Melody

I was exhausted. Really. I was pooped. I had spent the whole day chasing after this guy's Pokemon. See, he asked me to find it, but he couldn't tell me what it was. And whenever he tried to describe it, he started spouting nonsense. The only reason I even found it was because Solana told me when I had found it. It was a really confusing first mission. I hope it's not like that all the time.

We were all having dinner now as a team and I can't remember the last time I had eaten so much. When Spenser had heard that I was joining the team, he immediately decided we would go all eat dinner together in celebration. Everyone made something, even Murph, although his was unidentifiable.

"Hey, Spenser, pass me the spaghetti, would ya?" Lunick called out, and the bowl was passed down. "Who made spaghetti anyway? That's the easier thing to make it the world."

"I can think of something easier," Solana mumbled, "Instant oatmeal." She shuddered, as if reliving a bad memory.

"Did she tell you about this, Spenser?" Lunick asked while scooping pasta onto his plate. "I made her breakfast and then she complained about it."

"You never make Solana oatmeal," Spenser shook his head gravely. "Anything else will do. Eggs. Pancakes. Cold pizza."

Solana frowned into her plate. "Not cold pizza."

"Okay, just kidding," Spenser conceded, "Not cold pizza."

"Once it gets cold, it'll never be good again," Solana wrinkled her nose distastefully.

"Do you feel the same way about spaghetti?" Lunick asked, watching Solana's reaction carefully.

"Of course not!" She brightened, "I love spaghetti."

"It was definitely you who made it," Lunick answered triumphantly. "You're lazy when it comes to cooking and you like it."

"Nope," Solana shrugged, "I made the garlic bread."

"Darn it," Lunick muttered, looking around the table. "Then it was Murph who made it."

Murph grinned. "Is that your final answer?"

"Yes," Lunick replied after a moment's hesitation.

Murph made a surprisingly accurate and obnoxious buzzer noise. "Sorry, you got it wrong. Melody knows who."

I grinned, playing along. "It was our great and all-powerful leader, Spenser."

Lunick turned a shade of bright red. "Um, it's great pasta, Leader. Really tasty."

"No, go ahead Lunick, tell me all about how I'm lazy," Spenser grinned, amused.

Lunick mumbled off about something and I was glad I wasn't him. I did, however, let out a giggle or two at his expense. This team was more fun than I thought.

Solana

After we finished dinner, we talked for a little while. Then Lunick and Spenser went on the last patrol of the night and Melody, Murph, and I talked a little bit more. Apparently Melody's brother was some brilliant scientist and worked for Altru Inc. He helped defeat Team Dim Sun those four or so years back.

"We're back," Lunick called as they walked into the Ranger Base common room, a living room of sorts for all the Ringtown Rangers.

"Hey, did you guys know that her brother was the same guy who help that Kate chickie from Almia beat Team Dim Sun?" I asked, pointing a finger at Melody.

"No way," Lunick answered, as surprised as I was.

"She's a top-class Ranger," Spenser said, impressed. "Your brother must be really smart and brave if he was rolling with her."

"He is," Melody said, looking pleased.

"Was everything good out there?" I motioned toward the door.

"Yeah," Spenser nodded, "The forest is pretty badly damaged by the fire, but it'll grow back in no time at all. Until then, we'll just have to deal with the slightly charred scenery. By the way, I feel bad asking this so late, but when did Aria leave? I saw Elita leave and I thanked her, but I meant to thank Aria too."

"She left early in the morning," Lunick explained, "She said she had to get back right away. I guess Joel called her. I made sure to thank her though."

"I bet you did," Spenser snickered, and I burst out laughing at the look on Lunick's face.

"Spense, I said the same exact thing," I managed to get out between laughs.

"Alright, that's it," Lunick threw up his hands and turned to leave the room. "If you guys are just going to make fun of me all night, I'll just go to bed."

Murph, who had been watching the whole exchange with a goofy smile, nodded. "I'm going to bed too. That is, as long as a bed's open for me, chief." He grinned at Spenser.

"Course it is," Spenser smiled back. "There's always a place for you here, Murph."

I hid my laugh with a cough. "So corny."

"But so true," Spenser mock-glared back at me.

Melody yawned loudly, and Murph grinned. "I think it's time for you to get to bed too, Melody."

"It's been a long day," she grinned sheepishly.

The two of them followed the direction Lunick had taken to the sleeping quarters. Spenser made his way over to his desk, and I followed, plopping down on an armchair across from it.

"So are you ready to admit it," I asked him, watching him carefully. He looked up from his paperwork for minute and grinned.

"Admit what?"

"That you acted like an idiot yesterday," I replied with a hint of a smile.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, writing something in and pretending that his focus on his papers was too great for him to pay attention to me.

"You should've known that I would do whatever it takes to get the job done. It doesn't matter how tired I was."

Spenser shrugged, but said nothing.

"If you wanted a pansy, you should've taken Lunick with you," I joked.

"I heard that," I heard Lunick yell from the bathroom where he was brushing his teeth.

I smiled, but kept my eyes focused on Spenser. "Are you completely better now?" I asked.

"I went on patrol tonight, didn't I?" He replied, tone mild-mannered and reigned in, as it always was. He never seemed to lose his temper and it irritated me sometimes.

"Humor me, Spense," I answered dryly, "It was me who had to push the burning branch off you. What did the doctor say?"

"Just a couple of bruises and mild burns," he replied, eyes locked to his papers, "You got to me pretty quickly."

"You can't always do it yourself," I said softly.

"I know," he finally raised his eyes up to meet mine and smiled lightly, an almost sad light in his eyes. "I just sometimes forget."

Lunick stuck his head in the room, managing to ruin the moment. "Sorry to disturb this talk you guys are having, but Melody used the last of the toothpaste and I think Murph is gonna freak if we don't get him some more. Where do we keep it again?"

I sighed. "I'll get it."

Spenser

I knew by now that I had to let Solana go. I just wanted to put it off as long as possible. I wanted to pretend things were going to be the same, even if it was just for a little while. I almost wished that I wouldn't miss her so much. Maybe then I wouldn't feel like I was going crazy.

She came back from getting the toothpaste and plopped back down in her armchair, bangs falling in her face for a moment before she blew them off. She noticed me watching her carefully and she grinned. "What is it, Spenser?" She teased, "Am I just too beautiful?"

I rolled my eyes, glad that she could still joke at least. The serious talk we were having before had me a little freaked out. "You were born humble, weren't you?"

"Humble and gorgeous," she grinned back.

There was a moment of comfortable silence in which I got back to filling out my papers. But I found it hard to concentrate on them now. How could I be casual about it? Elita told me just to say that she needed Solana for a while. How could I pretend this time was no different when it obviously was?

"So, Elita contacted me and said she needs your help for a little while," I said, then realizing I wasn't meeting her eyes, looked up at her. "I said no at first, but now that we have Melody, I figured it would be good for you to get some experience from her."

"For how long?" She asked, point-blank. I had hoped she wouldn't so I wouldn't have to lie to her, but so much for that.

"Just a week or two," I answered, "Until their new recruit gets settled in and accustomed to the lifestyle."

"Melody doesn't get that much luck, does she?" She grinned at me again, and I felt my heart pull a little. Why was I feeling this way? This was only normal, right? This was just me being sad about letting go of a friend.

"Neither did you," I replied, smiling.

"So when do I leave?" She asked, eyes quizzical and getting down to business now.

"Tomorrow morning would be ideal," I said, flicking my eyes back down to my papers, "You might want to get some sleep cause you're gonna have to get up early. And I think we're all going to draw short straws to have to wake you up."

Solana laughed and I looked at her, dead-serious. "I'm not joking."

She threw the small armchair pillow at me, but I managed to deflect it with my arm. "That's no way to treat your leader," I laughed.

I noticed, however, that she didn't show any inclination to go to bed, but I suppose she never did before. "A week is much longer than my other jaunts with Lunick have usually been. I bet you'll miss me something terrible," she grinned, settling back in her armchair.

"Yes, Solana, I'll miss you so much," I answered dryly.

"And you'll have no one to stay up late with or to make fun of Lunick with," she continued, counting off the activities on her fingers, "No one to throw pillows at you. No one to make eggs for-"

"No one to distract me while I'm trying to write my reports," I mock-glared at her, and she shrugged, reaching in the draw of the side table next to her to grab her journal.

"Fine," she answered, and I started hearing the mad scratch of her pencil, "I won't talk to you then."

"Why do you keep a journal anyway?" I asked, motioning with my pen toward her notebook.

"It's about time you ask," she sniffed, not ceasing in her writing, "It's my report-writing training for when I become leader. You know, for when you bite the dust."

"That's a morbid thought," I wrinkled my nose, "Thanks for getting my back on that one."

Solana scowled. "I was kidding, ya dummy. I don't know why I keep one. I guess I just want to make sure I remember everything."

"Cause every second with me is so special," I grinned at her, and ducked a second pillow. "Hey, where'd you get another pillow?"

"Just do your work, Spenser," she scowled again, turning her eyes back down to her notebook.

I proceeded to finish my reports, signing each one and putting it in the stack of reports to be delivered to the Union at the end of the week. I bet Erma will get a kick out of reading about how Solana had to save my butt in the fire.

Somewhere along the way, the scratching of Solana's pen stopped. I looked up at the clock as soon as I finished, seeing that it had been nearly an hour I'd been working. "Time sure does fly when you're having fun, doesn't it, Solana?" I cracked, flicking a look over at Solana. Then I bit my tongue, grinning. She had fallen asleep.

This had never happened before. I have to say, it did cross my mind to get the shaving cream or markers, but I knew that this would be the last time I saw Solana for a while and I didn't want to make her angry. However, had the circumstances been different…

Instead, I stood up and walked over to her chair, realizing I was going to have to move her. I didn't want her attacking some poor helpless Ranger who woke her up in the middle of the night going to the bathroom or something. We all knew how much Murph liked his late-night snacks.

I carefully picked her up, carrying her down the hall to the Ranger sleeping quarters. She woke up a tiny bit, snuggling up closer to me and burying her face in my chest. For some reason, my heart was pounding, but I could still manage a joke. "Jeez, Solana, I thought you stopped growing by now."

"Not around the middle," she replied with a hint of humor, not moving. I quietly entered the sleeping quarters, hoping I wasn't waking anybody else up, but they were all out. I put her down in her bed, and as cheesy as it was, tucked the covers around her. I was about to turn and leave when she caught my hand, interlacing her fingers with mine.

"I'll miss you, Spense," she smiled sleepily, and once again I felt that tug on my heart, like a tiny piece was trying to stay with her.

"I'll miss you too, Solana," I replied softly, and she let go of my hand. I walked out of the room, closing the door behind me and wondering just how badly I was screwed right now.