Roses and Thorns

Chapter Fourteen

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

RedFox: -Sighs- We've given up on telling her that she doesn't need to write disclaimers at the top of every chapter

Replies to reviews:

garnetred: Well, it's not an ordinary problem Cally has... But you'll have to wait for the explanation, I'm afraid . I'm glad you like Cally. I suppose it is love between Hunter and Lila... Did I go onto that too fast? -Worried-

Jorgitosbabe: Yup, I'm evil . I actually like making my characters suffer... A lot. Lol

CamFan4Ever: Well, she originally wasn't going to fall into a coma...

DarkAngel: -Points at Apollo- It's his fault! He's an evil muse

Apollo: -Stares at DarkAngel-

DarkAngel: o.o Eep! -Hides behind the author-

BlueAngel07: Glad you liked it

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Lila wasn't entirely sure where she was when she woke up the next morning. Certainly not in her own bedroom.

Lila sat up in the bed, and then remembered the events of the previous night. She blushed a little as she remembered her and Hunter kissing. That had been unexpected, but it hadn't been unpleasant.

What time is it? Lila wondered. Her eyes tracked towards the morpher she always wore around her wrist, even when she slept and showered. Like that's going to help me... It doesn't have the time on it at all. Hm, I wonder if Hunter saw it at all? It shouldn't matter if he did, I guess. He'll just think that it's an odd-looking watch.

Lila caught sight of the clock on the bedside table, and her eyes widened. 7 am? I never wake up that early! Hm... I suppose the clock could be wrong.

Whatever. Lila decided that she had better get up now. She was pretty sure that Hunter hadn't left at all, because she could hear movement downstairs.

Lila got out of bed, and slipped her clothes on. Hunter had lent her a T-shirt of his to sleep in which had been way too big for her. Then again, that had probably been a good thing.

Lila put her shoes on, and then left the room she had been sleeping in and walked down the stairs. She could smell cooking, and her nose twitched as her stomach rumbled a bit. She was quite hungry, what with all the fighting she and her brother had been doing lately. Which reminded her...

I really need to figure out a way of taking the Power Rangers out of action without actually destroying them...

Lila made her way into the kitchen, where she saw Hunter.

Hunter flashed a smile, and came over to kiss Lila on the cheek. "You're up early," he noted. "Breakfast will be ready soon. I was just trying to work out whether I should come and risk attempting to get you out of bed to have some breakfast." His tone was teasing, and his eyes were playful as he kissed Lila again, and then went over to carry on with the cooking.

Lila smiled a little. "I guess me getting up early was down to the fact that I spent the night in a strange house. I'm sure that my stomach thinks that I'm neglecting it," she added.

Hunter smiled at Lila. "Well, it won't do for much longer." He watched her carefully out of the corner of his eye. Are we official? She didn't try to push me away or anything when I kissed her, so that's a good sign.

"Can I help out at all?" Lila wanted to know. She felt awkward just standing around doing nothing.

"No, I've pretty much got everything covered," Hunter replied. "Anyway, you're a guest. You don't have to do anything here... Just so long as you don't complain about my cooking," he threatened with a grin.

Lila returned his smile, feeling relaxed for what felt like the first time in a long while. If this is what love is, it's great. I wouldn't change it for the world. Mind you, when I imagined falling in love, I never pictured someone quite like Hunter...

"Where's your brother?" Lila asked out loud.

"Sitting at the table waiting for the food," Hunter answered. "It's my turn to cook this morning."

"Will he.. be surprised to see me?" Lila wanted to know. She wouldn't know what to say to Hunter's brother, who she had only seen a few times. Then again, she'd only seen Hunter a few times too...

"Nope," Hunter reassured her. "I already told him that you were here. He didn't seem very surprised about it, to be honest. Or didn't I mention that he was the one trying to get me to ask you out on a proper date?"

"You really know how to make a girl feel good about herself, Hunter Bradley," Lila complained, leaning against one of the work tops. She mock-pouted. "I'll start thinking that the only reason we're even together is because your brother pushed you into it."

Hunter glanced up, and saw the challenging look in Lila's eyes. Never being one to turn down a challenge, he came over to her and kissed her on the mouth, arms slipping around her to hold her tightly.

Wow, Lila thought giddily.

Hunter finally pulled back from Lila to look deep into her eyes. He smiled, and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Are you convinced now?"

"Hm." Lila pretended to think about it before saying, "Yes."

Hunter smiled, kissed Lila on the cheek, and then returned to the food. "Go into the other room," he told her. "Breakfast shouldn't be too long away now."

Despite Hunter's words, the silver silk ranger still felt nervous as she walked into the other room to find Blake Bradley sitting at the dining room table.

"Hi," Blake greeted Lila cheerily. "Did you sleep well?"

Lila nodded, thinking, He's acting like this is a common occurrence where Hunter is concerned... Does Hunter often bring girls back to his house? Lila found that she didn't like the idea, especially because it suggested that Hunter maybe didn't like her as much as she liked him and wanted to be with her. After all, he hadn't actually said anything about them being official.

After a few moments, Hunter came into the dining room carrying three plates with fried breakfasts on them. He put one in front of Lila, smiling a little as he said, "I hope you like fried breakfasts."

Lila nodded. "I like them well enough," she answered vaguely before starting to eat.

Hunter lost his smile, and he stared at Lila, wondering what had just happened. She seemed to be almost... cold towards him, and the crimson thunder ranger had no idea why. It couldn't be because she was feeling nervous around Blake, could it?

Hunter caught his brother's eye, and realised that Blake had sensed it too. The two brothers exchanged worried glances before starting to eat.

The tension in the air was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife. From time to time, Hunter shot a glance at Lila to see that the teenager was just staring at her plate and not eating very much.

What's wrong with Lila? Hunter wondered. She's acting really strangely.

As soon as he had finished, Blake said that he had a date with Tori and got up and left after shooting his brother an apologetic look.

When he had gone, Hunter looked at Lila. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" he asked softly.

Lila looked up, her eyes snapping with anger. "How many?" she demanded.

"Huh?" Hunter was confused.

"Oh, don't pretend you have no idea what I'm talking about!" Lila snapped. "I heard Blake. He didn't seem surprised at all that I'd spent the night here!"

"But that was because..." Hunter began. His voice trailed off, and he stared at Lila as he realised just what she was getting at.

"Obviously, you've brought other girls home with you," Lila continued, her voice sounding strained. "I want to know how many."

"That is not any of your business," Hunter answered, his voice cold. "But you'll be the last."

"Liar!" Lila flared. She knew that she was probably making a fool of herself, but she didn't care. She was too angry.

"If that's what you think, then you can just leave." Hunter's eyes and tone were like ice. "Then, when you realise the truth, you can come and apologise to me and beg for my forgiveness. I care about you much more than you seem to realise."

Lila stared at him. Then, she got up and ran out of the room. After a moment, Hunter heard the front door slam shut. He then buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking.

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Cally came to lying in a clearing. She looked around, wondering just what she was doing there. The last she remembered, she was in her bed trying to get to sleep but not succeeding because of how ill she was feeling.

"Where am I?" Cally asked out loud in an attempt to break the silence. No such luck.

The violet light ranger glanced around the clearing, taking in the flowers. She could smell their tropical, heady scent which made her head swim. Moonlight was reflected off the surface of a small pool.

Well, it doesn't seem like I'm dreaming, Cally thought to herself. It seems too real. Too vivid. And I've never been able to smell things in dreams before. But if she wasn't dreaming, then where was she?

Cally glanced down at her chest, and was relieved to see that the crystal seemed to have gone. Here, at least, anyway. The scars on her wrists from where she had tried to kill herself had faded somewhat, but there were still some faint marks.

Am I dead? Cally wondered. That seemed the most likely possibility, other than the fact that she was going mad. The latter wouldn't be very surprising. Cally had often wondered just how strong her grip on sanity was. After all, attempting to kill yourself wasn't something a sane person would do, was it?

After a few moments, Cally heard a faint rustling through the trees behind her. She took a step backwards, fear flaring inside her for just a moment.

A unicorn stepped through the trees. Its gaze flickered over the violet light ranger before it went to the pool and lowered its head to drink.

Cally quickly revised the dream possibility. Unicorns did not exist, after all.

Oh, no? Then why is your zord a unicorn? a small voice asked inside Cally's mind, which the teenager ignored.

Eventually, the unicorn stopped drinking, and raised its head to look at Cally. "Hello," it said.

"H-hello..." Cally stammered.

"What are you doing here?" the unicorn wanted to know. It sounded mildly curious.

"Dreaming," Cally replied, adding silently, I hope.

The unicorn blinked. "Dreaming?" it repeated. "You are not dreaming."

"But I must be!" Cally said desperately. "If I'm not dreaming, then I must be going mad. I'd much prefer the former."

"You are not dreaming," the unicorn told Cally. "Neither are you mad. But you are here for a reason."

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"Bro, are you all right?" Blake asked Hunter softly later.

"No," Hunter admitted. He looked up at Blake. "I'm sorry," he added in a low voice.

"Hey, bro, it's not your fault," Blake replied, sitting down on the bed beside his brother. "You couldn't have known that Lila would react like that."

Hunter looked down. "I should have had some idea," he berated himself. "And I shouldn't have reacted the way I did."

"Hunter, you are not in the wrong," Blake told the crimson thunder ranger. "Lila is. If she can't deal with the fact that you have had other girlfriends, then she doesn't deserve to be with you." Blake had really wanted to hurt Lila when he had found out about the argument she and his brother had had, but Hunter had persuaded him not to. The navy thunder ranger was still angry, though.

Hunter gave a soft sigh, his expression saying quite clearly that he did not believe his brother.

"Do you want to go into Storm Chargers?" Blake asked.

Hunter slowly shook his head. "I don't feel up to it," he said. "I'm sorry. Please give Kelly my apologies."

Blake hugged his brother gently. "Hey, it's going to be all right," he told Hunter. "Sleep on it. Things will look better later."

"Thanks, bro," Hunter murmured.

Blake smiled slightly. "Hey, dude, you're my brother. I know you'd do the same for me."

Hunter nodded slowly, though he still looked sad.

Blake hugged his brother once more, then got up. "Are you sure you'll be all right on your own?" he wanted to know.

Hunter smiled. "Just go," he told Blake. "I know that you really want to see Tori. I'll be fine on my own."

Still, Blake hesitated. "If Lila comes into Storm Chargers..." he began.

"You will leave her alone," Hunter interrupted. "Kelly will not thank you for beating up her customers. Now will you just go already?"

Blake left.

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Faye shook Cally's still form, and stared, her eyes wide. Cally couldn't be like this! Her illness hadn't been that bad... Had it?

Cally lay with her eyes closed. She was breathing, and had a pulse, but Faye couldn't wake her up.

The orange light ranger felt fear flood her entire form. She couldn't lose Cally! Not after David turning evil.

Faye felt a couple of tears trickle down her cheeks, and she didn't bother to wipe them away. Now what could she do? Cally appeared to be in some kind of coma... But she couldn't take her to the hospital with that crystal embedded in her chest. The doctors would ask all sorts of awkward questions, and there was no way Faye would be able to answer those without giving away their true identity as Power Rangers.

I wish David was here, Faye thought to herself. He might have been furious with Cally, but the last time she had been in hospital, David had been there to comfort Faye and to field any questions from the hospital. Like, why Cally had tried to kill herself in the first place. But now, Faye was on her own.

I've never been very good at making decisions, Faye knew. Leadership isn't something I'm any good at. And now, my two closest friends are in trouble, and I have no idea how to help either of them!

Faye angrily dashed her tears away. Crying wasn't going to help her any. It would just hinder her.

"Cally, you can't die on me," Faye whispered. "I can't stand risking losing you again."

Much as she tried to tell herself that it wasn't, Faye knew that there was only one possible way of saving Cally. She had to take her friend to the other Power Rangers' headquarters, revealing their true identity to the Power Rangers there.

Faye took a deep breath. Grabbing Cally, she ran off towards NinjaOps, going more slowly because of the extra weight she carried and because she didn't want to seriously damage the violet light ranger.

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Ow... My ankles really hurt. My trainers have been rubbing, and I had to wear them all day today. Wah! Please review? -Pleading look-