Normal POV

The weeks passed and everyone has fully healed. The criminals that broke into the jewelry stores have been caught. Icthior still hasn't showed up again. Tracy doesn't like this one bit. Tracy is outside the base with Pikachu doing some special training.

"Get it." She tells her partner as she throws a Frisbee into the air.

Pikachu does a huge jump and catches it. "Good catch, pal, and the way you move your tail is much better." She compliments. Then Pikachu spins the Frisbee on the tip of his tail. "Okay Pal, it's time for the spin," Tracy says throwing the next Frisbee into the air.

Pikachu rotates heads over heels and catches the Frisbee.

I can't wait to see how that will work in the field. Tracy thinks.

Commander Cruger walks up ten minutes later.

"Well, I see that you two are working hard." He says.

"You've got that right sir. The only problem is, I won't be able to know if these moves will work until Icthior shows up again. "Tracy says.

"You won't have to wait that long cadet." He says.

"What do you mean sir?" Tracy asks.

"Did you forget that I have a sword as well?" He answers.

"The thought may have slipped my mind," Tracy admits.

"I'll be Pikachu's sparring partner?" He asks.

"With all due respect sir, I don't want either of you to get hurt," Tracy answers.

"I appreciate your concern cadet, but you do want to help Pikachu get stronger, right?" He asks.

"Of course I do but not if it gets hurt in the process," Tracy answers.

Then Pikachu used thunderbolt and hits Tracy. "I guess that means you want to do it right pal?"Tracy asks her partner. Pikachu nods. "Okay, Pal you win. We'll do it." Cruger morphed into shadow ranger and Pikachu and Cruger went to the middle of the training field. Cruger launched the first attack. Tracy told Pikachu to dodge. After he dodged, Pikachu launched a counter attack.

"Pikachu, quick, use Focus Punch," Tracy says.

Cruger blocked it with his sword. Pikachu flew backwards.

"Straighten out pal," Tracy says.

Pikachu did what his trainer told him to do and did a back spin and landed on his feet.

"Nice recovery," Cruger compliments.

"Thank you, sir, Zap Cannon," Tracy says.

Pikachu launches its attack and while Cruger is deflecting that attack, Pikachu spins in and uses iron tail. Pikachu's attack lands and Cruger is knocked to the ground. Pikachu is about to launch another iron tail. "Pikachu stop," She runs over to her commander.

"Are you ok, Sir?" Tracy asks as she helped him up.

"Yes, cadet I'm fine that was a great strategy." He says.

"Thank you, sir, let's hope that it works that well on the field," Tracy says.

Cruger demorphs and looks down at Pikachu. Cruger notices that Pikachu looks tired from that tough session. Tracy looks over at her partner and notices the same thing her commander did.

"Okay, pal I think it's time for a break," Tracy says.

Pikachu nods and they all go back inside. Commander Cruger heads back to the command center while Tracy and Pikachu go into the common room. Tracy walks in and sits on the couch. She looks over at her team. Bridge is the first to notice that she and Pikachu look wiped.

"Hey Tracy, it looks like you and Pikachu had a pretty long session again," Bridge says.

"Yes Bridge, but we need to get stronger for the next time Icthior attacks," Tracy says.

"True, but that doesn't mean that you two should push yourselves this hard." He reminds her.

The only problem is that Tracy already falls during his last statement. Pikachu curls up into a ball in Tracy's lap and is asleep too. Kat walks in a few seconds later and says, "Let me guess, they just finished their latest training session." When she sees Tracy and Pikachu fast asleep, Bridge nods. "Commander Cruger wants to see all of you in the command center."

"What about Tracy and Pikachu?" Bridge asks.

"I'm pretty sure Cruger would know why they won't be there," Kat says.

The group nods and leaves the room. After the meeting, Cruger and Isninia walk into the common room. They notice Tracy is completely streached out on the couch and her right arm is dangling off the side. Pikachu has moved and is lying on his partner's chest.

"Why are they pushing themselves so hard anyway?" She asks.

"I'm pretty sure that Tracy feels guilty about Icthior getting away." He answers.

"The only problem is that they're over doing it." She says

"I know, Isninia, but the one thing I've learned about Tracy's personality is that once she has her mind set on something she won't stop until she succeeds." He says.

Meanwhile on the couch Tracy is beginning to have a dream about what happened a few weeks ago. Icthior just told her that a girl can't handle the responsibility of being a leader. Tracy got mad and charges in towards him and fired her weapons at him. He deflected them back towards Syd and Pikachu. They lay on the ground not moving. "Come on guys please wake up." She begged. Back in reality, Tracy was tossing and turning. She kept mumbling please wake up I need you in her sleep. Pikachu wakes up and is trying to wake his partner up from her nightmare.

Back in the dream Pikachu is awake and is helping Tracy fight Icthior. None of his moves was causing any damage. Tracy charges back in towards Icthior and is throwing punches but none of them landed. Icthior dodges her last few punches and slashes his blade across her chest. Tracy is sent flying and hits the wall hard. She is going in and out of consciousness. Pikachu goes over to her and uses thunderbolt on her. Back in reality Tracy woke up after feeling the shock from her partner's attack. Cruger and Isninia go over to her. Tracy is hugging her partner tightly, very thankful that it was just a dream.

"Tracy, stop. Pikachu is suffocating," Cruger says.

"Sorry, pal." Tracy apologizes as she loosens her grasp on her partner.

"You dreamed about what happened a few weeks ago didn't you?" He asks.

Tracy nods and turns her body around to sit up straight on the couch.

"You know that you really need to stop beating yourself up about this." Isninia reminds her.

"I know, Isninia, but even though I've forgiven myself for what happened. It still doesn't make those vivid memories go away." Tracy says.

"Maybe you just need some other activities to help get your mind off it." Cruger says.

"What kind of distraction sir?" Tracy asks.

"I think that's my cue." Michael says as he walks into the room.

Tracy quickly got up from the couch and ran over to him. "What are you doing here? I thought you were hanging out with your family today?" She asks him giving him a big hug.

"I was, but Commander Cruger called me and told me that you were in a funk so I told the family that you needed my help." Michael answers as he picks her up and spins her around.

A few seconds later he puts her back down.

"And your family actually let you come here just to help me?" She asks.

"Yes because they know how important you are to me." He answers.

"Are you sure that Cruger didn't ask you to come here just to help me feel better." She says.

"Man you are smart." He whispers under his breath.

"I heard that." She tells him.

"I thought that Commander Cruger and Isninia had a great sense of hearing." He jokes.

"They do, but humans have a pretty good sense of hearing too." She reminds him.

After they share a few more jokes they walk over to Cruger and Isninia.

"I'm guessing that you want me to take a few hours off right sir?" Tracy asks.

"Yes Cadet you need to take a break from training for a bit. If anything dose turn up we'll call you." He answers.

Tracy nods. The two teenagers wait until the two serians are out of the room before they start to plan how they will spend the next few hours together.

"How about we head to the beach?" Michael asks.

"Good idea sweetie, as long as we don't jump into the ocean." Tracy answers.

"Why not angel? You don't know how to swim?" He asks.

"No I know how to swim. I just don't want the salt water to touch my skin that's all." She answers.

"You know you are really cute when you act like that." He says in a flirting tone. .

Then he pulled her in close and kissed her. After the kiss ended he asked her if she could at least change into a bikini.

"I'll change only if you promise me that we won't go into the ocean." Tracy says.

"What about walking bare foot, ankle deep in the water." He says.

"I guess we could do that but we aren't going any deeper than that." She says.

Tracy goes to her room to change into her suit. She comes out in a bikini that had a picture of the Hawaiian scenery on it.

"Wow you look incredible." He compliments.

Tracy thanks him for the compliment and they leave for the beach. After they find a spot for their gear Michael takes off his shirt. Tracy notices his six pack for the first time. Michael looks over at his girlfriend and notices she has a goofy look on her face.

"You ok angel?" He asks.

"Yes honey, I'm fine I just never knew that you were hiding your gorgeous well developed chest form me." She answers.

"I guess you like what you see?" He asks.

Tracy walks closer and runs her finger down his chest.

"I don't like it honey. I love it." She answers.

That works for me. Michael thinks.

He takes a hold of her free hand and they start to walk down the beach. A few minutes later they head towards the water. Tracy feels the coolness of the waves as they went over her feet.

"So the water isn't that bad right?" Michael asks.

"Sorry honey I'm still going to dive into the ocean, but it does feel nice though." She answers.

They walk a little further down and a few seconds later they are so caught up enjoying being together that they don't notice their feet get all tangled up. Michael steps backwards into the deeper part of the ocean to get untangled. He steps back too fast and they both go down. They splash as they hit the water. They let go of the other's hand and get untangled the rest of the way.

"Did you plan for that to happen or was that just a fluke?" Tracy asks as she wipes the salt water off her face.

"It was a fluke angel." He answers.

Michael gets up and helps Tracy back to her feet. "Now that you're used to the water how about we do a little swimming?" He asks.

"Since I'm already wet I guess that a little more salt water on my skin won't hurt." She answers.

Michael smiles and they go out a little deeper into the ocean. They swim around for a few minutes before they go back into the shore. Michael gets out first and Tracy follows behind him. Tracy starts to shiver slightly as the water on her skin starts to evaporate. Michael comes over with her towel and wraps it around her and they go over to their gear. Michael wraps his towel around him then they sit down on the blanket. Tracy snuggles up next to him.

"Well this was fun. She says.

"I couldn't agree more." He says, agreeing with her.

They turn and look into each other's eyes.

"Wow your eyes sparkle like diamonds when you smile." He says.

"You don't have to say that every time this happens." She reminds him.

"I know sweetie but it's the truth." He tells her.

They are about to kiss again when Tracy hears Icthior's voice.

You've got to be kidding me? Tracy thought.

"Sorry to ruin your date ranger, but we have unfinished bossiness to attend to." Icthior says.

Tracy gets to her feet and takes her morpher out of her beach bag. Then she morphs into S.W.A.T mode. "Icthior this time you won't get away." Tracy says.

Tracy charges in towards him and they start to fight. Tracy is faring better than their last fight but not by much. Icthior fired his laser at Tracy and she goes flying. Tracy hits the rocks hard and lands in the sand demorphed. Icthior charges in at her and is about to swipe his blade across her chest. Michael steps in front of her and takes the hit for her.

"Michael, NO!" Tracy shouts.

Michael falls backwards and lands on his back. "Well Ranger it looks like that boy really does care for you. What a fool he is." Icthior says. Tracy gets to her feet and goes over to him.

"Michael can you hear me? Please open your eyes." Tracy begs as she tries to wake him up. Michael slowly opens his eyes.

"Don't worry Tracy I'll be fine just..." Michael says

Michael starts to drift back into an unconscious state. "Michael no, please stay with me." Tracy begs, as she tries to wake him up again. Tracy tires her best not to let Icthior see her cry.

"Well ranger I guess we can finish our battle now that this little interruption has been taken care of." Icthior says.

Icthior gets hit by several laser blasts. They cause him to fly backwards and land in the water. Tracy looks over and sees Commander Cruger riding up on his ATV. He stops in front of them and gets off. He takes out the first aid kit that Kat had put on it for emergencies and runs over to them.

"Tracy, what happened?" Cruger asks.

Tracy explains everything to him and tries her best again to not let the tears flow. Cruger reassured her that Michael was going to be fine. Cruger opens the first aid kit and wraps the injury the best he can. After he finishes his work he closes the kit and puts it back on the ATV. Cruger walks back over to Tracy.

"Don't worry, Cadet, I'll stay with him. You bring in Icthior." Cruger says, as he hands her his sword.

Tracy nods and morphs again. After Icthior gets out of the water he activates his sword and Tracy does the same with the shadow saber. They battle again and Tracy wins. She uses the containment strike to put Icthior into a containment card. Tracy demorphs and goes back over to Cruger and Michael. Cruger congratulates her on a job well done. Tracy thanks him, but to her this is a hollow victory. Cruger calls for backup and the medical team arrives two minutes later. The paramedics put Michael on a stretcher and place him in the ambulance. After the paramedic closes the doors, Cruger gets back on his ATV. The only thing going through Tracy's mind is Why did Michael risk his live to save hers? Cruger asks Tracy if she is coming. Tracy nods she climbs on the back of the ATV. Everyone heads back to the base.