Coming back to the base, no one said a word; the two S.P.D cars following each other into the darkness of the underground car park. Looking at the broken crystal still in her hand Z now felt that all hopes of helping Syd had been lost, unless the crystal was whole it was basically just another coloured rock. Climbing out of the cars, all four of the rangers seemed to move slower than they normally would as if each one was in a daze over what had just happened, they had failed a mission and failed a friend. Jack ushered Z inside the doors to the base, they would have to report to the commander about this and the longer they waiting the harder it was going to be. Stepping onto the escalators and taking the short ride up to the main levels each ranger had their mind on one thing. Sydney. Stepping off the moving stairs Sky was the first to notice that someone had been waiting for them, standing to attention and dragging his closed fist across his chest he could only watch as the others soon followed in suit, all except for Z who kept her head down and her hands cradling the shards of worthless rock.
"Cadet Delgardo?" Doggie seemed to know the reason why she had not saluted him, his voice was not the normal tone that he used with his ranger, this one was soft and caring as a large paw came to rest under Z's hands.
"This was all I could find" Opening her palm and tipping the shards into the awaiting paw Z felt her tears spill from her eyes and come down her cheeks, as soon as her hand was empty Z was gone, running up to the room she had shared with the pink ranger.
"Z!" Both Jack and Bridge called at the same time but it was just wasted breath as she was gone, turning back to their commander officer they waited to be addressed.
"Let her go, she needs time" A feminine voice called as it came closer to them. Kat placed her hand against the commander's paw, collecting the crystals for herself. "Before you all loose hope you need to remember that Sydney can still wake up under her own power and given that you have brought the remains back we might still have a chance yet" Kat knew that the chances of using the crystal now was slim but she wasn't going to give up hope just yet, she still had a few ideas in mind that could work.
"Dismissed" Looking at each one of the male rangers Commander Cruger could see the cracks that were starting to form in his team, he needed them now more than ever to stay strong and help each other get though the turmoil they were facing.
Watching as the three male cadets walked away from him, Commander Cruger waiting until they were out of ear shot before he spoke to the woman who had been standing beside him. "What am I going to do with them? Cracks are really starting to show, they are not the team they use to be, I just pray that Sydney wakes up"
Nodding as she felt the shards against her hand Kat moved her fingers slightly, the soft chink of glass meeting her ears as she knew that she was now standing by herself in the base of S.P.D as everyone else went about their day. Closing her hand a little tighter around the crystal in her hand making sure to keep it safe as she made her way down to her lab, hoping that she could find a way to use the shards to find a way to help the pink ranger. Emptying the shards into a beaker Kat watched as the florescent lights in the lab made the green stones glimmer and shine as her fingers gently turned the beaker around slowly hoping that something would happen, anything. Sighing as she placed the glass back onto the table Dr Manx frowned as she turned her head and looked towards one of the storage shelves in the room, there was something that could possibly have a chance to regenerate the crystal but only a chance.
Stepping into the infirmary Sky ignored the look of question on one of the younger cadets who had been having a small cut patched up by Dr Felix, this particular cadet reminded Sky of himself, like himself wanting to be the next red ranger, this cadet had the same dream even if he knew he would have to wait a while to get there. Always putting S.P.D ahead of everything else a big egotistic cadet that could one day become a great ranger if he learned to see that things were not just black and white. Not waiting for permission, not that he needed it being a ranger, Sky felt the slight disturbance in the air as the doors slid open. A row of bed met his eyes, all empty except one, the one he was going to. Seeing the blight arrangement of flowers that sat on the table beside the bed Sky's fingers reached down and flicked open the card, the words printed one the paper made him shake his head slightly. 'Get Better soon Syd! X D squad' It was clear that Syd was more than just the heart of the team, she clearly had made a big impact on everyone at S.P.D.
Taking a seat down next to the woman of his affection, he took her smaller hand into his and held it up way his. His fingers playing with hers as he tried to keep the hope he had alive that soon they would find a way to wake her and he would soon be able to feel the bubbly light that was his pink ranger. "We're falling apart without you here Syd. Z keeps herself in your room when she's not down here with you" Looking over to the Miro magazine next to the flowers Sky knew that the yellow ranger had been reading the articles to her best friend, hoping to get through to her somehow even if she did begrudge reading it in the first place. The blue rangers mind drifted back to the times when he would be sitting beside her as she would flick though the glossy pages, reading out their horoscopes and making everyone laugh and smile, it was the little things that made him love her most. Syd was always able to just be herself, she trusted him with her friendship and according to Bridge her heart as well even if nether one of them had let their real feelings out just yet. As soon as he could Sky was going to change that.
"Bridge is still just being well…Bridge, but he misses you. You're the only one who can really stop his rambling with us he just keeps going on and on until someone snaps" Reaching his hand out towards her, Sky gently brushed his thumb against Sydney's cheek, maybe it was his eyes playing tricks on his but for a split second it almost seemed as if the pink ranger had turned into his touch and the smallest of smiles had tugged at the corner of her lips.
Turning his attention but to her hand Sky marveled at how defenseless she looked, anyone that knew Syd knew that she was NOT defenseless, she had kicked his ass a few times in training and she knew how to hold her own in a fight. Pulling a soft smile on his lips as he thought of how people often thought of her as the 'weaker' ranger because of her size, if they only knew how wrong they really were.
"Jack and I have been getting into arguments; I blamed him for what happened when I know that I would have done the same thing. Normally you're there to talk me down, to tell me that he had nothing to do with what happened…We; I need you to come back Syd. I can see things so much clearer now and without you we're not a team. Commander Cruger once told that I was too 'egotistic' for my own good I thought I understood. I didn't know what he had meant then, but I know now. I had wanted to be the Red Ranger for so long that it was all I could see and yet I failed to see what was right in front of me until it hit me" Sky was about to continue when the sound of the doors opening made him stop, letting go of Sydney's hand Sky was about to push himself out of the chair he had been seated in to stand to attention for his commander but a paw halted his actions.
"At ease Sky" Standing at the foot on the bed, Commander Cruger looked down at the blonde woman who remained asleep. "Amazing how it can hit you isn't it?" His eyes drifted towards Sky for just a moment before bringing his gaze back to the pink ranger.
"Sir?" Sky had been a little taken back by the comment that had been made, he knew the commander had a knowledge of his feelings for the pink ranger but had he really been so blind that everyone else knew before he did?
"You are more like your father then you realise cadet" A small but deep chuckle around from the blue dog as he clasped his paws behind his back as he remembered Sky's father being the same way when love was pointed out to him.
Turning his eyes back to Syd, Sky reached for her hand once more, resuming the action of stroking her hand. "Jaxalor's gone, Morgana vaporized him before we even got a chance to question him" For this Sky had felt that he had failed in his duty.
"I know, but I have a feeling the he was the innocent party in all of this Sky. We both know that Grumm is the once who is behind this and he needed a scapegoat. He is still out there and S.P.D will not stop until his he gone in every way and I say this as a victim of his crimes and not as a commander. Goodnight cadet" Doggie's words were more like that of a wise old man then as the commander and Shadow Ranger. Gently his large paw held onto the end of the bed for a moment before he started to walk away, the doors closing behind him as he felt, leaving the two rangers alone once again.
The scanner's beam shone over each shard of the broken crystal and one by one Kat downloaded the dimensions of the stones into the data base, if she could just work out how they all fitted together maybe she would be able to activate it or at least gather the data she needed to help find a cure, it would be a tedious task but one she would give all her strength to. Fingers danced over the keys of the keyboard as she started running algorithms for the program to at least attempt to put the stone back together, it was like a jigsaw puzzle with a million tiny pieces and no one really had a clear image on how it all went together. There was slight hope when it seemed that a few pieces were easily put into alignment on screen, now she just had to find a way to put theory into practicality. Easier said than done.
Pulling her headphones off her head Z could still hear the salsa music playing softly around her as she lay on her bed, she had stopped her crying a while ago but her eyes still remained a little red just around her water line. She kept reminding herself that Syd was still here she just wasn't awake, she was still alive, just sleeping. Looking over to the nightstand on the pink side of the room Z saw something that she never really noticed before, a small pink box, smaller than a jewellery box. How could she have not seen this before? Syd always showed her everything she bought when she went shopping or if she had gotten a gift. Moving across to Syd's bed, Z sat down on the edge of the bed and gently took the box in her hand, a small click was made as she gently opened the pink box. Inside a delicate layer of tissue paper Z could only laugh as from in the paper was the smallest fragment of a diamond and she instantly knew where it had come from. Recalling the day they had been asked to investigate the case of diamonds Z remembered how Syd had said about a dream she had once had and how in her dream she was a princess, she also remembered when Syd had come as back up and how her curls had been dampened and the smile on her face when she explained that Sky had been the one to tip the water over her in the first place.
"Well Syd you're kind of a princess now, you just HAD to be Sleeping Beauty didn't ya? You couldn't have been Cinderella?" Talking to herself as she gently closed the box and put it back onto the night stand Z was feeling a little better now that she had remembered a laugh, it reminded her that there would be good times to come; she just had to keep hopeful. Pulling the headphones from around her neck Z tossed the music player onto her bed and ran her fingers under her eyes to rid herself of the tears that had formed while laughing. Opening the door and taking a peak into the common room she was glad to see that at least Jack and Bridge were still getting along, maybe there was some hope for the team after all.
Taking the last few steps in her stride Z smiled as she held in her hand the newest addition of Miro she had grabbed on the way down to the infirmary. From behind the desk she could see Dr Felix busy looking over the notes of the day.
"I was starting to think you weren't coming down to see her today" Looking over his glasses the feline doctor nodded over to the door slightly before looking down to his notes.
"Like Syd would like me forget it if she found out I missed reading her an issue" Holding the glossy covered magazine in her hand Z shook her head as she knew that once things were back to normal she would be teasing Syd about reading such things even if secretly Z was enjoying the endless tales of gossip and fashion tips.
"She's not alone in there" His comment was really a warning, more of an observation he had noted when he had come to check on her a little while before. Of course the doctor and the yellow ranger both knew who would be sitting with her even if no one had told them.
"Where else would he be?" Opening the doors Z stopped as she found the lights where dimmed down and the two occupants were sleeping, she knew that Syd obviously would be asleep as she was still deep in the crystals power but the surprise was seeing Sky asleep his body slumped into the chair. He would no doubt have a sore back by the time he woke but it wasn't Z's place to wake up. "Well 'Sleeping Beauty' your 'prince' is right beside you" Her voice was the softest whisper as something on the bed caught her eye. Stepping a little closer to the bed Z could see that the item was Sky very well read S.P.D handbook, of course that would be his reading material. But what caught her eye even more then the book was the chapter that it was open to. 'Ranger Duty and Relations'. Picking the handbook up Z watched as a pen rolled out from its place under the book, taking herself back to the page as she wondered why there had been a pen under the book to begin with Z smiled as she found that one of the rules in the book now had a black line running through it. "So you finally saw that there is more to life than just being a ranger" Again her voice was soft as she carefully placed the book back against the bed and slowly started to step out of the room, she would come back in the morning and read to Syd.
With the pages still open it was clear just what rule Sky and striked from his handbook. Even with a line running though the letter anyone could still make them out. 'Rangers are not to have a relationship with a fellow ranger'