Chapter 52
Epilogue
Dedicated to Rogue Ranger, ValkyrieNyght, and The Tempestuous Muse. Couldn't have done this without any of you guys.
Endnotes: Sort of.
So here we are, last set of endnotes. I suppose I should put some real effort into them then : )
When I started this story I was in the middle of switching majors, again. I was adjusting to a new roommate and had no idea what the hell I was doing. There was just had a blind idea, eventual Dustin/Shane, using the series as a crutch to help me along. I wrote it in the hopes that A) I would find someone else to talk to about Power Rangers without getting laughed at and B) it would entertain someone, preferably someone who wasn't me. I am pleased to say that I have achieved both of these things. However, I would not have if it hadn't been for you guys.
That's right, you guys, the ones that actually read these notes.
You could ask most authors and they will tell you that they don't write for the reviews. They write because they have a story and they want to tell it, which is essentially the goal, is it not? To share new ideas and entertain. And while I never expected it, not in a million years, I was fortunate enough to be supported by you guys. All your support, all your reviews, hell, even you silent lurkers (who I love just as much) motivated me to deliver better and better chapters. Without you guys I never would have gotten as good as I have and the story would probably be vastly different, and not necessarily in a good way.
I can never thank any of you enough. I will never be able to express how much your feedback has meant, but for one last time, I will at least attempt to.
I would like to deeply thank you guys for reviewing this crazy learning experience of a story. Rogue Ranger: mvp, well earned (reviewer of every singlechapter), ValkyrieNyght: the ass kicker, a name not given, but taken; lemonlovely: I don't know if you're still there but you were my first, Mathais: (Kai and Mike ftw!), JDTB90: your English is about a million times better than my Spanish, MidnightMoonWarrior: responsible for my very first fanfiction dot net message ever, RAWR: I miss your exclamation marks, they were sunshine on a cloudy day, the real vampire: Who I wished hadn't turned off her pm-ing so I could properly express my lurve, yinyang69combo, agd888, Ladylove 92, , James Birdsong, RayneLover101, and animenut2003.
Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for giving me more attention and support than I ever really deserve. It's thanks to you guys I was able to create this story.
Also, my sister was totally jealous of me once she saw y'alls reviews. I told her she should write for Power Rangers. She shook her fist at me.
Good times.
And as it so happens, the timing actually worked out okay. Spring break is sneaking up on me and that means….yes, "Any Moment: Reprise" and "Any Moment B: Reprise" shall be coming shortly. Not drastic rewrites (though the 'A' version will have some added Hunter), more like an edit-down, streamlining the story and cutting off all the extra bits. I won't be taking down this original story though; she is my baby (as screwed up as she is).
Heh, I can't wait to remind my sister about that. She'll be so pleased.
I believe that's all I've got, and I'm glad I don't have any music playing because I'd probably be crying, yeah…I'm a sap. So sue me.
It's been an honor and a pleasure, and if you've managed to stick it out this far…
Thank you.
And now what you've all been waiting for.
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Happy endings were a tricky thing.
And Dustin didn't mean it was tricky to achieve them, because yeah, that was super hard too, but just happy endings in themselves were something he had never really gotten behind. Not because they were unrealistic. He had trained at a freaking secret ninja academy; fought evil space ninjas, a dragon, been turned evil, been turned back good, gotten space-pollened one too many times, and spent a good amount of his weekends piloting a gigantic robot that was formed out of three smaller robots. In comparison to that, happy endings were pretty much like desert. They could happen, they were nice, they weren't always guaranteed but with a little effort, they were easily attainable.
He understood he had a weird position on it, because if you didn't like happy endings then that must mean that you were all for sad, depressing endings, tragic endings, but no, that's not what he liked either.
There's this saying, something like, "It's not about where you're going, it's about how you get there," which, eventually, Dustin understood. Because hey, walking somewhere vs riding somewhere made a huge difference. But what if you had company for the walk and you didn't get any if you rode? See, it's about priorities. Some people would choose to ride because of speed and efficiency, but Dustin would always choose to walk, so long as he got Cam to be with him.
But that, that wasn't exactly the reason why either.
See the thing was, no matter how you phrased it, happy endings were still just that, endings. They meant that this great journey where you learned and grew and laughed and cried and all…everything of it, your adventure, it meant that it wasn't going to happen anymore. And he got it; he did, because you couldn't start something new, something better, until you finished up with what you had but-
Maybe it was the fear of the unknown. The uncertainty of it.
…Yeah, he wasn't sure why he felt this way. But endings, even happy ones, always made him sad.
He supposed that was just a part of life. Because during those moments, that adventure you had, you're that one person, that old version of yourself and as much as you might want it, old you couldn't handle this new stuff, because he hadn't grown yet. He hadn't adapted to the new world, he didn't belong there. Back in his old time, yeah, he was the Epic Grand Champion of living and learning but here, and now, it wasn't for him. Just like new you wasn't meant for back then.
Ugh…this was confusing. But there's a point, really.
So here's the grand summary, his pièce de résistance (look at him, rocking out Cam's fancy talk), the conclusion to his ramble. Life was made of moments, and some were good and some were bad, and added up all together it equaled your life. All your experiences were chopped up into individual adventures, each with there specialized beginnings and endings that varied in nature, good or bad, and while you could absolutely just love one moment, eventually you had to let it go. Because if you just focused on that second, and keeping everything the same because you were afraid of what would happen if you changed something, because you weren't sure what would happen, you would miss the rest of your life. You wouldn't grow. You'd just be stuck as that one person, and maybe that person kind've sucked. Yeah, he went there. Maybe if that person just let go, and like, lived, they would get to become this even greater, even better thing that would encourage other people to grow, and happy things, like really living, would occur.
This was deep, he knew, well, heavy thoughts for him, but Dustin couldn't help but be inspired by the sights in front of him. At least, when he didn't feel guilty for viewing them.
Hey, someone had to because it didn't look like Cam, Blake, or Tori were going to start feeling apologetic anytime soon. And they should right? Spying on your friends via camera was probably unethical. And like…unfriendly. Unfriend-like? Something like that. He was pretty sure it was bad.
Not that it stopped him from watching or anything. This was way too good to pass up on. And hey, there wasn't any sound, so it wasn't like, a total invasion of privacy.
He was still cool here, right?
When Shane and Hunter began to engage in…certain activities, very enthusiastically, Cam shut off the monitor (see, there was a good friend) and immediately the rest of the room celebrated, Blake and Dustin exchanging high fives while Cam and Tori hugged, because finally, finally the reds had gotten there. Even Dustin had started to see it near the end too, and he usually sucked at picking these kinds of things up but Hunter-
Yeah, Hunter sucked at hiding his feelings for Shane.
Luckily (but not for the rest of the team, because they were pulling their freaking hair out) it seemed that Shane sucked just as much at noticing them. At least, not until Hunter had started ranting and raving and breaking down and forbidding things. It had looked like there was some mad forbidding going on; but Dustin would have to check notes with Tori later to be sure.
"Finally," Blake sighed, and he was the only one surprised at the head smack that followed, delivered graciously by Tori, and continued to sport a befuddled look while the water ninja gave a sigh of her own and leaned into him, rubbing the side of his head in apology. Dustin stifled a laugh and leaned against his own boyfriend, reveling in the…completeness of it all. Everything had fallen together, and despite how messy life tended to be, it had worked out alright. Everyone was a winner.
A cheerful voice chirped from the computer, "Amen to that bro, amen."
Cam scowled at his cyber creation, but Dustin just laughed.
It figured that even the super computer had caught on too. He should check in with Sensei later, get his take on it.
"So," began Tori, snuggling up to her boyfriend in a poor attempt to rival Dustin, "What do you think?"
He knew what she meant, but he went ahead and spouted off the first thing that came to mind anyway.
"Foursome?" He asked, looking at Cam expectantly.
The vehement "No," came from both the green and navy rangers, the latter moving away from Tori and plugging up his ears, steady mantra of "no" going as though it would erase the image from his mind.
It wouldn't, but it was a nice try.
Dustin sent Tori a conspiring wink before smiling at Cam cheekily, wiggling his eyebrows. "We'll talk about it later."
This earned him a laugh from Tori while Cam continued to make a disapproving face; in background Blake was still chanting.
"no. no. no. no. no. no. no. no."
Dustin nuzzled his green ranger's neck as a gesture of apology and sighed, thinking over everything that had brought them here. The era of single ninjas had finally ended. There would be no more flirting, or miscommunications (about flirting), or lying to cover up feelings, or covering up feelings (with flirting), or dallying, or cautious advancing. Now they would be honest, and open, and free to indulge in this other person, to know them as well as they knew themselves, and to become greater people than they had been before. This next moment, this next…thing coming up, it would have it's own set of challenges, true, but with everything they had been through…
They would handle anything thrown at them just as they always had, together (eventually) and fearlessly.
Cheesy, but you needed a dose of dairy to keep a balanced diet right?
As lips brushed against his forehead Dustin knew he had been forgiven, and across the room he could see Tori finally force Blake's hands away from his ears and pull him into a hug. By the look on his face it seemed to be far more effective than his chanting had been.
So Shane and Hunter had finally gotten their happy ending. And while it was sad, because all endings were sad, no matter what type they were, clearly this new moment was going to be an improvement for both of them, and hopefully…
Well, hopefully their next ending would be happy too.
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Until next time : )
