Disclaimer: Not mine

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: What can I say, I love torturing my readers. :P

JakiBlue: Yes and yes. :P

Jenny: I think it was longer than 6 hours. Relax, I tell you who gets driven through with a sword, instead of dragging it out even longer. :P

DizneeDol: Relax, here's more. :P

Melissa: It's only 23 hours. :P

Raven2547: Here it is. :P

Chapter 13

Before any of them had a chance to react, Sol had driven the sword through skin and bone.

His own.

Ashley watched in stunned disbelief as he fell, shocked that he'd taken his own life in place of anyone else's. Karone had turned a sickening shade of green, her eyes glued to the blood. Zhane demorphed and thought he might be sick.

"Did that just happen?" Andros asked hoarsely. Zhane and Karone turned their heads to the sound of his voice, nodding dumbly. Without a word, Karone sent a single purple flame to engulf the body, cleaning up all traces of their struggle. As Sol's body disappeared, so did the few fragments of strength that Andros had left, and he suddenly realized how much pain he was in.

Ashley started when she heard Andros whimper softly, her heart breaking for him when she saw the tears that he was trying to hide. If Andros was crying with pain, she didn't want to know how much agony he was in.

"It's all right," she murmured, her throat sore. "We're going to get you out of here now."

"Thank you," Andros whispered, closing his eyes. Ashley draped his right arm over her shoulder and slowly helped him stand. Karone and Zhane rushed over to them, their smiles dropping into horrified expressions as they saw the condition Andros was in.

"Medical bay," Karone said firmly. "Both of you."

The Megaship

Ashley sat on one of the two patient beds, her legs dangling impatiently over the side as Karone, with Deca's guidence, checked and double checked to make sure that she had emerged from her ordeal more or less all right. All Ashley wanted to know was if her baby was okay. There was already a painful bruise from where Sol's fist had slammed into her abdomen, and her heart nearly stopped when she thought about what would happen if he'd hit her hard enough in just the wrong place...

"Done," Karone announced, stepping back. All of Ashey's various aches and pains vanished as Karone touched her skin, and she shot the other girl a grateful look.

"Thank you," she murmured. "Karone... the baby..."

"The baby is fine," Karone assured her, a bit of a grin on her face as she glanced down at the computer printout with Deca's results on it. She opened her mouth to say more, but didn't get the chance to.

"You know, Ash, you should get some sleep," Zhane remarked, coming into the room. "We'll stay here with him."

"I'll sleep here," Ashley said stubbornly. "I'm not leaving him."

"Ash, you're exhausted," Karone protested. "You need sleep, in a bed, not in a chair."

"I need Andros," Ashley said simply, her hand clasped around his. "I'm not leaving him."

She felt his fingers tighten on hers and glanced down, surprised to find him awake. "You can go," he said, his eyes already half-closed again. "If you want to."

"I don't," Ashley retorted. "Go back to sleep."

"I can't," Andros muttered sleepily. "I hate it here."

"Don't even think about it," Zhane said as Ashley opened her mouth. "He's staying here."

"Aw, come on," Ashley pleaded. "Let him sleep in his own bed."

After several minutes of coaxing, Zhane and Karone relented. Ashley helped Andros to his feet, steadying him as he limped. Zhane and Karone followed them to Andros's room, where they stopped.

"Thanks," Andros said softly, giving them both a hug as best he was able.

"What else are friends good for?" Zhane smirked at him. "That's twice now I've saved your life."

Karone laughed, and handed Ashley the paper she'd meant to give her back in the medical bay. "Deca's results about your baby," she explained. "Um, you might want to look at it carefully."

"What's so funny?" Ashley looked at her suspiciously.

"Nothing," Karone said with a straight face. "You two get some sleep."

"There's nothing wrong with the baby, is there?" Andros asked anxiously as Ashley guided him over to his bed. He fell into it instantly, and then sat up again to fix her with a worried stare.

"No, the baby's fine," Ashley assured him. Andros relaxed slightly, only to be alarmed once more as Ashley's eyes widened.

"Ash..."

Ashley's mouth opened and closed several times before any sound came out. "We're... we're having twins."

"We're what?" Andros suddenly felt wide awake. "Let me see that."

Ashley handed him the paper, a slow grin spreading across her face. "We're having twins."

"Twins," Andros repeated softly. "Wow."

"You don't mind, do you?" Ashley asked nervously, plopping down beside him. "I mean, two babies is a lot, and..."

Andros cut her off, leaning over to kiss her deeply. "I love you," he said softly, "and I can't remember ever feeling this happy."

Ashley smiled at him, relieved. "You should really sleep now, you know."

"I know." Andros lay down obediantly, struggling up yet again when Ashley stood. "Where do you think you're going?"

Ashley gestured to her outfit. She was dressed in her flight suit, and while it was perfectly comfortable during the day, it was not the best to sleep in. "I'm going to get some pajamas... Andros, sit down!"

"I'm not letting you out of my sight," Andros said stubbornly, suppressing a yawn, although he did sit down again. Karone's healing powers had their limitations, and his ankle had been hurt more severely than he'd realized. "You can wear something of mine."

Ashley's expression relaxed into a rueful smile, and she nodded, rifling through his drawers until she found his warm-up sweatsuit. It was worn and perfectly comfortable, she decided. Andros watched her change, smiling as he saw how her stomach had begun to fill out. That was his child in there... no, his children, he thought, and his smile grew wider.

Andros rolled over onto his right side to avoid putting any pressure on his injured arm and leg. Ashley crawled into bed beside him, careful of his injuries. Besides the burns on his arm and ankle, there were some burns on his chest as well, in addition to a painful scrape over his ribcage, and wounds from the sword. Miraculously, his head wounds had been only superficial.

"Ash?" Andros asked softly, not quite able to meet her eyes. "Is it okay if I leave the light on?"

It was a foolish fear, he knew, but after three months of nothing but darkness...

"It's fine," Ashley answered a moment later, touching his face gently. "Night, Andros."

"Night, Ash," Andros whispered, closing his eyes and finding that there was nothing that could make them open again. "I love you."

"Love you too," he heard Ashley mumble sleepily. Andros fell asleep with a smile on his face.