It Isnt Easy

by Syd and Z

The SPD rangers are forced to deal with not only Grumm's attempts to rule the world, but matters of the heart as well. Eventual pairings SkySyd, BridgeZ, JackOC Chapter 12 is up. There are some interesting developments.

1. Chapter 1

Title: It Isn't Easy

Disclaimer: We own nothing….Except for Dorianna, and a few lil folks here and there. The song "Cry" is owned by Mandy Moore and all her posse. The rangers and all that belong to Disney.

Note from Becky: Hey folks, well, here it is—the latest fic by Teal and myself. Yes, we will continue to work on our other stories, so don't worry, you will see more chapters of Barely Breathing and After the Fall. Anywhooo, enjoy. Oh, by the way, since they haven't disclosed the ages of the rangers on the show, we figured their ages are as follows:

Sky & Bridge - 21
Jack - 20
Syd – 19

Omega-19
Z - 18

Characters that will pop up later:

Dorianna (original character)-19

Morgana-20

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19-year-old Sydney Drew stood in the recording studio, headphones hanging around her neck. Her manager Stacey Klaus and the mixer Josh Hawthorn were arguing about the last song to go on her next CD. It had been two years since Syd had released her debut album, and the fans demanded more from the already busy teenager. She had been a beauty pageant queen, an Olympian and a rock star all before 18. Shortly after her CD had been released, Syd had enrolled in the SPD Academy, much to the dismay of her parents who had wanted her to continue with her previous jobs. Part of Sydney's contract stated that she needed to shoot some video's and release songs every so often, and then after the hype had died down for her first CD, she was to record a second. This was what she was doing currently. Syd sighed and picked at a spot on her jeans. Finally the door to the sound booth swung open.

"Sydney, we've decided that this last song is going to be your first single." Stacey commented. Syd took a peak at the lyrics in front of her. It was something she'd written after her first album went platinum. The lyrics had come straight from her heart about a boy she utterly adored and truly cared for. She had entitled the song 'Cry'. Syd nodded and the door swung closed. Syd lifted her headphone's back onto her ears and waited for the opening cords to slowly drum into her mind. She closed her eyes and started singing.

"I'll always remember, it was late afternoon
it lasted forever, and ended so soon.
You were all by yourself
staring up at a dark grey sky
I was changed..."

Syd felt tears pricking behind her eyes as she poured her heart and soul into the song.

"In places no one would find
All your feelings so deep inside
was there that I realized
that forever was in your eyes
the moment I saw you cry."

Syd remembered the day she'd written this song. It was the day she'd met Sky Tate and Bridge Carson, two members of C-squad at the time. Syd instantly felt a connection between her and Bridge, and noticed that there was something mysterious and almost sexy about Sky. The three of them had played a game of lightball that very afternoon, which ended in them going outside for fresh air. They joked around with each other until it began to rain. Bridge and Syd made a run for the buildings, while Sky just stood there. Syd had gone back to him. He told her that he liked the rain. It made him feel as if everything were perfect with the world. Syd had later found out that Sky's mother loved the rain, and she had been killed in a tragic accident, during a horrific rainstorm that wiped out the highway she'd been driving on. Sky had confided in Sydney that when it rained, he felt close to her. Syd opened her eyes and breathed in before singing again.

"It was late in September
and I'd seen you before
you were always the cold one
But I was never that sure
you were all by yourself
staring up at a dark grey sky
I was changed..."

Syd smiled slightly, thinking of Sky before launching back into the chorus.

"In places no one would find
all your feeling so deep inside
it was then that I realized
that forever was in your eyes
the moment I saw you cry."

Syd could feel those same tears pricking her eyes again as she launched into the heartfelt bridge.

"I wanted to hold you
I wanted to make it go away
I wanted to know you
I wanted to make your everything... all right."

Her voice quieted down as she finished the bridge and began a new verse.

"I'll always remember
it was late afternoon
in places no one will find."

Smiling she took a deep breath.

"In places no one would find
All your feelings so deep inside (deep inside)
(forever was in your eyes)
It was there that I realized
that forever was in your eyes
the moment I saw you cry."

A tiny tear slipped down Syd's cheek facing away from her manager and mixer as she began to close the song.

"Baby Cry
the moment that I saw you cry
Oh no no
I think I saw you cry
the moment I saw you cry.."

Sydney's voice began to face out on the track.

"I wanted to know you
I wanted to know you

I wanted to know you..."

After the song was over, she pulled off the headphones and let them rest against on her shoulders before bending down and getting her bottle of water that was resting on the floor as she discretely wiped away the traces of her tears. She stood up straight and took a swig of water. Syd could remember back when she made her first album, how hearing the backing vocals in her ears startled her, but now, while she was recording her sophomore album, it was expected and she had just continued on singing, unfazed by the voices in her ears. She couldn't help smiling a bit at how grown up she felt—being accustomed to how it was to record an album at just the age of 19. She looked towards the window of the sound booth and saw Stacey and Josh both smiling. Stacey came over and opened the door, walking over to the blonde.

"Syd, sweetheart, that was amazing. Hands down, best song you've done so far." She complimented. Syd's cheeks wore a soft crimson hue from her manager's praise and she smiled.

"Thanks, Stace."

"Well, we've got about two more songs to do, think you can handle it?" Stacey asked, although she knew the singer/former beauty queen/former Olympian/current SPD ranger could. Syd gave the older woman a bright smile.

"Sure." She said. Stacey gave the girl a warm smile before exiting the booth so that they could continue.

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Bridge Carson, Elizabeth "Z" Delgado, Schyler "Sky" Tate and Jack Landers all sat in the rec room at the SPD base, fully enjoying the current downtime their latest triumph over Grumm's forces had given them. Bridge and Z were sitting across from each other playing a game of chess, Sky was sitting off by himself reading and Jack was sitting not to far from the blue ranger, reading a comic book. Bridge and Z both sat hunched over the chess board, contemplating their own moves and anticipating their opponents move.

"Now remember," Z said. "No cheating by trying to read my mind." Bridge looked at her.

"I thought you didn't believe I couldn't read minds." Bridge said. Z gave him her trademark smirk.

"First of all, Sky's the one who said he didn't believe it." At the mention of his name, Sky briefly looked up, after realizing Z wasn't addressing him, he just returned to his book. "So, I just thought I'd remind you that if you try to cheat, you'll be in due for some severe bodily harm." She concluded with mock sweetness.

"Noted." Bridge said, giving the girl in yellow a mock salute. The door to the rec room swished open reviling a tired, and disheveled Syd. Her civilian clothes were slightly damp, as was her hair. She was dragging her black sweater and purse beside her and she tossed them onto the floor before flopping down on the couch next to Jack. She grabbed a pillow and tucked it behind her head before leaning back and sighing. Her teammates looked at her.

"How'd it go?" Bridge questioned. Syd sighed.

"Long... very very long." She replied sleepily. Jack looked at her.

"Did you get everything finished?" He asked. She nodded. "Yeah, we managed to finish recording all 16 songs, and we picked my first single." She responded, rubbing her eyes. Z looked at the pink ranger.

"What song?" Syd looked at her best friend.

"It's a ballad, called Cry." She finished. The group nodded. Bridge sneakily moved one of his chess piece on the board.

"Checkmate Z." He commented, grinning. Z frowned and kicked him under the table. Bridge just laughed it off. Z quirked an eyebrow at the boy in green before turning to give her full attention to the pink ranger, or so it seemed. Before Bridge knew what hit him, two of Z's duplications tackled him.

"Ah!" He exclaimed. Jack, Sky and Syd all looked over to see Bridge being pinned to the floor with the two Zs attacking his sides with their fingers. "Stop!" He laughed, damning the fact that Z knew how ticklish he was.

"So, anyway, are you going to make a video for it?" The actual Z asked Syd, ignoring Bridge. Syd blinked, drawing her attention away from the squirming green ranger.

"Oh, uh yeah, I think so." She said. "The label kind of took in consideration the fact that I've got other responsilities, so they revised my contract, not that I have idea what the revisions are."

"When will you know what's going to happen?" Jack asked. Syd sighed, rotating her shoulders tiredly.

"Not sure, in a couple of weeks maybe, once all the mixing and everything is done." She said. Jack put a hand on her shoulder, making her move forward. Syd didn't really pay much attention and just let herself be moved. Jack placed his hands on her shoulders and massaged her tired muscles gently. Syd sighed, grateful for her friend's actions. Sky watched Jack massaging Syd's shoulders and couldn't help as the same jealousy that came whenever he saw them together entered him. Z didn't seem to pay much attention to what Jack was doing and Bridge was too preoccupied to notice. Sky cast a glance and Z, figuring that Z, as Syd's roommate and best friend, knew of whatever was going on between Syd and Jack and therefore didn't bat an eyelash at Jack's massage.

"Z, come on! I give!" Bridge yelled. Z looked over at him.

"Do you promise never to cheat at chess again?" She asked.

"Not while playing with you." Bridge muttered as he fought to catch his breath, which resulted in the two Zs intensifying their torture on his sides. "Okay! Okay! I'll never cheat again!" He swore. The duplicates disappeared.

"Good." Z said, with a triumphant smile. Bridge tiredly sat up. Syd giggled at the state his hair and opened uniform jacket and green shirt were in. Bridge frowned and smooth down his hair before getting up and sitting back down at his seat. Syd sighed happily as Jack finished his massage. She yawned and looked at the clock. It was 8:30. Standing, she straightened her shirt and looked at the group.

"I'm exhausted. I'll see you guys later." She commented as she headed for the door. The doors swished open and Syd made a left and headed towards her bedroom.

"Hey, Syd." Came a voice. She stopped and looked around, not seeing anyone. "Up here." Came the voice. She looked up a bit and saw the white/blue ball of light.

"Oh hey-" She paused. "Uh……What exactly are we supposed to call you?" She asked. "Sam? Omega?" There was silence.

"Oh, sorry, forgot—no body, can't exactly shrug my shoulders, can I?" He joked. Syd laughed softly. "I guess whatever you guys want to call me is fine." He said. Syd covered her mouth as a yawn escaped.

"Oh, okay, well, I'm heading off to bed, see you tomorrow." She said.

"Night, Syd." He said as he floated away. Syd shook her head as she headed down the darkened corridor to her quaters. Poor Omega, stuck in light ball form. Feeling bad for the guy she waited as the doors opened into her room. She stepped in and walked over to her bed and grabbed her pink tank top and black sweat pants, one of her pink towels and her toothbrush and toothpaste. The door swished open and Syd walked out and back down the hall to the bathroom. She changed into her pajamas in the bathroom and walked over to the sink counter, placing her things on the counter she brushed her teeth and washed and after she rinsed, she gently scrubbed at her face. She shut off the water and blindly reached for her towel, but it wasn't where she had placed it. She opened one eye and saw the towel being held right in front of her. She took the towel and dried off her face. She looked up to see who had grabbed her towel and saw Z standing there, her arms crossed and her hip resting against the counter.

"So, 'Cry', huh?" Z asked. Z had seen her notebook full of song lyrics a while ago—a perk that came with being the pink ranger's ally in a group otherwise filled with testosterone. Syd sighed. Z and Jack where the only ones who knew about Syd's feelings for Sky—Jack finding out because he was like a brother to Z and the girl acidently let it slip out while having a conversation with the red ranger. Although, Syd recalled, she wasn't that upset about Jack knowing seeing as ever since her birthday—which she now shared with him, she saw him as like a brother just like Z said. Syd sometimes felt a special thrill at knowing Jack and Z, since she figured Z was like a sister to Jack, it was only logical that the two girls would be like sisters. Syd had grown up as an only child, and having Jack and Z made her feel less lonely and made her feel like she had a family that didn't just consist of her overbearing and judgmental parents.

"Yes." Syd responded.

"Any chance this will lead to you actually coming clean to our stoic friend?" Z asked. Syd rolled her eyes and gathered her things as she walked past Syd towards their room. The doors swished open and Z followed Syd into the room. Syd placed her clothes in her pink canvas hamper and hung the towel on the back of a chair. She then placed her toothbrush and toothpaste on her desk before going over to her bed.

"Z, I'm really tired." She said. Z sighed at her friend's aversion to the topic and decided to not push it.

"Right, well, I'm going to go back to the rec room. I'll be quiet when I come back in here." She said.

"Thanks." Syd said. She pulled back the pink covers on her bed and crawled in, lying down. She cuddled Peanuts close to her and settled into bed. Z left the room, shutting the lights off on her way out. Z shook her head as she walked back down the hallway to the rec room. She had seen the way that Syd looked at Sky. And Z, and Jack for that matter could never understand what the pink princess saw in the brooding blue ranger. Sure, she thought that Sky was somewhat attractive when she had first joined the academy, but she found a certain green ranger more appealing. Sighing, she waited for the doors to the rec room to swish open before she walked though. Jack had discarded his comic book and was now playing a game of chess with Bridge, taking her spot. So Z went over to the couch and plopped down and looked at Sky, who was still wrapped up in his book.

"Whatcha reading?" She asked him. Without even batting an eyelash, Sky lifted the book up. "The Da Vinci Code?" Z questioned. Sky's eyes lifted up to meet hers.

"Yes... Is there a problem with that?" He asked, coolness creeping into his voice. Z shook her head.

"Just wondering what you were reading." She said. "Although, I would have figured you'd go for more contemporary literature instead of something from '04."

"Guess you figured wrong." Sky said as he returned to his reading. Z raised her eyebrows.

"Okay, then." She said softly. She got up and went over to the guys, watching them play, Bridge flinched as she sat next to him, expecting her to make a sneak attack to his side. Z laughed and playfully shoved his shoulder. Bridge laughed, slowly going into ease. Jack quirked an eyebrow at Z. Bridge was a good guy, but Jack, seeing Z as his little sister, he automatically had any male she gave attention to under intense scrutiny. Z caught Jack's look and gave him a look that screamed 'mind your own buissness'. Jack smirked and focused on the chess game.

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Dr. Kat Manx stood at her lab desk, going over some results layed out in front of her. She, Boom and Cruger had been going over these stats, and running tests since the arrival of Omega Ranger. They were trying to get him to change into human form, and all their attempts so far, had flunked. Sighing she punched a few different combinations into the computer as the bouncy ball of light floated into the room. Kat hit enter and waited. After a few seconds nothing happened, and the half human half feline frowned. Nothing was working.

"I take it that it's not going well." The ball of light mused. Kat looked up.

"That'd be putting it mildly... No combination works properly." She grumbled as she printed off another set of numbers.

"Well, you guys don't need to go to all the trouble. You should be focusing more on defeating Grumm. I mean, it's not like I can't take coporal form at all—I can morph." He said. "Besides, with my younger self wandering around, maybe it's not the best idea to have me in human form—I don't exactly want to freak myself out, if you know what I mean."

"You have a point." Kat said. "But, it doesn't hurt to at least try to return you to your human form. I'm sure your getting tired of being a little bouncing ball of light, aren't you?" She asked.

"I do miss the advantages of having a body." He admitted, thinking back to his interaction with Syd before about only being able to express himself with words.

"All right then. And as far as Sam….er…..you……whatever…..is concerned, we'll think of something if we have to explain anything to him……or …..you……Well, you understand what I mean."

"Yeah." He said.

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Syd rolled over in her bed and slowly opened her eyes. She took a glance at the clock. 9:30am. Groaning at the fact that she was awake at 9:30am on a saturday, she burried her face back into her pillow. She had just nicely fallen back to sleep when the phone started ringing. Muttering under her breath she picked up the cordless machine and pressed it to her ear.

"Hello?" She asked sleepily. There was a cheery voice that greeted her.

"Morning Sydney! It's Stacey, and we need to talk." She told the singer. Syd groaned as Stacey explained things about her video shoot. "...so basically you need to pick someone to be the love interest in your video." Stacey finished. Syd groaned.

"Can't you get some actor or something?" Sydney asked.

"We thought of that, but since we're on a bit of a time limit, we figured it'd be easier to have you just ask someone you know instead of us trying to find someone." Stacey explained.

"All right." Sydney said. She yawned. "Can I go back to sleep now?" She asked.

"Oh, sure, give me a call later today and we'll talk about scheduling." Stacey said.

"Uh huh, bye." She said. She shut off the phone and let it drop to the floor. The loud sound rousing Syd's roommate. Z sat up in bed, startled by the sound of the phone hitting the floor.

"Huh…..wha…" She said sleepily. Syd looked at her.

"Sorry, dropped the phone, go back to bed."