Redemption

by Super Silverizer

Although she's helped save countless lives, the never ending guilt for what she's done in her past is something Karone can't get rid of. This the story of her journey to redeem herself.

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers. I guess me and Disney are on the same level then.

A/N: This is my first try at Fanfic so I hope it's decent. This is just a kindof prologue chapter since its mainly flashbacks. I tried to make it really in depth so it's a bit lengthy. Hope you enjoy.

Redemption: Chapter 1

She awoke with a start, sitting up as quickly as possible. The dreams she was having were nothing but flashes from the dark past that she was trying to escape from. The dream reminded her of her past, a past that was marred by regret and sorrow. As she sat up trying to get her thoughts together many repressed memories came flooding back to her.

As hard as she tried, she could not manage to get the image out of her head of an emotionless face of a woman with pale skin, shoulder length ruby red hair, and strange cybernetic parts covering part of her face staring at her with an icy glare; a face that she knew all too well. She could not get the image of a mirror that held the reflection of that evil woman, a reflection that stared her in the eyes as she gazed at the mirror. As the image of the reflection flashed in her head, she immediately jumped to her feet and ran to the mirror on the opposite side of the small grey room to see if she really looked like the pale, red haired woman. She breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at her own natural features. The girl was gorgeous. Her skin was flawless. She had light green eyes, blonde hair that ran past her shoulders and shimmered in light like a star in the night, and, even though she didn't show it at the time, she had a smile that could light up an entire galaxy when it was shown, although lately it hadn't shown that much. Though she was young, around 20 or 21, her face showed wisdom and experience well beyond her years, as though she had experienced trials in her lifetime that most people couldn't imagine being put through.

Though she felt relieved that she was the beautiful young girl and not the evil looking red haired one, she couldn't help but have a feeling that she didn't deserve such blinding beauty, the reason being that at one time she had not been the beautiful girl in the mirror that returned her gaze at this point in time; at one time she had indeed been the emotionless red haired woman. As the evil woman she was one of the most feared beings in the entire universe. As that woman she had brought an end to countless lives. She had done unimaginable things to see her own selfish goals accomplished. She had wrecked homes, torn families apart, and destroyed lives. Entire civilizations crumbled beneath her iron fist. Entire planets feared her name.

Though it seemed like a lifetime ago, she would never fully forgive herself for the heinous atrocities that she had committed. The girl called Karone knew that the red haired woman was a part of her and would always be a part of her. Though she was no longer the tyrant named Astronema, Astronema would always be a part of her.

Although she had once been a mighty conqueror, with more power, wealth, and influence than any single person could want, it had only taken the love of one person to turn her away from her evil ways. She had been fighting for years, thinking she had everything figured out, thinking that the battle lines were clear cut and easily distinguishable. Then one day the mighty princess' world came crashing down around her.

*Flashback*

"Your Karone…my sister." Said the long haired red Power Ranger.

With the utterance of those words, the once proclaimed Princess of Darkness began down a path that strained every moral she had been taught since she could remember; a path that saw a complete change in the dark princess; a path that transformed her icy cold, black heart into a beacon of light that shone brightly across the universe. All along the person that she had despised more than anything in existence, the person that she had been exhausting every resource in her arsenal to annihilate, had in fact been the one person that she longed to know and love more than anything. She had been fighting for the wrong side all along, and all of a sudden the clear cut lines of allegiance blurred to the point that she no longer knew the person who she looked at in the mirror anymore. Her greatest enemy had become her greatest ally. It was then that she realized that she could no longer fight for the side of evil.

Granted that there were complications in that fact that the evildoers that she was once aligned with didn't take to kindly to her change of heart. While trying to perform an acted of heroism, she was taken from her long lost brother and her new friends and brainwashed back into becoming the one thing that she had fought so hard to put behind her. The light that was shining so brightly within her was now blocked by wires, computer chips, and metal plates. The light had been covered and without the light to shine out of her, the evil woman named Astronema once again assumed control of her body.

With Karone a prisoner in her own body, and Astronema now in complete control, all hope seemed lost. There was only one that never lost faith. There was only one that truly believed that the light that he had broken through and found was still in there somewhere, trapped behind an emotionless icy glare, wires, and circuitry, but not extinguished. He had been searching for her for years and he had finally succeeded in finding his lost sister, and he never once faltered when he knew it was his sister and not just Astronema he was fighting against. Through it all he persevered, and finally he once again succeeded in breaking through and finding the light that was Karone again.

*End Flashback*

She looked down in her right hand and noticed that she was holding the locket containing the pictures of herself and her brother. Without that locket, then there would never have been a Karone. Without the locket, she would've never known who she truly was. Without the locket then she would have been nothing more than Astronema. With it her brother was able to show her that underneath the hard outer core, and ice covering her heart was a warmth that had been missing from her life for so long.

"Andros," Karone whispered as she fought back tears, hating herself for wanting to cry. Although she was no longer evil, certain traits had been ingrained in her so deep that they were just a part of her, such as her disallowance of herself to show emotions that showed weakness if it was at all possible to stop it. Though the light inside was shining, sometimes the tough outer shell that would always be a part of her made the light difficult for others to see. She missed her brother so much, an emotion that although she had been dealing with for a while, was still relatively new to her. The only time she showed any signs of weakness were when she was alone in her solitude, and even then she never allowed herself to cry.

It had been so long since she had seen Andros. It was because of him that she was no longer something that she was never meant to be. Without Andros then she would never have had the opportunities to do good in the universe that she had had. She began to remember the time that she had lived with Andros and his fellow ranger friends; a life that had begun rough but had become one of the diamonds of her life.

*Flashback*

At the beginning the others wanted to live on Earth. They soon found it extremely difficult with the entire world knowing their identities as power rangers, and Karone's past as Astronema, which led to many threats and she found that outside of Angel Grove, where the people had seen her transformation and were more friendly and trusting of her, though still not fully trusting, outside of the town she was possibly the most hated person on the planet. If she were Astronema she would've just destroyed them and not have to worried about it, but now that she was Karone something that came with being good was remorse for the actions that she had committed and restraint against less than friendly people. When she would go out they would shout things to her and make threats to her something that the others didn't take to well to but she found that she deserved. After a while it became unbearable to actually live on the planet with the media knocking on the door every hour of every day, so the others decided to take the Megaship into orbit and live aboard it and teleport down to the planet whenever they needed, making it easier on them all. Karone didn't leave the Megaship often, trying to avoid all the threats and insults that each time she heard cut her deeper and deeper. She didn't understand why she couldn't be angry at them and just vaporize them with her magic, maybe it was a result of Zordon's blast: making her have a much shorter temper, but she knew that wasn't the case. It was because the people had finally worn her down and she believed the words of the people.

She also refused to use her magic now. Her advanced capabilities and expertise with magic had been one of the most recognizable traits as Astronema as well as one of her greatest advantages in battle. Now that she was no longer evil she refused to perform something that was so tied to her alter-ego that she was trying so hard to put behind her. Of course she could still perform it, but it was something that reminded her of her past and that was something she trying to put behind her.

When she had lived with the rangers it had been a difficult road in the beginning. She started off not knowing how to act around them, wondering if they really trusted her or if they were just enduring her for Andros' sake. They acted genuinely nice to her when she interacted with them, but her time on the Dark Fortress had made it difficult for her to trust people quickly. After a while she got used to life aboard the ship, and that's when she would sometimes get into arguments with the others because she was not yet used to not always getting her way and not used to not being able to bully others into getting her way. With time she became more reasonable and able to see things from the others perspective, a result she thought was from finally having positive influence in her life. The ones who she truly knew cared about her were Andros and Zhane. Zhane…who unbelievably still acted with that same caring for her that he had shown the day that he rescued her and showed her, her now favorite treat, toasted marshmallows. Even though she hadn't seen him in such a long time either, she still got butterflies in her stomach every time she thought of him.

*End Flashback*

After the thoughts of Zhane and the longing for his comforting hugs faded, she returned to her flashback of her time since she began life post-Astronema.

*Flashback*

Eventually she began to warm up to the others. She had made the decision to try as hard as she could to be their friends, but it seemed to her like every time she would do something right, she would do something wrong. Although TJ, Carlos, Ashley, and Cassie were always as nice as can be to her, she always felt as though in the back of their minds they didn't trust her, possibly she was just being paranoid, but she really thought they were wary of her behind their seeming genuine smiles and for good reason she thought as she had tried for almost a year to destroy them. She thought that maybe she was just being paranoid, but she didn't understand how they could just trust her as easily as it seemed they did. Then one day she overheard a conversation between the four that showed her that they really did care for her.

Walking down the hallway to get something to drink, Karone heard her name mentioned from the engine room, so she employed her extensive stealth training while sneaking over to the door, leaned against the wall, and began listening to the conversation. She quickly deduced that it was TJ, Cassie, Carlos, and Ashley who were having the conversation.

"Sometimes I wonder if Karone even remembers that she was Astronema," said Cassie.

"Yeah, I mean at first I was skeptical because I mean she did try to kill us for the longest time, but now she's one of the nicest people I know," said Ashley.

"I guess the blast from Zordon really did a number on her," said TJ.

"Well before she was kidnapped on the Dark Fortress you could tell that she really had changed, and I trusted her then" said Ashley.

"Yeah but then you could still tell that she was Astronema, especially until we gave her new clothes, I guess I was just getting used to having our enemy living with us but now it's like Astronema never existed," said Carlos.

"I don't know about that," said Cassie. "Sometimes you can tell that she wants to bully her way around, and she starts to, but then she'll catch herself and then gets a look guilty look on her face. You can tell that she doesn't want to be that person anymore. She's trying to change."

In my book, she doing a pretty good job of it," said Carlos.

"I've seen that look, she has that look a lot more than just when she slips up; you can tell she's really sorry for what she's done," said TJ. "Has any of you tried ever really talking to her, I mean it's been almost 3 months and I honestly can't remember a time that I've tried to really sit down and talk to her about HER. Anytime I've really talked to her, it's been her helping me out. She acts like she's trying to prove herself or something."

"Same with me…" said Carlos. "Since you put it that way, I feel pretty bad."

"I think that's what she needs to really get comfortable here. She needs us to show her that we really do care about her," Said Cassie.

"But how?" asked Carlos.

"I've tried talking to her a few times but I don't think she likes talking about her time as Astronema. I could tell how badly she feels for what she's done, and she's trying to put it behind her," said Ashley.

Well if you ask me, she's done more than enough to be forgiven. I trust her," said TJ.

They all muttered in agreement

"We need to do something for her that will show her that we want her here and are happy that she is," said Cassie.

"Like a party?" asked Carlos.

"I like that idea," said Cassie. "We could have it on the bridge."

"Yeah, I'll go tell Andros!" said Ashley.

"We better tell Zhane too, I know he'll want to be right in the middle of this," said TJ

"Ashley have you seen the way Zhane looks at her? You would think he worshipped her or something," said Cassie.

"Yes! She looks at him the same way, it's so cute!" said Ashley.

"Alright, alright I'm gettin out of here on that note. You coming Carlos, or are you gonna stay here and join in the girl talk?" asked TJ.

"No way man, I'm with you. Get me out of here," said Carlos.

Realizing that the others were approaching her, Karone quickly made her way back to her room so that she could think.

That was the first time that she had ever cried and been happy at the same time. She had no idea how the two emotions could come at the same time.

The party was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her. The bridge was decorated and Alpha had made a cake the read "Thank You Karone." After that day the others seemed to be trying just as hard as she was to get to know one another. TJ took her out and taught her how to play baseball one day; it turns out that she was a natural athlete. Carlos taught her soccer and showed her a delicious American food called a cheeseburger. Cassie and Ashley took her clothes shopping, which she found was one of her new favorite things to do. She always liked putting on makeup and stuff on the Dark Fortress, but that was mainly for the "Astronema" look and the only clothes she ever wore were her leather jumpsuits; the only thing that ever really had variety was her hair.

Now that she knew the others truly liked her and trusted her she really felt happy for the first time in her life. Her best friend remained Andros though, even though the others were becoming like family to her also. Karone remembered the times that she would make a visit to Andros' room late at night because the guilt was consuming her while she was alone in her bed. He was always willing to let her in and talk to her, acting as though he had just won the lottery instead of being woken from a dead sleep. His stories of their parents always seemed to calm her down and she always wanted to know more about them, never quite knowing enough. Though they had been unable to find them, she couldn't help but be hopeful that they were out there the same way that she was once hopeful that her brother was still alive.

Karone had found a connection to Andros that she knew she was unable to have with anyone else. Maybe it was because his picture had helped keep a small part of good inside her when there was nothing but evil in her life. Maybe it was because she knew that after she had been kidnapped, he did not stop searching until he found her 12 years later. Maybe it was because when he finally found out that his sister was the one who had been trying to destroy him, he accepted her with open arms, throwing out all battle lines, even though she felt like she didn't deserve his forgiveness. Or maybe it was just because he was her own flesh and blood; she didn't know the reason but she wasn't complaining that she had someone like that.

Her relationship with Zhane was one that was completely different from the rest. She had found herself completely infatuated with him as she had when he had rescued her from her own monster. He seemed to return this admiration back as well, never quite showing the shy emotion that Ashley had told her that Andros had had when they had just began to date. Zhane would take her out to dinner and movies often, constantly making her laugh until her sides hurt. He was completely different from Andros, making jokes out of everything and seeing the bright side of things, never being the serious person that Andros was. Karone was blissfully inexperienced when it came to this sort of thing, as her training didn't include a relationship portion, but Cassie and Ashley had begun helping her after the party in this category, poking fun at Zhane for not kissing her yet. According to Cassie, though he never showed shyness around her, Zhane was apparently shy. The girls told her that she had to be the aggressor and that's what she did, being the one to kiss him instead. Their relationship continued to boom and they continued to get closer and closer.

Her life was as happy when she was around the people that she had come to love, but the instant that she was alone the ache of guilt set in on her. It was a more unbearable pain than any physical pain she had been put through. While being trained by Ecliptor she had learned to push pain to the back of her head, but this was a different type of pain, and one that she couldn't push away no matter how hard she tried. Maybe it was because she didn't have Ecliptor here to help. Without his mentoring she felt like for the first time she was truly on her own, and she didn't like that feeling. "It was so unfair!" she thought. How was it that those detestable creatures like Rita and Divatox had been purified by Zordon's blast but an honorable warrior who had shown caring and compassion like Ecliptor was vaporized by the blast? She missed him so much but over time she had taught herself to remember the positives, such as his teachings. It seemed to help her a bit but still didn't make the guilt go away. She had made a makeshift grave in a secret spot when they had visited KO-35. She would go with Andros or Zhane every time they would return to their home world just to visit the sight.

Every night she would fight with everything she had to keep the tears away, knowing that countless lives had been lost because of her. She knew that somewhere there was a girl just like her, searching for her brother, but she would never find him because of the terrible crusades she had led. She finally decided that she had to make reparations for what she had done.

The never ending guilt for what she had committed as Astronema was an everlasting punishment for her crimes. She didn't stay much longer with the Space Rangers, as the guilt continued to eat at her until she couldn't take it anymore. She left without saying a word, knowing that it would be too difficult to say goodbye to the brother that shined like a second sun in Karone's world, the blonde goofball that she had fallen in love with, and the once enemies that had become her best friends that she had come to trust with everything.

First she visited Ecliptor's grave on KO-35, asking him to give her strength. She roamed the universe for a long time helping out where needed. She helped bring smugglers to justice, stop evil revolutions, and thwart tyrannical regimes; although it never quite seemed like enough and it only seemed to the put a band aid on the wound that was the guilt for a very short period, never seeming to help in the healing process much. When she left the space rangers, she learned that there was a hefty price on the life of a girl named Karone; she found out quickly that she was the Karone being hunted, and she was frequently attacked by bounty hunters. Her training helped her easily silence any bounty hunter that came calling and she didn't think much of it as she continued on her quest to do good in the universe. It wasn't until she learned of a new team of Power Rangers and their search for one of the legendary Quasar Sabers of planet Mirinoi that she saw an opportunity to finally make a difference.

Donning the attire of Astronema one last time, she made a daring attempt to retrieve the lost saber. She found that she hadn't lost her touch during her time away from her evil ways and was disgusted with herself that she sort of enjoyed making the auctioneer of the sword look like a fool as she claimed the prize from him. Although the evil Trakeena nearly thwarted her escape, she managed to make it out with the saber and return it to the rangers. Trakeena tracked her down along with the rangers and she began battling with Trakeena. She had to admit that she always preferred fighting with her staff and boomerang and that she wasn't as polished with a sword, even if it was a Quasar Saber. She was dispatched by Trakeena but with the help of the former pink ranger she persevered. Though her efforts were thwarted, she eventually managed to gain control of the saber and with it came a gift that she would've never thought herself worthy of. With control of the pink Quasar Saber, Karone became the pink Lost Galaxy Power Ranger with the blessing of the former holder of the weapon, Kendrix Morgan.

During her time as a ranger, Karone found the guilt to be much more bearable as she was truly making a difference every day. She was disappointed that she had just missed Andros and the others visiting the colony but was also relieved as well because she wasn't sure if she could face them yet. She hoped that they would be proud of her for becoming a ranger and finally doing well.

Once Leo had his powers drained from him and she helped him regain them. They journeyed to a planet where, as Astronema, she had frozen a mighty warrior in stone who held keys that had the ability to restore Leo's powers and beyond. In order to gain access to the warrior she had to defeat her former self in a battle. The Astronema mirage gained the upper hand by threatening to end Leo's life. Karone quickly offered herself up without hesitation, defeating the mirage.

The sight of the warrior was too much for her to bear as the remorse inside her rose up once again and even with her resistance against them, she couldn't control her tears. Somehow, her apology freed the mighty warrior and he not only restored the red ranger's powers, but he also forgave Karone for what she had done; something she will always remember as one of the greatest triumphs of her life after Astronema. Karone fought many battles as the pink ranger and became a hero of the space colony Terra Venture, and she was beginning to think that she was finally putting Astronema behind her.

Karone remembered her time on Terra Venture as the happiest period of her life. She found it a lot easier to relax and be a normal person when not battling monsters. Her fellow rangers took her in and acted as if she never was an evildoer, even though many of them were there the day that she attacked their home planet. She was a much happier person, finding enjoyment playing with the children of the colony and found that she herself was nothing more than a big kid herself trying to make up for the childhood that she had lost. She even found it easier to keep her attitude in check, which she had thought had been an old remnant of her days as the Princess of Darkness. Leo had even asked her how such a nice person had ever been a villain. That had taken her aback, because on her time aboard the Megaship she felt like her old habits had resurfaced.

Even though she longed for the fighting to be over for the sake of the citizens of Terra Venture, she hoped that the happiness that she had found with her new group of friends and the people that she now protected would remain for a very long time. And deep down she enjoyed the fighting, as she had been trained most of her life for battle. But as she had come to find out, all good things must come to an end.

With the defeat of Trakeena, and the colony's landing on the planet of Mirinoi, the time had come for Karone to relinquish her powers. When she and her fellow rangers placed the Quasar Sabers back into the stone, it released the curse placed on the people of Mirinoi and brought back the original pink Lost Galaxy ranger, Kendrix. She had finally made a difference in the universe; it was what she had set out to do in the beginning.

*End Flashback*

As she continued to stare into the mirror the beautiful girl squeezed the locket harder, closed her eyes, and continued in her flashback.

*Flashback*

Paradise on Mirinoi didn't last long for Karone. During the day, along with the other rangers and the people of Mirinoi, she helped the Earthlings that came on Terra Venture build a city for the people of the colony. During her nights she found herself missing her brother, her love, and all of her friends. She hadn't spoken to them in so long and she wondered if they even remembered her. She hadn't worn her locket since she had joined Leo's team, fearing that in the fighting it would be lost, so she slept with it under her pillow every night. Since they had arrived on Mirinoi, Karone had been missing her Astro-family more and more. To help remember them and especially her brother Andros, who was by far the most important person in the universe to her, she began wearing her locket again.

One day another bounty hunter came to Mirinoi looking to collect the bounty still placed on her. Only it turned out that it was no bounty hunter. It was actually a young alien boy, probably a couple of years younger than Karone. He had lost his entire family to the attacking forces of evil while she was the Queen of Evil after the destruction of Dark Specter. News had spread that the former Princess of Darkness had become a power ranger and was living on Mirinoi and so the boy decided to come and see for himself. He blamed her for the death of his family and wanted revenge.

If it had been any regular bounty hunter then she would have dispatched the trouble without a second thought, but the fact that it was a boy that had turned down a dark path and been dealt the pain of losing his family because of her actions that stopped her from fighting the young vengeance seeker. His words struck her like no physical blow could. Karone just stood there in shock and lost in her own thoughts as the boy drew his blaster and prepared to end the life of the person he blamed for the death of his family.

What happened next Karone didn't really remember that well. All she remembered was that one second she was standing face to face with a boy who's life she had ruined, and the next thing she remembered was snapping out of her trance and seeing Mike restraining the boy while Leo and Damon were sprinting to her and asking her if she was alright.

After that ordeal, Karone wasn't really the same person that she was while with the colony. She had been a happier person and hadn't really felt guilty or thought about her past that much since the warrior had forgiven her; thinking that her past was finally behind her, but ever since the young boy had told her his tragedy, she couldn't get the his words out of her head and thinking about how many more people are out there without families because of what she had done. It was then that she came to the conclusion that she would never be able to fully make up for what she had done as Astronema, but she had to make it her mission to make up for it as much as she could.

Lying in her bed one sleepless night she made her decision to once again leave the people she cared about and she knew cared about her. She didn't understand why she felt that she needed to leave her other family when what she had secretly wished for as Astronema was a family that cared about her. She rose out of bed and quickly packed a bag of necessities and headed for the door. She decided to visit the young boy while he was being held in the cell somewhere in the finished part of the city.

As she entered the chamber the boy looked up and gazed at her with pure hatred.

"I know you don't want to hear what I have to say…" said Karone.

"Your right I don't!" interjected the boy.

"…but I just want to say that I'm…so sorry for what I have done to you," Karone finished.

"You're sorry? Sorry won't bring my mother back. Sorry won't bring my father back. Sorry won't bring my sister back. You don't deserve to get off as easily as you have. You cost me my family. Because of you my life is ruined. My planet is in a depression because of the destruction you caused, I can't go back because it's impossible to make a living on it now. So if you're looking for me to just forgive you like that you're mistaken. I will NEVER forgive you. You don't deserve it." Spat the boy.

Tears filled Karone's eyes as she dropped her head and tried to find her next words. "I know that I don't…deserve your forgiveness…I…I'm not trying to gain it, because I know that I've done things that can never be forgiven…but…I just want you to know that I am…truly sorry for what I've done in my past and I'm trying to make up for it as much as possible…I know that there's nothing I could do to make up for what I've done to you and I deserve every bit of what you want to do to me…"

Your right…you do," muttered the boy. "I hate you so much…"

Karone's head dropped further as her tears were beginning to form a small puddle near her ankles. "I just wanted you to know that I…truly am sorry for what I've done. I will leave you alone now…you won't have to worry about seeing me again…"

Karone turned and began to walk away. As she was walking through the doorway she heard the sobs of the young boy. The tears flowed harder and harder from her eyes as she made her way quietly to the small space craft that she had chosen to make her exit from Mirinoi in.

The tears didn't stop flowing until she was far away from Mirinoi drifting in deep space. As she set the ships AI to monitor the area, she suddenly found it extremely difficult to keep her wet eyes open. She decided to get a few hours of sleep and figure out her next plans in the morning. She walked to the bedroom of the small craft and found it to be a simple little room with only a bed with a blanket and pillow and a chair and desk with a mirror mounted on the desk up against a grey wall. It suited her well. She wouldn't be in here long, just long enough to get a couple hours of sleep and then it was back to work.

*End Flashback*

Karone stared into the mirror while clutching her most prized possession. It had been about two years since the battle that raged throughout the universe between good and evil; and about two years since she had been freed from her cybernetic prison within her own body. So much had happened in the last two years, and she knew that she had accomplished so much. She didn't understand though why she still felt like she hadn't done anything.

The boy's words still stung her as they echoed in her head. She was determined more than ever to make a difference, even though she thought it would never be enough to make up for everything she had done.

She slipped the locket back around her neck, stood, and began to walk to the bridge, beginning to plan her next move.

The only plan that she could come up with would be to go to the bar on planet Onix and gain some information and move from there. She had been out of the loop for the most part while helping on Mirinoi and in order to plan her next move she would need the scoop on what's going on in the universe. She set a course for Onix and sat back in the chair and caught one last glimpse of the stars she had always admired as the ship's warp drive kicked in. The ship quickly sped off toward the planet and the next part of her never ending road to redemption.