Title: Work at It

Prompt: "Match"

Series: Book OneTimeline: Post "Double Duty".

Kendrix was no skilled warrior. Even as a Power Ranger she acknowledged the fact that whatever prowess she had in battle was attributed more to strength of those who wielded the Quasar Saber before her and her Zord, the Wildcat. Out of the five of them, Kendrix was sure she and Damon were the only ones on the team that weren't matched in martial arts or any other form of self-defense; Maya could fight circles around her, even if was unorthodox and based more how her Galactabeast fought. Kendrix did a fair enough job of defending herself, but there was room for serious improvement.

For the longest time, Kai and Mike made it a personal goal of theirs to improve the basic self-defense lessons she'd learned before joining GSA, be it simply how to perform a roundhouse kick properly or how to keep from overextending herself in attacks. She remembered standing on the sidelines, watching how effortless Mike and Kai made blocking, kicking and flipping look, it was almost a form of interpretive dance to a point. What she'd learned from them helped well enough in the fight against Wisewizard, but only when he was effectively unable to tell her apart from Carolyn Pickets (who, to her surprise, was better fighter than she was).

On a few rare occasions she'd seen Leo training on his own in the park. How he fought morphed or unmorphed was hardly any different with the exception of fighting with the Lion's strength, not unlike herself or the others. Why he preferred to train alone was a source of curiosity for her, especially since he didn't seem to have a problem with training with the others at all.

He wasn't a lone wolf by any means, Leo was too personable for isolation, he liked contact and socializing. Yet, when she watched him fight an invisible enemy, dancing across the empty space before him with the quick succession of kicks and punches, it was hard not see why he preferred only his shadow for a companion. He was a marvel to watch, calm and focused like the air around him. And at the risk of disturbing his tranquility, Kendrix approached him one afternoon and asked the question that she needed answered; "I'm looking for a teacher, will you help me?"

Leo stopped in mid kick, leg raised and bent for a moment before he lowered to the ground. "How do you mean?" He asked, reaching for the towel that laid idle on the ground. Kendrix raised her arm from her side to create a fist, she gave him a light tap on the shoulder. "That's how I mean," She said. "I wanna become a better fighter." Despite the confusion, Leo seemed to consider her words for a moment, he looked her over, clearly wondering what prompted her to ask him, of all people, to help her fight. "You seem like a pretty good fighter already, Kendrix," Leo stated.

"Well, that's just it, I'm 'pretty good'," Kendrix reaffirmed, "but I want to become better than 'pretty good'. I want be as great any the rest of you guys."

Leo, misunderstanding her point, shrugged her shoulders. "Kendrix, you don't have to-" His sentence trailed off the moment he saw her eyebrows lower themselves behind the lenses of her glasses. She marched up to him, a slender finger pointed at his chest. "Leo Corbett, if you use my intelligence as reason for not training, so help me, I will-"

"Whoa, whoa!" Leo grabbed the hand threatening him with and changed it's direction. "I wasn't gonna say that, I was just-" He huffed in frustration. "Kendrix, I'm no teacher. I thought Kai was helping you out?"

"He was, but, he's been pretty busy and I don't want to bother him," She replied. "Besides, I'm not asking you give me advanced lessons. Just help improve what I already know." At the hesitant expression on his face, Kendrix clasped his occupied hand with her own and put her best puppy face. "Please?" Leo, whether she realized it or not, didn't have much of a resistance against her, whatever her mood or expression.

Thus, the moment she made the extra plead, Leo had already caved. Biting the inside of his mouth, he finally nodded his head. "Sure, why not?" His face lit up with a easy smile, Kendrix beamed up at him in equal appreciation. Wrapping her arms around him she locked him in a hug, completely ignorant of the sweat and stink of his workout.

"Thank you."