Had To Try
Summary – It's Billy's and Trini's last night together before she goes to the peace conference. He had to try one last time to get her to stay.
Apart from the waves crashing against the shore, pulling away and clawing back towards the sand, sending droplets of spray through the air, it was quiet. It was more like background noise, peaceful background noise that Billy would equate to the sound that helped people sleep. It relaxed the two of them as they sat on the edge of the dock.
Their feet hung over the water, gently swishing back and forth. His long legs had his feet barely skimming the water, her slender ones not quite reaching all the way, but gently stroking back and forth. They sat at the end of the dock, away from the noise of the goodbye party and bonfire that was happening around them.
The sun had set a long time ago and while there was a very slight chill in the air that came with the drop in temperature, the air was still warm and soothing.
"This is nice," Trini finally said to break the silence.
Billy appeared startled for a moment, expecting the two of them to be caught up in the silence of each other. Then she smiled, his eyes dark behind his glasses, and nodded. "Yeah." He then looked harder at her, while the words that had come out of the yellow ranger's mouth were uplifting, he could see the sadness on her face. Reaching out a hand, he gently brushed her tears away.
Trini gave a gentle smile, taking his hand in hers, clasping her own around his and bringing it to her lap. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Billy said. Trini sighed and Billy squeezed her hand tightly.
Noticing the pressure, Trini glanced over at the intellectual blue ranger and noticed him looking directly at her. She noticed the look in his eyes. "Please don't say it," she whispered.
"I would always feel dreadful if I didn't attempt it one more time," he whispered back. Trini nodded. "You don't have to go"
"I do," Trini contradicted. "You know I do. We both know that I have to go. It's an opportunity I can't pass up. It's something that's going to change the world and you know that…things like this…"
Billy took a deep breath and squeezed her hand again. "I know." And he did know. He knew how important things like this, like the peace conference was to Trini. She had always been a gentle soul, caring about other people. Her thoughts and feelings always had to do with other people. Telling her to change that would be telling her to become a completely different person.
A completely different person from the one he loved.
"But I'll be back and you'll see me again," Trini said. She tried to sound upbeat. "If you still want to see me, I mean."
"Of course I will," Billy replied. He glanced down at their hands before bringing it up, his dragging along with hers, and gently kissed the back of her hand. "It'd take more than Rita's monsters to stop me."
Trini giggled a little. "That's funny…I was thinking the same thing."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Billy opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it, gently shaking his head. Trini looked at him, silently asking him to continue. He continued to shake his head. Trini continued to stare. She knew what he wanted to say, she knew him that well. "I was going to ask; then why are you leaving but I don't think I can…"
"Part of me wishes I wasn't going," Trini admitted. She brought up her free hand and wiped a tear away from her eyes. Billy reached out and put her arm around her shoulders, pulling the beautiful young woman closer to her.
It was hard. He really did love this girl. He never got a chance to say it and he wasn't sure he ever would. He just hoped she knew how he was feeling. She was the one that had brought up the idea of the peace conference in the first place, telling him how nervous she was if she got picked. He reassured her that Switzerland would be lucky to have her, that she could do big things. And while he had said it, two months ago it was a great idea, now it wasn't so great. The fact they were going to be apart would change things between them.
He was being left behind.
As if reading his mind, Trini leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, a pleasant surprise. "You're going to be fine, Billy."
"Affirmative." Billy turned back towards the ocean. "Will you be okay?"
Trini wasn't so sure. It hurt, she knew how much more it would hurt the moment she stepped on that plane and the door closed. "I'll be fine." She squeezed his hand. "We'll be fine." She moved closer into him and Billy kissed her on the temple.
Trini rested her head on his shoulder and turned to the see as well. The moon reflected on the water, a perfect, white orb that gave a bright, brilliant light over the beach. The rangers continued to sit in silence, the sound of music, laughter, shouting….their friends and classmates having fun wafted around them with the ocean breeze. But they just sat there and continued to sit there until the sunrise so they could do one last thing together.
A/N: Kind of bittersweet and while I, personally, didn't see Billy and Trini as anything more than friends I'm not against writing the pairing and this was fun to write.
~Avalon