Only at Sunset

Aisha Campbell walked slowly through the park. Every night at sunset, barring enemy attacks, she took a walk to let go of the stress of the day. In the last couple months, her life had been so crazy; it was a nice way to have a little time to herself.

First, she and her friends, Adam and Rocky, had discovered who the Power Rangers were. Second, her family had moved to Angel Grove. And finally, when three of the aforementioned Rangers left; she and her friends became the Yellow, Black, and Red Rangers.

Since that time, Adam had been moping around because he had hooked up with Trini, the former Yellow Ranger, who was in Switzerland. Then, Rocky had met the "good" version of Rita Repulsa and he was consumed with trying to get her permanently changed back. Zordon had explained that the magic was strong …and permanent. Rocky was still obsessed with the idea.

She sat on the ground near the lake, leaning against a tree. It felt nice to sit and relax with nothing pressing to do.

"Well, well, well. It's the Yellow Power Punk."

Aisha scrambled to her feet and got into a defensive position. She faced Goldar with a scowl. "Can't I get one day off?" she snarled.

He looked stunned, as much as a giant gold monkey could show emotions. "Bad day?" he inquired.

"Yeah, like you care."

He shrugged, wings bobbing. "I'm not in the mood to fight. Rita and Zedd are fighting, so I got the hell out of there."

"Do they fight a lot?" She couldn't believe she was having an actual conversation with the monkey. She was still wary of an attack so she kept checking behind her to make sure she wasn't going to get ambushed.

"All married couples fight, Aisha, my parents fought, too. When Rita and Zedd do, I come down to Earth and explore the world. There are some beautiful spots out there. The wilds of Africa, London, Paris, Vermont."

"Uh, you're a monkey. People don't notice this?"

He looked down at himself as if surprised. He muttered some foreign words and he was enveloped by a white light. When it cleared, she was surprised to see that he was a tall, good looking Asian man. He brushed his long hair out of his eyes while she gawked at him.

"This is your natural form?" she stammered.

"No. This is who I used to be before I became power hungry. I haven't been Dorain in over 10,000 years."

"Uh-huh." At a loss, she just stood there.

Goldar, or rather Dorain, sat down and looked at the lake. "I love the water, don't you?"

"Okay, this is just weird," she finally said.

"Maybe for you. For me, I'm just glad to be able to talk to someone normal."

"Come, sit. Have a conversation with me. Please."

The "please" cemented it for her. She sat down and angled herself across from him, not comfortable with sitting next to him. "What do you want to talk about?"

He shrugged. "What do you teenagers talk about these days?"

"Movies, music, school, parents, friends, boyfriends. Any number of subjects."

"Well, I don't watch movies, listen to music, go to school, or have parents. I don't think I have any friends, but Scorpina and I are sweet on each other."

"Really? How would you go about hooking up with her?"

"Hooking?"

"Yeah, dating."

"Oh, well, in my day, you courted someone. You would bring them little things, until they consented to date you. In my monkey days, the woman chooses you, you don't choose her. How about you?"

"What?"

"Are you dating anyone?"

"I was dating someone in Stone Canyon before I moved here, but we broke up. I don't exactly have time for a boyfriend these days."

He nodded. "Yeah, with attacks every day, it would be hard to have someone to date."

"So how do you spend your time?"

"Plotting to take over the world." The words were so blunt that she just stared at him. He winced. "That's probably not something you wanted to hear. To be honest, and that's hard, believe me, I don't think we'll ever succeed. We're too incompetent."

They fell into silence. She didn't know what he was thinking about, but she was content to not speak. She didn't know why she just walked away. The sun was sinking down, turning the lake red and shining over the face of the man sitting angled toward her.

"Goldar!!!!!!!!!" The scream brought them both around. Rita was floating on her broom above them. "It's time to go home." She disappeared in a burst of speed, not bothering to comment on his companion. He rose to his feet.

"It was nice talking to you, Aisha, but the next time we meet, we'll be enemies again."

"Agreed." She watched him fade away. That was one of the most surprising conversations she'd ever had; some part of her hoped that she would see him in this incarnation again.