Izzy here, with my fanfic, "Only a Dream", inspired by the song by the same name by Mary Chapin Carpenter. I own neither Animorphs nor the song, but I do own the story.

Only a Dream

By Izzy

Sara had been trying to avoid her sister for most of the day. Rachel had been in a bad mood since she had come home the previous afternoon. She had picked at her food at dinner. She had spent all the time in her room, doing her homework, she said, but Sara had heard her talking. She had asked Rachel about it, and Rachel had snapped at her.

I can recall the sound of the rain
As it blew through the trees
And the trees would bend
And I can recall the smell of the rain
On a hotter summer night
Coming through the screen

There was a knock at the door to Sara's room. "Who is it?"

Rachel's voice sounded from the other side. "It's me. Let me in, please."

Sara wasn't sure if she should, but she relented and let Rachel in.]

Sara had never seen her sister sook more serious. Or sad. "Sara," she said in a grown-up voice, "you must promise not to tell mom or dad, or anyone, what I am going to say. I am trusting you weren't taken like the others were. Sara, you will never see me again."

"No!" protested Sara. Never see Rachel again? She couldn't think of it. "You're not going away, are you?"

"I wish I didn't have to," said Rachel. "But trust me, what I am about to do could save Earth from a horror I pray you will never know."

I'd crawl in your bed when the lightening flashed
And I'd still be there when the storm had passed
Dead to the world till the morning cast
Light all around your room

"What horror? What are you doing?"

"I can't tell you. It's too risky. But know that I love you. I want you to remember me."

"I'll never forget you," Sara promised, and Rachel pulled her into a fierce hug. Tears fell from Sara's eyes. Her older sister, the only person she could really turn to after thier parents' divorce, was leaving her.

Rachel broke the hug, and with one last "Goodbye.", she left. The door closed behind her. Sara climbed to the window. She saw Rachel exit their house and walk out of sight.

We lived on a street where the tall elm shades
Were as green as the grass
And as cool as a blade
That you held in your teeth as we lay on our backs
Staring up at the blue
And the blue staring back.

As her mom called her to dinner for the third time, Sara made her way into the dining room. She wasn't hungry. Her mother was trying to contact Rachel's friends, but he could only get a hold on Melissa Chapman, who had said Rachel wasn't at her house. She had however said Rachel had gotten in trouble for not doing her homework the previous night, and her mother was planning to give Rachel a scolding.

Sara was still fighting back tears. But if she cried her mother might question her, and she couldn't know. Sara had to keep her sister's secret.

I used to believe we were just like those trees
We'd go just as tall and as proud as we pleased
With our feet on the ground and out arms in the breeze
Under a sheltering sky

Just then they heard what sounded like a distant explosion. "What was that?" Had Rachel caused that? What if she was dead? Surely she couldn't have saved the world by doing that....

Twirl me around and twirl me about
Let me grow dizzy and fall to the ground
And when I look up at you looking down
Say it was only a dream

They ate dinner in silence. They were half-finished when the telephone rang. "I'll get it," said mother, and got up.

Sara, who had been trying to make it look like she was eating all dinner, put her fork down and finally let herself cry. Her mother would think she was crying from worry.

Her sobs increased when she heard her mother talking in a panicked voice. Had something else gone wrong?

When her mother returned to the dining room, there were tears in her eyes. "Honey, Rachel's dead. So is cousin Jake."

The big truck was parked in the drive one day
They wrapped us in hay and moved us away
Your room was no longer next door to mine
This kid sister thing was old by that time

They drove in silence to the sight. It had been an old building, and there had been rumor of strange activities. The police had denied it, and coverup rumors had appeared, only to die out quickly.

They found Jake first. His skin was browned, but Sara recognized him. He was leaning over some sort of strange board that looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.

Not far from him they found what had been indentified as the body of Jake's friend Marco, but Sara found it fried beyond recognition.

There were shouts from the center of the rubble. They had found the body of two...things. Blue things that looked like alien centaurs, and also looked like they had been trying to kill each other.

Then they found Rachel's best friend Cassie, dead like all the others. Then there were more shouts. Sara recognized Rachel's...other friend, Tobias, but he had feathers stuck in him, and as far as anyone would tell, they were part of his skin.

And oh how our dreams went bump in the night
And the voices downstairs getting into a fight
And the next day a silence you could cut with a knife
I feel like a blade at your throat.

Rachel lay, her skin blackened by the explosion, over a piece of wall. Her arm was caught in the wall. Her leg was twisted at an odd angle. On seeing her, Sara's tears flowed freely. But she didn't get how this was supposed to save the world.

"Oh God, what have I done?" The voice was that of Jake's older brother, Tom. Out of a clenched fist he released what looked like a slug of some sort, and smeared it on the ground. Then several other people followed his examples. One girl cried out, "We're free!"

Twirl me around and twirl me about
Let me grow dizzy and fall to the ground
And when I look up at you looking down
Say it was only a dream

By the end of the following week, Sara knew the entire story, as did everyone else. And a month later, a new story came over the news. The Andalites would arrive.

>Months later

Sara was amoung the crowd that was gathered to greet the Andalite ship. She didn't think there had ever been more people gathered at one place. Her mother had pointed out people from different countries to her, people from an organization called NASA, and all sorts of other people. Sara could also picture billions of people around the world glued to their television sets.

The day you left home you had an early start
I watched your car back out in the dark
I opened the door to your room down the hall
I turned on the lights, and all that I saw

Someone yelled and pointed. Everyone looked up. There was a brilliant blue white light in the sky, approaching fast.

The ship slowed down, and landed in front of the awed crowd.

There was complete silence as a door opened, and a strange creature walked out. Then someone cheered. Then someone else cheered. And suddenly everyone was cheering. The Andalite looked around.

**Greetings, humans.**

Everyone stopped. Sara was sure he hadn't spoken, but somehow she had understood him just the same.

Was a bed and a desk and a couple of tacks
No sign of someone who expects to be back
And it must have been one hell of a suitcase you packed

Suddenly Sara ran forward. Reaching the Andalite, she offered her hand. He hesitated, then let her take it.

**We thank you humans. You have defeated the Yeerks, and your knowledge of them may turn the tide in our war against them.**

And for that cause, Sara knew, Rachel had given her life.

And here she was, her planet free, holding the hand of an alien they may have helped.

Never had Sara felt prouder.

Twirl me around and twirl me about

Let me grow to see and fall to the ground

And when I look up and you looking down

Say it was only a dream

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