Disclaimer: I do not own Andros, Ashley, Zhane and any other character/whatever you recognize.

For Nicole (Arwennicole),
Happy (belated) birthday!
May all your wishes come true,
And all your dreams come to life.

Just My Luck
by DarkHonda aka Tal

Two men were walking quite briskly throughout training base three of the well known, very powerful and highly rated karovan army. The army that managed to defeat Dark Specter's army not once, but twice, under the firm command of Andros of KO-35. He was only a child at the first war, but he was the one, as the newly trained red ranger, to scare off Dark Specter's and Darkonda's armies; he lost his sister who turned out to be Astronema, and with the help of his best friend Zhane he managed to save her and in the recent war- destroy all trace of evil in the universe and all that at only eighteen! A glorious future lay ahead of him, a future of military leadership and maybe, one day, as the leader of the whole Karova System. For now, though, the simple man he is, was walking throughout the lawns of the base, watching the privates train; handing tips and correcting defense stances. Zhane, his platin haired best friend and deputy, was walking along with him, talking about different strategies and improvements that need to be done. Andros nodded, agreeing with his friend in silence while walking closer to one of the younger trainees, the boy looked around fourteen and didn't seem successful with the Kon staff. Andros stood behind him, taking the kon with both hands and putting the teen's hands on it too. He motioned carefully, demonstrating the right hold of the kon along with how to use it, a few moments later he let go and watched as the teen motioned the kon staff rightly. The boy seemed embarrassed, but Andros dismissed it with a nod of head before walking along with Zhane.

Ashley was failing. Bluntly and rightfully so.
She did not manage a Kon staff or a sword, not even a respected astroblaster! She was a fatal failure and knowing it, she just waited for the time where her commander would send her home; she was never gave up and she was disappointed from herself, but what could she do? Somehow, everything turned upside down when she touched a weapon, she became clumsy and left handed and did not manage a single swift of sword. She was in a great shape and every un-weapon-ly assignment she was given was always a success, so what was so wrong with her?
Maybe it was a result of the fact she wasn't a full karovan, being half Eltarian and half karovan has probably made her body somehow refuse violence or something. The Eltarians were always a peace loving race. 'Right,' she snorted at herself, running along with her squad, trying to catch up with everyone. She wasn't that bad, it was just a bad luck, otherwise how could you explain her perfect abilities in Martial Arts? Not even Andros himself could beat her. Well, it's not that she actually tried to challenge him, really, who in their right mind would challenge Andros the Great? She rolled her eyes at the thought. She'd never seen Andros and she was attending his base for six months! And besides, she always thought he was an old prick. She never listened when the girls in her squad chattered excitedly on how handsome he was or how they though he'd looked at them. She really didn't join the military for Andros, she joined the army because it was a challenge to her abilities and strengths. Being the youngest brat in a family of five brats all of four of her siblings were boys, was hard enough, she always had to prove herself to everyone, to show them she wasn't 'a lady' but an equal. 'I'll show you…' she thought ambitiously as she crossed the muddy obstacle course. Mud was the last thing on her mind at the moment.

"So you see," explained Zhane while Andros walked besides him, watching his soldiers to be, "we have to decrease costs, I thought maybe we could- -" Andros' mind was wandering again. People in the government were pressuring him to get married, saying it would send the 'right image' to the karovan public; at first he snorted at the thought but now, it was becoming more and more realistic, almost needed. He felt alone, no one was there to share his dreams, his thoughts and ambitions. He was a ranger and a god damned good one, but he wasn't a machine, he needed closeness and softness. He needed love and laughter and kisses. The wars took his childhood and his teenage years and now, at peace, it seemed he had very little.
Deep in thought he hadn't seen the muddied figure who ran as fast as the devil to his direction, in a matter of seconds he was on the ground and the muddied figure fell on top of him. He could hear Zhane's quiet snickers as he huffed and looked at the figure, which turned out to be a girl, covered in mud top-to-bottom. For a moment, they just laid there, her liquid brown eyes meeting his hazel ones with a little fright. He found those eyes…intriguing, they had something in them, a spark of life he had never met before…

"I'm so-" she started and got off of him, "-sorry, I thought too much instead of looking what's going on in front of me," she apologized, blushing but thankfully, her muddy cheeks covered the blush. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to do this, I'm really sorry." She apologized again and offered her hand, to help him stand. He refused to take it and was back on his feet in no time. "I'm sorry, I tend to be very clumsy and I am really-most-very-" she started.

"Sorry. I know," he completed her sentence, "you repeated it five times in the last twenty seconds," he said brushing his uniforms.

"Well, actually, I only said it four times in the last twenty seconds," she said with a smile, Andros bit his bottom lip, hearing Zhane's laughter becoming a very exaggerated cough. Her gaze scanned his face and later fell on his shoulders, she froze. He was an officer. A highly ranked officer. He was Andros! He gave her a 'took-you-long-enough' smirk, she gaped, her knees buckled and she fell on the ground. At this point, Zhane wasn't even bothering to hide his laughter anymore, Andros extended his hand to help her out, she took it. Her hand- although muddy- was soft yet firm. He pulled her on her feet.
"You're Andros," she said, "I mean, sir, I mean, commander, I mean… are you going to punish me?" she asked clearly distressed. Andros couldn't hide his amusement, a full grin was plastered all over his face; the girl was funny and tremendously cute when she was embarrassed. He liked that.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Ashley Hammond."

"Well, Ashley Hammond, I don't punish people who apologize five times in twenty seconds."

"-Four" she corrected.

"Four." He repeated after her with a kind smile. "Just watch your step next time, you could've gotten hurt." She nodded, lowering her gaze as silence spread between them. Andros lightly lifted her chin up.

"You should be proud you knocked me down, you know," he paused and her face donned a curious expression. He smiled at her. "Zhane here, is trying to do just that for more than you know," he gestured towards deputy commander and silver ranger Zhane, who stopped laughing and was currently scolding at his stripey friend. Ashley giggled.

"Thanks, umm.. Sir," she said shyly.

"You're dismissed," he said, she nodded and started walking quickly from which she came, "Ashley?" he called her a few seconds later, she turned to him. "hurry up, lunch is in ten minutes. I wouldn't want you to be late." He tipped and she smiled and saluted before running to her room.

She couldn't believe her luck! He didn't punish her and he was actually kind of cute. She could clearly understand now what her squad's girls were all talking about, the guy was hot in a very abnormal way. If he wasn't her commander, she might've tried really talking to him. 'Come on, it's Andros! Do want me to spell it for you? U-N-A-C-H-I-E-V-A-B-L-E!" a voice in her protested, but he was just too sweet for his own good! She sighed as she took off her clothes and walked into the spray of hot water, the mud washing out of her body.

"What was that all about?" Zhane asked as the two advanced to the dinning room from the officers' entrance.

"What was?" Andros asked innocently as the two entered the not yet full dining room. Zhane shot him a knowing glance.

"I know you. And you like her." Andros said nothing as he helped himself with his favorite karovan food: colorful goo.

"You're not even denying it! Ha! I knew it!!" Zhane exclaimed excitedly. "I will immediately find out in what division she's at." He said and disappeared from Andros' side, mingling with the crowd. Andros rolled his eyes, such a behavior was so typical of Zhane, but he liked the idea of seeing her again. She didn't even have to be that muddy. Yeah, he'd like to see her again. Very much.

Not going to lunch was nearly a habit of hers these days. She preferred working out instead, doing a few sit ups, occasionally even push ups, but she hated those.
She loved the quietness of lunch, everyone was gone to eat and she would go to the training rooms and train alone, in Martial Arts. She needed the silence sometimes, it was relaxing and helped her clear her mind and stay focused for the rest of the day. Sometimes, the presence of her fellow soldiers was irritating, even burdensome. For Martial Arts, one needed relaxation, quiet and to tap into contact with his guts' feeling. She breathed deeply, slowly, her eyes closed as she suddenly jumped and spiral kicked an invisible enemy. When landing, she entered a guarding stance and evaded unreal blows flipping back and forth before punching the air and kicking again. She got back into her guarding stance, she could almost picture an enemy before her as she flung her hands to the ground and rolled aside. Then, she jumped on her feet and stood, panting, trying to still her breaths.

"Your guarding stance is wrong," a gentle voice commented, she turned around to see the handsome man she fell onto merely an hour before. He was smiling gently, she couldn't help to smile back.

"It's right to me, Sir," she said, her gaze following his, as he scanned her image.

She was beautiful. He already knew she was beautiful when she was still covered in mud, but now it overwhelmed him, flooding him senses. What a beautiful girl, like her, did in an army training base? Why would she want to become a soldier? She was too beautiful, too fragile. She was wearing gray training pants and a yellow tank top that exposed a flat stomach and tanned skin. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, even when they were just staring at each other. It could have been embarrassing, if he had noticed he was staring.

"Umm.. Sir?" she asked and waved her hands in front of his face.

"Erm. Yes?" he asked, his voice a little dreamy, he could feel his cheeks becoming red hot.

"Am I in trouble for not going to lunch?" she asked, hesitant, "Because if I am then I'm really sorry?" she offered and he laughed.

"How do you eat lunch if you're training here instead of being in the dinning room?" he asked, crossing his arms on his chest with a curious expression.

"Oh, that's easy, I sneak around the kitchens." She answered directly. Then, she realized what she has just said and glanced at her supreme commander who was raising his eyebrow at her. "Did I just say it out loud?" she asked, blushing furiously, and unfortunately no mud was available now.

"Yes," he replied, a very amused smile floating on his lips. Ashley shut her eyes hard. "Hey, what are you doing?" he commander's gentle voice asked.

"I'm trying to think how can I get out of this room without getting you to punish me, is there a chance I'll just disappear?" she asked and he laughed.

"No, I don't think so." He answered, "But I'm not going to punish you."

"Promise?" she asked with an embarrassed smile, opening her eyes just to stare into his hazel ones. He was smiling himself, looking even handsomer than before.

"I promise."

Don't be daft, wish Nicole a belated Mazal Tov!:)