Disclaimer: Not mine, someone else's. As fans of mine know I'm a massive fan of Andros and Zhane friendship fics, so I couldn't do a small series about friendships without including them. So, please read and review and enjoy. Angel Mouse, August 2005.

Unusual Bonds 2 – The Silver and The Red

by Angel Mouse

Oh - thinkin' about all our younger years
There was only you and me
We were young and wild and free

- Bryan Adams - Heaven

The Red

If I ever think about it, and I sometimes do, he's always been there for me. Ever since I could remember he's always been somewhere nearby for me. His life hasn't been a picnic that's for sure, but he's always kept a joyful outlook on life, always has a smile on his face if I need to see one. And he always seems to know when I need cheering or need someone to shed tears on that I dare not show anyone else. He's the one that knows my hopes, my fears, my weakness's and my strengths. And I know his as well. He's the other half of my soul it seems sometimes and I would be lost in this terrible world of ours without him.

I don't honestly know how he stays so happy and so alive all the time. Look what's happened to him in his short life. He was orphaned at the age of two when his village was destroyed by an attack by Dark Spectre. His parents were friends of my parents, so naturally my parents took him in to finish raising him. He had no family of his own and they had asked my permission if I would mind having him around. Karone hadn't long been born and I had suddenly discovered massive over protective streak towards her. It naturally extended to him when my parents brought him home. It took a little while for me to break through his shell but when I did, I discovered I had a friend for life.

When I think about it, once I had broken through his shell, he turned out to be the best thing that had happened to me since Karone. I mean, this guy could come up with the most mischievous of pranks and jokes and everyone would naturally forgive him because it was him. He had, and still has to this day, the most innocent looking smile and grin that would disarm even the most hardened heart. I swear he could get Dark Spectre himself to give up if he had a mind to. Honestly, I don't know how he does it. But he always makes me laugh and always has a smile and I know it's just for me. It's only ever for me. He is the one thing that gets me through each day, ever since Karone was kidnapped. He is my life line in these dark hours.

If it wasn't for him, I would be lost in this dark and lonely universe. He even sacrificed two years of his own life, saving mine and that is a debt I will never be able to repay. He makes me feel sometimes unworthy of the unswerving loyalty and faith he has in me. But he tells me he's never regretted a single thing and now he's back by my side, all feels right with the universe. He is the other half of my soul, my brother, my best friend, my fellow ranger. He is Zhane and I wouldn't trade him in for anything else in the whole wide universe. In fact, I couldn't imagine my life without him by my side. With him by my side, I feel able to take on the whole universe, and in fact, sometimes we do.

The Silver

Sometimes he takes life to seriously. He honestly does. I swear the universe won't come crashing down around his ears if he smiled once in a while. Honestly, does he think it will? Ever since we were young and we first met he's always been so serious, so straight laced, so over protective. Sure, when we first meet up I had just suffered through the horrendous loss of my parents but I could barely remember them. Sometimes that does hurt, that I can't remember their faces or their voices, but I was only two. All I can really remember is the feeling of love they had for me. And I think that's all that's important right?

But once I got settled into his house and with his family, things began to feel right and feel good for me. His little sister was just gorgeous and won her way into my heart, just like her older brother. He was always so serious but even then I could get him to laugh and to play. We always had fun. I could always make up the most fun games and jokes to pull on our school mates. We almost never got caught but when we did, he accepted the punishment with good grace. But it was all worth it to see him smile and relax.

After Karone was taken it was like almost all the life had gone out of him for a long while. It took everything I had to bring him out of his shell even a little bit. But I did eventually get him to start living again. We became inseparable really. It was like he was the other half of my soul. We fought together, played together, lived, loved and ate together. It was like I had been born for one purpose and one purpose only and that was to make sure he lived his life.

If it wasn't for him, I don't know what would have become of me. No family, no friends, shuffled from place the place like an unwanted piece of furniture, I don't think I could have dealt with that. He literally saved me from that life and I would do anything for him. And I did. When I saw his life was in danger, I didn't even think, I just acted. He's always saying that's my problem, I act before I think sometimes and sure, sometimes I do. But this day it was to save his life and I have never, ever regretted my actions.

Two years later and I wake up from hyper sleep and find him again. He was always in the back of my mind, but two years for him were literally seconds for me and it felt like no time had passed. But my soul, my heart, my entire being felt the pain of his loneliness and it was something that I regret to even this day. I had to leave him alone for so long but now I'm back and by his side. Everything is right with the universe again. He's smiling more often, he's even laughing occasionally. With him by my side, I know that I'm invincible and nothing will ever separate us again. The two of us are part of one soul, one being, one mind, and one body. Nothing will ever come between Andros and me ever again. I'll see to it personally. After all, I'm the Silver Ranger, most powerful Ranger in the universe. And if I want this, I'll make it happen. And trust me, I really want this.