And here's the end to my PPTF romance trilogy. This one focuses on Nadira and Lucas, with a little bit of Eric and Taylor. Set during the picnic at the end of the TF/WF crossover.

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, period. WORD COUNT: 1073

Thursday, August 2nd, 2002

I'd forgotten how much I'd missed twenty-first century food. This Princess Shayla really knew how to put together a picnic. I munched on a sweet apple slice as I watched Eric and Taylor's antics. It wasn't like Eric to fool around like that and act so unprofessionally. Then again, pretty much every time I saw him, he was on the job, until now, and last night, when the two of them had woken me up with their wrestling match. How could I know what he was really like off the job? He'd just stolen Taylor's book, and she chased him off into the woods. Remembering what'd happened the night before, I bet she'd catch up with him in less than a minute. The thought of Eric Meyers getting tackled to the ground made me smirk a little.

Then my eye caught something that made the smile vanish. Nadira was sitting off to the side, also watching. Normally the sight of her would just make my smile even bigger, but she wasn't alone. Max was darting from one side of her to the other, holding a bunch of wildflowers he'd just picked, and offering them to her. Luckily she didn't seem interested, but I went into jealousy mode anyway. I didn't want to kill a fellow Ranger, especially not a fellow Blue, but Cooper was suddenly getting on my nerves real quick. Evidently the pillow I'd hit him with last night didn't properly convey my message.

I wasn't the only one who noticed Max's flirting. Ransik marched over (and who would've guessed that I'd ever be glad to see him?) and got Max's attention. While he scared the crap out of the Blue Shark Ranger, I made my move. Nadira was laughing as she watched Max and her father. Such a pretty little laugh, not like the more evil one she'd used back in the day when our main priority was to kill each other. I tapped her on the shoulder, and her little smile stretched into a huge grin as she turned around and took my hand. We walked in the other direction, arm in arm.

Hey!" Max called. Nadira and I turned to see him and Ransik staring at us, looking defeated. Nadira gave them a cute little wave before we continued on our way.

"Thanks for saving me, Lucas," she commented.

"No problem," I replied, squeezing her hand a little tighter, "Even though it did look like you were enjoying the show."

"Daddy and Max, or Taylor and Eric?"

"Both."

"Yeah. I didn't really get to know Eric all that well, but I've never seen him act like that"

"Me, neither. Well, except last night."

"What happened? I think I was asleep."

"Well, I was almost out when I heard this sort of scuffling noise. I opened my eyes, and there he was rolling on the ground with Taylor." Nadira raised her eyebrows. "It was just a wrestling match, really. Or a playfight. But it was really annoying, and I was exhausted as hell, so I chucked my pillow at Eric's head. Then Max started complaining that they woke him up, too, and he's annoying when he complains."

"So what'd you do?"

"Got my pillow back and chucked it at him."

"Remind me never to wake you up early."

"Well, it was also because of something Max said."

"What was it?"

"He went on about a dream Eric and Taylor had oh so kindly interrupted. Something about an angel with pink hair." Nadira took notice of this right away. "And judging from what happened just now, I think I could probably picture that angel's face perfectly."

"Oh, really? What does she look like?"

"Well…" We stopped. "Said pink hair goes down to about just past her shoulders…" She twirled a lock of her own hot-pink hair flirtatiously. "She's got these cute little dimples whenever she smiles…" Her smile grew even bigger. "Her eyes are somewhere between blue and grey…" Nadira's blue-grey eyes sparkled. "And her lips… she's wearing this dark red lipstick that just makes her even more gorgeous."

"She sounds pretty."

"She's not just pretty. She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." She threw her arms around me in a huge hug, which I returned.

"That's the nicest thing any boy's ever said to me," she mumbled. I could feel my shirt getting wet.

"Don't worry," I murmured, stroking her head, "There's plenty more where that came from." She looked up, gazing into my eyes. I gazed into hers, and soon noticed that they were getting closer, and closer, until our lips met.

Lucas and Nadira walked back from wherever they were about ten minutes later. Her lipstick was smeared, and he had some smudges on his face that looked to be the exact same dark red colour. Jen and I glanced over at Ransik, who, thankfully, was talking with Wes and Cole. We got up and ran over to Lucas and Nadira as fast as we could. I pulled out a set of wipes and rubbed as much as I could off Nadira's face. I handed one to Jen and she did the same for Lucas. Both of them looked at us in confusion. "Trust me," I whispered, "You'll be thanking us for this in about a minute."

We walked back over to the group, and Ransik caught sight of the two of them. "Where'd you two go?" he asked in that suspicious fatherlike tone. Jen and I hid the lipstick-smeared wipes behind our backs and did our best to look innocent.

"Oh, just out for a walk in the woods," Nadira replied breezily, "I mean, we should at least enjoy the twenty-first century nature while we're still here." Ransik nodded understandingly, and turned his attention back to the Red Rangers. We let out a sigh of relief, glad we managed to pull it off.

"Thanks Jen, Alyssa," Lucas whispered to us, "We'd be toast if he'd noticed."

"Don't you mean you'd be toast?" Trip added, popping out of nowhere.

"Oh, yeah, he may not have mutant powers anymore, but…" He shuddered.

THE END