"It could have gone better," Kerone mused, considering the lighted hologram in front of them. She reached out, hesitated, and then withdrew her hand without making a move.

"Stop stressing over it," Zhane ordered, laying his head down on his arms and watching her lazily. "It's over--that was your last exam, right?"

She nodded, still staring at the vertical light display in front of them. "Yes. And I'm not stressing, I'm just answering the question." She reached out and touched a square deliberately. It flashed yellow, and she looked over at him with a faintly smug expression. "Your move."

He made a show of rousing himself, as though she had taken so long that he had almost fallen asleep. Lifting his head to study the board, he asked, "So how did the 'studying' go last night?"

He was watching her reaction out of the corner of his eye, and he saw the smile she tried to hide as she looked down at the grass. "Oh, it went well," she said casually, but the delight was obvious in her voice.

"Well?" he demanded, when she said nothing more. "Don't keep me in suspense!"

Her smile widened as she rolled over onto her back and gazed up at the clear blue sky overhead. "He kissed me," she admitted dreamily.

"Well, it's about time!" Zhane exclaimed. "I thought he'd never get the message!"

She laughed, turning her head to grin at him. "I wasn't too sure myself. He's so *dense* sometimes!"

"He'd have to be, after all the times you've gone out of your way for him," Zhane agreed. "I can't believe it took this long. So are you going to see him soon?"

"He'll be here for training this afternoon," she said, tilting her head back to look upside-down at the board. "We're going to go get ice cream afterwards. And you still haven't gone."

He gave the holographic board a dismissive glance. "Not until I get details! What happened last night?"

She giggled, turning onto her side and propping herself up on one elbow. "He didn't understand tension, of all things. You know in physics, when the pulleys separate the rope into different degrees of tension?"

Zhane made a face. "I'm trying not to think about physics right now. Just pretend I know what you're talking about and keep going."

She looked at him from under her eyelashes, clearly too pleased with her success to make fun of his reaction. "I did exactly what you said. I sat next to him and took his book to explain it, and when he still didn't get it, I used him to demonstrate."

Zhane laughed. "And with a subject like tension! I can just imagine... you can be awfully seductive when you want to be, you know."

"Only 'cause I have you to coach me," she said, grinning. "Thanks, Zhane."

"So that was when he kissed you?" he wanted to know, pleased by the compliment but knowing he didn't deserve it. Kerone was a natural, and beautiful on top of that--she really didn't need his advice, but he had never been able to say no to Andros' sister.

She nodded happily. "I was still explaining and then he just took my hands and said, 'I hope this doesn't make you really mad at me,' and he leaned over and kissed me. He was so nervous!"

"Did he blush?" Zhane asked with a grin.

"He did afterward--it was so cute!" She sighed, a secretive smile on her face as she traced a pattern in the grass with her finger. "I told him I'd been waiting for him to do that for a long time, and then he blushed even harder and he said he'd been *thinking* about it for a long time."

"Well, it took him long enough," Zhane remarked, but his exasperation was just for show. Kerone was clearly elated, and her enthusiasm was contagious. If he had had to pick someone for her, Kaeth wouldn't have been the first person who came to mind, but he couldn't fault her choice. The Black Ranger was kind and friendly, if a little shy, and he would do everything in his power to make Kerone happy.

Kerone glanced over at the board again and poked him in the shoulder. "Are you going to move or not?" she teased, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear.

He rolled over onto his stomach again and studied the board. "Oh, you're in trouble," he said, touching a square beside the one she had just lit. The square flashed white, and the three below it gave the impression of twisting a little as they gave up their yellow coloring and changed to match the square he had just touched.

"Oh no I'm not," she shot back, poking her finger into the lowest white square. It stayed white, but the four squares around it turned yellow.

He frowned, studying the board. That move must have meant something, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was.

"Zhane?" she asked, regarding the game as though she had no more idea than he what her next move would be. "You didn't tell Andros you were helping me with Kaeth, did you?"

He gave her an offended look. "I promised not to, didn't I?"

"You've promised before," she said, with a smile to take the sting out of her words. "I was just wondering. He said the strangest thing to me yesterday."

"Really?" Zhane glanced over at her, but she didn't look away from the board. "What did he say?"

An odd look flickered over her face as she tried to remember. "He said... I don't know; we were talking about the end of exams, and he said something about us having more time together after testing was over. Me and you," she clarified.

Zhane looked back at the game quickly, clearing his throat. "I wonder why he said that."

"I thought it was sort of odd," she agreed, turning her head to watch him. "Are you *sure* you didn't say anything to him?"

He shifted uncomfortably, keeping his eyes fixed on the vertical sheet of light spread out in front of them. "Not exactly."

"You *did* say something to him, didn't you!" she exclaimed.

"No, honestly, I didn't," he assured her. "I didn't say anything at all. I think... um, that might be part of the problem."

She subsided a little, though she still sounded suspicious. "What do you mean?"

"Well..." He sighed. "I think... I'm not sure, but I think--he might possibly think that I'm interested in you."

There was absolute silence for a moment. When he looked over at her, he realized she was trying not to giggle. At his glance, she gave up and buried her face in her arms, her shoulders shaking with silent laughter. He rolled his eyes, looking back at the board while he waited for her to calm down.

"He couldn't," she said at last, her giggles intermittent now. "Could he really?"

"We have to stop talking whenever he comes in the room," he pointed out. "And there was that night a couple days ago when he asked what we'd been doing and we couldn't tell him..."

She could only shake her head, trying desperately to stifle the giggles. "Zhane, that's terrible! And you didn't tell him that that wasn't it?"

"How could I?" he demanded. "I couldn't tell him what we were *really* talking about, and he's never asked straight-out. What am I supposed to say?"

"You're supposed to say, 'Andros, I'm not in love with your sister!'" she exclaimed. "It's easy--I'm going to do it if you don't!"

"No," he said with a sigh. "I'll tell him, really. It's just... with exams the last few days, I haven't been able to figure out how to bring it up. Plus he's been acting weird over that vision since yesterday."

She didn't say anything for a moment, but when she spoke her tone was serious again. "Ashley?"

He tried not to grimace. "I guess."

"Zhane," she said softly. "You know that vision really shook him up, and you saw the way he reacted to Ashley. Isn't this the worst possible time for him to be questioning your relationship?"

He shrugged. "It was cute when he was jealous," he muttered. "It's not so cute when it's me."

She let out a breath of amusement. "It never is," she agreed. She cocked her head at the board and added, "Your move."

He poked at another square half-heartedly, and she shook her head. "Don't do that."

"Too late," he informed her.

She reached out and the middle square turned yellow. All across the board, white squares followed suit until the game glowed solid gold.

He stared at the yellow board. "How did you do that?"

She laughed. "I concentrated," she answered. "That's where you think about the game instead of your boyfriend, remember?"

"You were thinking about Kaeth!" he protested.

Her morpher beeped, and she responded automatically. He looked up as Andros' voice came over the communicator, and the Red Ranger asked everyone to meet him on the Megaship. She acknowledged, shooting him a mock-glare as she did so.

As soon as she broke the link, she gave him a shove. "Thanks for warning me," she said, amused.

Startled, Zhane shook his head. "I didn't know until he called you. He didn't tell me."

She frowned a little. "He must have known you were with me. He probably just figured you'd come when I did."

Hurt, Zhane didn't bother voicing the alternative. "Yeah. I guess so."

"You should talk to him," she prodded, pushing herself up off the grass. "I can't believe you let him think you liked me this whole time..."

"I didn't *know* he thought that," he insisted. But he had known how stoic Andros could be, and he should have said something. He shouldn't have let it go. Now that this A-girl was showing him what it felt like, he realized what a mistake that had been.

She just rolled her eyes at him, and he shrugged helplessly. She waited while he fished his unofficial communicator out of his pocket and linked up with DECA. He nodded, and she reached down to grab the little game generator before the teleportation stream enveloped them both.