Whoa. Fluff Epic number 5! Thank you, thank you. No, I don't own Power Rangers.

But I do own the following fluffy plot bunnies: The Billy & Kimberly Mega Fluff Epic (56), The RJ & Fran Somewhat Fluff Epic (37), The Nick and Madison True Fluff Epic (21), and The Kira and Trent Dark Fluff Epic (11). More or less anyway… enjoy the fluff anyway!

And no, Merrick is not OOC or whatever. 3000 years in a tomb just tends to change a guy.

ONE: Youth

Merrick Baliton was walking. He was unsure of where he was going or why. More and more he was uncertain of who he was now. How was easy: just one foot in front of the other, and repeat continuously. But he knew when he had started walking, going from planet to planet. Five thousand years ago… when the Dark Days had ended with a final stand against Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, Ivan Ooze, Queen Bansheera, Dai Shi, and Octimus. Zordon, Merrick, Dulcea, Udonna, Felix Mao, and Leanbow had battled them. Or rather, they had used the powers and wisdom Ninjor had given them to train warriors and to lead them in battle.

Zordon had used the Power Coins and had given them to six teenagers but in the end Zordon himself had sealed away Rita Repulsa in a space dumpster but at a price. She too had trapped him, in an inter-dimensional wormhole.

Merrick had taken on Lord Zedd. He had trapped the warlord and sealed him away. The seal ought be good for another five thousand years… seals were never Merrick's strong point.

Dulca had used the Ninja Coins against Ivan Ooze, training six beings from six planets and training them on Phardos. It had taken an extra three thousand years to properly detain him and break his empire wholly but his last conquest had occurred ten thousand years ago. Now Dulcea was bound to the plateau of Phardos, her punishment by the Tribunal for trying to enter the place where Zordon was kept. Morons.

Bansheera, queen of demons, was battled by the Great Sorceress Udonna and her older sister Niella the Gatekeeper. In the end (by the end Merrick meant just the previous year) the sisters and their human allies, using the Mystic Wands, had forced the demon city underground. Niella captured and entombed the demons themselves. When Merrick had left two moon cycles ago they were building a human city on top of where the demon city had been.

Felix had rallied his fellow Pai Zhua Masters against Dai Shi. In the end they had sealed away Dai Shi in a box, but at a high cost. Three of the Pai Zhua Masters had died. Merrick felt a pang, remembering them. Master Guin. Master Lope. Master Rilla.

Lastly Merrick's own older brother Leanbow had battled Octimus. Refusing to find pupils to use the other two Ancient Swords Ninjor had crafted he had battled the Underworld alone. Lucky for him Niella and Udonna had been able to come to his rescue, taking a break from their own war. Merrick often wondered if Leanbow and Udonna were just friends.

But those days, although dark, had been powerful. Merrick could feel his power waning century by century. The broken power of the Corona Aurora was finally causing a reaction in those who used the Power. When it began to wake again, the universe would know. The Power would return to its full power. But for now Merrick had to content himself wandering the galaxy. Now he was on Earth again, back to where it had all ended.

He inhaled, using his staff to test the ground where he walked. It seemed a bit boggy.

"Who goes there?" demanded a voice from one of the trees that Merrick was walking through. He looked around blandly, trying to spot any unnatural movement in the leaves.

"Who wants to know?"

"I'm asking the questions here, guppy!"

Merrick had been called many, many things in the many, many years in his life. Guppy was a new one.

"Oh?"

"That was another question!" griped the voice, and Merrick caught a branch shifting slightly in a way too big for any normal tree-climbing animal. He leaned down, picking up a small rock, more of a pebble really.

"Put that down!" ordered the voice. "Now who are you? Are you an Org in disguise?"

"I don't know what an Org is," Merrick replied, carefully heeding the 'no questions' rule. Although his questioner sounded younger than he looked (and many thought him no more than twenty at even hundredth glance) he didn't know if he or she was armed. The voice sounded female though.

"You don't know what an Org is?" The voice sounded incredulous. Merrick started to toss his rock up and down.

"No."

"Are you new here?"

"I haven't been here in a long time," Merrick conceded, still tossing his rock up and down. He doubted the voice knew that he knew where she was.

"You don't look that much older than me, and Orgs have been attacking since before I could read," the voice retorted. Merrick smirked, watching his rock go up and down.

"Looks can be deceiving."

"True."

Merrick continued to toss his rock up and down. "I like to see who I'm talking to."

"Like that's going to happen," scoffed the voice. "How do I know for sure that you're not an Org?"

"If I was an Org, whatever that was, I would have done something much worse than this."

"Like what?"

"Like this," and lightning fast Merrick threw the rock and caused a teenage form to fall from the tree. Still using his staff Merrick walked over to the fallen form and looked down.

His questioner was a teenage girl with red-blond hair in two braids and a freckled face. She wore a strange poufy white uniform with an umber belt and boots. He poked her leg with his staff.

"You alive?"

"Owww…"

"You alive."

"Owww…"

Merrick saw a dirt smudge on her shoulder. He smiled. "Good. I didn't hit you on the head."

"Owww…"

"Undine? Undine, where are you? You should have returned from guard duty five minutes ago!" came a new voice. The girl- apparently Undine- opened her eyes to reveal vivid blue irises. "Oh, Putrids. Daggeron!"

"Who is Daggeron? Presumably not an Org?"

Undine clambered to her feet and brushed the dirt and leaves off her outfit, muttering to herself, "Just five minutes late!"

Out loud she called out, "I found someone. He says he's not an Org."

"I still don't know what an Org even is," Merrick observed.

Undine just made a face at him and stalked off in the direction of the other voice. Merrick stayed still. After a minute, she looked over her shoulder at him.

"Guppy, you should be following me."

"You didn't say anything."

"Some things go without saying."

And with that Undine stalked off. With a glance up at the cloudless blue sky Merrick figured he might as well and followed the teenager.

An older man with coffee-hued skin and a clipped crinkly black beard in the same outfit as Undine but with a dull golden helmet on his head was standing in a clearing, arms akimbo. He eyed Merrick when he appeared, his hand going to the dagger at his side. Merrick realized that Undine had one as well- both had holes instead of pommel stones.

"Who are you?"

"He says he's not an Org."

"I asked him, Undine, not you."

Undine sniffed. Daggeron looked Merrick over, in his worn clothes and battered brown cloak.

"Who are you?"

Merrick grinned, leaning against his staff. "Not an Org."

"Guppy!" Undine snapped. Merrick, without seeming to move, used his staff to undercut Undine's legs so she fell to the ground.

"I'm not Guppy either. My name is Merrick."

"Just Merrick?" Undine asked pertly, looking up at him from the ground. Daggeron closed his eyes tiredly.

"No. Merrick Baliton."

Jumping back onto her feet Undine suggested to Daggeron, "We should take him to the Princess. She'll know what to do with him."

"The Princess?"

"What did I say about questions?" Undine frowned severely at him. Merrick just gave her a passive look.

Daggeron turned to go. Undine exclaimed, "Where are you going?"

"To take Merrick to the Princess. He's not an Org. I can see that much. Come along, Undine."

Undine headed after Daggeron, telling Merrick, "Come along, guppy."

Bemused Merrick followed the pair through the forest to a village with a crude defensive wall of brambles, sticks, and rocks. But the two bypassed it, leading him to a vast lake with a lush island in its center.

"Awesome."

"Indeed."

With a concentrated gleam in her eyes Undine held out her hand. A path of water from the shore they were at to the island solidified before his eyes. Apparently Undine could access the Power; perhaps Daggeron could as well. The other man seemed surprised that Merrick wasn't surprised.

As they walked along the solid water Merrick asked lightly, "I introduced myself to you but I don't believe you're introduced yourselves to me."

"I am Undine Pardolis, warrior of Animaria."

Merrick almost said "Animaria?" but didn't want to risk Undine dropping him in the middle of the lake. The 'no questions' rule was probably still in effect. So instead he said, "I have never heard of such a place."

"WHAT?" Undine yelled. She eyed him. "You're really new here, aren't you?"

"I think we've covered that, yes."

"Animaria is the nexus of this region," Daggeron intervened. "Many view it as a capital."

"Huh." Merrick watched a giant metallic bird fly overhead. He had seen such creatures before… and usually nearby was… his heart rate picked up. He forced it down. She hadn't been there on Mirinoi, so what were the odds that she was here? "And what is your last name, Daggeron?"

"I am Daggeron Sibyll."

"Nice to meet you both."

The rest of the walk to the island passed in silence. The silence continued as the trio walked deeper onto the lush island. So the sound of laughter- adult and child- was clear long before they could see the laughers. Undine ran ahead.

"Princess Shayla! I found someone! He's not an Org!"

Daggeron sighed. Merrick had a feeling if he hadn't sighed the other man would have been compelled to laugh.

"Really? Who?"

Merrick's heart stopped for a full ten seconds. It was her. And he looked like he'd been wandering the galaxy for the past five thousand years… admittedly because he had. But what was with the Shayla part? Princess, oh yes, she was a princess- and not just in his eyes.

Daggeron looked back at the stranger, who had stopped moving.

"Come along."

Taking a steadying breath Merrick resumed walking. He could deal. He could handle seeing her again. Maybe she wouldn't have the same effect on him anymore. Maybe it had just been a phase. Right. And that was why his heart was now beating faster than a hummingbird's and he was torn between racing to her and racing away from her.

"His name is Merrick Baliton and he hit me with a rock! But I deserved it, Princess, so don't be upset at him. He's not an Org, so maybe we could ask him to help us! He did manage to hit me with a rock."

Daggeron looked over at Merrick. "Apparently you won Undine's respect by hitting her with a rock."

Merrick had to shake his head. "That was not my intent. I wanted to see who was trying to intimidate me."

"Undine is of the opinion that her age and gender combined give people a low first impression of her. So she prefers concealment," Daggeron explained. Merrick nodded, using the discussion as a distraction from what he knew was coming. "That makes good sense. She'll be unstoppable once grown."

"Indeed."

Suddenly they were in a clearing and came to a halt. Leading her by the hand Undine rejoined them. Gesturing towards him she re-introduced him to the newcomer.

"This is Merrick."

She seemed startled to see him, but happy as well. That idea made Merrick absurdly happy, so he quickly bowed like a commoner would to royalty.

"Princess."

Understanding that everything before was not to be mentioned, she replied, "It is nice to meet you, Merrick Baliton."

He exited the bow. Her beauty seemed to have grown since he had last seen her. Was that even possible? Unable to fully process his thoughts he replied, "It is nicer to see someone as beautiful as you."

A faint blush came to her cheeks. Undine and Daggeron looked at each other, intrigued by the almost visible attraction between the pair. This was a decidedly delightful side effect to encountering the stranger. After all, every Princess needed a Prince for the tale to be complete.