Disclaimer: I don't own PR. I don't own the song. It belongs to Savage Garden. It's called 'Crash and Burn'. I'd like to thank Yellow Lightstar for her advice.
Timeline: After A date with danger. Zhane was morphed the whole time when he saved and helped Astronema.
Believing in what you don't know
Astronema lay on her bed, aboard the Dark Fortress. Everyone was asleep, except her. She was thinking.
She wasn't thinking about the ordinary kill-the-rangers stuff. In fact she was thing something very far from that. Her mind was on the Silver Ranger.
She knew he hadn't stood her up. She knew that he was telling the truth. She knew she loved him. She also knew if anyone found out she would be killed.
At the same time aboard the Mega-ship, Zhane lay awake also. He was thinking about Astronema. He couldn't believe he had blown it.
Well, he thought, there's nothing I can do about it now. And he went to sleep.
The next day Astronema decided to go down to Earth. She changed into a black leather outfit. She did noting to change her long, curly blond hair. She did take off her dramatic makeup. She teleported to the surf spot. She took a seat at the counter and waited to be served. It was not long until an African woman came over.
"Can I help you?" She asked.
"Yes. Can I see a menu?" Astronema asked.
"Are you new here?" the woman asked.
"Yes." Astronema answered.
"Well, I'm Adell. I own this place." Adell said. "Here's a menu. I'll be back in a few minutes to take your order." Adell said and walked away.
Astronema looked over the menu. Nothing looked familiar. Finally she settled on a sandwich. A few minutes later Adell came over to take her order.
"Okay. What can I get you?" Adell asked.
"I'll take a ham and cheese sandwich, some chips, and a iced tea." Astronema said.
"Okay." Adell said as she wrote it down.
"Can I get to go?" Astronema asked.
"Sure. It'll be ready in about 5 minutes." Adell said and headed toward the kitchen. Five minutes later Astronema had her food and headed for the park.
Once she arrived at the park she found a tree and sat down to enjoy her lunch. As soon as she was finished eating she threw away the remainders of her food in the trash bin nearby. She then decided to walk around for a little while.
She had been walking for about half an hour when she came to a basketball court. She noticed a few people playing. She decided to watch them. She sat down at a large tree nearby, so she could watch. She was watching the game when she noticed who the players were. They were the Power Rangers!
Astronema continued to watch. She didn't know why but she felt at peace here. After about 10 minutes the rangers decided to rest. Astronema noticed the rangers kept looking around. Then Astronema realized that there were only 5 of them, the silver ranger wasn't with them. I wonder where he is, she thought.
But her question was answered when a teenager the rangers age soon joined the rangers. She noticed he was wearing an Astro Mega-ship uniform, unlike the others who were wearing earth clothes. It was the Silver Ranger.
She was wondering what she was doing here on earth. What she had done to the one person who had trusted her. She was so deep in thought she didn't notice Zhane staring at her.
As soon as he joined the rangers he was being lectured.
"Zhane are you listening?" Cassie asked.
"What?" Zhane asked, his attention turned back to Cassie.
"Did you hear a word I just said?" She asked.
"Sorry." Zhane said apologetically.
"I was telling you that you shouldn't wear your uniform on Earth. Someone will notice." Cassie said.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Zhane said distractedly.
The others just looked at each other. They knew something was wrong but Zhane wouldn't tell them what. Soon the rangers continued their basketball game.
Zhane was sitting on the side tables thinking. Soon he saw a young woman sitting under a close by tree. She looked familiar, but he couldn't figure out who she was. He decided to get a closer look. So he got up and silently slipped into the bushes to get closer to this girl.
Astronema was brought out of her thoughts by a twig snapping behind her. She jumped up and was immediately in a defensive stance.
"Who goes there?" She asked.
And when a sheepish looking Zhane emerged from the bushes, her heart leapt with joy.
"What do you want?" Astronema asked although she showed no emotion.
"I thought you looked familiar so I came closer to see if I knew you." Zhane said.
"Oh." Astronema said and then dropped the defensive posture. "Well I doubt you'd even want to know me." She said as she slumped back down the tree.
Zhane noticing her sullen attitude sat down next to her. "Why wouldn't I want to know you? I mean you're beautiful." Zhane said.
"I am?" Astronema asked surprised.
"Yeah. I can't believe no one has told you that before." Zhane said.
"Well, yeah. I've been told that before but…I didn't believe it." Astronema said.
"Why not?" Zhane questioned.
"Because the people who answered were afraid of me." Astronema answered. "And I just realized they were creeps."
"Yeah. I know my share of creeps too." Zhane said.
"Like who? Surely not your friends over there." Astronema said.
"How'd you know they were my friends?" Zhane asked.
"Because I've been sitting here for the last hour." Astronema said.
"Oh." Zhane said. "So why are you so sad?" he asked.
"Well, there's this guy I really like and he asked me out on a date. I was so excited, that he likes ME, but when I got to where we were supposed to meet, he wasn't there. So I thought he stood me up. I waited for while and then finally he showed up. He made up this absurd excuse about where he had been. I was so furious. I told him I never wanted to see him again. Then as soon as I got home I found out his reason for being late was the truth. But I'm afraid he won't forgive me." Astronema said.
"I'm sure he will." Zhane said.
"Really?" Astronema asked
"Yeah." Zhane said.
"You know, I never got your name." Astronema said.
"It's Zhane." Zhane said with a smile. "And yours?" He asked.
Astronema panicked. She couldn't tell him her real name. But she couldn't lie to him. She put on a mysterious smile on her face and said. "You already know my name." Then she stood up and walked away.
Zhane watched her walk away curiously. Then he joined his friends.
Astronema kept walking until she was out of Zhane's sight. Then she found another tree to sit by. She waved her hand and a book appeared by her. She waved her hand again and a small portable radio appeared next to the book. She picked up the small radio and turned it on. She turned it to an Angel Grove station and then set it back down again. She picked up her book. She was about to open it when the song got her attention.
When you feel all alone
And the world has turned its back on you
Give me a moment please to tame you wild, wild heart.
I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you
It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold
When darkness is upon your door and you feel like you can't
Take anymore
Let me the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone.
When you feel all alone
And a loyal friend is hard to find
You're caught in a one way street
With the monsters in your head
With hopes and dreams are far away and
You feel like you can't face the day
Let me the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone.
Because there has always been heartache and pain
And when it's over you'll breath again
You'll breathe again
When you feel all alone
And the world has turned its back on you
Give me a moment please
To tame your wild, wild heart
Let me the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone.
Astronema was shocked. It was as if the song was about her and Zhane's problem. How can that be, she thought. Maybe I should ask Zhane for another chance. Yes. She thought, I should contact him. But how? Astronema gathered her things and teleported to the Dark Fortress.
The next day Astronema awoke to the squabbling of some of the monsters. She decided to find out what was going on. She dressed quickly and left her bedroom. As soon as she walked out of her room the squabbling stopped.
"What was all that racket about?" Astronema asked Elgar.
"Um…the quantrons were just wondering when the next battle was going to be." Elgar said slowly.
"When was the last time we sent a monster down?" Astronema asked.
"Three days ago." Ecliptor answered.
"Yes. I see the problem. Let me think about which monster I want to send down." Astronema said and went into her room and sat at her computer. She began typing requests. She wanted a weak monster, which could not hurt the rangers even if it tried. Finally she found one. It was called leapfrog. The only thing that was good about him was he was good at following orders. Other than that it had no strengths. She closed down her computer and walked to the throne room.
"I have found one." Astronema said and summoned leapfrog. The thing was in front of her in a few short seconds. It was a large frog. It looked to be strong but in actuality it was weak.
"You rang?" The frog asked in a deep voice.
"Yes. Today you are going to destroy the Power Ranges." Astronema told him.
"Okay." The frog said and disappeared.
"I'm going down to get some exercise." Astronema said and disappeared.
Zhane awoke to the sounds of the alarm. He jumped up and ran for the jump bay. The others were there already. They all morphed and went down to take care of the problem.
When they appeared on earth they say leapfrog, a small troop of quantrons and Astronema.
"Zhane you take Astronema. I'll take the toad. Guys you get the quantrons." Andros ordered and the others went on their way.
Zhane made his way over to Astronema. They started a sparing match. It wasn't real fighting because neither wanted to hurt the other. Soon they were face to face with each other.
"Silver Ranger, meet me at the campfire at 5." Astronema said and then vanished.
Zhane was confused. But soon he was brought back to attention when the others gathered around him and they all teleported to the ship.
As soon as Astronema reappeared on the Dark Fortress she knew Ecliptor was mad. Astronema was sure he knew about Zhane.
She tried to avoid him but it wasn't that easy since he was her personal servant.
"Astronema, your meal." Ecliptor said shortly.
Finally she couldn't stand it any longer. "Out with it." She said sharply.
"What?" Ecliptor asked.
"I said out with it. Tell me what is bothering you." Astronema said.
"I am just hurt that you did not tell me about wanting to fight today." He said.
"What?" Astronema asked, expecting something different.
"I have sworn to protect you. I can not do that when you do not tell me when you are going to fight the rangers." Ecliptor said.
Astronema sighed. "Come sit down." She told her guardian and watched as he sat down next to her.
"Ecliptor, I think of you as the father I never had. I'm sorry I neglected to tell you. It was just a spur of the moment thing. You know I don't trust anyone as much as I do you." Astronema told him.
"You should not trust me." Ecliptor said sadly.
"Why?" Astronema asked.
"Because I have failed you. I have lied to you." Ecliptor said sadly.
"About what?" Astronema asked frightened.
"Who you are; who your family is" Ecliptor said.
"Why are you telling me this?" Astronema asked.
"Because I know of your relationship with the Silver Ranger. I know you are changing. I know you are questioning your role in the side of evil." Ecliptor said.
"I don't know what to say." Astronema told her protector.
"Don't say anything. Let me say to you what I have wanted to say for the last 10 years." Ecliptor said. "You were not born evil. You were born into a family of good. You had two loving parents and one caring brother. When you were 6 years old you were kidnapped by Darkonda." Ecliptor said. He then reached into a compartment on his arm and took out a disc. He handed it to Astronema. "This will explain everything."
Astronema got up and put into a disc reader to play. It showed the kidnapping, but there was no sound.
After it was finished Ecliptor continued his tale. "You were taken to Dark Specter. He brainwashed you and you were given to me to be raised. I was told never to tell you the truth or I would be killed." Ecliptor said.
"Where are my parents?" Astronema asked quietly.
"I do not know. They have not been seen since the invasion of KO-35." Ecliptor said. He knew what the next question was and he dreaded it.
"Who is my brother?" Astronema asked in the same quiet tone as before.
"Andros of KO-35, a Space Ranger." Ecliptor told his princess.
"And my name?" Astronema asked.
"Karone" Ecliptor said.
"I need to think about this." Astronema said hastily and teleported off of the Dark Fortress.
She landed at the campfire where she was supposed to meet Zhane. It was only 4 o'clock. She found a tree stump and sat down. She saw where the fire was supposed to be, but there was no fire. She decided to make one. She summoned her wrath staff and started the fire. She then noticed the design on the tip of her staff. It was a face of evil. She threw down the staff. She started crying.
She knew Ecliptor told her the truth, but the realization of it all was shocking to say the least. She continued to cry. She cried because her dreams, her fantasies, her life had been stolen from her. She was brought back into reality by footsteps. She quickly wiped her face, trying to remove the tear streaks. But the tears kept coming.
Zhane decided to arrive early this time. So he teleported near the campfire about 15 minutes early. He was shocked to find what he did. He found her Wrath Staff stuck in the ground and a crying Astronema. As soon as he reached the entrance to the clearing, he saw Astronema scrub her face trying to remove tears.
"That only makes it worse." Zhane supplied helpfully.
"It can't get any worse." Astronema choked out.
Zhane quickly walked over to he. He dug in his pocket for a handkerchief. When he found it he sat down beside her and gently wiped away her tears.
"Thank you." She said softly.
"Do you want to tell me what has you so upset?" Zhane asked.
"You wouldn't believe me. And even if you did you probably wouldn't care." Astronema said.
"Try me." Zhane said and waited.
But Astronema couldn't figure out how to begin.
"Did you just have a bad day?" he asked.
"Yeah." Astronema said.
"Why don't you start at the beginning?" Zhane asked.
"Okay. Well…Elgar yelling at some of the quantrons waked me up. They were having a fight because there hasn't been a monster attack in several days. So to shut them up I decided to have an attack. I didn't want any of you to get hurt so I found the easiest monster. I also decided to contact you to tell you to meet me here. So at the last minute I decided to go down to the battle. And I talked to you. When I returned to the Dark Fortress, Ecliptor was mad at me for some reason. Finally I couldn't take it anymore so I asked him. And I found out he was hurt because I hadn't told him I was going to fight. So I apologized and told him, I trusted him more than anyone. And then he told me something that he had kept secret for 10 years." Astronema said, her tears were slowly stopping.
"I've always had these dreams. They shouldn't scare a person who has been evil all her life. But they did. I always assumed it was because I was a child when it happened. But now I know the truth." Astronema paused.
"Ecliptor told me I was kidnapped. He showed me a recording of it. It was the exact same thing as my dream. Ecliptor told me of how I was brainwashed by Dark Specter and turned evil." Astronema said.
"So did you find out who your family is?" Zhane asked.
Astronema's tears began to roll again so she just nodded.
"So what's the problem?" Zhane asked.
"My parents are missing. No one knows where they are. Except maybe my brother." Astronema said.
"So ask your brother." Zhane said.
"I doubt he will tell me. He will think of only who I have been and what I have done." Astronema said.
"So why were you crying?" Zhane asked.
"I've lost so much of my life, and most of my childhood memories and I can't get them back." Astronema said.
"But you can replace it with new memories and a new life." Zhane said encouragingly.
"Memories of what? I'm not wanted anywhere because I've destroyed so much." Astronema said.
"You're wanted here. I want you here." Zhane said softly.
"You do?" Astronema asked
"Yeah." Zhane said.
"But after what I said…" Astronema trailed off.
"It's okay." Zhane reassured.
"No. I'm sorry I said all those things to you. I realize it was all a big misunderstanding. I hope you can forgive me." Astronema said.
"Oh Astronema." Zhane said lovingly.
"No. Please don't call me that." Astronema pleaded.
"Do you know what your real name is?" Zhane asked.
Astronema nodded. "Ecliptor said it was Karone." Astronema said.
"Karone? As in…" Zhane started but Astronema cut him off.
"As in sister of Andros of KO-35." She finished.
"Are you sure?" Zhane asked.
"Yeah." Astronema said.
"Wow." Zhane said shocked.
"Yeah." Astronema said.
"You have to tell Andros." Zhane said.
"I know. I'm just scared." Astronema admitted.
"I'll be with you." Zhane said as he stood up, and then helped Astronema up. Zhane retrieved her staff and then took her hand and they teleported to the Mega-ship.
They landed on the bridge, which was vacant except for Alpha, who was shocked to see Zhane and Astronema holding hands.
"Zhane? What's going on?" Alpha said.
"Alpha, will you please tell Andros I need to speak with him?" Zhane asked the android, which nodded and went to retrieve the red ranger.
Several minutes later Andros came onto the bridge. As soon as he saw Astronema he dropped into a defensive stance.
"What are you doing here, Astronema?" Andros asked.
"I brought her here." Said Zhane.
"What? Why?" A shocked Andros asked.
"Because there's something you need to know." Astronema said.
"Oh Yeah? And what could you possibly have to tell me?" Andros asked.
"I'm your sister." Astronema said quietly
"Excuse me?" he asked shocked.
"I'm Karone." Astronema said.
"This better not be some kind of sick joke." Andros warned.
"It's not. Ecliptor told me. It's the truth. You're my brother." Astronema said.
"You do realize that I'm going to want to check for my self." Andros assured.
Astronema just nodded.
"Okay. Lets go to the medical bay and test you." Andros said and he and Astronema began to leave.
Astronema noticed Zhane wasn't going with them. "Zhane? You're coming, right?" she asked.
"No. I think I'll just hang out here." Zhane said.
"What?" Astronema asked frantically.
"You'll be okay. I promise Andros doesn't bite." Zhane said with a smile.
"O…okay." Astronema said and followed Andros toward the medical bay.
As soon as they got there Andros started running tests on her.
"Why didn't you want to leave Zhane?" Andros asked as he was analyzing the results.
"I'm scared." Admitted Astronema.
"Of me?" Andros asked curiously.
"No. I'm scared of what this could mean. My whole life has been a lie. I don't know what I'm supposed to do now." Astronema said.
"That doesn't explain what Zhane has to do with it." Andros said
"Do you promise not to tell him?" Astronema asked.
"Yeah. Sure." Andros promised.
"I think I love him." Astronema said.
"You think?" Andros asked confused.
"Yeah. I don't know what love feels like. It's very confusing. Lately, I've been experiencing all these new emotions I don't understand. Like the other day, I was on Earth. I was in the park and I saw you playing basketball. So I sat down to watch, and I felt… peace." Astronema said.
Andros didn't answer. He was staring at the data pad in his hands.
"Andros? Is something wrong? What's the data pad say?" Astronema asked
"It says you're Karone." Andros said as he turned around to face her. He stood and hugged her.
"Do you have still your locket?" Andros asked.
"Yes." Karone said and pulled out her locket to show her brother.
"Great! Let's go tell the others." Andros said and dragged Karone from the medical bay.
Soon they had told all the rangers. They headed back to the bridge. They were talking about when they were children.
They walked onto the bridge and saw Zhane. Karone ran and gave him a hug.
"Thank you." She said.
"For what?" Zhane asked.
"For believing in me." Karone said and then kissed him.