Disclaimer: Not mine

Juzblue: Thanks. I'm glad the light thing worked out okay. It was a really random thught that occured to me while I was writing, so I'm glad you liked it:P

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: I wanna see that movie now. :( Anyway... Yay, you're toying with Jenny's mind. That's always fun to do. Especially when she figures out my entire story and I get to lie about it. :P You're giving lessons teaching people to drive over Jenny? I'd sign up, but I think I'm avoiding Europe at the moment. Something about a crazy driver in Amsterdam... Zhane will have more trouble with Zoe and Wyatt than just that one thing, but that's in the next chapter. :insert evil secretive laugh here:P

DizneeDol: Interesting is a good name for it. Here's more. :P

Arwennicole: So you are as sick and twisted as I am. Good to know. Glad you liked it.:P

Jenny: No offense taken. As long as you don't think that I stole it from you. Because I don't steal. :changes topic quickly: Cathan is from Eltar. But I already told you that. And the smilies are all your fault. :P My parents found me in hell. No wait, that's Demon. I was found somewhere good. And you censored too much of FL for me to go crazy over what I don't know. You spent half an hour writing this? Whoa... babbling is hard work, isn't it? Ha, no smilie at the end.

Melissa: I like the dark better, too. But with the Power Rangers, light is good, and dark is bad. II should have made them dark rangers. I changed everything else. Oh well, next time. If this story has adult subject matter, just wait until you see the next one. :grins: And yeah, I like rock. I'll listen to anything (except jazz) but I like rock. Cussing is fun, but what's really fun is if you're with people who think you never cuss, and then you start doing it randomly, and then they'll flip out most of the time. And I think you already told me who you're favorite fanfic author was. :P

Chapter 14: Not Allowed to Fight Anymore

Andros opened his eyes the next morning to find himself alone in bed. Ashley was gone and the room was silent. A little disappointed, he got up and headed into the bathroom to take a shower. Just as he emerged, dripping wet, he heard the door slide opened, and he dressed quickly.

Ashley's hair had a slightly damp look to it, and it was wet beneath his fingers as he tucked a few loose tendrils behind her ear. Andros kissed her gently, taking her hands in his as he did so. "Morning," he whispered. "Where'd you go?"

"I couldn't sleep," Ashley said, not quite looking at him. "I went for a walk, that's all."

"Ash, are you all right?" he couldn't help asking. "You're not feeling sick again, are you?"

"What?" Ashley looked confused for a moment. "Oh, no, I'm not sick. I'm fine."

"Ashley," Andros said softly. "You're not acting fine."

"It's not like I'm dying, Andros," Ashley snapped. "Just leave me alone."

"Ash, I'm just worried about you," he protested.

"I don't need you to worry about me!" Ashley shouted. "I don't need you to protect me. I can take care of myself."

"Ash-" he started, completely taken aback, and now very worried that something was terribly wrong.

"Shut up!" Ashley cried, lookied angrier than Andros had ever seen her. "Just shut up, Andros. Don't try to talk to me."

She turned and stormed out of the room, leaving Andros staring at the door, speechless. He should go after her, but maybe she needed to be alone. Andros sighed heavily. He wasn't used to fighting with Ashley.

"Deca, where's Ashley?" he asked ten minutes later, still standing in their room. He hoped she hadn't told Deca not to tell him where she was.

"Ashley is in the corridor on Megadeck 2," Deca replied a moment later. "Shall I inform her that you are looking for her?"

"No," Andros said quickly. "Don't tell her. I'll go myself."

He stepped out of his room just as Aria stalked by. "Hey," he said, but his sister paid no attention to him.

"She is currently in a volatile state."

Andros looked up to see Cathan leaning against the wall, his arms crossed.

"What'd you do to her?" he asked suspiciously. He'd been wondering for awhile what kind of relationship Aria and Cathan had.

"I am not completely sure myself," the black clad man said thoughtfully, "but I think it is safe to say that she resents me for the position she believes that I have put her in."

"Look," Andros sighed. "I don't know what's going on between you and Aria, and I probably don't want to, but I don't want you to hurt her. If she thinks that you've used her somehow, she won't take that lightly."

"I may have said that she takes everything lightly," Cathan admitted.

"It's how she deals with everything," Andros said, coming to his sister's defense. "But that doesn't mean that she doesn't know how serious a situation really is."

Cathan sighed. "You may be right."

Andros started to walk towards the Megalift, then stopped, and looked back at Cathan. "Don't hurt my sister," he said warningly. He smiled wryly and added, "I'd say that I'd have to hurt you, but there'd be nothing left."

"I am well aware of that," Cathan said seriously, and Andros started wondering again what was between him and Aria. He shrugged it off as he entered the Megalift. Aria could take care of herself.

"Deca, Megadeck 2," he said, sighing as the doors slid shut. He straightened up again as they opened, and he saw Ashley pacing around the corridors. She stopped as she saw him, and Andros knew that she was debating whether to storm off again or not.

"What?" she demanded.

"Ash, I'm sorry," Andros said quickly, before she could leave. "I didn't mean to upset you before. I wasn't trying to make you feel -"

Ashley's face slowly crumpled as he stood there talking, and she burst into tears. Automatically, Andros moved to her side, intending to pull her into his arms. Once there, he realized that maybe he shouldn't, but Ashley didn't resist when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Why are you so sweet to me?" she choked out through her tears. "I screamed at you for loving me, and you're here apologizing for it."

"Shh, Ash," he whispered, holding her close. "Don't cry. Everything's going to be okay."

"It's not okay," Ashley wailed, her emotions beginning to fly out of control. "I let everyone down!"

"Ash, what's wrong?" Andros asked her plaintively.

"I woke up this morning, and I was feeling even worse than I was yesterday morning," Ashley confessed. "So I went to the medical bay to have Deca do some tests."

"Tests?" Andros repeated, the alarm evident in his voice. "Ash-"

"Andros, I'm six weeks pregnant," Ashley whispered.

"You're what?" Andros stared at her blankly for a minute, her words taking some time to register. When they did, he reached out, pulling her into a fierce hug. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Ashley murmured. She was watching him anxiously, waiting for his reaction.

Andros laughed, and kissed her with all the love he felt for her.

"Don't scare me like that again," he said, still holding her. "I thought there was something wrong."

"I'm sorry," Ashley whispered, starting to cry again. "And I'm so sorry I yelled at you before. I'm really sorry."

"It's all right, Ash," Andros assured her, hoping that she wasn't going to have mood swings for her entire pregnancy. "Don't worry about it."

"I'm not allowed to fight anymore, am I?" Ashley asked dejectedly.

"No," Andros said firmly, trying not to think about her dying. "Don't worry, the others will understand."

"But I let everyone down," Ashley wailed, in tears again. "Now they're a ranger short."

"Shh," Andros whispered soothingly, stroking her hair with one hand, hoping that she wouldn't become too hysterical. "Ash, you didn't let anyone down. We've only been here two weeks. If you're six weeks pregnant, you were pregnant before we got here, it just wasn't showing yet."

"You're making all that up," Ashley accused him. Andros rolled his eyes at the ceiling before tilting Ashley's chin up, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"Ashley, I love you, and I promise, no one's going to think that you let them down," Andros whispered.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive," Andros assured her. "Now, stop worrying, and relax. Are you hungry? Do you need anything?"

Ashley giggled and wiped her eyes. "If you're going to do that for the next six and a half months, I'm never going to relax," she warned him.

"I don't care," Andros said, kissing the side of her head.

"Why are you so sweet?" Ashley asked him, sounding close to tears again. "If we have more kids, you can't quit working at NASADA, and last night you said you wanted to, but we'll need the money, and I don't want you to have to-"

"Ash, calm down," Andros said quickly, before she could get too caught up in guilt. "I wasn't going to quit for a few more years anyway, and if I had to choose between NASADA and these babies, I'd choose these babies."

"Are we having twins again?" Ashley asked him, momentarily distracted by him saying 'these babies' instead of 'this baby."

"Probably." Andros grinned at her. "Ash, you are a wonderful mother, and I love you so much."

"I love you," Ashley whispered back. "You're sure you're okay with this, right? I mean, we talked about having more kids sometime, but we never planned on it being so soon..."

"I don't remember planning Zoe and Wyatt, either," Andros reminded her. "But we seem to be doing pretty good, don't we?"

"Yeah," Ashley said, smiling. "They're going to have little brothers or sisters!"

Andros laughed again. "No one in my family has ever had identical twins," he said thoughtfully, "so I guess that we'll have one of each again."

"I'll bet you that Karone will have identical twins," Ashley said.

"How do you know that?" Andros asked, just a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Zhane's an exception to most rules," Ashley said, grinning. "He's going to ruin the pattern."

Andros laughed, and then looked at her, slightly startled. "Actually, identical twins run in Zhane's family. His mother was one."

"I told you so," Ashley said smugly.

"Speaking of Zhane," Andros said, suddenly remembering where Zoe and Wyatt were, "maybe we should go make sure Zoe and Wyatt are still alive."

"Should we tell them?" Ashley asked.

"They'll want a reason for why you're not fighting anymore," Andros said, taking her hand as they walked towards the Megalift. "I don't think we have much of a choice."

"I guess you're right," Ashley said, looking at the floor.

"Unless you don't want to tell them yet," Andros said. "We could make something up."

"No, we should just tell them," Ashley muttered. "I just hope they'll react as our family, and not as rangers."

"Ash, don't feel like you've let anyone down," Andros pleaded yet again. "We didn't know that we'd end up rangers again. Just relax, and only think about yourself for the next few months, all right?"

Ashley gave him a small smile and threw her arms around his neck. "I love you so much," she whispered.

"I love you too, Ash," Andros whispered back.