Disclaimer: The Power Rangers are not mine. I in no way profit from this fic. It is written for entertainment purposes only.
Karone stood on the beach, barefoot, in the lavender sun dress Ashley had bought her, the water barely reaching her toes. Her eyes where closed, but the light of the full moon was so bright she could still see it. She stood, motionless, listening to the sound of the ocean.
It was over. She still couldn't get her mind around that. She honestly didn't know what to feel first. Fear? Relief? Sadness? Those first few moments after she'd awaken had been filled with only confusion. She hadn't been able to remember anything then. On the way back to KO-35, the memories started coming back. Slowly. She had spent most of the voyage in the infirmary trying to convince DECA and her brother that she was fine.
On KO-35, she had been to busy to think, she had told her story a dozen times, or, more accurately, she had listened to Andros tell it. She could tell that he didn't quite trust people's reactions to the fact that the former Princess of Evil was his sister. They seemed to take the news better from him, whether because he was a ranger, or her brother, she didn't know.
She had been disappointed when there had been no news of their parents. But Andros assured her that that wasn't a bad thing. Only a small number of people had returned, and most of them hadn't had any contact with each other over the past two years. Then, of course, was the moment when Andros had decided to return to Earth with Ashley. She could tell how much he cared for her, how much the thought of spending his life without her hurt him, and she couldn't help but be swept up in his joy.
At that time, she honestly hadn't thought of what going back to Earth would mean. She hadn't thought of all the people who had seen her transform from Astronema, of how people would react to knowing the identities of the rangers. Ashley told her that they where lucky that no one knew that she, Andros, and Zhane where from another planet.
They had left Earth early in the evening, and returned the next afternoon. Karone had now spent only a little over a day on the planet, and already she knew that coming here had been a mistake. But staying on KO-35 without her brother wouldn't have been the best idea either. He was all she had. Now.
She sighed softly as she thought of Ecliptor. Andros had told her what had happened only last night. She hadn't understood it then, and she still didn't. She had been told that anyone with good in them had been purified by Zordon's wave, not destroyed by it. How could Ecliptor had been destroyed? She was the first to admit that he had been evil, but how could anyone claim that he didn't have any good in him? He had raised her from a child, regardless of what the circumstances where. He had always protected her, he had been willing to sacrifice himself so that she could escape.
Karone felt a tear slide down her cheek. She hadn't allowed herself to cry yet, but she didn't think she could hold it in for much longer. If she was going to break down, she didn't want it to be in front of the rangers.
A communicator beeped.
Karone sighed, raising the device the rangers had given her, "Yes?"
"Karone, you should come back to the
ship. There is word from KO-35," Alpha's voice told her.
Karone opened her eyes reluctantly. "I'll be right there," she told him, nodding absently. She took one last look out at the ocean, the first ocean she had seen since she was a little girl. She wished she could never leave here. That she could just stand at the edge of the waves forever, not having to deal with everything around her. But she knew she couldn't.
Karone pressed a button on the communicator, and in an instant was transported away in a flash of violet light.