Power Rangers In Space - Heather Ray (crime books to read .txt) 📗

that we belong together

Dress it up with the trappings of love

I'll be captivated

I'll hang from your lips

Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

She was angry. She was desperate. She was confused. She was despondent. She was ashamed. All at once.

Karone had quickly figured out one of the most crippling facets of human emotions. They could so easily build upon each other, creating a conflicting storm of too much feeling that was utterly overwhelming, exhausting, and irrational.

"I have to leave, Karone. I have to stop them!"

Any reasonable mind would have listened to Andros' explanation and found truth in it. Any reasonable mind would have understood how a former Power Ranger could be called back to action to preserve the peace that long years of battle had finally achieved.

Why couldn't she be reasonable?

As he spoke, her anger flared like a volcano preparing to erupt. She shouted at him, demanding that he take her with him.

"I can't… I won't

endanger your life like this. You were once the Princess of Evil… you have no idea how eager any remaining monsters would be to kill you for betraying them. I can't bring you, and worry that I'll lose you again!"

She didn't hear the sense in his words, or the deep fear in his voice. She only heard his adamant refusal, and responded on instinct. She began to cry.

"You… you're abandoning me!"

Her words stabbed him; she knew they did. He grimaced as if she had kicked him in the gut, and stood frozen as Karone rushed to her bedroom.

When she finally emerged, he was gone.

Hurt, fear, bitterness, sorrow, humiliation… they all inundated her. She could hardly breathe, much less rein in these runaway feelings and make sense to herself.

She had acted like a petulant brat, throwing a meaningless temper tantrum.

I won't

behave like this!

So she concentrated, and forced the ocean of thrashing feelings to simply… freeze.

A technique she had learned as a child. A way to block out the weakness of her flesh, and function without the illogical distraction of her soft heart.

It took over an hour of intense concentration and discipline… and when she opened her eyes again, she reveled in the serenity of feeling nothing at all.

Moments after she emerged from her trance, a soft knock drew her attention. "Yes?"

The door to her bedroom slowly inched open, and Zhane's apprehensive face appeared, "I hope I didn't wake you," he murmured, stepping inside, "I rang the doorbell, and when no one answered, I let myself in."

She stood up from her bed, and offered a smile. "It's good to see you."

Zhane moved toward her, pressing his lips to her cheek in a greeting kiss. Only, as his soft green eyes locked with her frigid gaze, he withdrew abruptly.

"Karone, don't do this."

She quirked her eyebrow. "What?"

"Turn your feelings... off!" He took a deep breath, forcibly modulating his voice. It was a battle both he and Andros fought time and again. Whenever the feelings were too painful… too deep… she retreated.

"I have to deal with my emotions," she retorted, "That's what humans do. They don't just… lash out."

"Karone, you're not dealing

with anything! You need to explore your feelings, and understand them. That's the only way you can cope with them properly."

Her lip began to tremble. She could feel that psychological ice melting at his impassioned words. "I… I can't," she muttered, her voice soft. "I hurt Andros today. I can't let my feelings hurt my family."

Zhane stepped closer to her, taking her hands into his strong yet gentle grasp. "Karone, I know you're upset with Andros. He told me all about it, and about his leaving. It's only natural that you're hurting now. You know you're going to miss him, and it's healthy for you to feel that loss."

He squeezed her hands, his smile lighting up the room. "If you don't mind, I'd really like to talk about your feelings. Maybe it'll help you get a grip on them?"

She gazed at him, wonder slowing her senses as she lost herself in that dazzling smile. How did he do it? What kind of magic did he possess, that unfailingly tore down whatever defenses she had erected? No one, not even her own brother, could simply look into her eyes and see everything that was on her mind and in her heart. No one else could reach her so easily.

Her eyes began to itch again, and her jaw dropped in horror as all composure was lost. She pulled away from Zhane, humiliation flushing her cheeks, yet he did not release his insistent grip.

"There's nothing wrong with tears," he murmured, his smile softening. He released one hand, and slowly ran his fingers along her cheek, catching the drops of feeling. "Andros' tears woke you after the Countdown. Tears relieve our souls… and Kerovans don't hold them in."

With those simple, sincere reassurances, Zhane shattered the dam. The tears collected quickly, reddening those cool blue eyes and blurring her view of his heart-stealing grin.

She shivered under the weight of her misery. He felt her tremble, and inched closer to her, urging her forehead to rest against his shoulder. It took less than a second for her to crumble into his embrace, her arms wrapping around him as if he were a raft in a tempest-tossed sea.

Chapter Two

I'll be your crying shoulder

I'll be love suicide

I'll be better when I'm older

I'll be the greatest fan of your life

She wept until she was completely spent of anger, frustration, sadness, and guilt. Zhane held her close the entire time, his soothing embrace telling the troubled young woman all she needed to know.

Once she regained some semblance of composure, Karone pulled away from him, her hands tracing the water stain on his shoulder. "I think I ruined your shirt."

Zhane grinned as he inspected the cotton. "It's wash and wear; I think it'll survive. Still," he pulled the soaked shirt over his head, leaving him in the thin undershirt beneath it, "Here, you keep it."

He tossed it at her. Battle honed reflexes let her catch the balled-up garment easily. She wiped her moist cheeks with it, absently inhaling.

It smells like him…

"Let's get something to drink," he decided, taking her hand, "I'm sure all those waterworks left you dehydrated."

A little moue tightened her lips as she theatrically swatted him with his own shirt.

Had anyone else made such a comment, she would've been utterly mortified or direly insulted. Yet, the laughter in Zhane's eyes dispelled any offense before it could even form. He was teasing her, trying to draw her out of her darker thoughts.

Zhane was lighthearted by nature, but never dismissive of her feelings. Perhaps it was that sensitivity to her various psychoses that made it so easy to smile for him.

He led her into the common room, letting her take a seat on the couch as he perused the contents of the refrigerator in the kitchenette. Moments later he returned, setting a glass of ice water before her while pulling open a can of soda. Neither she nor Andros liked the carbonated Earth beverage, yet they always kept several cans of it for Zhane. He couldn't get his fill of the syrupy sweet concoction.

She felt his eyes on her as she took a long sip of the cool water. Oddly enough, his patient attention compelled her to get to the heart of the matter. "Andros is leaving me."

"Andros has to leave," he finally said. "He's decided that his mission isn't over, and he has reason to be worried: if there is an evil remnant left in the galaxy, it's only a matter of time before they strike. It's better to take the initiative now than wait to be targeted."

Karone stared into the clear ripples of her glass. "I know that... and it should

make it easier for me to accept. But for some reason, the 'why'

doesn't matter. He's leaving me, and I know I won't see him again for months... at least

. And I'm..."

Her lips refused to allow that humiliating admission to escape. Despite all that had changed in the past year, the stubborn pride of the Princess of Evil refused to evaporate.

Not surprisingly, Zhane heard the word she didn't say. "We're both scared."

Karone eyed him skeptically.

"I mean it," he assured her, "I'm scared, too. It's been a long time since my life has been... stable. Comfortable. I haven't had security since the day Dark Specter first attacked KO 35."

She flinched at the reference to the beginning of the end of KO 35. Though she was removed from the battle for her home world, she still served in the army of the creature that devastated that peaceful planet.

His hand encircled hers, offering a squeeze of encouragement before he continued. Out of consideration for her discomfort, he didn't linger on the details of the long, painful war. "The three of us built a new life here on Earth. We all lost so much, but we still had each other. I lost my parents, but I found a new family: you and Andros. And now one piece of that family is leaving... and it hurts knowing that things are changing again."

He let go of her hand, leaning away from her and taking another sip of his soda. Karone chewed her lip, ruminating over everything Zhane had told her.

I could never admit all that. And yet... it's what I'm feeling, too.

"It's okay to be scared, and it's okay to be angry. But it does help to remember that Andros loves you, and wants to protect you. That's part of the reason he feels the need to serve."

"But, we don't have to separate

," she maintained, "We could all go to the Outskirts! The three of us! Then I wouldn't worry about him, because I'd see that he's okay, and I could even help! After all the lives I took, it's only right for me to try and make amends..."

This too was a path often trod. The guilt over her deeds as Astronema surged every now and then, often infusing her with an extra dose of stubbornness.

"This isn't your fight, Karone," he stated.

Her eyes darkened. "Why? Is it because I'm not a Ranger?"

His steady gaze diffused her anger. "It's not your fight, just like it's not mine."

Karone stared at his familiar face, curious at the strange intensity she sensed in him. "Why aren't you going with him?" she wondered, "He's your best friend. How can you let him face