• She started to cry just then and I felt terrible for leaving her. I felt so bad about not saying good-bye to her. “Mom, it’s okay. I’m here now.” I soothed as I embraced her.

    She wrapped her arms around me and cried even harder, making my heart break. Tears soaked my blue shirt while she held me and cried. Finally she let me go and looked at me. “You look so different. You got big.” She said simply.

    “Big? Mom I only stand at five three. I’m a midget!” I laughed.

    She laughed too. I felt her laugh deep in my bones and smiled. She still could make me feel at ease with that laugh of hers. “Mom, perhaps we better step inside. We should talk.” I stated.

    “Yes, yes of course hun. Let’s go in then.” She responded and led me inside the house.

    The house was super dusty and the floor was a disaster zone. There were newspapers strewn on the tables, all open to the obituaries, as if she was looking for a dead person. Not just any person you moron. You. She was looking for you. I thought sadly. I focused my mind on the house being clean and tidy, the way mom used to have it all the time. Suddenly, the house obeyed and straightened its self out. “You really shouldn’t do that. Someone might notice that this disaster is clean, and get suspicious.” She said playfully.

    “Like I care. All I care about is you Mom. You can’t live like in a house full of clutter, remember?” I joked back.

    She laughed as she sat down in a now clean chair and I followed her lead, sitting in a green chair across form her. “So, how have you been?” She asked.

    “Uh, I’ve been good. Mom, I know what you really want to ask me, and yes. I’ve been with Dad for the past ten years, learning. Yes, I’m like him, but also like you. I’m half Ellimist, but also half human. My human emotions allowed me to see what he really wanted. I’ve missed you for a very long time.” I told her.

    “How could Manny do this to me? How could he take my daughter from me? Why didn’t he let you say good-bye to me?” She asked the wood floor.

    “Because he probably didn’t want my love for you to get in the way of my training. He was a good teacher and father, but he wasn’t a very good husband.” I responded.

    She nodded sadly and looked into my eyes, as if searching for something. “You have something on your mind, don’t you? You’re leaving again, aren’t you?” She questioned.

    “Yeah, I’m leaving. But this time it’s for a good cause, and this time, I’m saying good-bye.” I replied.

    “Come then, tell me what you want to do.” She prompted.

    I spilled my guts to her, telling her of how I planned to save the Animorphs by going back in time. How I wanted to fight along side of them. How I wanted to help them in the final war. My mother looked at me with proud eyes, a smile that I had almost forgotten playing across her face. “You were always troubled by the past. Well, if that’s what you want to do, then you go do it. No matter what happens, I will always be proud of you.” She told me calmly.

    I stood, walked over to her, and wrapped my arms around her, feeling tears swell at the corners of my eyes. I knew that if I stayed any longer, that I would be unable to leave. “I have to go now Mom. But I love you. Always have, always will.” I whispered into her ear.

    She kissed my forehead and let me go. I straightened up and focused on the past, the far past, and the ones who needed my help. I felt my body tingle as the house dissolved around me and watched as time went in reverse. My stomach churned as it sped up, like I was in a movie and someone had hit the rewind button.