Disclaimer: Not mine

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: I didn't say I couldn't end with a ciiffie. I said I couldn't end with the cliffie I wanted to use. Thre's a difference. :P

Juzblue: Thanks, I did update soon, and I'm really, really, really sorry about this...

Piper xox Leo: You'll see.

DizneeDol: Don't worry, I updated soon.

Jenny: I wasn't trying to rush it that time. I don't want the story to end! But you'll see. You actually read Demon's story::blinks: but as long as you know that I got the writing genes. :P Too bad it's fanfiction, I know, or else I could make some money here, maybe:P

Chapter 24: Bonds of Love

Andros opened his eyes slowly, not remembering where, or even who, he was. His eyelids were heavy, and refused to open. He took a deep breath, and heard a raspy sigh escape his lips. He wasn't in pain, exactly, but he was sore all over.

Voices reached his ears, and he felt someone gently lay a hand on his shoulder. "Andros?" It was Karone's voice, and he struggled to sit up, but she firmly pushed him back down, murmuring, "Hold still for a minute."

A few seconds later, he felt his energy returning to him, and opened his eyes, mumbling a weak, "Thanks," as his sister's face came into focus. In answer, he received a strained smile.

"Andros, can you sit up now?" Karone asked him. "Ashley, she..."

The battle came back to him then, and Andros shot up so quickly that Karone made a small noise of alarm. "Where is she?" he demanded, feeling the fear building in his stomach.

"She's right here," Zhane said in a hollow voice, and Andros turned his head, feeling tears spring to his eyes at the sight of her. Ashley looked just as deadly pale as she had in his nightmare memory of the past.

"Ash, please don't die," he whispered, feeling the tears spill over his eyes. "I need you. I love you."

"Karone's magic was able to keep her alive so far," Zhane said. "But it won't last much longer..."

"Aria, damnit, wake up!""

Andros turned to look at the other side of the medical bay. Justin and Gabriel were standing side by side between two patient beds, both staring at Aria's nearly motionless body. Justin was the one who had spoken, and though his tone was angry, his eyes were sad.

Andros swallowed hard, and turned away from his half-dead sister to look at his living one. "Take your magic off of Ashley."

"Andros, she'll die if I do that," Karone protested.

"No, she won't," Andros said, slipping out of the bed to stand by Ashley's side. "Aria told me how to save her."

"Are you sure?" Karone asked him hesitantly.

"No," Andros said, blinking away his tears. "But this is my only chance to save her."

Karone nodded uncertainly, but did as he asked. Andros reached for Ashley's hand. It was cold, and he tried very hard not to think about what would happen if he failed.

"Ash?" he called tentatively, feeling for her in his mind. She was still there, but her presence was very faint, and fading rapidly without Karone's magic preserving her life. "Ash!"

Closing his eyes, Andros reached for her, trying to hold her to him, understanding that he was keeping her alive. If Ashley slipped away from him now, if she vanished from his mind, she would be dead, and he would have no choice but to follow her. If she slipped away from him now, he would want nothing but to follow her.

Ashley's rapid careen towards death seemed to slow a little, and Andros tightened the hold he had on her soul, surrounding it completely with his own, refusing to let her go. He felt her grow a little stronger, and kept pulling, his heart beating wildly with hope.

The closer he held her soul to his, the more his mind was filled with her, and soon, Andros was seeing every moment of her life, from her earliest infancy until now, were she wasn't even aware of her own self, somehow knowing that wherever Ashley was now, she was seeing every moment of his. Bombarded with Ashley's memories, Andros saw her as a toddler, he saw her as a child, he saw her as the woman he loved and would do anything to keep alive.

When he felt Ashley's fingers tighten on his, Andros's eyes flew open, only to be dejected when he saw that she was still motionless. He reached for her again, pulling her closer and closer until he was no longer sure whether he was Andros, or whether he was Ashley. Their souls, their minds, their hearts, they fit together perfectly, and were never meant to be apart.

Ashley's eyes fluttered open, and she gazed up at him in wonder. "Andros?" she said weakly. "What..."

Her voice trailed off as Andros sank down onto the stool that someone had placed by his side sometime in the last few mintues, burying his face in her shoulder, sobbing. He felt Ashley place on of her hands gently on his head, and he looked up at her, tears staining his face.

"Ash, I love you so much," he sobbed out, helping her as she struggled to sit up, and cradling her in his arms. "I love you, and if I'd lost you, it would have killed me. It almost did kill me, and I killed you, and I'm so sorry."

"What?" Ashley stared at him, squeezing his hands. "Andros, what happened?"

"I don't know," Andros admitted. "I don't care. All that matters is that you're alive."

"It's okay," Ashley soothed him, tears now streaming down her face as well as his. "Andros, I'm sorry I went down there. I just couldn't watch him kill you."

Andros tightened the hold he had on her, leaving her nearly unable to breathe. "Don't worry about that, Ash. He's gone now, and you're okay. It's all going to be okay."

"Karone," he heard Justin shout. "Do something!"

Ashley fought her way out of Andros's arms long enough to see her best friend lying pale and completely motionless on a bed across the room. "Andros..."

He followed her gaze, and then lifted her in his arms, knowing that she wanted to be at Aria's side, as he did. Carrying her across the room, he set her down carefully, one arm around her waist to support her.

"She wasn't hurt that badly," Gabriel said tonelessly. "Why won't she wake up?"

"Because he won't," Karone said softly, nodding past them to where Cathan was lying, even paler than Aria. "He channeled too much power. There was no other way to win, but... I don't think he's going to wake up. He's too far gone to put him into cryogenic sleep, and I can only hold them here for so long."

"So Aria's going to die because of him?" Justin demanded.

"Not because of him," Karone said heavily. "But, yes, I think so. She's bonded to him, whether she realized it or not."

Ashley buried her face in Andros's shoulder, and he realized that he was more acutely aware of her anguish than he had ever been before. He wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed, not bothering to hide his own tears.

This was Aria, the little sister who he had thought dead for eleven years. He had found her, only to lose her again now. It wasn't right, somehow, Aria dying like this, calmly, almost peacefully, in complete contradiction to her nature.

A fresh wave of tears hit him as Andros realized that if Aria had stayed where she was, she wouldn't be on her deathbed now. If she hadn't come back to save them all, she would still have her own life.

Karone gave a soft cry as the soft beep signaling Cathan's heartbeat became a single continuous drone. No one else made a sound, not even daring to move, until Aria's had joined it.