Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers.

Author's Note: Um, hi. *sheepish grin* So, semester from *hell* redux got me an associate's degree that has nothing to do with my major (and it only took me three and a half years! GO ME!), and then sometime during the past few months writing stopped being fun for me. It seems to be coming back, though, since I haven't done much with ten days since graduation but write, so yay! (For me, anyway. Andros is Not Happy. *smirks*)

Chapter 39

He didn't trust her.

She hadn't expected him to. Astronema smiled coldly at Darkonda. She didn't trust him, either, but he was still useful to her. "Dark Spectre's enemies drain him of his power," she said. "They grow more powerful as we speak."

"Yes," he agreed slowly. His eyes never left her. "I've heard that myself."

"My Psycho Rangers can defeat the Rangers," she continued. "They have many times before."

"The Rangers have not been beaten." His tone was accusatory now. "If you've been deliberately--"

"I've been waiting for the opportune moment to strike," she snapped. "Not just Earth, but the entire universe!"

He paused, arms crossed. "Continue."

She waited, just to irritate him. "We're running out of time," she said finally. "If we continue to wait, Dark Spectre will be completely drained and he will be destroyed. We must strike now, while there is still time for him."

Darkonda was silent.

Astronema smiled to herself. He would agree. He would have to.

"What do you want from me?" He didn't sound pleased.

Good.

"I want you to take the Psycho Rangers and go down to Earth," she said. "I want you to lead the invasion."

He wouldn't have expected that.

"The quantrons are waiting for the orders," she continued quietly. "One thousand, at least, for Earth alone. Two thousand for Aquitar. Tens of thousands more for the rest of the universe."

Astronema watched Darkonda carefully. He hadn't reacted one way or the other yet, and she knew what he was thinking. He wanted Dark Spectre destroyed as much as she did, and that was why she had to do this.

She couldn't stand him, anyway.

"Of course," he said finally, straightening. "It would be my honor."

"Good." She smiled widely at him. "We attack at dawn."

"I'll be ready."

Astronema waited to laugh until he was off of the Bridge. "Ecliptor," she said quietly, her eyes flickering to the corner of the room, "I want you to watch him. Constantly, do you understand me?"

"Of course, my princess," Ecliptor agreed. "I still think this was unwise."

"I know what I'm doing." She turned to consider the glass tube behind her, from where Zordon of Eltare watched her silently from within. "Your Rangers won't live to see another night."

He didn't answer.

"Now," Astronema continued, turning her attention back to her plan. "Bring me Psycho Red."


"You're leaving again, aren't you." It wasn't a question this time, and Cassie tried not to care too much when she heard how bitter she sounded.

"I'm sorry," Arietis said quietly. He set his mug down on the table, eyes on his empty plate. "I had wanted to stay with you for longer."

"I know you are," she muttered. And she did. "I know you wanted to."

"Cassie..."

She shifted her legs around, first resting one foot against the bar on the stool and then settling her feet flat on the ground. "I don't want you to--" Cassie bit her lip, shaking her head. "Of course I want you to stay," she said. "But I don't want you to not be somewhere you're needed because you stayed."

"I need you."

Of anything he could have said, she hadn't expected to hear those words come out of his mouth. Cassie raised her head and stared at him, half wishing he hadn't said it. "Arietis, I..." She didn't know how to finish.

"I will come back to you," he continued softly. "If that's what you want, I will."

"I told you," she started, but then she shook her head. "It's what I want, Arietis. But—I wish you would fight with us."

That had probably sounded better inside of her head, but he nodded slowly and she knew that he'd understood what she meant. "It would be an honor to fight on your team," he told her, and she knew that he was sincere.

She smiled sadly. "But the team that you have needs you."

He nodded slowly. "Tan and Cia are all that's left of my team. We may not always like one another, but they are still my teammates, and I will not leave them to fight alone."

"Then you have to go," she told him. Cassie leaned across the table to clasp his hand. "Just—be careful."

He laid one hand on hers, squeezing her fingers. "I will be."


He wasn't answering. Ashley hesitated, hand still raised and ready to knock again. He was in there; Deca had told her so.

He'd been uncomfortable around her earlier, she knew.

He was probably avoiding her, but he was the only person she wasn't avoiding, and--

The door opened. Andros's eyes widened when he saw her standing there, but he neither spoke nor moved.

Ashley bit her lip. "Can I come in?"

That seemed to snap him out of whatever daze he was in. Andros nodded and took a step back, giving her room to enter. Deca raised the lights without being told, brightening the room enough that Ashley could see Andros's face clearly.

He stared at her uncertainly. "Ash..."

"I--" Her throat tightened before she could say anything more. Ashley swallowed hard, closing her eyes. She was tired of crying.

"Ash," Andros said again, and pulled her into his arms. He hugged her fiercely and she clung to him, hiding her face in his neck.

"I want to sleep with you tonight," she whispered. Everything was better when she was with him, somehow; he was warmth and safety and he wouldn't ever let anyone hurt her.

"Me too." He touched her hair, and she almost smiled. "Sit down. I'll find you a blanket."

She did smile then, as she sat down on his bunk with her legs drawn up beside her and her eyes following him across the room, because he could share himself with her but he couldn't share his blankets. Not that she would have preferred to fight him for the blankets in the middle of the night.

Andros turned around, blanket in hand. When he joined her on his bed, she hugged the blanket to her chest and leaned against him, her eyes closed. His arm slid around her shoulders, hugging her again, and she was tempted to just curl up in his arms and not think about anything that hurt too much.

She did curl up in his arms, but she didn't stop thinking.

Ashley sighed. "Andros?"

"Yeah?"

"Who am I?"

"You're who you've always been," Andros said quietly. His kiss was nothing less than expected, but it still warmed her to feel his lips on her temple.

"That's not what I meant," she said, but he knew that. His fingers brushed her cheek, and she reached up to grab his hand. Ashley squeezed his fingers hard, her eyes widening as something else occurred to her. "Did we know each other?"

She tilted her head back to look at him. He looked as surprised as she had been to think of it, and slowly shook his head. "We'd probably seen each other before," he said finally. "Or our families knew of each other, at least; it was a small colony. But I don't remember you, if that's what you meant."

"Oh." She tried not to feel disappointed. He didn't remember his parents, either. "That at least would have been pretty cool." And it wouldn't have left her searching for who she was. Ashley bit her lip. "I was supposed to be the Yellow Ranger."

She didn't know how to feel about that.

Andros squeezed her fingers. "You're more than that," he told her. "You know I wouldn't have anyone in your place, but you're not just the morpher. You know how to be more than that."

"But—it didn't even work," she said, those stupid tears pressing against her eyelids again. "They took us halfway across the universe to keep us safe, and it didn't even work because Jonathan and Dad ended up on a slave world, and I ended up the Yellow Ranger anyway!"

Ashley closed her eyes. She felt Andros's fingers on her face, wiping away her tears. She turned her face towards his touch, desperately wanting the comfort of his touch. It was the only thing that made this a little easier.

"I know I need to talk to my family." She tucked her face into his neck, her words half muffled by his skin. "But I went looking for them earlier, and I—I just can't."

"You don't have to do it tonight," he said, his fingers gentle in her hair.

"I just want everything to go back to how it was," she whispered. Ashley winced a moment later. "That sounds terrible."

"No, it doesn't," Andros said gently.

"I was so happy," she said. "With my mom and Jeff, and even if I missed Dad and Jonathan, I was happy. And then I met you, and I love you so much, and now it turns out that everything I thought was true was a lie, and I'm not even who I thought I was, and--" She paused for breath, swallowing hard as she admitted, "I'm scared."

Andros was quiet, but he didn't let go of her. "I love you too," he said finally, tightening his arms around her. He didn't say anything else for awhile, but she didn't mind as long as he would keep holding onto her like that.

"Aileana," she murmured after awhile. The name still felt foreign in her mouth, and her tongue stumbled over the first syllable. "I can't even say it right."

"You said it fine before," Andros said, but he pronounced it for her anyway. "Ay-lee-anna."

She wrinkled her nose. "I don't like how it sounds."

"Me either," he said, and she smiled faintly.

"Thanks." Ashley lifted her head off of his shoulder to look at him. She was almost afraid to ask, but curiosity won out. "I... you were looking for me," she started slowly. "What did you know?"

"Not much," he admitted. "I... I could show you, if you wanted."

He sounded hesitant, but she nodded her head firmly. "I want you to."

Andros kept one arm firmly around her shoulders, with the other one reaching out towards his dresser. His arm wasn't long enough to reach the handle but the drawer opened anyway. Ashley smiled faintly. The telekinesis was pretty cool.

Andros caught the device in one hand, and Ashley frowned at it. What it was, she had no idea, but then Andros flipped a switch on one side and a screen lit up.

"I kept everything on here," he said quietly. "Everything I knew about Karone, everything I knew about... you."

Maybe this wasn't a good idea... But Ashley leaned closer, squinting at the screen. "Born... tenth Cairyn?"

"The fifth month of the year," he explained. "The beginning of summer."

He must have seen the look on her face; he added quickly, "It's not important."

"You don't celebrate birthdays on KO-35," she remembered suddenly. "Isn't that right?"

"That's right." Andros nodded, then tapped the screen. "You left KO-35 a few weeks after your fifth birthday."

"Jeff would have been eight..." Ashley frowned. "Jonathan would have been ten. They would have been old enough to remember."

Andros was quiet. Ashley tilted her head back to look at him. "What is it?"

"I don't know," he said finally. "Your parents might have told them." There was a look on his face she couldn't quite read as he stared up at something off to the side. "Or—there are ways to make someone forget."

"What?" Ashley sat up straighter, staring at him. "You think I was... you think my parents wiped my mind?"

"No!" The sharpness of his voice startled her. He winced a moment later, and his voice was gentler as he continued. "I don't know what did or didn't happen to you, Ash."

"I know..." She laid her head against his shoulder again, trying not to sigh. "I need to talk to my parents."

"Yeah." Andros rubbed her shoulder, and she snuggled closer to him for the comfort. "I'd be there with you, if it would help."

The offer surprised her, and she almost lifted her head again. Instead she closed her eyes and squeezed him hard, whispering, "Thank you."

He hugged her a little closer, his breath warm on her skin as he answered. "Anytime."