Disclaimer: Buena Vista owns the Power Rangers. "Complicated" is by Avril Lavigne from her album, Let Go.
Timeline: after "Shimazu Returns Part#2".
Author's Note: so this one took a bit longer to write. not for any story reason, but 'cause my May was full of fun and adventure. so I'm cool with missing a deadline. grin Rockies vs. Dodgers, ice cream, and 'homework'. thanks TJ, Red, Sugarplum, and Starhawk.
by Adrienne Sekitou
You come over unannounced, dressed up like you're
someone else
Where you are ain't where it's at, you see you're making me
Laugh out when you strike a pose, take off all your preppy clothes
You know you're not fooling anyone when you become
Somebody else 'round everyone else
You're watching your back, like you can't relax
You're trying to be cool, you look like a fool to me
"Well, dude, they were pretty good."
Maybe he shouldn't have said that. 'Cause amidst the odd and disbelieving looks of his friends had been Cam's look which was, well, not like the others.
Cam knew. Maybe. Not everything of course. Dustin didn't even think he knew everything, and he was involved. But something. He didn't know know. But he knew.
'Cause Cam had been smiling during the performance, same as Dustin. Both had hid it quickly, clapping slowly with the others. But when Dustin had said they were good… There was just something about that look from Cam. Sympathetic? Understanding? Maybe Cam just wanted to know his family now that he knew he had some. Dunno.
But it was something. Right when Dustin had commented on Marah and Kapri's singing. Or what they thought was their singing. Supposedly their singing, but enhanced. It had been a confusing day.
He hadn't told Marah he was going on Totally Talented. Of course, she hadn't told him she was going on it either. If he had told her, he had figured she would want to come. And that might have been a little too dangerous. The others would surely recognize her. Which they had. Of course, there was a difference between recognizing her onstage, and not noticing an anonymous audience member.
Was there a reason she had been there? Like a whole evil space ninja scheme? Or was performing just something she had wanted to do? She might tell him if he asked, she might not.
They'd never actually said it, but there had been some agreements between them. They didn't talk about work much. All that good and evil, secret plans and weapons stuff. Occasionally one of them, usually Marah, would mention a plot gone foul that the other didn't know about. But not often. And always afterward. None of that mattered when they were together, so they didn't talk about it. It made things easier.
So if there had been a plot about Totally Talented, he might never know. But it couldn't hurt to ask.
He took off when the team left the studio. Everyone was headed off for pizza. Even Cam. Dustin suspected Hunter had talked him into it somehow. He told them he'd meet up with them later. And they'd bought his excuses easy enough. Or maybe they were too wrapped up in arguing about who was better, despite Cam's claim that they were all winners. Either way he was able to duck out of the group with little protest.
He didn't even take the time to stop at home to change or drop off his saxophone. He only had so long before the others might get worried and come looking for him. Everyone tended to be a little extra freaked on days with such serious attacks like today. So he just left. He didn't know if he could find Marah, but he was gonna try.
Turned out he didn't have to look very hard. If she didn't want to be found, she did a really bad job of hiding. Unless she was hiding from Lothor and the other evil dudes. Then well, yeah, whatever.
But he found her at Blue Bay Point. She was sitting on their usual bench, twirling her hat aimlessly on her finger. She looked a little lost. And mostly miserable.
"That was a great song," he said, walking up from behind.
She cocked her head a little, but didn't turn. "That isn't very funny."
He shrugged and sat down beside her, setting his saxophone case beside the bench. "I didn't mean it to be."
"What did you mean then?" She dropped her hat on her knee.
He shrugged again. He didn't know what to say, but what else was new? Things seldom went as planned where Marah and he were concerned.
"You just, you know." She glanced at him questioningly, making it clear that, no, she didn't know. And that if he was going to make a remark like that he'd better explain it.
"The song was really cool, no matter who was singing it --"
"It was us," she interrupted, repeating what they had claimed at the studio. "Just, well… enhanced."
He nodded. "See, that's really cool. And the performance was great too. But I was just happy to see you."
She looked at him oddly, "What, you weren't afraid we were up to no-good, or mad that we screwed up your tv show?"
"No," he started, and then stopped, admitting, "Okay, the others probably were. But I wasn't. I was like, worried about you."
"Why?" She seemed honestly confused.
He sighed and tried to put his thoughts into a semi-logical-sounding statement. "Look, dude, you don't have to do all this, you know. Pretending to be something you're not." And he didn't just mean that day at the talent show. It was about everything.
Marah pretended everyday. Either she was evil and pretended to be good around him, or she was really good and pretended to be evil around everyone else. But Dustin wanted her to know she didn't have to. Not with him.
'Cause yeah, he didn't know which Marah was real. And he kinda doubted she knew either. And yeah, he believed she was really good at heart. But did whether she was or not really matter? He liked spending time with her either way. He had accepted her, good or evil. She just needed to learn to accept herself too.
"The only thing you have to be is yourself," he said, all confident. Which made her half-laugh sound all the more cynical.
"I think there are too many 'me's." She shook her head. "It's so not that simple. It's all complicated and stuff. Everyone expects something, and it can't even be the same thing!"
"Yeah, but you can't please everyone. You're just you. People should accept that." He tried to catch her eye, but she avoided his gaze. "You don't have to pretend. Especially not for me. I like you the way you are."
Now she did look, peeking at him out of the corner of her eye. "Good or evil?"
He nodded, "I'm here, aren't I?"
She sighed and leaned back against the bench. He didn't know if he had convinced her of anything, but at least now she was smiling.
She turned her head then, really looking at him closely for the first time. She glanced from him to the case by the bench.
"I never got to hear you play," she said, nodding at the case. I mean, we teleported down right before we went on stage. And before that I had seen you on the monitor, but there was no sound."
He looked toward the case, then back to her. "Want me to play for you now?"
"That would be so cool!" she stopped, composing herself to finish. "If you want to, that is." But he was already opening the case.
Dustin stood, suddenly all self-conscious. Playing on the street outside Storm Chargers or on tv had been nothing. But here alone with Marah he was nervous. Go figure.
So he started playing. And she looked happy. Happier than he'd seen her all day. 'Cause her smile seemed real. Not all fake like the one she had worn on stage, pretending to be someone she wasn't.
Halfway through the song his morpher chimed. He just played louder so she couldn't hear it. The others must be wondering what was keeping him. He couldn't ignore it for long or they would come looking. Figuring he'd been ambushed or something. And them finding Marah would so not look good. They would assume the worst, and he really didn't want her in trouble.
But he could finish the song. And see her smile. And hope she would remember what they had talked about. 'Cause good or evil, he'd be there.
I like you the way you are, when we're driving in your car
And you're talking to me one on one
But you become
Somebody else 'round everyone else
You're watching your back, like you can't relax
You're trying to be cool, you look like a fool to me
TBC