A/N - Sweetness. 15 reviews. Thanks guys. keep it coming.
Ashley and Andros entered the house. "Okay, first thing's first. We have to get you some clothes."
Ashley led Andros to her brother's room and opened his closet. Her brother was around the same size as Andros so she assumed the clothes would fit.
"Try these on." Ashley said as she handed him dark blue jeans and a red T-shirt. Ashley walked out of the room and closed the door to give him some privacy. She went to her own room to change into something more casual and yellow. After changing, she went back to her brother's room to check up on Andros. She knocked on the door.
"You almost done in there Andros?" Ashley asked from behind the door.
Andros opened the door from the other side. "Yeah." Ashley giggled a little.
"Your shirt is inside out." She said. "Here let me help. Take off the shirt."
Andros complied. He lifted the shirt, revealing his well toned abdominal muscles, as well as a bunch of small scars. The scars weren't just on his lower chest. There were also scars on his upper chest, as well as on his back. They were thin but long, as if they were made by a knife. There were burn marks as well. Ashley's mouth opened in shock.
"What happened?" She asked softly.
"I was captured during a mission." Andros explained bluntly.
Ashley hesitated, but slowly reached out her hand and touched his scars with her fingers. She slowly looked up at Andros and their eyes met.
"Sorry." Ashley said as she looked away and pulled her hand back.
"It's alright." He said.
She took the shirt and fixed it before giving it back to Andros. After Andros put the shirt on, they got into Ashley's car and drove off to the mall.
The two rangers arrived at the mall and got some Chinese food at the food court. They decided to go eat outside, under the warm sun. Ashley watched in amusement as Andros struggled with his chopsticks.
"Here." She said as she took the box from his hands. She picked up some rice and stuck it out. Andros moved in closer and ate it.
"You can fix a ship, land a shuttle, and fight a space battle, but you can't use chopsticks? I hope the fate of the galaxy never rests on your ability to use chopsticks." Ashley said.
"If it ever does, you can save the galaxy for me." Andros said jokingly.
"So, what do you think you're going to do after you leave?" Ashley asked.
"I'm going to fix the megaship, and then I'm going to follow up on some leads." Andros answered.
"Come back to Earth every now and then. Say hello, eat some Chinese food."
"Maybe I will."
"Great. Maybe one day after the war, you can me around KO-35." Ashley said.
"Sure." Andros said.
Andros and Ashley went back to Ashley's place. She turned on the television and let Andros watch it, while Ashley went to make some calls to her fellow rangers. She decided to have a BBQ dinner at her house, giving the chance for the rangers to say goodbye to Andros, as well as discuss plans for what to do next in regards to protecting the Earth.
"Hey Andros, I called the others, and they're coming over for dinner." Ashley called out.
"Okay." He responded.
The other rangers arrived with some food and drinks.
T.J. set up the grill while Cassie and Ashley got the drinks. Andros helped Carlos set up the table.
"So Andros, do they have BBQ on KO-35?" Carlos asked.
"What is a BBQ?" Andros asked confused.
The rangers sat around the patio table, eating, drinking, and talking under the setting sun.
"Guys, I've been thinking. And well, I was wondering, where do we go from here? We don't have a command center anymore, we don't have Dimmetria…" Carlos trailed off. The mood became a little depressing.
"If you'd like, you can stay with me." Andros said.
They all looked at him.
"You guys fought well back on that planet, and, well, I could use a crew. I said I didn't want your help earlier because I wasn't sure what you guys were capable of. Maybe with your help, we can put an end to the war." Andros got up and walked away towards the large, grassy backyard, allowing the other rangers some time to discuss the option.
"Like Carlos said, we don't have a command center, and we don't have Dimmetria." T.J. said.
"And there haven't been any attacks on Earth since Divatox left." Ashley added.
"But, what if the Earth is under attack while we're gone?" Cassie wondered.
"Good point." Carlos said.
"Guys, we need to take a look at the big picture. Earth is one of the last, if not the last planet that hasn't been conquered by Dark Specter. If we just stay on the defensive, we're going to be wiped out. We need to go on the offensive. We need to bring the fight to them." T.J. said.
The other rangers thought long and hard. .
"I'll go." Carlos said.
"I'm in too." Ashley said.
Cassie sighed. "Let's go win a war." The decision was unanimous and Ashley went to go inform Andros.
A/N - what? you thought they were gonna kiss and stuff? It's only chapter 7. And i'm writing chapter 21 right now.
