Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.
The Tiger and the Cheetah
Mirror
(Lily's POV)
It had been three days since Lacey's death. Casey was taking her death really hard. I was really worried about him. He had hardly eaten or drank anything since that fateful day. His hair was frazzled and there were bags under his eyes. He was going off of next to no sleep. Casey had been having frequent nightmares—only they weren't really nightmares, he was reliving the last few moments of Lacey's life. He would wake up shouting, "Lacey, no!"
I saw him standing in front of a full-length mirror. Only instead of gazing back at his reflection, he was staring at the floor at his feet. His shoulders sagged, and he had this downtrodden look to him.
Today was actually the date of Lacey's funeral. As much as she drove me crazy, we were all planning on attending her funeral and paying our respects. There was one problem—one of us didn't want to go.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, Case?" I asked pretty sure I already knew the answer.
"I can't show my face there. You guys go ahead without me," he replied in a completely monotone voice.
It broke my heart to see someone I cared so much about on a downward spiral. To make things worse, I couldn't do anything about it. I placed one hand on each side of his face, and raised his head so that he was looking me in the eyes.
"It wasn't your fault, Casey."
"Then why does it feel like it is?"
He looked at me with sad eyes. There was no twinkle in his eye anymore. His eyes even looked like they were a dimmer shade of brown.
"You're just being too hard on yourself."
"Or maybe you guys aren't being hard enough on me."
"What?"
"Someone died on my watch. I'm a power ranger! That isn't supposed to happen! Maybe I shouldn't even be a ranger if I can't even protect the innocent."
My mouth was agape. I couldn't believe my ears. I wanted so much to believe that I had simply heard him wrong.
"What?!"
"I can't even look myself in the mirror without being ashamed of what I see."
"You have nothing to be ashamed about!"
"Oh really? If I hadn't agreed to meet Lacey there, she would still be alive. If I had done more to save her, she would still be alive. If I were a better ranger, she would still be alive. Heck, if I had never met her, she would still be alive!"
My eyes started leaking tears. I hated hearing Casey talk so badly about himself. I hated hearing Casey continue to blame himself.
"You weren't the one who attacked her. You weren't the one who knocked her off the lookout."
"Maybe not, but I didn't do anything to stop her from falling to her death, now did I? Do you know what her last words were? Her last words were, 'Casey, help me!' I couldn't even do that!"
"Because you were saving me! I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you." I stepped to the side, and with my hand made Casey look at his reflection in the mirror. "Do you know what I see when I look at the mirror? I see a hero. Not just any hero either. I see my hero."
I stood in front of Casey once more. I wrapped my arms around him in a hug. He buried his face in my shoulder, and I could feel my shoulder start to get wet. I couldn't even imagine what he was going through, but one thing I did know was that I would be there for him and help him get through this.
"So, will you come to the funeral with us?"
"Lil—"
"Will you please do it, for me?"
He took some time to think about his answer. Quite frankly, I thought his answer would still be a 'no.'
"For you, Lil, I'd do anything."
To Be Continued…