Disclaimer: This is not Dallas. SOTPR. "We need PUPPY POWER!" The problem with perfect lives is that they often involve other people, and other people rarely have the same idea of perfection. Plus no one really knows what they want. That makes it harder.

Perfect Life
by Starhawk

Blip blip. Blip. Beep blip blip blip.

"Some of us are trying to sleep," he muttered, not opening his eyes.

"Are not," Zhane's voice replied. "You've been awake forever."

He smiled to himself, lifting his head slightly so he could pillow it on his hands. He kept his eyes closed, listening to the steady beep and click of the digital starfighter game. The observatory was cool and otherwise quiet, and he had no desire to leave the comfort of their sleeping bags just yet.

"I had a weird dream," Andros remarked abruptly.

"Yeah?" The rhythm of blips and chimes didn't falter. "What about?"

He was silent for a moment, trying to find the words to explain. "Winning," he said at last. "Have you ever wondered what it would be like if we beat Dark Spectre?"

"We have beaten Dark Spectre," Zhane answered. "Lots of times."

Andros opened his eyes, frowning up at the closed portal in the ceiling. "Not like that," he said, rolling over on his side. He propped his head on his hand and watched Zhane press buttons with single-minded determination. "I mean if we really beat him. What if we destroyed Dark Spectre and drove his armies out of League space for good?"

Zhane didn't answer right away. He stared at the screen in front of him as though it was the only thing holding his attention, but Andros knew better. Finally he offered a one-shouldered shrug and said noncommittally, "A lot of people would be awfully happy."

Andros studied him. It was just like Zhane to judge something in terms of its effect on other people, rather than its intrinsic worth. "So you don't think it would be a good thing?"

"I didn't say that." Zhane grimaced at the screen as it flared briefly, his thumb white on the thruster control as he tried to outrace whatever he had just done. "People being happy is a good thing."

"But what about us?" Andros pressed. "What would it mean for us?"

Zhane glanced away from the game long enough to give him an odd look. "Wouldn't it make you happy to defeat Dark Spectre?"

Andros frowned, following Zhane's gaze back to the digital screen. "I thought it would," he said slowly. "Now I'm not so sure."

The screen froze, and it took him a second to realize that Zhane had paused the game. "What did you dream about?" the Silver Ranger asked, shifting the rest of his concentration to Andros.

He lifted his eyes to Zhane's again. "That we went back to KO-35," he admitted. "That Dark Spectre was gone, and the Border was free. We went home... you and me and Kerone--and Ashley came with us."

"The others stayed on Earth?" Zhane guessed.

Andros started to nod, then stopped. "Sort of. TJ and Carlos, anyway. Cassie went with Saryn. We all... the team split up."

"That's probably what would happen," Zhane pointed out. "If there wasn't any need for the Astro Rangers anymore, we would split up. It wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing."

"No," Andros agreed with a sigh. "I guess not. But I'd still miss them."

"Me too." Zhane studied him a moment longer. "Is that it? You're depressed because you dreamed about defeating Dark Spectre?" He grinned suddenly. "I think you need to work on your priorities."

He smiled a little, but he couldn't help wondering if there was some truth to those words. "Maybe I do. In my dream... I don't know. Never mind."

"In your dream, what?" Zhane prompted patiently.

Andros hesitated, troubled. "You were mad at me."

To his surprise, Zhane laughed. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"I don't remember," he admitted. "But it had to do with the team breaking up." He searched Zhane's expression, and he found nothing there except open amusement and maybe a little bit of concern. "You'd tell me if you were upset, wouldn't you?"

"Nah," Zhane said, still grinning. "I'd just whack you upside the head."

Andros rolled his eyes, and Zhane chuckled. "Sure," he relented. "I'd tell you. Must not have been a very literal dream if I kept it a secret."

Andros shrugged, still disturbed. "I just didn't like it," he said at last. "You were... you were different, somehow."

"Bet you were the same," Zhane teased, sliding his pillow out from underneath the digital game. It caught Andros in the face before he even registered Zhane's intent. "Obsessive compulsive and prone to brooding!"

Andros sputtered, shoving the pillow back at Zhane instinctively. "I am not!" he retorted, fingers closing around cloth when he realized what had just happened. He grabbed the pillow even as Zhane reached out to snatch it.

"Are so!" Zhane's voice was muffled as he ducked his head, and the pillow Andros had aimed at him struck only a glancing blow. "Plus you're a lousy shot!"

Andros scrambled out of his sleeping bags, lunging forward as Zhane lifted his head again. He knocked Zhane onto his back and pounced, but the Silver Ranger must have seen it coming. He rolled out of the way before Andros could pin him, laughing.

Zhane tackled him even as he tried to regain his balance, and Andros found himself pressed to the ground by his friend's weight. "There's only one cure for obsession, you know," he informed Andros.

"A new obsession?" Andros replied innocently.

Zhane smirked. "Distraction," he corrected. Arms braced on either side, he leaned down and covered Andros' mouth with his own.

Andros closed his eyes, lifting his head to deepen the kiss, and the sensation sent warmth shooting through him even as he shivered. It was an eerie echo of their first kiss, and the fleeting sense that this was all still new teased the edges of his awareness. Then Zhane moved closer, his silver t-shirt just brushing Andros' bare chest, and he ignored the half-formed thought in favor of more pleasant ones.

Zhane drew back abruptly, pulling Andros up beside him with a smooth movement that brought their bodies together once more. "Consider me distracted," Andros whispered, claiming another kiss as Zhane's hands slid over his upper arms and wrapped him in an unbreakable embrace.

There was a low rumble, and Zhane disentangled himself with a chuckle. "Consider me hungry," he said ruefully. "How do you feel about breakfast?"

"Unmotivated," Andros replied without hesitation. "But I'm willing to be convinced."

"Yeah?" Zhane gave him a speculative look, and a moment later the Silver Ranger's kiss had recaptured his every sense. Sapphire eyes so close to his, the soft whisper of air and skin, the taste of wet warmth and the dizzy feel of someone who couldn't quite remember which direction was "up"...

"How willing?" Zhane whispered a moment later.

Not surprised to find his eyes were closed, Andros just smiled. "Pretty willing," he admitted.

He opened his eyes to find Zhane grinning back at him. "Good," the Silver Ranger told him. "Cause I'm pretty hungry. So let's go."

Andros dug his t-shirt out from under his sleeping bags and pulled it on, elated without knowing exactly why. It wasn't like this morning was any different from the others. They had been able to sleep a little later than usual, but their routine was so familiar by now that he already knew who would be in the holding bay when they got there.

Zhane grabbed his hand the moment the shirt settled over his shoulders, pulling him toward the door with an impatience that made Andros laugh. "What, you think DECA's going to run out of food before we get there?"

"You never know," Zhane said over his shoulder. "There's a lot more people on this ship than there used to be!"

"And half of them sleep later than we do," Andros pointed out. "If anyone's going to miss out on the food, it'll be TJ. Or maybe Cassie."

"She has Saryn to wake her up," Zhane countered. Then he grinned as the implications of that sank in. "Actually, you're right. It probably will be Cassie."

It wouldn't be Kerone, that much was certain. It was ironic that the person least interested in breakfast was invariably the first one up for it, but her internal alarm seemed to be set several hours earlier than everyone else's. No matter how long she spent on the Megaship, the habits etched into her psyche by years on the Dark Fortress were slow to change.

She was joined by Ashley, as Andros had known she would be. Carlos was there too, but he was over by the Synthetron and there were only two plates on the table. He must have beaten them by mere seconds.

"Good morning!" Ashley's greeting was almost instantaneous, and Andros flashed her a smile for her sunny tone. She grinned back at him, and he let go of Zhane's hand to wander over to the table.

"Morning," he said, kicking a stool out from under the table and sitting down. "Plotting to take over the universe again?"

Her grin vanished and she looked at him with wide eyes. "How could you tell?"

"You have to work on that guilty expression," Kerone told her. "It gives us away every time."

"It's not the expression," Zhane called from the Synthetron. "It's the company!"

"Can't change that," Ashley retorted. "You guys will just have to go on vacation while we put our evil plan into effect. Not that there *is* an evil plan," she added quickly.

Kerone sighed. "Have I taught you nothing?"

"At least I remembered to deny it," Ashley said, giggling.

"So Zhane," Andros said, as Carlos joined them at the table. He nodded to the Black Ranger, who looked too distracted to be paying much attention to the conversation. "Where should we go for our vacation?"

The Silver Ranger pretended to think about it. "I guess it depends," he said at last. "How long do we have?"

"Three or four days should do it," Kerone said blithely.

"Three days?" Zhane set his plate down next to Andros' and swung his leg over one of the stools. "You only need three days to take over the universe? This must be some plan."

"I'm sorry I missed the beginning of this conversation," TJ's voice interjected wryly. "Anyone want to fill me in?"

Andros looked over his shoulder to find the Blue Ranger standing in the doorway, regarding the scene in the holding bay with an amused expression. It wasn't TJ that caught his attention, though--it was the glowing key that hung in the air beside him. TJ walked right through it when he stepped into the holding bay, pausing by the table to inspect their food before committing to a meal of his own.

Andros cast a furtive glance around the table as Ashley laughingly tried to explain the plan she and Kerone didn't have. No one else seemed aware of the key, though he saw Zhane give him an odd look out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't remember exactly what the glowing object meant, but it called to mind images from a dream he was trying to forget.

"Hey," Zhane whispered, leaning close under cover of Kerone's indignant protest. "You okay?"

The key was still hanging in the doorway when he looked again. He felt Zhane fumble for his hand, and warm fingers squeezed his reassuringly. He sighed, relaxing a little at the unspoken offer of comfort. Zhane obviously couldn't see it, so what did it matter?

"Sure," he said, turning his back on the key. He smiled at Zhane, squeezing his hand in return. "I'm fine."

***

"Hey, sleepyhead."

There was a gentle pressure on her shoulder, and she blinked as someone shook her awake. For a moment, the room didn't make any sense. She was alert enough to realize she had been asleep, but that was as far as it went.

"You're missing the movie," the voice continued. "And I've seen this one before, so if you're not watching it I'm putting in something else."

"You just want to watch 'Monty Python' for the five thousandth time," TJ put in.

"So?" Cassie demanded good-naturedly. "Want to make something of it?"

"I could take you," TJ retorted.

The couch shifted under Ashley as her best friend bounded up, lifting her fists in a mock defensive stance. "Bring it on!" she cried, shaking her long hair back over her shoulders. "The kick-your-ass fighting style is a family tradition!"

Ashley watched with amused dismay, remembering Cassie's tussle with Saryn the week before. "Not in the room, guys," she said, rubbing her eyes in a futile effort to dispel her drowsiness. "Outside."

A knock on the door prevented them from following through on her suggestion, and Andros came in without waiting for an invitation. "Dinner," he announced, dropping an armful of paper bags on the bed next to Carlos. "You owe me three-fifty, by the way. Someone here can't add."

"Why are you looking at me?" TJ demanded. "Zhane's the one who forgot the tip last time."

"I paid for Zhane's," Andros informed him. "Six-twenty plus five ninety-five is twelve-fifteen, plus one sixty-three for the tip." He gave TJ an expectant look.

Ashley giggled, pushing herself up out of the couch cushions. "Don't argue math with Andros," she told TJ, raising her hands over her head to stretch. "There's no way to win."

"Don't argue anything with Andros," Carlos corrected, reaching for the bags. "Where's the receipt? If you're not going to let us eat until we figure it out, we might as well do this right."

"Excuse me." Cassie squeezed past Andros and started poking through the bags with Carlos. "My boyfriend is exempt from the wait-to-eat rule, so if we owe, tell me later. Thanks for getting the food, Andros," she added, almost as an afterthought.

"Thank you," Ashley agreed, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Carlos so she could study the receipt over his shoulder. "Who got fried mushrooms?"

"It's funny how I become the most popular person in the room when I'm next to the food," Carlos told her.

"Hey, kick-ass girl," TJ said. He had yet to move from his beanbag in front of the television, but he was watching as Cassie opened one carton after another in search of hers and Saryn's. "Pass those hot dogs this way."

Cassie handed his sandwich carton to Ashley, and she passed it over the end of the bed to TJ. "If you want ketchup," she added, anticipating him, "you can find it yourself."

"Isn't there some in the refrigerator?" Cassie asked, popping another carton open before setting it aside. "I feel like we had this problem last time."

"Kerone!" Carlos exclaimed triumphantly.

Andros' sister turned innocent hazel eyes on him. "Yes?"

"You owe Andros money," Carlos informed her. "You didn't pay at all!"

Kerone only smiled. She was perched on the arm of the couch, and she had to stretch her legs out to reach into her pocket. She handed over the money without complaint, and Carlos narrowed his eyes at her.

"Once an evil, always an evil," he muttered, passing the bills to Andros.

"Can we watch the news?" TJ wanted to know. He didn't look up from where he was rooting through the little refrigerator, and Ashley gave him an odd look.

"TJ, there's only two cubic feet of space in there. Do you have to reorganize the entire refrigerator? The ketchup's in the door."

"And since when do you want to watch the news?" Carlos added.

"I'm just trying to forestall Cassie's Monty Python marathon." TJ gestured at the screen, where "Galaxy Quest" was still playing. "Besides, I can't figure out what's going on in this movie, so we might as well watch something with more explosions."

"Did I miss anything?" Zhane asked, hanging on the doorframe as he leaned into the room. "Hey, the food's here!"

"You're welcome," Andros told him. He handed Zhane a sandwich carton before he could ask. "Vegetarian and yet still disgustingly unhealthy."

Zhane opened the carton and took a deep breath, closing his eyes in contentment. "Ah... I knew I could count on your decision-making ability," he teased. "Thanks!"

"Yeah, thanks Andros," Cassie agreed. She had settled on the floor next to Saryn, who was still leaning back against the couch and watching the scene with a noncommittal interest. "You saved Saryn from a dinner of chocolate cake."

"I despise chocolate," Saryn remarked, his voice quietly neutral.

"I know," Cassie said cheerfully. "That's why I'm going to make you eat it until you get used to it. It's the only way to survive in this country."

"I thought the only way to survive was to cultivate total tolerance to fried food," TJ put in.

"Amen to that," Carlos agreed, lifting a french fry as if offering a toast.

A whoop from the hallway cut off any further conversation, and it took a moment for the sound to sink in. As the piercing siren continued, though, Ashley traded an incredulous stare with Carlos. "We just had a fire drill last week!"

"Zhane?" Kerone inquired from her perch on the couch.

He put his hands up in the air defensively. "I did nothing, I tell you! Nothing at all!"

"Come on," Cassie said with a sigh. "The faster we get outside, the faster they'll let us back in. Bring that with you," she added, glancing back at their food as Saryn pulled her to her feet. "If something's actually burning, I don't want you to go hungry."

"You mean you don't want him to get all hypoglycemic and snippy," Ashley corrected, sticking her tongue out when Cassie made a face at her.

"There's cereal in your bottom left desk drawer," Saryn remarked, apparently at random.

Ashley gave him a wary look, wondering how he knew that. "So?"

"Don't expect it to be there the next time you look," he told her.

"Cassie!" Ashley complained, trying to stifle a giggle. She glanced over her shoulder as she filed out into the hallway with the others. "He's being mean to me!"

"Suck it up," came the reply. "He says worse to me!"

"But I can't beat him up for it!" Ashley protested.

"Why not?" Cassie wanted to know, catching up to her at the top of the stairs. "I do."

"Yeah, cause he's not allowed to hurt you," Ashley retorted.

"He's not allowed to hurt you either, believe me," Cassie said with a grin. "Now Zhane, on the other hand..."

"What about me?" Zhane wanted to know. "Stop whispering; it makes me nervous."

"Does not," Ashley said with a laugh. "It only inflates your ego. You probably think we're talking about how gorgeous you are."

Zhane smirked. "You admit I'm gorgeous! Good for you! Repression isn't healthy, you know."

"It might be for you," Andros interrupted, shoving him just as he stepped through the door. Zhane tripped on the lip and might have gone sprawling if Ashley hadn't caught his arm. As though nothing had happened, Andros continued, "I'd be willing to find out, anyway."

Zhane glared at him balefully. "Yeah? Well, my girlfriend can out-magic your girlfriend, so there."

Ashley blinked, and she heard Cassie burst out laughing.

Andros just shook his head. "I don't even know what to say to that," he said, bemused.

"You do realize they're becoming more matriarchal every day," Carlos told TJ. "Do you think we should do something about that?"

"Is there anything we can do?" TJ countered.

Ashley glanced around for Kerone as they joined the other dorm residents on the opposite side of the street. She found Andros' sister listening to the conversation with a curious look in her eye, contentedly munching on something in a cardboard box. She winked conspiratorially when she caught Ashley's eye.

"They're catching on," the other girl said quietly, offering her the box. "Do you suppose we should tell them that women have always ruled the universe and they're only now noticing?"

They were fried mushrooms, Ashley realized as she reached into the box. She popped one into her mouth as she considered, then shook her head. "They'll figure it out eventually," she answered with a grin.

Kerone sighed in mock-disappointment. "I think you put too much faith in them," she commented, taking another mushroom.

A bright glow caught Ashley's eye, and she glanced back at the dorm in alarm. She could hear the sirens from the fire trucks already, but she hadn't thought the building was actually burning. There hadn't been a dorm fire on campus in more than a year.

The glow didn't come from flames; it came from they key floating by the front door. Her eyes widened as she recognized it. She'd seen that shape when she'd fallen asleep during the movie, and it had meant something...

"What's wrong?" Kerone was asking, following her gaze. "You look like you've seen a noncorporeal manifestation of something unpleasant."

Normally she would have laughed at her friend's phrasing. This time, however, she just frowned. "Do you see that?" she asked, nodding toward the door. They key was still there but apparently invisible to the firefighters as the trucks pulled up and started discharging people and equipment.

"See what?" Kerone wanted to know. "The firefighters?"

Once off the trucks, they were heading straight into the building to look for stragglers. No one made any effort to unwind the hoses or hook up the water supply, and Ashley wondered distantly if it had been a scheduled drill after all. Maybe the student response time had been so bad last time that they were doing it again.

No. Ashley shook her head, frowning again. Last week she had been on KO-35, not at AGU participating in a fire drill. She remembered it suddenly and vividly, the scene as clear in her mind as this one was now. Standing in the room she shared with Kerone, asking her advice about the best way to tell Andros that she was leaving--

"TJ, did you bring the ketchup with you?" Kerone asked, glancing over her shoulder.

"If I had," TJ shot back, "would I share it with you?"

Kerone flashed her most winning smile. "I'd give you some of my friend mushrooms..."

Ashley hesitated, glancing back at the others. This was just as real as the memories in her mind. Who was to say that her dream was any more important than school? It could just as easily be a trick, some sort of evil plot to lure her away from her friends. And yet--

She had seen that key before, and it meant something. Maybe that was all she really needed to know. Her instincts said there was something more, and if she couldn't trust her instincts than she couldn't trust herself.

She heard someone call after her as she headed toward the key, but she didn't turn around.

***

Kerone stared around in surprise, turning over the possibilities in her mind. Everything she could see sparkled with magic, a shimmering violet that outlined every person and object in sight. There were two explanations that encompassed the phenomenon quite thoroughly: either it was her magic, or it wasn't.

If it was her magic, then she had created everything she was seeing. If it wasn't her magic, then someone else had created it. Either way, this wasn't real. Or at least, it was real only in her mind--or someone else's. It was indisputably not the reality she had just left, because there the only thing that had a magic tint was her reflection.

Given that she was now in a different reality from her previous one, she faced the question of why. She remembered a key, a Power quest, and an extremely recalcitrant brother from that other reality, and combined those things seemed as though they might explain why she found herself in such unusual circumstances.

On the other hand, those memories could be false, or a product of either this place or the process that had brought her here. If that were true, she would be better off to ignore them. However, since she had nothing to take their place and no more reason to write them off than to remember them, she might as well remember them.

She studied her surroundings, somewhat amused by the contrast with her previous reality. Could she do any harm by interacting with creations of her own mind? Or even someone else's? It would be an entertaining diversion, and it might even--

She recognized the key immediately and moved toward it without hesitation. Unlike everything else around her, it glowed with nothing but its own light. It did look slightly more yellow than she remembered, but it was, after all, surrounded by purple.

They key vanished the moment she touched it and so did her glittering violet reality. Zhane stood nearby, turning as though startled by her appearance. "That was fast," he remarked.

Kerone looked around with interest. "Where are we?" she wanted to know. "Where are the others?"

"We're in the morphin grid," Zhane answered. "The others are here, too, but I guess they're still being tested. They'll probably figure it out soon."

"Tested?" she repeated. "What kind of test?"

Zhane shrugged. "If it's the same thing I went through, it's just a kind of... commitment check or something. It's to see how much you really want the Power. You see something that makes you happy--maybe your perfect life, I don't know--and then you're reminded of the quest. You have to choose one or the other."

She couldn't help it. She laughed. "My perfect life, huh?" Shaking her head, she thought about it a moment longer. "I guess maybe it was, at that," she admitted with a grin.

"What did you see?" Zhane asked, mouth quirking at her humor.

"What did *you* see?" she countered.

He shrugged again, looking away. "I didn't see anything, this time. I don't know if it already tested my commitment or what. I don't even know if I'll get to keep my Power when this is all over or not. I guess I'm just along for the ride."

Kerone considered that, studying him carefully. He looked more resigned than worried, so she asked, "What happens if you see--whatever you see--and you choose that instead of the quest? What if you don't take the key when it appears?"

"Well, if it just sent you home, everyone would go on Power quests," Zhane pointed out wryly. "I assume you stay there, in your vision. Forever."

A rush of motion made her tense, and she spun in time to see a familiar figure coalesce out of nothingness. Literal nothingness, since the environment couldn't seem to make up its mind. Twice now she had gotten the impression of a park, but there was nothing identifiable in their Simudeck-like surroundings.

"Tell me that wasn't real," Ty demanded hoarsely.

"It wasn't real," Zhane obliged, sympathy written across his expression. "It was a test and you passed. It wasn't real at all."

Ty drew in a shuddering breath, obviously more affected than she had been. "It wasn't real," he muttered to himself. "Right..."

He glanced around, taking another deep breath. "Where are we?" he asked, a little more calmly.

"The morphin grid." Zhane followed his gaze, but his curiosity must have gotten the best of him because he commented casually, "You both made it pretty quickly."

Ty's jaw clenched, and Kerone saw his eyes narrow. "I spent a lot of time coming to terms with my lover's death," he gritted. "I refuse to let a stupid *quest* mess me up again."

Zhane only nodded, and his acceptance seemed to soothe Ty somewhat. The other boy relaxed slightly when his explanation went unchallenged, his eyes flickering toward Kerone. "You?" he asked abruptly.

She doubted he'd meant to be so brusque, so she smiled a little in response. "Everything looked like magic," she said simply. "I knew it wasn't real as soon as I saw it."

Zhane gave her a sharp look. "What do you mean, it looked like magic?"

She snapped her fingers idly, then lifted her hands to inspect them as the violet glow swirled close and surrounded her. "Everything looked like this," she said, looking up to catch his eye. "Everything. The people, the things... the air almost glowed with it."

"Weird," Zhane said with a frown. "I wonder why."

"You said it was our perfect life," she reminded him. She saw Ty flinch out of the corner of her eye, and she regretted the choice of words. "If it was all a creation of my mind... maybe everything in my mind is magic."

Zhane stared at her for a moment, and his intent look made her wonder.

"Where did your magic come from?" Ty asked, beating him to the punch. "Were you born with it?"

"No." She glanced over at him. "My guardian, Ecliptor, arranged for me to inherit it from a friend of his. It's a part of me now--he said it would be until I died."

Ty frowned, but Zhane looked pensive. "Maybe you're right," he said at last. "Maybe your brain is wired to magic somehow. What do you see now?"

"Here?" Kerone shrugged. "Not much. Everything's sort of... vague."

"But not magic?" Zhane persisted.

She studied what she could make out of their surroundings, then shook her head. "No magic," she agreed. "Why?"

"Because the morphin grid looks different to everyone who sees it," Zhane said slowly. "Like the key. I figured if we make it look that way, each of us individually, maybe what you see would look like magic the same way your vision did."

"Guys?" Ashley's voice was barely a whisper, but it got everyone's attention instantly.

Zhane took a step toward her, looking as concerned as he had when Ty appeared. Kerone wondered idly whether she ought to feel slighted, but decided against it. She was fine, after all.

"Ash?" Zhane was asking. "You all right?"

"Yeah," she said, her voice stronger but still a little uncertain. "That was... really weird. Are--are you guys all right?"

Kerone smiled involuntarily. "I'm okay," she said when Ashley caught her eye.

"Yeah," Ty agreed, as though trying to convince himself. "Me too."

Zhane just shrugged. Kerone wasn't sure he would have answered if Ashley hadn't looked expectantly at him. "Didn't see anything," he told her. "I guess I get to skip the pre-test this time and get right to the hard stuff."

Ashley laughed, but it sounded more nervous than usual. "If that was the easy part, I can't wait for the hard stuff. Do we get to take the rest of the test together, at least?"

She sounded like she was half kidding, but Kerone couldn't help looking around. "Where's Andros?" she asked, when Zhane didn't answer. "He's pretty stubborn. You'd think he'd already be here with us."

Ashley's eyes widened, as though she had only just noticed him missing.

"No kidding," Zhane muttered ominously. "I expected him to be the first one out."

"Can we go after him?" Ashley demanded. "Is there any way to find him?"

"It hasn't been that long," Ty pointed out. "We just got here ourselves. He'll probably be here any minute."

Kerone exchanged worried glances with Ashley. It hadn't been that long, for them. But for Andros... Ashley was right; Andros was arguably the one person most committed to this quest. For him, it had been forever.

What could he be seeing that would be enough to keep him there?

***

*I don't think it counts as a vacation if you take all your friends,* Zhane said, the words reverberating in his mind. It was the only way to talk with the howl of the wind and whir of hovercars rushing around them.

*Shut up and drive,* Andros retorted. He would never admit that the way Zhane handled a bike scared him, not after Zhane had teased him countless times for his reckless piloting.

*In fact,* Zhane continued, undeterred, *I'm positive it doesn't. You have to leave either your friends or your job behind in order for it to be considered a vacation, and since we--*

Andros' eyes widened. *Zhane!*

Zhane swerved so sharply that the bike's rear left thrusters froze, and they lurched alarmingly to one side. For one brief moment, Andros was sure they were going into freefall, and then the oncoming traffic was bearing down on them too quickly to turn. He squeezed his eyes shut, his arms clenched in a deathgrip around Zhane's waist.

*Since neither of us can leave our jobs,* Zhane was saying when Andros realized they were still alive, *we'd have to leave our friends. Which we haven't done.*

When he dared to peer over Zhane's shoulder again, he saw the bike skidding around yet another high-speed hover in the shuttle lane, thrusters once more full throttle and in perfect working order. The gleam of black and red from somewhere up ahead suggested that they were closing the gap, and Andros bit his tongue and tried to loosen his grip a little. Zhane wouldn't let trivial things like life and death keep him from catching the other bike anyway.

*No,* he agreed, swallowing hard as Zhane dove under the bus in front of them. *We haven't. But we're not exactly working, either.*

*Speak for yourself!* Zhane retorted. *You think this is easy?*

Andros reminded himself to breathe. *I think if you hit someone the LO is going to ban you, Ranger privileges or not. That's what I think.*

*Like I would ever hit someone.* The black and red bike came into view again, and he added, *Except maybe them, but they could take it. I wouldn't hit a civilian.*

He managed to refrain from asking whether Zhane had taken into account the slower reflexes of the average civilian. Zhane might not hit them, but if his thrusters maxxed out again there was no way traffic would be able to avoid them. Dragging was forbidden in the Eltaran capitol for exactly that reason.

Well, that and the fact that the people who did it tended to be lunatics with a death wish. That kind of person wasn't good for anyone's traffic pattern.

They drew even with the other bike for half a second before it dove, picking up momentum with the gravitational assist and darting ahead. Zhane's bike slid easily around an open-air shuttle, and he lifted a hand to wave as they accelerated away. Andros couldn't hear the passengers screaming after them, but he saw them waving wildly in return.

*I'm sure it's much more glamorous when you're watching from the sidelines,* he complained, intending for Zhane to overhear.

*You'd rather be on one of those things?* Contempt for the slower vehicle colored Zhane's thoughts. *Please.*

Andros' stomach dropped out from under him as the bike fell like a stone, leaving the grid and dropping toward the one beneath without the slightest warning. The traffic above shrank even as the vehicles below raced up to greet them, threatening a hundred different collisions in the space of a single heartbeat. If he'd had time to think, Andros would have thought they were going to die.

Luckily he didn't, and the bike swarmed into the faster flow without a second's hesitation. Grid switching, too, was expressly forbidden, and Andros wished he dared to close his eyes again. But Zhane's driving was just too horrifying not to watch.

*Take that!* Zhane crowed, dodging crazily as he poured on the thrust once more. It took several long seconds before Andros realized what had happened, and he risked a glance over his shoulder to make sure.

The black and red bike was right behind them, riding their thruster wake. The driver, despite his tinted visor and invisible expression, looked extremely ticked. And his bike looked meaner from the front.

*Zhane,* Andros began, facing forward again and immediately burying his face in Zhane's shoulder to avoid the view. *Are you sure--*

Then the bike was falling again, and he could *not* bring himself to look up. He just couldn't do it. He hung on for dear life until he felt the heavy press of gravity again, increasing as they skidded to a hard stop with a screech and flash of silver light. The flash was visible even through his eyelids. He would have scolded Zhane for showing off if he'd been able to speak.

Opening his eyes slowly, he drew an unsteady breath and gathered enough courage to look around. They were parked sideways just outside the Tower's rooftop skyport, and Zhane's bike had ended up nearly perpendicular to their competition. The other bike had landed with less attitude and more finesse, leaving no skid marks when it came to rest in the exact middle of the allotted landing strip.

The driver pulled his helmet off, shaking his unruly hair loose as the girl behind him followed suit. "Congratulations," Saryn said, pinning Zhane with an icy stare that belied his words. "I concede the race."

Cassie laughed, sliding off the bike behind him with enviable grace. "You don't have to sound so bitter about it," she chided. Her eyes sparkled as she grinned at Andros and Zhane. "He'll forgive you eventually."

"Let's go inside," Zhane said quickly, putting a hand on Andros' shoulder to steady himself as he stood up. "There are more witnesses in there."

Andros chuckled, taking the other side of the bike as they headed into the skyport. Zhane flipped the stabilizer on as soon as they found a space, and Saryn looked more honestly neutral by the time he and Cassie joined them. He wasn't such a bad loser, if it came to that, but losing to Zhane... Andros knew that annoyed him more than anything.

The four of them headed in through the "ground" floor Tower entrance, on a level with the roof, and it took some time to find their friends. Cassie finally spotted Ashley and Carlos waving from one of the far windows, and they angled in that direction. The popular capitol café was crowded today, and Andros suspected it was only their Ranger insignia that had gotten them a large booth by the windows.

He and Zhane slid in next to Ashley and Kerone, while Saryn and Cassie joined Carlos and TJ on the other side of the table. Their friends were already eating, but TJ flagged a server down almost instantly. Andros grinned as Zhane poked him in the side, whispering something about the menu, and he leaned over to steal from Ashley's plate while he waited.

*Andros, get out of there!*

Andros stiffened, giving Zhane an alarmed look. *What did you say?*

"I said, should I get the large size or what?" Zhane repeated. "If you're going to eat half my food anyway, I might as well get enough for both of us."

*Andros, this isn't funny. If you don't get back here right now, I'm sending Kerone in after you.*

"What are you talking about?" Andros demanded.

"I'm talking about what you're doing right now!" Zhane exclaimed, pointing at Ashley's plate. "You're such a food hog! I'm just making sure there'll be something left for me when you're done."

*Okay, she says she doesn't know how to do it. But I'm pretty sure she's lying, so don't make me find out the hard way!*

Andros pressed a hand to his temple instinctively. "Why are you yelling at me?" he muttered, shaking his head in a futile effort to clear it.

"What do you mean?" Zhane slid closer, instantly solicitous. "Are you all right? Does your head hurt? I should have been more careful with the g-forces out there."

"No..." Andros squeezed his eyes shut, not sure how to explain. It was Zhane's voice... but it wasn't. Zhane was right here. "It's not that."

*Andros, whatever you're seeing isn't real.* The voice in his head had taken on a desperate edge. *You're on a quest for the Power, and it's testing you. You have to want the Power more than whatever it's showing you. You have to want us more.*

*I do want you,* he protested automatically. *What are you talking about?*

*Andros!*

The voice in his mind was echoed by one at the table, and he opened his eyes to find Zhane's concerned blue eyes staring back at him. "What's wrong? Is it the people? Do you want to go somewhere quieter?"

"No," he repeated weakly. "I'm okay. It's just--"

*Andros, please!* The voice wasn't going away. If anything, it was getting stronger. *Listen to me! Can you see the key anywhere? You have to find it. The key is the only way back.*

*I saw a... key.* The words were halting, but he still wasn't entirely sure what was going on. Was this the Zhane from his dream? Why did he sound so real? *I think it--it went away.*

*You ignored it? Why?* Zhane sounded torn between shock and anguish, and the raw hurt in those words brought tears to his eyes. *Do you hate me that much?*

"No!" The word came out as a whisper. He braced his elbows on the table and put his head in his hands, trying to block out the other voices around him. *I love you, Zhane. You know that.*

*Then why won't you come back? Why don't you want to be with me... with us?*

It was impossible to edit thoughts the way one could change spoken words, but Andros got the distinct impression that the voice hadn't meant to say that. He only shook his head, aware of a possessive arm around his shoulders and a comforting hand on his arm. *I do want to be with you. There's nothing I want more.*

*Then don't leave me!* Zhane cried. *Get back here! Now!*

An image of the key flooded his mind, overwhelming him and suppressing conscious thought. He knew Zhane was projecting the image onto him, but for the life of him he couldn't think why. All he could do was accept it, trust, and follow without question. He had done it before, and he would do it now. Because there was no other choice.

The key was everything he could see. The dream was coming back to him: reluctantly, grudgingly, and piecemeal, but it was there. Vaguely he remembered defeating Dark Spectre, going to KO-35, alienating Zhane and the others, and finally setting off in search of new powers. It seemed foggy and indistinct compared to the reality of the café, but slowly it occurred to him that he wasn't in the café any longer.

That was when he realized that the only thing he was really sure of was the image of the key. That and Zhane's voice, which he reached for frantically as the entire world shifted around him. *Don't leave!*

*I'm not the one who left,* the voice answered, and it sounded so angry that Andros wanted to cry. *I left you once, Andros! You've done it to me three times now!*

To his surprise, he found his body responded when he tried to flinch away. It was a jerky and uncoordinated recoil, but it was something. It was too much. He found himself grasping desperately for something, anything solid, gasping for breath as he reached out into nothingness.

Someone grabbed his hand, holding him steady, and his panic ebbed a little. Only when he opened his eyes did he realize he could, and he found himself staring into Zhane's. If he could have moved, he would have thrown himself into the Silver Ranger's arms. "Zhane," he breathed, surprised to find his voice so faint. *What happened?*

"You almost failed the test, that's what happened!" Zhane's voice was choked with fury, and Andros understood suddenly that Dream Zhane wasn't a dream at all. Dream Zhane was real, and he was mad. He was really mad. At Andros.

"I'm sorry," Andros whispered, letting his head fall to the side. If the dream was real... then nothing else had been. Not the Megaship, not Eltare--not Zhane.

"You should be!" Dream Zhane shouted, his voice cracking. "This was your idea, Andros! It was your stupid idea, and if you go and die I'll kill you! I'll kill you Andros, I swear I will!"

"I think he gets the picture, Zhane." Ashley's soft voice intruded, and he closed his eyes for a moment. They were on a quest. He and Zhane and Ashley. And Kerone. And... someone else. They were looking for new powers, because--

Because he had given up the old ones? No, he had given them to someone. To... TJ. No, not TJ, but maybe the "who" didn't matter so much. He was here, with the others, and they had gotten him back when he almost gave up. That was what mattered.

Andros opened his eyes again as it slowly dawned on him that he was lying in someone's lap. Zhane. He was lying in Zhane's lap, and the Silver Ranger was holding him in a very undignified way. He supposed one was allowed to be undignified when one had almost died, but still...

He struggled to sit up, letting Zhane help him until he was supporting himself again. Only then did he dare glance back at Zhane's face, bracing himself for what he would see there. The memory of the other Zhane's expression was still vivid in his mind.

It was with a shock that he took in the tearstained cheeks and too-bright eyes, already turning away to hide their shame. Andros caught his chin without thinking, forcing Zhane to look at him. "Don't," he breathed, watching Zhane close his eyes.

Those blue eyes flickered open again, and the pain he saw there took his breath away. It was a familiar hurt and somehow he knew it was up to him to fix it. There was only one thing he could say, one thing that seemed to stand out through the haze of double memories clouding his mind.

"I love you," Andros whispered, leaning in to seal the words with a kiss.

fin