Chapter 10: On earth
Ashley was walking around the lake at Angel Grove Park, her Walkman on, enjoying an early spring afternoon. She watched with sadness the couples walking around her. 'Why can't that be me and Andros?' She complained to herself for the millionth time since leaving him and the other rangers behind. 'Why did everything have to change?' Now here she was alone. Sure Jeff tried to help her when he could but he had his job and his girlfriend to deal with too. Not to mention that she had a job at the bookstore to keep her busy. Anything to keep her mind off of Andros. Sighing she slipped the headphones back over her ears and let the music drown out the happy noises surrounding her.
Sometimes it's wrong to walk away, though you think it's over
Knowing there's so much more to say
Suddenly the moment's gone
And all your dreams are upside down
And you just wanna to change the way the world goes round Tell me...
Have you ever loved and lost somebody
Wished there was a chance to say I'm sorry?
Can't you see, that's the way I feel about you and me baby
Have you ever felt your heart was breaking?
Looking down the road you should be taking?
I should know, 'cos I loved and lost the day I let you go
Tears streamed down her face and Ashley had to blink away the blurriness. Although she managed to wipe away the tears the blurriness was still there. Ashley began to panic as she suddenly felt nauseous. As the dizziness did not decrease, she stopped walking to sit on the bench. She had been having too many episodes like these lately, periods of time where she felt light- headed and nauseous. She hoped it would pass as she leaned back and let her eyes close shut. Exhausted, the former yellow astro ranger fell asleep and did not wake up until two familiar people roused her from her slumber.
Adam and Tommy were jogging around the park after a long day at the dojo. The two often spent after hours working out before going their separate ways to join their wives at home. As they made the turn around the lake, Adam spotted a familiar person unmoving on a bench nearby.
"Isn't that Ashley?" He wondered curiously to his companion. "I think so." Tommy replied, and the two stopped their exercise to check on the girl. "What is she doing here?" The white clad man asked in confusion. 'Wasn't she supposed to be on the mega ship with the other rangers?'
Adam was worried that she was hurt but upon closer inspection realized she was only sleeping. He reached over to shake her arm gently to wake her up. "Ash?" he whispered to her, not wanting to shock her out of her sleep.
Ashley felt herself being moved and forced herself to open her eyes despite her body's protests. She jumped a bit as she found herself looking into the eyes of Adam Park and Tommy Oliver.
"Hey." Tommy greeted her as she looked around and realized that it was almost dark out. "What time is it?" She inquired anxiously as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.
He checked his watch and answered her. "Five fifteen." She gasped as she took in the fact that she had been on the bench for over two hours.
"Ash, what are you doing here?" Adam asked gently when she offered no explanation first. She sighed, there would be no avoiding this question, and honestly she didn't want to. She wasn't ashamed of being pregnant, in fact she was very excited about the baby, but she was still saddened about her separation from Andros and her friends. The two men sat down on the bench and waited for her to speak.
"Well in case you hadn't noticed, I'm six months pregnant." She announced as she placed her arm over her stomach. "So I retired from being a ranger." If her first statement had shocked them, the second one completely blew them away. It took Tommy and Adam a few moments to recover.
"So where are you staying? Who's taking care of you?" Adam questioned his old friend, concerned about her welfare and the baby's.
"I'm staying with my brother at his apartment." Was all that she said, as tears of regret started to trickle down her face. What she left unsaid though spoke volumes. The two men looked at each other, knowing the next question they must ask, but not wanting to be the one to ask.
Finally Tommy asked," Where's Andros?" "He's still on the mega ship, he has obligations to fulfill." Ashley replied softly.
"He has an obligation to you too Ash." Adam reminded her, a bit angrily. He wasn't angry with her, he was angry with Andros, for making her go through this alone. But he also felt sorry for the red astro ranger, knowing how much joy he had from seeing his son born.
Tommy couldn't imagine how hard it was for Ashley, having to leave her friends, rangering, and her boyfriend behind in outer space. He only knew he would hate it if Kim had to have gone through all that.
"Why did you leave? Couldn't you have stayed on the mega ship?" Adam wondered. He then saw her wrist wrapped in a bandage. "What happened to your arm Ash?"
"I fell on it when the mega ship went through an air vacuum. That's why I left, I didn't want to put the baby in danger or Andros." She explained.
"What do you mean about putting Andros in danger?" Tommy demanded anxiously. He was growing more concerned for her by the minute.
"Darkonda has already tried to use me and the baby to get to Andros." She whispered softly. "I thought I would be safe on earth." She stated miserably.
"You will be. We'll make sure of it." Tommy declared. "Come on we're taking you over to Billy's lab." He decided and helped the yellow clad girl off the bench. They quickly hopped into Adam's jeep and the three drove the short three miles to Billy's house.
"What are we doing at Billy's?" Ashley questioned the two men. "And who is Billy?"
"Billy was the original blue ranger, he's been a friend of mine for a long time." Tommy explained, calming her down. "Anyway, he's a technical genius. He has a wristband bracelet that will protect you in case you run into trouble." Ashley nodded in response as they pulled up to what she assumed was his house. Adam helped her out of the jeep and Tommy rang a bell on the side of the garage.
The garage door opened revealing a blonde haired man with blue overalls on, covered in grease and all sorts of protective gear. He ushered them into his lab as Tommy made the introductions.
"Billy, this is Ashley. She is the former yellow astro ranger. And Ashley, this is Billy, the original blue ranger like I said before." Tommy repeated as the two-shook hands.
"Nice to meet you Ashley." Billy said, always a perfect gentleman. "What's going on?" he asked his two friends, and once teammates.
"We were wondering if you could make a wristband bracelet for Ashley, like the ones you made Kim and Aisha." Tommy requested discretely, not giving away any information.
"Certainly." The blue clad man replied. If Tommy said that Ashley needed it, then that's all there was too it. Ashley was impressed with his trust in Tommy's word and that he didn't need any more details than had been given.
Within minutes he pulled out a yellow wristband that looked more like a watch than a safety device. "This wrist band has a homing device in it so we can know where you are if we need to find you. It also keeps track of your vital signs and will even teleport you back here if you find yourself in danger." He explained how the device worked and strapped it on her.
"Thank you." She murmured to all three men as she gazed at the wristband in awe. The three nodded in understanding. 'Once a ranger always a ranger.' Zordon's motto ran through their heads, if any ranger was ever in trouble, there would always be someone there to help, no matter what.
Tommy glanced at his watch and groaned. Kim was going to kill him, this would be the second time this week he was late for dinner. Not that he didn't have a good excuse, but still. "Adam, do you think you can take Ashley home? I have to run, I'm an hour late for dinner." Tommy pleaded with his co-owner of the dojo. Adam pretended to think about it, but simply told him, "Get out of here." Relieved, Tommy raced out of the lab and down the few streets to his own house.
'Where is that man?' Kimberly declared in frustration. She looked at the clock to make sure it really said 6pm. 'he should have been home at 5 o'clock.' Even if he hadn't quite outgrown his tardiness, yet, she thought optimistically, she knew there was a good reason for him to be late. Just then the karate instructor dressed in white came strolling in the front door.
"Hey baby, I expected you home an hour ago." Kimberly gently chided her husband. Tommy wrapped his arms around his petite wife and gave her long, gentle kiss. "Sorry. Adam and I ran into an old friend at the park, and she needed our help so..." he said contritely.
"No big deal, I'll just reheat dinner and we'll eat in five minutes okay?" Kim told him as she put the casserole into the microwave. "So are you going to tell me about it or is it something you can't share?" she asked Tommy as she sat down across from him at the kitchen table.
"I think it's important that you know. Maybe you and Aisha could help her." Tommy decided.
"You know I'll help if I can." Kimberly assured her husband, waiting for him to continue with the story. Tommy quickly filled her in on finding Ashley at the park and the events that had followed.
"Poor girl." She agreed with her husband as her mind raced a million miles a minute to figure out how she could help Ashley. Tommy smiled as he watched his wife consider her options, If anyone could figure out what to do, it was certainly Kim.
"Arg!" She cried out in frustration as she threw another pair of jeans unto the bed. Her bed was no covered in clothes that no longer fit her changing body. Ashley sighed. She had been doing well for the first five months, but once she hit the sixth month, she began gaining weight rapidly, quickly outgrowing her clothes. She had taken to wearing her brother's sweats and shirts, but she felt depressed wearing them and reluctantly dragged herself to the mall, in spite of her exhaustion. It seemed like even the most routine of things would wear her down, on top of working full time at the bookstore
"Just go in, you can't avoid the mall forever." She coaxed herself through the doors of the mall, only to run into the girl who had taken her place as captain of the cheerleading squad.
"So that's why you haven't been in school lately." Shana said with a smirk as she glanced at Ashley's bulging stomach, before rejoining the rest of the squad.
She fought off the instinct to turn and walk right back out those doors. But that would mean she would have to go past Shana and she didn't want to give her that satisfaction. Besides, today was her only full day off, and she had to take advantage of it. No one else was around to help her prepare for her baby's arrival.
Ashley tried not to let Shana's comments affect her. She was here for one purpose and one purpose only, to find some maternity clothes. At this point she didn't care about the style, if she could only find something that fit. She didn't care what other people thought about her; the only person's opinion that she valued was millions of miles away.
The thought of Andros gave her pause from her anger at Shana's insensitivity. Her battle training had her level-headedness back in no time. She managed to push thoughts of Andros away for a little while so she could accomplish the task at hand.
Determined she strode the mall, ignoring the pains of her feet which had swelled to the point that they no longer could fit in most of her shoes. She had put on her sandals that morning, but they did little to decrease the pain, since they had no support for her newly aching back.
"Girl, nobody can be that depressed when they're in a mall." Aisha commented as she and Kim caught up with the yellow clad girl. Ashley offered a small smile. Kim noticed that she looked strained; Tommy had informed her of Ashley's situation and decided to help a fellow ranger out.
"Listen Ash. Tommy told me about the baby and everything, how about Aisha and I help you pick out some maternity clothes?" she whispered non- chalantly as she came up on her left side.
"Yeah, we know how overwhelming it can be, having gone through it ourselves." Aisha joined in, standing on Ashley's other side.
Ashley looked surprised at their offer but was relieved. "Thanks, I would really appreciate it, I have no idea where to start." She admitted to the eager pair as she looked down at her feet.
Kim didn't miss the look on Ashley's face as she was focused on her feet. Kim noticed that they seemed swollen and uncomfortable. "How about we start at the shoe store?" she decided, and was relieved when some of the tension seemed to ease from Ashley's face.
"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us." Aisha declared solemnly before bursting out in laughter. Kim and Aisha's enthusiasm was contagious and soon even Ashley found herself less stressed and troubled then when she had entered the mall.
Ashley was walking around the lake at Angel Grove Park, her Walkman on, enjoying an early spring afternoon. She watched with sadness the couples walking around her. 'Why can't that be me and Andros?' She complained to herself for the millionth time since leaving him and the other rangers behind. 'Why did everything have to change?' Now here she was alone. Sure Jeff tried to help her when he could but he had his job and his girlfriend to deal with too. Not to mention that she had a job at the bookstore to keep her busy. Anything to keep her mind off of Andros. Sighing she slipped the headphones back over her ears and let the music drown out the happy noises surrounding her.
Sometimes it's wrong to walk away, though you think it's over
Knowing there's so much more to say
Suddenly the moment's gone
And all your dreams are upside down
And you just wanna to change the way the world goes round Tell me...
Have you ever loved and lost somebody
Wished there was a chance to say I'm sorry?
Can't you see, that's the way I feel about you and me baby
Have you ever felt your heart was breaking?
Looking down the road you should be taking?
I should know, 'cos I loved and lost the day I let you go
Tears streamed down her face and Ashley had to blink away the blurriness. Although she managed to wipe away the tears the blurriness was still there. Ashley began to panic as she suddenly felt nauseous. As the dizziness did not decrease, she stopped walking to sit on the bench. She had been having too many episodes like these lately, periods of time where she felt light- headed and nauseous. She hoped it would pass as she leaned back and let her eyes close shut. Exhausted, the former yellow astro ranger fell asleep and did not wake up until two familiar people roused her from her slumber.
Adam and Tommy were jogging around the park after a long day at the dojo. The two often spent after hours working out before going their separate ways to join their wives at home. As they made the turn around the lake, Adam spotted a familiar person unmoving on a bench nearby.
"Isn't that Ashley?" He wondered curiously to his companion. "I think so." Tommy replied, and the two stopped their exercise to check on the girl. "What is she doing here?" The white clad man asked in confusion. 'Wasn't she supposed to be on the mega ship with the other rangers?'
Adam was worried that she was hurt but upon closer inspection realized she was only sleeping. He reached over to shake her arm gently to wake her up. "Ash?" he whispered to her, not wanting to shock her out of her sleep.
Ashley felt herself being moved and forced herself to open her eyes despite her body's protests. She jumped a bit as she found herself looking into the eyes of Adam Park and Tommy Oliver.
"Hey." Tommy greeted her as she looked around and realized that it was almost dark out. "What time is it?" She inquired anxiously as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.
He checked his watch and answered her. "Five fifteen." She gasped as she took in the fact that she had been on the bench for over two hours.
"Ash, what are you doing here?" Adam asked gently when she offered no explanation first. She sighed, there would be no avoiding this question, and honestly she didn't want to. She wasn't ashamed of being pregnant, in fact she was very excited about the baby, but she was still saddened about her separation from Andros and her friends. The two men sat down on the bench and waited for her to speak.
"Well in case you hadn't noticed, I'm six months pregnant." She announced as she placed her arm over her stomach. "So I retired from being a ranger." If her first statement had shocked them, the second one completely blew them away. It took Tommy and Adam a few moments to recover.
"So where are you staying? Who's taking care of you?" Adam questioned his old friend, concerned about her welfare and the baby's.
"I'm staying with my brother at his apartment." Was all that she said, as tears of regret started to trickle down her face. What she left unsaid though spoke volumes. The two men looked at each other, knowing the next question they must ask, but not wanting to be the one to ask.
Finally Tommy asked," Where's Andros?" "He's still on the mega ship, he has obligations to fulfill." Ashley replied softly.
"He has an obligation to you too Ash." Adam reminded her, a bit angrily. He wasn't angry with her, he was angry with Andros, for making her go through this alone. But he also felt sorry for the red astro ranger, knowing how much joy he had from seeing his son born.
Tommy couldn't imagine how hard it was for Ashley, having to leave her friends, rangering, and her boyfriend behind in outer space. He only knew he would hate it if Kim had to have gone through all that.
"Why did you leave? Couldn't you have stayed on the mega ship?" Adam wondered. He then saw her wrist wrapped in a bandage. "What happened to your arm Ash?"
"I fell on it when the mega ship went through an air vacuum. That's why I left, I didn't want to put the baby in danger or Andros." She explained.
"What do you mean about putting Andros in danger?" Tommy demanded anxiously. He was growing more concerned for her by the minute.
"Darkonda has already tried to use me and the baby to get to Andros." She whispered softly. "I thought I would be safe on earth." She stated miserably.
"You will be. We'll make sure of it." Tommy declared. "Come on we're taking you over to Billy's lab." He decided and helped the yellow clad girl off the bench. They quickly hopped into Adam's jeep and the three drove the short three miles to Billy's house.
"What are we doing at Billy's?" Ashley questioned the two men. "And who is Billy?"
"Billy was the original blue ranger, he's been a friend of mine for a long time." Tommy explained, calming her down. "Anyway, he's a technical genius. He has a wristband bracelet that will protect you in case you run into trouble." Ashley nodded in response as they pulled up to what she assumed was his house. Adam helped her out of the jeep and Tommy rang a bell on the side of the garage.
The garage door opened revealing a blonde haired man with blue overalls on, covered in grease and all sorts of protective gear. He ushered them into his lab as Tommy made the introductions.
"Billy, this is Ashley. She is the former yellow astro ranger. And Ashley, this is Billy, the original blue ranger like I said before." Tommy repeated as the two-shook hands.
"Nice to meet you Ashley." Billy said, always a perfect gentleman. "What's going on?" he asked his two friends, and once teammates.
"We were wondering if you could make a wristband bracelet for Ashley, like the ones you made Kim and Aisha." Tommy requested discretely, not giving away any information.
"Certainly." The blue clad man replied. If Tommy said that Ashley needed it, then that's all there was too it. Ashley was impressed with his trust in Tommy's word and that he didn't need any more details than had been given.
Within minutes he pulled out a yellow wristband that looked more like a watch than a safety device. "This wrist band has a homing device in it so we can know where you are if we need to find you. It also keeps track of your vital signs and will even teleport you back here if you find yourself in danger." He explained how the device worked and strapped it on her.
"Thank you." She murmured to all three men as she gazed at the wristband in awe. The three nodded in understanding. 'Once a ranger always a ranger.' Zordon's motto ran through their heads, if any ranger was ever in trouble, there would always be someone there to help, no matter what.
Tommy glanced at his watch and groaned. Kim was going to kill him, this would be the second time this week he was late for dinner. Not that he didn't have a good excuse, but still. "Adam, do you think you can take Ashley home? I have to run, I'm an hour late for dinner." Tommy pleaded with his co-owner of the dojo. Adam pretended to think about it, but simply told him, "Get out of here." Relieved, Tommy raced out of the lab and down the few streets to his own house.
'Where is that man?' Kimberly declared in frustration. She looked at the clock to make sure it really said 6pm. 'he should have been home at 5 o'clock.' Even if he hadn't quite outgrown his tardiness, yet, she thought optimistically, she knew there was a good reason for him to be late. Just then the karate instructor dressed in white came strolling in the front door.
"Hey baby, I expected you home an hour ago." Kimberly gently chided her husband. Tommy wrapped his arms around his petite wife and gave her long, gentle kiss. "Sorry. Adam and I ran into an old friend at the park, and she needed our help so..." he said contritely.
"No big deal, I'll just reheat dinner and we'll eat in five minutes okay?" Kim told him as she put the casserole into the microwave. "So are you going to tell me about it or is it something you can't share?" she asked Tommy as she sat down across from him at the kitchen table.
"I think it's important that you know. Maybe you and Aisha could help her." Tommy decided.
"You know I'll help if I can." Kimberly assured her husband, waiting for him to continue with the story. Tommy quickly filled her in on finding Ashley at the park and the events that had followed.
"Poor girl." She agreed with her husband as her mind raced a million miles a minute to figure out how she could help Ashley. Tommy smiled as he watched his wife consider her options, If anyone could figure out what to do, it was certainly Kim.
"Arg!" She cried out in frustration as she threw another pair of jeans unto the bed. Her bed was no covered in clothes that no longer fit her changing body. Ashley sighed. She had been doing well for the first five months, but once she hit the sixth month, she began gaining weight rapidly, quickly outgrowing her clothes. She had taken to wearing her brother's sweats and shirts, but she felt depressed wearing them and reluctantly dragged herself to the mall, in spite of her exhaustion. It seemed like even the most routine of things would wear her down, on top of working full time at the bookstore
"Just go in, you can't avoid the mall forever." She coaxed herself through the doors of the mall, only to run into the girl who had taken her place as captain of the cheerleading squad.
"So that's why you haven't been in school lately." Shana said with a smirk as she glanced at Ashley's bulging stomach, before rejoining the rest of the squad.
She fought off the instinct to turn and walk right back out those doors. But that would mean she would have to go past Shana and she didn't want to give her that satisfaction. Besides, today was her only full day off, and she had to take advantage of it. No one else was around to help her prepare for her baby's arrival.
Ashley tried not to let Shana's comments affect her. She was here for one purpose and one purpose only, to find some maternity clothes. At this point she didn't care about the style, if she could only find something that fit. She didn't care what other people thought about her; the only person's opinion that she valued was millions of miles away.
The thought of Andros gave her pause from her anger at Shana's insensitivity. Her battle training had her level-headedness back in no time. She managed to push thoughts of Andros away for a little while so she could accomplish the task at hand.
Determined she strode the mall, ignoring the pains of her feet which had swelled to the point that they no longer could fit in most of her shoes. She had put on her sandals that morning, but they did little to decrease the pain, since they had no support for her newly aching back.
"Girl, nobody can be that depressed when they're in a mall." Aisha commented as she and Kim caught up with the yellow clad girl. Ashley offered a small smile. Kim noticed that she looked strained; Tommy had informed her of Ashley's situation and decided to help a fellow ranger out.
"Listen Ash. Tommy told me about the baby and everything, how about Aisha and I help you pick out some maternity clothes?" she whispered non- chalantly as she came up on her left side.
"Yeah, we know how overwhelming it can be, having gone through it ourselves." Aisha joined in, standing on Ashley's other side.
Ashley looked surprised at their offer but was relieved. "Thanks, I would really appreciate it, I have no idea where to start." She admitted to the eager pair as she looked down at her feet.
Kim didn't miss the look on Ashley's face as she was focused on her feet. Kim noticed that they seemed swollen and uncomfortable. "How about we start at the shoe store?" she decided, and was relieved when some of the tension seemed to ease from Ashley's face.
"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us." Aisha declared solemnly before bursting out in laughter. Kim and Aisha's enthusiasm was contagious and soon even Ashley found herself less stressed and troubled then when she had entered the mall.