Disclaimer: Ree's mine. And the mother…sort of. PRSPD is the property of Disney's shareholders.

Author's Note: To my darling reviewers—tell me what you think of the connection between the stories and their respective themes, if you see a connection. Some are probably more blatant than others. These are Syd/Sky stories, but the challenge is in following the themes :)

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Closer

She was afraid. Sky's departure for surgery hadn't seemed that big of a deal, but now that he was out, five and a half hours later, one and a half hours over schedule, what she saw made her throat tighten and her stomach knot.

He lay stiller than she has ever seen him. His entire head was encased in white gauze bandages, and a thin clear plastic tube led in somewhere to allow him to breathe. His skin was a little wan, and there were far more IV lines and equipment clustered around his bed than had been there pre-surgery. A monitor with familiar green squiggles let her know the rhythm of his heart, but she wasn't sure what the rest of the machines were for.

Only family was allowed for visitation technically this soon after the surgery, but Sky's sister had gone ahead and told the nurses on the ward that she and Sky were engaged; they just didn't wear their rings because they were in a rough-and-tumble kind of work. The not-so-little white lie definitely hadn't been Syd's idea, and Sky's doctor would know it wasn't true, but it had done its job in getting her here into his room. It was a strange temperature in here, too cold one minute and too warm the next. She stood closer to the door than to the bed, abhorring the smell of antiseptic and wondering if he hurt beneath those wrappings. He probably did. Every account she had read from recovering neurosurgery patients had said the same thing—that they felt like they'd been kicked in the head for the first couple of days post-surgery.

Why was she afraid to move closer?

She felt a faint revulsion—maybe that was it?—that something like this could happen to someone like Sky. A bad thing happening to a good person. The ache to just touch him and make everything all right again was overwhelming. But she had no such power. It had been some very trying weeks for him, for everyone that cared about him, and to have it all cumulate in such a—well, such a sad sight. All those bandages around his head made her paranoid that there was something much worse underneath, that that was why the bandages were really there. Was his face all swollen? His jaw stiff? The spots under his eyes darkened like two large bruises? If she unwrapped those gauze loops now, what would she find?

Sky's mom and sister Ree came into the room, flocking to Sky's bedside even as they said hello to her. She hung back, watched them hover over Sky, take their places easily on either side of him, fully knowing they belonged there. They whispered some things he probably couldn't hear, and grasped his limp hands in comfort.

Her own hesitance suddenly felt awkward, as if it somehow tarnished the moment with its uncertainty, with its inability to offer consolation. In a low, hoarse voice, she mumbled something about needing some fresh air and excused herself from the room.

Why did she feel like crying? Why was the relief so much harder to take than the long, tense wait?

She was tired—yeah, that's what it was. She needed to wind down properly, to soothe herself with the fact that Sky had made it through his operation just fine. What she really needed was a good night's sleep, but she didn't want to go back to the Academy just yet, in case Sky woke up. It was only six pm. She needed a place that didn't feel suffocating, which was a difficult feat in a place as hectic as a large city hospital. She ended up in the small cafeteria three floors down, where she bought a cup of coffee, not to drink but to hold for warmth. There weren't a lot of people there thankfully, but even so, she removed herself to a table by the window, where she sat for a long while watching the evening sun settle low over a foggy Golden Gate Park.

x-x-x-x-x

Flashback

She threw his arms off from around her and jammed an elbow backwards into his ribs. He faltered only slightly and tried to recapture her with his right arm. She ducked beneath it, sending a double kick to his stomach. He stumbled back, off balance, and she dropped down, sweeping his legs out from beneath him. He went down, but it didn't feel very satisfying.

The truth was, he wouldn't have gone down at all if he had really been trying to overtake her. Going against Sky in full capacity wasn't something she was ready to do just yet. Odds were that he would probably always be the better fighter of the two of them; he just had that natural instinct about when and where and how to move. His well-muscled, six-foot-one frame probably didn't hurt either.

It had been Sky's idea that they go over these close contact defensive maneuvers. Because of her short stature, opponents were sure to try to use their bigger size to subdue her bodily, and she had to learn to defend herself effectively against such attacks. They went through the drills over and over and over again, he playing the enemy and she throwing him off of her. She went through the movements like clockwork, gracefully even, but he insisted that she wasn't adequately prepared until she could do them without having to think about them.

To add some variety to their workout, they also went over ways she could subdue her opponents in turn. Again, because of her smaller frame, her best tactic was to employ a few clever twists of the arm. She needed to use leverage to offset an imbalance in strength. Like before, he went easy on her to teach her the basics, but on one round, he managed to untangle himself from her hold in what seemed an impossible feat of flexibility, and reciprocated the attack. She spun away to avoid being trapped, but he anticipated this. The exact play-by-play was a bit fuzzy, but in the end she found herself caught, arms twisted behind her, his arms locked tight on either side. Interesting enough, instead of facing away from him, they were pressed together chest to chest. Her shoulders ached faintly when she tried to squirm loose. His grip was firm around her wrists, which suddenly felt very small and delicate inside his larger hands.

He looked down at her, and it was then she realized his eyes had a green tint to them, not blue like she'd originally thought.

She struggled a little more before calling called forfeit. He immediately let her go and stepped back, the slightest smirk hovering on the corner of his lips. He didn't say anything as she carefully flexed her arms—not that he was ever one of many words. She smoothed out her t-shirt, tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, then asked,

"Can we try that one again?"

x-x-x-x-x

It was her morpher that let her know she'd fallen asleep, by virtue of being the thing that woke her up. By then, the sun was long gone and her coffee was cold. Groggily, she reached behind her for the little device and flipped it open.

"Syd here."

"Hey, how are you holding up?" It was Jack.

She rubbed her bleary eyes and sat up a little. "I'm all right."

"You sure? You sound a little worn out there."

"You woke me up."

"Oh sorry. We just hadn't heard from you all day. How's Sky?"

"Okay, I think. He made it out of surgery a little while ago." She didn't actually know yet how long she'd been asleep.

"That's good to hear. Have you seen him yet?"

"Yeah. He was still knocked out. We—we don't know if the operation worked yet or not."

"We're all hoping it does. I actually kind of miss the guy, nagging and all." Jack's voice was carefully light. "Anyway, Cruger wanted me to pass along a message. He hopes the both of you are doing well, and that if you don't get yourself back to the Academy by morning, consider yourself suspended from duty."

Syd winced. "Was he really mad when he found out I just left?"

"He wasn't pleased, definitely, but he understands. He's got a planetary defense to run is all, so we sort of need you back here."

"I know." She checked her watch; it was ten minutes to nine. "I didn't want to leave before Sky woke up, but I might have to anyway. It's been way too long of a day."

"I can imagine. Take care, okay? And tell Sky we said get well soon if he's awake."

"I will."

She closed the little communication device and raised her arms above her head, stretching languidly. Out of habit, she wondered if she looked as weary as she felt, in which case she would have looked pretty darn ragged, with dozens of new worry wrinkles. To her surprise though, the thought didn't seem quite as catastrophic as it used to seem. The majority of her focus was still on a hospital room three floors up, or in other words, outside of herself.

It was a tiring feeling.

She returned to Sky's room, which as before was dim and quiet. Ree and her mom were in chairs by the bed, talking in whispers when she entered. The sight of Sky made her pause again, or rather, the sight of bandages where a face should have been, but she forced her feet to keep moving forward. If for no other reason, she had to be closer for the other women to be able to hear her.

"Did he wake up yet?" she asked in a soft whisper.

Ree nodded and whispered back, "For a few minutes. He's doped up pretty good."

Syd smiled tiredly. "Probably to help with the pain." She reached for Sky's hand. "I have to get back to the Academy tonight."

"Are you going to come back? Or are any of the other Rangers?"

"Probably not, as much as we'd like to. We have to stay close to New Tech in case of trouble."

"That's okay." Ree glanced at her brother's sleeping form. "He won't be much fun for a few days anyway."

"Still."

She threaded her fingers through Sky's, finding the contours in which their hands fit together so perfectly. She stroked his knuckles, rubbed little circles in his palm, brought her other hand in to rest atop his. A few minutes later, she thought she felt his fingers curl just a little more.

She smiled, finding hope where she had been afraid just hours before. She decided to stay.