Episode IV

A Ranger's Duty

Chapter One

"A Place to Rest"

Time has always been a difficult paradox: smooth and hard, long and short, fast and slow; dependent entirely on an individual's perception. It has been our constant companion throughout our lives, since before we were conceived, unveiling surprises and planned events. And in just thirteen hours time had revealed the trauma of truth to Trini Kwan.

Although she remembered Aisha's murder, the truth of whether she and Jason had been married lurked out of her reach. Regardless if she was sincere when she married him, Jason could have lied during his vows, nullifying their union. By law, they were married, but not in terms of trust. Therefore Trini disbanded her vow to Jason just like her power coin and morpher, and reclaimed her family name.

Unfortunately all of those items were chained to her. Shedding her dull wedding ring would not vanquish her link to Jason. Whether based on a lie or not, she was bound to him by a seven year ordeal. And when Jason unlocked her mind, she was forced to be haunted by the shattered fragments of a past once sealed from her. Beyond that, clasped to the back buckle of her pants, was her power morpher: both a symbol and key to the power denied her for six years. For any power ranger, it was a symbol of strength, teamwork, and grace.

However, every time its clasp touched her skin, revulsion squirmed up her back, nauseating her stomach. Gags threatening vomits maintained their torturous vigil; for even though daylight surrounded her, the memory of night loomed above her and lurked beyond her sight. Now that she was on her own, fear and anxiety quivered within her.

On and on, hungry and tired, she trudged down Angel Grove's streets neither watching nor caring where she was going; completely unaware of the aching now creeping into her ankles and calves. Instead, she moved forward, her arms folded over her breast, thighs squeezed together, and her neck hunched over, staring at the sidewalk. Clinging to the new clothes she now wore, she ignored the pedestrians, even the ones that said "hello" to her. Stranger, acquaintance, or friend, she met no one's eye.

She wasn't running. Just walking—wandering, dragging her feet toward some unknown destination. She turned left. Right. She stayed the course, neither aware nor caring about the hours that passed. Trini turned blindly down a city block and again, stopping only for traffic (sometimes surprised by it), following her feet. Or was she guided?

Not even realizing it, her feet dragged to a stop. She halted, frozen in her shock and pseudo-numbness as heartache raked in her chest, shortening her breath. Time yielding nothing to her senses at first. Slowly the aching in her legs reached her brain. She turned her head, terror seeping into her awareness, threatening to flood her. Single floor houses and lawns stretched out along the curving roads, surrounding her. Trini had never been here before. She lifted her head, wincing as her stiff and stretched neck muscles pushed against each other instead of relaxing. Trini blinked.

She had stopped in front of a seemingly not extraordinary single story house. Its rustic brick popped out from the forest framing it, while the concrete driveway curved along the right side of the front yard. A walkway sprouted from the 6x4' long porch, bridging it to the driveway. A garden of lilies, daisies, and daffodils lined it, springing warmth onto the large window mounted above it. The front door was painted in pale blue, a calm neutral amongst the masonry and wildlife, exerting an aroma of welcome and ease.

Despite this, the shadows only heightened her fear, Trini crept forward, her arms still folded in front of her. Something pulled her toward it, though she could not identify it. Perhaps it was instinct, but regardless, she had stopped in front of here for a reason. That and the house offered something that she desperately beseeched: Sanctuary.

Trini limped to the porch.

Kimberly walked along her balance beam to the end of it, focusing on her routine. Hop on third step, she chanted. Step again and spin. Her technique was flawless—perfect textbook. Except… that's the problem. She halted. Coach Schmidt would be shaking his head right now.

Kimberly had executed these routines multiple times in the past. Even when exhausted once when practicing for her first Olympic tryout, she had chosen to do the same technique to test her limits. She passed.

No. What was missing was spirit—drive, emotion. Sighing, she leaned backwards from the waist, curving into a perfect handstand. Body fully aligned, she released a grunt.

Her passion was gone. There was nothing driving her except perfection. This wasn't what her body desired to focus on. As her blood drained into her head, she inhaled, allowing the rest of the morning to wash over her.

None of her friends had been happy to hear that Trini had refused to be a ranger, all except for Sean. Though stating that he was unsure of what the future would bring, he maintained that he had faith in Trini, maintaining that it was important that she find her path. Having been a puppet for the past six and a half years and not her completed self, it was vital that she discover who she was. Only then, could she face Jason with integrity and dignity. Once she was armed with both, she would be far stronger than she had been all those years ago.

Torn between sympathy and duty, it had been a struggle to let her go, fearful that Jason, Zedd, and Rita would hunt her down. However, Sean stated that since Jason had not abducted her during their zord battle, she would be safe for a time. Plus, she had her communicator with her. Agreeing that it was a gamble, but reminding them that most of life was a gamble, Sean said that they needed to trust her. Simply because she had been traumatized for a forth of her life was not reason to hold her from the world or rob her of her independence and liberty. Depression was perfectly normal for her situation—even thoughts of suicide. Sean reminded them that having those thoughts were not the same as proceeding with the actions, nor was escapism the same thing even though at first it they appear to be.

By this point, Billy had awoken too, rested after his unwelcomed nap. After Sean instructed Tommy, Rocky, and Adam in remotely conjuring people through teleportation, he rejuvenated his fatigued body through draining Billy's excess energy.

Seeing that it was almost eight o'clock, they decided that the best thing to do now was to go to their jobs, but would check in regularly. As Billy had suspected, none of his friends enjoyed being hunted. However, given that he did not have a job yet on earth, he volunteered to keep tabs on Kimberly via Tommy's DinoThunder Lair. Tommy unfortunately replied that he had only cleaned the lair up after Zeltrax had destroyed it months ago, seeing only to structural repairs; not bothering to repair the systems as all since all of the dinozord eggs had been found and hatched. Billy smiled, promising that he could probably get the place running again if he had an original blueprint of it. "What good is a power ranger team without a Command Center?" Billy joked. Agreeing, Tommy said he'd point out a copy of his plans and see if Haley, his technical adviser and friend, would help them.

With that, the rest of the team teleported away to their individual lives. Not wanting to get fired for being late to the Surf Spot, Zack teleported with Rocky and Adam to their studio to pick up his car.

Kimberly spun around with perfect flair and balance, her heart set. The power rangers are back, she thought, allowing it to sink in. "Ready or not, we can't be distracted by worry." Striding forward towards the balance beam's edge, she launched into the air into a perfect split, landing right in her center of gravity, never wavering or hesitating. Sinking into a releve, she front flipped off of the edge, landing gracefully on the mat of her practice room in strong form, passion warming her heart.

"Okay, time for the gym." Just because evil was back in her life, did not mean she had to give up on her life. She had trained too hard to achieve her successes: The Pan Global Games, the Olympics, and various competitions. Gymnastics was her element, and she would flourish through this struggle with it.