A Time to Say Goodbye
By: MidnightzStorm
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, places, etc. You know the drill.
Author's Note: So I wrote this about five years ago, I posted it, then took it down, then posted it again. It was an endless cycle, but now I give in and let in be. I rewrote some of it, since well in five years you can grow. I hope I grew.
Thanks to: SLWatson the best beta reader ever!
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"Yesterday Ranger Booster was struck down in the line of duty," Commander Nebula said looking sadly at his group of space rangers.
The Princess/Ranger Mira Nova was sitting down as she listened to the Commander's words. She was there at Booster's death, and as she thought of it silent tears flooded down her pale blue face.
She felt a tug on her leg and looked down at the small robot that was clinging to her knee for dear life. It was almost comforting. However, almost was the key, since XR was wailing loudly, and had tears filling up his helmet. Mira knew just how close XR had been to Booster.
"Now, Buzz Lightyear will speak a few words about Booster," Nebula said. Mira's head turned as her captain walked gloomily to the platform.
"When I first met Booster, it was on his home planet, Jo-Ad. Zurg wanted to destroy the planet with his new Robot. Booster played a key part in stopping it. The next time I met him it was at Star Command; he was working as a janitor with hopes of being a space ranger. He would memorize a page of the handbook each day," Buzz said softly.
Mira sadly smiled, remembering that even after Booster became a space ranger, he still would recite all the rules. Just to make sure that he wouldn't forget any.
"He became a Space Ranger in the strangest way. I found him and XR in my ship when Zurg had Star Command under his mind control. Booster, XR and Mira showed me that you can't do everything alone. They saved the galaxy.
"After that, Booster became Space Ranger. The Commander even allowed him to be a part of my team, even while he was training at the academy. Through all of Team Lightyear's missions, Booster played a vital role. He was kind, brave, and he believed in the goodness of all beings. So, please remember Booster.
"He defined what a space ranger should be. Remember Booster."
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Buzz walked into the silent lounge, where he found Mira, who seemed to be trying to concentrating on the wall in front of her. He stared just as intently at her. Her facial features were unreadable; however, her eyes betrayed her. He knew that look in her eyes; the look of hopelessness and despair.
"Are you just going to stare?" she whispered to him, without taking her gaze away from the wall.
Buzz was surprised for a moment; he thought that his presence was lost her. "Are you alright, Mira?" he asked.
"Physically, I'm fine. Mentally... not so good," she said, while finally looking up at him. He moved and sat down beside her.
He looked at her once more, and then noticed her hand clutching a piece of paper. "What's that?" he inquired.
"A letter," she said, looking at the paper. "The Senator of Tangea is retiring and Father thinks it's best if I take the position over."
"Are you going to take it?" he asked, and silently prayed that the answer was 'no'.
Mira took a deep breathe and spoke softly: "I actually think that this might be for the best. I love being a Space Ranger, but we all knew this wasn't permanent. I'm going to be queen someday so I need to get involved in intergalactic politics, and being senator would be a perfect learning experience." Mira swallowed. She hated to bring up her future with anyone, including herself, since it was already written.
There was a long silence between the two rangers.
"Everything's ending, isn't it?" Buzz asked, as he broke the stillness.
"What do you mean?"
"The end of Team Lightyear, of everything that we had…. First Booster…." he began, but the words died in his throat. "Now you're off to become a Senator."
Mira's eyes began to water again. Both her and Buzz had a habit of keeping people at a distance; they didn't talk about the feelings or show them that often. However, she couldn't think of anything to say so, she did only thing that came to mind; she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in a close embrace.
"It's not the end. It's just a time to say goodbye," Mira whispered in his ear, after a few moments.
Buzz pulled away and offered his hand to shake. "Well, then I would like to the first to congratulate you, Senator Nova."
Mira sadly smiled at him. She took his hand, and said "Thank you, Captain Lightyear."
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"XR to the Science Bay!" said a voice over the intercom.
'What do those little green guys want?' XR thought. They usually wanted Buzz, so he could test their crazy inventions, and XR was not in the mood to test their newest toy no matter how much stuff it could blow up.
"Okay, what is it?" he asked quickly, when he made it to the bay.
A crowd of LGMs surrounded him. "Come…watch," they replied, in sync.
"Alright," XR slowly told them, as he walked alongside the group. He was ready for anything the little green dudes could dish out.
Dramatically, a door opened, revealing three robots. They were just like XR, except that each one was a different shade of blue, red, and yellow.
"What are they?" he asked them.
"RRs!" The LGMs said, excitedly.
"R what?" he asked again.
"RR, or Robot Rangers. They are the future Space Rangers," one LGM replied.
"Does Dad know?" XR asked.
After years of calling the Commander 'Dad', and years of the Commander telling XR not to, Nebula had just given up and accepted his fate as being considered a parental figure to a hunk of metal.
"You slipped it in with your vacation requests again, didn't you?" XR asked sheepishly.
"No, the Commander knows this time," The LGMs replied truthfully.
XR didn't have time to ask any more questions, because Commander Nebula and Buzz walked in.
"So, did the LGMs show you your new squad yet?" the Commander asked.
"My new what?" XR said, confused.
"I've decided that I want you to train the new robots," Commander Nebula replied.
"My…. squad?" XR asked, tears streaming down his face. "You want me to train my new squad? My very own squad?"
The Commander nodded in reply and the little robot threw himself at 'his father'.
"Oh, this is the happiest moment of my life! I don't even have a speech prepared. I would like to thank the academy…" XR started.
Buzz walked away from the group to the window and gazed at the stars. He was alone again. For the first time, he didn't want to be alone.
"Son is something wrong?" the Commander asked, finally getting away from XR's grip.
"Do you know about Mira leaving?" Buzz asked.
"Yes, she told me that she was resigning a few days ago," the Commander replied.
"Everyone's leaving," Buzz whispered.
"Yes."
"But all at once. It's all over."
"It's just a time to say goodbye." Nebula told him, echoing the same words that Mira said.
Maybe they were right; it was time to let go, to say goodbye.