Round Two | Fan Fiction | Entry #1
Round: Two
Category: Fan Fiction
Title: Rachel's Last Stand
Author: rena_librarian
Rating: G
Summary: NA
Warnings: Spoilers for book #54
Rachel listens for hours, it seems. It isn't, of course, it's outside of time because she isn't dead yet and she knew her body only had seconds to live. It feels solid and whole right now--or is it right here? in this dimension?--but she isn't sure if it's even real.
And after all that, he's just a gamer. A video game nerd sitting in Mom's basement playing EverQuest, or whatever. And somehow he thinks he can get off manipulating everyone? Rachel understands that Crayak cannot be allowed to win, but she would've willingly fought him on her own terms. This being sacrificed, not by her own choice, this blows.
But she listens. Listens, and thinks.
At the end, after he has told her she mattered--mattered, past tense--she asks him about this place they're in. She can see shadows of the tableau on the deck, the polar bear's arm in mid-swing, her own body frozen, not quite dead but close enough. There's a mist between all that and where they are having this conversation, though--he is the only thing not obscured to her. "So we're completely outside of time and space? The body that's here, that I can feel, isn't dying?" She takes a step closer to him, she thinks--the movement doesn't feel quite right but she closes some of the gap between them.
"I suppose that's right," the Ellimist concedes. "At least as far as your human mind can grasp, that's not a bad way to think of it."
Rachel nods, her pitiful little human mind shaking in her skull.
The Ellimist waits for her next question, and just like had happened in the beginning with her very presence, he was thrown a curveball.
Not that he noticed right then--he just suddenly felt very sleepy, and forgot where he was for a moment.
~*~
Rachel had acquired and morphed the Ellimist before he could even realize what was going on.
And as she stood on the deck of the ship, subtly manipulating the time flow, he understood his own role in the greater scheme, and respectfully bowed out. He had interfered too much already.
~*~
Rachel felt the odd, reality-bending powers coursing through her. But unlike him, she had no deal with Crayak.
The deal Crayak had offered her had never been so tempting as these powers--but Rachel knows that she is good. Brave, and good, and strong. And she most definitely matters, now more than ever before.
She doesn't receive the Ellimist's memories, just his powers, but given what his powers were it didn't matter much. She looks over what he had told her, watching as he came to be what he is.
And she looks over the future they had been hurtling towards a moment before--seconds ago, when she should have been dead by now--and she does not like it.
Jake, emotionally tortured over killing her and Tom? Ax, killed in some unknown galaxy? Cassie throwing herself into diplomacy to avoid her emotions, Marco...well, Marco wasn't so bad off. But then there was Tobias--still hawk, more alone than ever.
Unacceptable.
She had to look over a few different combinations before she got it right, but she had all the time in the world.
When she finally figured out what needed to happen, she began morphing reality itself.
~*~
She didn't change much, but she didn't die, either. As far as anyone else ever knew, her saying goodbye to Tobias was a fake-out. She managed to dodge and find enough cover to morph back to grizzly again, and fight her way out, trapping Tom in a corner until backup could arrive and they could get the Yeerk out. The suspiciously well-timed comeback was chalked up to an adrenalin rush, the urge to fight for life.
Tom's Yeerk was tried alongside Visser Three.
Tom lived, and managed a fairly normal life. The infestation nightmares subsided with time, he went to college, fell in love--though he was always wary of any type of club.
Jake and Cassie got married, went to college together, and made adorable babies.
Marco was a superstar.
Ax tried the military for a while, but ended up becoming a diplomat, working closely with Cassie on human/Andalite relations. He and his Andalite family lived on Earth, with visits to the Andalite homeworld. Somehow introducing taste buds and cinnamon buns to Andalite society was enough to finally pull him out from Elfangor's shadow.
Tobias...well. She left him hawk. She knew that if she made him human again, with morphing capabilities--easily within her power--he would have to know her secret.
And she had to keep it secret. The war was ended, and everyone they cared about was happy, but they all resented the Ellimist for using them as pawns. Although everyone ended up considerably happier the way Rachel wove the threads, she knew they wouldn't want her doing it for them. Would never ask her to do it. If Jake had ever found out how his brilliant plan originally went down, he probably would have felt just as guilty in this new reality where it didn't happen. She wondered if Cassie would ever figure out that she had altered things, but if she did, she must've been pleased enough with the result to let it stay.
So Rachel never morphed the Ellimist again. Nothing else ever mattered enough for her to risk anyone finding out.
~*~
Tobias stayed hawk as long as he was able. With the world knowing about morphing, compromises were easier to reach. Once he and Rachel agreed that neither of them should have to give up morphing, everything else was just details. He spent a lot more time human, she spent a lot more time as an eagle, and they lived a beautiful life together. When his hawk body became old and started to die, he became a human nothlit, because he didn't want her to be alone.
The second time he began to die, she stayed right by his side every moment. They'd weathered nearly eighty years together since the start of the war, and no one found it surprising that Rachel was still healthy enough to care for him. They chalked it up to her incredible spirit.
Rachel held his hand as Tobias breathed his last, smiling at her, eyes closed peacefully.
She waited through the funeral. There weren't many mourners; they'd never had children of their own. Sara and Jordan's offspring paid their respects but not many of them had known Uncle Tobias very well. Cassie held Rachel's hand, Marco saluted the casket, Ax spoke during the eulogy; Jake was already gone.
And that night, Rachel went home, dressed herself in a long black nightgown, opened all the windows in their room, laid on the bed she had shared with her one true love, and let herself pass away. She could have lived forever, but she'd lived the life she wanted, the life she had fought so hard protect, the life she had so desperately regretted losing in her first final moments, and it was enough for her.
Category: Fan Fiction
Title: Rachel's Last Stand
Author: rena_librarian
Rating: G
Summary: NA
Warnings: Spoilers for book #54
Rachel listens for hours, it seems. It isn't, of course, it's outside of time because she isn't dead yet and she knew her body only had seconds to live. It feels solid and whole right now--or is it right here? in this dimension?--but she isn't sure if it's even real.
And after all that, he's just a gamer. A video game nerd sitting in Mom's basement playing EverQuest, or whatever. And somehow he thinks he can get off manipulating everyone? Rachel understands that Crayak cannot be allowed to win, but she would've willingly fought him on her own terms. This being sacrificed, not by her own choice, this blows.
But she listens. Listens, and thinks.
At the end, after he has told her she mattered--mattered, past tense--she asks him about this place they're in. She can see shadows of the tableau on the deck, the polar bear's arm in mid-swing, her own body frozen, not quite dead but close enough. There's a mist between all that and where they are having this conversation, though--he is the only thing not obscured to her. "So we're completely outside of time and space? The body that's here, that I can feel, isn't dying?" She takes a step closer to him, she thinks--the movement doesn't feel quite right but she closes some of the gap between them.
"I suppose that's right," the Ellimist concedes. "At least as far as your human mind can grasp, that's not a bad way to think of it."
Rachel nods, her pitiful little human mind shaking in her skull.
The Ellimist waits for her next question, and just like had happened in the beginning with her very presence, he was thrown a curveball.
Not that he noticed right then--he just suddenly felt very sleepy, and forgot where he was for a moment.
~*~
Rachel had acquired and morphed the Ellimist before he could even realize what was going on.
And as she stood on the deck of the ship, subtly manipulating the time flow, he understood his own role in the greater scheme, and respectfully bowed out. He had interfered too much already.
~*~
Rachel felt the odd, reality-bending powers coursing through her. But unlike him, she had no deal with Crayak.
The deal Crayak had offered her had never been so tempting as these powers--but Rachel knows that she is good. Brave, and good, and strong. And she most definitely matters, now more than ever before.
She doesn't receive the Ellimist's memories, just his powers, but given what his powers were it didn't matter much. She looks over what he had told her, watching as he came to be what he is.
And she looks over the future they had been hurtling towards a moment before--seconds ago, when she should have been dead by now--and she does not like it.
Jake, emotionally tortured over killing her and Tom? Ax, killed in some unknown galaxy? Cassie throwing herself into diplomacy to avoid her emotions, Marco...well, Marco wasn't so bad off. But then there was Tobias--still hawk, more alone than ever.
Unacceptable.
She had to look over a few different combinations before she got it right, but she had all the time in the world.
When she finally figured out what needed to happen, she began morphing reality itself.
~*~
She didn't change much, but she didn't die, either. As far as anyone else ever knew, her saying goodbye to Tobias was a fake-out. She managed to dodge and find enough cover to morph back to grizzly again, and fight her way out, trapping Tom in a corner until backup could arrive and they could get the Yeerk out. The suspiciously well-timed comeback was chalked up to an adrenalin rush, the urge to fight for life.
Tom's Yeerk was tried alongside Visser Three.
Tom lived, and managed a fairly normal life. The infestation nightmares subsided with time, he went to college, fell in love--though he was always wary of any type of club.
Jake and Cassie got married, went to college together, and made adorable babies.
Marco was a superstar.
Ax tried the military for a while, but ended up becoming a diplomat, working closely with Cassie on human/Andalite relations. He and his Andalite family lived on Earth, with visits to the Andalite homeworld. Somehow introducing taste buds and cinnamon buns to Andalite society was enough to finally pull him out from Elfangor's shadow.
Tobias...well. She left him hawk. She knew that if she made him human again, with morphing capabilities--easily within her power--he would have to know her secret.
And she had to keep it secret. The war was ended, and everyone they cared about was happy, but they all resented the Ellimist for using them as pawns. Although everyone ended up considerably happier the way Rachel wove the threads, she knew they wouldn't want her doing it for them. Would never ask her to do it. If Jake had ever found out how his brilliant plan originally went down, he probably would have felt just as guilty in this new reality where it didn't happen. She wondered if Cassie would ever figure out that she had altered things, but if she did, she must've been pleased enough with the result to let it stay.
So Rachel never morphed the Ellimist again. Nothing else ever mattered enough for her to risk anyone finding out.
~*~
Tobias stayed hawk as long as he was able. With the world knowing about morphing, compromises were easier to reach. Once he and Rachel agreed that neither of them should have to give up morphing, everything else was just details. He spent a lot more time human, she spent a lot more time as an eagle, and they lived a beautiful life together. When his hawk body became old and started to die, he became a human nothlit, because he didn't want her to be alone.
The second time he began to die, she stayed right by his side every moment. They'd weathered nearly eighty years together since the start of the war, and no one found it surprising that Rachel was still healthy enough to care for him. They chalked it up to her incredible spirit.
Rachel held his hand as Tobias breathed his last, smiling at her, eyes closed peacefully.
She waited through the funeral. There weren't many mourners; they'd never had children of their own. Sara and Jordan's offspring paid their respects but not many of them had known Uncle Tobias very well. Cassie held Rachel's hand, Marco saluted the casket, Ax spoke during the eulogy; Jake was already gone.
And that night, Rachel went home, dressed herself in a long black nightgown, opened all the windows in their room, laid on the bed she had shared with her one true love, and let herself pass away. She could have lived forever, but she'd lived the life she wanted, the life she had fought so hard protect, the life she had so desperately regretted losing in her first final moments, and it was enough for her.