9:20pm

Sky and Bridge’s room.

Space Patrol Delta Academy.

Alone in his room shortly after his walk with Syd, Sky paced back and forth nervously. A bunch of thoughts were running through his mind and he desperately tried to calm himself down. He stopped moving momentarily to glance at the clock that hung above the doorway. The time read 9:21pm. Sky gulped. In exactly thirty-nine minutes his night shift would start and Syd would be joining him. For a guy who usually knew what to do, the Blue Ranger was at a loss.

Sky had never had any problems when it came to dealing with the opposite sex. Back in his high school days, he had been able to get dates without trying – whether he wanted to or not. It was his determination that had appeal to the girls, but it was also his downfall when it came to relationships. All his life he had wanted to be the Red Ranger, just like his father had been. He had been so consumed with his goal, so focused and determined that whom ever his current girlfriend was at the time would get frustrated and leave him. In the end, the girls couldn’t deal with being second best. But that was the way Sky was. Everything he did, he gave it his all. It was the way he was, and it might have appealed to the girls on a first impression basis, but in the end it wouldn’t work out.

Now Sky wished he had paid more attention. Girls he could handle. But Sydney was a young woman, and a beautiful one at that. He had never been in a serious relationship before. What was he supposed to do about these unexpected feelings? Letting out a sigh, the Blue Ranger resumed pacing back and forth, not noticing that another person had entered the room.

Bridge stood in the doorway, watching his roommate with amusement. With his psychic abilities, he could feel the all the raw emotions that the Blue Ranger was emitting.

Nervousness. Confusion. Nausea. Unconfident. Fear.

Excitement.

Bridge fought back a chuckle; Sky was more excited than anything, even if he didn’t know it.

“You know,” the Green Ranger remarked, “I think you’re going to carve a hole in the floor with all your pacing.”

Sky jumped at the sudden voice. The Blue Ranger whirled around to see his teammate smirking at him from the doorway. “Uh, how long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough.” Bridge walked to his side of the room and threw himself onto his bed. “What’s gotten you so jumpy?” he asked, though he already knew the answer.

“It’s nothing.”

‘I’ll bet,’ Bridge thought, ‘No way am I letting you go back into your shell buddy, you’re just starting to open up to us!’ “Didn’t look like nothing to me. You don’t usually pace back and forth for no reason.”

Sky said nothing as he crossed over to his closet and pulled out a newly cleaned uniform. As the Blue Ranger struggled out of his shirt, Bridge slyly asked, “Does your little walk-a-thon have anything to do with the fact that Syd’s going to join you for your night shift?”

Bridge snickered as Sky struggled even harder to get out of his shirt. After a few moments, the Blue Ranger succeeded in yanking off his shirt and regarded the Green Ranger with an unreadable expression. “What?” he breathed heavily.

Bridge leaned back on his right elbow and with his left hand began tossing a stuffed football in the air. “That got your attention didn’t it?”

Sky reached out and grabbed the football. “How did you find out about that?”

Bridge gave him a look. “Syd’s been all happy since you guys returned from your walk. She told me.”

Without a word, Sky sat down next to the Green Ranger, putting the football on the nightstand. Before he could help himself, the Blue Ranger blurted out, “Did she say anything about me?”

Bridge raised an eyebrow and for the first time, he saw Sky blush. “Something you wanna tell me?”

“It’s nothing,” Sky mumbled before getting off the Bridge’s bed. He resumed getting ready.

“Come on,” the Green Ranger coaxed.

Sky let out a sigh and glanced at the clock. 9:30pm. Only nine minutes had passed! Pulling on his uniform jacket, he let out another frustrated sigh. “I just don’t know what to do.”

Bridge smiled triumphed, but quickly wiped the grin off his face as Sky turned to face him. “Don’t know what to do about what?” he carefully asked.

Sky stared at Bridge, wondering whether or not to confide in his roommate. “Well….”

Bridge sat up and leaned forward eagerly. “Well?”

Glancing up at the clock, the time read 9:45pm. Sky shrugged. It wouldn’t hurt to be a few minutes early. “Well, I gotta go do my night duties. Later Bridge.” With those words, Sky turned and left the room before the Green Ranger could have a chance to comment.

Now alone, Bridge let out a sigh and shook his head. “Humph. Next time Sky, I won’t let you off the hook. I’ll get it out of you one way or another.”

- - - - - - - - -

Syd and Z’s room.

Space Patrol Delta Academy.

Sydney stood in front of her closet trying to figure out what to wear. Pulling out outfit after outfit, she held the clothes up in front of her mirror and wrinkled her nose in distaste at what she saw every time. Letting out a sigh in frustration, Syd tossed the clothes she was holding on to her bed and began searching through her closet once more.

Z walked into the room, only to see Syd’s backside, while the upper half of her body was hidden by her closet door. “Whoa,” she commented, “looks like a tornado flew through your half of the room.”

Startled by Z’s sudden voice, Syd bumped her head and she turned to face the Yellow Ranger. “Oh thank goodness you’re here, you have to help me!”

Raising an eyebrow, Z commented, “I’m not sure if I should stay, or run.”

“Z!”

“I’m just kidding. What’s up?” Z sat on her bed and watched as Syd began pulling out more clothes.

“I don’t know what to wear tonight!” the Pink Ranger whined.

The Yellow Ranger stared. “That’s it? No offense Syd, but fashion isn’t really my thing.”

“Still,” Syd pouted, “You’re a girl; you can still tell me what looks good and what looks bad right?”

Z sighed. “Fine. Although there’s no point, you know you look good in whatever you wear. What’s the occasion?”

The Pink Ranger grinned, happiness radiating from her cheerful expression. “I’m doing the night duty shift with Sky tonight.”

“Really? What did you do to get punished into getting the night shift?”

Syd turned to face her mirror once more. “Nothing,” she said, observing her reflection, “I volunteered.”

“You volunteered!” Z sounded incredulous.

“Yup.”

“Wow. You must really like the guy to have volunteered to stay up half the night.”

Sydney turned away from her mirror and went to sit down on her own bed. “I really do. And it’s a little scary that I like him so much, but I like the feeling.”

The Yellow Ranger nodded. “I see.”

“Yeah,” the Pink Ranger sighed dreamily, but then snapped back to attention. “I still don’t know what to wear!”

Z snorted. She doubted Sky would care either way. “Why don’t you just wear your uniform? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?”

Syd thought about it. “I could. But he sees me in my uniform everyday. I want him to notice that I’m a girl too, and more than a teammate.”

Snorting once more, Z replied, “I think it’s obvious he knows that you’re a girl.”

Sydney dismissed Z’s comment with a wave of her hand. “Oh, you know what I mean.”

“Actually, no I don’t. But whatever.” Z shrugged. “You have lots of clothes Syd, just pick an outfit. He’ll probably be too tired to notice what you’ll be wearing anyway.”

“Okay, Miss Negative. What do you think I should wear?”

“Well, if it was me,” Z paused, thinking, “I would probably just show up in my pajamas.”

The Pink Ranger’s eyes lit up. “That’s it! I’ll wear my pajamas! It’ll be comfy, it’ll let others know that I’m visiting and actually not on night duty so I won’t get orders, AND Sky will see me wearing something different for once!” With those words said, Syd leapt off her bed and ran to her dresser. Pulling out a pair of pink pajamas, she rushed into the bathroom to change, while Z sat on her bed wondering what had just happened in bewilderment.

A few moments later, Syd came out of the bathroom in her pajamas and slippers, her face freshly scrubbed of makeup. Even without all the cosmetics, Syd still looked stunning. The Pink Ranger crossed over to her dresser and sat down and began brushing her hair.

“Are you putting on more makeup?” Z asked.

“No,” Syd replied, “The point of what I’m wearing is to look comfy and casual. And besides, I want to see how he reacts to me not wearing makeup. I want him to like me for me.”

Z rolled her eyes and shook her head. ‘I don’t think that’ll be a problem there,’ she thought as she watched Sydney braid her hair into two pigtails.

“There,” the Pink Ranger smiled as she looked over her reflection the mirror, then turned to Z, “What do you think?”

The Yellow Ranger yawned as she got ready for bed. “I think you’re crazy for wanting to stay up the whole night to monitor nothing happening in the city, when instead you could be sleeping. And I think you’re crazy for wasting your time trying to decide what to wear when I doubt Sky would notice because he’s a guy and guys don’t notice anything. But mainly, I just think you’re crazy.”

Syd rolled her eyes. “Thanks Z.”

Z laughed. “Shouldn’t you get going? It’s almost ten.”

Glancing at her alarm clock, the time read 9:54pm. Sydney squealed. “Ah! I don’t want to be late!” Quickly throwing on her pink bathrobe and stopping to grab a tube of lip gloss, Syd rushed out the door. Seconds later, she came rushing back in to grab Peanuts and flew out the door once more.

A faint “Night Z!” came floating through the door. Z shook her head and laughed and settled under the covers. “Night Syd, have fun.”

“Hey Syd,” the Blue Ranger replied as he turned, but was soon struck mute as he saw Sydney’s appearance. Dressed in all pink, and clutching a stuffed elephant, she looked like an innocent angel. Her face showed no signs of makeup and Sky preferred it that way, all natural looking. She was a vision. Realizing that he was staring at her, Sky tore his gaze away and gulped. He could feel himself blushing. Sky was surprised, but at the same time was pleased that she felt comfortable enough to dress that way around him.

Sydney noticed that Sky was giving her what she thought was a surprised look, and felt the need to explain her attire. “You must be wondering why I’m wearing my pajamas. Well, I thought that…”

“It’s okay Sydney,” Sky interrupted, “You don't need to explain. I don’t blame you one bit for what you’re wearing. I’d rather be in my sweats right about now.”

The Pink Ranger sighed in relief. “So you don’t mind?”

“Why would I mind?”

Syd shrugged. ‘Sky used to be so uptight about everything, including looking neat and proper. Guess he’s loosened up a lot more than I thought.’

There was an awkward silence as the two Rangers stood staring at one another, unsure of what to say. Finally, Sky broke eye contact first. Looking down, the Blue Ranger coughed and cleared his throat. “So.. um... are you sure you want to stay up? The night shift is pretty boring you know.”

The Pink Ranger smiled. “I know, but I’ll stay anyway.”

Sky turned so that Sydney couldn’t see the pleased smile that crossed his face. “Suit yourself,” he replied, trying to sound nonchalant.

Syd sat down on the couch off to the side of the room and prepared to get comfortable. “So,” she began, trying to start off a conversation, “does anything ever happen at night?”

“Not usually, nope.”

And that was the end of the conversation for the next hour. As the night went on, slowly one by one, all the crew workers, cadets, and anyone else that happened to be working, all left; their work done for the night. Syd was still sitting on the couch, inspecting her nails, as the command centre became silent. Pretty soon it was just the two of them in the room, a few other cadets wandering in and out as they continued their night shifts. Syd let out a sigh. She was bored out of her mind. This was not how she had imagined the night would go. Blowing a strand of hair out of her face, the Pink Ranger suddenly sat up as an idea came to her.

“Hey Sky,” she called, startling the Blue Ranger, “I’ll be right back okay?”

Without waiting for his response, the Pink Ranger stood up and left, leaving him alone.

‘Great,’ Sky thought, ‘I blew it.’ The whole time Sydney had been there, Sky had been so nervous that he couldn’t think of anything to say. And now that she had left, he was left wondering whether or not she would actually come back. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something on the couch that Syd had only moments ago occupied. Turning, what he saw made him grin. Sydney had left Peanuts lying on the couch. Sky knew the Pink Ranger adored the stuff animal. He smiled wider, she would come back.

Ten minutes passed before Sky heard footsteps heading toward the command centre. Quickly, the Blue Ranger leaned over one of the control panels and pretended to look busy as Syd came back into the room, carrying a large steaming pizza, as well as other things to eat.

“Thought we needed some food,” Syd chirped as she set the tray down at a table, “You hungry?”

“Sure,” Sky replied, walking over and settling himself at the table, and reached for a slice of pizza. Syd sat next to him and followed his example. The Blue Ranger watched as Syd took a bite of her pizza. She noticed him staring and quickly swallowed. “What’s up?”

Sky shook his head and took a bite of his own slice. “I didn’t think you’d eat something like pizza. All those ‘calories’ and stuff.”

Syd shrugged and took another bite. “I figured it’d be okay since all we’re doing these days is training, it’s a good workout. Plus, I’m also eating healthy.” As if to prove her point, she pointed to all the fruits and yogurt on the table.

“I see.”

A moment of silence followed while the two Rangers sat chewing their food. Finishing off his first one, Sky reached for a second slice. “So,” he paused, taking a sip of water, “Why did you decide to join me for night duty tonight?”

The Pink Ranger chewed thoughtfully as she searched for an answer. “Because I thought you might need the company. You’re alone too much Sky.”

“Maybe I like being alone,” Sky countered.

“Or maybe not.”

“Or maybe I do.”

“Yeah right,” Syd scoffed as she finished her first slice and reached for a second one, “lots of people like to be alone, but to shut yourself off from the world? It’s not healthy Sky. Don’t you ever get lonely?”

The Blue Ranger didn’t say a word and for a minute Syd was afraid she had offended him. She was about to apologize when he suddenly spoke. “Yeah, I guess I do get lonely.”

Placing her slice of pizza on her plate, Syd wiped her hands, and placed one on his shoulder. “Why do you close yourself off Sky?”

Again, there was another long pause, as the Blue Ranger hesitated. “I guess it was mainly because I wanted to be the Red Ranger so badly. It became my only main focus. And…” he trailed off.

“And?”

“I thought it would keep me from getting hurt.”

Syd squeezed his shoulder gently. “Oh Sky,” she said sympathetically.

Sky didn’t respond, only mustered a small smile and the two Rangers resumed eating. A half and a hour later, the two Rangers finally finished their pizza, and moved onto their dessert. As Syd dug into her delicious slice of chocolate, strawberry cheesecake topped with whipped cream and cherries, she noticed that all Sky was eating was vanilla pudding.

“Sky!” she exclaimed, “Is that all you’re having?”

The Blue Ranger looked at his vanilla pudding questioningly. “What’s wrong with it?”

The Pink Ranger rolled her eyes. “Vanilla pudding is so boring.”

“I happen to like vanilla pudding.”

“But… it’s so… boring,” Syd protested, unable to come up with another reason.

“Like your cheesecake is any better,” Sky countered.

“I’ll have you know it’s delicious.”

Sky snorted. “I’ll bet.”

“No really,” Syd stuck her fork into her creamy cheesecake and then held it out to Sky, “Try some.”

Momentarily stunned, all Sky could say was, “What?”

“I said, try some.”

Without thinking, the Blue Ranger opened his mouth and Sydney fed him her dessert. Sky felt hot all over. His ears were burning, and the heat was spreading towards his neck, and… and… did the room just get hotter? Was he blushing again? Barely tasting the cake in his mouth, he swallowed and noticed that the Pink Ranger was looking at him expectantly. “Well?”

“Uhh...umm…” he stammered, still stunned.

Sydney raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think you tasted enough.” Once again she dipped her fork into the dessert and held it out to him. Obediently he opened his mouth. Sky was beginning to enjoy this. It felt… right.

“Well?” the Pink Ranger asked once more.

Sky smiled coyly. It was a rare sight for Syd to see him like that and she fully returned the smile. “You were right, that cheesecake is actually pretty good.”

Satisfied, she smugly said, “Told you so.”

Suddenly feeling bold, Sky took his spoon and dipped it into his pudding. “Your turn.” Holding out the spoon, he waited for Syd to respond. He was not disappointed. Sky felt a thrill run through him as he watched Sydney’s delicate mouth close around his spoon, tasting the vanilla dessert.

Leaning back, Syd thought about the taste. She grinned mischievously. “Not bad, mine tastes better though.”

“What? No way! You’re not using your taste buds hard enough, here.” Sky held out his spoon once more. And once more, Sydney leaned forward. This time though, the Blue ranger was feeling playful, and at the last second, he moved his hand so that most of the pudding wound up on Syd’s left cheek.

Sydney pulled back with an indignant look on her face. “Heeeeeey,” she whined, but smiled when she saw that Sky was doubled over in laughter. ‘That really is a good look on him,’ she thought, ‘he should smile and laugh more often.’

Sky calmed down after a few minutes, although a few titters escaped every few seconds. Syd was sitting next to him playfully glaring. “Oops,” Sky grinned innocently.

“You meant to do that!” Syd accused, wanting to giggle.

“Sorry,” Sky said, though he didn’t sound apologetic at all, he reached for the napkin lying next to his bowl of pudding. “Here let me get that.”

Time seemed to slow down as Sky gently wiped off the pudding on her face with the napkin. Sydney felt her heart beating faster as she gazed into Sky’s brown eyes. Slowly, the two Rangers’ faces leaned toward one another; Syd felt Sky’s warm breath on her skin as he leaned down further, and she raised her head, her eyes half closed. Just as they were about to kiss, the door slid open and someone walked in.

“Hey guys,” Jack strolled in and greeted his teammates sleepily, all the while yawning.

The Pink and Blue Rangers sprang apart as though they had been struck by a bolt of lightening.

The moment was ruined.

Sky for his part was fuming with anger. Syd on the other hand, was blushing heavily and seemed to be avoiding the Blue Ranger’s gaze, all the while inwardly cursing Jack.

The Red Ranger was oblivious to his teammates’ angry stares and sat himself at the table the other two were occupying and reached for some fruit. “Just came in for a midnight snack.” He yawned once more, not noticing the tension in the room.

Syd sighed, disappointed, and moved towards the couch for the second time that night, while Sky turned his attention to the control panels.

For an hour, the room was quiet as Jack filled his hungry stomach. Sydney slowly fell asleep, her head resting on Peanuts. And Sky just continued observing the city, all the while still fuming. ‘Stupid Jack.’

The Red Ranger finished up his snack and yawned. Standing up he stretched and went to slap Sky on the back. “I’m going back to bed. Night man,” and with those words, Jack strolled out of the room, still oblivious to his teammate’s fury.

Sky sighed as the doors slid shut. He turned to face Sydney, only to find her fast asleep on the couch. His anger and frustration faded away as he gazed at the Pink Ranger. Syd just looked so adorable all curled up in her sleeping position, so at ease. For the next few hours, the Blue Ranger sat uncomfortably on his stool and was just contented to watch her sleep, all the while wishing the Pink Ranger really knew how he felt, and wondering what would’ve happened had they actually kissed.

The sudden beeping of his watch made Sky jump and shook him from his thoughts. Glancing at his watch, he saw that the time was 2:56am. There was only four minutes left of his night shift. He supposed it wouldn’t hurt to leave a few minutes early. Getting off his stool, he stood up and stretched. Then slowly, carefully, he lifted Sydney up off the couch, grabbing Peanuts along the way. Syd stirred, but didn’t wake from her slumber. Instead, she snuggled deeper into Sky’s arms and sighed in her sleep. Sky blushed, glad that there wasn’t anyone around to see anything. Her vanilla scent was intoxicating, reminding him of the first time he smelled her scent. He smiled fondly at the memory. Maybe that was why he liked vanilla pudding so much, it reminded him of Syd. As quietly as he could, he began walking towards Syd and Z’s room.

- - - - - - -

However, moments later she relaxed as she realized it was only Sky. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she watched Sky stop next to Syd’s bed, and silently pulled back the covers, trying his best not to wake the Pink Ranger in the process. Z felt a smile come to her face as she watched the Blue Ranger, for once she didn’t feel like throwing up at some mushy scene, instead she wanted to laugh, but held it in and kept watching. Sky gently placed Syd on the bed, making sure she was comfortable, and then placed Peanuts into the Pink Ranger’s arms. Pulling the covers over her, he tucked her in, pushing a strand of hair out of her face. After a moment’s hesitation, he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on the Pink Ranger’s forehead. The Yellow Ranger watched on as Sky gave Syd one last look before leaving the room. Z waited a few moments to make sure Sky was really gone before placing her head under her pillow and breaking into silent laughter. She couldn’t wait for morning so she could tell Bridge what had just transpired.

- - - - - - - -

“Morning princess.”

Syd looked across the room, to see Z smiling at her like she knew something that no one else knew.

Syd yawned. “Morning Z. How’d I end up back here?”

The Yellow Ranger rolled her eyes. “You flew in your sleep,” she replied sarcastically, then sighed and shook her head, “Sky carried you back here last night.”

At the mention of Sky, Sydney’s eyes lit up, only to have it be replaced with a look of annoyance a moment later.

Z noticed the change of facial expressions and immediately became curious. “What’s up?” she asked.

Sydney appeared not to have heard her roommate’s question as she got off her bed and stomped over to her dresser. Pulling out her SPD uniform, she muttered, “Jack Landors is so going to die,” before heading towards the bathroom to shower, leaving the Yellow Ranger in bewilderment.

‘What did Jack do now?’ Z wondered.

Bridge was not usually a morning person. In fact, every morning when he woke up, Sky would usually already be gone. But today was different. For one thing, he was dying of curiosity to find out what had happened during the night. He was so curious, that he woke up early just to see if Sky would give him any details, and if he didn’t, well… he was sure that Syd would be happy to fill him in later. He sat on his bed, watching as Sky got ready for the day ahead. The Green Ranger could feel all the emotions that his roommate was projecting, most were good, but a few were….

Well…. not so good.

As Sky’s back was turned, Bridge pulled off one of his gloves and waved his hand around. A wave of emotions hit Bridge and he was surprised at a few of them.

There were the usual ones. Excitement, nervousness, confusion. But the other emotions were what surprised him.

Anger. Annoyance. A bit of resentment.

Bridge quickly pulled his glove back on. Boy, Sky was not a happy camper this morning. He wondered what had happened to have made the Blue Ranger so irritated.

“Cadet Tate, please report to the command centre. Calling Cadet Tate.”

The Rangers all jumped as Sky’s name was called on the intercom. Without a word, Sky stood up and left the room, with Syd looking longingly after him. Eating a few more bites of her breakfast, Syd placed her fork down. “Well, I’m going to go for a walk, see you guys later.”

As Jack waved goodbye, the Green and Yellow Rangers sighed in relief. The tension was gone. As soon as the doors slid shut behind Syd, Bridge and Z rounded on Jack.

“What the heck did you do?” Z demanded.

Jack was so startled by Z’s tone that he dropped part of his pancake onto his lap. Wiping his pants clean of maple syrup, and looking confused, he replied, “Nothing?”

Bridge looked at his leader in disbelief. “Did you not feel the tension in the air moments ago?”

Jack looked even more confused. “Huh?”

Z looked annoyed. “Alright, let’s put it into simple terms. What did you do last night?”

Shrugging, Jack decided that Z was just grumpy that morning and answered her question. “I slept. Oh and went for a little snack during the night.”

Bridge suddenly understood. “Were Syd and Sky in the room when you went looking for food?”

“Yeah,” Jack replied, and continued to finish his pancake, not giving the situation another thought.

Both the Yellow and Green Rangers sighed. Bridge slapped his hand to his forehead and groaned, while Z just shook her head. So that was it, their leader had interrupted an important moment between the Pink and Blue Rangers. No wonder they were so annoyed.

‘Jack has lousy timing.’

Two hours had passed since breakfast was over, and yet they still had not seen hide nor hair of the Pink and Blue SPD Rangers. Jack had disappeared right after they had finished eating to god only knew where, and Bridge and Z were left alone. The Green Ranger was trying to occupy himself by standing on his head in the corner.

The Yellow Ranger tried her hardest to concentrate on her book, but found she couldn’t. Eventually, curiosity got the better of her and she busted out, “Let’s find them. I’m dying to know what happened!”

Immediately, the Green Ranger jumped back upright and raced over to her side. “But we can’t just be nosy.”

“We are nosy,” Z pointed out.

“True. But they don't need to know that. We have to come up with a plan clever enough to make them slip the details without them realizing it,” Bridge frowned thoughtfully, “or was it make them clever enough to realize they were slipping the details, or was it…”

“Bridge,” Z interrupted, and the Green Ranger lost his train of thought, “let’s just figure out a way to find out what happened okay?”

Bridge nodded and pointed at her. “Gotcha.”

- - - - - - - - - - -

As if the canine machine knew what she was talking about, RIC gave a happy bark and wagged his tail – which Syd took as a good sign. She smiled happily. There was no telling what would happen from here on out, but she had full confidence that things would turn out for the best.

She was sure of it.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Picking up the first frame, Sky mustered a tiny smile. It was the very first photo ever taken of the team. He remembered that day well. After playing an intense game of light ball, Syd had insisted that the five of them pose for a group picture, stating that all of them were finally beginning to bond and she never wanted to forget the moment. Sky had been the only one that had opposed to the idea, but eventually the others wore him down and he agreed. Boom had snapped the photo moments later.

Placing the frame back in its original place, the Blue Ranger picked up the second photo. This time the image made him truly smile. It had been taken months before Jack and Z had ever joined the Academy. From left to right, Bridge, himself and Syd, each of them grinning a wide smile, it had been a rare moment where Sky had shown his soft side.

Flashback

“We did it! We did it! We did it!” Syd squealed as she jumped up and down, excitement and happiness were radiating from her antics.

“We did it! We did it! We did it!” Bridge then join Syd in jumping up and down, both of them singing the phrase over and over. It was obvious that both Cadets were clearly excited.

“Would you two stop acting like children?” Sky asked, his face expressionless and he stood stiff and proper as usual. He clearly disapproved of his teammates’ immaturity.

Syd stopped jumping up and down and walked over to where Sky was standing. “Come on Sky,” her angelic voice chirped, “We’ve been promoted! Aren’t you the least bit excited?”

“Yeah,” Bridge added, “We’re finally on the B-squad! No more D-level clean ups, or C-squad night shifts. We can finally have some action!”

“The hard part isn’t over yet.”

Syd and Bridge looked at one another before exchanging mischievous smiles. Without warning, the two Cadets jumped on Sky, pinning him down to the ground face first.

“Urgh! What gives guys? Get off me!” Sky struggled as both Sydney and Bridge sat on him.

“Come on Sky! Celebrate with us! We’ll get off you, if you promise to loosen up today!” Syd tried bargaining with their bossy, uptight teammate.

“If I do, will you both get off me?”

“Yes,” both Cadets chimed.

Sky sighed. “Fine.”

And yet, both Cadets wouldn’t budge.

“What gives? I’d said I’d do it!” Sky was beginning to get annoyed.

“Promise?”

“I promise! Now get off me, I can’t breathe!”

Laughing, Bridge and Syd got off of Sky. Sky stood up and sighed. Brushing off the dirt on his uniform, he asked, “Alright, what do you guys want to do?”

Bridge and Syd grinned at each other, deciding that the first thing they would do, would be something Sky liked to do. “Light ball!”

End Flashback

That had been such a fun day. Sky was still smiling as he remembered. Although he was starting to warm up to the idea of being the Blue Ranger, he sometimes wished things would go back to the way they used to be. Back when Syd or Bridge would follow his leadership without question.

But that was then, and this is now.

Sky placed the photo back on Bridge’s night stand and took a step back. He was suddenly struck with a realization. Looking at Bridge’s side of the room, Sky could see that it was full of personality. Everything was neatly placed, but something about it just screamed ‘BRIDGE!’.

Looking at his own side of the room, all Sky saw was just that. A room. The only thing that was personal was the framed photo of his father. ‘Well,’ he thought, ‘let’s change that, shall we?’ Walking over to his closet, Sky pulled out a small box. Lifting the lid, he pulled out several photos that he often looked at when he was alone. Placing the photos momentarily on his bed, he reached into his closet once more and pulled out several picture frames. Placing the photos in the frames, Sky looked around, wondering where to display them. Ten minutes later, the Blue Ranger left the room smiling.

It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

- - - - - - - - - -

“Syd! Are you alright?” the voice exclaimed.

Raising her eyes up, blue eyes met brown. Sydney felt a thrill of pleasure run through her body, being so close to Sky. For a moment, they just stared into each other’s eyes and time seemed to stop. A cough sounded somewhere in the distance, and both the Pink and Blue Rangers suddenly realized their situation. Sky quickly stood up and reached out to give Syd a hand. Pulling her up, he once again asked, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” she replied breathlessly, “Are you?”

His intense gazed gave her the shivers, but she loved the feeling. “No damage.”

Looking down, Sydney blushed as she realized that their hands were still clasped. Sky noticed, and much to her disappointment, quickly released their joined hands.

There was an awkward silence.

“So, umm...” Sky trailed off, “did you sleep well last night?”

Sydney smiled. “Yeah,” she replied softly, “Thanks for carrying me back to my room.”

“No problem.”

“I’m sorry I fell asleep though.”

“It’s understandable. Don’t worry.”

“Can I join you again tonight?”

Sky smiled as he detected a hint of eagerness in the Pink Ranger’s voice, and tried to disguise the pleased tone in his own voice. “If you want too.”

She held his gaze. “Okay.”

Sky cleared his throat before deciding to bring up the events of the night before. He had been wondering all morning what her thoughts were. “Hey Syd, about last night…”

But before he could continue any further, something interrupted them.

“B-SQUAD RANGERS, PLEASE REPORT TO THE COMMAND CENTRE IMMEDIATELY. CALLING ALL B-SQUAD RANGERS.” The alarms were blaring and Syd and Sky looked at one another.

“We’ll talk about his later,” he sighed as Syd nodded, “Let’s go.”

- - - - - - - - - - -

For an hour, Bridge and Z searched high and low, looking for their perspective teammate. They had decided that the best way to find out the night’s events was to just ask Sky and Syd straight out what had happened. To the best of their knowledge, Syd had gone for a walk, meaning that Sky was still around the academy someplace, so the Green and Yellow Rangers decided to target him for answers, in hopes to satisfy their curiosity. Meeting up, both Rangers sighed in frustration.

“I don’t think we’re ever going to find out what happened last night,” Z complained as she slumped against a wall.

“They can’t hide away forever,” Bridge mused, and then a realization struck him. “Wait, I haven’t checked my room yet.”

Z pushed herself off the wall. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

The two Rangers headed toward the room Bridge shared with Sky. Walking in, Z saw that the room was empty and prepared to leave. “Well, he’s not here, let’s keep looking,” she commented, but then paused as she saw the look on Bridge’s face. It was a look of amazement and wonder. “What’s wrong Bridge?”

The Green Ranger looked at Sky’s side of the room in wonder. “Well what do you know..” he smiled as he took in the sight.

Z came and stood next to Bridge and poked his shoulder. “What is it?”

Turning, he grinned at the Yellow Ranger. “Look!” he pointed to the various framed photographs around Sky’s side of the room.

Z couldn’t see what Bridge was excited about. “So he has some photos on his desk. What’s the big deal?”

Bridge walked over to Sky’s nightstand and picked up the two photos that were there. “They weren’t there before. Sky must have placed them up today. Look,” he urged as he handed Z one of the frames. The Yellow Ranger took the frame and a wide smile broke out as she gazed at the picture.

Sky and Syd were dressed in casual clothing, both donning wide, happy smiles, relaxing in the park. Syd was on Sky’s back, her arms wrapped around his neck, her long blonde hair flying in the wind. Sky had his arms wrapped around Syd’s legs as he carried her piggyback style.

Handing the photo back to Bridge, the Yellow Ranger commented, “I SO want to hear that story.”

Carefully placing the photos back in the original place, Bridge replied, “That was taken the day we were promoted to B-Squad. We were celebrating. I’ll tell you that story sometime.” The Green Ranger smiled, "Finally, he's not so uptight anymore. Thank god."

Before the Yellow Ranger could say anything more, they both heard a yelp coming from the hallway. Looking at each other, the two Rangers dashed out to see what the trouble was, only to be stopped in their tracks a moment later.

Grabbing Bridge’s arm, Z led the Green Ranger to a corner, where they crouched down and watched the interaction between Syd and Sky. “This is perfect,” Z whispered, her eyes on the scene before her, “we don’t even have to ask them anything. We can watch everything happening ourselves.”

“Shhh,” Bridge shushed, “I want to hear what they’re saying.”

After a few moments though, Z began to lose interest. “They’re so boring,” she complained while whispering, “they’re just lying there.”

Bridge coughed and it seemed to do the trick as the Blue and Pink Rangers sprang apart. They watched as Sky pulled Syd up.

“What in the world are you two doing?”

Both Bridge and Z jumped and turned as Jack looked down at them. “Shhhh!” Z hissed, getting over her initial shock, “They’ll hear you.”

Jack appeared not to have understood, “Huh? What are you-“

Bridge grabbed his arm and pulled the Red Ranger down into a sitting position. “Just shut up and watch.”

"Guys, why are we spying on Sky and Syd?" Jack asked, still clueless to what was going on.

"SHHHH!"

"And we're not spying," Bridge whispered, as the three of them crouched quietly, "We're simply observing."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realize there was a difference."

"Shut up you guys!" Z hissed.

Bridge and Z resumed to watching the Pink and Blue Rangers intently, while Jack followed the suit, still confused. Very faintly, Z could hear their conversation.

“Hey Syd, about last night….”

“This is it!” The Yellow Ranger whispered excitedly as she grabbed onto Bridge’s arm. But before they could hear anymore, the alarms started blaring. The three Rangers stood up and Z sighed as she exchanged a disappointed look with Bridge, “Just when it was getting good too.”

The Green Ranger nodded in agreement. "Stupid Gruumm."

Sky sat on his bed, trying to not let the pain get to him. The Blue Ranger had been the one that was injured the most. Whereas everyone else just had bruises, he had cuts, bruises on top of bruises, a concussion, and had also taken a blow to the head. He held his breath as pain coursed through his body at the lightest touch.

“OUCH! Syd that hurts!” Sky howled in pain as the Pink Ranger bandaged his arm.

“Well stop squirming and then maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much,” Syd retorted, and then her voice softened. "I'm sorry Sky, I'm trying to be as gentle as I can.”

Sky fell silent as the Pink Ranger continued to treat the cuts and bruises on his arm, cleaning all the blood. ‘At least she wasn’t hurt that badly,’ the Blue Ranger thought, as he flinched in pain once more.

Syd for her part couldn’t help but feel guilty. It was her fault that Sky was hurt as bad as he was.

Flashback

The Rangers stood along side one another as Commander Cruger regarded them each carefully. The big blue dog had a grave expression and none of the Rangers had ever seen him look so serious. “Now that A Squad has been declared as Missing in Action, I must ask all of you to be on your guard. We cannot afford to lose anyone else.”

The Rangers all exchanged a worried glance with one another. The situation was serious.

“Gruumm has become more and more powerful these last few weeks,” Commander Cruger continued, “We must stop him at all costs.”

“Sir,” Sky raised his hand, drawing attention onto himself, “Do you think Gruumm had something to do with A Squad’s disappearance?”

The big blue dog focused his attention on the Blue Ranger. “There’s no doubt in my mind.”

Sky nodded and Cruger continued. “This is why all of you must be careful. Do not go anywhere alone. As B Squad, I fear Gruumm will be targeting you all next.”

The Rangers all nodded.

Suddenly the alarms rang once more. “Someone is stealing from the Jewelry Store downtown,” Kat informed the Rangers, “Stop them and be careful Rangers.”

Jack took charge, being the first one to pull out his morpher. “Ready?” he asked.

“Ready!” The remaining Rangers responded, pulling out their own morphers. Swinging their arms into position, all five Rangers called out, “SPD Emergency!”

Moments later, five different colored multi suits replaced each Rangers’ uniform. Speeding through downtown, alarms blaring from all sides, the Rangers arrived at the scene where the spider-like monster called Jarees was busy attacking various citizens.

“Stop, I order you to halt!” Syd stepped out of the jeep and held up an SPD badge.

“Ahh, just what I was looking for,” Jarees exclaimed, waving his scaly arms about. “The B Squad Power Rangers.”

“Oh yeah?” Jack smirked as he jumped off his bike, the other Rangers behind him. “Looks like you found us, but guess what? We’re taking you in.”

“I don’t think so,” Jarees responded, an evil smirk donned his face. Soon enough a battle ensued. One by one the Rangers each tried to take on the monster. But Jarees proved to be too strong for all of them combined, and the Rangers all fell to the ground.

Sky struggled to stand as Jarees crackled. “We can’t give up guys.” The Blue Ranger was panting; he had been hit the hardest of out all of them and was exhausted.

Syd summoned the strength to stand up along side Sky. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s finish him off.” And with those words, the Pink Ranger took off running.

“Wait Syd!”

But the Pink Ranger appeared not to have heard Sky. The Blue Ranger watched in horror as Jarees threw an attack at Syd. The attack hit the Pink Ranger hard, and Sydney flew back. Struggling to stand up, the Pink Ranger noticed too late that another attack was coming straight at her. She froze and screamed.

Suddenly she felt a force push her out of harm’s way and she landed on her side with a thud. As she pushed herself back up she saw Sky had taken full blast of the monster’s attack. There was a flash of blue light surrounding the Blue Ranger’s body and a horrified look crossed her face as Sky demorphed. “Sky!” The Pink Ranger somehow found the strength to stand up and ran over to where Sky laid still, blood gushing all over his forehead. “Oh my goodness, hang on Sky!”

End Flashback

Syd finished bandaging Sky’s arm and moved to clean his forehead. Gently, with a warm cloth, she wiped away all the dried blood, cleaning his cut carefully. Carefully applying the bandages, she gave a sigh of relief when she finished. Thank goodness Sky hadn't been more hurt than he already was.

Sky leaned back and gave Syd a soft smile as she packed up all the cleaning supplies. "Thanks Syd."

Sydney shook her head. "I should be thanking you," she murmured, "You saved my life Sky."

"It was nothing."

Syd gave Sky a look. "It was not nothing. Sky, you were so brave!"

Sky blushed and adverted his gaze. "I would do it again."

A smile came to the Pink Ranger's face. "Thanks. But I hope this never happens again," she gave him a worried glance, "You could've been hurt a lot worse today, and I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt if something happened to you because of me."

Feeling bold, Sky reached out, ignoring the pain he felt when he lifted his arm, and grabbed Syd's hand. "Don't worry, I can take care of myself."

The Pink Ranger shook her head. "I know you can, but I'd worry anyway."

There was a silence as the Blue and Pink Rangers gazed at one another. After what seemed like an eternity, Syd broke eye contact. Glancing down at their joined hands, she smiled and breathed out a sigh. "Okay," she spoke softly, "You need to get some rest."

Not wanting her to go, Sky pouted, feeling a little childish. "Do I have too?"

Syd flashed him a look. "Yes."

"But I don't want too."

"The more you rest, the faster you recover," she sang.

Sky sighed. "Alright fine."

Sydney flashed him a triumphant smile and began to move towards the door. However, Sky wasn't ready to let her go just yet, and wouldn't let go of her hand. Syd looked back at him questioningly.

"Promise you'll come back?"

Sydney blushed and nodded. "I promise."

He gave her a playful look. "How will I know you'll keep your promise?"

Her eyes took on a thoughtful look. "I'll be right back." And with those words she ran out of the room. A minute later, she returned with Peanuts. Holding out the stuffed animal to the Blue Ranger, she answered his earlier question. "I will be coming back for this Tate, so don't you dare keep it."

Smiling he took the stuffed elephant. "I'll take good care of him, I promise."

She flashed him a smile. "You better. I'll check up on you later."

The Pink Ranger waited till Sky slid under the covers before tucking him in. She stood next to the bed as Sky got comfortable, then leaned over and kissed his forehead. Pulling back, she smiled. "Sleep tight, I'll be back later okay?" and with those words, Syd turned and left the room, blushing the whole time.

Sky laid in bed stunned. It had been brief, but it was special all the same. She had actually kissed him. Granted, it was on his forehead, but it was better than nothing. He smiled, but then winced in pain. Once the pain had passed, he yawned, his head pushing deeper into his pillow. Seeing Peanuts in front of him made him grin wider. Pulling the elephant closer to him, he felt his body relax as he drifted. He noted the faint vanilla smell coming from the stuffed elephant that Syd adored so much. He fell asleep thinking of the Pink Ranger. He smiled, his Pink Ranger.

"Hey," came Jack's voice from the couch across from the Pink and Green Rangers, where Z also sat. "How's Sky?"

Syd shook her head. "He's pretty banged up, but he'll live."

"How are you feeling?" Z asked. "The both of you were hit harder than we were."

"Just a couple of bruises," the Pink Ranger replied, "nothing serious. How about you guys?"

"Same with us."

"What's got you down Syd?" Bridge asked, placing a hand on the Pink Ranger's shoulder, noticing that she wasn't in her usual cheerful mood.

"It's just that-" Syd paused, looking down at her hands, "It's my fault. He got hurt because of me."

"Come on Syd," Jack leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "It wasn't your fault. That monster was pretty strong. It could've been any one of us."

"But it wasn't," the Pink Ranger sighed once more, "it was me. And Sky got hurt saving me."

"He'll be fine in no time Syd," Z said.

Bridge patted her back. "Don't worry, you'll see."

The Pink Ranger tilted her head. "Yeah, I guess," she spoke softly, then stood up. "I'm going to go for a walk okay guys? I need to think."

"You sure you should do that?" Z asked concerned, "Cruger said not to go anywhere alone. Maybe one of us should come with you."

"No, I'll be fine you guys. I just want to be alone and think about some things. I'll see you guys later." The Pink Ranger flashed them all a smile before leaving the room.

"You really think we should've let her go off alone?"she asked her two teammates.

"Yeah," Jack replied, "Syd's a big girl. She can take care of herself."

"But what if something happens to her?" Bridge spoke, concern rapidly appearing on his face as well. "I mean, Commander Cruger did say not to go anywhere alone."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Jack sounded more assured than he felt, he was also becoming worried.

"Yeah," Z paused, trying to convince herself, "Yeah, I'm sure she'll be fine."

Bridge looked from Jack to Z. Without a word, the three Rangers stood up, heading out to search for their Pink Ranger.

Lost in thought, Syd failed to notice that an army of Krybots were coming straight at her. A sudden explosion to her left, caught her attention. Looking up, she saw that she was surrounded, one of the Krybots holding a laser gun, it was obvious which one had tried to attack her. Jarees appeared just as the Pink Ranger was getting into a fighting stance. "Well, look who we have here," the monster crackled, "it's the little Pink Princess."

Syd inwardly cursed. She should've listened to Z earlier, should've stayed in her room. But no, she had to be stubborn. Sighing, she regarded the monster with a look of dislike. "I've had enough of you for one day. Can't you just attack us sometime next week?"

"Do I look stupid to you?" Jarees retorted. "I like attacking you Rangers when you're weak. It makes my job much easier. And now is the perfect opportunity because the SPD Princess is alone. Krybots, attack!"

Syd tried her best to defend herself. Still exhausted from the battle earlier, she wasn't as fast as she usually was. Finally she used her last resort. Grabbing her morpher, she yelled, "SPD Emergency!" Moments later the Pink Ranger appeared. With the extra power, Sydney was able to fight better, but not as well as she liked.

A blast came from her right, causing the Krybot that had latched onto her, to fall off and break into pieces. Turning, she saw Bridge, Z and Jack (all in Ranger form) running towards her. "Thank goodness you guys are here!" The Pink Ranger cried in relief.

"We thought you might be in trouble," Z replied, "You okay Princess?"

"Yeah."

"Alright," Jack took charge, "Let's kick some Krybot butt."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Mora sat at her little play table, surrounded by dolls. "Gruumm," she stated in her annoying voice, "Why don't you just have Jarees kidnap one of the Rangers and then leave?"

If possible, Gruumm's eyes glowed even redder. "And why would I do that Mora?"

"Think about it. The Blue Ranger is already injured, he would not be able to participate in battle. If you kidnap one of the Rangers, their team will be even further weakened. Then you can wait a day and attack the Rangers again. They will be easily defeated with only three of them to fight." The little girl grinned evilly before going back to playing with her dolls.

Gruum crackled an evil laugh, pleased with Mora's plan. "Excellent idea Mora." Picking up his staff, he created a portal that allowed him to contact his best warrior. "Jarees!" He barked.

Down at the park, the spider-like monster responded. "Yes my lord?"

"Kidnap one of the Rangers and get back here immediately!"

Gruumm closed the portal and laughed. "Cruger is a fool. Does he honestly think he can stop me? I'm unstoppable!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Jarees watched as the portal faded away. He couldn't understand Gruumm's way of thinking. He could destroy all four Rangers here and now. He was definitely powerful enough. The monster shrugged. "Well, if it's one Ranger he wants, it's one Ranger he gets," the creature muttered, observing the rangers fight. After a few moments, he decided to target the Pink Ranger. She seemed to be the weakest one at the moment. Throwing out an attack, he smiled in satisfaction as each Ranger fell to the ground. Stretching one of his long scaly arms, he grabbed Sydney before anyone could react.

Syd shrieked as she felt the long arm wrap around her. "Help!" she cried.

Opening his own portal, Jarees waved at the remaining Rangers with another scaly arm, while dangling Syd high in the air. "Ta-Ta Rangers. Say goodbye to your little friend here."

Bridge, Z and Jack watched in horror as the monster jumped through the portal, taking Syd with it. Bridge somehow found the strength to stand and took off running towards the portal. "Hang on Syd!" However, he was too late. By the time he reached the spot where the portal was, it had already disappeared.

The three remaining Rangers demorphed and looked at one another. Finally Bridge sighed and stated the obvious. "This is not good."

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Walking in, he spotted three of his teammates sitting around a table, each one looking solemn. "Hey guys," the Blue Ranger greeted as he pulled out a chair and sat down in between Jack and Bridge.

"Hey Sky," Z responded, cradling her left arm, "How are you feeling?"

"Better. Still in pain, but a lot better," he replied. Looking around the at his team members' expressions, Sky realized something was wrong. Observing his teammates closely, he commented, "Is it just me, or do you guys look even worse than before?"

No one seemed to want to have any eye contact with him. Finally, Bridge decided to be the one to break the bad news. "There was an attack today, while you were sleeping," the Green Ranger stated softly.

Sky felt his heart constrict at the words. Fear was beginning to set in. Why was Syd absent from the group? He did not like the sound of Bridge's words one bit.

"Syd was alone in the park when Jarees appeared. She was attacked, but we got there in time," Bridge paused, "The monster was still too strong and we were already weakened from the previous battle."

"What are you trying to say?" Sky was trying to comprehend Bridge's words but found it difficult. Syd had been attacked?

Jack placed a hand on Sky's shoulder gently. "Jarees kidnapped Syd."

The words sunk in and his chair flew backwards as he stood up, ignoring the sudden pain flowing through him. "WHAT?" he roared.

"We tried to stop him," Z mumbled weakly as she watched Sky. She had never seen the Blue Ranger so angry before. It was unnerving to say the least.

"You mean to tell me," Sky angrily stated, "that Gruumm has Syd locked up someplace?"

No one dared to say a word.

If it had been a different situation, Bridge would've tried to use the opportunity to get Sky to admit his real feelings on the matter. But not this time. This time, the Green Ranger was tired and cranky. He could feel all the emotions that everyone was emitting, making him more tense than he already was. Every part of his body was sore and he was sure he was covered in bruises. He was hungry. But most of all, he was worried for his friend. He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

Just as Sky was about to yell some more, Commander Cruger walked in. "Cadet Tate, please sit down. We have urgent matters to attend too."

Sydney groaned as she hit the wall. Struggling to stand up, she protested, "HEY! LET ME OUT OF HERE!"

"Shut it Pinky," Jarees retorted, "I can destroy you with one blast. Don't tempt me."

That remark shut Syd right up. The Pink Ranger watched silently as the monster strode away, leaving her alone in the semi dark cell, the only lighting was the dimly lit lamp hanging on the wall.

"Eww, this place is so dirty," she softly complained as she inspected her surroundings. "Gross."

"Help me..."

Syd stiffened and quickly turned around, grabbing her Delta Blaster. Holding her weapon out in front of her, she tried her best to disguse the fear in her voice. "Who's there?"

From the shadowy corner of the cell, a gloved hand reached out.

“Who are you?” The voice was weak but Syd saw that it had been the Yellow Ranger that had spoken.

“I’m Syd. Sydney Drew. I’m on B Squad.”

“Will there be people coming for us?” This time it was the Green Ranger who had spoken. There was hope laced in his voice.

An image of Sky flashed in Syd’s mind, followed by an image of the rest of the team. “Yes,” she answered, her voice filled with confidence. “There will be people coming for us.”

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Sky sat on his bed, lost in thought, his mind still reeling from the events of the meeting 2 days before. He was almost fully recovered by now.

Flashback

“Sit down Cadet Tate,” Commander Cruger walked into the room. “We have important matters to attend too.”

“But Sir, Syd’s been taken!” the Blue Ranger protested.

“I’m well aware of that Cadet Tate,” Commander Cruger looked serious, but his voice held a note of amusement. “Do not worry about Cadet Drew. She is safe for the moment.”

Sky relaxed a tiny bit after hearing that piece of news. But it was still easier said than done. He would worry anyway. Picking up his chair, he sat down, ready to hear what the commander had to say.

“Listen carefully Rangers,” Cruger pressed a button on the control panel and a hologram showed up. “Each one of your morphers has a tracking device. Miss Manx and Boom have been monitoring Cadet Drew’s morpher. Scans have shown that Syd is not alone where she is being held captive.”

Sky’s pulse raced at those words. “She’s in danger?”

“No,” the commander responded, “We think that Syd is being held captive with A Squad. From the scans, there are five power sources surrounding Syd. The power sources are similar to A Squad’s.”

All four Rangers looked at one another. No one knew what to say.

“You four must be ready,” Cruger continued after a moment’s silence, “get as much rest as you can. We will attack in two days time.”

“Sir,” Bridge raised a hand, “how will we be getting there?”

“Miss Manx and Boom are working on creating a portal that will enable you to get there undetected. Now go get some rest, you’re dismissed.”

End Flashback

The last two days had passed by slowly. Sky had been restless and filled with worry for Sydney. Was she alright? Was she frightened? Was she still alive? There was no telling what Gruumm would do. Sighing, the Blue Ranger stood up and began to get ready. Grabbing his uniform, he was halfway done pulling on his jacket when something fell out of one of the pockets. Picking it up, he saw that it was a very small diamond. Looking down at the small rock, he gave a small smile, remembering one of the first few signs of his attraction towards her.

Flashback

Sky was not happy. He placed a handful of diamonds to the already growing pile on the ground, “This is ridiculous,” he complained as he stalked over to his motorbike and grabbed a bottle of water. “I should be debriefing Cruger, not babysitting a bunch of reflective rocks.”

“Try millions of dollars worth of reflective rocks,” Syd responded, carefully handling the diamonds.

“Whatever,” Sky shrugged as he sat down on a nearby crate, taking a sip of water. “It’s obvious Jack wants to keep me as far away from the action as possible. He feels threatened by me, cause he knows I should’ve been the Red Ranger.”

Syd looked up from the pile of diamonds, concern and sympathy written all over her face. “Come on Sky, Jack had nothing to do with that.”

Sky shook his head, taking another sip of water. “Whatever Syd.”

Syd picked up a diamond from the pile and threw it at her teammate. “Whatever Syd,” she mocked.

The rock landed on Sky’s stomach. The Blue Ranger picked it up and tossed it back onto the pile. “Knock it off.”

Grabbing a few more diamonds, Syd stood up and lobbed another one at him. “Or what? You’re gonna call my parents?” she teased.

By now the Blue Ranger was annoyed. He gave Sydney a look as the diamond bounced off his shoulder. “Seriously, don’t test me, or you’ll be sorry.”

Syd paid no attention to his words and threw another diamond at him, smirking all the while.

The diamond hit his shoulder once more and Sky stood up, walking over to where the Pink Ranger stood. Opening his water bottle, he poured the water all over his short companion.

“Heeeeey,” Syd gasped and Sky doubled over in laughter. In his opinion, she looked totally adorable.

Sydney looked at him with a smile on her face. “It took me looking like this to get a smile out of you?”

Sky immediately stopped laughing and turned away, clearing his throat. “Very funny.”

“No,” she protested, “it looks good on you! You know, if you spent a little more time with the team, you would not be such a loner.”

Tired of listening to her, Sky created a force field to drown out her voice. As Syd walked back to the pile of diamonds, he watched her with a small smile on his face.

End Flashback

Clutching the diamond in his hand, Sky felt more determined than ever. “I’m coming Sydney. I’m coming.”

“Try not to move so much, it hurts less that way,” came a soothing voice. Syd looked to her left, where A Squad’s Pink Ranger, Allison, was watching her. Syd mustered a weak smile, for the last two days, the two Pink Rangers had bonded. “I can’t take this anymore.”

“You must stay strong,” Allison spoke once more, “Your teammates will come for you.”

“I know they will,” Sydney used all her efforts to drag herself over to where Allison was sitting. She leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. “Sky and Bridge won’t leave me like this. Jack and Z haven’t been part of our team for long, but they wouldn’t leave me here either.”

Allison nodded. It was a few minutes before she spoke again. “You have great affection for your teammates.”

Syd smiled. “I do,” she responded softly.

“That’s wonderful Sydney. I’m very fond of my teammates as well.”

Syd took on a thoughtful look. “You know, no one really calls me Sydney. Everyone just calls me Syd. In fact, the only people who call me Sydney are my parents and… and… Sky.”

“Would you like me to call you Syd instead?”

Syd shrugged, then winced. “Whatever makes you feel comfortable.”

“I will call you Syd then.”

Syd gave a little laugh. “You know what I just realized? I like how Sky calls me Sydney.”

Allison looked a little puzzled. “Sydney is your name isn’t it?”

“Yes,” she paused, “yes it is. But when Sky says it, it just sounds right.”

Allison smiled as if she knew something that Syd didn’t. “You love him.”

Syd looked startled at that remark. “Love him?” she gave a little laugh, “Don’t be silly, I don’t love him.”

The A Squad Pink Ranger raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“I mean sure, I like him and I’m attracted to him, but that doesn’t mean I love him. And of course, I have deep feelings for him, but that doesn’t mean I love him. If I loved him, it would mean that I think about him and talk about him all the time. And if I was in love with him, I would notice little things about him. Like the fact that he likes vanilla pudding and how he always does ten back flips when he wakes up in the morning. And I would notice how he wrinkles his nose when he’s deep in thought or how he grunts when he’s tired and not in the mood to talk. Or how his favorite movie of all time is Finding Nemo, when he claims he loves The Terminator. Or how I….” Sydney stopped talking as a realization came to her.

Allison grinned and waited.

“Oh my goodness!” Syd was so occupied with her sudden discovery that she barely noticed the pain as she stood up. “I love him!” Then a panicked look crossed her face. “Oh my gosh, what do I do now?”

Allison gave the Pink Ranger an amused glance. “First of all, sit down before you injure yourself even further. Second of all, you wait till your teammates rescue you and when you’re all safe and sound, you tell him.”

“I can’t tell him!”

“Why not?”

“Because… just because!”

“I don’t see you as someone who is afraid to go after what they want,” Allison remarked.

Syd fell silent after hearing that comment. What Allison said was true. She was usually never afraid of going after what she wanted. Should she tell Sky?

More importantly, how would he react?

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Blasts sounded from everywhere, as Syd drifted in and out of consciousness. At first Syd thought she had been dreaming, but when she faintly heard someone yelling her name, she knew it was no dream. With renewed energy, she pulled herself up and hobbled over to the bars of the cell, wincing along the way. Her ankle hurt like hell. The A Squad Rangers perked up as well when they heard all the noises.

Sydney strained her ears. Faintly she could hear voices calling her name. “SYD! SYD CAN YOU HEAR ME?”

Syd felt a genuine smile come to her face for the first time in two days. “SKY! BRIDGE! Z! JACK!” she hollered as loud as she could, “GUYS, I’M DOWN HERE!”

She fell silent again as she heard Sky respond. “KEEP YELLING! MAKE AS MUCH NOISE AS YOU CAN! I’LL FIND YOU!”

Quickly, the Pink Ranger demorphed and placed one of her hands on the jail bars. “I summon the stone!” she called as she turned her hand into the iron, and began banging, all the while yelling. “I’M DOWN HERE SKY!”

A minute later, a blast came through the door, smoke filling the entire room. Once the smoke cleared, Syd was filled with happiness as her gazed landed on the person she wanted to see most. “Sky!”

“Stand back!” the Blue Ranger warned, lifting his Delta Blaster. Syd moved out of the way as Sky fired at the cell walls. The bars disintegrated and Sky rushed over to where Syd was. “Sydney!”

“Oh Sky,” Syd cried in relief, as she threw her arms around him, “Am I ever glad to see you!”

“Hey, it’s okay,” he spoke softly, putting his own arms around her, “I’m here.” Looking around, Sky noticed the other figures in the cell. “A Squad?”

“Yeah Sky, it’s A Squad. Gruumm’s held them captive here,” Syd replied as she tried to stand up. She winced as she tried to stand on her left ankle, still in Sky’s arms. The Blue Ranger noticed Syd’s little stumble though. “You’re hurt!” he exclaimed, “What’d they do to you?”

“Oh nothing much,” Syd replied as casual as she could, breathing through the pain she felt as best she could, “Just pounded me a couple of times, fired shots at me, and sent those Krybots after me every hour, that’s all.”

“You’re in no condition to walk.” The tone in Sky’s voice left no room for argument. Placing one strong arm around Syd’s shoulders, he placed the other arm under her knees and lifted her up. “You hold my Delta Blaster and fire at anything coming our way just incase we run into trouble,” he told her.

Syd nodded, gripping onto his gun. “Got it.”

Another blast came through the wall, and this time it revealed the other Rangers. “Guys!” Syd cried happily. Jack, Z, and Bridge rushed forward.

“No time to stop and celebrate right now,” Jack commanded, bending over to help the A Squad’s Green Ranger, “As much as I’m glad to see you Syd, we have to get out of here. Those Krybots are much stronger on their own turf.”

Bridge glanced at his morpher as he lent a hand to help the A Squad’s Blue Ranger. “We have ten minutes to get out of here.”

“That’s all the time we need,” Z spoke from where she stood with the Pink and Yellow Rangers, “hurry Bridge, create another portal!”

Bridge nodded. Waving his arm, a whirlpool of green appeared. “Let’s go!” With the Blue and Red Rangers from A Squad, Bridge walked forward and disappeared through the portal. Z followed, steadily guiding the Pink Ranger. Jack was next with the Green and Yellow Rangers, and Sky followed, holding tightly onto Syd. The portal disappeared with a flash as the Krybots came rushing into the room.

Commander Cruger regarded the Rangers in front of him with a proud look. “You have all made progress since your first day here. You've saved Cadet Drew as well as A Squad and also managed to bring back the bag of diamonds Gruumm had stolen long ago. I couldn't have been more proud of you."

Bridge, Jack and Z all saluted. “Thank you sir.”

“There is one thing that puzzles me though,” Commander Cruger scratched his chin, “Where is Cadet Tate?” The blue dog held a look of amusement. "I think this is the first time he's missed a meeting!"

The three Rangers all exchanged a glance. Finally Jack spoke. “He’s in the recovery room with Syd, Sir. I don’t think he’s leaving her side anytime soon.”

The Commander gave a hearty laugh, something that surprised the Rangers. “I was wondering when those two would get together.”

Bridge and Z grinned at one another. Seems as if they weren’t the only ones who thought their Pink and Blue Rangers were a perfect match.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Once they had gone through the portal and had arrived back at the Academy safely, Syd had refused to let go of him. Insisting that he stay with her, Syd claimed that she felt safer with Sky around and hadn’t wanted him to leave her alone. Sky was only too happy to stay, it gave him an excuse to be close to her.

Glancing around the room, Sky observed the A Squad Rangers that were asleep in the various beds. All five had been seriously injured, but Kat had determined that it would take time, but they would all recover. Hearing a soft sigh, Sky turned back just in time to see Sydney wake up. Her blue eyes blinked in confusion and she looked around before finally remembering where she was. Her eyes rested on the figure in front of her and she smiled warmly. “Hi.”

“Hey,” Sky responded, his hand still on her forehead. He smiled as he felt her hand close around his other one. “How are you feeling?”

Syd let out a groan. “Sore. It hurts everywhere. I don’t think I’ve been in so much pain in my life.” She pouted.

Sky let out a soft chuckle. “You’ll be back to normal in no time.”

“I hope so.”

There was a silence as the two Rangers gazed at one another. Glancing down at their joined hands, Sky quietly confessed, “I was really worried about you.”

Syd blushed. “You didn’t have too.”

Sky shrugged. “Couldn’t help it.”

“You were really worried about me?”

“Yeah,” Sky paused, deciding to bring up the subject he had wanted to talk about for days. “Hey Syd, remember that night you did night duty with me?”

Syd smiled and nodded. Her heart was pounding. ‘Well, this is it,’ she thought, ‘this is where it either turns out great or ends horribly. Oh well, just be honest with your feelings Syd. It’s never disappointed you before.’

She cleared her throat before responding. “Yeah, what about it?”

“Well, I-uh... I-umm… well…” Sky stammered, unsure of what to say.

Sydney smiled as she watched Sky struggle with what to say. Finally, she decided to be the one to confess first. Placing her other hand on top of his so that his hand was in between hers, she gazed at him, never breaking eye contact. “I like you Sky. I like you a lot.”

Sky seemed to be frozen in place as she continued. “For a few months now, I’ve been having these feelings for you. At first, it was just a crush. I thought I would get over it, like I always do with my other crushes. Only, my crush on you didn’t fade, and now it’s past that point.”

Sky was having a hard time digesting what Syd was confessing. “You- you like me?”

Syd broke eye contact, deciding that she wouldn’t tell him she loved him just yet. There would be another time for that, if things turned out wonderfully. And right at that moment, the Pink Ranger wasn’t feeling so confident about Sky’s feelings. “Yes Sky, I like you a lot,” she looked up once more, “look, I’ll understand if you don’t feel the same way. I don’t want this to affect our friendship or the team. We can just pretend-“

However, Syd never got to finish her sentence. Sky had leaned over and captured her lips with his, bringing the Pink Ranger into a state of bliss as the Blue Ranger tenderly kissed her. After a few minutes, Sky pulled back, breathing heavily. Syd was in much of the same state. Gazing at her for a few moments, Sky leaned in and kissed her once more. ‘This must be what heaven feels like.’ The thought floated through his mind before Sky pushed it away and just focused on Syd, savoring the moment. After another few minutes, he pulled back and just gazed at her once again. His arms were wrapped around her waist and he was half lying on the bed, her hands placed on his shoulders.

Syd looked up at Sky, her face blushing. She let out a quiet giggle. “I guess this means you feel the same way?”

Sky chuckled and brushed her bangs away from her face. “I think it’s safe to say that I do.”

“Does this mean I can call you my boyfriend now?” Her eyes were filled with hope and happiness.

He met her gaze evenly. “I wouldn’t let anyone else have the title.”

Syd grinned and for a moment, Sky was blown away by her beauty. He grinned as he stroked her cheek. Then a look came over his face and he suddenly sat upward.

“What’s wrong?” Syd asked, alarmed. Did he change his mind about her?

“Was I hurting you? I know for a fact you’re still sore.” His voice was full of concern.

Syd relaxed. Was that all? She grinned playfully and pulled Sky back towards her. “You could never hurt me,” she giggled, then promptly let out a yawn.

Sky smiled. “Looks like you’re still tired. Time for you to get some more rest.”

The Pink Ranger pouted. “Do I have too?”

“Yes,” he responded firmly, but his eyes shone with affection.

“Will you stay with me?” Her blue eyes gazed into his brown ones.

Sky got off the bed and pulled the stool he had been sitting on earlier closer to the bed. Reaching out and grabbing her hand, he replied, “Always.”

Two months later -

The day was bright and sunny, sounds of happy laughter and chatter filled the park. Children were running around the grassy area, with flying kites trailing behind them. Towards a more secluded area of the park, five individuals sat on a checkered blanket, enjoying the picnic they had set up an hour earlier.

Over the last two months, their training had intensified as the Rangers had been working hard to bring in Jarees. The alien was strong. Very strong. For more times than they could count, Jarees gave them more injuries than they cared to remember. It had been by chance that Bridge had discovered the alien’s weakness by shooting at his left ear. It had been pure luck that the Rangers had managed to arrest Jarees and bring him into custody. As a reward for their breakthrough, Commander Cruger had given them a few days off. The Rangers had taken advantage of their free time and had decided to spend the day hanging out at the park and to just enjoy the company of everyone on the team, while celebrating their most recent victory.

The A Squad Rangers had almost fully recovered. Weeks of being held captive by Gruumm had done more damage to the team than they had initially thought. After consulting a specialized doctor, it was determined that all the Squad needed was lots of rest. A few more weeks and the A Squad Rangers would be good to go.

And as for Sky and Syd, their relationship had steadily progressed over the last two months, their feelings for each other growing deeper each passing day and had grown closer than ever. It was Sky and Syd. Syd and Sky. News of their relationship had quickly spread around the Academy, shocking many people. At first, many of the Cadets had refused to believe that a relationship had blossomed between the two. The spoiled Princess and the uptight, bossy, Mr. By-the-book? It just didn’t fit.

However, opinions changed once everyone saw how the Pink and Blue Rangers interacted. It was like watching two new personalities shinning through. The Sky and Syd the Academy knew were not the Sky and Syd they now saw. For the most part, the two rangers were still the same, but everyone saw the obvious change. Sky was less uptight and Syd was more grounded, less spoiled. Everyone had to admit that the pair were an attractive couple.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Syd giggled as she lay in Sky’s arms. She sighed happily as she snuggled deeper into his embrace, while watching their three friends toss a Frisbee back and forth. Everything was just perfect. She had a great family, awesome friends, she was making a difference in the world and…

She had Sky.

The Pink Ranger gave another happy sigh as she began to reflect on everything that happened. After being released from the Recovery Room, she and Sky had gone on their first date. The Blue Ranger had taken her to a semi-formal restaurant, he had been decked out in dark denim jeans, and a blue dress shirt and she had worn a baby pink sundress. They had sat down to dinner and laughed and talked as they ate. Once their food was all finished, Sky stood up and had grabbed Syd’s hand and had led her to the dance floor. Syd had been pleasantly surprised at how well the Blue Ranger could dance and the pair danced most of the night away. Afterwards, they had taken a slow walk in the park, just enjoying each other’s company, stealing kisses from one another every now and then, before heading back towards the Academy.

“Hey guys!”

Jack’s shout brought Syd out of her thoughts, as the Red Ranger ran up to them. Slightly breathless, Jack bent over, placing his hands on his knees. After a minute, the Red Ranger looked up and grinned. “Are you two going to join us or just sit there all day?”

Syd grinned wider as she felt the vibrations of Sky’s chuckle on his chest. “I think we’re happier just sitting here,” the Blue Ranger replied, wrapping his arms tighter around the Pink Ranger and shifting more of his weight onto the tree he was leaning against.

“Maybe later,” Syd said, sighing in content.

Jack shrugged. “Suit yourselves.” The Red Ranger turned and headed back towards Bridge and Z, whom were waiting to play another game of Ultimate Frisbee.

A minute of silence passed before Sky spoke up. “Are you happy?”

Turning her head slightly upwards so that she was facing the Blue Ranger, Syd replied, “Very happy. Are you?”

The Blue Ranger met her gaze and grinned. “Never been happier.”

Syd’s blue eyes danced with delight. “I’m glad.”

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The sun was starting to set as the Rangers began to pack up their things, ready to head back to the academy. As they stood up, Sky silently grabbed Syd’s hand and pulled her away from the rest of the group. Walking along the pathway, the Blue Ranger led her to a very secluded area, stopping at a spot where they could see the sunset very clearly. Wrapping his arms around her, Sky gently rested his chin on top of Syd’s head and together they stood, just watching the sunset for a few minutes.

Sky’s heart was pounding as he thought about what he was about to say to the Pink Ranger. ‘Well, here goes nothing.’

“Syd?” he softly stated, as he felt Syd start to turn around in his arms, “I have something to tell you….”

Her blue eyes looked up at him expectantly. “What is it Sky?”

Sky hesitated but finally said what was on his mind.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Bridge, Z, and Jack had just finished packing up all their belongings when Sky and Syd came back from their brief walk. Both Pink and Blue Rangers walked past them, oblivious to their surroundings, happiness was evident on their faces and they were lost in each other.

Z exchanged a glance with Jack and Bridge. “What was that all about?” she wondered.

Jack shrugged. “With those two, who knows? One minute they’re filing their nails and being all uptight about SPD regulations, and the next minute they’re all lovey dovey.”

The Green Ranger pulled off one of his gloves and waved his hand in a circular motion at his teammates’ retreating backs. What he saw made him grin. Sparks of red shot out from both their auras, surrounding the blue and Pink Rangers. Excitement. Happiness. Love. Pulling his glove back on, Bridge turned to face his other two teammates.

“They’re in love,” the Green Ranger simply stated. Picking up the picnic basket, the three remaining Rangers trailed after Sky and Syd, with Bridge watching his teammates smiling in satisfaction.