Adventures in Dating - 10. The End of the Beginning

Everyone gathered in the base one last time at sunset. Keeper was there, standing with Miss Morgan at the entrance to the base, while the Rangers stood around the old holographic map and started at their two mentors. Both of them had aged significantly since their mission had begun years ago to collect and safeguard all of the Energems, and at long last, with the help of the Dino Charge Power Rangers, they had finally succeeded.

Miss Morgan pressed the box with all ten of the Energems into Keepers hands. The Rangers knew they were watching a special moment as their two mentors savoured their triumph. Whatever words were being spoken between Miss Morgan and Keeper, the Rangers couldn’t tell. This was their moment, and while the Rangers had helped make it happen, they wouldn’t have even been there or have met each other if not for Keeper placing his trust in Miss Morgan that one day, years ago.

It was amazing for the Rangers to think that their adventure was coming to an end. Most of they were looking forward to getting their lives going again; they had spent almost a year in Amber Beach helping to find the Energems, and there were things that everyone put on hold in order to be Rangers and keep up the façade of being Dino Café workers. Each of them knew that they would never be the same from this, and were glad of the people that they had met during their chance to be the world’s protectors.

Riley and Chase stood close together, their hands intertwined as they watched the moment before them. Riley looked over to his left, where he saw Shelby and Tyler standing close together. He caught Shelby’s eye and gave her the smallest of nods, and he smiled to himself as she crept her hands up Tyler’s arm and grasped onto him, refusing to let go and lose out on the chance to stay with the person who made her happiest.

Looking over to his right, Riley wasn’t surprised to see that Chase was looking at him instead of watching the final presentation of the Energems back into Keeper’s possession. As usual, Chase had eyes only for Riley. The smaller blond was surprised at home much Chase had changed over the past year. He originally thought of Chase as a flake. A teammate, but not one to be trusted and certainly not one that he’d ever think about falling in love with. He was wrong about all of Chase; they’d been together almost the whole time they were fighting Sledge and Fury, and Chase had shown his dependability and willingness to change each step of the way.

Riley knew that the school year would start up soon, and that meant that Chase would be going back to New Zealand; he was only meant to be here for one semester, but becoming a Ranger meant he put his education on hold in order to stay in Amber Beach after his exchange had come to an end. For the first time in a long time, Riley was afraid and didn’t have the answers; he was going to miss Chase and hated that the end of their Ranger careers would also mean the end of his relationship to Chase.

He hated how bittersweet this was. They had saved the world! Their mentor could go back to his own world, safe in the knowledge that humanity would continue to grow. Riley knew that was something to be proud of, something to celebrate, but he found himself hating it for what it would do to him personally. It was selfish and not at all like how he would normally think about the situation, but perhaps that was Chase’s influence on him. Riley appreciated himself more for his emotions and his ability to share his feelings with the people he was close with, something that he would never have learned so easily if he hadn’t ever met Chase.

The ceremony ended and everyone walked out of the museum to watch Keeper’s final departure. As his craft ascended, the humans gathered below could see him wave a final fond farewell. The Rangers stood and watched, until Keeper’s ship became too small a speck of light to see. Eventually, the Rangers began to disperse until only Chase and Riley remained, staring up at the night sky and thinking of what lay beyond in their lives.

Chase saw the tears forming in Riley’s eyes, and the taller boy stepped behind and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, holding him tight and inviting him to turn around so no one could see what was threatening to happen.

“What’s wrong love? We did it! There’s nothing left to stop us from doing what we want and being regular teenagers again. Aren’t you happy about that?” Chase asked, clearly worried about his friend and partner.

Riley pulled Chase in tighter and wrapped his own arms around the taller New Zealander.

“No, I’m not alright. It’s over, everything is over. The new school year’s going to begin so you’ll be leaving, everyone else is headed on to whatever awaits them and it’s just going to be me headed back to the ranch after this.” Riley cried.

Chase knew that Riley had been worried about this. Everyone knew that they would find all of the Energems eventually, but no one really ever stopped in the base to talk about what that would mean for the team. Everyone had gotten so close over the past year that it was too heartbreaking to consider what would happen when they finished and everyone would eventually have to start going back to their own lives. Well, except Chase.

Chase hadn’t really thought about it for long, but he knew that the choice he made about his own future was the right one. Originally, Chase had really been excited to head back home to New Zealand and get back into his archaeology program in Auckland. It was a good program and would really help with his career, but he found that studying out in Amber Beach was more comfortable. Part of that was the Energem’s influence on him, pushing him towards dinosaur paleontology instead of historical architecture, but he had to admit that he found the work interesting as well.

He’d already been discussing with his old school about transferring to Amber Beach on a permanent basis, and now that he was faced with the decision, he felt more comfortable than ever that it was the right choice to stay where he was. He wasn’t usually one for staying put, but it was going to be what he did because he knew it would make himself and Riley happy.

Chase whispered into Riley’s ear.

“I’m not going anywhere Riles. I’m staying right here.”

Riley looked up, confusion emanating from his eyes.

“I decided to transfer to Amber Beach on a full-time basis.” Chase explained, winking at Riley. “Part of it’s probably the Energem, but I want to study dinosaurs a bit more, maybe get my whole degree in that sort of thing. Where else to do it than here, where I already know the museum workers and can get in for free?”

“Even more important, I know you’re studying here because you don’t really have the money to go somewhere else; Amber Beach is local and close for you, so it makes sense and means you don’t have to pay to come home for the holidays.”

Riley nodded at that, not entirely knowing where this was going. Chase continued to elaborate and explain the new situation.

“So I was thinking…” Chase started. “I thought that maybe we should keep up this whole little arrangement that we have.”

Riley smiled a little at that.

“What do you mean, Hotshot?”

“I mean us. Dating, living together, having fun and maybe even saving the world again. You said you didn’t want this adventure to be over, so let’s keep finding new adventures to go on together. I’m ready if you are Baby Raptor.”

Riley didn’t trust himself to speak. He was shocked. He knew he would always remember this moment when his fondest wish came true. He didn’t speak when Chase finished. He simply nodded his head, grabbed Chase by the hand and started on the walk back to their home from the museum.

Whatever else would happen, and whatever adventures life would take them on, Riley knew that Chase would be there to go through them together. Chase was ready to settle down, he knew that Riley was the one for him, and he wanted to share in the younger boy’s life as much as he could. Together, both of them were ready to make sure their adventures in dating never ended.