Chapter 45
Ashley felt the Power leave her in a rush of light and adrenaline. She'd been demorphed unexpectedly in the middle of a fight more times than she liked to remember, but this time felt different. It was almost a release, her connection to the Power dissolving like the quantrons around her as they crumbled into sand.
She looked around, to Carlos, to Cassie, to TJ. There was barely time to spot them before the crowd surged around her, all screaming and hugging and cheering. She thought she could hear Carlos whoop with joy and allowed herself to be pulled along, carried like a wave towards the sound of his voice.
Along the way, she caught Cassie's hand and then they found TJ and the four of them were together again. Carlos grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the rest of the people. With his help, she somehow managed to extricate herself from the crowd, and they found themselves what little privacy they could amongst the rubble.
"What happened?" she asked.
They huddled together between pieces of concrete and metal, as Angel Grove danced around them on all sides.
Her friends all shook their heads, equally at a loss.
"I've never seen anything like it," Cassie said. She looked at Ashley, and Ashley bit her lip and lowered her head. So she wasn't the only one thinking it. Whatever happened, Andros was behind it. "No word?"
"None." Ashley swallowed. "And Zhane? Arietis?"
The last they knew, the Phantom Ranger and Zhane had been battling the velocifighters from their ships. They hadn't been heard from since.
"Nothing," Cassie said.
They exchanged somber glances. Ashley looked away. Around them, people were celebrating. She couldn't fault them, but they didn't know if their friends were alive or dead.
A low murmur swept through the crowd. She looked up again, following the line of fingers pointing at the sky, and sucked in her breath. The hair on her forearms rose in alarm as she watched the Dark Fortress slowly descend towards them.
That was her answer, then.
"No," she whispered. "No, Andros…"
Cassie looked at her in silent commiseration.
They'd been so wrong. Whatever was happening, they'd misread the situation. Astronema had won somehow, and now…
Ashley watched the gangplank lower, and then… She stared in shock, because that was Karone standing there. She was unmistakably Karone, though she still wore Astronema's armor, and she walked arm in arm with Zhane and—
"Andros!" Ashley yelled and sprinted forward, barely noticing that her teammates were on her heels.
When she reached him, she flung her arms around his neck with a shaky sob of relief. "You're okay?"
He nodded, and squeezed her hard.
She could've hugged him for the rest of their lives, just lived forever with him here in this moment, but then she reached past him for Karone and Zhane to drag them into the hug as soon as her hands found them. She felt the rest of their teammates at her back, converging on them until they formed one many-armed hug.
Later, much, much later, after they ceded the authority for cleanup and rescue efforts to the appropriate organizations, Ashley stood hand-in-hand with Andros on the bridge of the Megaship. They silently surveyed the damage, taking in the ruined consoles and the doors that wouldn't fully open. Some lights flashed at them for no reason; others remained dark.
"I think she'll fly," Zhane said apologetically. "But there's a lot of repair work. Sorry, Deca."
Voiceless, the AI blinked at him in acknowledgement.
Andros let out a deep breath. Ashley knew how hard it was for him, to see the ship in this state. "It could be worse," he said finally. "We could've lost the Megaship entirely."
"We'll have her up and running in no time." Carlos gripped Zhane's shoulder in reassurance. "You did good."
Zhane smiled thinly.
Ashley looked at the dark viewing screen. Cassie and TJ were out there somewhere, looking for the Phantom Ranger. His last contact had been with Zhane, just before Zhane had crashed onto the moon.
"He's right," Ashley said. "It's a miracle you're okay. What you did was incredible."
"You should've seen me on the Dark Fortress," Zhane said, grinning at Andros.
He said nothing, but a reluctant smile tugged at his lips.
"I want to hear more about that," she said, "but I have to go see my family. Will you be okay?"
"Do you want me to go with you?"
"We'll all go," Carlos offered, and Zhane nodded his agreement.
Ashley smiled, touched by their concern. "Not this time," she said. "I… there's a lot that we need to talk about."
"Right," Andros said.
She squeezed his hand. "I'll be back later tonight," she promised. "I'll tell you about it then."
She kissed him quickly, blew kisses to the other two, and then teleported herself away. Her morpher still worked for that, at least. She didn't know yet what else it could still do.
The air in Angel Grove was thick with smoke, but her parents home had been spared any damage. The residential areas looked relatively intact as a whole; Astronema had concentrated her efforts in the downtown area, it seemed.
She hoped Andros and Karone had a talk tonight, too.
On the doorstep, Ashley hesitated. It was her own house, and she almost thought she should knock.
The door flew open before she could. Her mother stood there, hands over her mouth. "Ashley," she breathed. "Oh my god, Ashley."
The tears came then, and she stepped into her mother's embrace.
"Your brother knew," Lisa said. "I'm going to kill him."
"Don't be too mad." Ashley sniffled, her laugh watery. "I made him promise not to tell."
From the way her parents sat hand-in-hand on the couch, Ashley surmised that they had never actually split up.
"I just don't understand," she said. She sat opposite them, in one of the armchairs. Jonathan sat in the other chair, and Jeff sat cross-legged on the floor between them. "Why did you lie to us?"
"We thought we were protecting you." Her father had aged, but he still managed to look sheepish. "It made sense to us when you were younger."
"You came up with the worst story."
Her father held up his hands in apology. "I'm not going to argue with you there."
"I just don't understand why," Ashley said again.
"You were so young," her mom said. "Things on KO-35 were so… uncertain. And the thought of you, of two of you being Rangers… when the Power responded to both of you, they thought it was meant to be. But to make you two a target like that… we were always worried that someone would come for you."
"Like Andros and Karone."
"Yes." Her mother swallowed. "We left before that, but when we heard… it confirmed for us that we'd made the right decision. You were so young, I'm not surprised you don't remember much."
Ashley glanced down at Jeff, who shook his head. "Apparently, I have no special powers." Then he smiled. "I think I lucked out, honestly."
"And then you went back," Ashley said.
"Your brother was older," Daniel said. "He remembered more. He wanted... "
"To be a Ranger," she finished.
"Yes." He cleared his throat. "I think you know the rest of the story. If we'd reached KO-35 safely… it was never our intention to abandon you. I hope you know that."
Ashley swallowed hard as she looked at her father and at her brother Jonathan. For so long, she and Jeff had been left to wonder what had happened. She thought she should feel more anger than she did. They'd been through hell, but hadn't she also? And her mother had known all along, and gone along with the deception, which was almost worse.
Maybe she would be angrier in time.
Instead, right now, she just felt… exhausted. By the lies, by the secrets. By all of the battles she'd fought. By all the fear and sadness and heartache.
They'd paid a steep price for their victory. The least she could do was savor it.
"I know," she said, and wiped fresh tears from her eyes.
"I feel… okay," she told Andros later. "I don't know. It's weird."
"Weird how?" He stood before the engine, skimming a diagnostics report.
"Are you sure I'm not bothering you with this?" Ashley shifted guiltily from her place on the floor. She knew that he was just as exhausted as she was, probably moreso, and he was still working. She had offered to help, but he'd waved it away.
"No."
"I had this thought," she told him. "After you disappeared last night." Which they were going to talk about later. "See, after I found out, I just felt so overwhelmed by it all. Like my whole life was a lie."
"Right," Andros said. He frowned at the datapad in his hand, then reached over and tapped something on the control panel.
"But then," she said. "It just hit me that none of that really mattered right then. Like, it wasn't important where I came from or what my name is or who anyone else is. What mattered was that I made a choice that I was going to fight. And… being a Ranger isn't all I am, but…" She paused. Was she even a Ranger at all anymore? "But there's more to me than—" She waved a hand. "All this."
"Right."
She frowned at his troubled tone. "What's the matter?"
"Oh." Andros glanced from the engine to her. "No, the ship is fine. I think."
"What?" she prodded, and he sighed.
"Being a Ranger might be all I am," he said. "I think I wanted it that way."
Because at the time, he'd had no other options. Ashley pushed herself up from the floor, wincing at the stiffness in her muscles. She really needed to sleep, but she wasn't ready for that yet. She went to Andros and wrapped her arms around him, stubbornly holding on until he returned the embrace.
"You're wrong," she said. "I love you. Last night, I was worried about you."
She felt him exhale, and his arms tightened around her.
"I was worried about you too," he said, his fingers burying themselves in her hair. "I didn't know what was happening to you guys."
"What did happen?" she asked. "I saw Darkonda grab you."
He took a deep breath and she thought he might be ready to tell her, but a new voice interrupted.
"Andros."
"Deca!" Andros's head snapped up and he stepped back from the hug to smile up at the nearest camera. "You're back!"
"I am." She sounded pleased. "You're wanted on the bridge."
They had to take the stairs; the lifts were still broken. But it was worth the climb to emerge onto the bridge and see the others waiting for her—including TJ and Cassie, who between them were supporting the Phantom Ranger, dirty and exhausted but very much alive.
