Disclaimer: Not mine.
Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: I'm not entirely sure myself what I'm going to put them through next, just bits and pieces.
Juzblue: Here's some more.
TrueRomantic: Good nickname. :D I'm not sure when I'll break them up, but it shouldn't be too long, don't worry.
C.C.C: I really don't know when I'll break up Ashley and Ben, but it shouldn't be too long. I just need some other stuff to happen first, but they can't be together for too much longer because it's just too hard to write Ashley with someone else besides Andros. :P
DizneeDol: Here's some more.
Jenny: Sorry I confused you. :P My crazy mind is already working on what will happen with Ben and Ashley. I think I've decided, but I'm not quite sure.
Mel: You're thinking of my other story. Oh... you figured that out. :P Fine, you can have Ben. That means Marieke and I only have to share Andros two ways. :D
Chapter 6
"Morning." Ashley breezed into the glider bay early the next morning, her cheery greeting falling on only one set of ears.
"Oh, um, good morning." Andros appeared slightly startled by her enthusiasm, but he returned the greeting, if somewhat timidly.
"You're up early," she commented while ordering her breakfast from the Synthetron. "Haven't you heard of sleeping in on Saturday?"
"You're up early," he pointed out. "Why shouldn't I be?"
"Yeah, but I have to go somewhere today," she said, taking a quick peek at his hands as she slipped onto the stool across from him. The skin that had been cut and bruised only hours before was now smooth and unblemished, as if the injuries had never occured.
"Family thing," she continued, not wanting to be caught staring. "My aunt and cousins are moving from LA to San Fransisco, but they're visiting us for the weekend before driving up north."
Andros merely nodded and Ashley sighed, knowing she had to be boring him. From what she knew of him, Andros wasn't one to make small talk or chatter pointlessly. She fell silent, only to glance up in surprise a moment later when Andros broke the quiet.
"Your family is large?"
"No, not really," she answered, taken aback that Andros was even interested. "I've only got one set of grandparents still alive, and my parents, brother, aunt, and two cousins."
"Are you... close?"
"Pretty close," she said, faintly surprised at his intent tone. "I hardly ever see my grandparents, but I talk to them on the phone often, I guess. My parents and Jeff, my brother, we're all close."
"Your brother," Andros said. "What's he like?"
"He's older than me," she said. "Almost twenty. We hated each other when we were little, but now... he's more overprotective than my dad is."
"Is this..." Andros searched for the right word. "Is this considered normal?"
"Well, yeah, I guess," Ashley said, frowning slightly. "But there really isn't a normal. Some people have really close, huge families all living in the same house or neighborhood. Some people have huge families that can't stand each other. Other people have smaller familes, just one or two people. Different people have different normals, Andros."
He nodded once more before turning his attention back to the half-eaten plate in front of him. Ashley watched him, wondering how he would react if she questioned him about his own family. She hesitated, not certain that he would be comfortable speaking to her about something she suspected he considered very private, but after a moment of indecision, curiosity won out.
"What about you? Your family?"
Midway through raising his fork up to his mouth, Andros froze. Carefully returning the utensil to his plate, he considered the question, answering willingly enough despite a long moment of silence.
"I haven't seen my parents since KO-35 was evacuated," he said finally. "They live with the rebels on Centaur B now, but they're hardly ever there. They're always off on some mission or another. Karone and I haven't talked to them in almost a year."
His tone was very even, very calm, and his voice didn't waver in the least, but behind the mask Andros wore nearly his every waking moment lay the deep hurt caused by his sudden, long separation from his parents.
"I'm sorry," Ashley said quietly. Her hand twitched, but then she remembered his reaction the previous night when she'd gone to lay a hand on his shoulder and caught herself just in time. This was a side of Andros she hadn't seen, and she didn't want to frighten it away.
"You don't have to be," he told her, shrugging with feigned nonchalance. "There's nothing you can do about it."
"I'm sorry you're hurting, then," she said. "You were close to them, weren't you?"
"When Karone and I were younger, we were all close," he said slowly. "But the Karovan rangers were chosen as children, and Kale... he wanted the red morpher."
"Kale?" Ashley repeated quietly, hoping he would continue, but somehow sensing that this was a subject he wasn't going to discuss.
"My brother," Andros told her. "He was older than Karone and I were, and when he wasn't chosen as a ranger, he resented me for it. My parents didn't want to choose between their children and it became uncomfortable for everyone."
Ashley nodded, knowing there was much he had chosen to keep to himself. She could do nothing but respect his silence, though she couldn't keep herself from attempting to read between the lines of the little that he had told her.
"What happened to Kale?" she asked. "Is he with your parents?"
Andros shook his head. "I think he prefers to be alone. He'll show up on Centaur B every once in a while to visit my parents, but he has no friends there, no bondmate."
"Bondmate?"
Andros looked startled that she didn't understand the term, and it seemed to be difficult for him to come up with an explanation. "Your bondmate is your lover," he said finally. "I don't think there are bondmates here on Earth."
"There are lovers on Earth," she said, amused.
"There are," Andros agreed. "But your bondmate is more than your lover."
He paused, struggling to find the right words. "I don't know more than that," he admitted. "I... don't have a bondmate, and I'd rather not know the details of my sister's relationship with Zhane."
His lips quirked up into a half-smile, but he was far from amused. Eyes dark and heavy, Andros looked as though he wanted nothing more than to curl up and cry. Ashley watched him with a sigh, her heart aching just to hug him even once, anything to wipe that grief and sorrow off of his face.
"You miss them so much, don't you?" she said softly. "Your family, I mean."
Andros considered for a moment and slowly shook his head. "Compared to how much I miss some others, I miss my parents very little."
It was then that he appeared to realize how much he'd spoken. Shrugging at her almost in embarrassement, Andros turned his attention back to his food, concentrating on the cold remains of his breakfast far more than he should have.
Ashley watched him for a moment, and from the way his body repeatedly tensed abruptly she thought he could almost feel her eyes on him. She knew how uncomfortable he was becoming, yet she couldn't tear her eyes away from him. She was suddenly bursting with questions, simply wanting to know who Andros was beneath the exterior he had so carefully hidden himself behind.
"You are a strange person, Andros," she said aloud, wincing slightly as the words left her mouth. He glanced up at her and she hurried to apologize. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean - "
"It's all right," Andros interrupted, his tone still deceptively calm. "I know I look different than most Terrans do..."
"No," Ashley said firmly. "That's not what I meant."
"Oh." Andros paused. "What did you mean, then?"
"Just that... you seem to be two people sometimes," she said, uncertain over her choice of words, but Andros didn't look offended, so she took a chance and continued. "Half the time, it seems like you hate us. It seems like you hate me, anyway, but other times, like now... you act like you're really a person, like you actually have a heart, like you actually feel."
Andros remained silent for a long time, studying her face thoughtfully. "I don't hate you," he said finally. "You reminded me of someone who I do hate. It wasn't fair of me to treat you as if you were her."
Taken aback by the near-apology, Ashley stared at him. "And the rest of the time?"
Andros let out a long breath. "You remind me of someone else."
He wouldn't say another word, but the sudden intense anguish in his eyes told Ashley all she needed to know. She stood slowly, dumping the food she had barely touched back into the Synthetron.
"I'd better go now," she said quietly. Andros nodded and she hesitated. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," he said stiffly.
He was a poor liar, but Ashley could see how desperately he wanted to be left alone. "I'll see you later, then," she said, heading toward the door. "Bye."
Andros didn't reply, but it was no less than she'd expected. With a sigh, Ashley tapped at her communicator, vanishing from the Megaship in a stream of yellow light.
