AN: Here is a slightly but not enough revised chapter 1 of Along the Way. I expect this story to continue changing happily, so it's definitly an experience. Enjoy, and feed me!
Part 1: Counting Doubts on Broken Fingers
She didn't really understand the training sessions, but they were fun to watch. Snuggled up with a cup of coffee under Theo's fuzzy purplish blanket, Fran watched them spar from the balcony and cheered when it seemed appropriate. She made sure to cheer for the winner of the match and the loser, so that no ones feelings were hurt, and Theo had objected to this more than once. She didn't mind though- it was just nice to be included.
As the only current employee of Jungle Karma Pizza not holding a Morpher, her responsibilities were somewhat more involved than they had been a few months ago. No sooner had she gotten the job than found herself falling in with the strange bunch of young people who color coded everything and bounced off to fight evil at the most inconvenient times. She hadn't expected RJ to become one of them, right when she was getting used to it all.
It left her in a weird place; not quite part of the team but too important to them to quit. Not that she wanted to. She loved working here and loved her new friends--her only friends, really--but it was exhausting.
It was a rare moment when they could all relax together, uninterrupted by the restaurant disasters or Dai Shi's attacks.
"I had you!" Casey was telling Lily. "If we were at the academy that would have been a kill point."
"Good thing we're not at the academy then, cub!" Lily teased, swiping at his head. Clearly she was not finished, though Casey seemed to think it was over.
"Firstly, you are not allowed to 'cub' me. That's Theo's thing. You can 'sweet cheeks' and 'muffin' me all you like, but 'cub' is just… off-limits." Casey explained very calmly. "Secondly, Fran! Did I or did I not just kick Lily's-"
Before Fran could answer him RJ came up from behind him and kicked his feet out from under him. Casey landed with an unceremonious thud on the floor, and looked up at RJ with a glare.
"Maybe if you spent less time defending your technique than you did practicing it, you wouldn't have to argue your kill." He reprimanded, but it was with a wry grin.
Casey sighed heavily, and Lily shot RJ an appreciative smile. "Why thank you, kind sir!"
"Anytime, fair maiden." RJ grinned back, and the two of them high fived. Fran thought RJ might be the only person Lily let her call fair maiden, and that was probably because she couldn't take him in a fight.
Unbidden, the thought that no one had ever called Fran anything as pleasant as "fair maiden" made her frown. Lily was often called beautiful nicknames, she had noticed, and she didn't seem to want nor appreciate the attention. It was slightly unfair, she thought, that the universe lavished such things on people who didn't like it, and withheld it from people who really needed it.
She shook her head, thinking it was silly at the same time feeling bad for even contemplating resenting Lily, even if it was only for a second.
"I feel ganged up on." Casey sounded rather whiney.
"Get up, you big cub." Theo commanded, holding out a hand.
To her surprise, Casey lifted his head to grin at Theo, taking his hand and letting the shorter boy pull him up. They held on to each other for a second longer than was totally appropriate, and she wondered. Then Casey was going on, and it was gone. Whatever 'it' was.
"I'm just saying, couldn't you teach us both lessons instead of picking on me?" He continued, following RJ over to the towels.
"I find lessons where I find them." RJ looked intrigued, as he often did when asked a question he hadn't expected. She knew that expression well. "Often, the lessons that need to be taught seem to involve you."
"What he means is he likes me better." Lily told Casey as she stood next to RJ and bumped his shoulder. She shot Casey a sweet smile and tilted her head on to RJ's shoulder, who immediately looked uncomfortable.
The younger rangers were too busy to notice it, but Fran caught it. The momentary wide eyed expression, the stiffening of his posture, the way his ears almost seemed to press against his head like a dog- wolf, she corrected herself. Like a wolf. She couldn't help thinking of RJ as a dog sometimes; he was so domesticated.
Casey reached for Lily and she quickly jumped away, and the two of them began playing chase around to training area. RJ relaxed considerably, and Theo rolled his eyes at them.
"RJ, do you think it's possible they'll never outgrow being cubs?" Theo asked, watching Lily and Casey frolic.
RJ furrowed his brow and turned toward the balcony. "Fran, would you like to take this one?"
Flattered that RJ thought her opinion might be useful, she smiled and nodded. "I'm fairly certain that glowing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional."
***
When he showed up to inspect the restaurant, Lily had an immediate dislike for him. She was always perceived as someone who thought the best of everyone, who never judged or had a mean word fall out of her mouth. And generally she was.
She was just never fond of anyone who threatened to disturb her perfectly happy equilibrium. That didn't mean she didn't change her mind about people, or look for the good in everyone anyway. People could be perfectly good and still wreck her world, and she knew it all too well.
She was just suspicious, even when RJ happily welcomed him as one of them, but Casey and Theo were put off and their emotions influenced hers more often than not. She hadn't exactly approved when Casey had given him the task of scrapping gum from the tables, but she figured it would be a test of character.
She supposed she'd have to change her mind about Dom now that he'd just saved her life. As she looked up to see him standing in front of her, he offered her a hand with a charming smiled.
Lily grinned back and took it, letting him pull her to her feet while they regrouped. Crocovile was stunned for a moment, and Casey used it to scold Dominic.
He hadn't seemed right to her from the moment he'd set foot in the store, but anyone who was willing to risk their life to save hers was generally okay in her book. And if he wanted to look particularly dashing and handsome while he did it, well. Who was she to complain?
Only the others were not so accepting, and for the first time in her life she didn't feel the need to correct them. She could see the good in Dominic, but she didn't particularly want to. It frustrated her, so much that when he greased her weapon by accident she let herself lash out at him along with Theo.
As it turned out, she didn't need to be the person in Dom's corner after all. That person ended up being Fran, and Lily was all too happy to let her take charge of team management for a while.
Apparently, Dom had a thing for saving damsels in distress--not that she was one, but she knew Fran would appreciate the term and that was the only reason she used it--and he and Fran returned triumphantly.
As was typical in their fast paced and confusing lives, RJ had a white Morpher conveniently tucked in his pocket for Dom, and they had a new ranger. She mostly approved, because hey everyone else did and her emotions whip lashing had not been particularly pleasant the last few days.
That night she was making a note to ask RJ how he did that someday when Dom approached her.
"You don't like me, do you?" He leaned on the table next to her, giving her what she imagined was his best skeptical look.
Lily scoffed. "Why do you say that?"
Dom leaned a little closer, and she leaned back to get away without intending too. "Because every time I get near you, your cheetah growls at me."
Lily hesitated. "You can see my cheetah?"
Dom raised his eyebrows. "You can't?"
"Well, I…" She glanced around, wondering if it had been hiding under a table and she'd missed it all this time. "No."
"Good, cause neither can I." Dom agreed, and Lily whacked him on the arm with her cleaning rag. Unfazed, he continued, "But I can hear it."
"I am not growling at you." Lily assured him, half insulted and half amused.
"As a rhino in a cat dominated world, trust me: I know what a growl sounds like." Dom crossed his arms, still inspecting her like he had been the moment he walked in. She was tired of his scrutiny. "And that is most certainly a growl."
Lily considered this, crossing her arms to mirror his position. She tried to consider him with the same amount of interest he had for her, and she nearly felt the growl herself. Unable to deny it or take it back, she shrugged. "Well, maybe you should growl back."
There was a pause, and then something in Dom changed. She couldn't pin whether it was his expression or his body or his spirit, but she felt it. It felt like she'd just proved herself to him, like he felt he could trust her now. It felt like respect. He smirked at her, wryly, and began backing away.
"Maybe I'll take you up on that someday." He cooed, and he disappeared behind the swinging door.
She shivered it off, and listened for the growl. She couldn't hear it anymore. She glanced back at the swinging door, glowering slightly.
He was going to be exhausting. She could already tell.
***
He should have told them about the dagger. It wasn't even a question, really. He'd had it for ages, and hadn't known what to do with it. RJ would know, and would probably blow a gasket out of joy or something less like joy when Dom finally told him he had it.
There was just something he liked about these kids. They trusted him now, mostly thanks to Fran, and he liked the balance they'd come to. It was a fragile agreement, one he wasn't ready to break just yet.
Of course, Master Mao was rather insistent on it. He was never really one for urgency, so it seemed unusual when he was so adamant about something. Funny thing about Pai Zhug masters was that they didn't really know how death worked, or if they did they didn't seem to care.
After the third dream, he knew he was going to have to upset the balance. He figured he might as well start small, so he told Fran.
"Wait, it's a whodiwhat now?" She pushed her glasses up on her nose and gazed at him intently. He found her awfully cute when she did that. He often wanted to just cuddle her.
But he tried to keep his distance with Fran. Dom was the boy who had squeezed the bunny too hard. "A control dagger. I think Master Mao wants me to use it to get into the Nexus."
"Um, okay, Dom," Fran smiled impishly, as though rather unhappy about what she was going to say. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly up to date on everything weird and mystical that I didn't know actually existed before I met RJ. Maybe you should be telling him?"
Dom smiled at her. "Probably. Why don't you ask more questions if you want to know?"
Shrugging, Fran avoided his eyes and adjusted her apron. "I'm not exactly on the team, you know. I figure if there's something important going on then I'll get informed, one way or another. I try not to bother anyone too much, you know?"
He watched her look insecure for about 10 seconds before putting his hands on her shoulders and making her look at him. "Fran. I don't know how you could have missed this. If you're not on the team, none of us are."
She tilted her head, a trait she had obviously been picking up from the cats. "What do you mean?"
"You are the glue holding this popsicle stick house together! I've only been here a week, and even I can see it. Trust me, no one on this team could function without you."
He let himself shake her a little while he said it, and then he reached over and kissed her on the forehead. He scolded himself for doing it, but he just couldn't resist. He was an affectionate person.
Fran blushed considerably, and began mumbling something that sounded like "Gosh, I wasn't expecting that," when the others came rushing down the stairs.
"Dom, Fran, we need to have a meeting." RJ told them. "Camille thinks we have the legendary control dagger for the Rhino Nexus."
"She's offering to partner with us to defeat Grizzaka and the other evils she and Dai Shi let loose." Lily continued.
"Which we know is a bit like taking the lesser of two evils, but what can we do right?" Theo threw his hand up into the air and gestured appropriately, shrugging.
"We need to get the control dagger before she realizes we don't have it and goes after it herself." Casey finished. The four of them looked jumbled, rushed and a bit frantic. Trust the cats to rush in head first.
"Wow," Dominic looked over at Fran, who was looking back with an amused expression. "That was-"
"Convenient?" She offered, and Dom slung an arm around her shoulders with a grin.
"About the control dagger…"
***
Lily was not in the loft. Hers was the only presence strong enough to notice the lack of it when he returned, and he wondered when she had left. Upon inspection he noticed that Casey and Theo were also missing, and while Dom's energy was present it was… muted.
Downstairs, he thought.
There was nothing for it- he'd been alone since the battle that afternoon, and his wolfs pack mentality insisted he seek out some company.
He went down to the restaurant as casually as possible, ignoring the mess in the kitchen but making a note to clean it up later. When the door swung open he didn't immediately see them, but he heard them.
Fran's giggle was hard to miss when she was happy, and she was rarely happier than when she was with Dom. For some reason that worried him, but he wasn't quite sure why. Their friendship appeared to be mutually beneficial, but it also stirred something… primal, in him.
They were huddled in a booth together over in the corner. The closed sign hung on the door but the restaurant still clearly needed to be bussed. He headed for their table anyway, watching as they huddled together over what looked like a magazine.
Dom noticed him first. "And this is where RJ comes in and asks what we're doing."
Fran didn't even miss a beat. "He already knows, because it isn't hard to see we're avoiding work."
Dom grinned up at him as he slid into the booth across from them.
"I promise not to tell the owner." RJ whispered conspiratorially, and Fran winked back at him. He glanced at their reading material. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Graphic novel," Dom supplied vivaciously. He took it from Fran, who objected, and passed it to RJ.
"Ahhh, a comic book." RJ amended. "I remember these."
Fran let out a huff. "Graphic novel, RJ. That is a common misconception. Graphic novels are a highly refined form a literature." She informed him, and he raised his eyebrows at her.
"Apparently things have changed since I was a kid." He slid the comic book back towards her in surrender but she let him have a smile for it anyway.
"Yeah," Dom agreed. "30 years does that."
Fran hit him before RJ could object, insisting "What would you know about it? You grew up watching power rangers on television. We had life a bit harder, thanks very much."
"Yes, it must have been so difficult growing up with things like Transformers on television." Dom rolled his eyes. "You're two years older than me Fran!"
RJ's pretended to look wounded. "I grew up watching He-Man, actually."
This effectively stopped the degenerating argument and the three of them shared commiserating looks.
"You know, I never feel old around you guys." Fran stated suddenly. RJ and Dom glanced at each other and back at her, both probably wondering if it was safe to discuss Fran's age.
"Because we're approximately the same age?" Dom wondered cautiously.
"Well, no, and yes. I mean sure, RJ is a few years older than me, and you're around the same age, but I mean…" She paused, as though trying to put her finger on it. "We're on the same level. Most of the time. Not like the others."
"We're not that much older than they are…" Dom looked uncomfortable, perhaps wondering if the division between the two halves of the team was apparent.
"The mindset is different, though." RJ agreed, nodding at Fran. "They are students, and they still see themselves as such. We've… passed that point in our lives."
"You don't think we can be students anymore?" Dom looked scandalized. "Sorry Fran, guess you can't be in Pai Zhug after all!"
RJ shook his head, and watched Fran backhand Dom upside the head. He liked the attention a little too much, and RJ tried not to frown while he corrected him. "On the contrary. We are always students of life, and there will always be things to learn. However that is no longer our primary function. Instead of observing and learning about the world we are in, we have become a part of it. Casey, Lily and Theo have yet to make that transition. We should learn from them, and remember we are not all knowing. There is always another lesson for those who look for it." He sat back and put his hands behind his head, feeling pretty good about that lesson.
Dom pushed his head down into his hands, looking considerably less carefree than he had a moment ago. "Maybe if we'd known that before the battle today we wouldn't have let Camille get away with the Control dagger." He sighed, and Fran reached over to pat his shoulder. "We should have been ready for them to double cross us."
"I had no doubt Camille and Dai Shi would betray us," RJ informed him carefully. "I wasn't counting on them doing it before we had destroyed Grizzaka, though. They foiled their own plans, in a way."
"I don't know, I was kind of hoping they'd seen the light." Fran shrugged innocently, tucking some hair behind her ear. "You know, the enemy of our enemy is our friend? It was nice having them fight with us."
Dom shook his head at her with a wry grin. "Yeah, but those two are evil to the core. No way are they gonna go straight anytime soon."
RJ shifted, twiddling his thumbs, wondering once more about the boy who had once been Jarrod. He had not seemed so evil today… and yet he was still their enemy. For now. "I don't think we should be so quick to pass judgment on them, Dom. They may yet prove to be powerful allies if we can free Jarrod from Dai Shi's possession."
They didn't have anything to say to that, which didn't surprise him. It was rare they referred to the boy hosting Dai Shi apart from what he had become. Sometimes, even he forgot there was another life at stake.
"Still, now Dai Shi and Grizzaka are fighting each other, which is good for us right?" Fran glanced between them carefully, and Dom caught his eye. The two of them shared a look and RJ shook his head.
"It's too soon to tell whether they'll cause more or less trouble for us." He wondered if their fighting with each other would be another mess the rangers had to clean up.
"Casey was pretty mad about loosing the control dagger." Dom changed the subject to something perhaps more pressing than their quiet enemies.
"Where are those guys, anyway?" Fran wondered, glancing around the restaurant as though they might appear at any moment. She seemed disappointed when they didn't.
"They left about an hour ago in kind of a hurry. Casey and Lily didn't say a word, but Theo said it was personal, and that they'd be back later." Dom didn't look the least bit disturbed by this, but RJ caught Fran's eye and he thought she got his alarm.
"You don't think…" Fran began, but he was already moving before she could finish.
"If they've gone to the Nexus themselves I will throttle them with my own hands!" RJ growled as they hurried up the stairs. Fran and Dom were right behind him.
They rushed for the TV's, but before RJ could flick them on his and Dom's morphers beeped.
"Promise me you won't actually kill them? At least until you get back?" Fran pleaded as Dom went to answer the call.
"Go for Dom." The moment he turned on his Morpher RJ could hear signs of a fight in the background.
"We're at the Nexus!" It was Lily's voice, and she sounded breathless. "Casey's battling Dai Shi! We need back up!"
"We're on our way." Dom looked up at him and he nodded.
"Please hurry guys!" Lily's side of the communicator clicked off, and RJ put a hand on Fran's shoulder.
"I make no promises." He told her quickly. "Stay here."
He and Dom grabbed their ropes and swung out of the loft, but behind him he heard Fran's distressed cry. "Be careful!"
***
Fran was waiting anxiously for them when they returned. She wasn't surprised; a person would have to be deaf to not hear the argument Casey, RJ and Dom were having from a mile away. It kept the focus off her, which was nice, because maybe she could get through this and bandage her knee without anyone making a fuss.
Of course, that was assuming Casey and RJ didn't try to tear each others throats out. She wasn't entirely sure how Dom was involved anymore, other than defending himself when Casey implied this had been Dom's fault. Which, alright, it sort of had but he didn't deserve that.
"You should have listened to me." RJ was hollering. "What were you thinking? You could have died!"
"If we sat here and did nothing like you wanted Dai Shi would have control over the Rhino Nexus right now!" Casey growled back. "I'm the red ranger, the leader of this team, and I did what I thought was right!"
"And that's fine when it's only your life on the line!" RJ growled and restrained himself from pushing Casey, but only barely. "If you want to get yourself killed, you go right ahead and act like an idiot! But as the leader of this team you are responsible for your team mates lives, too!"
"How would you feel if Theo and Lily hadn't come back from this little escapade of yours?" Dom cut in, and he did push Casey.
Clearly, that was a mistake, because at the same moment Casey and RJ yelled "Stay out of this!" and Dom looked furious with both of them.
"We wouldn't have had to risk our lives if you hadn't lost the dagger in the first place!" Casey continued, practically snarling. Fran kept trying to interject, but none of them could get a word in edgewise here. "I don't recall you cleverly catching on or trying to stop us on our way out, either."
"That's because I made the mistake of trusting you! I thought we were on a team!" Dom turned away, threw his hands into the air and groaned. "My mistake!"
"We all made the mistake of thinking we were on a team." RJ looked downtrodden, and his mood was shifting from furious to disappointment. "Teams make decisions together. I thought I knew you better than this."
"We were handling it just fine!" Casey continued, taking RJ's bait. "No one died! We won, or have you forgotten?"
"Yes," RJ agreed with a snarl. "I'm sure you had it all planned out!"
Lily was growing impatient with this, and with the blood trickling down her leg. If she didn't start moving it would hit the floor any second. Injury would only flair their tempers again.
Before Casey could start up again she took a deep breathe and roared as loud as she could. To her satisfaction, it shut all of them up long enough for her to talk. "I don't know who flipped on the testosterone button, but I'm flipping it off! We got the control dagger, the world is safe for the night, and unless any of you feel like spontaneously apologizing you are not to say one more word to each other. Not that I wasn't really enjoying watching us fall apart or anything, but you're making Fran cry."
They all turned to stare at the teary eyed bookworm, holding her hand up to her mouth to keep from sobbing. It gave Lily cover to walk over to her and wrap an arm around her shoulders. She turned Fran toward her room and began walking with her, leaning into her to cover the limp. Fran must have understood because she wrapped an arm around Lily's waist to support her weight. She was sniffling, but she held onto Lily tightly until they reached the door.
Once safely behind Lily's closed door, Fran turned to her with concern. Tears still running down her face, she said "You're hurt."
"Flesh wound," Lily assured her, limping to the bed. She sat down carefully and rolled up her pant leg to the gash the rock had made on her knee when she had demorphed and fallen.
Fran gasped. "Ohmygoodness."
"I didn't want to give them another thing to fight about." Lily confided, reaching for the first aid kit she kept under her bed.
"Smart thinking." Fran agreed, wiping at her eyes once more. "Does it hurt?"
Lily gave her a smile, because right now they both needed one. "No more than listening to them break your heart."
Fran tried to smile back at her, but tears welled up in her eyes again. Lily handed her the tissue box from her dresser, and Fran sniffled into one for a long moment. "This is the only family I've ever really known." Fran admitted. "I'm an only child, my parents got divorced when I was little… and I was finally starting to feel like this was home." She paused, biting her lip and then whispering. "I don't want that to go away."
Lily held out her hand and when Fran took it she pulled her into a hug. Fran hugged her back tightly, and the two girls tried their best to consol each other for several moments.
"We're not going to go away, Fran." Lily assured, hoping it was true. "We are a team. We also have a lot of really hard headed stupid boys who think they are always right. We're bound to have some misunderstandings."
"What if they don't forgive each other?" Fran asked, her voice sounding stronger than it had a moment ago.
"Oh, they will." Lily grinned, pulling away and rubbing Fran's arms reassuringly. "We'll make pancakes in the morning, and after a night to cool off and fresh food that requires them to all be in the same room, they'll see reason."
Fran laughed, which was nice to hear. She nodded, and the looked down at Lily's leg again. "Do you want some help with that?"
Lily made a face at the blood dripping onto the floor ever so slowly. "This is the part of being a ranger that sucks."
"Well, it's a good thing you've got a certified first aid technician on hand!" Fran began cleaning up her knee gash with a purpose.
Lily smiled at her. "Fran, what would I do without you?"
***
He expected everyone to be asleep. After Lily and Fran had retreated to Lily's room, the four boys had dispersed without a word, as per Lily's instructions. Theo, who seemed to feel he was unaffected by her orders as he hadn't been the one arguing, had been periodically checking up on all of them. He spent the majority of his time with Casey over by his beanbags, but he made sure to go check on Dom in his room and RJ in his, several times. He offered food, but RJ had a feeling he was not the only one who declined.
After midnight, he crept out of his room. Dom's door was closed, and Theo and Casey were sound asleep in their respective sleeping areas. Lily's door was still closed, and he wondered if Fran had left yet. He went over to his chair, contemplated sitting in it without watching his TV's, and then decided he needed to be outside. He headed for the balcony as quietly as possible.
It was warmer outside than it was inside. His loft insulated well, which made no sense with the giant hole in the side. He liked the California heat. It was exhausting sometimes, but usually worth it. It made watching the full moons easier.
His wolf spirit liked the moon. Which was strange, because being a werewolf for some time should have dampened his enthusiasm for it. As it turned out, his wolf enjoyed it just as much as it always had. Dom had often teased him about it back at the academy… apparently he'd howled at the moon once or twice on a full moon in his sleep. He had no proof of this, but RJ made sure to never let himself get too caught up in the translucent rays just in case.
The problem with the heat was the bugs. Ever since flit RJ had been having a problem swatting anything with wings. Even the mosquitoes, who were particularly fond of him for reasons he didn't understand.
As a child, his mother had said it was because he was so sweet. RJ had loved that idea… but his father had quickly put it to rest with an explanation of how his blood could not in any way be sweeter than anyone else's. With a bottle of insect repellant, his father had begun squashing his dreams at age 6.
Maybe that was why his mother left. Hell, he didn't know why she'd stuck around for as long as she had. If he'd had a choice…
The door behind him clicked. He stiffened out of habit, listening as a foot step and then a quick step proceeded another clicking. He could feel her energy radiating out from her the moment the door opened. Hers was a presence he was constantly aware of, whether he wanted to be or not. Her energy was stronger than anyone he'd ever know.
Lily carefully walked around him, avoiding his gaze and prowling about the night. He really had expected the cats to be more nocturnal than they were… he supposed some things remained more human about them than others.
He sometimes wished they had tails. It would make them so much easier to read in strange situations. When they wanted to be transparent, they were pleasingly so. But other times… a tail would very much help him understand how to approach them. He wondered if Lily's would be waving gently now out of calm, or lashing back and forth out of annoyance.
She reached the balcony and turned around to face him. Her face was perfectly neutral, which gave him courage enough to speak.
"Is Fran alright?" He asked quietly, watching her hoist herself up on the ledge facing him.
"She's asleep." Lily steadied herself there, but it made him slightly nervous. He didn't like the thin ledge on their balcony. "She's okay, I think. We all will be."
"Faithful optimism right on cue." He teased, and to his surprise Lily smiled at him.
"If I don't do it, who will?" She laughed, a sound that was good to his ears. It made him smile. He felt as though something had been lifted off his shoulders. The realization that she was not angry with him made him breath a sigh of relief. "Someone has to keep you guys in line."
It did not completely squash his need to ask her forgiveness, though. "I lost my temper today. I'm sorry you had to be the voice of reason in a room full of lunatics."
Lily seemed to consider this. There were many things she could say. He was expecting any number of different serious replies, but instead she answered, "Maybe it was the full moon. People always act crazy when the moon is full."
He blinked at her, and she shook her head.
"You said lunatics. It comes from the word-"
"Luna." RJ interrupted. "Meaning moon. Right."
Lily nodded, and he couldn't help but notice how soft her hair looked in the moonlight. The sun suited her better, he thought. The moon and it rays were beautiful, but she was meant to be in the sunlight.
"You are allowed to be human, you know." Lily started him slightly with her reprimand. "You don't always have to be so… perfect."
RJ frowned. "I have never claimed to be perfect. The very idea of perfection is unattainable."
"No," Lily agreed slowly, narrowing her eyes at him. "But you try to be. You always try to say the right thing, make the right decisions, stay in control. Loosing your temper is… normal."
RJ crossed his arms, and walked a bit closer to the railing where she sat. He shifted and tilted his hip up against it, all the while not looking at her. "I am supposed to be the Pai Zhug Master, or so they say. I've crossed my boundaries… perhaps my father was right." He sighed without meaning to.
"Right about what?" Lily prodded gently. She wasn't acting overly curious or prying for information. She was offering him the opportunity to talk about it without judgment. He knew he shouldn't but…
"He warned me to keep a distance from my students. He believes that forming a bond beyond that of Master and Apprentice is dangerous. It creates… grey areas."
Lily understood. "Like what happened today."
"Precisely." He turned, staring back out at the balcony and leaning on the railing beside her. "What happened today was very grey."
She was kicking her feet, he noticed. Only the left one, but swinging it gently. She had been favoring the right. "You were concerned for us. Not because we're your students but… because we're your friends?" She managed to make it sound like a question, and he couldn't decide if that was good or bad. He nodded anyway. "And your dad thinks that's a bad thing."
"I was unable to think clearly because you were in danger." RJ amended, trying to word it in a way that would make it sound less personal. "I compromised my student teacher relationship with Casey because I was angry about our friendship. I both defended and offended Dom because he was first my friend and then my teammate. And I made my best friend cry because I could not stay calm enough to reprimand my students properly."
"Fran will forgive you." Lily assured quickly, as thought that was the most important thing on the list. It was one of the most pressing matters on his mind, but it made him smile all the same.
"I hope so, too." RJ admitted.
"When we first came to you RJ, we were students. You embraced us as friends as well as students and rangers. I don't think that was a mistake. As rangers, as teammates, we need to be friends. It makes us fight harder to protect each other. If we weren't all friends I don't think we would have made it this far. And we wouldn't even have Fran if this was all about teachers and students." Lily made that sound like the worst possible thing that could happen to them, and it probably was. "I think your dad is wrong. At least about this."
He let that go because there was nothing he could say to it. He could not agree with her, not when he was still conflicted inside. He could not argue it, either, because in a way she was right and he wanted to believe her. But his questions were still there, his insecurities still just beneath the surface. Either way he looked at it, he supposed it was too late to go back now.
They were friends, or they were nothing. He had to find a way to work with the circumstances he had gotten himself into.
"I appreciate your opinion." He said at last. "And your faith… in all of us, and in me."
Lily was smiling again when she answered, and he turned his head to see it. "Anytime you need a good, healthy dose of faith, you know where to look."
He grinned back, because her smile was genuine and her heart was in the right place and she had forgiven him for all of it. He was still uncertain why that meant so much to him, but of one thing he was certain. Her smile brought light to the darkest of nights.
"On a completely unrelated subject," she gently hopped down from the balcony ledge, and he watched her right leg but couldn't be sure. "Hypothetically, do you think we have all the needed ingredients in the kitchen to make pancakes?"
RJ raised an eyebrow at her, and she tilted her head and wrinkled her nose.
"Just because I've counseled you doesn't mean I'm making all the rounds tonight. I thought it might be easier to lure everyone into a trap first." She giggled in a way that said he would end up there too, and he shook his head at her fondly.
He hugged her. Not because he wanted to, per say, but because it was what she would do to comfort him and that was usually a good indication of what that person needed in these situations.
"You hate hugging." She scolded him after a moment. Then, with a smile evident in her voice and an extra squeeze, "Thanks."
***
This was a trap. He was sure of it. The smell of fresh pancakes had woken him from his not quite sound slumber, and Lily's door was open.
Yes, this was a trap. A clever one, but a trap all the same. A trap he would probably be caught in within several minutes.
Casey was getting out of his hammock on the far side of the room. He must have been awoken by it as well.
Dom wondered if he could retreat back to his room without the tiger noticing. Or rather without him caring. Casey seemed perfectly happy to stay anti-social.
To his shock and horror, Theo was still sound asleep in his beanbags. He usually awoke at the crack of dawn, that one. He must have tired himself out trying to run interference between all of them last night.
RJ's door was still closed, but Dom had the distinct impression that he knew perfectly well what was going on downstairs and was choosing to ignore it. He was usually the first one to thwart or encourage such plots.
Well, with Theo still asleep and all, there was no reason to risk waking him by acknowledging Casey. The tiger was getting dressed, apparently thinking the same thing or choosing to ignore Dom on purpose.
Either way, he'd be downstairs soon enough. Dom figured he might as well get the head start, because there was the chance he could get in good with the girls before they all started talking, and that was usually a good idea.
And RJ always said he didn't have a mind for strategy. Hah.
He came down the stairs after tiptoeing over Theo without waking him, and he swore he smelled eggs too. This was a trick breakfast, one that would make him talk about feelings and say he was sorry, but he could get used to being woken up like this.
Lily was doing most of the cooking, apparently, and Fran was leaning on the counter watching. They were talking quietly, but they were smiling.
"Victim number one: Check!" He announced his presence for their benefit. Lily just grinned and kept at the stove.
Fran saw him and straightened. She came over to him as he came down the stairs and let him have a very big hug. She'd never done that before, but he was happy she did it now. He hugged her back and when she pulled away they were both smiling.
He figured today wouldn't be so bad, even if there were feelings and team dynamics to work out.
"I must say, brilliant plan." Dom commended Lily as he came up to stand beside her. He rested a hand on the small of her back while he looked over her shoulder at the food. "May I partake, or should I ring the chow bell and get everyone else down here first?"
"They'll come." Lily was very confident this morning. "But go ahead and help yourself."
"Don't go anywhere, though." Fran agreed, handing him a plate. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Just how do you plan to stop me?" He had no intention of leaving, but he felt like teasing her all the same. Seeing her cry last night hadn't exactly been fun, and he wanted to make sure she was alright.
Fran glanced conspiratorially at Lily and then back at him, crossing her arms. "Oh, we have a plan."
"A great plan." Lily agreed over his shoulder. She'd pulled away from the stove to stare him down along with Fran, and Dom gulped.
Suddenly he felt very stalked. He gulped, smiled brightly and squeezed out from in-between them.
Fran giggled at his awkwardness, but Lily still had that glint in her eye that made him think if there hadn't been a plan several minutes ago she was forming one now.
Whatever plan might have been forming was interrupted by two pairs of footsteps coming down the stairs. Dom grabbed a plate, piled it full of pancakes, syrup and eggs as fast as he could, and began stuffing his face. Chewing was a perfect excuse for thinking time.
The red and blue clad figured descending the stairs were a funny pair. Casey looked like he didn't particularly want to be here, and Theo was pushing him down each step. Step, push, step, push, step… you get the idea. They were kind of cute when they did that; so well balanced between defender and defended. They did it all the time.
Once on level footing, they stood there looking at the girls. And him, he supposed, mouth full of pancake chewing slowly. He tried to look innocent and nonchalant--something he had never been good at--while Fran just smiled happily. Lily was still ignoring them.
Casey made a face that looked contemplative, then opened his mouth, then waited. Theo was looking at him out of the corner of his eye. Finally, an elbow in his side from Theo made Casey open his mouth.
"I acted without properly judging the situation and hurt people close to me. I'm very sorry for my actions, it won't happen again." The speech sounded practiced, and more like Theo than Casey. It made Lily turn to glare at them with a smile threatening, and Fran laughed a bit. Casey turned to Theo expectantly. "Do I have to say it again when RJ gets here?"
Theo rolled his eyes, grabbing a plate and heading for the food. "Yes, and about 3 or 4 more times after that until it sounds like you mean it."
Casey sighed in a much abused way, but he turned to Dom. They stared each other down for about 10 seconds, and then Casey offered a hand. "We cool, man?"
Dom considered this before swallowing his bite of eggs. "I guess we kind of insulted each other equally, so…" He shrugged, shifting to slap Casey's hand and bump it appropriately. "Yeah, we're square."
Casey nodded, and the turned to Fran. He did his best impression of what Dom imagined was puppy eyes, and then held out his arms for her. "Can you ever forgive me?"
Fran grinned brightly, and warmly accepted his hug. "There is no I in Team, Casey."
"That sounds vaguely familiar." Theo mumbled around a mouthful of pancakes. "Where have I heard that before?"
Lily handed Casey a plate with pancakes and a banana, and Casey hugged her from behind. "You are the best, Lil."
"That's ri-ight," Lily sing-songed. "And don't you forget it."
So they had pancakes, and Lily made some more eggs and was about to start on some bacon when he began to wonder where RJ was. Surely he didn't think his presence would escalate the fight again?
He thought about going to look for him, but decided he'd finish his pancakes first. They were, after all, made especially for peace, and to not finish them could be considered an act of war.
Speak of the devil, RJ came pounding down the stairs a moment later in a hurry. He looked startled, and it put Dom on alert.
"RJ!" Fran was oblivious to it, though. "You're just in time to get some pancakes, hear Casey apologize, swallow your pride, and follow his example."
"I'm sorry," RJ began, which surprised Dom at the same time it worried him. "There isn't any time. Something is wrong."
The entire room set their plates aside and stood at alert, and Dom wondered if they noticed how in sync they were.
"What is it?" Casey asked, wiping the syrup off his mouth.
"I don't know," RJ admitted, shaking his head. "I just feel… as though something is wrong."
Theo scoffed. "What, is there a disturbance in the force?"
Casey sniggered in delight beside him, and Lily whipped Theo over the back of the head with the towel she'd had on her shoulder.
"What should we do, RJ?" Lily admonished the boys with her tone and glanced at RJ apologetically.
"I'm not sure." RJ thought for a moment, and considered each of them. "I think it would be in our best interest to consult the academies."
"Wow." Fran gasped in glee. "Secret Ninja Academies… it's like something out of a fairy tale!"
Dom gave her a smile and a wink. They could probably take her, if they wanted to… but the store would open in an hour and RJ would probably want her to stay. Whether he really wanted her to run the store or just wanted her to be safe was something he didn't dare ask.
"Can we… do that?" Casey wondered, glancing around the room. "I mean… we haven't been to the academies since Master Mao sent us here… and they haven't exactly looked for us."
"Actually, they've been watching this whole time." RJ confessed, slightly fidgety. Dom played along, as though he hadn't known either. He didn't want his younger fellows to think he was that much more privileged in RJ's book than them. Even if he was. "My father and Master Swoop are both relatively high up in the academy hierarchy. They weren't very pleased with Master Mao's decision to send you to me, so they've been checking up on us from… time to time."
The rangers didn't say anything at first, possibly contemplating why this was.
RJ grinned sheepishly at them before letting it fall away. "They wanted to train you themselves. Which they did, sort of. Compromise, you know?"
"So… this isn't going to be an easy trip, is what you're telling us?" Theo guessed in his usual annoyed tone.
RJ let himself grin in agreement. "That might be putting it lightly."
"When should we go?" Lily wondered, turning off the stove as though she expected the answer.
"Now." RJ nodded at her, and then walked over to the stove. He picked up a pancake with a grin, sniffed it, and took a bite. "I'll eat on the way. We can pick this up later!" He patted Lily on the back for a metaphorical job well done, and turned to run up the stairs to change into proper academy clothes.
The other three rangers followed suit without a word, accept that Lily hugged Fran first and whispered something he couldn't hear.
He waited until they were gone before turning to her. "Want me to take your camera and snap some pictures?"
Fran gapped at him, but there was a sparkle in her eye. "Can you do that?"
"Well… technically… but hey, I'm about as good as kicked out of the order anyway. What else are they gonna do?" Dom shrugged as casually as he could, and Fran was already running to her apron with glee.
She pulled out her nice pink digital camera and handed it to him. "We can delete them after we look at them later. It'll be almost like I was there."
"Maybe one day you will be." Dom let himself hit her in the shoulder playfully.
"Nah," Fran waved it off with a sly smile. "We outcasts have to stick together."
Dom laughed at her, and he hugged her once more before turning for the stairs. She went ahead and put on her apron, turning to the kitchen to start a day she'd spend mostly alone in the pizza parlor. "Fran?"
She looked at him, all wide eyed innocence. He couldn't peg her spirit; it was either a bird or a bunny, but he thought they'd both fit her. RJ would know. He'd have to ask later. "I'm sorry everything didn't get all fixed up, like you wanted."
Fran thought about that a moment and then shook her head. "I like the way this morning worked out, too. We're all still together. That's what counts." She smiled, then wrinkled her nose mischievously. "We can always try again over dinner."
Dom hollered happily and sprinted up the stairs to put his Pai Zhug uniform on with… probably with a bit more enthusiasm that RJ.