Disclaimer: Not mine
Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: : )Thank you! Your stories are addicting too. Yeah, they're finally together. I was thinking about dragging it out longer, but then I realized just how long that would make this story. Besides, the story gets better once Andros and Ashley are together.
Juzblue: I know, they're finally together. Now I can start having fun . . .
Maresia Eterna: I've thought about it, but I haven't written one yet. I'm not sure what should happen but sooner or later, I'll write one.
Jenny: Yes, I want to be on your list. I always need to laugh more. Of course Andros is an idiot, and I'm so glad that he is. It makes everything so much more fun. My birthday is August 16. I'd like a standalone on my birthday.
GreenDayfan1: Okay, this is random, but can I use your name when I respond to your reviews? It's just kinda weird calling you GreenDayfan1, but I won't use your name if you don't want me to. Anyway . . . glad you liked it, and your welcome.
DV2: You don't have to wait any longer.
Chapter 15:
Andros tried to sit up, and couldn't keep back the groan that slipped out of his mouth. He sighed, and lay back down, waiting impatiently for someone, anyone, to show up. Something had just occurred to him, and he didn't want to wait long for an answer.
"Andros?"
He smiled when he heard Ashley's voice. He tried to sit up again, but once again, pain shot through his chest, and he fell back.
"Stop moving," Ashley ordered. "You're hurting yourself."
"I don't care," Andros said. "It's boring staring at the ceiling."
Ashley laughed at him before helping him sit. Andros pulled her up onto the bed next to him, kissing her gently. "I'd much rather stare at you," he added, grinning at her. Ashley's face broke into a wide smile, and she kissed him back. Then Andros remembered what he'd been about to ask her, and his smile faded.
"Ash, what happened to Arrow?" he asked, not at all sure that he wanted to know the answer.
Ashley sighed. "He left vowing revenge."
"He got away again," Andros muttered. "I have to catch him."
"Deca's sensors tracked his ship," Ashley said. "He's not in this dimension anymore."
"I have to stop him," Andros said again.
"There's nothing you can do," Ashley pointed out gently. "You can't make a space mirror into Arrow's dimension just appear."
Andros sighed. He knew she was right, but he didn't want to hear it. Ashley took his hand, and squeezed it comfortingly.
"Andros?" she asked hesitantly. "There's something I've been wondering."
Andros nodded his head. He'd been hoping that she'd never ask, but he supposed that it was inevitable.
"Why does Arrow want revenge so badly?" she asked. "I mean, you let him go. You'd think he'd count himself lucky and leave you alone."
Andros looked at her, relieved. Not quite the question he thought she'd ask, and this one he could answer easily.
"Zhane and I were the first people to ever capture him," Andros explained. "He didn't take it well. And then after I . . . helped him escape, I tried to stop him again, and I almost killed him. He didn't like that much, either."
Ashley nodded, and slipped her arm around his waist. They sat there in silence, Andros doing his best to ignore the question that Ashley had chosen not to ask. Finally, he sighed, and looked at her.
"I need to teach you how to control your telepathy," he said. "Do you know that you're projecting your thoughts at me right now?"
"I am? You're reading my mind?"
"Not intentionally," Andros said quickly. "But, yes, I am."
He sighed. "You want to know why I let Arrow go."
Ashley nodded. "But you don't have to tell me."
Andros was silent for a long time. "He told me that if I set him free, he'd tell me where Karone was."
He closed his eyes, afraid to look at Ashley. He felt her arms around him, and he leaned against her, realizing just how much he trusted her.
"I'm sorry," Ashley whispered in his ear. Andros opened his eyes, and looked at her. Ashley tightened her embrace. "It's okay," she whispered softly. "I understand."
"Thank you," Andros told her telepathically.
"Teach me?" Ashley asked hopefully, and Andros nodded gratefully, eager to change the subject.
"I don't know how much you can learn," Andros cautioned her. "I've never tried to teach anyone from Earth before."
"Have you tried to teach anyone before?"
"That's not the point," Andros said, but he couldn't keep back a smile. He slipped an arm around her waist before saying, "You have to think at the person you want to talk to, and will them to hear you."
"You mean like this?"
Andros shifted to stare at her.
"What?" she demanded.
"I didn't think you could actually do it," he admitted. "At least not on the first try."
"Maybe I'm just special," Ashley said, and Andros grinned at her before kissing her gently.
"You're definately special," he told her.
"Can I take that as a compliment?" Ashley grinned.
"Of course you can," he told her before leaning in to kiss her again.
"Should we come back later?"
Andros and Ashley broke apart to see the four other rangers standing in the doorway, all staring at them. Zhane was hiding a grin, but the other three, Carlos especially, looked shocked.
Andros glanced at Ashley, who smiled sheepishly.
"You guys want to hear a funny story?"
