By N. E. Shaw
A few hours after Ash's death, Andros still hadn't left the cave. He had fled far from the others to the glassy lake, where he sat on the cliff and cried. Someone had to, after all. Ash had no one else to shed the tears of mourning.
As always, his pain tied back to his childhood in the end, and the early trauma of losing Karone. He had been only a boy then, with no real power to prevent Darkonda from doing his deed. This time he was a man, with another life in his charge, and had been powerless to stop the forces of nature from taking that life away. What lesson was fate trying to teach, and when would he learn it so girls could stop dying?
His intellect reminded him that he had had no business with Ash in the first place. If he'd killed the mother when he had the chance, he would never have come across her, nor the clones of himself and his other friends. Yet he made his choices, and thus life took its course, bringing him to the here and now with his sadness to confront. Someday he would get over the pain of losing her, but that day was very far away.
The crunch of footsteps drifted up the passage to him. He sniffed back quickly and smeared the tears from his eyes, waiting for whoever it was to arrive. It had better not be Leis, he thought privately.
"Red Ranger?" called Doctor Pajot. She ventured no further than the chamber entrance.
"What is it?" Andros replied.
"We're preparing to break the cocoons. We thought you'd want to be present for that."
He let her stare at his back for a moment before making any move to join her. "They're ready to come out?"
"Yes, there is already some movement happening."
Andros got up and turned, keeping his head low. "Lead the way," he said, and Pajot started off, giving him the privacy of walking behind. As they made their way back he let all traces of tears vanish. He would need to reassure the others once they woke up.
"Alright, start with the one on the left, and go slowly," Pajot ordered. "Keep the resuscitation team close. Let's get these people free."
One by one, Andros helped cut open the brittle membranes, which now broke easily beneath their hands. No tools were needed to get TJ free, and when he was, they carefully lowered him to the ground. Someone tugged the long umbilical cord from his throat. He began to cough and choke immediately, breathing on his own for the first time in days, and Andros was there when he opened his eyes.
"TJ...take it easy, you're alright now. Concentrate on trying to breathe."
TJ did his friend suggested, but kept a wary eye on the strangers all around. Finally he asked, "You wanna fill me in on all of this?"
"In a little while. We have to get the others down first, then I'll explain everything. Just sit tight and relax." The Blue Ranger nodded and settled back to watch as his other friends were cut down from their suspended sleeping bags. Cassie came next, then Carlos. The last one, Andros did almost by himself.
He grabbed a fistful of the membrane and pulled, ripping a nice big hole in the cocoon near Ashley's face. Her eyes were closed, and she appeared to be sleeping--much more peaceful a face than Ash wore when she died. Bit by bit the cocoon came loose, and two other people kept her from falling until she was free. Then down she came into Andros's waiting arms. He took the liberty of pulling out the umbilical cord, then waited for her eyes to open.
"Ashley its me," he offered. "Wake up. You'll be okay now..." In response, she made a bit of noise and her facial muscles twitched. She blinked awake, staring at plain wall until she realized Andros's face was right there.
"What happened?" she asked hoarsely. "I was just looking for Carlos..."
"I'll explain everything in a little while. How do you feel?"
"Alright, I guess. My throat hurts, and...oh God, I'm hungry..." She expended some energy to sit up, but was happy to let Andros keep her close. Then something made Andros squirm when her eyes guaged him for the first time.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine.." he answered. "Really." Ashley didn't have to look twice to know he was lying, but she also seemed to understand he didn't want to talk about it here. There would be a time for it later.
"How long has it been then?"
"Almost three weeks. We've been waiting for your cocoons to loosen up before we could get you free. You're all perfectly healthy now."
"And in need of showers...yech," she said, in disgust of her condition.
Doctor Pajot walked over after checking on the others. "Excuse me Andros...hello Ashley, I'm Doctor Pajot. Do you mind if I give you a quick examination?"
Ashley lay back obediently to be looked over. With a squeeze of Andros's hand, she remarked, "Made some new friends while we were gone, huh?"
Somewhere in the back of his mind rang the sound of Ash's laughter. "Yeah you could say that," he whispered. He wished Ashley could have met the friend he had made.