She flew along the catwalk, antigravs smoothing the passage of her skates over the metal grid. She trailed her fingers across the wall to correct her course as the catwalk curved, and her wheels clicked as she leaned to far into the turn. Straightening, she lengthened her strokes as she sailed toward the stairs.

Her digimorpher chimed just as she crouched to jump, and she reached down to tap the antigravs higher as she launched herself into the air. They hummed in protest, trying to compensate for the sudden lack of substrate, then caught and held just as she hit the third stair. She skidded down the steps, bouncing off the railing when she reached the landing to take the second set of stairs even faster.

She didn't remember the last landing by the time she hit the floor. The adrenaline flooding her system made everything but the here and now insignificant. Sliding across the deck, she lifted one foot to turn the antigravs off and careened into the nearest zord in lieu of braking. Collapsing against a giant paw, she drew in deep lungfuls of air as her digimorpher went off again.

This time she fished it out, triggering the communicator without checking to see who was calling her. "Yeah?"

"It's Ty," the digimorpher answered. "You all right?"

"Yeah," she repeated, trying to moderate her breathing. "What's up?"

"Have you been able to test the network link in the holding bay yet?"

"No," she said, pushing herself up and letting her wheels roll back toward the bottom of the stairs. "I'm having a little trouble getting into the system. Give me a second."

"Will do," he answered, and the comm light on her digimorpher went out again.

The monitor flared to life at her command, and the network accepted her password without complaint. Someone had left her a message. Her hand hesitated over her digimorpher as she realized who had sent it.

Hey girl! Ashley's fond greeting might as well have been spoken aloud. She could hear it in the cavernous bay, a ghost of her friend transmitted from one galaxy to another. How are things? I hope you're talking to the cats for me!

She sighed, staring at the screen until a voice from behind her made her start. One of her skates slipped, and she steadied herself against the monitor as she turned around. Ty stood there, arms folded and an amused look on his face.

"Looks like the network link is working," he remarked.

She held up her digimorpher pointedly, and he shrugged. "I like teleporting," he said with a rueful smile. "What else can I say?"

The confession prompted a return smile from her, and she relaxed a little. "It's working fine," she agreed, glancing over her shoulder. She logged out quickly, and Ashley's message vanished. "I just got distracted."

"No hurry," he said easily. "Like I said, I felt like making the trip. Having fun?" he added, glancing at her skates.

She followed his gaze, shaking her hair out of her face when she looked up again. "Yes," she admitted. "There's a lot of room here. I'm starting to think that moving isn't such a bad idea."

His gaze wandered over the zords, up along the catwalk, and across to the maintenance bays that Zhane had suggested converting. "It's going to take a lot of work," he said. "But I think it'll be worth it to have someplace private."

She didn't realize she had sighed until he looked back at her. "You can't go back, can you," she said without thinking.

"No." Ty didn't even ask what she was referring to. "Why? Do you want to?"

She shook her head slowly, but she had to admit, "Sometimes. Do you?"

"No." The bleakness of his gaze belied his answer. "The past is past, Astrea. If we spend the present mourning what was, then today means nothing. We'll just miss yesterday for the rest of our lives."

She rocked one skate back on its heel, wondering what it had taken for him to reach that conclusion. Did Zhane know his story? Would Tevi tell her, if she asked? Ty rarely had anything but positive or amusing stories to tell from his time before the Rangers.

"I keep waiting for them to get over this," she said, feeling she owed him some explanation. "Andros and the others, I mean. I keep waiting for them to figure out that it doesn't matter, that they're the same people they were before, but they don't. They haven't. And I'm starting to wonder if they ever will."

He didn't answer right away. When he did, though, it was no great revelation. "It takes time," Ty replied at last. "Everyone says that. But they say it because it's true. Time heals, even when we don't know exactly what's wrong."

That wasn't much comfort. How could she tell him that she wasn't just worried for them? They were her heroes, the people she looked up to for their strength, their self-assurance, their perspective. And now they were just as awkward with each other as she had once been with them.

"Don't mourn the past," Ty reminded her quietly. "Today is all we have."

After a pause, she acknowledged that with a nod.