Jiao groaned as she opened her eyes to find herself in a bedroom. She was almost about to dismiss everything that happened as a dream except a. she wasn't in her bedroom, and b. the pain in her body suggested otherwise. She went to sit up, noticing the white bandage wrapped around the cut on her bicep.

"How are you feeling?" Asked a voice. She looked over to see Kira sitting beside her.

"Where am I?" Jiao asked, pulling some hair behind her ear and looking around.

"Back at the house," Kira informed. Jiao looked at her, suddenly filled with worry.

"Where are the others?" She asked, almost panicky as she went to get up from the bed. "Hayden and Conner, did they-"

"Whoa, whoa," Kira said, placing her hands on Jiao's shoulders to keep her in bed. "Everyone's fine," she assured her. Jiao sighed, feeling better. Kira smiled. "Better watch out, you seem to be going against the uncaring and distant front you put up," she said. Jiao narrowed her eyes at the woman.

"I was just making sure that they were okay. Other then that, I could care less." She replied. Kira smirked.

"Uh huh," she said. "But if you don't care, then why does it matter if they're okay or not?" She asked. Jiao blinked.

"It doesn't," she muttered quickly. Kira chuckled slightly before deciding to not push the issue.

"How's your head?" She asked. Jiao sighed, rubbing at her temple a bit.

"It feels like I was at a drinking binge and have the hangover to prove it," she said. Kira nodded and handed her a bottle of Tylenol.

"There's water over here," she said, pointing to the nightstand. Jiao shook two pills out into her hand and popped them into her mouth before taking a gulp of water.

"Thanks." She replied. She looked around, noticing that the sky was beginning to show the early signs of dusk outside the window.

"How long was I out for?" Jiao asked.

"A few hours," Kira replied. Jiao looked at her.

"I should go," she said. "My bosses must be wondering where I ran off too," she said.

"Don't worry, Conner called the store and told them you weren't feeling well and wouldn't be back for the day," Kira told her. Jiao nodded. She swung her feet over the edge of the bed and saw her bag was sitting on the floor by the bed. "Trent picked it up when we were leaving the woods," Kira explained.

"Well, don't you people think of everything," Jiao muttered. "Next you're going to tell me someone got my car?" Kira simply smiled. "Of course," Jiao said, rolling her eyes.

"Ryder was able to get it started up again and Conner drove it back here," Kira stated.

"Cool," Jiao said, getting up to her feet. "Guess I'll be going then." Kira stood up.

"Are you sure?" She asked. Jiao turned to look at her.

"Uh yeah," she said. She went to put her bag on her shoulders, only to remember the strap was cut. She sighed and held it under her arm. She left the room and walked down the stairs with Kira following her. Jiao strode through the living room and walked out the house. She saw her car parked at the end of the driveway. She sighed and began making her way towards it. She yelped as a batch of grass in front of her erupted in a small type of explosion, causing her to drop her bag as dirt and grass rained on her.

"Oh man, sorry," she heard Ryder said as he jogged over to him. She looked at him and quickly brushed the dirt and grass from her shirt. "Still trying to get a hang of my power," he said.

"And what's that? Playing juvenile pranks on unsuspecting people?" She said lowly, practically snarling.

"Uh no," Ryder said. "Apparently I can control the elements….pretty cool, huh?"

"Control seems to be a pretty loose term," she muttered.

"I'm only just figuring out what to do." He replied. "I've been trying to focus on one element at a time," he said.

"And you're now doing Earth, how fortunate for me," she said, picking a blade of grass from her hair. Ryder turned away from her and faced the trees on the edge of the property. He focused, his eyes drifting shut as the wind around them picked up, the sound of it flowing through the leaves filled the air. After a few minutes, the sound died down as the wind settled. He opened his eyes and turned back to Jiao.

"I'm getting better." He replied.

"Right." Jiao countered, rolling her eyes. She shrugged. "Fine, I guess that comes in handy on a really hot day," she said. Ryder smiled.

"Is that a compliment?" He asked. Jiao narrowed her eyes.

"No," she replied. "Just saying….I guess that has a purpose," she said. Ryder simply smiled.

"Thanks," he said. "Your power isn't exactly useless either," he stated. "Who knows what could've happened to you and Hayden if you hadn't-"

"Given myself a major headache?" She supplied. Ryder just shot her a look.

"You two would have been killed." He replied. Jiao sighed and picked her bag off the ground.

"Yeah," she said softly. "Even more reason why I wish you all the best of luck and am getting my butt out of here. Where's Hayden? I guess I should give him a ride, even if he killed my car in the first place."

"He's staying," Ryder informed. Jiao looked at him. "He's inside with Conner and Trent, working on his power."

"I see," Jiao replied. Ryder nodded.

"Maybe you should stay too." He replied softly. Jiao looked at him.

"I don't think so," she said. "Staying here would imply I'm signing up for all this craziness….and yeah, running into little boy green and his friends kind of make me not so inclined to do that. So, see ya," she said, walking past him. Ryder turned and grabbed her arm, making her stop. Jiao spun around, ready to make him seriously reconsider doing that, but something about the way he was looking at her made her stop, her mouth closing from being open and ready to give him a severe tongue lashing.

"We're all scared," he said. Jiao looked away.

"I didn't say I'm scared," she said.

"You didn't have to," Ryder replied. "Why else would you be running away?" Jiao rolled her eyes and tried to pull her arm away, but Ryder didn't let go.

"Fine, I'm scared," she said, looking down. She felt Ryder release her arm. She crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly feeling vulnerable.

"If you stay, at least we're all together... God only knows what will happen to you if that green ranger comes back." Ryder replied. Jiao blinked and looked up at him.

"I don't do 'togetherness'," she replied. Ryder smiled and took a step closer to her. Jiao watched his movements as he lifted his arm, his hand going to her shoulder. She swallowed thickly, unsure what he was doing but riveted to her spot none the less. She felt his hand simply pluck something from her shoulder. Jiao blinked and looked down.

"Piece of grass," he said, tossing it aside.

"Oh," Jiao replied, tucking some hair behind her ear.

"Besides," He commented, backing off somewhat. "You don't have to do 'togetherness' just work with us to try and defeat this guy." Jiao looked at him, taking in his words.

"Jiao!" She looked past Ryder's shoulder to see Hayden excitedly jogging down the porch steps and coming over to them. "Hey, glad to see you're okay," he said, giving her a smile. Jiao blinked.

"Uh, yeah," she said. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" She commented, a little put off by his friendly attitude. Hayden laughed, shrugging a bit.

"Hey, we fought side by side, figure we're at least on friendly terms now, right?" He asked. Jiao quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Sorry, I don't know if I'm on friendly terms with people who call me Psycho Sally," she replied. Hayden's smile faded.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he said, giving a sheepish smile. "Anyway," he said, changing subjects as he raised his arm up to show off a silver cuff on his wrist. There, on the front, they saw the blue gem imbedded. "Check it out, pretty cool, huh?"

"Didn't figure you for a jewelry wearing type," Jiao replied. Hayden rolled his eyes.

"It's the Xenu rock," he said. "Conner and Trent gave it to me, there's one for each of us," he said.

"Oh wow, my own personal Xenu rock... Just what I've always wanted." Jiao rolled her eyes. "Besides, according to Trent, they're dino gems," she said.

"Well I like Xenu rock better," Hayden said, shrugging.

"Well, I guess I'll go get my……Xenu rock," Ryder said with a smirk, turning and going to the house. He looked at Jiao. "You coming?" He asked. Jiao blinked and looked at both of them.

"Of course she's coming," Hayden replied. He looked at Jiao. "Aren't you?" He asked. Jiao sighed. Jiao opened her mouth to say no when she suddenly felt Hayden snatch her bag out of her arm. "Well, now you are," he exclaimed with a laugh, running back to the house.

"What the….Hey!" Jiao said, running after him. Ryder smirked as they passed him. He walked in to find the two of them in the living room. Hayden was holding the bag over his head and Jiao was trying to get at it.

"Ryder, think fast!" Hayden called, tossing the bag at him. Ryder caught the bag as Jiao turned to him.

"Hand it over, Nature Boy," she said, walking over. Ryder smiled.

"Well, I was going to give it to you, but now I don't think so," he said, tossing it to Hayden. Jiao glared at him as she went to get it from Hayden. Hayden went to throw it to Ryder when a pink force field came up around him, causing the just tossed bag to hit the force field and bounce back, hitting Hayden in the side of the head.

"Ow!" He exclaimed. Jiao closed her hand, letting the force field come down as she walked over and picked her bag off the floor. She turned to go to the door, only to see Conner, Trent and Kira were now also standing in the living room.

"That was impressive," Conner said. Jiao bit her lip and simply shrugged.

"I didn't want him to throw my bag again, it just happened," Jiao said. Kira smiled.

"It's becoming natural," she said. "Happened to us when we first got our powers ten years ago, looks like it's starting to happen to you guys as well."

"How's your head?" Trent asked. Jiao blinked as she realized she felt fine, not weak or tired like she had before.

"Fine," she said. She understood what they were getting at and simply shrugged. "But so what? I didn't have it up as long as I did before," she said. "Plus," she added, "I guess it wasn't as important this time….less stress," she said with another shrug.

"You know," Kira said, walking over. "With some practice, you could have the amount of control you just had, no matter the stress level or the duration."

"I don't intend on using this again, don't need to practice," Jiao replied.

"Okay," Conner said, changing tactics. "But you heard what the green ranger said; our enemies are your enemies too now, no matter how much you don't want to be involved." Jiao sighed, suddenly regretting ever picking up the pink gem.

"Come on," Hayden said, rubbing his forehead where the bag had hit him. "I mean, we're on the bad guys' hit list as it is, we might as well indulge in some altruism while we're there," he said. Jiao looked at him before looking at Ryder, Conner, Trent and Kira. Everyone seemed to be looking at her, waiting for her answer.

"Well?" Kira asked. Jiao sighed.

"I guess….you all have a point…" She said reluctantly, garnering smiles from everyone else. "I'm not exactly ranger material though," she lightly protested. "Don't do well in teams," she said. Kira grinned.

"Oh that's not a big deal," she said. She pointed at Conner. "When we first started being rangers, he was an egotistical jerk," she said. Conner threw her a playful glare.

"And she was a sarcastic smartass….I guess some things never change, though," he said. Kira's grin only widened. Trent rolled his eyes at the two.

"Anyway," he said, looking at Jiao. "The gem reacting to your touch kind of disproves your 'not ranger material' theory," he said.

"Really?" She countered. "How?"

"It's like what they said earlier," Ryder stepped in. "People don't choose to be power rangers, the power chooses them," he said, answering for them.

"Exactly," Trent said. "And Ethan believed in your ability to be a ranger," he said. Jiao's eyes widened slightly.

"What?" She said.

"Well, that's why he chose you." Conner stepped in. He looked at Ryder, Hayden and Jiao. "He picked each of you, that's why we had the files," he explained. "That's how we knew how to find you."

"And you," Kira said, looking at Jiao. "As far as we know, were the only one to garner a personal face to face with him," she said. Jiao looked away, her cheeks burning in a slight blush, feeling a little honored that Ethan, her idol, had had such faith in her, even if it wasn't in an area she had originally thought.

"But what about the rest of us?" Hayden asked. Conner paused, unsure how to answer Hayden. Jiao and Ryder were chosen in their respective skills in computers and mechanics. Hayden was picked purely out of Ethan's nostalgia for Conner's former self. It was just a lucky twist of fate that the gem reacted to him.

"Well, as we stated, Jiao's computer knowledge….and Ryder's know how in mechanics……made them valuable assets to the team," Kira said.

"What about me?" Hayden asked, tilting his head. Trent shook his head.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "The gems reacted to you three, you're meant to be rangers," he said.

"Great, so basically I got picked because I'm good at sports?" Hayden questioned.

"He picked you because you reminded him of someone," Conner said softly. Hayden looked at him.

"Who? Another former ranger?"

"You could say that," Conner muttered.

"Because that makes it so much better." Hayden replied under his breath.

"Just drop it, jockstrap," Jiao spoke up. She and Ryder could see that the line that the direction the conversation was going in was making Conner uncomfortable. "You were picked, don't dwell on why," she said.

"Fine." Hayden huffed. Kira placed a hand on Conner's shoulder and sent Jiao a grateful look.

"Wait, I'm confused," Ryder spoke. "The way you're talking about this, it sounds like Ethan told you all this…Does that mean you knew about us before he died?" He asked.

"Not exactly," Trent said.

"Then how?" Jiao asked. Kira looked at Trent and Conner before speaking.

"He made a video diary of sorts..." She trailed off.

"Can we see it?" Hayden asked, only to be met with Jiao's elbow lightly hitting his side.

"Sensitive much?" She hissed. Hayden looked at her.

"Since when are you the sensitivity police?" He asked.

"I'm being sensitive to the fact that Ethan was their friend." She hissed back. "Just let it go, we're picked. Five seconds ago you were all for being a ranger and getting on my case for wanting to bail. Now you're bitching."

"I am not bitching," Hayden quickly said, offended.

"Shut up." Conner snapped, causing everyone to look at him. Conner's eyes narrowed at Hayden. "You really want to know why Ethan picked you? Because you reminded him of me…..how I used to be before all of this," he said. Kira gave his shoulder a small squeeze.

"Conner," she spoke, hoping to calm him down. Conner ignored her.

"I used to be into sports, playful, just like you, but I guess six years of dealing with all this sort of killed who I used to be," he said. He gave a small puff of breath, chuckling softly. "Though, now that I know you, gotta say I can't really see the likeness," he said. He looked at Kira. "Please tell me I wasn't this whiney," he said.

"Hey!" Hayden exclaimed, causing the others to all laugh. "I'm not whiney," he said, his voice holding a slight whine. He cleared his throat. "I mean," he amended, his voice normal. "I'm not whiney," which only made the others laugh even harder.

"Saying you're not whiney is like saying she's not psychotic," Conner chuckled, gesturing his head in Jiao's direction. Jiao stopped laughing and glared at Conner.

"You know, I haven't fully agreed to being on this lil team of yours, so if I were you I'd be nice to little ole me." Conner just shrugged his shoulders.

"Now what?" Ryder questioned.

"Our next step is to try and secure everyone's houses so that we can prevent this green bastard from trying to get in and kill you in your sleep." Conner said.

"How are you going to do that?" Ryder asked.

"We can link your houses to our security system," Conner explained. "Right now, the computers here have a built in security system for the perimeter of the house. We can sort of expand it, have it cover your houses as well."

"Wouldn't that weaken the system though?" Jiao questioned. Trent looked at her.

"Perhaps we'd be able to call upon your computer skills to help us out." He said. Jiao tilted her head to the side.

"I think that maybe be a bit advanced for even me," she said. "I'm assuming Ethan set the system up," she said. Conner nodded. "Ethan was a genius. Me….I'm just a novice at best," she said.

"But you can try." Kira stepped in. "Just because you believe that you're mediocre, doesn't mean that the rest of us do."

"Besides, I'm a novice, not you," Conner said, giving her an encouraging smile. Jiao shrugged her shoulders.

"I can try." She replied finally. Kira smiled before pulling something out of her pocket.

"You'll be needing this then." She commented, handing Jiao a silver gauntlet. Jiao regarded the cuff. It looked much like Hayden's except it had the pink gem in it.

"I didn't say I-" Before she could finish, Hayden rolled his eyes and took the gauntlet from her hands and grabbed her wrist. He slapped the cuff on her wrist.

"Quit fishing," he said. Jiao was silent for a minute.

"Fine." She huffed. Trent presented the final gauntlet, holding the black gem, to Ryder, who slipped it on his wrist.

"Is it only us three then?" Hayden questioned.

"Well, us too, duh," Kira said as she, Conner and Trent showed their wrists. They each wore gauntlets similar to theirs that held the yellow, red and white gems.

"Well then." Was all that Ryder could respond with. Jiao sighed.

"All right, let's get to this business with the computers, shall we?" She said, walking past them towards the basement.

"Little pushy, ain't she?" Hayden muttered as the others followed her.

"I'd say." Ryder replied, though his tone was a bit more enraptured than Hayden's had been, as they headed downstairs.

---

Jiao quickly made herself at home in front of the computers, accommodating her self with the system Ethan had constructed as the others were mere spectators.

"Novice my butt," Trent muttered, impressed as he watched her get further in to the program in mere minutes than he and the others were able to do in days.

"Okay," Jiao announced after a while. "I'm in. I just need to enter our addresses into the system. I don't want to mess with the system too much, less we compromise it's effectiveness, so pretty much if any baddies show up at our places, an alarm will go off here," she said.

"So, for example, if those dudes in white showed up at my house, what…these three will be notified?" Hayden asked, pointing to Conner, Kira and Trent. Jiao bit her lip.

"I could try to tweak with it a bit, maybe set up a communications device," she mused gently as she removed her glasses and gently bit on one of the ear tips. "So that all of us could be notified if something happened," she stared at the computer screen.

"Before the…..explosion, Ethan and I were starting to work on teleportation," Conner said. Jiao turned to look at him. "Maybe there's a way to implement both in the morphers?" Jiao nodded.

"Maybe," she said. "But it'd take a while," she said. "For now we should just stick with putting the addresses in the system and you guys getting the alarm," she suggested.

"Seems like the easiest option." Trent replied. Kira nodded.

"I agree. There'll be more time for the more complicated things later." Jiao nodded as she slipped her glasses back on and turned back to the computer screen.

"All right; Hayden, Ryder, need your home addresses and the addresses for anywhere you might work," she said. She looked back at the others. "Figured if those freaks can get in our homes, what's to stop them from getting us while we're working, right?"

"Good thinking," Conner said. Jiao smiled and turned back to the screen, her fingers typing away as Hayden gave her his home address and Ryder gave her his home address and the address to the garage. She tapped away at a few more buttons before hitting enter.

"Done." She swiveled the chair, facing the others, "We're now all in the system," she said.

"Great," Trent said. Jiao went to get up before Kira stepped up.

"Wait," she said. Jiao looked at her. "Would you mind working some more of your computer magic?" She asked.

"What'd you have in mind?" Jiao asked.

"Yeah, what's this about?" Conner asked, confused. Kira turned to look at Conner and Trent.

"Kim," she said.

"What?" Trent asked.

"We've got to get in contact with her, tell her…" She said.

"Whoever this Kim person you just call her?" Hayden asked. Kira looked at him.

"Let's just say it'd be a very long distance phone call," she said. Jiao looked somewhat doubtful.

"How far is this long distance?" She asked. Kira turned to her.

"Another planet," she said. Jiao's eyes grew wide.

"What?" She sputtered. Kira sighed and went over to her.

"It's for Tommy," she said. "Mr. Hero…….his wife and daughters, as well as his friends, are up there…..they need to know what happened," she said. Jiao slowly nodded.

"I understand, but….I don't know if I can do that. I could probably be able to hack into NASADA's communications but…..even still, I'd have no way of knowing if I'm even reaching the right place……..for all I'd know, I'd be reaching some annoyed Martians or something."

"Could you try?" Kira pleaded. "Please, they need to know," she said. Jiao sighed and nodded.

"Okay, I can't make any promises though," she said, turning back to the computer. There was silence for a few minutes while Jiao worked. Finally, after waiting she smiled.

"I've got a connection, albeit not very stable, but it's a connection." She commented. Kira sighed before looking at the group.

"Could I get you guys to leave for a few minutes?" She questioned. Everyone stared at her for a moment.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Jiao spoke up, standing up. "Just uh…." she sighed, unsure how to word things. "Don't dawdle," she said. "I mean…the connection could drop at any moment," she said. Kira nodded. She walked to the stairway towards the upper level of the house, Ryder following her. Hayden seemed to just stay there until two sets of arms came from the stairway. Ryder's arms grabbed him by the shoulder while Jiao got hold of his ear.

"Ai!" Hayden yelped as the two dragged him out. Conner and Trent looked at Kira.

"You want us to leave too?" Conner asked. Kira nodded. Both Conner and Trent gave an understanding nod. Of the three, Kira was the closest to the Oliver family. Sure, Trent had been in contact with them and seen them during the holidays he'd come to Reefside to spend with his parents, but Kira had been a consistent presence in their lives lately, having weekly dinners with the family and watching the girls whenever Tommy and Kimberly wanted a to themselves and Hayley wasn't available.

"Call us if you need us," Conner said before leaving. Trent looked at Kira.

"Kira," he said softly. "I know this isn't the time, but-"

"I'll make sure Kendra knows you're okay and that you miss her everyday," she said, smiling softly. Trent smiled and went to follow Conner. Kira sighed once she found herself alone in the room. She turned to the computer, facing the large screen in the middle that seemed to be covered in static. "Okay, how the hell do I know if I'm reaching them?" She pondered.

"Hello?" Came a voice from the computer screen, she could see a figure through the static as it began to clear a bit. The static cleared some more and she could clearly see a man about Tommy and Kimberly's age with blonde hair and blue eyes. Though aged a little from the image she'd seen of him in Tommy's video diary and the many pictures from high school littering the Oliver household, she knew right away who it was.

"Billy, Billy Cranston?" She called out. Billy regarded her with a careful look.

"Yes," he said slowly. "Who is this and how did you reach this channel?"

"Well, as to how I reached you….don't quite know that," she said with a chuckle. "I'm Kira, Kira Fo-" She saw Billy put up a hand, telling her he knew exactly who she was.

"I know who you are... Kim and the girls talk about you constantly." He smiled. Kira did her best to return the gesture, but it was hard to do so with the news she had to bring.

"Is everyone all right up there?" She asked. Billy nodded.

"Everyone's fine. There was a bit of an adjustment period for everyone, especially for Kendra, Angela and the children, but everyone is fairing well." He paused. "But you didn't contact me to get an update on how everyone is," he said. Kira sighed. In all the stories she had heard about Billy from Tommy and Kimberly, she knew he was incredibly smart and possessed great insight.

"No," she said softly. "I need……I need to speak with Kimberly," she said. Billy's face fell, he knew. He could tell. Kira wanted to speak with Kimberly…..and Tommy was not standing there beside her. It all led to one conclusion.

"What happened?" Billy asked. Kira sighed.

"Please," she begged. "I don't want to repeat myself, please get Kimberly," she said. Billy nodded and left the screen for a few minutes. As she waited, Kira fished out the wedding ring she had in her pocket. Ever since his death, she'd kept the ring on her at all times. She was afraid to put it down, fearing she'd lose it. This was Tommy's ring. She couldn't lose it. A few moments later Kim's familiar face came onto the screen.

"Kira?" She asked tentatively. Kira closed her eyes as a lump formed in her throat, threatening to keep her from speaking. "Kira," Kimberly asked, her voice taking a desperate age. "Where…..where are the others? Where's Tommy?"

"Kim, I…….Dr. Oliver……..Tommy, he's-" Kira swallowed thickly as tears came down her cheeks. She opened her eyes to see Kimberly staring at her. Her jaw was tight and her eyes were glistening.

"How did it happen?" She asked in such an even tone, it made Kira shiver. Kimberly had been preparing herself for this. She'd hoped it wouldn't come, but with the dangerous climate back on Earth, she knew something could happen. Kira took a breath trying to steady her voice.

"There was an explosion." She began. "We were up against the green ranger….and…….he caused an explosion. All four of us were trapped underground…." Kira's chin quivered as she tried to keep from sobbing as her mind replayed the events. "Conner, Trent and I found him…….he was pinned…….under a pillar……he told us to go before the green ranger attacked again and….." A small sob broke free as she looked down, ashamed. "Kimberly, I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "We wanted to save him…..but……..there was nothing we could do…….the pillar was too heavy and…….it was crushing his chest……" Kira broke off as she felt her knees start to give way. She crashed into the console, balancing herself. Her hand reached for the chair Jiao had been using and brought it to her, knowing she could hold herself up on the console but for so long. She sat down, wiping her cheeks as she looked up at Kimberly. She had her eyes shut tightly, as if processing all this information.

"Did he say……anything?" Kimberly asked softly. Kira nodded.

"He told me to give this to you the next time I see you," Kira said, holding up the ring. "And…..to tell you that he'll never stop loving you," She heard Kimberly let out a choked sob at that as her own knees trembled and she nearly fell.

"Kim!" Kira heard a voice say as another figure came on screen, grabbing Kimberly and holding her up. Kira recognized him as Jason. She blinked as the image filled with others—Katherine, Rocky, Aisha, Zack, and Billy, all surrounding Kimberly. They had obviously all come to the screen with her but given her space until now. Kimberly wrapped her arms around Jason's neck, burying her head in his shoulder as she let lose wailing sob after wailing sob.

"Thank you….for reaching us," Katherine spoke as she came up behind Kimberly and placed a hand on her shoulder. Katherine, as well as all the others, had tears rolling down their cheeks at the loss of one of their dearest friends. The only reply that Kira gave was a nod, too overcome with emotion.

"Do you…..need to speak with Kendra?" Billy asked after a few minutes, obviously wondering if this day brought news of, not one, but two widows. Kira shook her head.

"Trent is fine," she said. "He's okay….and misses his wife and child everyday," and the mention of children, Kimberly's sobs increased, obviously thinking of having to tell her daughters of this news. Billy closed his eyes before giving Kira a curt nod.

"I'll be sure she gets that message," he said in a soft, even tone. Kira nodded.

"Thank you." She replied softly.

Kira watched as the communication slowly began to shudder in and out.

"I'm loosing the connection." She spoke, looking at Billy. The group looked at her.

"Good luck." Came the static reply before the communication ended. Kira put her elbows up on the console and buried her face in her hands as the sobs bubbling inside her came out. She sat there for a few minutes before she felt a hand gently rubbing her shoulder. She slowly looked up to see Conner beside her. He kneeled beside her and took her in his arms, letting her cry into his shoulder.

"Just let it out," Conner whispered, rubbing her back. Kira did so, crying for good long while before pulling out of his arms and wiping her cheeks as she looked at him.

"How'd you know to come in now?" Kira asked. Conner moved a hand up and wiped a stray tear away with his thumb.

"Trent and I listened in outside the door," he said, looking at her apologetically. "You're not mad, are you?" Kira bit her lip as she thought about this before shaking her head.

"I'm not mad." She replied. She looked around for a second. "Where is Trent anyway?" She asked.

"He went off to help the kids practice their powers," he said. Kira chuckled softly. It was strange to see Hayden, Ryder and Jiao as kids given that they weren't that much younger than themselves, but Conner, Kira and Trent couldn't' help it. "Are you okay?" Conner asked, tearing her from her thoughts. Kira nodded. She sighed and looked down.

"I hated that," she admitted. "Telling Kimberly……I mean…god, she and Tommy….you should've seen them together after they…….I guess…….reunited…..It was like Romeo and Juliet got a second chance or something…..they were so happy and in love. Having to tell Kimberly that………it was over……….god," she muttered, her shoulders slumping. Conner took her by the shoulders and pulled her into his arms again and let her rest her head on his shoulder, her lips close to his neck. "And I just thought………about…….what if it was you?" She said softly. "What if I had to hear about something happening to you like that?" Conner sighed and pulled away from her, making her look at him.

"Kira, nothing's going to happen," he told her firmly. "Everything's going to be okay." Kira sighed.

"I know..." She trailed off. Conner gently stroked her cheek as he gave her a small smile.

"Hey," he said. "The fates wouldn't take this long to get us together just to tear us apart just as quickly, right?" He said. Kira couldn't help chuckle a bit at that.

"No, I guess they wouldn't," she replied softly. Conner's smile widened and he kissed her gently. They kissed for a few moments before Kira pulled away.

"We should really help Trent with the new kids." She commented. Conner frowned.

"Do we hafta?" He playfully whined. Kira opened her mouth to reply before giving a surprised yelp as Conner tightened his hold around her and pulled her off the chair and onto his lap as he sat back on the floor. "I was thinking we could just…….stay here," he said, stroking a small circle on her back. Kira looked at him. She was about to give him a smart reply about wanting to be 'together' in the lab but realized that wasn't what was on his mind. He just wanted to be with her. Kira closed her eyes and leaned on his shoulder as the thought that maybe Conner shared her fears occurred to her.

"I love you, Conner," she said. She felt him kiss the top her head.

"I love you too," he replied.

---

Outside on the back lawn, Trent stood back as he watched the three new rangers work on their powers. Hayden sat at one end of the yard with electronic devices before him which included the clock radio from Trent's room, the toaster from the kitchen and Jiao-jie's (reluctantly given) Ipod. Hayden waved his hand over the pieces. Each electronic device was enveloped in blue static before turning on, regardless of its unplugged or shut off state. At another part of the yard, Ryder sat with a large bowl of water, trying to make it come to life as Jiao worked on creating a force field around a rock, though her eyes kept going to Hayden.

"Concentrate," Ryder said, after catching her distracted state. Jiao looked over at him.

"Sorry, but seeing what he did to my car, I'm kind of regretting giving him my ipod," she replied, rolling her eyes before looking back at Hayden. She gave a small shriek as she felt the cold water hit her at the back, the shock knocking her over. She quickly scrambled back to her sitting position as she looked at Ryder, who was looking at her with a small smirk.

"Now, if you'd been working on your power instead of being concerned about Hayden, you might've been able to put up a force field before the water hit you," he said. Jiao's eyes widened.

"You jerk!" Jiao yelled, getting to her feet. Trent's eyes widened as he saw Jiao headed towards Ryder, a somewhat murderous look in her eyes. He quickly went over as Ryder stood up to be at the same level as the angry girl. Trent was able to squeeze between them and keep Jiao back.

"Jiao-jie, why don't you go work over by Hayden?" He suggested, figuring it'd be best to keep the two apart. "Put a force field around your ipod or something," he said. Jiao gave one last glare at Ryder before turning and taking his suggestion as she made it towards Hayden, who had been watching the exchange and was snickering gently. Jiao simply smacked him upside the head on her way to sitting not to far from him. Trent sighed and looked at Ryder. "So, I guess when Mr. Hawk said to watch the fox closely, you took that to mean antagonize her?" Trent asked. Ryder blinked.

"What?" He asked. Trent rolled his eyes.

"Remember what Mr. Hawk said?" Ryder nodded.

"Yeah…..but what makes you think she's the fox?" Ryder asked. Trent furrowed his brow.

"Isn't it obvious?" Trent asked, confused over why Ryder hadn't made the connections of which animal represented Hayden and Jiao. Trent looked at the confused look on Ryder's face. "Or not." Ryder shrugged.

"I guess I hadn't really thought about it," Ryder said. "Been a bit distracted with becoming a power ranger and getting elemental powers," he said. Trent nodded, understanding.

"Well, Jiao's the fox, in case you missed that part." Trent replied. "Solitary, kind of lost," Trent said. Ryder sighed, realizing it really was obvious. "I don't know why the fox stood out in Mr. Hawk's visions, but maybe getting her pissed isn't the best course of action. Regardless of the visions, having this sort of thing within the team sort of makes working together hard," he said. Ryder nodded as he looked past Trent's shoulder to Jiao, who had taken her ipod from Hayden and was now using it to practice her power. Ryder smiled a bit.

"It's kind of fun to tick her off though," he said. Trent blinked and regarded Ryder carefully. Something about that gave him a sense of deja-vu……….like when Conner and Kira would tease each other back when they were in high school. It finally hit Trent like a ton of bricks what the significance of the fox, Jiao, would have to the warrior, Ryder. He groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Just keep practicing," he said, walking away.