Roses and Thorns

Chapter One

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

Summary: Trouble begins with the arrival of an old flame of Dustin's and the appearance of some new Power Rangers

Author's Note: Ok... I'm hoping that this won't turn into a Mary Sue fic, but that means that I'm relying on readers to tell me if it does sound Mary Sue-ish

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Drifting. Drifting.

She was drifting through unconsciousness. Memories washed through her mind. Or perhaps they were happening at this precise moment. Or maybe they hadn't happened at all, and she was still in the hospital. Or maybe she was finally dead.

Voices... There were voices outside. But they didn't hold any interest to her, though she knew that what they were saying was important.

"You can either stay here with her, or you can come with me, Faye!"

"You're giving me an ultimatum, David? That's not like you."

"I don't care. I am not going to stay with her any longer!"

"This is your responsibility. Use it wisely."

"How could you do this to me?"

"Run!"

"But..."

"You can't do anything to help us now! Find others from other Ninja schools. If you don't leave now, you will be captured as well! You cannot allow that to happen."

"Do not worry about us. We will be fine."

"Cally, how could you be so stupid?! You almost died then!"

She heard herself answer, "I don't want to live anymore. Not after how I treated him..."

"You made one mistake, Cal! Admittedly, it was a big one... But that doesn't mean that it can't be forgiven. Right, David?"

"I..."

"You need to pay more attention to training."

"Wow, Cally. Guess your gymnastics club really paid off."

"Yeah, that shows you, David. Weren't you the one who told her that going to gymnastics was a really bad idea?"

"I... really like you, Cally. No, that's not right. I love you. But I can't deal with what you did. I can't be with you. And I don't think I particularly want to see you again. Ever. It hurts too much."

"Dustin, I..."

"Cally, nothing you say could make up for what you did." A pause, then a hopeful question. "Do you have a good reason?"

Lowered gaze, and a whispered reply, "No, Dustin. I don't."

"That's it! I'm leaving. Stay with her if you want, Faye. I want nothing more to do with either of you!"

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Lila walked into Storm Chargers, inwardly making a slight face. She really didn't like bikes. Unfortunately, her younger brother did. He didn't actually have a helmet, though. But his birthday was coming up soon, and Lila was hoping to get him a good helmet as she now had enough money saved up for one.

Lila drifted over to the helmets, her gaze flickering over the three males standing at the counter without much interest. They were probably working here. Not that she could see them doing much work at the moment. Then again, the shop wasn't all that busy. She started looking through the helmets, inwardly cursing, yet again, the fact that she hadn't managed to get the measurements for her brother's head. He'd been suspicious when she had tried, and she could forget trying it when he was asleep. Peter had so much energy that Lila was sure he never actually slept.

"She doesn't look like she'd be interested in riding," Hunter confided to Dustin and Blake as he watched the redhead look through the helmets.

"Well, like, maybe she's only just got into riding?" Dustin suggested.

Hunter and Blake both stared at Dustin. "Um, ok," Blake said slowly. His gaze returned to the girl. "Maybe one of us should go and see if she needs any help?" he suggested.

"Or, we could just wait for Kelly to come back in," Dustin said. "After all, she's female."

Hunter rolled his eyes, and walked over to the girl. "Hi, can I help you?" he asked.

The girl looked up, and Hunter found himself looking into brown eyes set in a pale face with finely chiselled features. She was pretty, but not exceptionally so. Hunter noticed the fact that she bit her nails.

"Oh, hello," the girl smiled. "Actually, maybe you can help me. I'm looking for a helmet for my younger brother. He's gotten really into riding bikes, but he hasn't got a helmet yet."

Hunter blinked. Whoa, too much information, he thought to himself. I didn't really need to know all of that. Out loud, Hunter asked, "Do you know what size his head is?"

The girl shook her head. "I couldn't get near enough to him to measure his head without him getting suspicious," she explained. "See, it's his birthday soon, and I don't want him to guess what I'm going to get him..." Her voice trailed off as she saw Hunter's eyes begin to glaze over. Oh, great. I'm babbling again.

"Does he already have a bike?" Hunter asked, wondering if it would have been a good idea to wait for Kelly to deal with this girl.

Lila nodded.

"Ok, so you'll need to get a helmet that'll go with his bike," Hunter said slowly. "But you have to get one that looks 'cool', otherwise he'll hate it."

"Um..." Lila looked slightly panicked. "I don't know much about bikes," she admitted.

Hunter put his head on one side, watching Lila thoughtfully. I'm going to regret this, he realised with an inward sigh even as he asked, "Well, my brother and I tend to go on race tracks a lot... If you want, why don't you bring your brother down, say, tomorrow afternoon?"

"Oh, ok," Lila smiled. She held out a hand. "My name's Lila."

Hunter lightly shook her hand. "I'm Hunter," he replied. "So, I'll see you tomorrow afternoon, then? At the race track? You know where that is, right?" It was an obvious dismissal.

Lila nodded. So much for a good first impression, she thought.

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Cally jerked upright, her head slamming against the wall of the cave. "Ow," she muttered.

"Hey, you ok?"

Cally's vision cleared enough so that she could see Faye kneeling beside her, a concerned look on her face. "I'm fine," Cally muttered, more worried about it being embarrassing than about being seriously hurt.

Faye frowned. "You're not just saying that, are you?" she wanted to know.

Trust Faye to ask something like that, Cally groaned. Then again... I haven't really been acting myself lately. "I'm not just saying that," she attempted to reassure Faye. "I really am ok."

Faye looked away. "Good," she mumbled. "I don't want to have to morph to stop you from trying to kill yourself..." She fell silent as she remembered that - breaking into the bathroom, and finding Cally lying on the floor with blood on her wrists. Thank goodness for accelerated healing, she thought. Cally had nearly died then.

"Faye, what's wrong with me?" Cally asked in a low voice.

"Nothing," Faye replied with a slight frown. "You're depressed, Cally. It's not really your fault. Depression is just like a disease. You need to keep yourself from succumbing to it."

"I don't think I'll ever be happy again," Cally mumbled, looking down.

Faye said nothing. There wasn't a lot she could say. She could only be there for Cally and try to help her recover from the depression. No matter if Cally had been a complete idiot in the events before then.

Cally glanced around. "Where's David?" she wanted to know.

"He left." Faye avoided meeting Cally's gaze.

Cally's eyes widened. "You mean... I didn't just dream it? He really gave you an ultimatum?"

Faye nodded.

"You should have... gone with him," Cally told Faye.

Faye shook her head quickly. "No, I couldn't have," she replied. "You're my best friend, Cally. Nothing is going to change that."

Cally looked down. "I never wanted you two to split up," she muttered. "Especially not because of me."

"Hey." Faye tried to smile, but it was a pretty poor attempt. "I'm sure he'll be all right, Cal. He just needs time to think. That's all."

Cally said nothing, but she was thinking, But what if it isn't all?

"Anyway, I think I know a way to help you," Faye added.

Cally looked up. "How?" she demanded.

Faye took a deep breath. Holding Cally's eyes with her own, she said simply, "We go back."

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Read and review, please! Also, tell me if it sounds Mary Sue-ish... I can't change it if I don't know