The building was smaller than Trini had thought it might be. As the cab pulled away, she took a moment to get a feel for the place from the outside before going in. It was in a familiar part of town, near the park and the high school, but in a building that must have been renovated fairly recently; it still looked very clean and new.

When she opened the door and stepped inside, she could have sworn she had just stepped into an updated, modern version of the Youth Center where she had spent so much time years ago. The gym was open and airy inside, with all the equipment and gear one could ever hope to need readily available. To one side of the entryway there was a desk for a receptionist, but it was empty.

Trini wandered past without giving it much of a second look. Something else had already caught her eye. There was a group of people, mostly teenagers she assumed were students, gathered near the back wall. And they were watching something quite avidly. She had a feeling she knew what it was.

She moved closer slowly, keeping to the edges, not wanting to interrupt or make a nuisance of herself.

Sure enough, Jason was at the center of the crowd, doing a demonstration of advanced karate technique. It was pretty obvious from the way most of the students were carrying their gear that class was over, but they had stayed to watch his demonstration, which had probably started as a practice for his own benefit. He had always had a knack for making himself the center of attention without being intrusive or obnoxious about it. Trini smiled; she had a great many memories of Jason doing exactly this kind of thing, going all the way back to high school.

For a moment she considered approaching and making him aware of her presence, but there was no sense butting in... not when shirtless Jason was every bit as delicious as she remembered from high school. The man had the body of a god, and he knew how to use it; his movements were practiced to perfection, each move calculated and precise. It reminded her with a pang just how far she had let her own training go.

She knew the moment Jason finally spotted her. He missed a beat, the fluid kata becoming awkward as he almost fell; but in the end he managed to regain balance and control, finishing smoothly and without making a fool of himself. Trini had to hide her laughter behind one hand for fear of embarrassing him any more than necessary.

But he was grinning when he turned back to her after finishing the kata. Trini returned the smile and gave a small wave.

The students who had been watching all turned to stare at her as Jason jogged over. "Trini!"

She laughed as he pulled her into a bear hug, and didn't mind at all that he was covered in sweat or that they were being stared at by roughly a dozen teenagers. "Hi, Jason."

"How did you find this place?"

"You mean you don't think I looked it up in the phone book?" He made a face that only made her giggle again. "Kimberly gave me the address, silly. I believe her exact words were, 'go bug him'. So I took a cab, and here I am."

"Bug me? Thanks, Kim."

"Hey, she said it, not me. Take it up with her."

"I might," he mused, "if I thought it would do any good. You know Kim as well as I do."

"Yeah..." He was right; the former Pink Rager was incorrigible when it came to certain things, and playfully bothering her friends was one of them.

"Hey, I'll give you the guided tour," Jason offered, "but I promised to practice with a few of these guys after class..."

"Go ahead. I don't mind watching."

Trini stood back and watched as he worked with three of the older students, she guessed they were around sixteen or seventeen. He was definitely a gifted teacher. Even back in high school he had taught classes of younger students, and now he had grown into a calm and competent instructor and mentor. He was very lucky to have found his calling so easily and early...

The lessons were done almost before she realized it. The students hung back, watching, as Jason headed back to her.

Something the students were whispering caught her attention. "Kung-fu master?" she asked, teasingly.

"Well, how else was I supposed to explain you?"

She giggled and rolled her eyes. "I'm hardly a 'master' of anything."

"Yeah, well, you're good enough to be a master if you wanted to be, at least in my book. And the kids here are so impressed with your reputation that they want to see me fight you. Just a demonstration match, of course. You mind indulging them?"

The question took her by surprise, although it probably should not have. Mostly she was surprised that he had mentioned her at all to his current students. She couldn't imagine why, though it was very flattering.

"Well, how about it?" If he was being this persistent, he must want her to practice with him pretty badly, but...

She wasn't exactly dressed for practice, though she always wore comfortable clothing that was easy to move in - a leftover habit from her days as the Yellow Ranger that she now considered just plain practical. With a slightly rueful smile, she shook her head. "I don't think -"

He crossed his arms over his chest, grinning. He had been friends with her long enough to know that persistence generally worked, if he kept up asking long enough. Failing that, he could always resort to the irresistible puppy-dog eyes that got her every time. "Winner buys dinner."

So, they both knew she wasn't going to win. A bribe, then? She supposed she could live with that. And it seemed like the kids were really eager to see what she could do. "Okay."

Jason helped her up onto the mats and waited patiently while she took off her shoes and warmed up. Her heart was racing nervously even though she knew she had nothing to lose. There was nothing at stake but pride, but she did not want to disappoint her old friend or his new students.

She was out of practice, that much was obvious. Jason noticed, too, and let her ease back into it before beginning his attack in earnest. Gradually the proper forms and movements began to come back to her, pulled with frustrating slowness from her muscle memory, flowing with less grace than she remembered. It had been a long time since she practiced with someone that really challenged her skill.

They built up the pace slowly, meeting each other blow for blow. Evading, blocking, and each trying to gain the upper hand. Trini held her own pretty well, she thought, managing to keep up and keep Jason from landing a solid finishing blow until she was breathing hard and beginning to sweat. But by then her lack of recent practice was beginning to show, as he executed a series of swift attacks that left her reeling. After that, he made short work of finishing the fight.

She completely failed to see his next move coming and wound up flat on her back on the mat with Jason grinning down at her. Show off. The students applauded politely, already discussing the match in excited whispers between them.

"Nice match." Ignoring his students, Jason bent to help her up. It was just like him, to not even acknowledge that he had beaten her like that.

She nodded. "Well, I did better than I thought I might, at least. I seem to remember being able to beat you, once upon a time..."

He laughed at that. "I'll pick you up after I finish my shift here tonight, okay?"

"No, that sounds fine. I'm sure I can find some other way to keep myself occupied this afternoon than hanging around here, driving you crazy."

"I'll call you first... and hey, why don't we hit up a movie or something, too? It's been way too long since we got to hang out."

Trini could only nod dumbly. They were such good friends that she was sure it wouldn't be awkward to hang out with him again, just the two of them... in fact it would probably be a lot of fun, and she was quite pleased with the suggestion. It would give her something to look forward to tonight, but she was already dreading what would happen if Kimberly found out.