Never Let Go

Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers.

Summary: Sequel to "Can't Let Go." Read that first. After tragedy strikes, can Ashley and Andros find their way back to each other.

Chapter 4: Daydreams and Disappointments

JasonLeeScottFan: Well. Zhane doesn't leave. For the rest, you'll just have to read.

Pinkrangerfan: Yeah they are getting married, it's so sweet. I had to put that in there because this chapter is full of drama.

Inspace: Thanks, I like to keep people guessing.

Mita427: Lol! You couldn't be more right about that. Thanks I'll try. Here's the next chapter.

Earth

"Zhane!" Ashley screamed as she sat up in her bed. She looked to see Zhane sitting next to her and quickly held onto him.

"It's okay Ash." He whispered and rubbed her back. He looked at the others in the room over Ashley's shoulder and tried to ignore the curious looks he was getting. He knew what they were thinking, but he didn't really care. Seeing Ashley lying on the floor like that had unnerved him down to his core, and awakened something he hadn't felt in a while. "What happened?"

She moved away slightly but didn't break contact with him. "It was horrible. I saw the day Ecliptor almost killed you."

Zhane frowned. "How?"

"I don't know." She started. "It was kind of like when I saw Andros's nightmares. It was so real, but I knew it wasn't my memory."

"Ashley, what are you saying?" Karone asked from the other side of the bed.

Ashley suddenly realized that she and Zhane weren't the only two people in the room. "I used to see the day you were kidnapped in my dreams all the time." She spoke to Karone. "They were Andros's nightmares, but I would see them too. I've never seen what happened to Zhane before now."

"You think it was Andros?" Karone asked, her voice full of hope.

"Sweetie, Andros is dead." Cassie stated softly.

"Then how do you explain this?" Karone snapped.

"Karone, please." Ashley started. "I did feel another presence n my head, but I don't know what it was. I've felt it ever since Andros died, but it was really faint then, but tonight, it's like it flared. I could feel it so clearly."

"What could it be?" Carlos asked.

"I don't know." Ashley lay her head on Zhane's shoulder and felt his arms come around her again. Seeing him lying there lifeless in her dreams had shaken her, and stirred something she hadn't felt in over a year.

Taurus

As soon as they entered the house, Rikai ran upstairs and slammed his door. Zavier turned to go after him, but was stopped by his wife.

"Let, him go for now, Zavier. He's understandably upset."

"Why's Rikai mad at us?" Trenton asked sadly as he stood next to his mother.

"He's not mad at us sweetie." She kneeled in front of her son. "He just got some bad news at the hospital."

"He's gonna be okay though, right?"

"Absolutely." She kissed his forehead. "Now go upstairs and I'll call you when dinner's ready." Sondria watched as Trenton slowly marched up the stairs, and turned to her husband. "Let's go to the living area." She suggested.

Zavier sat on the couch and put his head in his hands. "He hates me."

"No he doesn't. He didn't mean what he said. He's just upset." She tried to comfort him.

He wanted to believe that everything was okay between him and Rikai, but the scene from the hospital kept playing in his head.

"I have to go to Earth." Rikai stated quickly, surprising everyone in the room.

"Why Earth?" Sondria asked since she was the first to recover.

"Because that's where Ashley is." He stated.

Rikai sounded so sure; Zavier didn't want to question him, but he did. "What about KO-35 the reaction you had to the mention of that planet was more intense than when we mentioned Earth."

"I know, but trust me. Ashley is on Earth. I don't know how I know this but I do." He stared at his mother. "I have to go to Earth. I need to go home."

"Your home is here with us." Zavier stated before he could stop himself.

The confusion showed in Rikai's eyes. "But dad-"

"No." Zavier's voice was more forceful now. "You are not going on some wild goose chase but cause of some feeling you have." He saw the hurt on Rikai's face but he couldn't stop. "Now we will deal with the facts. The necklace you have is from KO-35 so will start research on that first. If anything comes of it, we'll contact people from there then."

Hurt quickly turned to anger. "You can't tell me what I'm going to do."

"I damn well can. I'm your father."

"No you're not!" Rikai spat. "You're trying to keep me from the only family I might have. You never wanted me to remember. You just wanted me to stick around as some cheap replacement for your dead son."

Rikai couldn't have hurt Zavier more than if he had actually planted a knife into his chest. "Rikai I-"

"Get out." It was spoken softly, but there was finality in his words. "I don't want to see any of you right now."

"Son I-"

"Get out!"

Zavier fought back tears as the memory played over in his head. "He was right you know. I don't want him to find his family. I don't want to lose another son."

"Just because he finds his family, doesn't mean he won't have room for us in his life." She kissed the top of his head. "And I explained to him that there has never been any travels between Taurus and Earth. The IGC is working on that, but it will be at least a year before everything is up and running. I don't even think we have shuttles here that could travel that distance."

"We could try to get him to KO-35." Zavier suggested hoping that he could give Rikai something.

"I already checked. The next vessel going to that galaxy is in three months. Travels between our galaxies are very new, so the trips are seldom."

"It's better than nothing." He sighed. "I'll go tell him."

"All right honey. I'll start dinner." She watched her husband go up the stairs and hoped that everything would be okay. She didn't want to lose another son either.

Rikai's room

Rikai sighed when his door opened and Zavier walked in. He wasn't sure what to say to this man now. He didn't mean to go off like that, but he couldn't hold it back. And what made him feel worse was that he'd meant a lot of it.

But Zavier was in fact the only father he actually remembered. And Zavier and his family took him in as their own. Didn't that make them his family too?

"I'm sorry Rikai." Zavier stated sadly. "I don't want to keep you from finding out who you really are. I'm just afraid of losing you in the process."

Rikai felt his heart lighten even more. "You're not losing me dad. No matter what happens, you, mom and Trenton will always be my family."

Zavier pulled his son into his arms as he fought back tears. "It won't be for three months, but I booked a shuttle flight for KO-35."

"Really?"

He nodded. "It's the best we could do, and maybe there's a shuttle that will go to Earth from there."

Rikai's grip on his father tightened. "Thank you." He whispered. Somehow he was going to get to Ashley. It would be three months from now, but somehow he knew he would see her again. He'd waited a year. Three more months wouldn't hurt.

Earth

Ashley sat on her bed with her knees tucked under her chin. She'd assured her friends that she would be fine when they left, but she couldn't shake the uneasiness she felt. She thought of Zhane downstairs and had the absurd yearning to go to him and just let him hold her like he had before.

She rolled her eyes and mentally kicked herself. Karone and Zhane were meant for each other. Whatever was going on between them lately would be resolved soon. But what if it isn't? She thought as she closed her eyes. With Andros gone, there was only one other man she'd ever really loved and could ever see herself with.

Zhane would be the one she chose if she could. He was great with Ava and Ava loved him so much; despite the food incidents. She smiled remembering.

Her smile quickly faded. I am a horrible person. Her she was sitting in her bed daydreaming about a life with her best friend's boyfriend. She had to get out of this room. Being alone with her thoughts was not a good idea.

She went to check on Ava.

Zhane

Zhane ushered the rest of his friends out of the house and closed the door with a sigh. He then went to the nursery to check on Ava.

When he entered the yellow room with its red accents, he saw that Ava was wide-awake, her hazel eyes shining as she cooed and smiled up at him.

He lifted the little girl out of her crib and his heart broke. This is what he wanted. A family. Even in death Andros still had it all. A woman who loved him to no end and a beautiful little girl that he would never meet. He was ashamed of himself for thinking the way he was but he couldn't help it.

Sometimes, recently, he wondered what would have happened if he had just stayed with Ashley. They could have made it work. They could have had a fam-

He closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. This is why he had to leave. With things the way they were between him and Karone, he found himself drawn to Ashley the way he had been in the beginning. And that simply could not happen. He looked down at Ava and was surprised to she the infant pouting as if she would burst into tears any minute. It was almost like she knew what he was thinking.

"Zhane?"

Zhane closed his eyes at the sound of her voice. He really didn't need to see her right now… but he wanted to. "Hey."

Ashley slowly stood beside him and looked at Ava and noticed her unhappy state. "What's wrong baby?" Ashley frowned and looked at Zhane. "Are you okay?"

Zhane was somewhat surprised. "What makes you ask?"

"Ava." Ashley stated.

"She talks to you telepathically?" When Ashley nodded he asked, "How long has this been going on?"

"About a month. And she's not really talking, more like projecting what she's feeling. And right now, she's sad, because you're sad."

So she did know what he was thinking. He looked at Ava. "Don't worry. Everything's gonna be okay." She frowned as if considering his words and he couldn't help but smile. "I promise." Ava's mood seemed to brighten before their eyes as she looked at Zhane and her mother. Her smile remained as her eyes drifted close and her long lashes rested on her cheeks. Zhane carefully placed her into her crib.

For a minute, Ashley and Zhane just watched her sleep. Ashley smiled and looked at Zhane. "She loves you."

Zhane held her gaze. "The feeling's mutual." He couldn't take his eyes off hers and before he knew what happened, his lips were on hers.

Ashley found herself kissing him back. She didn't know why, but it felt…nice. It reminded her of the first time they'd kissed; in it's sweetness…and the complications it brought. But that wasn't what separated them.

A wave of despair covered them both, breaking their kiss. "Was that Karone?" Ashley asked suddenly feeling guilt in the pit of her stomach at what she'd just done.

"I think so." For a second, he expected to see her at the door to the nursery, but breathed a sigh of relief when she wasn't there. "I think she's upstairs."

"Let's go."

Upstairs

Karone had packed everything she'd planned on taking with her, including the picture of her, Zhane, Ashley and Andros, and sat on her bed with tears streaming down her face.

She'd been able to keep it together as she packed, but now as what she was about to do weighed on her, she couldn't fight back the emotion. And she couldn't hide it from the others in the house. She knew they would be there soon.

"Karone?" She turned at the sound of Ashley's voice, and watched as she and Zhane entered the room. "What's wrong?"

Zhane remained quiet and had trouble looking Karone in the eyes.

"I was thinking, about what Zhane had said earlier today." Karone replied, trying to hold herself together.

Ashley looked from Zhane to Karone to the packed luggage in the room. "What exactly were the two of you talking about?"

"Zhane was going to leave." Karone stated simply.

"What?" Ashley turned to Zhane. "Why would-"

"Because of me." Karone cut in. "Because I can't be what he needs. I can't be who I was before," Her voice broke but she continued. "Before Andros died. I don't know how to anymore."

"You don't have to leave Karone." Zhane spoke for the first time. "I just thought we needed time apart to sort things out."

"There is no sorting this out Zhane." She held up her hand effectively silencing him. "Let me finish." She took a deep breath. "I want my brother back. And I can't see myself building a family without him here. I never really got over his death." She was grateful for their silence. "I need time to deal with it. And I need to do it alone. I need to leave."

"You don't have to go through this alone." Ashley stated with tears in her eyes.

"I tried, I really did, but seeing Ava, as beautiful as she is, I'm reminded that Andros isn't here to see her."

Zhane and Ashley could feel her resolve. There was no talking her out of it. "Where will you go?" Zhane asked. He figured the least he could do was give her the apartment he had been planning to stay in.

Now Karone couldn't meet their eyes. "I'm going back to KO-35."

(A/N: I know some of you will be mad at me because of this chapter, but that's okay. Lol! Don't worry, things will work out as they should. Let me know what you think.)