Disclaimer: I do not own any characters related to Power Rangers they are owned by Saban/Disney et. al
I do however own all things Tanzetti and reserve the right to reuse them as I please.
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Sorry about the long delay in updating. The plotbunnies got a little burned out and took a vacation. But they're back now and things seem to be running smoothly despite the fact that in their furlough a legion of new bunnies popped up and started a few new stories.
For those who don't know the Fanfiction Friday deadline is still in place. I can't promise what story, but there WILL be at least one new chapter of SOMETHING posted every Friday.
On that note, I realize that today is Saturday, I apologize for that, yesterday was a little hectic. Anyway, you're story is here now, so please enjoy the return of Tanzetti!!
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Marcy stormed through the town not really seeing where she was going. She knew she should be heading for the ships, but she just couldn't face anyone right now. Striding through the town, unsure of where to go next, not really paying attention to anything until she finally stopped in frustration. She leaned against a building and put her head in her hands.
It took two breaths for the flow of tears to break. Once it started she couldn't stop. There was too much emotion to work through, too much negative feeling inside her.
Normally, she wasn't this emotional. Years of feeling other people's emotions had taught her to temper her own, to release them in healthy ways. That was what her grandmother had done for her when she was a child. Why she'd taken Marcy away so often, it wasn't to keep her away, but to give her a break from the constant assault of emotions her young body was exposed to each day. That was what she remembered from their childhood, those simple, quiet weekends away from civilization and thought and emotion. It strengthened her.
These last two days however, had broken her will. There was too much for her to take. As her body sank to the ground against the unknown building she felt herself wishing she never come to this place. That was the real reason things had happened in the forest the way they did. She could feel Billy's emotions boiling over and her own were on edge. She was afraid one of them might lose control and let loose their powers. It would have been dangerous, one of them easily could have gotten hurt, so she'd redirected him to the first thing that came to mind.
It probably wasn't the smartest move, Billy easily could have hurt her, but he didn't. And the release was good for them both. She didn't quite realize how much she needed the release herself. It had been raw, and animalistic, far from the slow intense lovemaking they usually had, but then, love had had very little to do with what had happened.
Still, her head felt somewhat more clear, which was why it was so easy for her to sink down onto the small stone ledge that surrounded whatever building she was next to and let herself cry.
"You shouldn't sit there," a familiar voice said from above her. "Mrs. Dellivn will tan you if you ruin her roses."
Marcy looked up and found herself starring into the face of her younger brother. Something about his innocent smile and easy stance drained the anger and frustration from her body and she actually smiled. Dracos stepped around her and had a seat against the wall.
They didn't talk for a long time. Marcy just leaned back, half against the wall, half against Dracos and looked around. She was far from the center of town, the road here was little more than a wide dirt path. It was also quite lovely. There were rosebushes, as Dracos had pointed out, all over the open ground. They were obviously well tended, not a single patch of earth held a blade of grass or sprout of weed. Nothing but rows and rows of color. From where they were sitting it looked like they were inside a vast painting, a forest of flowers.
"You remember when we were kids and we decided to have a safari in Dame Yavirl's garden?" she asked.
Dracos laughed. "And we ruined the prize winning orchids? I can still feel the blisters from re-digging those flowerbeds. That was the last time I followed you and Baylin on an adventure."
"Mom always made me let you tag along," Marcy said. "Baylin and I, we were scared of her so when she said we'd be sterilizing the sheets in the backyard if we didn't bring you along, we believed her. But not Lucien. He refused to play with us when you started coming along."
"He was a lot older than us, even you," Dracos said.
"But you always wanted to be in his shadow," Marcy said. "God, Dracos, how could you join the guards? How could you give up your art for him!"
"Marcy…"
"Don't tell me it was hard times," she spat. "I don't want to hear that. You're an artist! It's in your soul! It's not something you can just hide away and pick up later. It would be like asking me to put down my crystal and walk away, I would die without it."
"You think I gave up my art?" Dracos said. "You think I gave up everything for Lucien?"
"Didn't you?"
Dracos hit his feet. "Come with me."
He started to walk away and Marcy hesitated. "Where are you going?"
"You'll see," he replied. "Just come."
She followed him down the small dirt road until he cut off to the right suddenly and started down an alleyway. Then the houses disappeared altogether and they were walking through woods. Dracos didn't look back once, but cut a path through the thick trees as if he walked it every day. There was no sound except the wind flowing through the boughs above them and the soft crunch of the leaves under their feet. Finally the trees thinned and they came into a clearing. In the center of the open space was a small building, barely large enough to be a shed. Dracos approached it without stopping and Marcy followed.
The door was locked, but Dracos produced a key from his pocket and undid the latch. He stepped through the small doorway and Marcy followed him into the building. As soon as she was over the threshold she had to stop and gasp.
It smelled of paint and turpentine, acrid and chemical. The light shown through the large windows illuminating the small space., but that wasn't what made her gasp. It was the walls, piled ten deep with canvases on bare wood frames. Most of them were painted, the images ranged from mundane objects, to still life images of people from the village. The colors were vibrant and glowing with life. So much she was afraid to touch them that they might spring from their canvas and slap her.
"Dracos…"
"You're right," he said softly. "It was a part of my soul, one I could never fully give up. But souls change, they grow and learn and adapt, and so my art had to as well."
Marcy stepped up to a frame that leaned against the wall, elevated above the rest on a small easel. It was a charcoal drawing of Cera, standing in profile, one arm cradling her swollen belly in a loving embrace.
"As for the guardsmen's job, Lucien wasn't any happier about it at first than you are now, but I wanted to do it. All my life you were there to protect me, from mom, from bullies, even from Lucien. But when you died…I was alone. I knew I had to learn to fend for myself. But it was more than that Madala, it was…it was my own adventure. For once I was the one fighting dragons and slaying monsters. Maybe it's not as glamorous as being a Tanzetti, but it's what I needed to do. Do you understand that?"
Marcy stood for a moment regarding her brother. No matter how many years had passed, when they were on Calydne he was always her shy little brother. But he wasn't that anymore, he was man, one beyond reckoning, she had just never recognized that in him before.
"Yes, Dracos," she said. "I understand." She turned back to the paintings and looked them over again.
Dracos got up from the table and crossed the far end of the room. Something very tall was hidden under a sheet. He carefully pulled the covering away and Marcy had to gasp again.
"I started this one the day after you arrived," Dracos said. "I wanted to capture him first, before anyone else had a chance."
"Dracos, it's beautiful," Marcy said. On the canvas he'd unveiled was a stunning portrait of Billy. It wasn't finished, mostly outlined, but just a bit of color filled in, but Dracos had captured his essence perfectly on the paper. His square balanced shoulders, his kind eyes, even the slight tilt of his head was so naturally Billy.
"He loves you," Dracos said. "We all see it."
Marcy reached out and lightly brushed her fingers along the portrait Billy's jawline, feeling the exact shape of it under her touch. "I know," she said. "I just can't stand the thought of hurting him."
"And the more you try to protect him, the more you cause him to hurt anyway."
"When did you turn into a fucking Yoda?"
"A what?" Dracos said.
Marcy laughed realizing her mistake. "Nothing," she said. "It's an Earth thing. It's someone who's very wise."
"Well, I don't know about wisdom," Dracos said. "But I do know that if you want to keep your 'Earth thing' you need to stop trying not to hurt him, and start living with him."
Marcy didn't say anything, just nodded. Again she took in the bare bones picture of her lover. Dracos was right, she'd made as many mistakes as he had, more even, because she knew better. It was time to stop being protective and worry about every crack and bump in the road. It was time to stop being afraid he was going to leave her if she wasn't perfect.
"I need to go," she said softly.
"I know," Dracos said. "You can find your way out of here. I'm going to stay a bit, maybe try and finish this before you leave."
Marcy nodded. "Thank you."
Dracos just patted her on the back and walked over to a table and started arranging paints. As she left she heard him chuckle to himself. "Yoda, I like the sound of that."
"You would like it," she said. "It's a story about a boy who wants to have his own adventure."
She heard Dracos chuckle behind her. "And does he?"
She paused at the door and looked back at her brother, standing amid his paintings in the late afternoon light. "Yes he does," she said. "He saves the universe."
*****
Marcy relaxed against the rock and let the dying sun warm her. She was sitting on a cliff on the west end of town watching the sun set over the fields. She knew Billy was standing a few yards behind her in the forest. He hadn't approached yet, but she could feel his presence, his simple nudge at her through their conduit, checking to see if the coast was clear. She wasn't sure if he was aware of it, but she'd called him here. Opening the conduit between them enough that he would know where she was, feel her presence here, but nothing else. He could have sought her out even with the conduit closed, the connection could be muted, but never completely cut off, but she wanted him here right away and she knew he wouldn't be able to resist the pull of her presence after such a long furlough.
She'd chosen this cliff on purpose. It was far enough from the town that they wouldn't be disturbed or overheard, and the view didn't hurt. The sight of the last waves of yellow light dancing across the trees and meadows of the earth below was calming, peaceful. It was that thought she held in her mind when she called out to her bond-mate.
"It's alright," she said. "I'm not going to snap at you if you come over here. I'm tired of fighting."
"It wasn't just fighting I was worried about," his light tenor voice came over the rocks. She smiled at his attempted joke but neither of them really found it funny.
She didn't look over when he sat down next to her and for several serene moments they both just watched the sun and Marcy could almost believe there was a kind of peace between them. His hand reached over and took hers, cautiously at first, but she let her mind open to him at his touch and he pulled the hand onto his own lap.
"I understand now," he said. "Why you were against us bonding."
"I didn't want it to be like this," Marcy said slowly.
"I know," he said. "But…it's not a bad thing. When I was on that mountaintop I gave myself to you completely. I didn't hesitate, I didn't even think, and I don't regret it, even now."
Marcy took a deep breath, fighting the tears that came with his words. Fighting the urge to open their conduit again and let all the emotions pour out.
"You need to stop living like I'm going to regret this one day," Billy said. "That's not going to happen."
Marcy nodded. "I just keep waiting for you to wake up and realize how much you've lost."
A small smile crept across Billy's face. He reached out with one hand and cupped her cheek. "I've gained a lot more."
She blinked and a tear escaped her heavy eyes. Billy wiped it away gently with his thumb, keeping his hand cupped against her face. "We can do this," he said. "I know it's going to be hard, I know I'm going to make a lot of mistakes, but we can do this together."
Marcy nodded. "I'm sorry."
Billy gave a little half smile but looked down when he spoke. Marcy could feel the shift in his consciousness and knew what was coming. His hand dropped away from her face before he spoke.
"I'm sorry, too, about Lucien," he said. "The way I handled things with him…and with you."
"I'm not angry with you about that," she said. "I was, but, I know he manipulated you, both of us. He isn't blameless in this by any means."
"I still should have kept more control," Billy said. "It all just happened so fast."
"It's alright," she said. "You'll learn more control. The powers won't dominate your emotions forever. I should have involved you with my other plans, but I was just so hurt. I needed…it was just too hard to face you after this morning."
Billy nodded understanding. It felt so good to feel his emotions again, to know what he wanted. Marcy hadn't realized how difficult it would be to shut him out. She never wanted to have to do that again.
"I have some ideas," he said, "on how to fix that situation, and the one with Chelea. I'll need your help with them."
"Of course," Marcy said. "I'll do whatever you need."
"What about us?"
She took a shaky breath and let it out. "I just want you to be happy. It was easy when I didn't know this world existed. I could have lived out my life with you and given everything to just you." Her eyes met his again and she could feel him absorbing her thoughts and intentions before she even spoke them. "But I have obligations here, promises that need to be kept. I thought I could still do both but…I don't know. And so do you now. You say you understand why I'm so cautious, but do you really understand the responsibility you've taken on here? The powers bond us to this life, to these people. Even if we go back to earth we'll always feel a pull to come back here. That's how the magic works, it's not just from the planet, its from the people too."
Billy took a deep breath and she felt something rise in the back of his mind, a new thought. Did he already have a solution to this as well? "It won't be like we planned," Billy said. "But I think I have a way that we can still live in both worlds, at least for awhile."
"You do?"
He shifted again, taking her hand in his, and reaching for something with the other. "And it starts with this."
His free hand appeared and Marcy gasped at the small object he held between his fingers and thumb. It was a small ring. A solitary stone set in a thin gold band. The stone looked like a diamond but when Billy moved it she could see glints of pink and blue reflecting off the facets.
"Billy…"
"I love you, and I want us to belong to each other, in every way possible," he said. "When we return to Earth, will you marry me?"
Marcy blinked back the tears. She'd fought it for so long, had so many objections, but in that moment she realized she never really had a choice. It didn't come the way they wanted, or even close to the way they planned, and yet there was only one answer she wanted to give at that moment.
"Yes," she said, returning the use of his full name as he'd done with her. "I will to belong to you, in every way possible."
Their lips met and she felt her hand go around his, the one holding the ring. When he pulled away they paused only long enough for him to slip the unique jewel on her finger before he was kissing her again. All barriers left between them were broken with that kiss, and she felt herself fall back against the hard ground, his hand at her back, protecting her from falling too hard. He was on top of her and she took him in, wrapping her body around his as he pulled her in close.
They laid there several seconds, just holding each other. His forehead rested against hers, and she could feel his breath brush her lips. "No matter what happens between us, no matter how many mistakes we make, no matter how hard things ever get, this…" he pressed his body into hers hard, pulling her tighter so she could feel every inch of him, even though they were still fully clothed, "this, is where I'll always come back too. This is my home now, and that was my choice, and it won't ever change."
"I know," Marcy whispered. Her mouth found his again as the last rays of light disappeared behind the mountain horizon.
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Thanks for reading! See ya next week. Heads up, next chapter will likely contain lemons, hope that's not a problem ;) And don't forget to review!!!
