Disclaimer: Not mine, not for profit, don't sue.
Ashley
Hammond/Astro Yellow:
Some sense. Only some. :P And Jenny says to remind you about the Easter
special.
Juzblue: It won't take him as long next time... and this was asap!
JDPhoenix: Now he has friends, sorta. :P Ben goes bye-bye soon, I swear.
412816: Poor you. I don't have final exams until the end of next month. :P
Jenny: Yes, I remember my first Follow the Stars. That's the one where I updated every fifteen minutes and Marieke first threatened me with the Megazords. :P Update should be close together from now on, and then I'm posting random fluffy story until I get out of school. :D
Slytherin-Angel44: They're almost a couple, just a few more chapters. And there will be more for my romance themes... someday. :P
Star Fata: Yes, I can make it soon. I have to, or else part 1 goes on forever. Besides... I just love getting them distracted. :D
Maresia Eterna: Andros won't need a hug for awhile. He'll have Ashley. :D
Mel: I got to the update soon. It wasn't boring, it was funny. And you and Jenny both talked about Follow the Stars. :P
TrueRomantic: They'll work on getting along, and it'll mostly be all right.
C.C.C: Yes, Andros will be back as a ranger when he gets his morpher back.
Funky In Fishnet: They'll get his morpher back, don't worry. Andros is supposed to be red ranger.
hmmart: I'm not sure if school's going well, exactly, but... here's an update. :P
Chapter 27
"That was... intense," Cassie murmured, waiting until the Megalift had swallowed up Zhane and Karone before speaking.
Carlos nodded his agreement, running a hand through his thick hair. "Did Andros just say he... slept with Lyra?"
Ashley's glare came at him unexpectedly. "It's not something he's proud of," she told him sharply. "He really loved her, Carlos."
"Yeah, but... Lyra?"
"Yes, Lyra," she said impatiently. "Is this really important right now? We have other things to worry about. Getting that morpher back from Cosmos, for one."
Cassie shot her best friend a startled glance that Ashley pretended to ignore. "Yeah," she agreed slowly, frowning. "But how? We can't just sneak onto the Dark Fortress and ask for it."
"If Cosmos uses the morpher, his power must come from it," TJ said, troubled. "What we need is a way to... bait him."
"Andros," Carlos suggested. "Cosmos expects him to go after him. Maybe we could--"
"We can't use him like that," Ashley interrupted, shaking her head from side to side. "We can't risk his life."
"No," TJ said firmly. "We can't. Not until we--"
"We can't do it at all," Ashley nearly shouted. "We can't do that just because we don't want Cosmos to have the morpher. It's Andros's morpher, and we don't have the right to--"
"Whoa, Ash," Cassie cut in, wrapping an arm around the other girl's shoulders. "Let's go."
Cassie hauled her into the Megalift before Ashley had the chance to open her mouth again. The two girls glared at each other while the Megalift hummed to life, bringing them down to Megadeck One. Ashley's gaze softened some when the doors slid open, but Cassie's dark eyes remained narrowed as she looked her friend up and down.
"Sit," she ordered, shoving her into the Observatory.
"I--"
"Sit," Cassie said sternly, pushing her down onto the couch. Ashley glared, but sighed, the anger slowly leaving her face as she sank down to sit beside Cassie.
"Happy now?" she grumbled, wincing slightly as she heard herself. "Sorry," she muttered, groaning. "I just..."
"What was that about?" Cassie asked gently.
"You don't know how hard that was for him," she muttered, staring out into the stars. "You don't know how scared he was to tell even Zhane and Karone, and all Carlos got out of it was that Andros slept with Lyra!"
"I think he was just... surprised," Cassie said thoughtfully. "You know him way better than I do, but Andros... doesn't seem the type to be, um, experienced."
"No," Ashley admitted, torn between glaring and giggling. "He doesn't... But that's not the point!"
"What is the point, then?"
"I... don't know," Ashley sighed. "But the way you guys were talking about him... it was like he wasn't real. Like how he feels doesn't matter. He found out an hour ago that Cosmos is his brother, and you're ready to use him as bait."
"We shouldn't have," Cassie admitted, and Ashley relaxed. "It's just... hard to know how he feels, I guess. We don't really know him. You're the one he's let in."
"He wants to know the rest of you," Ashley said quietly. "Or else he wouldn't have told you."
Cassie nodded slowly, not having an answer to that. Ashley stared off into space, not speaking. She quickly took advantage of her friend's distraction, studying the other girl with narrowed eyes. It was just like Ashley to stick up for her friends, but something in the way she had reacted struck Cassie as odd.
"Ashley," she said slowly. "Are you... Do you... You have feelings for Andros, don't you?"
Ashley groaned, resting her chin in her palms. "I don't know," she mumbled. "He was hugging me before, and I thought... but he's never done anything that says he's interested in me, and... Ben..."
"Ash, when was the last time you talked to Ben?"
"A week ago," Ashley sighed. "I told him I needed to think."
"Did you?"
"Yeah."
"And..."
"And I don't know!" Ashley burst out. "I want him to love me, but whenever I think about it, everything I come up with says that he doesn't, and then I... I love him, Cassie, but if he loved me, would he be so jealous of all of you? Wouldn't he trust me? Wouldn't he kiss me without trying to get my clothes off?"
"Ash," Cassie said gently, "if this is how he treats you now, it won't get any better."
"I know," Ashley whispered. "I need to talk to him, don't I?"
"Yeah." Cassie nodded. "I think you do."
"Tomorrow," she decided, touching her lip with a sigh. "I don't want to explain this..."
"Ash?" Cassie asked, alarmed when Ashley's face crumpled. "Ash..."
"He doesn't love me," Ashley whispered, not quite managing to blink back her tears. "I know he doesn't, Cass. I know that if I went to him looking like this, he'd think I was ugly."
"Ash, that won't even scar," Cassie said soothingly, wrapping her arms around her crying friend. "You'll be healed by tomorrow."
"I know," Ashley assured her, letting out a shaky breath as she dried her eyes. "But Ben doesn't. And he wouldn't care."
"No," Cassie had to agree. "I don't think he would."
"He'd just find someone else," Ashley whispered. She bit down hard on her lip as she looked up at Cassie. "He already has, hasn't he?"
Cassie sighed. "Some people say he's had someone else for months."
"He just wanted sex, then," Ashley muttered, swiping at her fresh tears angrily. "He didn't want me."
"He's an idiot for it," Cassie said firmly, hugging her hard as Ashley struggled to bring herself under control. "Everyone should want you."
Ashley managed a weak smile. "Thanks, Cass."
"Anytime."
The two of them sat there in silence, the quiet broken only by Ashley's occasional sniffles. Cassie sighed softly, knowing the pain in Ashley's eyes all too well. She was trying hard to hide it, but she was heartbroken, and over someone so worthless, too. Ashley deserved so much better than someone who only wanted her body and would never love her.
"I have to talk to him," Ashley whispered, struggling away from Cassie and onto her feet. "I have to... I need to end this."
"Now?" Cassie asked, surprised. "I thought..."
Ashley did her best to shrug nonchalantly. "If I'm breaking up with him, it doesn't really matter what I look like, does it?"
"No," Cassie agreed. "I guess not."
"I'll see you later, then." Ashley sighed and headed for the door, pausing only when Cassie's voice followed her.
"Ash," she called. "Andros wouldn't care what you looked like, would he?"
"No," Ashley said softly. "I don't think he would."
Then she turned and headed for the Megalift, a weak grin breaking through her otherwise crestfallen expression.
