Theme Challenge: Bridge and Z
For the Ars Amatoria Ranger Romance Themes Challenge
Challenge #14: Knight
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Obviously. Otherwise, one or more of these little ficlets would have happened already!
A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait! College has been kicking my butt all over the place, and my computer's been doing something wonky. Blech. But I managed to write this, just a sweet little look into Z's head. I hope you like it!
Knight
When she was younger, she had dreamed of fairytale princes and a thousand different loves. Not that she would tell anyone this--not that anyone would believe her. After all, she didn't wear pink. Syd was the pink ranger, so of course Syd was the only girly-girl allowed, Syd could have romantic fluffy fantasies and that was okay. But Z wore yellow, was different than Syd, so of course that had to mean that on the inside Z was different than Syd.
That wasn't true, though. Z wanted a fairytale, too. No one knew, that's all.
God, but she had millions upon millions of beautiful fantasies living inside her, enough tales of love to write a little girl's perfect storybook. And each story, every little tale was different. In one, they met on a beach and swam in the warm, salty ocean. In another, they fell in love under the Parisian night skies.
In her favorite, the one she kept wrapped up secret deep inside her, she discovered that she was actually a long-lost princess, that her father hadn't died when she was nine, that her mother hadn't run away, and it turned out they just lost her by accident, and they wanted their princess back, so they sent out a handsome knight from another kingdom to find her. And he did. They fell in love in between fighting evil dragons together and he led her back to her parents' kingdom and they all lived happily ever after…
Okay, so maybe that one was a little far-fetched, especially the stuff about being a princess. But no matter what the story was, no matter how crazy, how normal, how cliched or not, one thing remained constant. Her lover, the prince, the man she'd dreamed of…every time, it never failed--he was tall, dark, and handsome, and he always whisked her away from the cold dark streets and promised to always love her and take care of her, and promised that she'd never have to live alone on the horrible streets again…
That's how the story always went. A beautiful Cinderella story, a beautiful Prince Charming of a man…those tales of love and happy endings had been the only thing to get her through the day sometimes. The hope of a new tomorrow, the hope of a castle, a palace, a golden slipper…a Prince Charming who didn't care about her past on the streets.
Sometimes, in the complete silence and stillness of night, she imagines true love. She imagines it to feel a little like forgiveness, a little like understanding…a little like a prince who didn't care that she had been a dirty little street rat from the time she was about twelve. A tall, dark handsome prince, a brave knight that loved her for all that she was, all that she is, all that she would be…
Bridge is not tall. Well, not compared to Sky, certainly, and Sky is what one would consider traditionally tall.
Bridge is not dark. He's not milk-pale, either, and his hair is brown, but he is not dark, not mysterious. Well, most of the time, anyway.
And he's not…
Well, yes. He is handsome. Wildly so. Maybe not to some other girls, the girls who flock to Sky and his tallness, his brooding silver eyes, his broad shoulders, but to her, he is so handsome, gorgeous, with his blue eyes like open skies, with his smile so boyish and easy and warm, with his hair crazy and out of control. And he is absolutely made of charm. He truly is a charming prince. He could make friends with stones. He smiles, and the world is set at ease. She is set at ease.
And now that she thinks about it, her fantasies are coming true. She and Bridge did fall in love in the midst of fighting "dragons". Monsters, at least. And the best part is, he's not just a charming prince. He's also part court jester and part brave knight in shining armor, and he treats her like a princess, even though she knows she really isn't one, and her parents aren't really searching for her.
But maybe she doesn't need to be found anymore.
Now that she thinks about it, they fell in love on a beach, too. On their six-month anniversary, he took her to the beach and just as the sun was setting, he told her he loved her (after about five minutes of rambling about it first, she remembers with a smile.) They dove into the warm crashing water as the moon rose, and she kissed him softly and repeated the words to him over and over because it was the only thing she could think of to say.
It's been six months since that day, and she still smells salt when he says the word 'love'.
Well, they haven't been to Paris yet, but she figures they'll go someday. Maybe for a honeymoon. She smiles at the thought.
It's their one-year anniversary today. Maybe over dinner she'll share these girlhood fantasies with him, tell him that all her dreams are true because of him, and maybe he'll smile that bright easy charming smile at her and they'll create new stories together under a starry sky and the moon rising.
Maybe.
Rising moon, starry sky, wide smile, blue eyes…her knight in shining…well, shining green spandex.
Close enough.
LOL I hope that there isn't a long wait for the next installment, although the way things are going at school...Shame on me for taking a full course load. It's taking up all of my fic-writing time! LOL anyway, I hope you liked this; please review! PS to all my reviewers--I love you! Thank you so much!