A/N: Hey guys! Did you miss me? Well, I'm back anyway. So here's the final chapter of Puppy Love. Enjoy!

As much as Bridge hated it he knew that today was going to be his last day as a puppy and the knowledge terrified and exhilarated him. As happy as he was to be getting his human body back the mere thought of facing Sky scared him. How was he supposed to act like everything was normal after seeing such a different side of the blue ranger? After he'd spent the last six and a half days snuggling with the blond every chance he got? And he was going to lose that privilege once he was human again. Bridge crawled into the blue ranger's lap and curled up in sadness.

Sky barely batted an eye as the cattle dog curled into his lap; he merely lifted his right hand and began stroking the puppy's soft fur. Bridge settled more comfortably into the blue ranger's lap and let the even strokes lull him into a light doze. Riding the edge between sleep and wakefulness, Bridge let his mind sort out the upcoming problems - namely how the hell he was going to get away from Sky in order to change back to his human self.

The green ranger had been in the habit of curling up in Sky's bed when the blond went to sleep each night and Bridge knew that if he woke up and tried to sneak away he'd only succeed in waking the older ranger as well. Sky was much too attuned to waking up whenever his roommate had a nightmare and that had carried over to Bridge's puppy form. Should the green ranger wake up and decide to take a stroll Sky was awake and had located him in a matter of minutes. Bridge thought it was cute but thought it better to keep that opinion to himself.

"Hey Sky!" Boom greeted before throwing himself down on the opposite end of the couch that the blue ranger was currently sitting on. "Good news! I found someone interested in adopting the puppy." Sky kept his eyes trained on his book but his right hand tightened ever so slightly in the puppy's fur, catching Bridge's attention. Rousing himself from his lethargy the green ranger began paying attention to the conversation. "They'll pick him up tomorrow so you can go ahead and drop him off tonight if you want," he continued casually as he tried to shoot puppy Bridge a significant look. It was difficult when said puppy was yawning.

"Do you have a bed for him?" Sky asked. Boom turned his attention back to the blue ranger and stared at the blond with a blank look on his face. "Do you have a bed for him to sleep on?" Sky clarified.

"Uh, no, I was just going to let him stay in the lab." Boom admitted with a shrug. Sky scoffed and snapped his book shut.

"I'll drop him off tomorrow," he informed the lab assistant before scooping the chocolate cattle dog into his arms and walking off.

"Wait!" Boom shouted but Sky was already out the door. "Oh, man, I hope Bridge can think up something," he muttered as he headed back to the labs.

Hanging in the blue ranger's arms, Bridge was well aware that Boom had presented him with the easiest solution to escaping from Sky and the blond had just as easily dismissed it. Now Bridge had no idea how he was going to sneak away before he changed back to his human self.

Okay, Bridge, don't panic just yet. You can still pull this off. You just have to figure out a way to sneak away from Sky before he goes to bed! Oh, who are you trying to kid? It's impossible to sneak away from the perfect ranger! Bridge huffed and threw himself onto the grass. Blinking in surprise, the cattle dog looked around and found, much to his astonishment, that Sky had brought him to the park while he was lost in his inner monologue. On any other day Bridge would have been off like a shot and creating as much havoc as his tiny stature would allow. Today, however, he padded his way over to the bench where Sky had returned to reading his book. He jumped onto the bench, his back legs scrambling to find purchase when the jump proved to be a bit too much for him. Sky didn't even set his book aside before reaching down and hauling the chocolate cattle dog puppy onto the bench beside him. Bridge gave the blue ranger a happy tail wag before plastering himself to the blond's side.

Sky would have to be a complete imbecile if he couldn't see that the tiny terror he'd been looking after for nearly a week was getting more and more depressed and clingy as the day went on. Sky would also have to be completely fatuous to miss the fact that Bridge's illness coincided with the cattle dog puppy's arrival. Given the fact that the chocolate cattle dog would rather steal Sky's food than eat the puppy food that had been bought for him and showed a great many of Bridge's unique personality quirks Sky was pretty sure he'd come to the correct conclusion. The thought simply terrified him given everything he'd admitted to the puppy. Still, it couldn't have bothered Bridge too much given how he was sticking by the older ranger. And Sky dared to hope that Bridge felt similarly given how he clearly didn't want to leave the blond. So the blue ranger had taken a pretty big gamble by refusing to drop the puppy - Bridge, his mind corrected - off with Boom tonight. But if he had read the lab assistant's quiet desperation and not so subtle significant looks correctly then Bridge was going to be human again sometime this evening.

The thought terrified and exhilarated him. Still, the blue ranger had reservations about what would happen once Bridge was himself again. After all, Sky could be completely misinterpreting the situation; Bridge might only be hanging around Sky so often because Sky was the only one he trusted when so vulnerable. But that led the blond back to the question of why Bridge placed so much trust in him. Sky huffed in irritation and let his forehead slam against the cafeteria table. Bridge quit scarfing down his treat of chicken and rice to look inquisitively at the older ranger. Sky ignored the puppy - glad that the cafeteria was empty save for the two of them. With a heavy sigh the blue ranger pushed himself back into a sitting position before propping his right elbow on the table and resting his head on his right hand. This gave him the perfect angle to keep an eye on the little monster he called 'Pup' and Sky stared at the chocolate cattle dog. Realizing he was being watched Bridge slowly turned from his now empty bowl to stare back.

"You're going to be the death of me," Sky told him amiably. Bridge cocked his head but the older ranger didn't elaborate, merely shook his head with a fond smile. Pushing away from the table, the blond scooped up the empty dish, quickly dumping it in the kitchen before heading to the rec room. The blue ranger bypassed the cadets gathered around playing cards and headed to where the rest of his squad was sprawled on the couch watching re-runs of crappy television.

"This sucks!" Syd was whining. "I miss Bridge."

"Dr. Manx said she should be able to release him tomorrow," Sky assured her as he sat down in "his" chair, which was catty-corner to the couch. The dog that was his shadow quickly jumped up and curled into the blond's lap. Syd and Z immediately cooed at the cuteness while Sky and Jack immediately rolled their eyes at the females.

"Well, good. It's been way too quiet without him." Jack confessed.

"I miss the smell of buttery toast," Z wiggled her fingers, "in the morning." The yellow ranger sighed in sadness.

"And at lunch. And at dinner." Syd laughed. The others laughed but it quickly trailed off as the four rangers lost themselves in fond memories of their much loved, quirky green ranger. Bridge shifted on Sky's lap, nearly undone by the depth of emotion he was being bombarded with. The fondness of their memories mixed with their sadness over his recent 'illness' left a bittersweet tang in his mouth and Bridge panicked as he felt himself beginning to zone out. A sudden sense of calmness cut through the puppy's hysteria and Bridge realized that Sky was subtly projecting a small force field while emoting a sense of peacefulness to keep him calm. The puppy turned his head and gave the hand in his fur a light lick as a thank-you before turning his attention back to the other rangers.

Before this entire ordeal Bridge had been under the impression that his other squad members merely tolerated him. He knew he wasn't the greatest ranger ever. Physically, he couldn't hold a candle to Sky or Jack. When it came to powers, Bridge couldn't control his like the others. In fact, there were times when the teen wondered why Crueger even bothered to choose him as a ranger, much less put him on active duty. So he was quite content to sit and listen to his friends reminisce about all the good times they had while a steady hand slowly but surely stroked his fur.

Sky sat back with a small smile of contentment on his face as Bridge listened to his squad talk about how much they loved and missed him. The only way the blue ranger could have felt more satisfied was if he'd planned the entire thing himself. Alas, as much as Sky would have liked to claim the credit, this was not the case. Still, it was ending the day on a good note for the green ranger and that, more than anything, was what Sky wanted for the younger man. As he walked back to his room, puppy Bridge bouncing along behind him, Sky finally made his decision to tell Bridge how he really felt. Again. Though the blond decided not to count the first time seeing as how Bridge was a puppy. He tried to keep calm as he readied for bed. He thought of everything he was going to tell him as he showered and brushed his teeth before climbing into bed.

In the end, Sky didn't have to say any of his prepared speech. As it neared Midnight Bridge slipped from the bed and padded to the door, ready to sneak away to Boom's lab. The blond woke up, rolled over and blearily stated, "Bridge, you idiot, come back to bed." The chocolate cattle dog puppy had frozen in place before glancing over his shoulder. The blue ranger was struggling to keep his eyes open and trained on the canine but it was enough for Bridge to realize that Sky knew the truth. Running across the room, the cattle dog puppy leapt onto the bed and bypassed his usual spot at the foot of the bed, instead burrowing under Sky's left arm and curling into his chest where he promptly fell asleep.

Bridge woke up with his face all but mashed into the wall and a knee digging into his kidney. He wasn't all that worried about his face being in the wall - after all, that happened every morning - but the knee in the kidney was definitely new and quickly becoming problematic. The green ranger wriggled and the body behind him let out a low sound of protest before shifting. Bridge sighed in relief as the pressure on his kidney abated and burrowed back under the covers, fully prepared to go back to sleep.

"Bridge?" Sky asked. Bridge hummed. "You human again?" Bridge hummed again. "Good."

The next time they woke up it was because someone was frantically pounding on their door. Sky groaned in annoyance but rolled out of bed to answer the door. Bridge immediately rolled into the warm spot left by the blue ranger and snagged the blankets. Sky took a moment to roll his eyes before opening the door.

"Hey Sky!" Boom greeted, looking slightly maniacal with panic. "Apparently Bridge left before Kat fully cleared him. You haven't by chance seen him today?" Sky sighed before moving aside and letting the lab assistant see where Bridge was curled up in Sky's bed.

"I take it you had something to do with him being a puppy?" Sky asked, stifling a yawn. The sheepish grin Boom gave him was enough of an answer. "Dr. Manx wants to see him?" A nod confirmed the blue ranger's suspicions and he moved to shake the green ranger awake. "I'll get him there as soon as possible," he assured Boom.

"Well, Bridge, you are one hundred percent human again," Kat confirmed. The green ranger sighed in relief as he tugged his gloves back on.

"Hey Kat?"" Bridge questioned. Something was niggling at the back of his mind. "When I was a puppy, auras filtered through more easily. Shouldn't I feel more wiped out?"

"I thought so at first. Then I remembered that you spent most of your time with Sky." At Bridge's confused look, Kat continued her explanation. "About halfway through the week Sky started figuring out that you were the puppy, which means on a subconscious level Sky started treating the puppy like you."

"He was shielding me without realizing it," Bridge stated, realization dawning on his face. Kat nodded before shooing the green ranger out of her med bay. The younger ranger pondered the information on his way back to his room.

"-idge. Bridge!" The green ranger jerked out of his thoughts to find Sky looking at him with an amused smile on his face. "You've been standing in the doorway for five minutes. You wanna come in now?" Bridge blinked before stepping up to the blue ranger and tugging him into a kiss.

"Love you, too." He told the older man before grabbing his hand and tugging him out the door and toward the cafeteria. "I want some buttery toast." He wiggled the fingers of his free hand and Sky had to bite back a grin.

"Whatever you say, Pup."

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