Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait! I've been extremely busy writing my short stories and studying that I haven't had any time to write at all. But now that my boyfriend's away in Canada, I have plenty of time to myself and to dedicate to my writing. I'm just glad that my short story will be winning a national award next week. I'll just have to cross my fingers and hope for first place!

Ambush

Sydney casually walked into the Rec room after taking a long shower, pretending like nothing had happened between Sky and herself even though her heart beat against her chest very hard. She swore she could her heart. It was now official; Sydney Drew had been struck with Cupid's arrow.

After getting an apple, she sat with Z and tried to wipe the big, lame smile plastered all over her face. Z raised her eyebrows when she heard the blonde girl give a long, audible sigh. She knew her friend could act like a total airhead at times, but this was crazy, she knew there was something very wrong, or in this case, very right going on in her life that was making her act that way. It wasn't until Z snapped her fingers five times in front of her face that Syd woke up from her love-induced trance.

"Hey Z, I didn't notice you were there." She said innocently as she took a bite out of her apple.

"Apparently." Z stated and looked at her closely. "Are you okay? Your mind seemed to be in another universe a few minutes ago."

"I was just pondering."

"I may have grown up on the streets, but I know enough to know that 'pondering' doesn't make you that happy." She made quotation marks with her fingers, not believing a word that came out of Syd's mouth.

"I just remembered that I have some things I have to do." The blonde stood up rapidly, knowing that evading the subject of her sudden happiness wouldn't be put on hold for a lot of time; she was Z's roommate after all. And knowing Z, she would prod her with questions until she finally told her what was going on with her.

She felt bad about not telling Z, but she did have some important things to do that had slipped her mind because of the blissful little make out session she had with the Blue Ranger out on the training fields, not that she was complaining. She had enjoyed every minute of it and had no regrets whatsoever. Except maybe wearing makeup and not being covered in mud would have made it a little more romantic, but it would have to do for now.

She was meeting her and Sky's parents for lunch in the city. She took the chance to get dolled up, since her Prince Charming would be in attendance. She put on a simple black dress and high heels. After applying makeup, she looked at herself in the mirror and smiled proudly at the sight before her. She looked very natural, like she wasn't trying too hard. She grabbed her purse and smiled as some of the younger male cadets stared at her as she made her way down to the parking lot, where she was meeting Sky.

When she got to the parking lot, her jaw popped open and almost hit the floor when she saw Sky. It wasn't like she was expecting him to be perfectly dressed for their date but what he was wearing went beyond old-fashioned, it was just plain ugly and so not him.

"What is this?" She pointed to his light and dark blue sweater vest.

"We call this a vest where I come from? How do you call it in your planet, Miss Drew?" Sky grinned when she glared at him and crossed her arms.

"We call that a fashion emergency where I come from." She inspected his outfit a little closer. "It's like you got your inspiration from Revenge of the Nerds, which would be great if it were Halloween."

"So what do you suggest I should do? Change?" She gave him her 'you-know-what-to-do' look. He knew resistance was futile now, the Pink Ranger would have her way one way or another. He ran to his room and came back after a couple of minutes, wearing dark jeans, a black and blue t-shirt and a leather jacket.

"Now that is more like it, Mr. Tate." Sydney winked and grinned after Sky mumbled something under his breath. She got on the passenger's seat while Sky took the wheel and started driving to the restaurant they were meeting their parents in.

The waiter greeted them warmly after they arrived at Francesco's, a small Italian restaurant Syd's father owned along with many other businesses, and took them to a private area afterwards. The blonde began feeling a bit of tension as she walked in. She wasn't sure how she was going to greet her godmother, Jennifer Collins. Syd walked slowly towards her and put her arms around her dear aunt, who she barely remembered but at the same time, missed with all her heart.

"I can't believe how much you've grown since the last time I saw you." Jennifer contemplated her before continuing, thinking of what to say next. "You're so beautiful, you've always been."

Sydney just gave her a big smile with tears in her eyes and sat down next to her and her mother. "I'm just grateful that SPD got to me before anything worse happened. That reminds me, I have to send Piggy a gift basket."

"Piggy? How exactly does he fit into us finding you?"

"I will tell you later. If you find something rotten, don't throw it away, just put in a bag and give it to me."

"You two are going to make me lose my appetite." Dana Grayson smiled politely as she nudged her daughter to change the subject to a little less nasty.

"How have you been doing at the Academy? I heard it can be a little tough on new cadets." Jen quickly interjected.

"Tough doesn't begin to describe it. I got cleaning duty two days in a row, extra training at 6 am with Commander Cruger in the mud course for not working with the team during a mission, I have a very messy roommate… but… it's been very good to me. I'd take Cruger over Grumm any day."

"How is your Squad?" Carter asked.

"We're getting better with each passing day. Now it's more important than ever that we do correct all our flaws and become the team we are supposed to be. We are the world's only defense against Grumm, after all." Sky smiled kindly at her words. She could be shallow sometimes, but she genuinely cared for the team. From that point on, Sky knew that Syd didn't only see the team as only her friends, but as her second family too. Maybe he could start changing his mind about them.

"I know some things we could work on. I'll make sure to have the rest of the team know them before we train next week."

"If one of those things is promoting you to Red Ranger and getting Jack demoted to another squad, you know Cruger just won't budge on that one. He's still angry with you about that whole diamond debacle thing." Sky nearly choked on a piece of lettuce from the salad he was eating when the Pink Ranger said this.

"What do you mean by promoting, Syd? Sky is already the Red Ranger." Mrs. Collins said.

"Last time I checked Sky was still the Blue Ranger." The Pink Ranger glared at Sky. What had begun as a nice lunch had now turned into a very awkward conversation. Syd sighed with relief after leaving the restaurant, not saying another another until getting to the Academy's Rec room.

She gave him a serious glare and crossed her arms. "Red Ranger, nice lie you told your mom there. Didn't you think she would eventually find the truth?"

"Syd, you don't understand. Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be a Red Ranger, just like my dad, and after he died… I just told myself I had to be the perfect cadet to achieve just that, I want to make my mom proud."

"No Sky, you're the one who doesn't understand." She told him sternly, looking him in the eye. "Color isn't important when you're a Ranger, it's what you do with that suit that matters. The only thing you care about is being perfect while the real thing you should be caring about is your team and how we work. We are the Earth's only hope. If we fail, Grumm wins."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't tell me you're sorry. I want you to prove that you are actually sorry. Prove to me that you can be more than this arrogant jerk you pretend to be. If you can't do that, then I'm demoting myself to another squad." She answered back, trying to keep her voice as low as possible.

"What would you like me to do? Send a gift basket to everyone I've supposedly been bad to?" He retorted.

"I can't tell you what to do, you've got to figure that out on your own. If you don't, then we're doomed. And then the Earth gets taken over by Grumm. All in all, a pretty happy ending, I suppose." She sighed and took a deep breath, taking a small peek around the room. 'I think everyone here just heard and saw us fight like a married couple; so much for discretion.'

"If the only reason you are doing this job is because you want to get the red ranger position, then every little rumor I've heard around the Academy about you is correct. You only care about yourself. It won't be until you start caring about other people that you will get Red Ranger."

And with that said, the petite girl walked out of the room with her head held high, hoping that Sky would listen to her advice and take it into consideration. When Syd came into her room, Z immediately ran to her bed and opened a magazine in front of her face, pretending like she wasn't listening to her argument.

"I would love to take up a class in how to read magazines backwards, Z. Maybe you could teach me sometime." Sydney smiled as she pointed out the fact that her roommate was holding the magazine the wrong way.

The raven-haired girl put the magazine down. "You've got to tell me what that was all about. I don't think I've ever seen you so angry before."

Syd sighed and told her all about the 'little' white lie that Sky had told his mom and how she had accidentally uncovered the truth about his position in the team to Jen. "If this gets you angry, remind me never to do something that bothers you. That hidden power you have scares me. I thought you would go crazy and use your powers on him."

"Oh, it's scary alright." She sad sadly, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable. She shifted in her seat and sighed. "You have no idea how awful a burden it is to carry that power. The darkness crawls all over your body when you least expect it, when you get angry or get sad… It's like I can't feel anything because I'm scared that I'll become a monster."

The Yellow Ranger nodded and took her friend's hand in hers. "We are your friends. We'll help you deal with it. Whenever you feel angry or sad, come look for me and I'll get Bridge. He'll have you laughing in no time."

"Thank you, Z." She grinned and stood up. She went into the bathroom and came out a few minutes later, wearing her clothes for exercising. "I'll be in the park if you need me. I'm going to run for a while. I need to vent my anger on something that isn't Sky."

"You know there are other ways of doing that. There's voodoo, for example."

"No. I'm doing this the old-fashioned way."

After running into a small, secluded and woodsy area of the park, Syd began practicing her punches and kicks on the trunk of a tree. She hit hard every time, taking deep breaths. It was only after she began hearing weird noises coming from the bushes that she stopped and turned around.

"Who's there?"

A white figure dashed out and crashed into her at full-length speed, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground. When she opened her eyes, she saw RIC, the Robotic Interactive Canine, panting in front of her face. She groaned and rolled her eyes.

"RIC, get off me."

The robotic dog wagged his tail and obeyed her. Just as she was about to continue practicing, he dropped a ball to the ground, trying to tell her that he wanted to play. "Fine, but you've got to promise that you will let me train afterwards."

After Syd stood up and cleaned up a bit, RIC wagged its tail enthusiastically, anxiously waiting the moment that she threw the ball into the air. He wagged his tail again and a bird's chirp came out of his mouth, instead of a bark. She knew that the robot had its flaws, but she still liked him anyway, even though he could get annoying at times.

It was at times like this where Syd just wanted to be left alone. But she couldn't exactly take out her anger on RIC, he was just trying to help her. She kneeled and patted his head gently, giggling as he wagged his tail.

She sat down by the trunk of the tree and sipped some water, smiling as RIC rolled the red plastic ball with his nose. She suddenly felt better and happier, like she could even forgive Sky for lying to her mother and being so proud. And then just at that second, she realized she was being proud, too.

After standing up, she motioned for RIC to follow her. Out of the blue, a giant purple blast knocked her off her feet. She grunted as she hit the ground, taking a few seconds to recover from the attack. She glanced at her arm and realized there was a large gash running down her arm. Fresh blood dripped slowly onto the ground.

Syd adjusted the bandana on her head and stood up, and just as another blast was about to hit her, RIC jumped in front of her, receiving the full impact of the blast. When he fell to the ground, Syd rushed to the small river he had fallen in. She quickly got in and retrieved the body and as much parts as she could.

She was muddy and completely dirty by the time she had gathered the pieces of the robotic dog. It had been a few minutes since the blast had destroyed RIC and she still hadn't figured out where it had come from, since the attacker hadn't come out. Another blast came out of the blue and hit the ground before her, which caused her to fall into the same muddy lake RIC had fallen into.

When she got out, a single word came out of her mouth, "Morgana."