Episode 34: Part 2
Late afternoon rays of sunlight hung low across the campus skies as Nick Adler knelt, hunched over a large gardening trough outside the greenhouses. Although he appeared busy while working his hands through the dark soil, he did so with a slow and methodical calmness. The fading sunlight might have been viewed as a signal that dinner was approaching and the end of the day was near, but he continued to work unhurried.
As he lovingly patted a mound of soil down, he heard the sound of footsteps from behind him. He turned his head slightly and was surprised to find the Gold Ranger Kara approach slowly.
"Nick, the others will be gathering for dinner within the hour. I came to let you know."
The Green Ranger nodded and continued his work calmly, "Thank you Kara. I'll be there when I'm finished with this."
She tilted her head curiously and walked closer, looking over his shoulder, "What are you doing?"
Nick reached into a small bag nearby and lovingly drew out several seeds, showing them to her in his hand. "I'm planting some strawberry seeds. They were always one of my favorite fruits."
"I didn't think you'd be doing any work... what with tomorrow and all," Kara said.
Nick continued to plant the seeds and gave a sigh, "All the more reason to do this. I might not get another chance."
The Gold Ranger stood in silence for a moment, "You're afraid about what might happen tomorrow?"
"Of course. Aren't you?" Nick asked glancing at her.
She frowned to herself a moment and gave a small nod, "When I was trained as a warrior, I learned to try not to think of death. I think it was easy at the time because I didn't have much to live for. But now... I'm not so sure."
The Green Ranger gave her a gentle smile and nodded, "I want to believe that we'll be able to pull through and end Gideon's reign of terror for good. But if we don't... well, I wanted to at least make sure that I still did something to make the world a better place than the way I left it."
Kara remained silent while Nick went back to work before turning and walking off. As Nick continued to work the soil, he gave a sigh wondering where the Gold Ranger went. It took courage for him to admit that he was scared of what might happen tomorrow and he felt bad if his friend was still too proud to admit her own fears.
Moments later, he felt her hand on his shoulder and he turned around in surprise. She had walked off into a nearby greenhouse shed to retrieve a watering can filled with water. "Kara? What are you..."
The Gold Ranger gave a serene smile and knelt down with the watering can over his mounds of soil, "We'll need to make sure these seeds have enough water to last until we return. If it's not too much trouble... I'd like to help you."
Nick gave a gentle laugh and moved over, giving her room as the two friends continued working on the little garden.
After a long somber meal that evening, the Vanguard Rangers parted ways after dinner, to rest and mentally prepare for the coming confrontation with Archangel Gideon. After a time, Danny Winthrope went to his single room and lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had dimmed his lights hoping that it would help him get to bed earlier, but it wasn't working.
Giving a sigh, he glanced over toward his desk where he kept a cork-board. Pinned on it were several pictures taken over the last year or so of himself and his Ranger friends. Some were just photos of them clowning around on campus, others were of places they had been like Santa Barbara, while the rest showed some scenes from their daily lives together, whether at a school activity, a party, or even just a meal out on the town. He got up from bed and walked over to the board, smiling as he looked at the pictures. In a way, Professor Bishop was right. It was amazing how much the six of them had grown in such a short time.
It almost felt like yesterday when he met the others in Bishop's classroom at fall. He remembered how they had witnessed the demons' first attempt at overrunning the campus and how they took up the Keyrunes to become Power Rangers for the very first time. It was a lot to take in and reflect upon. Not only had they changed as a group, but he had changed too. He wasn't the same person he was a year ago, and despite the burden of having to fight horrific monsters with this fellow Rangers, he was glad for it.
The bonds between the Rangers had strengthened and now, he couldn't imagine life without his five other friends. Whatever would happen tomorrow, the thought of any of that changing really frightened him. As he continued to reflect, he heard a gentle knock at the door and he looked up.
"Come in. It's open," he called.
To his surprise, he saw Izzy enter from the hallway and close the door behind her. She had a hesitant look on her face as she looked about the dim room.
"Hey... I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"
The Blue Ranger shook his head and gestured for her to take a seat next him at the foot of his bed, "No. It's ok. I couldn't sleep. What's up?"
She shrugged, "I couldn't rest either and I guess I just wanted to talk to someone, you know?"
Danny gave a comforting smile and put an arm over her shoulder, "Talk away."
There was a long pause and the Pink Ranger frowned, as if trying to figure out her own feelings, "I keep thinking about tomorrow Danny, and what might be the biggest fight of our lives. No matter what I do, there's a nagging thought at the back of my mind. What if something goes wrong? What if we don't succeed? Gideon means to play for keeps and I'm scared."
"What are you afraid of?"
Izzy turned to look at him, "Isn't it obvious? I'm afraid of falling in battle. There's so much I still want to do and to see. There are so many more things that I want to experience, and memories to make with you and all the others."
"I'll protect you out there Iz. I promise that I won't let anything happen to you," Danny said firmly.
"That's just it," she said, "I don't want to be scared of losing you either. We've only just begun to be together."
Danny smiled slightly and tried to gave a reassuring look, "After all this time of trying to make this a real thing, do you really think I'm planning to go off and do something as stupid as getting myself killed?"
"No... I suppose not," she smiled back with a small laugh.
"Right now, I think it's just best that we stay positive and try to make the best of the time we have. To just... enjoy the moment," Danny said pulling her close and giving her a kiss in the dim light of the room.
As he did, he felt both Izzy's hands touch his face as she deepened the kiss. After a moment, she leaned back on the bed and pulled him down on top of her. As they lay together, he broke the kiss for a moment with a surprised frown, "Izzy... what?"
"I don't want to be alone tonight Dan, and I don't think you do either. Can we just... live in the moment tonight?"
The Blue Ranger paused for a moment before giving a small nod and pressing his lips to hers again.
Meanwhile, Joseph Hale sat alone on the rooftop of the dormitory building. It was a calm clear night and he raised his head to gaze at the majestic tapestry of shimmering stars above. It was all so quiet and peaceful, and he hoped that it would help bring some of that calmness into his burdened heart. In his hand, he held his Keyrune and he glanced at the red stone fixed within it, almost as if he were praying in vain that Archangel Auriel would speak to him once more and offer him some sort of wisdom or reassurance that the Rangers would be able to succeed in the daunting task ahead of them.
As he took another deep breath and looked up to the sky, he heard a soft voice call out, "There you are. I was wondering where you ran off to."
He turned to see Claire approach slowly from the stairwell leading up to the roof. The White Ranger pulled her sweater closer to herself to ward off the cool air of the evening before coming to sit down beside the leader of the Vanguard Rangers. "Is everything ok? You look just as grim as Archangel Auriel does right now."
Joe's expression softened at her gentle attempt at humor before he gave a sigh, "You really want to know, don't you?"
Claire gave him a little nudge in the shoulder, "Well, I am your girlfriend now, remember? I kinda have to ask... whether you like it or not."
The Red Ranger raised an eyebrow before turning back to the stars, "I was just wondering how other past teams of Power Rangers dealt with things, knowing they were headed into their final battles. Most of all, what did the other Red Rangers like Carter do or think?"
Claire put a hand on his shoulder, "Carter was a great leader and a legendary Red Ranger, but he isn't the leader of the Vanguard Rangers. You are. Our team has its own legend to make and it's not going to be the same as the others."
"Thanks," Joe nodded with a faint smile. "And you're right Claire."
"I usually am," she said proudly looking up to the stars too.
"You're not afraid of what might happen tomorrow?"
The White Ranger turned to him with a steady look, "We've made it this far and won the other battles. As long as you're leading us, I know now that there's nothing to fear."
Joe took her hand and the two sat sharing a companionable silence for a while before he spoke. "You know, it's hard to imagine that all this happened to us, isn't it? There's been a lot of struggle and hardship, but there's also been a lot of good too... getting to help other people, making friends with you guys... this."
He squeezed her hand a moment, "I'm glad for it, and when this whole war is over, I'm going to help do my part to rebuild our city and make it better than it was. I hope you and the others will still want to help me do that, even if there aren't any more monsters to fight."
"I'm not going anywhere," Claire said squeezing his hand back, "And for right now, I was hoping we could just stay here like this for a while... it feels nice."
The two smiled to each other, remembering the similar words exchanged two Valentine's Days ago. The Red Ranger put his arm around Claire and held her close as they continued their vigilant watch over the night skies, "Yeah... I think so too."
A/N:
Well readers, here was one more short little chapter before we head into the final confrontation. Thank you for making it this far with me! With that said, I'm going to need to call a brief time-out to do some rewrites and revisions to make sure the end is the best it can possibly be. I've already spoiled you guys enough this week with a chapter a day so just bear with me here. I promise I'll be back soon!