A\N: Yay! One more reveiwer!
KIRA
Pain.
The pentagram around my neck might protect me from evil, but it won't protect me from pain.
Some comes from within. The taunts of my classmates. Names from those who found my uninterest in makeup frightening. The pain of having no father.
Some comes from without.
Like the pain of having no father...again.
I reach for it. I let it wrap me up.
The sparkle of Conner's face breaks through.
Tirthor's slap forces it back.
I regain my balance. Below me, the battle rages. There's no hope. They need...a death, really. When a Ranger dies, her energy infuses the others with strength. Of course, the Ranger has to plan it.
Jason told me, really bluntly, that if I even thought about putting myself in danger this battle, he'd lock me in the Command Center until I turned thirty. It's the kind of thing Dr. O would've said.
I miss Dr. O.
I feel tears and screams ravaging me from the inside. I look at Dr. O's face, at Tirthor's cruel smirk.
I launch myself at him.
Ethan's naivete, the steel beneath it, slips up into my thoughts.
The memory of my torture sends it away.
I feel Tirthor's blows. More proof he's not Dr. O. Dr. O's hands were gentle, healing after a battle. Tirthor's hands hurt me, attack me.
Trent's sweetness rises above all the others. Love is a fire, burning inside me, the sky cutting my wings, ice sending a thrill down my back.
It takes Tirthor a full five minutes to kill that.
I look down.
There's no real way to get around it. The Rangers are losing.
And I know how to help.
I look up at Tirthor. He laughs coldly. "Come on, Kira. You can do better. Or are you too weak?"
Dr. O's face swims up into my mind.
Why did you leave me?
I go flying from a blow.
Why weren't you here?
I gather all my power, preparing to release it.
Why is Tirthor doing this to me?
I feel my back hit the ground. Feel Tirthor's body slamming into mine.
Feel my spine break.
I lay still. Dr. O's face is the one I can't banish.
I don't want him in my mind when I die.
I try to reach for something else, anything else, but I can't. Just Dr. O...and his real face, looming above me.
Why aren't you here to save me, Daddy?
The sword slides into my chest.
I feel the power leave me, soaring away. The wings I had, for so little time...
I look up at the sky. I'll never fly it again, will I? Will I get to fly again?
Dr. O suddenly looms above me.
He's crying.
"Kira..." He whispers. "No..."
"Dr. O?" I ask, through the pain. "Why didn't you save me?"
I see the sky again.
Good.
If I have to die on the ground, at least I can see...the...sky...