Marieke
04-06-2005, 08:28 AM
These are chapter 2 and 3, now it should be up to date with fanfiction.
Disclaimer: Genesis is mine. Mack too.
Summary: Mornie utúlie. Believe and you will find a way. Mornie alantie. A promise lives within you now. He went on a mission never to return again. Or so they said.
What Was Lost
Chapter 2
“Mack, what are you doing here?” She demanded, surprised and nervous.
Mack was a senior, good looking and, naturally, very popular. She had had a secret crush on him for a while now, but she never thought he’d see her, a mere junior.
“I take music class, what else do you think? Nice song, by the way.” Mack replied.
“My mom used to play it when I was younger, back when my dad just…” Her voice trailed off and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to dam the tears that had suddenly filled her eyes.
What happened to her father was none of his business.
“Your dad what?” He asked.
“Nothing.” She muttered. “If you’ve got class in this room, I’ll leave.”
“Nope, just heard a beautiful song and came over to see who had such an enchanting voice.”
“Yeah, right.” She put her music back into her bag.
“I have to go.” She said, trying to keep her voice curt and even.
She quickly slipped out of the room and made her way to the main hall as fast as she could without running. Once there she took a moment to orientate herself, closing her eyes and concentrating on her best and only friend.
Then she turned and walked to the canteen. There she didn’t need to look around to know where to find her friend. She instinctively walked to the most distant corner of the canteen and dropped down in the windowsill next to a girl with dark brown hair with red streaks in it.
“Hey Genis.”
“Hey Rora. Where were you?”
“Trying to rehearse my songs.” Aurora replied, fishing her lunch out of her bag.
“How far did you get?”
“May it be.”
The girl looked up and tried to catch her friend’s eye.
“Too hard?” She asked, a little confused.
“No, Genis. I can sing it easily. Mack just happened to walk in.”
“Mack? As in, Mack, hotty of the school?”
“That’s the one. He happened to take on music too.”
“He sings?”
“Probably plays an instrument.” Aurora sighed suddenly.
“Something wrong?” Genesis asked softly.
“I… I just wish he was still here. That he hadn’t needed to go on that mission. I wish he could have been there when Ray was born.”
“Ray was his last gift to this world, huh?”
Aurora nodded miserably.
“Sometimes when I look at Ray, I see him and I can’t help but remember the promise he broke.”
“He didn’t mean to.”
“But he did anyway. The worst is when I first meet people and they ask if I’m his daughter, like the hair isn’t a dead give away. Then they ask how he is, because they haven’t heard anything about him in so long… But how do you tell them he…”
“Stop.” Genesis ordered firmly. “Others might not see it, but you’re hurting yourself by just thinking of him. Please, just don’t.”
“I can’t, we’ve got Universal Languages next.”
“It’s the last, right?”
Aurora nodded.
“Then skip. You can pick up Ray from school when school ends, so he doesn’t need to stick around for another hour. I’m sure Mr Woodland wouldn’t mind. You’re his best student.”
“Three guesses why.”
“Just go.”
“Thanks, Genis. See you tomorrow.” Aurora smiled, jumping up again and throwing the remainder of her lunch back in her bag.
She lifted her bag onto her shoulder and dashed out the school, stopping only at her locker to get her jacket and her mp3-player. Once off school property, she slowed her pace and started to walk in the direction of Ray’s school. It didn’t take her long before her jacket started to irritate her, so she pulled it off and swung it over her shoulder.
Her hair that reached just passed her shoulder danced in the wind and she suddenly felt the urge to throw down her bag and jacket and just spin around, laughing. She suppressed it, though, and just walked on, her music playing in her ears, her mouth moving as she silently sang along with the songs she was to sing next week.
It wasn’t unusual to see her depressed on moment and unbelievably happy the next. She had had these mood-swings for eleven years now, though she started out more depressed than happy, now it was the other way around.
“Aurora!” A happy exclamation brought her back into the real world again.
Chapter 3
“Ray.” She smiled, watching her ten-year-old brother come running her way.
“What are you doing here? I thought you still had Universal Languages?” Ray grinned happily at his older sister.
“Genis told me to skip.” Aurora replied, hugging her brother.
“I’m not even going to ask. I’ll get my stuff and we can go home.”
“I’ll go with you.” Aurora said, swinging one arms around his shoulder.
Ray put an arm around her waist and they walked into the school.
“Hey Aurora, taking care of your brother again?”
“Yes, Miss Montgomery. My mom had to work again.” Aurora replied to her … grade teacher.
“Your mother must be very glad to have you around to watch him when she needs to work.”
“Yeah, she is.”
They walked into Ray’s classroom and Ray quickly slipped out from under her arm and dumped his stuff in his bag. His teacher watched his with a smile. Aurora knew why. Her brother was a bright boy, hardly anything but happy and he showed the love for life she had lost so long ago.
“Ready.” Ray smiled.
“Alright then, let’s go home.” She smiled back, waving at his teacher when she walked out the room.
It didn’t take them long to get home. On the driveway their old red Kia Sportage stood. It was already fourteen years old, but her mother didn’t sell it, since her father had driven it all those years ago. The yellow Toyota Landcruiser that usually stood next to it was missing though. Yet another indication of her mother having to be at the office today.
Most of the time she worked at home, but sometimes she had to go to the office to work. Luckily, she had a great boss. Whenever one of them had had a day off or had been sick or something, she had been allowed to call in sick on his advise. On the rare occasions her mother had to go to a conference when they had a vacation, she got the rest of that week off and she take her and Ray with her, so they had a vacation, hotel and food paid by the company.
Everyone in the company knew that his only child had died in a car-crash and so, every kid who’s parent worked there was like a grandchild to him.
“Auroooo-raaaa” Ray whined, standing in front of the front door.
Aurora sighed and pulled out her keys, opening the door for her brother. As soon as the door was open, Ray quickly slipped passed her and dumped his bag in the hallway.
“No TV until you’ve done your homework.” Aurora yelled after him, when he ran into the living room.
Defeated, Ray walked back into the hall, picking up his bag again and walking up the stairs to go to his room to do his homework. Shaking her head, Aurora closed the door behind her before following him up the stairs to go make her own homework in her room.
Reefside
In the back yard of one of the houses, a group of 40 retired rangers and their children had gathered. The age of the children reached from 15 to due to be born in 5 months. The older ones were running around playing games, the eldest girl sat at the base of a tree, reading a book. The younger were staying close to their parents, too shy to make the first contact in this foreign environment.
The parents were chatting happily amongst each other. This was their third reunion and it held four new faces. But even the joy from finally meeting the new additions to the ranger family could not hide the slight gloom hanging over the gathering, for three people were missing from their midst; two rangers and their daughter, the eldest of all the children born to the rangers ever to have defended Earth with the risk of their own life.
They hadn’t been there at the last reunion either and would probably not be there at the next. One of the two missing rangers would never be able to join them ever again. Officially, he was still missing in action, since his body was never found, but they all knew…
The absence of the other two was their own fault, they knew it. Everyone that had known him had been so caught up in their own grief, they had forgotten the ones he left behind and the pain they had to be feeling.
When they finally saw past their own grief, it was too late to reach out to them. Too much time had past and they hadn’t dared to show their faces again after ignoring them in their time of need.
That knowledge was the biggest damper put on the, otherwise so happy, reunion.
A/N: Hope you liked it. Tell me what you think.
Marieke
04-10-2005, 11:10 AM
Chapter 6
Aurora woke up, the sound of rain pouring against the window reaching her ears. She groaned, turning around, pulling her pillow over her head. Luckily it was Saturday or she would have to go to school through the rain, car or not.
After tossing and turning for about ten minutes she concluded she wasn’t going to fall asleep again. Sighing she pushed the covers away. She quickly put on a sweatshirt over the oversized T-shirt she slept in. The days may be becoming warmer, but the mornings were still chilly.
When she came downstairs, Ray’s eyes were already glued to the TV-screen, watching a Power Ranger cartoon. She smiled at the irony of the situation; a child of two rangers being addicted to Power Ranger cartoons. Her dad would have found that extremely funny.
Her smiled faded a little after that thought entered her mind. She entered the kitchen to make herself breakfast and found her mother already there.
“Good morning.” Her mother greeted, not looking up from making her own breakfast and what looked like her brother’s breakfast.
“It’s raining and you dare to say ‘good morning’?” Aurora asked lightly.
Her mother laughed and looked up.
“You sound just like your father.” She told Aurora, a wishful smile playing on her lips.
“Someone has to.” Aurora replied. “So what are we going to do with our Saturday, seeing we can’t go to the park?”
“You still want to move to the attic?” Her mother asked.
“Well, yeah, it would be cool.” Aurora answered, slightly taken aback, before giving her mother a sceptical look. “You’re not pregnant and need my room for the baby, right?”
“No, of course not.” Her mother laughed. “If it means anything to you, I’ve only been your father’s.”
“Please, mom. Spare me the details.” Aurora joked, but her heart fluttered at the admission.
“You’re seventeen.” Her mother teased gently.
“That doesn’t mean I want to know how me and my brother we created.”
“What about you and me?” Ray asked, coming into the kitchen. “Is my breakfast ready, mom? I’m hungry.”
The plate with two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches rose from the kitchen sink unit and flew to Ray.
“Thanks mom.” Ray smiled and dashed out of the kitchen when the tune announcing the end of the commercials sounded.
Aurora laughed at her brother and turned back to her mother.
“So what about me moving to the attic?” She asked.
“Well, since there’s no way I’m going to be able to get either of you two outside today, not with this weather anyway, I thought, why not see what’s in the attic and if we’re in the attic anyway, why not see what we can do to make it your new room?”
“Mom, you’re the best!” Aurora exclaimed, hugging her mother.
“Make yourself some breakfast and get dressed, or you’re not helping.” Her mother warned.
“Yes mom.” She grinned, stealing on of the sandwiches from her mother’s plate and running up back to her room to get dressed.
“Hey.” Her mother protested, laughing. “Sometimes you’re too much like your father for it to be healthy.”
“If you say so.” Aurora called back, closing her bedroom door behind her.
Two hours later
“Mom?” Aurora called, looking around the attic.
She and her mother had split up so they could work through the attic faster. The attic wasn’t too big, but apparently, it was big enough to lose sight of her mother in.
“I’m here, sweetheart.” Come her mother’s reply, her voice sounding strange.
She made her way to where her mother’s voice had come from and she found her mother sitting on the ground next to an open box, an old yearbook resting in her lap and tears slowly making their way down her cheeks.
“Mom?” She asked carefully.
“I still not sure how he ended up in here.” Her mother whispered.
Aurora kneeled down next to her mother and looked at the page that lay open. Though the pictures were black and white, the familiar stripped hair was easily made out; looking closer she stared at the smiling face of a younger version of her father, standing in the picture laughing with Carlos and TJ.
“Oh Andros, why did you have to leave me?” She heard her mother whisper softly and she quickly wrapped her arms around her, trying to fight her own tears. “Sometimes I swear I see you walk down the street, but when I look closer it’s always someone else and how could it not be? The only ones with your hair are your own children.”
A song sprang into her mind and slowly an idea formed in her mind. An idea that would make sure Derek was out of the game. Derek wasn’t really her mother’s ‘boyfriend’, but he wasn’t just a friend either. It was low and the song would be a very late entry, but it would work for sure.
Eleven years had done nothing to heal the wounds created by her father’s death and she wouldn’t allow some other man to take her father’s place.
Her hand wrapped around the ruby heart hanging around her neck. Her father had given her the necklace for her sixth birthday. The last birthday present he’d ever gotten her. Now a silver ring with a ruby could be found on her finger. She had never understood the meaning, until her mother had explained to her that the ruby was her birthstone, the birthstone of Cancer.
How Ray had gotten the necklace and ring with his birthstone, the opal, she couldn’t remember, but something about them made her and Ray take extra care of them.
If she hadn’t had her eyes closed, she would have seen the red light emitting from within her closed hand.
Chapter 7
The slave-planet
The man cried out in pain, knowing he was lucky if he saw the end of this torture, and even luckier if he survived it.
Suddenly the pain stopped and he heard a voice from beyond the fog in his mind.
“Sir, the Zodiac morphers have just been activated, but the power surge was too short and too small to locate them.”
“Damn it, they know I’m here.” The voice of the cloaked figure cursed.
“Calm down, Blaecleah. You still have him.” The voice of the head guard appeased.
Hot breath hit his face and Blaecleah’s voice was startling close and load.
“WHO are the Zodiac rangers? Who did the Zodiac choice?”
“I don’t know.” He spat. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”
“Kill him.” Blaecleah ordered.
“Wait.” The head guard protested. “Who ever the rangers are, they won’t kill one of their own. You can use him against the rangers. As long as you have him in your hands, the rangers won’t attack in fear of you killing him.”
“You’re right, Suileabhan. Put him back with the other slaves. He might as well make himself useful again.”
Crystal Springs, a few days later
“Alright, remember this is our last rehearsal before the dress rehearsal, so anything that still goes wrong now should be fixed by then.” The music teacher warned. “Alright… let’s start with ‘The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room’.”
Aurora followed Genesis on stage. Genesis had chosen music too, but she didn’t take it as serious as Aurora did, she was just in it for the fun, as the song showed.
“Wait, wait, wait.” The teacher called and looked at them. “You can’t have just one background dancer.”
Aurora rolled her eyes.
“Rora, could you fix that for him for a moment?” Genesis asked sweetly, winking at her friend.
Aurora’s mental powers were no secret, she used them everywhere she went, but not everyone knew the full extent of them. A smile played on her lips when she closed her eyes and suddenly ten Aurora’s stood on stage, moving in perfect unison.
“What the…”
“That’s called Astral Projecting, sir, safes us the trouble of having to learn to dance in unison.” The Aurora’s said, before disappearing and leaving only one. “You won’t even notice the difference, promise.”
“There’s only one girl in the whole world with your hairstyle and you think no one’s going to notice it?” The teacher replied sceptically.
“I’ll be wearing a wig.” Aurora smiled.
“Alright, continue.”
As the music started again the two girls put up a great show, causing the other students in the auditorium to laugh. After a few other songs it was Aurora’s turn again with ‘Someone’s Watching Over Me’, not knowing how true that song really was.
A place time does not exist
“Don’t worry, Cancer. You’re time will come, but for now I need you to wait. Your teammates have to prove they’re worthy of fighting at your side. Only your parents saw what a precious gift you were. Your life might not have been easy, but I promise you a better day will come soon, that I promise you.”
The view split and showed small groups of children, eleven in total, age reaching from fifteen to eleven. The first group consisted of Chaitlin and two fourteen year olds, a boy and a girl. Their surroundings were lush with plant life.
The second group held two boys and a girl in a seemingly lifeless desert. The third group, if you could call it that, a boy and a girl, were surrounded with water, nothing but water. The fourth and last group, three kids, two girls, one boy, had buildings all around them.
“Virgo and Gemini, Capricorn, Aries and Leo, Aquarius and Pisces, Taurus, Scorpio and Sagittarius, a test awaits you, be ready and be safe. Cancer and Libra will need your help in this war.”
Marieke
04-13-2005, 06:09 AM
What Was Lost
Chapter 8
“Carlos, are you okay?”
Carlos looked up and smiled at his wife.
“I’m fine, Aura. I was just feeling a little homesick. It’ll pass.” Carlos assured her, giving her a quick kiss.
“I’m not a ranger anymore, Carlos. There’s nothing to keep me here, if you wished to…”
“You’d give up your planet for me?”
“You did the same.”
“What about the water?”
“The water in Angel Grove, Reefside and Crystal Springs is pure enough for us to rehydrate, and it would be much easier to visit if Cassie and Saryn end up moving too.”
“Now I remember why I love you so much.” Carlos grinned.
Aura gave him a play.
“I’ll go see what Dymphna and Murtagh think about it.” She told him and left the room.
Carlos smiled. He knew Aura mentioned Crystal Springs on purpose. He had to admit it was a beautiful town and he wouldn’t mind living there, but Cassie was right, it wasn’t smart to move there now. Calling Ashley was out of the question; too much time had passed and suddenly entering her life again by moving there, maybe even becoming her neighbour was just plain stupid and invasive.
From what he understood, Ashley and Aurora had been able to survive without them these past eleven years. Why would they suddenly need them now? It wasn’t as if Aurora would recognize them. No, it was better if they just stayed out of their lives.
Crystal Springs
Slow motion
Devastation
Should’ve seen it coming
But I couldn’t do nothing
Emotion
Desperation
Someone save me
I can’t seem to break free
Go on
Get out of my head
I’m on the wrong side of a parallel universe
Am I alive or just dead
I’ve been stumbling in the dark
Living in a crash world
Go on
Get out of my head
I’m on the wrong side of a parallel universe
Am I alive or just dead
I’ve been stumbling in the dark
Living in a crash world
The teacher applauded.
“Very good, Aurora. All right, that’s it for today. I’ll see you all at the dress rehearsal.”
“Yeah, really good, Skunk girl.” A voice sneered from the shadows after the teacher had left. “A cow sings better than you do.”
“Oh, shut up, Shannon. I don’t see you standing on that stage.” Aurora shot back. “But if you think you can do it better, be my guest and take over for me.”
Shannon shot her a foul look and walked past Aurora to Mack.
“Hey Mack, what would you say to a coffee?”
“I’ve got nothing better to do.” Mack replied.
Aurora rolled her eyes as she caught Genesis’ gaze and walked out the auditorium, telekinetically retrieving her bag. Once in the hallway Aurora turned to her friend.
“They always say opposite attracts.” She whispered. “But that doesn’t count when it’s about popular meeting popular.”
Genesis laughed.
“Sorry to bring that theory down, Rora, but you mom was popular back in high school and she still married your father, a social disturbed alien.”
That made Aurora giggle.
“Yeah, well, every rule has its exceptions.”
“You being one to them all.” Genesis teased.
“I can’t help it. I’m just myself.”
Genesis shook her head, but didn’t reply. Aurora didn’t take pointing out that she was only a fraction of the girl she used to be very well.
Chapter 9
“So when are you leaving for Ireland?” Genesis asked.
“Didn’t I already tell you?” When Genesis shrugged helplessly, Aurora sighed and replied. “Friday after school. Don’t worry, I’ll send you a postcard.”
“You’re going to Ireland?” A voice asked behind them.
“Yes, Shannon, but don’t worry, it’s only for the vacation.” Aurora answered sweetly.
“How come you get to travel the world? It’s just not fair; freaks like you belong in a cage.”
“You think it’s unfair she gets to see the rest of the world?” Genesis asked, a devilish grin on her face. “She used to travel the universe during the weekends.”
When Shannon didn’t reply to that, the two girls left giggling.
“Oh and Shannon.” Aurora called over her shoulder. “Close your mouth, you’re catching flies.”
Shannon’s face turned dark and Aurora and Genesis quickly ducked into their classroom and just in time too, for the teacher was just about to close the door.
Shannon was the typical popular, dumb-blond, air-headed, stuck up, captain of the cheerleading squad. Like Mack she was a senior and she couldn’t stand Aurora, probably because if Aurora wanted, she’d be a threat to her throne.
Elisia
“It’s on.” Saryn told his family. “We’re moving to Earth next week.”
“YAY!” Their children exclaimed.
“There’s just one problem.” Saryn sighed.
“What is it?” Cassie asked.
“The house they arranged for us, it’s in Crystal Springs.”
Anlon quieted and his brother and sister shot him questioning looks. At the age of fourteen, he was the only on of the three who even slightly remembered what that meant. Sure they all knew about what happened, but his sister had been a just five months old and his brother had only been one year old. They had heard stories, but didn’t remember ‘uncle’ Andros.
“We’ll figure it out.” Cassie promised. “Maybe it’s a sign.”
Thursday evening
Aurora shifted uncomfortably, it was now or never. After this song it was her turn and she would break her mother’s heart again. A sigh escaped her lips when the song ended and the teacher walked onto the stage to announce her.
“Go get ‘em, Tiger.” A voice said in her ear.
“Tiger?” She asked, raising her eyebrow at Mack.
“Yeah, your hair reminds me more of a tiger than a skunk. Now go.”
He gave her a slight push and she walked onto the stage, but not before shooting him a grateful smile. ‘Skunkgirl’ was getting old and ‘Tiger’ fitted her much more. It felt like a compliment.
The music started, snapping her out of her thoughts and she started to sing.
Went through the attic today,
Found an old yearbook packed away
And I started reliving the past,
When I saw his face.
Suddenly, to my surprise,
I felt a tear fall from my eyes.
The heart never forgets,
No the heart never forgets.
You can find someone,
And live your life,
Put an old memory out of your mind,
But the heart never forgets.
A face on a crowded street,
An old movie on T.V.,
A song on the radio
Can bring it all back.
Years roll by,
One by one,
All things change,
But there's always someone,
The heart never forgets,
No the heart never forgets.
You can find someone,
And live your life,
Put an old memory out of your mind,
But the heart never forgets.
The heart never forgets,
No the heart never forgets.
You can find someone,
And live your life,
Put an old memory out of your mind,
But the heart never forgets.
No the heart never forgets.
Ooh, yeah.
Tears filled Ashley’s eyes as she listened to the song. Aurora was right, no matter how much she tried, forgetting Andros was impossible. He had been her one true love, her soul mate, the bond they had shared was proof of that. They had always kept that bond to themselves, never telling the others about being empathic to the other’s feelings, or that Andros had felt her pain when she gave birth to Aurora.
The bond had only made Andros’ death harder. After having been so close for almost seven years, Andros’ presence and emotions being wrenched from her mind so abruptly had left her with an empty feeling inside, a hole that could never be filled again.
As she watched the rest of the show, she steeled herself for what she was going to have to tell Derek.
Chapter 10
“Bye Aurora. Don’t forget my postcard!” Genesis smiled as she waved to her friend.
“I’ll try not to.” Aurora promised, getting into the car.
Ashley smiled as Aurora sat down next to her and started the engine, pulling off the driveway and onto the road. After waving one last time to Genesis they drove off to the airport.
Just as they passed the sign saying, ‘You are now leaving Crystal Springs. We hope you had a nice stay. Visit us again sometime.’ a moving van entered Crystal Springs.
Somewhere else in Crystal Springs
“Where is it?” Cassie complained. “It should have been here before we arrived.”
“It could have been stuck in a traffic jam, like us. Or maybe the driver got lost, like us.” Saryn offered.
“Very funny.” Cassie said, shooting him an amused look and shook her head.
She was just about to go into the house and see what her children were up to, when the moving van come around the corner. She let out a relieved breath. The longer she was outside, the more uncomfortable she felt. What if Ashley just happened to walk by?
Things were only going to get more complicated when Carlos, Aura and their kids would move here next week. At the moment they were staying at TJ and Tessa’s house in Angel Grove, waiting for their stuff to arrive. Last she heard Carlos was trying to get a job as PE-teacher at Crystal Springs Junior High.
As the movers started to move the furniture from the van into the house, a car pulled up to the house next door and a woman stepped out.
“Oh, hello.” She greeted. “You must be the new neighbours.”
“Well, yeah. Hi, I’m Cassie Chan.” Cassie introduced, shaking the woman’s hand. “And this is my husband Saryn.”
“Lacene Banks. It’s nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all ours.” Saryn replied.
Lacene nodded.
“Oh, I’ll warn you now. My youngest, Genesis’s music can get pretty loud. That’s the reason the other neighbours moved.”
“You’re not to worry.” Saryn said, amused. “Our children are liable to try and outdo her. Especially the boys.”
“How many children do you have?” Lacene asked, interested.
“Three, two boys, fourteen and twelve, almost thirteen and a daughter of eleven.” Cassie replied. “And you?”
“Two daughters, Kelly, the eldest is twenty and off to college, so she won’t bother you too much and Genesis is seventeen. The only reason it’s quiet at the moment is because she went to see her friend off to Ireland.”
“She’s moving too?” Cassie asked.
“Oh no, Genesis would freak if she moved. No, she’s going on a vacation. Her mother gets send to a lot of conferences around the world and she always takes her two children with her. She’s a single mother you know. Genesis is often jealous of her friend, in a good way of course. The two of them are the best of friends.”
“I know those kind of friendships.” Cassie smiled.
Just then a girl walked up to them. She had dark brown hair with red streaks running through it and deep green eyes. She looked at Cassie and Saryn with interest.
“Hi.” She greeted.
“Genesis, these are our new neighbours, Saryn and Cassie Chan. Saryn, Cassie, this is Genesis.”
Before Cassie and Saryn could say anything a girl came running out of the house.
“Mommy!” She cried. “Anlon and Kagan are bugging me.”
Cassie shook her head.
“That’s our cue to go.” She sighed. “I was nice to meet you. I’m sure we’ll talk again soon.”
“I don’t doubt it. Genis, could you help me get the groceries inside?”
Genesis nodded and opened the trunk of the car as Cassie turned to her daughter.
“Come on, Abigail. Let’s punish your brothers, shall we?” She said, offering her hand to the girl.
Abigail nodded and took her mother’s hand, following her parents back into the house. Before she stepped in though, she waved at Lacene and Genesis.
“Nice people.” Lacene smiled.
“I feel like I know them from somewhere.” Genesis replied, tilting her head, studying the retreating pair. “I just can’t figure out from where.”
A/N: Hope you liked it. Let me know what you think.
Marieke
04-26-2005, 12:22 PM
Wow some response. Here's all the chapters I uploaded on fanfiction.net:
Chapter 11
Onyx
A cloaked figured sat at one off the tables in the darkened pub, a steaming drink in front of him. His informant had wanted to meet him here, saying he had valuable information. He had sat here for half an hour already and his informant still hadn’t shown up. Not that it was unusual, but it made him feel uncomfortable.
“It’s a good day for destruction.” A voice said.
“Indeed, the universe is getting crowded with good.” He replied on instinct, suppressing a sigh of relieve.
Another cloaked figure sat down across from him, red eyes staring at him form under the hood.
“So what have you got?” He asked.
Wordlessly the figure handed him a disk-reader. He quickly skimmed over the information the disk held. Deciding it was worth the money, he pulled a pouch out of his pocket and put it on the table.
“It’s all there. I’d say count it if you want, but chances are, you won’t get out of this place with it.”
The figure gave a curt nod and left.
He quickly drained his drink, threw some money on the table and left as well. Outside he looked around to see if the coast was clear, before slipping between two buildings. After he left the town it didn’t take him long to get to a cave.
Walking inside the cave he found a silver Galaxy Glider hidden behind a rock formation. This time he did let out the sigh of relieve. He had done it once again.
Before Andros would have risked his life to get this information, but since the crash, eleven years ago, he was NASADA’s victim.
The sigh escaping his lips this time was a defeated one.
Eleven years go there was a new evil leader on the rise. The red rangers from the Serpentera mission had headed out to stop him. Sure they had succeeded, but the cost was too great.
The Megalasers had not been able to hit the attacking fighters, so Andros had taken a jet fighter and started to destroy them like that. Why he had left his morpher behind, no one knew, but when he destroyed the last fighter, Andros’ fighter got hit and crashed on the surface of one of Cratus’ moons. If he had been morphed, there was a slim change he might have survived, but since his morpher was still on the Megaship…
Now, if NASADA decided to act on the information, the rangers would find themselves at Cratus again. Apparently the evil leader had a son, who was now causing trouble and Cratus was a slave planet, always had been too.
An explosion somewhere outside brought him back to reality and he quickly jumped on his glider, leaving Onyx behind.
Later at NASADA
For the second time in a short while all rangers had assembled, this time most of them had left their families at home. They were looking at the information Zhane brought back from Onyx.
“Does that devise really suppress all telepathic activity of the brain?” Rocky asked.
“It says it worked on the test subjects and they currently have a few slaves walking around with that band around their heads and no one has tried to rescue them.” Zhane sighed.
“These Zodiac rangers that keep returning, who or what are they?” Leo wanted to know.
“I don’t know. They’re currently trying to figure that one out.” Karone replied. “Until then, we can’t do anything with this information.”
Meanwhile in Crystal Springs
“Why couldn’t we come?” A bleach blond haired boy complained.
“Serious ranger business, Dakota. Now shut up.” Chaitlin told her brother.
She was to watch all the Astro Ranger’s kids, minus Aurora of course, since she was the oldest one present. Their parents had gone off to NASADA once they received word that her father had returned with important information and she and the other children had to stay behind at the Chan’s house.
Eleven children inside a house on a beautiful spring day was not advisable, so she had decided to take them to the park, where they currently were, but that didn’t stop Dakota from complaining. Sometimes it was as if Dakota had to make noise for two, since his twin Kayla was normally pretty quiet.
A scream pulled her out of her thoughts. The eleven of them were surrounded by freaky looking aliens and she highly doubted they were nice either.
As the aliens slowly moved in for the attack and the others formed a defensive circle, she suddenly wished she had ranger powers like her parents. It would make this so much easier.
As if on cue the sapphires in her ring and the pendant of her necklace started to shine and a violet light took over her vision.
Chapter 12
Bright lights suddenly appeared in the room, making them cover their eyes. When the light disappeared, eleven ninja like figures had appeared. (A/N: Think Mighty Morphin’ ninja suits.)
Immediately the rangers took defence stances, ready for an attack.
“Who are you and what do you want?” TJ demanded.
“Cool it, dad. It’s us.” A girl spoke.
“Elsha?” TJ asked, dropping his arms and looking at the ninja, stunned.
The girl pulled down her mask, as did the others. All the other rangers followed TJ example, some even catching flies. Karone was the first to recover.
“Chaitlin, what’s going on?”
“Don’t know, mom. I was taking them to the park when these freaky looking aliens suddenly surrounded us. As they were moving in on us, I wished I had powers like you and dad and suddenly there was this light coming from, I don’t know where, and when it faded we were all dressed like this.” Chaitlin replied.
“It came from the pearl in my necklace.” Kayla whispered.
“Ditto.” Dakota said, his voice unusually soft.
“It came from my ring.” Megan, TJ’s youngest, spoke.
“It came from both my ring and necklace.” Abigail offered, the rest of the children nodding in agreement.
“Kayla, Dakota, are you wearing those pearl rings? And Megan, are you wearing that turquoise necklace?” Saryn asked, a suspicion forming in his mind.
All three shook their heads.
“Why?” Dakota wanted to know.
“Cassie, you said those necklaces and rings have the birthstones belonging to the Zodiac signs the children were born under, correct?” Saryn turned to his wife.
Cassie nodded and Saryn looked at the other rangers.
“I believe finding the Zodiac rangers is not necessary anymore.”
Eyes widened as the other rangers realised what Saryn suggested.
“The birthstones in the necklaces and rings, they’re the morphers, right?” Cole asked and Saryn nodded.
“They seem to be able to activate both individually and together.”
“Aurora.” Karone whispered softly, catching everyone’s attention.
“What?” Zhane asked.
“Aurora was born under Cancer.” Karone explained. “For her sixth birthday Andros got her a necklace with a heart shaped ruby as pendant. She must be the Cancer Ranger.”
“I believe we have a problem.” Tommy muttered.
Suddenly the viewing screen changed view, instead of the information Zhane had collected on Onyx it now showed a woman. She was dressed in white robes and a white cloak rested on her shoulders. The hood of the cloak rested on her head, but did nothing to hide her face. Long curling blond hair spilled over her shoulders and she was watching them with piercing blue eyes.
“Zodiac rangers, now you know about your powers, you must learn to control them and then, before the end of the week, you’ll head out to the slave planet Cratus. Your enemy holds a card that could put you out of commission. You must get it back in your hands again, before he decides to reveal it, by using it against you.” She spoke, her voice ringing through the room.
“I would love to learn how to control my powers.” Dakota replied, dryly. “But if I don’t know what I can do, how can I control it?”
“Dakota.” Chaitlin hissed.
“Your individual powers you will have to figure out yourselves, but I will tell you about your collective powers. As you already noticed, you are able to teleport anywhere you want. Your whole arsenal of weapons is available to you both morphed and unmorphed. You have two morphs, the first you already used, the second is an armoured mode…”
“Armoured mode… That wouldn’t happen to be tight spandex and a helmet, right?” Anlon asked.
“Yes, it would.” The woman answered.
Most boys let out a collective groan.
“Just this once the morph came to you freely, from now on to morph you call ‘Zodiac power up’ followed by your Zodiac sign. That is all I can tell you, the rest is up to you to figure out.”
“One question.” Elsha said. “Will Cancer and Libra join us on Cratus?”
“No, they will not. Both Cancer and Libra have proven to be worthy of the power. On Cratus you will have to prove you are worthy to fight at their side.” With that, the screen turned back to the information.
“Great, so we’re on our own then.” Kagan cursed.
“We’ve got each other.” Reese, TJ’s son, reminded him.
“How about we start training, so we can go to Cratus?” Chaitlin suggested. “We’ve got less then a week to get control of these powers.”
The others nodded and turned to their parents.
“Where do we train?” Dymphna asked.
“Simudecks.” Zhane suggested.
So said, so done and they headed to the Megaship, still stored in one of NASADA’s hangers, having not being used in eleven years.
Chapter 13
“Sir, eleven of the thirteen Zodiac rangers have appeared.” A guard reported.
“Which are missing?”
“Cancer and Libra.” The guard replied.
“So… the Zodiac team is leaderless, how… convenient.”
“Do we attack?”
“No, we wait until Libra shows.”
“What about Cancer?”
“Cancer must be prevented from joining at all cost. Cancer is chosen to be leader and everyone knows; without a leader…”
“A team can’t function.”
“Correct.”
NASADA, two days later
“Do you think we’ll be ready in time to go to Cratus and win?” Kayla asked her twin.
“We have to be.” Dakota answered.
“But what if we aren’t?”
“Let’s not think of that. Come on, if you want to make the change we lose as small as possible, let’s train.”
Kayla nodded and followed her twin onto on of the Megaship Mark II’s Simudecks.
“Zodiac power up, Gemini.” They called together.
The ninja cloths appeared on them again. Dakota’s were dark blue and Kayla’s light pink.
The colour of their uniforms were pretty much standard, as were most of the other rangers. Chaitlin’s uniform was violet, Anlon’s was deep red, Kagan’s was green, Abigail’s was orange, Dymphna’s was light blue, Murtagh’s was black and Eshla’s was yellow. The uniforms that had caught their attention though were Reese’s and Megan’s, Reese’s was both red and white and Megan’s was lavender with blue.
“Deca, start simulation.” Dakota ordered and Craterites appeared all around them.
“Twin Blade.” Kayla ordered, hearing her brother do the same.
After a ten-minute fight, the room suddenly brightened and the woman from the viewing screen appeared.
“It is time.” She spoke the simple three words and disappeared.
Kayla looked at her brother and swallowed.
“This is it.” She whispered.
“Isn’t two days a bit short?” Dakota complained. “Deca, end program.”
“Dakota, Kayla, report to NASADA’s control room.” Chaitlin’s voice ordered them.
“Coming.” Dakota replied. “Come on, before she flips.”
“You like putting her on the edge.” Kayla reminded.
“I know, but not right now we need to be serious and I can’t have Chaitlin angry at me when we need to fight together.”
“Wow, I never thought you’d learn.”
Dakota laughed and swung his arm around his younger twin’s shoulder after both demorphed. They walked to NASADA’s control room like that, Kayla leaning her head against her brother’s shoulder. No matter how different they were, they would always be the other’s best friend.
“There you two are!” Chaitlin exclaimed, exasperated.
“Sorry, we were training.” Kayla replied, not moving from her brother’s side.
“You could have teleported you know.” Chaitlin reminded.
Since there was no obvious leader, Chaitlin had taking on the role as one. She wasn’t really comfortable with it, that much was obvious, but no one else seemed willing to do it, or were just to young.
“Alright, now that everyone’s here, let’s go.” Chaitlin said, obviously nervous.
“Be safe.” Karone said, her voice shaking.
It was obvious she wasn’t comfortable sending her children to the planet, where on one of the moons, her brother had met death.
“We will, mom.” Dakota replied. “I promise.”
Chapter 14
Aurora smiled as she walked back into the hotel. They were staying in Dublin, in the same hotel where the conference had been held last weekend. They had spent the whole day in Dublin, shopping, sightseeing and such. Now it was evening and they had decided to bring their stuff to the hotel before going out for dinner.
“Excuse me. Who of you is Aurora A. Hammond?” The receptionist asked.
“That’s me.” Aurora replied.
“There’s a letter for you.”
Aurora looked over at Ashley strangely. Who would be sending her a letter here? Not even Genesis had the address of the hotel.
She handed her bags to her mother, walked over to the receptionist and took the letter.
“Thank you.” She said.
As they walked to the elevator she opened the letter and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw what it said.
“Aurora? Are you okay?” Ray asked, watching his sister’s face paling.
Wordlessly Aurora handed her brother the letter. Ashley looked over her son’s shoulder to read it too. It was a simple note, starting with only the sign of Cancer and read: ‘Pas op! Mornie útulie. Wees op je hoede’. (A/N: Beware! Darkness has come! Be on your guard!)
“How?” Aurora whispered, tears and a fearful look in her eyes.
“Come on.” Ashley urged, pushing both Aurora and Ray into the elevator.
It was as if a stone had been dropped into her stomach. The words, it was very ancient Karovan. Not many Karovans knew it, Andros had been one of the few, but then again Andros had been one of the few in many things and she had been the only one to know. Not even Zhane and Karone had know Andros could read and write that ancient Karovan, nor had they known Andros could do Astral Projection.
Astral Projection, he could not teach her, you just had it or you didn’t, but the ancient Karovan, he had taught her, her and Aurora and they had taught Ray. When they had found out Aurora could do Astral Projection, Andros had taught her how to control it and made sure she knew not to use it when the others were around.
When Ray had ended up having it too, Aurora had taught him, but since the others weren’t around anymore, both of them had used it more freely.
Once at their rooms Aurora came back to her senses and turned to Ashley.
“Who could’ve sent it? They even knew the first letter of my middle name and you said only you and dad knew I had one.”
“I don’t know, sweetheart. No one I know, that’s for sure.” Ashley sighed.
“Do you think, that maybe…” Aurora said, trailing off.
“I doubt it. If that would be true, why hasn’t he come home?”
“You’re right. Nothing would stop him from coming back to us if he was.”
“I desperately want to believe it’s true, honey, I really do, but we have to be realistic. Without his morpher, there’s no way he could have survived.”
“I miss him so.” Aurora sighed, a tear rolling down her cheek.
Ashley pulled her daughter into a hug and held her tight for a while. Ray just looked at them. He had heard stories about his father, but he never met him. His father didn’t even know he existed. It hurt not having his father around, but not as much as it hurt his mother and sister.
Cratus
“Sir, we have to retreat. Even without their leader, the rangers are too strong for our troops.” Suileabhan urged
“How could this happen?” Blaecleah demanded. “How could they have known I was here?”
“Semjara must have sent them, but if we don’t leave now…”
“Alright, alright. I’m coming.” Blaecleah growled. “The prisoner?”
“Retrieving him is too dangerous.” Suileabhan answered. “And even if we’d get him, it will only attract their attention to him.”
“Sent word to the troops to kill him at sight, he knows too much.” Blaecleah ordered and disappeared.
Chapter 15
“Sonic Lion Cannon!” Abigail yelled.
She fired it and the sound of a lion’s roar filled the air, the sound wave knocking down the last of her opponents. Finally the battle was over and they regrouped with Chaitlin.
“We did it!” Megan exclaimed, smiling happily.
“We sure did,” Anlon agreed. “Now we just have to find that card that woman was talking about.”
“I think ‘card’ was just a figure of speech,” Elsha said bluntly.
“Let’s just get these slaves out of here,” Chaitlin said, looking around the land. “At NASADA, their DNA can be compared to the missing person files. I’m sure their families will be glad to have them back.”
“DNA compared to missing person files?” Reese asked.
“Whenever a person goes missing, a missing person file is made. In such files you can find a resent picture of the missing person and the DNA of direct family members, like parents and possible siblings and children.” Kayla explained.
“You’re well informed.” Murtagh observed.
“We’ve seen our mom’s missing person file. She might be found, but the files stored were saved.” Chaitlin explained.
Just then, the sound of a blaster discharging reached their ears. They didn’t even need to look at Chaitlin to start running in the direction the sound came from. Once there, they found a man lying on his back in the dirt, his eyes closed. A big hole was burned in the rags that once were his shirt and his chest was badly burned where the blast had hit him.
A chill ran down their spines as they watched him lay there, lifelessly.
“Is he…?” Abigail asked.
Chaitlin kneed down next to the man and took his arm.
“I feel a faint pulse and he’s still breathing, but barely. He’ll live, but we have to get him to the Megaship. He’s in serious need of medical attention.” She reported.
As she stood up, purple light appeared under the man and he was lifted of the ground, like the light formed some kind of invisible stretcher. Kayla shot a quick look at her twin and a soft smile appeared on her lips. Purple light sparkled in the palm of his hand.
“You gather the other slaves, Kayla and I will get this one to the infirmary.” Dakota told Chaitlin, then turned to Kayla. “Could you teleport us?”
“Sure.” Kayla replied.
She envisioned the infirmary and let her magic expand her teleporting abilities, enclosing it around Dakota and the man. When the pink-purple light faded they were in the infirmary on the Megaship.
Dakota placed the man on one of the patient beds.
“Do you think he’ll survive?” Kayla asked.
“Yeah, if Chaitlin says so, he will.” Dakota answered, trying not to let his own uncertainty show.
Later at NASADA
Zhane sighed, ever since the kids had returned he had been sending out messages to the families of the identified ex-slaves. Most had sent a message in reply and had arranged to pick them up. A few still had to reply and only one man was left to be identified.
It was the man who had been shot on Cratus. He had gotten immediate medical attention and only now he had been brought in for identification.
He was still unconscious, having been badly hurt during torture and the blast had obviously been meant to kill.
“Want to place a bet?” Zhane asked Karone.
Karone raised her eyebrow at him in question.
“I say DNA-compatibility is around the 80%.” He explained.
“Most were in the 60%, so I say around the 70%.” She smiled.
“Strange sense of logic you have.” Zhane told her.
Karone stuck out her tongue and preformed the scan. Both looked at the screen expectantly.
It took longer for the results to show than the other times. When it did, their mouths dropped open.
In green lights blinked: ‘100% compatible’.
Chapter 16
Karone sighed as she soothed some stray hairs out of her brother’s face. It was so dirty you couldn’t even see the blond streaks anymore; no wonder no one recognized him.
It should be washed, and he was in desperate need of a haircut, but right now he was sleeping as peacefully as they could expect him to.
For eleven years she thought she’d never see him again and now he was laying here on a patient bed in NASADA’s infirmary. She didn’t want to think about the shape he was in, for it was a wonder he was still alive and as far as she knew, scarless. (A/N: If that isn’t a word, it is now.)
She couldn’t help but wonder how Ashley was going to take this, not to mention Aurora. What if Ashley had moved on with her life? Andros would be devastated.
NASADA had tried to call them a few times already, but every time they got the answering machine of ‘The Hammond Family’.
A groan caught her attention as Andros steered.
“It’s okay, Andros. I’m here.” She whispered.
Andros opened his eyes a little and stared at her, trying to speak, but no sound coming out. He swallowed and tried again.
“Ashley…” He whispered.
“We haven’t been able to reach her yet.” She replied sadly.
As she kept watching, he squeezed his eyes shut and a tear escaped the corner of his eye. She immediately reached out and whipped it away.
“Don’t cry, she’ll be here, I promise you, she’ll be here, even if I need to drag her here personally.”
He nodded, but didn’t reopen his eyes.
“Go back to sleep, Andros. Your body needs it to heal.”
He didn’t respond, obviously asleep again. Soon though, he started to twist and turn, caught in another nightmare. When his mutterings reached her ears, tears filled her eyes.
“No… Ashley! This can’t be happening… I’m so sorry, Aurora, but I won’t be able to keep his promise…”
Her heart wanted to wake him up again, take him in her arms and comfort him until Ashley came, but her mind knew he needed his sleep, for the more he slept, the sooner he would heal.
“Oh, Ashley, where are you?” She whispered. “Don’t you know how much he needs you right now?”
Her eyes wondered to the metal band around his head, the devise suppressing his telepathy, making him appear dead to them. Nobody had dared to remove it in Andros’ weakened state. The fear of the device hurting him more when being removed, maybe even killing him, prevented them from trying.
They knew next to nothing about the thing, except what it did. They had no clue on how to remove it or if it would do something when being removed.
The door opened, but she didn’t look away from Andros’ face.
“How is he?” Zhane’s voice asked softly.
“He woke up a little while ago.” She whispered back. “Any luck reaching Ashley yet?”
“No, still the answering machine. Why?”
“He was asking for her.” Karone replied sadly.
Zhane wrapped his arms around her and placed a kiss on the top of her head.
“It’s all going to be okay.” He promised. “It just has to be okay.”
Karone nodded and leaned into his embrace.
“Come on, let’s go to bed, it’s getting late. The doctors will keep an eye on him.”
She didn’t respond, but got up and left the room followed closely by Zhane.
Unknowingly the woman in white had been watching them the whole time.
“Soon you’ll be reunited with Cancer and you’ll finally be able to meet Libra. I’m sorry I had to shake them up with that note, but it was the only way to warn them of the oncoming danger. Rest now Andros, the power will heal you whenever you sleep.”
Then she disappeared. Andros couldn’t have heard the words, but somehow they had soothed him and for the rest of the night, his dreams were filled with happy memories of his life before the crash.
Chapter 17
Sunday, 21.50
Ashley parked the car on the driveway. Aurora sleepily got out. Ashley smiled and turned around, shaking Ray awake before getting out too. By that time Aurora had already collected her duffel bag and hand baggage and had disappeared into the house, probably to finally crash in her new room on the attic.
The room had been finished the day before they had left. That Friday, Ashley had moved Aurora’s bed, desk, closet and most boxes containing her stuff up to it. Aurora still needed to unpack again and get the last boxes up, but she could sleep there already.
Ray quickly grabbed his stuff from the back of the car and fled into the house to find his bed too.
Ashley yawned, getting her own stuff out before locking the car and going into the house. She couldn’t wait to get to her own bed. Still, she first needed to check the answering machine if she missed any important messages. She doubted it, everyone had known she was in Ireland and when things were important, they had called her on her cell phone. If it hadn’t been, she’d make time for it Tuesday.
When she saw the red light blinking on the machine, she frowned. Was there someone who she hadn’t informed she was in Ireland?
She couldn’t think of anyone at the moment, so she just decided to play the messages. Suddenly she was wide-awake and raised her eyebrow when commander Norquist’s voice asked her to call back as soon as possible. The next message was his again, more urgent this time.
This continued for another 20 messages, the last telling her to come to NASADA the moment she got home. Debating whether or not to bring Aurora and Ray, she decided against it. The two were dead tired and the last thing they needed was to be dragged over to NASADA in the middle of the night. They had school tomorrow after all.
She walked up the stairs, to the attic. She walked into Aurora’s room and sighed. Shaking Aurora awake enough to get her to get through to her.
“Aurora, I need to go to NASADA. If I’m not back tomorrow morning, get Ray off to school, alright?”
Aurora nodded, before turning around and drifting back to sleep. Ashley left Aurora’s room. First she checked on Ray, out of habit more than anything. Then she grabbed her car-keys again and leaving the house and unlocked the car again, driving off. It would be past midnight when she’d arrive at the NASADA-base, but at the moment she couldn’t care less. It was a two-hour drive to Angel Grove and then another ten minutes before she’d reach NASADA.
NASADA, 0.07
“Sir, Ashley Hammond has reported at the security check. She’ll be here in a moment.” A soldier reported.
Everyone looked up surprised. There had been no word from Ashley since they had started to call five days ago. Friday they had given up and now Ashley was here all of a sudden. Zhane wrapped an arm around Karone’s shoulder and squeezed it gently.
“Is anyone with her?”
“No, sir. She’s alone.”
“I’ll go meet her. I think it’ll be better if you all stay here. We don’t want to scare her away.” Commander Norquist told them.
TJ nodded and all kids watched as the commander went off to meet their aunt Ashley.
“How do you think she’ll react to us being her?” Cassie whispered.
“Probably not too well, but we’ve got to hope we can still fix things.” Zhane answered.
“Where would Aurora be?” Chaitlin asked.
“She’s seventeen and it is a Sunday night. She’s probably at home, sleeping. Which reminds me, you should be too. You do have school tomorrow.” Saryn said.
“Oh, come on, dad!” Kagan whined. “What does it matter if we start our new school a day later than planned? We want to know what happens.”
“Well…” Saryn started.
“Without them, this wouldn’t even have happened, Saryn.” Aura reminded.
“Yeah, and Andros would still be a slave on Cratus without any of us knowing he was alive.”
“How was Andros identified anyway? There’s never been made a missing person file for him, has there?” TJ asked.
“No, there wasn’t, for we all thought he was dead, but his DNA was stored in my missing person file.” Karone answered. “The computer came across it, finding it 100% compatible.”
“It nearly gave us a heart attack when Karone’s missing person file was pulled up.”
“I can imagine.” Tessa agreed.
“Will aunt Ashley believe it?” Kayla asked softly.
A question that had been hunting them all, but no one had dared to ask it, until now.
Chapter 18
“Ashley, how good it is to see you again.” Commander Norquist greeted.
“Yeah, right. What was so urgent that I had to come here the moment I got home?” Ashley asked, her voice weary.
She had grown tired again during the two-hour drive, so she wasn’t in the best of moods right now.
“Yes, well… You’d better see for yourself or you might not believe it.”
“Alright.” Ashley sighed.
“Where were you anyway? We were trying to reach you for three days straight. We’d actually given up on you answering to it.”
“Work found me in Ireland. I just returned when I heard your messages and I came straight here.”
“And Aurora?”
“She was with me, of course.”
“How is she?”
“Fine.” Ashley grumbled in reply, trying not to snap at him.
For eleven years there had been no word from anyone and now all of a sudden interest had seemed to come back.
Ashley stopped dead in her tracks when they passed the control room. Her whole old team was in there with their children. It wasn’t hard to tell who was who, even though she hadn’t seen any of them since they were little children, toddlers, some even babies of a few months old.
“Ashley.” Karone gasped and every turned to look at her, standing in the doorway.
“Wow, you still remember my name,” Ashley spat angrily, turning to Commander Norquist. “Is this why I needed to come here? Cause then I’m sorry to say, the trip was not worth it.”
“No.” The commander replied. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
Ashley followed him reluctantly. After seeing her old friends again, she didn’t think she’d like what else they might have in store for her. They walked further and further into the base, until they reached the sleeping quarters.
“What am I doing here?” She demanded.
“The newest generation of Power Rangers, the Zodiac Rangers, were sent out to a slave planet to retrieve something that could be used against them. They freed the slaves.”
“Well, congratulations to them. What does that have to do with me?”
The commander pointed to the door in front of them. It was one of the VIP-rooms, if she remembered correctly. She looked at the commander one more time, before sighing, placing her hand on the doorknob.
Somewhere else
Andros sat in the, way too big and empty for his liking, bed. A sigh escaped his lips. He had recovered a great deal in the past five days, even enough to allow him to be moved from the infirmary to a private room. Even though he had spent most of the time back on Earth asleep, somehow there had been time for him to get his first shower in eleven years and a haircut. He couldn’t even remember when the last time was that had been done. He had truly needed both and it made him feel a whole lot better, but he wouldn’t feel good until Ashley was back in his arms. Last he heard, there still hadn’t been word from her.
He let his head fall back on the top of the pile of soft pillows he was stilling up against. It felt great being in a soft warm bed again, but he wanted to move around. He wanted to get out of here, go look for Ashley for all he cared. He had been tempted more than once to just ignore all care and rip that metal band from his head, just so her comforting presence would be pressing against his own mind again.
His head shot up when he hear the doorknob being turned. Who was disturbing him now? Sure he had liked his friends’ presences at first, but soon they had begun to drive him nuts. All he had wanted was for Ashley to be with him and they were carefully avoiding the subject, only talking about her when to inform him she hadn’t reacted to the calls yet.
He readied himself to sent whomever it was back to where he or she came from, when the person stepped into the room. Both their eyes widened when they noticed each other.
“Andros?” She choked in disbelief after a few moments of standing there in silence, shocked in stillness.
“Ash?” He asked, tears forming in his eyes.
“Andros!” Ashley exclaimed, running over and throwing her arms around him.
He quickly wrapped his own arms around her, pulling her onto the bed and holding her tight. Finally all walls that had been put up crashed and the tears started to run down both their cheeks.
“Andros.” Ashley cried again, her face buried in the crook of his neck, before pulling back. “NO! This has to be a dream, just another dream I have to wake up from!”
“It’s not, Ash. I promise you it isn’t.”
“It wouldn’t be the first promise you broke.” Ashley cried, trying to turn away from him. “This is a dream, Andros. It’s not real. You’re not here, so it can’t be real.”
She tapped her figure against the side of her head for a moment.
“It’s this damned metal band. It’s blocking my telepathy.” Andros cursed, wishing now more than ever that he could rip the thing of.
“So if I would remove it…”
Andros nodded, holding his breath, not caring about the risks anymore. Ashley shakily placed her hands on the band on either sides of his head and pulled. Andros winced a little when it let go and he closed his eyes, letting all telepathic senses wash over him.
Then he felt Ashley’s soft lips on his and he knew the nightmare that had been his life for eleven years was finally over and he returned the kiss with all the love he felt for her, having missed it for too long. They both knew nothing more would happen tonight, both were too tired, but the kiss held many promises for the future…
Chapter 19
“I missed you.” Andros sighed in her hair.
His arms were wrapped securely around her waist as he lay pressed against her back.
“Missed you too.” Ashley muttered.
“How have you and Aurora been holding out?”
“Okay, I guess.” Ashley replied, shifting uncomfortably.
How was she going to tell him he had a son, born nine months after he left on the mission they thought he died on?
“What’s wrong?” Andros whispered in her ear.
“Andros? Do you regret the decision of only Aurora?”
“Ash, how many times do I have to tell you…” He chuckled. “We were young, practically children ourselves when Aurora was born. If we hadn’t met, you would probably have gone to college without carrying a child around. We were trying to figure out how to raise a child while still exploring our own relationship. Others may have wanted to help, but it was something we had to do on our own.”
“But all the others had more children.” Ashley sighed.
“Aurora was two when Caithlin was born, Ash. Karone was a year older than you were when giving birth. Cassie was three years older when Anlon was born and TJ and Carlos didn’t become father’s until over a year later. They were all older than we were and they could all cheat off us in raising their children. I was and still am happy with just my two girls.” He replied, kissing her cheek.
“Do you remember the day before you left?” Ashley asked softly.
“How could I forget?”
“Do you regret the decision we made that day or what followed?”
“You mean ‘no protection, but not trying for a child either’? How could I regret that decision, Ash? I know I said I was and am happy with just my two girls, but that doesn’t mean a new addition to our happy little family wasn’t welcome.”
“That happy little family of yours crashed two days later.” Ashley snorted.
“Something I do regret.” Andros admitted. “Why did you ask?”
Ashley took a deep breath.
“Nine months after you left, Ray Brice Hammond was born. The first time I skip my period, I blamed it on the stress and grief your death brought, as I did the second time. By the third time I was late, morning sickness had kicked in and I was gaining weight, so I made an appointment with my doctor, to confirm my fear. The day I found out about Ray was also the day your parents called me for the first time after your death. Your mother was just about to give up when I answered, for I just returned from the doctor. The moment she saw the tears on my face she knew something was wrong and she wasn’t fooled when I told her everything was fine, so I told her I was pregnant. We talked for hours after that, until I needed to pick Aurora up from school.”
Andros tightened his embrace for a moment, encouraging her to continue.
“The next day I was just about to tell Aurora about her baby brother or sister, when the doorbell rang. When I opened the door your parents stood there. The smile on Aurora’s face when she saw them was the first I’d seen since she heard you weren’t coming back. Then I told her about the baby. She was thrilled, admitting she’d always been jealous of the others, having brothers and sisters. Your parents stayed until a month after Ray’s birth, making sure I took good enough care of myself and got enough rest. If it wasn’t for them, I don’t think that between my pregnancy and the care for Aurora, I would have been able to get myself together.”
“And the others?”
“I didn’t hear from them until I saw them today.”
“They were probably scared.”
“I don’t doubt they were, but it would have been nice if they just had let me know they were there, thinking of me too. Now the only reason I know they cared was because your parents told me they kept asking about me. They don’t even know about Ray.”
“I can’t wait to meet him.”
“He can’t wait to meet you either, I’m sure. He’s always interrogating me and Aurora about you.”
Andros smiled and hugged her closer, if that had been possible.
“Let’s sleep, tomorrow you can meet him and see Aurora again.” Ashley whispered. “But keep in mind they have to go to school first.”
“Got it. Sleep now, Aurora and Ray later.”
Ashley giggled and sleep claimed her easier than it had in eleven long and lonely years.
Chapter 20
Ashley woke up and stiffened. Someone lay pressed against her back, strong arms wrapped around her waist. Then the day before, or actually early this morning, came back to her. She quickly looked over her shoulder to make sure it wasn’t a dream.
A smile played on her lips when the sight of Andros’ peaceful expression met her. A sigh escaped her lips as she looked at the digital alarm clock on the nightstand. In bright red lights it told her it was only 7.30, meaning she hadn’t even slept for five hours.
She desperately wanted to go back to sleep, but she knew Aurora would be worried if she didn’t call. Of course she could call telepathically, but she’d much rather use the phone, then she’d be sure she and Ray were out of bed and wide-awake. A mental voice didn’t sound tired, unlike a verbal voice.
Suddenly a faint pain shot through her chest.
“You should be sleeping.” She said into the darkness of the room.
“I’d much rather be awake.” Andros’ voice whispered in her ear.
“I’m not going anywhere.” She replied.
“I don’t care.” Andros muttered, burying his face in her hair. “And anyway, something’s still troubling you.”
“It’s strange having someone reading me this easily again.”
“I love you.” Andros grinned. “So, what’s on your mind.”
“The fact that I should call home to see if your kids are out of bed already, but I don’t want to, for I left my cell phone at home, so calling would mean leaving this bed.”
“My kids?” Andros teased.
“Both are as stubborn as you are.” She informed him.
“Well, shouldn’t you be making that call then?”
“Yeah, but…”
“I’ll come with you.”
“Are you even allowed to leave this bed?”
“No, but I’m not letting you out of my sight.” Andros informed her, his breath tickling her ear.
“You’re not coming in those pyjama’s.” Ashley said, finally turning around and looking in his loving soft hazel eyes.
“You really think you look much better after sleeping in your clothes?” Andros grinned, brushing some hairs out of her face and placing a tender kiss on her lips.
“No, but at least I’m wearing some normal clothes.”
At that Andros rolled out of bed, carefully testing his legs, before walking over to a chair triumphantly holding up a clean pair of jeans and a red shirt.
“Karone put them there, knowing I would get enough of this room sooner or later. She thought I might as well go through the trouble off dressing if I were going to leave it.”
Ashley laughed and watched him change, when she caught sight of the bandages, she closed her eyes, not wanting to think about the pain he must have felt.
Suddenly Andros’ lips were back on hers.
“Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt much anymore.” His mental voice told her and her heart fluttered at hearing it again.
“If it doesn’t hurt much anymore, how come I feel it?” Ashley wanted to know.
Andros sighed and pulled back. He had sat down on the bed next to her to be able to kiss her.
“I won’t ever be able to fool you, will I?” He muttered.
“No.” Ashley replied happily, leaning against him. “But you love me for it.”
“Sure do, but trust me, it’s nothing compared to Aurora’s birth.” Andros assured her, getting up. “Come on, let’s go make that call.”
Ashley took the hand he held out and let him pull her up. Once she was on her feet, she straightened her clothes as much as possible as Andros draped his arm lightly around her shoulder. She smiled, wrapping her arm around his waist and slightly leaning against him.
Then they left to room in search for commander Norquist to see where Ashley could make that phone call.
Chapter 21
Aurora put down the phone and looked at Ray.
“That was mom. She wants us to come to NASADA after school.”
“Why?” Ray wanted to know, stuffing his peanut butter and jelly sandwich in his mouth.
“She said it was a surprise.” Aurora replied.
NASADA
“Look Ash, we don’t want to intrude on your life, but…” Karone started.
“But we would really love you to let us back in it.” Cassie continued.
“I’ll have to think about it.” Ashley replied.
“You’d better do it quick.” Zhane muttered. “Both Cassie and Carlos live in Crystal springs now.”
“Really?” Ashley asked surprised. “Since when?”
“A week ago.” Carlos replied.
“The Friday before Carlos moved.” Cassie answered.
“Nice neighbours?” Ashley informed.
“The Banks’ are. I haven’t really met the other neighbours yet.” Cassie smiled, glad to have a semi-normal conversation with Ashley.
“Banks’? You live next to Lancene?”
“Yeah, you know her?”
“Her daughter Genesis is Aurora’s best friend.”
“Really?” Cassie asked, suddenly remembering something. “Was Aurora in Ireland recently?”
“We just came back. How did you know?”
“When we were moving in Lacene said Genesis was out seeing her friend off to Ireland.”
“I had to go to a conference there. We always go to those things together and have a small vacation afterwards.” Ashley explained. “Look, I’ll give you guys another change, but I can’t speak for others.”
“You mean Aurora, right?” Zhane asked.
“Yeah.” Ashley answered distantly.
Before anyone could command on that, Karone had practically bounced forward and wrapped Ashley into a hug.
“Glad to have my sister back.” She smiled brightly.
Ashley returned Karone’s hug having missed it for so long. Ashley tightened her embrace as she felt tears sting in her eyes. When Karone released her, she felt two strong arms slip around her waist. She closed her eyes as she leaned back against Andros, who had wisely kept his mouth shut the whole time.
“It’s okay. You’re not alone anymore.” Andros’ soft comforting words carried through the quiet room.
Ashley let his calmness wash over her. Once they found they could sense each other’s feelings, it wasn’t long before they figured out how to project one emotion onto the other and apparently it was like riding a bicycle, once you learned it, you never forget how to do it.
“Does Aurora know yet?” TJ asked, curiously and Ashley shook her head.
“She’s coming her after school, she won’t know until she gets here.”
“But she’s telepathic. Surely she must have noticed Andros’ presence returning back in her mind.” Carlos protested.
“You don’t know half of it.” Ashley muttered softly, making sure only Andros could hear that, before speaking out loud. “Her blocks are up so high, even I have trouble getting through to her sometimes.”
“Why?” Cassie asked.
“The loss of Andros hurt her deeply. She’s been trying to protect herself from having to feel that kind of pain again. There’s only one reason why she didn’t completely distance herself from me.”
Zhane noticed Ashley didn’t want to talk about that reason, so quickly changed the subject to save her.
“Hey, Ash. Is Aurora still so small for her age?”
Ashley laughed.
“No, not anymore. She’s still smaller than most of the girls here age, but the difference is an inch at most and last time I checked she was still growing, even if it goes very slowly.”
Andros smiled as he listened to Ashley talk about their daughter, trying to picture her in his mind, growing prouder with every word Ashley spoke.
Chapter 22
“Aurora, wait up!” A voice called.
Aurora stopped and looked behind her. Mack was weaving his way through the students, coming in her direction.
“What’s up?” She asked. “And please hurry, I really need to go.”
“Where to?” He asked as she fell into step beside him.
“Angel Grove. So what do you want?”
“I was wondering if you wanted to go to the movies or something this Friday.”
“Are you asking me on a date?”
“Well, yeah, I guess I am. So what do you say?”
“Can I think about it and give you the answer tomorrow?”
“You always.” Mack smiled.
By now they had reached the school’s parking lot, or more precisely, Aurora’s car. When Aurora had gotten her drivers licence, Ashley had surrendered the keys of the Kia to her, knowing Aurora would drive safely just because of the car.
“Nice car.”
“Thanks, it used to be my dad’s.” Aurora replied without thinking.
“What happened to him?”
“Missing in action.” Aurora sighed. “Look, I really got to go. See you tomorrow.”
She got in the car and started the engine. Then she drove off to Ray’s school. When she arrived there, Ray was already waiting. The car had barely stopped when he opened the door to the front seat. While he got in he threw his bag on the back seat next to hers.
“Did you take mom’s cell phone with you?” He asked, while fastening his seatbelt.
“Hello to you too. I had a great day at school and you?” Aurora replied.
“It went okay, so did you take it or not?”
“No, mom didn’t ask for it, so I won’t bother her with it. She sounded a bit distracted on the phone this morning.” Aurora rolled his eyes.
“Okay, if you say so.”
“So how was your day really?”
“I said it went okay.” Ray grumbled.
“Okay, what happened?”
“Daren decided to rub it in again that I’ve never known my dad, telling about the weekend he spent fishing with his dad, always shooting these looks at me.” Ray sighed.
Aurora took her eyes of the road for a moment to look at her brother, placing her hand on his knee.
“You have us, don’t you? Didn’t you tell him about Ireland?”
“Yeah, but it’s not the same.” Ray admitted. “I love you both, I promise, but dad…”
“I’m sure he would have loved you, Ray. Don’t let anyone get to you because they have a father and you don’t. He’ll always be with us, in our hearts.”
“But…”
“No buts, Ray. You might not have known him and he might not have known you, but he’s there in your heart, I swear, cross my heart.”
After that it was quiet for a while, as the car left Crystal Springs behind and hit the highway.
“Rora?”
“Yeah?”
“If you could choose: dad or me…”
“YOU.” Aurora said empathically. “I love dad, don’t get me wrong, but I wouldn’t want to trade you for anything. It’s the two of you, or only you, but I won’t want only dad. You mean too much to me.”
“You’re the best sister in the world, Rora.” Ray smiled brightly.
Aurora quickly returned the smile before turning to the road again. If it wasn’t for Ray, she wasn’t sure she would have wanted to go on after her father’s death and she was sure her mother felt the same way.
Chapter 23
Hours had passed and Aurora and Ray were due to arrive any minute now. Ashley sighed and leaned against Andros. How would the others react when they saw her son? Would they feel even guiltier? Andros quickly wrapped his arms around her, catching on to her doubts.
“Don’t worry so much, Ash. Everything will be fine, just relax.”
“What would I do without you?” Ashley sighed.
Suddenly the alarm went off. They looked at each other in shock before running to the control room. They entered just in time the catch the last of Zhane’s sentence.
“…monster in Angel Grove.”
“We’re on it.” Chaitlin replied. “Ready?”
The others nodded.
“Zodiac power up!” They called in unison, before naming their own Zodiac signs.
Ashley and Andros watched the children morph and teleport out to the battlefield.
“What the hell is going on?” Ashley demanded.
“Oh, uh, I think we forgot to mention our children turned out to be rangers.” Zhane said uncomfortably.
“Zodiac ranger?” Andros guessed.
“Yeah.” TJ replied.
“That’s where that guy that had me captured was after, their morphers. He said I had one for a while…” Andros said trailing off.
“Their morphers seem to consist of a ring and a necklace made with their birthstones.” Saryn told him.
“And we believe Aurora is the Cancer ranger.” Carlos reported.
“Aurora? But how?” Andros asked.
“Andros.” Ashley said, paling slightly. “That necklace you gave Aurora for her sixth birthday. It had a heart shaped ruby as pendant… and now she has a ring with a ruby too.”
“And the ruby is the birthstone of Cancer.” Andros finished. “Great, I handed a little girl a morpher.”
“Don’t kill yourself over it. Non of us knew either until they showed up morphed.” Karone comforted her brother.
“Andros…” Ashley said, her mental voice sounding scared.
“Yeah?”
“Ray, he was born under Libra…”
Andros’ head shot in Ashley’s direction.
“Does he have…?”
Ashley nodded, fear in her eyes.
“Great, my ten year old son is a power ranger.”
“We have no idea who the Libra ranger is.” Cassie said quietly, not wanting to intrude on the silent conversation that was obviously going on between Andros and Ashley.
Andros nodded and wrapped Ashley into his arms again. The others looked at them. All aware of the pain the two seemed to radiate into the room.
Somewhere else in the base
“Come on, Ray, the control room is this way.” Aurora said, pulling on her brother’s arm.
Everyone they passed seemed to stare at the two of them and she didn’t like it one bit. She was glad when she finally saw the doors labelled ‘control room’.
The doors opened silently when they entered the sensor range and they looked into the room. Aurora had trouble not to turn around and run. It might have been eleven years, but she still recognized the faces of her parents old friends, their teammates and significant others, the people who had turned their backs on her and her mother when her father had died.
Just before she could turn around, though, she spotted her mother, leaning against someone. She was about to open her mouth and tell the guy to get his filthy hands off her mother, when his appearance registered; jeans, red shirt and brown and blond streaked hair.
Her mind started to swirl. It couldn’t be, could it? Before she noticed what she was doing, the word left her mouth, sounding oddly loud in the silent room.
“Daddy?”
A/N: I know, I know, I’m stalling. You gotta love me for it! Let me know what you think.
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