Blue Burns Orange

Summary – Part of the Avalon series. A series of one-shots about the intelligent good boy/brave tough girl pairing of Billy and Avalon. These one-shots fall anywhere and everywhere within All To Blame, Made of Glass, These Walls, and New Beginning.

1: Fingertips

There was always something to be sad about men being good with their hands. Whether it be constructing something, showing the want to help someone, giving a congratulatory high-five, or holding someone else's hand, men weren't always aware of how aesthetically pleasing their hands could be.

Billy was very aware of the fact. Not only because of his meticulous studies that included anatomy as well as his own personal readings in human behaviors as well as verbal and nonverbal communication, but because his caring and kind nature made it so that he was one to show his affection for others through physical touch.

He showed his worth and care for the other rangers in his means of creating, deconstructing, and constructing their zords and weapons over and over again. It was a puzzle for him, the sort of thing that made it so that he could understand what was just out of his reach. His interested in the zords and their alien heritage piqued during his first meeting of Alpha 5—the fully sentient, multifunctional automaton—and since then he found he wanted to know everything about them. When he wasn't donning the uniform of the Mighty Morphin' Blue Ranger he created their communicators, worked through the difficult puzzles of alien language, studied their zords to find the best means to increase power within them, and tear down and build up new arsenal and readers to maximize his knowledge even further. Everything he created he worked with his best friends in mind. Just because he wasn't a Zeo ranger didn't mean he wanted his friends to lose the battle against the forces of evil.

He showed his care for others that probably didn't deserve it with a helping hand. Despite not being as athletic as Jason and Zack he was the first one to show sportsmanship for both teams. PE was his absolutely least favorite class when growing up and he tried to stick to the sidelines as much as possible. When forced onto the basketball court or soccer field he still tried to keep to himself despite his growing need to be involved. When a play got particularly rough on field and someone fell, he was the first to jog over and offer a hand to the one that had fallen even when it was Bulk or Skull, those who had tormented him as long as he could remember. At first the bullies would regard him with surprise or barely concealed disgust, knocking his hand away. But he continued to do it with an innocent look in his bright blue eyes, finally getting their begrudging respect if only for that 45 minutes of exercise.

He pushed aside his own feelings of sadness aside to comfort others with a hug or rubbing their shoulders. When Kimberly was in the hospital after having fallen victim of her complications of her eating disorder he had one of her hands while Tommy had the other. He continued to rub his thumb across the back of her hand, giving her his silent support. When Jason, Zack, and Trini left the team he hugged each of them tightly, rubbing their backs as he whispered his goodbyes to show his pride in their decisions to leave, sending them forward. When Kimberly left to get treatment as well as practice for the Pan Global Games he squeezed her tightly, hoping his grasp let her know he'd always be there for her when she needed it. When Aisha left the team he patted her back in a 'job well done' for her short time with the team and her ultimate refusal of the Zeo Ranger powers; it was a tough decision to make but he knew she made the right one for everyone.

He held Trini's hand when she stood up to her parents for dating him. They wanted her to date a Vietnamese man, to marry that man they chose for her, and not the blond haired, blue eyed American boy that didn't understand her. Billy was initially disappointed by the news, but with his vast knowledge of different cultures knew it was her means of speaking to her parents and would support her decision to keep their relationship quiet or to announce it. And he stood by her side, holding tightly onto her hand, showing her he was there for her no matter what.

It was his fingertips that mattered the most; that did the most healing. Avalon his girlfriend of almost a year and the current Orange Zeo Ranger was cured up in a ball on the couch, her head resting in his lap. He never knew how much his life would change since meeting the Australian girl that flipped the rangers upside down. During their feet meeting she was part of the Angel Grove street gang, the Vipers, after becoming misguided through life while solely taking care of her little sister, Bailey. She had joined the Mighty Morphin' team as the Orange ranger wielding the power of the Stegosaurus while still being part of the Vipers. And through the time she worked her way through understanding her ranger destiny and knowing what it was like to have true friends, Billy watched as she opened herself up to the rangers more and more, finding himself helping her and her helping him in many ways he didn't quite understand. They were polar opposites but ended up growing to be close friends very quickly. She was even the one that helped him get through his fear of asking Trini out the first time.

Throughout their ranger duties something changed between them and they ended up in a relationship. No matter how many times she proved she could hold her own and take care of herself—getting shot in the shoulder by one of her former gang members attested to that—he still felt the need to want to protect her. This time as she finally lured the last remaining Viper members into a trap to be arrested at the local pool hall, Avalon found herself completely drained of emotion. She was finally out of the gang and it took even more of a toll on her than she thought. The strong girl that came up to her five foot height with even more confidence than he had ever seen had broken.

Billy sat quietly with Avalon's head in his lap, gently brushing her hair back from her face. He traced his fingertips down the side of her face, gently caressing her cheek as he did so, relishing in the warmth that radiated from her. She sniffled quietly every now and then and he brushed away the tears that threatened to come. Leaning forward, he placed a gentle kiss to her temple, continuing to run his fingertips over her cheek, his free hand running the fingertips of his other hand up and down her arm. As the seconds passed he could feel her relax more and more with his touch until she brought up her hand and curled her fingertips around his, holding on tightly.

It was then he made the silent promise to her. Even if he wasn't able to morph anymore, even if he was delegated to working in the Power Chamber, he was always going to be there to help her; to be there for her, to love her through anything she needed. It wouldn't be too hard with the many way their lives consistently intersected.

In the end they were always fingertips away.

A/N: So that's the first one. What did you guys think? It's the first of about thirty or so. The one-shots jump through different timeframes where some of them will be when they're a couple, others just before then, others around the time they first met, others when they're just friends. Other canon characters/pairings will make appearances within this as well.

I'm also planning on doing series of one-shots that are deleted scenes from the Avalon series as well as episodes from the show I thought of doing within it, but never did. That was actually suggested to me by XoxMountainGirlxoX. So, I'm still working on that.

Let me know what you guys think!

~Avalon