I apologize in advance for the formatting of this chapter. QuickEdit has this weird thing with italics and such,which made this chapter hard to read/follow.

Chapter 6

His feet, clad in blue converse sneakers, pounded the pavement outside of Angel Grove High. Throwing open the door, he raced down the hallways looking for room 1121. This was not how he imagined his first day of freshman year to be… late for his A.P. Biology class. He came to a screeching halt outside of the classroom. Slowly turning the doorknob, he took a deep breath before entering the room.

Blocking his path to the desks was a rather large and rather scary looking teacher.

"Why are you late, young man?" she asked him, her voice deep and threatening as she tapped her yardstick on the linoleum floor.

"I'm so sorry... my electric chronometer failed to perform its function this morning…" he replied in a quiet voice.

The teacher… and the rest of the class… just stared at him, speechless, until a small female voice spoke up from the back of the classroom. "He said his alarm clock didn't go off."

"Oh… well then… um, please take your seat, young man." The teacher replied, a bit flustered.

He heaved a sigh of relief and made his way back to where the voice had come from. As he sat down beside the girl, he smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem," she smiled back.

"My name is Billy," he extended his hand.

"I'm Andrea," she shook his hand.

"It's nice to meet you," the two said simultaneously.

Billy stirred slightly in his sleep, a small smile on his lips.

"Billy!" Andrea laughed as they ran in the grass along side the lake in their formalwear; they had left the prom early that night.

He chuckled and continued running. "C'mon!" he grabbed her hand. "It's just a little farther."

"Where are we going?"

"Right here," he grinned, coming to a stop underneath an old oak tree. "Look at that…" he pointed out to the lake, where the moonlight sparkled brilliantly on the water.

"I've never seen it like that before…" Andrea replied in awe, leaning back against him. "It's beautiful!" she said softly.

"Not as beautiful as you," he whispered in her ear as he held her close.

She blushed and turned to face him.

"Andrea…" he whispered, caressing her face gently with his fingers, his eyes gazing into hers. There was something he desperately wanted to tell her… something he had wanted to say for a long time. He had been waiting for the perfect time, and that time was now. "Andrea," he started again. "I love you," he smiled.

She blushed again. "I love you too, Billy," she smiled back.

He grinned as he pulled her into a searing kiss.

But this is where the dream always changed

His feet pounded the ground once again… but he did not recognize his surroundings. Shiny metal walls surrounded him; the floor he was running on sounded hollow under his boots. He had to escape. He could hear their voices; they were gaining on him.

"Hurry, this way!" his friend shouted to him from a doorway.

Stumbling into the room, he stopped to catch his breath. "Thanks, guys," he panted.

"Don't mention it," Cestro patted his old friend on the back.

"Aren't you worried about what they will do to you for helping me?"

Aurico sighed. "Rangers stick together, Billy. At worst, they will exile us without food."

"Then come with me!" the young scientist exclaimed as the voices grew closer.

Cestro shook his head. "I'm sorry; we cannot."

A deafening silence took hold of the situation for several seconds before Aurico looked at the Earthling. "I'm sorry, Billy…" he trailed off sadly.

The door flew open revealing Delphine, Cestria, and three of their minions.

"Seize him!" Delphine ordered.

The minions grabbed the former Power Ranger by his arms and drug him backwards out the door.

"No! Please!..." He struggled to free himself, looking up at Cestria with pleading eyes "Please…"

"Please… no…. NO!" Billy awoke in a cold sweat, his heart pounding hard in his chest.

"Billy, are you okay?" Andrea raced into the room, a concerned look upon her face.

"Andy…." He said quietly, sitting up.

"Hey," she walked over and sat down beside him on the bed. "It's alright… it was just a dream, sweetie." She had never seen him so upset before. Billy was always the calm one, but now Andrea could see fear in his eyes. She slid an arm around him, and smoothed his blonde hair out of his face. "Shh… it's okay…."

"Talk about role reversal…" he whispered, laughing ruefully. Usually, it was him who was comforting her.

She looked him in the eyes. "What was that about? What had you so scared?" she asked soothingly.

"It was… just another nightmare," Billy murmured as he noticed his gray shirt was soaked with sweat.

"Another nightmare?"

"Yeah… um…" Billy pulled the shirt off over his head with ease. "I have the same one fairly often." He tossed the shirt aside and looked back at his girlfriend. "They start off with how we met," he motioned between him and Andy. "Then it moves on to Prom night, when I told you I loved you for the first time…" he smiled at the memory.

Andrea smiled back at him, also remembering that magical night.

But the scientist's smile quickly faded as he told her the other part of the dream.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry…" Andy pulled him into a hug.

Billy took in a deep breath as he felt her hands glide gently across his bare skin… this was something he hadn't felt in years; he hadn't realized he had missed it so much until now.

She pulled away, paying close attention to his facial expressions as she slid one hand down his arm and the other down his chest.

"Andrea…"

"Hmm?"

Longing had replaced the fear in his eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her passionately as he lay back on the bed, pulling her on top of him.

She smiled against his lips as her fingers lightly traced the muscles of his chest and abdomen. "Still working out, I see…" she murmured.

"Absolutely," he murmured back, grinning. He kissed her again, his tongue catching hers in a seductive dance.

Andrea moaned lightly, becoming lost in the moment. It had been so long…

Billy's arms tightened around her as he continued to kiss her. He allowed one hand to travel under her shirt and gently massage the small of her back.

She whimpered softly; her skin burning and tingling from his touch.

::CRASH!::

Billy and Andy looked up to see where the noise had come from. Standing just beyond the open doorway was Rocky.

"Heh… sorry guys," he grinned sheepishly, picking up the box of supplies he had dropped. "Um… carry on," he said, before making a hasty retreat.

Andrea sighed. "I've got to learn to lock the door!"

Billy laughed, his green eyes sparkling. "I guess that means we should go get some work done…." he said softly, fingering the pendant around Andy's neck.

"I guess…" Andy chuckled nervously as she climbed out of the bed. She looked back at a still shirtless Billy and smirked before leaning down and kissing him gently.

He smiled as she pulled away, and watched as she walked out the door. A funny feeling came over him… he felt as if Andrea was keeping something from him. "Nah, she wouldn't keep anything from me," he reassured himself before crawling out of bed and finding a new shirt.