Right well this was...interesting chapter to write, have tot hank my muse Jameis for giving the prompt to write the lake scene towards the end-great idea by the way-now to all the people reading, reviewing and faving this fic i thank you so much. Now onto Chapter 3
Time like all things moves on, this was something Zen-Aku as an immortal Org had come to understand and accept very early on in his seclusion and he had never once been upset when he had out stayed his welcome in a certain place or city as he knew that in a short amount of time he could once again return to the land in a few hundred years and if he was lucky a few decades once everything had once again changed. His stay in Angel Grove was not his first, it had changed from his first visit but he had been there before in his first thousandth years of life alone when it had still been a lush forest full of wildlife and places for him to rest hidden from the eyes of the human population which hadn't reached that far yet.
He had love it back then, he hadn't felt so alone then and he had stayed for almost a entire decade but as he always had he had moved on without looking back. But now Zen-Aku couldn't bring himself to think that this time would be the same as all the other times he had moved before: he was being forced to move because of the human population that he was almost always running into now-he wasn't ignorant to believe that all of the humans would be as considerate and kind hearted as Justin who spent nearly every day with him now even if he snuck out in the middle of the night to spend the night with him in his den he had shown the young boy to earlier that week.
When he left Zen-Aku knew he was going to feel something that he hadn't felt since he had left Merrick's slumbering body all those years ago: he knew that he would feel the loss and loneliness flood his body almost too the same degree. He had made bonds to Angel Grove and he was always going to love it there but more than that he had become attached to people there: the rangers for one-they had become something of an obsession to the wolf org who hadn't thought he see anyone with skills and strength to match that of the Wild Warriors until he had seen the rangers in battle and then of course there was Justin.
The bond he held with the young pup he had thought was that of friends but now he knew that it was nothing of the sort and that the bond he wanted to have with the younger boy was much more in the area of a mate which he knew was as shocking to him as it would be to Justin. It wasn't unheard of for an Org to fall in love with another species and want them as a mate but those species normally leaned towards a Demon or alien never human, and yet to the wolf org it felt more than natural to him.
His strange bond that he had with the boy and the lust he had for his young companion stemmed from the ties he still felt with Merrick, the same ties that kept him alive for so long. Lately he had begun thinking back to his human counterpart thinking about who he would have loved, who he would have chosen as a mate, the wolf warrior had always been so kind to his youngest clan brother-the lion brother but at the same time he had known Merrick had always had some sort of bond with the princess of the lands: Shayala or something, too much time had gone by to remember her. He wondered what his human counterpart would think of Justin: would he like him? Or would he disapprove of the emotions the wolf org was feeling for him.
But none of his feelings really mattered, well not anymore not since that afternoon at least, not since the rangers discovered him. He hadn't been doing anything wrong merely playing his flute like he always had only this time it was a new song one he had made about the relationship between the blue and green ranger-or well the relationship he could see and the one they never acted upon as to not jeopardise the friendship they had-one that he was very fond of and proud he had been able to create when the ranger team had stumbled upon his tiny grove.
They hadn't attacked right away-something he was immensely glad of- but they had been on edge until the green ranger had stepped forward and addressed him directly ignoring all the protests he was getting from his red ranger leader and the worried urges from his blue companion who kept telling him to be careful and asked him if he was working with the Machine Empire and King Mondo, to which he had snarled and told them he would never work for robots. He had been very impressed with the ranger's guts and the way he stood up to him when better men have stood down and cowered because of his ugly demeanour.
When he had asked him in a strong willed voice what he was doing here and who he was Zen-Aku had thought of lying and telling him he was just someone lost from another planet considering he knew of the rangers like of aliens but he couldn't do that, he may have been a killing machine but he was a warrior as well, not just any warrior but he had the spirit of the wolf within him which just made the honour that ran though his blood that much stronger, which was why he told them he was Zen-Aku and he was no threat to them.
Of course like the true protectors they were the red ranger had told him that if he had no business in Angel Grove then he should move on quickly as he had a shifty look to him and that he didn't trust him at all. This of course was unfair he knew this hell even the green ranger knew it considering he had protested that decision stating that was unfair and that he should be allowed to live in peace so long as he didn't cause any trouble and that he had obviously been living there long enough to get comfortable and that he should be allowed to stay. To say he had been shocked at the other boy's defending of him had been and overstatement but he had told the green ranger he'd accept the red ranger's terms.
Now looking back that had been a very stupid thing to say because he hadn't wanted to leave at all, he had wanted to stay more than anything in the whole world, he wanted to stay with Justin and get to know him better, try to get reconnected with that inner human that Merrick had filled once upon a time. But now he had two days to leave before the rangers came to fight him and the thing was he couldn't do it, he wouldn't let himself die and put Justin through that pain not after losing his father just a few weeks ago, which was why he was waiting in their grove for his young friend to turn up with his bright smile and kind demeanour.
Glancing around at the beautiful glowing crystal lake surrounding him the wolf org knew he couldn't have found a more perfect nor beautiful surroundings to tell Justin of his upcoming departure. He hoped that the young boy understood just how much he wanted to stay but he knew that was impossible. "Aku!" a laughing voice shouted warning the wolf org to his friends immediate arrival despite the fact that the warrior had been able to hear the young boy racing through the foliage while he was still a god five minutes away, but that didn't stop him from preparing himself when the boy jumped up on his back laughing the whole time.
Grabbing hold of the boy's legs the org swung the boy around so that he was facing him and gave him a slight nuzzle-and action that had seemed so strange at first until Justin had told him he loved it because it made him feel special and loved-before placing him on the ground "Hello pup was your day enjoyable?" he asked curiously, he was always fascinated as to how the younger boy went during his days when he was constantly surrounded by students older than himself.
The boy shrugged and twirled around happily-something Zen-Aku found the boy did a lot when he just wanted to move. "Oh it was okay: a normal Friday you know, but the power rangers got called in did you know!" he said his eyes wide with excitement and the mention of his home town heroes that Zen-Aku was well aware the young boy idolised.
"I am aware" he said gravelly catching his young friend's attention that walked back over to him and took one of his huge paws in his hands.
"Aku…is something wrong?" he asked softly "You haven't been your usual self since I got here and that was only a few minutes ago" he said
Shocked at the sudden question Zen-Aku felt himself fall into the glowing water dragging Justin in with him and quickly gripped the smaller boy to his frame and exploded from the crystal water with Justin roaring with laughter-something that made him happy for short time, he liked it when Justin was laughing it sounded nice.
"Where are those brilliant warrior reflexes huh" Justin said splashing him teasingly before pushing away from his larger friend so that he could float in the warm water despite being completely clothed. "What was it you were saying about meeting the rangers?" he questions the water that had slicked his hair to his forehead slipping in to his eyes.
"I was found by the rangers and they have asked me to leave Angel Grove because of the war" he said his voice rumbling out comfortingly as his black armour glinted in the evening sunset light and with the slick water coating it like a second layer of protection. "I understand why they are asking this of me so I leave this night"
The young boy shook his head and then with a agility that one his age should not possess while in the water the boy surged towards him like a missile and wrapped his arms around his neck startling the wolf org and making him float back slight "No you can't leave!" he cried into his neck and if the wolf warrior had thought it was hard just thinking about leaving the young boy he had been totally wrong because actually saying goodbye to Justin was so much worse.
Growling low in his throat the org leant back and nuzzled Justin's wet hair softly making the boys sobs quieten just that little bit that Zen-Aku was aware that his comfort was working just that little bit better than before "Don't worry little one: I will be back" he whispered softly pressing a soft kiss to Justin's forehead.
"But I'll be old and almost dead!" he cried burring his face in his chest armour not caring about how cold it felt because of the water splashing it's surface. "I don't want to wait that long…I love you!"
Zen-Aku froze and Justin looked up at him with teary eyes making the wolf orgs eyes stop, the boy couldn't have said what he thought he had just heard; sure his hearing was much better than any humans but he couldn't have just heard the kid tell him he loved him: there was no way Justin wasn't even old enough to know what love was let alone actually be able to feel it and his tears could easily just be a trick of the water they were still submerged in. "Justin…don't make this harder than it has to be"
The young boy looked up at him with wide and scared eyes and all restraint that the wolf org once had disappeared at the vision that Justin painted while in his large arms: small wet and eyes brimming with what he knew were tears. Before he could think of stopping himself he leant down and pressed his lips to the younger boys for a short moment and waited for the other to kiss him back and almost growled when Justin pressed his own lips back only a few seconds later.
The kiss lasted a good few minutes and when he pulled back Justin ran a hand over Zen-Aku's muzzle and smiled softly "I love you to" The wolf org whispered back making the young boy's face split into a huge grin.
"Take me with you" He whispered against his lips before kissing him sweetly once more as they floated in the now warm water.
Thinking of all the trouble he could get into the wolf org tried to think of a way to explain this to the young boy and yet something deep inside him cried at the thought at separating from the little boy and as the two thoughts wrestled with each other the wold warrior looked down at Justin who was staring at him with such love feeding his selfish core until the words "Get your stuff and meet me here in an hour" slipped from his lips and he had unknowingly decided.
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