Disclaimer: Saban does not own the moon. The Power Rangers do not own the moon. But in an interesting twist of fate, Saban does own the Power Rangers.

Full Moon
by Starhawk

Glancing up from his trig book, Carlos shot a covert look around the room. The five of them were gathered in the family room of Karen's home, sprawled across the furniture with varying degrees of concentration in their expressions.

TJ sat in the deep armchair he'd claimed as soon as they arrived, frowning intently at his book. He had a pencil in one hand and was apparently trying to work through one of the chapter review problems. Sarah and Lindsay were on the sofa, sharing a single book. Lindsay had one arm around her girlfriend, reading over her shoulder while Sarah quietly explained one of the formulas.

Carlos felt someone tap his foot, and he turned to look at Karen. She was sitting on the floor across from him, book open on her lap and legs stretched out in front of her. She grinned as he caught her eye, and he nudged her foot with his own in return.

Before he could ask how she was doing, though, TJ sighed loudly. "All right, I give up. Can anyone explain parallax to me?"

"What page?" Sarah asked, looking up.

TJ glanced back at his book. "Chapter 10, page 365. It's one of the application problems at the end of the chapter review."

"Oh, I saw that one," Karen said suddenly. "That was the astronomy question, wasn't it?"

TJ nodded. "They want you to find the distance to the star, but they *give* you d. I can't figure out what the unknown is."

Karen made a face. "I skipped that question. I couldn't set up a triangle that made any sense."

Carlos heard a door slam, but paid no attention as he flipped through his own book, looking for the problem in dispute. Out of the corner of his eye, though, he saw Karen crane her head toward the door. "Tess?" she called over her shoulder. "Is that you?"

"That's me," a girl's voice replied from the kitchen. "What's up?"

"We need help!" Karen exclaimed, a smile in her voice. "We have an astronomy problem that we can't figure out."

Lindsay shot a questioning look in Karen's direction. "House guest," Karen explained quietly. "She's going to AGU in the fall, but the dorms don't open until next week and she needed a place to stay in the meantime."

Carlos looked up as a petite blond-haired girl appeared in the doorway. She hardly looked college-aged, but her smile was friendly and he found himself smiling back without thinking about it.

"This is Tessa McFarlan," Karen said, waving her guest into the room. "She's an astrophysics major, so if anyone can explain this stuff, she can."

"Karen," Tessa said, laughing a little as she entered the room, "don't tell people that. You'll just scare them off."

Amused, Carlos glanced over at TJ. But his friend did not return the look--instead, TJ was frozen in his chair, staring at Karen's guest as though he was seeing a ghost.

Suddenly, a memory from two nights ago wormed its way into his consciousness, and he again heard TJ saying, *"Her name was Tessa… I think we were engaged."*

*No way,* Carlos thought, regarding the blond girl with surprise. *She couldn't be the same person. That's too much of a coincidence, even for Ashley's "meant to be"…*

But Karen was introducing them all, and TJ still had not moved. He was too far away for Carlos to discretely get his attention, and he didn't even blink when Karen pointed in his direction and said his name.

"Nice to meet you all," Tessa said, still smiling. "So what's this problem that I'm supposed to be helping with?"

Carlos stuck his book on the edge of the coffee table, and as Karen pointed at TJ again, he gave it a push. The book tumbled to the floor, falling open and hitting the hardwood floor with a thud. He saw TJ start, and everyone in the room turned to look at him.

Carlos shrugged. "Lost my place," he offered apologetically, and Karen gave him an odd look.

"Page 365," Sarah volunteered, and he saw TJ look down at his book.

"Thanks," Carlos said, picking up his textbook again and flipping through it.

The distraction must have been enough, because TJ spoke up, sounding as casual as always. "Yeah, it's this application problem about parallax. I can't figure out what we're trying to find."

"Let me see," Tessa said, going over to stand beside him and looking over his shoulder. She was silent a moment as she read the problem, and then she smiled. "Oh, that's easy. You're trying to find the distance to the star."

"Then what's d?" TJ demanded, his exasperation taking over again. "There's at least five variables in this problem!"

Tessa shook her head, perching on the arm of his chair. "No, there's not. They're just trying to confuse you, if you ask me. These two are equal, and so are these--there's only three variables, and two of them are given. It's a straight trig problem."

"So what's r?" TJ asked, and Carlos exchanged glances with Karen.

Cocking his head toward TJ and Tessa, Carlos whispered, "What are they talking about?"

Karen frowned a little and scooted across the floor to sit next to him. "What?" she whispered back.

"Them," Carlos answered quietly, glancing across the room. Tessa had taken TJ's pencil and was writing something on the piece of paper he'd been using. "What are they talking about?"

Karen giggled. "Beats me. Like I said, I didn't do that one. Gioski doesn't assign many application problems, so I usually skip them."

"Me, too," Carlos agreed. "Now I remember why…"

Karen grinned. "Hey, did you get number 11 on the review assignment? We went over it in class, but it was kind of rushed, and I couldn't figure out what I did wrong."

Carlos nodded, riffling through the papers he'd stuffed in the back of his book. "Yeah, it's right here."

"Oh, that's readable," Karen said wryly, and Carlos had to admit that his handwriting could use some improvement. He reworked the problem for her, explaining the step she had forgotten and finding, for the first time, that he was enjoying a study session.

***

"Zhane?"

He looked up, a little surprised to realize that the scenery around him had changed in the past few minutes. "Sorry," he apologized. "I'm not doing a very good job of keeping you company, am I?"

Hands in her pockets as they walked, Cassie just shrugged a little. "I'm fine. I was just wondering if something was wrong."

"Color withdrawal," he said lightly, knowing it was his own fault. The shirt had *felt* right when he put it on, but in the back of his mind the barest whisper of discomfort had grown into a noticeable buzz over the course of the afternoon. "White's not quite close enough to silver, I guess."

"Color withdrawal?" Cassie asked. "Is that what you call it?"

It was his turn to shrug. "That's what me and Andros always said. The Power doesn't come and go, you know, it's focused through your color whether you're morphed or not. No color, no Power, and your body takes a few days to readjust--so it *is* kind of like withdrawal."

She was silent for a moment. Then, suddenly, she reached up and pulled the clip out of her hair. "Would this help?" she asked, offering him the silver barrette.

He gave her a startled smile. "Yeah, it would. Thanks," he added, accepting the clip and running his fingers along its edge. Only because he was looking for it did he see the brief sparkle of silver fire as the Power found a conduit to him and came streaming back.

She smiled back. "You're welcome. Jeff has a few grey shirts; I'm sure he'd let you borrow them if they feel any better."

He tried to remember being introduced to anyone named Jeff, and gave up. "Jeff?" he asked, eyeing her quizzically.

"Ashley's brother," she said, wincing a little and putting a hand over her stomach.

He instinctively stepped closer to her. "What's wrong? Are you all right?"

She held up her hand, nodding. "I'm fine." She immediately gave herself away, though, by asking, "Do you mind if we sit down for a few minutes?"

"Of course not," he assured her, frowning in alarm as she sat down quickly right where she was. He dropped into a crouch beside her. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Cassie nodded again. "Yeah," she murmured. "It's a side effect of something I'm taking. I'll be fine in a moment."

"Something you're taking?" he repeated, puzzled. "Some sort of medication, you mean? There's not much the Power won't heal."

She smiled a little. "The Power won't do anything for this, trust me. But I'm okay, really--just a little sick to my stomach."

"If you're sure…" Her tone said she didn't want to talk about it, so he lowered himself the rest of the way to the ground and leaned back on his hands, stretching his legs out in front of him. Staring out across the park, illuminated by the first rays of Earth's sunset, Zhane waited in silence.

He found his mind wandering, and he wondered idly what Andros and Ashley were doing. It had been obvious that Andros was looking forward to this evening--the entire Bridge had heard him ask Ashley out earlier in the day, and the Red Ranger hadn't seemed able to go more than two minutes without speaking to her ever since.

*Or maybe,* Zhane reflected, *he's always like that with her…* He liked Ashley, but he couldn't help but be a little jealous of the way she held Andros's attention.

"Zhane," Cassie said suddenly, interrupting his train of thought. "I want to apologize for being so snappish this morning."

He looked over at her, surprised. "Snappish?"

"You know," she said with a sigh. "This morning, on the Bridge. I was a little rude about you not paying attention."

"I *was* paying attention," Zhane insisted. "I'm not that irresponsible--I would never put the Megaship in jeopardy."

"Oh, I know," Cassie said, puzzling him further. "I could tell. I could see you watching the readouts. But Saryn couldn't, and for some reason, I couldn't block him out this morning. I really didn't mean to be so rude."

Unable to contain his curiosity, Zhane asked, "So you really feel his emotions?"

She nodded silently.

He couldn't imagine what that would be like. Telepathy was simple thought transference, and though he could sometimes tell how Andros was feeling by his mental "tone", he had never directly experienced his friend's emotions. He could only assume that such a thing would be overwhelming.

"I'm the one who should apologize," he said. "I had no idea that you were being affected by what I was saying to him."

She just looked at him for a moment. "You really hurt him, you know," she said quietly. "His team was his family, the same way Andros was yours--"

"*Is*," Zhane interrupted, bristling. "Andros *is* my family. Two years can't change something like that."

"Neither can four," Cassie said, her dark eyes locking with his. "He's still grieving for them, Zhane. You shouldn't have brought it up at all, let alone the way you did."

"I didn't know," Zhane insisted, shaking his head. "It didn't seem like such an unreasonable question, to me."

Cassie was quiet for a moment, looking away from him at last. "Maybe it wasn't. I don't really know; I'm probably too caught up in how *he* reacted to tell."

He didn't know how to respond to that without saying something that was either too flippant or too personal, so he just followed her gaze toward the horizon and let the silence grow. The trees were stretching up to engulf the sun, and it occurred to him to wonder how much more daylight they would have.

"I think in some ways you remind him of them," she said abruptly, and he looked back at her. "Maybe that's why he looks for things to dislike about you…"

"Remind him of who? His teammates?" Zhane frowned, trying to figure that out.

She nodded absently. "You were almost killed defending your home, the same way they were--but you survived. I wonder if he resents that, without even realizing it."

Zhane shrugged uncomfortably. "There's not really a lot I can do about that."

"You could try not rubbing it in," she said softly. "This morning, at breakfast? You said something to him about your powers holding, and you waking up…"

He nodded. "So?"

Cassie sighed. "I don't know exactly, but something about what you said… All of a sudden he was so angry--I had to leave just to calm down." She shook her head, looking frustrated. "I don't know why. I didn't have time to ask him about it before…"

She trailed off, and Zhane looked at her sympathetically. To be completely honest, he didn't know what she saw in the mysterious Ranger, but it was obvious Saryn meant a lot to her. "I'll remember that," he promised, "when he comes back."

Cassie smiled at him gratefully. "Thanks," she murmured, glancing back toward the setting sun. "I guess we should get moving."

He scrambled to his feet and offered her a hand. "You're feeling well enough?" he asked, concerned.

She clasped his hand, but stood mostly on her own. "Yes, thanks. And Zhane--"

He gave her an inquiring look, and she smiled again. "Thanks for walking with me."

***

The sun had long set by the time two more Rangers wandered through the park, and the last rays of twilight had faded from the sky to make way for the deep cobalt of night. But a full moon had risen as the sun went down, and it now hung high above the trees, giving enough light that the couple's handfast shadows were illuminated on the ground behind them.

Rayven had no moon, of course, being a satellite of another planet itself. But there were nights when the planet would be in the sky, shining down on the refugees with a light far brighter than Earth's moon. Glancing over at Ashley, though, silvery light shining on her hair and a contented smile on her face, Andros knew he would trade all of those nights for this single moment.

She looked in his direction, caught him staring. "What are you thinking about?" she asked lightly, swinging their clasped hands between them as they walked.

For once, he didn't even think about telling her "nothing". "You," he answered honestly.

"Well, that's fair," she said, her smile widening. "I was thinking about you."

"What about me?" Andros couldn't help asking, and she giggled.

"You didn't tell me," she teased. "Why should I tell you?"

Actually, he had meant to tell her, but she had spoken before he could find the words. "I was thinking how beautiful you are," he said, a small smile on his face. "And--how much I'd like to kiss you."

Their pace had slowed to almost nothing, and now she stopped completely, turning to look at him. "You must have read my mind," she said softly, and he took that as permission.

Stepping closer, he kissed her mouth gently, and he felt her fingers tighten on his. He squeezed her hand back, wishing he dared to kiss her the way she had him this morning. Looking into her eyes as he drew back, though, he knew he couldn't consciously commit to something like that and risk her being upset afterward.

"You don't have to ask every time you kiss me, you know," she said, looking down as they started walking again. "I don't, after all…" Ashley glanced up, suddenly searching his expression. "Does that bother you?"

He shook his head. "No, of course not." But that was different, he thought. He knew how *he* felt, and he would never turn down a chance to be close to her. With her, he couldn't be so sure.

"You say 'of course not' like I should know," Ashley said, smiling a little. "But there's no way I *can* know if you don't tell me. I mean this in the nicest possible way, Andros, but--you're not the most talkative person in the world."

"I--" He just stared at her, suddenly seeing it from her point of view. *He* felt as though the entire world could see how he felt about her, but she didn't seem to have any more certainty about his feelings than he had about hers. And yet she was willing to test their relationship, to ask him straight out how he felt, and to push him when he wasn't giving her the whole truth.

"You're right," he said at last, realizing they had stopped again. "Ash--how do you do that?"

"Do what?" she asked, tilting her head to one side. A sly look crossed her face, and she added, "Be right all the time?"

He felt a smile tug at his lips. "Make me understand," he corrected. "And--" He looked at her intently. "How do you… How can you be so--open--if you don't know how I feel?"

She was quiet for a moment, then she shook her head. "I don't know what you mean," she admitted.

He sighed, frustrated with his own inability to convey the question. He cast back, trying to find an example she would understand. "Last weekend," he said suddenly. "When you kissed me that first time--I had never said anything to you, but somehow you knew I liked you."

She let out her breath in a small chuckle. "Oh no I didn't. I had no idea how you'd react--that was one of the scariest things I've ever done."

"Then how did you do it?" he pressed. "What if you'd been wrong? What would have happened to us--to our friendship?"

She looked away, and he realized how that sounded. "Ash, wait. I'm sorry; that's not what I meant. I'm not--" He struggled to get the words out. "I'm not talking about you. I'm… talking about me. I don't think I could have done what you did. What if *I* had kissed *you*, and I *was* wrong? Your opinion has always been too important to me for me to risk it on something like that."

"But don't you see?" she asked, looking up and meeting his eyes with a gaze as serious as his own. "It's *because* you're so important to me that I *had* to do it. The chance that you might feel something for me was worth the risk--and if you didn't, I was pretty sure that we had a friendship that could keep going anyway."

"You were pretty sure?" He shook his head. "Ash, I don't know what I'd do without you. I couldn't do anything that might drive you away."

"Andros…" She looked down at their clasped hands, putting her free hand over them. "I *love* you," she said, lifting her eyes to meet his again. "If I hadn't kissed you then, I might never have found out that you felt the same way. Would you give up what we have now just because you were too scared to take a chance?"

That stung, and he suspected she had meant it to. "No," he said. "You know I wouldn't."

"How?" she whispered. "How do I know?"

She was right again, he thought, swallowing. If he never told her, how *was* she supposed to know? If he couldn't put his heart on the line, even as she had, why should she think he cared anymore about her now than he ever had?

Something he had said to Saryn recently came back to him with startling clarity. *"If you don't trust her, what's the point?"* She said she loved him, and he had to believe that that meant more than just a passing interest.

"I love you, Ashley," he said quietly, taking her hands and pulling her closer. "I'll love you for as long as you let me, and--I don't think I'll ever be able to stop." He kissed her before she could answer, feeling his heart pounding even as he leaned forward.

She returned the kiss gently, and he realized she meant to keep her earlier promise not to rush him. But they were all alone, standing beneath the moonlit sky of her home planet, and this time he was the one to kiss her again, pressing his lips against hers more insistently and feeling her respond.

She let go of his hands to put hers on his shoulders, and he let his hands drop to her waist as she sidled closer. He was so lost in the sensation of kissing her that he didn't at first realize what she was doing--then her arms slid around his neck, and there was no more space between them.

With her lips on his and her whole body pressed against his, it was an embrace far more intimate than a simple hug. He could feel his skin tingling and he kissed her harder, letting his own arms encircle her to hold her the way he had wanted to for so long. Was this what he had been missing, Andros wondered, wanting to melt against her and let her warm fingers wander all over his skin.

She lifted her hand to stroke his hair, and her crop top slid up just far enough that his own hands were resting against her bare back. It would be so easy to--

He let go, flinching away from her as he realized what he was thinking. "Andros?" she murmured, eyes opening but not letting him pull away.

"*That's* what I'm afraid of," he whispered breathlessly, staring at her face only inches from his own. The words were suddenly there, and he said them before he could change his mind. "Not you, not us--it's me. I'm scared of loving you *too* much, and not being in control anymore."

She smiled at him, arms still around him and fingers running through his hair. He tried to ignore the feelings racing through him, tried to resist the urge to kiss her again. "Love isn't about control, Andros," she told him quietly. "It's about trust--trust that the person you love won't hurt you, not on purpose. No matter what."

He let his hands settle on her waist again, holding her close, and as he closed his eyes he heard her add, "I'll never hurt you, Andros. I promise."

"It's not you I don't trust," he whispered, acutely aware of every place her body pressed against his. "It's me."

"I trust you," she said softly, her breath warm on his face.

Then he felt her lips on his again, and he found himself kissing her with complete disregard for what he had just been trying to say. She didn't seem to care either, and they clung to each other for several minutes, forgetting the rest of the world.

It was Ashley who pulled away first, murmuring breathlessly, "Is this--too fast?"

He shook his head, not trusting his voice.

*Andros?* he heard in his mind. *Please talk to me…*

*It's not too fast,* he assured her silently, staring into her eyes. *It's just--if I open my mouth, I might start kissing you again.*

She tilted her head to one side, brushing her fingers against his cheek. *I love you, you know,* she said, an affectionate smile on her face.

*I do know,* he said, gazing at her in wonder. Maybe it was the night, or the way she was looking at him, or just her confidence finally rubbing off on him--but something was different. *I love you too…*

*Andros?*

He stiffened, knowing instantly that that hadn't come from Ashley. Someone was calling to him--afraid and vulnerable, but with a voice he could not for the life of him place. He saw Ashley's eyes cloud over, but as he tried to explain, her gaze flicked past his shoulder in surprise.

"Andros, *down*!" she said sharply, pushing him to the ground with a strength it was easy to forget she possessed.

She fell on top of him, her hair sliding across his face and for a moment he had the insane desire to pull her close--but the purple lightning that streaked through the place where they had just stood quickly distracted him.

"Astronema?" he gasped, recognizing her signature fire.

"Come on!" She rolled onto her side and into crouch, eyes darting across the clearing.

He scrambled after her, but the park was silent once again. The arc of violet electricity did not repeat itself, and he held absolutely still, trying to figure out where it had come from. Ashley pointed wordlessly, and he nodded, trusting her instincts.

He got carefully to his feet, holding a hand out to her as he did so. She took it, but she stood on her own, as quietly and far more gracefully than he had. Handfast, they crept across the clearing in the direction Ashley had pointed. Nothing seemed to move--but in the dimness, there were dozens of shadows deep enough to conceal a single person.

"Andros! Ashley!"

Andros's adrenaline level spiked, and he felt Ashley jump at Zhane's shout. Turning, he glared at the Silver Ranger. "Thanks for scaring us half to death!"

"Sorry," Zhane apologized, jogging over toward them. He was wearing some of his old clothes from Rayven, and Andros wondered briefly if he was having color problems. "But DECA detected Astronema's teleportation signature in the park just a minute ago."

"We noticed," Ashley said wryly. "Why do you think we were sneaking around?"

Zhane shrugged, an amused look in his eyes. "Well…"

*Don't finish that sentence,* Andros thought, glaring at his friend again. "She shot at us," he told his friend, and Zhane's knowing look turned to one of concern.

"Are you all right?" the Silver Ranger asked quickly, looking them over as though he might find visible injuries.

Andros glanced at Ashley, and she nodded. "We're fine," he confirmed, looking over his shoulder. "But was the teleportation signal that DECA picked up Astronema coming here, or going back to the Dark Fortress?"

Zhane shook his head. "She couldn't tell. But I'd guess it was her leaving--wouldn't she have attacked again, if it wasn't?"

"Shouldn't she have attacked again, period?" Ashley asked, peering around nervously. "I don't understand what she thinks she accomplished."

"Well, for one thing, she's got the two of you jumping at shadows," Zhane observed. "Look, why don't I check around." He held up a scanner, winking at them. "I came prepared. If she's here, I'll find her. You two just go back to--whatever it was you were doing."

"We'll come with you," Andros protested, deliberately ignoring the smug tone in Zhane's voice.

"No," his friend said firmly. "Don't give her the satisfaction. She's probably not even here anymore--if you let her disrupt your date, you're letting her win."

Andros hesitated, but Ashley squeezed his hand. "He's right," she said quietly. "Come on--Astronema's just trying to shake us up. Don't let her do it."

He nodded, finally, and Zhane smiled. "Great. I'll look around the park, and if I find anything, I'll let you know. Otherwise, I'll just head back to the Megaship. And I won't wait up," he teased.

***

It was a voice she was sure she had heard before. But *where*… She found herself turning in tight circles, staff held ready, as she tried to identify the source.

*I love you…*

She clapped her hands over her ears, seeing sun instead of moonlight, and a boy in red racing through the park toward her. The games she and her brother had played came flooding back, and she heard his childish voice ringing in her ears.

Her head came up, but all she saw were the Rangers she had been about to ambush. They couldn't possibly be the source of the voices… could they? *Andros?* she wondered, just barely able to make out the streaked hair of the Ranger nearest her.

She saw him start, and she gripped her staff more tightly, certain something had given her away. Her brother was dead, she reminded herself firmly, killed by Power Rangers before she was old enough to properly remember. She had to attack these Rangers before they turned on her.

The staff responded to her instinct, and beam of purple static shot across the clearing. She saw the Rangers dive out of its way--red and yellow tumbling to the ground before her eyes, but the colors were swirling in her memory too.

She drew further into the shadow that hid her, trying to clear her mind. *He's gone, he's gone, he's gone,* she chanted silently, pushing the loneliness in her soul away. *No more brother, no more parents…*

*No more locket,* she thought, her eyes narrowing. Someone would pay for that. She had a new family now, and a new protector--but she had always treasured the reminder of her old family. She would not let it go so easily.

A beeping alerted her, and she stiffened as she recognized the noise of a tracking device. One of the Rangers, she assumed, peering around the bole of the tree that concealed her.

She frowned, though, as moonlight glinted silver on the approaching figure. She shook her head again, trying to disperse the memories. Those clothes had looked momentarily familiar--she must be more disoriented than she thought. She needed to get back to the Dark Fortress.

She whipped her staff around in front of her, planting it on the ground in front of her and lifting her chin. Purple fire danced around her fingertips, and she pictured the Dark Fortress in her mind just as she heard a voice call, "Is someone there?"

The image dissolved at that not-quite-unfamiliar voice. The childhood flashback took hold of her again, and to her horror she felt the power respond. Her staff vanished, and as she spun she could feel short blond hair swirl around her face.

The wielder of the tracking device stepped into her line of sight, the wary expression on his face turning to one of startlement as he caught a glimpse of her. "Oh--hi," he offered awkwardly, lowering the device without looking at it and trying to shove it into his pocket without her noticing.

She felt her lips quirk at his attempt at subtlety. He couldn't be a Ranger--she knew all of their faces, and his wasn't one of them. And besides, he was just standing there, staring at her. The Rangers were quicker on their feet than that.

"I was just… uh, looking for someone," he said, glancing around as though the person might stroll past at any moment. "Are you out here alone?"

Was he--concerned? She looked at him in puzzlement. "Of course," she said. If she wanted something done right, it was safer to do it herself. Alone.

"On your way somewhere?" he suggested. "Maybe I should walk you there. There can be some dangerous people around this time of night." He was looking over his shoulder all the while, and she could hear the muffled beeping of the device he had tried to hide.

Glaring in its general direction, a spark leaped from her fingers to the source of the beeping, silencing it. "No," she said carelessly, knowing he would find a completely inoperable mechanism when he next went to check it. "I'm just out for a walk."

He visibly relaxed when the device stopped sounding its alarm, and he turned his full attention to her. "What a coincidence," he said, giving her a charming smile. "So am I. Would you like some company?"

She raised her eyebrow. "You said you were looking for someone."

"I was," he agreed, stepping forward. She tensed, but he just smiled again and offered her his arm. "And now I've found her. Come enjoy the moonlight with me?"

*You have no idea who you're talking to,* she thought, staring at him. She should be offended, she knew, but all she felt was amusement. And she could use someone to entertain her, lately--Dark Spectre was displeased with her for failing to occupy the Rangers, and Ecliptor was not himself.

So, rather gingerly, she took his arm. "Why not?" she asked, smiling back and thinking dark thoughts about the Monarch of evil. If he thought he could do a better job, let him just try. "I don't have anything better to do."

***

"It wasn't you," he insisted, and she craned her head to look at him from where she sat on the picnic table bench. Behind her, Andros was perched on the table itself, running his fingers idly through her hair. "I'd know your voice anywhere, Ashley. This was someone else."

She frowned. "If not me, or Zhane, then who?"

He shook his head. "I wish I knew. Kerone and Zhane were the only two I could ever hear in my head, before you."

She didn't reply for a moment, wanting to ask him something but at the same time not wanting to embarrass him. "Andros?" she asked finally. "Right after you told Zhane that Astronema had shot at us, you said something to him, telepathically."

"You heard that, huh?" he asked wryly, not looking as chagrinned as she had expected. "Zhane isn't--the most diplomatic person I know."

"Oh, I knew he was just teasing," she said, smiling. "But… did he answer you?"

Andros's expression went pensive, and his hand on her hair stilled. "I don't think so, no. Why?"

"Well, I can't hear what he *says*, but I sometimes I sort of--I don't know… notice his presence." Ashley squirmed a little, feeling strange talking so seriously about something she hadn't even believed in until a few days ago. "I didn't feel that when you spoke to him a few minutes ago, and I was just wondering if I missed it."

He shook his head. "You didn't miss it," he said, turning the thoughtful look on her. "And you noticed my 'presence' this morning…"

She gave him a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"When you went to get Cassie for breakfast, you said something about me 'going away'." He waited until she nodded. "I wasn't saying anything, but you could still tell when I was focusing on you--and when I stopped."

"*That's* what it is?" she asked, surprised. "It's when you're thinking about me?"

He shrugged, stroking her hair again. "Sort of, yeah."

She waited, but he didn't elaborate. "Can you--do you think you could show me?"

He gave his head a shake. "Sure." His hand left her hair, and he was quiet for a moment. "Can you feel that?"

She frowned. "What?"

*I was focusing on you,* he said silently. *You can tell now because I'm actually thinking at you, but I'm surprised you didn't notice before.*

She shifted a little where she sat, using the conversation as cover for the movement. Her bare arm just brushed against his leg, and she tried not to shiver. *Can you try going away again? It takes me a minute to figure out which part of my mind is actually you, but I think I've got it now.*

*Sure.* The spark she had identified as him wavered, but didn't fade.

She waited, then said, *I guess I was wrong--it didn't change. Try once more?*

"No," Andros whispered, and she felt his fingers touch her hair again. "That's me. Just a second."

This time, the light feeling faded, and she smiled. "That's what I felt this morning." She turned to look up at him again, puzzled. "How come it took so long?"

He was just staring at her, fingers tangled in her hair. "I couldn't stop thinking about you," he confessed quietly. "You're sort of… addictive."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" she teased, a little surprised by his admission. Turning a little more, she propped her elbow on his leg and put her chin in her hand to watch him.

*It's bad, if I ever want to concentrate on anything while you're around,* he answered, smiling a little.

"You don't have to concentrate on anything right now," she reminded him softly, reaching for his free hand. He took her hand, twining his fingers through hers, and, as she had hoped, he leaned slowly forward to kiss her.

She lifted her face toward his, and reveled in the feeling of his lips covering hers. She felt a flash of disappointment as he pulled away, but he just slid forward off the table to join her on the bench, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and kissing her again.

Leaning into him, she felt his fingers twitch as their clasped hands rested on her thigh. Eyes closed as she returned his kisses less and less softly, she draped her free arm over his shoulder and inched closer. He had felt so good, earlier, pressed close against her and for once not resisting…

She wasn't kissing his mouth anymore, she realized distantly, hearing him gasp. Her lips were trailing across his neck, and his fingers were squeezing her hand so hard it almost hurt.

"Ashley," he murmured, his breathing ragged, and she knew she'd gone too far.

She drew away with an effort, opening her mouth to say she was sorry--she seemed to be doing that a lot lately--but he kissed her mouth before she could speak. Then he freed the arm he had had around her and put a finger over her lips as he pulled back. "I think we should go back to the Megaship," he whispered at last, staring into her eyes.

"Andros, wait," she said, catching his hand and pulling it away from her face. He had finally kissed her the way she had been dreaming about for weeks now, and she hadn't been content--she'd had to push for even more. She hadn't meant to, but it had happened, and she was desperately afraid that she had set their relationship back.

"I didn't--I really hope I haven't ruined tonight," she said nervously, searching his expression. "I've had such a good time… I guess I just got carried away."

"You haven't ruined anything," he promised, not looking away from her. "It's just… that felt a little too good--you know? We sort of agreed that, well… we wouldn't sleep together yet, and if you hadn't stopped--" He looked at her helplessly. "That would have been really hard to remember," he said in a rush.

"I'm trying to remember, too," she whispered, fighting the urge to wrap her arms around him again. If she counted that first kiss as the beginning of their relationship, they hadn't even officially been together for a week. That *was* too soon for what they were talking about, but she suspected that if he were just a little less responsible, it wouldn't take much for her to forget it.

He stood, pulling her to her feet as well. "Then I guess we really should head back," he said, and she nodded reluctantly.

Andros made no move to reach for his communicator. "Ashley?" he asked after a moment.

She cocked her head at him. "Yes?"

He smiled a little. "Thanks--for making me trust."