Disclaimer: Power Rangers belong to Saban and Disney. Characters you recognize are not mine, but characters you don't recognize, the plot and the idea are mine!

A/N: there we go. Dinner. Ha! ;smirks mischievously; (you'd think I'll learn how to spell mischievous when I have a fic called Mischief.. but I don't :D, thank you Word's speller), anyway, to our business… things are finally on the move when Ashley and And-Coran :D are getting ready for.. you'll see ;) the next one is going to take a while (Math test).

Slytherin-Angel44: there you go :P

Phantom Rogue: :D you'll have to read and see.. ;evilgrin;

BlackHalliwell: thanks, mate:)

DizneeDol: I heard your bday's coming up;) when?

zeopurple: you're welcome:D Ashley learns that Coran is Andros… ;charmingevilgrin; we'll have to see about that. (I haven't written that part yet, and that's between you and me, k? ;))

the power of love: thanks mate ;D

AH/AY: you better let me kill Maura! You promised!

SweetSas: thanks! Haven't seen you in ages… school being a bitch? ;( mine too..

Star Fata: :P

In the Clearing of the Forest
by DarkHonda aka Tal

Chapter eight

She leaned against Coran, her back against his chest, she was sitting between his legs and his arms were circling her wastes, hugging her comfortingly. She already told him about what had happened before he rescued her, now she was enjoying his silent presence; his silence told her everything, he didn't need words to make her feel safe, to comfort her, it was enough that he was there, briefly touching her and his eyes that never dared leaving her again.
The forest seemed calm as she was; a light warm breeze swayed between the tall trees, the birds were chirping a happy melody, almost in purpose of entertaining the young couple. 'Maybe they are,' she thought sweetly, a smile forming on her lips, 'maybe they are singing for us,' she could almost giggle, but she didn't want to disturb him; he seemed to be in a deep thought, looking at a distant point in the view, but not really seeing anything. 'He is so beautiful,' she thought mesmerizing, 'how come he is everything I want?' she thought as it dawned to her; 'I want…him? Do I really want Coran?' she mused, frowning, but as if he was reading her mind, Coran slid his right hand from her waste to her chin, gently her turned her face to the right and crushed his lips on hers.

She felt her body heat increasing as the kiss deepened, 'what makes him have such an influence on me?' she wondered a second before the kiss took over her common sense, but before she could give in completely to the sensation-

"Ash-" Jeffrey appeared near by, holding the reins of his white horse, Aragel, his eyes widened at the sight of his little sister and a warrior, the warrior, kissing. Ashley pulled back quickly, a pink blush rising in her cheeks, yet Coran, she noticed, raised a rather annoyed gaze to her brother; his beautiful hazel eyes didn't seem annoyed, but for some reason there was a lot of coldness in them. She shrugged it off, she was, too, slightly annoyed at her brother's lack of timing.
It took Jeffrey another minute until he remembered to close his mouth and blink away his surprise, before donning his usual big brother gaze, "I'm sorry to…disturb, but father wants to have a word with you, Ashley," he said and Ashley pulled herself up and whistled, a second later Sienna burst between the trees and stood in front of Ashley. She smiled and leaned her forehead on the horse's nose, "Good girl," she whispered and patted fondly on her nose, looking into the horse brown eyes. She smiled and mounted Sienna with a smile.

"Coming?" Ashley asked looking at Jeffrey who was still looking, this time suspiciously, at Coran.

"Sure," Jeffrey said, still eyeing Coran before mounting Aragel and riding away; Ashley stayed behind for two seconds longer, she looked at the perfection that was Coran and flashed a tiny smile at him before following her brother; Coran only tilted his head with a smile, his hazel eyes telling her everything she needed to know.
Soon enough she arrived the stables of Hammond Hall, she jumped down and led Sienna inside the stable, patting her nose fondly again, looking in those dark eyes. "Thank you, Sienna," she whispered to the horse who neighed softly, "I'll see you later," she said to the horse and stroked her nose one last time before heading to the reception hall of her home.

"Ashley, wait up!" Jeffrey was still near the stables whereas she was almost in the doorstep of their home. She stood there, waiting for him, as he ran to her, panting hard he reached her and put his hand on her shoulder. "I want to talk to you," he said, panting slightly now, she nodded.

"Talk," was all she said, looking at his dark brown hair and blue eyed he inherited from their late mother. She could see he was worried about something, probably about her, she could almost see his hesitation, fearing to say something she wouldn't like to hear and then suffer the consequences in the form of her almost deadly rage. Jeffrey swallowed hard before speaking, and Ashley couldn't help but sending him an encouraging smile, 'whatever he wants to say,' she thought, amused, 'it can't be that bad,' she crossed her arms on her chest while she waited for her brother to speak.

"You're…seeing him?" he asked hesitatingly, a thing which made Ashley wonder, since Jeffrey never approved her male friends, not that she had a lot of them, okay, not that she had any male friends, but somehow she knew if it was any other man, Jeffrey would've chopped his liver by now, 'so…why is he approving?' she wondered and found herself nodding as an answer to his question.
Now he looked even more uptight than before, he actually froze for a minute before he giddily started walking towards their home. The rest of the short way, they did in silence. "In your room," Jeffrey said before he turned to the kitchens, Ashley sighed and headed to her room, 'alright,' she thought tiredly as she climbed the wooden stairs to her room, not a hint of curiosity rising in her.

She was happy right there, in the clearing of the forest, with her Kadan and somehow it had to be ruined… 'First it was Elgar with his sadistic needs, and now father, what does he have to say that hasn't been said already?' she wondered as she entered her room to find Charlotte, the cook, folding her clothes and putting them in a large box. Ashley frowned immediately and looked at her father; he was standing at her window, looking at the forest from afar. Somehow he looked older, not her father anymore but a very old man, she slowly and quietly approached to him and laid her hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him about the stars-know-what. He gently put his palm over hers and sighed deeply.

"I have received a letter from Tiaren, my baby, and he insists on sending you to Kadan Castle as soon as possible; winds of war are blowing and he thinks you will be protected better in his castle," her father broke the silence, Ashley's heart almost stopped beating, her eyes suddenly were full of tears, 'how can I leave?' she asked herself, 'how can I leave my home and my forest? How can I leave my father, who without me, will be lonely?' she mused with tears slowly prickling down her cheeks. Suddenly nothing seemed important, she was leaving her home, the only place where she felt safe and protect to only the stars know where… 'How could I forget that I'm leaving?' she suddenly felt angry with herself, 'how could I forget that I'm leaving to marry some stranger!' she wanted to yell, but couldn't, only her eyes that seemed broken, could convey the sorrow she felt because now she was trying to be strong, for her father.

"Ashley, you will leave tomorrow, at dawn," her father ordered, turning to face her, his face was full of tears, Ashley hugged him tightly, crying on his shoulder. They stood there for a while, crying on each other's shoulder, knowing they can't be comforted; the separation almost tore their hearts apart, because all they had was each other…

"Master of Hammond Hall," said a familiar voice, the father and daughter were torn from their shared grief as they noticed the Kadan warrior who stood in the entrance of her room. Coran. He bowed her father before talking to him, but his eyes were not leaving Ashley's eyes, "I accepted a letter from Master Tiaren, several minutes ago, we are getting ready for departure, the messenger would have to stay the night since he will be escorting my lady Ashley to Kadan Castle along with my fellow Kadans." He said gracefully, and if she wasn't so sad, she might've smiled.

"Your messenger is welcome, young master," he father said not even trying to hide his tears, yet a smile forming on his lips, "I trust my daughter in your hands, Kadan, you better treat her well," he said and Ashley blushed, why were they talking as if she wasn't in the room? Coran nodded and bowed again.

"I will never fail you, Master Glieron," he said with a little smile, his eyes drawn to Ashley again, "I will leave tonight, to secure the journey, your daughter is safer with me than with the stars themselves," he sad and Ashley blushed even harder, embarrassed yet infinitely complimented, she turned to her father.

"I'll go say goodbye from my forest," she muttered quietly and left the room quickly, almost running to the stables…

A few long hours after that, sunset
Ashley looked at the sky, her heart beating faster as she heard the wild cry of a falcon, 'Torin?' she thought and almost immediately blushed, 'maybe…' she answered herself and jumped down from her tree. She touched every tree in the forest today, saying goodbye from everything she loved, she didn't know if she's going to see her forest again, but she prayed it wouldn't forget her and the marvelous times she spent here. She smiled sweetly when she remembered that even the doe and the pawn, those she saved from Coran's ruthless arrows, let her stroke their heads fondly. But now as she was looking at the sky, it was time to say goodbye from her home, from Hammond Hall…

Ashley's room, Hammond Hall, 30 minutes later
Ashley has just finished a most lovely bath, reaching for a large yellow soft cloth to dry herself with; she was quite happy with herself, true, it was her last dinner at home but she couldn't help from being deadly curious about the Kadan Castle and about Andros.
She has picked one of her favorite dresses, a yellow one, made of yellow silk, it was soft and comforting in a way, as it slid down her body; it was perfect on her and with that she couldn't feel any less perfect. The dress exposed her shoulders, tanned and delicate, she knew it complimented her and this time she wanted to stun all the males in the room.

And with one long breath she sprayed a perfume on her tanned skin and left her room, descending the stairs carefully.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: disappointed? well, she did come down to dinner!