She stood at the edge of the meadow biome, if one could be said to do such a thing. The "edges" of the various habitats on Terra Venture were, at minimum, thirty meters wide. But Ashley lingered in the space between the commons and the open meadow, where the longer grasses had started to invade but had not yet taken control from the carefully cropped vegetation of the gathering area.

A natural breeze had sprung up across the border, flowing from the warmer sunlit meadow into the cooler shadiness that reigned beneath the wooded area nearby. The biome designers had counted on that breeze, of course. But they could not have known how it would flow through the former Yellow Ranger's hair, finally loose from the ponytail she had been wearing for days, tugging at the long strands that now hung down around her shoulders.

Andros thought he could watch her all day, even if she never did anything but stand there in front of him. Her hair shone in the artificial light from Terra Venture's sky, and she was dressed in Earth civilian clothes--he hadn't seen her wear shorts and a t-shirt in more than a month. She looked beautiful and strangely fragile out of uniform, and he ached to take her in his arms and erase all traces of the stress she'd been inflicting on herself lately.

Was it even his place to do that, though? *If not me, who?* he wondered, but he knew that wasn't a good enough reason. She needed *someone*, some sort of support to get her through this separation from her home and the only way of life she'd ever known, and he loved her more than anything. He would gladly be that someone, for the rest of his life if she would let him, but she didn't seem the type to want that kind of commitment.

Everything in her life was fast and intense, and he knew he would never be able to keep up. As much as he had yearned for closeness while they were on Earth, he had almost been relieved that she found herself too busy for him most of the time. Without that enforced distance in their relationship, he was afraid of what might have happened.

"Better to burn out than to fade away," one of the former Rangers had told him, and the phrase seemed to personify Ashley Hammond. Even as she had worked herself to the point of exhaustion here on Terra Venture, he thought she would have fallen into and out of love with him on Earth before he even had time to relax around her, had she had the opportunity.

She had not, and he had found himself beginning to relax around her anyway. The little time they had found to be alone on Earth had gotten him through what Cassie called "the comfortable stage", and after this morning he knew he was in what she so flippantly termed "the wanting stage". It was harder and harder to be around Ashley without wishing she would focus that irrepressible energy on him, no matter how quickly he feared it would pass.

*It would be worth it,* he thought longingly, watching her gaze out across the meadow. He sighed, knowing he would never find the words to say that to her.

She turned around, almost as though she had heard him, though he knew he was too far away for that to be possible. He smiled as she caught sight of him, and a brilliant smile lit her face in return. She practically skipped over to him, and her ebullience spilled over onto him, warming his heart.

"I've been waiting for you," she said, and he had to chuckle. Of course she had been waiting for him. It had been her idea for them to meet here after breakfast, once they had both had time to change. Her insistence that they had to talk *now*, today, and as soon as possible made him nervous, but he wasn't going to turn down a chance to spend time with her for anything.

Before he even realized what she was doing, she had wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips to his, sending a wave of warmth throughout his body. The feeling was as strong as anything she'd ever done to him, and he returned her kiss eagerly, losing himself to the sensations that coursed through him and demanded that he pull her closer.

The impression of fragility that she had given off earlier was just that--an impression--and he could feel her strength as she tightened her arms around him and kissed him harder. One arm around her waist, he slid his other hand around behind her head and leaned into her kiss, letting her consume his world.

Only when she turned her head to the side, freeing his mouth at last and whispering his name did any sort of awareness return. "Why?" she murmured. "Why didn't you ever say anything?"

Breathless, he stared at her face and tried to think of something other than her arms around him and the husky tone of her voice. "You were always so busy," he said softly, knowing that wasn't the whole truth.

"Not anymore," she told him, a determined look lighting her eyes as she turned her gaze back to him. "I love you, Andros, and I want to find time for this."

He swallowed, wondering if she meant time for their relationship--or something else. But he didn't want "something else" without the love she had promised him so many times before. "Me too," he agreed quietly, searching her expression. "I love you... I've loved you for more than a year now, you know."

"I--I know," she said, her voice catching as she stared back at him. "And I'm going to love you back for much, much longer than that, I think."

"Really?" he breathed, too startled to say anything more. Could she possibly have any idea how many times he had dreamed of hearing her say that? Dreamed it, but never thought it, never dared to wish for it in anything other than the safe realms of unconsciousness.

"Really," she answered, watching him intently.

All he had to do was say it, but it still took almost more courage than he had. "Me too," he whispered.

She caught her breath again, and then she leaned into him and hugged him impulsively. He hugged her harder in return, and heard her murmur his name again. "That's me," he whispered into her hair.

She giggled a little, a sound he had always treasured. "This is going to sound funny," she said, speaking to something over his right shoulder. "So just tell me if you think it's totally crazy."

"Nothing I do with you could be crazy," he murmured.

"Would you marry me?"

His heart almost stopped. For a few seconds, he was utterly incapable of a response. Then he was sure he had heard her wrong, and he pulled away from her enough to catch a glimpse of the expression in her eyes. "Are--are you proposing?" he asked, trying not to stammer over the Earth word.

"Do I sound like I'm asking you to go bowling?" she demanded. "Of course I'm proposing!"

His lips quirked involuntarily at her indignation, and he tried to calm the pounding of his heart. He had no idea how she could be so at ease--he could barely breathe, and he hadn't even asked the question. But he should have. "Isn't that... my role?" he teased tentatively.

She wrinkled her nose at him and muttered, "You weren't doing a very good job of it."

"Sorry," he whispered, watching a nervous smile tug at her lips when he apologized. "You know I will."

She looked up, her expressive brown eyes wide. "What?"

"Yes," he breathed, wrapping his arms around her again and hugging her close. "You know I'll marry you."