Free to
Soar – Jack’s Story
This fanfic was written for the December challenge over at SPDrangers on LiveJournal.
Fanfic challenge: The Aftermath. The rangers dealing with
the aftermath of the defeat of Grumm, the return of Asinia,
Jack's leaving, etc. You can focus in one character or more. There are no
limits with this challenge, just be creative.
Note: Thanks
to Melissa for the title!
Summary:
Feeling lonely and missing his friends, Jack tells Ally all of his fondest
memories of the team.
xxx
Though the sun
was shining brightly that morning, the weather was a little chilly as the wind
blew lightly around him. He sat on a rock watching as the tide rolled in and
out. The beach was unusually deserted that day, but he found that he didn’t
mind. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts anyway.
It had been a
week since he had given up his red ranger position – a week since he had last
seen the others. For a moment, he felt a pang in his chest – he had so many
fond memories that he found that missed holding the power. But deep down, he
knew he had made the right decision. He had never felt freer leaving SPD and he
was still helping people – just in a different way.
But there were
still things that he missed - things that he had gotten used too. He still woke
up everyday fully expecting Bridge standing on his head or rambling about
nothing in particular. He expected to see Syd primping in front of a mirror or
painting in the common room. He expected to see Sky stalking along the
corridors, barking orders to the young cadets or reading the SPD handbook. But
most of all, he expects to see Z’s sunny smile and hear her wacky comments.
He missed the
training sessions with Sky and the Commander. He missed being in the
Suddenly, he
felt a presence next to him and he turned to see Ally smiling and he smiled
back. It was strange, he and Ally were starting to become close, but Jack knew
that they would never be as close as he was with the others. In the distance,
explosions sounded and he shifted his gaze from Ally to the smoke in the sky
from the buildings. Ally followed his gaze. “You miss being a ranger, don’t
you?”
“No,” he
corrected. “I miss Z and the others.” Jack continued to stare at the sky,
smiling with pride as he saw the SWAT megazord flying
back to the Academy. “I miss the fun and the laughter.” Jack moved to look at
Ally again. “I miss my family.”
“Tell me about
them,” Ally said with a grin as she shifted, making herself comfortable.
Jack stared at
her, surprised. “Really?”
“Yeah, why
not? They’re obviously important to you, so tell me about them.”
“Okay, where
to start,” Jack paused. “I guess I’ll start with Bridge. In the beginning, I
often lost my patience with him. And believe me, there were times that I got so
annoyed with him – but he grew on me. He taught me not to judge a book by its
cover and that everyone has something intelligent to say – whether it was
something big or small – everything was important.”
“So, it sounds
like you consider Bridge a younger brother,” Ally said with a smile. “He was
the green ranger, right?”
“Yeah, but
he’s the blue ranger now. Bridge is one of the greatest and smartest people I
know.”
Ally nodded.
“Okay, so tell me about another member of your team.”
“Let’s see… I
guess I’ll tell you about Syd next,” Jack grinned and shook his head. “Syd is
definitely original. That girl can do some amazing stuff. Did you know she had
been an actress, a singer and a model before she had started at SPD? I couldn’t
believe it. Sometimes she intimidated me because she did all these great things
and other times she annoyed me too - she was so spoiled. But then, it was
because of her that I now have a birthday.”
Ally’s smile
widened. “Sounds like you’ve become fond of her.”
“Yeah,” he
chuckled. “Syd was beginning to teach me how to fence before I left. Did you
know she won the fencing championship three years in a row?”
“I vaguely
remember reading her name in the newspaper a couple of times,” the blonde
replied.
“She’s great,”
Jack grinned. “Okay, now about Sky. Man did he and I clash. He was a pain in
the neck in the beginning. Eventually things between us began working out and
we were able to work as a team. He’s learned that heroes can come in all colors
and not just red – I can even call him my best guy friend now.”
“Do you resent
him being the red ranger now?”
“Nah, Sky
deserves it. It’s been his dream since he was a child - I can’t resent him for
something like that. And besides, I don’t really miss being a ranger as much as
I miss the people I worked with. Sky and I started becoming close when we
worked together to bring in the monster that killed his father. I’m just glad
that Sky was able to loosen up a bit – although I think Syd had a lot to do
with it.”
Jack grinned
as he recalled the events to him finding out that Syd and Sky were now a
couple. He had been just as shocked as anyone else (with the exception of
Bridge) to find out that the newly red ranger was now involved with their pink
ranger – but he supposed it all made sense if one thought about it – Sky had
been interested in the pink ranger from the beginning. In fact, Jack remembered
flirting with Syd more times than not, just to get a rise out of Sky.
Alley smiled.
“And what about Z?”
“Ah, the best
for last,” Jack smiled widely. “She’s the main reason I miss the Academy so
much. She’s been with me most of my life – she’s like my other half. She took
care of me and I took care of her, it’s been that way since forever. It’s a
little weird that we don’t see each other everyday now, but I know she’s in
good hands at the Academy.”
“Well, maybe
you guys can still each other,” Ally suggested. “The Academy isn’t that far
away from our store. You can always drop by for a little visit.”
“Yeah, I think
I’ll do that.”
The blonde
grinned. “Let’s get back to the store now. Piggy said that we have some special
visitors coming by today.”
“Okay,” he
nodded, before standing up and following Ally.
They walked
for fifteen minutes in silence. Jack was feeling better after his talk with
Ally and turned to tell her so when a group of brightly dressed people caught
his eyes. He blinked and felt an indescribable emotion rise within him and his
face spilt into the widest smile.
“Jack!”
Laughing, his
arms opened and caught Z in a large embrace. He could see Syd running up to him
with Sky and Bridge not to far behind her. Without warning, Syd launched
herself toward him and grabbed both him and Z into a hug. A second later,
Bridge and Sky joined them in the group hug.
“What are you
guys doing here?” he asked as they separated.
“We missed
you, silly!” Syd grinned, her blonde curls bouncing.
“Yeah,” Bridge
added in his usual manner as he bounced along with the pink ranger. “And we
brought clothes!”
“Z was dying
to see you,” Sky smiled, his uniform looking crisp and perfect as always. “We
all were.”
He saw the
grin that Z sent his way. “You didn’t think you would get rid of us, did you?”
“Never,” Jack
responded, grinning widely, his solemn mood now completely gone. As he moved to
join his friends, Jack realized that his life was more than perfect. He was
doing what he loved, he was free and best of all, he knew his family would
always be there.
No regrets.
xxx