Of Scoops, Slices and Sunsets

Disclaimers: I don't own the Power Rangers.

A/N: Ehhh...I didn't mean to, but the more I thought about it, this is basically like chapter four of Because We Love You, just fluffier, flirtier and Fran's not sick. I'll try not to get so close to what I'm already working on. I hope you guys enjoy this!

Chapter One: Nap Time

No! No! No!

RJ froze at the top of the stairs, seeing Fran lying on the ground, motionless. She wasn't facing him, leaving him with no clue if she was injured or sick.

Forcing himself to move, RJ nearly launched himself off the short staircase to the main area of the loft and darted over to Fran's side. He took in the way she was lying on her side, arms tucked in close for warmth, her fingers curled gently underneath her chin. Her eyes were closed, face peaceful and her breathing was steady.

Oh.

RJ let out a deep, shaky sigh of relief. She was fine. She was okay. She was just sleeping.

On the floor of all places.

Kneeling down on the floor beside her, RJ gently shook her shoulder. "Fran," he whispered. She mumbled nonsense and shrugged him off.

He bit back a chuckle and shook her shoulder again. "Fraaaaan," he sang quietly.

She whined and rolled away from him, scrambling to pull up blankets that she actually didn't have as if to burrow underneath them and hide from him.

RJ coughed softly, really trying to hold back the laughter that was threatening to bubble up. Oh no, he thought with fondness. She's adorable.

"Fran, there is no way that sleeping on the floor is comfortable, let alone good for you."

"I'm not sleeping on the floor RJ," Fran mumbled.

RJ hid a grin as he watched the realization penetrate her sleep fuzzed brain and she opened her dark russet eyes. "Good afternoon," he greeted her cheerfully.

Fran hummed softly as she slowly sat up. Hair that had fallen from her pigtails framed her face, her glasses were off, clutched in one hand. The afternoon sunlight hit her back, framing her in a soft, almost ethereal glow. That, combined with the small, sleepy smile she had on her face and all RJ wanted to do was take her into his arms and simply hold her for a long while.

He wasn't quite sure when he first started feeling this way, but RJ found himself wanting to hug Fran more often—she was very good when it came to giving hugs; honestly he hadn't quite wanted to let her go before he went off to join the Rangers for the first time. He wanted to talk to Fran more often, about everything and nothing. Just to be in her presence.

That's what their ice cream runs had become. A chance to get away from the restaurant and his students, for him to vent any frustrations that he may have had or to take a page from Fran's book and babble excitedly about something that he knew she would listen to that the others may not be interested in.

She did listen and talk with him; offering advice whenever she thought that her words would merit something to the situation. Sometimes Fran gently persuaded RJ to actually talk to his students about whatever it was that they were doing or saying that made him feel like he was about climb a wall. She would look at him pointedly and subtly reference the werewolf incident. Run to your friends instead of away from them.

Fran was right after all. The team dynamic would never be in balance if one of them couldn't properly communicate what they were feeling or thinking in the moment. Especially if that person was the team's mentor.

RJ brought himself out of his musings when Fran sheepishly apologized for falling asleep on the job. "Well, you are on your break," RJ reminded her. "So technically you weren't sleeping on the job. But I still wonder why you were sleeping on the floor when there's a perfectly good chair," he gestured towards his beloved forest green recliner. A little old and worn, but very comfortable.

Fran gave a huge yawn, doing her best to stifle it. "Because anyone who isn't you isn't allowed to sit there."

"Except for you."

When she showed confusion at his prompt reply, RJ shrugged and continued. "Every rule has an exception and you are the exception to the rule about my chair."

Fran blushed and looked away, murmuring about how that wouldn't be fair to the others. "The floor is fine."

He arched an eyebrow at that. "Is it really?"

"Well..."

RJ grinned and with a sudden burst of boldness, he swept her into his arms, laughing slightly at her squeak of indignation. She flung her arms around his shoulders, holding on as best as she could.

"RJ!" Fran spluttered. "Put me down!"

"In a minute," he replied as he made the short trip to his chair, doing his best not to think about how nice it felt to have Fran in his arms. How right it always felt to hold her.

'This...this is your fault, isn't it?' RJ half-heartedly accused his wolf spirit. He gently lowered Fran into his chair, hoping that she wouldn't notice the blush on his face as his wolf spirit merely huffed a laugh at him.

She didn't notice, instead she pouted up at him. "You don't have to fuss over me like this, RJ."

He shrugged, bounding up the stairs to the upper floor of his loft. "I don't mind," he replied. "Besides, you do look pretty exhausted."

"You look pretty too."

RJ froze, in the midst of folding a warm blanket over his arm, doing his best to not feel deeply flattered by Fran's words. She's just tired, he told himself firmly. She's still half asleep.

He couldn't make himself believe his own words.

Meanwhile, Fran, whose brain caught up to her mouth, squeaked in embarrassment, hid her face in her hands. "I-I-I don't know where that came from!"

"It's okay, Fran," RJ assured her. He walked over to her and draped the blanket over her, carefully tucking it around her. He was about to try for a flirty line when she spoke again.

"You are rather pretty though."

A blush suffused RJ's face as a small grin tugged at his lips. Okay, he was really flattered. The coy smile on Fran's own face wasn't necessarily helping his nerves however.

His eyes widened slightly as he suddenly made a connection. Wait wait wait...hold the phone. Is she flirting with me?!

Well, he had been about to try flirting with her, she had just beat him to the punch is all. RJ tried thinking of a line that was genuine and not completely corny. Even the owner of Jungle Karma Pizza had a comedy threshold.

However before he could try anything, Fran yawned hugely, covering the motion with her hand. RJ's eyes softened and he decided that their banter could wait.

He knelt in front of Fran. "You know, you never did tell me why you were taking a nap on the floor—"he pulled a face at that. "—In the first place."

A concerning thought crossed his mind and he knew that he had to ask. "Do you feel overworked? Is it too much for you when the other Rangers and I have to run off to take care of a Rin Shi?"

"Nah," Fran reassured her friend with a rather carefree smile and a wave of her hand. "I mean, yeah, some days are tough, but it's nothing I can't handle, honest."

She blew out a breath and continued. "Some nights lately I just haven't been able to sleep. It's not really from nightmares or from reading too much." She blushed. "Not often, anyway. I just feel...I don't know...bored? When I try to sleep. My brain is just too wired and I can't calm it down long enough to sleep more than a couple of hours before I'm up for the day. I guess this pattern has just caught up with me and left me really tired."

RJ nodded in understanding. "I've been there. Would you like me to teach you some meditation techniques? They could help soothe your mind and soul, letting you sleep. I know of some really good decaffeinated teas if you'd like to try that too."

"That could work," Fran agreed. She was doing her best not to snuggle in the rather warm and soft blanket. At least not in front of her boss. She frowned in slight confusion; speaking of bosses...

"Why exactly are you encouraging me to sleep instead of, I don't know...working?"

RJ shrugged and gave her a lopsided smile. "You're tired and what kind of friend would I be if I didn't try helping you? Besides, it's very slow right now. Nothing that Lily, Casey and Theo can't handle on their own."

Fran was half tempted to tease RJ and suggest that his students probably shouldn't be left on their own with the rest, but RJ would remind her to be fair, that the three had done plenty of growing and that it would hardly help anyone if either RJ or Fran herself were constantly hovering over them. So instead, she nodded, leaning back in the chair. "Thank you."

"Anytime."

RJ stood, preparing to head back downstairs and check on Casey, Theo and Lily when Fran's quietly asked question had him freezing in his tracks.

"Stay with me?"

He spun around, face displaying surprise. He said nothing however, when he took in Fran's sudden shyness and her overall discomfort over having asked the question. He knew that she had more to say and decided to wait for her to speak.

She didn't disappoint. Shifting in the chair, Fran sighed as she looked away from her friend.

"Sometimes...I can't sleep because I get lonely." She shrugged one shoulder, trying to play it off as no big deal. "It's just me in my apartment. No family, no roommates...I don't even have a pet, so yeah. It feels too big, too quiet and I just don't sleep."

RJ's heart ached at Fran's words. His poor friend was completely alone. He used to live alone as well, but with his students having since moved in nearly two months ago, he had come to the realization that his home life was a bit fuller with them living there. Fran didn't even have that.

"Of course I'll stay with you, Fran." RJ gestured for her to move over and settled in next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, Fran gently tossing half of the blanket over him which he took with a smile before reaching down and pulling the lever to let the pair of friends properly recline in the aptly named chair. He pulled her in close, letting her head rest against his shoulder, his own head resting atop of hers. "I think I should adopt you a puppy or something."

Fran giggled. "You don't have to do that."

"But I'm sad that you feel lonely!" RJ protested. "I can't exactly kick the Rangers to the curb to make room here...what kind of mentor would I be if I did that?" A beat. "Although, if I'm going to be honest with myself, I probably would have done it in a heartbeat when I first took them on."

Fran grinned, trying to hold back her laughter. "RJ that's terrible!"

"But honest." His voice was matter of fact.

Fran shook her head, exasperated. "Whatever you say, RJ." She pulled her half of the blanket up higher and closed her eyes. "I'm going to try sleeping now."

RJ gently squeezed her into his side and said, "I'll be here when you wake."

Her body already relaxing into sleep, Fran's voice was whisper soft as she replied, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Fran," RJ replied as he settled his head back against hers.

She was warm and soft in this moment for RJ knew perfectly well that Fran could be bold and witty, strong and lively; wearing her heart on her sleeve.

As his wolf spirit insisted, Fran was safety. That had been why the spirit had been able to relinquish control back to RJ. Because the world felt safe to it ...him?...when Fran was around.

RJ sighed lightly, gently snuggling into Fran, the young woman he held barely stirring, only humming in quiet content as she slept on. His eyes drifted shut as he let himself be pulled into sleep.

Two days later, RJ practically bounced over to Fran as she walked into the loft for her break. She giggled as he approached, never tiring of his effervescent personality. "Can I help you, RJ?"

"Actually, it's I who can help you," RJ informed her with a very pleased expression on his face. He gently guided her over to his beloved chair, where a plush grey wolf at least fifteen inches tall sat on the cushion.

Fran gasped at the sight of the toy, turning to RJ with wide eyes, a slight blush on her face. "This is for me?"

"Nah, I thought I'd show you what I'm getting Casey for his birthday."

Fran huffed and lightly swatted RJ in his side who merely chuckled at the action. "You got me a plush," she stated with some disbelief. "You got me a wolf plush."

"You have no idea how long I had to argue with myself that this wasn't some form of narcissism."

Hiding a smile at the image RJ's words invoked, Fran gingerly picked up the toy, cooing slightly as her fingers sank into the soft, thick fur. She absentmindedly stroked the fur as if it were a real wolf, tracing the ears and petting the snout. She beamed when she looked at the glass eyes, seeing that they were an emerald green. "At least the eyes aren't the same shade as yours," she teased.

RJ snorted, "I didn't even notice the eye color until after I paid for the little guy. But by then it was too late and I knew that you wouldn't honestly have cared."

"I might have if the fur were some shade of purple," she told him, half-serious.

"If that were the case, I would have never picked it up off of the shelf."

"Awww," Fran cuddled the wolf plush close and looked up at her friend. "So why did you get me this?"

"Well, you wouldn't let me get you a dog," RJ shrugged.

"And I'm standing by that."

"So I thought that maybe he could help you be a little less lonely." A beat. "Or she."

"I'll think of a name later." Placing the wolf back onto the chair, Fran hugged RJ tightly. "Thank you," she breathed.

RJ hugged her back just as firmly. "You're welcome." After a moment, he pulled away, a mischievous grin on his lips and a twinkle in his sea green eyes. "So, do you want a tiger, cheetah or jaguar for Christmas? Don't want your wolf to be lonely."

Fran laughed and rolled her eyes, merely hugging RJ again. She was strongly tempted to say that instead of another plush, she wanted mistletoe. She wasn't quite ready to say such a thing to him, but maybe she could find the courage to make such a suggestion in the near future.

This turned out waaaaaaaay longer than I intended. I can't guaruntee that all chapters will be this long...or longer. Maybe. Maybe not. Hoping to work on chapter five of Because We Love You and get that up hopefully within a week or two.