One day I was wondering around the loft and heard the rangers talking. They hadn't known I was listening in. I stayed back in order to hear the conversation.
"Liz is too perfect don't you think?" the young voice questions. I could tell the voice was male.
"Maybe but there's still a lot we don't know about her," The falcon's voice announces.
"She can't be so perfect," the young cheetah notes.
"That is highly improbable," Billy points out.
A sigh escapes me as I wonder downstairs, slipping past them unnoticed.
"Only if they knew," I mutter, passing through the parlor door. My thoughts feel as though they are a race horse. I start thinking about first grade and how my life has changed since then.
"Sir, your daughter has to have bladder surgery. Her tubes aren't long enough," a doctor said to my dad, "They don't reach her bladder."
"Can we make sure her heart is still fine before we do the bladder surgery?" The man of his late thirties questions.
"Yes," the doctor replied. I was taken to a room and an ultrasound machine was hooked up. The cold gel was placed on my chest. They began the ultrasound. The doctors turned to my parents and informed them that something was wrong, I had a VSD which was basically a hole in my heart.
My dad's last name was called, as I waited patiently to get the news as well.
"Sir, you daughter is not having bladder surgery, she's having heart surgery instead," The doctor explains.
I don't remember much but I remember my dad talking to me and holding a stuffed doll named Holly in my arms before drifting off to sleep.
After getting released from the hospital, I was on strict orders not to do anything that required a lot of upper body strength. For six weeks, while my friends played out on the playground or did some sort of physical activity, I sat in the office or in a corner watching them play. Wishing I could have gone out there with them.
Tears threaten to fall but I wipe them away as quickly as they came. I was not going to let myself cry not yet. I still had more memories to go. I had no idea where I was going just know I had to walk. The memories continued to come whether I wanted them to or not.
The school had refused to test me because I had such high grades and my parents then took me to a professional. I had countless hours of testing. Finally after the tests were done, my mom and dad entered the room and the psychologist explained everything and how it would affect me. My dad was almost in tears because he never realized he had a learning disability until they test me. Mom worked with me every night helping me with my school work and because my memory wasn't all that great. I would learn a list of spelling words and then forget them the next week.
Another memory passed through my head this time it was my second or third grade year, some of the other kids decided to pick on me. I smile as I remember the fact that myself and my best friend at the time, who I had lost contact with, had threatened a boy because he was picking on us. We were both in karate at the time and we kicked, as well as many other things to show we weren't going to put up with his crap. The next day the principal announced something but I couldn't remember what only our two faces looking at each other and going oops. I quietly laugh at the memory.
Something entered my mind, that I hadn't thought about in a while. It was the day we were forced to move because of my dad's job. We had found a house in Hudson, Ohio and I had already made friends with the girls next door. The next day we found out that we had no choice but to live in a different area because the company said you have to move there. Mom and I were in tears. As my mom sat at the kitchen table crying as she looked through an ad book for houses, the realtor didn't show us the houses we wanted and we had to fight him a bit. That memory soon faded as well as I remembered my first boyfriend.
It was during my seventh grade year, it was the time of my first boyfriend. We were having a dance at the school and I could tell he was too chicken to ask me out so I asked him out. It was fun. The dates continued but we slowly grew apart. I eventually ended it because I couldn't take it anymore. He just didn't seem to care about me at all. We didn't have any dates or anything like that. Oh, the mistakes I made in that relationship. I was jealous of my friends relationships including my own brother. The relationship I wanted was to have my boyfriend randomly call me and just say "hey how was your day?" or something like that something that made feel like he really cared for me. I didn't get that with him. Those memories weaken as something else happens.
I still had no idea where I was going but it felt good to walk.
My mind was still racing about everything that happened even in the past year.
I had a roommate but she and I didn't get along until she moved out. Then we became pretty good friends. I had two months to myself no one to bug me or that kind of thing. Then a new girl moved in which I found out after I moved out she was acting mean on purpose and wanted me to get out of the room. I had shoved her, not hard just pushed her back enough that she wasn't screaming in my face. She was at least an inch from my face screaming. I was so ashamed of myself that I reported myself to an RA. I had taken responsibility for my action of shoving her.
I didn't know what I was thinking about at the time I walked back into the pizza parlor but everyone had noticed my leave of absence and was asking me all kinds of questions.
"Where were you?" Rocky questions.
"I went for a walk. I had a lot of stuff to think about," I explain.
"What was there to think about?" Tommy inquires looking me in the eye.
"How you guys see me as so perfect when I'm not," I comment, resisting the urge to glare.
"What do you mean?" Adam asks.
"I overheard you guys talking," I enlighten them, "I am not perfect nor will I ever will be. I make mistakes alright?"
"Alright," they answer nodding their head in the process.
"I have a learning disability and I have to work twice as hard as the other people. Also I don't tell many people because I feel they may treat me differently. Some people have and others haven't but I don't usually tell them until they really get to know me. When they could see past a learning disability and see me," I tell them. The tears were threatening once again.
"I hold a lot of things together. I've had a battle all my life just about. I almost feel like a constant warrior," I inform them, a soft chuckle escapes me, "My boyfriend said to me once 'don't be the warrior with me, let me take care of you even though I'm not with you.' I told him, 'I try not to be but sometimes I am. It's a part of who I am. Always have, always will.' I am just so used to fighting everything; school districts, friends, and even enemies."
"We didn't realize how hard this was for you," Theo comments.
"It's fine. Freak outs I can handle, fighting as well, but I do need friends to help me at times."
"What do you mean when you say you can handle all that but you still need your friends?" Theo questions.
"I'm not a complete lone wolf. I run with a pack. I also protect my friends and it doesn't matter if I get hurt or not," I explain going into more detail.
"Alright, that's enough," The soft voice of the violet ranger announced.
"We get it now," Kim announces, "You're right no one is perfect. We just all thought you were because you have not broken down, protected your friends, and fought well for someone who doesn't really know how to fight."
I chuckle, "Mmm I could say the same thing about you Kim before you became a ranger."
"Alright, I get your point," Kim agrees.
"Good, I haven't broken down because I've been dreaming about this all the time. I always pretended to fight alongside you."
The six tones escape from my communicator, "I read you, Zordon."
"I need to you to teleport. I'll send you the coordinates," he answers.
"Alright guys guess I have to go," I say. I hit the button for teleportation.
"Good to see you again, Zordon," I announce, seeing the older man standing in front of me.
"This isn't a social call," he claims.
"I didn't think it was," I inform him.
"Why did the rangers think you were perfect?" He questions.
"Because I haven't done anything wrong since I've been with them," I explain.
"You are trying to protect yourself and protect your timeline correct?" The man in front of me questions. I slowly nod my head in response.
"You need to stop worrying about that," Zordon orders.
I look up at him and feel my jaw drop, "What?"
"Young one you can't worry about what is going to happen, if you have to tell them than do so but you can't live in fear."
"Alright, you win," I tell him. I feel Zordon teleport me back to where I'm supposed to be.
I hear my "teammates" ask me a bunch of questions.
"Guys, I'll answer all of them and reveal a lot of my past," I tell them.
They quiet down as I tell them almost everything, almost bursting out in tears at some points.
"I was born in the year of 1990, I was a few weeks early so my health suffered a bit. I had a hole in my heart and my bladder never sent that signal that I was full. In first grade, I had surgery to correct the heart problem. I had what was called a VSD which is a ventricular septal defect which means a "hole" in the wall between the two lower chambers of the heart. The problem was fixed even though I played sports with the health problems. My mom was my coach and I was lucky for that because she let me rest when I couldn't breathe right during games or practices. The problem was enough blood wasn't pumping through my heart to provide oxygen to my body. I played sports as much as I could. Later on in second grade, I had to go in for bladder surgery because the tubes to my bladder were too short," I explain, taking a breath in the process.
"Wow, you really haven't had it easy," Theo notes.
I shake my head, "Do you think I'm perfect now?"
"No," the answers echoed throughout the room.
"There's more to my story. Do you want to hear it or should we stop there?"
"Continue," the voices echo once again.
I let out a sigh, "My time in school hasn't been easy at all. I've been picked on, teased, bullied, whatever you want to call it. I had to fight for myself half the time there was no one to protect me. I had no white knight what so ever. I actually had to get help with building my confidence because I didn't have much when I was younger. I was eventually able to stand up for myself. At the end of my fifth grade year I found out I had to move. I will keep where I live a secret for now but anyways I was supposed to move to Hudson, Ohio but that didn't work out and then I moved to where I'm living now. Currently school is insane and I have a lot of work to do." I take a moment to figure out what to say next but then a pair of arms wrap around me.
It takes me a moment to figure out whose hugging me but I look into the persons eyes and realize it's the young cheetah.
"You are never alone," she whispers.
"I know I'm not but sometimes I have to be," I answer.
"Liz, can I speak to you in private?" Tommy questions, but it was more like an order.
Knowing I didn't have a choice, I nodded and followed him out.
"Did you always know about the rangers?" Tommy asked me.
"I've know about you guys since I was six years old," I answer with a steady voice.
Tommy rubs the bridge of his nose and sighs.
"Tommy," I say, "Remember what did I tell you about myself?"
"No," he answers.
I sigh, "I'm stronger than you realize." I turn away from him for a moment thinking about what to say.
"You have to think this Tommy. I can really handle things when needed."
"I heard some things about you that made me really think. Are you really a leader of a nation?" Tommy voices.
"In a game I play, yes. I don't think I could handle it in real life though," I answer.
"You could be a great leader if you tried," Tommy comforts me.
"No, you don't understand. My students in the game give me too much run for my money," I explain chuckling.
"What do you mean?"
"It's kind of hard to explain but they try to hit me constantly with pranks unless there's a war going on," I try to inform him.
"So basically a constant Rocky huh?"
"Only they have magic to amplify their pranks," I tell him laughing.
Tommy shakes his head at me, "Do they ever do anything simple?"
A smirk begins to plaster on my face, "Now where would be the fun in that? You have no idea how bad some of my pranks could be with magic."
"What's the worst one that was pulled?"
"I can never say there was a worst just a best and two are high up there."
"We'll continue this later," Tommy orders grabbing my shoulders slightly and directing me back towards the group.