Animorphs 2.0

The Hero's Cowardice

Elfangor

I noticed a change in the scanner. One of the heat signatures was moving away from everybody else. Loren, I thought, it must be her and I needed to find out if she was okay. Thank the stars she was. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw her change direction. She came to a river. I nodded. I had married a smart human. So they can't track her. She was out of the river now and I heard her again. Why hadn't she demorphed yet? Or had she remorphed that quickly? As she gasped, I heard pain in her voice and my heart skipped a beat. She was hurt. But that could be fixed by demorphing. I heard her explain the situation. Metal. In her side. As the tears came to my eyes, I realized she wouldn't get help in time. I tried to reassure her but I was failing to reassure even myself. I begged her to stay with me. I cried as she breathed her last breathes. The tears fell from my face onto the keyboard. This was why I didn't want her to fight! I hadn't wanted this to happen! I hacked a satellite to get a picture of the scene and I saw her lying on the ground in human form. Blood all over her. The metal was gone. It looked like it was a possible animal attack. I needed to gather my thoughts, plan what to do next, look away, but she looked so beautiful. I kept the camera on her face. Her beautiful clean face. It looked like she was sleeping. A few minutes later, the Yeerks came searching through the area. They took one look at her and passed on. Leaving her to the animals in the area. I couldn't watch anymore. I couldn't bear to see the corpse of my beloved wife, the woman I had crossed stars to be with. I had come here looking for comfort and safety and love. Loren had been the one I'd looked to. In all my life, I had never met anyone like her. She understood me like no one else could. How could she be gone? The tears poured down my face as I realized I would have to live the rest of my life without her. My body rejected the idea, and I felt sick. My breathing became increasingly irregular as my mind refused to accept the truth. This wasn't supposed to have happened! I should've grown old with her. I should've held her hand as she died after decades of being together, loving each other. I had no idea how long I stayed like that, my head in my arms, on the console of my desk. Heard movement in the house, I raised my head to listen.

"Mom? Dad?"

Tobias, I thought. Go back to bed, I wanted to tell him. I couldn't face him. After a bit more wandering, he went back to his room. I put my head back down in my hands and cried, harder than I ever had before. Harder than I thought possible. I spent the night in that chair, not moving until the sun came up. After what felt like an eternity, I stood up, wiped my eyes and went to check on Tobias. He was still sleeping. He looked so peaceful; I turned off his alarm, letting him sleep and proceeded to call his school and tell them how he wouldn't be coming in today. I didn't tell them why. I couldn't. Tobias would be the first to know. I let him sleep now though. I wasn't surprised when he came down at 12:00. He was a teenager after all. I waited for him in the kitchen and eventually he came in yawning. He noticed the time and freaked out, thinking he needed to get to school.

"Why didn't you wake me?" He asked, turning to go back upstairs.

"You're not going to school today, Tobias." I said, calmly.

He turned from the stairs to face me. "Why not?"

I gestured to the chair next to me. "Sit down, Tobias." He did, confused. "It's your mother, son."

"What about her? Is she alright?" Tears came to my eyes and I couldn't go on.

"Dad?" He asked, putting a hand on mine. "What's wrong with Mom?"

"She did her job, Tobias. And she was brave. She didn't give up." I stared at a crack in the table, trying to gather my thoughts, trying to stay calm for my son sitting facing me.