Power Rangers Fan Fiction ❯ Too Great A Leap ❯ Rules of Conduct ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

�After all we�ve been through, you�re still so bound by your silly self-imposed rules of appropriate conduct,� she said irritably. "Fine, then, I'll stand, too."

She did so, and put her hands on her hips, turning away from him. It was a childish, pouting gesture, one for which she expected to be immediately placated.

�We�ll just stand here, then. Both of us. Until our legs fall off. As god is my witness, until our legs fall off, starting now!�

Non Anime: Power Rangers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Angst | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 07.31.2007 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.1K | Visits: 382 | Status: Work In Progress

Cassie had not overstated the messy condition her room was in; if anything, she'd failed to properly warn them about the dangers of falling piles of clothing. Astronema took one step in the room and set off a veritable avalanche, including a bright magenta taffeta prom dress and a pile of sheet music.

"Oh, man," Cassie muttered, biting her lip. "Uh, yeah, if you could just not step there, either... Oh, no way! Is that my mix tape?! I've been looking for that forev-"

Her expression stiffened, and she stepped back into the hall.

"Uh, yeah, just... I'll be... okay. Uh... yep. Oh, um... oh, no, never mind. Just... you know, I'll be outside-"

The doors closed in her face. Astronema looked around the room and let out a tense little half-laugh. She quickly sobered and sat down on the edge of Cassie's unmade bunk, crossing her legs. A large pink stuffed giraffe took up the rest of the bed, and she shoved the toy into the floor with annoyance.

“Humans and their…” she trailed off as she realized that Ecliptor was leaning on his sword, his head low. She felt an unfamiliar rush of compassion race through her veins, and she moved to the edge of the bed.

"Ecliptor, come on! Sit down; you're still not fully regenerated."

Ecliptor didn't move. He raised his head only enough to look into Astronema's newly childlike eyes. Her expression pained him deeply, and he shook his head, looking away.

"That… wouldn't be appropriate," he said coldly. Too coldly.

Astronema rolled her eyes, scoffing.

"Don't be ridiculous. Forget about what's appropriate! You're still hurt."

"I… cannot."

She sighed.

“After all we've been through, you're still so bound by your silly self-imposed rules of appropriate conduct,” she said irritably. "Fine, then, I'll stand, too."

She did so, and put her hands on her hips, turning away from him. It was a childish, pouting gesture, one for which she expected to be immediately placated.

“We'll just stand here, then. Both of us. Until our legs fall off. As god is my witness, until our legs fall off, starting now!”

Ecliptor was aware of what she was doing, and he shook his head. A flash of affection for the child came over him, and he realized with a start that Astronema was entirely unaware that her behavior was no longer appropriate. That it would likely never be again. What she had done could not be erased by a simple “good word” to some higher-ranking individual. What she had done would never, ever be forgotten by Dark Specter. It was likely that her life would never be the same again, that what little childhood she'd had had been entirely blotted out with one simple stroke, and replaced with an unknown and unsafe adulthood.

That the girl could only remain naïve forever. That the girl could only remain safe inside her padded adolescence, her childish dreams.

That he could only make her safe.

"Princess..." Ecliptor said suddenly. Raw emotion was audible in his voice. "You should not have brought me here."

Astronema stopped dead. She was so taken aback by his words that she whirled back around to face him, her eyes wide and earnest.

"What are you talking about?! How could I have-"

"You have risked too much for my sake," Ecliptor said, hoping against hope that she would understand what he meant. That her childish selfishness would kick in once more, just enough, so that she would agree with him.

If only she would make it easy.

Astronema gave him a curious look, and she stepped over to him. Her normally seductive but unapproachable body language was nowhere to be found, Ecliptor realized; her usual sultry slink had been replaced with a strange kind of stride; she stood tall, she put her arms at her sides and she didn't shift her weight or jut out her slender hips.

When she spoke, she used the same tone that she had used down on the planet.

"How… can you say that?” she asked, shaking her head. “After what you did? Ecliptor, you've done nothing but take risks for me, from the day we met. I would have been dead ten years ago if it hadn't been for you."

Ecliptor avoided her gaze.

"You are my princess. It is my duty to protect you with my life," he said in what he hoped was a dismissive tone.

"But… your duty is to Dark Specter above all. You told me that once," she countered.

Ecliptor said nothing.

Astronema sighed, and rubbed her forehead, as if to coax her foggy memories out of hiding.

"You remember it, don't you?” she asked him suddenly.”You remember when I met that boy on Aurius XII. That… human?"

Astronema shook her head as the details of a time long ago came flooding back into her consciousness. "I was... nine years old, wasn't I? Yes. Of course I was. And he… he was fourteen. Don't you remember? He said I was beautiful. He said he wanted to marry me. We killed his family, destroyed his city… and he didn't even know it was us. He thought I was some kind of... angel."

Ecliptor was still silent. Astronema felt an indignant desperation rising in her chest, and she grabbed his arm with both of her hands and drew him toward her the same way she had done on the planet. Tears, the source of which she did not know, stung the corners of her eyes, and she looked across at Ecliptor with such intensity that he was unable to look away, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Don't you remember?! He was the first human I'd seen in five years. I wanted to run away with him, don't you remember?! I wanted to marry him. Live on his farm. Be his wife. The stupid thing I wanted to do… And don't you remember what you said?! That if I went, and if I betrayed Dark Specter, you'd… you'd forget I ever existed?! That I could go, and ruin my life, and forget all of my training if I wanted to, you… you wouldn't stop me?"

Her light green eyes pierced his red glass optic sensors, and she bit her lip.

“You remember it?” she asked in a husky whisper.

"Yes," Ecliptor finally said.

"Yeah,” she whispered. “But, I mean…I-I knew you didn't mean it. And I didn't want to marry him anyway. It's just that... he said he loved me. I hadn't heard anyone say that in so long that... I almost did it. Would you have stopped me?"

“I don't know,” Ecliptor grunted.

“Of course you do. Of course you would have. Dark Specter… he doesn't mean anything to you. You only served him because he wanted you to train me. You only served him because you wanted to make sure I was safe. I know that.”

"Princess, you must listen to me," Ecliptor said, breaching his own rules of conduct by putting his hand over hers. She was surprised by the gesture, and she looked into his eyes with confusion. "I can't stay here.”

Astronema began to speak, but he shook his head to silence her.

"Dark Specter's forces know that I am with you. They'll be able to track my whereabouts. It's too dangerous for you to be with me."

"I-I don't care." Astronema said, her voice cracking. "I'm doing the right thing, and so are you."

Ecliptor pulled away and turned his back to her, another violation of the rules of conduct.

"No. If you can escape with the Power Rangers and go into hiding, you may survive. But if Dark Specter ever catches you, your penalty for treason will be… unimaginable."

"And what about if he catches you?" Astronema asked.

"I don't know," Ecliptor admitted.

Astronema looked at the floor and began to pace back and forth.

“I can't accept that,” she said. “I won't accept it. Dark Specter is a fool, and he's wrong. He always has been. Ecliptor, with… with the Power Rangers' help, we can destroy him. I know we can.”

“No,” Ecliptor said, shaking his head. “No one can destroy Dark Specter.”

“He's…” Astronema fumbled with her racing thoughts. “He's not infallible! He can be destroyed!”

“Perhaps,” Ecliptor admitted.

“Yes!” Astronema cried.

“But what then? Dark Specter may be the monarch of evil, but when he is gone, do you imagine that his throne will lay vacant? No. Someone will resume his mission. You will be in even more danger.”

“Then we'll destroy them, too. The Power Rangers… they're invincible! And with us, fighting alongside them, think of what they could do. What we could do!”

Ecliptor looked over his shoulder at his princess, and it pained him deeply to see her so idealistic. Idealism was an emotion he had always tried to discourage, for no one was more surprised to see the hand of death coming than one who was idealistic. Concrete goals based on vengeance for past wrongs was as close to idealistic as he'd ever seen her. It simply wasn't safe to be any other way.

“We shall do no such thing. You must go into hiding. It's the only way,” he told her.

“Ecliptor, listen to me! I know we can do this! I'm certain of it, more certain than I've ever been about anything. But… we need you. I need you!”

The simple admission struck them both, and Astronema shrank backward, a sad smile on her lips.

“I need you,” she repeated. “I always have. It's always been just you and me. You… you can't break that up because you're afraid I'll get hurt. Maybe I will, maybe I won't, but I don't want to be alone.”

Ecliptor half-turned, stunned into silence.

“I know,” Astronema laughed humorlessly. “I wouldn't be alone. I'd be with the Power Rangers. I'd be with… my brother. But… how can they really understand me? How can they understand how I think? I think… if they knew the thoughts in my head, they'd hate me.”

She suddenly forgot her vow to God, to stand until her legs fell off, and she sank down onto the edge of Cassie's bed.

“I can't believe I'm saying these things. Yesterday, I was… I was so sure…”

She shook her head and hugged her knees to her chest.

“Don't leave me,” she whispered, like a child. “Don't.”

Ecliptor silently approached the bed, everything inside him protesting. The girl who had never ceased to produce illogical responses inside him was producing the least logical response yet, and he was powerless to stop it.

It's her life at stake. Not just her comfort level. If you stay, she will die, he told himself.

Her tears. Her childish position, on her enemy's bed, much less. Her honest, heart-wrenching words.

Don't leave me.

It's always been just you and me.

I don't want to be alone.

How can they understand me?

If they knew the thoughts in my head, they'd hate me.

They.

The Power Rangers.

The Power Rangers who could never understand Astronema for what she was; could only see the “good” inside her, whether it was there or not.

The Power Rangers who couldn't let an evil traitor into their midst.

The Power Rangers who she clearly, clearly, did not really want to join.

“Perhaps,” Ecliptor said softly, “There is another way.”

Astronema's head snapped up, and her face filled with hope.

“Yes! Yes! Ecliptor, of course there is!”

“Perhaps…” Ecliptor sighed. “Dark Specter will forgive you.”