Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers SPD.
A/N: I originally started this fic for my site (it's a Sky/Z Shrine), but since it's not finished yet, I figured I'd go ahead and put it up here. Please, please, please leave some feedback! I would really appreciate it. And, as usual, constructive criticism is always welcome. Thanks and enjoy!
Setting: A few months after Endings 1 and 2.
Pairing: Sky/Z and a slight bit of Bridge/Syd.
The Most Wonderful Time Of Year
Sighing in frustration, Z sat up in bed. She grabbed the headphones that were securely wrapped around her ears and lay them, along with her C.D. player, on her nightstand. In doing so, she got a glimpse at her alarm clock. The digital numbers read 2:30 a.m.
Z threw her legs over the side of the bed and slipped her feet into the yellow, fuzzy slippers that were placed neatly beside of it. She then stood up, wrapped her yellow robe tightly around her, and headed for the door.
The entire SPD base was covered with Christmas decorations, both inside and out. As Z made her way toward the common room, her eyes danced across the lights that were strung along the walls of the hallway. Their colors were the most brilliant and bright she had ever seen. It was beautiful.
… but not as beautiful as the inside of the common room. Red, pink, green, blue, and yellow blinking lights were draped along the walls near the ceiling and floor. Light, fluffy cotton pieces were placed along the windowsills and various shelves around the room, depicting piles of snow. A small, porcelain doll set of Santa Clause and his Reindeer sat on the table that stood between the couch and chair. And, although she loved it all, she didn't love it quite as much as what stood in front of the wall opposite the entrance door.
The Christmas tree. It was taller than anything else in the room. It's lush, green limbs spread wide and were covered in decorations. The multicolored Christmas lights that were wrapped neatly around it had a small music box at the end; a soft melody was emitting from the speaker and the lights were blinking along with it. Small bells and balls hung around the lights. And hanging around the bells and balls were various ornaments that everyone had contributed. At the top there was a bright, gleaming yellow star.
Z began to walk closer to the tree. As she did so, she noticed a large ornament hanging in the center of the mess of decorations that she hadn't noticed before. It was a small, silver picture frame. And, when she saw the picture inside, it brought a bright, warm smile across her lips.
It was a picture of the five B Squad rangers, taken by Kat the day Gruumm was defeated. Sydney was standing in the middle, striking a glamorous looking pose. Standing on her right were Bridge and Jack. Bridge was sticking his tongue out and Jack had a goofy smile on his face. On her left were Sky and Z. Z was holding her morpher out at the camera and Sky stood with a brilliant smile on his face, his arm wrapped around her shoulders.
Z leaned in to get a closer look at the picture. When her eyes came across Sky's smiling face, she instantly became weak in the knees. And when she saw his arm draped around her, her heart slammed violently against her ribcage.
Over the past few months since Gruumm's arrest, Z had been seeing a lot more of the relaxed, laid back Sky Tate. And the more she saw… the more she liked. As a matter of fact, the yellow ranger found herself liking him a whole lot more than she thought she'd ever like him or any other guy for that matter. Little did she know, the same feelings had already built up inside the uptight blue ranger… for her.
With one last look at the picture, Z sighed longingly and headed back to bed, her thoughts focused on Sky and the feelings that she was beginning to realize she had for him.