Disclaimer: The Power Rangers do not belong to me, except in my dreams. They belong to Saban/Disney.

Author's Notes: This story contains a male/male romantic relationship. If you can't handle that, find the back button now. Please review – I love seeing what you all think of my work!

Prologue

A smile graced Andros' lips as he reached out for his love. His hands met only air, brushing across sheets that were cold from lack of body heat. Opening his eyes, he sat up. "Zhane?"

He got up, reaching for his clothes. He's probably on the bridge again. Is there ever going to be a day where I don't have to force him to sleep? He was already half dressed when reality hit.

Zhane wasn't there. Zhane was hanging onto life by a thread in a cryogenic tube. Zhane hadn't been conscious in almost 18 months. Zhane was gone, and he was alone. Why do I have to dream about him every night? Is it ever going to stop feeling like someone tore my heart out? He sat back down on his bed with a sigh. He constantly tried to tell himself that it was going to be okay, that Zhane was going to wake up, but every day that passed made that harder to believe. And the worst thing was, he remembered the battle like it was yesterday. He could still hear the Zhane's scream as he rushed in front of him, still feel the heat of the explosion that had thrown him clear and covered Zhane in debris. He could still see that silver body lying limply on the ground. Worse than that, he could still hear the last angry words they said to one another. Am I ever going to stop feeling guilty about how it ended? He closed his eyes as their last conversation once again echoed through his mind.

Standing up once more, he pulled his jacket on. There would be no more sleep tonight

Andros left his room and headed down to the engine room. Punching in the combination that opened the secret door he entered the room, pausing to let his eyes adjust to the soft blue light. Then he approached the large unit that had kept the silver ranger alive since that fateful day. His eyes quickly scanned the monitors, checking for any changes. As usual, there were none. The steady beeping of the heart monitor echoed off the bare walls. With a sigh Andros rested his hands on the cryogenic tube that held his love. As he had done many times before, he began to speak to the frozen ranger inside.

"Damn it Zhane, you have to wake up. I don't care if we can be together or not, I don't care if you have to marry someone else. I need to see your face again, I need you hear to tell me that everything's going to be all right. I need to look into your eyes and tell you that I'm sorry. Seeing you like this, talking to you like this - it's killing me. Not having you by my side is killing me." He wiped away the frost that covered the tube and gazed down at the morphed ranger. "Why did you have to jump in front of me? Why couldn't you have just let me be the one to die? You could have kept going, found Karone, gotten married. You could have had a life. Me..." He closed his eyes. "What kind of life do I have? Here, alone on this ship. Doing what little I can to infiltrate the Evil Alliance by myself. Waking up every morning on an empty ship knowing I am the only one who can save Zordon and avenge our people." Opening his eyes he once more focused his attention on the frozen body. "Did I mention I'm alone?" A bitter 

laugh escaped his mouth. "You remember when we were first made rangers and Kinwon gave us that talk? That whole thing about appreciating those that surrounded us and treasuring our moments because we never knew which could be the last? Why didn't we listen to him? Why couldn't we have been smart enough to know that he was right? No, we had to be idiot carefree kids who had no idea that their world was going to be obliterated in the blink of an eye. I had to be stupid enough to fight with you..." He stopped as the words caught in his throat. A year and a half and he still could never get past that, he could never get past what an idiot he had been...

With one hand he caressed the icy surface. "By the stars, you have no idea how much I miss you. There aren't words to tell you how much I miss you. And if that isn't enough, every night I dream about you holding me, about you kissing me..." A tear ran down his face, but he made no move to wipe it away. "Zhane, I'm sorry. I was stupid, and I'm sorry. Please come back to me. Just open those gorgeous silver eyes and tell me that you forgive me, that you love me, that everything is okay. I need you so badly. I want you here, with me..."

A pleasant female voice interrupted his plea. "ANDROS, YOUR SOURCES WERE CORRECT. MY SENSORS SHOW BEINGS GATHERING ON THE CIMMERIAN PLANET."

Wiping his face, Andros looked up at the electronic eye. "So Trey was right, this is their meeting place. Have you detected any sign of Dark Spectre?"

"NOT YET, BUT I HAVE DETECTED RITA, ZEDD, DIVATOX AND..."

"You don't need to go through the whole list, DECA, I get it." Andros heaved a sigh. "Sorry, Zhane, back to work." He lightly touched the tube. "Be well." With that he exited the chamber.