Disclaimer: I don't own the characters; they belong to Saban.

Author's Note: Just to say it now, this is AU because A)I hated how the show wrote Billy/David Yost off and B)the timeline doesn't exactly track with the show. This is set oh...probably a week or so after "Once a Ranger"

Angel Grove, California
Path of Light Karate Dojo

"Again!"

"Kiya!"

"Again!"

"Kiya!"

Adam Park paused and stepped into the third row of students facing him. "Arm up, Jenna," he told the teenager in the white karate gi. "You're using it to protect your face in case they try a high shot." He gently took her arm and raised it to the proper position. "Right there." He adjusted her other arm. "And this one's protecting your belly."

Jenna Connors kept her eyes facing forward. "Thank you sensei," she replied. She moved her hand long enough to brush a strand of her black hair behind her ear and then moved her arm back to the correct position. As Adam walked back to the front of the class, he hid a grin. Jenna had only been in his class for a month, but already showed lots of promise.

Adam stepped back up to the front of the mat. "We're going to go through that series again," he told them, but before he could begin, he heard a phone. The ring cut shrilly through the silence in the room.

He looked at his students. "Cell phones are supposed to be on vibrate or off during classes," he reprimanded them. "Whose ringtone is that?"

The teenagers on the mat looked around, but no one said anything. "Whose phone is ringing?" Adam asked again, a little stronger. He was a fair teacher, but he didn't tolerate silly distractions.

Finally, Jenna Connors spoke up. "Sensei, I think it's coming from your office," she said quietly.

Adam listened, and sure enough, he heard the tone indicating a missed call from inside his office. He could feel his ears getting warm. "And so it is," he said, shrugging it off like it was no big deal. "Very well then. Class dismissed!" He bowed to his students, and they bowed to him before going off the mats in search of shoes, sweats, and their own cell phones.

The bell above the dojo entrance jingled, and Adam looked up to see Rachel Connors, Jenna's mother, come in. She was wearing a blue skirt and white top, with her name in blue letters on the nametag. Her daughter was the spitting image of her, long black hair in a ponytail, green eyes and dimples. Except where Jenna looked exhausted but happy, Rachel Connors, Adam noticed, looked completely worn out. He hadn't seen her in a while, since Jenna usually walked home, but he couldn't remember her looking this beat. Rachel worked two jobs as a waitress in two separate restaurants, Jenna had mentioned that one night. Briefly, he wondered if there was a Mr. Connors to take some of the pressure off when she got home, or if she also had to do laundry and clean up the house and start dinner. When they'd enrolled Jenna, it had just been the mother and daughter, and Rachel had mentioned they'd just moved to Angel Grove and that they were looking for a positive group activity for Jenna. He'd never seen a father come to pick her up, Jenna had never mentioned a 'dad' and Adam wasn't sure there was one in the picture, and never had the courage to ask…. He threaded his way through the remaining kids and caught Rachel's arm. "Hi Rachel," he said. "Rough day?"

She started. He let go of her arm instantly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Adam apologized quickly. Rachel looked up at him, her eyes alert and her face turning a light shade of pink. "Oh, hi Mr. Park," she said. Jenna bounded up to them at that moment, her eyes shining, cheeks pink from the workout. "Hi honey," she said, and Adam could hear that she was relieved to not have to answer the question. "Good lesson?"

"Awesome as usual," Jenna pronounced with a grin. Adam wished he had half the energy of the thirteen year old. There were days when he truly felt his age.

"Good!" Rachel replied, all trace of exertion gone from her voice. "We'd better get home," she told Adam.

"Good to see you again," Adam told her. Under his breath, he added, "Take it easy."

Rachel looked at him, and he could see her cheeks turning red. "You too," she replied, brushing it off with a halfhearted smile, before ushering her daughter ahead of her out the door.

A few minutes later, Adam was the last person in the dojo. He went into the small bathroom and untied his gi, took off his black T-shirt, opting for something that didn't smell like a workout. He tugged on the hooded sweatshirt and tossed the black tee in his bag. He looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. His hair was a little shorter, but time had been pretty good to Adam Park. He kept in shape with the dojo and classes, and Rocky DeSantos, when he wasn't out with his latest girlfriend, was a great sparring partner. He'd pretty much recovered from the back injury that had taken him permanently out of the ranger game. The two kept each other in shape physically and mentally. Rocky actually owned half of 'Path of Light.' The two had great memories of teaching the elementary school kids karate after program at Ernie's that they'd decided to go into business together, teaching a wide range of classes and students. Rocky taught basic tae kwon do and Brazilian Jujitsu, and Adam taught kung fu.

Adam looked at his watch. Six fifteen. Rocky was probably on a connecting flight in Manila right now. He and his girlfriend Amber Le were on their way back from a backpacking trip in Vietnam, where Amber's family was from. Adam had done nine classes in the past two weeks to cover for Rocky. The two traded off if one or the other had something going on. Lately, it seemed like Amber was Rocky's distraction and reason for missing work, but Adam didn't mind too much. Rocky was happy, and Amber was really great.

It must be nice…

A knock on the dojo door outside jolted him back to reality, and Adam pushed the pity party aside as he shouldered his duffel bag and shut the light off. In the streetlight outside, he could see Rachel Connors. He pushed open the door. "Hi Rachel. Did Jenna forget something?"

"Ah, her cell phone," she replied, embarrassed. "You know teenagers. It's like an electronic umbilical cord."

Adam smiled. "Yeah, I know it. I was attached to my mor-my watch when I was a kid. Couldn't go anywhere without it."

"Must've been quite the watch," Rachel replied. She smiled, and Adam caught his breath. She so rarely smiled like that when he saw her, and he couldn't help but appreciate it. "Um," Rachel said a split second later. "You don't happen to know where Jenna had her things…."

"Oh. Right." Adam ran a hand through his short black hair. "Yeah, I think it was over here against the wall." He pointed to a stack of rolled up sparring mats. He reached over and flipped the dojo lights back on. Most of the kids threw their stuff on top of them, or sat up there, even though they were repeatedly told to use the floor. He'd given up trying to enforce the rule. "Let me think…" Adam ran a hand between the mat and the wall. He pulled out a black phone. "This the one?"

Rachel nodded. "Thank God," she said. "Otherwise, I'd have to spend my paycheck to buy her a new one." Adam couldn't tell if she was joking or not. "Well, I'm glad we found it then," he said. "Here, I'll let you out. Jenna's probably suffering withdrawal."

He saw Rachel bite her lip and pause mid-step. "Rachel?" Adam asked. "Something wrong?"

She looked up at him. "Mr. Park-"

"You can call me Adam," he replied easily. "Mr. Park is my grandfather."

He got her to smile, which is what he'd been going for. Anything to see that pretty smile again. "Adam," Rachel corrected herself. "Jenna has your class next Wednesday, and well…my shift got changed around at the diner, so I was wondering-"

"I can give Jenna a ride home that night," Adam replied. "I'll just have to remember to bring my car instead of my bike."

Rachel looked up in shock, and Adam laughed. "I'm joking. Class gets over around 5 so I'll have her back to your house around 5:30."

She looked so grateful that Adam wanted to smile, but held it in. "Thank you!" she said, sounding relieved. "And actually, if you could just drop her by the diner, that'd be fine. You don't have to bring her all the way home." She sighed. "I'm sorry to put this on you. Things have just been so crazy lately, and I'm sure you think I'm a horrible person-"

"No," Adam corrected. "Even moms need help every now and then."

She started, and Adam saw tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Nice work, genius. You made her cry. He opened his mouth to apologize, but she was backing toward the door. "Thank you, Mr. Park-Adam," she corrected herself. She smiled, a tired one, before backing out the door and around the corner.

Adam stared at the door for a moment. "Can't take the awkward high school boy outta the adult," he muttered. He hadn't been able to talk to girls in high school, and he still couldn't do it now.

Sighing, Adam went over to the wall and turned off all but one set of lights. He pulled off his shirt.

The punching bag in the corner was just waiting for him to take out his frustrations…