Author's Note- It's been a while since my last update, but I have so many stories in the making that my head's spinning.

Couple- Sky/Z friendship and eventually Sky/Z romance

Disclaimer- I do not own Power Rangers and do not profit from the use of its content.

40 Moments to Where We Are

Game

Z was painfully sent to the ground by another powerful blow from Wastetar. Syd and Sky soon joined her on the pavement. The yellow ranger pushed the aches and throbs from her mind and sprung to her feet to rejoin the fight. She sent a surprise kick to his back, knocking him off balance. Bridge took advantage of the disturbance and fired a powerful shot at Wastetar's side.

The alien stumbled back, growling at the wound. The rangers regrouped and lined up imposingly.

"Give it up, Wastetar. It's time to stand judgment," Sky declared and whipped out his judgment device. The move didn't seem to impress their advisory, and Z wondered if he knew what was coming.

Wastetar broke out into the evil laugh most criminals seemed to have down so well. "Hah! The only thing that's about to be judged is your survival skills," and with that declaration, a third eye appeared on the monster's head glowing a bright green.

"What is that?" Syd said in disgust.

Z could say nothing as she stared intently at the eye. An unexplainable heat began to run from her head to the rest of her body. Falling to her knees in pain, she groaned for help. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that her comrades were all sharing similar experiences.

Wastetar's chilling cackle became the only thing Z could hear beyond the pounding of blood in her eardrums. "Looks like were gonna play a little game, rangers! And this time, I'm going to have home field advantage."

Bursts of color filled the rangers' eyes as they felt themselves being teleported. Scared of losing contact with others, Z blindly reached out with her hand and grabbed at the smoothness of somebody's power suit. It felt as though they were being flown through time, and Z decided that she was going to throw up her breakfast if they didn't stop spinning soon.

Her prayers were answered when ground solidified beneath her knees. Hunched over, she blinked away the dots of color from her vision and gulped in breaths of air. She was burning up, so she removed her helmet in hopes of alleviating the scorching heat.

Panting breaths drew her attention to the person lying a couple feet away. Recognizing Sky's red uniform, she crawled over to him while trying to catch her breath. "Sky…" After helping him into a sitting position, she removed his helmet so he could breath in large gulps of air.

"My body felt like it was on fire," he heaved. Z nodded to confirm that she had felt the same. "Where are we?"

Not having taken in her surroundings earlier, Z was startled by his question. Where indeed? City streets and public buildings had been replaced by dirt and towering trees. "I have no idea. Where ever we are, Wastetar probably used some sort of teleportation device to get us here," she said thoughtfully.

Sky nodded in agreement, stood, and helped Z to her feet as well. The yellow ranger pulled out the tracking monitor and frowned when found no red blips on the radar. "I'm not picking up his signature."

Sky also looked puzzled. "Well he couldn't have gotten far. We can probably detransform for now while we're looking for him."

"But we wont show up on Syd or Bridge's radars if we're not in ranger form," Z reminded him, though she was surprised Sky had forgotten the detail.

"We find Wastetar, and we'll find the others," Sky said logically before slipping into 'squad leader' mode. There was no stopping him now. Z touched a button on her morpher and felt the power suit fade into khaki shorts and a green t-shirt. She hurried after him then slowed to match his pace.

The two continued on in silence for several minutes and kept their eyes open for the Wastetar or the other rangers. As Z was glancing down at the tracking monitor, she felt Sky come to a halt. Curious, she looked at him in question, "Do you see something?"

He shook his head and opened his mouth to say something but then he must have decided against it, for he closed it just as quickly. Z began to become amused as he repeated the process several times. "Sky?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, "Is there something you want to say."

He fidgeted and didn't meet her gaze. "Well…yes…no, not really," Sky said quickly then brushed past her. Z smiled at his unusual display of awkwardness and gently grabbed his arm as he hurried by.

"Come on, Sky, you can tell me. I know you want to," she teased lightly. When she saw that he still looked reluctant to open up, Z hid her smile and become more serious. Sky looked at her intently while battling an internal conflict. Finally he relaxed and nodded.

"Z…"

He stopped and Z waited patiently for him to gather himself.

"Things have really changed since you and Jack first showed up at S.P.D. I know that at first, I wasn't exactly welcoming but…" Sky took her hand in his, causing a twisty feeling to heat her stomach. "…I regret the way I acted."

"It's okay, Sky. It's in the past," Z assured him.

He nodded. "I know, and I want the future to be different…better between us." Z became very aware of Sky's close proximity as he took another step closer to her. She starred up into his eyes that were focused solely on her. The breath of his next words heated the skin of her cheek. "Z, whenever I'm with you I…I…"

His rough hand slide along her jaw, and Z was helplessly frozen by the heat of emotions tumbling though her.

"I…love you," he whispered before touching his lips gently to hers.

Heart thumping wildly at this astonishing turn of events, Z felt herself slowly responding to his touch. Her eyes closed, and the kiss continued. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her closer. Rational thought that had flown out the window moments ago came tumbling back as she realized what exactly she was doing.

She was kissing Sky Tate…and it felt so right. What would Syd and Bridge think if they found them? Startled by that thought, Z pulled away from the red ranger. "The others…we should be looking for them," she stumbled over her words as the light-headed buzz from the kiss refused to leave.

Sky shook his head decisively. "I don't care about them. Right now all I can think about is you." He pulled her into a deeper kiss this time, and Z would have been tempted to give into it again if it hadn't been for the brush of his uniform against her exposed arm. His uniform…

This time, Z pulled away from him with more urgency. She steadied her trembling body and looked over his attire suspiciously. "You're wearing the uniform," she murmured.

Sky looked confused. "Yeah. Of course I could take it off if you don't like it," he said teasingly, but Z didn't smile.

"We were eating at the shopping center when the alien attacked. You were wearing your blue sweater when we transformed." The pieces began to fit together. "You're not Sky," she accused.

The playfulness fell from the imposter's face. He sighed dramatically and said, "Well, well, well. So the little yellow ranger has figured it out. But I can be him if you want me to." He reached out and brushed his fingers along her cheek.

She smacked his hand away violently and took a step away. "Don't touch me!"

A condescending smirk quirked his lips. "But you didn't seem to mind a few moments ago. You liked it."

"You were controlling me," she hissed and narrowed her eyes.

"On the contrary. Your emotions did all the work. I simply used what you desire."

Z chose to ignore that comment and fell into a defensive stance. "What did you do to my friends?"

"Off playing the same game you are," he replied with a careless shrug. "But I wouldn't worry about them if I were you. They're just fine."

"I highly doubt that, and if you don't tell me where they are, I'm gonna kick your ass," she said coldly. The imposter smiled at the ranger's threat. He casually stuffed his hands in his pockets and took a step closer.

"And why do you want to find them?" he asked curiously.

Z scoffed and replied obviously, "So that we can defeat Wastetar and get out of this place."

The man frowned. "So you would go to your friends even if it meant destroying their happiness? How do you know that they even want to be rescued?"

"What are you playing at?" Z asked with her eyes narrowed.

"Look around," he commanded, "where exactly do you think we are?"

Z had no idea and waited for the imposter to gloat his knowledge. "This is all in your mind, Z," he said slipping back into the way Sky would talk to her. "You're here because you want to be. I'm here because you want me to be."

To be continued