Summary: Andros has lost everything that ever meant something to him… did he?

AA Lover: Yes, yes, you kept your promise. Now here’s mine in updating as soon as I got my chapter back (after sleeping though, got it back at bedtime).

Star Fata: YAY! Missed you! Ah, I know all about brothers and spreading obsessions. Luckily his Lego doesn’t catch on with me... most of the time, but Star Wars Animated did. Hope to see more of you again.

Zeopurple: Why does everyone hate Laura so much? Other than the fact I wanted them to hate her when the story started :P

GinaStar: Thanks.

Johnny: Yeah, you are totally and utterly right.

Sweetangel4: Welcome to my story. You definitely did join in time, for there are definitely a few more chapters in here. For one, I can’t leave Cody lost in space, now can I? I’m glad you decided to give this story a shot anyway and for that, I’ll share with you a little secret: in all my stories Andros and Ashley will, one way or another, end up together and there’s only one story I dared to really kill Ashley in, but that was because it was based on a song; Holes in the Floor of Heaven. So if I ever say Ashley or Andros is dead... I most likely am lying, but do play along for the sake of the other readers... even though most likely don’t believe me either.

Scarred

Chapter 41

Ashley smiled to herself as the doors of the lift closed behind her. She still couldn’t believe her luck. Andros hadn’t left until he was absolutely sure she knew exactly what she meant to him - at least as sure as he could be in a public area. His lips had been as soft as she remembered, and though his hands had wandered, they never strayed to places that could cause an embarrassing situation, were anyone to walk in on them (something she knew her fiends wouldn’t hesitate to do).

The lift doors opened and she stepped into the observatory. A startled Laura looked up and their eyes met. She was about to turn around and leave, when it registered that there were tears in Laura’s eyes.

“Laura?” Ashley asked tentatively. “Are you okay?”

Laura scrubbed at her eyes and nodded fervently. Ashley made a face and walked over.

“Well, you don’t look okay to me. What’s wrong?”

“How can you be so nice to me, when I was just so horrible to you?” Laura demanded , avoiding the question completely. Ashley shrugged and offered her a faint smile.

“Sometimes people say things they don’t mean. Nathi and I have had our fair share of fights – and trust me, I’ve heard worse from her.”

Laura nodded and paused before taking a deep breath. “I… I know what I’m about to say probably doesn’t mean much to you, but... I am sorry. I didn’t mean to – well, maybe I did – but I didn’t mean to say it. It’s just…” Her voice trailed and she glanced away. “When I heard that you and Andros had... you know... I guess... I guess I was just jealous.”

“You have a crush on him, don’t you?” Ashley inquired softly and got a nod in answer. “I don’t mind... You wouldn’t be the first and I doubt you’ll be the last. And I’m sure you’ll find someone. It might not be today and it might not be Andros, but there is someone for you out there.”

“Oh…” Laura frowned. “Now you’re just making me feel even more horrible.” She wrinkled her nose at Ashley and sighed. “You know… I really didn’t mean any of what I said. It was just… you were so different from everyone else. You didn’t try to fit in anywhere and all the guys in school seemed to be crushing on you and you just didn’t care. Call me stupid, but I think I almost saw you as a rival.” Laura said softly. “I think I saw someone I admired and wanted to be like, but I just don’t know how and… yeah.” She finished lamely.

“If it means anything to you, I think you’ve already come a long way since becoming a ranger. Before – well, before, frankly, you just didn’t seem to care about anyone else.” Ashley smiled to offset her blunt words. “Now helping others seems to be almost a reflex for you.”

Laura let out a breath and cast her an unhappy look. “You’re doing it again – making me feel like an absolute cow.”

Ashley thought for a moment and then held out her hand. “How about we start over? Clean slate as if the past few years have never happened.”

Laura’s eyes grew wide and she stared at the offered hand for a while before she tentatively reached out to take it, carefully returning Ashley’s bright smile.

“Hi, I’m Ashley Hammond from KO-35.” Ashley introduced. “Yellow Karovan Ranger.”

“Laura Blake from Earth.” Laura giggled. “Yellow Ranger.”

“Oh! We’re kindred colours!” Ashley beamed at her, clapping a hand to her face in mock surprise. “No doubt we’re going to be great friends.”

Laura laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure that helps.”

“Oh, by the way, we’ve been assured that Angel Grove doesn’t need our help repairing, so we’ll be going to KO-35 and seeing what needs to be done there. You all, of course, are invited to tag along if you want to.”

“I’m sure we can be of help there, one way or another.” Laura agreed. “And,” she added, almost shyly. “It would give us time to get to know each other a little better.”

Ashley smiled and nodded. “Deal.”

Two weeks later, KO-35

“Hey, we’re gonna miss you, man.” Cassie told him as she hugged Zhane.

He nodded, locking eyes with her for a moment. Suddenly Cassie sighed and whacked him on the head before making room for the others to say their goodbye.

“You sure you wanna go?” TJ asked as he and Zhane clasped hands.

“There are colonists out there in hiding who don’t know that the war is over. I think we all want them to come home.” Zhane replied, looking over at Kin Won for a moment.

“Thanks to all of you they now have a home to return to.” Kin Won agreed.

“Are you sure you don’t want any of us to come with you?” Nathi asked as she embraced Zhane for a moment.

“Yeah, you know we wouldn’t mind joining you.” Elias replied. “You don’t have to do this alone. It’s as much our duty as it is yours.”

“Yes, I’m sure. It’s your duty to our people to make sure they’ve got home to return to. There’s a lot of rebuilding needed here.” Zhane pointed out.

“That’s why he’s going.” Kobin accused, pointing an accusing finger at Zhane. “He doesn’t want to get his hands dirty.”

The Karovans laughed and Zhane sighed heavily, shaking his head, before winking at Kobin. “You got me.”

“Good luck.” Laura said as she stepped forward. “Don’t be a stranger when you find yourself close to Earth.”

“Hey.” Ashley smiled, stepping in front of Laura. She placed a kiss on his cheek, small tears shining in her eyes. “So tell me – how will you survive without us, huh?”

“Hard to imagine, eh?” Zhane smiled back.

Ashley laughed a little and stepped aside for Andros. The two shared a brotherly embrace.

“Take care of yourself.” Andros told him before pulling away. “You’re still my best friend.”

They clasped hands, the meaning behind their private handshake evident.

“And you’ll always be mine.” Zhane assured.

Andros nodded slightly and squeezed Zhane’s hand one last time before pulling away. Zhane looked around at them and a grin started to form on his lips.

“Don’t worry, some day when you least expect it I’ll be back home, for good.” He promised.

Everyone laughed, just barely, and gave some final goodbyes, Cassie messing up his hair and Andros sharing one final embrace. Then four other people stepped into view.

“Bring mom and dad back.” Esai told him, holding on to him tightly. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, but don’t worry, this won’t be last time you’ll see my ugly face.” Zhane promised, squeezing his sister tightly, as she giggled faintly.

“Don’t forget the rest of the family.” Brand told him while clasping hands with Zhane for a moment.

“Don’t mind him, he’s been spending too much time as ‘general’ Brand.” Risey laughed as he embraced Zhane. “But don’t you dare return without Jacal. Don’t worry about Esai too much, we’ll keep an eye on her.”

“Got it and don’t worry, I don’t plan too, Ash would kill me for some reason.” Zhane grinned.

“Take care. I’d hate to see Andros when you get yourself killed for real this time.” Karone smiled softly.

“Don’t worry. He’s got Ash again now.” Zhane smiled back, carefully reaching out to embrace her.

Karone willingly stepped into the hug and held onto Zhane for a moment.

“I could have a look around and bring you back a new Scrudly if you want.” He offered. “I’m sure people would love to play with him if they upset you.”

Karone laughed at that and playfully punched his arm. Waving goodbye one last time, Zhane walked into the small shuttle and before long it was airborne and flying away.

“I guess it’s time for us to go home.” TJ sighed when the shuttle had disappeared from view. “Earth needs a lot of rebuilding too.”

“You’re right.” Andros agreed. “We’ll drop by some time to visit and help.”

“As will we.” Carlos promised in reply.

The Karovans and Terrans said goodbye, quiet promises exhanged. When they separated, Ashley pulled her morpher off her wrist and held it out to Laura. The other girl looked surprised at it, before shooting Ashley a questioning look.

“What do I need with it? It’s yours.” She told her.

“No, it’s been yours for a while now, I just borrowed it.”

Laura shook her head. “I’ve been horrible to you, but you still want me to take it? Geez, Ash, I would’ve thought it’d be the opposite – me demanding it and you refusing to give it.” Laura nudged the morpher back towards Ashley. “Team morphers shouldn’t be divided. And anyways,” she added quickly, “It’s not like we’ll be defenceless – our Turbo morphers were restored to full power. It was an honour to carry your powers, but it’s your birthright and you deserve it much more then I ever could.”

“You deserve the power.” Ashley corrected. “Look at how far you’ve come; from a snob to someone who’s actually pleasant to hang out with.”

Laura blinked incredulously before laughing and hugging Ashley, taking everyone else by surprise.

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to really know each other better. I hope you’ll give me a chance to someday.” Laura told her softly.

“Normally you would have tried to hit me for what I said. Let me tell you, Laura – I’m proud to call you my friend now.” Ashley told her, before lowering her voice. “And I promise you there’s a guy out there for you. I do know of a certain black ranger…”

“Invite me to the wedding?” Laura interrupted softly as she blushed and Ashley giggled.

“Of course.”

The two girls pulled apart and looked at their surprised teammates. They obviously had the same morpher conversation, as Nathi, Kobin and Elias were strapping their morphers back on their wrists. Laura shrugged and took the morpher out of Ashley’s hands, strapping it back on her wrist for her.

“We’ll see you soon, right?” Laura asked, turning to all the Karovan rangers.

“Of course.” Nathi laughed. “Who knows, maybe now that Earth is ready to be a part of the rest of the universe, we could be stopping by every day.”

The Terran rangers laughed and they exchanged one last round of hugs and goodbyes before they finally parted.

“Tell my family they’re welcome to visit anytime.” Ashley called after them, now from the warm safety of Andros’s arms.

“We will.” Cassie promised, waving goodbye as they boarded the shuttle and the hatch closed.

The shuttle took off and disappeared out of sigh, almost as quickly as Zhane had. Ashley sighed a little and Andros held her closer.

“Wish you were with them?” He asked tentatively, almost afraid of the answer.

“No.” She told him firmly, turning around in his arms to face him. “I’ve been homesick since I came to Earth. I’m just really going to miss my aunt and uncle.”

“Sorry to break this up, but we need to see how many houses are still standing upright.” Brand cut in. “They’re returning as much people as they can to their original houses so the camps won’t be overly crowded.”

Esai looked rather uncomfortable for a moment and looked away. Risey laughed and slung an arm around her shoulder.

“Hey, we promised to look after you for Zhane.” He grinned. “You’re coming with us, standing house or not.”

“And before you get any ideas, you are staying under our watch too.” Brand rounded on Ashley and his sister giggled.

“What?” She teased. “Scared I’ll end up pregnant? No thanks, I think I’ll pass.”

Andros felt a slight pang at her words, but he didn’t say a thing. Had she changed her mind about having children? He knew much had changed for both of the in two years and they had yet to sit down and truly talk about it. Sure they had talked a little, but now that he thought back at it, they hadn’t said one word to each other about the future. Their talk had just gotten them back together, back to the way they were and into his bed.

He distantly heard a giggle before two warm lips pressed to his, snapping him out of his daze.

“You’re cute when you’re thinking.” Ashley informed him. “But no matter how cute you look, don’t do it so much anymore. It freaks me out because it makes me feel like I can’t reach you.”

She looked genuinely distressed and Andros couldn’t help but wrap his arms protectively around her and placing a sweet kiss on her lips.

“Serves you right for doing it to me.” He told her lovingly.

Ashley made a face at him, before pulling out of his arms and jerking a thumb behind her.

“We’d better catch up. Brand’s grumpy as usual.” She said.

“Yeah.” Andros agreed, catching her hand as he started after the others.

Ashley smiled warmly at him and twined their fingers together. Comforted by her gesture of affection, he smiled back. For just a moment he decided to forget all of his troubles and just love the life he lived.

A/N: Hope you all liked it. Sorry for the long wait, but this longer chapter than normal should make up for that... right? Please don’t be mad at me, I had trouble with the start of the chapter! Please, pretty, pretty, please with a cherry on top, review?

Jenny: Blah, don’t direct all your hate towards Marieke – it’s half my fault too for taking too long to beta-read. Sorry everyone But it’s a good chapter, so review!