Disclaimer: Not mine!
Mel: I got your review at the same time I got my update notice thingy. It confused me for a few seconds. Of course Ashley's gonna like Andros more!
Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: Yeah, there's a little something left in there. :P
Chylea3784: Wow, thanks. You can stop reading until ten chapters are up if you want, but that's probably when I'll start using evil cliffies. :P
hmmart: Thanks. Here's some more.
C.C.C: I love writing hurting Andros so much more than I do writing perfect Andros. He does like Ashley, but he's got no idea what to do with all his feelings, plus he's not into the whole trusting people thing.
Jenny: No, it's okay, you can make predictions. I like it when you guys can figure it out. It just kinda surprised me it only took you two chapters. :P
DizneeDol: Thanks. Here's more.
flowerweasly16: Glad I made everything clearer in the last chapter. You meet Ben here, so you can decide for yourself how Ash feels about him.
Chapter 4
"We have entered Earth's orbit."
Zhane and Karone exchanged amused glances at the sudden burst of cheering that went up among the four other occupants of the bridge. Some of the laughter left Karone's eyes a moment later as she realized that though they had only been gone a few days, this was still a homecoming for them, the kind of homecoming that the Karovans had been denied for two long years. The slight wavering of Zhane's expression told her that he saw it now too, but neither dared say a word.
"Hey, you guys," Ashley said brightly, waving at them with her recently healed left arm. "You gotta come with us."
"Yeah," Carlos agreed. "Have you ever been to Earth before?"
"Never," Karone said, slightly startled by their enthusiasm.
"Come on, then," Cassie said. "We'll give you a tour."
"Starting somewhere with real food," TJ said with a grin. "There's this new place called the Surf Spot."
"You guys go," Zhane said. "We've got some work to do."
"We'll be there later," Karone assured them, faintly surprised. "Have fun."
"Bye," Ashley said, waving cheerfully.
Karone sat back in her seat as they vanished in four streaks of bright light, eyeing Zhane suspiciously. "Since when do you work?"
His wounded look lost most of its effectiveness when combined with a grin. "We need to contact Kin Won," he said, his serious tone belied by his expression. "He should know we've given out the morphers, and well, I just thought it would be best to do it when they weren't around."
"Yeah..." Karone nodded. "We should."
"We made the right choice," Zhane said, knowing she was frowning though he was staring straight ahead. "And even if we didn't, they aren't perfect, either. After all, we didn't choose the first team."
"You mean we didn't choose Kad - Andros!"
"Hi," he said quietly. "Are they gone?"
"They went down to Earth," Karone said distractedly, fiddling with the comm. "Zhane, do we need to adjust the frequency?"
"Are you contacting Centaur B?"
Andros wasn't quite sure why he asked; there was no one else to contact. Still, he couldn't help but feel slightly stung when neither Zhane nor Karone so much as nodded. With a sigh, he sank into his seat, automatically freezing his features into a cold, hard mask.
"Nah, Karone, just leave it," Zhane said, settling back into his seat. "The picture might be a little fuzzy, but it should be fine."
"Deca, open connection with Centaur B."
"Connection established," Deca replied a moment later. The viewing screen faded out of focus for several seconds, and when the picture was restored, instead of the blue green marble of Earth, the three Karovans found themselves staring into a dark room miles beneath the surface of some desolate planet.
"Kin Won," Zhane greeted the old man whose image the viewing screen displayed clearly. "It is good to see you again."
"And you, Zhane," Kin Won replied warmly. "Karone, Andros."
"Kin Won..." Karone spoke up hesitantly. "At Dark Spectre's banquet, we rescued four rangers of Earth."
The old man paused, eyeing the three of them almost in amusement. "I assume you did more than escort them home safely."
"We... er, we gave them the Astro morphers."
Kin Won sighed and took his time replying. Zhane and Karone waited apprehensively as Andros stared sullenly at the console before him, suspecting that the conversation was about to take an unpleasant turn.
"I would like to say you have made a wise decision," he said finally. "If you feel that you have, then I will not argue with you. I will ask you only to remember that the Power responds to all, not just the good."
"We don't need the reminder," Zhane said dryly. He paused, deciding a change of topic was called for. "How is the colony holding up? Do you need anything?"
Kin Won smiled. "We appreciate your concern, but we are fine. Yesterday, two of our ships returned with more supplies. Your parents, Karone, Andros."
"Are they still there?" Karone asked eagerly. "We haven't talked to them in months."
"I'm sorry, they are not." Kin Won paused. "They should be back in a week or two, if you'd care to try again. Your brother was here as well, in fact."
"Kale?" Karone repeated, vague surprise written across her face. "I thought he refused to remain with the colony."
"Yes," Kin Won said, frowning. "He's taken to wandering the galaxy alone, but he reappears every now and then to assure your parents that he is still alive."
"Oh..." Karone paused. "Well, will you tell them all that we miss them, and that someday soon we'll all be together again?"
"I will," Kin Won agreed. "Good luck to you."
"And you," Zhane said.
The transmission was cut by the push of a button. The instant the screen went black, Andros relaxed into his seat, relieved that certain incidents of the past had gone without mention.
"I can't believe we missed Mom and Dad again," Karone complained to Andros, flipping her blond hair out of her eyes. "We haven't talked to them in months."
Andros shrugged noncommitally. "There's always next time."
"Yeah..." Karone sighed. "I'm glad Kale wasn't there, though."
"So am I," Andros agreed, his voice no longer flat and emotionless. Karone arched an eyebrow in surprise at the sudden rush of... something that flooded Andros's voice, but she knew better than to comment.
"Well, unless Zhane has anymore 'work' to do, we promised the others we'd join them on Earth," she told him. "You coming?"
---
"Ben!"
Spotting her boyfriend across the crowded restaurant, Ashley made some quick excuses to her friends and hurried across the room, launching herself into her boyfriend's arms with a happy shriek. He caught her well enough, but didn't return the hug. He stepped back and set her down, not so much as greeting her before demanding, "Where were you?"
"I was... out of town," Ashley said lamely, chastising herself for not having thought up an alibi beforehand. "I'm so sorry I didn't call you, but it came up kind of suddenly..."
"Where'd you go?"
"Family visit," she said, knowing that her parents would back her up. It had proven impossible to conceal certain aspects of her life from her parents, and while it had taken some getting used to on their part, Ashley knew that they were behind her and always would be.
"Ashley, I called your house this weekend," Ben said impatiently. "Your parents were there. Where were you?"
"I'm not allowed to go places on my own?" Ashley retorted, not all of her indignation feigned. "Ben, I'm turning seventeen in a month!"
"I know how old you are," Ben snapped, leaning back against the counter as he eyed her suspiciously. "What I don't know is why you're lying to me."
"You think I'm cheating on you, don't you?" Ashley accused him, her brown eyes flashing dangerously with a mixture of hurt and anger. "Ben, I would never do that to you. Ever."
"Well, what am I supposed to think when you disappear for three days?" he snapped defensively.
"I'm not allowed to visit my cousin without telling you?"
"Well... yeah," Ben relented, his voice softening some. "But Ashley, you keep disappearing on me."
"I know," Ashley said softly, biting her lip guiltily. "I'm sorry... "
She grinned teasingly. "Let me make it up to you?"
Ben smirked, his arms snaking around her waist in a possessive hold. Ashley melted into the embrace all too easily, tilting her head back as she slipped her arms around his neck. Their lips had just barely touched before Ashley felt his tongue run across her lips, coaxing her mouth open. Ashley gave in to him after a brief second of indecision, but pulled back just a moment later, shaking her head slowly.
"Ben," she gasped, breathing labored from the heated kiss. "Not here."
"Why not?" he challenged, pulling her up against him. "I'm not allowed to show you off?"
"I just... not here," Ashley said firmly, smiling mischievously as she reached up to brush his cheek with her fingers. "But... somewhere else..."
"My parents are spending the week in Malibu," Ben said immediately, trailing his fingers across her neck. "My house?"
"Just lemme say goodbye to my friends, all right?" Ashley said with a grin. Ben followed her as she started across the room, catching her by the arm, pointing without bothering to be discreet.
"Who's the guy with the hair?" he asked, eyeing Andros distastefully. Ashley spent a moment wondering how much work Zhane and Karone could have possibly done in ten minutes and shrugged, deciding it wasn't worth the thought.
Ben's voice was far from quiet, and although Andros kept his eyes cast down, and occasionally on Karone or Zhane, Ashley knew he'd heard. He flushed and she frowned, feeling that she ought to say something, but sighed, knowing that Ben would never listen.
"That's just Andros," she said finally. "That's his sister Karone, and the other one is Zhane. They're... new in town, and the others invited them to have some lunch with us... I'll be right back."
Ashley hurried across the room, nearly bowling over several of her classmates as she did so. "Hey, guys," she said, hovering near the edge of the table. "Ben and I are going to... um, see a movie or something. I'll see you guys later, all right?"
"Yeah, sure, Ash," Carlos said distantly, glaring at Ben over her shoulder.
"I'll see you later, then," Cassie said, shooting her a knowing look. "Have fun."
"Bye, you guys," Ashley said, making no move to leave. She bit her lip in uncertainty, but in the end gave in. "Andros?"
He glanced up at her only for a moment, just long enough for her to catch the full force of his glare. "What?"
"I'm sorry," she said softly, laying a hand on his arm. She'd almost expected him to stiffen, and drew back immediately when he did, studying him for a moment with a truly unreadable expression. Snapping back to reality, she finally began to move away, but unable to push Andros's dark look from her mind for long.
