I'm Home
Summary – Trini's parents hit her with the bombshell that she is to have an arranged marriage; too bad her husband-to-be hits her.
Trini Kwan was having an amazing day.
But the funny thing was, it really was just ordinary. She got up in the morning and went through her normal routine; doing a set of her tai chi mediations then breaking into practicing her praying mantis kung fu style for a few hours. One hour each. She had to get up early for that. Then she had breakfast, a Vietnamese delicacy of Pho, which was also her favorite Vietnamese dish that her parents could make. Especially as they made it from scratch nearly every day and she never got tired of it.
Then she brushed her teeth and took a long shower, long only because of how long her hair was and how time consuming it was to adequately wash it. Then she'd dry it and wrap it up in a towel while she carefully put on her makeup. Then she'd take the time to pick out her clothes. That was the part that took the longest; not because she had too much to choose from, that was the understatement of the year. She had plenty of yellow in her wardrobe that she could switch around with whites, yellows, and grays and it wasn't a big deal. No, the hardest part was deciding what to wear for her parents.
Both were from Vietnam and both were very conservative. Even though they'd lived in other cities of California before ultimately settling in on Angel Grove, it was hard for them to completely get into the culture that America had to bring. Everyone around wasn't as conservative, being more open and liberal with their way of speaking and dress. There were many times that Trini was a few steps out of the door before her mother was sending her back inside to change.
At first Trini did it without question. She didn't want to upset her parents in any way. Afterwards, she continued to dress the way she wanted…after changing at school. Long sleeved shirts and pants were slowly but surely changed into crop tops and other low-cut tops, sleeveless shirts, and shorts, when she felt like it. Of course, Kimberly was one of the ones who taught her how to dress until Trini eventually figured out the way she truly wanted to be seen. On her own terms.
And it had thrown her parents for a loop. Trini remembered they had spoken sternly to her about it. But as time went on they stepped back and let her dress for herself, letting her make her own decisions. It was enough of a chance that every day when Trini dressed herself she kept her parents in mind. She wanted to make her own decisions, not to completely alienate her parents. (Also, why she decided to speak almost completely in Vietnamese to her parents when she was home). And, yes, figuring out how much yellow she could work into her wardrobe before having to go back to the store to get some more was a bit of an issue.
The normal went along smoothly.
Then she went to school, after getting picked up by Jason Lee Scott, her oldest friend and, honestly, the one she was probably the closest to out of her friends. For a variety of reasons, really, not just because he was the first leader of the Power Rangers and helped her realize her full potential to be a hero for the citizens of Angel Grove. For a lot of reasons; they were both the quietest of their group of friends, they both enjoyed the studies of martial arts and meditation and how it continued to make their bodies stronger, they were both pacifists preferring to finish things peacefully before going into the physicality of things, and they both tended to go to each other for guidance when needed.
Once arriving at school, she and Jason immediately met up with the rest of their friends as they did every morning. Tommy Oliver, the new kid who had taken over as the leader of the power rangers and did it with as much grace and dignity that Jason had before, Kimberly Hart, the aptly named heart of the team who had the most compassion for everyone around them, Zack Taylor, the fun-loving always dancing guy who was good for a laugh and a smile, Billy Cranston, the brain of the group who continued to surprise her with his smarts and understanding of science, math, and engineering as he continued to create and develop their power ranger weapons and zords all the while continuing to slowly allow himself to open up to people the same way, and Avalon Mitchell, the new kid from Australia whose powerful moves as a ranger was equally as powerful in her personality and quick wit with her protection of her friends and family.
Bulk and Skull showed up at some point to taunt them a little as well as to give their update on their quest to figure out who the power rangers were. Of course. they teased them about it a little, it was actually a little fun to see how close they were to having their identities revealed to those around them. If Trini were completely honest, she thought some of their teachers and parents might have some idea of it. They couldn't ignore the bruises, bumps, and scrapes from their training and fighting against the putties and monsters that were sent down every day. There had even been a few points where they ended up falling asleep in class, to which they gave lame excuses in response.
The rest of the day continued to move normally as well; she went from class to class, receiving good grades from test and papers handed back and enjoying the news things they were taught. Then going to her numerous club and association meetings—of late being the Mentor Committee that worked hard to help other students in the school have someone to talk to and help—and, like clockwork, there was a ranger battle they all had to go to.
One minute she was talking about a fundraising venture they were going to be going on, the next she was in the park, facing down the putties that swarmed around her and her friends doing whatever it was that Rita and Zedd had sent upon them that time. And like all the other fights they moved the same way; fighting the putties pre-morphed, then Goldar and the monster of the day would come up, forcing them to morph to fight. Then the monster would grow and they'd have to call upon their zords, take the monster down, and get a last-minute pep talk from Zordon before going back to do things all over again.
Done and done.
Same old, same old.
And days like that were always amazing for Trini because she had something to smile about. Something to look forward to, even if ranger duties held things up a little bit. She was always smiling.
That day had been just like the others.
Jason had dropped her off at her house after the latest ranger battle so she could get some homework done. She was smiling as much as she did every other day, it growing wider and wider as she went up the steps to her house. Seeing her mother and father, relaying her day to them and hearing about their day as well was something they had started when she was very young. It was a good way for them to continue to get to know each other as people rather than as parent and child.
And she held that smile on her face as she went through the front door, the tale of her day on her lips—minus the rangeing of course.
But Trini's smile immediately faded, her day immediately crumbled to disappointment when she stepped through the door and heard her mother say the words, "Trini, great news! We found you a husband!"
A/N: I was originally going to do Kim's story next, but I got really into Trini's head with Powerless and loved it so I started up with this one. I hope you enjoy it just as much. I will also be finishing up In Too Deep, which will then be re-written as Billy's story under the Powerless series.
~Av