A/N: – Double-checks calendar – Oh my god, this is amazing! I'm updating this story for a second time this month! I swear, this is a record! I would help that this helps you guys to begin to reconcile my long updates. I've really been trying this summer, and it's paid off. I really appreciate everyone who has stuck with me, so I dedicate this chapter to each and every one of you. Enjoy! Also, please tell me if I've written some of these characters okay, especially Jenji. He, like Phineas, was really hard to write for some reason…

"…": characters talking to each other

'…': characters talking to themselves

(…): extra facts about something in the story

(Takes place four years after "Mystic Fate II")

Theme 10: Pride

Rootcore, August 5, 2010, 12:00 PM – Briarwood, CA, USA

"Are they at it again?" Jenji asked, cocking his head to the side as he observed the green and pink Mystic Force Rangers go about their work without talking to each other… again. Jenji was currently sitting on the main table at Rootcore – emblazoned with the five symbols of the Mystic Force – his eyes narrowed in thought.

"Are they up to what again, Jenji?" Daggeron asked, coming up behind Jenji and startling the genie so much that he almost fell off the table. When Jenji turned around to glare at his master and best friend, the Solaris Knight had the decency to look sheepish.

"Daggeron! Don't do that!" Jenji commanded, and glared at Daggeron, receiving a look in return. "What I meant was are they fighting again? 'Cause, you know, I'm really getting sick of having to watch them ignore each other."

Daggeron looked over to the two rangers and saw that they were indeed fighting again. Granted, this unique form of fighting didn't have any verbal vocalization, but it did still resonate with the fact that both rangers were butting horns over an issue that he was not privy to knowing about.

"Well?" Jenji prompted, allowing his impatient streak to take over.

Daggeron glanced at his friend and replied, "It does indeed look that way, Jenji. My question is what are they fighting about now?" When Jenji shrugged, Daggeron shook his head in amusement. While it was always entertaining to see the small spats that flared up from time to time between the now twenty-two year old rangers (had been since The Master's defeat four years ago), it was also getting old. Daggeron knew that the two were friends, even when immersed in one of their seemingly pointless arguments, and that they fought for reasons that were beyond his current knowledge. In fact, all he really knew was that many of Xander and Vida's reasons for fighting came from the fact that they were both too much alike because they both valued their pride.

"If you are wondering about the subject of their fight, might I suggest thinking back to the recent Power Rangers Reunion?" a feminine voice said from behind Daggeron and Jenji, and as the two turned around both met with the twinkling eyes of Udonna, who was accompanied by her husband Leanbow. True, the entire Mystic Force team, along with Leelee and Phineas, had attended a Power Rangers Reunion hosted by the Wild Force Rangers in Turtle Cove. However, Daggeron could only look curiously at Udonna, who had a knowing look on her face, and couldn't for the life of him figure out what she was talking about.

Leanbow chuckled. "It's really quite simple, Daggeron." The Fire Knight looped an arm around Udonna's shoulders, his eyes dancing with merriment. Daggeron pondered his mentor's words for a moment and then understanding dawned, and he began to chuckle, seeing the pure humor and irony in the situation.

"What? What am I missing?" Jenji asked, moving from Daggeron to Udonna to Leanbow and back to Daggeron. Leanbow glanced at Xander and Vida, both of who were studying books of spells, and had to hold back his laughter as he noticed that Xander was studying a book of spells dealing with Vida's element, and she had a book that dealt with Xander's. Amazing how alike the two were, and yet they always seemed to find ways to end up arguing about the most ridiculous things.

Udonna put a finger to her lips, signaling Jenji to be quiet, and motioned for Daggeron and himself to follow her. Leanbow was right behind his wife, and the Solaris Knight and the genie followed soon after. Once they were outside, Udonna looked to Leanbow, silently asking if she should tell the genie. Leanbow inclined his head, and Udonna turned to look at Daggeron, who was smirking, and at Jenji, who was frowning.

"Very well, Jenji, since you are so eager to know the reason as to why Xander and Vida are fighting, I shall tell you. However, you must not mention this to either one of them, understood?" At Jenji's nod, Udonna smiled and continued, "While we were attending the Power Rangers Reunion a few days ago, Leanbow and I observed some interesting things. We were talking with Dr. Thomas Oliver and his wife Kimberly when I spotted Xander flirting with the yellow ranger from Dr. Andrew Hartford's team – Operation Overdrive, I believe. This, in and of itself isn't strange, but what was interesting was that Vida saw him. She marched up to him, began arguing with him, apparently slapped him, and then stalked off. Xander took off after her and minutes later, I heard Xander yelling at Vida about what had just happened, along with her being a hypocrite because he had found her flirting with the white ranger from the Jungle Fury team earlier. She, in turn, yelled at him as well. I believe that they are still fighting over what happened at the reunion."

"Why would they… oh," Jenji said, realizing just what his two friends were arguing over.

"Exactly," Leanbow said, looking back at the entrance to Rootcore, and thinking for a moment added, "It seems that they are more alike than they would like to think, especially when it comes to the matter or pride. Neither one of them wants to admit their feelings to the other, yet both wish to know how the other feels. It all comes down to a matter of pride, and it is because of this pride that they fight so often. It is also a reason why neither one has apologized yet; they want the other person to make the first move."

Daggeron nodded and summarized his mentor's words, "I agree, Leanbow. It is all about pride, and as long as those two continue to hold onto their pride, I believe that they will continue to act the way they do now, and not as we all know they can, if only they could let go of their pride."

Jenji nodded and looked back at Rootcore, hoping that his two friends would overcome their pride and act like their other friends, especially Nick and Madison, considering that those two were very close these days; Madison even had a pretty ring on her finger…