Part 2: New Year's

"Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown
Picks up the letter that's lying there
Standing alone at the top of the stairs
She breaks down and cries to her husband
Daddy our baby's gone
Why would she treat us so thoughtlessly
How could she do this to me"
Lennon and McCartney, "She's Leaving Home"

Friday, January 1, 1999

"Oh, morning, honey"

"Morning, mom" yawned Ashley as she came downstairs. "You sound surprised"

"I thought you're going to sleep over at Cassie's"

"I told you I'd be home"

"I know you did", said Sylvia, "but you're usually going to Cassie's when you're staying up late"

Standing behind her mother's back, Ashley allowed herself to grimace. Cassie's parents lived and worked in LA, which meant that Cassie had theapartment to herself, more often than not. Most of Ashley's supposed sleepovers at Cassie's were spent either on the Megaship or – since summer – running diplomatic errands.

"It's New Year's, mom", said Ashley earnestly. "You didn't really think I'd spend it anywhere but home, right?"

"I hoped you wouldn't, but…" Sylvia turned to face her daughter, and shrugged helplessly. "You're never here, Ashley. You're at school, or you have practice, or you're out with friends. Sometimes I feel like you only come here to sleep – and even that not always"

"Mom…" Ashley stepped forward and hugged her. What could she possibly say? "I'm sorry. I'll try to be home more" If I can. Duties were piling up on Ashley. Ever since June, when she and Zhane had been sent to the UN, Ashley had become her team's diplomatic liaison. The governments of Earth were making their first steps in interplanetary diplomacy, and Ashley was the link that enabled it all.

"Don't be ridiculous, Ashley. You're growing up, and you have your own life now. This is how it should be"

"You're awfully understanding, mom"

"I'm your mother. I should be"

It was this attitude that made Ashley's heart break. Half a year prior, when Ashley began to realize what was coming, she decided to tell her parents. She figured that if she was going to try and keep her school grades on top of Ranger duties, she's be better off with the full support of her parents. Then the mess with Shiera and her parents blew off, and Ashley retreated. Life at the Karlson household seemed ideal in the few months between Emma waking up, and Shiera's revelation; since then, though, it was the cold war.

So Ashley didn't tell her parents during the summer. Then school was in session, and there was just no time to either consider or act because Ashley was too busy just staying in the race. She was abusing her Ranger stamina and she knew it: enhanced physiology or not, she didn't get nearly enough sleep and the stress was getting to her. It would be easier if she could come clean to her parents – but what if they wouldn't support her?

I'm being ridiculous, Ashley told herself for the thousandth time. Her mother was probably the single most supportive parent ever, and her dad could be one of the more laid-back parents she knew as long as she didn't dabble in what he called "men stuff". Okay, so fighting monsters is his idea of 'men stuff'. But he was actually proud when I proved I do have some mechanical skills – even if it took him half a year to accept it first.

"I love you, mom". Ashley kissed her mother's check. "I really do"

"Ashley…" Sylvia looked at her seriously. "You know that if there's something up, you can tell your dad and me, right? Or - " Sylvia hesitated, " – or you can tell only me, and I won't tell your dad, if it's a women thing"

"What? Mom!" Like the rest of the Rangers, Ashley was damn good at faking innocence. "There's nothing wrong, I swear"

"Well, maybe it's just school stress. You are in senior year, after all", agreed Sylvia reluctantly. "But I stand by what I said. Okay?"

"Okay", agreed Ashley, but her chest felt painfully hollow. This isn't how it should be, she thought. It's just so wrong. And just like that, she made up her mind.

"Mom, dad?" asked Ashley quietly as she and her mom returned to the living room with their coffee after clearing away the lunch table. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can", said her dad. Her mom only nodded and frowned slightly. "What is it? Bad grades? Andros giving you trouble?"

Ashley smiled despite of herself. "It's nothing bad, dad. Why do you and mom think there's something wrong in my life?"

"Because you have black shadows under your eyes, that's why" was the prompt reply. "Don't take it wrong, I'm glad you decided to talk, but what took you so long?"

"I was going to tell you in summer. But then…"

"What is it, Ashley?" asked her mother gently, leaning forward where she set on the couch. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong". Ashley chuckled, but already she felt ready to cry. "It's just that I've been a Power Ranger for almost a year and a half now"

"That's not funny, Ashley" said Abe Hammond sternly. Now he, too, leaned forward, placing his forearms on his knees. "Now, what's really up?"

"I'm not joking", said Ashley. Biting her lip, she flipped open the cover of her morpher and dialed in the code. Each digit seemed to take forever.

Yellow Astro regarded her parents through her visor. "This isn't a joke", she reiterated. "Power down." She took a deep breath and waited. She didn't have to wait long.

"You were fighting?" asked her dad slowly. "My daughter had been fighting for a year and a half? It's not a teenaged girl's place to fight off alien lunatics"

"I'm still here, dad", said Ashley quietly.

It was the wrong thing to say. "Consider yourself lucky", he shot angrily. "You can also consider yourself grounded, and you're staying grounded until you resign"

Ashley opened her mouth to protest, but her mother beat her to it.

"Abe!" said Sylvia. "Don't you think we should at least hear her out first?"

"What is there to hear?" he demanded. "There used to be monster attacks twice a week, Sylvia. You saw how bad those things look on TV – and that was our daughter out there fighting. That is just wrong, don't you think?"

It was going better than Ashley expected. They believed her easily enough. She never expected her father to be swayed easily – and he seemed more concerned about Ashley's safety than anything else; but there was no way she'd be returning her morpher.

"And there probably will be more battles", continued Abe. "I say, absolutely not". He turned back to Ashley.

"No", said Ashley. She had to ram in her point before he could speak again. "I am not quitting. Has it occurred to you that I may actually be good at this? That if we managed to beat one monster after another, if we actually won this war, then we know what we are doing and are perfectly capable of it?"

"What do you mean, 'we'?" Asked her mom. "The other Rangers are your age, too?"

"Yes", said Ashley simply. "All the Rangers in the last five years were high school kids during their term. Half of them became Rangers at a younger age than we"

"And how many of them are women?" asked her dad.

"About half"

Her dad stared at her. "Who's the nutcase who authorized this?" he asked finally, "He needs to be kicked out of office"

Now was Ashley's turn to stare. "You think the government is behind the Power Rangers? They're as much in the dark as to who we are and where we come from as the next person"

"So who's funding you?" asked her mom. "You must need a lot of support"

"We fix our own stuff. Forget about fixing car engines, dad. I fix spaceships". She fought off a smile. "You're going to love the Zords"

"I'm not going to 'love' anything," he told her, "because you're quitting, remember?"

"I am not quitting, dad", she said flatly. "And it's not like you can ground me"

"Watch me"

"Abe", said Sylvia, putting a restraining arm on his. "You fought against Ashley signing up for the AP math classes in freshman year. You didn't want her in the Mechanics class, either. She did great in both"

"This is different, Sylvia. Don't be stupid"

"I'm not. But I will not let you drive her away"

"What…"

"She's a Power Ranger, Abe, and you think you can lock her in her room?" asked Sylvia desperately. "What makes you think she'll stay put?"

Silence.

"Power Ranger or not…" began Abe.

"Don't go there, dad", said Ashley, throat tight. "Please don't". She put her fists against her eyes. "This is why I didn't tell you", she murmured, as if to herself. "Don't make me choose". I should've at least told the guys before doing this. This way all of them would be on the Megaship right now ready to barge in.

"Ashley?" asked her dad after what seemed like forever. "I'm not kicking you out, you know"

"That's what it sounded like, dad. Grounded until I quit?"

"There's a big difference between grounding one's child and throwing them out"

"Except that I won't stay grounded, dad, and I won't hand the morpher back, either. I have work to do"

"What have you been doing all this time, Ashley?" asked her mother. "You said that the war is over, now. There hadn't been any fights on the news since June. So what had been keeping you so busy all this long?"

"Politics", said Ashley. She finally removed her hands from her eyes. She tried to meet her mother's gaze, but couldn't. "I got sent to talk to the UN once, back in June, and I kind of got stuck with that"

"You work at the UN?" frowned her dad.

"No. I sort of, well… Earth's ambassador to the stars"

Silence again.

"That's big", said her dad finally.

"Yeah"

"Who was doing your homework? Ship computer?"

"No, but she offered"

"Don't give me bull, young lady"

"I think that was actually the truth, Abe", said Sylvia.

Abe stared at Ashley. "The ship computer offered to do your homework for you. You refused. And you're running back and forth between governments"

"Yeah", agreed Ashley again.

"Insane", he muttered.

"Hell, yeah"

He looked at her, surprised. "You agree?"

"Do you think that I never ask myself 'why did I have to be a Power Ranger'? I do. But I'm not taking that choice back"

"Kids your age just shouldn't be fighting, Ashley", said Sylvia.

"Kids my age have always been fighting", pointed Ashley. "The 'kids away from war' thing is only a good policy for places that can afford it. And as hard as it is for high school students to keep Rangering on top of normal lives, it would've been that much harder for college kids, or people with jobs"

"And the secrecy would be to protect you", said Sylvia slowly. "To prevent a media circus"

Ashley nodded.

"You should've told us", said Abe.

"So that we could have this conversation a year and a half earlier? So that you would force me to step down before I even began? So that…" she stopped abruptly.

"No one's kicking you out, Ashley" said Sylvia. Looking sternly at her husband, she added: "No one's forcing you to resign, either"

"Wha…" began Abe.

"No", said Sylvia firmly. "Can't you tell she believes in what she does, Abe? Can't you tell how important this is to her? Look at her, Abe". Sylvia's tone became harder, not softer. "It's a crazy thing, for a kid to do this job, and I'm not even remotely happy about this. But if we try and stop her from it, she'll go out there and do it anyway – and we won't be able to be there for her". She paused and looked at Ashley. "No more lying, though. Is that understood?"

"Yes, mom"

"Now", Sylvia settled on the couch. "Who are the other Rangers? Do we know them?"

"Yes, you do. Cassie, Carlos, TJ, Andros, Zhane – I think you know him as Johnny, we Anglicized his name to prevent questions – and Shiera too"

"Andros?" her dad straightened suddenly. "Did he force you into this? If he did, I'm going to…"

"Abe!"

"Dad!"

Ashley and her mother looked at each other.

"Ashley says she's been a Ranger for almost a year and a half, now. Andros has been around for less than I year. I think it's safe to say that he was not involved in making Ashley a Ranger. Am I correct?" Sylvia didn't take her eyes off of Ashley as she spoke, even that most of her words were directed at her husband.

"Correct", agreed Ashley. "Andros and I met on the team" He mind flashed back to Andros handing them the Astro morphers, but that didn't really count, did it?

"You said you Anglicized the name of one of your teammates", continued Sylvia. "Where is he from?"

"From a planet called Kerova" said Ashley. Here goes nothing. "So are Andros and Karone"

Her father's eyes bulged. He mom was pale.

"They're all human, though" said Ashley. "The Kerovans are the descendants of a Norse tribe relocated there by some aliens, couple of thousands of years ago"

They weren't coming out of it. "Human", she repeated. "You're going to have grandchildren, no problem. It's just as if I've been dating someone from Europe, except that it takes less time to travel to Kerova"

Strangely enough, her father was the first of her parents to gather his wits.

"That spaceship must come in handy", he said dryly. "You keeping the engine in good condition, I hope?"

"Of course we do. There were times when we practically lived on that ship"

"So that's where you were all those times you supposedly slept at Cassie's", said Sylvia, her tone just as dry.

"Not all the times. But most"

"No more lying" said Sylvia sternly.

"I already promised, mom"

"What made you decide to tell us?" asked Ashley's dad. His tone was suspicious, but Ashley couldn't really fault him for that. He was being too calm about it, if at all; still in shock, she figured.

"I've had enough", she said simply. "Lying is the big downside of being a Ranger. I always hated it. We're not supposed to reveal our identity to anyone unless it's 'dire circumstances'. I'm not exactly sure the last couple of months qualify as such, but…" she shrugged, hoping they would get the point.

"Do any of the other parents know?" asked her dad.

"Zhane's mom, and Shiera's family"

"Not Andros'?" asked Abe pointedly.

"His parents died in the war some three years ago", said Ashley.

"Who's taking care of him?" asked Sylvia. "There must be someone"

"Rya sort of adopted Andros and Karone. Rya is Zhane's mom"

"And she's okay with having two boys as Rangers?" asked Abe.

"She knew from the start. Kerova was a border world. They bothered less with secrecy, there"

"What about Shiera's parents?" asked Sylvia.

Ashley closed her eyes. "I was going to tell you in summer" she said slowly, "before Shiera's parents found out and it went so wrong"

"What happened?" asked Sylvia.

"Let's just say", said Ashley, opening her eyes, "that Shiera would've preferred it if they kicked her out"

"What sort of parents would do that to their kid?" asked Abe.

Ashley gave him a very pointed stare.

"What?" he demanded.

Ashley just continued to look at him.

"Oh", he said finally. "Ashley, you can't expect us to act as if this is no big deal. You can't expect me not to try and keep you out of harm's way"

"Can you ask me not to be what I am?"

"Is it really that important to you, Ashley?" asked Sylvia. With a start, Ashley realized that her mom was close to tears.

"This is big, mom" said Ashley, not wanting to say yes. "It's… it's my life, I suppose. Please don't make me chose"

"We're going to have to talk about it", said her dad slowly. "But if I ever do anything like driving you away, you have my permission to say it to my face"

Whatever it was Ashley wanted to say came out as a sob. Sylvia got up from the couch and hugged Ashley where the girl was sitting.

"This is always going to be your home, Ashley", she said, "and were always going to love you. Everything else we'd deal with"

Abe surprised both of them by leaving the couch, pulling Ashley up on her feet, and holding both her and his wife. It took a few minutes for the three-way hug to break up.

"I want to see that spaceship", he told her. "And I want to meet that Rya person"

"No problem". Then she winced. "Except that the guys are gonna kill me because I didn't warn them before telling you guys"

"Where you supposed to let them know first?" asked Sylvia.

"They'd want to know", said Ashley.

"To be there for you?" suggested Sylvia.

"If anything would've went wrong", agreed Ashley.

Abe frowned, but he didn't seem upset. "You lot are a family too, aren't you"

"Yes". Ashley's smile was wide and relieved. "We are"