't?

I had been feeling tired. But that was just stress!

What would I tell my friends? How would they react?

I closed my eyes. I couldn't do anything until Monday.

Chapter Nine - Kate

Monday afternoon. 4:15. I sat in Dr. Lowe's office, digging my fingernails into the armrest of the chair I sat in. My parents sat on either side, looking scared.

"Your white blood cell count is elevated and your red blood cell count was low," Dr. Lowe said gently. "We also found some suspicious cells in your spinal tap sample."

"Does that mean that it's back?" I asked bluntly. I wanted the truth, not some sugar-coated version.

Dr. Lowe didn't answer for a moment. Then she came around and sat on the edge of her desk near me. "I don't believe in beating around the bush," she said. "You are an intelligent young women, Kate. You deserve to be treated as such. The truthful answer is, yes. This probably indicates that the cancer has returned."

There was a stunned silence. "What should we do?" my mom asked hoarsely.

"Well, you have two options. The first is for Kate to go back into the hospital for more chemotherapy and radiation. The second is a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, transplants work best with siblings and Kate is an only child. However, we could test you two and see if either of you is a close enough match."

"So you recommend the transplant?" my dad said.

"Yes, there is a higher survival rate. But, it is your decision. I suggest that you think it over, talk about it. Let me know by Wednesday."

Wednesday. I had two days to make a life-and-death decision.

To be continued . . .


Kate #3: The Conversations
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