"Hey, it's Jeff. I saw Ash the other day--she tried to catch you guys, but no one was home. We're both back on Earth now, and we'll probably be at the Carters' place for a while. I know she wants to see you before she leaves again. I'll try to stop by too... Give us a call here when you get in, okay? Bye."

There was a knock as Jeff punched the "off" button on the phone, and he turned to find TJ hanging on the doorframe. "I'm taking pizza orders," he said with a grin. "What do you want?"

"Pepperoni." Jeff tossed him the phone and TJ caught it one-handed. "Nice catch," he remarked, mildly impressed. It was easy to forget that TJ's coordination came not just from the Power, but from a long history of baseball and, more recently, the martial arts.

"Can't talk you into everything, huh?" TJ just shook his head, not waiting for an answer. "We have thirteen people here, and I think we need thirteen different kinds of pizza."

"What does Jeff want?" Carlos' voice called from the kitchen. "Can we order already? I'm starving!"

"So am I!" Zhane added. "I haven't eaten all day!"

"It's your teammates that are holding us up," Jeff pointed out, following TJ back into the kitchen. "Ash probably wants veggie, but I have no idea what Kerone eats."

"She doesn't," Zhane and Ty said at the same time. They smirked at each other, and Jeff gave them a second look. The two of them... He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something strange about the way they acted with each other.

"Ash will have extra cheese," Zhane added, correcting him. "Same as Andros. Kerone can have some of mine if she's hungry. Are you going to call, TJ, or do I have to take the phone away from you?"

"I'm calling," TJ promised. "Someone go see if Cassie needs anything."

"Cassie is fine!" she called from around the corner. "Thanks!"

"I'm going to try to get some news," Jeff announced, to no one in particular. "I don't understand how you guys keep up with anything, going from planet to planet like this."

"It's getting away from anything that's hard," Zhane told him.

Jeff just stared at him. "You have a spaceship," he reminded the Silver Ranger. "Instant disappearing act!"

"Sure we have a spaceship," Zhane said with a grin. "Unfortunately, so does everyone else. It only gets you so far."

Jeff glanced over at Andros, expecting a comment, but he was staring out the porch door and apparently paying no attention to the conversation. Ashley had walked out the moment they arrived, without a word to anyone, and Kerone had followed her. Jeff had assumed things would be awkward, but this silence was deafening.

Carlos seemed to think so too. "Andros is pretty good at it," he remarked, ignoring the fact that TJ was trying to have a phone conversation. "He's the one who sent you all off on that quest, right? Maybe he could give us some tips."

This time, there was no doubt that Andros was ignoring them. He reached out and clicked the latch on the glass door, sliding it open and stepping outside without a word. He closed the door behind him pointedly.

Zhane got up to follow, but there was a resigned expression on his face that surprised Jeff. Ashley's description of the situation hadn't exactly been objective, but he hadn't expected Zhane to be as frustrated with Andros as she was. At least, that was what he interpreted the look on Zhane's face to mean.

"Stay," Ty said, stopping Zhane before he could move toward the porch. "I have something I want to say to him anyway."

Zhane's hesitation was barely perceptible. He sat back down as though he was just stretching his legs, and he shrugged indifferently. "Don't kill him," he advised. "It'd be hell trying to find a new Red Ranger now."

Ty didn't look like he thought that was a persuasive argument, but his mouth quirked in acknowledgement. He went around the counter and tugged on the porch door, slipping the latch easily. He hesitated on the other side, then vanished from Jeff's sight as he went wherever Andros had gone.

"So who was that, again?" TJ was the first to break the silence, replacing the phone on its base by the refrigerator. "I heard you guys had a fifth person on your quest--I assume that's him?"

Jeff looked at Zhane expectantly. The story Ashley had told had been piecemeal at best, and he didn't know how much the others had been able to catch up on. He supposed that was what he got for sleeping--he had been on the Megaship when everyone switched, and he hadn't found out what had happened until hours later.

"Ty worked on an agrec crew with Kerone," Zhane was explaining. From the looks Carlos and TJ were giving each other, that didn't mean much more to them than it did to Jeff. "Or his sister did," he amended. "They had kind of a reunion party a few days ago, and that's when we met Ty."

"A few months ago," TJ corrected. "It's been a lot longer for us than it has for you."

"What's 'agrec'?" Carlos wanted to know. "You took someone you met at a party on a Power quest?"

"Agricultural reclamation is going on all over KO-35." Zhane shot a glance at the porch door, then got up and wandered over to the sink. He started opening cupboard doors at random, talking over his shoulder as he did so. "It's a way of cleansing some of the land that was contaminated during the war, so that it can be lived on and farmed again."

"When was Kerone doing that?" TJ asked, frowning. "Is that where she went when she disappeared last spring?"

"Yeah." Zhane pulled a glass out of one of the cupboards and held it under the water faucet. "It's on a volunteer basis, but everyone involved gets room and board for as long as they work."

"So Ty was doing that too?" Carlos still looked skeptical. "But you said you didn't meet him until just before you left. Why did you take him with you?"

"Because he asked to come," Zhane said simply. He didn't turn away from the sink, staring out the window as he lifted his glass to drink. It wasn't like Zhane to avoid someone's gaze, yet Jeff got the impression that was exactly what the Silver Ranger was doing.

"At least he asked," Tessa called from the other room. The girls must have been listening just as closely as they were to Zhane's explanation. "Some of us were conscripted!"

"Join the club!" TJ shouted back. "You won't get any sympathy here!"

Zhane finally turned around, glass of water still firmly clutched in his hand. "How did you guys get to be Rangers?" he asked. He had just the right note of curiosity in his voice, but his eyes gave him away. He was trying to change the subject as thoroughly as possible.

"Now that's an interesting story," TJ drawled, leaning back against the fridge. He caught Carlos' eye again, and the two of them grinned. They were clearly in a mood to indulge. "The second time, we were actually looking for them. But the first time..."

***

He was sitting on the porch steps when he heard the door to the house slide open. "Zhane," he said quietly, not bothering to turn.

"Nope," a voice from behind him countered. "Guess again."

The screen door banged, and an unwelcome presence joined him on the steps. Andros stared out across the backyard, wondering if ignoring him would make him go away. It seemed to have worked with everyone else in his life.

Disturbed by that thought, he muttered, "What do you want?"

"Not sure," Tixe said. The way the door creaked even after it closed said that he was leaning back against it at the top of the steps. "But I can tell you what I don't want."

The way he deliberately mimicked Zhane's carefree style of speech irritated Andros no end, but he couldn't help responding to it. "Yeah?"

"Zhane."

The name brought Andros up short, and he almost turned to glare at Tixe. He kept his pretense of indifference, but only just. He didn't dare open his mouth, though, because anything he said would destroy his careful mask.

"I don't love him, Andros." Tixe seemed determined to break through anyway. "We met at a party. We were drunk. We had some fun together, and that's all."

Andros glared at the ground, unable to sort out his conflicting emotions at Tixe's apparent carelessness. "Just fun, huh? You'd better hope that's all it was to him."

There was no answer, and Andros narrowed his eyes at the grass. Zhane didn't deserve any more hurt than he'd already had. "You must know I'd kill you for stringing him along."

After a pause, Tixe inquired, "There's just no way to win with you, is there?" Rather than sounding nervous, he sounded almost... amused. "If I want him, I'm not good enough for him. If I don't want him, I'm not good enough for you."

Andros swallowed. "It doesn't have anything to do with me," he muttered.

"Obviously it does," Tixe retorted. "You love him, and you can't bring yourself to share him with anyone else."

He jerked his head up, staring at the neighbors' house as though he could burn through the walls with his eyes. "You don't know anything about this," he growled, trying to convince himself it was true.

"No," Tixe agreed. "But I know that you and your girlfriend broke up because of Zhane. And Zhane and I... well, we're not really together yet. But if we never are, it'll be because of you."

"Yet?" Andros demanded. "What do you mean, 'yet'?"

He heard Tixe sigh. "You can't share Zhane with me," he pointed out. "So how can you expect your girlfriend to share you?"

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Andros was on his feet, fists clenched at his sides, and only then did he realize he had to glare up at Tixe. The other boy hadn't moved from the top of the steps, and the height different between the level of the porch and the ground was considerable.

"No," Tixe repeated, too calmly. "I've already admitted that. But I don't really think you do, either, and if you'd just accept it then maybe Zhane could help you figure it out."

"Don't tell me what to do," Andros hissed. "I've known Zhane my whole life. I don't need advice from you!"

Tixe's tone was casually condescending. "And when was the last time he slept with you?"

He felt the crackle of Power around his fingers, and he didn't have to look down to know that his left fist was glowing crimson. He forced himself to turn away, trying desperately to regain some kind of control. Tixe was baiting him; that much was obvious. But why?

"You said you didn't want him," Andros gritted, staring straight ahead. "So why are you doing this?"

For a moment, there was only silence. Then Tixe said, "I don't know." There was another pause, and he added, "Maybe I took what Astrea said before the quest to heart. Maybe I thought that trying to help each other be happy was something friends do."

The screen door creaked again, and Andros turned his head a little. There was the sound of a footstep scuffing the wooden slats of the porch stairs, and he could see Tixe with his hand on the door handle. "Maybe I was wrong," the other boy said at last. He closed the door behind him and went back into the house.

***

"I don't like this station," Karen argued, trying to wrest the remote control away from Carlos. "The guy who does the weather is creepy."

"The weather's not even on right now," Carlos protested. "Besides, I didn't pick this station; Jeff did."

"Jeff, your station sucks," Karen called. "And Carlos won't let me change it!"

"What do you want me to do about it?" he retorted from the kitchen. "You're more likely to beat him up than I am!"

"Aura!" Karen appealed to his girlfriend. "Tell Carlos to let me change the channel so we can get some non-creepy newscasters!"

Aura looked up from the floor where Tessa was teaching her how to play Solitaire. She studied the TV for a moment, then turned a curious look on Karen. "I do not understand what definition of the word 'creepy' you are using to describe these people."

As usual, Aura's impassively objective response made Karen laugh. "It's the principle of the thing," she explained, but her attention had been effectively diverted. "Hey, has Carlos really not taught you that game yet? He plays it all the time!"

"I do not," Carlos grumbled good-naturedly. "I *sometimes* play it on the computer when I'm bored with homework."

"Which is pretty much all the time," Karen pointed out.

Carlos shrugged. "It's not my fault that professors think I have nothing better to do with my life than finish their homework assignments."

"Like play Solitaire?" Karen suggested.

"Hey," he objected. "How many smoothies have you had this semester, Karen?"

She laughed, delighted. "At least I do something active to distract myself!"

"Walking to the snack bar doesn't count as active," Carlos countered. "Back me up on this, Cassie. I play computer games and she eats. Which of us uses our boredom more productively?"

Snuggled in Saryn's arms on the couch, Cassie was watching the scene in the living room through half-lidded eyes. She smiled at Carlos' question, and she shook her head apologetically. "Sorry," she told him, resting her head more comfortably against Saryn's chest. "You just asked me to side against the only person who eats as much ice cream as I do. Forget it."

"You have an excuse," Carlos retorted. "Being pregnant and being bored aren't on the same level."

"Although they're sometimes connected," Tessa murmured, and Karen giggled.

The porch door slid open, and everyone in the living room looked up to watch Ty let himself back inside. He glanced around, mouth twitching a little as he caught their gazes. "Didn't kill him," he remarked, tossing the words in the direction of the kitchen. "Wanted to, but I restrained myself."

"Thanks," Zhane's voice answered. "Next quantron attack, we'll all be grateful."

"Next quantron attack?" Carlos repeated, frowning toward the kitchen. "Are you expecting another one? What made you all go on that quest, anyway?"

"Andros," Ty muttered, and Carlos raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah," Zhane agreed ruefully, leaning against the counter so he could see into the living room. "Andros talked us into it. But I think he knows something... or suspects it, at least. There's something coming."

"Recent Border intelligence supports that view," Saryn confirmed, not moving from his position on the couch. "There is someone--or something--organizing the remains of Dark Spectre's forces beyond the Border."

"Great," TJ put in, joining Zhane at the counter. "Some new looming threat that will hit just in time for finals?"

Zhane just shrugged, but Saryn shook his head. "I think not. The probability that a serious offensive will be launched in the immediate future is low, and there is no evidence that it will threaten Earth in any case."

"It's not just Earth we're worried about," Carlos reminded him.

"Yeah," Zhane agreed, looking comically indignant. "Whose planet was just attacked? What kind of a worldview do we have around here, anyway?"

"He didn't mean it like that," Cassie murmured. "He's just saying it's probably not another Dark Spectre."

"I wish you hadn't said 'probably'," Tessa complained, rearranging the cards in front of her. "Don't Rangers ever get a break?"

"What do you think this is?" TJ said, grinning.

"This is a pizza delivery whose time is running out." Carlos glanced pointedly at his watch. "Is it free in another seven minutes?"

"Maybe Ashley and Kerone hijacked the truck," Jeff said, wandering through the living room to glance out one of the front windows. "I wouldn't put it past her."

He didn't specify, and Carlos couldn't resist adding, "I wouldn't put it past either of them! They're probably sitting on the hood of a pizza truck somewhere, laughing at us while we wonder where they are."

***

"How do you do that?" Ashley wanted to know, watching another flat rock skip across the top of the pond. "Are you cheating?"

"Probably," Kerone said, shrugging. "I can't tell. I just do it."

Ashley shook her head. "Carlos tried to teach me how to skip rocks once. He's really good at it too, but I never did learn."

Kerone handed her a smooth stone and pointed at the pond. The water shimmered violet for just an instant. "Try it now," she suggested, frowning down at the water. "I want to see something."

Obediently, Ashley tossed the stone across the top of the water. It skipped five, six... seven times before coming to rest on the surface of the pond. She couldn't help laughing. "That's definitely cheating," she told her friend, watching as the water shimmered again and the stone sank like--well, a stone.

"I guess," Kerone agreed, a small smile on her face. "Wasn't sure it would work."

"Is there anything you can't do?" Ashley asked idly. It wasn't as though it mattered, she just wondered sometimes.

"Not much," Kerone said, lifting her gaze from the pond. "Do you think I should take requests?"

Ashley smiled, shaking her head. "You'd just spoil us."

"I'd spoil you," Kerone corrected. "There are people on the team I'm not even talking to right now, let alone doing favors for."

"People?" Ashley repeated, though she couldn't deny the warm feeling that Kerone's support gave her. "More than one, now?"

Kerone made a face. "Just the one, then. But ignoring him takes as much energy as avoiding any three normal people."

She didn't mean to sigh, but she couldn't help it. "I know what you mean."

Neither of them said anything for a little while, and Ashley's thoughts drifted back to Andros again. In the other dimension, she had felt the old rapport with him and Zhane. For a few tentative hours, she had dared to hope that their friendship, at least, was salvageable.

But then they had come back, and Ty had been waiting. She told herself it wasn't his fault, and in her heart she believed that. It wasn't his fault that Andros became someone else around him... but he did, and it was as disturbing as it was frustrating. Unfortunately, no matter how she fought it, it was easier to blame Ty than Andros, simply because she hadn't known him as long.

"Why did you break up with him?" Kerone asked abruptly. "I mean, aside from the fact that he's selfish, spoiled, and terribly immature."

Ashley smiled involuntarily at her description, but she had more trouble answering that question than she had expected. She wanted to say, "Because he loves Zhane," but she couldn't help noticing who she was talking to. And if it came down to it, hadn't she always known that he loved Zhane? What was different now?

"Why didn't you break up with Zhane?" she asked instead.

Kerone gave her an odd look. "How do you know I didn't?"

Ashley blinked. "I just... I don't know. Did you?"

"No," Kerone said slowly. "But I think it's interesting that you assumed I hadn't. Cassie and Andros both thought I had."

Ashley swallowed, not sure how she felt about that. "Cassie knows?"

Kerone looked as though she was about to say something, but finally she just nodded.

Ashley didn't ask. Kerone had been in an awkward position for quite a while now, and she couldn't exactly talk to Ashley about it. It wasn't surprising that she had turned to one of her other friends. Ashley wondered what else Cassie had thought.

"I didn't break up with him because nothing's changed," Kerone said at last. "He's always loved Andros. It doesn't change the way he feels about me. Or the way I feel about him."

Ashley frowned, hearing the echo of Zhane's words the day before. He, too, claimed that nothing had changed... and just now she had caught herself wondering if things were really as different now as she imagined. Andros claimed he still loved her, after all--

No. "But it *does* change things!" she burst out. "He loves Zhane! He didn't even tell me, and that means he's been lying all this time because he said he's always loved me, and he's never felt this way about anyone else--"

Her throat closed up and she choked on the words, turning away so Kerone wouldn't see her embarrassment. She didn't understand how Kerone could be so calm about it. Had she known beforehand? Had Zhane told her, and somehow convinced her it was okay?

"Ash..." Kerone rarely used the boys' nickname for her, and it was touching and a little disconcerting at the same time. "Do you really believe Andros lied to you?"

She swallowed hard, but after a moment's hesitation she shook her head. Of course she didn't believe that. Everything they had been through still counted for something. Whatever he and Zhane had felt for each other before, he had been hers when Zhane came back into his life and everyone around them had known it. That hadn't been a lie.

"Then you believe he loves you?" Kerone prompted gently.

"I believe he did," Ashley whispered, not looking at her.

"Always have, always will," her friend reminded her. "You said that wasn't a lie."

She bit her lip, but she didn't answer.

"If he loves you," Kerone said at last, "what does it matter that he loves Zhane too? You love other people: your brother, your friends--"

"I don't want to sleep with my brother!" Ashley cried. "It's not the same thing!"

"How do you know Andros wants to sleep with Zhane?"

Ashley looked up in surprise. "Well... but--he kissed him! Or he wanted to... On the quest."

"So?" Kerone asked practically. "You kissed me that time at the carnival. I've seen you kiss Zhane, too, and I bet you kiss Jeff. Are you going to sleep with all of us?"

"No, of course not..." Flustered, she demanded, "Are you saying Andros and Zhane don't... they don't want--"

"Oh, they do," Kerone assured her. "At least, Zhane does, and I'm guessing that Andros' reaction to Ty means that he does too. I'm just saying that there's a lot of different ways to love someone. There ought to be enough to go around."

"I don't..." She closed her eyes, trying to will the tears away. Was there any way to make her see? "I don't want to be committed to someone who wants someone else."

"But if he wants you," Kerone began.

"He doesn't just want me!" she exclaimed. She didn't open her eyes. "He wants Zhane! You said so yourself!"

Kerone didn't answer, and finally she dared to look at her friend. Andros' sister didn't look exasperated, just thoughtful, and somehow that was reassuring. "How come you don't feel like this?" she blurted out. "How come it doesn't bother you?"

Kerone cocked her head, frowning a little. "I don't know," she said after a moment. "I don't know why you do, so it's hard to say why I don't."

Ashley sighed, disappointed. "I guess that makes sense."

They were quiet for a moment, and then Kerone said suddenly, "If it doesn't matter how he feels, then what about how you feel?"

She took a deep breath, lifting her gaze to Kerone's again. "What do you mean?"

"Do you still love him?" Kerone wanted to know.

"Yeah," Ashley said with a sad smile. "Yeah, I do."

"Then why did you break up with him?" Kerone repeated. "If you both still love each other... did he think you should break up?"

"No," she admitted. "He said--he wanted me to... he didn't want us to break up," she finished awkwardly.

"And you didn't want to break up with him," Kerone pointed out. "So why did you? Why can't you just wait and see if things really do change?"

"But they will," Ashley protested. "They already have!"

"Other than loving Zhane," Kerone insisted, "has he done anything wrong?"

Ashley sighed. "I don't think it's wrong, exactly--"

Kerone cut her off. "Other than that. Has he done anything wrong?"

"No," she said, very quietly.

"So why break up now?" Kerone pressed. "Why not later? Why don't you give him a chance now, and when he does something later that you're sure is wrong, you can break up with him then?"

She couldn't help smiling, just a little. "That's not very fair."

"Why not?" Kerone demanded.

It was on the tip of her tongue to say, because I don't know that he's going to do something wrong. "Because he deserves to know now," she said instead. "I already know that I can't deal with him and Zhane, and I don't want to hurt him by pretending I can and then having to tell him the truth later."

"Can you deal with them now?" Kerone wanted to know.

Ashley opened her mouth, then hesitated. "Well... yes... but right now they're just friends. I couldn't--I don't want to see them... I don't want them to kiss in front of me," she said in a rush.

"But they haven't yet." Kerone paused. "Have they?"

Ashley shook her head wordlessly.

"See?" Kerone said, as though she had known that all along. "Why can't you wait until they do? You can break up with them--with him then."

"Because that's not fair to me," she said quietly. "I deserve to move on too, Kerone."

"But are you?" Familiar hazel eyes stared at her intently. "Are you moving on?"

She stared back for a long moment, a dozen excuses fluttering through her mind. It hadn't been long enough. She hadn't been able to get away. But it would be never be long enough, not really, and she was a part of the team. She couldn't get away--not now, not ever. If she couldn't live with them, she had to quit.

"No," she whispered. "I'm not."

"Then don't try to live without them until you have to," Kerone said softly. "Andros loves Zhane. But he loves you too. Can't you let him? Can't you give him a chance, the way he wants you to?

"Tell him you don't want him to kiss Zhane in front you and see what he says. Tell Zhane you don't understand how Andros can love you both. Just say something to them, instead of breaking up with Andros without telling him why because you're scared of what might happen!"

Ashley swallowed, mustering a small smile for her friend's vehemence. "Since when did you become the 'let's talk it out' girl?"

To her surprise, Kerone actually laughed. "Since I started going out with Zhane, I think," she admitted. "He has these moments when he's really insightful. Not a lot of them, but he does have them."

Ashley sighed, a little relieved that the conversation had taken a lighter turn. She felt like she'd been crying for hours and was only now getting herself together. She hadn't really been crying, of course, but maybe if she were lucky the "getting herself together" part wouldn't turn out to be an illusion.

"Are you okay?" Kerone asked, more seriously. "I didn't mean to... I don't know. I was just trying to help."

"I know," she said quickly. "And you did." She forced a smile. "Maybe I should hang out with Zhane more, and see if any of his insight rubs off on me."

"There's a lot of other stuff to wade through before you get to the insight," Kerone told her, straight-faced. "It's probably not worth it."

Ashley giggled a little. "Well, thanks for the warning."

Kerone bent down a picked up another stone, flicking it across the surface of the pond absently. It didn't stop jumping until it reached the other side of the little pool. Ashley shook her head, not even realizing she'd done it until she caught Kerone's smirk.

"Want to go back?" Kerone asked at last, giving her an appraising look. "The pizza's probably there by now."

"Like you care," Ashley replied promptly.

Kerone shrugged, but she was smiling. "We can avoid them for the rest of the night if you want. But it probably won't get any easier than this. At least with the others around, they have to pretend to play nice."

And no one could say anything too embarrassing. She probably wouldn't even have to answer any questions if she went back now, while the others were there. They would all be too polite to bring it up.

"Okay," she said with a sigh. "Let's go."

***

"Do you have any chocolate chips?"

TJ shot her a wary look. "What do you want chocolate chips for?"

Cassie rested her head against Saryn's shoulder and smiled sweetly. "Guess." TJ raised an eyebrow, and she giggled. "I just want to put them on my pizza. It's better than pickles, all right?"

TJ shook his head, but he disappeared around the corner without another word. Tessa pulled one of the veggie slices free and passed it to Cassie, and Saryn reached over her shoulder to liberate one of the tomatoes before she could take a bite. Tessa laughed, putting a second slice on a plate and handing it to him.

"No," Carlos was telling Aura at the counter. "I'm not trying your disgusting pizza again. Isn't it enough that I eat your food whenever I'm on your planet?"

"Try some chocolate chips," TJ quipped, passing him on his way back into the living room. "I hear they make any kind of pizza better."

"Why is she serving the veggie pizza?" Zhane was asking Karen. "She doesn't even like it."

"I think that's the idea," Karen offered. "She's impartial. She won't hog all the broccoli, like someone else I could mention."

"Excuse me," Cassie interrupted, smiling at TJ in thanks when he handed her a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. "Broccoli happens to be my favorite vegetable. I'm just making sure my children learn good eating habits young."

"Then you won't be needing these," Saryn remarked, intercepting the chocolate chips. "Perhaps you should have chosen the pickles after all."

She made a face at him. "You're the only person I know who thinks pickles are better than chocolate. Give me those!"

"No," he said calmly.

The sound of the front door opening distracted her, and she craned her neck in a futile effort to see who it was. Saryn looked around too, and she took the opportunity to snatch at the bag in his hand. He was too quick. She stuck her tongue out at him when he turned to smirk at her.

Saryn leaned closer, careful to keep the chocolate chips out of her reach. "Is that an invitation?" he whispered, pressing his mouth to hers before she could answer.

Torn between laughter and breathlessness, she wondered, *Where do you get lines like that?*

"Contamination from your Earth culture," he murmured. He kissed her again, more gently this time, and he handed her the chocolate chips without further complaint.

"I hope you ordered enough cheese," Ashley was saying, apparently in response to Carlos' greeting. Her cheerfulness sounded forced, but considering the circumstances, Cassie couldn't really be surprised.

To be honest, she wasn't sure what Andros and Zhane were doing here. Well, Andros wasn't really here, but she didn't think he'd left yet either. And even if he and Zhane weren't together--or even, apparently, on speaking terms--their presence obviously wasn't making things any easier for Ashley. It would have been nice if they'd let her have some time alone with her friends.

"Look," Kerone remarked blithely, sliding one of the boxes off the counter. "They got you a whole pizza."

"Hey," Tessa interjected. "Save some for the pizza purists!"

Ashley laughed, grabbing a couple of plates to help Tessa serve. "Half for you and half for me," she suggested, heading over to the counter. "Where's Andros?"

As the only other person with a claim on the extra cheese pizza, it was probably an innocent enough question. But Cassie couldn't help noticing the way she peered into the box as she asked the question, rather than glancing around the room. Ashley must have done a preliminary Andros scan and come up empty, hence her deliberately casual inquiry.

"He's outside sulking," Zhane answered, handing her the knife Jeff had been using to cut his pizza. They caught each other's gaze over the counter, and something indefinable passed between them.

"Just like Andros," Ashley said lightly. Looking back at the pizza box, she asked, "Little piece or big piece, Tessa?"

"Little," Tessa answered from her place on the floor. "I want seconds later!"

"Seconds?" TJ gave her a skeptical look. "You expect seconds? Who do you think you're dealing with, here?"

"Here you go," Ashley said, passing Tessa a plate. "Anyone else want cheese?"

Cassie saw her friend glance surreptitiously out at the porch as she turned around, but Saryn distracted her by reaching over her shoulder again. "You'd think there were no tomatoes on yours," she commented, amused.

"Do you want my broccoli or not?" he retorted. "Fair is fair."

"I'll be right back," Ashley announced, and Cassie looked up just in time to see her sliding the porch door open. She held a plate with two slices of pizza on it, and Cassie frowned a little.

She didn't really mean to get up, but she must have tensed because Saryn laid a hand on her arm. "Let her go," he whispered in her ear.

She turned her head toward him and he kissed her temple. *She has a new team now,* he reminded her. The words slid easily over the surrounding conversation, and it still surprised her that no one else could hear them. *They must work things out among themselves.*

There wasn't much she could say to that. With a sigh, Cassie turned her attention back to her pizza. "All this really needs," she remarked to no one in particular, "is some hot fudge."

"Ew!" Karen exclaimed, and Tessa laughed.

"Are you taking lessons from Zhane?" Carlos wanted to know. "I thought TJ was bad with the ketchup, but this mixing foods thing is ridiculous."

"I was under the impression," Aura interjected, "that one could never have too much chocolate."

"Your source was gravely mistaken," Saryn informed her. "In fact, I believe the opposite to be true."

"Which is why Saryn doesn't cook for me anymore," Cassie put in with a giggle.

"That is categorically untrue," he countered. "Your memory is obviously becoming more selective as your pregnancy advances."

"Ah, the folly of youth," Jeff said with a theatrical sigh. Taking a seat by the counter, he smirked in their direction. "Never insult a pregnant woman."

"I am several years your senior," Saryn reminded him.

"I've heard that before," Jeff agreed. "Supposedly, so is Aura. But no one's ever been able to prove it to me. Your calendars don't mean anything to me, and frankly, you might as well be doing calculus when you start talking about sidereal time or whatever."

"Sidereal time doesn't actually have anything to do with it," Tessa commented, reaching for a napkin. "That's just another way of measuring days. And it's algebra, not calculus."

Jeff sighed again. "It's people like you that undermine my whole point."

Tessa laughed, setting her pizza down and looking around for something. "Well, let's figure this out. Someone must know the annual conversions, right? We don't really need anything else."

"I have a better idea," Carlos said quickly. "Let's not go there. Isn't there some random card game we could play instead?"

Cassie smiled to herself as TJ and Karen immediately jumped on Carlos, ribbing him about dating an older woman and prodding him to say what the age difference actually was. He maintained that he had no idea, he just didn't see the point, and they accused him of lying. When they turned to Aura, however, she pretended not to hear them, and Carlos looked decidedly relieved.

"Do you know?" she whispered to Saryn, and she felt him shake his head.

"What does it matter?" he murmured in return. "Love respects no boundaries."

"Lucky for us," she said softly, smiling.

***

He should have just left. There was no point in sitting outside all night, but he couldn't bring himself to get up and teleport out. It wasn't that he was trying to calm down enough to go back inside--he wasn't sure he could face everyone now anyway. He just didn't want to be any more alone than he already was.

Andros leaned back against the base of the handrail, staring out at the dimness without really seeing it. He couldn't help feeling like he was back at the beginning, when it had been him and them and the invisible wall that he couldn't seem to reach through. Ashley had pulled him into their group the first time, so determined to draw him out of his isolation that she wouldn't take "no" for an answer.

He had learned then, for the first time, what it meant to have friends in a time of peace. The first attacks on KO-35 had taught him that what you didn't cling to, you lost. His sister, his teammates, his parents... he held onto Zhane harder than anything he'd ever had before, and even that wasn't enough.

Then there was Ashley, with her school and her family and a thousand things he couldn't control or even participate in. Her friends were no better, with their refusal to let fighting consume their lives. He had watched helplessly as people he came to care about went in every direction, and all he could do was have faith that they would take care of themselves when it came to that.

And they did. They defended not only themselves but their planet, fighting off every threat that was thrown their way and then some. Earth remained free and blissfully ignorant of the surrounding conflict. He didn't have to watch yet another world fall to Dark Spectre. He found that maybe there was a reason to trust in others, after all.

Zhane's revival only reinforced that belief, and he found it surprisingly easy to give his old friend the same space his new ones seemed to want. He could let go, and it was a scary but exhilarating feeling. For once, he depended on something that didn't let him down. He depended on the team.

Andros sighed, glancing up at the lighted kitchen windows. He had a new team now, but it wasn't that easy. The old one had disbanded, pulled apart as much from within as without. He could blame it on the Council all he liked, but the truth was that they had gone their separate ways long before Kinwon decided to recall the astromorphers. What was to say this team would be any more stable?

There was a lot to say it wouldn't, if it came to that. Ty was an unknown element with little to recommend him but his good taste in lovers. Kerone was both adept and powerful, but her ability to use the Power was seriously in question. Ashley and Zhane were both experienced fighters and proven team players, yet he doubted either of them would take orders from him at this point.

Then there was the fact that none of them were actually speaking to him anymore. That made it harder for them to function as a cohesive unit, let alone provide a support system for each other. Somehow he had ended up with a team of friends that was harder to interact with than the team of strangers he had started out with two years ago.

He heard the porch door slide open, and he sighed again. Here he was, reenacting the familiar scenario. They had to come to him, because once again he was too scared to reach out. Did they ever outgrow their old dramas?

"Hey," Ashley's voice said softly, and he looked up in surprise. She caught the screen door so it wouldn't slam, then came down the steps without waiting for an answer. "I brought a peace offering."

His mouth quirked, and he shook his head as she sat down beside him. "You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to," she said, offering him the plate. "Hungry?"

He took a piece of pizza, scooping some of the extra cheese up with his finger as it slid off. "Thanks," he said gratefully. "Are you... how are you doing?" He knew it wasn't the best question, but it was what he wanted to know and he didn't know how else to ask. He wasn't the only one who had vanished from their impromptu party, after all.

She smiled a little, taking a bite of her pizza before answering. "I'm okay," she said at last, glancing over at him. "How about you?"

He swallowed, remembering Zhane's comment about people who were noble and repressed. "Not so good," he confessed, staring intently at his pizza. "I'm--I'm really scared."

Ashley hesitated. "Scared of what?"

He tore off another piece of pizza, trying to find the words. "Scared... that it won't be like it was," he said finally. "The team, I mean. That it's going to fall apart. That--" He forced a smile, trying to shrug it off. "That I'll be alone again."

She set her pizza down carefully, avoiding his gaze. "You won't be," she said, wiping her fingers on one of the napkins she had put under the plate. "You have all of us, and we made a commitment to KO-35. We're not going anywhere."

"That's not what I mean," he said helplessly. The mere fact that she wasn't looking at him only served to underscore his fears. "I'm more afraid of losing you than I am of losing a teammate."

She looked up at that, and their eyes met. She swallowed, but she didn't look away this time. "I... I don't want to lose you, either," she admitted softly. "But--I feel like I already have."

"Why?" he whispered, searching her expression for answers. "What did I do?"

"You--" She tried to smile. "You didn't--do anything. I just feel like... all of a sudden, I'm competing with Zhane or something. But I don't want to. If you guys love each other, then I want--I want you to be together."

"But what about us?" Andros insisted. "Why don't you want us to be together, too? If we love each other..." He braced himself. "Do you still love me?"

"Always have," she murmured, and he held his breath. The silence went on a little too long, but finally she admitted, "Maybe I always will. But--I feel like I can't, now. I don't want to come between you and Zhane."

"You won't," he said fiercely. "I told you that before. Don't you remember, last summer?"

She gave him a half-smile, her gaze wistful. "It's not just that. I don't want him to come between us, either, and... I feel like there's no way to avoid that. I'm so used to having you all to myself, Andros. How can I give that up?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but Tixe's comparison made him hesitate. If he couldn't tolerate Tixe... he swallowed. Could he even ask her to try? Ashley was a dozen times more forgiving than he was, but was it fair to ask more of her than he could of himself?

"You don't have to answer," she said, looking down. "I'm just... I'm just trying to tell you where I'm coming from."

"Please look at me..." He reached out to touch her chin, but she lifted her eyes immediately and he let his hand fall. "I love you. I want to know what you're feeling. I want you to know how I feel, but I can't seem to say it the right way. I--I love you, and I love Zhane, and it was never a problem before. I don't know what I've done to make it one now."

She sighed, but she kept her gaze on his. "You can't tell me you love him now the same way you loved him before. I saw you try to kiss him, Andros. And he wanted you to. That's--that's something that was just between us, before."

"I... we--" He didn't know how to tell her this. "We used to kiss, Ash. Me and Zhane... well, he used to kiss me, anyway. That was just the first time I started it."

Her expression was unreadable in the shadows from the kitchen light. "Over the summer, you mean? Or on the Megaship?"

"No!" He hurried to correct her. "I mean before that, on Rayven. Before he got hurt, and we were the only Rangers. We used to kid around, you know? He would kiss me for good luck before we went into battle... it was just a silly kids' game. It didn't mean anything."

"Didn't it?" she asked softly. Then she smiled a little, but she didn't look happy. "I guess I wasn't your first kiss after all, huh?"

"Not like that," he insisted. "He never kissed me like that! He was always dating some girl or other... you were the first person to kiss me like you meant it. And he's never kissed me since, Ash; I swear I would have told you. Not since he woke up."

"I said I didn't want to come between you," she murmured.

"And I don't want this to come between us," he told her. "I know that's not my decision to make, but please let me try? I don't know how Zhane feels, exactly, but I know he loves you in his own way and I know I need you. At least let me try..."

"Try what?" she said, after a long moment. "Andros, what do you want from me?"

"I want you to be happy," he blurted out. "I want to be with you, and I want you to give us another chance. I want to try and work things out with Zhane, and--and I want you to say our relationship isn't over. I want you to give me some time, is all."

Now she looked down, but he heard her soft sound of amusement and he thought she was smiling. "I think that first part was enough to buy you some leeway," she said quietly.

He blinked, thinking back. "I want you to be happy?" he suggested tentatively.

She nodded, lifting her eyes to his. He had been right; she was smiling. "Yeah," she agreed. "Thanks." She took a deep breath. "I... I can't promise anything, Andros."

When she hesitated, he interjected, "You don't have to. Just--don't say you won't, okay? Not yet. Give us some time to figure things out first."

She nodded once, and he felt like he was breathing easier for the first time in days. He didn't dare say anything else, for fear it would be the wrong thing, but her silent agreement was more than a relief. It was a reprieve against loss and the loneliness that used to plague him until he didn't even notice it anymore. He noticed it now, and he didn't want it back. He would fix this.

"One condition," she said at last, and he realized he had been staring at her.

"Anything," he assured her.

She smiled again, picking up the plate and holding her other hand out to him. "Come back inside," she told him. "It's getting cold out here."

He took her hand without hesitation, letting her pull him up. He followed her up the steps, grabbing the door for her before she could let go of his hand. Once again, she stood between him and the others as they reentered the house, offering a buffer of sorts, but his gaze sought Zhane's instinctively.

The Silver Ranger must have heard them coming, for he was watching them as they stepped through the door. So was almost everyone else, of course, but when Zhane nodded in their direction it was the best welcome he could have asked for. He suppressed a sigh of relief, smiling a little and feeling even better to see the expression reflected back at him.