Roses and Thorns

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm or Power Rangers in Space, and I'm not making any money from this fic. I also don't own the original concept of vampires or wizards

Replies to reviews:

Jorgitosbabe: Thanks for reviewing . And I do too, actually

DarkAngel: -Grumbles- She never knows from one minute to the next what she's going to do

Apollo: Of course she doesn't. If she did, she'd end up giving it away. How many people expected her to use vampires? Or people's souls being trapped in bottles? -Looks around at reviewers with a questioning look on his face-

j-j-monster: o.o Was that review good or bad? It seems to have some part of it missing... Well, anyways, thanks for reviewing!

BlueAngel07: Glad you liked it . Thanks for reviewing

garnetred: Hehe... Slightly innocent look As for the last task... Well, I was trying to work out how to write it today. It's probably a little different to what you expected, but I hope you like it anyway. Thanks for reviewing!

CamFan4Ever: Well, they weren't technically dead... They just had their souls removed from their bodies. Thanks for reviewing!

RedFox: Um... Doesn't having your soul removed from your body make one technically dead?

DarkAngel: -Grumbles- Don't argue. Just... Don't argue

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Faye sat there, staring at Cally's limp body. She bit her lip worriedly, wondering just what her friend was going through. A few moments ago, the violet light ranger had been thrashing around like she did when she was having a nightmare. Now, she was just lying still.

Faye would have thought that Cally was dead, only the slow rise and fall of her chest made it clear that Cally was still alive.

I wish I knew what was happening to her, Faye thought to herself. It feels so... odd to be the only light Power Ranger around. For as long as I can remember, Cally and David have always been around.

As children, the three had always played together and spent most of their time round each other's houses. They'd all joined the Light Ninja Academy at the same time, and it had made sense for David and Faye to start dating.

It wasn't so difficult for us to keep what was going on secret from other people, Faye thought to herself. Then again, we did start at the academy after Dustin and Cally broke up... Since then, we've always been a close-knit little group.

Faye sighed softly to herself. Everything had become so much more confusing since they had started at the Light Ninja Academy. And what about the other Power Rangers? Faye had absolutely no idea whether she should reveal her identity to them or not. After all, Blake and Cam knew her identity, and Hunter possibly did as well.

Faye was definitely no good at leadership. She wasn't good at making life or death decisions. She preferred to leave that to other people.

Faye was caught up in her thoughts, and didn't realise that someone was at the door until the doorbell rang again.

The orange light ranger's head jerked up, and she looked around wildly. Now who would be calling here she wondered. Hardly anyone knows where we live!

After a few moments, Faye got up and left the room, closing the door softly behind her. She made her way downstairs, and opened the front door.

David was standing there.

Faye's first thought was to slam the door in David's face. Her second was to hug him tightly and let him soothe all of her worries away. But she did neither. Instead, she folded her arms over her chest and asked flatly, "What are you doing here?"

"You don't look very happy to see me," David smiled.

That's because I'm not, to tell the truth, Faye thought to herself. But she didn't say that out loud. Instead, she asked, "Would you like to come in?"

"Not if it's going to mean running into my sister," David responded flatly. He stared hard at Faye, his expression unreadable, then said, "To tell the truth, I wanted to see if you would change your mind about coming with me."

Oh, there's a surprise. "You must be joking," Faye told the white light ranger. "I told you before. I won't abandon Cal. She's my best friend. I'm not in the habit of abandoning the people I care about." The orange light ranger paused, then added in a low voice, "Unlike you, it seems."

David merely blinked. If Faye's comment had hurt him at all, he gave no sign of it. He said, quite calmly, "I have no wish to fight you, Faye."

Faye stared at him. Then, seeing that he was serious, she gave a bitter laugh. "You just don't get it, do you?"

"What do you mean?" David questioned. But his expression already said that he knew exactly what Faye meant.

Faye slowly shook her head. "If you really didn't want to fight me, then you wouldn't be doing this," she answered. "You don't care either way, David. Until you do, you've lost sight of what's important in life." With those words, the orange light ranger slammed the door in David's face before she lost her nerve.

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"So, wait, you mean that we were all vampires?" Hunter's face registered confusion.

They were all in NinjaOps. Well, all being Cam, Tori, Dustin, Shane, Hunter, Blake, and, of course, Sensei. Cam was, at that precise moment, trying to work out exactly what had caused his computer to blow, and was idly wondering whether or not the violet light ranger had been damaged by it in some way.

Tori had latched onto Blake, and was refusing to let him go. Not that the navy thunder ranger seemed to mind. His expression showed that he was quite clearly wondering if any of the others had had too much to drink or something like that. But there was also a thoughtful look in his eyes.

The green samurai ranger had to wonder if Blake had any vague recollections of what had happened to him. Cam would have asked, but he was slightly worried that it might have something to do with Cally, and he wasn't really ready to tell Dustin that his ex-girlfriend was a Power Ranger.

The little boy who had been the first vampire was sleeping in the rec. room. So far, none of the Power Rangers had been able to find out anything about him, considering the fact that he had collapsed as soon as his spirit had apparently been returned to his body.

"Yeah, vampires," Shane replied.

Dustin grinned. "I'll bet the police are still scratching their heads, trying to figure out why all of the bodies they had in the morgue suddenly vanished," he commented. "They're probably even more confused about why people who were apparently dead happen to now be up and walking around."

"Everyone seems to have forgotten what happened," Cam said. "That's actually good. The police will probably think that the people were just unconscious or something like that."

Hunter slowly shook his head. "I don't know," he responded. "This all seems too... weird to me. Like something out of a movie." The crimson thunder ranger looked at Blake. "What do you think, bro?"

The navy thunder ranger shrugged a little. "It's possible, I suppose," he replied. "Of course, that would mean that someone had to... reverse the process, so to speak." Blake looked pointedly at Cam.

The green samurai ranger blinked. What was Blake trying to say to him? That someone had managed to save them? But who?

Whatever it was, it was clearly something that Blake felt like he couldn't say out loud. As to whether he'd tell his brother or not, Cam had no idea.

"Well, I'm just glad that you're all right," Tori told Blake, hugging him. "I don't particularly want my boyfriend to end up dead. Or as a vampire, either."

Blake smiled at her, and stroked her hair. "I'll do my best not to end up dead or as a vampire," he said.

"Good."

Cam looked round at the other Power Rangers, thinking. What would they say if they knew the identity of the five Power Rangers? Would they let the two light Power Rangers join if they wanted to? And what would be Dustin's reaction to having Cally around? Probably not a very good one. Even if the violet light ranger was as sorry as Faye said, it would take a lot for even Dustin to forgive a betrayal that big.

And why do I feel so tired? Cam wondered. I've actually been getting loads of sleep at the moment. But, if anything, I feel even more exhausted.

"Well, I'd probably better get going," Shane said finally. "I have to meet up with my skateboarding pals." And the red wind ranger left NinjaOps.

The others all mumbled excuses and left as well, until only Blake and Tori remained behind.

"You go on ahead," Blake told Tori. "I'll catch you up in a minute."

The blue wind ranger hesitated. Then, apparently deciding that Blake wasn't going to come to any harm in NinjaOps, she nodded, and left.

As soon as she had gone, Blake turned to Cam. "It was Cally," he told the green samurai ranger.

Cam blinked. "What was Cally?" he wanted to know.

"The person who freed us," Blake explained. "I remember being stuck inside something tiny, and then being lifted up. I got a good look at whoever was holding what I was stuck inside. It was definitely Cally."

"Are you sure?" Cam questioned. What a thing to ask! Of course he's sure! He wouldn't be saying anything if he wasn't sure!

Blake nodded slowly. "I'm sure," he responded. "I want to find out exactly what the deal is with Dustin and Cally. Something is going on that isn't right."

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Hunter found Lila sitting dejectedly on the wall outside Storm Chargers. The shop wasn't open yet. Apparently, Kelly was still recuperating from what had happened to her.

Lila hadn't seen Hunter yet, so the crimson thunder ranger sneaked up behind her, and covered her eyes with his hands. "Guess who," he murmured.

"Hey Hunter," Lila replied flatly.

Hunter came round to stand in front of Lila. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Lila looked down. "Nothing," she mumbled.

"Don't give me that." Hunter lifted her chin so that Lila was forced to look at him. "Please tell me what's wrong."

"I... can't," Lila whispered. "I'm sorry. I can't."

"Is it about what's happened over the past couple of days?" Hunter frowned.

Lila shook her head, her bottom lip trembling. She looked like she was going to cry at any moment, but she took several deep breaths to try and stop herself.

"Lila?" Hunter frowned.

"Can I... tell you something?" Lila asked in a low voice.

Hunter was puzzled. "Um, sure," he replied. "What's up?"

"I have a problem," Lila told him.

"What is it?" Hunter wanted to know. Lila looked alarming. She actually looked near to hysteria.

Lila leaned forward and whispered in the crimson thunder ranger's ear.

Hunter turned pale. "What?!"

"I'm the silver silk ranger," Lila repeated.

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Gradually, the path in front of Cally and Andros started to get thinner and thinner. The unicorns called them to a halt when they could see mist instead of trees either side of the path in front of them.

Cally looked pale, and not just because the eerie silence disturbed her. The cuts she had got from the glass were throbbing painfully, and she had had to stop a number of times to rest.

Andros looked worriedly at the violet light ranger. He was pretty sure that neither of them would be able to keep this up for much longer. For one thing, both were pretty tired from the fight with the wizard. For another, they were both quite dirty, and their clothes smelled of soot.

"What do we have to do?" Andros asked the unicorns tiredly.

"You must walk down this path," Cally's unicorn explained. "You may not stop or turn round, no matter what you hear."

Cally frowned a little. "That doesn't sound so hard," she mumbled.

"It's harder than you might think," Andros' unicorn told them. "You may only go down the path one at a time. Who is going to go first?"

"I'll go first," Andros said immediately. It would get it out of the way. Besides, if he went first, then it might help Cally to be less afraid.

"Stay back," the unicorns warned the violet light ranger when she started forward.

Cally paused, then sighed.

Andros took a deep breath, and stepped onto the path.

It was all eerily silent. Andros wanted to look behind him to see if he could still see Cally and the two unicorns, but he had been told not to.

Andros hadn't gotten very far along the path when the whispers started.

"How could you? Your own sister!"

Andros flinched at the remembered words. He'd failed Karone on the ship... He'd almost ended up killing her. It was only by pure luck that Karone had been all right.

"You shouldn't have destroyed Zordon. You knew that there had to be another way."

The red space ranger doggedly continued as tears started to well and trickle down his cheeks. He didn't bother to wipe them away. Crying was supposed to help heal the soul.

"You failed me, Andros. You couldn't bring me back. You had to have Zordon use his energy." Karone's voice was scornful, mocking.

"Andros, you left me." Ashley's voice now.

"You left us to face the monsters on our own." That was Zhane's voice, softly accusing.

"You were jealous." Carlos' voice.

"You couldn't even keep from destroying Zordon!"

"You didn't want to be with me."

"You almost killed me."

The red space ranger broke into a run, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I'M SORRY!" he yelled to the voices. "I'm sorry that I failed so many of you! But I'm not perfect. I make mistakes. So does everyone else!"

Suddenly, the path ended.

Andros stumbled forward a few steps, sobbing a little. He collapsed on the ground, feeling emotionally drained, lowered his head, and wept.

Andros was on his feet when Cally stumbled off the path. He hugged the violet light ranger and just stood there, drawing comfort from her and giving it in return.

Cally raised her head. "It... was horrible," she whispered. "There was Dustin... And David... And Faye... I failed so many people. My parents..."

"It wasn't your fault," Andros told her softly. "You made mistakes. But I told you before. You'd be surprised at how much people who love you are willing to forgive." And the red space ranger finally began to believe his own words.

Cally drew back from Andros as the two felt their spirits begin to fade. Cally looked up at the red space ranger. "Look me up if you're ever in Blue Bay Harbour."

"You don't even have to ask," Andros smiled.

The two felt themselves being dragged back to their respective bodies.

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