Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers.

Notes: So this was totally written for Starlit Purple (who is the bestest girlfriend ever, by the way), and she was awesome and proofread it for me. I've never actually written this pairing before, so it's sort of... experimental still.

I'm also experimenting a bit with this style of narration in present tense. Does it work? Or is it too... run-on sentence-y?

More With You

She's never had a first date quite like this before, and she's had some pretty spectacular first dates--she and Andros had gone to see a freaking comet, after all, and they'd gotten there on their flying surfboards. She's never expected anything could make a cooler first date than that, but part of her is willing to admit that she'd never really expected to go on another first date after Andros and that... was not how it happened.

It's a different kind of magnificent to find herself walking hand-in-hand on a moonlit beach while the water laps at her bare toes and Cassie's telling her, "I've wanted to do this forever."

And it takes her a second to truly get that, because she's still not used to this, loving Cassie differently. She'd thought they were sisters, but now she thinks that maybe that was never what they were or what she'd wanted and just what she thought she should want, because even all those years ago when they'd just met and she'd had no idea, she had been drawn to Cassie in a way that she couldn't explain.

And, well, she's always wanted a sister.

Cassie figured it out sooner, and Ashley's not sure she wants to know how much sooner because she has a sneaking suspicion the answer might be "always" and she doesn't know if she can deal with the guilt that comes from being so oblivious for so long.

She's pretty sure she understands how Andros feels about the whole Zhane thing, now. Maybe they can bond over the anguish they each have coming from "my best friend has been in love with me since forever and I had no idea" and rebuild their friendship.

She's not sure if she and Cassie could go back, if this doesn't work out. Back to "just" being friends, and losing Cassie is a terrifying thought. More scary than anything. Except maybe for kissing Cassie, because now they're facing each other and she's holding both of Cassie's hands and they're leaning closer and closer until--

Cassie's mouth is soft and her whole body is warm when Ashley wraps her arms around Cassie and pulls her closer. And it sort of throws her at first because Cassie's smaller than she's used to--she's never kissed anyone shorter than her before and she's not used to kissing someone with breasts, either, but her heart is pounding so hard she feels it in her throat and there's this warmth in her belly making her restless and she's shifting from foot to foot, sinking slowly into the sand.

Cassie giggles and squirms closer, burying her toes in the sand against the top of Ashley's feet. It tickles and Ashley squirms, and when the next wave is a little stronger than expected she nearly loses her balance and pulls them both down. Cassie catches her, though, and they lean against each other quietly because Ashley doesn't know what to say now.

She strokes Cassie's hair while she tries to figure it out and marvels at the thickness, which seems odd to her when she thinks about it because it's not like she's never played with Cassie's hair before. She's just never... appreciated it before.

Cassie sighs contentedly in her ear and murmurs, "I like this."

"Me too," she whispers back, smiling, and then she hesitates because even though she knows it's her turn to make an admission after all the confessing that Cassie's done recently, it doesn't make her less nervous. "I--I want more of this. More with you."

"Me too," Cassie echoes and tilts her head to kiss the base of Ashley's neck.

Ashley catches her breath when Cassie does it a second time, because someone else's mouth wandering across her neck has always been one of those things that she just likes, and she tilts her head back, her skin aflame and her eyes full of stars as she wonders if it can get any better than this.

Yeah, she realizes later, when the stars she's seeing are the silly glow-in-the-dark ones she bought forever ago and Cassie's fingers are whispering across her breasts, it can. And she's scraping her nails down Cassie's back and that must be the right thing to do, because Cassie's moaning in her ear now and Ashley can't breathe because moaning is another one of those things.

So's whatever Cassie's doing to her ear--that one catches her by surprise and she whimpers out loud. Cassie seems startled at first but then she starts to grin, just the teeniest bit smug, and Ashley laughs with her.

She's still giggling, later, when she's straddling Cassie's hips and leaning down to kiss her nipples, because her nerves won't be calmed and thankfully, Cassie doesn't seem to mind. Her hands are tangling in Ashley's hair and guh, she's moaning again, and, "Oh!" Ashley gasps when Cassie finds that spot just between her shoulder blades.

She could do this part forever, she thinks, with the kissing and the touching and the exploring and the moaning. Especially the moaning. But somewhere in there they rearrange themselves and now Cassie's leaning over her and it takes some squirming before they're both comfortable, but then Cassie's thigh is between her legs and and and and

And she is made of warmth and feeling and uncontrollable giggles, and when she lifts an arm to hug Cassie's shoulders she finds that there's no strength left in her. Ashley leans her head back and catches her breath as Cassie pants in her ear, her laughter breathless.

"I--" Ashley has no idea what she should say but she knows she should say something, and as Cassie leans her head against Ashley's shoulder, what she finds herself saying is, "I like this."

"I..." Cassie's the hesitant one now; Ashley feels her shoulders stiffen, but she smiles as she whispers, "I didn't know it'd feel like this."

The question is on the tip of her tongue again and Ashley asks it this time before she can think not to. "How long have you wondered?"

"Since Andros," Cassie tells her softly, and that guilty pang isn't unexpected but it still hurts.

"I--I didn't know," she says, but that's not really much of a defense. "I just... I never noticed."

Cassie is quiet then. Ashley figures that her first impulse was right and that was probably the wrong thing to say, but then Cassie lifts a shoulder in a shrug. "I never said anything."

That's rather gracious of her, but Ashley feels the tension leave her. "I'm glad you finally did."

Cassie lifts her head as her hand curls around Ashley's breast, and when Ashley bursts into giggles again, a grin spreads slowly across her face. "So am I."