Disclaimer: This story was inspired and adapted from season 1 of the TV show, "One Tree Hill. Neither "One Tree Hill" nor "Power Rangers" belongs to me. Some parts of "Saving Me" may be slightly AU at points, but the story's intent is to remain true to the spirit of the Mystic Force series. Oh, and "The Real World"and "Harry Potter" do not belong to me either.

Secret Sleepovers

(A few nights later)

Vida thought she had lucked out years ago when a coin flip granted her the bigger of the sibling bedroom on the first floor of the Rocco family's ranch-style home.

She had a queen-sized bed, walk-in closet for her CD collection and more wall space to hang her music posters. Even though her room bordered her parents', Vida thought it was a small price to pay rather than having to live in Madison's closet-like dwelling area down the hall.

Yet ever since their mom and dad had started arguing until the wee hours of the morning almost every night, Vida would have given the world to trade living spaces with her sister.

"Honey, if I get let go during my company's merger, I just can't see how we'll be able to stay in Briarwood," Vida through her bedroom walls heard her dad say. "There's just not a lot of other positions around in this town for a sea lion trainer."

"You have that job offer in Nebraska as a backup," Vida heard her mother reply.

NEBRASKA?!? The thought of having to move from beachy Briarwood to land-locked Nebraska made Vida want to puke, especially since she was not a fan of country music.

"The girls will be devastated if we have to move," Vida heard her father protest.

"It's better than not having food on the table," her mother retorted.

"Look, I still won't know anything for another few weeks, so at least we don't have to tell the girls anything yet," her dad reminded.

Which was the exact reason Vida hadn't told to her parents that she had overheard their frequent fights about the family's future… or mentioned anything to Madison. With their being rangers this past year, their friends and family had been through enough tumultuous times. Now seeing her sister finally start to settle down into a normal lifestyle with a boy who adored her, Vida just didn't want to say anything to ruin her sister's current happiness.

As she heard her mother's voice pique, urging her father to push his job to find out about the firings sooner, Vida grimaced and covered her ears. Hearing her parents argue, along with the nauseating thought of having to leave Briarwood, was more than Vida could bear. As usual, Vida wanted, no needed, to get away.

Sliding into her fuzzy pink and black slippers, Vida threw her bathrobe over her rose-colored KISS t-shirt and violet boxers. Then, she cracked open her window, climbed through and hopped the short distance onto the ground below. And as she had done for so many nights now, Vida raced across the grass to her regular hideaway.

Xander left his bedroom window opened ever since his neighbor had started making her standard nighttime visits. Since Vida had begun staying over so often, Xander had frequently wished he had gotten a bedroom on the second story of his house. At the same time, Xander didn't mind having a sleep over buddy, especially as the mystery behind her bedtime rendezvous intrigued him… though still caused him grave concern.

"Back again?" mumbled Xander drowsily from his bed as he heard Vida climbing through his window. "That's the third time this week."

"Fine, I'll go if I am bothering you that much!" snapped Vida, starting to crawl back out.

"No, no, I don't mind," replied Xander as he tossed her usual pillow and green, quilted blanket onto the floor. "I'm used to having ladies stay over," he added, even the heavy sleep in his voice unable to mask his bravado.

"Like we need reminders of all your 'conquests,'" snorted Vida, shutting the window as she glared at Xander in his forest-colored nightshirt and grey sweatpants.

"Just don't come over this Friday," said Xander. "I might be bringing a date back."

"What's her name?" pressed Vida, knowing Xander well enough to guess what his response would be.

"It's… oh wait a minute… I got it!" Xander concluded finally. "It's Belle! Or is it Michelle? Mayb Trashelle? No, she was a character on a season of 'The Real World'…"

"You can't remember her name," said Vida, vocalizing the obvious.

"So?" shrugged Xander.

"She must not be that special to you if you can't even remember her name," deduced Vida, leaning back smugly against his bedroom wall. "Well, you don't have to worry. I won't be around on Saturday night. I'm going to Ben's college party with Madison, remember? The one you are so overly paranoid about us going to???"

Not hearing Xander respond, Vida grabbed the pillow and blanket he had tossed her. Curling up in a fetal position on the floor, Vida once again sent up a silent prayer of thanks that the Bly family had gone with the extra-plush carpeting. Yet no matter how often she tossed and turned or how hard she pressed her head into her pillow, the thought of having to leave Briarwood still haunted her mind.

"V, whatever the reason is that you've been coming over to sleep here so often, you know you can talk to me about it," Vida heard Xander's voice break through the darkness.

"Whatever," brushed off Vida, rolling away from him on the floor.

"Come on, I know we spat like cats and dogs all the time, but when the day's over, you know we're still best friends and that I'm there for you, right?" pressed Xander, propping himself up on one elbow.

"Yeah, that's why you let me sleepover and don't ask any question," said Vida pointedly. "Now, goodnight!"

Xander sighed as he flopped back down on his bed. With the ever-present chip on Vida's shoulder, he often mused that she should have been given the yellow Mystic Ranger's name. But it wasn't just his worry over why Vida was acting even moodier than usual that had Xander so stressed out these days.

Between carrying around knowledge of Vida's secret sleepovers and Nick's undisclosed crush on Madison, Xander frequently felt like a walking chamber of secrets.

"So spill your secret," Ben heard his roommate, Gabe, suddenly demand. "How are you gonna get your girlfriend to finally give it up?"

"You mean, are Madison and I finally going to sleep together?" asked Ben, seeing Gabe give a nod of confirmation in response.

"Come on, you already said she was no virgin," pressed Gabe.

"Yeah, Maddie had some serious boyfriend back in high school for like three years," answered Ben. "The broke up when they graduated last year, and he went off to college in France."

"So what's the hold up?" questioned Gabe. "Your girlfriend's hot."

"I mean, we've talked about it," acknowledge Ben, blushing slightly. "Who knows? And we've been together on and off for a year now. Maybe we'll even do it after the party this Saturday night."

"Well, in case she needs some coaxing," began Gabe, reaching into his nightstand drawer. "Here's a little something to help set the mood."