Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Dino Charge. This story is fan-made.
The holidays weren't normally Kendall's favourite time of year. She didn't care for the lights, the garlands or the Christmas specials. She had never believed in Santa Claus. She didn't buy presents for anyone, nor did she receive any gifts except for the little gifts her foster parents would send her in the mail. It was their attempt to keep in touch with her.
However, before this year, she had no reason to celebrate the holidays. She barely had any memories of her family at Christmas before her father took off, and when it was just her and her mother, there was no celebration. She got maybe a toy or two from the dollar store; her mother's last minute attempt to cover up the fact that she had spent all the Christmas money on booze. When she moved in with the Fishers, the holidays only served to remind her how she had no family of her own. She was just charity work for an admittedly kind family.
When she was on her own, she had no friends or family and therefore no reason to celebrate anything. But times were different now. Not only was Kendall expected at the Fisher's big Christmas Dinner, but she had the Christmas Party at the museum for her staff, which she planned on attending this year, and the Christmas Dinner in the Dino Bite Cafe with the Rangers.
Even better, she got to celebrate the holidays with Cammy; if Cammy would have her.
Sledge was gone. Fury, Poisandra, Wrench, Curio, the viviks and all the monsters were gone for good. Kendall had run numerous scans of the ships' crash site to be sure, and the few weeks they had gone without an attack on the city confirmed that there were no more evil aliens on the hunt for energems. The Rangers had won, and were now able to search for the remaining two energems without interruptions.
Despite that, Cammy was still terrified. Kendall couldn't blame her. She had been caught in the whole mess, with her life on the line. She had been burned badly by the monsters, kidnapped, and nearly caught in the ship's explosion. She had suffered nightmares since being returned home, and coming to the museum was a trigger for her.
Seeing dinosaurs was a trigger. All of the stuffed dinosaurs she had collected from the museum had been locked up in the attic, including Plesio.
But worst of all, seeing the Rangers was a trigger: all eight of them. Cammy ran screaming the first time Kendall tried to visit home. In Cammy's mind, if she was with the Rangers, she was in danger.
It bothered Kendall to no end. It had been a full week now since she had seen or heard from Cammy. Her parents kept her informed, and Kendall was happy to hear that for the last week before the holidays, Cammy was going back to school. Kendall was also glad to hear the burn on her hand was really starting to heal up, and scaring would be minimal. She was even happier to hear that when Cammy did go back to school, her classmates had a welcome back party for her.
But Kendall was not happy to hear that her little sister was still scared at night. She refused to sleep alone. She refused to turn off the lights at bedtime. Kendall was not happy to hear that in the middle of the night, Cammy would wet the bed because she was so scared of monsters hiding in the bathroom, waiting for her.
Her parents didn't know the truth. They knew Cammy was scared of the monsters, but thought it was due to the attacks on the city. They didn't know Cammy had been one of the heroes who saved the world, at the cost of her own sanity. And that was maybe why Cammy was having such a tough time. She couldn't talk to her parents, having been sworn to secrecy. And the people she could talk to triggered her fears and nightmares. Kendall wanted so desperately to help, but feared her presence around Cammy would only escalate the situation.
Still, that didn't stop her heading into the mall and looking around for presents for the little girl. She wanted Cammy's first true family Christmas to be memorable.
"What about this?" Shelby asked, holding up a pink dinosaur themed shirt. Kendall had invited the pink Ranger to come along with her on the shopping trip to help with ideas. It had shocked everyone when Kendall had asked Shelby, but the purple Ranger assumed taking another woman along would help with shopping for a little girl.
Kendall shook her head, "Nothing dinosaur related, remember."
"Right," Shelby sighed, putting the shirt back. "So, how exactly are you going to give these to her if she won't be near you?"
"I'll leave it with my parents on Christmas Eve," Kendall said. "She'll get them Christmas day."
"How are you going to visit your parents if Cammy's there?"
"We're going out to dinner," Kendall said. "Bella, Jon and I are meeting Christmas Eve while Jeremy and Tracey watch Cammy. Christmas Day, Jeremy, Tracey and Anna are meeting me for lunch."
"Not the first real Christmas you were hoping for, huh?" Shelby asked. Kendall shrugged her shoulders.
"It's what's best for Cammy."
"We never should have let her do any of that stuff," Shelby sighed. "An eight year old saving the world..."
"The worst part is, we couldn't have done it without her," Kendall looked down at a shirt she thought would be perfect for the little girl in spite of the dinosaur theme, and could only imagine the bright smile on Cammy's face were she to receive it. However, Kendall would never see that smile. Not only would she miss out on seeing her little sister for Christmas, but the shirt would no longer make Cammy smile, but rather cause her to run away in blind terror. "She found the purple energem. She brought it to the PlesioZord. She made me a Ranger."
"Ms. Morgan..."
"She built the Get-Bot," Kendall sighed. "Get-Bot is the reason we have the energems today. Without Cammy, we would be dead."
"We're crap heroes," Shelby muttered. She set down the articles of clothing she had collected already and placed her hand on Kendall's shoulder. "But you're a good big sister."
"She won't talk to me."
"Ms. Morgan, you held off Sledge to protect her! And she's only alive because of how much you love her. Chase was right, if Sledge wanted the energems, he had to keep Cammy alive, and that's what he did!"
"Chase thought of that..."
"Only because it's true. Ms. Morgan, you're responsible for rocks that basically control the fate of every living thing on this planet and Cammy is still the most important thing to you."
"I shouldn't have gotten close..."
"You let your guard down," Shelby said. "Until Cammy, you had no reason to trust anyone, right? You let your guard down for her. You opened up. You did everything for her you wish someone had done for you. Now, she doesn't even want to see you and you're still... you're still trying to make her happy. You're trying to be there for her in the best way you can. Maybe we didn't do our best to keep Cammy out of harm's way, but you're still the best thing that's ever happened to her. When the shock wears off, I'm sure she'll remember it too."
Kendall sighed; picked up the clothes she had for Cammy and took them to the register. After paying, she walked out to her car. Between the clothes, the toys, and the books, there was barely any room left in Kendall's trunk. Kendall jammed in the extra bags then as she slammed the trunk shut she turned to Shelby.
"Where do you want to be dropped off?"
"I'll... uh, walk home," Shelby said. Kendall frowned.
"In the cold?"
"It's not that bad."
"Shelby, your place is on the way back to the museum and my apartment. I picked you up; it's really not a problem driving you back."
"And I'm telling you, walking isn't a problem either. Just, look, I'll see you at the Christmas Party tonight, alright?"
"Whatever," Kendall said. Shelby watched her get in the car and waved to her as she drove off before she hit the streets. She had somewhere she needed to be, and she didn't want Kendall knowing about it.
-Dino-Charge-
Cammy gulped as she looked out the front window. Her mother was in the kitchen, preparing her some hot chocolate to warm up after school. Her father was still at work, but was due home soon. Every time Cammy heard a car driving by on the street, her heart started to race. The sounds from the car reminded her of the Zords and the sound of the engines. Cammy needed her father to come home so she didn't have to wait by the door.
Mrs. Fisher looked out to living room sadly. Cammy had not been the same since the attacks on Amber Beach, and Mrs. Fisher wasn't sure what she could do to help. She had taken Cammy to see a therapist; Dr. Fletcher was supposed to be the best in the business. However, Cammy refused to talk to him about anything.
"No! No! No!" Cammy suddenly shouted and raced away from the window, running upstairs to her room and slamming the door shut just before the bell rang. Mrs. Fisher sighed as she walked to the door to see who it was.
"Shelby?"
"Is Cammy home?" Shelby asked, stepping inside the house to get out of the cold. Mrs. Fisher looked up the stairs and then sighed.
"She is, but judging by her reaction... she doesn't want to see you."
"Mrs. Fisher, please, it's important."
"She's been through a lot..."
"Ms. Morgan's just spent the whole afternoon shopping for Christmas gifts for Cammy. And she thinks she doesn't read well, but she's not as mysterious as she'd like and... Not getting to see Cammy on their first real Christmas sucks. It sucks for her, it'll suck for Cammy. Please, can I just... talk to her?"
"She can't get much worse," Mrs. Fisher sighed and let Shelby walk through. Shelby ran upstairs and knocked softly on Cammy's door. She didn't hear a response, but could hear the little girl crying on the other side. Very carefully, Shelby opened the door and had a look around the room.
"Cam, it's just me," she spoke quietly, hoping not to startle the little girl any further. "I've got my energem, but there's no morpher, no Dino Com, nothing that'll imply we're anticipating monsters. Can we talk?"
Cammy sniffed, "No."
Shelby heard her little voice coming out from under the bed and sat down on the floor. She leaned back against the wall.
"You know, Ms. Morgan's been real upset lately. It's her first real Christmas with people she loves, and her reason to be jolly won't even look at her. Cammy, do you miss her at all?"
"Go away," Cammy begged. Shelby lay on the floor, looking under the bed at Cammy.
"I'm scared too," she said. "Every time I think I'm getting a headache, I start looking around for my energem. I think I've lost it and the world is going to end. But that's just me being silly..."
"I'm not being silly!" Cammy screamed.
"I know you're not," Shelby nodded. "You're scared, Cam, and I get that. But is this really the safest thing you can think of?"
Cammy lowered her gaze and shook her head. Shelby scooted over a little closer to the bed.
"We needed you back there, Cammy. We let you go after the PlesioZord and we let you put the Get-Bot in the pod. I'm really sorry we let you do those things, but you have to understand, we were never going to let anything happen to you."
"My arm hurts."
"I know," Shelby nodded and smiled. "We're all still hurting a little bit. But being with the other Rangers, for now, is really helping me. I feel safe with them. Don't you?"
"Sledge and Fury..."
"They're gone, Cammy, and even if they weren't... Do you really think Ms. Morgan would let anything happen to you? Do you think, if Sledge and Fury were to come back, that they would stand a chance against your big sis? When Poisandra took you, Koda could barely stop Ms. Morgan from marching onto Sledge's ship to get you back. Koda!"
"Really?"
"And she was the first one off the PlesioZord, and, I'll admit, she was the only one that went after you. She didn't care about the energems or defeating Sledge or any of that stuff. She wanted to get you home. And she did it, right? You're home, you're safe..."
"I don't feel safe."
"We're having the museum Christmas Party tonight," Shelby said. "Everyone's going to be there, including Ms. Morgan. She would love it if you showed up too."
"But..."
"You don't have to, Cam. She doesn't know I'm here. I just... I thought it would be a nice surprise, you know. Something to put a smile on her face again. I think... Cammy, I think she's scared too."
"Of what?" Cammy asked, poking her head out from under the bed just a little bit.
"Well, if you never want to see her again, she doesn't have a family anymore. She only gets to see your parents for the holidays because Jeremy's coming to visit and he's going to watch you. When he goes home, your parents are going to have to take turns seeing her. Just, one at a time because someone's going to have to be home with you."
"Really?"
"And, I don't know, maybe you get it, maybe you don't, but I think Ms. Morgan's got abandonment issues. You know what that is, right?"
Cammy nodded her head and came out just a little more from under the bed.
"Well, she's got me and the boys. We'll be her friends but... Chase, he's headed back to New Zealand soon. Now that Sledge is gone, he's going to see his family. He's got a little sister too and he wants to try and patch things up with her. She wasn't too happy when he left."
"Chase is leaving?"
"Tyler's headed out too once the holidays are over. He's still got to figure out what happened to his father. Riley's needed back on the farm. And... I think I'm leaving too."
"You are?"
"Tyler asked me if I wanted to travel with him. Well, it won't be travelling so much as looking for his father, but... I kind of want to go."
"Because you like him."
"You can't tell anyone."
"I don't have to. Everyone knows," Cammy smirked. Shelby smiled back and moved over to the bed, leaning against it.
"We'd love to stay, but we had lives before we became Rangers and it's about time we get back to them. The team is splitting up. Only Koda and Ivan are sticking around and... well, you know her better than I do, but that isn't enough for Ms. Morgan, right? Especially if she's only allowed to see one parent at a time and her brother's on the other side of the country. I think she's scared of being lonely again. You know, Cam, she was really brave for you. She fought Sledge, right? You don't think that was scary for her?"
"I was scared..."
"And she protected you, right?"
"Yeah."
"Don't you think she'll do it again if she has to? If Sledge did come back, wouldn't she make sure you were okay?"
Cammy looked down at the floor, "When I think about the museum..."
"I was scared to go back too," Shelby admitted. "But the museum has the lab, and that's the safest place in the whole city, right?"
"Yeah."
"So, come with me. To the Christmas Party, I mean. And if you get scared, I'll take you down to the lab where you'll be safe from everything."
"And that'll help Kendall?"
"She always smiles when she sees you," Shelby nodded. Cammy took a deep breath.
"Okay, I'll... I guess I can go."
