Disclaimer: Not mine

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: I know, Andros is so sweet! I love him. :sighs: But he's not real. :wails: You'll love the chapter after this one even more. Or maybe the chapter after the next chapter :P

Juzblue: I'm glad you liked the interacting. Here's more. :P

DizneeDol: Thanks, here's more, sorry I made you wait for it. :P

JDPhoenix: In long term yes, in short term no.

C.C.C.: Soon? You could say that. :P

the-power-of-love: Thanks, here's more. :P

Jenny: Wedding? What wedding? Ashley's not even pregnant yet:P

Melissa: Yay, you're back! Well, sort of. Glad you had fun, here's some more. :P

Chapter 13

"Deca, begin simulation," Andros called. Grid lines appeared over every inch of the room, and seconds later, the Simudeck had taken on the characteristics of the desert planet they were currently in orbit around. A simulated villian appeared a moment later, programmed to attack as the real Arrow would.

"Let's rocket!" the Astro Rangers shouted together, as Alana and Blaze morphed as well. The morpher Andros had used in the other dimension, he had offered to Karone, who accepted it, and promptly manipulated it to morph her into the purple ranger.

"Attack," Andros ordered, and they sprang forward together. They outnumbered Arrow nine to one, making the battle all to easy, but the real Arrow would have Killian fighting alongside him, as well as a number of other soldiers. Andros was reluctant to simulate Killian without more knowledge of how he fought, so he substituted a number of Quantrons for Arrow's soldiers.

This isn't so bad, Ashley thought as she dodged the Quantrons, her eyes fixed on the simulated Arrow. I can do this.

She wondered how different it would be to fight against the real Arrow. She wasn't afraid of him, exactly, she was more angry than anything else, but Ashley had learned that in a fight, anger was worse than fear.

Almost as bad as getting distracted, she thought ruefully as Andros blocked for her.

"Are you all right?" he asked her silently, concern evident in his tone.

"Don't worry," she told him. "I'm okay."

If she could have seen his face, Ashley knew that he would be giving her a skeptical look, but he merely nodded and moved away, remaining close enough to rush to her side if she got herself into trouble.

Blaze and Alana were strong fighters, if a little too ruthless, she observed, her mind wandering from the fight yet again. There was nothing that they wouldn't do to take down their enemy, even if it meant hurting themselves or each other in the process.

"Stop simulation," Andros called twenty minutes later. The last of the Quantrons vanished as he ended the program, and the rangers demorphed. "That's enough for now. We'll try again this afternoon."

"All right," TJ said. He turned to Blaze and Alana. "You two go get changed and showered and all that, and then we'll all show you what having fun is."

"I think I'm just going to go to my room for awhile," Ashley said, just as Deca's alarm blared.

"Arrow's presence has been detected on the surface," she announced.

"Thanks, Deca," Andros said as they morphed again. "Teleport nine."

"Are you all right?" Andros repeated his earlier question to Ashley as they landed, feeling her distress.

"Yeah," she answered distantly. "I'm fine."

Andros edged closer to her, determined to never let anyone lay a hand on her ever again. Arrow laughed at him from behind his dark gray helm. "You've already failed her once, Red Ranger."

"Andros," Zhane warned. "Let it go."

"Never," Andros snapped back, springing forward, his Spiral Saber drawn. The other rangers moved quickly to join him, and a full-fledged battle was soon raging.

Besides Killian, Arrow had brought along a dozen of his soldiers to even the odds. Blaze and Alana didn't hesitated to take them down, but the Astro Rangers had their qualms about taking human lives.

The true battle was between Andros, Ashley, and Arrow. Every time the dark ranger moved to attack the red ranger, he found himself blocked by the yellow ranger, who wanted revenge of her own. Likewise, every time Arrow attempted to knock Ashley out of the way, Andros attacked him from the other side.

Andros leapt forward as he saw Arrow move towards Ashley just as Arrow spun around, firing, grazing his shoulder with laser fire. Andros stumbled and fell as Arrow advanced on him, making the mistake of ignoring Ashley, who sprang at him from the side, kicking away the blaster. Andros scrambled to his feet, but too slow, and Arrow jumped up, planting both his feet firmly in Ashley's stomach, sending her sprawling and gasping for breath, giving him time to retreive his blaster.

"Ash, get up," Andros shouted, knowing it was no use.

Alana got to Arrow before Andros did, and grabbed for his arm, knocking him off balance just enough for the laser fire to hit Ashley's ribs, instead of her heart. The shot was enough to demorph her, and Arrow flung both Alana and the blaster aside, drawing his sword.

Andros had recovered himself and flew towards them, but found himself blocked by Killian. The recipient of a hurricane kick, Andros staggered back, unable to do anything but watch helplessly as Arrow's sword descended on Ashley.

"Ashley!" he screamed, growing cold with fear as Arrow laughed triumphantly. Ashley was lying on her side now; she'd tried to throw herself out of the way, but had ended up on her right side, the left side taking the blow. She was motionless, her face covered with blood.

Arrow, Killian, and the footsoldiers vanished as Andros fell to his knees beside Ashley, cradling her body in his arms, tears filling his eyes. She was still alive, but he'd promised her that he would protect her. He'd promised himself that he would die before he let anyone harm her again, and he had still failed her.

"Come on," Karone said anxiously, helping him stand while keeping Ashley steady. "She'll be all right."

Andros only nodded, wishing that instead of the mild stinging sensation he felt whenever Ashley was hurting he could take her pain away. It was his fault that she was hurt again.

Karone had Deca teleport them directly into the medical bay, and Ashley seemed to stir a little as the Megaship materialized around them. Andros thought it was just his imagination, but her eyes fluttered open as Andros set her down gently on the patient bed. Pulling her into a half sitting position, he propped her up as Karone forced a few pain relievers down her throat.

"A- Andros..." Ashley mouthed his name more than she whispered it, moaning as she tried to move. Andros was surprised she wasn't screaming with pain; her left cheek was split open, and the blaster had been set at its highest setting when Arrow had fired at her.

"Don't talk, Ash," Andros whispered, easing her onto her right side. He slipped his left hand into her right hand, and felt her fingers clamp down around his as she tried not to scream. "You'll be okay, I promise."

"I got some towels," Cassie said, pressing a wet cloth into Andros's free hand, trying very hard not to look at her best friend's face. "Hang in there, Ash."

"We'll take care of the burns," Zhane volunteered, motioning to himself and Carlos, who was already looking for bandages.

Andros touched the towel to Ashley's face, wincing as she whimpered in pain. Her nails dug into his skin as he moved it over her cheek. "I'm sorry," he muttered, trying to remember how long it took the pain relievers to take effect.

"S'okay," Ashley mumbled, holding onto his hand so tightly that she was hurting her own fingers. Andros saw her biting her lip to keep from crying out, and tried to finish quickly.

"Here," TJ said, holding up a bottle of alcohol. "Want me to do it?"

Andros nodded, taking Ashley's other hand as TJ stepped around to the other side of the bed.

"This is going to sting, Ash," TJ warned.

Ashley cried out as the liquid touched her skin, trying to twist away. "Stop," she moaned, feeling Andros let go of her hands to gently hold her down. Dropping the bandages he was using, Carlos held her from the other side to keep her from rolling off of the bed. "Don't do that anymore."

"Ash, we don't want you to bleed to death," Andros said gently, taking her hand again. "We can't close up the wound if you don't let us clean it first."

"How are you closing it up?" Ashley asked fearfully, not at all liking the idea of having her face sewn up. She was in enough pain already.

"Don't worry," Andros assured her, squeezing her hand. "That part won't hurt, I promise. Karovans don't use stitches."

"Ash?" Karone asked hesitantly. "Healing magic isn't exactly my specialty, but if you wanted me to try-"

She broke off when Ashley nodded. Andros shot his sister a grateful look as she took Ashley's face in her hands, purple sparkles flowing from her fingertips into the deep cut on Ashley's cheek. A moment later, she pulled back, frowning, but not dissatisfied.

"It's not as much as I hoped I could do," she admitted, "but now you just need to bandage it. I think it'll scar, though."

"It'll scar," Andros confirmed, thinking of the day that he and Ashley had spent with their future selves, what felt like years ago, but what in reality was only six months.

Ashley's older self had had the same scar, and now Andros understood why his older self had nearly told them the future.

"It doesn't hurt as much," Ashley said, raising one hand to touch her face experimentally, grimacing when she saw the blood that now covered her fingers. Cassie handed her a washcloth to clean off her hand as Andros wiped away the blood remaining on her face, pressing an adhesive bandage to her skin as gently as he could.

"That's as much as we can do," he said, stepping back.

"Yeah, we're done, too," Zhane said. "You know, Ash, maybe you'll get something out of this."

"Like what?" Ashley challenged him. Zhane grinned.

"The blaster burned straight through your clothes," he explained. "Now you'll have to go shopping."

"But I was wearing my flight suit," Ashley told him.

"Do you know how many stores you'll have to stop at before you find another jacket like this one?" Zhane demanded. "You're gonna have to drag Andros to every store in Angel Grove."

A small smile appeared on Ashley's face. "Thanks, Zhane."

"That's what I'm here for," the silver ranger grinned. "We'll leave you alone now. Get some rest."

"Do you want me to leave you alone?" Andros asked her. Ashley shook her head before he was done speaking. "Is it all right if I leave for just a minute?"

Ashley nodded, closing her eyes. "It's all right."

Careful not to hurt her, Andros placed a gentle kiss on her lips before leaving the medical bay. "Deca, where are Alana and Blaze?"

"They are in the spare rooms," Deca replied.

"Thanks, Deca," Andros responded, heading there as quickly as he could. Alana opened the door when he knocked, and let him in. Blaze was sitting on the floor of her room, and looked up when he entered.

"Thanks for making him miss that shot," Andros said softly to Alana. "You saved her life."

"Oh," Alana said, surprise written across her face. "You're welcome."

Andros hesitated before he spoke again. "Can I ask you something?"

Alana's wary look was back. "What?"

"Who's Alaia?" Andros asked, wanting to know what had made Alana help rescue Ashley. "Back in your dimension..."

"She was my sister," Alana told him. She sighed. "You might have noticed that we didn't have a yellow ranger."

"Alaia was your yellow ranger?"

Alana nodded, her eyes darkening. "Calan and Alaia were in love, at least until Arrow captured Alaia. Then..."

"Oh," Andros said, understanding dawning on him as he remembered Alana's reaction to Calan's statement that Andros shouldn't want Ashley. "I'm sorry."

"So am I," Alana sighed.

"I've got to go," Andros said a moment later as the silence grew uneasy. "I just wanted to thank you for saving her."

"You're welcome," Alana said again, as Andros left the room.

Ashley was asleep when Andros returned to the medical bay. A soft sigh passed through his lips as he saw her, and guilt slowly settled over him again. He should have protected her...