Stand by You
by
OverdriveRed
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
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When the night falls on you
You don't know what to do
Nothing you confess
Could make me love you less
I’ll stand by you
I’ll stand by you
Won’t let nobody hurt you
I’ll stand by you
From “I’ll Stand by You,” by Carrie Underwood
“Knock, knock,” she chirped from the other side of his door. “I know you’re in there, Sky. Let me in.”
The door slid open with a faint hissing sound. He was sprawled on his bed, staring at the cherished photo. Syd smiled. “Come on. Get dressed.”
“I am dressed,” Sky said dully. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“I mean real clothes. Like me,” she replied, gesturing to her sweater in the lightest shade of pink and the low slung jeans she was clad in. “Come on. It’s almost eight already.”
“Sydney, for the last time, I am not going out clubbing with you. I will never go out clubbing with you. So please stop asking.”
“I don’t want to go out partying. Just… come out with me. No clubs. I promise.”
“Then where is it that you’re so set on going?” he wondered, sitting up.
“For ice cream,” she replied, and she said it with the kind of innocence that only Syd had.
“Ice cream.”
Syd bobbed her golden head. “Please? It’s Saturday night, we’re off duty, and I refuse to let you sit around like an old fuddy-duddy while staring at your father’s picture.”
“Go with someone else,” suggested Sky.
“I don’t want anyone else,” Syd said softly. Sky’s heart melted.
“Fine. I will go with you for ice cream.”
She giggled. “Thank you,” she said quietly. Sky didn’t trust himself to say anything. He just nodded.
--
If anyone could look utterly adorable while eating strawberry ice cream, it was Sydney Drew. They were sitting in the local Baskin Robbins, each with an ice cream cone in their hands, and Sky found himself unable to take his eyes off of her. He still had no idea what it was that she wanted with him, but he found that he didn’t care all that much.
“Sky,” mewed Syd, leaning across the table towards him, “You have ice cream all over your face.” The blue ranger felt himself go red as she gently wiped his face with a napkin.
“Thanks.”
Syd nodded. “Will you take a walk with me?” she asked in her soft little girl’s voice. Her blue eyes were, as always, shimmering hopefully.
“Sure.”
The two SPD rangers finished their ice cream cones and headed out. Sky started down the street that led downtown towards some of Syd’s favorite boutiques, but the pink ranger shook her blond curls, seized Sky by the hand and took off along the direction of the boardwalk.
“What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?” Sky asked as they wove their way through the children running along the carnival set up on the boardwalk.
“I’ll tell you on the Ferris Wheel,” Syd said over her shoulder, still making a beeline for the blinking blue and pink lights decorating the carnival ride.
“Sydney,” Sky began as the pink ranger ushered them into one of the seats, “I said I’d get some ice cream. The Ferris Wheel was never part of the equation.”
“Oh quit complaining,” Syd teased as the ride started. “Honestly.”
She fell silent then, and remained quiet until the car she and Sky were in reached the top of the Ferris Wheel and swayed gently back and forth in the breeze.
“Come on Syd, tell me whatever it is that you need to tell me so I can get back to the base and get some sleep.”
“I’m very proud of you, Sky. You came to terms with your father’s death and you stopped moping about being the blue ranger, and you did it all by yourself. And therefore, I’m proud of you.”
Surely this couldn’t be everything. With Sydney it was never this simple. “Thanks, I guess,” he said awkwardly.
“But,” Syd continued, and Sky had known a but was coming, “You don’t always have to do everything by yourself. I’m always here, you know that, right?”
“I know. Earlier in the park with Mirloc when you moved forward to defend me and my father’s memory I knew you weren’t going anywhere.”
“And I’m not,” Syd replied, and cuddled closer to him.