Even though the Rangers are still reeling from previous events, life goes on and they still have more than their share to deal with… but they just might get a break from a very unexpected source.

All things Power Rangers belong to Saban and Disney. All things Carri belong to KJ, with many thanks. Demonking belongs solely to Daniel White and Teeg and Rexo belong to KS. The premise of the Coin Series has been borrowed from a story written by Terry, Chris, Daniel, Brice, Katey and myself.

All events in The Coin Series take place in an alternate dimension

Power Rangers: The Coin Series
Family Ties

Tommy was dreaming. That was the only answer for the little girl giggling in front of him. He and Kimberly had talked about children last night and his mother had bubbled on about grandchildren this morning when he called to tell her Kim was moving in and they were getting married. The little girl looked exactly like Kimberly had, right down to the pink ponytail holder on top of her head.

He remembered that image well. Back when they were in high school, Zedd had used the rock of time to turn them into children and he always remembered thinking how pretty she’d been as a little girl. She’d taken his breath away, even at a stage in life where girls should be considered cootie ridden, and the memory of that squirmy feeling had stayed with him.

The sun was warm on his face and he sighed contentedly. He’d only stretched out in the hammock a little while ago to rest his eyes. He had made fun of Kimberly when she had hung it up instead of sending it to storage with the rest of her things, but he was glad now that she had. The house was bare and there was no other place to sit and wait now that the rooms were gutted. He was more tired than he should be. There was just too much going on in such a short period of time.

He didn’t dream often anymore. Most of the time the images he saw were glimpses into the future or a memory from his past that was relevant to the present. He had purposely allowed himself a few extra hours of sleep last night in the hope that he’d remember some forgotten wisdom by Zordon or another master. He needed help answering the questions the Rangers were asking him in the wake of Andros’s calamity and he also needed help deciding if the answers other people had found were the right ones. But this morning he’d only woken to a massive headache and the hammock up at the old house had seemed very appealing.

The little girl danced in and out of his line of vision. She didn’t feel like a memory nor did she have the surreal quality glimpses into the future held. She was simply a dream; a very sweet one.

Kimberly was going to bring her mom and stepfather out to see the old house this morning and he’d headed out to Heartland at first light to cover up any equipment that shouldn’t be seen. If anyone had asked, he would have denied using any advanced technology to renovate it, but no one had asked and no one would. Most at NASADA and other forums were afraid of him. He didn’t think Zordon would approve of his reputation, but he didn’t discourage the weariness. Considering his youth, it served its purpose with the older generations. All knew he was recognized by Zordon and all were glad to have him on their side, but he was still well known as a former evil Ranger.

There wasn’t much equipment in the house that shouldn’t be there. There was a nail retriever Hayley had made him based on his specifications. Its high powered magnet retrieved the nails from the old boards and lath and deposited them into a small bin. The bin could then be attached to another small mechanism, more commonly used for broken zord parts, that would melt them down and filter out any impurities so that the metal could be turned into more nails or other metal items he might need. The time it saved was phenomenal and he was eager to show it to his brother.

There was a similar machine that recycled the old wood that he’d also made sure was well covered. Tommy would feed it the lath or any scrap wood that wasn’t being saved and it would reduce it into a pulp like mixture that could create new moldings or other wood products using a computerized pattern and high pressure. The finished product was programmed to look and feel exactly like solid wood, right down the random grains that could be seen when you cut it.

That particular machine had been pirated directly off of Triforia and the markings alone made it look distinctly alien, but Haley had great hopes of getting a working version up and running for Earth very soon. It was a conservationist’s dream and saved thousands of dollars in new wood products. Its profit potential, according to Hayley, would be astronomical, but only if she could get a version working that was made solely from local parts.

That was the best thing about his association with Hayley. He’d come up with the ideas and she’d actually turn them into a reality. Together, they’d carved out a comfortable and lucrative partnership. Fortunately, most of his ideas for the common market weren’t derived from his experience as a Ranger or he’d be prone to a little more guilt over the profits he’d made. He still felt guilty anyway, which was probably why he funneled so much of it back into the Rangers. Occasionally, he’d show her an alien device, but in most cases, like the DNA machine that had been so phenomenally successful, he simply thought of tools that he wished he had and brought the idea to Hayley.

She’d toss them into two categories: Doable and weird. She never told him anything was impossible, but he had the distinct feeling she liked those ideas the best. He was, however, hesitant to bring too much technology on the market so quickly. But, guilt over the profits or no, Rangering was astronomically expensive and most of his share needed to be quickly re-directed back to the Rangers. Between Billy and himself, the development of the Zeo mission had run exceptionally smooth, but there was more than one Ranger team operating at the moment and everyone seemed to need help. Then there were the other astronomically expensive projects he was being pressed into taking, but that was what had given him such a headache and there was still no clear answer for him yet.

The last machine that needed covering was the one he and Kim had used to clear out the asbestos on the lower level. He wasn’t much worried about that one. It was innocuous looking, but it had saved her thousands of dollars and done a far better job cleaning out that substance than any crew she could have hired; if any would have been willing to work at Haunted Hill. They were done with that part anyway and it had been easy to just take it apart and store it away with the other tools.

The lower level of the house had been a mess. The construction itself was very sound, but her grandfather had gutted the first story and built himself a nice, nineteenparlors, and -forties style ranch where once had been a beautiful entry, library. There were a few photos of what it had looked like, but not really enough to reconstruct it.

Given the other problems with the house, saving the inside wasn’t going to be practical anyway and Kim had made the hard discussion to renovate rather than restore the old building. It was the best solution and the one he had encouraged her toward. All the walls needed to be opened for electrical wiring and plumbing anyway and as long as they were open, they might as well take advantage and create the best floor plan they could. There was no reason to preserve the nine tiny bedrooms upstairs any more than they need to preserve her grandfather’s remodel. It wasn’t useful to her. They would pay more attention to historical details on the outside of the house where more of the original details were still left.

The little girl had started putting wildflowers around his head, which was about the time he realized he wasn’t dreaming. It startled him, because his reflexes were better than that. Even in deep sleep he would still wake instantly if his senses told him something wasn’t right. Kimberly simply rolling over in bed would usually bring him fully conscious. To further prove he wasn’t asleep, he heard Kim’s hushed voice sternly admonishing the girl…in French.

“But he’s awake.” Charlotte whined back, in perfectly accented American English.

Kim came into view then, placing two firm hands on the girl’s shoulders and pulling her back a step.

“I told you not sneak up on him.” She said firmly, “It’s not safe to creep up on strange men.”

“He’s not a strange man, he’s your boyfriend.” Charlotte countered unrepentantly. “And you told momma you were going to marry him, which makes him family.”

“You must be Charlotte.” Tommy said, fully awake now and swinging his legs over the side of the hammock. The girl grinned at him with the same mischievous smirk her sister had and he felt his heart melt. “Nice to meet you.” He held out his hand and she shook it, then giggled and pulled it back.

“You’re cute.” She demurred, with a cocky set to her chin and what he assumed was a well practiced batting of her eyes, “For an old guy.” She added.

Billy stared down at Trini, simply looking at her. She had fallen asleep on the counter of her workspace and he was hesitant to wake her. Neither of them had slept the night before. She had tossed and turned and worried and he had done his best to calm her down, but in the end he had simply let her fret.

Her attorney had finally called. Her case had been one of the last ones to be read and just before eight o’clock in the morning in Angel Grove, nearly five in the evening in her old town in Switzerland, her status as a single person had been restored. For some reason, the call had been directed to him and not to her. He’d raced back to the lab to tell her in person, but she was so soundly asleep, he was hesitant to wake her.

He sat down and watched her quietly. She was free. It was hard to believe. The entire time they had been together as a couple, she’d been attached to the shadow of someone else. Someone who hadn’t wanted her; the thought was inconceivable. His entire life he’d wanted her. To think that someone had her love and devotion and simply threw it away was beyond belief; not that he was complaining.

He had known her for two decades; almost his entire life. To his eight year old self, Trini had been an angel. Up to that point in his life, he’d been summarily shunned by his peers. He wore coke bottle glasses, his thought process was baffling to them, his communication skills nonexistent, and he was beyond awkward physically. She, in contrast had been pretty and sweet but had been equally shunned because she was shy and, at that point, didn’t speak the right language. Trini had been lost in a new country where no one knew either Vietnamese or French and she had been forced at a very young age to develop a third new language.

They had become friends when the other kids had run away from her laughing and she had sat down crying in his yard. He didn’t speak Vietnamese, but he did know quite a bit of French for an eight year old American and she had been incredibly grateful and relieved to find someone her age to talk to. The two had clung to each other on the bus, on the playground, and in the neighborhood; each appreciative to have the other.

But Trini was far too pretty to remain isolated for long. By the end of fourth grade she was proficient enough in English to be mainstreamed back into the normal classes and, despite her natural shyness, she developed a wide circle of friends. He had assumed she’d drift away, but she surprised him. She kept him firmly in tow and made sure that everyone knew if they included her, they included him. She translated for him, made him acceptable, and made the socially cruel masses appreciate him for what he was.

By Junior High, Trini was fast friends with Kimberly, who was, undisputedly, the most popular cheerleader at school. Kim, the social queen of their peers, didn’t understand him, but he was Trini’s friend and that made him her friend as well.

Kim took up Trini’s cause of trying to make him socially acceptable and everyone knew if they picked on Billy she’d immediately expel them from the most popular circles. It was a power he had never experienced before. He wasn’t exactly included in the popular crowd, and the snob mob still dug at him, but he didn’t get picked on either.

They tried, but failed to dress him appropriately, he just simply didn’t care, but Kim got him interested in gymnastics and Trini pulled him along to Ti Chi and that seemed to curb the worst of his natural clumsiness. Also, thanks to the added exercise, he began to build a little muscle in his otherwise pathetically scrawny frame.

While the rest of the science geeks found themselves shoved into lockers, Kim had touted his tutoring abilities so much that he actually found himself in the enviable position of making a pretty descent teenage living for himself. What’s more, as they progressed through junior high and into high school, his position as a friend to Jason, part of the jock crowd, and Zack, part of the hip crowd, gave him a pretty descent status of his own; for a certified science geek. Jason developed his interest in Tae Kwon Do, Zack tried his best to teach him to dance a little, and later his friendship with Tommy spurred an interest in weight lifting. Slowly, he morphed from a gangly little science worm into someone the girls actually looked twice at. It was unfathomable and it was all because of his friendship with Trini.

All the while he had watched her and loved her, but never said a word. By the time they were teens he had put her on a pedestal so high he didn’t dare confide the feelings in his heart. Besides, he knew the social order of things. He might have been acceptable to the in crowd, but he wasn’t one of them. Being a Ranger helped, it bound them all together closer than family, but by the time he had found the courage to say something, she was gone.

The day she left had been the worst of his life. He was so proud of her for winning a place on the Youth Peace Council, but it also meant she would be leaving him. His heart had ached as she bounced around, packing and anticipating the trip. She had been a natural choice. She was fluent in three languages, a straight A student, and she genuinely cared about making life better for people.

He had paced the floor the entire night before she left, finally finding the courage to say how he felt, but when he walked to her house the next morning, he was mute. She had hugged him affectionately before climbing into the car and the door was closed before he could even utter a word. He’d had a few Christmas cards and he kept in touch with her mother, but it wasn’t long before word drifted back that she had a boyfriend and was giddy in love. He’d been crushed, but he said nothing.

As his life with the Rangers continued, he put his childish obsessions behind him. Time simply went on, but he never forgot and when word reached him on Aquitar that she had married, he had sunk into a deep depression. Perhaps that was why he’d agreed to formalize things with Cestria. He simply didn’t care at that point. His life was on Aquitar and he buried himself in his research.

He hadn’t planned on going to the reunion. There was no one he wanted to see that he didn’t already communicate with, but when he’d seen her confirmation online, he changed his mind. They had lost contact over the years and, even though she was long since married, it would be a decent excuse to renew ties. He’d been floored to learn about her upcoming divorce and for the first time in years began to have faith in the Great Power again.

There was nothing in his life he wanted more than to be with her. If he was going to be honest with himself, he hadn’t exactly been excited by news of the baby, but he wanted her and he would do anything to be with her. However, the ambivalence he’d felt toward the pregnancy had long since changed. He wasn’t exactly sure when that change occurred, possibly when he’d seen the images of the baby on the scanners or perhaps he’d simply come to believe what they’d told everyone else; she was his baby too.

They were going to be a family, something he’d long since given up on. He had no illusions though. He loved her more than anything else in the universe, but her love for him was a bit softer. She returned his affection, gave her love willingly, but it didn’t consume her as it did him. She had no idea the depth of emotion he felt for her and the baby, and he doubted she’d ever understand, but that was alright with him. He was simply content to have her with him, to be allowed to love her. It was more than he’d ever thought possible.

She frowned and stirred a bit, possibly from the uncomfortable angle she was leaning at. As her eyes fluttered open, she smiled at him and he genuinely smiled back. She sat up and rubbed her neck, twisting it around to relieve a cramp.

“I can’t believe I fell asleep.” She said sheepishly

“You didn’t get much rest last night.” He said, smiling at her and she shook her head.

“What’s up?” She asked, still trying to come fully awake.

“Shills called.” He said and her face went pale.

“And…” She asked.

“It’s over.” He answered.

Trini’s hand came up to her face and she burst into tears. He wasn’t all that surprised by the outburst, she had been stressing over the divorce for weeks and with the tensions of the past weekend, she needed to let it go. He stood up and put his arms around her and she leaned into him.

“I’m sorry.” She said, trying to stop the sobbing. “I’m happy, I really am.”

“I know.” He said gently, holding her a bit tighter. “Shills is on his way back with the documents. His train leaves in an hour for Geneva and then he’ll catch the first flight back to New York.”

Trini took a huge breath and forced herself to stop crying. This was a good thing; she needed it to be over. But feelings of failure still consumed her. She didn’t want her ex back in her life, she wanted him as far away from her and her baby as possible, but that didn’t change the fact that she had failed; she was divorced. She had tried to tell Billy how she felt, but she knew he didn’t understand.

He was practical in his thinking. She had done nothing to drive her ex away; he had gone off on his own. He was the one having affairs; she’d been faithful. Therefore, he didn’t deserve her and she was better off.

She understood what he was trying to say, and she was far happier with Billy than she’d ever been with Geirge, but that didn’t stop her fears that maybe she was, in some way, responsible. No one was ever blameless. She had thought over and over what she could have done. She’d been inhibited in bed, so maybe that was why he’d looked elsewhere. She’d had problem after problem conceiving when children had meant everything to her ex, so he’d gone elsewhere. She’d bickered with him, spent too much money, didn’t get along with his mother, was too thin… there was excuse after excuse, but she still didn’t understand why it had happened and she didn’t have a clue how to prevent it from happening again.

She looked up and gave Billy a small smile. “So when will he be back in the States?”

“Tomorrow.” Billy answered, hugging her tightly again. “We’ll go over to his office on Wednesday to pick up the paperwork and, if you want, we can straight to the courthouse the same afternoon.”

“Ahhhh…” She said, swallowing hard. “Let me digest that the divorce is finally over for a second.”

Billy kissed the top of her head. He understood, but he was eager to make things official. Once they applied for the license, they had ninety days, but he didn’t want to wait that long. He’d waited his whole life, she was his now.

“So.” He said, pulling the stool closer and sitting back down, but not completely releasing her. “I guess that means I can finally give you this.” He reached into his pocket and pulled the out the ring he’d been carrying with him all day. Her eyes widened and the hand that still held his began to shake.

“Oh my god.” She breathed. She’d been expecting a ring, she knew he’d gone with Kim to buy her one, but not the one he produced.

Kim had been vague, but had given her quite a few hints. She had admitted the stones were a good quality and it was incredibly beautiful, but also very Billy. They had giggled at the last statement, knowing Billy that could mean anything, but she knew he believed in living unpretentiously. The ring he produced was the biggest thing she’d ever seen. There was a huge round diamond in the center with two triangular diamonds off flaring off an each side.

“I told you I bought a ring.” He said, amused at her reaction. He’d been too excited to keep it a secret. Besides, Trini hadn’t been fooled for a moment with him going on a shopping trip with Kim just to buy her a simple present.

“Not one that big.” She exclaimed and he chuckled. She was the one and only exception to his rules. He was going to make it his mission to spend the rest of his life spoiling her.

Billy stood up and immediately bent down on one knee. She giggled, feeling silly. She was hardly a little girl eagerly dreaming of a proposal and white wedding. They had already agreed to get married, she didn’t need anything formal, but she let him go through the motions none the less. It was sweet, and he looked so earnest.

Billy took a deep breath. Oddly enough, he wasn’t as nervous as he thought he’d be. He’d waited two decades for this. “I have loved you,” He began, looking directly at her, “For twenty years. You were the first real friend I ever had. You have no idea how much it meant to me that you stayed by my side as we grew older. I was too shy and I could never tell you how much I valued you, how much I adored you, and then in an instant you were gone from my life.” He cleared his throat as he watched the tears roll down her cheeks and then took a deep breath.

“I spent years without you and those years were, by far, the worst of my life. I was empty, absorbed in my work, and completely apathetic to the outside world.” He thought about his years on Aquitar and how bitter he’d become and then he thought about the moment he’d seen her at the reunion.

“I don’t know what I did for the Great Power to send you back to me, to get a second chance, but I refuse to waste it. I want you with me, every day, every night, every hour, for the rest of my life. I want to raise our family together, to build a life together, and I’d be honored and greatly privileged to call you my wife.”

Trini didn’t quite know what to say. She hadn’t expected a formal proposal, let alone such endearing words. In the back of her mind, she thought she really ought to say something back to him, tell him how much she appreciated him, valued him, loved him, but the words wouldn’t come. Her throat closed and heavier tears spilled down her cheeks. In the end she could only nod dumbly and, as he slipped the ring on her finger, she burst out into heavy sobs.

“Those are good tears right?” He asked. She nodded furiously and threw her arms around his neck, but still didn’t speak. “I love you.” He said, breathing in the smell of her hair and holding her tightly against him.

“I love you too.” She sobbed and he smiled.

Pulling back a little, he leaned down and kissed her quickly, tasting the salt of the tears still pouring down her cheeks. He wiped them away gently, then, cupping her chin gently in his hand, leaned in for something a little deeper.

“I’m so sorry.” Kim laughed as Charlotte scampered back up to the main house. “I told her to leave you alone. Unfortunately, Charlotte considers directions not to do something as cart blanche to sneak off and do it anyway.”

Tommy pulled himself out of the hammock and grinned at her. “For an old guy?” he asked, in mock offense. He reached out and pulled her to him. Smiling, she leaned in and pressed against him, wrapping her arms around his neck and reveling for a second in the memory of the love they’d made a few hours earlier.

“Oh please, last year she called Justin Stewart old.”

“In that case I’m ancient…” He said, taking advantage of her closeness to kiss her.” But a second later his head came up. “Wait a minute, when did she meet Justin?”

“Long story.” She said dismissively, but when he pulled back from her attempt to continue the kiss, she continued. “He was over at Ashley’s when Carri was getting fitted for her awards gown last year and we volunteered him to babysit while we went on a fabric search for something else. I don’t think he’s ever forgiven us yet.” Tommy raised an eyebrow and at his questioning look, she added, “Charlotte’s a handful…even when she’s behaving.”

He grinned and would have kissed her then, but her head turned at the sound of her brother’s voice “Mike’s here.” She said, and moved back a little as her brother’s form came walking around the corner of the house, “I guess we should head back.”

“You left your family alone up there?” He asked, concerned.

“It’s fine.” She said, turning back to him. “They’re just on the front porch. Besides, the grid actually greeted me this morning.” She had such a self satisfied look on her face that he chuckled. “I think it was happy to see a child running around…and besides, we only just got here. Mike’s meeting us with the rough blueprints he’s been making from my drawings and then we’re going to breakfast; want to come?”

“Sure.” He answered “When did you do drawings?”

“About two weeks ago when we decided to gut everything.” She said, grabbing his hand and pulling him back up the hill towards the house.

“You didn’t show them to me.” He said, with what she could have sworn was a bit of a pout. She turned, walking backwards up the hill and grinned at him. “I didn’t want you to laugh.” She admitted. “Besides, I wanted to see how much was actually doable architecturally. No point in sharing ideas if it can’t be done.”

Tommy pulled her back towards him until she was up close again. “Anything you want is possible.” He said softly as her brother continued to walk toward him. “We have much better technology on our side than your brother or anyone else does.”

“I know that, and thank you for all you’ve done in that department to help, but we still needed official plumbing and electrical plans, if only to make the inspectors happy.”

“True,” He said, remembering the inspection process and his brother’s warnings to be careful. “But you know I’ll do anything for you.”

Kim paused and met his eyes. “You already have.” She said seriously and he looked at her curiously. The early morning sunlight lit her hair as their eyes locked and, just for a second, their empathic skills locked as well. For an instant, their minds met and emotions intertwined. She watched as all the masks he carefully wore throughout the day faded away and for one split second, it was just the two of them; like it had been when they were younger, without the cares and worries of the universe perpetually intruding.

Before she could say anything though, the mask on his face was back in place and her brother was next to her with a cheerful, if a bit teasing, greeting. She turned and hugged him eagerly. It had only been a few days since she’d seen him, but so much had happened to her since then.

“And where have you been all weekend?” He asked accusingly.

“With Tommy.” She said simply.

“Oh my god.” Michael said with genuine feeling, turning toward the other man present and extending his hand. “Tommy Oliver, I would have never recognized you.”

“Mike.” Tommy said, shaking his hand firmly. He doubted he would have recognized Kim’s little brother either. The man was taller than he was and looked a great deal like their Uncle Steven had ten years ago.

“I told mom, when Kim said you were out here helping her with the house, you guys had to be together again, but then she up and goes out with Richard on Friday.” He released Tommy’s hand and turned to his sister. “What was up with that?”

“Richard?” Tommy asked, a hard look settling into his eyes.

“Coupon guy.” She said blandly and the look softened as recognition dawned on him. He’d forgotten she’d had a date with another guy only three days ago. Since her recovery, they had simply merged together as if they’d never been separated. It seemed impossible that only three days ago there had been nothing more between them than a developing friendship.

“Coupon guy?” Michael asked.

“Long story.” Kim said dismissively. “And it worked, he got jealous and admitted he still loved me.”

“Ah…” her brother said knowingly and she winked at him for emphasis.

“So it’s true?” he asked, turning back to Tommy. “You’re actually going to marry my sister?”

“She told you?” Tommy responded and Michael nodded vigorously.

“Just about drove off the freeway on the way here.” He laughed. “I don’t think my coffee’s ever going to come out of the carpet. Good god, talk about out of the blue. I was expecting her to admit you were dating again, not getting married.”

“Mike asked me if I was pregnant.” Kim added with a wry look.

“Shit, that had to have been the first thing out of mom’s mouth too.” Her brother countered. He leaned in conspiratorially. “How’d she take it?”

Kim paused, the look on her face clearly indicating things had not gone well. “Not as good as could be expected.” She said, a slightly forced smile firmly in place. That was putting it mildly. Her mother had hugely over reacted and only stopped ranting because Andre insisted she was upsetting Charlotte. That was why they had come to the house first instead of eating breakfast together earlier. The tirade had lasted so long that Kim had insisted that Tommy would already be waiting for them and she couldn’t leave him for hours in an empty house.

“Oh god.” Michael returned with genuine feeling. “Well, what’d you expect?”

“It’ll be fine,” Kim countered. “Andre’s on my side, he’s going to work on her.”

“So I should expect smiles and kisses?” Tommy asked, drawing her attention away from her brother.

Kim moved closer and cupped the side of his face with her hand, kissing him soundly she said, “You can expect her to be polite and socially acceptable.”

“Jesus.” Her brother swore. “You’re doomed Tommy. Seriously, I wouldn’t wish my mom as a mother in law to my worst enemy; even if she approved of that enemy. That’s her golden baby, you’re de-flowering.”

“Hey,” Kim hissed, turning and slapping her little brother across the chest. “Watch your mouth.” She warned, finger pointing at him in emphasis. Then, in a much lower voice, she said “He got that part over with a long time ago.”

Her brother laughed, even as they heard their mother’s voice calling for them. They turned and Kim grabbed Tommy’s hand again, pulling him up the hill to the front of the house. “Come on.” She called.

“Time to face the judge.” Her brother joked and she shot him a mean look.

Molly Williams Girard was not in a good mood. The nonstop flight from Paris had been a long one to take with an overly energetic eleven year old and they hadn’t stopped in New York for a few days to visit friends and adjust to the time change like they usually did. Normally, she didn’t feel anywhere near forty-eight years old, but this morning she felt like she was a hundred and forty-eight. Charlotte, oblivious as only a child could be, was up at first light and demanding an American hamburger. The thought made her absolutely nauseous and she wondered briefly if she had the flu. She hadn’t been feeling well and Andre had wanted to postpone the trip, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She was thrilled both her children were in one place for the holidays, but she was also very worried about her older daughter.

As it turned out, her worries had been justified. The boyfriend was not only back, he’d firmly attached himself. The thought of her baby girl getting married to him was inconceivable. They’d only been around each other for three months and Kim had sworn up and down that they were only friends the whole time. Andre had sharply reminded her that they had only known each other a few weeks before deciding to marry, but that was a completely different affair. She’d been thirty-six, not twenty eight; and besides, she had been pregnant with Charlotte.

As a young girl, Molly had made a horrible mistake getting back together with her high school boyfriend after her first year away at college. It seemed so harmless. She still loved him, or thought she had, and spring break had been so fabulous. Garret was a charmer, she’d give him that. She’d been nineteen and it was the end of the seventies, nobody she knew was a virgin except her and she didn’t want to return to college without that experience under her belt. It had been one god damn time. Just once before she packed her bags after a two week vacation before classes started up again. Neither of them had planned to stay together. They were both attending separate colleges, but it had been fun to be together again for the break and she was glad she’d given her virginity to someone she at least cared about.

But by the time finals rolled around, she was already feeling sick. When she hadn’t stopped vomiting for several weeks, her roommate encouraged her to see the doctor, but Molly had been terrified and far too embarrassed. Finally her roommate snuck a home pregnancy test into the dorm. They were fairly new on the market and Molly had never seen anything like it, but she was grateful to be spared the trip into a medical office. It took the girls well over an hour to figure it out how to actually do the test and another two or three hours to actually believe it was positive. Mortified, she made an official appointment with a physician who later confirmed that the rabbit had really died.

The humiliation had been unbearable. Her mother had cried uncontrollably and her father had stormed up to Heartland and demanded Curtis Hart’s son marry his daughter. Garret had been dragged back from school by his ever lengthening hair and the two had been placed in front of the same minister who had baptized her. The man had been told she was pregnant and fortunately still agreed to marry them, but he had lectured them for hours on their morality and refused to let her wear a white dress. She couldn’t even where white gloves, she’d had to wear her mother’s blue suit. Her older sister Rose, who she had never gotten along with, was her maid of honor and Garret’s younger brother Steven served as best man. She barely heard her vows, her mother and Garret’s mother were sobbing so loudly. It had been awful and it was terrible foreshadowing of the disastrous marriage to follow.

Garret had tried at first. He hated construction, but it seemed the only job he could ever actually hold down was working for his father’s company. He never did any hard drugs, that she knew of, but like most boys in the seventies, he spent a good deal of time stoned off his gourd. Her father had made it firmly known that she had been completely cut off financially, but to their credit, Garrett’s dad built them a small house in a new neighborhood and her parents furnished it with everything they’d need for themselves and the baby.

It was obvious to everyone though that the only one taking on the responsibilities of marriage was her. Thank God for his trust fund and her mother funneling her spare money on the side or they would have been totally destitute. They were both children who knew nothing about what they had gotten themselves into, but whereas Molly squared her shoulders and did everything she could to get ready for the baby, Garret ran as fast as he could from responsibility.

At first, the sex had been incredible. For the first time in her life she could have it anytime she wanted and not be afraid being a bad girl. But when her pregnancy started showing, Garrett’s interest waned. It wasn’t long before he started coming home later and later and it wasn’t that much longer after that when he didn’t come at all.

When she’d gone into labor at four in the morning, he’d been stone drunk on the kitchen floor. Since her mother didn’t know how to drive, and her father was away on business, she had called an ambulance and they’d come for her; picking Garret up off the floor and putting him in the seat next to the driver. Unfortunately, half way there, he began to come to and, thinking her was under arrest in a police car, he began to yell and scream and protest, nearly causing an accident. A policeman was waiting for them at the ER and as she and was wheeled into delivery, he was carried off on charges of assaulting the driver. And so, she’d delivered Kimberly alone with just the doctor and the nurses to calm her fears.

But her troubles were far from over that day. After more than twenty hours of labor, she had, with difficulty, given birth to not only one baby, but two. The births had been excruciatingly painful, even though both babies were very small. Kimberly herself was just under five pounds at birth and her sister had been even less. But where Kim had come out howling indignantly at the moon before the doctor could even slap her, the second twin never uttered a sound. They were able to get her breathing for a few seconds, and then she was gone.

In that day and age, it still wasn’t rare to find that no one spoke of such things. The doctor had allowed her only the briefest look at the tiny blue baby and then she was wrapped up and taken away. The nurses were quick to hand her the feisty little spitfire that survived, telling her to focus on the living, and the other was quietly carried off. Her parents took charge for her then and had arranged for it to be quietly buried, but it was years before she could even go visit the grave. She had never seen the birth certificate, her father had taken it away so it wouldn’t upset her, and the marker in the cemetery had simply been had Garret’s last name, but Molly named her Valentine because both girls had been born just after midnight on Valentine’s Day. Every February fourteenth after that had been a mixed blessing for Molly. She thrilled for Kim’s growth each year, but she always silently remembered the other and wondered what she would have been doing as well.

It had been a long and hard birthing for a girl who had only turned twenty a few weeks before and the survival of one was hardly a consolation for the loss of the other. She fell into such a deep depression that the doctors kept her hospitalized for more than two weeks. Garret seldom visited and finally stumbled into her room the day of her release and took them home, but he was gone again a few hours later. It was years before he even knew the truth of what happened.

If the marriage had been dicey before the baby, it was horrific after. Kimberly was her joy and her total focus in life, but as a baby she rarely slept and had more energy than anyone knew what to do with. She had been a demanding infant, with little patience, and was prone to screaming if her needs weren’t met quickly enough. It was a full two years before Molly had a full night’s sleep again or had any semblance of a normal life. For a girl that had been brought up with nannies, maids, and a cook, the harsh reality of life on her own was devastating. She had to learn not only how to deal with and keep her husband’s antics quiet, take care of a house, and raise her baby, but she also had to learn to live on a budget, balance a checkbook, and learn to pay bills. Fortunately, she had wonderful neighbors and a supportive community at church, but it didn’t change the fact that she was way too young and inexperienced for the problems life had handed her.

There was a point in time where she had gathered all her strength and honestly tried to put her marriage together, but that only resulted in the birth of Michael four days before their fifth anniversary. Michael, however, was a mellow and carefree baby and, after having been whipped into shape by her daughter, life with two children was a lot more complicated, but not necessarily that much harder. Fortunately, Kimberly loved and was fascinated by her baby brother, which hadn’t been the case between Molly and her own sister, and was eager to help with him in any way she could. Michael slept through the night at just three weeks of age and by six months was such a scheduled napper that Molly felt comfortable leaving the children with relatives and going back to school.

She studied hard after the kids were in bed, earning her business degree in three years, and quickly went to work as an assistant manager of a large Art Gallery. Although the eighties had opened the workplace for women, equal pay for equal hours was just non-existent and Molly found herself working twice as many hours for not nearly the salary that her male counterparts took home. The guilt imposed on her by others for leaving her children for hours on end with the family was also overwhelming at times, but Molly had no choice. Garrett would work only enough to keep his trust fund payments coming in and would generally spend every cent he could before she could get the bills paid. Finally, as Kimberly settled into junior high school and Michael into elementary, she found enough courage to quit her job and open her own small gallery with two of her best friends.

It was a struggle to keep things going in the beginning, especially with the money coming in sporadically. The urge to quit and go crawling back to her former employer had been overwhelming at times. Eventually, after the second year, they began to see a steady, if small, profit and through shear hard work, the business steadily grew after that.

Molly knew people and Molly knew art. She had a great talent for reading people and matching them with the artists they would identify with. That kind of talent couldn’t be bought and by the end of the third year, her reputation was out among the California elite and business was thriving. That was the year that Garrett was slapped with a paternity suit by a local stripper and the year she finally called her marriage quits.

But Garret wasn’t about to give up so easily. Kimberly and Michael each received gradually increasing payments from the trust fund their grandfather had set up for them. At that point in time, it was only a few hundred dollars a month, but Garret wanted that money. Having been disinherited in favor of his younger brother and his two children, and with his own trust payments being docked by the court for the support his three children, Garret turned around and sued for custody of his children by Molly and then filed a separate law suit against those same children trying to overturn his father’s will and take possession of their trusts. The ensuing court battles had been horrendous, with both kids caught square in the middle. Molly argued that her husband was a deadbeat and Garrett argued that she had abandoned their children in favor of a career in business. In the end, Molly won custody, but the damage done to Kimberly and Michael would haunt them forever.

That was when the boyfriend had walked in. To make matters worse, his mother was the older sister of a seventeen year old girl Garrett had gotten pregnant when Kimberly was in four, the same year she had delivered Michael. The girl had had an abortion, but neither family had spoken to the other since.

Molly had been horrified and her first thought had been to forbid Kimberly to see him, but mindful of her daughter’s willful personality, she had been very careful to remember she was a teenager and teenagers could be very rebellious. She had been polite and nice, but always reminded Kimberly that college came before boys. She had tried very hard to teach her children responsibility; what her own mother and Garret’s parents had failed to teach them. They knew at a very early age how to handle money and be responsible and both knew they were expected to finish college and achieve a life of their own. Most important to Molly, they had also both known about sex and how to keep from getting pregnant. All that considered though, it had been extremely difficult to sit back and let her daughter make her own choices and the long haired boyfriend did nothing except remind her of her own poor decisions.

She admired her daughter’s taste but, pretty as he was, he still scared Molly to death. His hair seemed to grow longer and longer, he didn’t have just one earring, he had several, and the lust in his eyes when he looked at Kimberly was unbearable. It was all Molly could do at times to be nice to the boy. Fortunately, both of them were actively involved in competitive team sports and seemed to prefer to move in a pack, so Molly had crossed her fingers and sincerely hoped there was a little more safety in numbers.

Getting pregnant with Charlotte when she was thirty-six had been a hard slap in the face and more than a little de ja vu. A big part of her had wanted to end the pregnancy immediately, but another part remembered what it had been like to lose a child all those years ago and she was honestly torn. When genetics testing revealed the baby was normal, she quashed her fears and bowed to Andre’s offer of marriage. She had quite a few qualms about marrying again, but Andre, a driven and successful artist and businessman, was hardly Garrett and she was head over heels in love with him. Leaving Kimberly behind while she and Michael moved to Paris had been crushing. She had put all her faith in the Campbell’s, who she knew were strict parents, but she still woke up in cold sweats at night worrying about her daughter and the boyfriend she was attached at the hip to.

She had been thrilled when Gunter Schmitt had asked to move Kimberly to his training facility in Florida where she’d be totally focused on the Pan Games and live in an all girls dorm…and be three thousand miles away from Mr. Longhair. For the first time in her life since her parents had cut her off, she called her mother and begged for the money to pay Kim’s room, board, and training. Fortunately, Kim’s grandmother had been as excited as she was by the prospect of the world champion in the family and had easily agreed.

At that point, Molly had sat back and allowed herself a little breathing room. Sure enough, it didn’t take very long before the long distance relationship had run its course and the boy was gone and her daughter solely focused on gymnastics.

Kim flourished in Florida and well beyond the Pan Games. She was proud of her daughter and, even though she’d made a few poor choices, she was thrilled by Kim’s accomplishments and independence. But then word of the reunion came and Molly began to fret again for the first time in a decade. Despite her busy life, she knew her daughter was lonely. The Christmas before, Kim had begun reminiscing fondly about high school and by Easter she had learned through Michael that Kim had even gone so far as to dig up information on her first love. Her daughter had sworn up and down that she had no intention of going to go reunion and then the next thing Molly knew, Kim was moving back to Angel Grove and Mr. Longhair was back in the picture again…as just a friend…she swore.

Then Kim had gone out and bought Garrett’s old family house and was bound and determined to renovate it. Of all the insane things her daughter had done in her life, this one took the cake; to top it all off, he was helping her renovate it. He had quit his job in Reefside and moved back to Angel Grove as well. What he was doing for a job, Molly didn’t know. For the last three weeks, every time she’d call, Kim would be with Tommy and all the old unsettling feelings had returned. They were spending every day together and Molly found herself going crazy.

Andre had told her to take a deep breath; after all, Kimberly was twenty-eight, not eighteen. But all Molly could think of was the spring break where she’d gotten pregnant and ruined her life. She fretted until she was certain that her first born was going to end up in the same boat. When her friend and business partner announced that she was going to Greece and the house would be empty, she had booked them all on the next day’s flight out of Paris. Andre had begged her to reconsider. His work could be packed up and moved anywhere, but she wasn’t feeling well and Charlotte would miss two entire months of school.

Molly didn’t care, she’d gone to the American school that Charlotte attended and gotten special permission for them to travel, promising that she would hire a tutor and all of her daughter’s work would be completed. Then she’d packed the family up and the next thing she knew, they were on a plane for California.

But she was too late. As it turned out, Kim had taken off for the weekend with the man she swore up and down she wasn’t dating and on that same weekend away, the two had decided to get married. Molly was beyond depressed. Kimberly swore she wasn’t pregnant, but at this point she was a little past the promises and the swearing. Now she was sitting on the dilapidated porch of her daughter’s ramshackle monolith of a house waiting for her to bring him back up the hill. Her head ached and her stomach rolled. The jet lag had made her dizzy and if Charlotte whined one more time about a greasy hamburger she wasn’t sure if she’d scream or simply throw up.

As she heard her children’s voices draw closer, she gave Andre a mournful look. He returned it with a look of his own that very clearly told her to behave. She loved him, otherwise she’d have smacked him.

“Mom,” Kim said, as she turned the corner and approached the porch. “You remember Tommy.”

Molly looked up, her best art gallery smile firmly in place, but the man before her didn’t bare any semblance to the young boy she remembered, she realized with a start. She had expected the teenager, with his long hair blowing wildly around him. The man holding her daughter’s hand was very different. He had grown up. The muscles she remembered, but the hair had shortened, the earrings were gone, and the shoulders and jaw had filled out. He moved with an authority that surprised her, as if he was used to being obeyed, and although he returned her hug affectionately, his eyes told her he was very ready to fight with her if necessary.

“Well, you two have certainly been busy.” She said, releasing her brief hug and indicating the gutted first floor. “Both in the house and in other areas.”

“We are thrilled for both of you.” Andre said in a heavy French accent. He stepped forward and grabbed Tommy in a bear hug that caught the younger man completely off guard. Before he could react, Andre stepped back and kissed him loudly on both cheeks. “All of my life” Andre said animatedly, looking directly into Tommy’s stunned face while Kim giggled. “I have wanted sons, but I never receive them. My first wife? She gave me three daughters, wonderful girls all, but no sons. You understand yes?” He said with a conspiratory look that was supposedly meant to be understood between the two men. When Tommy nodded he raced on. “Well then my Molly, she agrees to marry me and she brings with her Michael and I am thrilled beyond belief. But now,” He turned, gesturing wildly with his hands, “My special, she has brought me home another boy!” He grabbed Kim in another bear hug and kissed her loudly on top of her head. He raised her left hand up and turned back to Tommy. “The ring is very pretty no? Kimmy, she says you designed this yourself? You are very talented.”

“Coming from a famous artist, I’ll take that as a compliment.” Tommy said, smiling at his antics and realizing he was trying to diffuse an otherwise awkward moment between himself and Kim’s mother. “But did she also tell you I designed that when we were sixteen and it’s only temporary until I can buy her something more official?”

“Sixteen?” Andre said, overly impressed, “And you teach science not art? This is a travesty!”

“Stop.” Kimberly warned, a very serious look on her face. But it was obvious to Tommy that there was a great deal of affection between Kim and her step father. He smiled to himself, glad she had found a loving father in her mother’s second husband.

“You sure you’re not pregnant?” Michael chimed in and Kimberly groaned as her mother’s face noticeably paled.

“No, I’m not pregnant.” She growled at her brother. “And watch your mouth around Charlotte.” She said nodding over to where the girl was picking wild flowers on the other side of the porch.

“She’s eleven, not seven.” Michael drolled back “And knowing Char, she’s already well informed.”

“Children, enough.” Andre said calmly, walking over to his wife and placing an arm around her. “Michael, you have pictures of this lovely house yes? Plans for her future?”

“Yep, right here,” He said, walking over to where his Prius was parked. “I’m amazed how much of the demolition you’ve already done.” He said absently, pulling a plastic tube out of the back seat. “The new road alone is a huge accomplishment. Who’d you get to do it?”

Kim shrugged and made a non-committal sound. “Tommy has a lot of friends.” She said absently, thinking how easy it had been for them to borrow the right equipment from their friends. It was the first thing Tommy had done, before they’d even started on the inside of the house. They had transported the equipment to the site a little after two in the morning, just to make sure no prying eyes would be around to see them. The long gravel driveway connecting the old house to the main road had taken a little over an hour for Tommy to finish and she’d simply sat on the grass and watched him do all the work.

“You’ll have to share names.” Her brother said, opening the tube and removing the papers inside. “Uncle Steve and I can always use good and reliable contractors.” He walked back over to the dilapidated porch and found a place where the railing had completely fallen off, giving him a makeshift table space. “Ok, here are the rough prints….and here are Kim’s drawings.” He said and Andre whistled appreciatively.

Andre had always been impressed with Kim’s artwork. None of his three girls showed any inclination at all to draw or paint. Although Kimberly’s style was very different from his own, he could still appreciate it. He had been frustrated by her decision not to study art in school, but he understood. It was a difficult life sometimes when the monies didn’t come as quickly or as steadily as one would like, but he still encouraged her continue it on the side. Perhaps when she was older, the art would draw more of her attention.

Tommy was also impressed. He had somehow forgotten how well she could draw and the sketches of the house were beyond good. They were very realistic and looking at them, he had a clear vision for what she was trying to accomplish. The detail was astonishing; it was almost as if he was looking into a grey and white photograph. He was suddenly very proud of her and that thought made him feel a little sheepish. It wasn’t really his place to be proud of her was it? Then again, she was going to marry him…if her mother didn’t talk her out of it.

Looking up, he studied Molly carefully. Her mother didn’t look good and Tommy sincerely doubted that it was the stress over her daughter’s good news. His eyes looked up to see Kimberly staring at her mother and realized she was thinking the same thing. When their eyes met, he stood up straighter and walked over to her.

“They’re nothing, just sketches.” She demurred as the family continued to compliment her.

“They’re awesome.” He said, sliding his arm around her waist. “You never cease to amaze me, you know that?” Her face turned up to his with a smile and he resisted the urge to kiss her.

Molly didn’t missed the exchange between the two. Her daughter seemed genuinely happy and, lord knew, Tommy was obviously as infatuated as ever with her. She prayed silently that she was wrong and maybe Kimberly could be happy with her old flame, but the unsettling feeling wouldn’t leave her. There was something odd about that young man that simply eluded her. They did make a pretty pair, she mused, but pretty didn’t pay the bills and if Tommy had quit his job, she wondered what he was living off of. At that thought, her stomach sank again and she made a firm mental note to bluntly ask her daughter just who was paying the expenses in that new house of his.

As the group ooed and ahed over Kim’s sketches and Tommy and Michael broke into more serious construction talk, Michael asked a question that brought them all up short. “So are you guys actually going to live in this thing or are you just fixing it up on spec?”

A short silence followed in which Tommy and Kim simply stared at each other. They hadn’t talked about where they’d live. Tommy had firm plans to haul himself back to Reefside when the current mission was done. That was why he’d bought such a small house to fix up and re-sell. Reefside was where he was based. He loved his little house on all his acreage, not to mention it had a kiss ass basement.

This house was a monolith. When it was finished, it was going to be well over four thousand square feet and he knew very well that Kim had dreamed of living here her whole life. He sighed and gave her slight smile. A Command Center was fairly easy to build, if you knew how, and he supposed one basement was as good as the next.

“This is Kim’s dream.” He said. “We’ll put down roots here.”

She smiled brightly at him and, forgetting their audience, stretched up and kissed him soundly.

“Does this mean you’ll actually let me put my money into the project now?” He asked, referring back to an earlier argument they’d had. If he invested his money in it, they could be done quickly. If she refused and insisted on only using her accounts, they’d have to do the project in stages.

Kim’s shoulders deflated a little at his comment and she made a slight noncommittal sound. This was her project and her house, if Tommy put his money in it, he’d have a much tighter claim. It was a trust issue. Kim didn’t trust men; she’d learned that lesson the hard way with her father. She loved Tommy, and she did trust him to a point, but giving up part of her control over her home would be difficult.

“We can talk about it later.” She said simply.

“So when is the big day planned?” Michael asked.

Kim hesitated, watching her mother’s smile root itself firmly back in place. “We haven’t figured it out yet, we only just decided yesterday.”

“Ah, there is time then, you see Molly?” Andre said. “They are not rash teenagers, ready to elope in Los Vegas, they are adults. They will plan and we will all get to know one another again and be happy, this is very good yes?” he asked, squeezing her shoulder several times in assurance as he spoke.

“I was thinking about Memorial Day weekend.” Tommy said plainly, also watching Kim’s mother. She looked as if she was going to be physically sick. Was the idea of him marrying her daughter so repulsive? He was going to have to seriously consider how to make things better between them, but he honestly didn’t know where to start.

“Why Memorial Day?” Kim asked, a slight frown on her face.

“Because my entire family on my mom’s side is coming together for a reunion. Everyone’s already committed to being in Angel Grove. Even my Uncle John will be there and mom says he’s almost as impossible to pin down as I am.”

Kim nodded and counted the months in her head, then looked up at Tommy as the realization dawned on her that Memorial Day was six months away. Six months, the time he’d supposedly compromised with her on. She’d been had. He’d known all along that was the weekend he wanted. He grinned at her unrepentantly, knowing what she was thinking.

“Six months is not a lot of time.” Molly said uncertainly. “There’s a lot to do for a wedding.” Her stomach had lurched at Tommy’s comment. His mother’s family meant that her baby sister would probably be there too. The thought of Garret and that little tramp together again at her daughter’s wedding was nauseating. She knew full well that the girl had only been seventeen, and under age, but she also knew it wasn’t her first or last abortion. Molly and Tommy’s mother had had several screaming matches over it at the time, especially when the girl had started following Garret around again afterward. She didn’t know what eventually happened to the girl, but when Kim and Tommy had started dating ten years later, Tessa Oliver had been as upset as she was. “You can’t even think in terms of less than a year to plan for this.” She finished.

“Mom, nothing fancy.” Kim said seriously, the last thing in the world she wanted was a big white wedding when she still had a house to renovate. Besides, she and Carri had groaned for years about being subjected to their mother’s dream weddings and both had firmly resolved against it. “Very simple, just friends and family like Billy and Trini are planning.”

“Kimberly,” her mother began in a very motherly tone. The realization that her daughter really going to go through with this was one thing, but she wasn’t about to let her run off and elope if she didn’t have to. Molly had never gotten her dream wedding and had always resented it, she wasn’t about to let her daughter get married in a stuffy blue suit like she was. No, Molly thought firmly, if Kimberly was going to insist on marrying that boy, then the least Molly and Andre could do for her daughter would be to throw a memorable wedding.

Squaring her shoulders, she dug in. “The Williams will have at least fifty or sixty people that have to be invited or you’ll insult them and the Harts will have another fifty or more. That doesn’t include all of Andre’s family and your step sisters and their families or even Tommy’s family and your friends. This is a big deal honey. There are a lot of family members who played a big role in helping you grow up and many more people that came through financially for us when you were little and later for gymnastics training when you were getting ready for the Pan Games. You’re a famous person, and quite a few people feel they contributed to that, you just can’t exclude them without them being offended.”

“I’m hardly famous anymore.” Kim argued lamely. She knew this was coming. A big huge wedding had been a wonderful dream when she was sixteen, but now it just seemed like a spectacle. Besides, there was going to be an out and out cat fight between her girlfriends for the maid of honor position and she didn’t even want to think about how her dad would react if she snubbed him and asked Andre to walk her down the aisle. This was precisely what she had wanted to avoid. But her mother wasn’t about to budge either.

“You’re a Pan Global gymnastic champion and your television show is still aired on cable and all over Europe.” Her mother insisted. “Even if you don’t think you’re famous in the outside world, you’re still famous inside and among the family. I’m telling you right now there will be a lot of hurt feelings and grumblings if you start excluding people. Do you honestly want to contribute to the turmoil among the relatives?”

Kimberly groaned, thinking of the complicated interpersonal battles going on both among the Harts and the Williams. Someone was always feeling slighted or angry at someone. That was the problem with being part of two very old and established families, you got caught up in all the rivalries and bickering that had gone on for decades that had nothing to do with you. You also had obligations. Her mom was right. She either had to elope, just her and Tommy, or it was going to have to be one hell of a huge wedding. There was no middle ground. If Tommy wanted Memorial weekend because his whole family would be there, then she was going to be forced to invite her entire family as well. Her whole entire family. Her stomach lurched and her head suddenly ached.

“First you have to find a venue that will hold the numbers we’re talking about, a caterer, a band, florist…and you’ll need to make sure the church is free.”

“Church?” Kim asked, her head snapping up. “Who said anything about a church? I was thinking what Billy and Trini are going to do; a justice of the peace and the parents.”

Molly crossed her arms in front of her and breathed deeply. “Kimberly… sweetheart, this is a big deal. There are obligations. You can’t just go off and…”

“I think, perhaps, there is time to talk of this later no?” Andre interrupted. He knew very well where this was leading. Molly was bound and determined that her daughter wouldn’t be short changed and disappointed with her wedding like she was; whether Kimberly wanted it or not. “But this is good. See? We are making the plans already and coming together, yes?”

Molly stopped and clamped her lips shut. Well, it wasn’t like she could do anything about her daughter’s choice now. It was already done, she was going to marry him, but Kim needed to know she wasn’t going to put up with her simply running off either. This was a serious matter and she needed to start treating it seriously.

“I’m hungry.” Charlotte whined, stomping up to the adults.

“Yes, yes poppet,” Andre said. “We have promised you we will go to breakfast and we shall. If we are all ready?” He asked, looking around at everyone.

“I think we should take separate cars.” Michael said. “I have to get back to the office soon, I’ve got a big client coming over at noon and I need to be ready for her.”

The adults in the group nodded and Kim’s drawings and the blueprints were put back in Michael’s carrying tube. Deciding on the best restaurant that would serve both a decent breakfast and Charlotte’s promised hamburger, they separated and each moved toward their different cars.

Molly studied her daughter’s fiancé through the windshield as they climbed into his Jeep. There was something about him that she couldn’t put her finger on. Molly knew people, she knew how to study them, define their tastes and attitudes. He moved with a fluidness she didn’t remember, certainly not like a paleontologist who buried himself in books or in a pit of dirt. He had a command to him, a surety that hadn’t been there ten years ago. Molly would bet anything he was a military man. Despite his casual nonchalance, this was a man who was used to giving orders and to being obeyed… and not by students. One thing was certain, whatever it was he really did, he was no scientist and he was certainly no high school teacher.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Rita fretted. “The claybots aren’t fully charged yet.”

“I am the one who decides where and when I will attack.” Zedd said impatiently. It was true, he admitted, he had rushed production of the claybots and they were not yet at full power. They would be at a huge disadvantage, but he was impatient to use the monster he had chosen. Besides, he had to press his advantage before the Ranges had too much time to recover. Hopefully, they were still licking their wounds and wouldn’t be at full power either. If he’d been able, he would have attacked again immediately, but the claybots took at least forty-eight to seventy-two hours to create and Teeg hadn’t left him with much equipment to work with. “Sirius! Finish your preparations and get that monster ready, it’s nearly time to attack.”

Rita fumed. She hadn’t been able to locate her predecessor yet and wasn’t at her full potential. If Zedd attacked now, and actually won, she’d never get his full attention. She slipped back, un-noticed in the shadows. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but she was going to make damn sure Zedd and Sirius didn’t get very far until she was ready to play her own hand.

Fortunately, breakfast had been over for several minutes before the communicators went off. Kim’s mother raised an eyebrow at the dual chimes, but said nothing as the pair excused themselves and promised to get together with the family later. Her brother made a comment about de ja vu back to the last time the two had dated and would always run off to answer a page, but Kim ignored him as her communicator chimed again and they made a calm, but hasty exit.

Monster number five-fourteen was a perverted cross between a star fish and a tropical flower. It sent out star like energy bursts that exploded with a bad sting, leaving an overwhelming order of cheap perfume, but not really doing much damage physically. Adding to the strangeness, with few viratrons present, the claybots appeared confused and just weren’t as strong as they had been. The attack, from start to finish, was poorly organized and was obviously some sort of an attempt by Zedd to test the Rangers strength after the last large battle rather than to seriously crush them outright.

There were many odd pauses during the fight where one or more of the Rangers simply stood to one side and watched the others get a little practice time in. It was odd, and confusing, but none of them were complaining. The team was all still bruised and tired from the events of the past weekend and no one was really up to another major battle just yet.

It was during this time that Karone stepped back left the fight. She teleported back a few minutes later and hung a large sheet from a low hanging branch of a tree. Kim’s heart sank as she recognized the Alien Go Home sign that had hung outside Andros’s door when his home had been burned down. The sheet was supposedly locked away as evidence by the police and Kim didn’t even want to think about how she’d gotten her hands on it. Leaving the fight, she walked over to where Karone stood, fully morphed in her yellow Zeo uniform, with her arms crossed in silent protest.

“What’s going on?’ She asked.

“Giving the camera’s something better to shoot than a pathetic little fist fight that one Ranger could tackle let alone five.”

“Karone…” Kim began, but the other woman cut her off.

“It’s time this planet stopped taking the Rangers for granted. There are thousands of worlds that would give their eyes and teeth to have just one Ranger come defend them, this world has hosted how many teams? If the people of this planet are going to attack my brother and his family then they need to know what every other villain in the galaxy does; you take on one Ranger, you take us all on. If they want us off the planet, then they can just fight Zedd and Rita and every other would be conqueror themselves.”

“You aren’t honestly going to refuse to fight are you?” Kim asked. They had taken oaths as Rangers, those oaths couldn’t be ignored. Karone made an undetermined sound behind her helmet.

“No, I’ll fight if I’m needed, but this skirmish is pathetic, by anyone’s standards. I’m not necessary right now, but the cameras are still rolling.”

Kim thought about what Karone said as she watched at least half a dozen camera crews and photographers regroup and shuffle around so they could get a better shot at the little protest the Ranger girls were doing. Then she looked over in the other direction towards the boys. There were only about a dozen claybots left and the guys were quickly disposing of them. The monster was still shooting out stars, making a nice fireworks display with a lot of smoke, but it was probably the least serious battle they’d encountered yet. Probably, she mused silently to herself, the easiest monster she’d ever fought in her entire career.

She understood Karone’s angst. It was her brother and sister in law that had been burned out of their home. She liked Andros and Ashley and had been seriously concerned about what had happened. All the Rangers were concerned.

She agreed with Karone, to a point. Alien or not, Andros had risked his life for Earth and many other planets; he deserved better. There was something to her argument that people needed to remember the Rangers presence was a privilege and not a God given right. Tommy was going to give her more than a little hell over this one, she thought, as she stepped over to the other edge of the sheet and crossed her arms in a similar position to Karone. As the boys obliviously finished off the last of the claybots and the monster ran for cover, the cameras went wild over the two girl Rangers who stood in silent protest and refused to fight.

Rocky was more than a little concerned as he made his way back to the small room he shared with Carri. The Aquitians had offered him his own space, but when he declined, they transferred the two humans into another room with a larger sleeping pallet. It wasn’t Carri’s queen size bed back at the condo, and the thin plastic pad was murder on his back, but it served its purpose and they were together.

He had left her about an hour ago to discuss her treatment with Cestro and to briefly call home and report. Things weren’t going well and he was very worried. The skin grafting was going perfectly, even better than they had anticipated, but other than to remove the aluminum tainted scar tissue, that was just cosmetic. The chelating process to remove the metal toxins had hit a huge snag. Each time she was placed in a tank with the special water from the Eternal Falls, her Ninjetti powers would kick into overdrive. Cestria wasn’t sure what the problem was. She had given an explanation that seemed to make sense to Cestro, but he honestly didn’t have a clue. Something about the charge in the water, and the charge in the toxins, and the charge of her Ninjetti signature not reacting well to one another. It was baffling, but Rocky had left Cestro talking to Billy and he was sure between the two of them they would find an answer.

The news from home was just as baffling as the procedures he was watching here. Kim had been captured and almost died, which had rocked the team, but then Tommy had apparently had some sort of epiphany while rescuing her and now they were moving in together. He shook his head, trying to figure how that had happened. True, the two had been constant companions since she had bought her grandfather’s house, but they had bickered constantly since becoming Rangers again. Adam had also been seriously hurt, which he felt horribly guilty about, but the most recent news was that someone had blown up Andros’s house, nearly killing the family. All of this had apparently happened from the time he left on Saturday afternoon and, although he was as time disoriented as Carri, it was only Monday afternoon in Angel Grove. He decided he wouldn’t share his news with Carri, she had all she could handle right now; and so did he. He was beyond worried about her.

He opened the door to their tiny room, grateful to have some quite moments alone with her. He wasn’t sure how she did it. They never let her rest for more than a few hours at a time before hauling her out to another procedure. He silently hoped that, now that she wasn’t receiving the chelating procedures anymore, maybe they’d let her sleep a little longer. Sleep deprivation was hard on the human body and he’d told Cestro as much. He knew that he was sleep deprived and he wasn’t the one going through all the painful grafting. The Aquitian had frowned, noting that Billy had no such difficulties during his tenure, but he promised to try and allow Carri a bit more time between procedures if it was possible.

Carri was lying on her side on the sleeping platform, which he took as a good sign. The last break they’d had she was far too sore to lie on her side. He hoped that maybe she was taking a turn for the better, but even as he thought it, she stirred and moaned.

“Are you all right?” He asked, sitting on the sleeping platform next to her and stroking her hair.

“I’m tired.” She answered softly, not looking at him.

“I know babe, just hang in there a little longer.”

“And then what?” She asked, rolling over to face him. “I go through the skin treatments only to die a slow death from metal poisoning?”

“That’s not what Cestro said.” Rocky replied. “The toxins aren’t poisoning your system, they’re just….”

“No, they’re just taking over and mutating the cells.” She interrupted.

“Cestro’s talking to Billy now, if anyone can figure this out, he can.”

“Yeah.” Carri mumbled, rolling over again. She was just so damn tired. Everything hurt and throbbed and ached and she was only eighty hours into the process. Just another three hundred and fifteen more dunkings to go, she told herself glumly.

Kim was shocked by the crowd of people outside the conference room of the Red Assembly, but that was nothing compared to the crowd inside. Unlike the last session she attended, this was a regularly scheduled quarterly meeting that had been planned for some time, however the news about Andros had spread fast and had apparently drawn some large numbers. The conference room itself was a tiny one, but that was because the Assembly rarely saw more than a dozen members at any given time. It could seat as many as thirty, but only if everyone sat uncomfortably elbow to elbow and pressed against the walls. There was nearly twice that number mulling inside and outside of the room now.

Technically, the Assembly was open to any Ranger who wanted to attend and not just the Reds, but most didn’t come unless they had a reason to. It was kept informally open so that the other team members could have a forum to go to if they needed help and there were also many times that the Reds just couldn’t come themselves and would tap a former team mate to step in and represent them. This felt as if every Ranger, from every team, had traveled to level eight.

News footage of Andros’s home in flames and the pink and yellow Zeo Ranger’s refusal to fight that afternoon had played on all the cable news channels all day long and reports were coming in that they had made the world news as well. Tommy had pulled both Kim and Karone aside and lectured them until his voice had begun to fail. She had never seen him that angry with her, but both girls had been unrepentant and faced his wrath together. In the end, she had stepped up to him and said she appreciated his point of view, but they remained firmly resolved to theirs. She had stood up on tiptoe and kissed him, which he obviously hadn’t been expecting, and then she and Karone had simply left the room.

There were far more faces in the Assembly room and hall than Kim recognized, so it was a good bet that not everyone here was a retired or uniformed Ranger, but why they’d be here or how they’d get into level eight, she had no idea. She knew that Tommy had asked two of his former students, who worked at a network news station in Reefside, to attend the meeting, but as far as she knew, the two had been escorted down to level eight blindfolded and were being held in a waiting room. Who these other people were was baffling.

“What a fucking disaster.” Jason growled, coming up behind her. “There’s no way in hell all these people are uniforms.” He put his arm around her shoulder, half in support for her because he knew Tommy’d been yelling at her and half for himself because he hated crowds and she was about the only thing present that could calm his powers down when they went into overdrive.

“How big is the contingent from Lightspeed?” She asked, leaning into him and thinking about what Tommy had shared with her yesterday about the refugee city project they were scheduled to discuss. Captain Mitchell was supposedly bringing in a team to discuss the proposal, but she had no idea how big that group was. She was pushed into him by another wave of people trying to get through the door and he physically picked her up and pulled her aside so they could move past her.

“Like I would know?” He asked. “Go ask Carter… if you can find him.”

“How is it possible that this many people have level eight clearance?”

“They don’t. Billy’s going insane upstairs at the main entrance trying to keep spying eyes away from the masses and still confirm identities. Basically as long as there’s a uniformed red vouching for them, they’re being transported directly into this hallway in groups. We’ve got force fields closing off the rest of eight and all the Zeos are going to have to help do security scans for electronic devices and cross matching id’s before anyone gets out again.”

“Good lord.” She muttered.

Tommy found her then, wrapping his arm around her waist protectively and pulling her forward into the room with him. When she turned, Jason had disappeared into the throng, so apparently he wasn’t going to follow them. She knew he hated crowds, it made his powers go crazy and he became unbearably agitated. She couldn’t blame him, she didn’t like crowds much either, powers or no. She was only five foot two and being surrounding by crowds of much taller people got old after a while.

She tripped and stumbled as Tommy pulled her past them, but he kept her upright and steadily moving forward. “Are we talking again now?” She asked him. She didn’t like that he was angry with her and sincerely hoped he’d had a chance to calm down a little.

“Did we stop talking to each other?” He asked, more than a little edge in his voice.

“Are you still mad at me?” she asked more directly and he stopped and caught her eyes.

“I love you, but I don’t love what you two did this afternoon; end of subject.” He said, and she nodded.

“What do we do with all these people?” she asked loudly above the rumble of conversations.

“We change gears and move them.” He said, the irritation clear in his voice, pulling her along with him again. She tried to get a good look at his face as they pressed through the crowd, but it was impossible. The room was completely packed. He pulled her up on the podium with him and clicked a small device in his hand which gave out a blaring sound like an air horn. There was a loud start as everyone jumped at the noise, and then the room and hallway quieted.

“There are far more people in here than Earth has Rangers.” Tommy said in a stern, authoritative voice. “I appreciate the concern for recent events, and I don’t doubt anyone’s connections. However, the Reds have far more to discuss in this meeting than just the recent events concerning Andros.” There was a loud murmur, but at Tommy’s glare it quickly died away. “I want all non Reds out of this meeting room. You can wait in the main lounge area.” The protests again began to grow louder, but they silenced quickly when Tommy pressed the sound maker again. “If you will allow me to finish…” Tommy said more icily than she’d ever heard him. The crowd picked up on his tone too and the rumblings came to a quick halt. “After the Assembly, the Reds will join you in the lounge area and we will discuss the topic that has brought all of you here. File out.” Tommy said, waving his hand in the direction of the door.

So with that, the majority of people filed out of the room and followed Trini and Dr. Manx down to the garden and fountain area where chairs had been set up for them. With the quiet restored, Tommy took a head count, noticing as he did so that Emperor Trey of Triforia and Master Kanoi Watanabe and his son had decided to stay. He nodded to each of them, both in greeting and silent affirmation that he didn’t mind them remaining.

“Alright,” He said, as Andros made his way up to the front. “We’re missing a few and we have some new faces.” He looked around the room until he spied the face he was looking for. “Wes, is your father here?”

“He left with the others.”

“Go back and get him, quietly, I don’t want any grumblings in that crowd. He’s been specifically invited tonight.” As he scanned the section by the door, he motioned for Captain William Mitchell and his aides to come back in and retake their seats. Not seeing the last face he wanted, he scanned the room again for a young face he’d only seen pictures of. When he found it, he pointed to the boy, “You’re Mack Hartford?” the boy nodded. “Your father’s here?”

“Yeah…um, yes sir.” He nodded.

“Go get him and come back in.” Tommy directed, and the boy immediately stood and left the room. Tommy took another count, noticing Jason had returned and was on the podium area.

“Why’s your pink staying? Eric asked as he passed by and Tommy turned to see Kim in deep conversation with two new faces. The younger one he recognized, the older man hugging Kim he didn’t.

“She’s Zeo’s pink.” He said absently, frowning at the three who were talking animatedly with their heads together, “But she’s also a Ninjetti Red.”

Eric’s eyebrow rose a bit, but Tommy had already turned and begun walking over to the trio, effectively cutting off the conversation with him. Kim turned and smiled as he approached. “I didn’t know you invited the Mystic Mother’s Rangers to the Assembly.” She said. Tommy fought the urge to frown, he’d invited the Mystic Red to the last meeting, but the boy had a conflict and promised to attend the next one. He should have realized that the Mystic Rangers would be tied to the Mystic Mother somehow, but that connection hadn’t dawned on him until she said it. Now that he thought about it, the Mystic Rangers were based in Briarwood; which was where he’d found the old Zedd…Edward, he corrected himself.

“All Rangers are welcome.” He said simply. “You must be Nick.” The boy nodded and clasped his hand. Then Tommy turned to the older man with his arm around Kimberly. “But I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of being introduced.

“Ah,” said Kimberly in a voice that was a bit too perky for his taste, she had a comfortable camaraderie with the man, and Tommy noticed he returned that level of relaxed friendship. Obviously, the two knew each other well and the jealously that bubbled up in him was no laughing matter. “That’s simple enough. Tommy Oliver, legend and greatest Ranger of the surface world, this is Leanbow, legend and greatest Ranger of the Mystic realm.”

“She exaggerates.” Leanbow said uncomfortably, extending his hand to Tommy in the same greeting his son had given him. He hadn’t missed the possessive look in the younger man’s eyes and mused silently to himself over it. He’d have much to tell his wife about when he returned to Briarwood, and not just about the Assembly.

“Yes she does.” Tommy agreed, returning the handshake. He released the older man’s hand and turned to Kim who just giggled. His previous anger forgotten, he gave her a look that said they would definitely be speaking about her friends later. “If you’re ready to start?” He asked. Kim nodded and excused herself, promising to talk with them again later.

As they approached the podium, she squeezed his hand tightly and he turned around to look at her. “Thank you.” She whispered in his ear and kissed the side of his cheek quickly.

“For what?”

“For recognizing them.”

“The Assembly recognizes all Rangers, from all teams.”

“I know, but the Mystic Rangers are connected to the Mystic Realm…and to Mystic Mother.”

Tommy regarded her quietly for a moment, fingers still clasped in hers and oblivious to the double takes and stares the pair was drawing from the others. In truth, he hadn’t known. He should have known, he admonished himself, but he hadn’t made the association.

“What’s your connection to Mystic Force?” he asked. She cocked her head to one side and gave him a curious look.

“You read my diaries.” She replied evenly. There was a spark in her eyes that told him she may have forgiven him for that breech of etiquette, but she was still pissed. He dismissed it, hoping fervently they weren’t going to resume their tendency to bicker. He was well aware that he was going to hear about those diaries for the rest of his life; better to get over the guilt as quickly as possible and ignore the chiding.

“All I read was that you took Rita back in time about twenty years, I didn’t know you stayed involved.”

“Which means you didn’t read the silver tube.”

“No, not yet.”

“What’d you mean not yet?” She said, her tone playful, but the annoyance still there. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Not yet, but you can bet I’m going to now.” He said, turning and pulling her up on the podium next to him. She squeezed his hand tightly, indicating the conversation wasn’t over, but for now the room’s attention was focused on him and she could say nothing.

The better part of the next half hour was spent introducing everyone. Most of the Rangers were well known to the Assembly, but there were also quite a few new faces. Tommy took the lead and introduced Master Watanabe, Andrew Hartford, and Wes’s father, Mr. Collins, first and then Andros stood and introduced the new Red Astro Ranger from KO-34. Emperor Trey introduced both the new Reds from Triforia and Aquitar and there was another new Ranger from Edenoi who had come as an emissary from Dex. As the Mystic Reds introduced themselves, Jason turned and gave Kim an interesting look, but Tommy didn’t have time to speculate as Hartford’s son, the new Red from the Overdrive team, stood up. When the introductions of the new faces were complete, each of the veteran Assembly members took turns quickly introducing themselves and then, finally, they were ready to begin meeting in earnest.

For another hour after that, the Assembly went back and forth with KO-34 crying outrage for the attack on a former Kaoan Ranger and Triforia, Edenoi, and Aquitar standing up for him. The last thing Tommy wanted was to get into a heated intergalactic political discussion, but once outrage was cried, it had to be appeased. Even though it really wasn’t political in nature, the Assembly was the only intergalactic forum on Earth, so Tommy sat back and let the others have their say. The process was grueling though and it was well into the second hour before tempers cooled and he was able to re-direct them to the issues he wanted.

Kim was bored beyond belief and from the looks on the faces of the Assembly in front of her, so were most of the Reds. It wasn’t until Leo Corbett of Mirinoi stood up to report on the latest catastrophe regarding General Gruumm that she actually sat a little straighter and paid attention. Gruumm had recently used a weapon that redefined the term “mass destruction.” When the planet Alandia had failed to surrender, he had simply destroyed it. Billions of lives had been lost. Many planets were now not even resisting and simply accepted subjectivity without a fight. The General was now calling himself Emperor Gruumm and had turned his sites on the core worlds.

Millions of refugees on the outskirts were fleeing and the question of where to put them was growing more serious. Mirinoi had agreed to take several hundred thousand and KO-34 had recently relinquished its claim to KO-35, effectively opening it up to non-Kaoan colonization, but billions were scattered and it was only going to get worse as time went on.

How to stop Gruumm became the topic of consideration for nearly an hour. All agreed they had to unite the Rangers, but exactly how to do it and who would be re-assigned where was still debated when the conversation came full circle and Tommy re-directed the topic again. At that time, Captain Mitchell stood up and his assistants assembled the displays and projector they had brought with them.

As Tommy sat down next to Kim, he looked overly tired and more than a little concerned. She had the sinking feeling that neither of them would get much rest in the coming years. She had always known that she would be pulled off planet again in the near future as the conflict with Teeg accelerated, which was why she’d been so reluctant to discuss children with him the previous night, but now she had the sinking and terrifying feeling that Tommy would soon be pulled off world too. She wondered briefly how long they had together in the relatively minor conflict with the new Rita and Lord Zedd and how long they’d be separated, each to his or her own duties.

Kim watched as the three dimensional holograms of the refugee city they were proposing rotated three hundred and sixty degrees in front of the podium. It was an ambitious project and Kim suddenly realized why Mr. Collins and Mr. Hartford were present. Although civilians, not only were they loyal insiders, they were both extraordinarily wealthy and they were both in the position to help finance and use their vast connections to get the city built. She marveled at Tommy. By bringing them into the Assembly, where all the Rangers were unmasked, he had given them access to a power and privilege they would normally have been excluded from. Now he was giving them a chance she doubted either of them could resist; to be in on the ground floor of a new society that would be a gateway to the rest of the galaxy and would have all the latest technology that the core worlds had to offer.

She watched Collins as the Lightspeed team began to explain the proposed business and industrial section and could swear the man practically frothed at the mouth. Hartford was far more reserved, but his eyes began to shimmer as they outlined the plans for the research and cultural facilities. Kim looked at Tommy and saw him watching the men too. She wondered briefly if he had written the speeches himself or if he’d simply outlined it to cater to the two visitors.

What caught the Rangers attention, both local and intergalactic, was the proposed Academy; a place where all Rangers could go to study or collaborate. There were other Academies throughout the galaxy, but none that were open to everyone. All of them focused solely on the needs of their own cultures and were firmly closed off to outsiders. This would be an open facility, embracing many styles of learning, to share information and unite the Rangers under one roof. It was as radical an idea as Tommy’s Red Assembly, but on a much grander scale.

As Captain Mitchell wound up the questions and his assistants took down their displays, Tommy once again brought up the topic of Andros’s home and Karone and Kim’s refusal to fight. At first, she could have kicked him, that topic had been beaten to death already and there was still the general meeting with the other Rangers in the common areas. Then she saw the two young visitors from the media who had been ushered in as Mitchell was starting and realized Tommy had something else in mind. These two hadn’t been present for the intergalactic discussion and he apparently needed to get another point across.

“If the Rangers aren’t safe here on Earth,” Tommy was saying to the group, “Then the refugees inhabiting this city won’t be safe either. We need to begin a massive information campaign utilizing our connections with the media. The general population needs to become far more comfortable with the idea that there are more than one kind of sentient species out there and that it’s not necessarily a bad thing to integrate our society. People are afraid of what they don’t know. Earth will never merge successfully into intergalactic community if it stays ignorant and isolated.”

Tommy then outlined a decade long media awareness project aimed, not only at making the general population of Earth more comfortable with the idea of the intergalactic community, but also an educational program that would prepare the next generation for a fast jump into that mainstream society. This program would start with a human face relating Ranger information to the media instead of the current system of responding by computer. A go-between staff would then develop, going into the schools and other areas, and finally the Reds, coming forward in uniform, would let the public get to know the Rangers personally; as normal people.

Kim realized what he was doing. He was fast tracking Earth into acceptance into the federation, whether they liked it or not. On the surface, it made sense. Use the simplistic example of ignorance breeding violence to raise awareness and later continue to feed the public’s fascination with the Rangers while educating them at the same time. She wasn’t entirely sure it would work, and by the looks on the faces of the Assembly, most of those present weren’t sure either, but the two young representatives of the press seemed very eager.

“I know coming forward in the public this goes against every cardinal rule we’ve all been taught, but let me make one thing very clear.” Tommy continued. “I am not suggesting we give up our identities. Even Zordon allowed the Mighty Morphins to go on camera and be interviewed as long as they were uniformed. This is really not a new concept, it’s just taking it to a bigger level. Once the public realizes that the Rangers are people, just like them, and can identify with them, then they will be able to make the connection that the intergalactic community, where the Rangers come from, is also made up of people just like them.” He paused and then made his point very clearly. “Reaching out to the people, letting the community get to know us, personally, is the best way to protect ourselves and eventually the refugees who are coming to our world.” He paused again and then made his final comment. “I realize that this is a radical idea for many of us, but we need to educate them before the issue of what happened to Andros grows worse.”

“But you want us to expose ourselves to that hostility?” Shane Clarke asked.

“No.” Tommy said firmly. “Again, I want the Rangers to stay masked and in uniform, but also get out and let the public know a personal side to them. We do it slowly over the next couple of years, and it’s not just the Reds who will be getting out there. “The other colors who can still morph can start communicating with the community as well.”

“I say we forget about putting the Reds in the forefront and start with the pink and yellow who protested this afternoon.” Jason piped up. Tommy turned to him with a frown, but he added, “Seriously, the press is all over them at the moment, and Kim already knows how to handle press interviews, let the girls have first crack at the media stuff.”

“There are also a few of us who are already well known in our communities; in and out of uniform.” Carter added and Tommy turned nodded. “Then those of you who feel comfortable can eventually move forward and let your stories be heard unmasked, but again, it will be done in a controlled manner. No one goes off half cocked and does personal appearances without coordinating it with the Assembly leaders. The idea is to get people comfortable with us and assuage fears of the unknown, not to do publicity stunts.”

“And who protects our families while this is all going on.” Andros asked. He felt the idea was insane. Going out in the media was only going to draw more attention to them, not make them safer. Masked or not, all it would accomplish is getting the other Rangers targeted like he was.

“We’ve already considered that.” Tommy said. “Billy and I have had several conversations on the need for a safe and private community for those of us with families and children. Something available to us on a faster timeline than the city. I’ll be happy to share those conversations with anyone who’s interested at a later time.”

Tommy walked over to his visitors and motioned for the girl to stand. “This is Cassidy Cornell. She’s one of my former students and an insider on the Dino Thunder team. She’s also a television reporter for a major network. Right now she just does local news, but we plan to work with her exclusively to get our message out. I want all of you to remember her name and her face.”

Cassidy beamed and waved at the assembly and Kim rolled her eyes and wondered if Tommy knew what he was doing. “Our goal is to have stories of the Rangers linked into the information campaign on the new city over the next ten years. To personalize this so that by the time the city opens for immigration in 2017, people are as excited about it as they were about Terra Venture.”

Tommy motioned for the girl to sit down and walked back up to the podium. “Alright, the floor is now open for questions and comments.”

Later that evening Tommy sank gratefully into the overstuffed cushions of the small couch in his tiny living room. His head ached from the long day, but halfway home he realized Kim was sitting quietly next to him in the Jeep and he’d have her all to himself for the next few hours.

The Assembly had ended well, even though he still wasn’t sure he was doing the right thing. The second meeting had also taken well over an hour to finish with and he was exhausted by the time the last of the security sweeps had been completed and they were done for the afternoon.

The Zeos and Andros’s family had eaten an early dinner together in the little cafeteria area and then they had continued to simply hang out with one another for a few hours and decompress, which had been nice. The atmosphere had been much lighter and Trini showed off her ring and she and Billy discussed their wedding plans. It was to be a small and simple affair at the courthouse. The team was welcome, but other than that, only family would be attending. Billy looked the most excited he’d ever seen him and Tommy was a bit envious. He understood that he and Kim should have a little more time to adjust to one another, but part of him wanted to entice her to elope with him on the same day.

“Did you tell Jason about our engagement?” He asked from the couch and she made and affirmative sound as she dug through the refrigerator. His nine hundred square foot, nineteen-twenties style bungalow was old and compartmentalized, so he couldn’t see her, but he could still hear her. “I figured. He didn’t say anything to me,” Tommy continued. “But the looks he gave me were priceless.”

“I’ll bet.” She called and he could hear her open a wine bottle and pour a glass. “He thinks I’m letting you railroad me.”

“If you told Jase, then why didn’t you let me say anything to the others tonight?” He asked, referring to his attempts to announce their good news earlier. She had summarily shushed him more than once and he’d been more than a little pissed. “The team’s not going to be happy when they find out we’ve told people on the outside and not them.”

“It was Billy and Trini’s moment.” She called, and he heard the refrigerator open and close again. “They already know I’m moving in. Besides, we really haven’t told anyone other than family.”

Tommy couldn’t see her from where he sat, but he imagined the frown on her face. It was obvious her mother wasn’t too happy, but as long as Kim was still willing to stay with him, Tommy didn’t care what his future mother in law felt. His own mother was thrilled and had peppered him with questions he couldn’t even begin to answer. He made a mental note to call his brother again. He’d left a message for David to call, but not telling him the news. He’d have to leave a much more specific message for him tomorrow.

“I emailed Zack.” He admitted. He’d seen his friend online in the early morning hours and the two had instant messaged for a while.

“That gives us about twenty four hours before it circulates.” She answered, coming around the corner. “I should call Aisha tonight or I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Call her in the morning.” Tommy said, moving over so she could sit down. “If you call her tonight I won’t see you again for hours.”

“You’re probably right.” She laughed, walking over to him.

“What’d you think of the ring he gave her?” He asked.

“Oh my god, I thought I’d go blind from the glare.” She laughed, handing him a beer and sitting down.

“That’s a huge standard to live up to.” He said, only half jokingly. Trini’s ring was massive and the stones were excellent. He hadn’t had anything that big in mind, but if Trini had one…

“Don’t you dare.” She said, reading the look on his face. She slapped him playfully with her free hand, but slid up next to him, tucking her head comfortably on his shoulder. “A ring that big is silly… and I had to talk him down from the one he wanted. The other one hung over three of my fingers. We’re the same size, she’d never have worn it.”

She tossed her legs across his lap and he marveled for the millionth time in two days that she was really with him. Had it really only been two days? It seemed like a lifetime ago and yet he couldn’t get enough of her.

“So what kind do you want?” he asked and she shrugged.

“I really hadn’t thought about it to be honest. I like the one I have.”

“Kim…” He said in a frustrated tone. The ring she had was ridiculous. True, as a boy he had put a lot of time and effort into designing it and it had taken him a year to pay it off, but it was a child’s ring. He was touched that she claimed to love it so much, but it wasn’t appropriate, by any standards. After visiting with her mom this morning, he was doubly certain he was going to get her something extremely nice. He hadn’t been fooled by all her careful questions or comments over breakfast; he knew she was trying to figure out what kind of an income he had.

“I don’t like big jewelry.” Kim said, taking a sip of the wine. “Would you be offended if I asked to go with you?”

“No, not at all, but then you wouldn’t be surprised.”

“I’ve had enough surprises for a while.” She said. She’d tried to be funny, but there was an undertone to the comment that they both silently agreed to.

Tommy set his bottle down on the side table and took her glass from her. If she was going to sit in his lap, he wasn’t about to waste time drinking a beer. He leaned in and kissed her softly, hands wandering suggestively, but she pulled her head back and away from him.

“I want to talk about what happened this morning.” She said softly. She’d wanted to question him about it all day, but the two had never seemed to find a quiet second alone. When she refused him her lips, he focused his attention on kissing her neck while his hands slid along her backside and pulled her more firmly into his lap.

“What about it.” He mumbled, finding the spot just below her ear that had made her squirm the previous night. He wasn’t disappointed, she gasped and pressed into him. Groaning softly, she disengaged and pulled herself away from him again, but he followed, unwilling to give up.

“What happened on the hill outside the house.” She insisted. “It was just for a second, I know you felt it too.” He mumbled something incoherent as his kisses trailed down to her shoulder. When she tried to pull away a third time, he used her backward momentum to push her down onto the sofa. Relenting, she sighed contentedly at the contact, but before he could get much further, the doorbell rang. He growled and she giggled, pushing him up and off of her.

“I doubt that’s for me.” She said playfully. Very few people knew she’d moved in, so it had to be for Tommy. He made an exasperated noise and stood up.

“Don’t move.” He said sternly. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be waiting.” She said, with a heat in her voice that both surprised and enthralled him. Good god, he loved getting to know this new side to her.

Sex with Kimberly had always been intoxicating, but the woman she had grown into captivated him. So far, she had refused him nothing and although he had yet to really push the envelope, she was proving a willing and eager partner. If things kept up the way they had been over the past two days, he was going to grow old a very happy man.

But all those thoughts came to an abrupt halt as he opened the door. There, looking up at him, he was surprised to see Katherine Hillard. “Kat.” He said simply, the stunned surprise carrying over in his voice. He turned to look inside, but Kim had heard him and was slipping discreetly away down the narrow hall. Apparently she didn’t want to see his ex girlfriend any more than he did right now. Of all the bad timing, he thought ruefully as he heard the bedroom door close.

“I’m sorry to interrupt.” Katherine said and he shrugged nonchalantly.

“What’s up?” He asked, leaning against the doorframe and willing the explicit thoughts he was having about the woman in the bedroom far from his mind.

“I’m looking for my cousin.” She said simply, with a look of annoyance he remembered all too well from their years together. “She left a vague email message with my cousin Josh saying she was off to some wilderness adventure for several weeks, but she also apparently missed several big deadlines in New York this morning and now my aunt and uncle are worried sick about her. Apparently Rocky also disappeared this weekend without much notice…which I guess makes sense.”

Katherine paused to rub her temples as if they were hurting her and then sighed heavily. “Anyway, I saw the yellow Ranger protesting on TV this morning, and I knew I was going to pass by your neighborhood after shopping tonight, so I thought I’d take a chance and see if you were home so you can tell her to just call her parents… then maybe mine will stop pestering me to go find out what she’s up to.”

“Sit down.” Tommy said, pointing towards a bench sitting under the porch window. She frowned, but took the offered seat. Tommy sat down on the opposite side of the bench and regarded her carefully while he thought about what to say. He knew Carri and Kat had been at odds recently. “That wasn’t Carri fighting with us.”

“What?”

“That was Andros’s sister Karone.”

“Carri gave up her powers?” she asked incredulously.

“Temporarily.” Tommy confirmed. He reached out and put a hand over Katherine’s, but she pulled it away.

“What’s going on?” She asked uncertainly.

“Carri was severely wounded on Friday morning.” Tommy said plainly, figuring it was easiest to just get it out.

“What?” Katherine gasped, her eyes wide.

“Billy arranged for her to receive treatment on Aquitar and Rocky’s gone with her. Hopefully we’ll have her back by Thanksgiving, but most likely she’ll be gone through most of December.”

“How?” Katherine asked, bringing her hands up to her face. Rangers were wounded every day, it was part of the job, but they also had access to the most advanced medical equipment available. They almost never had to be shipped off world.

“A monster called Apis Metallica. Kim called it the Bee Can. It produced a type of venom that she was severely allergic to. She went into shock and, for some reason Billy doesn’t understand, she’s also suffering some sort of metal poisoning. Billy did what he could, but he felt the most comfortable sending her to Aquitar for the hydro treatments they have available.”

“Will she be all right?” She asked. Carri might be pretty high on her hit list right now, but she was still her cousin and she loved her.

“It’s serious, but Carri’s strong. We’ll have to wait and see how much damage the Aquitians can repair. She’s in good hands Kat. Rocky’s gone with her and he’s already called in one report. If you want, I’ll keep you posted on how she’s doing.”

“Oh my god.” Katherine said quietly, shaking her head. “I had no idea. I saw the yellow Ranger protesting and just assumed she was up to her antics again.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little harsh?” He didn’t approve of what the girls had done either, but he was at least willing to concede that they had a point.

“I know my cousin.” Katherine answered testily.

Tommy shook his head, Katherine was a sweet woman, but once you got on her bad side, it was tough to get back in her good opinion. “Your cousin is good Ranger. Yes, she’s high strung, but she’s not irresponsible.”

“Well,” Katherine said evenly, “You’re certainly entitled to your opinion. The family certainly doesn’t share it.”

Tommy smiled slightly at her haughty tone. “The Rangers feel the same way I do. They’re they family she’s chosen.”

“Just like you.” Katherine answered, a slight edge to her voice. She had loved Tommy, but she had always felt that she took second place with him. Someone, somewhere, would call and he’d be out the door without even a note or a see you later. Sometimes he’d be gone for days at a time and when she’d ask, he’d just shrug and say it was complicated. She could see how her cousin would fit well into that world, but it drove her crazy.

Tommy’s smile became a little brighter, but still held a sad edge to it. He didn’t regret that they had parted ways, but he did regret childishly holding on to her for so long when they both knew it was over. He didn’t know why they thought moving in with one another would fix things between them. Actually he did. Katherine had felt horribly guilty when they finally slept during her first trip back from London and he thought that kind of commitment when she moved back for good would make her feel better; but it had been a disastrous mistake.

They had given it a valiant try, but both had just grown up into very different people. Katherine had wanted him to settle down and raise kids quietly in the suburbs and he hadn’t been very good at figuring out how to do that. He paused, thinking how easily the thoughts of having children had been when he’d discussed them with Kimberly the previous night and how eager he was to share his home with her. He was older now, more mature, and he knew what he was getting into this time around, but the difference in his outlook was striking and it made him pause. Kim was a companion, someone to share his life’s work with. Try as he might to include her, Katherine was just never interested in what he did. Her Ranger days were long over and she had wanted his over as well. “Rangering at this age is very different than as a kid.” He said simply, for lack of a better answer.

“The uniforms are still made out of spandex.” She said dryly and he laughed, the twinkle finding its way back in his eyes.

He regarded her silently for a moment. Truth be known, spandex wasn’t his favorite uniform, whatever the color, but it never bothered him enough to think twice about accepting a morpher. “We need the older crews to keep things running.” He said simply. “Rangering’s far more complicated than it was ten years ago. There’s so much more going on in the universe than just Zedd returning to Angel Grove. Someone’s got to train the next generation.”

“Oh.” She responded. “And I’m sure it has nothing to do with your propensity to play hero?”

“There are much easier ways to be a hero.” He said honestly. “I’ll confess to loving it though.”

Katherine shifted in her seat and humped quietly. At least he finally admitted it. She was honestly sorry things hadn’t worked out between them, but she was content with her life. She was the one in charge of her future and she’d found a man that was every bit as loyal as Tommy had been, but one that would put her first and wasn’t going to run off and get himself killed without warning.

“I’m sorry about Carri.” Tommy said, returning to the original conversation.

“So if Rocky’s with Carri, who’s in blue?”

“Adam.” Tommy replied and Katherine let out a most un-lady like bark of laughter.

“I’m sure Tanya’s thrilled.” She said, making a mental note to call her friend the next morning on the way to work.

“She wasn’t unhappy.” Tommy said, “But I wouldn’t say she was ecstatic.” Primary because he’d been hurt so badly, he added silently.

“I’ll bet.” Katherine said wryly, then paused, considering whether to ask her old boyfriend the question buzzing around in her head. Finally, she squared her shoulders and simply asked, “So Rocky’s happy with her?”

Tommy took a deep breath and considered how to answer her. He knew a good deal more about Carri and Rocky’s relationship than he really wanted to. Rocky had needed advice and support with everything going on in his life and he had turned to Tommy and Jason because they were his friends and teammates. He had been surprised to hear that Carri and Katherine were now estranged over the situation and even more surprised that Katherine had developed a tight friendship with Rocky’s ex girlfriend. Katherine was Carri’s cousin and fellow Ranger. In Tommy’s mind the loyalty was to be found in those relationships, not with a new acquaintance. But Katherine was in a different place in her life and he respected that.

“She’s the love of his life.” He answered simply, thinking about Kim. “He’s devastated right now and needs to be with her. That’s why Adam’s here.”

“And her leaving Jason didn’t disaffect the team?”

“I don’t know what you heard.” Tommy began, “But all the parties involved are very happy.”

When Katherine opened her mouth to protest, he raised a hand up to stop her. “Look Kat, I don’t want particulars, I don’t need to know them, but you apparently need to clarify things with Carri when she gets back. Jason’s thrilled for her, he’s not upset at all. In fact, apparently he pushed the two together. And I can honestly tell you that Rocky’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him. At least he was until Carri got hurt.”

Katherine thought about Tommy’s comment for a few seconds. She didn’t like being at odds with Carri, but the two of them were both very stubborn and there was more to their estrangement than just her cousin’s relationship with Rocky.

“It’s not true you know.” She said suddenly.

“What’s not true?” Tommy asked absently, rubbing his eyes. He was growing tired of the conversation and his thoughts were constantly wandering back to the female hiding out in his bedroom. The very fact that she was in his bedroom was enough to quicken his pulse, what he was going to do to her after he finished giving her hell for running away when she realized it was his ex-girlfriend at the door was downright painful to anticipate.

“What Carri’s been saying about me…and Chris.”

“Huh?” Tommy asked, genuinely confused.

“Carri’s been accusing me of being with Chris before we broke up.” Katherine said hesitantly, a blush creeping into her cheeks.

Tommy stared at her for a second, old wounds and angers threatening to rise to the surface. The truth was he already knew she and Chris had been seeing each other, if not officially dating, well before they’d broken up. The Ranger community was a very small one and they’d been seen together often enough for more than one person to speculate. But the most honest truth was that he was the first to be unfaithful in that relationship and he had been, regrettably, consistently unfaithful in that relationship. When Rocky had accidentally brought up Carri’s barb about the unfaithfulness of her cousin, he had apologized profusely, but his friend’s comment had done more to relieve his own sense of guilt than cause him any undue pain.

“Carri hasn’t said a word about that to me.” He said, borrowing Kim’s twist on honesty.

“It’s not true. Chris and I didn’t get together for weeks after we broke up.”

“I believe you.” He said simply, “But honestly Kat, does it matter?”

“I guess not,” She said sighed. “But I don’t like the idea of people thinking… of the Rangers thinking that I’d… ”

“No-one thinks poorly of you Kat. You’ve always had a good standing in our group.” He assured.

Katherine had a reputation among the Rangers for being sweet and kind and very polite and refined. All of that was absolutely true. Tommy knew a different side to her because he’d lived with her. Deep down, the two cousins were actually very much alike. The difference was that Carri mouthed off her aggression, Katherine stewed quietly and plotted. It would take Tommy days to figure out what he’d done to rile Katherine, the whole time suffering an icy shoulder. As much as Carri made his head ache sometimes, at least everyone knew where they stood with her.

“I hope that’s true.” Katherine said softly.

“Why are you so willing to think the worst of your cousin?” Tommy asked, frustration creeping in his voice. He wanted to wrap this conversation up, but at the same time, a little alarm in his mind warned him that this was something that needed to be handled. He didn’t like the idea of Rangers squabbling; if it went on too long and too many people chose sides, it could be disastrous.

“No, it’s not that.” Katherine protested, crossing her arms in front of her. “Carri and I were close as children, but now we’re polar opposites. Since we’ve grown up, we constantly bicker. It’s sad really, she didn’t even tell me she’d become a Ranger...even though she knew full well I’d been one too.”

“You’ve been pretty heavy with the criticism of her Kat. Carri rarely says a word against you, at least none that’s gotten back to me.”

“Tommy, you have to understand Carri. She’s been given everything in life…she denies herself nothing. It’s always about what Carri wants and damn the consequences.” Katherine took a deep breath and exhaled forcibly, voice rising slightly. “I’ve tried all my life to be a good girl and make my family proud, but every time I make a poor choice, I hear about it for years. Carri, on the other hand, has done nothing except flaunt her wild side and all the family does is giggle about it. She can do nothing wrong, not even disappear without telling her family.”

Tommy sat quietly for a few seconds before saying, “Did you ever stop to think about it from her perspective?”

“What do you mean?” She asked.

Tommy sighed. Part of Rocky and Kim’s growing animosity towards Katherine was starting to make a lot more sense to him. He hated playing shrink, but he’d been left in charge of the Rangers and rifts between them just couldn’t be tolerated; especially now when they needed to all come together. This particular nerve needed to be soothed before an even bigger split developed between the two girls. He sighed, wishing Zordon was still there, and considered his words.

“Did you ever think maybe she resents being compared to you just as much as you resent being compared to her?”

“Carri doesn’t worry what anyone thinks about her.” Katherine spat back.

“Kat, the two of you are the only girls in your family and you’re almost exactly the same age. If you feel compared to her, maybe she feels compared to you.” Tommy thought about his brother. Even though they loved each other, rifts had occasionally developed between them through the years over petty comparisons and minor rivalries. Familial jealousy was normal, but it could get out of control too.

“You’ve accomplished a lot in your life.” He said. “You were a good student in school, made excellent grades, always set a good example. You nearly went to the Pan Games as a diver for Australia and you were accepted to a very prestigious dance school in London. You have a good steady job as a teacher and you’re settling down to start a family.” He paused and let her accomplishments sink in for a second. “Carri, on the other hand, is considered the wild child; unpredictable. She’s the one who didn’t finish school, hates being told what to do, and even though she’s managed to carve out a successful life for herself, she’s hardly the type to settle down in the suburbs and raise a bunch of kids. You don’t think she gets a lot of comparisons to her stable and steady cousin?”

“I never thought of it that way.” Katherine admitted. Carri always seemed to get everything she wanted while Katherine always felt like she had to settle. Her life wasn’t horrible; she liked where she was and what she was doing. It was just hard to watch Carri flit around and have all those opportunities, but then throw them all away.

Katherine didn’t want to be a Ranger again, she wanted to get married and have kids, but she would admit to being envious that Carri had so easily gone back and donned the uniform. She wasn’t sure Tommy was right about Carri being criticized. He didn’t know how much the family loved her antics, but he could be right. It would explain why she bristled so much around her and her snide remarks about being perfect. “Are you sure that PhD of yours is in Paleontology?” She asked lightly.

“I lead Ranger teams.” He said with a chuckle. “You deal with a lot of diverse personalities that have to work together in a very small space.” If he knew Katherine, she’d at least start mulling things over and hopefully she’d diffuse a bit of her angst by the time Carri got back. Katherine had accomplished a lot, but Tommy got the distinct feeling she was disappointed with her life. Envy would explain a lot of her feelings; the grass was always greener on the other side of the fence.

“I suppose.” She said simply. “Is Carri going to be ok?”

Tommy regarded her for a second, “She was very seriously hurt, but the treatments should help her.”

“I do love her you know.” She said softly. “She’s my cousin.”

“She’s a strong woman.” Tommy answered.

“Yes…that she is.” Katherine said wistfully.

“I just don’t understand it.” Sirius said from his seat in the Lunar Palace laboratory. The battle had been pathetic and Zedd was beyond furious. Two of the Rangers had even quit the fight and stood over to one side. In the end, the monster had been so ineffectual that it actually run away and no one had been able to find it, let alone make it grow. It just didn’t make sense.

The settings for the monster and the claybots were all exactly where they should have been, yet all of them had performed far below strength. The viratrons checked out just fine, however, their display of leadership skills and their inability to focus the claybots had been deplorable. They insisted that the problem lay in their inability to communicate with the claybots, but Sirius couldn’t find a blasted thing wrong with how the communications system had been wired.

Sirius ran the scans again and once again the numbers all checked out. Perhaps the putty he’d used had been contaminated, but it was the same batch he’d used to make the monsters and claybots in the previous battle. Frustrated, he threw the remaining clay in the disposal and opened a new batch from the storage unit. He’d start over from square one with a new crop. This batch he would make sure fermented and charged for a good seventy-two hours before he allowed them to fight.

From the shadows, Rita watched Sirius’s struggle with well concealed glee. The magic dust she’d scattered on his clay had done its job. The monster and the claybots hadn’t cooked properly. She’d bought herself a little time, but she’d have to think fast to find a way to sabotage the new batch. She didn’t dare use the same dust twice or Sirius was bound to discover her.

She turned and stealthily crept back to her chambers. She was a little closer to uncovering what had happened to her predecessor, but not much. The information available for that period of time was sketchy at best. She was ready to allow herself to draw a few conclusions, but right now she didn’t have the proof she needed. Without the proof, she wouldn’t be able to use her magic to find her predecessor’s location.

The wait was frustrating, but all had to be done correctly. If the old Rita wasn’t powerless, then the new Rita would only get one shot at fully re-charging her staff. Everything had to be done properly and meticulously. She would succeed, she reassured herself. The need to win Zedd over was embedded into her since before she had become Rita. She would not lose him, even if it meant letting the Rangers win a few battles for a while.

The End

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