Punch, kick, block.

Roundhouse, block, retaliate.

Kick, spin, block, punch, snap. Duck. Block. Punch, kick--

He hated winning. Winning meant the fight was over, and there were no more enemies to demand his attention. It meant he was free to think instead of just react, and lately that was the last thing he wanted. More often than not his thoughts led him places he didn't want to go.

Andros turned away from the gridlines of the sparring simulation, grabbing his towel and scrubbing the sweat from his face. His ponytail clung to the back of his neck, and he reached up to pull the elastic out of his hair. He let his towel settle around his shoulders as he ran his fingers through his hair, trying to loosen the tangles left by sweat and exertion.

When he looked up again, Ashley was watching him from the doorway.

He didn't say anything, and she smiled tentatively. "Hi," she said, not moving from her place just inside the Simudeck's entrance.

"Hi." The part of his brain that had been so eager to think only seconds before shut down, and he had absolutely no idea what to say to her.

She tried again. "Zhane said you were down here."

He swallowed involuntarily. Zhane was one of those places his thoughts insisted on venturing, sometimes with but mostly without his approval. He was a mass of confused emotions when it came to all things Zhane, and the fact that it seemed they could do nothing but fight whenever they were together didn't help any.

"According to DECA, you didn't go to bed until after midnight last night." Ashley was studying him, and he wondered what she saw on his face. "Did you sleep here, or what?"

"Where else would I sleep?" The response was automatic, something familiar that he could latch onto without giving anything of himself to the conversation.

She smiled a little. "I meant on the Simudeck. Did you go back to your room at all, or did you just make up a cot here so you could continue your workout marathon as soon as you got up?"

He just looked at her.

Ashley sighed. "Do you want me to go?"

No, of course he didn't want her to go. She was a new distraction, and a particularly welcome one. He wondered if he should be hurt that Zhane had known where he was all this time and yet had refused to seek him out.

"Don't go," he said quietly. She paused, halfway through the door already, and turned back to face him. "I... I miss you," he admitted.

She smiled again. "You have a strange way of showing it," she said gently.

He looked down away, holding the ends of his towel for lack of anything better to do with his hands. "You've always known that."

She came toward him then, drawing his attention again as she scrutinized his expression more closely. "Tell me what's wrong," she said suddenly. "It's not just the Council, is it. It's more than Kinwon, or KO-35, or even the Rangers. What's going on, Andros?"

"Nothing." His voice sounded defensive even to him. Until now, only Zhane had pressed for a reason beyond the obvious, and he couldn't tell his best friend everything anymore. Unfortunately, there were things he couldn't share with Ashley, either.

She stepped closer, and he closed his eyes. "I love you," he whispered, dismayed that those three words were all he had to offer her right now. They were the truth, but he was beginning to suspect they weren't the whole truth.

"I know," he heard her murmur, and for a moment he pretended she did. She knew everything, she understood far better than he did, and she would not only stay by his side but she would help him sort through it all until he figured it out himself.

When she kissed him he did his best to relax, to not convey any more of his tension to her than he already had. He thought of Zhane, who had avoided him since the scene on the Bridge last night, and he put his arms around her and pulled her closer in an effort to drown out the thinking part of his brain. He wanted to go back to act and react, nothing more.

Something changed, but before he had time to register it he was locked in a heated embrace that chased all hope of rational thought from his head. He gave in to the warmth willingly, knowing in the back of his mind that he had wanted this for a long time... Zhane's passionate kiss eased the worries he hadn't even been aware of until now.

With a gasp, Andros shoved his best friend away. He met Zhane's sapphire gaze with wide eyes and shock that was quickly turning to horror. He wanted to run, to hide--until the Silver Ranger pulled him close again, giving him a kiss that he couldn't find it in his heart to resist.

Then Zhane let go, taking a step back as he cuffed his friend on the shoulder. "April fool!" he declared, a grin threatening to split his face in two. "Gotcha!"

Andros froze, staring at him in utter confusion.

"You look like a deer in the headlights," Ashley remarked, giggling. "Didn't notice the dimension shift, huh?"

"Yeah, I can totally see why," Zhane said with a laugh. "After all, I kiss just like you. It's no wonder he didn't catch it."

Andros whirled. Sure enough, there was the barefoot girl in the corner, calmly reading My Twice-Lived Life while his world fell apart around him. "Is this your idea of a joke?" he demanded.

She looked up, to all appearances surprised by his question. "What?"

Andros was furious. "Do you think this is funny?!"

The barefoot girl blinked, looking from him to Zhane and back again. "Actually, yeah; I do. But it wasn't my idea."

"If you even think of blaming this on Adri," he began through gritted teeth.

"I did think of that," she admitted, regarding her book absently. "Sadly, she doesn't embrace this scenario, so much as I'd like to I haven't been able to find a way to pin it on her. I'm still working on it, though."

Tossing the book aside, she got to her feet as he struggled for an appropriate answer. He didn't find one before she continued, "For now, I'll just have to blame you."

Andros' eyes widened. "Me!" he sputtered. "You didn't get this from me! I could never have come up with something so ridiculous!"

"Hey," Zhane interjected, sounding vaguely hurt. "Still in the room, you know."

The barefoot girl narrowed her eyes at them. "Neither of you have been any help at all lately. You're the definition of obstinate and uncooperative, not to mention incredibly irritating! Do you have any idea how much I've agonized over the two of you?"

"Me?" Zhane didn't seem to realize he was echoing Andros. "What did I do?" he wanted to know.

"Hello, do you think you could *answer* my e-mail once in a while? Neither of you will tell me what's going on with you, so guess what. I have to make stuff up. If you don't like it, then talk to me!"

"Who says I don't like it?" Zhane asked, deadpan.

Ashley slapped his arm fondly. "Very funny," she informed him, a grin in her voice. "He's mine, and don't you forget it."

Andros couldn't stand it anymore. If one more person started talking about him like he was a toy to be bandied about, they wouldn't be able to find a new Red Ranger fast enough. Flinging his towel against the floor so hard it snapped, he turned and stalked off of the Simudeck.

Starhawk raised an eyebrow. "Well, he didn't take that nearly as well as I thought he would."

"No," Zhane agreed, staring after Andros pensively.

Ashley just shrugged. "I guess April Fool's Day isn't his favorite holiday this year."