Is Love For Real?
Chapter Five - Tears and Memories
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic
Replies to reviews:
mysterious-muse: I definitely hope they don't too. I need them for my ideas. And, I'm not giving away any of the storyline... You'll have to wait and see if Hunter ends up all right or not and he and Dustin get together
CamFan4Ever: It worked! See? -Points to DarkAngel and RedFox eating chocolate chip fudge cookies- I had to give DarkCat one, too, otherwise she'd get jealous
RedFox: -Pauses in her eating to say- Our author feels really depressed at the moment... She wasn't going to update, but decided that she had to because if she leaves it for too long before writing a new chapter, she'll forget where she was going with her fic
DarkAngel: And, even though that can sometimes be a good thing, because it means that our author gets new ideas for a storyline, it's also bad because when she loses interest in her stories, that means that she's really down -Nods-
RedFox: Yeah, you're right
DarkCat: -Chokes on her cookie in shock that they actually agreed on something-
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Dustin just stood there, staring at Hunter's limp form.
The yellow wind ranger felt numb. He couldn't even cry. The tears wouldn't come. He just felt... cold inside.
Hunter was dead.
"Oh, man," Dustin whispered. "I can't believe this. Isn't it supposed to be impossible to kill us Power Rangers unless we're actually morphed?" He looked up at Cam, the undisputed technology genius. "Isn't it?"
"Well, technically it is supposed to be," Cam said slowly after glancing at his father, the guinea pig Sensei, for confirmation. "But, clearly, it seems to be possible."
"But it can't be!" Dustin protested. "There has to be a way to bring him back! Cam, surely there's got to be a way to bring him back?"
Shane put a hand on Dustin's shoulder. "Dude, he's gone," he told his friend softly. "You have to deal with it."
Dustin glanced across at Blake, whose hollow-eyed expression had to be a mirror of his own. Shell-shocked. That's what they were. Neither of them could believe that Hunter really was dead. It was supposed to be impossible, after all.
What good are Ranger abilities if they can't even stop someone I care about from dying? Dustin thought bitterly.
"Dustin, I understand how you feel," Sensei told the yellow wind ranger. Dustin seemed to remember something about his own wife, Cam's mother, dying. "But, at the moment, there are more important things to worry about," he added. "There will be time enough to mourn Hunter later." There was a note of deep sadness in the guinea pig's voice, but only someone who knew him well enough would be able to tell that.
Dustin shook his head vigorously. "No, I'm going to mourn him now," he said. "He is... was... our friend. We owe him a whole lot more than just a moment's silence or whatever!"
"I'm sorry, guys," Blake said slowly, his choked tone revealing just how close to tears he truly was. "But I'm with Dustin on this. Hunter was my brother, even if we were both adopted. I can't just ignore his death, or even just push it aside for the time being."
"Sensei, can't we just break long enough to have enough time to mourn Hunter?" Tori put in. "We all miss him." She glanced around at the others, receiving nods of confirmation from Dustin, Cam, and Blake.
"The team won't be the same without him," Shane admitted. He looked round at the others, and a sad smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Hey, remember when he and Blake helped us out against that frog monster of Lothor's?"
"I remember," Blake said softly. He lowered his head, struggling with tears.
"I just mean that you two have always been really honourable," Shane commented in a quiet voice. "Tori helped you out, so you helped us out. Bet you made Lothor mad, though," he added with a quick grin.
Blake looked up, and a small answering smile tugged briefly at the corners of his mouth as he replied, "Well, it was more annoyed." He gave a small frown. "Of course, we then came into NinjaOps and stole your Sensei."
"Dude, that was hardly your fault," Dustin broke in. "After all, Lothor made you think that Sensei had murdered your parents."
"I remember Zurgane appearing at that quarry," Cam said.
"Oh, that was because Hunter and I kept on annoying him," Blake replied, breaking into a smile. "You should have heard some of the things we said to him."
"Oh, I bet I can imagine some of them," Tori teased. "From what I know of you, of course."
As the others remembered Hunter with fond, laughing memories, Dustin glanced at Sensei, and could almost swear he saw a look of satisfaction in the guinea pig's eyes.
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"Isn't there any way of communicating with the others?" Hunter asked his parents. "I mean, I don't particularly want to stay dead... Not that I don't like being with you again," he hastened to add.
Hunter's parents exchanged glances, and then, almost in unison, shook their heads. "The Cavern of Lost Souls is perhaps the only place you could have a chance of communicating with them," Hunter's father told him.
"And even that is not very likely to succeed without the Gem of Souls," Hunter's mother added, her brow creased with concern for her son.
"Yeah, that broke," Hunter remembered. "When I tried to use it to protect us from Lothor." He gave a soft sigh. "I wonder whatever happened to the fragments?"
"Your friend Cam threw them into the sea," Hunter's mother explained. "His Sensei told him that the Gem of Souls was too dangerous to be kept, even in fragments."
Hunter sighed. "I wish that I could just see them once more," he mumbled. "Especially Blake and Dustin. Blake's probably blaming Dustin for my death, and it wasn't his fault."
Hunter's mother hugged him gently. "Try not to worry about it," she attempted to soothe him. "After all, who knows what information is held in the Ninja Scrolls? I am sure that not even Cam, as smart as he is, has actually read them all."
"And he's hardly going to start reading them now," Hunter sighed. He squeezed his mother, and wondered what he would do without Dustin.
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Dustin sat holding Hunter's cold hand, his tears falling onto the pale, bruised face.
The others had all left to go home, except for Cam, of course, who was staying in NinjaOps to do some work. Dude, didn't that guy ever sleep?
Dustin sighed, and looked at Hunter. "Hey, bro," he said softly. "I don't know if you're watching, wherever you are now. I hope you're still around, but that would be a selfish wish to make. I hope that you're at peace. I hope that you're happy." Dustin hesitated for a long moment, and then whispered, "Because I'm not."
Dustin thought that he felt a faint twitch from the hand he held tightly, but it was probably just his imagination. After all, Hunter was definitely dead.
Dustin bit his lip, and continued, "I know that I haven't been a very good friend to you, bro. In fact, I've been a terrible friend to you." He let go of Hunter's hand to wipe ineffectively at the tears trickling down his cheeks. Why was confession so hard, even when the one you were confessing to was actually dead?
Dustin took a deep, ragged breath. "Hunter, I lied," he said dully. "To myself, if not out loud. So I'm going to say this now, and then curse myself for being such a fool that I let my possible happiness slip out of my grasp.
"I love you, dude. As strange as it sounds, I do. And I should have told you this while you were alive..." Sobs caught in Dustin's throat, and he pressed his cheek against the cold hand he held. "If you were here, Hunter... If you were still alive, I'd be on my hands and knees begging you to forgive me. I hope that, wherever you are now... If you can see me... I just hope... That you can... forgive me..."
Dustin lowered his head, and allowed himself to weep.
"Dustin, I've found something!" Cam's voice suddenly came from the other room.
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