Strength of the soul
By golden Arrow
Summary:
Disclaimer: I own nothing Power rangers, wish I did but that's life.
Author's note:
Chapter 1 Regrets and self recriminations
Cassie watched as the psycho ranger slashed her three times, she saw the blade then altered with a pink sparkle into a second form.
Damn it she should have moved, true she still felt some of the aches but she should have been able too do something then, been able to move.
Instead, she watched as the evil one knocked Kendrix back, managing to slash at her once more.
"Hey you're still watching it?" Andros asked as he came into the girls' room, pausing to take in his surroundings.
"Yeah, I don't know me just keeping if I'd kept moving, if I'd just fought harder and been faster…" She sighed keeping her eyes on the battle on the screen, she had to know, had to see it, know where she'd messed up.
"Cass," Andros crossed the room and took a seat beside his distraught teammate. "When Zhane took that attack for me back on KO-35 I felt the same thing. Only in the last few years did I realize the truth." He said, clicking off the replay unit and then waiting until she looked at him. "Cassie, what happened, happened for a reason, if he'd not been injured so badly maybe he'd have perished elsewhere and then where would we have been in that final battle?" He asked as if it made all of the sense in the world.
Cassie supposed it did, in a way but Kendrix was dead, for good, never to come back. She was dead. Springing up to pace the small room she reached the window before saying.
"But it's not the same thing, that time there was still a chance of her coming back but now…" She saw the stars, in their infanet numbers, glittering as if a life had not been lost. Did they know? Did anyone care? But she'd known that Leo had, he'd been hurting so badly. He'd loved her, probably not openly but there it had been in that terror…
"Cassie," she felt the hand on her shoulder, "you guys found me when I was in a place darker than the dark fortress and more dangerous than all of Dark specter's armies." His voice was gentle, even knowing and she hated it, she hated knowing he'd not lost as she had, that she was so alone…
"And we brought you out of it, I know that but there was hope, I got someone out right killed." She slammed a fist down on the window glass and then stalked back to her bed, hitting the replay on button.
"Cassie…" What could he say? He really didn't know who did?
"Kendrix get out of there!" Cassie screamed aloud in the little room she now shared with Ashley, Andros's presence forgotten.
"I have to destroy it forever!" Kendrix shouted back as if she had some inner knowledge of how to take care of this little problem.
"Cassie!" The blue astro ranger was shouting as the teams ran up.
"Kendrix!" Leo shouted in terror and fear as he must have realized what was about to happen.
"No you have to get out of there!" Maya shouted trying to run to them, but Leo was grabbing her, holding her back.
"This has to work!" Kendrix shouted as she brought down her Quasar Saber on the hilt of the savage sword. The foil buckled into two halves, in its original form, and the energy storm collapsed, until all that was left was a small column of sparkling white light.
Andros watched then too for a moment and then left in silence. There was simply no way to help her, none that he could see at any rate.
On the bed Cassie took it in once more, with out the physical pain of earlier. The light was nothing more than a translucent Pink ranger, white and holding her Quasar Saber. She was just hovering there for a moment then she demorphed
In a flash of white light. Although she was upright she almost looked unconscious.
"I'm ok." She whispered her eyes opening slowly to look over them all; slowly a smile crossed her face. "No matter what I'll always be here." There was a flash, even as she began to narrow out into a beam of light. And then she was gone absorbed into her
Quasar Saber.
Cassie hit the replay rewind and started it once more, needing to find that point…
***
The black clad figure Checked his navigation instruments and preyed he'd not be too late. He'd been trying to find her when this had all happened, that's why it was taking him so dammed long to cross the galaxy.
He'd felt it, her pain, it was one of the gifts of the power ruby. Well, at least there were gifts, not just curses.
Sighing he glanced at his watch, he was not morphed and so he was in his full earth gear. Man, it was weird to wear his own cloths. But then for the last few months he'd been in such a dark place he hadn't cared if he lived or died, so what had clothing mattered?
It was why it had taken him so long to make up his mind to go find Cassie.
Now though since he'd felt that darkness, not about him but another close to him he'd fled like a horde of Tanga's after a battle.
The darkness was not that of a broken relationship, he'd found out how that felt after he'd received Tanya's dear Jon letter. Nor that of the loss of a family member but that of grief mixed with guilt. Both were a dangerous mix and he had to get there, had to be there, to make her see she was not at fault; he just couldn't lose her too.
***
"Hey," Ashley said as her boyfriend joined her in the galley. The yellow clad girl wasn't eating or anything like that but staring in
As if remembering too. The red ranger just didn't know what to do, what was there too do?
Closing his eyes a minute he let instinct take over and moved to Ashley wrapping his arms about her shoulder.
"Hey, any luck?" She asked tilting her head back t gaze up at him.
"No, she's so deep that I don't know what to do." He said morosely.
"What about Deca 2?" Ashley asked and he glanced up to the spot on the wall where the red beam lit.
"'I have tried to speak with Cassie however she will not respond." The ship's duplicated voice intoned. It was almost identical to Deca 1's voice but a slight bit higher in pitch.
"That's what she did when I tried." Ashley sighed and let her boyfriend help her to her feet and lead her from the room. "Andros?" She asked when they came to his quarters.
"Ash, I talked to Zhane, I'm bunking in with him, and you should get some rest too." He informed her and she smiled up at him wanly.
"'You know me too well, do you know that?"
"Maybe." Then he kissed her goodnight and headed off towards his own quarters.
TBC
***
Hmm, what do you think? I was trying to think of a good Cassie Phantom fic that was non fluff. Not that I have anything against fluff I love to write it and more to read it but… *shrugs*Guess I'm just in the mood for some meat. Anyway what do you think? Better question do you think you know the phantom's Identity? Want to take a stab at it?
