Naomi and Trini stayed on the swing together for a long while, Trini leaning against Naomi's shoulder as Naomi swung them back and forth on the swing.

"Naomi?" Trini asked.

"Hmm?"

"Why don't you ever talk about your mom and dad?" Naomi stopped the swing and looked down.

"Huh?" She asked.

"Why don't you ever talk about your mom and dad?"

"I…..I talk about them, don't I?" Naomi asked, the subject of discussion making her uneasy. Trini shook her head.

"Uh uh, you don't," Trini said.

"Hmm," Naomi said nonchalantly. "I guess it just never occurred to me to bring them up." She shrugged a bit to further convey her nonchalance. Suddenly her cell phone rang. Saved by the bell……..or…..well, ring. Naomi shifted Trini off her lap and stood up, fishing her phone out of her jeans pocket and flipping it open before bringing it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Naomi, Dr. O just called," came Conner's voice.

"…….Is something wrong?" Naomi asked. Trini looked up at her.

"I don't know. He asked if you and Trini were back from the park yet and when I told him no, he said he wanted you to bring her to the hospital."

"Why?"

"……..Didn't I just cover this with the 'I don't know'?" Conner replied. Naomi rolled her eyes. "Anyway-"

"Well, how did he sound when he called?" Naomi asked. "Upset?"

"Naomi, I don't know what's going on," Conner said, exasperated. "Now, as I was saying, I'm coming by the park with Kira to get you guys."

"What about Trent?" Naomi asked.

"What about Trent?" Conner asked. Naomi looked at Trini and tilted the phone away from her mouth to address her.

"Trini, why don't you ride on the swing some more?" She asked.

"Okay," she said as she got back on the swing. Naomi gave her a smile before turning away from her and bringing the phone back to its original place.

"You're leaving him alone with Hayley?" Naomi asked, lowering her voice. Conner sighed.

"Well what was I supposed to do? Besides, Hayley said she could manage," he said.

"All right," Naomi said, realizing there wasn't much that could be done about Trent. "How far are you guys from here?"

"We'll be there in a few minutes," Conner said.

"Okay," Naomi said, hanging up. She turned back towards Trini and was surprised to see the girl off the swings and standing right by her. "Oh gosh," Naomi said, placing a hand on her chest. "You startled me."

"I'm sorry," Trini replied. "What's wrong?" Naomi paused. What do I say? Dr. Oliver wants her at the hospital…..so it must have something to do with that guy, Jason. What if he's………….No, no, Dr. Oliver wouldn't want Trini rushed to the hospital if that was the case……..Would he? Naomi put on a smile.

"Nothing," she said. "Conner and Kira are just coming to pick us up to meet your dad at the hospital."

"Am I going to see Uncle Jason?" Trini asked. Naomi opened her respond, then closed it, unsure what to say.

"I don't know, Conner just said that he called and wanted you at the hospital." Trini frowned.

"Is Uncle Jason all right?"

"I'm sure everything's fine," Naomi assured her. Naomi looked up and saw Kira standing outside of Conner's car, waving them over. "Come on," she said, taking hold of Trini's hand as they walked to Conner's car. Once there, Naomi had Trini slide in the back as she took notice of Kira's appearance. The bruises and aftermath of her difficult evening were unseen. Kira saw this and gave a half smile to her friend.

"Thank goodness for Cover Girl, huh?" She said. Naomi smiled and nodded as Kira got back in the car and Naomi got in next to Trini.

"So, Kira, how are you feeling?" Naomi asked as Conner pulled away from the curb and began driving to the hospital. Kira caught Naomi's gaze through the rearview mirror.

"Much better," she said. "I guess all I needed was a good night's rest."

"A good night's rest? You slept through practically everything. It was like you were in a c…" Conner stopped right there and cleared his throat. "Uh, anyway.." He said. Kira and Naomi got where he was going and were grateful he stopped himself, given the situation. A few minutes later, they pulled into the hospital parking lot and entered through the main doors.

"Do you know where we're supposed to meet him?" Naomi asked Conner after taking a quick scan of the entryway and not seeing their teacher. Conner shrugged.

"He didn't say," Conner said.

"There's Heather," Trini piped in, pointing to the triage desk. Trini went to walk over there, leaving the three teenagers behind.

"I guess we follow the kid," Kira said, smirking a bit. Conner and Naomi nodded as they all followed. They all came to a stop at the desk, where Heather sat, talking on the phone. She caught sight of Trini and gave the little girl a smile as she continued speaking on the phone. After she hung up she looked at Trini.

"Hey there cutie," she said, smiling at Trini.

"Hi," Trini said. "Do you know where my dad is?" She asked.

"Uh huh, he's visiting Mr. Scott," she said. "Do you want me to go get him?"

"Can I just go to the room?" Trini asked. Heather frowned.

"I'm sorry sweetie but……well……Hospital policy……..I……..You're too young……I'm sorry." Trini looked down. Naomi put an arm around the girl's shoulders.

"Okay, Trini, how about we just wait here and have Heather go get your dad?" Naomi suggested as they went to go sit in the waiting area. Kira turned to follow as Heather got up from her seat. Conner looked at Trini before clearing his throat and stepping forward, leaning against the desk and reaching over, gently taking hold of Heather's wrist, stopping her. Heather stopped and saw Conner there, smiling at her.

"Hi, Heather, is it?" He asked, making Naomi, Kira and Trini stop and look at him. Heather nodded. "Well, listen, we appreciate that you're just trying to do your job and don't want to go against the rules or anything," he said, his voice low. "I mean, I'd sure hate to get you into trouble or anything," he added. Kira caught this and found herself narrowing her eyes into thin slits and the obvious flirtation. "But, well, Mr. Scott's a very close friend of Dr. Hart's family,"

"I know that," Heather replied.

"Right. The guy's like an uncle to the kid. And, well, she really had her heart set on seeing him." Heather sighed and looked at Trini.

"Honey, I'm sorry, but I can't let you go in," she said. Trini nodded. Heather's attention was brought back to the boy holding her wrist when she felt Conner let go of her.

"Come on, just this once?" He asked, giving the nurse a wink. Heather blushed a bit as a smile came on her lips. Kira rolled her eyes.

"Oh, please," she muttered to herself. Naomi looked at her and couldn't help it as a small smirk came on her face.

"Well," Heather said. "All right, just this once," she said.

"Great, thanks," Conner said, giving her one last wink before she gave them Jason's room number.

"Just, make sure none of the doctors see her. I've already gotten chewed out once today," Heather pleaded.

"We'll be incredibly stealth-like," Conner said, grinning, causing Heather to giggle slightly.

"Thank you Heather," Trini said, giving the nurse a grateful smile.

"Come on," Naomi said, as she took Trini's hand and they walked towards Jason's room with Kira and Conner behind them. Once they were far enough from the triage desk, Kira balled up her fist and hit Conner's shoulder as hard as she could. Conner stumbled and nearly collided with the wall from the force.

"Ow," Conner said. His eyes grew wide and he looked at his girlfriend. Not too far ahead of them, Naomi and Trini had stopped to look at them. Kira said nothing as she turned and caught up with Naomi and Trini. Conner sighed and rubbed his sore shoulder. Naomi chuckled as the three of them walked ahead of Conner.

"Someone's jealous," Naomi teased. Kira looked at her.

"What? Jealous? Of that nurse? Get real," Kira said.

"Uh huh, and why did you just hit your boyfriend?" Naomi asked.

"Because that was just so incredibly cheesy and stupid," Kira said.

"Uh huh, whatever you say," Naomi said. Soon, the four of them reached Jason's room and saw Tommy standing right outside of it.

"Dr. Oliver," Kira said, catching their teacher's attention. Tommy looked up and saw them coming towards him. They came to a stop by him.

"Is everything okay?" Naomi asked. Tommy nodded.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Tommy said. He opened his mouth to say more but the door to Jason's room opened. The teens saw a doctor coming out of the room. Naomi gently nudged Trini behind her as Conner and Kira lined up next to Naomi, making sure Trini was unseen. Tommy cast an odd look at this three students but shrugged it off before turning to the doctor.

"You can go back in now," the doctor said, giving Tommy a warm smile.

"Thank you," Tommy said. He looked at the others and tilted his head towards the day, indicating for them to follow him in. They made no move to follow him, deciding to wait until the doctor left. The doctor gave them a similar look as to what Tommy had given them, which was met with all three teenagers smiling at the doctor. She furrowed her brows before shrugging and walking away. Once the doctor was gone, Kira and Conner shifted to the side and let Trini come out from behind them. "What was that all about?" Tommy asked as they walked to the door with him.

"Trini's not supposed to be here," Kira said. "She's too young." Tommy frowned.

"What? But Kim brought her in to see Jason once," Tommy said.

"Well, Dr. Hart does work here," Conner pointed out. "I guess she gets a free pass for sneaking people in or something," Tommy nodded.

"Oh, I see. So how'd you get her in?"

"I had something to do with that," Conner boasted, which resulted in Kira smacking his shoulder. "Would you please stop doing that?" Conner snapped, glaring at Kira.

"Right, well, come on," Tommy said, not wanting to know what was going on between those two. He reached over and took Trini's hand from Naomi as he led the way inside the room. He opened the door and walked in, the other's following in, shutting the door behind them. Trini looked over to the bed and gasped, her eyes lighting up like Christmas lights at what she saw: Jason sitting up in the bed that was tilted upwards, very much awake.

"Uncle Jason!" Trini squealed as she let go of Tommy's hand and ran to the bedside. Jason smiled. Trini stopped short, unsure whether or not she could hug him, afraid she'd hurt him. Jason saw her hesitation.

"C'mere you!" Jason said as he reached down and scooped her up and brought her up on to his lap. Trini laughed and put her arms around Jason, hugging him. "Oh man, what happened to the little kid I last saw?" Jason said, marveling at how much Trini had grown in the two years. Tommy stood back and smiled at the scene. Jason and Trini hugged each other closely. Tommy took his seat next to the bed.

"So, what did the doctor say?" He asked. Jason looked at his friend, Trini still attached to him, which caused the others in the room to smile a bit.

"She wants to keep me for a little while longer, run some tests and make sure things are clear and there's no damage to the noggin," Jason said. "According to the doctor there's usually a concern about muscle atrophy with stuff like this, but I guess…." Jason trailed off. He cleared his throat. "I guess Kim made sure to work the limps a bit when she'd visit me," he said. He looked down a bit. "Uh, and as far as…..the memory stuff…….She said that should come back soon."

"Memory stuff?" Conner blurted out. Tommy and Jason looked at the young man, making Conner instantly wonder if he had overstepped some type of boundary. "Sorry,"

"It's nothing," Tommy said. "Jason's just not remembering the accident right now," he looked at his friend and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing. "Which is fine," he told him firmly.

"Tommy, it's not just the accident," Jason sighed. "I don't remember anything after the…." He paused, looking at the teens. "Thing….." he said. Tommy furrowed his brows in confusion when he realized what Jason was getting to. He smiled.

"You can speak freely here, man," he said. "They know,"

"Know?" Jason asked. Tommy gave him a look, which soon gave Jason the idea what he meant. He laughed, shaking his head. "You heading up a new ranger team, why doesn't that surprise me?" Tommy grinned. He motioned for the teens to come closer, they obliged, gathering at the foot of the bed.

"Jason, this is Conner, the red ranger," he said. Jason smiled at Conner, giving him a nod that seemed to give an extra bout of respect to he who shared his former color. "Kira, the yellow ranger," he said, Jason smiled at her as well. "And Naomi, sh-"

"Ah, ah," Jason said, stopping him. He shifted Trini slightly, having the little girl curl up against his side so he could look directly at the tree teens. "Let me guess," he said. He looked at Naomi and took into account her blue jeans and her blue shirt poking out from the zipper of her black sweatshirt that was only pulled up half way and the blue teardrop pendant that rested on her chest. "Blue ranger?" Naomi paled slightly and looked down. "There's female blue ranger's now? How progressive," Jason said, smiling. Tommy gave Jason's shoulder a warning squeeze. Jason looked at him. "What?" Tommy just shook his head. Jason gave him a confused look before looking back at the others. "Did I say something wrong?" Conner and Kira looked down, unsure what to say. Naomi sighed and looked up.

"What the others are having trouble getting out is, no, I'm not the blue ranger. He's……um…..He's not around right now," she said. "I'm just……..I guess you could call me a Power Ranger groupie," she said, giving him a forced smile. Kira put her arm around Naomi's shoulder and pulled her closer to her, letting Naomi put her head on her shoulder. Jason frowned.

"I'm sorry……..I didn't mean to……."

"It's okay," Tommy said. He sighed. "He and Kim…..are…….it's a long story."

"Evil villain opened up hole in ground, supposedly a hole leading to some other dimension or something, Ethan and Dr. Hart fell in, hole closed up," Conner said.

"I guess it's not a very long story…" Tommy said. Jason laid back, taking this all in. When he had first woken up he heard Tommy talking and got that Kimberly was missing, but hearing what happened seemed to fall on him like a ton of bricks.

"Wow," he said lowly. "When?" Jason asked.

"A few days ago," Kira said.

"I think I'm going to go out for some air," Naomi said as she stood up straight and stepped out of Kira's grasp, making her way to the door. Kira looked at her.

"Naomi-"

"I'm fine," she said before quickly exiting. Jason blinked.

"I didn't mean to bring up a sore subject," he said.

"I'll go see if she's okay," Kira said. Tommy shook his head, standing up.

"No, you guys stay, I'll go," he said.

"Are you sure?" Conner asked as Tommy passed him on his way to the door. Tommy smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, hey, it gives you two a chance to talk to a true ranger veteran," he said.

"God, you make me sound ancient," Jason said as Trini shifted in the bed and rested her head against his chest. Tommy smiled.

"Sorry, grandpa," he joked. The fact that he could joke with his best friend again, like when they were younger, filled Tommy with a strong elated feeling. Something he hadn't felt since that night in Mesogog's lab. Conner and Kira gathered closer to the bed, eager to meet not only another one of the original rangers, but someone who could give juicy stories about their teacher/mentor/teammate. Tommy left the room, expecting to find Naomi right outside the door, no such luck. He sighed and walk down the corridor, hoping to find her. He passed the door leading to the stairwell and stopped when something caught his eye. He looked through the window on the door and saw Naomi standing on the landing between the stairs that lead to the next floor. She was leaning against the banister, staring out the window to the parking lot. Tommy walked into the stairwell, Naomi not even looking up at the sound of the door opening and closing, nor at the sound of his footsteps on the stairs. He went and stood next to her, leaning against the stairwell.

"You okay?" He asked. He peered at her face. Her expression was blank, just staring ahead of her out the window. There were no tears in her eyes, nothing. Naomi simply nodded. She clasped and unclasped her hands together before simply wringing her fingers. "Naomi," Tommy said. "Jason didn't mean to-"

"I know," she said.

"And I'm sorry, I should've been more……clear…..when I started introducing you guys," Tommy said. Naomi smiled gently.

"Dr. Oliver, I didn't expect you to say 'here are two power rangers and a…'" Naomi paused. "What am I? A groupie……some pathetic hanger-on……what?" Tommy sighed and put an arm around her shoulders.

"A friend," he said, his voice firm yet gentle, trying to make his point clear. Naomi let her head fall forward a bit, sighing. "Are you sure you're okay? Do you want to leave?" Naomi shook her head.

"No, I'm fine,"

"Are you sure? I could get Conner to-"

"No, really, I'm fine," she said, lifting her head and looking right at him. Naomi sighed and looked out the window. She traced the teardrop pendant with one of her fingers, holding it in her palm. "Ethan gave this to me, did you know that?" She asked. Tommy nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "He told me about it after you tore it off and gave it back to him," Tommy said. Naomi sighed.

"I hated that," she said. "All that time I wasted being so angry. That time I wasted with Trent. Time I could've used to be with Ethan," she sighed. "It's not fair," she said, tightening her jaw. "It's not fair that this happened…….right when we were just starting to be like………Like a normal couple. You know? He was my boyfriend, I was his girlfriend, everything was just starting to fall into place and…." Her voice trailed off as she looked up at Tommy. "I'm sorry," she said. "You must think I'm some silly selfish little teenager." Tommy shook his head.

"If you were some 'silly selfish little teenager' then I must be some silly selfish little adult," he said. He sighed and pulled his arm off of Naomi. "It's not fair what happened to Kim. We just got engaged, she's carrying my baby, it's not fair that she's gone. It's not fair that Trini's mother is missing. It's not fair, none of it is." Tommy looked out the window. "Unfortunately, being involved with this kind of stuff for so long as taught me that a lot of things are not fair," he said.

"How do you do it?" Naomi asked. "What keeps you from just wanting to just crawl into bed, pull the covers over your head and stay there forever and ever? Let the world fall to pieces all around you, but it's not a big deal because you don't have to watch it."

"Well, what's keeping you from doing it?" Tommy asked. Naomi shrugged.

"I don't know," she said.

"Yes, you do," Tommy said. Naomi chewed on her bottom lip.

"I guess, hope," she said. Tommy smiled.

"Exactly," he said. "That's all any of us have. Even if some intergalactic empire is trying to destroy the world and it looks like it's succeeding, you always have hope. Hope that you can protect people, hope that you'll destroy the bad guys, hope that you'll survive."

"Wow, suddenly all traces of my superhero envy are long gone," Naomi said. Tommy laughed. The two stood there in silence for a while, staring out of the window. "I've been doing some thinking today," she finally said.

"About?"

"Just…..the past few months," Naomi said. "How everything's changed. How I've changed." Tommy nodded.

"True. You certainly aren't the same girl who walked into my classroom,"

"Is that a good thing or bad thing?" Naomi asked. Tommy seemed pensive for a bit before answering.

"That depends on what you think, really," he said. "But as I said, you have changed. Back then, at first glance, you seemed kind of sheltered and guarded….extremely fragile."

"As supposed to now, when I'm hard as nails?" Naomi asked, not understanding what he meant.

"No, I wouldn't say that," Tommy said. "Maybe it's just from where you came from. Boarding school and what not. You weren't exposed to many things. Now, you have been, so you've changed."

"I guess," Naomi said. "But……I guess I also wonder about that first day…..When Ethan and I met. Would any of this have happened if I hadn't met him by the triceratops display that day? If I had just taken your original offer to slack off and just wandered around the museum? Would I be this close to any of you?"

"You make it seem like this closeness came after you found out about us being rangers," Tommy said.

"Fine, Kira, Conner, Ethan and I were close before I found out about that. But what about you and me? Be honest, before I was in on the big secret, you just saw me as just another student, right?" She asked. Tommy frowned.

"I guess," he said.

"Not that that's a bad thing. I mean, what were you supposed to see me as, right?"

"But if you're asking if I saw you as some random kid, the answer is no."

"Fine, but that was only because I was friends with Conner, Kira and Ethan," Naomi countered.

"…….Okay, you have a point there," Tommy said. Naomi smiled.

"I'm not taking offense. I mean, come on. If I had never found out the truth, I would've just seen you as my science teacher who had an unusual bond with my three friends," she said.

"Okay then," Tommy said. "But, if you're saying none of this would've happened if you and Ethan hadn't met in the museum, I've got to disagree. The two of you were in the same class. You were going to meet eventually. Ethan would've developed feelings for you, tried to woo you in his misguided fashion, and then everything that has happened would've happened eventually."

"So you're saying it's all fate?" Naomi asked. Tommy shrugged.

"Who knows," he said. "I'm a scientist, I'm just going by facts," he said with a grin. Naomi gave a short laugh.

"All right, I guess you're right then," she said. She looked out the window again. "I really have changed," she muttered. "I keep expecting to one day look in the mirror and see something different. Anything. Wake up one morning and my eyes go from green to brown or something. Or my nose or cheeks change………Something to reflect all this change. Reflect what I feel. But there's nothing. If no one knew any better, they'd assume I was the same girl who just left boarding school."

"You are the same girl," Tommy stated. "You've just grown up since then."

"Grown up in just a few months? My, what a miracle," Naomi kidded. Tommy laughed.

"Fine, situations and circumstances have accelerated your growth, but the point's still the same. You've grown up. There's nothing wrong with that," he said.

"It just seems too weird... I don't feel any different..." Naomi trailed off. Tommy nodded knowingly.

"That's the funny thing about growing up and maturing, you never really notice that its happening until you've finished growing up," he told her.

"I only feel a little different when I actually sit and look back on things. Look back on how I was before coming to Reefside. There's a change……But other than that, I don't feel it," she said. Tommy chuckled. "What?"

"Nothing. Just…..If Jason ever tells you anything about how I was when I was a teenager……Well, first of all, remember I am still your teacher so, you can't make fun of me," he said, making Naomi laughed. "And second of all, a lot of time has passed since then."

"I'm intrigued," Naomi said.

"We all change. It's natural. I mean, before Ethan, Conner and Kira became rangers, they were different. Conner was heavy into soccer, not to mention a tad self centered…….don't tell him I told you that," Naomi nodded, smiling. "Kira…….well, aside from changing who she socializes with, I haven't really seen much of a change……And Ethan, he used to be all about computers. Sure, he still is into that sort of thing, but he's seen that there's more to life then video games and chat rooms. They've all grown up, maybe it's something that would've happened eventually, maybe it's something that was brought on my this new responsibility that was thrust upon them. Who knows. Either way, everyone changes, whether it be gradual or not," he said. "Anyway, maybe we should get back to the room, the others might start to worry," he said. Naomi nodded.

"All right," she said. Tommy stood up straight and walked down the stairs. Naomi gave one last look out the window before tucking her hair behind her ear and turning to leave. As her finger glided across her red hair, she paused as an idea struck her. Tommy looked up from the bottom of the stairs, seeing her just standing there.

"Naomi? You all right?" Naomi looked at him and nodded.

"Uh huh," she said before joining him at the bottom of the stairs.