Chapter Ten

Sitting on the bed opposite Shadow's, Sky watched her sleep. After the seizure, or whatever it was that had taken place, Shadow had fallen asleep. Sky had remained at her side, alert and waiting for whatever else might happen. But the rest of the night passed peacefully and without mishap.

It was now nearly six in the morning. Soon everybody would be rousing themselves from their sleep and heading off to patrol or to the training grounds. Sky would need to sneak back to his room soon, but he was reluctant to leave Shadow alone, even for a few minutes. What if something happened when he wasn't there?

He shook his head. No, he couldn't be worried about this girl…women. She meant nothing to him. She was a continual thorn in his side. Why did he care if she was hurt or not?

Sky sighed, confused, and put his head in his hands. Shadow mumbled under her breath. Sky smiled slightly. Ever since she had fallen asleep, Shadow had been mumbling things nonstop. He would have to remember to tell her she talked in her sleep. She rolled onto her side, facing Sky. Hair fell in her face, hiding it from him. He reached out and gently brushed the hair behind her ear, his fingers softly brushing against the cool skin of her face. Suddenly realizing what he was doing, Sky pulled away quickly.

What was going on with him? Why, all of a sudden, did he feel the need to protect and take care of Shadow?

Perhaps because she trusted you with something that nobody else knows, the small, annoying voice in Sky's head said. You've given her no reason to trust you, yet, she does.

Sky shook his head to dislodge the voice. He looked down at Shadow.

With her eyes closed, her lips parted and turned up slightly at the corners, she looked innocent and childlike.

Not knowing what he was doing, Sky found himself reaching back out to brush her cheek. Her skin was so soft and smooth. Shadow sighed contentedly and snuggled further beneath the covers. Sky looked at his hand and stood quickly. He had to get out of there, had to clear his head. With one last look at Shadow, Sky turned and exited her room.


Sleepily, Shadow's eyes fluttered open. She sat up and ran a hand through her mussed hair. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around the room, expecting to see Sky there, but he wasn't. Shadow was confused, had last night been nothing more than another hallucination? No, it couldn't be. Everything had felt so real. She pushed the covers off of her and swung her legs over the side of the bed. The floor was cold beneath her bare feet as she stood and moved slowly towards her bathroom.

Looking in the mirror above the sink, Shadow took in the dark circles beneath her eyes and the bruises on her upper arms. Bruises! Then it had been real, she wasn't just imagining everything. She looked down at where her hands rested on the porcelain sink. There was no trembling. Was she really and truly cured of her addiction? There really wasn't any way of knowing, was there? At least not until it was time for another craving.

"Guess I'll just have to wait it out." She said to her reflection. Her reflection simply stared back, hopefully, in return.


The day went steadily by. Training, then patrols passed, and still Shadow didn't even so much as entertain the thought of getting high. The antidote had worked.

Night was falling down upon the city, and the cadets were settling in for the night. Shadow sat with Syd and Z in the rec room talking as Bridge and Jack played a video game. The black Ranger looked up when Sky entered the room.

All that day he had been avoiding her, or so it seemed. He had barely spoken a word to her or acknowledged her. Even with what they had been through the previous night, Sky still seemed unable to accept Shadow. And he had been making such progress.

"I'll be right back." Shadow said, excusing herself from the conversation and heading over to where Sky was sitting down, his ever present book open in his lap.

"Can…can I talk to you?" She asked him, shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably. She could feel the stares of her fellow Rangers on her back, watching her.

"About what?" Sky didn't even look up at her.

"You know what." She said, her eyes shifting to see if anybody could hear their conversation. "Please Sky?"

The blue Ranger sighed and closed his book.

"Okay," he said standing up, "let's talk."


Curiously, Jack watched Sky and Shadow leave the room. What could they possibly be doing? Why did they have need to going off to talk privately? Could it be that they were secretly interested in each other? Nah. Jack shook his head, clearing it of thought and focused back on the video game he was playing.

Shadow and Sky couldn't stand each other. There was no way they could secretly be a couple. It just wasn't plausible. Besides, Shadow was much too smart to be interested in Sky. Not to mention, Jack was pretty certain that he had felt something between him and Shadow when the red Ranger had helped her back to Headquarters. It might have just been his imagination, but he was certain that Shadow, too, had felt the electricity between them.


Sky sat on his bed, watching Shadow pace in front of him. She chewed on the pad of her thumb, her gaze on her feet.

"You wanted to talk?" Sky said, interrupting the young woman's pacing.

"What? Oh, yeah." Shadow stopped pacing and stood still. She looked at Sky, then quickly back at her feet, then back at Sky. A heavy sigh escaped her.

"Is something wrong?" Sky asked, "Did the antidote not work?" Shadow blinked and shook her head.

"No…I mean yes…I mean." She drew in a deep breath. "The antidote worked, don't worry. But," she sat on Bridge's bed, facing Sky, their knees touching, "I think something else is wrong."

"What?" Sky didn't know why, but he was genuinely worried about Shadow.

"I think that something happened last night that made you…" Shadow paused, and Sky could see that she was carefully choosing her next words, "uneasy around me now."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sky shook his head.

"You've been avoiding me all day." Shadow insisted.

"I have not," he defended himself, "I've just been busy." Shadow gave him a look. Sky sighed and looked down at his hands, which were clasped together.

"You know you talk in your sleep." He said after a moment.

"What the heck does that have to do with what we're talking about?" Shadow cried. Anybody could see that she was quickly losing her patience.

"Nothing, just trying to change the subject."

"And why would you want to change the subject? You've been avoiding me Sky, even more so than usual. Why is that?"

"I really don't know." Sky said forcefully, "I have no clue why." Shadow let out a frustrated scream and stomped her foot on the floor.

"You really know how to frustrate me, you know that." She said, standing up and smiling weakly down at Sky. She shook her head, "I don't know why I let you get to me." With another shake of her head, she left the room.

Sky sighed and lay back on his bed. He did know why he'd been avoiding Shadow, but it wasn't something that he was about to tell her. He was not about to reveal to her that he had begun to care for her. Nope, there was no way he was ever going to tell her that.


A short chapter, yes, but a pretty good one I think. This story should be getting more interesting now that both Jack and Sky are beginning to realize their feelings for Shadow. So now it's time for you all to do your part and vote for which one of these handsome gentlemen is going to win fair lady's heart. In your review please vote for either Jack and Sky. Right now the count is currently at:

Sky- 19

Jack- 26