Animorphs: The Reality

The Reality

My name is Marco. Yeah, that Marco. I'd tell you my last name, but I'm sure you know it already. And although I could tell you where I live now without fear of being slaughtered by genocidal slugs, I won't, as the danger from rampaging fan girls and overly enthusiastic governments has not yet passed.
Stupid Yeerks. Everything was supposed to be better once they were gone.
And I guess it is. I mean, they're certainly better than things were. We're not dodging shredder blasts every other day anymore or dealing with the weight that comes when the whole human race depends on you.
So. Better. And certainly better than Applegate painted things.
I mean, really? All I asked her to do was leave out our address.
It's nice, if you were wondering. Quiet. Not what I pictured when all this started. I wanted fame then. Got it too. But by the time things were done - Well, I had Mom back. I had Dad back too. I had a family again. That was enough.
Sticking together just felt natural after everything. We got a couple of houses. Bought up a neighborhood. We valued our privacy. It was nice to have a place that was just us and our families.
None of us were exactly "okay" after everything that happened. We all woke up from nightmares more often than not. We got used to waking up to find one of the others sleeping on the floor in our rooms. Sometimes you just needed confirmation that the others were still alive. Whose house was whose quickly became a legal technicality that was quickly forgotten. We didn't ask to come over or bother knocking; what was the point?
Our parents got used to it eventually. Some handled it better than others, but we pulled through. Generally our siblings adapted quicker, but Tom . . . Well, Tom needed time. We all did. Jake helped Tom as best he could. He made progress, and improved himself in doing so. I think he needed something to do. We all did.
He and Cassie stayed together. (Honestly, I doubt Crayak himself could split them up. Come on, people.)
Rachel missed the fight. It bothered her that she missed it. I think she found some comfort in flight. She's been doing a lot of flying lately, and Tobias has been spending a lot of time walking on two legs for once. I don't pretend to understand how that relationship works, but it does. What do I know about girls anyway? I'm the only one still single. Sigh. I'm working on that one. I think I might have finally found her though. The right one. We'll see, huh?
Ax left, naturally. We all knew he would eventually. Shouldn't have surprised us, right?
I mean, okay, I kind of thought he might have stayed for the cinnamon buns, but I guess not even earth's culinary delights could compare with your home planet.
'Course, he came back quick enough. I never got the full story out of him, but Tobias said something about the Council not liking the new ideas he brought back. He seems happy enough here, in any case.
Erek comes by sometimes. So do former Controllers. Still feel a start every time I see Chapman. Have to stamp down an urge to follow him every time he leaves too. Oh, well. He is a principal. There's nothing wrong with being suspicious of him on general principles.
So we're here. And alive. And happy, or at least getting there. I've no idea what we'll do with the rest of our lives, but we're teenagers, right? That's normal. We'll figure it out.
This is our reality now. And you know what?
I can live with that.