Disclaimer: Saban owns PRiS, I don’t. “And Still...” is by Reba McEntire from her album “Read My Mind”.

Author’s Note: This is Part #3 of 8 in the “After Space” series. Thank you for coming. :) It’s Cassie’s turn this time. If you know country music and recognize the song, then you can probably guess what this fic is about. Why did I write this? Because I could. Heh hehe... :) Thanks again to Starhawk for everything.

“Are you sure you don’t want some company?”

“Nah, don’t worry about me. Carlos will be back soon.”

TJ’s statement made Cassie grin. Carlos was down in the makeshift kitchen. They all knew it was just a matter of time until Carlos would be able to talk Alpha VI into washing all the dishes from their party.

“Well, if you’re sure...,” Cassie started.

“I’m sure,” TJ smiled at her. “Go on and get some rest.”

With that, Cassie left the Bridge and headed toward her room. She wanted to get some rest. True, she was tired, but she also felt sick. Too many fights on too little sleep had taken a lot out of her. She just wanted to rest, and for once not be worried about the next day or the next battle. So with the war over, it seemed like she would have what she wanted; but she didn’t. She still had one thing nagging her, making her worry and fret. Though she had tried not to show it, the others could tell. She was worried about the Phantom Ranger. No one knew where he was or if he was all right. The last report had him fighting the Machine Empire on Tatooine with the Blue Senturion. But as soon as the war had ended, as soon as the Royal Family and their horde of Cogs had turned to dust, he had mysteriously disappeared, as he was notorious for doing. No one had heard from him since.

Not that they usually heard from the Phantom Ranger. He was rather elusive. But she thought since everything was over and evil had been destroyed, there would be nothing to keep him from, well,... from coming to see her. There! She’d said it. She wondered where he was, if he was all right, and she wanted to see him. She didn’t mind admitting that.

Cassie reached her room and entered into the darkness, leaving the lights off. The lights only seemed to make her headache worse. Drat, she thought, I am getting sick! She wandered over to her radio. She had long ago brought the boombox on to the MegaShip after one of their numerous trips to Earth. She couldn’t be without music for long. It meant too much to her. She dug through her tapes till she found what she was looking for. It was a homemade tape, the best kind of tape she always said. She had made it from a mixture of her favorite songs and some of her own songs, songs she had written and sung, recording them into a simple tape recorder. The quality wasn’t great, but it didn’t matter to her.

She started the tape before walking over to sit down on her bed. Maybe someone would hear from him soon. She could always hope, right? She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on the music. She wanted to clear her mind of everything, including the Phantom. Only rest would make her feel better and she wouldn’t get any if she was worrying about him.

The message came through in the middle of the night, or at least the simulation of night that existed on the MegaShip. Trey of Triforia had been sending out messages alerting all concerned parties as to the well being of everyone involved in the recent battles. And he had reported that the Phantom Ranger had been spotted on Triforia. Cassie asked if they could stop there on the way back to Earth. Everyone readily agreed. They all knew how much the Phantom meant to her, and they wanted the two to have their chance to be together now that the war was over.

Soon they had arrived at Triforia and Cassie had teleported to the surface. TJ had offered to go with her, but she had politely declined. She wanted to see the Phantom alone. The last time she had seen or heard from him was when he told Andros where to get the Delta MegaZord. He had been gravely injured then, and she could only hope he was okay now. She could still hear his final message to her: “Don't worry Cassie... I'll be O.K. Don't forget me... I'll see you soon.” She had not forgotten. She could never forget about him

She had teleported to San, one of the major cities on Triforia. Trey had promised to meet her there, to help her locate the Phantom. Even with all the new worlds the Space Rangers had been to, Cassie had still found each one interesting. This time she hardly noticed. She was so excited to see the Phantom again that she barely took in her surroundings. It turned out that she didn’t need any help to find the Phantom after all. She had just turned a corner of a crowded street when she saw him. He suddenly appeared before her, becoming visible again in that mysterious way he had, the ripples of the effect still flowing from him. He was walking toward her as if out of a dream. She just stared and a smile crept across her face.

He looked down at her and she felt as if she could read his face, in spite of his helmet. His shining eyes and beautiful smile were directed at her. She couldn’t see them, but she knew they were there.

“Cassie?” he said hesitantly, almost as a question, as if he couldn’t believe whom he saw standing before him.

“Yes,” was her unneeded answer. She had said that mostly so that she would be doing something other than just grinning at him like a fool, a fool in love, of course.

“Cassie! It is wonderful to see you again,” the Phantom exclaimed with a little more emotion than Cassie has ever seen from him. “Are you well? What of the other Rangers?”

“It’s good to see you too,” she answered. “Everyone’s fine. They’re back on the MegaShip.”

“That is good to hear. The news has spread that the Rangers of Earth and KO-35 were responsible for evil’s downfall.”

“That’s not exactly true,” Cassie said. “Zordon’s sacrifice destroyed evil. We only helped, same as you.” It wasn’t exactly what she wanted to talk to him about, but she figured it was a start. After all, no matter how badly she wanted to, she didn’t know if she could declare her love to him in the middle of a crowded, bustling street on a strange planet.

“I am glad to know that you are all safe,” he stopped and seemed to consider his words. “I told you once that I go where I am needed and help whomever needs help. But your Ranger team was special. I felt accepted, like I could have been a part of it if I wished. I did not realize that, or how much I missed it until these last few months when I was alone again.” He stopped, seemed to fix her with a stare, and Cassie suddenly realized that he was holding her hands in his, “I have missed you.”

Cassie’s heart soared. It was all she could do not to jump up and hug him, telling him how she felt. He had admitted that he missed her! He cared! She tried mightily to compose herself and answer him.

“I’ve missed you too,” she finally said, smiling warmly. She cast a shy glance down at their hands, gathering her nerve to continue.

That’s when she heard it. Through all the conversations, sounds, and general noises of the busy street, one voice rang clearly through it all. “Darling?” was the one word spoken, but that was enough to stop Cassie dead in her tracks as she saw the Phantom turn at its sound. He absently patted her hands, even as he turned away and dropped them.

Cassie followed his gaze to see who had captured the Phantom’s attention. A strikingly beautiful woman, such as Cassie had never seen before, was approaching them. She was tall and lithe, and wearing a jumpsuit similar to the Space Rangers, only it was black with white trim. It was functional clothing, good for fighting and hard work. But with her great beauty, she looked rather out of place dressed that way. Her long ebony hair hung well past her waist, and her sky blue eyes shone clearly as she looked lovingly at the Phantom.

The Phantom took the woman’s hand as she walked up to the two. “Cassie, I would like you to meet Kylara,” he paused and Cassie found herself holding her breath, “my wife.” He continued on with the introductions, “Kylara, this is Cassie. She is a member of that Earth Ranger team I have told you about.”

She smiled warmly down at Cassie, “He has spoken of the heroics and courage of your team often. It is wonderful to meet you.”

Cassie was struggling to find her voice and fighting the confusion inside. Wife? Wife?! He has a wife?! She finally managed to stutter, “It’s a pleasure to meet you too.” But, but, he had said he had missed me? No, the logical part of her brain said, he had been talking about the team and then he said, ‘I have missed you.’. He had missed the team, not her specifically. She heard the Phantom speaking to her again and she forced herself to leave her panicked and painful realizations and listen.

“Kylara has been helping to defend Triforia since Eltar fell. Now that the war is over, we’re going home.”

“That’s wonderful,” Cassie answered automatically, the smile still plastered to her face.

“What brings you to Triforia?” Kylara questioned her, making pleasant conversation as it seemed that they were both oblivious to Cassie’s distress.

“Yes, Cassie, you never said. Why are you here?”

She floundered, looking for an answer. She wanted to blurt out, ‘I’m here looking for you. I love you and I thought you loved me!’. But she was so humiliated that what she had believed was love was turning out to be no more than a one-sided schoolgirl’s crush. “Umm... I, I mean, we, we came to see Trey. Just on our way back to Earth and we thought we would stop by and check on things here.” She let out a nervous laugh and looked down again.

“Oh,” Phantom said, almost laughing. “Well we will let you get on with your business then. We really should get going too. We need to get back to Eltar to help with the rebuilding.” He looked at her, and again she thought she could sense his expression through his helmet. He was smiling as he said, “It really was wonderful to see you again. Give my best to the others. Good-bye.”

“Good-bye Cassie,” Kylara echoed her husband. And Cassie realized that she needed to respond.

“Umm... nice to meet you.” She looked at the Phantom, but he now had eyes only for his wife. “Good-bye,” she muttered quietly through her forced smile. Kylara and Phantom started to leave, walking past Cassie on down the street. She stood there in shock, not knowing what to think or exactly what to do. What had just happened? She had never had a chance, had she? It was all gone, just like that, her dreams of love dashed. But then, now it seemed that it had never really existed. Or did it? Could she let it end like this? Would she?

She had to say something. He had to know how she had felt, no matter how silly she seemed. “Phantom?!” she yelled, turning quickly, too quickly actually. For a fleeting moment she saw the Phantom and his wife walking away from her down the street. They were beginning to disappear, becoming invisible with his power, the ripples emanating from him once again. Then she saw black as her quick turning motion made her fall out of bed.

Her vision returned and she saw the darkness of her own room on the MegaShip. Her sleep-filled eyes surveyed the room as her feverish brain sought desperately to clear the cobwebs remaining. A dream? No, couldn’t have been. She would swear she could still see the ripples of the Phantom’s disappearing effect. As her surroundings started to come back to her, she heard the song playing on her boombox and she knew that her illness and fever had gotten the best of her imagination.

Sitting miserably on the floor of her room, freezing with the cold, but burning up with fever, she glared with contempt at the radio. “Damn country music!” she swore, and reached for something to throw at the radio.

Author’s Note: My apologies to George Lucas for the use of his planet name “Tatooine” from Star Wars. Also, my apologies to Anne McCaffrey for the use of her character’s name, “Kylara”. The two characters are not the same, but I loved the name. :)

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