Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers! DUH! Haim Saban owns them. This has been written without permission and for pure amusement only. There is no profit being made so don't sue me. PLEASE! But the other unfamiliar characters that pop up in the story are mine.

Author's Note: I am a big Adam/Tanya fan. Yup! You guessed it! This is an Adam/Tanya fic. And this is sort of an alternaverse as well. I've always felt that they deserved more of a spotlight than they were actually given. And on the process of feeling so, I've imagined little bits of stories about them. I'm a bit rusty on who is who and what is what but I'm gonna try my best. If I get any facts wrong, sorry about that. And if the characters seem a bit different, sorry about that too. Remember that this is an alternaverse so I'll most likely change bits and pieces anyway for the benefit of the story. This is my first attempt at a PR fic. If you want to review, you are welcome to do so.

Second Author's Note: As for the timeline, it's a weird one. It's almost Christmas but it's also right after the Turbo Movie.

Truths of the Heart part 1
A New Face in Town
by genielou

Tanya Sloan sat on the counter of the Juice Bar with a smoothie in front of her. She kept playing with her straw and looked as if she is deep in thought. The Rangers had won their battle against Divatox weeks ago and there had been no attacks since then, but she still couldn't help but feel uneasy about it. *None of the others gave up after the first try*, she thought to herself. The others probably felt the same way but chose not to bring up the subject. It had been a long and hard battle in Muiranthias, and they all felt that they had deserved a break. These past few weeks had been absolute heaven for all of them. They had done nothing but have fun. Swimming, playing basketball, sparring, shopping... Now and then, Rocky comes over and helps her forget her worries with his funny jokes and his inhuman eating.

"Tanya! Hey!"

Tanya turned around to see her best friend and fellow Ranger, Katherine Hillard, walking towards her, wearing her usual pink, V-neck shirt and her blue, jean shorts. She sat next to her with a smile on her face.

"Hi Kat," she said, making an effort to look as joyous as she usually were.

"What are you doing here? Adam is at the mall with Rocky." Her usual drink arrived without her ordering it, a very familiar gesture given by the manager and their long-time friend, Ernie. "I would think that you, of all people, were with them."

"Why would you think that?" Tanya asked frowning.

Kat just smiled at her friend's naivete. "Because it's Adam. Where he is is where you should be at."

Tanya finally took a sip of her smoothie, not having such a hard time since it had already melted. "I've given up on that already."

"Huh?" Kat puts her drink aside and adjusts her seat so that she is facing Tanya. "That can't be true. I've seen you two together so many times doing the sweetest things. And you know he likes you a lot. It's pretty obvious that you feel the same way."

"Does he like me? Sure we hang out a lot, and now and then he does something sweet like hold my hand or put his arms around me. But besides that, there's nothing." Tanya adjusts her seat to face Kat. "Oh Kat, why do I even bother? Ever since I met him it's been like this. It's either I'm chasing him or he's chasing me. It feels like it's never gonna change. There are so many people that think we're already an item, but did you know that he's never even kissed me? Not once!"

"Didn't he kiss you on the cheek last Christmas?"

"So?"

"What do you mean 'So'? You were blushing and everything. We all saw it."

Tanya blushes. "But it was under a mistletoe. Who kisses on the cheek under a mistletoe?"

Kat smiles, remembering just that. She, Tommy, and Rocky had formed a plan to make Tanya and Adam end up under a mistletoe during their last Christmas party at the Youth Center. It worked the way it was supposed to since both Tanya and Adam thought that it happened by pure coincidence, until Adam planted a kiss on Tanya's left cheek. They were hoping that, by placing them under an awkward situation, Adam would finally get up the courage to open up his shell to her. But they were wrong, although the kiss on the cheek was already satisfying for the both of them at the time.

"Oh come on, Tanya," Kat urged on. "He's never been under a mistletoe with a girl before. He was probably planning on kissing you on the lips but got scared. Besides, that is not a good enough reason to just ignore what you feel. If you think it's about time that you two get somewhere, then make a move."

"I guess," Tanya sighed.

Just then, a young man wearing a white tank top and blue jeans carrying a black duffel bag entered the Juice Bar and sat on a table nearby, ordering a drink as a waiter passed by. On his way there, Tanya and Kat cock their heads, their gazes following him as he sits down. Both couldn't help but notice the young man's well-built features as they stare at his muscle-shaped back.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Tanya asked without taking her eyes off of the man.

"Yeah..." Kat said, her voice trailing off.

Tanya finally snaps out of her trance and takes a look at Kat. Grinning to herself, she playfully slaps her shoulder. "Stop that," she told her. "You're already taken."

Kat smiles at her friend and slaps her shoulder as well. "You were staring too!" She teased in a low enough voice as to ensure that the young man could not hear her.

"That doesn't matter 'cause I'm not taken."

"But you're already reserved!"

"Oh whatever!"

Both giggled uncontrollably at Kat's remark. The young man turns around and sees them both, but fixed his eyes on only one of them. Staring at the one wearing a yellow, spaghetti-strap shirt and a pair of blue, wide-legged jeans with a huge black belt, he studies her features. First looking at her thick, curly, black hair, then taking in consideration her dark skin color, and, lastly, studying her face. 'Pretty...' he thought. Not wanting to be caught staring, he turns back around and resumes his drinking.

"But seriously, Tanya," said Kat, stopping the giggles. "Adam is very shy and he's not very experienced with girls. There was even this one time in class when this girl was coming on to him, and he didn't even know it. I mean, come on, the girl was massaging him and everything, and he still didn't get it. She was even blowing onto his ear."

Tanya laughed at the thought of a girl being ignored when so many obvious signs were being sent.

"But the important thing is that I'm very sure that Adam likes you," Kat continued. "Only a moron wouldn't know that. I've seen the way he looks at you and I've never ever seen him look at anyone else like that. Just be patient with him. I don't want you to throw this away just because he's a bit slow at this."

Tanya couldn't help but smile at her friend's factly speech. "Alright, alright," she said, holding up her hands at a surrender gesture. "You've convinced me. But if anyone asks me out on a date, I won't say no. I've been bored for a while and I need a new face in my life."

"O.K. then, but as long as nothing happens on your dates."

"O.K.," Tanya answered, rolling her eyes.

Kat swings a finger at a matter-of-factly gesture. "Promise me that you won't kiss anyone else other than Adam."

"O.K.! I promise," Tanya puts a hand on her heart and held up the other. "These lips of mine shall never touch anyone else's but of those that belong to the Green Asian with a well-built body, knee-shaking eyes, soft curly hair, and the most gorgeous smile."

"Don't forget his cute face expressions," Kat added.

"Hey! He's mine!"

Both girls laughed. At that time, two young men entered the bar. A young Mexican with a wide grin on his face wearing a black leather jacket over a white shirt and black slacks, and a young Asian with thick, black, curly hair at face-length wearing an over-sized, green, flannel shirt over his white tank top and blue jeans.

"Hey you guys!" Kat greeted as Tanya turned around to say the same thing.

"Hey!" Rocky DeSantos greeted as he stood by Kat, and Adam Park stood by Tanya. Both Rocky and Kat smiled at this. "We were just at the mall. You wouldn't believe what happened--"

"I don't think they need to know," interrupted Adam as he glanced down at Tanya with a slight sign of worry on his face.

"Oh come on, I wanna know," Kat playfully whined.

"Give it up, bro. I'm gonna tell them anyway," Rocky smirked at his best friend. Adam only made a face at him in defeat. "Well, anyway, we were sitting down drinking soda when these two girls came up to us. They were all like 'Can we sit with you?' and I was all like 'Sure.'"

His friends laughed as he imitated a girly voice on the dialogue of his story and the exaggerated accent that he portrayed, not to mention his use of face expressions for a better re-enactment.

"Go on, go on," Tanya urged.

"O.K., so anyway, the girls sit with us, right? It was cool and all 'cause they were totally into us. The other girl, the blonde one, even asked if she could sit on Adam's lap!"

"Wow!" Kat exclaimed. "Talk about being forward."

"And desperate," Tanya added, successfully hiding her jealousy. She didn't much like the idea of some other girl being with Adam.

"Yeah, I know," Rocky agreed. "Before they left, they wrote their phone numbers down on our hands. See?" Rocky asked with a big grin on his face, holding out his hand for them to see a girl's name and seven digits written on the back of his hand with black ink.

Both girls leaned over, smiling and fussing over Rocky finally having a girlfriend.

"Come on, buddy," Rocky said, nudging Adam's elbow when the girls finally stopped their staring. "Show 'em yours."

Tanya's face expression suddenly changed. She looked up at Adam at the very same time that he looks down at her, seeing a bit of eagerness in her eyes. Kat elbowed Rocky on the stomach harder than she intended to as they watched the two stare at each other. After recovering from the blow, Kat glared at him and hissed in a whisper, "You couldn't just let it be, could you?" Rocky simply gave her an apologetic look, realizing his mistake.

"Oh, yeah," Adam finally said after a moment of just staring at Tanya, both not hearing Kat's hissing. "I rubbed mine off already."

"What?" Rocky exclaimed, but withdrew his wide eyes when he noticed Kat raising her elbow. "When?"

"Right after she left."

"Dude! She was so hot! Why didn't you just give it to me?"

"Rocky!" Kat exclaimed as everyone started laughing.

Tanya looked at her watch. "You guys, I have to go," she said. "I have to take care of some kids."

"Kids?" Adam asked as she got up.

"Yeah, at Little Angel's Haven. I've had a lot of free time to spare lately so I decided to keep on volunteering after you guys won the money for it. It's a lot of fun. You guys should try it," Tanya explained as she put on the small blue jacket that had been sitting on the counter next to her.

"Aren't you a volunteer too, Kat?" Rocky asked.

"Yeah, but I don't do it as much as Tanya. I'm only there for the activities and stuff." Kat got up and gave her friend a quick hug. "Have fun. And say hi to Justin for us."

"I will," Tanya told her.

"I guess I'll see you around," Adam said, disappointed that he had not seen her all day and now she had to leave. They gave each other a hug and held on for a while. He liked the feel of having her in his arms. It felt warm and comfortable. Tanya felt the same way, not wanting to let go as to the fact that this rarely happens. As they did so, Adam could feel Rocky grinning at him from behind. He made a little note in his head to talk to Rocky about that. Making googley eyes at him whenever he hugs a girl is getting tired after so many years.

"I'll see you later, Adam," Tanya whispered into his ear, starting to let go.

"I'll see you later," Adam whispered back as he did the same when he felt Tanya's arms loosen their grip from around his neck.

Adam walked Tanya out of the Youth Center and came back to his little group of friends at the counter. Once he entered, Rocky started once again with his melo-drama.

"Oh, Adam," he said with his impression of a girl once again, standing up and holding out his arms to Adam. "Hold me, my darling."

Kat leaned over the counter trying hard to keep herself from doubling over. Even Adam couldn't resist laughing.

"Dude, that was sweet," Rocky commented. "Hey! Maybe next time, you'll even peck her on the cheek."

"Shut up, Rocky," Adam said half-heartedly, a bit hurt by Rocky's comment.

Kat just smiled. She didn't want to tell anyone else that she and Tanya had been talking about the some exact thing. That would ruin the whole idea of secrecy between friends. "So, Adam," she started. "What are you getting her for Christmas?"

"I... I don't know yet," Adam blushed.

"I say kiss her," said Rocky. "That would be a great Christmas present! We can set it up so that it'll look like it happened by pure coincidence! You just stand by a mistletoe, and Kat can lead her to you. And then BAM! You'll be smooching by midnight." Rocky explained with enthusiasm.

Both Adam and Kat bursted in laughter.

"Oh come on!" Rocky whined. "It'll totally work! I saw it once on a movie. It's a sure thing!"

"Aw, man," said Adam as the laughter slowly died down. "You watch too much T.V."

"You know, Adam," Kat started. "You'd better make a move. Tanya's not gonna be waiting for you for the rest of her life. Someone else might just sweep her off her feet while you're not looking."

"Someone like me!" said Rocky.

Adam glared at him.

"Oh come on," Rocky teased. "Tanya's a good catch. She's athletic, beautiful, smart, talented, and-- Ooh! --She's got a killer bod!" Rocky put his thumb and forefinger to his chin, and frowns, as if pondering deeply. "Now that I think about it, she fits my description of a perfect girlfriend. You'd better watch it, pal. If you don't do something soon, I might just move in for the take."

"You do that and I'll kill you."

"You kill me and I'll come back as your son!"

The two started laughing once more. All the talk of some other guy taking Tanya reminded Kat of the young man that they were eyeing before. She turns her seat around to look at his table but sees no one.

Tanya walked up to the main desk and asked for her station schedule after the usual greetings. She frowned at the piece of paper when she saw another name next to hers.

"Excuse me, Ms. Pint," she said to the plump-looking woman sitting in front of a computer on the desk. "This must be a mistake. I was supposed to work alone."

She showed her the piece of paper with her schedule on it. Ms. Pint simply smiled and answered, "Well, we have a new volunteer with us and we need him to have a partner until he is comfortable enough working alone."

"Oh," was all Tanya could say.

"Oh, don't be like that, dear. He looks like the kind you could go for," Ms. Pint told her with a wink.

Tanya giggled and turned to walk on to the main hall. "Thanks for the info, Ms. Pint."

She entered the hall expecting to have to work alone for few minutes in knowledge that new volunteers are not famous for coming early on their first week. But it was to her surprise to see a young man sitting on a small chair playing tea party with a group of little girls. His features were nothing less of impressive. He had short, black hair, almond- shaped, black eyes, and a smiled that could compete with those of a toothpaste model's. His well-built body was clearly shown off in his white tank top and blue jeans. Tanya recognized him as the man from the Juice Bar and wondered how he got there. *I guess he left before I did and I didn't notice it.* The young man got up from his seat after noticing that there is another adult in the room and walked towards Tanya.

"Hi," he greeted. "Are you Tanya Sloan?"

"Uh, yes," she answered. "That's me. You must be the new guy."

"Yup, that's me. But I prefer being called Chris."

Tanya smiled at his remark. "How long have you been in here?"

"Not long," he said. "Probably just a couple of minutes before you came. So, Ms. Sloan--"

"Tanya."

"Right, Tanya. So, Tanya, teach me the basics. What must I learn to be capable of taking care of these little tikes?" he asked in a playful sarcastic tone.

"Well," Tanya said, crossing her arms and looking Chris over. "The first thing that you should know is that you shouldn't wear a tank top in here. Some of our girls are already in line for going through the path of puberty. The last thing we need right now is having one of our girls fall for a volunteer."

Chris turned as he heard a few giggles coming from a corner of a table, seeing a group of 10-year-old girls looking over to his direction and whispering. "I'm flattered," he smiled. "Does it apply to girl volunteers as well?" He asked, eyeing the yellow tanktop that she wore underneath her jacket.

"It applies to everyone," answered Tanya. "Come on, I'll start you off with diaper duties."

The small alarm clock on Adam's bedside table read 8:00 PM. Three hours ago, he had walked home with Rocky, leaving Kat at the Youth Center to wait for her boyfriend, Tommy Oliver. Now, Adam lay sprawled on his bed, staring at the ceiling of his bedroom, thinking back to his conversation with Rocky and Kat that day, and had not been able to think of anything else since he came home, especially his conversation with Rocky on the walk home...

"Rocky?" Adam asked, finally breaking the silence as they walked.

"I didn't do it."

"Knock it off, man," Adam told him with a slight sternness in his voice. "It's about Tanya."

Rocky's grin faded at the mention of Tanya's name. "Still not sure what to do for Christmas?"

"No," Adam replied. "I want it to be special, but I don't know what I should give her."

"Well, maybe it's not a matter of what you should give," his best friend told him. "Maybe it's a matter of what you should do."

Adam stopped walking and turned to face Rocky, frowning.

"Well," he continued. "I was serious when I suggested the whole kissing thing. I think you should go for it."

"But," Adam protested, walking once again. "I don't know if she even wants to kiss me."

Rocky rolled his eyes. "Adam, your shell has made you naive! Only an idiot wouldn't see what I've been seeing."

Adam frowned once again but smiled lopsidedly. "Dude, just break it down for me, will ya?"

"Here's the thing. Remember when she first came here?"

"Yeah."

"Remember when we all grew to our normal ages and she skipped about six or seven years of her life?"

"Yeah."

"Remember when she was leaning over the controls, then she turned around to face us."

"How could I forget? I never knew she would have grown up to be so beautiful."

Rocky playfully punched Adam on the shoulder as he started staring at the sky. "Exactly! She was looking at you the same way you were looking at her."

Adam looked down, watching his footsteps. "No, she wasn't," he protested. "If she was, then we would've ended up together. But, instead, she started going out with Shawn. God, I hate him."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Rocky agreed. "He was such a jerk to her. But, besides, it was all your fault why it didn't happen in the first place. You didn't do anything."

"What was I gonna do? Just go up to her and ask her out? I couldn't do that," Adam retorted. "She had just come all the way from Africa, not knowing that her life was gonna turn upside down, and she skipped six years! I don't know about you but that would have been enough to make me freak out."

"But she got over it, didn't she? She started living her life like a normal teenager... well, not really normal, but sorta normal. Even after she started adapting to our lifestyle you still didn't do anything."

"O.K., wait," Adam said, holding up a hand. "We're slipping out of the subject. Why would she want to kiss me again?"

"Because she likes you, you moron!" Rocky told him. "By the way that she looks at you, I would think she's in love with you."

"Don't get my hopes up."

"Huh?" Rocky frowned, taking a few seconds to acquire the newly found information that he had just received. "Wait, you don't mean... you... I mean she... you... You're in love with her, aren't you?"

Adam turned away to hide his blush from his wide-eyed friend. "Yeah, I guess you could put it that way."

"Oh my God!" Rocky said in hysterics. "My best friend is in love! With a girl!"

"Hey, what do you mean by that?" Adam said, facing his friend with yet a red face.

"Just kidding. Aw, man! This is big. I thought you just liked her, but _love_? I think I'm gonna cry."

"Knock it off. We're getting off the subject again."

"Ok, ok," Rocky said, holding both hands up to a surrender. "Anyway, I think she feels the same way. She's always around you and whatnot, and she's always doing stuff for ya. Remember the martial arts competition by the beach? She was there throughout the whole training. Everywhere you went, she was right there at your side. She helped you carry your stuff, she made sure you were focused, she made sandwiches in case you got hungry, and I think she was watching out for Shawn or something. That guy is pretty sleazy. He might have stolen some of your moves."

"Yeah," Adam smiled, remembering just that. "Shawn can be a real creep. Once, when I was on a cliff by the beach and Tanya was on the sand watching me do my exercises, Shawn came over with Veronica. Aw man, at that point I was ready to punch him straight on the gut."

"Right. Other than that, she was at the ring side throughout the whole competition. She was cheering and everything. And she was the loudest when you were declared the champion. She was the first one to run to you and give you a hug too. Aw, man, you should've seen yourself. Your face was red and everything. I never thought that Asians could get that red."

Adam blushed even more.

"And remember when you stayed really late at the library to study on that one Halloween night? Wasn't she there with you 'til the latest hour?"

"Yeah, that was kinda nice, just sitting there with her."

"Uh, yeah, right," Rocky said. "And she's taken a lot of hits for you."

"But that goes for all of you guys."

"OK, you're right on that one. BUT, I've already given you a lot of reasons why I think she likes you. If you still don't believe me, you're at a lost then..."

He wanted so much to make this year's Christmas extra special for Tanya, but he wasn't quite sure how he should do it. Kissing her would be a very good idea and Adam felt very tempted to do it, but it's not as easy as it sounded. Girls had never been his specialty. He lacks experience due to his shyness and had never been able to be in a real relationship with a girl. A kiss just seemed like a large step to take for him. He might not be ready for it.

Rolling over to his side, he saw that his clock now read 8:05 PM. Looking over to a group of framed pictures behind it, he examined all three of them. One was of him, Billy, Rocky, Aisha, Kimberly, Tommy, and Jason. It was taken long ago when they still possessed the Power Coins. He and the other rangers had been at the park that day having a picnic in celebration of having passed their sophomore year of high school, despite the trouble that they had been through on the way. The one on the middle was of him and his best friends, Rocky DeSantos and Aisha Campbell, taken in front of his new house when they first moved to Angel Grove. *Gosh, I miss Aisha*, he thought to himself. *I bet she could give me some advice about this.* And the third picture was of him and the Turbo Rangers with Alpha, taken from inside the Power Chamber.

Beside the three frames, a fourth stood isolated by the clock, right in front of the others. It was of him and Tanya. Their faces looked slightly younger than they were now, Adam still had short hair and Tanya's were straight instead of curled. He was wearing a white gi, and was holding up the trophy. He had an arm around Tanya's waist, who had both of hers wrapped around his, both had big smiles on their faces. Adam stared at it, thinking back to when it had happened. It was back when they still used the powers of the Zeo Crystals. Adam entered a martial arts competition, making it all the way to the finals, and then having to compete against Tanya's ex-boyfriend, Shawn. He had beaten him with flying colors, winning the competition all together. But he hadn't done it because of the trophy; he had done it for Tanya's honor. He hated Shawn for violating Tanya's trust, for hurting her. What made him happy that day was having the satisfaction of finally beating the man that he spent so long getting jealous at because he had what he didn't deserved, and he didn't even appreciate it.

*That's what you get for hurting her*, Adam smirked to no one in particular.

Suddenly, the phone rang, snapping Adam out of his feedback. He got up from his bed and walked over to his study desk where his phone sat.

"Adam?" the voice asked when he picked the phone up.

"Yeah, it's me," he answered, quickly recognizing to voice to be Kat's. "What's up?"

"It's Tanya."

Adam immediately picked up on the seriousness of her tone, mixed with worry. He frowned, his ears snapping at the mention of Tanya's name. "What about Tanya?" he asked, hoping not to hear anything bad.

"I... I think something happened to her."

"ELGAR!" Divatox yelled in frustration. "Where are you?"

"Coming Auntie D!" Elgar responded as he ran to the main deck of the sub, fearing that Divatox might cut off his hand if he does not fulfill her request. He came and stood by the railing to see his beloved aunt standing by the main controls with a young man standing beside her.

"Ah, Elgar," Divatox said, smiling. "I'd like you to meet your cousin from Galaxy 562 of the Eastern Delta Quadrant, Prince of the Galaya clan, Kristol."

Elgar looked his cousin over, slightly envious of what he sees. Kristol looked human from head to toe, a very good-looking human, in fact. He looked well-built, but hid his features well under his silver armor and cloak. "Nice to meet you, Cuz!" Elgar greeted dumbly.

"It is nice to meet you too, Elgar," Kritol greeted back with a smile, taking Elgar aback by his kindness. "So, anyway, Auntie," he continued, turning back to Divatox. "About my suitor--"

"Yeah, yeah," Divatox waved her hand at him. "A human suitor, ya-ta, ya-ta, etceteras and what not. I don't even know why you want to have a human suitor," she continued in her usual sarcastic tone of voice.

Kristol rolled his eyes. "We've been through this before. Human females make better suitors than Xatar females. They look like a mix between a pig and... and... Elgar over there."

"Huh?" Elgar scratched his head.

"Don't hurt your head thinking about it, Elgar," Divatox told him. "Anyway," she continued, facing Kristol. "Where do you wanna start looking?"

"Actually," said Kristol, starting to pace pass a line of pirhanatrons standing guard by the rails. "I've already found someone."

Divatox became ecstatic. "Really?"

"Yes," Kristol answered. "But there is just one tiny problem." He stopped pacing and turned to face his aunt. "She is what you call a-- um-- oh, yes! A Power Ranger."

Oooh! The tension is murder! Anyhoo, what do you think? Please R + R, but take it easy on me. This is my first shot at a PR fic. And remember: Reviews encourage me to type faster.

Next chapter's teaser:

"Are you saying that Divatox might have taken her?"