-swallows- Hi there. I'm new to this fandom, but I wanted to give a shot at writing with the Dino Thunder team. Nothing big- just a one-shot to start.

I do not own Power Rangers. It belongs to someone else.

Learning Experience

It wasn't the fact that she was in any sort of trouble. No, she had a decent record. Sure, sometimes she had wound up in detention, but she wasn't one to complain. She got good grades- she had somewhere around a three-point-seven grade point average. Not that it bugged her or anything, but sometimes, her grades slipped. Her duties as a Ranger occasionally intervened with school.

And sometimes, she had to stay after school was done and get some tutoring. Not that it bothered her teachers or anything, but sometimes, they couldn't stay after. Now, it didn't bother her in the slightest. Sometimes, it was a good thing.

She knew of one person who could stay after for her any time. And she was in serious need of some help from him.

Kira Ford saw Tommy Oliver, or Dr. O, as something so much more than a teacher. He was her friend in fighting crime, her mentor in learning how to become a better Ranger and person in general. As she waited in the classroom allowing the other students to leave, she felt her stomach churning. It was customary for her to feel this way before she asked teachers for their aid, but it felt… different right now.

Much more different than before.

Finally, the last person exited the classroom, and she walked up to him, her bag over her shoulder. He was busy putting away some things in his briefcase and gave the blonde a brief glance before stopping. "Kira," he acknowledged, giving her a smile. "You okay?"

She smiled slightly. "Yeah. I was just… wondering something, Dr. O. Do you think you could spend some time after school today in helping me with your lecture today? I just… you know. Some stuff flew over my head, and…"

"You want some after school tutoring?" he finished.

Kira laughed sheepishly. "It's kind of embarrassing to ask your legendary Power Ranger-turned-teacher that question, but yes. I really would like some help today."

Tommy leaned on the table. "It's not a problem. You know, you can always come to me for help. It doesn't have to be on ranger-specified duties, contrary to popular belief."

The teen set down her backpack and opened it to reveal a very thick binder filled to the brim with notes, worksheets, tests, and quizzes. Heaving it up onto the counter, she grinned at Tommy's expression of disbelief. "I can't help it. It's one of my guilty pleasures- to keep every single paper until the end of the year! I have to keep up for finals, right?"

The man simply shook his head and took out his own binder which he had put away moments before. "So, you mean today's lecture?"

"Eh, a little bit. It's the only thing we talked about for the whole period."

"Right." Tommy mentally smacked himself. "I knew that."

Kira looked up and saw him digging out more papers, smiling slightly. A red light was going off in her brain; one that was warning her something was going on with her mentor. As she flipped open to the day's page, a voice came through her morpher. "Uh, Kira?"

She couldn't help but sigh with dismay as she put the communicator up to her mouth. "Conner. This is kind of a bad time right now."

"I'll say," her ranger teammate responded grimly, the echo of screams heard in the background. "We've got a problem downtown. Ethan and I are having a bit of trouble. You think you can get Dr. O can get down here as quick as possible?"

"We'll be there in a few," she told him, heart sinking. So much for her time with Tommy to get in some much-needed education. She turned to her teacher, whose jaw was slack, features etched with determination. "You know, we can do this another time, Dr. O."

An idea struck the male as his lips curled into a slight grin. "I think we might be able to fit in a lesson anyways, Kira. Come on. I have an idea…"

"Oh, great," she grumbled. "You're asking me this now?"

Tommy shrugged, bringing his Brachio-Staff into one of the Tyrannodrones. "Well, you wanted some tutoring, and granted, you need some time out in the field to get a hands-on experience with seeing some of these dinosaurs." He frowned slightly. "Technically, it's DinoZords, but I'm not complaining."

Kira merely shook her head, kicking one of the creatures aside. "Okay, fine. Give me the name, and I'll try to remember what period it's from."

"Let's try… Parasaurolophus."

She cocked her head. "Late… Cretaceous period?"

"Yep!" Tommy replied, proceeding to hit another Tyrannodrone with his staff. It fell into another as he jumped up and landed next to Kira. "All right. Give me the time period for a Dimetrodon."

"Um, Permian Period, two hundred and eighty million years ago?"

The Black Ranger smiled behind his mask, nodding once again at his student's knowledge. "Right again. I've got a hard one for you.

"Chasmosaurus."

Kira blinked. She had just gotten this wrong on a quiz a couple of days ago. As she stood there, frozen in place with thoughts racing through her head, a Tyrannodrone came up from behind her and attacked, pushing her to the ground. She growled angrily, sweeping her foot underneath the creature just as Tommy slammed him in the backside with a fist. She looked up and shrugged. "Um… Cretaceous Period?"

Her mentor nodded a final time. "I should give you extra credit for that question."

The Yellow Ranger laughed slightly. "Maybe. I couldn't remember that one to save my life before. And here I am, in the midst of a battle with my teacher, and it comes back to me."

"We can discuss this more later. Right now, we need to take care of these guys."

One tiring hour later, Kira stood in the midst of a field with her mentor and sighed, crossing her arms. "So, now what do we do? School's probably closed."

"It's Friday, Kira. Do you have any homework?"

The teenager smirked. "Besides that pop quiz for Monday and the fact that every other class assigned something, then no. I don't."

Tommy cocked his head. "I can grab your stuff for you. Being a teacher at the school and having a key to get inside does have its perks."

"I'd appreciate that, Dr. O."

The mentor smiled. "No problem. Oh, and Kira?"

She looked up at him.

"Never again will I try to quiz you to remember your dinosaurs during a battle with Tyrannodrones."

Kira raised an eyebrow. "I'd seriously appreciate that."

So, there you have it. My first one-shot in this fandom- sort of a student-teacher thing, but I don't care. Did I do okay? I'd appreciate reviews. Thanks for reading.