Disclaimer: I so obviously do not own the Power Rangers, and I in no way profit from this fic.

Ashley jumped at the sound of the thunder. She moaned quietly, hugging her knees to her chest. She had thought that at least on a spaceship she wouldn't have to deal with thunderstorms. But she had been wrong. First the one on Yutoba, and now only a few weeks later, this one.

And to make matters worse, they had voluntarily flown into this one! Andros had rambled of something about collecting valuable data and something about the ships defense systems.

Ashley pulled her blanket closer as the ship shook and another deafening clash of thunder sounded around it. Normally during a really bad storm, she at least had been able to call Cassie. She was the only one who knew about her irrational fear of thunder. But the other rangers were busy on the bridge monitoring the storm.

Ashley had told them that she wasn't feeling good. Now she was sitting on the floor next to her bed with a blanket over her head. Some Power Ranger I am, she thought grimly.

She knew it was a silly thing to be afraid off, especially with what she faced every day, but she couldn't help it. She had been terrified of thunderstorms since she was little.

Ashley almost jumped when a knock came at the door. She sighed, "Get a hold of yourself Ashley." Wrapping the blanket around her shoulders, she got up to answer the door. The last thing she wanted was one of the guys finding out about this.

"Karone," Ashley said, surprised.

"Andros said you weren't feeling well. I brought you some soup," Karone smiled, holding up the tray.

Ashley couldn't help but smile back, "Thank you. But you didn't have to do that."

"Isn't that what friends are supposed to do?" Karone asked, looking a little confused.

"No. I mean yes," Ashley smiled again, just before another clash of thunder sounded. Ashley did jump this time. She could have sworn the ship shook this time. She winced a little, partly at the thunder, and partly because she knew that she'd never be able to convince Karone that she wasn't terrified of thunder now.

Karone frowned, placing the soup on the ground and sitting down next to Ashley, "What's wrong?"

Ashley sighed, clutching her blanket. It was a yellow and orange one that her great grandmother had knitted for her when she was born. It was worn and faded by now, but miraculously still in one piece. "It's just this storm," she trailed off.

"It's perfectly safe on the ship. I'm sure Andros wouldn't take the risk if he didn't think the shields could handle it,"Karone told her, trying to sound reassuring.

Ashley shook her head, "Yeah, I know that. It's just," she sighed again, "I've always been scared of thunder, ever since I was little. I know it's irrational, but I can't help it," she added, not wanting to hear a pep talk right now.



Karone looked a little surprised. Then she smelled, "It's ok." she hesitated a minute before butting her arm around Ashley's shoulders.

Ashley squeezed her eyes shut as another thunder clap sounded and leaned into Karone, "Thank you."

Karone smiled, pulling Ashley closer and wrapping both arms around her. She reached over, handing her the soup she had brought, "Here, you should eat something, you missed dinner."

Ashley smiled a little, readjusting herself in Karone's arms so she could take the bowl from her. The thunder crashed around them again, but this time it didn't bother her quite so much. Something about being here, in Karone's arms, just made everything seem better.