Disclaimer: Not mine

Juzblue: Okay, I'll update soon for cookies! Yay. :P

Jenny: Yes, I love smilies. :P:D :) I never said I didn't. No, I'm not really expecting you to figure out what I had Aria do now. :D She's completely crazy, but it totally makes sense when you think about it. I'm always laughing when I read your reviews. Yay, I know where all the quotes come from. It would be really sad if I didn't, since half of them are mine. Um... Demon Child from Hell? That was a joke gone horribly, horribly wrong, as you will see when you read his first story. :D :P I really shouldn't have put smileys after that...

Piper xox Leo: Glad you liked it. Aria does that whole thinking-under-pressure thing really well. She's not entirely sane though... Oh well, halfway through the sequel's a little late to change that. :P

Melissa: Ok, I have your review/e-mail. There's nothing wrong with Ashley, exactly. Sort of. You'll see. I don't know how to fix the review problem. I'd say login, but you did that... you could send it one word at a time. :P No, I'm kidding, please don't do that. :)

the-power-of-love: Thanks. Here's more. :P :D

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: So just because this is an Andros/Ashley story, I'm not allowed to have a chapter that they aren't in? Don't worry, there will be plenty of them in the rest of the story. :P I'm using too many smilies... it's all Jenny's fault! Speaking of Jenny, only a minor headache, mostly from lack of oxygen while I was laughing... Don't worry, Demon Child from Hell isn't really an Andros/Ashley hater. He just thought it would be funny to flame me. He regrets it now, though... Speaking of Demon Child from Hell, please, please, please, flame his story. Actually, don't, that's what he wanted people to do. :D I love what Deca stands for. I always thought the A would be 'attitude' though. Yellow isn't spelled with an S in America, either, but maybe that's just a California thing. :P

Chapter 10: Flying?

He had to be dead, Gabriel thought. There was no other practical explanation for him to be more or less upright, and yet not have his feet planted firmly on the ground. When Aria had crashed the Megaship, he must have gone flying over the console, and maybe hit his head a little too hard...

"This is cool." He heard his sister's voice from somewhere over to his left, and did his best to turn in that direction. It was surprisingly easy to move, but difficult to control his movements.

"Uh, what just happened?" he couldn't help asking.

"We crashed," Aria said simply, and Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"I believe he wants an explanation as for why we are floating around in midair." Cathan's voice drifted over to him, just a hint of laughter in his usually solemn tone.

"Oh, that," Aria said after a pause. "I turned off the gravity in here. If you prefer, next time I'll let you feel the impact."

"Can you turn it back on?"

"Gimme a minute," Aria said. A moment later, she said, "No. I can't reach the controls... Deca? You there?"

There was no response from the AI. Gabriel groaned.

"Don't worry," Aria said cheerfully. "You're flying. It's fun. Enjoy it."

"How hard did you hit your head?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What's going on?" A new voice joined theirs.

"Ashley?"

"Yeah, it's me." The yellow ranger managed to propel herself through the air over to them. "Why am I flying?"

"Aria crashed the Megaship," Gabriel said.

"I turned off the gravity in here," Aria said. "We should really consider investing in seat belts."

"Where's everyone else?" Ashley asked hesitantly, not sure that she wanted to know. Aria's long silence only added to her dread.

"Unaccounted for," she said finally. "Deca's eyes went out when the power started to fail. I'm sure they're fine."

"So what happened?" Ashley asked, quickly changing the subject. Andros was fine, she told herself. Zoe and Wyatt were fine. "Why did we crash?"

"Samael was going to shoot us down," Aria said, sounding much more subdued. "Then the power started failing... I think we did enough damage to him that he'dve crashed, too. I'm kinda hoping that he did."

"I think he did," Ashley informed her. "I was by a window."

The room suddenly burst into light then, temporarily blinding them all. Blinking, Aria nudged the control telekinetically, slowly lowering them back down to the floor. Once she'd landed, she straightened up, and exhaled slowly.

"Ash, can you reach Andros?"

"I'll try," Ashley said after a brief, but obvious, moment of hesitation. "Andros?"

"Ash?" The reply was immediate, and she felt her entire body go weak with relief.

"Are you all right? Where are you?"

"The holding bay," Andros replied. "Zoe and Wyatt are fine. Is everyone else-"

"Everyone but Justin," Ashley told him. "Do you know where he is?"

"No."

"He's in the Simudeck," Aria said suddenly. "He'll meet us here."

"Andros, can you come to the bridge?"

"I'll be there in a minute," he replied. Ashley let out a slow breath and sank into a seat. When Andros appeared a moment later, it was all she could do not to fling her arms around him and never let him go. He gave her a quick hug.

"I left the twins with Alpha again," he whispered in her ear, and she nodded. "They're fine. They... enjoyed their brief moment of defying gravity," he added, looking past her to Aria, who grinned suddenly.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go see how Samael came out of all this."