Summary: Andros has lost everything that ever meant something to him… did he?

Scarred

Chapter 43

"Don't peek." Andros warned.

"I'm not!" Ashley protested. "And I still don't see what the point of this is. Brand and Rise are going to be looking for me soon."

"We're almost there, I promise." Andros assured her, guiding her through the door of a building and into the nearest lift. Once they reached the right floor, he guided her out and walked her down the hall. He keyed the access code into a keypad next to a door and it slid open with a soft hiss. Gently nudging Ashley inside, he whispered, "You can open your eyes now."

Slowly, she stepped carefully into the room, opening her eyes which gradually widened as she took in the sight. "It's… wow. It's beautiful." She murmured, before turning to him in confusion. "But what are we doing here?"

He took a deep breath, hands stuck in his pockets, and looked around the room again. "These apartments were finished not too long before the fall and they survived the battle relatively unharmed. They're liveable and there are still a few available." Andros explained, his hands coming up to motion around him. "This… is one of them."

Ashley spun around to face him with wide eyes. "Andros… are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Ash, I know we used to say we had all the time in the universe and so there was no need to rush anything in our relationship. But," and now his words spilled out in a rush, as if he had been practicing this for a while. "The fall of KO-35 and spending two years thinking you were dead showed me that we might not have that much time at all. And I… I don't want to waste a single moment with you anymore." Andros walked over to her and took her hands. "So, if you think I'm asking you to move into this apartment with me, then yeah, I'm saying what you think I'm saying."

A brief moment passed as Ashley stared up at him. "I'd love to," she said finally, eyes shining sincerely. "But… But you know Brand would never allow it. They did only got me back two months ago."

"Actually, I think I have a way to get them to agree."

"Oh?"

"Set a wedding date." Andros smiled a little hopefully. "I know we're still young, but like I said, I don't want to waste any more time than we have to… and I know I'm ready to take this step."

"Then I just have one thing to say." Ashley replied seriously, and then her face melted into a matching grin. "When?"

"Well, we're still rebuilding much of the colony, but Zhane's found a lot of colonists already and many people are returning on their own. So, about three months should give us enough time to have finished most of the work that needs to be done and leave us some time to plan a wedding."

"About three months it is." Ashley smiled brightly, reaching out to grab his arm and wrap herself around it. "But what about Karone? Is she supposed to stay all alone at your parents' house?"

"Damn," Andros muttered. "I hadn't thought about that."

Ashley laughed in response. "Don't worry," she promised, "We'll figured something out by then." As she said so, their communicators beeped and Andros answered his promptly.

"Talk to us."

"Us?" A mock accusing voice rang out and Andros winced slightly. "Did you steal Ash again? Because Brand's just about ready to start sending out a search party."

"Nathi…" Andros threatened and Ashley giggled.

"Right. Anyways, another group of colonists is arriving and Kin Won asked for our presence to greet them."

"We're on our way."

They left the apartment and quickly made their way to the spaceport. Once there they found Karone leaning against the wall next to the open door as excited voices drifted out. She glanced up at them and wrung her hands, smiling weakly in greeting. "Karone?" Andros asked in worry, walking over to his sister while Ashley peeked through the door opening.

"Your parents." Ashley whispered when she came back. Slowly, Andros' eyes lit up and he took Karone's hand with a look of determination.

"Come on." He told Karone, leading her into the building. "It will be alright, I promise. And besides," he added a little brashly, "no matter how they react, you'll always be my little sister and there's no way I'm letting you go again."

Karone tightened her grip on Andros's hand when everyone in the room turned to look at the three of them walking in. A long moment passed before a hesitant whisper broke the silence.

"Andros?" Ayrana asked, hands pressed to face, tears forming in eyes. When he nodded, a tremulous smile forming on his face she let out a jubilant cry. "Thank the power you're alive!" Her eyes then travelled to Karone and their clasped hands. "Ashley?" she whispered eagerly.

"Nope, that would be me." Ashley grinned, skipping past them and walking over to first hug Ayrana and then Tane. "And I'm guessing it wasn't Zhane who sent you."

"No, though it's good to hear he's alive too." Tane replied. "Saryn found us and told us of the winning of the war and recolonisation of KO-35."

"So he's back to being Saryn? Last I heard of him he was still hiding behind the mask of the Phantom Ranger." Andros then turned to look Karone in the eye; he tilted his head in a silent question. When she nodded and squeezed his hand tightly he turned back, pulling her forth to stand beside him. "Well, since you didn't run into Zhane, I guess none of you have heard yet… Mom, dad, everyone… I got my sister back. I found Karone."

It was as if he had declared he was a woman.

An anticipating silence hung in the air as Ayrana digested this information, first clearly unwilling to believe it, and then, as she looked more closely at Karone, wanting more and more for it to be true.

"Karone?" Ayrana breathed. "Is that beautiful young woman really my baby girl?"

"Where did you find her?" Tane asked, looking at the two in disbelief. "We tried everything; we exhausted every lead, bribed and bought so much information on Onyx and everything lead to a dead end." His eyes were wary, as if unable to accept that after everything he had done it still hadn't been enough to find the girl that was now standing in front of him.

Andros took a slight step forward as if to shield Karone from any bad reactions as he steeled himself to answer the weighty question. "I… Dark Spector wasn't holding her prisoner… exactly. He… he had her raised to become Astronema."

Everyone was silent for a moment, the ones who had already known waiting with bated breath to see how the others would react and those who had just found out trying to progress this new information. Then Ayrana walked forward and pulled both her children into a loving embrace. Tane followed her a half second later and wrapped his arms around his family.

"We've all done things we're not proud of." He told his daughter, his voice just loud enough to carry to the others. "I'm just glad you're back with us."

Karone smiled up at him and then looked at the rest of the newly arrived colonists. They nodded to her and a tall red haired woman in pink stepped forward. "Do you remember us?"

"Vaguely." Karone admitted.

"I'm Terna." The woman said. "Nathi's mother, but you probably figured that. And this is my son Camai."

She pointed to a red haired boy, just slightly taller than Nathi, but from the little bits she remembered and what was slowly coming back to her, she knew Camai was just around a year younger than she was.

Another woman took a tentative step forward and gave her a careful smile. "Hi, I'm Nisary." She introduced. "I'm-"

"Kobin's older sister." Karone finished for her, smile a little brighter now. It wasn't hard to guess; she looked a lot like her younger brother, only with more feminine features. She was also a good five inches shorter than him.

"By five years." Nisary grinned and Kobin groaned softly. "And these are our parents, Zalic and Hailine." She introduced the two adults standing closest to her.

It was obvious her children had gotten Hailine's facial features, from the thick eyebrows to the shape of their noses and mouths. She had dark brown hair and deep, dark brown eyes. Her husband, Zalic, was slightly taller than she was and it was obvious his children had gotten their blonde hair from him. Though Karone dimly remembered him as having the same dirty blonde hair as Kobin, his hair now was slightly darker, and more sandy blonde.

"Karone, these are my parents." Elias said, pulling her attention away from Kobin's family. "My mom, Lithe and my dad, Jerichi."

Lithe was a petite woman. Her hair was brown with a reddish shine, and her eyes were a soft hazel colour, a colour that, she thought with a smile, reminded her slightly of Andros' eyes. The smile that was playing on her lips could only be a mirror image of her son's.

Jerichi could only be described as the model for his son's features. Elias was a near carbon copy of his father; the only difference being that Jerichi looked slightly out of shape next to his son in his ranger uniform.

As the introductions were going on, Tane had noticed that, while the other rangers were all standing with their families, Ashley stood all alone. He walked over to her and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Your family will surely return soon." He told her quietly.

"I know," she said reassuringly. "And I'm not alone. Brand, Risey and Esai are here. And Zhane's out looking for other colonists."

"But?" Tane pressed, knowing there was something she was hiding.

"But…" And she rubbed her forehead, "I wish Jeff was here to yell at Brand for trying to control every aspect of my life again. Get it through his thick skull that I'm old enough to make my own decisions and he should respect that. I love Brand, so much, and I get that he wants to keep me close after thinking I was dead for two years, but still, it's not easy to live with such a tight lease on." Ashley let out a frustrated sigh and looked down, hair falling forward to hide her face. "I'm sorry," she said sheepishly after a moment. "I shouldn't have said that."

"No, I think you're absolutely right." Tane said, a twinkle in his eyes and a sly grin on his lips as he watched her toying with her ring. "Now, how about I tell Brand that you're staying the night with us and nothing he says will change that. And then you can fill us in about what we've missed and when you plan on setting a date."

"Actually…" Andros cut in, stealing his girl away from his father. "We just did."

A/N: And that's where I leave off. Blame Phantom Rogue is you don't agree. I'm dedicating this chapter to her. She helped me out with figuring out the looks for Kobin and Elias's families. And she's always a great help when I need feedback to some of my ideas.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I'm AH/AY and I'm a review addict… please give me my fix?