Summary: Andros has lost everything that ever meant something to him… did he?
Scarred
Chapter 21
The doorbell rang and Leonard looked up from the newspaper he hadn't had a chance to read during the day. He looked up at his wife, meeting her questioning gaze, his son even popping his head out from behind the new video camera he had been toying with.
The question was clear on all of their faces: 'Who would be at the door at this time of night?'
He got up and walked into the hallway, aware of his son following him, the camera in his hands still running. He opened the door and stood there in shock when he saw who was there. He could hear his son gasp at the sight of her.
Her face was pale and gaunt, her clothes torn and blood stained, covered with mud and dust. Her face was bruised and scuffed with dirt, but her eyes were the most heartbreaking; weary beyond belief, shadowed with horrors that no one should experience, but relieved, with a dim hope glowing from their depths.
"Uncle Leo?" Her voice was weak.
As he watched her eyes rolled back and she collapsed.
Zhane sighed as he stared at the ring on the chain that circled his neck. Two hands were holding a crowned heart, melding into a continuous silver band. He had finally found his dream girl to offer his ring to. Of course she had to be Astronema, the Princess of Darkness and his mortal enemy – things just had to turn out like that.
"Hey Zhane." The greeting startled him when his Terran teammates entered holding bay and he cursed himself for brooding in such a public place; that was Andros's job.
He tried to discretely hide the chain back under his shirt, but it was too late.
"What's that?" Laura inquired.
"Nothing." Zhane mumbled softly, but Laura was already too close before he got a change to finish putting the chain away.
"Wow, that's a pretty ring." She admired. "What's engraved in it?"
"My name." Zhane grumbled, pulling it away from her gaze.
Laura shrugged and walked over to the Synthetron where the other rangers were and got herself a drink. She joined the other rangers at the table next to Cassie.
"Can I see?" Cassie asked, looking at Zhane. "Unless you don't want to, of course." She added quickly.
Knowing he wasn't going to escape this, he let out a sigh, nodding as he pulled the chain back from under his shirt and took it off. Taking a deep breath he handed it over to Cassie.
"It's beautiful." Cassie complemented after looking at it and handing it back to him.
"Thanks." He smiled faintly, looping the chain back around his neck.
"Does it have any special meaning, or is it just a ring?" Cassie inquired, her eyes telling him he still didn't have to answer if he didn't want to and he smiled.
"It's called a Claddagh. It's given to Karovan boys at birth." He started to explain. "We're supposed to carry it with us until we meet a girl we're sure we want to spend our life with."
"An engagement ring?" TJ guessed.
"That too." Zhane agreed. "There are three ways for it to be worn by the girl. When they wear it on their right hand with crown and heart facing out it's like your promise ring, when the heart and crown are facing in it's like your engagement ring and when worn on the left hand with both heart and crown facing in, it's a wedding ring."
"Wow." Carlos commented.
"That's a beautiful tradition." Cassie smiled.
"Sounds rather permanent to me, once you've given the ring." TJ put in thoughtfully.
"It is." Zhane nodded. "That's why most men still have it when they turn 25, it's rarely giving to a girl before that age. No one ever forces you to give it, unless the girl ends up pregnant, then you're forced to immediately put it as engagement ring."
"So every guy has a ring like that?" Laura inquired.
Zhane heard the silent implication and shook his head.
"Yes, every guy gets one at birth, but no, not every guy has one. Like I said, there are cases of people giving the ring earlier than usual. Once it's given, you can't ask for it back. The only way for it to be freed is by… death. During the invasion, many rings got lost. All rings that could have been were retrieved, but if the owning male was gone in the evacuation, they still have to be returned."
A glint appeared in Laura's eyes and Zhane didn't like the look of that. Knowing Andros would probably hurt him thoroughly later on for saying this, he took a deep breath.
"And before you ask, no, Andros doesn't have his." He started and watched Laura's face fall. "I know it's hard for you to imagine, but Andros was one of those special cases. There was one girl in all of KO-35 that could break through to him no matter what. He gave his ring to her when they were fourteen, as a promise ring."
"What happened to her?" Cassie asked softly.
"She died during the invasion." Zhane sighed miserably. "Her body was never found, but it was clear what had happened to her."
"The memory of her hurts you." TJ noticed sympathetically.
"She was a dear friend." Zhane replied shortly, not at all willing to tell them she was also his cousin.
"Your presence is requested on the bridge." Deca informed them before anyone had a chance to reply.
"Tell Andros we'll be right there." Zhane sighed, getting up.
Moments later they walked onto the bridge, finding Andros talking to a familiar face, at least, to most of them.
"Who the hell is that?" Zhane demanded to know as he went to stand, flanking his friend.
"We'll look into it right away." Andros promised the figure, not even turning to his friend to reply.
"Just be careful." The other ranger pressed. "You'll probably have to get onto the ship to find out if the rumours are true. If you are caught… It would be disastrous."
"That's why only Zhane and TJ will accompany me. That way we'll have both back up and less chance of being caught. The girls would stand out too much." Andros replied.
The other ranger nodded before saluting.
"I wish you the best of luck on this mission." He replied and cut the connection.
"What did Phantom want?" Cassie asked, glaring at the screen as if it had been the one to ignore her.
Andros didn't reply immediately though, staring at Zhane.
"Cuir sin imithe!" He snapped at his friend.
Confused Zhane looked down and noticed the chain and ring lying against his shirt. In one swift movement they were hidden under his shirt and he cocked his head at his friend.
"Who's this Phantom guy and what did he want?" He asked tentatively, knowing he had accidentally put Andros on the edge.
"Phantom is an ally, no one knows who he is underneath his helmet. He caught some rumours about some prisoners of value being transferred to the Dark Fortress and Darkonda is involved in some way. We are to find out what that's all about." Andros replied.
"So why TJ? Blue's much more noticeable than black." Zhane argued, privately realizing that red was probably more conspicuous than either.
"But Carlos is too noisy and we won't be morphed in there to start with." Andros explained, turning to the other three. "That doesn't mean you'll have any less important tasks. You have to be ready to get in there if things go wrong, so you'll have to stay informed and monitor things on the Fortress, because we'll have our hands full evading patrols."
Carlos, Cassie and Laura nodded and watched Andros leave the bridge with Zhane and TJ. All six of them could practically feel the air around them vibrating, indicating something was going to happen very, very soon. The only question was if it would be good… or bad.
A/N: Hope you liked it. If you wanna know what's going on… REVIEW! Then I'll update. Oh and the ring and name are real. Google it if you want to know what it looks like.
Cuir sin imithe – Put that away