Not Here
By SparklyTreee3876
Rating: PG-13/R
Genre: Romance/Family
Pairings: Andros/Ashley, Zhane/Karone, TJ/Cassie, Adam/Tanya, Rocky/Aisha, Tommy/Kat, Jason/Emily, Zack/Trini, Leo/Kendrix, Mike/Maya, and Kai/OC
Summary: Hi, readers. I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Here is my gift to you in the form of a new Power Rangers fic. It is AU set a year after "Countdown to Destruction." This places the year in 1999. This follows only the first six seasons of Power Rangers. I got the idea for the fic when I was watching "Fifteen and Pregnant" starring Kirsten Dunst as a fifteen-year-old girl who becomes pregnant in the midst of her parents' estrangement from each other. I started to wonder what would happen if a Ranger couple had to deal with a teen pregnancy during their senior year of high school. As a result, this fic was born. I will warn everyone ahead of time that this fic will contain sexual content. Some of it may be intense. If you're uncomfortable with that, then I suggest you don't read it when the chapters containing it are posted. Otherwise, you may read at your own risk. I hope you enjoy this fic. Constructive criticism is welcome.
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Chapter 1: Early Afternoon Class
The early afternoon sun beamed its rays on Angel Grove High School in late October. Trees dipped and swayed in the wind, their leaves rustling loudly. A northern mockingbird flew through the sky. Another one joined it and chirped to it. Its companion responded to it with chirps of its own. They decided to head downward.
A year had passed since the Astro Rangers managed to foil Dark Specter's assault on the universe. Unfortunately, many planets suffered much damage, which took a while to clean up. Tommy, Kim, Jason, Zack, Trini, Billy, Rocky, Adam, Aisha, Kat, Tanya, and Justin learned of Zordon's death when they felt his energy wave pass through them. They returned to the destroyed Power Chamber and paid their respects to him along with Andros, Ashley, TJ, Cassie, Carlos, Zhane, and Karone. Many Earth civilians figured out the identities of past Rangers. They were impressed with how ordinary humans came to defend their world and countless others from evil forces. They came to respect them greatly. A planet exchange program was started not long after the battle, where Earth civilians traded places with those from other worlds to experience each other's cultures.
The mockingbirds flew to a second-floor window and landed on the windowsill. They looked inside to see fifty-seven-year-old Rueben Williams writing on his classroom's whiteboard with his red marker. Being Caucasian, he was somewhat tan. He was tall and had short, straight dark brown hair with a few light gray streaks in it. His eyes were light blue, and he was somewhat muscular. His face had few wrinkles. His large classroom had twenty-four desks arranged in six rows of four each. Three desks were empty. On top of his desk sat CDs, cassette tapes, and a boom box with cassette and CD players built into it.
Andros wrote down his teacher's notes. He mumbled inaudible words. He sat at the first desk in the first row. Ashley was seated behind him. She jotted down a few words. Andros stopped writing and looked over at Karone, who was at the first desk of the second row. Karone erased a word she had written and put down another. So did Zhane, who was in the desk behind her.
Andros shifted his attention back to his notes and resumed writing. He, Zhane, and Karone adjusted to permanent life on Earth with the help of TJ, Cassie, Carlos, and Ashley, especially when it came to attending high school as juniors in October 1998. When Justin returned to town, he pitched in as well. Ashley suggested that Andros and Karone take the last name of Parker and Zhane to have Hardy for his to signify they were Earth citizens. He and his sister went to live with TJ and his parents, Ricky and Diane. Zhane moved in with Carlos and his parents, Roger and Marie.
Andros and Ashley continued their romantic relationship. They made occasional trips to KO-35 along with Zhane and Karone. Karone became best friends with Ashley and Cassie. They hung out often. Ashley and Cassie took her to the Angel Grove Zoo for the first time three weeks after their return to Earth. She was very fascinated by the animals, especially tigers, lions, leopards, and cheetahs because she had never seen them before. When she learned a membership provided free admission, she signed up for one. She visited the zoo almost every weekend. She spent most of her time at the tiger exhibit, as it was her favorite place. During this time, Andros started to display overprotective behavior toward her. This irritated her a great deal. She felt she could take care of herself and didn't want him telling her what she could and couldn't do. She avoided arguing with him as much as she could. Zhane and Ashley became aware of the overprotectiveness and tried to reason with him, but they didn't get anywhere.
Karone started to express interest in working with the tigers. She confided in Ashley about becoming a tiger trainer in April 1999. Ashley encouraged her to go for it. When Andros found out, he voiced his opposition to it. He didn't want Karone doing it because of animals attacking their trainers. His sister finally lost her temper with him over his overprotectiveness. Ashley sided with her. She and Andros got into a huge argument, which led to them breaking up.
Zhane gave Andros a stern lecture when he saw Karone upset. Andros apologized to her and Ashley. He and his girlfriend reunited. Zhane and Karone started dating a month after Andros and Ashley's reconciliation. The couples went on double dates from time to time. Andros and Zhane decided they wanted to attend Angel Grove University to get teaching degrees. Ashley set her heart on getting one in designing.
Rueben finished writing on the whiteboard. He laid his marker down and headed over to his desk. The students watched him place a tape into the tape player and turn it on. Enya's Book of Days began playing. He walked to the front of his desk and sat on it. He crossed his right ankle over his left. Andros, Ashley, Zhane, Karone, and most other students were fascinated by the music and singing. The rest didn't seem to be the least bit interested.
"Focus on Enya's voice as this song plays. How do you perceive it?" Rueben asked.
"I find it very harmonious," Andros answered.
"Me too. It has a very neat vibe to it. I can feel my skin becoming covered in goosebumps," Ashley said, touching her arm.
Rueben smiled lightly. "My skin gets that way too when I listen to music like this, Ashley."
Ashley became surprised. "Really?"
"Sure. It also gives me a tingly feeling inside. It's like it enters my body and calms me down when I feel stressed," Rueben responded.
"Cool," Zhane said, emitting a small chuckle.
"Well, I'm not fond of this song at all, Mr. Williams. In fact, I've never found Enya to be the least bit interesting," a male voice said annoyingly.
Everyone looked toward eighteen-year-old Brian Lawson, who was seated in the first seat of the fourth row. As a Caucasian, Brian looked rather pale. He was as tall as Zhane was, though he wasn't as muscular. His hair was black and short with a shagginess to it. His eyes were dark green.
"That's fine, Brian. Nobody is going to force you to like Enya," Rueben said quietly.
"Good," Brian replied.
"How can Brian say Enya isn't interesting?" Ashley asked, leaning close to Andros. "She's a great singer and musician."
"Don't worry about him. He'll like whatever kind of New Age music he wants," Andros whispered, glancing over his shoulder at her.
Ashley sighed heavily. "I know, but—"
"Is there something you and Andros want to share with the rest of the class, Ashley?" Rueben asked curiously. The couple looked at him.
"No, sir," Ashley replied while shaking her head.
"Good," Rueben commented and exhaled slowly. "Please, don't do that again." He turned off the tape player and took out the tape. He put it in its case before laying it on the desk. "Vocals are an important part of New Age music. They can be performed with or without lyrics."
"Mr. Williams?" Karone asked, raising her hand.
Rueben pointed his finger at his student. "Yes, Karone."
"I know this doesn't have anything to do with New Age, but I own The Land Before Time soundtrack. There is singing on all of the tracks, but they don't have lyrics with the exception of If We Hold on Together," Karone said, lowering her hand. "It's quite beautiful."
"It sure is. I own the movie itself," Rueben said, smiling lightly. "When I watch it, I always focus on the music. I listen to the vocals repeatedly. They bring a sense of atmosphere to the scenes they are heard in." He sighed contently.
"That movie is for little kids. It's so stupid," Brian grumbled.
"It's not stupid, Brian," Karone retorted, looking toward him. "It's a wonderful movie with incredible music."
"That's easy to say coming from a girl. Girls always cry at movies like Bambi and Pinocchio," Brian leered, glaring at her.
"Okay. I admit I do cry at those movies but not most of the others I've seen," Karone growled.
Brian laughed sarcastically as he put his hands behind his head. "Sure, you don't."
"All right, that's enough," Rueben warned.
Brian and Karone looked ahead and held up their hands in surrender. They laid them on their desks. Some students snickered, but Rueben shushed them.
"Vocalizing can be heard in many New Age tracks. Sometimes, no music is heard in the background at all," Rueben said.
"That's interesting," Zhane said.
"Yes, it is. Vocal music is the oldest form of human music. It does not require any sound other than the human voice. All musical cultures have some form of vocal music, including solfege," Rueben explained.
"I've read up on solfege. It uses a vocalized musical scale and assigns syllables to each note," Ashley commented.
"That's right, Ashley. Among the syllables is Do-Re-Mi. Many musicians use that to measure someone's vocal range. A variety of similar tools can be found in traditional Indian music," Rueben pointed out.
"Wow," Zhane whispered in awe.
"Elaborate untexted vocal improvisation was and still is an important element in Turkish and Middle Eastern music traditions. Such music existed prior to the thirteenth century and the First Crusade into Palestine and the city of Jerusalem, possibly even before the year 900," Rueben added. He stood up and went to the whiteboard. He picked up his marker to write on it. "We don't know much about vocalizing. It's not even known when humans first started vocalizing."
"Why did early humans find any need to vocalize? It doesn't make sense," Brian commented.
Rueben faced his class, seriousness showing in his eyes. "Maybe they decided they needed to tell the history of their people through song, Brian. They didn't want future generations to forget about them." He cleared his throat.
"Native Americans told the history of their people through song all the time. They still do," Ashley added. "So do other indigenous peoples."
"That's right, Ashley," Rueben said with pride.
Brian scoffed. "Teacher's pet."
"You're the one who belongs on a leash, Brian," Andros said, looking toward him.
"I do not," Brian yelled and became irritated at the class breaking into a fit of laughter.
"The other students seem to think so because they're laughing," Zhane said, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Which of us should walk you?" Andros quipped. The other students laughed a little louder.
"All right. Cut it out," Rueben called. The class became quiet as he turned back to the whiteboard and resumed writing on it. He spoke inaudible words as the students wrote down his notes.
00000
Forty-five-year-old Lenny Wyatt walked around his first-floor classroom. He was Asian and had tanned skin. He was tall with a muscular frame, and his face had no wrinkles. His hair was black, straight, and short. His hazel eyes had freckles underneath them. His large classroom had fifteen tables arranged in five rows with three in each of them. Two of the tables were empty, and the rest had two students sitting at each of them with the exception of three. Paint and water cups sat in front of the students.
Lenny put his hands behind his back as he walked behind his students in the last row. Each student looked at him and received a nod of approval from him as he examined their paintings and spoke about them. He made his way toward Justin and Cassie, who sat at the second table in the fourth row. He glanced at their paintings in which the former's was a leopard and the latter's a tiger. He nodded in approval and smiled at them.
"Your paintings are looking good so far, you two," Lenny said.
"Thanks, Mr. Wyatt," Justin and Cassie responded.
Lenny gave his students a nod. "You're welcome."
"If there's one thing I love about art, it's that people can unleash their creativity with it," Justin said with pride.
"I agree. Some paintings are unusual. Have you ever seen Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase?" Lenny asked curiously.
"Yes, I have, sir," Justin commented, a big smile crossing his face.
"So have I. It doesn't look anything like a person," Cassie added.
Justin scratched his neck. "I've heard that it was scandalous at the time it was painted."
"Oh, yes," Lenny agreed. "Nudity was seen as terrible in the 1910s. People believed it should be covered up." He rolled his eyes.
"That's crazy," Cassie grumbled with an irritated scoff. "The nude form is beautiful. That can clearly be seen in Michelangelo's David."
"Imagine if someone was offended by the statue because it showed you-know-what and tried to put pants on it," Justin said, trying to suppress a snicker.
"Now, that is really crazy," Lenny responded. "Anyway, keep up the good work, you two."
Justin watched Lenny walk away. He and his father, Doug, moved to San Francisco for his job in October 1997. He ended up skipping his sophomore year and started his junior year while there. They returned to Angel Grove in January 1999, as Doug wanted him to graduate with his friends. Doug also wanted to retire in the city he grew up in.
After turning fourteen on July 5, Justin started to go through puberty. He grew taller and became muscular. His voice began to squeak a lot in preparation for deepening. He decided he wanted to go to Angel Grove University and get a biology degree. As for TJ, Cassie, and Carlos, they were unsure of what degrees they wanted to get. In fact, Cassie wasn't even sure if she wanted to go to college or pursue a music career.
Justin ran his hand over his buzz cut. He took slow yet even breaths before putting it on the table. He dipped his paintbrush in dark yellow paint. He proceeded to run it lightly across the paper. Cassie glanced at the leopard's ears. She appeared to be mesmerized by them.
"I really like how the leopard's ears are pinned against its skull," she commented.
"That's always been my favorite thing about the leopard. It looks so fierce with its ears like that," he explained.
"The leopard is the smallest of the big cats, but it packs quite a punch," Cassie said in warmness.
"Not to mention it can drag its prey up into a tree," Justin pointed out.
Cassie touched her jaw. "You'd have to have powerful jaw muscles in order to do that."
Justin swallowed hard. "No kidding."
"Yep," Cassie replied and got more orange paint. She dabbed it across the paper. Justin gazed at the tiger's tail.
"I really like how that tiger is holding its tail high," Justin commented and chuckled lightly.
"I've always liked seeing tigers with their tails that way. It makes them look so majestic," Cassie explained.
He showed much awe. "It's incredible how the largest tigers can weigh over eight hundred pounds."
She laughed quietly. "I know. They pack a lot of muscle. They can hunt animals much larger than they are."
"Tigers are also known for being man-eaters," a female voice said snobbishly.
Justin and Cassie peered over their shoulders at seventeen-year-old Bianca Leung. Bianca was Asian and was quite pale. She was petite, and her face had so many pimples that someone could connect them to each other and create a picture on it. Her long, straight black hair was up in a ponytail, and her eyes were hazel. She waved her paintbrush in the air as if she were painting a mustache on Cassie.
"I say you'd look good with a mustache, Cassie," Bianca sneered and acted as if she were spitting in the girl's face.
Cassie didn't look the least bit amused. "I could say the same for you."
"You just had to open your big mouth as usual," Justin growled irritatingly.
Bianca smirked at him. "Hey, it's my best asset."
"You need to watch that mouth. No one wants to hear bad words coming out of it," Justin warned.
"Who cares if I say bad words? I'm not hurting anyone," Bianca leered.
"It's more than likely you'd be hurting your friends if you said bad words," a male voice said.
Bianca hissed in irritation and glanced at TJ and Carlos, who sat at the third table in the fifth row. Both boys furrowed their brows.
"You just had to interfere in my conversation with those two, didn't you, TJ?" Bianca asked, pointing her paintbrush at Justin and Cassie.
"Hey, you interfered with Justin and Cassie's conversation first," TJ replied with serious expression on his face.
"It's kind of hypocritical for you to fuss at TJ for interrupting you when you did the same thing to our friends," Carlos added.
"Who cares? I don't have friends because I don't want them. In this world, you need to be looking out for number one," Bianca said, touching her arm.
"Being selfish is the worst thing you can be, Bianca. It will get you nowhere in life," Carlos pointed out.
TJ pointed his paintbrush at Bianca. "Carlos is right. Growing old and alone will be no one's fault but yours."
Bianca waved him off. "I don't care if that happens to me. I'm fine with that."
"That's what everyone who wants to be a loner says," Justin said, his voice squeaking somewhat.
"I intend to stay that way, Justin," Bianca commented, turning to him and Cassie. "On top of that, I wish your voice wouldn't squeak like that."
"I can't help it," Justin growled angrily and touched his throat. "My voice will stop squeaking in time."
"Someone should invent a remote that can mute voices. Then I wouldn't have to hear yours squeak," Bianca commented.
"Someone should mute your voice with such a remote," Lenny said, walking up to Bianca, who glanced at him.
"Hi, sir," Bianca responded, laughing nervously. "How long have you listened to us talking?"
Lenny raised an eyebrow. "Ever since you interrupted Justin and Cassie's conversation. You know it's rude to do that, yet you do it, anyway. Why can't you mind your manners?" He crossed his arms.
Bianca shrugged and smiled weakly. "I don't know, sir. I guess I can't help my big mouth."
"Your mouth is so big that a truck can fit through it," TJ said, his voice showing hints of seriousness.
"Or a blue whale," Carlos added.
The other students started laughing. Bianca shot a glare at TJ and Carlos. She wanted to go over there and yell in their faces, but she knew it'd get her sent to detention. She decided not to bother. The students became quiet when Lenny cleared his throat. He narrowed his eyes at Bianca, who turned back to him.
"Bianca, just because we humans can talk doesn't mean everyone wants to listen to what any of us have to say. Nor do we want anyone butting into our conversations with others. You are old enough to know how rude that is," Lenny said sternly.
Bianca let out a heavy sigh. "As I said before, sir, I can't—"
"Yes, you can. You just don't want to do it," Lenny interrupted sharply. He didn't want to deal with her, but he knew he had no choice. "Now, I will give you this warning. Your big mouth can get you into serious trouble in the real world. People will hurt each other over the littlest things. You'd better watch what you say, or you could end up getting hurt or worse. Is that clear?"
"Loud and clear, sir," Bianca said, swallowing hard.
Lenny licked lips his lips. "Good."
Bianca watched her teacher walk away. She looked at her painting of a boa constrictor. She dipped her paintbrush in dark brown paint and dabbed it on her paper. Justin and Cassie shifted their attention back to their paintings. TJ and Carlos gazed at each other.
"I'm glad we don't have to deal with Bianca for much longer," TJ said and sighed in relief.
"You said it, TJ," Carlos agreed. "If only that remote Bianca mentioned could be used to fast-forward to the end of class."
TJ emitted a light chuckle. "It'd be cool to see everyone go so fast."
Carlos smiled. "It sure would."
The boys gazed at their paintings, of which TJ's was a bottlenose dolphin while Carlos's was an elephant. They dipped their paintbrushes into gray paint and ran them across their papers.
00000
The bell rang sixteen minutes later. Students started coming out of the classrooms. Many proceeded to go to their lockers. Andros, Ashley, Zhane, and Karone turned left after they exited Rueben's classroom. They headed down the hallway toward the stairs. They listened to the excited chatter of students who passed them on either side. They turned to each other.
"Everyone seems to be glad this week is almost over," Karone said.
"Who wouldn't be? Everyone knows students don't like to come to school during the week. At least they can sleep in during the weekend," Zhane responded.
Karone giggled. "I always like doing that."
"Me too. Just don't dream about me too much," Zhane joked and snickered under his breath.
"I believe it's you who shouldn't dream about me too much," Karone squeaked in delight.
"Get out of town!" Zhane yelled as he shook his head rapidly.
"No, you get out of town!" Karone said.
"I'll go if you come with me," Zhane said and smiled lightly. He laughed at her slapping him in the shoulder. He pinched her cheek, speaking baby talk. She grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand off.
"If you pinch my cheek again, I'll throw you out the window," Karone threatened playfully.
Zhane smirked at her. "Bring it on."
Karone kissed Zhane's cheek before rubbing it. She sighed contently at feeling him put his arm around her shoulder. She slipped hers around his waist.
"I know one thing I'm looking forward to this weekend. It's my and Ashley's getaway to her aunt's cabin in the mountains," Andros said, turning to Ashley with a loving smile.
"I'm looking forward to that too," Ashley responded, glancing up at him. "I was surprised my parents and aunt approved of it. Most parents wouldn't even think of letting their daughters go with their boyfriends to a remote cabin."
"Everyone knows parents are very protective of their daughters, especially fathers. I can't really blame them. Girls are more likely to find themselves in dangerous situations than boys are. Then again, it doesn't seem fair when girls have stricter curfews than boys do. Both should have the same curfews," Andros commented, sighing heavily.
"I agree," Ashley said, taking a deep breath. "At least TJ's parents didn't give your sister a stricter curfew."
"If they had, I would've agreed with it at first," Andros whispered as he looked toward Karone. "Now, I wouldn't." He turned back to Ashley. "Anyway, I can't wait for tomorrow afternoon to be here."
"Me neither," Ashley said sweetly. "We won't have to worry about anyone or anything for two days. It'll just be us."
Andros wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. He planted a kiss to her temple. He smiled warmly at her slipping her arm around his waist. Brian passed the quartet. He started singing Phil Collins's In Too Deep way off-key and increased his walking speed. Andros couldn't help but scoff.
"That idiot just had to start singing, didn't he?" Andros grumbled, chuckling bitterly.
"Brian has one of the worst singing voices I've ever heard," Ashley said, shuddering in disgust.
"I don't think he even realizes how bad he sounds," Karone said truthfully.
"I say he's just as bad as Veronica is," Zhane commented.
"Or worse," Karone answered and pushed her bangs out of her eyes.
"Yep," Ashley agreed. She looked up at her boyfriend. "Don't worry. We have only one more day to deal with him."
"You got that right," Andros said.
The quartet went down the stairs. They saw TJ, Cassie, Carlos, and Justin coming toward them as they reached the bottom.
"Hey, guys," Andros greeted.
"Hey yourselves," TJ responded as he, Cassie, Carlos, and Justin stopped beside the trashcan. "How are you four doing?"
"We're doing fine, except we had to deal with Brian's obnoxiousness in music class as usual," Karone muttered, making a weird noise.
"Bianca opened her big mouth in art class," Justin commented. "Other than that, we're doing fine too." He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly.
"Thank God school is over for today," Cassie said, her voice filled with relief.
"You said it, Cass," Ashley agreed. "We can do whatever we want for the rest of the day."
"I've got an idea. Why don't we go to the park and have some fun?" Carlos suggested.
Zhane smiled widely. "That's a great idea, Carlos. We can stop by our house and get our Frisbee and football."
"Just make sure that football doesn't have any dynamite in it," TJ quipped and snickered under his breath.
Cassie looked toward TJ with a smirk. "You better get another football if that proves to be true."
"I think you should get that football," TJ commented, turning to her.
"Yeah, right," Cassie replied, smacking him on the shoulder. She ducked when he tried to ruffle her hair. She came back up. "Ha, ha. You were too slow."
"You were just lucky," TJ commented, tickling her nose. "You won't be next time."
Cassie pushed TJ's hand aside. They smiled at each other. They and the others walked down the hallway. They started talking about the Angel Grove Zoo's newest baby Asian elephant, Lindsay.