DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the actual writing in this story and the character of Meredith. All other ideas, including those quotes I have stolen, belong to someone else. PR belongs to Saban and I'm just borrowing them for my own AU.
MEMORY
The rangers had slipped back into a comfortable pattern. Not even a putty or tenga had been sent to distract was grateful for the reprieve. It gave him plenty of time to think about Tanya. He really liked her and he felt she liked him, too.
The Moon
"We've been too quiet lately. We should attack them now," Rita said.
"They are all still suffering from grief. That human emotion. Wonder how those power brats would handle reliving those awful memories in their lives again. I can send down Memory Maven. She can cast a spell over the rangers and they will see their memories all over again, just like they were happening," Zedd said.
"What a great idea, Zeddie," Rita said, cackling.
They crossed their staffs and sent Memory Maven down to Angel Grove park.
Memory Maven, a white monster enveloped by a memory mist. She held a fan that directed the mist toward the person she was attacking. Her appearance let her blend in with the surroundings. She spied her first ranger, Adam, walking with the new girl, Tanya. She blew the mist and it enveloped Adam. Both coughed.
Adam and Tanya continued on their way with Adam dropping her off at Aisha's. He continued on his way to his house. When he arrived at home, he went to his room. He noticed his picture of Trini. He started remembering everything he and Trini had done together. Suddenly, the peace he had felt about hanging out with Tanya was gone. In it's place was the pain he'd felt when he found out that Trini had been killed.
He flung himself on his bed and cried.
Tanya was so glad to be away from Adam. She had thought she liked the boy, but she felt guilty for being happy when her parents were dead.
She went to her room and pulled out the photo album. She started crying as she looked at the pictures of her family. She remembered the last trip they had taken. They had traveled to New Zealand and gone scuba diving. Tanya had the best time and had hated it when her parents dropped her off at school and returned to their dangerous job. Tanya had known it was possible one or both would be killed by some rebels that didn't agree with their beliefs, but she hadn't counted on an accident and there not being a hospital in the entire country that could have saved them. She put her head in her hands and cried.
Memory Maven found the next targets in the same place. The remaining rangers and their friends were walking through the juice bar parking lot, heading toward the park. She enveloped them in her memory mist and disappeared as the group was affected.
The mist didn't affect them until they were alone. Tommy had driven Kimberly home. She went to her room and, while packing her gymnastics bag, started recalling those awful memories of Tommy as the evil green ranger.
"News flash, Kimberly, not everything revolves around you," he had said to her.
"Well, you should know, pink ranger, that you and the other rangers, will be destroyed."
Remembering the cold, evil way Tommy had spoken to her brought tears to her eyes. She felt like she was reliving this awful period in her life all over again.
She remembered their fight before they had to battle one of Rita and Zedd's monsters.
"I apologized for being late. I was talking with Meri. She needed me," he had said to her.
Meredith had just broken up with Jason, but didn't want anyone to know. Tommy hadn't wanted to leave her, so he had been late for his anniversary date with Kim.
"You're sister is suddenly more important than me," she had asked.
"I'm not going to abandon my sister when she's crying her eyes out," he said, raising his voice slightly.
"She has Jason. He can comfort her," Kimberly said."Jason's the reason she's crying," Tommy said."This was a big date for us. It's our anniversary," she said.
Tommy didn't say a word for a minute. He looked at Kimberly, took a deep breath and said, "You said you loved how close I was to my sister. How I was always there for her. I'm sorry that the ONE time she needed me and I picked being with her over being on time for our date. That doesn't mean that I don't care about you. Meri's my sister. Let's do this tomorrow," Tommy said. He grabbed his sport coat off the couch and walked out of Kimberly's house.
Kim remembered how guilty she had felt. She called to apologize, but Tommy wouldn't talk to her for 24 hours.
When they got summoned for a monster battle, Tommy hadn't said anything to Kim. He'd asked Meredith or Aisha to do what ever he needed. He barely acknowledged her presence. They fought the monster and defeated it, sending it back to where Rita had found it.
Kimberly went right to Tommy's house after the battle. She had apologized and they had made up, but Kimberly had always felt horrible when she thought about how she'd acted.
Kimberly sat down on her bed and cried.
Tommy entered his room and couldn't shake the memories that were washing over him.
"It will soon be death to the power rangers,"
"Meredith, your brother is no longer the brother you thought. Get used to it."
"Nothing you can do to save your precious boyfriend. You're precious red ranger."
Tommy was in pain. He was hurting from the pain of the memories. He was in pain remembering how awful he'd been to his sister and to his best friends.
Tommy didn't understand how someone who had said those awful things had been made the leader of the power rangers. How he could be happy with Kimberly. How he could still have the close relationship with Meredith that he had. How he could have a close friendship with Jason and the rest after trying to destroy them.
Tommy took his hair down and ran his fingers through his hair. The worst moments in his life were being replayed in his head and he couldn't stop them.
Aisha couldn't help but think about her grandmother. She was trying to do her homework when she remembered her death and funeral. Aisha wasn't sure why this painful part of her history refused to leave her mind, but it was upsetting.
She set her homework aside and went to the kitchen. She needed to get past the sadness that she thought she'd overcome. Aisha sat at the counter and just stared off into space.
Zack remembered, clearly, what happened between him and Angela. Zack was really happy with Aisha, but the pain of Angela's betrayal had cut him deep. He knew Aisha would never do that to him, but he'd thought the same of Angela, also.
"What are you talking about? What do you mean you found someone else," he had asked her.
"I found someone who is there for me. He's rich and will do anything for me that I ask," she had told him. She gathered up her stuff from the couch and walked out the door.
Angela had admitted she'd been cheating on him for three months with a guy she'd met at her parent's country club. He had money and all the things that Angela said she wanted.
While Zack believed Aisha would never do that to him, he couldn't help but wonder if she was just like Angela. He sat on his bed and thought about his and Aisha's relationship.
Jason had fallen asleep. He was very tired for some reason and had no idea why this was the case. He woke up from his unplanned nap sweating. He had balled the blanket around him, his t-shirt clinging to his chest like second skin.
He sat up and placed his feet on the floor.
He rubbed his face, trying to get the images out of his head.
"My boyfriend and I had a fight. Can you give me a ride out of here," Emily had asked him.
"Sure. Let me tell my friends I'll be leaving," Jason had said.
He found Adam and told him he was going to give a friend a ride home. After seeing Adam nod his head, Jason returned to Emily who was standing at the front door.
Jason followed her out the door, and being a gentleman, opened the passenger door of his truck and helped her inside.
He rounded the truck, got in and started it up.
"Want to give me directions," he asked."Yeah, but can we go by the lake first. I want to clear my head before I go home," she had said.
Jason headed toward the lake. He hadn't been to the lake in a few weeks. He and Meredith usually went their together and she'd been preoccupied with what happened with Tommy, that they hadn't seen each other much.
He pulled in the parking lot and turned off the truck. Emily was starting at the lake through the windshield.
Jason had his hands still on the wheel. "So, where's Meredith? You two are always together," Emily had asked.
"Her brother's having a rough time, so she's helping him out," Jason said, staring straight ahead.
"Too bad. You know, I've always had a crush on you," she told him.
"Really? I didn't know," he answered.
"You've always been attached to Meredith," Emily said, moving closer to him in the front seat of the truck.
"She has been my girlfriend for a year," he answered.
Emily had moved so he could feel her breath on his neck, right above his shoulder. He tried not to react, but it was hard to avoid it. As much as Jason liked to believe he was a man of strong moral and virtue, Emily was driving him crazy. And she hadn't touched him at all. He and Meredith had kissed and made out and TALKED about sex, but that was it.
"Jason, how would you like to make my dreams come true," she asked him, kissing his neck. Jason tried, he really tried, to resist. Soon, however, he was responding to her kisses and was caressing her like he'd been doing it all his life.
Emily pulled Jason on top of her and pulled off his shirt. Eventually both were in the back seat of Jason's truck.
Shortly after he and Emily had sex. Jason was pulling his pants back on, shocked at what had just happened. Emily was fixing her clothes and looked at Jason.
"What? Are you feeling guilty," she asked him.
"Not really because I wanted to be with you. I could have stopped it, but I didn't. I feel guilty because I SHOULD feel guilty. I love Meredith and I shouldn't have done that with you, but I wanted to," he said.
Emily smiled. "Well, I will always be available for you," she said.
Jason pulled on his shirt and drove Emily to her house. He waited for her to get inside before driving away.
That was the beginning of his sneaking around. It wasn't that difficult since Meredith was distracted by Tommy. Jason never forgot the pain in Meredith's face when he told her what he had done.
"So because I was trying to process what had happened with my brother, my TWIN brother, you decided to ignore me and go after your physical needs. I was ready to tell you I wanted to sleep with you. Now, I'm really, really glad that we never did. Get the hell out of my house," she had screamed at him. He knew he'd failed as a boyfriend and he had failed as a ranger. A true ranger wouldn't have treated their girlfriend, their best friend that way. Jason teleported to the command center and told Zordon he wanted to give his powers to Rocky. Zordon had not been surprised. He told Jason he would have asked him to hand over his power coin if he hadn't admitted what he had done and owned up to it. Rocky was given the power coin and Jason couldn't look him in the eye. Rocky didn't know why Jason had given up his power coin, but Rocky wasn't complaining. Jason said he was heading to Switzerland, despite Zack not going with him. Jason said he needed the time away and hoped everyone would understand.
Jason had left shortly after that.
He sat on his bed and pinched the bridge of his nose. The memories wouldn't stop invading his thoughts.
Katherine couldn't believe how childish she had been when she first arrived in town. She had fixated herself on one guy, who was obviously taken. She found herself hopelessly crushing on Tommy. Nothing she did drew his attention, but that didn't stop her from trying.
Katherine stood at the Juice Bar, waiting for Tommy. She had sent a note to Kimberly asking her to meet Tommy in the park and sent a note to Tommy asking him to meet Kim in the Juice Bar. When Tommy arrived at the Juice Bar, he was searching for Kimberly.
Katherine pounced.
"Hey, Tommy. Looking for someone," she asked.
"Hey, Kat. Yeah, Kimberly. I got a note saying she was supposed to be here, but I'm not seeing her. Have you seen her," he asked.
"I thought I did, but she was walking out with Jason," she said.
"Oh, maybe I misread the note. Well, I guess I should get in some practice," he said.
"You could do that or you could let me get you a smoothie to thank you for helping me with my car," she said.
"Well, I guess that would be OK," he said.
They ordered smoothies and sat at the groups' usual table.
Katherine had tried flirting with Tommy the whole time. He kept talking about Kimberly.
When they finished, they walked outside. Tommy said he was going to go to Kim's house and see if she was there. Tommy had his back to the park entrance, but Katherine saw Kimberly walking toward the Juice bar.
Katherine leaned over and tried to kiss Tommy, but Tommy immediately stopped her. "Katherine! What the hell are you doing? You know I love Kimberly and if you want to keep being friends with everyone, I suggest you remember that," he said.
Kimberly called out to him at that moment and Tommy went toward her. Katherine was left feeling low and rejected. She got in her car and went home.
She relived that moment like it was right in front of her. All the hurt and pain she'd experienced was right there for her to feel all over again.
She couldn't believe she'd actually been guilty of that. She loved Jason and couldn't believe she'd become so infatuated with Tommy. She sat on the floor of the family room and cried for how she had behaved.
Rocky was trying to work out, but his head wasn't in it. Instead he was reliving his breakup with Jennifer before he started dating Meredith.
"Jenn, what is the problem," he asked her.
"The problem is that you are distracted. You haven't focused on anything in the last 10 minutes. What's bothering you," she asked,
Rocky didn't realized he'd been distracted, but he couldn't help it. He'd seen Meredith crying after school and Tommy had ushered her off before he could ask what was wrong. He'd become close to the petite brunette with beautiful eyes. He hadn't seen her smile in a few days and that bothered him. She was beautiful anyway, but she was breathtaking when she smiled. He'd meant to talk to Tommy about it, but Tommy hadn't been around.
"Sorry. A friend of mine is having a problem and I'm concerned," he said, smiling at her.
"A friend? Look, you're in love with Meredith Oliver. It's fairly obvious to me. I just can't believe you keep leading me on like this," Jennifer said.
"What are you talking about," he asked.
"You and I have been together for almost a year now and I thought we were heading for a serious step in our relationship," she said.
"What, you mean sex? Whoa, Jenn, I'm not ready for that," he said. And he wasn't. The thought of sleeping with a girl that wasn't Meredith bothered him. He realized he wasn't being fair to Jennifer.
"Well, I guess I should have known. I can't believe you would be such a cad, Rocky DeSantos. You're leading on your girlfriend, who may I remind you, you said you loved. You're actually in love with a girl that you're never going to have. I'm not going to play second fiddle to her. Have fun being alone because, why would Meredith want to be with YOU," she said, before she grabbed her stuff.
"Jenn, I didn't mean to hurt you," he had said.
He shouldn't have been surprised when her hand came across and slapped him. He stood in his living room, watching her as she slammed the door.
Rocky didn't know how long he'd been standing there before he walked out the back door to go to Meredith's house.
Rocky couldn't believe how he had neglected to take Jennifer's feelings into consideration when he found himself falling for Meredith. He wondered if Meredith hadn't broken up with Jason, would they have gotten together? Rocky found himself outside and sat on the porch swing. He wouldn't trade his relationship and feelings with Meredith for anything, but had be been a cad? Had he been a jerk for loving another while he was supposed to be in love with Jennifer? He didn't like the answers he was getting.
Meredith was crying. She had a sudden sense of sadness and loss. She remembered when Jason had admitted he had cheated on her, several times, with Emily.
The pain over his betrayal was fresh. She felt like her heart had been stomped.
She then remembered all the nasty things Tommy had said as the green ranger.
"You didn't have a brother, Meredith, you had a puppet. Your brother doesn't exist any more. I will not follow you around.""I will destroy the power rangers and with them, your precious boyfriend. Why you would date that guy is beyond me. You deserve so much better."
"Your friends are pathetic, Meredith. I will enjoy watching them fall."
Tommy's words, while not really his, had hurt her terribly. She wasn't sure why she was remembering these moments, but she couldn't stop thinking about those memories. Painful memories in her life, that she wished she could forget.
She tried to remember the happiness she had found with Rocky, but couldn't stop thinking about the hurt Jason had put her through.
She knew she was partially responsible for Rocky and Jennifer breaking up. He had said as much and she had been upset that she was the cause of something painful for hi. He had assured her that the breakup was for the best because he didn't love Jennifer like he was supposed to and was harboring feelings for her.
"Meri, I care about Jenn. I really do, but I don't love her. I think I was trying and I was fooling myself and her to think that it was real," he said to her.
"Did you break up with her because of me," Meredith had asked.
"I'm not entirely sure. Jenn broke up with me, so there really isn't any reason for us to discuss it," he said.
Meredith had known he wanted to kiss her, to be with her, but the pain of Jason's rejection and pain of Tommy's hurtful words. Meredith had left the park and gone home.
Thankfully, Rocky had persisted and arrived a few days later to talk to her. She realized then that she was already in love with Rocky, despite everything that had already happened.
Billy was remembering his friendship with Trini. He had secretly loved her since junior high, but hadn't said anything. He was glad when she'd found Adam. He knew that Adam and Trini were happy together.
Billy had found a good relationship in Rebecca. She was smart and pretty and understood everything he said. They had the same interests and got along very well together.
Billy didn't know why he was remembering Trini. He wanted to remember her, but no the pain of losing her. He had returned from Aquitar after a few weeks away and shortly after that, Trini had died. He regretted missing that time with her, but if he hadn't gone, he would be dead. Trini had convinced him to go and Zack had filled in for him in his absence.
Billy let a few tears slip from his eyes before putting the album away and getting ready to meet Rebecca.
Meredith couldn't shake those painful memories until she remembered her love for Rocky and how they got together. Suddenly, all the painful memories were fading. She remembered them, but the grief from them wasn't rushing to the surface.
She blinked and realized she might have been under a spell.
"TOMMY," she yelled to her brother.
He came rushing through their adjoining bathroom and asked what was wrong.
Meredith noticed her brother had been crying. "Tommy are you having painful memories? Are you reliving things like the evil green ranger and the things that he said," she asked. Meredith had refused to acknowledge that he was the evil green ranger and often separated the two.
"Yes I have," he said.
"Anything else," she asked.
"The fight I had with Kim on our anniversary," he said.
"I remember that. That was because of me. I'm remembering the evil green ranger, the break up with Jason and realizing I'd ruined Rocky's relationship," she said.
"Meri, you didn't do that," he said.
Meredith shook her head. "Doesn't matter now. The point is, I think we got hit with a spell. Think Zordon and Alpha can find out," she asked.
"Worth a shot," he said. He pushed the button on his communicator. "Zordon, it's Tommy. Meredith thinks we've been hit with a spell, can you find out," he asked.
"PLEASE TELEPORT TO THE COMMAND CENTER AND ALPHA CAN PERFORM A BIOSCAN."
Tommy looked at his sister who nodded. They teleported to the command center where Alpha was prepared to scan them.
"Meredith was correct, Tommy. You are both under a spell. This should fix it," Alpha said.
He sprayed them with a mist and the bitterness and pain they felt disappeared. They could still conger the feelings of the bad memories, but they could also feel the good memories.
"We should find out if the other have been affected," Tommy said.
"Here. Spray this and it should fix them," Alpha said.
"RITA CREATED MEMORY MAVEN. I HAVE A FEELING AFTER EVERYONE IS RETURNED TO NORMAL, YOU WILL HAVE TO BATTLE HER. REMEMBER ALL THE GOOD TIMES YOU'VE HAD AS A GROUP. RITA WILL WIN IF YOU LET THE PAIN OVERWHELM YOU. SHE HOPES TO DRIVE A WEDGE BETWEEN YOU AND THE OTHER RANGERS AND YOUR FRIENDS."
"Got it, Zordon," Tommy said.
He and Meredith teleported to Kim's house, ending up in the back yard behind the shed.
Tommy knocked on the door and Kimberly came and answered it. Tommy knew she'd been crying and he help her while Meredith sprayed the antidote.
"Tommy it was awful. What happened," she asked him. "It was a spell. Come on we have to get the others. Zordon thinks this latest monster is going to materialize in the park soon," he said.
The trio teleported to the next house, Rocky's.
Meredith knocked on the door and Rocky's mom answered it.
"Meri, dear, how nice to see you. Rocky's in his room. He seems a little down. Is everything alright between you two," she asked.
"It will be. Can I go up and surprise him? I wanted to see if he'd like to go to the movies with Tommy and Kimberly," she said.
Rocky's mom smiled and nodded her head. Tommy and Kim sat on the sofa while Meredith ran upstairs. She knocked on Rocky's door and pushed it open without waiting for a response.
"Rocky, it's OK," she said.
When he heard her voice he jumped off the bed and wrapped her in his arms. "Oh, babe," he said.
Meredith sprayed him with the antidote.
"What's going on," he asked.
"Rita, monster, spell. The usual," she said. He smiled at her.
"You know I love you, right," he asked.
"I love you, too," she said, nodding her head. They shared a kiss and headed back downstairs.
"Is everything better, Rocky," his mom asked.
"Yeah, it was a stupid misunderstanding and everything is fine," he said.
She smiled at the couple, glad things were back to normal.
The four headed out the door and went to the next house.
They knocked on Aisha's door and found her with Zack. Meredith sprayed the antidote on both of them.
"Rita and a spell," Zack asked.
Kimberly nodded.
"Thank goodness. Those memories were really strong and painful," Aisha said.
They arrived at Jason's house next.
The former red ranger opened the door with tears streaming down his face.
"Meri, I'm so sorry for the way I treated you. I can't believe I was that selfish," he said, pulling Meredith into a hug. Meredith rubbed his back and told him everything was fine. Tommy sprayed the antidote and Jason immediately released his former girlfriend. "I didn't realize how horrible I had been," he said.
"Spells do that to you," Rocky said, trying not to react to Jason's hug of Meredith.
They went to Katherine's next and found her crying. She immediately apologized for her behavior when she first arrived and Meredith sprayed her. They told her about the spell and off they went to Billy's.
Billy, sensing it was a spell that was causing his pain, was waiting for them.
"I asked Zordon if he knew what was wrong and he assured me that you guys would come with the antidote," he said.
Meredith smiled at her friends insight. She sprayed him and they all went to find was worried Adam was caught in the pain of remembering the loss of Trini.
They arrived at the Park home just as Tanya was arriving. They were talking to her on the porch when Aisha sprayed her with the spray. It was tricky because Tanya didn't know or suspect she was under a spell. They had all decided that they would spray her, just to be safe.
Adam's mom answered the door and ushered the friends into the house.
"Adam's extremely upset. I don't know what's wrong with him. I called your house, Rocky, but your mother said you were out. Think you could help him," she asked.
"I'll see what I can do. Mer, you want to come with me," he asked.
Meredith and Rocky went to Adam's room and found their friend crying over a picture of Trini.
"Adam it's an awful spell from Rita. We're going to make you feel better," Meredith said as she sprayed the antidote.
Adam's pain eased, somewhat, but he was still hurting.
"Adam, what's wrong," she asked.
"What if I start seeing Tanya and something happens to her," Adam asked.
"Don't think that. If we all worried about what COULD happen, no one would do anything," Rocky said.
"I didn't let what happened with Jason cloud my relationship with Rocky. If I thought he'd act like Jason, I never would have given him a chance," she said.
"So I should go for it," Adam asked.
The couple smiled.
The three went downstairs where Adam took Tanya outside to ask her to a movie.
When Tanya returned all smiles, everyone knew they had fixed Rita's latest mess.
***Preview to next installment: Insanity. Tommy was going to go crazy. He knew Kimberly was in Florida for a month, but he kept feeling like she was right there. One minute he thought she was right there, the next he didn't think she would be coming back. Tommy thought he would go insane from missing her. It was causing concern for Meredith and she was voicing her opinion.*** -mereditholiver.