Introspective Reading pt.1
Summary: Astronema gets her hands on an enchanted copy of Cassie's diary and uses the private thoughts to destroy the pink ranger.
Rating: I suck at assigning ratings to things. To be safe, I'll say PG13. If it gets any higher, which one or two chapters might, I'll give advanced warning.
Cassie/TJ, possibly Cassie/Andros
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Chapter 1 – Hidden Desires
It was a beautiful Saturday in Angel Grove and as Cassie Chan walked through the city park, she couldn't help but admire the scenery. It was comfortably cool, which was to be expected for an early May afternoon. It had been awhile since Cassie had felt so relaxed. School was finally settling down after 3 long quarters of pouring over books and stressing over tests. It was senior year, which meant that the fourth quarter was going to be the easiest one she ever had. Also, Astronema seemed to be in between PMS', which meant that a certain group of teens could finally take a break and relax for a few rare quiet days. About 2 weeks ago, Astronema had come after the power rangers with everything she had but had yet again failed. Of course, failing to conquer the world paled in comparison to the fury of Mrs. Applebee when the rangers who attended Angel Grove High School failed their English exam that week. That had been a very bad week. Andros had to spend an extra hour or two convincing his Earthling comrades that keeping their identity a secret was, indeed, a good thing, despite what a pain in the arse-end it could be.
As Cassie sighed and leaned her back against a weeping willow tree that rested on a hill overlooking the lake, she pushed all thoughts of Astronema and monsters to the back of her mind. Now was the time to focus on why she and her friends went through hell almost every week. Her eyes panned over the lake and the children playing in the nearby park. She slid slowly down the trunk of the tree, being careful not to get scraped or put a hole in her new pink zip-up sweater. Her pink messenger bag rested beside her and she tilted her head back against the trunk, looking up into the graceful, sweeping branches. She felt herself dozing off, almost hypnotized by the gentle swinging of the branches being blown by the light breeze. Cassie quick caught herself; she didn't want to get sidetracked from what she had come up here to do.
The pretty Korean girl opened up her messenger bag and pulled out a medium-sized diary, which was decorated with pink lace and colored jewels. She opened it to the next clean page and looked around her to make sure no one was watching, as if a person could actually read what was written in the small book from a greater distance than right over her shoulder. Still she had to be cautious; she had a few secrets in written among the pages that would do best to never be repeated out loud. She reached into the depths of the bag again and, after searching for a minute or two, closed her fingers around a pen. Cassie always preferred to come up to the old willow tree to write in her diary because it was where she felt the most clarity in her mind. Her entries tended to be longer when she wrote them here. If it weren't for Mother Nature's strict "lights out" schedule, she could probably sit for hours upon hours simply writing down everything that crossed her mind. Especially for someone with as many responsibilities as her, such as saving the world, being responsible for millions of lives, knowing that the deaths of some of the people she protected were inevitable… diary entries are never in short supply. She always tries not to think about all the people that have died over the years from monster attacks by Rita, Lord Zedd, Divatox… Astronema… However, that is one downside to having a place that opens your mind so much- avoiding your innermost demons is unavoidable.
Today, though, Cassie wasn't thinking about death or carnage or even English exams. Today, her mind was focused on an unlikely crush.
Ever since Cassie had met TJ Johnson that fateful day on a bus ride that was just the beginning of a long journey together, she had found him attractive, not just physically but he also had a good personality. Unfortunately, any chance of a romance between the two was squashed when Tommy Oliver and Katherine Hillard, the former red and pink turbo rangers, had bequeathed to them their powers and Cassie and TJ had become part of the next generation of Power Rangers. Then, TJ was her leader and her comrade and a romance would have made things awkward for everyone. So she had pushed her feelings aside for the good of the team. Still, it always irked her that she couldn't tell him how she felt. The stirring belly and increased heart rate she experienced every time she was near him was beginning to drive her up a wall.
Lately Cassie had started thinking that perhaps something between the two of them may work, even though they were still power rangers. After all, TJ was no longer their leader, Andros was. And it was quite obvious that, although the shy Kerovian had trouble dealing with romance in general, his reservations seemed to have nothing to do with ranger status. Based on the relationship reports that Ashley enjoyed discussing with her, Cassie was pretty certain that the yellow and red rangers were lovers. Granted, Ashley never came right out and said that she and Andros were becoming that close; Ashley, despite her outspoken-ness, was never one to kiss and tell. But she had hinted at it. So why shouldn't Cassie tell TJ how she feels?
After about 2 hours of writing about her turbulent feelings for the blue ranger, Cassie finally closed the diary and placed it back into her bag. She let her eyes wander around Angel Grove Park until they grew heavy and her head slumped against the support of the tree. The pink ranger drifted into a peaceful slumber where her dreams centered around lazy days spent in the strong but soft arms of a certain lover. She was unaware of a pair of green, glowing, crystalline eyes staring straight at her, or rather, straight through her bag and onto her most prized and protected possession, second only to her morpher.
The monster known as Ecliptor waited patiently in his hiding place behind a pagoda for the pink ranger to succumb totally to her exhaustion. If she woke up, his queen's plan would be ruined. And this plan was, by far, much too good and ingenious to be treated lightly. By the time Astronema was through with the pink ranger, she would be shattered beyond repair. When one ranger was down for the count, the others would be soon to follow and that would finally be the end of the Power Rangers!
"I wish you sweet dreams, ranger. They'll be the last ones you ever have. I can assure you, from this day forth, the rest of your life will be a living nightmare."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A/N: This is the second story I'm working on. At the moment, I'm also working on "In Order", another Cassie story. I know people have been anxious for me to update my first story, but I really wanted to get this one started before I lost the idea. Hopefully, I'll have some free time this weekend to update both stories. Please, R&R! I love reviews!!