1. Three reviews per one chapter… That's a record. Thanks, guys! I was giving up out there.
2. To Genuine Goofball: I think Zhane explained it in the previous chapter, but I'll go through it again. Andros had this condition when he was much younger – as a matter of fact, it started shortly after the kidnapping of Karone. It faded over the years, and disappeared completely – to return at full-steam in the present time of the story.
3. Updating: guys, I update every two weeks, with an occasional single day miss. I have entire "Karone" written out, and most of the third part – so don't worry, I won't leave you hanging in there (as long as I get review… old threat).
4. Mara: some more kitchen stuff for you. Is there another way of partying?
Here's the chapter you've all been waiting for!
5. Right In Front Of You
"Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile
Why wait any longer for the world to begin
You can have your cake and eat it too
Why wait any longer for the one you love
When he's standing in front of you"
"Lay, Lady, Lay", Bob Dylan.
Next morning, Carlos woke up on board the Astro Mega Ship. His first thought was: It's weekend. No school today. He had a vague feeling that it was still very early, so he rolled over on his other side to check what time it was. It was 06:15, and Shiera was fast asleep on the carpeting, huddled in some spare blankets she found.
He bolted to a sitting position. For a heartbeat, he thought that he was dreaming. But no, Shiera was real enough, her sleeping face innocent and sweet, dark locks hanging over it. Carlos got out of bed and tiptoed to Shiera's side, kneeling by her. "Shiera", he whispered, unbelieving, and kissed her.
Kissing him back she awoke, and smiled at him drowsily. "Hi"
"I love you. Don't you ever go away again", he blurted.
"Not if I can help it". She yawned. "What time is it anyway?"
"6 a.m."
"Oh lord, I only slept 3 hours"
"Go back to sleep than"
"And what will you do?"
"Watch you and grin like a fool"
She yawned again. "I'm not sleeping if you aren't"
Carlos had a sudden idea. He hesitated, thinking about it good and well, and decided for it. He lifted the corner of one of the blankets. "Do you mind?", he asked, "There's not nearly room enough for two on the bunk"
She blinked, perhaps a little surprised, and then smiled again. "I trust you not to try anything"
"You'll kick my ass to next week if I will", he answered earnestly as he crawled in with her, "Not that I had anything in mind"
She chuckled and draped her arms around his neck. "I missed you"
They snuggled together, and Shiera fell asleep instantly. Carlos remained awake for a while, too content to do anything but trace Shiera's face. The old "bubbles in the blood" phrase fell to short to describe the way he was feeling. As he finally drifted to sleep, Shiera's head on his shoulder and her arms still around his neck, his final thought was: All is well with the world.
Ashley was none too happy, being woken at 08:30 on a weekend morning, far too early in her opinion, with her body still aching all over from yesterday's battle. She pretty much yelled "What?" as she opened her door, wearing a fluffy yellow dressing gown over her pajamas.
Carlos and Zhane smiled sheepishly at her, and Carlos grinned proudly as he moved aside, revealing the girl standing behind him. The unfamiliar girl smiled shyly at Ashley. For a brief moment, Ashley wondered who was the girl and how did she get on board the ship, and then it hit her. She pulled Carlos and Shiera into a tight hug, squealing happily: "Oh, you've got her back! She's back!", while Zhane leaned on the bulkhead and laughed at her excitement.
"You're strangling them, Ash!" he called.
She let go of the couple and turned to him waving her finger, "I will bet my morpher that you are every bit as excited as I am!"
"He is", said Shiera, "I'm not sure he didn't crack some of my ribs"
"Did not!" asserted Zhane.
"Did too!" retorted Carlos, his grin threatening to split his face in two.
"Boys!" said Ashley in mocked exasperation, rolling her eyes.
Shiera smiled – but than again, she was smiling all along.
"Hi, what's all the noise about?" came a very gruff grunt. Andros came out of his quarters, still half asleep, taking in the scene. "Who…"
"I'm Shiera"
Andros opened his mouth to say How the hell did you get on the ship but changes his mind halfway and asked instead: "What the hell is going on?"
"Carlos has his girlfriend back", explained Zhane patiently.
"I can see that. I was referring to trivial questions such as how did she get on board, where has she been, and when were you guys going to tell me!"
"Right after Ashley", replied Carlos, "We decided to wake people one by one"
Andros was about to say something smart, but exhausted as he was, he realized that the black Ranger was simply too damn lightheaded happy to care about anything but the girl by his side. Andros's fatigue will just have to wait.
"So who's next?" he asked.
Some 15 minutes later, the seven Rangers were chatting lightheartedly in the kitchen, preparing a breakfast that was liable to turn into a complete disaster – or a full-sized party.
"Carlos, get away from the waffle toaster!", shooed Ashley.
"Hands off the pancakes!" bellowed Cassie, smacking TJ on his back of head.
"Zhane, if you switched the sugar and the salt again!" threatened Andros, fetching Ashley the maple syrup.
"No raisins for the muffins!" declared TJ.
"Synthesize some!" suggested Zhane.
"If you can simply synthesize food, what's the point of a kitchen?" asked Shiera, looking at the now disaster-area-looking facility.
The other six Rangers looked at her incredulously for a split second, and then chorused: "Fun!"
Shiera pondered the notion briefly, and replied: "Anybody for french toasts?"
This is going to be a lazy day, thought TJ, watching his teammates. They were sitting around their now-regular picnic table in the Park after having devoured the grand breakfast. Cassie and Ashley were trying to get to know Shiera. They weren't very successful as the new female Ranger wasn't the talkative type. On Shiera's other side set Carlos: those two kept close to one another, never more than one feet apart. Zhane was on Carlos's other side, and the two were conversing idly. Than there was Andros; TJ frowned.
The red Ranger was in a bad mood before, and even now that he fell asleep, head on the table, he still looked pale and exhausted. Bad night's sleep, more than likely, thought TJ. Normally I wouldn't worry about him, but as Zhane won't take his eyes of him… The silver Ranger smoothed over seemingly worse days. If he was worried, TJ was ready to panic.
Perhaps he was looking top hard on Andros, because the red Ranger stirred and woke up.
"Good morning", said TJ carefully.
"Morning", answered Andros. "It's getting hot, isn't it?"
"If you think it's hot now, wait until summer"
"How long have I slept?"
TJ checked his watch. "It's 11 o'clock now. Some hour and a half"
"Eleven? That's almost half the day gone"
"Don't you think we should make today a holiday?"
Andros glanced at the rest. "They won't fancy working today, will they?"
"True enough. At least Carlos won't; and he'll have Shiera on his side"
Andros smiled suddenly. "What I wouldn't give to see Astronema's face when she finds out that we've got her prized warrior now!"
TJ chuckled at the mental image. "Should be fun to watch", he agreed, "And as she's on the team, shouldn't we make it formal?"
The others didn't notice that Andros and TJ were gone until their communicators beeped.
"Hi, were are they?" asked Ashley.
"Up on the ship, probably", replied Cassie. The communicators beeped again, and Cassie answered hers. "Cassie here"
"Everybody to the bridge" came Andros's voice.
There was general moaning.
"It's a formality, that's all", said Andros impatiently. "Don't leave anyone behind". He went off line.
"Coast is clear", said Zhane, "It's safe to teleport"
The five Rangers teleported to the bridge, Shiera carried along by Carlos. TJ and Andros were standing there, wearing solemn expressions. Andros was holding something behind his back.
"We have a little announcement to make", he said, "I hope no one will object when I say… Welcome to the team, Shiera". He brought his hands from behind his back: he was holding a flight uniform and a communicator.
"Object?" said Ashley, "If you would have done anything else, then I would have had something to say!"
"Right behind you, sister", said Cassie, nodding firmly.
"Me, too", said Zhane.
"Go ahead, Shiera", said Carlos gently.
Hesitantly, Shiera took the gear from Andros. "Thanks", she said.
"You're welcome. Here, let me help you with that". She put away the uniform and was fumbling with the communicator. Andros helped her stripe it up. "Where's your morpher?" he asked.
Shiera raised her right hand. It took him a second to register what he saw.
"That Ring is your morpher?"
Everyone gathered around to take a good look.
"Why can't ours be so pretty?" complained Cassie.
"They weren't created by a girl", shrugged Shiera.
"Astronema created your morpher?", wondered Zhane, "How?"
"The gem is the root of the power. Astronema didn't create it. All she did was inlay it into the ring itself, which harvests the magic"
"That's still a lot of work she put into it", said Andros, looking closely at the Ring. "I may not know a lot about magic, but that much I can tell"
"It wasn't far from being worth it. If Carlos didn't break the spell, I would have killed you all by now". She flinched. "It is so strange the way things turn"
"Everything is okay now", said TJ, "And there wasn't any harm done"
"While we're on the subject", said Andros, "Am I the only one who thinks that some explanations are due?"
Surprisingly, Shiera was quickest to answer: "You're not. How about everyone sit down, and I'll explain you all that I can?"
"I think the big question you're all pondering, is why did I ever return to the Dark Fortress is Astronema's spell was, indeed, broken", opened Shiera once everyone settled themselves around the bridge. "I have several reasons, and non of them are easy to explain. For the first seconds after the spell was broken, I was shocked, devastated. I was still a little dazed when I helped Carlos pick all the stuff that fell from his bag. Then I saw that picture. It was a photo of all of you guys, on civilian clothing. You looked so happy in that photo, and I was angry with Astronema. I befriended her at the time, she practically told me to go and talk to Carlos…"
"She did what?" asked Carlos.
"Told me to go talk to you", repeated Shiera. "She knew you were in the Park that evening, and she knew I missed you"
"Doesn't sound very evil"
"That's why a split second later, I was torn. As much as I wanted to stay on Earth, and as strange as it may sound, I liked – still like – Astronema. That's one of my reasons. The second reason was that I promised her to return – and I have every reason to believe that she liked me back"
"It goes beyond strange" frowned Andros. "Try impossible"
"Improbable, but not impossible", said TJ quietly. "With the Power Rangers, nothing is impossible"
"As I said, I was torn", continued Shiera, "But I decided to stay on Earth – when something in that photo made me change my mind"
"What was it?" asked Zhane.
"I gave Phoenix my word that I will only tell you tomorrow". Shiera brought out a pendant that was tucked under her shirt: Phoenix's mark. Everybody begun talking simultaneously. "Please – hold you questions – let me explain"
The babble quieted slowly.
Shiera turned to Andros first. "Does Phoenix's mark calm your doubts about me?" she questioned.
He nodded, though with a dubious expression. "I accept it; but I still want better answers"
"You'll have them", promised Shiera. "You are the Ranger she was most interested in"
Andros's face lit with sudden hope. "What does she look like?"
"She never took her gear off, not in front of me, so I don't know what she looks like. She did say that she was human, and that the day we met was her birthday"
Nobody noticed that Zhane paled a little. They were too busy watching Andros. The red Ranger shook his head, severely disappointed. "Wrong date", he murmured. "It's not her"
"She knows about Karone", whispered Shiera. "She's certain that Karone is alive. There's – there's something that she wanted me to tell you, in private". She grasped the pendant. "That's why she gave me this: to mark me as her herald"
"Heavy responsibility" said Zhane.
"I want to know why she took you" said Carlos, bringing the conversation back to its original track.
Shiera laughed softly. "She was waiting for me in the rooms I had on the Dark Fortress. I was ever so surprised when her sword went right through me – later she told me that her blade harmed only the evil – it was one shock too many that day. She was a little taken aback herself, and demanded to know what I was doing there if I wasn't evil. For this reason or the other, I don't rightly know, I told her what I saw in that photo. She breathed, hard, and than dropped something to the deck – the mark, I learned later – and next thing I knew, we were on her ship"
"Our sensors didn't pick any ship" said Andros.
"Her ship is cloaked"
"So she took you because whatever you found out, it held a meaning to her", prompted TJ. "Why did she keep you?"
"She needed my help in retrieving an object"
"What kind of an object?" asked Zhane.
"A blue crystal" she answered, looking him in the eye.
Zhane managed not to pale this time, which was fortunate to him as everybody's eyes were on him.
"Yesterday we finally retrieved the crystal", finished Shiera, "And she brought me back here. It was late in the night when I came in, and so I didn't wake anybody but went to sleep myself. The rest already you know, as you've been there"
"So there's just the mystery of the photo left", said Cassie, "We can check it for ourselves, can't we? Even if you can't tell us until tomorrow"
"You can, but it won't help you. This is something only I could notice"
"And why is that?"
"Because I've been on both sides". Shiera's tone made it clear that this was it for the day.
"Any more questions?" asked Andros.
"None that will be answered today" answered Zhane.
"Fine. How about we go down to the beach and enjoy this day properly?"
Ashley stared at him. "Since when are you initiating off-days?"
"Since I pointed out to him that no one will do any work today, official day-off or not" answered TJ in Andros's place.
"More like, if I try to make you guys stay on the ship today Carlos will unleash Shiera on me"
Shiera turned to Carlos. "Is it okay to do such a thing to the team leader?" she asked innocently enough.
"Yes", replied Carlos firmly, and everyone boomed in laughter.
Next time: "Just remember to call me Tracy, and there shouldn't be a problem"
(You're in for a treat; believe me)
