Author's Note: Wow, my first Power Rangers story! :) A few notes, however.
This was inspired by "I Hope You Dance", a wonderful song by Lee Ann Womack. Listen to it after this. It's beautiful.
This does take place in an AU to Jungle Fury, where there are two more Rangers, a Green Panther Ranger and a Pink Cougar Ranger, Nathan Hunter and Carly Mason respectivally. They're only mentioned, so they don't matter much, but this is a deleted scene and something of a preview to a rewrite of Jungle Fury I'm currently working on. It's very much focused on Casey/Lily, so if you don't like OCs, don't worry, they don't have speaking lines. The timeline is shortly after Dom arrives.
I don't own Power Rangers. If I did, Jungle Fury would be a lot fluffier and would have had more romance. Please review, and tell me what you'd like to see from my rewrite of Jungle Fury. :)
I Hope You Dance
RJ had said something about them deserving a break. None of them were going to complain much about that. Not even Theo was complaining about the possibility of a break. Either way, RJ had sent the five of them to the beach for the day, saying that he and Dom could handle JKP for the day.
Dom hadn't complained. It was his chance to spend a full day with Fran. The five original Jungle Fury Rangers had headed down, and they had been there for a few hours now.
They had taken Nathan's jeep and, after an hour and a half drive, had set up camp in an area that Nathan mentioned was somewhat nearby Blue Bay Harbor. It was a small resort town with a name that Casey couldn't recall. It was a nice area, at least; there was a good snack bar, a surf shop, and a boardwalk full of fun games and a small amusement park.
They had taken at least four umbrellas and had set up a little spot. They had a cooler of food and drinks, since RJ had given them orders to be back by eight in the evening at the earliest.
Carly and Nathan had disappeared a few hours ago. The last time that Casey had seen them was around lunchtime, when the Pink and Green Rangers had headed off towards the boardwalks, saying something about getting boardwalk fries. They hadn't seen them since, but Casey could have sworn he had heard a familiar scream coming from the roller coaster on the boardwalk.
Theo was napping underneath the umbrellas the gang had bought. A brave lone seagull was observing the Blue Ranger from the top of the cooler. As Casey stood a few feet away, watching, the seagull turned to look at him, with almost suspicion written in those beady dark eyes.
Casey raised his hands in protest. "Hey, you were never here," the Red Ranger said, grinning slightly. "Just don't poop on him. He'll probably find a way to blame me."
The seagull gave a cry that Casey took to mean 'no promises'. Casey chuckled before glancing around, frowning when he realized that he was missing one teammate. It didn't matter if Nathan was actually older than him by a year, never mind the larger spans that separated him from Dom and RJ; Casey was the Red Ranger, and he was always going to make sure that his teammates were okay, until the end of their days together.
The idea that he didn't know where this teammate was troubled Casey. He glanced around, fully prepared to wake Theo up to help find her if he couldn't. But his fears were unneeded as he finally spotted her not far down the beach, standing near a rock jetty. She was standing on the edge of where the waves lapped off, just watching the ocean, her beautiful blond hair blowing behind her.
Casey glanced at Theo and the seagull again. "Behave," warned Casey, raising an eyebrow at the bird that his sisters had always called 'rats with wings'. The seagull called out again before taking a few jumps closer to Theo.
Casey chuckled before walking away, heading towards Lily at as casual a pace as he dared. He reached where she was standing after a few moments, but she didn't turn to look at him. For a moment, the two just stood there, Red and Yellow Rangers, washing the ocean.
"I've always felt really small compared to it," Lily finally admitted after a few minutes of that perfect silence.
"The ocean?" Casey asked, frowning, forcing his look not to stray to Lily.
The Yellow Cheetah nodded, a slight smile on her face. "I love the beach," she explained. She finally looked at Casey, her eyes sparkling with a distant memory's happiness. "My sister Lucy would always take me to the beach by our house every weekend. Those were some of my best memories, especially since…" The happy light in her eyes dimmed a bit.
"Especially since what?" Casey asked slowly, concern flooding his chestnut eyes.
For a moment, Lily hesitated, and Casey wondered if he had pushed too far. There were some things that the Rangers hadn't shared with each other. He didn't know much about the family life of any of his teammates. He had only been at Pai Zhuq for a few days when they had become Rangers. Nathan hadn't been at Pai Zhuq at all; they had only met him at RJ's. Lily, Carly, and Theo had known each other for years.
But as close as he had become with Lily, he knew nothing about her personal life.
"My parents divorced when I was eleven," Lily finally admitted in a quiet whisper. She looked away from Casey to glance at the ocean. "My sister is six years older than me. Lucy went to college just after they divorced. The trips to the beach stopped when she left, since she went to college in Boston, and we lived in Seattle…"
Casey nodded. "How long were you at Pai Zhuq?" Casey finally asked.
"I got accepted when I was thirteen." She gave a small, and the bright, happy Lily that Casey knew and loved returned as if she had never left. "I met Carly and Theo my first day, and you know the story from there."
Casey nodded calmly, a smile quickly appearing on his face. "Ah, yeah, get chosen to become guardians, find out you're destined to help fight one of the worst enemies of the Pai Zhuq, and meet a very charming and handsome man who happens to have a fondness for the color red."
Lily laughed. "And don't forget the confidence of that red-loving guy," she added, grinning up at him in a way that made his stomach fill with hyperactive butterflies. She looked at the ocean again. "Lucy and I would just stand here like this, watching the ocean, talking…" She grinned. "When I was four, she taught me how to dance on the beach."
"No way," Casey said, grinning down at her. "You actually had to learn how to dance?"
Lily grinned back, flattered by the comment. "Yeah, believe it or not. Lucy was more of a modern dancer, but she taught me a bunch of things. She taught me to love it." She smiled sadly. "Before she left to college, she told me something."
"Hmmm, let me think," Casey replied, grinning teasingly down at his Yellow. "Never watch Jaws before going to the beach?"
Lily swatted his arm, prompting a laugh from Casey. "Funny," Lily replied, but Casey could see amusement where sadness had been moments before. "She told me that she hoped I would keep dancing."
Casey smiled quietly. "That's pretty inspirational." He looked down at her. "You and your sister have a lot in common."
"What do you mean?" Lily asked, frowning at him in puzzlement. Confusion was etched in the beautiful features of her face.
Casey smirked. "She's beautiful, I bet. And we both know you're gorgeous, so…" Grinning at the flattered blush on Lily's face, Casey continued, "You're both a huge inspiration - her to you, and you to us as a team. And above all, I know you'll both keep dancing, no matter what obstacles come to you."
A truly touched look came over Lily's face. "Casey…" she murmured, looking up at him. She took a step forward, but tripped as a stronger wave hit their ankles.
Casey grabbed his arms quickly, keeping her on her feet. For a moment, the two looked at each other, Lily's hazel eyes on Casey's chestnut. Out of a deep instinct that neither wanted to fight, Lily's eyes slid shut as Casey leaned down, their lips inches apart-
"Argh!"
Casey and Lily jumped away, startled by the sudden cry. Both turned sharply in the direction that it had come from, only to see Theo swatting at an attacking seagull - the same one that Casey had spoken to earlier about not pooping on Theo.
Apparently, Casey's talents did not include getting seagulls to listen to him.
Lily gave a slight giggle before looking at Casey. For a moment, Casey thought he saw something resembling disappointment on her face. But Casey shook that thought away. He was imagining it. He had to be. There was no way that Lily had feelings for him like that, no matter how strong Casey felt about her.
"I better go help him," Lily finally managed to say, looking anywhere but at Casey.
Casey nodded. "Yeah, you should." He gave a sigh before Lily finally looked up, meeting his eyes. "Lily-"
"Casey, please," Lily pleaded, looking up at him. She looked almost vulnerable for a moment, and Casey's heart never knew more pain in that second. "Look, I'll admit, I really don't know how I feel about you, whether you're my friend, my brother-"
"I thought we went through this already," muttered Casey, looking at Lily with a sad look on his face.
Lily stopped in her tracks, looking guiltily up at Casey. "Look, we'll… we'll figure it out, okay?" she asked quietly. "But not now, Casey. Not now." With one last sad glance at her Red Ranger, Lily walked away, jogging towards where Theo was freaking out about the seagull's attack on him.
Casey just watched her for a moment.
Lily had reached Theo by the time he looked over. Nearby, Carly and Nathan were making their way over, a concerned look on Carly's face and a barely concealed amused one on Nathan's. The Red Ranger couldn't make out what was being said, but he knew that Lily was making it all better, somehow. Even the seagull seemed to be mollified, since it seemed to be flying away.
He had known from the moment that he met her that he was going to have to prove he was worthy for her. Theo had the upper hand. They had been best friends for years. In the end of any good fairy tale, the best friend became the boyfriend. The new guy got nothing, and in this situation, Casey was a new guy.
But then again, this wasn't a fairy tale. This was life, a dangerous life that put Casey, Lily, and their teammates directly in harm's way. They bled and broke so innocents wouldn't have to. This wasn't a fairy tale, but in the end, who knew if they would even be alive for someone to get the girl of his dreams?
But as Casey watched her, he finally realized something. In that moment, Casey knew that he loved her. He knew that, if he needed to, he loved her enough to let her go, no matter how painful it might be. He loved her enough to let Theo have her, if it made her happy.
As long as Lily was happy, Casey would be fine in the end.
Casey chuckled quietly. "Lily, I don't care if you don't choose me," he finally whispered, his words forever lost to the sea and its wind. "I just hope you dance."
A particularly strong wave crashed a few inches farther than the past waves. It swiped Casey's feet, serving as almost a reply to the Red Ranger's words. Casey couldn't hold back the quiet, peaceful smile that came over his face. With one last glance at the ocean, the Red Ranger went back over to his friends, not knowing how his relationship with Lily would eventually turn out, but knowing that everything would work out in the end.