Disclaimer: I don't own PR
This story is very different from what I have written so far, and I want toWARN readers that there is some language and mention of adult sitiuations; nothing over the top or explicit, but I figured I'd warn people just in case. It takes place about 3 years after the end of the SPD season.
A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person;
Desire;
Affectionate concern for the well-being of others.
She had known this was coming. That had not stopped her from pretending the dream wouldn't end and it wasn't going to stop her heart from breaking. At least she was prepared to face him. She was slightly surprised to find Bridge with him, but she hid it behind a smile. "Hey Bridge," she said, lacing her voice with honey. "Would you mind if I kicked you out for a minute? I need to have a little talk with my best friend's fiancé, just in case he does something very, very stupid."
Bridge chuckled, "Oh boy, now you're in for it. Just make sure anything you injure has time to heal for the wedding! I have to go and console – I mean congratulate the bride, anyway!" He ignored his roommate's glare and skipped out of the room. The door shut and locked behind him, leaving two extremely uncomfortable rangers in silence.
The last time they'd been alone in his room, they'd been in his bed doing something much more pleasurable. The memory hit when their eyes met. Both blushed and looked away. Their fingers twitched, each desperately wishing the circumstances were different; desperately wishing to touch, to kiss, to love the person barely two feet in front of them. But neither dared to move closer; they had dared too much in the past.
When he finally spoke, his voice was scratchy and weak, not quite the control he had been hoping to convey. "Z, I –"
She cut him off, "I know." Her voice was quiet and calm with none of the venom he'd expected in it. He looked up into her eyes. Her eyes betrayed what she would never say; he could see in the deep brown how much his cowardice was hurting her. But her voice continued, strong as ever. "I'm not angry, Sky. How could I be? The blame is ours to share."
He tried again, "Z, you have to underst–"
She cut him off again. "I do," she smiled a little. "I know. It's alright, Sky. We're alright. There are no strings attached and I promise no one is ever going to know about us, not even Jack. I'll never use it against you, I'll never tell Sydney, and I will never speak to your mother or your new in-laws. I am your teammate and nothing more."
They were meant to be words of comfort, but he felt them stab his heart like ice. This time he did not try to say anything.
"I know our entire…well, whatever it was, was a lie, but I want you to know that I never lied to you. I love you, Sky." She laughed, "I used to dream that one day we would tell them, we'd just throw the rules out the window and they would all be so surprised, so impressed that they would send us blessings. We'd be happy together and we would have two boys. We could name the boys after our fathers and they'd want to be just like their daddy. It sounds so stupid now, with you marrying someone else. But I'm happy for you and as long as you're happy nothing else matters."
He found his voice again. "It does matter. Z, you don't understand. I have to do this, I don't have a choice!" He took a step closer, reaching out to touch her shoulder. She flinched away and he drew back his hand.
"You don't have to yell, Sky. I can understand you perfectly: you feel like you don't have a choice. For your entire life you've been trained to marry a proper young lady with a proper family. She's been trained to marry a proper young man and your families know one another well. It's a perfect match, anyone can see it. But can you feel it? You don't have to answer me. But it's okay; I could never meet your family's approval. I am an orphan, I'm a thief, I have no connections, and I can't cook to save my life. I have nothing to offer but my love and my life. She can offer you everything you've ever wanted, and maybe you could fall in love someday. It's better this way, better to have ended now before it came crashing down on us. Congratulations on your engagement."
She turned and walked calmly out the door. He was frozen to the spot. He couldn't go after her and couldn't tell her everything he wanted to. The door shut and only silence heard him whisper, "I love you, Elizabeth."
XXX
She ignored all the yells that followed her through the hallways. As soon as the door closed, she was running. She had to get away from the place, had to get away from everything that reminded her of him. She nearly collided with Boom in the lobby, but didn't bother to stop and see if he was okay. He called after her but she was already gone, the main doors swinging shut behind her.
Z ran past the training fields, down long city streets, past office buildings and restaurants. She reached the poorer area of New Tech and finally slowed down. She was glad to be wearing civilian clothing; no one looked twice at her. She wrapped her arms around herself and walked further on. She turned into an empty alleyway and climbed an ancient fire escape on the side of an abandoned building. Z ignored the creaking protest of the metal and jumped onto the roof where, finally, she stopped. She sat down on the edge, looked out over the city, and cried.
Memories washed over her, memories of sweet kisses and long nights, memories of all the times promised that he loved her. She had misunderstood him; if he loved her, he would have fought for her. He was a coward when it came to facing his family. She had seen it before when he tried to introduce her to his mother and refused to explain that they were more than friends. His mother had disapproved of her even then. He was too scared to fight for her, and that hurt more than she would ever admit. She wanted to hate him, but she could not lie to herself.
"Z?" a voice called.
She turned and saw Ally, Jack's girlfriend, standing on the roof behind her. She wiped her tears on the back of her sleeve and stood up. "Hey Ally, what are you doing up here?"
"This is my favorite spot in the city, and I see I'm not alone in that. I came up to think," she replied, eyeing Z with worry. "Are you alright?"
"Of course – yes – sort-of – not really…" Z felt more tears fall from her eyes. She and Ally had become close friends, although Ally had never gotten to know the other rangers very well. Z didn't have to pretend in front of her.
Ally pulled Z close and let her cry. "Z, it's okay. Tell me what's going on."
"He left me for that stupid blonde, I mean sure she's pretty and rich but I thought he loved me! I gave him everything I had and he just threw it away because somebody else said I wasn't good enough! He was always telling me how tough he was, why couldn't he be strong and stand up for me?! I can't even hate him because I still love him so much."
"Shh," Ally whispered. "Men are stupid. You can't think this guy, whoever he is, is the only one in this world that you can rely on, and you can't think he's the only one who loves you. You've got me, Jack, and all your friends at SPD."
Z only cried harder. Ally sighed and gently rubbed Z's back. A few minutes later, Z sat up and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
Ally cut her off with a smile, "Hey, it's cool. I need to wash this shirt anyway and you know I can't count on Jack to do the laundry any time this century." Z laughed a little. "There, a smile!"
"Thanks, Ally."
"No problem. Now don't you let this jackass bother you, he isn't worth your time," said Ally.
"Bu-"
Ally shook her head, "No buts, Z. Forget him and move on. I know it feels like hell right now, like your heart's been torn into a thousand tiny pieces. But by next week you are going to have hundreds of men following you like puppy dogs because they heard you were single."
Z raised an eyebrow. "Nobody knew I was dating anyone. I didn't need Jack's big brother complex to kick in, or Cruger's anti-relationship issues."
Ally chuckled, "I can understand. Oh, and as long as we're on the subject of secrets I'll tell you why I came up here."
"Jack didn't do anything stupid, did he?" asked Z.
"Mmm, that depends what you consider stupid. He asked me to marry him," Ally grinned, showing her the ring. "And I said yes."
Z jumped up and hugged her. "Congratulations! When did this happen?"
"Last night," she explained. "He'll probably kill me for telling you before he could!"
Z shook her head, momentarily forgetting the other wedding, "Jack married; I don't think I'll ever get used to it. How'd you ever manage to make an honest man out of him?"
"Honest? Well, I don't know about that." The girls made their way back to the fire escape.
"Hey Ally?" Z jumped off the bottom rung.
"Hmm?" Ally followed her and they started down the street.
"Could you not tell Jack about this?"
Ally nodded, "You got it, Z. But you've got to do something for me."
"Uh-oh…this sounds bad…"
Ally laughed, "I want you to be the maid of honor."
Z beamed, "Are you serious? Of course!"
XXX
"No."
"What?! But – but why?!" Sydney asked, devastated. Z sighed and turned back to the clean laundry she was putting in her closet. "Z, I think I at least deserve some sort of explanation. I mean, you're, like, my best friend. I thought you were happy for me."
"I am," Z replied.
"Than why are you refusing to be in my wedding?!" Sydney shouted.
Z finally turned back to her. "Syd, don't be angry. I just – I can't explain it, Sydney. It isn't you, so don't be offended. This is between me and Sky and if you love either of us you will forget I said anything about it."
"Did you get into a fight?"
"Syd," Z growled. "I said don't ask."
"C'mon, Z, pretty please?" Sydney pouted. "Forget about Sky, just do it for me?"
Z sighed, "I can't believe I'm going to do this. Fine, Sydney. I'll be a bridesmaid, but don't you dare put me in anything hideous."
Sydney squealed with delight and clapped her hands. "Oh thank you Z! You've made me so happy!"
'Why, why did I say yes?' Z thought, feeling her stomach churn. When the nausea didn't go away, Z ran for the bathroom, barely reaching the toilet before coughing up the contents of her stomach.
"Z, are you alri – ew, gross!"
"Thanks, Syd," Z drawled. "That helps."
Sydney looked away sheepishly. "Sorry, I can't stand that sort of thing. It makes me, well, sick. Really though, are you okay?"
"Must've been something from dinner," Z replied, shakily getting to her feet and flushing the toilet. "I'm okay now…I think. Uh, Syd, I think I'm just going to lie down. Can you go somewhere else if you want the lights on?"
"Oh, sure Z. Curfew is a couple hours away, so I'll come back and check on you in a little while," Sydney promised. Z fell into her bed and grunted in response. "Feel better." Sydney turned out the lights and left.
XXX
The next morning, Z's stomach was still refusing to cooperate with the rest of her body. She groaned as she forced herself to get out of bed. On her way to the bathroom, she poked the lump of pink blanket on the opposite bed. The lump shook and mumbled something about beauty sleep. "C'mon, princess. You're pretty enough." Z pulled the covers off of her sleeping roommate. Sydney sat up and glared at Z, the green sludge on her face making the pink ranger look rather menacing.
Z would have laughed, but her stomach gave an unpleasant reminder of why she had gone through the trouble to wake her roommate. "Syd, where's the Stowynol?"
Sydney yawned, "You still don't feel well?"
Z grimaced in answer, "Yeah, I think I ate something bad last night. Remind me not to try anymore of that stuff Piggy sent to us. Now where's the Stowynol? I don't know how anybody survived an upset stomach before they came out with that stuff."
The pink ranger pointed toward the bathroom they shared. "Cabinet, top shelf on the left. And they use to believe in taking a sick day." Z waved off Sydney's comment and headed in the direction of the bathroom. She opened the cabinet, pulled down the bottle, and swallowed two pills. Sydney stretched and joined Z in the bathroom. "What's on the schedule today?"
"We've got training with C-squad at 9:00, and then Cruger wants to brief us on our new assignments," Z answered. She squeezed toothpaste onto her brush and started to brush her teeth.
Sydney made a face as she soaked a washcloth in hot water. "Fun."
Z shrugged, continued brushing for another minute, and spit in the sink. "Can it get much worse than the time we were sent to wade through the sewers to find that one criminal's hide-out, because the boys were too big to fit through the storm drain?"
Sydney wrinkled her nose, "You mean that giant spider-thief? Yeah, that was disgusting. We did all of the work and the boys got all of the credit because we chased him right into their line of fire." She washed off the green face-mask.
Z finished rinsing out her mouth. "Our uniforms smelled so bad I think the commander was about to order us to strip right there in the Command Center." Z picked up a black hair brush and began to run it through her hair.
Sydney chuckled, "Then Boom ran in wearing a gas mask and that ridiculous safe-suit. He thought there had been a chemical spill! He even hosed us down with the fire extinguisher!" The girls looked at one another and laughed. Sydney prepared her toothbrush and began to methodically clean her perfect teeth.
"I thought you were going to kill him!" Z grinned. "You spent three hours in the shower trying to get it out of your hair!"
After a moment, Sydney spit and rinsed her mouth. "What about you? You refused to shower or even take off that rancid uniform until Bridge and Sky agreed to do our laundry for a month."
"Come on, Syd, that was genius!" Z finished with her hair and walked back into their bedroom. She leaned over and took a uniform off of the floor next to her bed.
Sydney pulled a curler out of her hair. "Alright, that was brilliant. But you have to admit I made it even better!"
Z called from the other room, "For once, I agree. You made me go with you to Victoria's Secret so we could get those tiny, lacy things and make the boys wash them! Do you remember, Bridge held one up and asked Sky what it was?!"
Sydney walked toward Z as she pulled another curler our of her platinum blonde hair and laughed, "I have never seen Sky turn so red so quickly. He just pushed Bridge's hand down and said 'I'll explain later.' I would give anything to have listened to that conversation!"
Z pulled a clean shirt over her head. "So would I, but I don't think it ever happened. The next day I walked into the laundry room because I'd forgotten a pair of socks, and Bridge asked me the same question."
Tossing her last curler on the bed, Sydney opened her stuffed closet and took out her own uniform. "What did you tell him?!"
Z smirked, "The truth. He blushed and made every effort to get me to leave as quickly as possible."
Sydney shook her head, "The poor guy. I think he's learned a lot about women since then."
Before Z could question the pink ranger's comment, their door chime sounded. Z looked over at her roommate to make sure they were both dressed. She went to the door, unlocked it, and slid it open. Z looked over at Sydney, who glanced toward the door. Sydney looked back at Z, a smile playing at her lips. Both girls started laughing, leaving a very confused Bridge in their doorway. "What?" he asked.
Z shook her head, "Don't worry about it, Bridge. Did you need something?"
"No, I just wanted to know if you were ready for breakfast. Sky's still ironing his uniform, and I feel really stupid walking into the cafeteria all alone," Bridge explained.
"I thought he did his ironing on Wednesdays," Z said.
Bridge and Sydney stared. "Um…"
Z turned away from them to hide a blush. "I was kidding."
"Actually," said Bridge, "he usually does iron on Wednesday."
"Heh, lucky guess," Z shrugged. She whirled around, grabbed Bridge's arm, and started to lead him into the hallway. "Let's go get that breakfast. Syd still has to do her makeup, and I would like to eat before the year 3000."
XXX
The rangers were lined up in the Command Center: red, blue, yellow, pink. All four stood up straight, their hands stuck to their sides. Commander Cruger paced in front of the line, two large blue paws behind his back. Finally, he stopped pacing and smiled. "First, let me congratulate Sky and Sydney on their engagement. I am sure the two of you will be very happy together."
Sky and Sydney blushed, Z looked at her boots, and Bridge continued to stare forward. "Um, thanks, commander," Sydney replied. "We appreciate it."
Cruger nodded, "Unfortunately, Sydney, I must separate you from your fiancé for the upcoming mission. Kat, if you would…"
The humanoid feline brought up a holographic image in the center console. Kat pointed to the small, white/blue sphere. "This is Niveus. It is a planet made entirely of ice, snow, and water on the edge of our galaxy. The people of Niveus have been locked in a civil war for over one hundred years. No one even remembers why they are fighting."
Kat pressed a button to create two more holograms, the first of an elderly man with thinning white hair, thick, pulsing blue skin, and yellow eyes and the second of a younger man with similar skin, black hair, and orange eyes. Both wore richly decorated fur robes, the first in white and the second in pale green. "The older one is King Torus of Veltex, and the younger is King Euri of Eithnos. Euri is new to the throne; his father Ido died only a year ago. Torus has been ruling for at least 60 years and lost his only son to the fighting. Now Torus is faced with the prospect of losing his kingdom entirely. His only living relative is a granddaughter, the Princess Seraphina, but women are forbidden to rule on Niveus. When Torus dies, Veltex would be thrown into chaos, allowing Euri to easily overtake it. Torus knows this and a month ago he initiated peace talks with King Euri. They have finally reached an agreement and have requested the assistance of SPD. Supreme Commander Birdie selected the four of you because Earth has been quiet for a year now and, if anything happens, C-squad is well prepared."
"So we're going to Niveus to break up the fighting?" asked Sky.
"Not exactly," Cruger explained. "The two kings decided to combine their kingdoms into one, since that is probably what would have happened anyway upon the death of King Torus. That, however, would have happened after a violent period of risen hostility between the warring kingdoms and within Veltex itself. In a few days, the blend will occur peacefully through the marriage of Torus' granddaughter, Seraphina, and Euri's son, Orion. Orion will rule over both kingdoms and Torus will have his line continue through Seraphina. The people of both kingdoms are happy because neither is being overthrown, only combined. It is a well-planned diplomatic solution."
"Then why do they need us?" asked Z.
"Because there are many who would want the war to continue. Your job will be to protect the prince and princess. Their military will take care of anything else, but they wanted someone from outside to guard the couple," Cruger replied.
Kat erased the previous images and brought up two new ones. She pointed to a beautiful young Nivian woman with skin that looked more delicate than the males' of her planet. Her long, dark blue hair was braided and her eyes, like her grandfather's, were yellow. She looked more like a child than a young woman. "That is Princess Seraphina. She's 16; on her planet that is considered the appropriate age for a girl to marry." Kat moved her finger to the second image of a much younger version of King Euri. "That is Prince Orion. He's 27."
Sydney and Z looked at one another, and then back at the image. "He's gorgeous!" Sydney exclaimed, much to the chagrin of her fiancé.
"And off-limits," Kat smiled. "The laws of both kingdoms on Niveus declare that no one of the opposite sex is to see the bride or groom within a 24 hour period before their wedding. Therefore, Sydney and Z will be protecting the princess while Sky and Bridge guard the prince."
"You will have accommodations adjacent to those of your charges, and at least one of you is to be with them at all times. Your shuttle will be leaving in two hours, and you will be staying on Niveus until the end of the wedding two days from now. Understood?" said Commander Cruger.
Four rangers saluted, "Yes sir!"