Disclaimer: I do not own Ryan or Kelsey, only the circumstances and the plot.

You'll Be in My Heart
by DarkHonda aka Tal

Set between Obsidians and Can't Let Go

She came back, totally exhausted from the latest battle, against the titanium ranger and his evil minions. She was so tired and drained that she didn't even bother to take a shower; she just collapsed on her bed, battered. She hated this, she hated fighting him, she hated the thought, the slight chance, of her hurting him. And today, today was so wrong, she was the only one conscience at a certain point and then there were only the two of them; she fought him, shooting at him with her weapons, then struggling against him with her body, until she was out of breath and out of mind. He let her go then, and she knew that he only did it for her, not wanting to hurt her any longer, determining it was enough for her. The others, the rangers, the crew on the Aquabase, all thought she was a fantastic fighter, that she somehow managed to fright away the titanium ranger. It made her sick to her stomach, the thought she could outtake him, she really couldn't, and to be honest, she wasn't sure if she would even if she had the chance or the power. She buried her face in her pillow, salty tears running down her dirty cheeks, leaving trail marks of clean skin.

'You can't take it any longer!' her mind screamed, 'you can't keep fighting him and then come back here and make the most passionate love to him, like you're no strangers, like you're no enemies!' she wanted to rest but her mind wouldn't let her. It kept racing, proving her in every logical way there can be why she has to stop seeing him, why does she have to break it off.

"I can't make this decision," she wailed quietly to her pillow, "I can't…" she cried, her tears were nearly blinding her now, burning her eyes like her pain was burning her soul. She needed him but she couldn't cope anymore; she couldn't see one love in her life destroying, or at least, trying to destroy the other loves of her life. Nothing made sense anymore, not her teammates' blind hatred to the evil titanium ranger, or her titanium ranger's hatred to her teammates. She wanted to stop thinking about that: she wanted to stop feeling so trapped between her teammates and her lover. She felt like a double agent, a cheap spy and she wanted to get clean again, to purify herself.

She rose her head when she felt a hand stroking her hair gently; she kept crying, not caring about whoever it may be, she was too devastated. The person who was caressing her hair now laid in the bed next to her, his arms around her, when she finally dared to look up at his face, she saw familiar obsidian-like eyes. She diverted her gaze and buried her face in his chest, trying to relax against him;

"Kelsey," He said quietly, "Kelsey, why are you crying? Have I hurt you? I didn't mean to." He said quietly and she shook her head, then she felt his lips on her hair and she shuddered. "Who hurt you, then? I'll kill him for making you cry." He said icily and she knew it's true and that he'd do anything to protect her, anything, even confront Diabolico, and that thought made her heart race with warmth and love and she looked up at him, her wet eyes meeting his black ones, suddenly noticing one swollen black eye and a long sharp trail of blood on his left cheek.

"You're hurt!" She said quickly and gently touched his bleeding cheek; he tried to wince and not to wince at the same time. "What happened?" she said quietly, a tear still making its way from her eye down her cheek.

"Diabolico… wasn't pleased." He sighed and touched her dirty cheek, "Were you like this since the end of the fight?" he asked and she got up from his arms, rushing to her bathroom, grabbing a first aid kit and returning to her bed, but he was no longer laying on it.

"Ryan?" He walked to her from the corner of the room, where he watched a few photos of her. "Let me take care of you…" she said and he shook his head.

"Let me take care of you first, Kelsey, I'm fine, I've had worse." He said quietly and collected her in his arms, carrying her to the shower, he let her down on her feet once inside.

"Undress," He commanded before moving to adjust the water, but she hadn't moved a muscle, just stared at him. He clenched his jaw, but she wasn't frightened; she knew he wouldn't hurt her and she knew that she can't bring herself to undress when all she wanted was for him to hold her tight, but she couldn't find the words that would tell him how much she needs him close without betraying her precious friends. He didn't look away from her eyes, his black obsidians boring through her light eyes, determined, while he advanced to her and gently pushed off her Lightspeed Rescue jacket off of her shoulders, letting it fall on the floor, brushing its existence away. Then he rolled upwards the hems of her tight yellow spandex tank top, revealing slightly defined abs and a simple, yellow bra. She could feel his eyes scanning her, almost touching her, he could never hide his passion away and she knew that she could never refuse it.

Somehow, when she thought he would never recognize how bad she needs him, he drew closer and wrapped her in a hug, nearly crushing her to him in silence, proving her just how well he did know her. She closed her eyes, letting his feeling take over, how come he was the only one to calm her? He wasn't that bad, couldn't they see? Couldn't they see how sweet and loyal and amazing he was? How come everyone was so blind and so prejudiced? Weren't they supposed to be the good guys, the ones who give out all of those chances? She pressed her body against him, trying to find some sort of comfort, she doubted everything now; her job as a ranger, her friends, the world. But she didn't doubt him, how could she?

"Kelsey…" he murmured her name, his lips brushing her temple, "Step into the shower," he requested and she nodded, don't even realizing she did as he asked, just because he did ask. Her eyes found his and refused to let go, to stray away from the shining, claming blackness. She felt so alone, today and every day since she gave her heart to him; he gave her so much, but he also took.
The water was just the way she liked it: not too hot, not too cold, and before she stepped under the stream she sent a hesitated glance his way, she wasn't quite sure whether he intended on joining her.

"I'll wait," He said, as if reading her mind; she nodded, tearing her eyes away from his as she entered the shower, letting the pleasant water wash off all of the dirt, she rubbed her face, rinsing it from the tears and from the mud. Then applied some soap to her skin, rubbing the scented liquid on her sensitive skin, letting the aroma sink inside her. She closed her eyes as the water rinsed her from the soap and from the harsh knot in her belly that she didn't even know was there. When she turned off the taps and turned to step out of the shower, Ryan had hold her large yellow towel, waiting for her to step into it. She smiled shyly and gratefully at his gesture and stepped between his arms, he wrapped the towel around her along with his arms and led her out of the steaming shower to the vacant of her room.

Her face was reddened when he leaned against her library and waited in silence for her to dress. He frowned slightly.

"Would you like me to go?" He asked, her eyes widened in horror and she shook her head.

"No, I…" She blushed and diverted her gaze from him.

"Kelsey, I think I saw you nude once or twice before," He smiled a gentle smile that in contrary to his evil ranger persona quite fitted him. She hadn't moved, it wasn't that she was so chaste and modest, it was just a bit uncomfortable…

"Okay," Ryan nearly chuckled and took off his shirt, throwing it on the floor. "Better?" He asked with a knowing glint in his eyes, staring into the depths of her eyes, she blushed again and he genuinely smiled.

"You're so sweet, Kelsey," He said in a near whisper, slowly closing the gap between them as he advanced towards her. She waited for him to reach her and collect her in his arms, like he did, she closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of being between his strong arms. She let go of the towel, letting it slide to the floor while she was still holding him;

"Ryan…" She whimpered as the events of the day again swirled in her mind, she wanted to find a shelter and comfort in his arms, but it was so hard…

"Forget about today, Kelsey, forget about your friends," he whispered as his lips brushed her temple, "Tonight there is only me and you, alone in this universe." He soothed and she nodded, giving in to him and trusting him; he knew her, he knew how to calm and soothe her so well, she trusted him with herself, her body, her mind, her everything! And deep inside, she knew she this can't last forever, she wouldn't be able to take it, she knew that eventually, she'll break down.

"Kelsey," He breathed as he picked her up and laid her on her bed, "Kelsey, look at me," He asked, almost begged and she stared into his eyes, the blackness seemed to fade a bit, it seemed to decrease. He caressed her hair ever so gently, ever so lightly, his fingers brushed her face, fluttering over her features, making her heart race with anticipation. When he took her lips in his, she truly forgot about the world outside of her room, outside of her bedroom.

The moments after their love making, bliss was taking over her, but her internal battle hasn't ceased, it only increased, tearing her more widely apart. What would she do? How could she choose between the love of her life and her vow to make the world a better, safer place? Her fingers brushed his smooth chest absently as she laid on top of him in her bed. She sighed silently and shifted on his body;

"Kelsey?" It was the first time she ever heard hesitation in his voice, she turned to look at him, realizing she hasn't yet taken care of his bruises, she gently pushed herself up, she reached her closet and wore a banana-yellow night gown before she hurried to find the deserted first aid kit that was abandoned an hour earlier. She took it and returned to her bed where Ryan had sat up, propped on her pillows, she smiled at him as she mounted the bed and carefully unfolded the first aid kit.

First, she took out the disinfection material, pouring a bit of it into some cotton wool.

"It's going to burn a little," she told him quietly and he nodded, she drew closer to him and gently pressed the cotton to the wound in his cheek: a long, unclean cut. He didn't even wince when the siring material hissed his wound, nor did he made any other noise, only stared into the face in front of him intently. When she moved away to the bathroom to pour some water over a large piece of cotton wool, and when she returned, she gently pressed it to his swollen eye for a couple of long minutes, but he didn't let her carry on in his little treatment. He removed her hand from his face and put the cotton wool aside, lifting her chin with his hand gently.

"I can't change my past for you, what I did to you and to your… friends," His voice sounded strange when he said that word: 'friends', "But I can change the future, for you, would you like me to?" He asked and she stared confusedly at him, what he suggesting?

"I want to be a part of your life forever, I want to be here when you need me, always." He said quietly, his wide eyes showed her he didn't exactly plan on saying this;

"I can't deny how much I…" He started but failed in mid-sentence, diverting his gaze away from her for a moment, then turned to look at her once more;

"Kelsey, will you be mine forever?" He asked anxiously, Kelsey was speechless: what kind of question was that? What does he mean in forever? What kind of life would they lead if she agreed? What would he do to her is she wouldn't? She stared at him awestruck.

"I want you, Kelsey, I want you for all of eternity," He said and took her hand in his, "If I had believed in common human costumes, it would've been called Marriage, but I don't," He said sullenly, then softened;

"Companion, be my companion?" He asked when he found the word, Kelsey bit her lip, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, was this his evil way of proposing? Of asking her to share a future? But how could she? How could she fight him in the morning and love him in the night when she is to be his companion? How can he ask of her to choose that brutally?

"I want to," She said quietly as she gazed into his eyes, then lowered them, staring at her hands, "But I can't," She said, "I can't choose," she sniffled as ears returned to her cheeks. "I love you, Ryan, but I can't accept loving you at nights and fighting against you in the days. I can't go through this anymore, it hurts me…" She cried and he collected her in his arms, his arms wrapping her.

"You won't need to, Kelsey," He said as he kissed her head soothingly, "I will give up the Titanium Morpher… I'll be good, if you agree," He whispered quietly, then kissed her temple.

"I want to, Ryan," She sniffled and pulled back to gaze into his eyes, "I do want to be your companion." She said and he smiled and hugged her tightly.

"I love you, Kelsey."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed, please review! I don't know why a oneshot (Obsidians) turned into such a three-shot (along with this piece and Cant Let it Go). Crazy, huh? :)