Disclaimer: I do not own PRT (Ohmygosh! Trelliah's written a serious fic about something aside from PRiS!! *kidding*). Saban Entertainment, on the other hand, does.
Author's Note: This is a kinda serious fic, more or less. Just so you know. The song "Angelina" cannot be found in any music store and doesn't belong to any person you'll have ever heard of. It was written by and belongs to my mother. =^-^=

Angelina
by Trelliah


Justin sighed as he walked through the main hallway of Angel Grove High. It was a Monday and the halls were crowded with loud, talking students as they got the things from their lockers they would need for first period.

Stifling a yawn, the Blue Turbo Ranger opened his own locker and got his English book out of his backpack. Making a face at it, he set it on the floor while he put the rest of his books and stuff in his locker and slammed it shut. Giving the lock a good spin, he picked up his stuff for class and walked down the hall.

He noted a girl near his own age of 13 struggling to open her locker. She seemed to be rather frustrated as she pushed her dark brown hair behind her ears and rubbed her temples lightly.

"Hey," Justin said. "Need a hand?"

"That would be nice," the girl smiled as Justin moved in front of the locker and banged on the door.

"Now try it."

With another entry of her locker's combination, it popped open.

"Thanks," she smiled.

"My name's Justin," Justin offered his hand.

"I'm Angelina. You can call me Angel, though." Angelina took it.

"Okay, Angel." Justin smiled. "We should be getting to class."

"One problem. I'm kind of new here. Do you think you could show me where English is?"

"Sure! That's my first period class!" Justin laughed.

The two made their way to English class without further incident. Later in the day, they sat together at lunch so they could really talk.

"Any brothers or sisters?" Angel asked.

"Nope. It's just me and my dad. My mom died a while ago." Justin answered.

"I don't have any siblings either. I'm sorry about your mom. I know how that is. My dad died when I was ten. My mom just remarried three months ago."

"That must be strange." Justin smiled.

"It is, some. Martin's really touchy about a lot of things." Angelina said in a low voice. "He's a control freak. He can barely stand it if something's not perfect."

"Yikes." Justin made a face. Angel laughed.

"Tell me about it." she giggled, then her face slowly hardened. "He's also kind of mean, too. It makes me nervous to be around him for long periods of time when my mom isn't home."

Justin shivered, then looked at the "Pudding-of-the-Day", which they both had on their plates. It was a blue-green color.

"Eww! This food is blue. Power Rangers are blue. That's fine. Cafeteria food should not be blue." he muttered, changing the subject. Angel laughed, then tried a bit of it with her spoon.

"Not bad." she commented. "Needs whipped-cream and to be chilled for a good three days, could use less dye."

Laughing, the two continued talking about random things in life. One of which was the Power Rangers.

"You have a favorite?" Justin wondered.

"I just moved here, but I've seen them on the news a few times." Angel paused and grinned. "The Red Ranger's cute...as far as I can tell. He's got a nice form."

Justin burst into giggles as TJ himself walked by. The Red Turbo Ranger paused and mouthed, "New girlfriend?" at his teammate while heading over to where Carlos and Cassie were sitting. He must have pointed the two out because Carlos began making kissy-puckered up faces in their direction.

"Who's that?" Angel asked as she glanced at the three Rangers sitting halfway across the room.

"Those are some of my friends."

"Is his pudding sour? Either that, or he's got a maturity problem." Angelina giggled.

"It might be a little of both." Justin said dryly as Carlos took a spoonful of yellow pudding and totally puckered his face like he'd chugged half a glass of lemon juice. Angel laughed and the two went back to talking.

"What do you think of the other Rangers?" Justin wondered, getting back to the subject.

"The Blue Ranger's nice looking too. I'd like to see him and you go head to head. In the mud. Now, that would be entertainment." Angelina made an evil face.

"Wouldn't it?" Justin said. Personally, even to him, it did seem entertaining.

I wonder who would win... he thought to himself.


As the days went on, Justin and Angelina became good friends. They soon discovered how much they had in common. Bike riding was only one of the things they liked to do. As it turned out, Angel liked kickboxing and practiced it on an amature level.

"I bet I could kick your butt into next week." she laughed as they talked about fighting stances and moves. A cool wind blew through the trees of Angel Grove park.

"Yeah? I'd like to see you try!" Justin replied, sinking into a stance. Angel did the same and then threw a punch-kick combination. Justin drop-sweep kicked her and took her to the ground. On the way down, Angel shot her foot out and knocked Justin over.

Laughing, they climbed to their feet. Just then, Justin's communicator went off.

"Aww, man! I have to go. My dad wanted me home at three-thirty." he lied as he started off.

"But it's ten past two!" Angel called as he ran. Justin pretended he didn't hear her and dissapeared among the trees.

Later that evening, after he got home, Justin called Angel. He was hoping she didn't think he'd ditched her that afternoon on a whim.

After around three rings, "Hello?"

"Angel? It's me, Justin."

"Oh, hi! I was in the middle of doing homework."

"What kind?" Justin asked.

"English." Angel answered, only she apparently had something in her mouth (a bannana), so it came out "Aughclish."

"Yuck. I've never really been one for that subject." Justin said.

"I like it. It's fun once you get used to it." Angel replied after swallowing.

Just then, Michael Stewart walked into the living room.

"Justin, who are you talking to?" he asked.

"My friend, Angel. " he answered. "She's the new girl at school. Well, she not so new anymore."

"Ah. I see. Why don't you invite her to your birthday party?" Mike suggested as he headed into the kitchen.

"Okay." the Blue Turbo Ranger nodded. "Hey, Angel?"

"Yeah?" Angel asked.

"My birthday party's coming up next week. Wanna come?"

"Sure thing," Angelina answered. She had something nice in mind for Justin.

"Cool. Saturday at two. It's at the Marina Gardens. You know where that is?"

After a few seconds of silence, presumably used by Angel talking to her mother, "Yeah. My mom knows where that is. I have to go. I guess I'll see you tommorrow."

"Okay. Seeya!"

"Bye!"

Justin hung up and smiled to himself. Life was great! He had an awesome and kinda cute friend, he was a Power Ranger, what else could he ask for?

"JUSTIN!" Mike yelled from somewhere else in the house. Apparently, he'd taken the other route out of the kitchen.

"What?" Justin answered.

"Your room is a TOTAL PIGSTY!"

"Oh, that. It's not that bad."

A series of thumps and a few crunches came from upstairs. Mike had found that hamper of clothes, probably. And maybe those bags of potato chips Carlos'd given him last week...

"Uh-oh." Justin muttered to himself as his dad came tromping down the stairs carrying a bag of chips and the hamper.

"I hope you're into cleaning, mister." Mike said.

"Yes, sir..." Justin hopped off the couch and headed up to his room. After watching Justin run up the stairs to his room, Mike glanced down at the bag of potato chips he held. Then the couch. The temptation was too much.

Smiling to himself, he plopped down on the couch, opened the bag, and picked up the remote control.


"Hey Justin!" Carlos' voice called from down the hall. He looked up to see Carlos and Cassie heading toward him.

"Hi guys. What's up?" Justin asked.

"Nothin' much. So...." Carlos grinned at Justin.

"What?" Justin looked from Carlos, then to Cassie, who was now trying to hide a grin.

"When's the wedding? Can I be your best man?" Carlos asked, still grinning like an idiot.

"What?! Ha ha ha ha ha! Yeah, right, Carlos. I'll be married when you're on your honeymoon with Divatox." the Blue Turbo Ranger retorted, low, so no one could hear them.

"Huh? Me? Divatox?!" Carlos' eyes got big while Cassie just laughed.

"The real reason we came over here is to ask: what do you want for your birthday?" Cassie asked.

"Hmm...I don't know." Justin shrugged.

"Haha. Okay, well, then, I guess we'll have to guess." Carlos said. Leaning close, he whispered, "Divatox and me, hmm? Watch it, buddy, or you might get something for your birthday that you'll regret..."

"Carlos!" Cassie swatted him.

"I'm not worried, Cassie." Justin laughed as he walked off.


The next Saturday was a beautiful one. The skies were a dazzling blue with fluffy white clouds. Everything seemed perfect for a birthday party.

Justin grinned to himself as he jogged down the walk with his dad trailing behind. Lots of people were walking around, many of them probably there to try out the new rides that had been added recently, like the new Black Knight rollercoaster, the one that mostly took place in pitch darkness.

The amusement park was only half of the park. On another side was the marine animal exibits, hence the name "Marina Gardens".

"Hey, Justin. I need to go get everything set up at our spot, so stay here. I'll be right back." Mike said.

"Okay, Dad." Justin called.

"Hey Justin!"

Justin stopped and turned to see TJ, Ashley, Cassie, and Carlos jogging up.

"Hi guys!" Justin said.

"Hey! Ready for those new rollercoasters? I heard the Black Knight is the best yet." Carlos grinned.

"Oh, yeah!" TJ agreed.

"Justin! Hi!" Angel's voice made Justin turn. She was wearing a white shirt and overalls with her hair pulled back in a white scrunchie.

"Hey!" the Blue Ranger called.

"Wow. This place is huge!" Angel mused as she glanced around.

"Yeah. You should see the rides they have. And don't forget the seals and dolphins and stuff." Cassie said. "By the way, I'm Cassie. This is Carlos, TJ, and Ashley."

"Nice to meet you guys. I'm Angel." Angel smiled.

"It's a pleasure." TJ nodded.

Justin's dad came back and the group headed into the park. Once their things were situated, Carlos and TJ immediately started leading the others off to the rollercoasters and such.

"This is gonna rock!" Justin grinned as he plopped into fourth seat in the Black Knight.

"Oh, yeah!" Angel agreed. "I LOVE thrill rides."

"Are you sure about this, Teej?" Cassie asked from behind the two.

"What's wrong, Cassie? Scared?" Carlos taunted. He was sitting ahead of Justin and Angel with Ashley.

"Speak for yourself, Carlos." Cassie replied.

Before Carlos could come up with a comeback, the safety harnesses came down and locked in place. After a few starting jerks, the rollercoaster started off.

CHUNK-CLANK!

"Oh, that's real assuring." Ashley muttered as the cars connected with the chain-pulley and started it's accent upwards.

Clank-clank-clank-clank-clank-clank-clank-clank-clank-clank-clank-clank-clank!

As the cars were pulled slowly upward, the passengers got a look at how high they were. At the halfway point, they could see the entire park.

"We are REALLY high up." Justin commented.

"This is gonna be SOOOO cool!" Angel giggled.

When the rollercoaster reached the top, it paused long enough for the passengers to note that they could see, not only their cars in the parking lot, but the faintest glimpse of downtown Angel Grove as well.

Meaning that they were very, very, VERY high up.

"Oh maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!" Cassie screeched as the coaster suddenly went into the Big Drop.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" TJ yelled.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Ashley screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Carlos wailed.

"YEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" announced Justin and Angel in unison as the coaster plummeted into a cave.

Twisting and turning at amazing speeds in pitch darkness, the passengers were all screaming, hooting, yelling, and carrying on with excitement and exilaration.

WHOOOOOOOOOOSH! Into daylight! And another drop.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Oh YEAH!!" TJ shouted. Cassie looked over to see a huge grin on his face. A grin that seemed plastered there until the end of the ride.

After two loop-de-loops, the rollercoaster dodged back into the ground.

"Wheeeeeeeeeehah!" Carlos yelled.

"Whoooo!" Justin laughed as the rollercoaster rocketed back into daylight and slowed to a stop.

"That was GREAT!" Angel agreed.

The six got off and headed away to find some other attraction to check out.

"That was soooooooooo cool!" Ashley said as pulled her hair back in a yellow scrunchie.

"I wanna do that again." Carlos said.

"Let's do something else, first." Cassie advised.

"How about the marine animal exibit? You know, the seals and all?" Angel said.

The group decided to go to see the dolphins. They arrived without getting lost, thank you to all the "You-Are-Here" signs posted about.

"Whoa!" Justin said as they approached the main dolphin tank. There was a mini-stadium of sorts surrounding it. Swimming in the tank, splashing and leaping, were four dolphins.

"Squeeeeeeee-click-click-click-click-click-clickclickclick!"

"Sqeeeeeee-a-a-a-a-clickityclickclickclick!"

Four very talkative dolphins.

"Coolness," Angel murmered in awe as she leaned over the rail of the tank. One of the dolphins swam over and popped it's head up to say 'hello'.

"Click-click-click-click-sqeeeeaaaaaaa-ckkkkkkkka!"

"Hello to you, too." TJ grinned, joining Angel.

"Do I know you guys from somewhere?" the Red Turbo Ranger asked. The other dolphins joined the first and all began chattering.

"I think they like us," Cassie laughed.

SPLASH!!

"Aaaaah!" TJ yelped as one of the dolphins blew by and deliberaty belly-flopped, sending water all over him.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" the other five laughed.

"Yeah," TJ grumped. "Real funny--HEY!"

One of the dolphins--presumably the splasher--had snatched TJ's communicator from his wrist.

"You thief! Give that BACK!" he shouted. That only got the other three dolphins chattering hysterically. To them, this human was a great source of entertainment.

"He took my--watch." the Red Ranger muttered.

"I think he's messing with you, Teej." Ashley said.

Just then, the aquatic klepto went cruising by. As he passed the Rangers and Angel, he tossed TJ's communicator on the edge of the rail. TJ quickly snatched it up and put it on.

"You crazy dolphin," he said, eyeing the thief.

"Sqeeeeeaaa-click-click-click-clickclickclickclick!" came the reply. The other dolphins began chattering and clicking and squeaking insanely.

"Hahahahahahahahaha!" that got a laugh from everyone.

After a while, they headed back to where Justin's dad was.

"Ready to cut the cake?" Mike asked.

"Oh yeah!" Justin nodded.

Mike lit the 14 baby blue candles on the chocolate frosted cake. Angel, TJ, Ashley, Cassie, Mike, and Carlos began to sing.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Haaaapy biiiiirthdaaay, deeaaar Juuuustiiiin! Happy birthday to you!"

Justin grinned as he blew out his candles and laughed.

"What did you wish for?" Carlos asked.

"Can't tell." Justin smirked at Carlos as Mike cut the cake. Chocolate on the outside, and complete chocolate on the inside.

"Oooooh." TJ murmered. Cassie and Ashley laughed.

They each were doled out a piece and everyone started in eagerly. Not surprisingly, it didn't take anyone very long to finish for seconds.

After finishing off the delicious cake, Justin began present-opening. He opened Angel's first at random. It was a black sports watch trimmed in blue.

"Whoa!" Justin murmered in awe.

"I hope you like it." Angel smiled.

"Like it? It's great!! Thanks!" Justin hugged Angel with a grin on his face, obviously happy with his gift.

"Your welcome. Now, maybe you'll be able to tell the difference between 2:10 and 3:30." Angelina replied. Justin laughed and opened the gift from TJ, wrapped in blue baseball wrapping paper. Inside was a basketball, complete with the air pump.

"Cool! Thanks Teej!" Justin high-fived TJ.

"Glad you like it." TJ grinned his charming smile.

"Heeey...." Justin muttered as he opened Carlos' present. It was another box, wrapped in red polka-dotted wrapping paper. After opening that one, he only found another wrapped box with green zig-zags on it.

"Car-los!" Ashley swatted him. Carlos grinned.

"Whaaaat?" he replied. "It's a fun present!"

After the fifth box went by, the others were finding this very amusing. Four more boxes later, Justin got to the real present: a few of his favorite artists on CDs.

"Thanks!" Justin called.

After present opening, cake-eating, and the usual things that occur at a birthday party, the six decided to go on another ride. One that was slow and steady to avoid any problems with cake that didn't want to stay down.

Carlos' suggestion was the log ride. It's sounded better than another trip on the Black Knight or perhaps the Scream Machine (a huge tower that lifted people up to the top in rollercoaster car-like seats, then dropped them to the ground below. Cables and fast-reacting brakes stopped them from eating concrete fifteen feet above the ground.)

"Ooooooh...." Cassie made a spooky sound as they sat down in their log. It was the basic seating arangement they'd had on the Black Knight.

"Gee...this looks like the Tunnel of Love." Cassie commented.

"Hey Ashley! Watch it. Carlos might still be thinking like a vampire." TJ whispered as he leaned forward.

"Shush, Teej." Carlos pretended not to notice.

The ride launched off. There were different displays here and there. One of Paul Bunyan and Babe, the blue ox. The tunnel took a sharp turn and the light got rather dim.

"Ooh." Angelina murmered. Justin felt her take his hand and give it a light squeeze. He smiled to himself as the log continued.

After about a minute, the water began to speed up. The log boats bounced off the sides of the tunnels.

"Whoa!" TJ muttered.

The ride continued a moment, ever getting faster. Just then...

FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!

Cameras! Just as the last one went off, the log went off the ending drop into a pool filled with water.

"AAAAAH!" Angel screamed!

"Wheeeeee!" Justin yelled.

"Yaaaaaaaaaah!!" Cassie added.

"Whoaaaaaaaaaa!" TJ agreed.

Strangely enough, Carlos and Ashley had nothing to say about it.

SPAALOOOSH!!! The log splashed down and splattered all riders with water.

"Aaah!" Carlos yelped. An attendant steered the log over to a landing spot.

"That was fun! Let's go check out our pictures!" Cassie announced as she stood and stretched.

"Pictures!?" Ashley and Carlos asked in unison.

"Uh-huh. That's what the big flash was." Justin said.

"Oh..." the Yellow and Green Turbo Rangers gave one another strange looks. Near the line to enter the ride, a series of TV screens stood behind glass. There were pictures of all the recent riders on each.

"You see?" Cassie said.

"I see." Angelina smirked.

"I see, too." TJ started laughing. The first camera had caught a picture much different from the others. While Cassie, Justin, Angel, and TJ were wide-eyed waiting for the drop, Ashley and Carlos were distracted. They were in a lip-lock.

"Sheeeeesh." Carlos muttered. "Count on a camera to catch something when no one else is looking."

The six teenagers laughed. TJ went and bought a few of the pictures and then they headed back to the table.

By the end of the day, eight rides had been ridden, seven more slices of cake had been eaten, and two male Power Rangers ended up turning intresting shades of green.

TJ and Carlos learned a valuable lesson: Don't eat more cake and write a check to show you can take it if, in truth, your stomach can't cash in.


As the days went by, Justin learned a little more about Angel's family. Her stepfather, Martin, seemed pretty nice. Well, a little uptight about some things, but other than that, he was okay.

Of course, as soon as Lauren Dreylin, Angel's mom, and Justin stepped out of the picture for a while, that whole perspective of Martin seem to pull a dissapearing act.

Late one afternoon, Angel was heading home when she noted that her mother's car was not in the driveway. Taking a deep sigh, she paused, concidered turning around and going back to Justin's or something, then decided it was best to just make a run to her room.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw Martin waiting in the living room, arms crossed. Her escape wouldn't be so easy.

"Where have you been?" Martin asked casually.

"Out." Angel replied.

"Where?"

"At Justin's house. Sorry I'm late."

"Tommorrow, you'd better be home by six." Martin glared.

"Huh? Six? But I'm allowed out until seven." Angel blinked.

"You were allowed out until seven. Now you're allowed out 'til six." her stepfather answered with a hint of a sneer in his voice. With his mild English accent, it seemed worse.

"You can't do that!"

"And why not, Precious?"

"Because my MOM makes those rules, not you. I don't care if she married you or not, you're not my dad! And don't call me that." Angel growled between clenched teeth as she headed up the stairs.

It took Martin exactly two seconds to grab her by the arm and yank her back down the stairs.

"Ow!" Angelina yelped. Martin's grip only tightened as she tried to pull away and the girl soon found herself on the edge of tears. Martin suddenly got on his knees and pulled her close.

"I'm sorry, Precious. I didn't mean to hurt you." he said softly.

Angel bit her toungue so she wouldn't call him some particularly foul names she had in mind.

"We won't tell your mother about this, will we?" Martin asked.

Angel shook her head. She knew the routine, it was always easier to just agree in this situation.

"That's my precious. Now go on upstairs and finish your homework."

The girl sighed quietly and trotted upstairs. This wasn't the first time this had happened. There was that time when he'd smacked her on the back for not being home on time and left a bruise that still wasn't completely gone. Not to mention several other occasions where he'd grabbed her roughly by the arm or shoulder and left bruises.

Her mom hadn't seen them, partially because Angel was afraid. If she told and her mom confronted her, what would Martin do to her? Whenever Lauren was around, he was the World's Best Step-father. When he and Angel were alone, though, his temper was a short fuse on a crate of C-4 explosives. If he were ever to really fly off the handle, it'd be the hurricane of the century.

Shutting the door of her bedroom, she sighed and pulled her notebook and math book out of her backpack. Pausing, she rolled her sleeve up a bit and stared at the five bruises forming there.

I'll be feeling that tommorrow. she thought to herself as she plopped down at her desk and started on her homework. Her mind wandered towards the school dance that was coming up soon.

The sound of her mom's car driving up snapped her out of her daydream. Angel sighed. A few minutes later, Lauren knocked on the door.

"Angel? Can I come in?"

"Sure, Mom."

Lauren walked in, wearing her usual outfit of navy blue buisness suit and pumps.
"Hey, sweetie. Look, I know I haven't been here a lot lately, but I've got this week-long meeting in Stone Canyon--"

A week alone with Martin? Angel's heart rocketed into her throat. "Can I come with you?? Pleeeease?" she begged.

"Angel, it's only a week." Lauren put her hand on her daughter's arm. Angel flinched.

"Ow."

"What happened there?" she asked, frowning.

"Um...." Angel thought hard. If she was going to rat out the Wicked Warlock of Angel Grove, this was the time.

"I...um....I...."

"Honey, did someone hurt you?" Lauren knelt beside Angel, examining the bruises.

YES!! Angel screamed silently. An image of what might happen if Lauren confronted her new husband flashed through her mind. Angel swallowed hard.

"Um, no. I was playing football in the park today and got tackled pretty hard, that's all." she said hastily.

"Are you sure?"

Angel's heart began to sink. Tears began to form in her eyes. She felt sick inside. Scared, too.

Just then, Martin provided a nice distraction for Angel by setting something on fire in the kitchen and yelling obsenities. Sure, he could pretend to be a nice guy, but cooking was something he couldn't even pretend to be lousy at. Some type of food item -- be it microwave popcorn or an egg in the process of being boiled -- always got roasted beyond edibility when Martin was in the kitchen.

"I'll be right back." Lauren dashed off to help him, leaving Angel alone.

That's what Dad said when HE left.... she thought. Opening her desk drawer, she pulled out a picture of her mom, dad, and herself in the park. Before moving to Angel Grove. Before the accident...

"It's all your fault." she whispered. "Why did you go out in the first place. Why didn't you stay home?"

Wiping her eyes, she turned off the lamp and sprawled on her bed, still holding the picture.

"If only you hadn't left, this wouldn't be happening." she murmered, tears flowing down her face and soaking her pillow.

Slipping the picture under her pillow and holding it tight, the girl cried herself to sleep.


The next day, the skies were blue and almost cloud-free, and a sense of giddyness (not only because it was Friday, but because of the upcoming dance, too) flowed through the school.

"Hey Angel!" Justin called. Angel turned from her locker to see her closest friend heading toward her.

"Oh, hi!" she smiled.

"Ready for that dance?" the Blue Turbo Ranger asked.

"Oh yeah...I don't think I'm going to go to it, though."

"Oh...why not?"

"I don't think Martin'll let me."

"What about your mom?"

"She's going out of town on Saturday...she probably will, but Martin'll go against it."

"What a jerk." Justin said.

"I know. He's Mr. Wonderful when she's around, but as soon as she's out the door, he turns into a complete jack--"

Angel paused as Mr. Caplan walked by.

"You were saying?" Justin smirked.

"Jackanape. I was going to say 'jackanape.'"

"I believe that."

"Oh, shut up." Angel gave Justin a friendly shove.

"So...if you do go to the dance...w-would you go with me?" Justin stammered slightly.

"Mmmmm...." Angel gave him an indesisive look that made Justin blush a bit, until he noted the twinkle in her eye.

"I'd be honored," Angel did a fake curtsee.

"Really?"

"Of course, silly!"

The two teens laughed and headed out of the school building.


"Mom, do you have to go? I mean, you work all the time. Can't you skip one meeting? Pleeeease?" Angel asked as she watched her mom pack.

"Honey, this meeting is really important." Lauren sighed. "I wish I could stay, but if I back out of this, I might not get that promotion I've been hoping for."

"Right." Angel nodded, hiding her dismay. "I understand."

"Why are you so set on convincing me to stay?" Lauren wondered.

"I don't like being alone." Angel answered.

"You won't be alone. Martin's here...."

Lauren hesitated. Angel had never really gotten over her father's death. It'd been so sudden, and it had made Angel an entirely different person. Two years later, she still wasn't entirely her old bouncy self. Lauren had always had a suspicion that Angel still hadn't accepted him and was maybe even a little uncomfortable with him.

"Look, I have to go to the meeting, but I might be able to con someone else into sticking around for it. I'll do my best to be home by Wedsnday."

"Really?" Angel asked, her heart jumping a bit. Four days was better than a whole week, anyway.

"Of course, honey."

"I love you, Mom." Angel hugged her.

"I love you, too."


"Oh, hell." Martin muttered. He had so many things to do and so little time to do them. Lauren had been gone exactly 2 days and might make a surprise visit home today or tommorrow. So far, he'd kept his cool with Angel, but he was at a breaking point.

Unknown to Lauren, or Angel, Martin had been married before....5 times. He'd ditched all his previous wives within a few months and taken a good deal of money from the joint bank accounts he'd shared with them, as well as been involved in a few minor robberies. However, it wasn't until a few months of engagement to Lauren that he'd finally met Angel (she'd been in England with her grandparents).

On his normal path of devastation, he'd have already taken whatever money he could get ahold of and left. However, there was one little problem. Lauren's daughter .Seeing as she could a nice, reliable witness to his typical dissapearing act and rotten behavior when alone, he'd been forced to stay around a lot longer.

"Now, think, Martin. Exactly how are we going to deal with this? You've got a few outstanding warrants for your arrest in 5 states. Lauren comes back in some indeterminant time. And even if you go, you've got to do something about Precious. She's a smart girl, and she's got you half-figured out anyway...

Ping. 'Ello.

Lauren loved Angel more than anything....so she'd be willing to PAY anything to get her back....right?

"My boy, you are a genious! This time, it's away to...to.....the Bahamas!" he cried, jumping up to pack.


"Do you think that dreams can be a different reality? Not just something our minds are making up?" Angelina asked as she hopped off her bike and stretched. She and Justin had gone racing through the woods, and eventually come out in the park....again.

"I don't know. " Justin admitted.

"I do. I believe that perhaps, you can do anything you want in dreams. You and I could go bike-riding on Mount Everest if we wanted to." Angel smiled.

"Cool....." Justin jerked as his new watch went off. "Darn! I need to go. It's getting late. I guess I'll see you later."

"In your dreams," Angel grinned.

"I'll be there." Justin chuckled. He climbed to his feet and hopped on his bike. Angel watched him leave and then cast her eyes skyward. There were dark clouds forming above. A serious storm was going to hit soon. She climbed on her bike and powered home. Just as she made it up the driveway, the rain began. She tossed her bike in the garage and headed inside.

As soon as she walked in, her heart skipped a few beats. There was some luggage on the floor. Martin was still putting some things in a bag when he looked up and saw her.

"What's going on?" Angel wondered.

"We're going on a trip." Martin said.

"Mom's not back yet." Angelina frowned.

"That's the point. Get your duffel bag and let's go. Our plane leaves in an hour."

"I don't want to go."

"Tough rocks, precious. We're going. That's that." Martin snapped. Angel started backing up and then ran out the door, the rain pouring down and plastering her hair to her head. She could hear Martin's voice yelling at her to come back. Pushing it out of her mind, she flew down the street, almost completly unaware that she was running.

The bridge came in sight and she slowed to a stop, huffing and puffing. She shivered from being soaked by the chilling rain. Looking down, she could see the water roaring as it passed underneath. It was a greyish color, with small white caps on the tops of some of the rapids. It gurgled and roared like a monster.

Suddenly, she looked up and saw Martin's car.

"Great..." she muttered. Of course he'd follow her! How could she have been so stupid?!

"Come on! Enough fun and games, Precious. Let's go! We're going to miss our plane." he growled, grabbing her by the arm roughly.

Precious. Angelina hated that name.

"No!" Angelina cried as he started dragging her to the car. She yanked her arm away, turned to run, and was grabbed by the collar of her shirt and jacket.

"What did you say?!" Martin looked like he was ready to simply wring her neck, rather than drag her along on a plane trip. Angelina barely felt the tears streaming down her face along with the rain. She was cold, wet, and she was face to face with a guy who was most likely about ready to do some serious harm to her.

Martin grabbed her arm and dragged her back in the direction of the car. Angelina struggled and got her arm free. She shoved him away and turned to run once again, only to be caught and whirled around. Angelina had no chance to defend herself or resort to her kickboxing training.

"You little--" Martin roared as he backhanded her with a closed fist. Angelina cried out in pain as the blow to her jaw caught her off guard and sent her stumbling into the railing.

Her momentum was too much for the wood that was slightly rotten and unable to take the weight and force. The wood that was slated to be replaced the next day by the city, thirteen hours too late to save a fallen Angel.

SCCRRRRUUUUUUNNNNCCH!!

"AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!"

With a scream from both the wood and the girl, Angelina went tumbing off the bridge and into the roaring, frigid waters below.


DING-DONG!

Mr. Stewart answered the door. There stood an officer from the Angel Grove Police Department.

"Hello, Officer. What can I do for you?"

"Mr. Stewart, we recieved a call earlier this evening concerning a girl named Angelina Dreylin. We were wondering if you had seen her." the officer stated. "Her mother came home from a week out of town and discovered her husband and her daughter missing. When neither returned, she called the police. She gave us a list of places Angelina might be, and this was one of them."

"Hmmm...she's not here, but I'll keep an eye out for her if she comes by."

"Okay. Well, I'll give you a number to call if she does and have a good evening." the officer handed Mike a card with a phone number on it.

"You too," Mike said. After the officer left, he put the card in his pocket and walked upstairs to Justin's room.

"Justin?"

"Yeah, Dad?" Justin looked up from the book he was reading.

"You...haven't seen Angel around today, have you?" Mike asked.

"Nope, not since we were in the park."

"Ah. Just curious."

"Why?" Justin raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Well, it looks like her mom just came back into town and she couldn't find Angel or her dad."

"He's her stepdad." Justin corrected.

"Ah. I'll remember that." Mike smiled and left the room. For some reason, a chill made Justin shiver slightly. Something felt wrong, but he shook it off.


Later that night...

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinng! Riiiiiiiiiiii--

Mike reached over and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Stewart?"

"This is him."

"Hi." It was a woman's voice on the other end of the line. "I'm Dr. Brigette Strena from the Angel Grove Children's Hospital. I'm calling regarding Mrs. Lauren Dreylin, Angelina's mother."

"Oh, hi. An officer came by here asking if my son or I'd seen Angel...did they find her?"

"Yes," Dr. Strena said softly. "They found her in the river."

"Oh my...is she..." Mike trailed off.

"I'm afraid so." Dr. Strena's voice was soft with a tone of regret as she spoke. "Lauren Dreylin, Angelina's mother, said Justin was her friend...I and a detective would like to talk with him about Angel. Perhaps she told him something that could help us figure this out."

"You think it might not have been an accident?"

"It's always a possiblility. We've also found some evidence as to a possible attack of some sort. If something did happen, she might have told Justin prior to the accident. Would it be possible for us to question him? It might shed some light on to what happened."

"Certainly. Anything to help...I...I think...I think Justin may need some time...to digest this."

"Whenever he feels up to it, give me a call." Dr. Strena said sympathetically. "The number is 349-0266. My extention is 205."

"Okay," Mike nodded as he wrote down the number. "Please give Mrs. Dreylin my sympathies."

"I'll do that."

"Thank you. Bye." Mike said and hung up. After a few minutes of thought into what to tell him, he called Justin to come down out of his room.

"Yeah, Dad?" Justin replied walking down the stairs. Mike paused and then sighed. There really wasn't a way to say it and make the blow softer.

"Justin...come here and sit down."

Justin raised an eyebrow as he walked over to the couch and sat down.

"What is it?" he asked curiously.

"It's about Angel."

"They found her?" Justin watched his father nod. "Where was she?"

"Geez...there really isn't a good way to say it..." Mike murmered to himself.

"To say what?"

"Justin...Angel was found in the river."

"In the river? She's okay isn't she?"

Mr. Stewart didn't answer. He was trying to keep himself from crying. He kept picturing in his head what it would be like to come back from a buisness trip, discover Justin missing and, then, find out he drowned in a rain-swollen river.

"Isn't she?" Justin asked again.

Looking up, Mike shook his head.

"I'm sorry Justin. The doctors think she hit her head. With all the rain we've had lately, the water must have been too high...I'm really sorry, kiddo."

"What?"

"Justin, she's gone. I'm sorry."

"You liar. She's not dead." Justin felt very cold. He almost began shivering. Tears began to well up in his eyes and he forced them back as hard as he could.

"Justin, Angel is gone. She isn't coming back. I'm sorry." Mike took Justin in his arms.

"Liar!" Justin screamed, struggling to pull out of his dad's grip. "You lie! She's not dead! She's not! She'll be here tommorrow! She's not dead." He soon found himself sobbing on his father's shoulder.

"Shhhhhh...It's okay. It's okay.." Mike murmered to his son.

"No, it's not okay. It will never be okay!" Justin stated angrily through his tears. Pulling away, he ran up the stairs and into his room.

Slamming the door behind him, he flopped on his bed. Angelina was his age. A kid. Kids weren't supposed to die. They were supposed to graduate high school and go to college and get married and have kids, and...

And die. Like his mom.

Angelina couldn't be dead. Couldn't. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She was going to come over tommorrow and they'd go bike riding or practice their martial arts skills or maybe find a movie to watch.

Maybe they would have yesterday or the day before or sometime before that, but never again. Never.

Ever.

"Oh, Angel." he whispered. "You can't be dead. No. Please, no."

No matter how many times he said no, it would always going to be yes.

Justin let out a sob of sorrow as squeezed his pillow tightly as he soaked it with tears.


The next day, Justin woke up, fully dressed with his sneakers still on. He'd cried himself to sleep.

Yawning slightly, he sat up and decided to go downstairs. He couldn't hide in his room forever and if he didn't go down, sooner or later his dad would come up and bring him breakfast.

Probably wanting to talk to him about last night as well. Too bad. He didn't want to talk about last night. Last night didn't happen. Angel would come by and ring the doorbell and ask if Justin could come bike-riding.

He hopped off his bed and walked downstairs to find Mike cooking bacon, toast, and eggs.

"Mornin', Dad." he said, sitting at the table.

"Morning, Justin." Mike replied, not sure as to whether he should smile or not. "Want some breakfast? Actually, it's close to 12, so I suppose you can concider it lunch."

"Sure." Justin shrugged.

Mike handed Justin a plate with some bacon, eggs, and a piece of toast on it. Justin started eating and silence seemed to rule the kitchen for a good ten minutes.

After awhile, he broke the silence.

"Some people would like to talk with you." Mike announced.

"Who?"

"A doctor and an officer or two reguarding last night."

"Why?"

"Well, I suppose they have a hunch Angel's accident wasn't an accident."

"What accident?" Justin asked. After he recieved a look of surprise and then understanding from his dad, he knew this strategy wasn't going to work.

"Justin." his dad said softly, hugging Justin some. "I know it hurts that she's gone. But you can't keep pretending she'll come by or that she never existed. Her mom is going through some hard times and they need to find out whether this was or wasn't an accident."

Justin sat there for a second. He felt like crying. He wanted to pretend he didn't know the girl who'd drowned last night. He wanted to pretend that she was still alive. He wanted to pretend that she didn't even exist, and yet, he knew he couldn't do it. He knew he couldn't just wish away one of the best, most understanding friends he'd ever had.

"Justin, are you okay?" his dad's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah." Justin pushed his plate away. He didn't feel really hungry right at this moment.

"Yeah," he repeated. "I'm fine. When do those people want to meet?"

"Whenever you feel up to it." Mike replied.

"Now is a good time." Justin said.


Twenty minutes later, Mike and Justin were at the Angel Grove Memorial Hospital talking with Dr. Strena and Detective Sean Harris.

"Justin, did Angelina ever tell you or hint things about Martin Dreylin?" Dr. Strena asked.

"She said things about being bothered by him in some way or another. Made her feel nervous. She also mentioned that he was kind of a control freak." Justin said. "Why are you asking me this kind of stuff? You don't think he hurt her or anything, do you?"

"Well...we think he may have taken a part in her accident."

"Ah." Justin said softly.

"Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find him." Harris added. "Which just adds to the suspicion against him."
"I think that's about all we need to know. Thank you, Mr. Stewart, Justin, for helping us." Harris said, shaking hands with Mike.

"It's our pleasure. I hope you find out what happened to that sweet girl." Mike replied.

Justin and his dad walked down the hall a bit before Lauren caught up with them.

"Justin?" she called. The Blue Turbo Ranger turned to see Angelina's mother. She was carrying a box. It wasn't especially big, but not very small either. It was the size of a large dictionary.

"Yes?" Justin asked.

"I...I want to thank you for being her friend. Angel had a few friends here and there, but not many. After her father passed away...she couldn't really find it in herself to make any more friends or keep the ones she had." Lauren murmered quietly. "She told me once that you were the best friend she could have ever hoped for."

"Here," she added, handing Justin the box. "It's a few of Angel's things. I thought you might like them."

Justin was speechless. All he could do was nod.

"Thank you," he managed after a few seconds. Lauren hugged him tightly.

"Feel free to come by anytime." she said with a smile. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. Justin nodded again.

"I'll do that." he said with a smile in return.


Justin lay on his bed all that afternoon, the warm breeze blowing in from his window. He was feeling very strange about everything that had happened.

A mid-morning news report had stated that Martin Dreylin had been aprehended at the Stone Canyon Airport and was facing plenty of criminal charges, with child abuse and manslaughter (if not involuntary manslaughter) only a few to name.

Turning his head to look away from the window, the box Lauren had given him caught his attention. It was sitting on a chair by the door, untouched since he and his father had gotten home from the hospital.

Sitting up, he got off his bed and retrieved the box. Opening it carefully, the first thing he removed was some sort of writing or composition book.

He sat back on his bed, opening the book slowly. There inside were several poems and some that could be made into songs. Out of all of them, there was only one that caught his eye.

I hear the angels calling
They're whispering my name
I am an angel fallen
But their sister all the same

Angelina is my name
Angelina is my name


Justin felt tears begin to well up in his eyes as he continued reading.

They say they will not leave me
On this side all alone
They know I have been grieving
They know I'm pleading to go home

Angelina is my name
Angelina is my name


"Did you know it would happen? Did you know he would knock you off the bridge?" he whispered, wiping away his tears. What was it like to fall like that? Was this what was going through your mind?

I feel the angels coming
They hover near my face
I can feel my feet running
My wings spreading
My heart race

Angelina is my name


Justin felt very strange, sitting on his bed reading a poem or a song that was written before Angel fell. It almost seemed like it had been written while she fell.

He bookmarked the page with Angelina's song and sat there for, motionless, for what seemed like forever, before looking inside the box again. He noted a small blue velvet box sitting there next to a few small pictures of her. He reached inside and picked it up.

Opening it, he saw Angelina's necklace. The angel feather with the small diamond at it's tip. It sparkled faintly.

Justin set it down on his dresser and opened a drawer. He pulled out all the baseball cards and things and stuffed them in some other drawer. Then he placed Angelina's poem book in the corner. He put the necklace back in it's box and put it, too, in the drawer. He placed a few pictures in there as well, but left one out. It was the one of himself and Angelina at his birthday party, when she'd given him the cool sports watch.

Taking a tack, he pinned it to the wall above his bed.

Sighing, he lay back on his pillow and stared out the window. The skies were a pure blue with only a few big fluffy white clouds here and there.

Suddenly, he found himself smiling. She wouldn't want me to feel all sad about this. I should be glad she doesn't have to deal with that jerk ever again. he thought to himself. He thought back on the last conversation they'd had.


"Do you think that dreams can be a different reality? Not just something our minds are recalling." Angelina asked.

"I don't know. " Justin admitted.

"I do. I believe that perhaps, you can do anything you want in dreams. You and I could go bike-riding on Mount Everest if we wanted to." Angelina smiled.

"Darn!" Justin jerked as his watch went off. "I need to go. It's getting late. I guess I'll see you later."

"In your dreams," Angelina grinned.

"I'll be there." Justin chuckled.

A warm breeze came in from the open window and he felt his eyes grow heavy. He leaned back on his pillow and smiled as he sank into his own little dreamtime reality.

After all, Angelina may not have been alive anymore, but they could always meet again in dreams.


The End



Another Author's Note: So...how did you like it? Write me and tell me what you think! Oh, have you ever read "Bridge To Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson? It's one of my favorite books and I was thinking about it the night I got started on this fic. I decided it would be a good base line for a fic, even though it's a bit heavier than some fics I've written. Please write and tell me what you think. No hate-mail or flames, please. :0)