Rocky DeSantos sighed as he stared down at his English homework. Mrs. Appleby
had given the students the entire weekend to do the assignment, but that didn't
seem to be enough time for Rocky. It was Sunday, and he still didn't have it
finished. For once, though, it wasn't his Rangering duties that had prevented
him from doing it. In fact, Zedd and Rita had been rather quiet during the past
four days. No, destructive monsters were not his problem at all. His only
distraction was... Her.
Her being Rocky's best friend and fellow
Ranger, Aisha Campbell. Ever since they had become Rangers, Rocky had seemed to
have feelings for her; feelings that were never there before. Maybe it was the
factor that their lives were at risk he realized that there was the possibility
that they wouldn't have the rest of their lives to fall in love.
"Why can't I
get her out of my mind?" Rocky asked the empty room. He sighed and looked back
down at his notebook. Only one sentence was written on the page; he couldn't
think of anything else. His mind had traveled too far elsewhere.
Remember when
We never needed each other
The best of friends
Like
sister and brother
We understood
We'd never be
Alone
Rocky sighed, glancing to the picture frame on his nightstand. It was of him, Aisha, and their best friend, Adam. They were all about twelve years old, smiling into the camera. Aisha looked like she was about to strangle Adam, and Rocky was standing behind him, holding the smaller boy so he wouldn't get away. It was only a joke, of course. As Rocky looked back, he realized that he had never seen Aisha in the light then that he did now.
Those days are gone
Now I want you so much
The night is long
And
I need your touch
Don't know what to say
Never meant to feel this
way
Don't wanna be alone tonight
She's my best friend. Why do I feel this way about her? Whatever these
feelings were, they were stronger than the Red Ranger could control. Everytime
he thought of his friend, a smile was always brought to his face. Everytime he
looked at her, his mind reeled at the thought of what they could be. There was
only one thing to wonder...
Why can't I tell her how I feel? The worst she
could do is completely reject me and find someone else...
What can I do
To make you mine
Fallin so hard
So fast this
time
What did I say
What did you do
How did I fall in love with
you?
Rocky was taken out of his reverie when the phone rang. He picked it up on
the second ring and hesitantly lifted it up to his ear.
"Hello?"
I hear your voice
And I start to tremble
Brings back the
child
That I resemble
"Hey Rocky!"
"Oh, hey, Ish..."
"Did you finish the paper? I mean, Zedd
and Rita have given us plenty of time to do it..."
Rocky had to laugh. "Well,
they have, haven't they? Actually, I've only gotten the first sentence
down."
"Rocky! You have to finish it!"
"I know..."
I cannot pretend
That we can still be friends
Don't wanna be alone
tonight
"Ish, listen..."
"Oh, Rock, that was my mom. I gotta go, talk to ya
later."
"Wait, Aisha..."
Before Rocky could complete his sentence, there
was a click, and the line went dead. Rocky hung up the phone, tears gathering in
his eyes. At that moment, his heart shattered into a million pieces. But yet,
there was a small ray of hope as Rocky's communicator went off.
What can I do
To make you mine
Fallin so hard
So fast this
time
What did I say
What did you do
How did I fall in love with
you?
Rocky teleported into the Command Center without even answering the call.
After he had materialized within the headquarters, he noticed Alpha and Zordon
giving him strange looks.
"What?" he asked.
"WHY HAVE YOU COME HERE,
ROCKY?" Zordon asked.
"I got a call on my communicator."
"AND YOU DIDN'T
ANSWER, I NOTICED."
"Um, yeah... I just thought that I should make it easier
for me and come right to the Command Center."
"WELL, YOUR HEART WAS IN THE
RIGHT PLACE. LOOK TO THE VIEWING GLOBE AND YOU WILL SEE THAT GOLDAR IS RAMPAGING
THROUGH THE STREETS OF ANGEL GROVE."
Rocky did as instructed and saw the
golden monkey-like-entity going through the city district of Angel Grove,
slashing his sword through cars and parts of buildings. People were running in
terror, which only made the evil being laugh and cause more
destruction.
"I've got to do something," Rocky said quietly.
"I AM GIVING
YOU PERMISSION TO GO OUT THERE ALONE, BUT IF YOU NEED HELP OF ANY KIND, YOU ARE
TO EITHER CALL TO THE COMMAND CENTER OR TELEPORT BACK IN. IS THAT CLEAR,
ROCKY?"
"Crystal. It's Morphin time! The Ape!"
Rocky teleported out onto
the scene, causing Goldar to turn in surprise.
"Ah! A Power Ranger! Prepare
to face your doom!" Goldar boomed.
"How many times do we have to go over
this, Goldar? Evil can never defeat good, which means that you will never beat
me!" Rocky retorted.
"You will soon see how wrong you are!"
"Yeah,
right."
And so, the two engaged in a heated battle. It's not that they were
evenly matched - far from it, actually - but like Rocky had said, good always
wins, or at least it tries to with everything it has.
Suddenly, everything
began to move in slow motion. Goldar posed his sword above his head and brought
it down in an arc. Rocky attempted to dodge it, but not in time. The weapon cut
through the material of his Ninjetti uniform and into the skin of his shoulder.
He staggered back from the pain that was intensifying by the second. The
unfortunate thing was, his communicator was on his opposite wrist, and he could
barely lift his hand to reach it. He tried it once, and concluded that the pain
was too unbearable for it to work. Then, he saw Goldar's advancing.
Death
by Goldar, or pain before teleporting? Lets see, which would lead me to Aisha
faster? Teleporting, most likely.
Rocky reached for his communicator,
slowly so the pain wouldn't be too great at once. It was all he could do to
press the teleportation button and disappear in a flash of crimson light.
Rocky was on his knees as he teleported into the Command Center. Zordon gave
a concerned look, but soon knew why the Red Ranger was in such pain.
The
blood from his wound and soaked the entire shoulder and arm area of his uniform.
Some of it even trickled onto his hand. The sudden change in his molecular
structure must've heightened the bleeding. It was a good thing he got here as
soon as he did. Zordon thought.
"ALPHA, CALL THE OTHER RANGERS TO THE
COMMAND CENTER. SOMEONE MUST STOP GOLDAR FROM DESTROYING THE CITY."
"Right
away, Zordon! Ay-yi-yi!"
Alpha made the call, with Rocky still kneeling on
the floor, holding his throbbing shoulder. A minute later, the other five
Rangers materilized in the headquarters. All Rocky could see was the yellow beam
of light which belonged to Aisha.
"Rocky!" she exclaimed falling to her knees
in front of him. "Rocky, what happened?"
"I was fighting Goldar, and he
slashed me with his sword, right into my shoulder. I could barely teleport," he
replied with a bit of trouble.
"That's what you get for having an ego, man,"
Adam joked from above them.
Rocky tried to smile, but it hurt to do anything
at all. Alpha tapped away at some of the controls at a console and a medic bed
appeared behind Adam. Aisha exchanged a look with him and the two lifted Rocky
onto it.
"Rock, man, you gotta stop loadin' up on the burritos," Adam
laughed.
"At my house, if ya don't load up, ya don't eat," Rocky replied,
managing to muster a smile.
Aisha felt relieved, somehow, because Rocky was
well enough to smile and joke as normal.
Rocky looked over to the other
Rangers - Tommy, Billy, and Kat. "You guys should get out there before Goldar
destroys the city. I'll be fine here."
The other five nodded, and all but
Aisha took a step back. She stayed by his bedside and smiled.
"Don't leave us
while we're out there," she said.
"I won't. I'll be right here when you guys
to come back - victorious," Rocky replied.
"Good."
Aisha stepped back with
everyone else. The five morphed and teleported out onto the scene. The city was
still intact, but a great deal of damage had been inflicted. At first, Goldar's
back was to them, and once he turned, he laughed.
"Where's your friend? I
think I took care of him, don't you think?" Goldar declared.
"Not on my
watch," Aisha whispered. And at that moment, a sudden sense of vegenance took
over her judgement, making her liable to do anything to hurt Goldar.
"Let's
get this over with, Goldar!" Tommy exclaimed.
The battle unsued, mostly Tommy
fighting Goldar one-on-one, but it was still a team effort. In one of the
moments where Tommy was truly fighting their enemy by himself, Aisha thought
about Rocky, and what he was doing at that very moment.
I hope he doesn't
die while we're out here fighting. I swear, Goldar's going to pay for it if he
does. I can never see my life without Rocky...
"Hey, Goldar, you givin up
yet?" Tommy asked menacingly.
"I think you right about should. You're
outnumbered five to one," Kat said, aiming her Power Bow at Goldar.
"I may
flee today, but tomorrow, you shall be the ones running for your lives!" Goldar
exclaimed, disappearing in a flash of golden light.
"I think that took care
of him," Adam said, smirking behind his mask.
Alpha looked up as the five Rangers teleported into the Command Center. He
did not exclaim in happy victory, even with the full knowledge that they had won
the battle today. Aisha turned to look at Rocky, and noticed that his eyes were
closed.
"Oh no... Rocky!" she cried, running to her friend's bedside. Oh
God, please tell me he just fell asleep from the exhaustion of the battle. I
can't lose him now; not when I'm this close...
I wanna say this right
And it has to be tonight
Just need you to
know
I don't wanna live this lie
I don't wanna say goodbye
With you I
wanna spend
The rest of my life
Then, Aisha noticed that Rocky wasn't breathing. Even if he was unconscious,
he'd still be breathing. A sudden dread filled the Yellow Ranger; dread and fear
from the possibility of what it all could be. She looked up at Zordon. The great
sage nodded, confirming everyone's fears.
"No, Rocky... No," Aisha whimpered,
grasping his hand in search for any sort of life. But alas, there was
none.
"I AM AFRAID SO, AISHA. ROCKY DIED TRYING TO SAVE THE EARTH. HE WILL BE
MISSED, BUT ALSO REMEMBERED AS A GREAT HERO."
"But, a little cut on his arm
isn't supposed to kill him!" she protested.
"But it did. He lost too much
blood to possibly survive, Aisha," Billy said.
Aisha turned back to Zordon.
"Did he say anything before he left us? He didn't just close his eyes and fade
away, did he?"
"NO. HE HAD A MESSAGE FOR ALL OF YOU. FOR TOMMY: 'YOU MAKE A
GREAT LEADER, AND YOU WILL CONTINUE TO. DON'T BLAME MY DEATH ON YOURSELF.
THERE'S NOTHING ANYONE COULD'VE DONE.'"
Tommy nodded as a tear slipped down
his cheek.
"FOR KAT: 'YOU ARE NEW TO THE TEAM, BUT I KNOW YOU WILL MAKE A
GREAT RANGER.'"
Kat almost smiled. She couldn't believe that Rocky had
remembered her, considering that they weren't very close friends at all.
"FOR
BILLY: 'YOU'VE BEEN A GREAT FRIEND TO ME, AND I KNOW THAT THAT GENIUS OF YOURS
WILL GET YOU SOMEWHERE.'"
Billy nodded, trying to fight the tears in his
eyes.
"FOR ADAM: 'WE'VE KNOWN EACH OTHER ALMOST ALL OF OUR LIVES, AND YOU ARE
UNDOUBTEDLY ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS. LIKE I SAID TO TOMMY, DON'T DWELL ON MY
DEATH. YOU COULD SAY THAT I DIED WITH HONOR, WHICH IS TRULY THE BEST WAY TO
DIE.'"
Adam's gaze dropped to the ground. With honor? What does it matter,
Rock? You're still gone from this world. It doesn't matter how; you're still
gone.
"AND TO AISHA: I LOVE YOU.'"
Everyone gasped and turned to
Aisha. She kept her gaze on Rocky. Unlike everyone else, Aisha let the tears
fall from her eyes.
Suddenly, Aisha took a step back from the medic bed and
closed her eyes, as if she was in deep thought. Her face went blank and a few
seconds after, a yellow glow formed on her hands. She went back to Rocky and
gently laid her hands onto his chest. The still body absorbed the energy and
bits of color came back to Rocky's face.
Everyone stood in wonder of what
Aisha was doing, including Alpha and Zordon. As more of the yellow energy went
into Rocky's body, life seemed to be brought to him. He started breathing, and
after a few minutes, he opened his eyes.
Rocky looked up at Aisha. She took
her hands away and smiled.
"Aisha..."
"I love you," she whispered.
"I
love you too."
A second later, Aisha closed her eyes and her body fell limp
to the ground. Rocky jumped out of the medic bed and crouched beside her. He
touched her cheek, then joined his hand with hers.
Please tell me she's
just unconscious. God, I couldn't lose her, not twice in the same
night.
Rocky realized, as he held Aisha's hand, that there was no sign of
life in her at all. He backed away, tears gathering in his eyes.
"She's
gone," he whispered. "She gave her life, in exchange for mine."
"SHE DID IT
OUT OF LOVE, ROCKY. AND SHE WILL BE DEARLY MISSED," Zordon said in attempt to
comfort the young Red Ranger.
"That doesn't displace the fact that she's
gone, Zordon," Adam said with his gaze on Aisha.
Zordon nodded solemnly. The
Command Center seemed oddly quiet as the five teens, Zordon, and Alpha looked
upon the still body of Aisha Campbell.
Rocky went back to his lost love, and
held her hand one last time. "I guess this is how it ends. I love you,
Aisha."
There's so much we could've done together. So many things we
could've said. There's no chance at that now. And yet... I still wonder how I
came to feel this way for you. I guess I'll never know.
What can I do
To make you mine
Fallin so hard
So fast this
time
Everything's changed
We never knew
How did I fall in love with
you?
The end... Or is it?
Author's Note: Yay! My second completed song fic! *does a party dance.* Okay, there's a sequel in the works, so check it out when I publish it. I may make it with HAPPY ending! Alright, I know this ending is sad, but it is really sweet, don't ya think? I mean, the whole self-sacrificial thing sooo romantic!
Oh, and before I forget, the Power Rangers belong to Haim Saban and the song "How Did I Fall In Love With You" belongs to the Backstreet Boys, ecspecially Howie D. considering he wrote it. I've said my peace. Goodbye and remember: Long live the Ape and the Frog!!