Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Ranger References: Events from Power Rangers Zeo, Turbo, Space, Wild Force and Dino Thunder are mentioned. I have used Starhawk's name for the Phanton Ranger, Saryn, as I can't think of him any other way since reading her fics! This takes place after the DT Rangers lost their Powers and at the Christmas of the same year. I also figured that Kira would be kinda artistic in some way since she obviously stylises her own clothes. As always with my DT fics, I have paired Tommy with Kat as I believe she's a more logical choice fpr his wifethan Kim. This was inspired more by 'Thunderstruck Part 2' than anything else.

"Our lives may be back to normal but they'll never be the same again" – Dr Thomas Oliver, 'Thunderstruck Part 2'.

A QUIET CHRISTMAS

It would have to be onChristmas Eve, when he was driving Kira and Ethan to Dr O's, that his car refused to start. Conner gritted his teeth and turned the key in the ignition again. A splutter and then nothing. It was the fourth time it'd done that.

"C'mon man, we might as well walk," complained Ethan from the back seat where he was tapping something into his laptop.

"On the icy road? I don't want to break an ankle the night before Christmas," retorted Kira.

"Come on baby, you can do it," murmured Conner, leaning down towards the dashboard and blotting out his best friends' banter. "Just gotta start, we need you to start ok? It's Christmas."

Then he realised there was silence in the car and he chanced a look up to find Kira staring down at him amused from the passenger seat.

"Are you talking to your car Conner?" she asked, nudging the bag of presents at her feet.

"Yes," he answered as though it was the most natural thing in the world. "It helps her start if you're nice to her."

"That's totally ridiculous," snorted Ethan. "Talking to a car does not make it start."

"Tori told me that when she, Shane and Dustin sing her van starts quicker," said Kira thoughtfully.

Softly she began singing; Conner thought he recognised it as one of the songs she sang at the Cyberspace. He turned the key once moreand to his surprise, he heard the engine judder and slowly begin to purr.

"Keep singing Kira! Its working," he ordered as he settled back into his seat.

"Coincidence," muttered Ethan going back to his laptop.

"Whatever, we'll be there soon," retorted Conner as he pulled out of the Kira's driveway at last and Kira's voice got progressively louder.

They were still arguing about the merits of singing to start car engines when they knocked on Dr O's door and it took them a while to notice the door had opened. Kira was the first one to realise that Kat was stood in the doorway with a very amused look on her face.

"Oh hi Kat! Sorry, we had some car trouble and I sang to start it again," she said matter-of-factly, stepping forward to give the pretty blonde a warm hug.

"You sing? I always found that humming worked for my car," Kat replied, leading the way into the house.

Conner grinned and heard Ethan mutter under his breath behind him. Kat led them into the living area which was tastefully decorated with beautiful green and red Christmas decorations. A large decorated Christmas tree was planted in one corner with a neat pile of wrapped presents beneath it and cards covered every available surface.

"Wow so this is what it looks like without Dr O's science work everywhere," remarked Ethan as he took a seat on the couch and dropped his bag of presents down on the floor.

"I managed to convince him to leave it all down in the Dino Cave," laughed Kat. "Which is where he is now, I'll just call him up."

She brought a silver communication to her lips.

"Tommy, the kids are here."

"Got it. I'll be up in a second."

"I can't believe you use that old communicator, why can't Dr O make you one like ours?" asked Kira, holding up her own bracelet, now without a yellow Dino Gem in it.

"Since this one still works, we got a friend to change the frequency," replied Kat with an affectionate tap to her communicator. "All the old team's connected so we can always be contact if we need to be."

There was a loud scrapping noise and then the wall in the hall slid back to reveal Dr O. For once, he wasn't holding any papers and looked oddly casual in black jeans and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. The shirt was unbuttoned enough to reveal that the tee underneath was dark green. As the wall slid back into place, he walked into the lounge with a welcoming smile.

"Hey guys, merry Christmas," he offered, slipping an arm around his wife and kissing her forehead briefly. "Where's Trent?"

"He'll be here really soon. He had to help Hayley with a shift when Jenny cancelled," supplied Kira brightly. "He doesn't want us to exchange gifts till he's here."

"That's fine by us, do you guys want a drink?" asked Kat hospitably.

After collecting the drink orders, Kat exited to the large homely kitchen next door. Conner glanced around the room.

"You've got a lot of cards here Dr O," he commented.

"Oh yeah I guess we have. A few are from family but most of them are from former Rangers," Dr O admitted. "Christmas cards are one way to show we remember each other."

"Wow how many Ranger teams are there here?" asked Kira her eyes wide as she took in the amount of cards festooning the room.

"Not every Ranger team," corrected Dr O with a smile. "But quite a few complete teams plus the others I met through missions I've been on."

"You're wearing three of your colours," commented Ethan. "No red though."

"It's hard to fit red in with the colour scheme," laughed Dr O as Kat entered with full glasses. "Just trying to work out how many Ranger cards we have this year."

"It is confusing," admitted Kat as she sat down. "For any ordinary Ranger there's a few names to keep in contact with besides your own team but for Tommy, there's a lot to remember. Especially since he organised that Red Ranger mission to the moon a few years ago."

"Man I wish I'd been around for that," sighed Conner.

"So does Shane," added Ethan with a grin.

There was a knock at the door which Dr O got up to answer. Kat smiled at the others.

"Ok so what are you all planning to do after you've done your finals and graduated?" she asked, sipping from her glass.

"MIT," answered Ethan immediately. "I'm gonna to change the world computer-wise. There's so much untapped territory and I intend to explore it first."

"Is that with or without hacking?" asked Kira innocently.

Ethan fixed her with an angry look but there was a twinkle in his eyes. It was true that a lot of his time was spent testing online security systems but even Ethan knew he couldn't hack exams.

"Well I don't know where I'm going," declared Kira with a wistful look on her face. "Its got to be a place that inspires me and its gotta be friendly and casual but somewhere I can find people to jam with, maybe even write songs or form a band with. I want to expand and explore my music but I have no idea where and I don't know where to start looking. It's driving Mom insane."

"I'm sure there's somewhere out there like that for you Kira," assured Kat. "I didn't go back to ballet until I'd been a student teacher for years while Tommy was into motor racing. Then we both changed our careers – he went back to school to get his PHD and I went to England to study ballet. We ended up in places professionally and personally we never thought we'd be when we were in high school."

"I know what I want to do. I'm going to play soccer professionally," announced Conner confidently. "I'll get scouted by colleges and pick the best one and then go on from there."

"No back-up plan in case anything happens?" asked Ethan curiously.

"Its what I've always wanted to do," replied Conner with a shrug.

There was a silence as they thought about the three different destinies they dreamed of and then Tommy and Trent appeared through the door.

"What's with the silence?" asked Trent.

"Just talking about what we're planning to do after finals," replied Kira, patting the place next to her for Trent to sit down.

"I was telling them about my journey to ballet," added Kat as she got to her feet. "Drink Trent?"

"Sure, whatever's on tap."

When Kat twirled around in a graceful circle on her way to the kitchen, Kira realised she was wearing ballet slippers which matched her soft pink sweater. Everything about Kat was graceful and pretty. It had to be something to do with the Pink Ranger powers Kira had decided. From what she'd heard, Kat's predecessor Kimberly was a championship gymnast and her successor Cassie had been a musician at some point with professional aspirations. Kira shook her head suddenly. Two Pink Rangers with completely different destinies. Kimberly had gone on to have a normal life, married a non-Ranger and become a gymnastics coach while Cassie had eventually decided to continue travelling the galaxies alongside her lover the Phantom Ranger and was perfectly happy living on a planet called Elisia far away from Earth. Kira had met both former Pink Rangers on several occasions and instantly liked them both.

"Dr O, I need to use the transmitter tonight. Is that ok?" asked Kira suddenly, a thought flashing into her head.

"Sure, who'd you need to call up?"

"Cassie. I promised her I'd talk to her to arrange a trip to see her and Saryn on Elisia sometime during Christmas break," explained Kira happily. "She said she remembers what it's like trying to work out where to go and since she's a musician too, I figured she's the best person to talk to."

"That's fine, remind me after we've exchanged gifts."

"Remind you about what?" Kat wanted to know as she re-entered the room and handed Trent his drink.

"Kira wants to contact Cassie tonight. Cassie's invited her to Elisia during Christmas break to help her work out her future," replied Dr O.

"I think that's an excellent idea," beamed Kat. "You two are so alike, such free spirits. I know Cassie'll help you work things out."

Kira smiled and settled back into the couch next to Trent. She'd met Cassie a few times and had instantly struck up a friendship with the pretty Asian young woman. They'd kept in contact through Dr O's transmitter equipment he kept in the Dino Cave since so many of his friends lived on other planets. Maybe talking to Cassie would help her figure out some kind of direction and if not direction then some kind of peace that not knowing wasn't a bad thing.

"Now Trent's here, can we exchange gifts?" called Conner impatiently. "I told Mom I'd be back sometime around midnight and I kinda feel like I should keep to curfew on Christmas Eve."

"Conner's growing a conscience?" joked Trent lightly.

"It's taken him over three years," confided Kira with a laugh.

"We can exchange gifts now," stated Kat, going over to the Christmas tree to find the appropriate presents.

"So Trent, we were talking about what we want to do after the finals. What about you?" asked Kira.

"Art school. Dad's approved it," Trent replied, his happiness evident in his voice and he even looked like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. More than all of them, the Ranger Powers had been a great burden for Trent. "I'll head there in the Fall and explore what I can do but ultimately, I want to draw comic books, maybe even a Ranger one."

"See dude, that's ambition," commented Ethan. "Comics are a great art form and I know you'd do us justice."

"Ambition is a great thing to have," agreed Dr O. "It can change too. When I was your age, I wanted to compete in karate professionally then motor racing came along and I got good at that. It's all Kat's fault I got into teaching."

"I refuse to take the blame," retorted his wife over her shoulder as she continued to scrabble for presents under their tree.

"I'm just saying that what we think we want can change rapidly, especially if you've been a Ranger. It can open up so many different possibilities to you," continued Dr O. "I'm glad I'm a teacher now because I really enjoy it but if you'd told me in high school that I was destined to be a science teacher, I'd have laughed at you."

Whatever Conner was going to say in return was cut off by Kat's triumphant cry at retrieving the final present which had gotten lodged under a branch. She quickly straightened out and passed the presents out to each of the Ranger team which she and Tommy had chosen and she had carefully wrapped. The team in return pulled their own wrapped gifts out of pockets, pouches and bags and quickly distributed them to each person in the room. There was a comfortable moment of silence with the only noise being ripped paper and then exclamations of surprise and delight filled the room. It took a while for everything to settle down.

"Man, I can't believe you had these made," exclaimed Conner as he fastened the simple black cord necklace round his neck.

From it hung a flat polished red gem. Each of the teens had one in their own Ranger colour. Kat smiled, clutching the spa-treatment vouchers the teens had clubbed together to buy her. The card that came with it claimed that she needed some time to relax now that she'd stopped touring with the ballet company. They were probably right.

"We wanted something for you to keep with you," explained the former Pink Ranger. "Since your gems are now in the museum, we figured you'd want some connection to them and to your Powers."

"They're great," confirmed Trent, aiding Kira in clasped her own necklace while his own almost clear gem sparkled on his white patterned tee.

Ethan was silent, carefully checking out the back of the computer game pack Conner had bought him while Conner leaned over his shoulder pointing things out. The former Red Ranger held a simple button-down shirt in his hands which Kira had uniquely styled with his name on the back in silver and patterned with soccer balls and motifs down the sleeves. She'd given a shirt to each of them, having gained inspiration one night when she was cutting up and modifying one of her own tops. Each one was the right colour and styled appropriately. Trent was shrugging his shoulders into his own white one.

"This is so good Kira. Maybe you should go into fashion design," he joked, admiring the quills and pencils which flowed down his sleeves.

"And have everyone looking like me? I don't think so," retorted Kira. "I was a little short on money this year so I thought I'd make something instead."

"I think we had the same idea."

Trent had given everyone a drawing of themselves in their Ranger costumes, carefully coloured with a small personal note at the bottom of each one. Tommy's paper was divided into four with four figures each in a different Ranger costume while Kat's held three figures.

"You've really got all the details down beautifully," Kat commended him. "Thank you so much."

"I had Dustin's help," replied Trent modestly. "He's the one to go to for all things Ranger."

"Hey, we all up for the New Years Eve party at Blue Bay Harbour?" asked Ethan, looking up from his game at the mention of one of the former Ninja Storm Rangers.

"You bet. Tori says we can go watch Dustin and Blake's motorcross meet the next day. There's plenty of room at the Wind Ninja Academy for us," supplied Kira. "Are you gonna come Kat?"

"No, Tommy and I are going to visit Jason and Emily for New Years and then move on to see Zack and Angela," Kat informed them with a smile.

"It's a whole Ranger theme," laughed Ethan.

"Dude, did you seriously expect anything else?" pointed out Conner, pulling on the customised shirt. "Nice work Kira."

"Thanks. It took a while to get your's just right," answered Kira pleased. "I can't believe you guys bought me some studio time, I don't want to know how much it cost you."

"You really don't," agreed Conner ruefully. "Anyone have the time?"

"Just after 11.30," replied Dr O, checking the clock on the wall. "If you want to get home for midnight, you'll have to leave soon Conner."

"I know," sighed the former Red Ranger. "You'd think I'd stop having a curfew now but apparently not until I finish high school."

"Mom wants me home too for some family time," moaned Kira. "I think she worries about how much time I spend with you guys. I told her you were my family once and she nearly threw me out. Apparently you really can't choose your family."

"I hear that," muttered Ethan. "Parents never understand."

Kat smiled at the teens fondly. They really were like a family to her and Tommy, the children they were yet to have and she couldn't think of better people the Gems could have chosen. The Power really did know what it was doing when it made its seemingly randomdubious choices of Rangers. It hadn't let them down yet. She couldn't wait to see what happened in these four peoples' lives. She wondered if it'd be as unpredictable as her former Ranger friends. Like Aisha who had implemented animal medical centres throughout Africa or Rocky and Jason who'd opened the Red Dragon Dojo together. Like Billy who'd fallen in love with an alien and lived with her on her planet Aquitar, helping to develop their technology from its already advanced status and protect it from invadersor Andros and Ashley who lived on KO-35 with Zhane and Karone, far away from the planet Ashleyhad beenborn on. The Power changed lives.

"Dr O, I'm gonna go use your transmitter," announced Kira getting to her feet impatiently. "Is it all set up?"

"Everything's ready," confirmed Dr O. "You've just got to change the frequency from Mirinoi to Elisia."

"Got it."

"Geez Conner just go!" groaned Ethan as he watched his friend fidget and Kira make the wall slide back. "Trent's brought his car; he can give us a ride home right?"

"I don't mind," agreed Trent amicably, lifting his head from checking out the drawing equipment Ethan had bought him.

"Ok, I'm going. Sorry I've got to cut it short Dr O," sighed Conner, getting to his feet.

"No problems Conner, I'll see you soon."

Kat walked him to the door and the others came running when Conner yelled.

"Wow, check it out!"

Outside, snow was falling and giving the world a fresh white appearance. It all looked pure again, now that Mesogog was gone and Anton Mercer was able to live, maybe it could be. Kat smirked to herself. It never was for too long. Conner opened his mouth, tilting his head upwards to taste the falling flakes as Ethan with a mischievous look on his face crept up on his former leader to tackle him to the frosted ground. Everything was definitely back to the relative state of normality that Reefside was used to. Maybe now, they could all enjoy Christmas.