Author's note: Here goes another chapter for you. And guess what? I'm going to turn Sydney into Rogue again! Not in this chapter, though. You will have to wait a bit more for that.

If you are a Rogue fan, go rejoice and jump up and down. And if you're not, well, just go curl up by the nearest corner and begin crying your eyes out because me likes evil Sydney. Three cheers for evil Syd!

Chapter 16- Love, Actually.

Sydney awoke to a dark and foggy morning. The sun hadn't shown itself yet, and for that she was grateful. She would rather go for a run in the middle of a storm than when the sun was shining brightly over the city. She hated sunlight as much as she hated Grumm and Morgana.

She didn't hate it because it made her sweat. She was used to sweating. Unlike most girls, Syd dreaded going out in the sunlight so much, that she felt like a vampire sometimes. Most girls would have jumped at the chance to go out and get a tan, but not her.

Then again, Syd wasn't most girls.

Back when she lived with Grumm, sunny days were very rare. How could they not? She lived in a ship that traveled across various galaxies, and neither was sunny. But the planets in those galaxies were a bit too warm for her taste and much to her demise; she didn't have the privilege to ask for sunblock.

But temperatures didn't bother Grumm one bit. After all, he was just bones. He had no skin that the sun could burn. He would have gladly dragged the petite over a sea of lava if he would've gotten the chance.

It wasn't the sun itself that she hated. It was the effects that it had on her skin. Syd had learned that she had very sensible skin when she first set foot on the planet Sands. The planet was just that, sand everywhere with a very bright sun shining over her. She remembered that being one of her last training sessions.

Grumm had told her that she needed to learn how to fight on extreme environments. It was extreme, all right. By the hour, she was exhausted and her skin had begun to itch badly. The skeleton insisted that she had to complete three hours of training before she could return to the ship.

After the three hours were up, she had small blisters on her back and arms. The ones on her feet were the biggest. She remembered when Morgana volunteered to pop the blisters with a needle. Syd had cringed at the idea and gladly turned down Morgana's attempt to add even more pain to her body.

The pain she felt when she popped the first one was short. She thought it would be worse since she hated needles.

She stood in front of her mirror. She sported a pair of black jersey shorts and a pink sports bra underneath a light pink T-shirt with the SPD logo on it. Z had apparently made some modifications to it. She had cut the upper part of the left sleeve and a small chunk of the chest area. The shirt hung on Syd's shoulders, exposing part of her sports bra.

She wore black sneakers on her feet. She gathered her hair in a loose ponytail, pinning back any loose strands. She smiled at herself and walked out the door after leaving a note for her room mate on the table in the middle of their room.

She entered the cafeteria and went straight to the food synthesizer in the corner of the room. She pushed a few buttons and waited for her cereal to materialize. As she waited, she heard a loud growl from the other side of the other room. She quickly turned around and slowly walked to the other side. She made fists with her hands as the growling increased.

And suddenly, the growling ceased but the chirping of a bird began echoing in the room. She shook her head and thought her mind was playing tricks with her. That was until the growling slash chirping creature jumped out of the shadows and sent her to the floor. The thing sat on her and began licking her face. She opened her eyes and saw her mysterious attacker.

It was none another than RIC, the Robotic Interactive Canine that Doctor Manx had created. She giggled and sighed reluctantly. Syd yelped when RIC dropped a rubber ball on her face. She grabbed it only to toss it a few seconds later. She stood up and walked back to the synthesizer. She began eating after taking a seat in a small table. She grinned when RIC bumped into her leg in an attempt to get her attention. She looked down and gladly grabbed the ball from his mouth and tossed it once more.

A man a bit taller than her entered the room a few seconds later. He seemed agitated and out of breath. He had blond hair, brown eyes and he had a fuller figure than most cadets at SPD. He walked over to her table and patted RIC on the head.

"RIC, how many times have I told you not to run around the base while I'm sleeping?" He asked.

"It's ok. He makes good company." The girl in pink and black said with a smile.

"You have training with Cruger." He stated and held out his hand. "The name's Boom."

"Boom? As in boom goes the dynamite?" Syd felt a tinge of guilt when he looked down at the floor. She still had a bit of her mean streak. "I'm sorry. I'm Sydney as in Sydney, Australia."

Boom gasped and grinned. "You're the Pink Ranger?"

"Yeah, this is she." She shook his hand and grinned, too.

"It's really nice to meet you, Sydney. I see the pink SPD morpher is in good hands."

"Are you a Cadet, Boom?" She asked

"A cadet, me?" The guy snorted and took a bite out of her apple. "Do you not know who I am?"

The petite girl stayed quiet for a few moments, thinking about her answer. "Actually, no."

"That's fine. Most people ask me that question." He took another bite and swallowed it. "I'm just Kat's gadget tester. It may not sound like a big deal, but it is for me."

"I was nothing but Grumm's henchgirl before all this happened." She shrugged. "And now I turned to Cruger's training partner. It's my punishment."

"You'll do just fine. When he asks for 10 push-ups, be sure not to give up or fall. He'll make you start all over again."

"Time to boogie!" Syd stated as she stood up, realizing she had five minutes to get to the mud course or Cruger would flip at her for being late. Yet another thing she had to work on, punctuality, she thought.

Once at the training course, Syd wasn't surprised. It was just as she expected it to be, empty and desolate. It wasn't hard to find the Commander, who was standing by the small grassy clearing in front of the course.

Sydney cleared her throat so Cruger would turn around. She swore she could hear the dog humming under his breath. She stepped closer and coughed a bit louder in order to get his attention, he didn't turn around.

"I'm getting a very strong urge to poke your shoulder." As she stepped closer, she only heard humming, again. When she began to walk away, she suddenly felt something sharp against her spine. She closed her eyes and let out a sharp sigh.

"Lesson number one Miss Drew: Never turn your back on an enemy."

"I didn't come here to get schooled, Cruger." She began to turn around to face the Commander. "I came here to run."

"Who said anything about a run?" The dog began running towards the area with the highest concentration of mud in the whole course. She could feel her feet sinking in the mushy substance. She moved to the center of the large mud pool and felt the tip of the sword against her back.

"Lesson number two: Never walk straight into the lion's den without inspecting the area." Cruger scolded Sydney. She could still feel the tip of the sword against her back. She sighed when the touch of the cold blade disappeared. But the peace only lasted a few seconds. Now, Cruger stood in front of her, the tip of the sword against her stomach.

"What's lesson number 3, huh?" She became tense and began smiling nervously. Then, realization hit her, the Commander wouldn't hurt her with the sword, he was just trying to see how she would react under pressure. She wasn't about to give him the chance or the satisfaction of seeing her lose in battle. She gave him the tiniest hint of a smile.

When Sydney first kicked the sword out of his hands, he was stunned. She had just beaten him at his own game. He was glad the blond hadn't lost control like the other day. He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt his body hitting the mushy, wet ground.

"Lesson number three, never underestimate your opponent, no matter how small." She grinned and held the tip of the blade over his head. The fact that she knew how to handle a sword perfectly still amazed him. It took him years to learn how to handle it perfectly. But what he really wanted to know the most was at what age Grumm started teaching her about weapons such as his.

She must have been about twelve or thirteen years old when she held a blade for the first time in her hands. But with Grumm, he could never know. His evil knows no boundaries.

She held out her hand to help him up. He joined hands with the tiny girl, being careful not to put a lot of strength in his grip. "Who's the teacher now, Cruger?"

The big dog shook his head and now Syd was the one on facing the mud. She growled as she cleaned her hands and glared at him. "Lesson number four: Don't get cocky."

"Duly noted, professor. Are there anymore more lessons I should take note of?" She groaned as she tried to get rid of the mud covering her hands. It was of no use, it was all over her body now. Her legs, arms, hair and face were now covered in it. She was going to have to take a long bath afterwards.

"Ready for a sparring lesson, Miss Drew?"

"You sure know how to charm a girl, old dog." She grinned as she got up on her feet and assumed a fighting stance. Cruger let out a dry laugh and assumed an almost equal position. She cringed when he laughed. A laugh from him was as probable as snow in the desert.

"Ready?"

"I'm ready, old dog. If I can handle Grumm's army of ugly aliens and one seriously confused human girl, I can handle you with ease."

"Are you talking about Morgana or about yourself?" She glared at him and snorted.

"Very funny." Sydney giggled and approached him, ready to make the first move. She formulated a plan in her head to defeat him. She would start by breaking his defense, to make him vulnerable. The next step would consist of distracting him, which would be the hardest. And the third and final step would be to throw him to the ground, to defeat him.

Cruger held his swords and mock glared at her. She did the same before the Commander launched the first attack by swinging his sword, she dodged the attack and shook her head. She had barely gotten out of that one. She rolled on the ground and assumed a fighting stance. She decided that in order to win, she had to get rid of the sword like the last time.

She put her hands behind her back and made a small energy ball, just enough to make the heave figure move back and lose balance. Syd pointed to the ground before the god's feet and tossed the ball. As it made contact with the ground, the impact made the Commander fly a few meters away into a grassy patch.

She kicked the sword out of his hand and grinned. "Everything is fair in love and war, right?"

"Very good, Miss Drew. But not good enough." He staggered to his feet and kicked the sword out of her hands and catching it himself. He tossed it aside and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with her.

After thirty minutes of sparring, Syd was on the ground. She was now pinned to the ground by the sword after one of her kicks failed and her defense was broken. When the Commander put the sword away, she knew the sparring was over so she stood up. "That was a good lesson, Commander."

"I thought you'd hate me after this. Almost every cadet does."

"You're kidding, right?" She snorted. "This is one of the best sparring sessions I've ever had. Seriously, you are a very good opponent, Commander."

"I take it you're not used to losing." He stated while handing her a towel to clean her face. She took it and began wiping the mess of her hands first.

"Not really." She admitted sadly. "But I'll tell you something. I still remember my first day in a real battle. It was against the B-Squad. I got cocky because I never thought that they would be that good. My first thought was that they were just rookies trying to impress their boss so I decided to go after Sky. He seemed more of a challenge than Bridge. When I saw Sky, he seemed familiar somehow. I must have gotten distracted by my thoughts and ended up losing my first battle."

"In a way, they lost too."

She nodded because he was right. They lost their first and probably one of the most important battles. If Grumm hadn't sent her down to Earth to get the proton accelerator, she would have never met the Rangers or escaped. But on the other hand, Grumm wouldn't be winning if she hadn't come to Earth.

"Grumm underestimates you sometimes. But he worships your fighting skills, just don't tell him I told you that. He's too full of himself to admit it."

"I won't." He crossed his heart with his index finger as a promise to the cadet clad in pink. She nodded and grinned as they began walking back to the Academy.

"That is something you don't see everyday." Sydney heard someone snicker behind her back. When she turned she saw Sky leaning against a tree. He was wearing gym clothes and sneakers. She rolled her eyes.

"Well, get used to it because from now on, I will run in the mud course every morning." The Commander took that as his cue to leave.

"I'd love to see that."

"You're just bitter because I beat your record."

"I'm not jealous." He paused and gave her a mischievous smile. "How about a run? Whoever loses has to pay for dinner."

"Oh, how sweet!" She snorted and patted Sky's shoulder. "We haven't even started and you are already betting against yourself. "

He rolled his eyes and grinned. "Don't get so cocky. You beat me once. It doesn't mean it will happen again."

"We will have to see about that, won't we?" The girl in pink started walking towards the mud course with the guy in blue following her. She smiled and counted backwards from three. When she said number one, both began running through the course.

Thirty minutes had passed since they had started running and Sky was winning by just a few steps. Sydney stopped for a few seconds to catch her breath. She put her hands on her knees and bowed her head, taking deep yoga breaths to regain some oxygen. She was already exhausted since she had already trained with Cruger in the morning.

Rain drops began prickling her scalp as she faced the ground. When she looked up, she saw that dark clouds had descended all over the city. It wouldn't be long until the heave rain came. She stretched her hands and lifted her head, closing her eyes so she could feel the rain.

The sensation felt amazing even if it was just a few drops. Syd grinned when the rain began to come down harder. She couldn't explain why she liked how it felt. It was simply one of the moments she could be herself.

"You ok, Syd?"

"Don't tell me you've been staring at me all this time, Sky." She crossed her arms and ran up to him. She shook her head and grinned. She began running, the Blue Ranger reached her.

Another thirty minutes had to pass until they finally reached the end of the course. At this point, both were exhausted, soaked to the bone and completely dirty. Once she recovered her breath, she grinned at Sky and began giggling.

"Looks like I owe you dinner." She said with a big grin on her face.

"You don't have to. I was just kidding when I said that, you know."

"So, does that mean you will buy me dinner?" She mock pouted and crossed her arms. "You can't resist this face."

"Fine, I'll buy you dinner." He grumbled even though he was happy that they would have the chance to be together in a less competitive environment. He smiled and walked closer to her. He took her hand and entwined his fingers with hers. Syd smiled nervously and tensed up when she felt Sky's hands cupping her cheeks.

She felt a sense of alarm when Sky's soft lips touched hers but in a few seconds, the tension she felt in her body vanished. She closed her eyes and became lost in the sensation. She sighed when their lips parted and just stared at Sky, her lips still tingling.

She pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. At first, she felt nothing. She pinched even harder and let out a small squeal. She definently wasn't dreaming. Her mouth tasted like mint; maybe Sky had planned this since he woke up this morning.

His scent still lingered on her skin. She sighed and somehow she managed to give him a small peck on the lips, proving her love for him. Sky grinned and stared at her for the longest time, not saying a word, just admiring her beauty.