silence

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

Chapter Nine

He lies down on her bed, lying flat on his back. The princess slowly walks over to him, sitting down on the foot of the bed. She plays with the hem of his pants, but when he looks at her she pulls her hand away. She looks away from him, and he lays his head back down. He closes his eyes, but he can feel her eyes on him again. He tries to ignore her, but he also finds it hard to go back to sleep. Suddenly she says, "Jason?"

He mumbles a response, keeping his eyes shut. She doesn't say anything else, and he opens his eyes. She's biting her lip, and playing with her hands. He sits up. "What is it?"

"Nothing." She looks down, but he puts a finger under her chin, lifting her head up.

"What is it?" He repeats.

"I… I want you."

"I know. I want you too."

"No. I mean I want you." She touches his face, the realization dawning on him.

"Oh." Is all he can say.

"I don't know what's going to happen when this is all over, but I know that I love you. And I want my first time to be with you." She leans in, pressing her lips to his.

He pulls away, resting his forehead against hers. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life." She leans in again, but he puts a finger to her lips.

"Before we do this, there's something I should tell you." She pouts in response. "There's something I didn't tell you before in the infirmary. About my dream."

She stares at him in confusion. "Remember, I told you my mom died when I was little?"

"Yes." She says slowly.

"What I didn't tell you was that she died in a car bombing, it's how I got this scar." He points to the scar on his face. "I don't remember much about that day, only that that was the day my life changed forever."

"I'm sorry. But… what about your dream?"

"In my dream, my- the girl who burned me, said the bombing was ordered by someone in the royal family." He pauses, unsure of how to say the next part. "She said that it was the queen."

"Oh." She looks down at her lap. "Do you believe her?"

"I don't know. I don't know if anything she said is true. She is trying to kill us both." She doesn't say anything. "Do you believe it?"

"I don't know either." She still isn't looking at him, making it hard to read her face.

"Do you still want to- I mean, I'd understand if you didn't."

She looks back up, touching his face. "I still want to. If you still want to."

He responds with a kiss, as what little bit of self-control he has left crumbles down. She kisses back, pressing herself against him. He wraps his arms around her waist, laying her down on the mattress.

He wakes up to the princess' alarm clock, but he's far too content right now to be annoyed. (And he's been woken up by far louder noises in the guards quarters.) The princess' manicured hand comes out from beneath the blankets, hitting the snooze button. She rolls over, revealing just how unkempt her hair was. The queen would have a cow if she saw her now, but she looked beautiful to him. He brushes one of the many stray strands of hair behind her ear, giving into a kiss. He knows that the moment can't last, but he wanted it to relish in it for as long as he could. He pulls away slowly, stroking her cheek.

She smiles against his lips, placing a hand on his chest. "Good morning to you too."

He laughs, "I just want to savor this before it ends."

"What if it didn't end though?"

"You know that's not possible. As much as we both want that, the queen would never allow it."

She sighs. "I know."

He bites his lip, unsure of what to say next. She sighs again, "we should get going. You have a follow-up with Dr. Campbell."

"And Tommy's getting out of the infirmary today, and the other guards want to be there."

"You're late. Where have you been?" Kat whispers to him, when Jason and the princess get to the infirmary. Before he can think of an answer, Kat narrows her eyes. "Is that a hickey on your neck?"

He puts a hand over where she was pointing, even though deep down he knows it won't do any good. "Things got a little… heated after we left the infirmary last night."

"You don't say? What happened to 'I can't start anything with her'?" She says, quoting what he'd said to her at breakfast yesterday.

"I still can't, and haven't. But last night," he looks at the princess, who again was seemingly none the wiser to their conversation, "it was like I couldn't control myself anymore. But it won't happen again."

Kat opens her mouth to say something else, when the very reason for everyone being there finally shows themself. Jason doesn't miss how Kat perks up at the sight of Tommy being wheeled out in a wheelchair. "And you were talking about me."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Dr. Campbell stops in front of the group, who immediately takes to welcoming their friend back. Dr. Campbell directs her attention to Jason, "Jason."

He takes a deep breath before he and the princess follow Dr. Campbell into the infirmary. "Alright, now take off your.. shirt."

He does as told, to reveal that the burn on his chest had almost completely healed. "Whoa, it didn't look like that last night. What was in that cream?"

Dr. Campbell makes a face almost like she didn't have an answer, before reaching for gloves. She places a patch over his burn, before dismissing them both. Dr. Campbell walks off into her office, leaving them alone. "I wonder what that was about."

"I don't know." He reaches for the top of his armor, getting up from the bed. He notices that the princess is looking at him strangely. "What?"

She shakes her head, looking down at her feet. "Nothing."

"No. There's something on your mind. What is it?"

She bites her lip. "We shouldn't talk about this here. Dr. Campbell might hear, and we should be getting to breakfast."