Disclaimer: Power Rangers in Space isn't mine, though I like to think I make better use of it. =)
Soulmates
Three days. Had it been three days? Or had it been a week? He could no longer tell because the past and the present had merged into this one timeless scene in his mind. Timeless because after fifty years, he would still remember it as if he'd lived it just the day before; because nothing in the scene seemed to change, or even move; because he was being forced to live it again, and possibly even again, and then once more, enough times until his soul was broken, and he let go of hope.
He remembered what happened last time, with the monster and the saber and the deafening explosion. Tendrils of thick, acrid smoke and charred rubble gave way to a silent, sterile room that reeked of sorrow, a room where he'd spent three aching days gripping his best friend's hand and willing him not to die.
We'll vow to fight as a team forever.
Against all odds, his friend had lived, and though it took two years time, once again they stood together.
You didn't think I'd abandon my best friend.
"You promised, Zhane," Andros whispered, his voice a mere ghost of the strong, commanding tone it once had been. "You promised! Why are you doing this to me again?"
There was no response from the still body that lay on the bed, and Andros could feel those miserable tears begin to prickle in his eyes once more. He had cried enough, this time and last time, to know that it did nothing, not even relieve some of the unbearable grief that was clawing at his heart. Tears washed away nothing; they were as useless as the vice-like grip he had around Zhane's hand, which would not channel any of his own life into his friend's body no matter how much he wished it would happen.
It had been a stray bullet. The damnable kind that missed its intended target and inevitably hurt someone else. Zhane's face had gone white before he'd pitched forward and was caught by Andros' disbelieving arms.
Wake up, Zhane. Please, just open your eyes. Don't leave me alone here. Don't leave me...
He had hardly eaten or slept in the past week he'd spent at Zhane's bedside, and exhaustion was finally beginning to overwhelm him. He laid his head down wearily on the bed, still gripping his friend's hand, and closed his eyes. The tears continued to slip out even as he drifted deeper into the arms of sleep.
Somewhere in that strange land between dreaming and waking, Andros thought he heard Zhane's laughter, the first time he'd heard his friend's voice since that ill-fated accident.
Zhane?
Andros.
Come back, Zhane. I don't want to be alone again. I--I couldn't take that.
I'm not leaving you, Andros. I promised you I wouldn't, remember?
Yes.
We swore we'd fight together forever, and that's what I intend to do.
Good.
Honestly, Andros, I don't think It could be any other way. Even if we wanted it to be.
* * * * *
An entire team of nurses and doctors had come rushing into Zhane's room as soon as the alarm went off, warning them that the heart monitor had gone flat. The remaining four Astro Rangers were forced to watch from the doorway as the medical team readied the resuscitation equipment and prepared to pull Zhane back into the land of the living.
Andros lay asleep at the bedside, his head cradled in one arm as he somehow remained undisturbed by all the commotion going on around him. A nurse hurriedly went over to try to rouse him, shaking him gently at first and then more urgently. He did not respond. Now deeply concerned, the nurse slid her hand beneath his and pressed her fingers against his wrist. She held it there for a moment before frowning, and moved her fingers to the side of his neck.
The head doctor leading the team had been watching the nurse carefully, and was startled when the young woman glanced up at her with wide eyes and a slightly agape mouth. She slowly shook her head.
A great and heavy silence filled the room as the medical team stopped in their actions and the other Rangers quietly crept into the room, their hearts fearing the worst. Everyone glanced back and forth between the two young men, no one failing to notice the peaceful and eerily identical expressions on each of their faces. They knew they would not forget this scene any time soon, if ever, for it was as sweet as it was sad.
Two best friends, together in life and inseparable by death.
Two souls that could not exist without one another--if they ever were indeed two separate souls.