"Hey, Kira, can I walk you home?"
Kira glanced up, surprised, at the sound of Conner's voice. He was standing awkwardly in front of her, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, grinning. It wasn't like he sounded eager, or anything, but Kira could detect the slightest hint of unease.
"I, uh, guess," Kira shrugged at the offer, and then shook her head disgustedly as she remembered. "But you know, I'm not under that spell anymore. I don't need a bodyguard now that I'm not some whacked out valley girl."
Conner cocked his head to the side, "You had a bodyguard? I never saw one around here."
Rolling her eyes, Kira gestured to the doorway behind them. They'd just left Doctor Oliver's lab, hours after rescuing their mentor and teammate from his prison. Of course, they hadn't been very successful, but Doctor O. had assured them that he and Hayley had a few more resources to check out. Ethan had been the first to leave, while Kira and Conner had both stuck around, still hoping to lend a hand. Both had their own guilty reasons but Hayley had insisted that it was getting late.
"Oh, right," Conner recalled, "secret room. Even you, as an airhead, wouldn't be that stupid."
Looking slightly miffed, Kira glared at him. "Hey, I was not stupid."
"You were worried about dirt and breaking a nail!"
At the memory of her nails, she had to take a quick peek at them. They were perfectly manicured and long, colored a very pale yellow. When under the influence, she'd gotten too frazzled trying to fix her own stubby and uncared for nails, and had ventured into a nail salon, at the mall, and got acrylic nails.
"Nails cost five dollars a piece to repair if I break one," she retorted. Even if they weren't her usual style, she kinda liked them. They were impractical, of course, but they reminded her that she was, in fact, a girl. And Hayley had said those sides were a part of them...
Conner grabbed her arm, eyes wide, "Who are you and what have you done with the real Kira?" At her snort, he let go of her arm, and stood back, studying her as she held up her hands to him. "Well, okay, they do make you look like a girl."
"And I didn't before?"
"Well..." Conner shrugged, "You did, but you didn't. You never cared. And now you do, even when the rock was destroyed." Conner threw an arm around her shoulders and smiled, "But it's all good as long as you don't try to paint my nails." Kira rolled her eyes but didn't remove his arm. It felt nice and warm.
They lapsed into a comfortable silence and they continued the trek up the stairs and out of their teacher's house. It was nearly dark and the air was starting to get a familiar chill. Fall was slowly disappearing and leaving winter in its wake. Although it really didn't grow cold in the winter months, there was always a difference between November and July. Kira shivered and Conner looked at her, frowning.
"Cold?" he asked and she gave a slight nod and he tightened his arm in response.
"I always forget how much cooler it gets in November. You don't even notice until evening. I always forget to grab a jacket because I never need it in the mornings."
"Maybe we should keep them at Doctor O.'s," Conner commented. He didn't even notice as his fingers played with the collar of her shirt. And if she did, she never commented about it. "That way we'd have them when we leave."
"Maybe," Kira agreed. They fell back into their silence, and Kira glanced sideways at her friend. "So, earlier, when you were acting all brainy..."
Conner's cheeks burned brightly at the memory. Those two days were probably the most embarrassing of his life. No one knew his secret. And he'd always hoped to keep it that way. But, of course, nothing ever went his way. No soccer, no girl, no secrets...
"Were those real glasses?"
"No," Conner quickly responded, "They were my dad's...from, uh, high school."
"I think your blush speaks for itself," Kira said, smirking. "It's okay, you know. I wear glasses for reading," she confided.
Surprised, Conner could only stare at her. "Really? I never see you in them."
"I don't show many people," she shrugged. "Probably for the same reasons you don't tell anyone and hide behind the contacts."
They stopped walking when they reached an intersection. There was a long line of cars waiting to cross and she turned her head, gazing up at him.
"It's okay to be embarrassed," she whispered.
"I know," he whispered back. "I just felt so..so...vulnerable," Conner shuddered, remembering the look on Ethan's face when Conner had shown up, looking like a nerd. Conner could remember the same look on his own face over the years to people who had dressed similar. He had hid behind big words and complex sentences, which thankfully, had distracted his friend as planned.
"I think we all did," Kira said, thoughtfully. "Those images were part of the real us, parts we never wanted to admit to others. Ethan, the jock; Conner, the nerd; and Kira, the ditz."
"Well, I for one, am glad it's over. Now we can concentrate on the important things. Helping Doctor O., kicking Mesagog butt, and destroying the White Ranger."
Kira flinched at the mention of Trent's secret identity.
"Destroying is such a final word."
Conner sighed. "Do we have to have this conversation now?"
Shrugging Conner's arm off of her, Kira turned and completely faced him.
"When's a better time?" she demanded. "When you 'destroy' him? Would that be the right time?"
"Yes," he returned shortly, "that would be an excellent time."
Scowling, Kira turned away from him. Checking the traffic, and finding none, she started across the street, barely acknowledging Conner's cries to slow down.
"You know," Kira stopped when she got across the street. She didn't wait for him to catch up as she began to speak. "I really thought you'd try to understand. You're my best friend, Conner," she didn't even seem to hear his surprised intake of breath, "and you know how I feel about Trent. It doesn't have to end violently. Why can't you at least try to think that this could work out?"
Conner let her walk away and turned the corner to his own street. He could feel his anger melt away, and replaced with a growing sadness, as he thought about the Yellow Ranger's devotion to the wrong Ranger.
"Because it won't ever work out," he muttered, "as long as he's around."