Author's Notes (also see below): Originally written and posted to Twisting the Hellmouth on September 14th, this little bit entered my head after being awoken by a ringing phone at 3:30am, and wouldn't let me get back to sleep until I wrote it. I'm sure it's not particularly good, since this is... well, it's not my *first* fanfic, but it is the first I've ever posted. C&C is *always* welcome!

September 13, 2005

Mount Batu, Oromia, Ethiopia

When he awoke in the early hours, just before the dawn, the other side of the bed was cold. It was, and yet was not, really much of a surprise. It just seemed to be his luck.

What didn't match was the letter he found on the stand beside the bed they'd shared. Most of the times something like this had happened, there had been more mystery surrounding the disappearance. Which was, again, usually just his luck.

The letter read:

I cannot stay long to write this. Even as I do, my compatriots, my friends are waiting. Our world is under attack and they need me. The disk I've left here will explain more; it can be played in any standard personal holo-message projector.

Thank you for your concern. Yours was the first voice of comfort, the first voice that understood me since I crash-landed in this backwater place three months ago.

Thank you for talking to me like a person, sharing your fears and hurts, and letting me share my own with you.

And... thank you for understanding about me accidentally almost crushing you with my bare hands when I hugged you... though I'm still not sure what you were talking about when it came to strange dreams and all that.

But, most of all, thank you for helping me feel human again. It's something I'll always treasure, something I'll always remember from my 'one-eyed comfortador.'

Hopefully, we'll see each other again, in time. Hopefully, it won't be too long.

Love,
Katie

He picked up the small metal button that laid under the folded sheet of paper and squinted at it. "Personal holo-message projector?" he muttered to himself. "Maybe Willow will have some idea"

June 21, 3001

Infirmary

"PUSH!" the masked doctor said. Katie was relaxed - it was the effect of the drugs. When it was learned, after her accidental diversion into the past, that she was pregnant, there'd been some debate among the other members of her unit. In the end, due to fears induced by her enhanced strength, enough of a dose was granted to make it easier on both mother and doctor in question.

The wail of the newly-arrived infant was strong and healthy, and the doctor said as much to the new mother, congratulating her on her new daughter.

"Have you decided on a name?" the tall woman by her side asked, her hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"Yes," she replied, a little dreamily from the effort expended. "Melaka, after my great-grandmother. It's a family name. So, Melaka Walker." She smiled nostalgically, her eyes already beginning to clear. "And her middle name... her middle name is 'Fray'. So that I'll always remember her father, and how he treated me like a person in a place where I didn't know if I'd ever see home again."

She sighed and leaned back against the pillows, accepting her daughter into her arms. "I miss you, Xander," she murmured to herself, just as sleep claimed her.

Power Rangers: Time Force is owned, I believe, by Fox. Mirai Sentai Timeranger, on which it was based, is owned by Toei. And we all (should) know who owns Xander and the rest of BtVS.

It's been a long time since I've seen PRTF - not surprising since it aired in 2001 - so the details are kind of foggy (especially at this time of morning), but, like I said above, the idea wouldn't let me go until I wrote it.

I haven't read Fray, and I'm aware that this doesn't match the history of THAT Melaka Fray, but maybe that one is Katie's grandmother (or further up the family line.

Anyway, C&C is always welcome, but please be gentle. It really IS my first time! (And most certainly my first time posting to .) If anyone wants to pick up on this thread and continue the story, feel free, but please let me know.