Title: In My Life
Author: pinkthunder17 (LJ), pinkpunkemodiva86
Character Focus: Sky
Word count: 977
Summary: A look into the history of Schuyler Tate and how his destiny was created and lived vicariously by his father.
Rating: K+ (For mentions of death & alcoholism)
Timeline: Shortly after Beginnings
Growing up, destiny was something that always just happened to you. It comes and goes at will, and sometimes never really had a purpose. My destiny? Become the greatest red ranger ever. Well next to my father of course. My mother always hated the idea of me becoming a ranger. I guess it's because she saw so much damage when she was a ranger, that she didn't want her precious baby boy to experience the same thing. Ever since I was old enough to walk, the words "You're going to be the next red ranger." Were pounded into my head. I worked so hard to appease my father as a child. Kung-Fu, Karate, I would do anything to please my father. I even took proper dance lessons so that I could 'attract the ladies' when it came time for me to get married.
My mother was always supportive of me and whatever I did, but numerous times tried to talk my father out of running me into the ground. It never worked though. Dad always pushed, harder, faster, stronger. I knew he was only doing it because he loved me, but there were times when I wanted to give up. Yes, I Schuyler Tate, Mr. SPD, wanted to give up and be a normal child. My father would have no part of it. That was, until mom got sick. Then things started to change.
When I was 11, my mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The news shook my father to the core. Money was not an object to try and find the best possible care for my mother. Chemotherapy and radiation were used to try and shrink the cancerous tumors. The last option was surgery. She did amazingly well through the surgery, and everyone was positive that she was fully into remission, and that her cancer was gone forever. We were wrong.
About 2 weeks before my 13th birthday, my mother became violently ill once more. It was worse than before however. We rushed her to the hospital, and discovered that her cancer, had spread somehow after the removal of the cancerous tumors, and was now spreading rapidly. My mother was sent home two days later. She finalized her will and assets and left everything to my father and myself, although I would not be able to touch any of my newly obtained possessions until my 21st birthday. Between the time of my mother leaving the hospital, and her dying 3 days after she returned home, she never shed a single tear. She wasn't afraid of dying.
My father was a complete and total wreck after she died. She was his soul mate, and completed him. She was his world. Mine too, yet for some reason I just bottled up what was inside me and kept going. My father however tried to live in the past. Alcohol became his friend a few months after her death. He scared me when he drank. There were times where home was a place that I just didn't want to be because of the screaming, the crying and the sound of things shattering around the house throughout the night.
Shortly before my mother died, she told me that even though she hated the idea of it, she wanted me to go ahead with my fathers wishes for me to join SPD. So, 4 years later, I did just that. I saw the flyer for recruitment into SPD days after my birthday, and enlisted. It was hard work. But I stuck with it. The training that my father had forced me into when I was young paid off, and soon, after starting, I was given a choice about my future.
Officer Track or Ranger Track. I opted for the later, seeing as it gave me more options with my life. After I had made my final decision, I was moved up to D-squad, where I met Bridge Carson, and Dru Harrington. Bridge was... different. He slept with stuffed animals still at 16 and at times, acted like a child. But that's what made him so unique. I learned quickly that Bridge had a special gift. He was able to read the 'aura's' of others. Meaning he could tell what emotions they were feeling at that present moment. Poor Bridge though, he couldn't control it, so Dr. Manx created special leather gloves for him. He only takes them off when he needs to.
Dru was that one special friend that I thought was going to be around forever. Unfortunately it wasn't the case. Dru and I spent almost every waking hour together, hanging out, training and being best friends. But when I was 19, Dru was transferred the Nebula Academy for further specialized training. With Dru leaving, both Bridge and I were upgraded to C-squad cadets, where we met our new training partner. Most of the training groups had 5 members, but ours was different. We had 3. Me, Bridge Carson, and the new cadet, Sydney Drew. I had heard of her. She was famous. Olympian, singer, actress. You name it, this girl had done it. But she was different, not as prissy and stuck up as I had originally thought she'd be.
Eventually the three of us moved up to B-squad when I was 21. Only days after our promotions, we were joined by two more new recruits. Although they didn't go through the training we had. Elizabeth 'Z' Delgado and Jack Landors. Jack was made red ranger, although I would have been a better one. He didn't have the training or know-how… But Cruger saw that he had a heart, and having a heart is part of being a ranger…I guess.
I never thought my life would turn out this way. But, I'm glad it has. Even though I've dealt with so much. I wouldn't change it for the world.