Fighting to Love (Power Rangers Samurai)

Test of the Leader

The gap sensor alarm screamed loudly through the whole house.

"Ash." Jayden ordered, and I shot a glance over at him. "You need to fight with us."

I wasn't shocked, if the gap sensor was ringing this loudly, then something was terribly wrong.

The team and I raced to battle.

Moogers. Some were sky scrapers tall, others were my height.

Fuck.

Every single fucking place in the middle of the city.

2 civilians were being cornered by the moogers.

One was as thin as a stick, with an odd face. Another had a bandana around his bald head, and cyclist gloves. Both had a look of terror on their faces.

"Mia! Help them!" I yelled, then went off to fight off some moogers on my own.

I took a glance towards Mia. The skinny guy had a look on his face. It was a look that was all too familiar to me: the look of falling in love.

The two civilians raced off as fast as they could.

The boys on the team transferred to the samurai battle wing, and suddenly, the girls and I were rotating, surrounded by moogers. Our backs were on each other, and we were facing those who cornered us.

"There are so many. Do you have a plan?" Emily asked, holding her sword threateningly to the moogers.

"I have a plan: Attack." I jumped up and started sparring with about 7 moogers.

A crash was heard above and the boys returned to our smaller mooger battle.

We all fought in different sections, but Jayden and I were able to defeat them more easily than ever.

Suddenly, as if hypnotized, the moogers all targeted Jayden.

Master X hated Jayden.

But he hated all of the team.

Why just Jayden?

The red cracks that were the portal of the sanzu river glowed brightly.

"Red ranger, you're in danger. Red ranger, you're in danger." They chanted, and a voice from the cracks joined them. "Red ranger, you're in danger. Red ranger, you're in danger."

The battle ended shortly after, and the chanting stopped.

They demorphed, and Jayden stared at one of the cracks violently.

"What's wrong?" Mike asked.

"That voice was Master Xandred's." Jayden muttered.

"This is bad." I murmured to myself. Luckily no one heard me.

****************************************************************************************************************

"Jayden, Master Xandred must know." Ji shook his head.

"Know? Know what? Or is this a secret you can't trust us with?" Mike asked.

"Only the red ranger can know the sealing symbol. Years ago, when the shiba house was attacked, we were at our wits end." Ji explained. "Jayden's father just barely put the sealing symbol on xandred before he was dead."

"Jayden's father did everything he could to save us." Emily exclaimed.

Jayden looked morosely at the floor, then stood up and left without a word.

"There's a lot of pressure on him. His father could not master the symbol, and the ranger before him could not master it either." Ji mentioned.

"Would have been nice to know before Jay stormed out." I muttered loudly, and then I stood up and walked out.

****************************************************************************************************************

Later, I watched them train while they talked.

"What if Jayden can't do it?" Mike asked.

I wanted to add a snotty, defensive remark, but I kept my mouth shut.

"He'll master it, it's his destiny to." Emily protested with a bright smile on her face.

"That's right and until then, we have to protect Jayden." Kevin ordered.

"You'll do nothing of the sort." I stood up. "He's capable of protecting himself."

"You protect yourselves." Jayden grabbed a training staff and started hitting the dummy.

"We must protect you at all costs!" Kevin protested loudly.

"No, it's too much of a burden to bear." Jayden yelled.

I left the area.

Why bother even having a team if you wanted to be alone?

Pushing out those who are close to you is better than being hurt.

I know from experience.

****************************************************************************************************************

I didn't go to the battle with them.

"Hey Ji." I said, sitting down at the kitchen counter as our mentor prepared dinner.

"Hello Ashlynn. I would have thought you went to battle."

"They don't need me there, you know the real reason I'm here." I sighed.

"Ah yes, you haven't told them?"

"No, all they know is that I'm here to go on a mission to help them, but Magneto hasn't shown up yet, so I prefer to stay under the radar until then to keep them safe at all costs."

"Why haven't you?"

"You know Jayden and the others would hate me if I told them that I had to protect them from Magneto."

"I was wondering when you would admit your feelings for him." Ji smiled and turned to me.

"I don't fancy the red ranger." Don't blush.

"I've seen the look you've given him many a time."

"No. I don't fancy him. I can't get close to them." I shook my head. "It's better not to be attached. Then you can leave without the guilt pulling you down. "

"Are you sure that's what you want?"

"I know I can't. No strings attached. Just allies." I sighed. "Just Allies."

****************************************************************************************************************

The others returned shortly, the only one not injured, was Jayden.

Ji attended to the four right away. I followed Jayden to his bedroom. I was bored.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" I asked once he acknowledged my presence.

"I can't live with the burden." Jayden shook his head. "Don't tell anyone."

Jayden grabbed his bag and I watched him go off.

I wasn't supposed to feel like this.

I wasn't supposed to free fall.

I wasn't - couldn't - fall for him.

Because I couldn't fall in love.

I wasn't falling for him.

But falling for a certain red ranger wasn't my choice.