Jagged Edges

By: Armitage Blade

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Power Rangers. Besides, who would hold it against a character for the actions of his actor? *Sigh* I am so glad that I have learned of tolerance.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Jagged Edges is one of two prequels to A Piece of the Puzzle, a Power Rangers/Harry Potter Crossover. Jagged Edges covers the Power Rangers side of the prequels. I hope I am able to do justice to this half of the prequel. If you're truly interested in finding out what happens on the Harry Potter side, look for Missing Pieces, coming soon.

So Hard to Let Go

It was ironic that on such a dreary occasion, the day would be so gorgeous. The sun was shining, its beams caressing the dark, lush grass that created the manicured lawns. The light breeze was rustling through the leaves of the dogwood trees, situated in a grove nearby. The only real 'disfigurement' was the group of mourners on the manicured lawns, surrounding a casket and a hole in the earth.

There were five people-four young men and a young woman-standing in a tight grouping. All five of them were wearing darker colored clothes, but what made them remarkable was the fact that each had a signature color accenting their clothes. The young woman had a light pink shirt on under the suit jacket she was wearing. The man who was holding an arm around her shoulders had a green and white tie. The other three men weren't too far away, and they were each distinguished by the color of their ties: a dark charcoal gray, a deep red, and a midnight blue. All five were holding yellow roses, the final pops of color to their group.

Each of the five was wearing sunglasses to protect not only against the sun, but also to hide the bloodshot eyes they had since they had heard the news of their friend's death. It didn't hide the crystalline tears that tracked down their faces, the only outward grief they were able to show. Their backgrounds had forced them to adopt a stoic mask in the face of danger, grief, and pain. It was the only way they felt they could stay strong together until it was time for them to go and fall apart.

The pastor's voice finally penetrated through the silence. "Brothers and sisters, we have gathered here to commend our sister Trini to the caring hands of the Lord, so that he may continue to take care of her soul as she moves on to heaven. Trini, who was so cruelly taken from us, was a light in this life, someone who was known for standing up for what she believed was right.."

The graveside ceremony dragged on for what seemed like ages, but in reality was only fifteen minutes, before the mourners were able to line up to leave flowers atop the casket before the casket was finally laid to rest. Many people lined up for this final honor, and the five waited until after the line had mostly wound down before joining it.

It did not take long for the woman to get to the front of the line, and as she laid her rose down upon the bed of others, she whispered, "I'll miss you so much Trini. Keep an eye out for us, especially Billy. Lord knows he'll need it to heal and move on."

The man with the green and white tie was right behind the woman. He laid his rose down, whispering, "I hope Zordon is taking good care of you already, Trini. Rest well, and may the power protect you."

The man in the charcoal gray tie went next, laying his rose down and whispering, "Go with grace, Trini. We will miss you all, especially Jason and Billy. They'll miss you the most."

The man in the dark red tie followed. Laying his rose down, he also whispered, "Trini, you were the other little sister I never had. I know that the others have probably asked this of you, but please keep watch over Billy, would you? He fell hard for you, and I'm afraid of what could happen next."

The final man, with the midnight blue tie, laid his rose down to join the others. He whispered, "I'm sorry that I never had the guts to say what I needed to until it was too late. I love you so much, Trini, and my biggest regret is not that you will not be able to hear me say it, but that you will never be able to say it to me."

As he walked away to join the other four, the mourners swore they heard the cries of several different animals, but the most remarkable was the heart-breaking howl of a mourning wolf.

The five did not stay for very long, only long enough to talk to Trini's family and give their sympathies. Each one could feel not only his or her own mask beginning to break, but the others' masks beginning to break as well. Their grief needed a more private venue to be unleashed.

On an unspoken agreement, they all started to head to the man in red's home, where the grief could be unleashed in a safer environment. At least, safer for the five of them. When they arrived, they changed out of the dark clothes and into clothes of their signature colors. They headed outside, where a bonfire pit was located.

The men built a bonfire, and they sat around, telling stories of their fallen friend. For, unknown to most everyone at the actual funeral ceremony, there was more to Trini Kwan than they ever knew.

She was a best friend, an unrequited love, a peace-keeper. She was a translator, a martial artist, and a diplomat. She was a soldier of Fate, one who was destined to become a warrior against evils that humankind would never have imagined. She was the standard-bearer for all those who would wear the color yellow after her, be they male or female. Trini Kwan was the original Yellow Power Ranger, one of Zordon's own, and the world was now poorer for it. Not, of course, that they knew that fact.

It took a few hours, but finally the man in red pulled out a few bottles of whiskey and six plastic cups. He poured a measure of alcohol into each cup, and handed the cups out via the color-coding that only they seemed to understand. The yellow cup, with alcohol sitting in it, was left on the table. The man in red raised his cup first.

"To Trini, the best friend and other little sister I never had. We will miss you so much."

The woman joined her cup in lift, saying, "Trini, I was so glad to have you on my team, watching my back against everything we faced. Not only that, you were my best friend, the one I could rely on for anything. It will be so odd to not have you there now."

The man in black also raised his cup, saying, "Trini, my dance partner, we had so much fun growing up. I'll never be able to forget the times we had."

The man in a white shirt only now brought his cup up, saying "Trini, you did the color yellow proud."

Finally, the man in blue lifted his cup and said, "Trini, you were the one person who got me on a level that no one has until now. I'll be hard-pressed to ever find someone who gets me like you have."

They all drank, noting the toast as their own way to properly send off one of their own.

Drinking and more stories followed, until it was left to only two of the men left. The other two men and the woman had gone to bed, leaving the man in red and the man in blue to their own devices by the dying bonfire. The man in red finally looked at the man in blue; the shadows from the fire making the grief seem all-consuming.

"What now, Billy?" The man in red asked. "I know you loved her. Hell, we all did."

Billy blushed, but it wasn't quite obvious in the firelight. "It really was that obvious?"

The man in red smiled sadly. "Yeah, bro. It was. I know that every one of us-Kim, Tommy, Zack, and myself-have in some way asked Trini to keep an eye on you. I'm really afraid that this has really messed with you."

Billy stared into the fire. "Jase, you know as well as I that the only person who ever understood me at that most fundamental level was Trini. Even back when we were kids, she got it. And now, I feel like I've lost that anchor, and I have no clue where I will end up.

"It was so hard to go to Aquitar, Jason, and leave Earth. I just wanted to come home so that I could have my chance with her. I was planning on asking her out when she finally made it to see me." Billy finally had to stand and pace. The pain was beginning to roll back in on him. "I never got that chance! I've busted my ass-we all have!-and what do we get as reward? All we got were fractured lives, fractured souls. And, for me, the knowledge that I'll never have what I wanted!"

Jason stretched his hand out and caught Billy's wrist. "Bro, have you thought about it? Why we were chosen in the first place?"

"At this point, Jase, I really don't give a damn."

Jason's eyebrows rose. Billy rarely cussed, and to hear him drop that was akin to him screaming "FUCK" at the top of his lungs.

"Billy, we were chosen because Zordon knew that we could handle it. Granted, we're having a hard time with some of the unintended side effects of being the first generation of power holders, but look at it this way: she will always be looking out for you."

Billy looked at him. "I didn't want it like this!"

Jason looked at Billy. "Bill, I know. Like I said, it was pretty obvious that you love her. I'm not saying loved, because it hurts too much to think otherwise."

Billy started pacing again. He couldn't sit down anymore. "I just can't believe that this is fair. We were Zordon's first. Why take her?"

Jason sat back and watched Billy pace. It was obvious after a few minutes that while Billy was absolutely distraught, part of him was more reserved and stoic about this blow to his life. When Billy passed in front of his chair yet again, Jason grabbed his wrist.

"Bill, what does Amadeus say about this?" Jason looked Billy in the eye as he asked this question.

"What?" Billy asked, the distraught energy draining away as what Jason asked registered.

"You heard me. I have a reason for you to stand back and think about this from a different perspective." Jason said. He watched as Billy fell back into his chair and fell into a meditative trance. It took several minutes for Billy to come out of it. However, when Billy spoke, Jason wasn't immediately sure if he was relieved or nervous.

"We're not sure, Jase." Billy said, the concern and puzzlement warring on his face. "The potential was there, and it is possible that after a time, we could have grown to love each other to the point of it being a soul mate bond. However, he is adamant that my true soul mate is still out there. I'm not so sure."

Jason had no idea on how to answer his friend. Kim, Tommy, and Billy all had an inner animal to be their "devil's advocate", so to speak. Trini, Zack, and he had all had to rely on themselves for the same information. For a Ranger and his inner animal to be in disagreement over anything, let alone the idea of whether or not someone was the Ranger's mate, was highly unusual. They had learned this over the years, and all six Rangers knew to ask the inner animals if something was amiss.

"Bill, let's think about this." Jason said, scrubbing a hand over his face. "Amadeus and you can't agree as to whether or not Trini was the one for you. Amadeus would be the foremost expert on your mate, right?"

Billy simply shrugged. Jason caught this and glared at him.

"You know that I'm right on this. He's got a more primal nature than you do. So, take his advice and go look for your true mate. You never know where your true mate is at. For all you know, you could bump into her in the hallway in college."

Billy laughed. "Yeah, right. I know I'm a geek, Jason. I may look like I'm some sort of model, but I'm a total geek. For a girl to "get me", she'd have to deal with the fact that I've got more brains than anyone she knows. I just don't see it happening."

Jason smiled. "You just never know."

The two friends continued to talk about other things, including Billy filling Jason in on the last Ranger team he was consultant on.

"You're serious? They took off for space?" Jason said, incredulous.

"Well, all except the Blue Ranger. He was only twelve at the time. He was smart enough to realize it probably wasn't a good idea to take off like that."

"Why is it you Blue Rangers always seem to be the logical ones of the group?"

"Then what was Rocky?" Billy shot back, knowing that Rocky was also a Blue Ranger at one time.

"Got me there." Jason replied. "I felt bad for Adam, having to be the logical one in the face of that."

They had fallen silent at that point, just thinking back to the Originals, and how lucky they had been to be such great friends. They had heard about the current team, who had been banded together by mission details, and not just chosen for their ability to handle the powers. That seemed unnatural to them, to have your teammates picked for you, with no knowledge of who they are.

After a while, Jason brought up the topic. "I never got an answer to my first question Billy. What now?"

Billy stared off into the fire. He wasn't quite sure how to answer the question. "I take it one day at a time. Eventually, I'll be able to see a new future for myself. Right now, it hurts too much to look to the future beyond a couple of months.

"I definitely want to head off to college, and with Trini's death, I'm going to look into places a bit further away from Angel Grove. I was considering just staying here and going to one of the local colleges, but after this, I can't stay here. I'm afraid it will be too much."

"Do what you need to. Just make sure you reach out to us and let us know how you are doing. You've got your biological family, sure, but you also have us-Kim, Tommy, Zack, and me. We all care too. We don't want you to fall into a pit of despair that we can't get you out of."

Billy gave a soft smile. "Thanks. You have no idea how much it means to me to have that support."

"That's what we do. No one else understands the Power like we do, only because we have the most intimate link to it. We have the links to the Morphing Grid that the others can only dream of." Jason said. "It's something we need to look into further, but I believe that we've had enough of the powers in our systems that we could probably access our original powers, and you three could access your ninjetti powers."

"Interesting hypothesis, Jason. Not one I want to really look into at this point, but perhaps a couple years down the road, we could look into it."

"It's alright Billy. Just wanted you to know what I had come up with. Maybe in a year or so, we will revisit it."

"I can live with that."

They fell into more general conversation after that. Jason could see that, by forcing Billy to face his feelings and Amadeus, the pain was beginning to leech out of one of his oldest friends. As they continued to relax, Jason had the feeling that everything would turn out okay.

Finally, Jason noticed that Billy was beginning to fall asleep, and decided to move them both into the beds waiting for them in the house. He stood up, feeling the kinks in his back. Stretching them out, he walked over to Billy and shook his shoulder.

"Billy, wake up bro. Time to head in so that we can get some sleep in real beds." Jason said.

"Alright." Billy said in a half-yawn. He got out of the chair and headed up to "his" room for the rest of the night.

Jason stayed behind for a little while longer, making sure the fire was out. When it was, noticing the starry skies, looked up and said, "Trini, I hope you're here, listening to us, because Billy really needs your guidance, and healing. I think that eventually, he will move on from your death. I think he needs a real kick in the ass from you to start the ball rolling, though. Please, Trini, as your older brother, I ask this: don't wait too long to deliver that kick in the ass."

With a sigh, Jason stirred the ashes one more time, making sure the fire was truly out. He needed the sleep as well, as he could feel the past few days weighing on him. As he walked in the house and locked the doors, he never noticed a new star popping into life in the star-filled darkness of the sky.