A/N: As the title says, this is "First Kiss" by Sonny James, and it's a
Zack/Aisha chapter. Now before all you Rocky/Aisha fans leave, there is a
mention of them in here, so at least read this. I must admit I moved the
song stanzas around a bit, but it helps in the story. Gyalailaa!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*~
I've got a funny feeling
I've worked hard at concealing
But I can't hide this wonderful thrill
I kept up a constant chatter
Pretending nothing matters
And I begged my heart
To please, please be still...
~*~
I needed her like my legs need to move. Okay, so technically they don't *have* to move, but you get the picture. I know it seems so sudden, but in reality it's not. I've loved Aisha Bandele Campbell since the first day I met her... not counting the power transfer. It all started in a little marketplace in Nairobi...
" Look, all I want is that James Brown c.d., not those dates or those almonds!" I nearly yelled for the eighth time. Man, if I'd known living in another part of the world was this hard, I wouldn't have signed up for the Peace Conference Exchange Program. I know that's selfish of me to say, especially since the PECP helps raise money for my country of choice, but what I wouldn't give for a translator!
I snapped back into reality as my wish was granted, and soft voice spoke in Swahili to the c.d. man. Reluctantly, he handed me my c.d. and snatched away my money. I turned to thank the person, but she had disappeared. Ooh, mysterious. I like that in a woman. Bumping into an old lady, I searched around for her, straining my ears to hear her melodious voice. That's when the woman clobbered me on the head...
~*~
A couple hours later, I remember coming to, but my surroundings had changed. Gone were the mud buildings and numerous stalls, which were replaced by visions of yellow. Reminded me of Trini's room...
" Glad that you woke up. For a moment there I thought I'd have to call the medicine woman up." It was my mystery woman's voice.
" Who are you??" I tried to sound cool and suave, but instead it came out in a croak.
" Aisha Campbell, and if you don't remember, you're Zack Taylor."
" Aisha?" Now why did that sound familiar? I tried to speak, but she shut me up.
" Shh. I'm a Ranger. Work with that."
" No! I'm not going to work- Aisha, the Yellow Ranger!" I finally remembered who she was... the new Yellow Ranger.
" What are you doing in Africa? Shouldn't you be in Angel Grove fighting monsters and stuff?" She stiffened, as if recalling a bad memory.
" I made a mistake, and know I have to live with it." She must have seen my quizzical look, because she kept going.
" Did you hear about the Zeo quest? Well, after I got my shard from Ashala, my great-grandmother, I decided that staying in Africa was more important. I sent a friend of mine back instead." That surprised me. If it hadn't been for the Peace Conference, wild horses wouldn't have dragged me away from the powers.
" Funny how regrets are. They're like ripples. If you don't just accept that the rock's touched the river bottom, the ripples just seem to grow bigger." She sat next to me.
" Are you up to eating?" I nodded and sat up, but a wave of nausea brought me back down.
" Just what I thought. Concussion. I'm sorry you got on Miz Ellema's bad side. She just thought you were trying to mug her."
"Ah." Carefully bringing a spoon to my lips, she fed me soup.
" You know Zack, this definitely wasn't how I thought I'd meet you again. Maybe at some Ranger reunion or something, but not this way." She wiped up some broth that had slipped down my chin. Lord, I felt helpless!
" This wasn't how I'd thought I'd meet you either. A classy lady like you, wiping soup off my face!" A laughed weakly at my self-bash, but she just frowned.
" That's not what I meant. What I meant was I wish we had met through our mutual friends, and then had started getting to know each other like that." I left her eyes and looked around the room. Simple for a home, but still nice. Then I spotted a silver picture frame.
" Oh... hey. Isn't that Adam?"
" Yeah. And Rocky-"
" Isn't he the one you had a crush on? Or that's what Trini said." She brushed the comment off.
" That was a long time ago. We dated a couple times, but nothing big. We just thought we were better off as friends. Lately, I heard he's dating some girl named Jenny, or Jennifer. I don't know. The last update was from Adam, but that was about a month and a half ago."
" That's sooner than I've heard from my guys. The last message I got was when I had just gotten here, and Jason and Trini sent me a good luck telegraph."
" Hmm... well we are rather out of communication lines."
" Yeah."
" Is it okay if I check your head wound?"
" Sure." She walked over and touched right where it hurt. Our faces were only inches apart.
" What would you do if I kissed you right now?"
" Depends. Why?" Blame it on the concussion, but I did just that. I kissed her. It started naively, but it soon grew to how I used to smooch Angela. Long and hot.
" So what are you going to me?"
" Let me think about it..." she pulled me back in.
~*~
First kiss
Tonight was our first kiss
And now we know the bliss
That only young love can yield.
Oh, First love
This is our first love,
Our one and only love
Our first love and our last...
~*~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: One quick note about the 'first love and our last'. He means they don't have to search anymore, not that they'll never find love again. Also, if the ripples thing make no sense, it was just something I made up on the spot. Okay, so that was that. Please REVIEW, and hopefully I'll have my Alyssa/Cole up soon, plus another chapter of 'Carpe Diem'. Bye!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*~
I've got a funny feeling
I've worked hard at concealing
But I can't hide this wonderful thrill
I kept up a constant chatter
Pretending nothing matters
And I begged my heart
To please, please be still...
~*~
I needed her like my legs need to move. Okay, so technically they don't *have* to move, but you get the picture. I know it seems so sudden, but in reality it's not. I've loved Aisha Bandele Campbell since the first day I met her... not counting the power transfer. It all started in a little marketplace in Nairobi...
" Look, all I want is that James Brown c.d., not those dates or those almonds!" I nearly yelled for the eighth time. Man, if I'd known living in another part of the world was this hard, I wouldn't have signed up for the Peace Conference Exchange Program. I know that's selfish of me to say, especially since the PECP helps raise money for my country of choice, but what I wouldn't give for a translator!
I snapped back into reality as my wish was granted, and soft voice spoke in Swahili to the c.d. man. Reluctantly, he handed me my c.d. and snatched away my money. I turned to thank the person, but she had disappeared. Ooh, mysterious. I like that in a woman. Bumping into an old lady, I searched around for her, straining my ears to hear her melodious voice. That's when the woman clobbered me on the head...
~*~
A couple hours later, I remember coming to, but my surroundings had changed. Gone were the mud buildings and numerous stalls, which were replaced by visions of yellow. Reminded me of Trini's room...
" Glad that you woke up. For a moment there I thought I'd have to call the medicine woman up." It was my mystery woman's voice.
" Who are you??" I tried to sound cool and suave, but instead it came out in a croak.
" Aisha Campbell, and if you don't remember, you're Zack Taylor."
" Aisha?" Now why did that sound familiar? I tried to speak, but she shut me up.
" Shh. I'm a Ranger. Work with that."
" No! I'm not going to work- Aisha, the Yellow Ranger!" I finally remembered who she was... the new Yellow Ranger.
" What are you doing in Africa? Shouldn't you be in Angel Grove fighting monsters and stuff?" She stiffened, as if recalling a bad memory.
" I made a mistake, and know I have to live with it." She must have seen my quizzical look, because she kept going.
" Did you hear about the Zeo quest? Well, after I got my shard from Ashala, my great-grandmother, I decided that staying in Africa was more important. I sent a friend of mine back instead." That surprised me. If it hadn't been for the Peace Conference, wild horses wouldn't have dragged me away from the powers.
" Funny how regrets are. They're like ripples. If you don't just accept that the rock's touched the river bottom, the ripples just seem to grow bigger." She sat next to me.
" Are you up to eating?" I nodded and sat up, but a wave of nausea brought me back down.
" Just what I thought. Concussion. I'm sorry you got on Miz Ellema's bad side. She just thought you were trying to mug her."
"Ah." Carefully bringing a spoon to my lips, she fed me soup.
" You know Zack, this definitely wasn't how I thought I'd meet you again. Maybe at some Ranger reunion or something, but not this way." She wiped up some broth that had slipped down my chin. Lord, I felt helpless!
" This wasn't how I'd thought I'd meet you either. A classy lady like you, wiping soup off my face!" A laughed weakly at my self-bash, but she just frowned.
" That's not what I meant. What I meant was I wish we had met through our mutual friends, and then had started getting to know each other like that." I left her eyes and looked around the room. Simple for a home, but still nice. Then I spotted a silver picture frame.
" Oh... hey. Isn't that Adam?"
" Yeah. And Rocky-"
" Isn't he the one you had a crush on? Or that's what Trini said." She brushed the comment off.
" That was a long time ago. We dated a couple times, but nothing big. We just thought we were better off as friends. Lately, I heard he's dating some girl named Jenny, or Jennifer. I don't know. The last update was from Adam, but that was about a month and a half ago."
" That's sooner than I've heard from my guys. The last message I got was when I had just gotten here, and Jason and Trini sent me a good luck telegraph."
" Hmm... well we are rather out of communication lines."
" Yeah."
" Is it okay if I check your head wound?"
" Sure." She walked over and touched right where it hurt. Our faces were only inches apart.
" What would you do if I kissed you right now?"
" Depends. Why?" Blame it on the concussion, but I did just that. I kissed her. It started naively, but it soon grew to how I used to smooch Angela. Long and hot.
" So what are you going to me?"
" Let me think about it..." she pulled me back in.
~*~
First kiss
Tonight was our first kiss
And now we know the bliss
That only young love can yield.
Oh, First love
This is our first love,
Our one and only love
Our first love and our last...
~*~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: One quick note about the 'first love and our last'. He means they don't have to search anymore, not that they'll never find love again. Also, if the ripples thing make no sense, it was just something I made up on the spot. Okay, so that was that. Please REVIEW, and hopefully I'll have my Alyssa/Cole up soon, plus another chapter of 'Carpe Diem'. Bye!