A/N: Another story so soon?! No, I just happen to have some ideas to write about, so I felt that I should make one or two collections of drabbles to dump those ideas into. I could do multi-chapters, crossovers, alternate universe, so the range of topics can be pretty wide. I might be taking requests, if I don't know what to write about.

Some of these drabbles may be related to the two other Pokemon Ranger stories I've written, Shadows of Almia, and Tracks of Light, so there could be some source material that may be important to know. I'll warn you if I do happen to make those types of short stories.

Happy reading!

Warning: This is ToL and SoA related. Please refer to source material before reading.

Grief

Characters: Ben, Keith

Rating: T

Summary: Ben watched his teacher fall apart, and nothing could be done to fix him.

Keith had many options at night. He could just leave the quarters and go wandering aimlessly in the night, if the weather was fair. He could visit the library at open hours and read countless books about sappy love stories just to kill his own heart. He could be stopping by a local bar to drink his sorrows away, hopefully not too excessively. He could have gone into the darker parts of town and indulged himself freely so he could forget the pain the past years have done to him. Ben could have thought that the Ranger could choose to jump off the harbors of Pueltown and drown. All from grief.

Ben didn't approve of his teacher's nightly habits of staying up all night. He could understand that the man wanted to be alert at all times when he was on a high scale mission, but he worried for Keith on days after the mission was done, and they had to return to headquarters the next morning. Those days he would be gone, not to be seen again until dawn came, and they would reconvene at the small ferry that would take them back to the front steps of the Ranger Union.

However, Ben was glad that the redhead decided to never sleep in the same room as his student. The last time he did that was a year ago, and Ben spent his waking hours listening to the grown man whimper and groan in his sleep. Usually, he wouldn't care as much, but this time he couldn't bear the sound of it. The young boy tossed the covers off himself. He was ready to stalk over to Keith's bed and punch his own teacher in the gut for being so noisy. His feet carried him to the side of the bed, but he stopped, his fist left in place.

The man was crying, as if he were some lost boy in a crowded market. He was shivering even though he was bundled up in sheets into a little ball. His neck was fresh with sweat, and his face was anguished. His lips were moving, sounds rolling off his tongue, of a name, a woman's name, over and over again. He pleaded, he begged for her to come back. In another moment he shook uncontrollably and was desperately asking for some other woman to stay away, as if this second person had done something so traumatic that he could never forget.

The sight of this broken man was pitiful, and Ben could do nothing to stop it. Resigned, Ben returned to his bed, and continued to pretend to sleep. The following morning, he received an apology from his teacher, and a promise to have different rooms even though the cost would be greater. Ben was actually surprised that Keith was either awake or could sense that Ben wanted to hit him. He didn't protest against Keith's generous offer. He really needed his sleep after missions, and it was for Keith's better good, too.

If Keith wasn't drowning himself in pain, he'd get ferociously angry. Any mention of her name would send the man into a raging fit, and he'd break at least two tables in the cafeteria if anyone said anything involving her at all. And Ben had to emphasize. At least. Two. Tables. Murph could cry over the many stacks of collateral damage repairs from both missions and standby hours Keith had built up.

Ben never caught full brunt of his teacher's anger, but it was quite often he'd get snippets of it. The man would rudely point at what he did wrong and ask him to fix it, without giving any hints. Ever the loyal student, Ben would just get down and figure out the rest of the problem himself, perhaps with Summer's help. Never once did he ever speak back, since the last poor Operator who did so was sent to the infirmary with broken hands. Keith could never hurt his own student physically. Just only words. Not that it broke him.

He could tell that Murph, the rest of the Council, and Hastings were worried for Keith's mental state, but for some reason, they let him be. Ben didn't understand, and many times, he's asked Murph why they never asked Keith to sit down and take a break, or worse, discharge him because of his erratic behavior.

"He's still useful," Murph said quietly. "If we let him go, he'd be worse than he is right now."

So nothing could be done, he concluded. Nothing could fix the broken heart of a man who lost his dignity. His love. Not even another ten years would change his mind to remain alone, to move on and forget all that had been done to him. He won't sleep easily, and he won't open up. Not for another few years. Unless, by some chance, a miracle would happen, and the Hero of Almia herself could return to his arms.

Everyone could only wish that would happen, but for now, they decidedly ignored him.