Roses and Thorns

Chapter Thirty - Tears in the Rain

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

Author's Note: This chapter is entirely too short. It's more of an interlude, detailing how Lila's feeling at the moment, and a couple of conversations that she has. Skip it if you want. I won't mind. It'll just be focusing on Lila, but just for this chapter

DarkAngel: -Grumbles- They get the point...

That's why this chapter has a title while the others don't. (Well you try thinking up 30 different titles for one story!)

Replies to reviews:

garnetred: Yeah, Peter's obviously going to react badly. For the moment, the wizard doesn't need to be worried about. Like I said before, he's licking his wounds at the moment. Thanks for reviewing!

CamFan4Ever: Well... yes, he did. And I can't tell you what's going on with Cam, as it's supposed to be a big secret... Well, for me, anyway. It would spoil the, er, rest if I told you. Thanks for reviewing!

Jorgitosbabe: I didn't either, actually. It was one of those spur-of-the-moment ideas. Thanks for reviewing!

BlueAngel07: Glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing

jj-monster: Well, he is mad... He's perfectly justified in slapping Lila. Ok, ok. I know it was kind of out of character... But... -Shrugs- Anyways, thanks for reviewing!

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It was raining.

Lila stared moodily out of the window of the cafe as she waited for someone to come and take her order. She could see the water running down the glass like tears. She'd always wondered if someone somewhere was crying when the rain started. It was like the sky cried with you when you were sad. Of course, when you were happy, it was just nature.

The sky was crying, so Lila didn't have to.

Really, the silver silk ranger felt numb inside, sure that nothing else would be able to hurt her now. Her cheek throbbed from where Hunter had hit her, but the pain in her face was nothing compared to the pain she felt deep inside.

Lila supposed that she should really try and conceal the mark somehow, but she somehow couldn't bring herself to do so. Maybe it was a feeling that she had deserved Hunter striking her. Or, more likely, it was that she didn't care about what other people might think about the mark on her face. She wasn't going to change herself just because what had happened to her might end up annoying someone.

Lila knew that she should really go back home, but she couldn't bear the thought of having to face Peter and admit to him that she had revealed their secret to Hunter, and also that Hunter was, in fact, the crimson thunder ranger. She could always not say anything, but there were two reasons why she couldn't do that. One was that she had no other explanation for the mark on her face, and the other was that Hunter would probably let on that he knew.

I never should have opened my mouth, Lila silently berated herself. All it's brought me is huge problems.

Why had she told Hunter her and Peter's identity? It was probably that she felt guilty for having to fight him when he was a vampire. But it could have quite easily been the fact that she was sick of keeping secrets. Well, she wasn't keeping secrets anymore.

"Can I get you anything, honey?"

Oh, no, Lila groaned inwardly. It was the same waitress from the other night, after Peter had been turned into a vampire. The one who had noticed the bite marks on her neck, which had, thankfully, now faded mostly.

Lila looked up, and bit her lip slightly as she heard the sharp intake of breath. Then, Sally sat down at the table, and reached out to take the silver silk ranger's hand. "Was it your boyfriend this time?"

Lila saw no reason to lie to Sally, so she merely shrugged. "He broke up with me," she admitted in a low voice. Always stick to the truth wherever possible.

"And he decided to hurt you?" Sally's tone was indignant. "May I see?" she asked, gesturing towards Lila's face.

Lila fought the urge to point out that Sally was already looking at the bruise, and, instead, merely nodded.

Sally reached out with gentle fingers and pressed lightly on the bruise, checking to see how bad it really was. Lila winced slightly at the pressure, but didn't try to pull away.

"Hm." Sally drew her hand back, a thoughtful and slightly angry look on her face. "It doesn't seem too bad... But it would probably be an idea to ice it." The waitress paused, then asked in a low voice, "Are you going to press charges?"

Lila blinked, and then quickly shook her head. "No... I deserved this," she whispered, her tone hollow.

Sally's expression clearly showed that she didn't believe the silver silk ranger. "Sweetie, I know plenty of men who can make a woman believe that a beating was brought about because of something she did," Sally told Lila. "More often than not, it turns out that the boyfriend is the one who is at fault."

Lila quickly shook her head. "No, it was definitely my fault," she said with certainty. "He only hit me the once, and that was because I provoked him. He's not usually violent. Believe me, if I hadn't deserved it, I would have hit him right back." Lila smiled, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Hm." Sally nodded slowly. "Yes, I can see that you probably would at that. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I told him something that meant that we couldn't be together," Lila answered, and left it at that. She'd already learned her lesson about blabbing her secret out to people. Pity she had learned it too late. "He didn't like it, because of something else, and that was when I provoked him."

"You're leaving out something," Sally commented.

"I can't tell you anymore," Lila said.

"All right, I understand," Sally responded. She stood up again. "I should probably get back to work. Is there anything you'd like to eat or drink?" she questioned.

"Um... I'll have a toasted cheese sandwich and a diet coke," Lila replied.

Sally nodded, and left.

Lila sighed, and looked out of the window. It was still raining, and she still felt like crying. That talk hadn't helped at all. Mainly because Sally couldn't truly understand what she was going through.

When her order arrived, Lila ate and drank in silence. She didn't catch anyone's gaze, and didn't look up until someone's shadow fell across her table.

"Can I sit here?" Faye asked.

The silver silk ranger glanced up, and blinked as she saw Faye. Then, she sighed. "Sure, why not," she muttered.

Faye pulled out a chair and sat down, regarding Lila carefully. The silver silk ranger noticed that the orange light ranger looked tired, as though she hadn't been sleeping very well. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her blonde hair hung limp around her face.

Lila quickly amended her first impression. Faye looked exhausted.

"Who did that to you?" Faye asked.

Lila didn't ask what Faye was referring to. She already knew. She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Hunter," she replied shortly.

Faye nodded slowly. She didn't ask why. She could probably already guess.

"How's Cally?" Lila asked after a few moments.

"She could be better," Faye admitted. "She's sleeping at the moment. I probably should be as well, but I ran out to get some supplies, and saw you in here, so I thought that I should come in and talk to you."

"You didn't need to," Lila responded quickly. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," Faye replied. "You know, you're going to have to decide what's more important to you, Lila. Destroying, or your feelings."

Lila squirmed under Faye's intent gaze. "What... Do you mean?" she questioned.

"You know exactly what I mean," Faye responded. "You're going to have to decide if you want Hunter or not. Because if you leave it for too long, the argument you two have just had is going to fester, and soon forgiveness will be almost impossible."

"What makes you think that Hunter and I had an argument?" Lila wanted to know.

Faye just looked at her.

Lila sighed. "Ok, ok," she muttered. Then, she looked sharply at Faye. "That's what happened with Dustin and Cally, isn't it?"

Faye nodded, and then stood up. "You're going to have to make up your mind," she told Lila. "Don't take into account what your brother thinks you should do. When I made my choice, I stayed with Cally rather than leave her on her own like David has." With those words, the orange light ranger left the cafe.

Lila looked out of the window again.

The rain was starting to look like nature.

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