Disclaimer: Not mine

Melissa: Thank you. You really re-read this story all the time? Wow, I had no idea it was that good. Andros will probably get hurt about the same. The same goes for all of Ashley's almost-dying experiences. I'm glad you like the title, I have no idea where it came from. :P

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: No, the first chapter's pretty much the same. But you do have to read it all again. :P

gobball: A lot of people liked the last one. I hope you'll all like this one just as much.:P

the-power-of-love: Thanks, for this time and last time. :P Here's more.

DizneeDol: Okay, if you're sure... thanks. :P

Arwennicole: Thanks. And I updated, here's more. :P

Chapter 2

KO-35

"Goodbye, you guys," Ashley said sadly, as she hugged Zhane and Karone. "I'll be back as soon as I can... You'll tell me the second you find anything, right?"

"Of course we will," Karone assured her, squeezing the other girl hard in response to her pleading look. "Don't worry. He's out there, and we'll find him, I promise."

Ashley nodded uncertainly, and did her best to smile bravely, but inside she was a mess of emotions, mostly anger, both at herself for leaving, and at her parents for insisting that she come home for a visit now. No matter how much she begged them to understand, they'd managed to guilt her into making the trip back to Earth.

"Good luck," Ashley managed to say, the words coming out automatically, as if believing that Andros could be found would make him found.

"You too," Zhane said, feeling pity rise up in him for the former yellow ranger. "Come back soon."

"I will," Ashley promised. Without another word, she teleported herself to the Astro Megaship, eerily empty and quiet, not even Alpha 6 for company.

"Welcome, Ashley," Deca said, her red light blinking as she spoke.

"Hi, Deca," Ashley said wearily. "Set a course for Earth."

She couldn't help remembering the time that Andros had said those words as he'd appeared on the bridge, just as she couldn't help feeling completely alone. Was this how Andros had felt during the two long years between the invasion of KO-35 and his first meeting with the Turbo Rangers?

"And search for any signs of Andros," Ashley added, glancing down forlornly at the engagement ring on her finger.

"Of course, Ashley," Deca replied.

Ashley sat back in the seat and sighed. Andros found Karone, she told herself firmly. If he managed that, then there's no way that you, Zhane, and Karone can't find him.

She tried very hard not to think about the fact that eleven years passed before Andros finally had his sister back. She tried very hard not to think about who Karone was when Andros had finally found her. She tried very hard not to think at all.

But if she wasn't thinking, then she was remembering, and thinking horrible thoughts was preferrable to remembering horrible memories. The last time she'd seen Andros before he'd vanished surfaced as one of those horrible memories, and she winced, trying to block it out of her mind.

"Deca, can you give me some sort of sedative?" Ashley asked, glancing up at Deca's eye. "I'll sleep all the way back to Earth."

"If you wish for a sedative, stop by the medical bay on the way to your room," the AI said after a long pause. "When do you wish for me to wake you?"

"An hour before we get back to Earth," Ashley said, walking off of the bridge. She found herself talking to Deca's other eyes. "That should leave me enough time to get ready."

"Would you like me to prescribe you an antidepressant?" Deca asked her, a concerned note creeping into her voice. "Your brainwaves are showing unusual, unhealthy levels of anxiety and stress."

"No, that's okay, Deca," Ashley replied, after considering it for a moment. The offer was tempting, but she hated pills of any sort, and didn't want to take one that she didn't absolutely need. "I'll be fine."

There were two tiny white pills in a small paper cup waiting for her in the medical bay. Ashley picked up the cup and headed for her room, anxious to fall asleep. The pills should keep nightmares away, too, she thought grimly.

Her room was just as she'd left it, and the familiar sight brought a small measure of comfort to her. Placing the paper cup on the dresser, she kicked off her boots and socks, throwing her jacket carelessly on top of them. Removing the pills from the cup, she went into the bathroom, filled the cup with water, and swallowed the pills as quickly as she could, doing her best not to gag on them.

The effect was almost instantaneous, and Ashley felt her eyelids closing even as she stumbled out of the bathroom. As she collapsed onto her bed, she thought for a brief second that she felt a flicker of Andros' presence in her mind, but she was losing consciousness fast, and it didn't last long enough for her to hold onto.

"Andros," she murmured, her eyes already closed. Ashley could picture him perfectly behind her closed eyelids, and she hoped fervently that the pills would suppress her subconscious mind. If she had one more nightmare, she was going to fall apart, and she couldn't fall apart, or else she would never see him again.