Disclaimer: no one mentioned belongs to me, I guarantee it.
Conner folded his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. It was either late at night or early in the morning, depending on how you looked at it. Conner didn't particularly care what time it was. He was in a suspended state, neither awake nor asleep. He peered into the darkness, his eyes adjusting to the absence of light as he attempted to find patterns in the gray nothingness of his ceiling.
The mattress jostled, trembling under him, and he glanced to his right. He could barely make out the form of the person sleeping next to him, but there were enough nights that he had stayed awake watching his companion fall asleep that he could see it perfectly in his mind. He knew she was wearing one of his old button-down shirts, born white, but grayed somewhat with age. Her hair was loose, falling long and blond, wavy over her shoulders.
It had been a long, strange trip getting to this point. Once Trent had been healed, once he had been saved, he had begged Kira's forgiveness. And although she had been burned many times by him in the duration of their relationship, after awhile, her heart thawed towards the White Ranger. Conner had his reservations about the relationship from the get-go, but he didn't say anything out of respect for Kira. He managed to keep things polite the entire time the team was together, but he couldn't deny the sense of relief he had felt when they finally lost their powers and Trent no longer had any tangible reason to hang out with them. Which he didn't, taking into account the cool attitudes Conner and Ethan had always displayed towards them.
Conner wanted to feel bad for the guy, he really did. The circumstances around Anton Mercer's death were too much for anyone to bear, and Trent had nearly lost his mind on several occasions. Kira was the only thing that kept him stable, it seemed, and she had done her best to help him recover, but it had been taxing. Conner had watched as Kira destroyed herself slowly, trying to help Trent out of a sense of love and pity.
Kira came crying to Conner and Ethan on many occasions, unable to handle the pressure. Conner could only offer consoling hugs and empty promises that everything would be better. It tore him up inside, watching Kira—the strongest person he knew—crumble as she was in a relationship that sucked out everything that she had and gave her zero in return. Trent was rapidly deteriorating into a sorry state. Conner knew there was nothing that he could do; he would just have to wait until she could take no more and got herself out.
In the darkness now, watching the vague shape rise and fall with deep breaths, Conner felt a wave of utter calm wash over him, and he hummed "Freak You Out" softly to himself. When Kira's CD had come out, the song had been her first single, and had splashed over the radio, earning her nods from a few critics, and a considerable amount of airplay. Conner, however, felt an affinity for the song based on the fact that she was singing it the day they officially met.
Conner had not fallen for Kira immediately. His first impression of her was rather that she was an opinionated, out-spoken girl with attitude to spare. And while he admired those traits in her now, he certainly hadn't at the time. He had been both afraid of her ability to go from sugar to spice in the bat of an eye, and put off by her low opinion of him. His entire life, Conner McKnight had never met a woman who hadn't fallen prey to his undeniable charisma. On that particular day, he encountered two of them. Randall he had merely passed off with the notion that she was something less than human, a joke that would later prove to be accidentally prophetic. Kira, on the other hand, was very much a human and very much a girl, though she attempted somewhat to disguise it in her less-than-conventional costume choices. But she was pretty, he admitted to himself grudgingly that particular day, and talented. He had to confess, he was intrigued by this girl who didn't falter in the presence of his winning smile, this girl who just rolled her eyes at his best charms.
Intrigued though he was, he brushed it off. After that day—provided that they got what they had come for, and find a few stupid old rocks to give to the new teacher—he would never have to deal with Kira Ford again. This, however, was proven wrong in a matter of a few hours, as they collected the Dino Gems and were accidentally launched into a world that none of them were prepared for. Conner hadn't given helping the fallen Kira a second thought as they tried to escape from the drones. He was more or less terrified, but he wasn't about to leave her behind to those things. Ethan, maybe, but not Kira.
The rest of the afternoon passed in a whirlwind, as they each discovered hidden powers, trounced the as-yet-unnamed drones, and returned to school with the promise for secrecy. Then Kira backed out. She wanted nothing to do with anything that had transpired that afternoon, and she threatened to castrate the both of them if they ever so much as mentioned this.
She had stalked off barely thirty feet before the drones descended from the sky and kidnapped her.
Conner had screamed her name not once, but twice, rushing to the spot where she'd departed, feeling an overwhelming sense of panic—no one could be expected to save her but him and Ethan, as they were the only ones who had any idea what was going on. More than that, though, Conner felt a rush of guilt. He had insisted that they grab the rocks and go. He was the one responsible for all of this. It was a weight he carried with him for the duration of his duty, the knowledge that had he not picked up that shiny stone, had not encouraged the others to do the same, none of them would be in this boat.
Kira, on the other hand, rescued herself. Something she would do often while they were Rangers together. As they discovered their destiny—as Dr. Oliver sometimes called it, to make them feel better about it—Conner discovered an incredible amount of respect for Kira and Ethan, which translated into firm friendships with the both of them. It was only a matter of time before Conner's esteem for Kira developed into an infatuation. Before he really knew what had hit him, Conner discovered he was in love with Kira. He found himself oftentimes staring at her longer or more intensely than was really necessary, and receiving a tingle in his skin whenever she and he touched, however briefly.
Ethan was the only one who knew. Dr. O was oblivious to Hayley's own infatuation with him, so Conner's crush on Kira went completely unnoticed. And so much for female intuition, because Kira didn't have a clue. Ethan often took both extremes in a day, first teasing Conner for his unrequited love on the one girl he could never get, and then consoling his best friend as he lamented his dire straits.
When all was said and done, when their powers were lost, the three of them were still close friends. Conner's love for Kira raged strong, but she turned to Trent, who was soon on a self-destructive path. He was never so bad as to directly abuse Kira in any way. It was far worse, actually, as he barely acknowledged her existence. She did her very best to help him, as was her nature, but he rejected her every advance, and for every step forward she was able to take him, he took himself five steps back. Defeated, Kira eventually called it quits and went into a state of deep depression for six months. They were the hardest months of Conner's life, easily. Even worse than the two years plus he had wasted on his unfulfilled crush, because now Kira, his best friend in addition to the girl he loved, was in pain. He watched as she darted from therapist to therapist, trying to get some sort of professional opinion on how to salvage her life.
When she finally came to terms with everything, she also came to Conner's door. He remembered that afternoon vividly, changing his life forever. She had interrupted him in the middle of a workout, and sweat had been dripping from his hair into his eyes when he opened the door. She was gaunt, her yellow tank top hanging on her loosely. It had been pure coincidence, or maybe fate, that they were all wearing their Ranger colors the day they had grabbed the gems. But even after they had lost their powers, they still all wore their colors. It was both intentional and habit.
Kira looked as though she'd been crying. Conner immediately pulled her to him in a hug, no longer embarrassed that he was in his cruddy, sweat-drenched and reeking workout clothes. Kira had been a mess of emotions for a long time, but she'd never cried, that he could recall. She was too strong a person for that, but apparently even that last wall had crumbled. He himself was in a state of shock just witnessing it. "Kira, what's wrong?"
"I'm so sorry," she said, mumbling into his chest, her warm breath making the thin material of his wifebeater flutter against his skin.
"Sorry for what?" he asked, holding her gently.
"For treating you the way I have. You mean so much to me, Conner, and I've been so horrible to you for so long." He mumbled that it was okay, and she spoke with a raw voice. "Why is it okay? Why do I keep being rotten to you when you're only trying to help, and you keep being there for me? You're a good person, Conner, but you're not a saint."
"Because I love you."
She drew back from him, leaving his body cold in her absence, and blinked up at him. "What?"
He hadn't realized he'd said it aloud. He wasn't sure what to do now, but decided the only option was the truth. "I love you, Kira. I have for awhile now."
"And you let me go to Trent?" she said. "You loved me and you didn't stop me from going down that self-destructive path?"
"It was a path you wanted to go down," he said. "I wasn't about to stop you. You wouldn't have listened anyway," he said with a short laugh. "You never listen to me."
"Maybe because you never say anything worth listening to," she retorted, and he smiled at that, because it sounded like the Kira that he knew so well, the Kira that he'd fallen in love with. "I think I'm back," she said, "for good this time. And I have you to thank. You're my rock, Conner."
Conner only nodded, not sure of what to say to that, and finding himself unable to speak anyway. His admission of love had left him more or less speechless, as though his vocal chords were rebelling.
"I think I love you." There were many times that Conner had imagined Kira acknowledging that she shared his feelings, but nothing prepared him for this, and he felt tears welling up in his eyes. If Ethan could see him now, he'd laugh so hard he'd throw up.
"You don't have to be ready for anything now," he said. "I've been waiting a long time, I can wait longer."
"Oh, that is just so magnanimous of you," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Wait...what?" he asked, confused by her SAT hot list word.
She grinned wickedly, a smile that set his insides on fire. "Some things never change, Conner," she said, and next thing he knew, she was kissing him—tentatively, too afraid to put any real passion in it, but it was good enough for Conner.
She had stayed that evening. They had sat together on the couch, the TV on, but Kira had fallen asleep within the first five minutes. Conner was content to have her in his arms, to breathe her in, and he had an odd sense of completeness. Kira was confused right now, like she was learning to walk for the first time, and she didn't need Conner as a lover, but as the same friend she'd had all this time. But Conner no longer had to hide. His secret was out in the open, and the next move would be hers. That didn't terrify him as he thought it should have, rather it gave him a relaxed attitude. It was like taking a final—the hard part was over, now came the coasting while he waited for the grade.
Next to him, Kira stirred. He smiled as she rolled over, and the scant moonlight in the room illuminated her eyeballs, giving her an odd, mystic look. "What are you doing up?" she asked quietly. "And why are you humming that song?"
"Go back to sleep," he said.
"Like I can, now that I know you're watching me! That's kind of creepy."
"That is so not creepy."
"It's like you're stalking me or something."
"If I was stalking you, I'd totally be outside with binoculars now. Go back to sleep."
She huffed. "Fine." She rolled away from him again, and he just smiled.
That first week had been hesitant, until at one of their impromptu get-togethers—still located at Hayley's—Ethan blurted out, "You two are in love, just get on with it already." Conner and Kira had been taken aback, but something seemed to dawn in Kira's eyes that reflected what Conner already knew.
It had been a year, give or take. Conner didn't keep track of dates, never had, never would. He figured that Kira knew it exactly, but wanting to maintain her tough image, she would never announce it and never pressured him if he forgot an anniversary. Not that he needed an anniversary, really—he relished every opportunity he could to tell her how much he loved her. After the first time, it was just so ridiculously easy to say, so he said it as often as he could.
It had been a year, and Conner was playing for the Reefside Waves, contrary to what Ethan had guessed on the day they'd become Rangers. Kira had her new album out, and while she wasn't the next Avril Lavigne, she certainly wasn't the next Britney Spears. She had respect from a lot of people, she was doing what she wanted to do and not what the label wanted, and more importantly, she was having a lot of fun. Ethan was attending nearby Angel Grove University, Dr. Oliver's alma mater, as a computer science major. He was already the pride of the department. Dr. Oliver was still teaching at Reefside High, and had gotten 'teacher of the month' on several occasions. Trent still lived in town, but he kept to himself, which suited Conner fine.
Every week, the original team of four got together at Hayley's, just to hang out. Though her agent didn't agree with it, occasionally Kira would put on a free show, as thanks to Hayley for giving the girl her start. Since they were no longer his students, Dr. Oliver could hang out with them a lot more openly. He even asked that they call him Tommy, like his other friends did, but more often than not, they still called him Dr. O. Hayley's crush on him still went unnoticed by Tommy and unmentioned by anyone else, but her feelings, however hidden, were not as one-sided as they'd been previously. Ethan was back together with Cassidy, and the pairing still amused Conner to no end, although the mismatched couple was surprisingly right for each other, just as he and Kira were.
Kira rolled over in the throes of her sleep, and he found her snuggling against him, not that he minded in the slightest. He touched the softness of her bare arm, the fuzzy unkemptness of her blond bed head. Her breath was raspy against his chest, not quite a snore. So this was what perfection was.