A year has passed since the fall of Emperor Gruumm, and the time of peace resumed once more. The Space Patrol Delta encounters crimes every now and then, but since Gruumm's fall, crime rates dropped drastically. Since Jack's decision to resign from SPD, he has been working with Ally and dedicated a majority of his time helping those in need. The rest of his time, he devoted to SPD, but more of his attention was shifted to one person in particular. The one girl with great determination and understanding, the one girl who brought comfort to him especially when he first started his time as the SPD red ranger, the one somehow managed to steal his heart with her optimism and bubbly personality. That one amazing girl was none other than Sydney, or Syd, the SPD pink ranger.
In all honestly, the only reason Jack kept SPD in mind most of the time was because of her. A few weeks after his resignation, Jack realized that Sydney meant so much to him, that he couldn't live for more than a few days without seeing her or contacting her in any way. They confessed their feelings to one another not long after, and their relationship has been slow and steady. A bit complicated, considering it took Sky, the new SPD red ranger, at least a month to accept their relationship, but things couldn't be better between the two.
As for Bridge and Z, there were no hard feelings between them all. At first, Z felt a bit of jealousy toward Sydney since she was originally close to Jack, but when Syd told her about her feelings toward Jack and vice versa with Jack, Z couldn't do anything but accept the fact that her brother is a "grown-ass man" who can make his own decisions. Besides, her feelings were toward someone else, and of course, she refused to tell anyone about that. Not at that time anyway.
And now, back to the story at hand. It's a cold autumn day, and after a long day of volunteer work, Jack met up with Sydney to have a nice dinner and then a relaxing night back at his place. The date went well, filled with smiles and laughter, as always. As nighttime approached, the couple went back to Jack's apartment after picking up a few items, which included fresh fruit and ice cream and a decent bottle of wine. Two pints of ice cream and fruit as well as a few glasses of wine later, Jack switched the lights off and the couple snuggled in bed together, trying to keep warm after that deliciously cold dessert. The cold autumn breeze didn't help the couple, but both were happy to be in each other's arms after a long day of work. However, this peaceful bond broke almost instantly once Sydney's phone beeped. She quickly turned away from Jack and found out it was a message from Bridge and Z, asking how her date is going with Jack and if she talked to him about her…concerns on some topics that were brought up on their last few dates. "Sorry, it's Bridge and Z." Sydney apologized genuinely as she clicked through her phone to reply to their message. He nodded and released a sigh—after lying on the bed for nearly ten minutes in silence, he grunted in frustration and turned to Syd.
"Syd, can we go to sleep now?" The annoyed and sleepy Jack mumbled to his significant other, laying his head against the girl's delicate shoulder. The girl's curly blond hair tickled his nose a bit, but it was not enough for him to forget the ice cold atmosphere of his room. For a late autumn night, the cruel cold breeze was fairly unusual and Jack knew this a little too well. As an attempt to get his girlfriend's attention, Jack laid his hand on her stomach and gently pushed her toward his bare chest. Unfortunately, it was not enough to get Syd to put the wretched phone down and cuddle with her significant other.
"I'm not stopping you, hun," Syd responded in a monotone voice as she continued to type away on her phone. One click after another, the sounds quickly got to Jack's nerves and he sits up slightly to try and see what they're talking about. Not only from frustration but curiosity as well. He felt more frustration though, now that he saw that Sydney was trying to hide the messages from him.
"Umm…yes. You are," He replied with a stern look on his face. Jack extended his arm and tried to snatch the phone from Syd, but she swiftly moved her phone away from his grasp.
"Hold on, Jack. I'm still talking to Bridge and Z."
"What would you guys talk about at this time? It's 1 in the morning, there can't be an emergency."
"There isn't. Bridge can't sleep."
"How come?"
"You know how he is. He barely ever sleeps."
Jack then reflected on those sleepless nights with Bridge back at the SPD base for a while. The guy barely ever slept, Jack learned the hard way, and it was barely ever quiet with him. Bridge always had something in his mind when he couldn't sleep. Even when Jack tried to alleviate his curiosity, most of the time, Bridge couldn't get himself to sleep. He eventually replied, "Hm…yeah. You're right. I remember."
Sydney giggled ever so slightly at the thought that Jack remembered the little things that happened to him back at SPD. "Anyways, you don't have to stay up for me. Just turn around if the light's bothering you."
"Yeah, but that's no fun." Jack whispered in Syd's ear as he brought her close once again. Once she got close to him, he brought his lips to her neck and began to kiss her softly.
At that time, Sydney was glad that the lights were still off because she began to blush as Jack's lips came in contact with her neck. She shivered a little bit, as his tongue tickled her neck ever so slightly. She pleaded, "Jack, stop. Go to sleep."
Listening to his girlfriend's plea to stop, Jack sighed in frustration, "Okay, fine, Syd."
"Good night," Sydney replied nervously and in an instant.
Jack mumbled and closed his eyes for a few seconds. Curiosity got the better of him now and had the urge to figure out what the three were talking about. What could've possibly taken her attention away from him? He had to find out. It was cold of Z and Bridge to interrupt their date, he thought. The curious boyfriend sat up and looked at Syd's phone. He squinted a little bit to read the messages a little better. He was only able to see three messages and one that Sydney was already typing—Jack read on:
Sydney: He's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I just don't know how to tell him.
Z: Syd, I know Jack. He isn't the type of person who's gonna force you to do anything. Just tell him.
Bridge: I agree with Z, but you gotta open up to him soon. You guys have been together for a while now. He's gonna think you're not interested anymore.
TYPING: Yeah, I guess you're both right…I just don't know how to tell him that he's
What Syd was typing at that time got Jack suspicious. Was he not good enough for her? And what did Z mean that he wasn't going to force her to do anything? The little seeds of suspicion grew quickly as he continued to browse through the rest of the messages, including the one she was currently typing. Soon, he decided to confront his lover. "That I'm what, Syd?" He snarled.
Sydney jumped quite a bit when she heard Jack's stern voice. She thought it wasn't necessary for Jack to read through her messages, so naturally, she snapped as she replied nervously, "W—what are you doing? I thought you were trying to sleep." The blond-haired girl finally placed her phone down on the nightstand and turned to her curious lover with an innocent pout on her face.
"I mean, I was trying to. But I got curious." Jack tried to explain himself, but realized that he couldn't do so effectively without sounding like an ass. Syd stayed quiet, unsure of how to respond. She simply tilted her head down and nuzzled her face onto Jack's cold chest in silence. Jack smirked a bit at Syd's sudden act of affection, but soon sat up and turned on the light switch, letting Syd lay on his lap. He played with her long, curly hair as he asked, "So, what did you want to tell me?"
The blond-haired girl blushed and shook her head furiously. "No, forget it. It's a little embarrassing."
"It can't be that bad." Jack responded with a laugh. "If you can tell the others, I don't see why you can't tell me."
"Um…" Syd's bright red face looked up at Jack as she timidly requested, "Promise not to laugh at me?"
"It can't be that bad."
The girl nodded and tried to find the right way to explain what she wanted to tell Jack. Of course, she couldn't find the perfect way, but rather, used one of the worst ways to tell him. With a bunch of embarrassing fillers like, "Um…you're…ah…I haven't…"
"Go on."
Deep breath, Syd, she thought to herself, releasing a long, deep breath. It was now or never, and this chance was never going to come again. Because soon, perhaps, Jack will be tired of waiting for her to get her act together and that will be the end of her happiness in an instant. Syd eventually got the courage to tell Jack her secret and told him meekly, "I haven't done it with anyone before."
"Done what?" Jack chuckled as he continued to stroke her hair. Syd then looked up at him and raised her brow. Shocked that Jack didn't understand the message right away, the girl made a few hand gestures to help Jack understand that he would be her first. Her first what, you ask? Well, for one, Jack is her first boyfriend. And naturally, her first time in bed would be with him…yeah, you get the picture. It took Jack a bit to understand, but he finally got it after a while.
"Oh…That's it?" Jack laughed at the thought that this whole thing was nothing important. He didn't seem to care about this "first time" thing, and he definitely didn't want something as small as that affect their relationship in any way. They have known each other for so long; hell, they even shared the same birthday after Syd unofficially gave him one on the same day as her own. He continued to laugh as he stroked Sydney's cheek gently.
"You promised you weren't going to laugh!" Sydney pouted, nudging his chest. Jack then tried to get his composure back with a deep breath.
"I'm sorry. It's just…it's not a big deal for me. I don't care if you haven't done it with anyone. If you're not ready, you're not ready. Who am I to judge you?"
"So, you're not mad?"
"Why would I be mad?"
"I don't know. I kinda had a feeling you would after I gave you the cold shoulder a few nights ago."
Jack laughed once more as he kissed Syd's cheek. He whispered into her ear, "Don't worry about that. Let's get some rest now. Tomorrow's gonna be another big day."
"You're right."
Jack sat up, turned off the lights, and gazed at the clock nearby. 2:05 AM. He slithered down to Sydney and the two held each other in a tight embrace, as if their bond stood tall, unbreakable from any powerful force that may come their way.
"Good night." Jack whispered in Sydney's ear before he kissed her forehead.
"Hey Jack?" The blond-haired girl tilted her head upward to face Jack as she then kissed his tender lips passionately. With a grin, Sydney whispered back, "Thanks. I love you."
"Love you too, Syd. Good night."