He swung his duffel bag over one shoulder and glanced around the room one last time. He was well aware that he was the last of the so-called "Earth Rangers" to move off of the Megaship since Dark Spectre's defeat, but until recently it had been more convenient than living at home.

He couldn't help a wry grin at that thought. His parents had long ago given up on holding their Ranger son to a curfew, but the five-hour lag between Angel Grove and Coralside might have tested even their trust. Add to that the fact that Aura was something of a night owl anyway, and the combination made for some extremely late evenings. There had been days when 7:30 rolled around so quickly that he hadn't bothered with sleeping at all.

He supposed that was one advantage of the current situation, anyway. If nothing else, he might stop dozing off in class so often. He might even get over his newfound habit of afternoon napping.

With a sigh, he shifted the duffel bag strap a little higher. The tradeoff wasn't one he would have willingly made, of course, but he was trying to find the positive in an otherwise depressing situation. So he wouldn't be living on the Megaship anymore. He could walk to soccer practice, like any normal person. He could drive to school. He could get phone calls...

His eye fell on the wire picture frame as he turned toward the door, and he hesitated. It wasn't like he was never coming back. He could come up here any time he wanted. And it wasn't as though he'd be able to display that picture anywhere but here anyway.

Not that he really wanted to display it, he supposed. Seeing it would be just one more reminder of how thoroughly things had fallen apart. He shouldn't hold onto the memory of how perfect they had been.

He walked slowly over to his bureau, letting his duffel bag slide to the floor as he paused. He stared at the picture, thoroughly torn. He shouldn't, but he wanted to.

He reached out to run his fingers over the frame, remembering that free day on Calithia. Two of the former Rangers had volunteered to staff the Ranger dome while the current team took off for the surface and some well-deserved recreation. The popular surf ship had been covered with tiers and tourists, and Aura had insisted on climbing as high as they could go. To "escape the crowds", she said, but it had been a thinly veiled excuse for thrill seeking and they had both known it.

None of the others had elected to climb past the fourth tier, though he knew for a fact that there wasn't a single person on the team with a fear of heights. Grateful for the time "alone" with her, he hadn't argued, though his heart had almost stopped when she decided the last tier wasn't enough of a challenge and she quickly clambered up onto the railing.

She had wavered as she stood, and he had reached for her instinctively. She had laughed at him, turning carefully in her precarious position to look down. She put her hands out to meet his upraised grasp playfully, pressing her palms to his and leaning into them a little. She had perched there for a moment, suspended between the railing and his arms, until finally she grinned at his nervous expression and jumped down.

He hadn't found out until later that someone had snapped a picture of the two of them--her standing above him on the railing, gazing down at him in amusement, palm to palm as he helped to hold her up. She had given the picture to him for Christmas, complete with the red and green wire frame that he now found himself fingering wistfully.

With an impatient shake of his head, he picked up his duffel bag again. It had been fun, it was over, move on. "All good things," as the saying went. He laid the frame facedown on his bureau and turned back to the door. It opened onto the empty corridor of deck five and he stepped out, leaving his room on the Megaship behind as he headed for the Glider holding bay.