Disclaimer: I don't own the characters you recognize, they belong to Saban.

Author's Note: These two are so cute. Chad's so shy, I love it. Here's how Chad met Rachel Simons, his girlfriend for most of "In a Heartbeat."


The Mariner Bay AquaPark was packed on a stifling 90 degree day, and for good reason. The two PM aquatic show was all about Maestro, the thirty-foot long killer whale, and the chance of getting wet was one hundred percent. He was also Chad Lee's best flippered buddy. Chad found a seat in the wet zone, thankful he wore board shorts and a tanktop. He heard two kids chattering excitedly behind him about everything they'd seen that day-the pelicans, the penguins, the sea otters and the bright reef fish in the massive aquarium. He smiled, remembering how excited he'd been as a kid to come to the AquaPark to see the same things.

For as long as he could remember, Chad Lee had been obsessed with the water and everything in it. He supposed it was genetic-his father worked on a commercial fishing trawler that sailed up to Alaska and back. For the months when his father was at sea, Chad lived with his grandparents. His grandmother was a homebody, but Grandpa Lee would take his grandson almost every day after school to the AquaPark. Chad had taken swimming lessons very young and was SCUBA certified in high school. He'd even gotten a part-time job at the park feeding the fish and scrubbing windows of small sticky fingerprints. That had eventually led to him taking classes to learn to be a trainer. He'd started small with the sea otters, but then had felt confident enough to move up to Maestro, the park's star attraction. He'd been with Maestro almost a year before Dana Mitchell and two suits showed up on the splash pad to recruit him to be the Blue Lightspeed Ranger. Now that his Ranger days were over, Chad was working on the beach as a lifeguard, still saving people.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer called out over the PA system, and a hush fell over the crowd. Chad knew, at this point, Maestro was making his way from the larger aquarium tank to the arena. His trainer would be coaching him along with a toy. Not that Maestro needed it-Chad had gotten him to go from one to the other just by opening the access door after awhile. It had become ingrained in Maestro's system that at 1:58 PM, he needed to be in the other tank for a 2PM introduction. Sure enough, Chad's Doxa dive watch clicked to 2PM and a black dorsal fin sailed into the tank. "Meet Maestro!" The little kids cheered as Maestro made his lap around the tank, just feet from Chad in the third row. The whale flipped over on his back, exposing his white belly to the sunlight. Chad smiled. Maestro did love to show off just a little.

"And now," the announcer said, "let's meet Maestro's best human friend!" Chad felt a twinge of jealousy. That had used to be him.

Then Maestro's trainer came out of the side door, and all traces of jealousy (and conscious thought) left Chad.

"Say hello to Rachel Simons," the announcer continued. "Rachel is on loan to us from the San Diego Oceanographic Society, where she specialized in the study of orcas and dolphins."

Rachel Simons was beautiful. She was about five foot six with red hair pulled up into a ponytail and bright green eyes. She wore a black short-sleeved Speedo wetsuit with purple striping up and down the arms and legs. She waved with both hands and smiled at the crowd. Chad stared, entranced. He watched her walk over to the equipment shack and take out the headset mic. She fitted the earpiece and microphone and clipped the battery pack to her wetsuit. "Good afternoon everybody!" she said to the crowd. "Can you hear me okay?" There was a chorus of "Yeah!" from behind Chad. "Well, like he said, my name's Rachel and I'm originally from San Diego. I have my master's in Marine Biology, and this big guy you see in the tank is my absolute favorite ocean animal." She looked down at the whale. "Can you wave, Maestro?" she asked, waving one of her arms in a wide arc. The audience gasped as Maestro rolled onto his side and flipped his left flipper at them. "Maestro is a thirty-foot long, four ton killer whale, although 'whale' isn't exactly accurate." She grinned and winked at the crowd. "He's actually closer to a dolphin, but don't tell him that."

Chad could recite every fact along with her as she talked about Maestro. He could tell she was passionate about her job, and that Maestro was more to her than a big fish. She was fun to listen to, but even more exciting to watch as she put the mic pack away and slid into the water with him. The announcer took over as Rachel started showing off Maestro's skills-catching rings with his nose, playing catch with Rachel by using his head to bop a soccer ball back and forth with her. The show lasted about a half hour, and Chad watched as Rachel geared up for the final two big tricks. He watched her swim to the middle of the tank, and gesture Maestro to the opposite end of the tank. Then, she flicked her hand. Chad watched as Maestro did one lap around the tank and then jumped over the top of her as she threw both hands in the air, showering her with water, and soaking the first three rows as he landed in the tank again with a giant splash. The kids behind Chad went crazy.

Chad laughed at them, knowing that wasn't even the coolest trick. He watched as Rachel made her way to the middle of the tank again, and made an up and down motion with her arm. Maestro disappeared to the bottom of the tank, out of sight to most of the viewers except those in the very top row. The water was still. Then, a black and white blur exploded under Rachel's feet, as Maestro propelled her into the air by nudging her feet with his nose. It had been Chad's favorite trick, and he'd thrown in a flip or two with his martial arts training. He watched as Rachel gracefully arced back into the water to the applause of the audience. She swam over to the splash pad and hauled herself out of the pool, waving to everybody. She gestured to Maestro and the audience exploded in cheers. Chad was on his feet applauding.

After the show, Chad was chatting with Doreen, one of the park biologists, outside of the arena, catching up on life at the park. "You sure you don't wanna come back?" Doreen asked Chad. "We miss you here."

"Thanks," Chad replied. "I'm good though." He smiled. Just then, the side door opened and Rachel Simons came out, in a pair of jean shorts and a white t-shirt with the AquaPark's logo on it in bright teal, purple and green. She smiled and hefted a duffle over her shoulder. "Hey, Doreen," she greeted her, and then she turned to Chad. "Hi," she said, offering a hand. "I'm Rachel."

"I'm Chad." Chad managed to get out. She was even cuter up close!

"Chad used to have your job," Doreen told Rachel. "Til he traded in the wetsuit for a ranger suit instead," she said with a wink. Chad ducked his head, embarrassed.

"Sounds like a story," Rachel said. "I'd love to get some feedback from you on the show, since you used to do it. Are you free right now?" She smiled. "We could go grab a burger."

Doreen poked Chad in the arm and he blinked. "Sure," he said finally. "That-that'd be great."