Post by nm4ever on Apr 11, 2008 23:41:27 GMT -5
Title: A Painful Affair
Author: Angel
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or any of the characters. If I did..........well, what would happen if I did is a long story. *grins* I also don't own the lyrics to "Got to go my own way" sang by Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron.
Summary: Syd and Sky are together, and Syd is forced to make a decision that will be painful for both of them. Will they have a happy ending, or live with the consequences of Sydney's decision?
Author Notes (if any): I actually got this idea from Meg. She came up with the idea from watching HSM2 for Vida and Xander, and she said that it was all right if I used the same idea. This is also dedicated to Pink, as it was a present for her. Love ya girl!
She sighed as she looked at her watch that read 9:30 p.m. He had promised her that he was going to be home over two hours before. Syd crossed her arms as she contemplated what she was about to do. It hadn’t been so bad in the beginning of their relationship. They had spent practically all of their free time together; he had taken out on so many different dates, and even if it was the same place, he had still managed to make it different. And then things had changed the second he had received his promotion to Commander of New Tech SPD. Before, if he ever had to leave in the middle of a date, he tried to see if it could somehow be detained or taken care of by someone else. Now, if there was an emergency, there were no questions asked; he’d leave and not return to her for hours. They used to sit and talk to each other for hours on end about everything: politics, work, friends, family, you name it; she was lucky if she could even get him alone for ten minutes.
She looked at the pictures that were on the end table next to her. All held images of happier times; her twenty-third birthday, their first Christmas together, New year’s Eve, them just holding each other. She reached out and grabbed the first picture, which was the Christmas one. She held it in her lap as her eyes filled with tears; it had definitely been a much happier time then. Her thumbs caressed the edge of the frame before she took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with one hand. As much as it would break her heart to do this, she had to. It was killing her to keep going on like this, in a relationship that for all intents and purposes didn’t even seem real anymore, not when it was only her putting in any real effort.
The radio was playing softly in the background, the DJ’s voice coming over the air. “Here’s a request from one of our listeners. It’s an old one, but it says a lot and often times is what’s needed with some couples. This song is ‘Gotta Go My Own Way’ sang by Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron.’
As the song played, Sydney listened to closely to the words in the song, her heart breaking even more as she knew that the song symbolized what she was going through right now.
But I get my hopes up
and I watch them fall everytime
Another color turns to grey
and it's just too hard to watch it all
slowly fade away
I'm leaving today 'cause I've
gotta do what's best for me
you'll be ok..
I've got to move on and be who I am
I just don't belong here
I hope you understand
We might find our place in this
world someday
But at least for now
I gotta go my own way
Unwanted tears made their way down her cheeks as she listened to the song. Her breathing was uneven as she continued to cry until she felt as though she had no tears left. She reached for the tissues and grabbed a few, bringing them to her eyes and wiping them. She walked to the bathroom and passed the bed; the bed that they shared together.
She choked back a sob before entering the bathroom and looking at her reflection in the mirror. Red, bloodshot eyes stared back at her, her makeup in disarray. She turned on the water and splashed her face several times. She grabbed a handtowel from the drying rack and wiped her face carefully. She padded back to the living room and sat back down on the couch, knowing that he was due to show up any minute.
When she heard the lock turning, she jumped up and took a defensive stance, her SPD training coming through. She relaxed when she saw that it was Sky, finally home after working. She watched as he closed the door and set his things down on the table near the door. He walked up to her and pulled her in a hug and a kiss. Sydney tried to hold on as long as she could, knowing that this could possibly be the last time that she’d ever get to kiss him like this. His lips caressed hers softly, making her nearly cry at the thought of what she had to do. He pulled back to give them both air, looking at her with concerned.
“Hey, you okay?”
“Y-yeah. I’m fine. How was your day?”
“Busy. Four attempted break-ins, two muggings, and a reported rape. Not to mention a mountain of paperwork. What about you?”
Sydney took a deep breath before answering. “Sky, we need to talk.”
She saw the change instantly in his eyes and knew that he knew what she had meant. “Is everything okay? Are you sure that we have to talk?”
“Yeah. We have to, and things haven’t been all right for awhile. Sky, I-I can’t d-do this anymore,” Sydney stuttered out.
His eyes widened as he realized what she was going to do. “Everything’s fine, babe, or it will be. I promise, just please don’t do this.”
“I have to. I can’t keep going on like this. We hardly ever see each other, except maybe at night, and then you’re gone the next morning. What’s worse is whenever we do manage to get to see each other and go out or just spend time together as a couple, you always end up cutting it short by running off to go take care of something,” she told him honestly, as the tears began to streak down her cheeks.
“Syd, please don’t cry. Don’t do this, I’ll do anything,” Sky begged with teared up eyes.
“I don’t want to, but I need to do this. I won’t ask you to choose between your job or me, and I can’t keep doing this, so I’m leaving. I do want you to know that I will always love you, Schuyler,” she told him in a soft voice before turning around and walking away.
The tears in Sky’s eyes began to fall as he realized that they were over; she had broken up with him. “Sydney, wait. Isn’t there anything I can do?” he croaked out.
Syd stopped in her tracks and shook her head, afraid to turn around. She knew if she did, she would see tears falling from his gorgeous eyes, and she would want nothing more than for him to hold her and to hold him. She grabbed her keys off the table and closed the front door behind her with a snap before breaking off into a dead run. It had started raining at some point, and it was full on raining when she left the complex. The tears continued to fall down her cheeks as her shoulders shook. She finally reached her car and tried to stick her key in the lock, but the thoughts running through her head, the tears in her eyes and the rain made her give up and sink to a heap on the pavement as she held her knees and sobbed. She cried for herself and for Sky, for the fact that she had to do this to both of them.
The door shut behind the love of his life with an echoing deepness, startling him out of the shock he was in. He took deep breaths as he tried to control himself, but found that he couldn’t and gave in to the pain that he was feeling. Sydney, the woman he loved more than life itself, the reason why he looked forward to coming home, was gone and was probably never going to come back. Although he loved his job, he always hated having to break off dates with her to leave and handle matters at SPD, so when she finally revealed all of this to him, it did and didn’t come as a shock to him, but it still hurt like nothing else. He managed to raise himself to a sitting position and rubbed at the tears that fell, hoping that they would go away, but found that they wouldn’t.
His clouded eyes fell on the pictures of them on the end table, only making the pain hurt more. The pictures held times of when they had been happy, when everything had been going right. He picked up the picture of him holding her and smiled sadly. They had gone to the park to just be with each other on a day that both had gotten off. He was leaning against a tree with her leaning against them, him looking at her as she smiled. They had gotten up and a stranger had come up to them, introducing herself and saying that she had taken a photo of them. She had asked if they wouldn’t mind that she use the picture in her portfolio and in exchange, she would give them either a black/white or a color shot of them. Both Syd and Sky had agreed, and Sky gave the lady their address and some money to pay for the picture. The stranger, who had introduced herself as Melissa, took the address, but shook her head at the money, saying not to worry about it. They had parted ways, and a few weeks later, Melissa had shown up while they were getting ready for a party to show them the shot that she had taken. She pulled both a color and a black/white shot out of a folder, holding up both in front of her. Sky and Syd had agreed that they both liked the black and white shot better, and Melissa had handed it over with no problem. She thanked them both for letting her use the picture of them in her project and left with a wave. The next day, the photo had been put in a frame and placed on the table with the other pictures that were there.
He held the framed picture in his hands, stroking the image of Sydney’s face, hoping that she could just be real. “I’m so sorry, Syd. I’m sorry.”
For several moments, Sydney had continued to lie on the ground before pulling herself together. She stood shakily and managed to finally get in her car before putting it into gear and driving towards the headquarters. Thankfully, she got there without getting into an accident, and found herself racing into the elevator. When the doors opened at the floor she wanted, she flew off of the elevator and into the common room, finding Z standing there, talking to Bridge. Without saying anything, the tiny blonde hurled herself into Z’s unsuspecting arms, the Yellow Ranger’s arms wrapping around her teammate, best friend, and sister.
“Syd, what’s wrong? You’re soaking wet and shivering,” Z told her.
“Broke…up….Sky,” she sobbed in response, making Z and Bridge look at each other with wide eyes.
“I’m gonna kill him,” Z promised vehemently, only making Sydney hold her even tighter.
“No! Don’t do that, he didn’t do anything to hurt me,” she told Z in a quiet voice.
Z sighed and hugged Sydney, knowing that she needed a friend to be there for her. “Tell you what: let’s go and get you out of these wet clothes of yours, we don’t want you to catch pneumonia, do we?” she asked with a smile, making Syd shake her head no. “Come on. Let’s get you changed into warm clothes and get you some soup, and you can tell me, if you want, how this happened, okay?” Z asked.
An hour later, the trio was at Z’s and Bridge’s apartment. Syd had showered and changed into pink sweatpants and a sweatshirt and had a bowl of vegetable soup in front of her as she sat on the sofa in their living room. “Then I told him that I loved him, turned around, walked out the door, and just bawled,” Sydney finished recounting her story, tearing up at the thought of it.
“Okay, now I really am going to kill him,” Z said vehemently.
“Z, please don’t, okay? I’m fine, he didn’t hurt me physically. It just hurts and sucks that I had to break up with him.”
“I know, I know,” she soothed as she pulled her best friend into a hug. “Do you need a place to crash for awhile?”
“If you don’t mind, just until I figure out where I’m going to stay,” Sydney replied with a sniffle.
“It’s okay. You know you’re welcome to crash with me and Z anytime,” Bridge replied.
“Hey, I’m gonna go and make a quick phone call, are you going to be all right by yourself for a few minutes?” Z asked.
“Z, I’m not going to commit suicide any time soon, not to mention Bridgey’s here. I’ll be fine,” the blonde teased.
Z frowned before smiling as she grabbed her cellphone and walked into a bedroom and shut the door. “Hey, it’s me. I need you to do something.”
Jack Landors stood outside of Sky’s apartment, taking a deep breath to calm himself down so he wouldn’t beat the crap out of one of his best friends for having hurt a girl that was like a little sister to him. Z had called him the day it had happened and had asked him to “beat the crap out of Sky” for her. As much as Jack wanted to do that to Sky himself, he wanted to find out what the whole story was before knocking his lights out, which caused him to take another deep breath and raise his fist to knock on the front door.
There was no answer the first time or the second time that he knocked. “Sky, come on, open up. I know you’re in there, man! Don’t think I won’t kick your door down!” he shouted.
Before Jack really could kick or knock down the apartment door, it opened and Jack was greeted to the sight of a cranky and unshaven Schuyler Tate. “What do you want, Jack?”
“Mind if I come in?” he asked politely.
“Sure. Be my guest,” Sky replied blandly, stepping to the side to allow his friend to enter and shut the door behind him. Sky crossed the room and sat down on the sofa across from Jack.
“You look horrible, man. When was the last time you actually got a decent night of rest?” Jack asked with concern.
“Not that it’s any of your business, I just haven’t been sleeping well,” Sky retorted.
“Uh huh, not sleeping well. And I’m guessing that that would be because of a certain Pink ranger that we both know and love?”
Jack knew he was right just by how Sky’s entire demeanor changed at the mere mention of her. His shoulders dropped, and he looked downright upset. “She left me, Jack. She broke up with me and she just turned around and left without even turning around.”
“What happened? I mean, I know Syd, and she wouldn’t just up and leave you without any reason at all,” Jack replied. “Was it because of you and work?”
Sky nodded numbly. “Yeah. You were right that she would if I didn’t change things.”
“That doesn’t mean that I wanted to be right though. I’m sorry, man.”
“It’s fine. You had a point and you were right, there’s nothing for you to be sorry about,” Sky told him quietly.
“So, how are you going to get her back?” he asked simply.
“What do you mean?” Sky asked with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
“I mean, what are you going to do to get her back? You can’t just give up just because you two broke up. I know you, Sky. You had feelings for her back when I was still at the Academy, so you can’t tell me that you don’t still love her.”
“I do still love her!” Sky nearly yelled. “Why do you think I look like hell? I’ve barely slept at all because I’m so used to her being there, to hearing her sleep! It kills to me to know that I have to wake up in the morning and know that it’s another day without her being here. So don’t try and tell me that I don’t love her. I love her so much that it hurts to be without her, and I need her.”
“So, what are you going to do about it? There’s gotta be some way that you can fix this mess,” Jack told him.
Sky put his chin on his hand as he thought about what he could do. After a few moments, it came to him. “I know what I can do, but I’m gonna need your help. Can you, Bridge and Z help me out?”
“Sure. Just tell me what to do and I’ll try to get it done.”
“Okay, will someone please tell me why I’m getting dressed up like this?” Syd moaned.
“For a few reasons. One, you’re my best friend, so I refuse to let you sit around and mope. Two, you’ve barely left our place since you got here. And three, if you don’t get yourself dressed, I’ll kick your butt,” Z promised with a grin.
Sydney only rolled her as she continued to get dressed. Z had brought home an evening gown, shoes and all the accessories and had handed them to her. Sydney had been told to go to her room and get ready; she, Z, and Bridge were going out for the night. Sydney did the finishing touches on her hair and makeup before looking at the gown that Z had brought home for her. She gasped when she saw it; a beautiful, dark blue silk dress with a scoop neck along with black heeled sandals. She carefully pulled the bag off of the dress and set it aside before pulling the dress off the hanger. She shimmied into it and grinned as she realized that it fit her perfectly. She pulled on a pair of pantyhose and the black shoes before putting on a simple silver necklace and watch. She grabbed her small clutch purse before leaving her room to find Z and Bridge walking into the living room as well. Z looked gorgeous in a yellow V-neck dress, while Bridge looked great in a traditional black suit and a green tie. “Okay, where are we going that’s so nice?”
Z grinned. “Oh, come on, Pinkie. You don’t honestly think that we’re going to tell you, do you? That’d kind of ruin the whole point of it being a surprise.
Sydney only frowned at her teammates. “Yeah, I guess so. I just want to know,” she pouted.
“Not telling. Now take this, you’re going to put it on when we get in the car, and no peeking,” Bridge told her mysteriously as he handed her a blindfold.
“All right, let’s go,” Sydney said as she walked outside. The trio reached the car and unfortunately for Sydney, who’d been planning on not wearing the blindfold, Z put it on Sydney and made a twin of herself to sit with Sydney to make sure the blonde didn’t pull the blindfold off.
After she had driven for twenty minutes, Z finally stopped and turned the car off before getting out and going to Sydney’s side of the car. She helped her friend out of the car before letting her twin rejoin her body and waving to Bridge to come with them. Bridge and Z led Sydney inside of a hotel before stepping onto an elevator, making Sydney confused when she heard the ding.
“Where are we? I thought we were going out,” she asked, the confusion evident in her voice.
“We are. We’re almost to where we’re going. You have take an elevator to get there,” Z replied.
“Oooooookay,” Syd responded.
A second later, the bell dinged, indicating that they were at the right floor. Bridge and Z exited the elevator before directing Sydney, both on one side of her. They reached a pair of double doors and walked into the center part of the room. “You can take your blindfold off, now,” Z told her.
Sydney reached up and pulled the blindfold off with a flourish, gasping as she saw the room she was in. The entire room was adorned with soft lights and candles, giving it a romantic glow. Rose petals were strewn on the floor and a table for two sat in the center of the room, while music played softly.
“What….what is all of this? I thought we were going out to eat somewhere, all three of us,” Sydney asked.
“You’ll see, just stay here, but promise me something. Just listen, okay?” Z asked before walking away.
Sydney’s brow only furrowed in confusion even more. “What does she mean, ‘just listen’?” the Pink Ranger asked to no one in particular.
“I think she meant to me,” a familiar voice announced.
Sydney turned around and gasped as she saw Sky walking slowly towards her in a suit with a dark red tie and black shoes. “What are you….I can’t believe them! They set me up! I’m going to kill them!” she ranted as she paced.
Sky came up behind her, causing her to run into him when she walked back, not noticing him in the midst of anger. He quickly caught her before she could fall to the ground, enjoying the feeling of her in his arms.
“T-thanks. Can you let me up now?” she asked. He nodded and returned her to a standing position.
After what seemed like years of awkwardness, she spoke. “I’m sorry, I just can’t do this. I have to go.”
“Syd, wait,” Sky pleaded as he caught her hand.
She bit her lip and closed her eyes, silently counting to herself before turning around. “What, Sky?”
“They didn’t really set you up. I asked them to bring you here. I just wanted to talk to you; the only thing that I want is for you to give me five minutes and then you can leave,” he pleaded quietly.
Sydney sighed before nodding. “All right, you have five minutes and then I’m gone.”
He took a deep breath before nodding. “I know it won’t even begin to make up for how I was being, but I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being such a jerk and not thinking about you or how you might have felt about us. After you left, I had a lot of time on my hands to think, so I did. And you know what I realized?”
She shook her head. “What?”
“I realized that the one thing, the one person that was more important to me than any job, wasn’t in my life anymore: you. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to tell you this. I love you more than anything or anyone else, Sydney. I hope you can forgive me for that, Syd, and if you’ll have me back, I’ll make it up to you.”
She swallowed before speaking. “Sky, you can’t just take me out on a nice date and expect me to take you back.”
“I know, which is why if you need time to think about it, you can take all the time that you want in the world,” he told her softly.
“You didn’t let me finish. You can’t just expect me to take you back, but I will,” she replied with a smile.
It was Sky’s turn to be shocked as his jaw dropped. “What?”
“You heard me, Schuyler Tate. I still love you, I never stopped. I forgive you for what happened, but it’s going to take me some time to fully get over it,” she told him quietly.
He nodded in understanding before gently pulling her into a hug, his head on top of hers. “I’m so sorry, Syd. I acted like a complete and total jerk.”
She lifted her head to look up at him and smiled sadly. “You did, but at least you’re sorry about it.”
He smiled ruefully. “I’m just mad at myself that it took me losing you to make me realize how important you were to me.”
“It happened, but I’m here with you now. That’s all that matters,” she replied as she looked around the room. “Who did all of this?”
“Well, if you’d believe it, I had help from Bridge, Z, and Jack, all three of whom threatened to kick my ass if I ever did anything to hurt you again. Z nearly did when she saw me again, and I almost thought that Jack was going to when he came over to the apartment,” Sky chuckled.
Sydney giggled. “When did he come over?”
“A few days after you left. I looked like hell and I probably would have deserved it if he had beaten the crap out of me. He’s the whole reason why we’re here now. He made me see how much I missed you, how I didn’t want to go on without you being at home when I got there,” he answered softly.
Tears sprung to her eyes at his heartfelt confession. “I missed you, too,” she replied as the tears began to fall.
“Hey, don’t cry. Please, don’t cry, Sydney,” he begged her softly as his hands came up to her face, his thumbs brushing the tears away as his lips gently caressed hers. She whimpered at the feeling of his lips on hers, and he pulled away before it could become too passionate. “Would you dance with me, Sydney?”
She nodded. “I’d love to.”
He pulled her into his arms as they moved slowly about the floor. Both were content in knowing that they were together again and that things would be different from now.
Author: Angel
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or any of the characters. If I did..........well, what would happen if I did is a long story. *grins* I also don't own the lyrics to "Got to go my own way" sang by Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron.
Summary: Syd and Sky are together, and Syd is forced to make a decision that will be painful for both of them. Will they have a happy ending, or live with the consequences of Sydney's decision?
Author Notes (if any): I actually got this idea from Meg. She came up with the idea from watching HSM2 for Vida and Xander, and she said that it was all right if I used the same idea. This is also dedicated to Pink, as it was a present for her. Love ya girl!
She sighed as she looked at her watch that read 9:30 p.m. He had promised her that he was going to be home over two hours before. Syd crossed her arms as she contemplated what she was about to do. It hadn’t been so bad in the beginning of their relationship. They had spent practically all of their free time together; he had taken out on so many different dates, and even if it was the same place, he had still managed to make it different. And then things had changed the second he had received his promotion to Commander of New Tech SPD. Before, if he ever had to leave in the middle of a date, he tried to see if it could somehow be detained or taken care of by someone else. Now, if there was an emergency, there were no questions asked; he’d leave and not return to her for hours. They used to sit and talk to each other for hours on end about everything: politics, work, friends, family, you name it; she was lucky if she could even get him alone for ten minutes.
She looked at the pictures that were on the end table next to her. All held images of happier times; her twenty-third birthday, their first Christmas together, New year’s Eve, them just holding each other. She reached out and grabbed the first picture, which was the Christmas one. She held it in her lap as her eyes filled with tears; it had definitely been a much happier time then. Her thumbs caressed the edge of the frame before she took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with one hand. As much as it would break her heart to do this, she had to. It was killing her to keep going on like this, in a relationship that for all intents and purposes didn’t even seem real anymore, not when it was only her putting in any real effort.
The radio was playing softly in the background, the DJ’s voice coming over the air. “Here’s a request from one of our listeners. It’s an old one, but it says a lot and often times is what’s needed with some couples. This song is ‘Gotta Go My Own Way’ sang by Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron.’
As the song played, Sydney listened to closely to the words in the song, her heart breaking even more as she knew that the song symbolized what she was going through right now.
But I get my hopes up
and I watch them fall everytime
Another color turns to grey
and it's just too hard to watch it all
slowly fade away
I'm leaving today 'cause I've
gotta do what's best for me
you'll be ok..
I've got to move on and be who I am
I just don't belong here
I hope you understand
We might find our place in this
world someday
But at least for now
I gotta go my own way
Unwanted tears made their way down her cheeks as she listened to the song. Her breathing was uneven as she continued to cry until she felt as though she had no tears left. She reached for the tissues and grabbed a few, bringing them to her eyes and wiping them. She walked to the bathroom and passed the bed; the bed that they shared together.
She choked back a sob before entering the bathroom and looking at her reflection in the mirror. Red, bloodshot eyes stared back at her, her makeup in disarray. She turned on the water and splashed her face several times. She grabbed a handtowel from the drying rack and wiped her face carefully. She padded back to the living room and sat back down on the couch, knowing that he was due to show up any minute.
When she heard the lock turning, she jumped up and took a defensive stance, her SPD training coming through. She relaxed when she saw that it was Sky, finally home after working. She watched as he closed the door and set his things down on the table near the door. He walked up to her and pulled her in a hug and a kiss. Sydney tried to hold on as long as she could, knowing that this could possibly be the last time that she’d ever get to kiss him like this. His lips caressed hers softly, making her nearly cry at the thought of what she had to do. He pulled back to give them both air, looking at her with concerned.
“Hey, you okay?”
“Y-yeah. I’m fine. How was your day?”
“Busy. Four attempted break-ins, two muggings, and a reported rape. Not to mention a mountain of paperwork. What about you?”
Sydney took a deep breath before answering. “Sky, we need to talk.”
She saw the change instantly in his eyes and knew that he knew what she had meant. “Is everything okay? Are you sure that we have to talk?”
“Yeah. We have to, and things haven’t been all right for awhile. Sky, I-I can’t d-do this anymore,” Sydney stuttered out.
His eyes widened as he realized what she was going to do. “Everything’s fine, babe, or it will be. I promise, just please don’t do this.”
“I have to. I can’t keep going on like this. We hardly ever see each other, except maybe at night, and then you’re gone the next morning. What’s worse is whenever we do manage to get to see each other and go out or just spend time together as a couple, you always end up cutting it short by running off to go take care of something,” she told him honestly, as the tears began to streak down her cheeks.
“Syd, please don’t cry. Don’t do this, I’ll do anything,” Sky begged with teared up eyes.
“I don’t want to, but I need to do this. I won’t ask you to choose between your job or me, and I can’t keep doing this, so I’m leaving. I do want you to know that I will always love you, Schuyler,” she told him in a soft voice before turning around and walking away.
The tears in Sky’s eyes began to fall as he realized that they were over; she had broken up with him. “Sydney, wait. Isn’t there anything I can do?” he croaked out.
Syd stopped in her tracks and shook her head, afraid to turn around. She knew if she did, she would see tears falling from his gorgeous eyes, and she would want nothing more than for him to hold her and to hold him. She grabbed her keys off the table and closed the front door behind her with a snap before breaking off into a dead run. It had started raining at some point, and it was full on raining when she left the complex. The tears continued to fall down her cheeks as her shoulders shook. She finally reached her car and tried to stick her key in the lock, but the thoughts running through her head, the tears in her eyes and the rain made her give up and sink to a heap on the pavement as she held her knees and sobbed. She cried for herself and for Sky, for the fact that she had to do this to both of them.
The door shut behind the love of his life with an echoing deepness, startling him out of the shock he was in. He took deep breaths as he tried to control himself, but found that he couldn’t and gave in to the pain that he was feeling. Sydney, the woman he loved more than life itself, the reason why he looked forward to coming home, was gone and was probably never going to come back. Although he loved his job, he always hated having to break off dates with her to leave and handle matters at SPD, so when she finally revealed all of this to him, it did and didn’t come as a shock to him, but it still hurt like nothing else. He managed to raise himself to a sitting position and rubbed at the tears that fell, hoping that they would go away, but found that they wouldn’t.
His clouded eyes fell on the pictures of them on the end table, only making the pain hurt more. The pictures held times of when they had been happy, when everything had been going right. He picked up the picture of him holding her and smiled sadly. They had gone to the park to just be with each other on a day that both had gotten off. He was leaning against a tree with her leaning against them, him looking at her as she smiled. They had gotten up and a stranger had come up to them, introducing herself and saying that she had taken a photo of them. She had asked if they wouldn’t mind that she use the picture in her portfolio and in exchange, she would give them either a black/white or a color shot of them. Both Syd and Sky had agreed, and Sky gave the lady their address and some money to pay for the picture. The stranger, who had introduced herself as Melissa, took the address, but shook her head at the money, saying not to worry about it. They had parted ways, and a few weeks later, Melissa had shown up while they were getting ready for a party to show them the shot that she had taken. She pulled both a color and a black/white shot out of a folder, holding up both in front of her. Sky and Syd had agreed that they both liked the black and white shot better, and Melissa had handed it over with no problem. She thanked them both for letting her use the picture of them in her project and left with a wave. The next day, the photo had been put in a frame and placed on the table with the other pictures that were there.
He held the framed picture in his hands, stroking the image of Sydney’s face, hoping that she could just be real. “I’m so sorry, Syd. I’m sorry.”
For several moments, Sydney had continued to lie on the ground before pulling herself together. She stood shakily and managed to finally get in her car before putting it into gear and driving towards the headquarters. Thankfully, she got there without getting into an accident, and found herself racing into the elevator. When the doors opened at the floor she wanted, she flew off of the elevator and into the common room, finding Z standing there, talking to Bridge. Without saying anything, the tiny blonde hurled herself into Z’s unsuspecting arms, the Yellow Ranger’s arms wrapping around her teammate, best friend, and sister.
“Syd, what’s wrong? You’re soaking wet and shivering,” Z told her.
“Broke…up….Sky,” she sobbed in response, making Z and Bridge look at each other with wide eyes.
“I’m gonna kill him,” Z promised vehemently, only making Sydney hold her even tighter.
“No! Don’t do that, he didn’t do anything to hurt me,” she told Z in a quiet voice.
Z sighed and hugged Sydney, knowing that she needed a friend to be there for her. “Tell you what: let’s go and get you out of these wet clothes of yours, we don’t want you to catch pneumonia, do we?” she asked with a smile, making Syd shake her head no. “Come on. Let’s get you changed into warm clothes and get you some soup, and you can tell me, if you want, how this happened, okay?” Z asked.
An hour later, the trio was at Z’s and Bridge’s apartment. Syd had showered and changed into pink sweatpants and a sweatshirt and had a bowl of vegetable soup in front of her as she sat on the sofa in their living room. “Then I told him that I loved him, turned around, walked out the door, and just bawled,” Sydney finished recounting her story, tearing up at the thought of it.
“Okay, now I really am going to kill him,” Z said vehemently.
“Z, please don’t, okay? I’m fine, he didn’t hurt me physically. It just hurts and sucks that I had to break up with him.”
“I know, I know,” she soothed as she pulled her best friend into a hug. “Do you need a place to crash for awhile?”
“If you don’t mind, just until I figure out where I’m going to stay,” Sydney replied with a sniffle.
“It’s okay. You know you’re welcome to crash with me and Z anytime,” Bridge replied.
“Hey, I’m gonna go and make a quick phone call, are you going to be all right by yourself for a few minutes?” Z asked.
“Z, I’m not going to commit suicide any time soon, not to mention Bridgey’s here. I’ll be fine,” the blonde teased.
Z frowned before smiling as she grabbed her cellphone and walked into a bedroom and shut the door. “Hey, it’s me. I need you to do something.”
Jack Landors stood outside of Sky’s apartment, taking a deep breath to calm himself down so he wouldn’t beat the crap out of one of his best friends for having hurt a girl that was like a little sister to him. Z had called him the day it had happened and had asked him to “beat the crap out of Sky” for her. As much as Jack wanted to do that to Sky himself, he wanted to find out what the whole story was before knocking his lights out, which caused him to take another deep breath and raise his fist to knock on the front door.
There was no answer the first time or the second time that he knocked. “Sky, come on, open up. I know you’re in there, man! Don’t think I won’t kick your door down!” he shouted.
Before Jack really could kick or knock down the apartment door, it opened and Jack was greeted to the sight of a cranky and unshaven Schuyler Tate. “What do you want, Jack?”
“Mind if I come in?” he asked politely.
“Sure. Be my guest,” Sky replied blandly, stepping to the side to allow his friend to enter and shut the door behind him. Sky crossed the room and sat down on the sofa across from Jack.
“You look horrible, man. When was the last time you actually got a decent night of rest?” Jack asked with concern.
“Not that it’s any of your business, I just haven’t been sleeping well,” Sky retorted.
“Uh huh, not sleeping well. And I’m guessing that that would be because of a certain Pink ranger that we both know and love?”
Jack knew he was right just by how Sky’s entire demeanor changed at the mere mention of her. His shoulders dropped, and he looked downright upset. “She left me, Jack. She broke up with me and she just turned around and left without even turning around.”
“What happened? I mean, I know Syd, and she wouldn’t just up and leave you without any reason at all,” Jack replied. “Was it because of you and work?”
Sky nodded numbly. “Yeah. You were right that she would if I didn’t change things.”
“That doesn’t mean that I wanted to be right though. I’m sorry, man.”
“It’s fine. You had a point and you were right, there’s nothing for you to be sorry about,” Sky told him quietly.
“So, how are you going to get her back?” he asked simply.
“What do you mean?” Sky asked with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
“I mean, what are you going to do to get her back? You can’t just give up just because you two broke up. I know you, Sky. You had feelings for her back when I was still at the Academy, so you can’t tell me that you don’t still love her.”
“I do still love her!” Sky nearly yelled. “Why do you think I look like hell? I’ve barely slept at all because I’m so used to her being there, to hearing her sleep! It kills to me to know that I have to wake up in the morning and know that it’s another day without her being here. So don’t try and tell me that I don’t love her. I love her so much that it hurts to be without her, and I need her.”
“So, what are you going to do about it? There’s gotta be some way that you can fix this mess,” Jack told him.
Sky put his chin on his hand as he thought about what he could do. After a few moments, it came to him. “I know what I can do, but I’m gonna need your help. Can you, Bridge and Z help me out?”
“Sure. Just tell me what to do and I’ll try to get it done.”
“Okay, will someone please tell me why I’m getting dressed up like this?” Syd moaned.
“For a few reasons. One, you’re my best friend, so I refuse to let you sit around and mope. Two, you’ve barely left our place since you got here. And three, if you don’t get yourself dressed, I’ll kick your butt,” Z promised with a grin.
Sydney only rolled her as she continued to get dressed. Z had brought home an evening gown, shoes and all the accessories and had handed them to her. Sydney had been told to go to her room and get ready; she, Z, and Bridge were going out for the night. Sydney did the finishing touches on her hair and makeup before looking at the gown that Z had brought home for her. She gasped when she saw it; a beautiful, dark blue silk dress with a scoop neck along with black heeled sandals. She carefully pulled the bag off of the dress and set it aside before pulling the dress off the hanger. She shimmied into it and grinned as she realized that it fit her perfectly. She pulled on a pair of pantyhose and the black shoes before putting on a simple silver necklace and watch. She grabbed her small clutch purse before leaving her room to find Z and Bridge walking into the living room as well. Z looked gorgeous in a yellow V-neck dress, while Bridge looked great in a traditional black suit and a green tie. “Okay, where are we going that’s so nice?”
Z grinned. “Oh, come on, Pinkie. You don’t honestly think that we’re going to tell you, do you? That’d kind of ruin the whole point of it being a surprise.
Sydney only frowned at her teammates. “Yeah, I guess so. I just want to know,” she pouted.
“Not telling. Now take this, you’re going to put it on when we get in the car, and no peeking,” Bridge told her mysteriously as he handed her a blindfold.
“All right, let’s go,” Sydney said as she walked outside. The trio reached the car and unfortunately for Sydney, who’d been planning on not wearing the blindfold, Z put it on Sydney and made a twin of herself to sit with Sydney to make sure the blonde didn’t pull the blindfold off.
After she had driven for twenty minutes, Z finally stopped and turned the car off before getting out and going to Sydney’s side of the car. She helped her friend out of the car before letting her twin rejoin her body and waving to Bridge to come with them. Bridge and Z led Sydney inside of a hotel before stepping onto an elevator, making Sydney confused when she heard the ding.
“Where are we? I thought we were going out,” she asked, the confusion evident in her voice.
“We are. We’re almost to where we’re going. You have take an elevator to get there,” Z replied.
“Oooooookay,” Syd responded.
A second later, the bell dinged, indicating that they were at the right floor. Bridge and Z exited the elevator before directing Sydney, both on one side of her. They reached a pair of double doors and walked into the center part of the room. “You can take your blindfold off, now,” Z told her.
Sydney reached up and pulled the blindfold off with a flourish, gasping as she saw the room she was in. The entire room was adorned with soft lights and candles, giving it a romantic glow. Rose petals were strewn on the floor and a table for two sat in the center of the room, while music played softly.
“What….what is all of this? I thought we were going out to eat somewhere, all three of us,” Sydney asked.
“You’ll see, just stay here, but promise me something. Just listen, okay?” Z asked before walking away.
Sydney’s brow only furrowed in confusion even more. “What does she mean, ‘just listen’?” the Pink Ranger asked to no one in particular.
“I think she meant to me,” a familiar voice announced.
Sydney turned around and gasped as she saw Sky walking slowly towards her in a suit with a dark red tie and black shoes. “What are you….I can’t believe them! They set me up! I’m going to kill them!” she ranted as she paced.
Sky came up behind her, causing her to run into him when she walked back, not noticing him in the midst of anger. He quickly caught her before she could fall to the ground, enjoying the feeling of her in his arms.
“T-thanks. Can you let me up now?” she asked. He nodded and returned her to a standing position.
After what seemed like years of awkwardness, she spoke. “I’m sorry, I just can’t do this. I have to go.”
“Syd, wait,” Sky pleaded as he caught her hand.
She bit her lip and closed her eyes, silently counting to herself before turning around. “What, Sky?”
“They didn’t really set you up. I asked them to bring you here. I just wanted to talk to you; the only thing that I want is for you to give me five minutes and then you can leave,” he pleaded quietly.
Sydney sighed before nodding. “All right, you have five minutes and then I’m gone.”
He took a deep breath before nodding. “I know it won’t even begin to make up for how I was being, but I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being such a jerk and not thinking about you or how you might have felt about us. After you left, I had a lot of time on my hands to think, so I did. And you know what I realized?”
She shook her head. “What?”
“I realized that the one thing, the one person that was more important to me than any job, wasn’t in my life anymore: you. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to tell you this. I love you more than anything or anyone else, Sydney. I hope you can forgive me for that, Syd, and if you’ll have me back, I’ll make it up to you.”
She swallowed before speaking. “Sky, you can’t just take me out on a nice date and expect me to take you back.”
“I know, which is why if you need time to think about it, you can take all the time that you want in the world,” he told her softly.
“You didn’t let me finish. You can’t just expect me to take you back, but I will,” she replied with a smile.
It was Sky’s turn to be shocked as his jaw dropped. “What?”
“You heard me, Schuyler Tate. I still love you, I never stopped. I forgive you for what happened, but it’s going to take me some time to fully get over it,” she told him quietly.
He nodded in understanding before gently pulling her into a hug, his head on top of hers. “I’m so sorry, Syd. I acted like a complete and total jerk.”
She lifted her head to look up at him and smiled sadly. “You did, but at least you’re sorry about it.”
He smiled ruefully. “I’m just mad at myself that it took me losing you to make me realize how important you were to me.”
“It happened, but I’m here with you now. That’s all that matters,” she replied as she looked around the room. “Who did all of this?”
“Well, if you’d believe it, I had help from Bridge, Z, and Jack, all three of whom threatened to kick my ass if I ever did anything to hurt you again. Z nearly did when she saw me again, and I almost thought that Jack was going to when he came over to the apartment,” Sky chuckled.
Sydney giggled. “When did he come over?”
“A few days after you left. I looked like hell and I probably would have deserved it if he had beaten the crap out of me. He’s the whole reason why we’re here now. He made me see how much I missed you, how I didn’t want to go on without you being at home when I got there,” he answered softly.
Tears sprung to her eyes at his heartfelt confession. “I missed you, too,” she replied as the tears began to fall.
“Hey, don’t cry. Please, don’t cry, Sydney,” he begged her softly as his hands came up to her face, his thumbs brushing the tears away as his lips gently caressed hers. She whimpered at the feeling of his lips on hers, and he pulled away before it could become too passionate. “Would you dance with me, Sydney?”
She nodded. “I’d love to.”
He pulled her into his arms as they moved slowly about the floor. Both were content in knowing that they were together again and that things would be different from now.
Great job!
