Connected
By: theunknownvoice
Disclaimer: I own nothing, zip, nada.
A/N: Takes place after Escape the Lost Galaxy.
She had felt a connection between them. She had known for a few precious moments before he agreed to help her. Her people believed that two people could know each other in two seconds. Two souls could recognize each other in the blink of an eye and the love of past lives would rekindle.
He wasn't a sentimentalist. He had been taught that love took years to grow. It happened as two people bonded through hardships and joys.
Few could understand her grief when he was lost. They thought him dead and her heart screamed with agony. Her soul, however, refused to acknowledge his death.
He filled her dreams following his disappearance. To any one else it would seem insane. She had known him for a few hours. It was when she heard his voice that she knew he was alive.
Time had passed since then. Time had passed and she had been happy to become his friend. Still she could not shake the sinking feeling her stomach.
Captain Mutiny had been taking their people. It didn't matter that she wasn't from earth. The people of Terra Venture had become her people partly because she lived among them and partly because they were his people.
He had been determined.
"They don't know who I am. I can go down there and help those people. Muntiny has to be stopped," he said.
Her heart had hammered. She knew why he was doing this but part of her had wanted to stop him. That had been in the past.
She sat in the MegaShip waiting for word. She knew there was a slim chance that they would him alive. He had risked everything so Terra Venture could be free of the lost galaxy. Her heart pounded with worry and her soul cried out for its missing half.
"Maya, Leo found him," Karone said gently tapping her friend on the shoulder.
That was all it took for Maya to race down to the med bay. She ran quickly her heart pumping fast. She found Leo in the med bay his eyes glued on the still figure on the hospital bed.
His powers were gone but at least he was alive. She would thank whatever god that had brought him back to her.
The truth hit Mike Corbett like a rocket going hundreds of light years per second. He would never again wear the mantle of the Magna Defender. His days as a ranger were over.
His body was sore. Pain jettisoned through him as he tried to become comfortable on the bed. He had been in med bay since Leo found him floating in space. The powers had protected him long enough so that he hadn't died of suffocation. Once again he tried to numb the pain.
Just don't focus on it and it won't hurt so bad. You won't feel anything if you don't think about it, he repeated in his head.
It didn't work.
"Where does it hurt?" Maya asked gently.
She had wanted to see him for days but had kept her distance. For the first day or two Mike had drifted in and out of consciousness. She had known that he would need time. Time before she could see him without the company of the others. Time before he could accept the fact that his powers were gone.
"Everywhere," he said trying to smile for her.
Gently Maya turned him over so he was lying on his stomache. She began to rub out every tension creased muscle. Her hands found the knots and the aches that Mike had long since been battling.
"I haven't seen you since I left," he said.
"You needed time," she answered.
He understood immediately what she meant. It was so easy for him to understand her that sometimes it disturbed him. He could read a million things by just watching her walk into a room. Even the sound of her voice alerted him to her thoughts and her emotions.
What scared him was how well she understood him too. She always seemed to know instinctively what needed. She knew exactly what to say to him and when to say it. Her rubbing his back was just another example. She knew where every tension spot was and where every pain existed. She knew him better than anyone even Leo.
"I missed you," he said softly.
"And I you," she answered. "I don't think I've ever been so scared. I thought you were dead."
His eyes widened at the sorrow and fear in voice. He turned himself over slowly so not to knock her over. Gently he took her hand in his own as if reassuring her that he was very much alive.
Her eyes darted with tears and the fear was readable as was another powerful emotion. Her eyes whispered that she loved him, that she would be lost without him.
Carefully he pulled her towards the hospital bed. He made her lay down beside him and held her gently.
"I'm right here," he said tenderly.
She curled into him. Hours passed with the two of them laying like that. There was no talking just a simple hush that surrounded them. He held her close and she cuddled into him being careful not to cause him pain.
At long last Mike broke the silence.
"The others are going to be looking for you," he said.
"I don't think they will find me here. This will be the last place they look," she whispered.
His eyes blinked in surprise.
"I don't like coming to the med bay. It's a sad place," she answered the unasked question.
"You came to see me."
"You are more important than my dislike for this place."
"You love me?"
She sat up suddenly. He had guessed her secret and she knew she could not lie to him. She nodded her head softly and prepared to leave the room. It had been too soon for him to accept.
Mike gently grabbed her arm.
"I'm not letting you go," he whispered. "I can't let you go thinking that I don't care."
She froze at his words.
"Maya, I know I don't show it but I do like you. I do care about you and I do love you. It's just hard for me to show that to you."
She turned towards him and kissed him. Mike lay still in slight shock. Nothing was said as she lied down next to him again.
The End