Variations Of Pink
Chapter 4: Emotional Turmoil
By: Pink-Green-White-4ever
Last Revised: August 11, 2005
Summary: A quiet moment to delve into the Rangers' thoughts while they deal with Sydney's first 'Episode'.
Rated: T for now, but it may change
Disclaimer: I don't own PR, Disney does.
AN: Yes, I know everyone's dying to see the bad guy again, to know what's happening with Syd, and to see the long awaited conversation between Syd and her parents, but I thought we needed a chapter to delve a little deeper into what the Rangers are going through. You'll notice, I used Bridge the most in this chapter, as it just seemed appropriate for him to be the one looking at them all as they deal. Thanks for the reviews! You all rock!
When you're feeling lost in the night,
When you feel your world just ain't right
Call on me, I will be waiting
Count on me, I will be there
Anytime the times get too tough,
Anytime your best ain't enough
I'll be the one to make it better,
I'll be there to protect you,
See you through,
I'll be there and there is nothing
I won't do.
I will cross the ocean for you
I will go and bring you the moon
I will be your hero, your strength
Anything you need
I will be the sun in your sky
I will light your way for all times
Promise you,
For you I will.
-- For You I Will, Monica --
The common room was deathly silent as the Rangers sat together. Syd was curled into a ball on Sky's lap facing Z, her head nestled under Sky's chin. Z was on Sky's right, her hand clutching Syd's. Bridge was on Sky's left, his hand rubbing Sydney's back soothingly, and Jack was on the other side of Z, his hand covering the girls'.
'A year ago, this never would have happened' Jack thought, clenching his eyes closed, trying to block out the memory of Sydney sobbing in Sky's arms when he, Z, and Bridge had rushed into the common room after Kat had summoned them. They were a family now, and if there was one thing that pissed off Jack Landors more than anything else, it was someone messing with his family.
Z sat between two of her best friends while she clutched the hand of another's, silently hoping to offer some comfort. She could see the pain in Syd, could feel it like it was her own. She could also feel the tension in both Jack and Sky, if for two very different reasons. And through it all, Bridge remained the most calm, though that didn't really surprise Z that much. That's just the kind of man Bridge Carson was – he was calm when others weren't, he was comforting when it was needed, and he was fiercely loyal. Z could tell though, just from the look in Bridge's eyes, that he might have some idea what was bugging Syd.
Sky hadn't said a word from the moment he'd left Kat's office with Sydney in his arms. He hoped to offer Syd some comfort, even though he wanted to press her for answers, and knew that pushing her right now would defeat the purpose of getting her calmed down. In the years since he'd met Sydney Drew, he'd never seen her go into a catatonic state, not like she was now. It broke him into tiny, jagged, little pieces to see the free spirited, peppy Sydney so…broken.
If he wasn't so use to keeping his feelings suppressed, he might actually admit to himself he was in love with her, and had been for a very long time. But first and foremost, he was teammate and friend, being anything further wasn't likely to happy any time soon. 'I'd have to start showing her how I felt before I told her outright. Hell…why can't I just admit I'm in love with her?'
Bridge watched each of them, watched the emotions playing across their faces and in their auras. His friends were a complicated bunch if he ever saw one.
From Jack, Bridge felt the overwhelming need to protect what the Red Ranger considered his; they were family to Jack, and the simple fact that he couldn't help fix Syd's problem was driving the Red Ranger bananas.
From Z, he felt an overwhelming depth of sympathy for Syd, along with a healthy dose of worry for the fragility of Syd's state of mind. If there was one thing in the last year that Bridge had learned about the very pretty Yellow Ranger, it was that she cared a lot more than she let on. She and Sydney were close, as close as Z was with Jack. For Z to have to sit back and let nature take it's course was gnawing at her; she was a doer, not a let's wait and see kind of person.
Bridge analyzed his own feelings toward the situation. He was worried, upset, and feeling protective. If there was one thing he prided himself on, it was that he was slow to anger. In this case, however, whatever had been done to his "sister" had him nearly at full boil.
The Green Ranger could make a clear distinction of Sydney's feelings, and what he sensed worried him. It was almost like Syd was detached from herself – most of her thoughts were incoherent, but the few he could make out relaxed him only marginally.
Syd was calmer than he'd seen her in a while, something he attributed to the fact that they were all being quiet and directing positive thoughts toward her, and that the unflappable Z was maintaining a direct link with her. Whether Z knew it or not, she had very latent abilities that exuded calmness.
Bridge sensed Syd's feeling of security seeping back in – that he appointed to knowing her teammates were present and she was safe. Syd's sense of normalcy and order was coming back online slowly – that he knew was coming from Jack. Syd, in this state, would see the Red Ranger as the symbol for order and organization, as he was the leader of their team.
Her feelings of being anchored by their support and friendship she was feeling because of his presence; that made the Green Ranger relax a little more. However, it was the final emotions he felt from her that made him more comfortable than any of her other ones. Sydney felt wanted, and loved. While Bridge knew he could attribute that to all of them, the majority of those two feelings were because of the man holding onto Syd like she was about to disappear.
Though the Blue Ranger had never said so outright, Bridge knew Sky was in love with their friend. Both he and Sydney had gotten under Sky's skin, and had become his friends, but somehow, Sydney had kept going, and had managed to worm her way right into Sky's heart without the older man having realized it until there was nothing he could do about it.
And all of that brought Bridge to what he was feeling from Sky. The Blue Ranger, by all appearances, looked only slightly worried. However, a closer look from the Green Ranger told a different story. Sky was scared; scared for the team, but most of all, scared for Sydney. The Blue Ranger was also intensely angry with the situation and his inability to change it. More than any of the rest of them, Sky believed he should be able to help Sydney go back to being her normal self; he saw himself as her protector, the blue knight to Sydney's pink princess.
The thing that struck Bridge most though, about Sky's feelings, was the intense wave of love and devotion toward the Pink Ranger. Sky's love for Syd was beyond anything Bridge had ever seen. Sky was willing to die protecting her, to give his life for hers if it came down to it. That scared Bridge. That Sky could be so blindly devoted to Sydney as to give up his own life for her…didn't Sky realize Syd felt the same way for him, that if he gave up his life she would fee her own was no longer worth living?
The Rangers' peace and quiet was shattered when two figures stepped into the common room. Looking up, all five Rangers came face to face with two worried looking adults.
"Sydney?"
"Mom? Dad?"
Short, sweet, and a small look into what the gang's feeling.