Disclaimer: Not mine

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: Yeah, poor Andros. :grins evilly: I should be mean to Ashley now. Oh well, that's what my next story is for. :P

Jenny: I know, I feel sorry for Andros too, but not sorry enough to be nicer to him. :P

What's the fun of having prophetic dreams if you don't go out and try to change things? And then of course by trying to change things, you make the dreams come true, but I'm not going to go there right now... Do you really think I'd make you wait two weeks to see what's going to happen next? Don't answer that. :P

DizneeDol: You're not the only one. I wonder what would happen if I left this story right here and went off to write another one. But I didn't , so don't kill me, and here's some more. :P

Melissa: Don't worry, I don't have the guts to kill Ashley for real. I'd do just about everything else to her (and I'm going to, but not in this story) but I don't think I'll be killing her anytime soon. Have fun. :P

Juzblue: Andros had another dream in the chapter right before the last one, where Ashley's being buried, and he tells Aria that he'd do anything to have her back. Relax, here's more. :P

Chapter 19: Memories

"It can be done," Karone said slowly, giving her brother an uneasy look. "That doesn't mean it should be, and not everyone can do it."

"Who can?" Andros asked. He had a feeling he already knew, and the pieces were slowly coming together in his mind.

Karone sighed. "Anyone who is deemed... worthy enough to be trusted with that kind of power would be from a planet that more or less rules everything."

"Eltar," Andros said distantly.

Karone nodded. "Eltar."

"Aria, you are so dead," Andros muttered

"I heard my name."

Andros spun around to see his youngest sister standing directly behind him. Her wry smile faded the instant she saw his face, and her own face turned an interesting shade of white.

"Oh, wow," she muttered under her breath. "I think we need to talk."

"I agree," Andros said cooly, doing his best not to strangle Aria right where she was. "Now."

He rounded on her as soon as they stepped out into the hall. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Pick one, and we'll start from there."

"Dammit, Aria, this isn't a joke," Andros snapped. Aria didn't answer, and he took a deep breath to calm himself. "What did you do?"

"You probably wouldn't care to know," Aria said. At his look, she added quickly, "I'll explain anyway."

"Good," Andros said through clenched teeth. Aria sighed.

"What do you know so far?"

"I know that those aren't nightmares," Andros said, his anger vanishing as despair took its place. "And I know that you did something to bring us all back here."

"We lost our battle with Samael," she said quietly. "He killed Ashley."

He'd been expecting her to say that, but knowing what was coming did nothing to lessen the blow, and Andros lowered his head, feeling tears sting his eyes.

"We went after him again," Aria continued, her voice low with urgency, "and we lost Justin and Gabriel."

"What?" Andros looked up, stunned. "Them too?"

Aria nodded, her face carefully blank. "After that, we couldn't find him again, and we went back. We knew it wasn't over, but we couldn't just keep searching for him, not if he didn't want to be found. He showed up again seven years later, and this time, he attacked Eltar, and won."

"How?"

"It wasn't until the invasion started that Cathan figured out where his strength comes from," Aria said, and Andros could see that she didn't want to tell him. "With every death, he grows more powerful."

"He takes their souls?" Andros tried not to imagine it.

"No," Aria said slowly. "But their deaths... it gives him energy. When he attacked Eltar, he came to Earth, wanting the energies of very specific people."

"Zoe and Wyatt," Andros whispered. "Zhane and Karone."

Aria nodded. She was crying silently now. "Their children too... "

"How do we stop him?" Andros asked desperately. "I can't lose her, Aria."

"Don't let go of her," Aria said. "Don't break the bond that you share. Force it, and I think you can keep her alive."

"But how do I keep her from getting hurt in the first place?" Andros demanded. "She shouldn't be fighting in the first place."

"I know that," Aria said. "And so does she. But Andros, I'm warning you now, if we get into trouble, there's nothing that you can do to keep her here, safe. It's against her nature to just sit back and watch."

"I know," Andros whispered. His eyes overflowed, and he jammed his fists into his eyes. "She died saving me, didn't she?"

Aria refused to answer, and no matter how much he begged her, he couldn't coax an answer out of her.

"If I tell you, then you will try to change it," she said. "And if you do that, we'll end up much worse off than we were to begin with."

"I've picked up Samael's signal," Deca announced.

"I'll be right there," Aria said, taking off towards the bridge without another look at her brother.

Andros followed her a moment later, wishing that this was all one big nightmare. Nightmares were better than memories.