The Wolf and his Princess
A/N: I don't really have anything to say, except: Enjoy!
Merrick stood alone, gazing intently at the granite monument to the Ancient Warriors. Tracing the worn runes with his calloused hand, he fell to his knees in silent prayer.
I am so sorry, my friends, Merrick thought. I should be here, with you, but fate had other plans for me. Raising a finger to his lips, he kissed it, and then touched it gently to the centre of the monument. I will remember you, always.
It was so different now, visiting the monument alone. Somehow, it had more power, more meaning, than when he was surrounded by what he privately called the New Rangers. As much as he cared for Cole, Danny, Max, Alyssa and Taylor, they could never know how much he missed his old life. They tried to sympathize, but it was only Princess Shayla who could truly know what their lives had once been like. Only she could know how much it hurt him to live on, when all that he once knew was gone forever. Only she could share his pain.
The two of them were the last remnants of an era that had perished three thousand years ago. There was no one here that Merrick knew, nowhere that was familiar to him. Though Turtle Cove had been built on the exact spot where the land of Animaria had once flourished, so much had changed in such a short time – three thousand years, the evolutionary blink of an eye - that it was completely unrecognizable. There had never been this much pollution in the ancient times. Never as many people, as much mess and noise. People had been kind to each other then, and had respected the Earth and all of its wonders.
It had been a better time, but that time was lost, and Merrick missed it desperately. He had never felt at home, or at peace, in this modern world.
The only real reminder of his past life now floated up in the sky between the clouds, where Princess Shayla was once again lost in her deep, trance-like sleep. Merrick would never see her again.
Remembering the astonishing, agonizing kiss they had shared, Merrick felt hot tears sting at the corners of his eyes, but refused to let them fall. The woman he had loved across generations, and who he knew cared equally for him, was gone, a slave to her ages-old duty.
She had been his one connection to humanity during the worst period of his life, when Zen-Aku had possessed him. Shayla had recognized him as Merrick, the human and the Ranger, under the wolf-mask and the cloak of evil, and had helped him to lift that shroud.
Why should the two of them be kept apart? Shayla had more than served her time. She had been a guardian of the Zords for three millennia, and a mentor to the Rangers for over a year. Though she cared deeply for the Zords and her beloved Animarium, Merrick could see it in her eyes: She wanted a chance at a real life, and a real love, though she hid it well. Animus could choose a new guardian – Shayla should be free.
Merrick, on the other hand, thoroughly deserved this torment. This deprivation was a fit punishment, but he knew he could never fully repay the world for the evil things he had done as Zen-Aku. He doubted that he could even forgive himself.
Though he had been told too many times to count, Merrick reminded himself again: Life isn't fair.
If life were fair, he would be buried here, with the only real family he had ever known.
If life were fair, he would be dead.