Tommy sat in the living room waiting for his mother who was taking him out to breakfast. He had a feeling he knew what she wanted to talk about and he wasn't sure how he was going to answer her.

Charlotte came down the stairs still towel drying her hair. "I'll be ready to go in ten minutes."

"Okay," Tommy said glad for the extra time to think of what he was going to say.

Ten minutes later Charlotte came back into the room with keys in hand. "Cory went with Stephanie to her studio so let's go."

Tommy followed her out of the house and into her van. They drove to a diner.

They sat down at a table and gave their orders.

"So how are things going in school?"

"Good."

"I bet it wasn't easy returning to your old school."

Tommy didn't say anything right away as he didn't want to worry his mother. Since his first day back, he had been avoiding the stairwell that brought back memories of his abduction.

Charlotte reached across the table and squeezed his hand. "I'm sure it'll get easier."

"Yeah."

Charlotte looked around to make sure no one was within earshot before saying, "where were you yesterday?"

Tommy had known that question would come up again. "I was studying with Jason."

"Tommy," she said dropping her voice even lower. "On the news last night it showed the Power Rangers fighting a monster at the time you were studying with Jason. When your father and I agreed to let you attend your senior year in Angel Grove, we said you could not be a Power Ranger again."

Tommy really didn't like lying, but he said, "I'm not."

The waitress came back and set their breakfasts down on the table. "Do you need anything? Jelly? Ketchup?" She asked.

"No thank you," Charlotte and Tommy both answered.

The waitress walked away.

Tommy and Charlotte ate their breakfasts in silence for a few moments.

"I'm just worried about you," Charlotte finally said. "I'm worried about what happened to you last year will happen again."

"It won't," Tommy said this time hoping it was true, "I'll be okay."

That evening everyone was gather in the Rush's backyard for a barbecue. Earlier that day when his mother was picking up Cory, Tommy contacted Zordon asking that he only be contacted if necessary. Zordon agreed.

"So Josh," Charlotte said, "how is the training for the race going?"

"It's going great," Josh said. "The people running the race say they already have a lot of people signed up. That reminds me," he said turning to Tommy, "are you still interested in taking the wave runner after school Friday?"

"Definitely!"

"Can I ride it?" Cory asked.

"You are too young kiddo," Josh said ruffling his hair.

Stephanie went to the barbecue and came back with the corn on the cob and the shishkebobs. Everyone dug in.

"Tommy," Charlotte said as she cut up Cory's food, "have you spoken to David since coming back?"

A few months ago, David Truehart had gone to Napa looking for Tommy. He said he had found out Tommy had moved to Napa when he had gone to Angel Grove to find him. Tommy had been shocked to find out that he had an older brother. They had exchanged a few letters since the meeting.

"He was here last weekend with Sam." Sam was David's adopted grandfather. They both lived on a reservation twenty miles north of Angel Grove.

"That's good. Please say hello to me the next time you see him."

There was silence for a few minutes before Cory started talking about his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Samuel. Charlotte then talked about one of her favorite customers at the bank and how much Ryan was enjoying teaching at the Police Academy.

Tommy was very happy that his communicator didn't sound once. The news report that night showed the Power Rangers fighting another of Gasket's robots. He hoped that would be enough to convince his mother.

Notes: I'm sure you can guess what's coming up next chapter.