Moving On

Different Directions 6

By Daylight

Head bent, he chose to stare at the grass at his feet rather than the beautiful surroundings. Thoughts moved sluggishly through his brain as he tried figure out what to do next, but he might as well have been looking for the answer to the meaning of life. Letting out a long breath of air, he ran a hand through his long hair and for once, lifted his head up. He was greeted by the intimidating sight of a petit brunette glaring at him, her arms crossed across her chest.

"You know Tommy does the exact same thing. And I don't think it's healthy for either of you."

"What?" asked Andros, frowning as Kim sat down next to him.

"Sit in the park and brood."

"I was just…"

"Yes?"

Andros shrugged.

Kim knowingly nodded her head. "Right." She glanced at him assessing his still too pale complexion. "Are you sure you're well enough to be out and about already?"

"I'm fine."

"Sure?"

Andros gave her an exasperated look.

Kim put up her hands. "Alright! All right! Anyway, I'm sure the others wouldn't have let you out of the Power Chamber if Billy hadn't given you a clean bill of health."

Letting out a snort, Andros shook his head, then he glanced back a Kim giving her quick once over.

"Are you alright?"

She raised her eyebrows.

"You just seem a bit down."

Sighing, Kimberly hung her head letting her hair fall forward over her face. "Listen, I don't know how much you know about what happened between Tommy and me…"

"Just the basics."

Kim nodded. "When I left, I thought it was my dream come true. I mean, there I was going to Florida to be trained by one of the best coaches there is." She pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. "I guess in all the excitement I forgot that I would be leaving so much behind."

Hesitating for a moment, the former pink ranger took a deep before she continued her story. "Now usually I don't have a problem making new friends, but it was training non stop from the minute I got there. No time for anything else. Nothing but gymnastics. Coach pushes us hard. He has to. We're the US's hope for the Pan Globals. The other girls on the team, they're more interested in competing than being friends. I was so lost and lonely. Sometimes, I'd even wish that I could just…" She stopped, biting her lip.

"I understand."

Looking up, Kim saw the sympathy in his eyes. She gave a grateful smile. "Well, then I met a guy from the men's team who was interested in me. I didn't think much of him, but I was desperate. Maybe I even thought I could grow to love him. So, I sent the letter. I thought Tommy would be better off anyway not being attached to a long-distance girlfriend."

She sighed. "It was a mistake, though it took me two months of dating the jerk to realize it. But then it was too late. I had lost Tommy and I didn't dare read any of the letters my friends sent me because I was so afraid that they hated me too. I thought I had managed to lose all my friends in one go. I still clung to some hope though. And that's the reason I finally decided to come back."

"And you found you still have friends."

Kim nodded. "Yeah, but not Tommy. I don't have him anymore."

"But he's still your friend, right?"

"Right. And maybe his friendship can get me through the next month of training back in Florida." Sniffing, she wiped the few stray tears from her eyes. "Lord. I'm sorry. This must seem so stupid to you."

Andros furrowed his brow questioningly.

"I mean after all you've been through, my problems must seem like nothing."

"It's not stupid." Andros shook his head. "No one should feel alone."

"Well now that I've poured my heart out to you, I hope you don't mind if I ask you something."

"Sure. Go ahead," Andros replied with a slight wariness.

"Who's Karone?"

Andros closed his eyes, a mask of pain covering his face.

"I'm sorry," apologized Kimberly as she saw him shutting himself away again. "You don't have to answer. I heard you call out for her when you were sick and I was curious."

He remained quiet for a moment then slowly lifted his hands to his neck. He took off his locket, opened it and handed it to Kim. She stared at the pictures of the two children that had been lovingly placed inside. Pointing to the boy in red, she stated, "That's you."

Andros nodded. "The girl is Karone. My sister."

Kim handed him back the locket and he carefully placed back around his neck.

"She was kidnapped when she was only eight years old. We were just playing in the park and a monster came up and grabbed her. I only had my back turned for a moment… Ever since then, I've searched for her, but I have yet to find a single clue to her location."

"I'm sure you'll find her," consoled Kim putting a comforting hand on his arm.

"I've barely even had the time to look recently what with the war."

They sat for a moment in silence.

"Billy thinks the repairs on the Megaship will be finished in about a week."

Andros nodded.

"What are you going to do then?"

"I don't know."

ooooo

The Angel Grove Airport was packed. Spring break was over and family and friends were returning home with one last goodbye to their loved ones. The crowd was large and loud, but that didn't matter to the group of teenagers as they gave their departing friend some last minute hugs.

"Take care," ordered Jason as he released Kim from a bone-crushing hug. "And don't work too hard."

"I promise." Kimberly gazed over her friends. They were all there including Andros. "I'll miss you guys."

"We'll miss you too, Kim," said Tommy giving her a squeeze as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "Come back and visit us again soon."

"Actually," announced Kim as he let her go. "I have a favor to ask all of you."

"Anything," Adam promised.

"Well, you know the Pan Globals are going to be held in San Francisco in a month, and I'd like you all to come."

Tanya's eyes grew wide. "Seriously?"

"Definitely. I'll have tickets for everyone."

"That's wonderful," proclaimed Kat. "Thank you."

"It's not a problem. I want you to be there."

"To see you get the gold, right?" Rocky suggested with a large grin.

"I'll do my best."

Billy smiled at her. "We know you will."

"Well?"

Tommy laughed. "Of course, we're coming."

"All of you?" She glanced at Andros who nodded his head giving her a small smile.

"We'll do our best to be there. You can count on it," assured Jason.

"Baring no monster attacks," joked Tanya.

Adam put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't give the Machine Empire any ideas. Now, you'd better hurry or your plane will leave without you."

With a flurry of goodbyes, Kimberly grabbed her luggage and dashed off giving her friends, old and new, one last longing look before disappearing.

ooooo

The Astromegaship, the pride of KO-35, was starting to get back to normal. It was tidy, if not yet completely functional. But the silence unbroken by the regular hum of the engine, the lights still dimmed to preserve power, and the darkness of the remaining malfunctioning consoles still gave the megaship the air of a ghost ship, a home for only the sleeping dead.

"You're still welcome to stay at my place if you'd like," Tommy insisted.

"Thanks, but the Megaship is the only thing I have left and I'd prefer to stay here."

Tommy eyed the Red Astro Ranger. Andros stood tiredly, clad in clothes the rangers had helped buy so he could fit in on Earth. The corner of the Kerovian's mouth turned up slightly and Tommy smiled back, but his shoulders slumped as he saw the darkness that remained in the young man's eyes. Despite all they had done, there were still shadows in Andros' heart that the Earth rangers had been unable to reach or heal.

"Well, you know how to contact us if you need anything. And don't stay away too long or we'll be forced to kidnap you and take you to the Youth Centre to make sure you get some good food and company."

Andros smiled, but it still did not reach his eyes.

Tommy sighed as the energy of the transport whisked him away leaving Andros alone on his ship of shadowed memories.

The silence fell heavily. Andros let the bag containing the few belongings he had collected from Earth slump to the ground, then leaned forward against the weapons console in the middle of the room, his head bowed and his eyes closed. Feeling the desolate stillness of the room weighing on him, Andros realized this was the first time he had been alone on the ship since he had crashed on Earth and with that came another revelation.

He quickly left the bridge charging through the dim corridors disregarding the gapping emptiness of the rooms on either side of him. Circumventing the lift, he jumped through an access hatch and slid down the ladder to the levels below. Finally, he reached the engine room and headed for the distant corner. He hesitated laying his palm against the access panel that would allow him entrance to what he most dreaded seeing and yet needed to see.

With shaky fingers, he keyed in the familiar sequence and the door swung open. A mist of cold air flowed outward as he stepped through. The rhythmic beep that greeted him was both reassuring and heart wrenching. A quick glance at the monitors told him that nothing had changed. All was stable and quiet. Andros found his feet taking him to the centre of the room, to the glass coffin whose occupant was obscured by a haze of condensation. Lifting his hand, he paused again unsure if he wanted to look upon his friend in such a state. But he still had the need to see with his own eyes what the sensors told him.

Inside the cryogenic tube, the silver ranger lay, his visage hidden by the visor of his helmet. Andros turned away making it to a corner of the room where he slumped against the wall, sliding down until he sat resting his arms and head on his knees.

"I know I've said it before, but I'm sorry, Zhane. I'm so sorry."

Tears leaked from under his eyelids as he pressed his eyes tightly closed trying to force the image of his friend out of his mind. But the images insisted on being played, all the joyous memories replaced with scenes of blood and darkness.

"If I had just…" He ran his fingers through his hair digging his nails deep into his scalp. Letting go, he sighed. "But it's a little late for that now. I've lost everything: first my sister, then my team, my best friend and finally, my planet. Who knows if my parents are even alive."

Andros' shoulders lifted and fell as he took a deep breath. "If only you'd wake up." A twisted smile appeared on his face, his dead laugh echoing in the cold room. "Even though you'd kick my ass right now considering everything I've been doing. I almost…." He leaned his head back against the wall closing his eyes. "But I couldn't do it. I blamed the wind but that wasn't what stopped me. Even rescuing the kittens was a welcomed excuse."

A frown crossed the Kerovian's features. "I couldn't figure it out at first. Didn't know why I would want to continue on with all this pain. Then I realized " The Red Astro Ranger turned to his friend's cold casket. "It was you." He shook his head. "Somehow after everything that's happened to me. I'm still holding on to the hope that you'll wake up. And one day, together, we'll bring our people home." He let out a snort. "It may be stupid, a naive belief. But I refuse to let you, or our people, down again by giving up."

"The question is what am I going to do now." Standing up, he started pacing. "The Megaship will be functional soon. Do I leave? Search for our people, for our enemies. I owe these Earth rangers so much for their help, their kindness. But I owe our people more."

He stopped leaning against the wall his gaze distant. His thoughts turned to the strange new friends in whose lives he had become unintentionally intertwined. "Maybe I will stay. Help the Zeo Rangers in their battle, but only for now." Pushing off the wall, he walked back to the middle of the room. "Because there is one more reason I couldn't step off that cliff."

Jaw tight, Andros rested his clenched fists on Zhane's cryochamber.

"I intend to make Dark Specter pay for what he's done."

The End

Author's Note: Yes, this is finally the end. Or at least sort of. I always planned on Different Directions being many chapters longer, but have had so many problems updating it over the years and this looked like a good place to stop. This, however, means that a sequel is a distinct possibility. I have the ideas for at least six more chapters worked out so we'll see. It will of course have to go on the back burner for awhile though, because I have this other fic I'm working on that is slowly but surely getting completely out of control. Hopefully you'll be able to read it soon. Thanks for reading and thanks for all the wonderful reviews and emails, Daylight.