Disclaimer: I don't own anyone you recognize, they belong to Saban/Disney. I only own the circumstances.

Why Does it Always Rain on Me?

By DarkHonda aka Tal H.

Kelsey sighed desperately, her eyes scanning through the different people, or should she say, creatures, that were now entering the Aquabase's ballroom. Today was the untraditional Halloween's party at the Aquabase and Kelsey just couldn't believe the people around her! It all started a couple of weeks ago, when Captain Mitchell decided that in order to relieve the undying tension of fighting evil, the entire crew of the Aquabase from the highest ranked officer, and that's himself, to the cleaner of the rangers' room, and those are the rangers, mind you, should participate said party. The most horrifying fact was that despite the rule of a must-participate, everyone else were just so excited about the party, like it was a good thing!

"What's so good about it?" Kelsey couldn't help but wonder aloud, Dana who was standing next to her in their shared room nearly exploded with her patronizing scold.

"Kels! It's our chance to show the other guys around here that we're females and not just male-looking-spandex-wearing-heroes!" The blonde's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, making Kelsey flinch involuntarily. Despite being closely humiliated by Dana's response, Kelsey just knew this wasn't the real reason Dana loved the oh-so-thrilling Party which was to take place too soon, tomorrow night.

"Just because you want Carter to notice you're a female so bad, doesn't mean I want to get noticed as one. Do you have any idea how long did it take me to build this reputation for myself?" Kelsey asked, irritated, Dana glowered at her at once and Kelsey moaned painfully as she realized there was no way out of this. "Do I have to come with you?" Kelsey used her special nagging tone to try and poke Dana out of her intention to drag her 'by my words or by your hair' as she put it, to the prestigious costume shop Madame Yolanda.

"Of course you have to, Kels, how else am I going to put you into a dress?" Dana grinned and Kelsey rolled her eyes, this was going to be a loooooooooong afternoon…

***

Several hours before the party, Kelsey went rollerblading through Mariner Bay's park; she was anxious of that night's party, anxious of what her colleagues would say about the costume, or as Kelsey liked to refer it 'outfit'. The five extra-long hours at Madame Yolanda nearly wrecked her nerves, while Danna forced her to put on gown after gown. At first, it was alright, because Dana had been in the same changing room with her, but sooner than both girls expected, Dana found a really beautiful – and very complimenting – pink dress that would surely knock Carter out of his dry, by-the-book reflexes. The next four and a half hours were all dedicated for Kelsey's own benefit, as Dana referred to it. Kelsey just rolled her eyes and kept her mouth shut, hoping the torture would end soon and both could return to the Aquabase once more. Nothing helped though and when full three hours had blown away Kelsey was wishing for a huge monster attack; where were all those evil creatures when someone really needed them? She wondered silently to herself.

But at the end, right near the part when Kelsey was about to offer to go in her yellow spandex, an outfit was found. It was yellow and very promising, despite being all too revealing, but Kelsey didn't mind that. Or at least, at the time she didn't, now was a whole different story. Kelsey halted to a stop in front of Mariner Bay's lake, watching her reflection in the clear water. She didn't look bad, that's for sure, but she wasn't exquisite too, just ordinary; sure, she had those green eyes with specks of cat-like yellow in them but, everything else was just…plain. Her figure was rather lean, even too muscular to some, she did have female roundness, if you like, but many guys were thrown off of her just because she was too extreme. It was like no one human could measure up in that department, there was no excitement in rock-climbing, no laughs while rollerblading, just the careful haste not to fall down and break something. Very disappointing.

There were times she felt jealous at Dana: she had Carter. Chad had Marina. Joel has Ms. Fairweather. She was the fifth wheel out of the ranger gang. Sighing again, her morpher beeped and Kelsey quickly pressed it.

"Speak to me," She ordered quickly.

"Kels! Come back to the Aquabase!" Dana squealed, Kelsey rolled her eyes, "We have to get ready!"

"I'll be there." She retorted, very unenthusiastic and shut the morpher. Rubbing her face with her hands in frustration, he sighed, then started to head back to the Base.

***

After a few more hours of torture as well as a good shower and make up, at least from Dana's side, the two girls waited in their room for their dates, Dana was, of course, going with Carter while Kelsey was fixed with an old friend of Carter's, to her annoyance. As Dana waited anxiously for the knock, it suddenly appeared; Dana jumped on her feet, securing the pale pink mask on her face and opened it. Carter and Dana were found out to be amazingly synced: Dana was a pink princess and Carter a knight in red armor. That was one pair that worked well, while Holden, Carter's friend, was dressed as a Pirate whereas Kelsey… was not.

"Hi, so what are you supposed to be?" Holden's blue eyes questioned curiously, his eyes darting all over her figure and making her feel uncomfortable. Kelsey sighed to herself and shrugged, she couldn't blame him for not realizing, her outfit was more of shredded pieces of cloth, but she still hoped…

"Amazon Warrior," She said quietly, suddenly noticing Holden was incredibly shorter than her. His head reached her chin, she wanted to cry, what was the point in dressing up when there was no one to impress? By the looks of Holden's reaction, he has been over-enthusiastic in general. Kelsey sighed as she took the hand Holden offered and the two followed Dana and Carter out of the room. Silence was contagious and not a word was spoken until they've reach the entrance of the ball room, where the tall and dark skinned Joel was standing, looking above everyone's heads searching for Ms. Fairweather. He was dressed as a doctor, wearing a long white robe and dark slacks, a stethoscope around his neck, he looked very handsome. The sight of him made Kelsey smile, suddenly she missed Chad, yet he wouldn't be there, she remembered; he decided to spend his day underwater with Marina.

"Hello, fellow Spandex wearers, have you seen a beautiful Frankenstein creation around here?" Joel grinned, yet Kelsey could find a hint of concern in his voice.

"No, but I'm sure she's alright, Joel. The make up takes a pretty long time," Kelsey smiled at him and shrugged. Joel gave her a once over and whistled.

"Way to go, Kels! You look stunning," he started then his eyes met her date and he started to cough in order to hide his laughter. Kelsey's cheeks were beginning to heat, luckily it was so dim! She turned to look at her date and grabbed him by the arm as she started to drag him into the ballroom.

"Come on, Holden, let's go inside." She rushed and the two deserted their friends and entered the even-dimmer ballroom.

He was standing in the far corner of the large ballroom, a gray mask covering below his eyebrows, around his eyes and upper cheeks and ended near his mid nose. Dark black eyes watched the large amount of people who were dancing and chattering all over the room. He felt fairly protected under the mask, it hid his identity well, as his costume did: A wide black doublet with silver outlining was clinging against his wide shoulders and chest, as well as black breeches that clung to his shaped body well and tucked into his large dark brown boots. On his waist was a belt from which hung a scabbard where a silver sword was placed. No one seemed to talk to him or even care he was there, a stranger, while he examined their weaknesses, their fears coming to life in the form of disguises…

Suddenly he stopped.

A strange pack of a tall dark doctor, a weird green she-moster, a red knight, a pink princess, a spare and a yellow warrior was briefing in front of his eyes. He couldn't help his stomach which flipped excitedly, even in a place where you should hide your identity, those ranger-pests still couldn't do well; they were begging to be impaled on his sword's blade, if he could keep them from morphing and calling their fish loving friend. Hmm… the endless possibilities, he thought as he eyed the strange bunch of rangers, for some reason, it hadn't surprised him at all to see the pink one as a princess; she was always in need of defense from that goody-two-shoes red leech, despite how sickening it was to watch the two of them flutter around each other with no progression – he had nothing to use against them. The green ape and the she-monster, they had potential, their feelings were already in deep for each other, but he couldn't quite grasp what that intelligent she-monster had to do with the empty-brained ape. Honestly, there were dogs with better comprehension of reality. And then, there was the yellow one, poorly paired with a dwarf. Well, he was a spare you could kill, but the dwarf seemed to be more interested, naturally, in a dwarfess that he seemed to recognize, maybe he'll go along with the dwarfess and then things would be much simpler. Yet… for some reason, the black eyes couldn't move too far away of the yellow warrior.

"Goddess…" The dark man mumbled, scanning her much more accurately: there was a triangular dark yellow cloth that surrounded her chest and some of her abdomen, just until the bellybutton, a yellow Amber gemstone necklace around her neck and a short brown skirt over which hung another triangular dark yellow cloth ripped at the lower hem. She was walking barefoot. He gulped, then his eyes darted to examine her weapon – a short wooden sword, not for protection, for the party, so she could play along. Then he noticed her Arm Bracelet on her left arm and gulped again. She didn't wear make up like her princess friend and he found it… fascinating, like she hid nothing. Before he could remind himself the purpose of his showing there he made his way across the hall, to her.

I hate my life. That was the conclusion Kelsey Winslow reached when she watched her party date staring at Sara from the Mechanic department who was dressed as, how surprising, a pirate. She sighed exasperatedly, gloom was starting to take over, but hey – things could be worse: if there was a slow dance for example, she smiled to herself, knowing that would never happen in a ballroom full of army rule heeding people… Suddenly the roughness of the song that hovered around vanished and gentle, melodic tunes replaced them. Kelsey paled, but couldn't hold off the optimism: things could get even worse if there was an attack on Mariner Bay and the party had to end… the thought lingered for a couple of short moments, anticipating the delicate tweak of her morpher. Disappointment washed her, she had to suppress the urge to groan aloud.

"Kelsey, would you like to – ?" Holden started to ask when someone nudged him away.

"May I have this dance, Goddess?" A sort of dark fairytale-ish warrior offered his hand, he had dirty blond hair and a silver mask that matched the silvery outline of his shirt. Kelsey was starting to blush now. She cast an apologized glance at Holden and moved her palm into the gloved hand, which was surprisingly a lot larger than her own hands. He led her to the dance floor, then wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her closer to him. She drew closer to him, letting her arms rest on his shoulders, her fingers touching and un-touching the back of his neck. She could breathe in his scent which was earthy as opposed to the salty sea scent she now grew accustomed of, it was a blessed change. She could feel her heart racing too fast, her hands suddenly shivering slightly and she was entirely self aware by now, blushing whenever her eyes met his dark onyx ones.

As the song kept playing, she kept wishing it would never end; everything seemed so… magical with him around, like the tiny light affects that sent small, colourful lights all around them or how he seemed a little less dimmed by the darkness whenever she did glance at his face. But even magical couldn't last forever and soon, the song's dying tunes were heard and no matter how much she longed to stay in his arms, she slid back but his arms were still around her, his eyes not moving away from hers.

"Thank you," she blushed, "for the dance and you saved me. From Holden." She blushed considerably, but he only gave her a half-crooked smile.

"You're welcome," he smiled again, "I wish I had saved you out of chivalry, but I have been selfish and wanted you all for myself, Goddess." She blushed considerably at that, luckily he couldn't see that. He made her so self aware that she'd fall ungracefully if he let go of her. He offered her his hand and she took it, he led her to an isolated corner of the room.

"Who are you?" She asked all of a sudden, still staring into his eyes.

"I thought we were to reveal ourselves at Midnight?" He raised one eyebrow and Kelsey giggled slightly, a sound she never thought she was capable of. "I'm curious! But if you don't want to tell me, Oh-Dark-One, I'll most un-patiently wait." She smiled and he laughed, a deep manly laughter. It sounded so familiar but also, very foreign to her.

"I know who you are, but I don't know your name," He said all of a sudden, after his laughter died.

"Kelsey Winslow." She replied immediately, trusting him already.

"Yellow Ranger…" He mumbled and she smiled faintly and shrugged. There was a lot into her than that, too bad he couldn't see that, maybe he was just a pretty wrap, well, a very pretty wrap for that matter. Maybe her disappointment was written on her face because before she could say anything else, he brushed a stray strand of hair from her eyes and smiled.

"You don't like being called Yellow Ranger, don't you?" he asked softly and she smiled.

"It's a part of me, but it's not who I am." She said simply, while shrugging. He smiled and another slow song had played, he offered her his hand in a silent proposition, she grinned and took it.

He watched her wondrously: the way she seemed to flutter around him like an enchanting butterfly, and her words, those words she spoke to him carefully. The very same words she trusted him with, being a ranger was only a part of her, a small portion of her magnificent entity. He was please at how quickly she saw through him – his darkness. She hadn't missed that one thing that he tried so hard to keep away for tonight, but she didn't try to fight it – she let him have it, and he like it about her. He closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the sensation of having her close, it diminished everything else outside of this moment in space. Tomorrow morning, everything would be different for them, when they meet in the battlefield, only one would survive and he hoped that it was she who would be alive. How could he hurt his Goddess?

"Wouldn't you tell me your name?" She asked gently, straightening a pair of deep golden grass his way, he felt his resistance melting. There were thousands of Ryans in the world, weren't there? What would be the harm…?

"Ryan," He answered in a gentle whispered, she smiled and the gold in her eyes spread to light her face.

"Hello, Ryan," she whispered and it made him feel a bit hesitant, his stomach seemed to turn excitedly. His name on her lips made him want so much more than just ballroom dancing. His arms tentatively brought her even closer, so she would press against him, her presence made him feel such strange things… And in a moment he was lost in her eyes again and all he wanted was to be able to admire them forever.

"May I cut in?" A weak voice asked, making him snap out of the haze and look lower, to that dwarf he managed to successfully ignore earlier. Ryan gritted his teeth and wrapped his arms around Kelsey closer, she didn't object.

"No, you may not." Ryan answered straight-forwardly, he watched as the dwarf's expression turned shocked, then angered.

"You can't claw her for the entire night, she's my date." The short bodied pest insisted, Ryan had to suppress a growl.

"Not anymore, go find someone your own height," He shot, Kelsey hand came to touch his nape gently.

"Ryan, it's okay," she said gently, "He is my date, after all." She whispered her eyes soft as she felt sorry for the idiot elf.

"Is he your date?" Ryan revolted a moment later, "I saw him eyeing that dwarfess earlier." He snapped, making Holden blush red hot.

"I'm sorry, Holden," Kelsey said and stopped moving fluently along with Ryan, who now let himself growl at the small man. "Ryan, Holden is right, I am his date…" she told him gently and Ryan gazed into his eyes, they were swarming with sorrow, probably at the foul choice of date.

"I'll wait for the next dance, My Goddess." He murmured and kissed her forehead, then took a step back from her, as hard as it was and glared at the short, blond man. "If you hurt her, you'll find your end, elf." He hissed and went through the mass of people, waiting at their corner, seething.

"If I hadn't loved her so much…" he hissed so low that only he could understand his own words, then stopped, realizing what he said. As realization struck him, he finally understood why he could outlook the fact she was a ranger, why could he wish for her to win in the endless fight between light and darkness. He sighed, acceptance also hit him and it now amused him that in the conclusion of the war between god and evil, it's love that's going to win the war, love that made good and evil equal.

Turning around, he kept watching his Goddess and the Spare Elf.

Kelsey was confused, excited and angry all at once, how could that be? She was excited at the small symbol of affection from Ryan in the form of a kiss on her forehead, angry at Holden for disturbing her obvious bliss with Ryan and at Ryan for being possessive and venomous and above all she was confused – was she falling in love with Ryan, a guy she didn't know? But he made her feel so good with him, and about herself…

"So what's this all about? Who is he?" Holden turned inquisitive and Kelsey frowned.

"He's a friend," she lied, she didn't feel as if Ryan was a friend; even Holden doubted it, he made a face and Kelsey sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I don't want you to dance with him," Holden said all of a sudden, in a strike of possessiveness, Kelsey glared at him warningly.

"What's that supposed to mean? You're my date, Holden, I said nothing when you went to talk to Sara." She reminded him, but his face took up a stubborn expression.

"Still, I don't want you to –" he started and Kelsey pushed him back.

"Ugh!" she said and walked away from him, heading for the door, she had enough for one night, for sure. Before she could cross the doorstep someone took her hand, she glanced back to see Ryan, in all his dark glory. He kissed the back of her hand, then brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm, it made her shiver.

"I'm sorry I let the Elf ruin your night, My Goddess." He apologized, using the title Elf as an excuse to derange Holden. Kelsey snapped and pulled back her hand from him.

"Why don't you use my name, Ryan?" She asked, angry.

"Would you like me to?" He asked softly, his eyes shining with worry.

"Yes. No." She sighed, she saw his lips twitching in an effort not to smile.

"Which is it?" He asked quietly.

"Both." She whispered and he nodded and offered her his hand, she took it and he gently pulled her closer to him, to his arms. She slowed herself to be engulfed by him, his arms surrounded her and her head rested against his shoulder. She felt his lips pressing against his forehead and shuddered from pleasure, making him chuckled lowly. He carefully stroked her hair, trying to soothe her, and she found out she enjoyed his touch, he was very delicate with her, treating her as if she was the most breakable thing in the world. Suddenly she saw purple butterflies near her, fluttering their wings gently, one rested on Ryan's shoulder while another flew in front of her eyes, she touched him with her finger and it turned into purple smoke and evaporated, she giggled and looked at Ryan who was smiling and pulled one arm away from her, suddenly another butterfly appeared in his palm and he opened his fingers to show it to her.

"Let it come to you," he said gently and she waited, a moment later the butterfly landed on her nose and she giggled.

"Are you the one producing them?" she asked gently and he nodded.

"I magic them," he said quietly and touched the tip of her nose, she laughed nuzzling her face in the crook of his neck. "You seem tired, would you like me to walk you to you room?" He asked softly and she nodded, loving how sensitive he was to her needs. She pulled back but laced her fingers with his gloved ones, he smiled.

"Hold on," he grinned and took off his gloves, tucking them in his belt, then he smiled and offered her himself, with no barriers. She put her palm in his larger one, it was quite rough and his fingers long and strong. He laced their fingers together and she felt how his warmth protected her. She led him through deserted corridors to her room, hoping the way would never end… but at some point it had to. She stopped in front of her door and turned to face him.

"This is the room I share with Dana," she said quietly, hoping her sadness wasn't too obvious in her voice. His finger touched her cheek gently.

"It's nearly midnight," he said quietly and Kelsey smiled.

"And Cinderella must return home…" she muttered under her breath, but he heard her and chuckled.

"You're not Cinderella, My Goddess, she pales in comparison to you." He said and she blushed, completely embarrassed at his words and even more – because now she knew her blush is so obvious!

"Kelsey, before we reveal ourselves…" he started, causing her to gaze up at him, his face drew closer to hers and his pressed his lips to hers.

She was shocked at first, he could tell, but sooner than he thought, she cooperated with him, allowing him entrance to her mouth; allowing him to take whatever he wanted, she offered so much… everything, she was everything he ever dreamed of. How could he ever dream of hurting her? Distant Cheers from the ballroom made her pull away from their combined magic, he smiled, now suddenly not so sure in himself, he pulled the small tie that kept her mask on her face, exposing her beautiful face as a whole, he felt himself mesmerized, glancing into her eyes. She smiled shyly and rose on her tip toes, sending her hand behind his head to untie his own silvery mask, he bent his head allowing her so; once she held his mask in her hands, he straightened his gaze into her eyes once more watching how her eyes went wide with realization, but she was just so beautiful.

Still in the aftershock of her reaction he kissed her again, hoping to silence any kind of a shout and also to enjoy her taste for one last time, he was surprised, no, elated when he felt she was returning his kiss, throwing her arms around him. Everything just felt so right at that second, but then their oxygen died out and they had to pull away, she offered him his mask wordlessly, but he only smiled.

"Keep it, it's yours. Like my heart." He smiled as he saw her cheeks gaining the colour red fiercely. "I must go, My lovely Goddess," he said quietly and she nodded, he felt the chords of his heart warming.

"Don't go," her soft words made him kiss her again.

"I must. Diabolico won't be pleased." He murmured against her mouth. "I'll be watching you, Kelsey, and I will make sure you are as safe as can be." He promised, fully intent on keeping that promise, Kelsey lowered her eyes, looking at the silvery mask in her hands.

"No, don't…" he gently lifted her chin, so she would stare into his eyes. On his other hand he shaped a form in the air that quickly solidified, a silvery-red rose, he took it from the air and handed her.

"It's my magic, a part of me. For the love I feel for you." He whispered and she nodded, accepting yet another gift. It made him smile, he turned around.

"Wait!" She called and he stopped and turned to face her once more, he watched as she fumbled with her necklace until she managed to take it off and offered it to him. "It was with me since the day I was born, please keep it." She begged of him and he felt any resistance he should have melting away. He lowered his head, allowing her to put it on him, then he kissed her for one last time and disappeared, soaring in the folds of this new feeling. Love.