A/N: I'm calling this AU because of my version of Sky's story. Hope you like.
Disclaimer: They ain't mine.
It was one of those nights that only came about because of war, a night when you were tired, but still couldn't sleep. Only B-Squad was awake, and they were talking, sharing stories about their childhoods, both funny and sad. Everyone had gone, and it was Sky's turn. It was Jack's question, and that was a combination that would set off sparks they figured. "What I want to know," Jack said, "is why you've coveted the position as Red Ranger so much? I've been told about your dad, but there must be more than that."
Sky sighed, and set his water down. "In the end," he said, quietly, "it is just my dad, and how he died."
Sky was only four when his dad left, but he remembered watching hid dad going to join the other Rangers. He remembered waving until his dad was no longer there. His mother had told him stories, about her home on Earth, and about the Rangers who had once protected it. It was like any other time his dad had gone away. There were games to play with the other Ranger kids, and beginning lessons in 'all the important things'. It didn't end like any other trip. Sky knew when he first realized something was wrong; it was when the other Rangers came back. He was with his grandparents all day, and they were very sad, and his mom had been crying. When he finally came home, Sky found himself tucked away quickly, but he didn't let that stop him. He'd been sneaking out to here his dad and mom converse for a few months.
It was his mother's voice that stopped him from getting too close to the living room. "How did it happen?"
"He wasn't alone," Uncle Rene replied, "Dean went up against him while we had to fight the crybots. We were distracted when Dean went down, it took us a few minutes to realize he wasn't getting up. Cara, we're all beating ourselves up for this, we shouldn't have left Dean to face him alone. I'm sorry."
"Don't be, Rene, we both knew the risks when we married. For now, I'm taking Sky back to Earth."
"Why?" Rene asked.
"If Grumm's goons are that close, then I don't want to have Sky in the middle of this war; not while he's still a child. Rene, I'm an Earther at heart, and I want to go home and cry on my mother's shoulder."
"All right, Cara. I'll bring Jemma around to help you pack, all right?" Rene said, "and remember, you and Sky always have a home here."
The door closed, and everything was silent. Then Cara Tate spoke, "I'm sorry, Dean. I know you wanted Sky to be a Ranger, but I can't do it. I can't watch another person I love die in a war I don't understand. So we're going home."
Sky sighed, "My dad died a Ranger, and my mother never forgave him. She died just before I joined the academy, and she never once looked at another man. That's why I became a Ranger. My dad died because he believed in what the mission was. My mom died with him. I may never marry, or at least, not until I'm done fighting. If I'm here, then there's a little kid out there with both parents who will never lose one because someone with no family didn't take up a morpher."