The fox-beast lunged at Theo, claws ready for the attack. He pulled out of her way a little, watching her sail past him as he continued to feel the pain of losing the woman he loved to her animal spirit. Ran rounded on him, saliva dripping from her jaws as she prepared for the attack.

"Fran it's me, Theo!" He beckoned her tearfully, hoping to reach her through the beast's anguish and pain. "Please, don't do this!"

Fran could see and hear his pleas, but was not in control of her actions. The fox spirit had taken over and was now threatening the life of the one person she would never hurt in the entire world. She struggled for control, but the beast was too strong for her.

"Fran, I don't have much, but without you I have nothing." He implored her. "I am nothing! Please, I need you, you need to fight this."

The beast leapt upon him, tearing at him savagely with its claws. Theo managed to get his feet into its abdomen and shove it away before snapping back to his feet. He looked at the creature, hoping that the woman he loved was still inside it somewhere. He tore what was left of his tunic from his torso and throwing it aside.

"Fran, I don't want to hurt you." He willed her. "I can't hurt you, you mean far too much to me."

The beast snarled as Fran felt his words in her soul. He loved her, but what did that matter? Everyone who had loved her had hurt her, her father, her mother, everyone. Why would Theo be any different? She swiped at him with her claws, tearing open his cheek and knocking him onto the floor. She mounted his chest and prepared for the death blow. Theo looked up into the face of the beast and saw a glimmer of hope. He saw tears in its eyes. Fran was still in there, even if she was weakened by the creature.

"Fran, I bought you a ring." He told her as the beast contemplated the prey it had at its mercy. "I want to be with you for the rest of my life."

Inside the beast, Fran could feel the sincerity of his words and couldn't contain her joy. She knew Theo was different. Everyone in her life up until she met the Rangers had treated her with neglect at best and outright cruelty at worst. She couldn't ever think of a time Theo had hurt her deliberately, and she knew he never would.

"I love you Fran." He continued as the beast backed up a little, allowing him to regain his feet. He pulled a small box from his pocket and presented the ring to her.

"I said I don't have much, this was all I could afford." He explained, showing the ring to her. "Even the credit payments on this have wiped out my savings for the next three months, but I don't care. I love you."

The creature backed up, falling to its knees as he continued to speak. He could see the tears staining its fur falling more readily and knew he had tapped into his best chance of getting her back.

"Fran, you're the strongest, bravest person I've ever known, you have to fight this!" He implored her tearfully. "You have to come back to me, you have to..."

The beast swiped with its paw, connecting with a telling blow to his jaw and sending him flying. Theo pulled himself to his feet, watching it approaching. He stood with his arms by his sides, no longer even defending himself.

"If you can't come back to me, then you'll have to kill me." He told her, his heart pounding at a thousand beats a minute as he watched her come towards him, the beast's own tears still falling. "I don't want to live without you Fran, I can't live without you."

The fox-beast came to him, standing before him. He could feel its warm breath against his skin, but felt no fear, only sadness. It raised its paw ready to strike.

"I won't try and stop you." He told her, his voice cracking a little in his despair. "I love you."

Inside the fox beast, Fran felt the heartache of Theo's despair. He had been the only one in her whole life who had loved her unconditionally and treated her with tenderness. He had shown her a life she never knew she deserved before. She had known nothing but cruelty and humiliation from those who should have cared for her since she was a child, yet he had always made her feel important and needed. With renewed determination, she fought to regain control of her own mind.

"My dad was a drunken loser who blamed his own misfortune on me!" She roared as she struggled against her fox spirit. "My mom was a failure, but I won't be. Just because my parents were losers doesn't mean I will be, I will not be a failure!"

Theo felt the beast's grip on him loosen as it collapsed to the floor, thrashing around as though in pain. It began to shift periodically between beast and human as Fran struggled to bring her fox spirit back under control.

"Fran, you can win this!" Theo implored her. "Please keep fighting, please come back to me."

Fran finally stopped struggling and slumped to the floor, barely conscious. She shifted completely back to human form as she regained her humanity. Theo rushed to her side, cradling her in his arms.

"Fran, how are you?" He asked her, sweeping a tear from her cheek with his thumb.

"RJ's right." She croaked weakly. "Fighting with your animal spirit? Definitely not fun."

"I'll get you out of here." Theo told her, helping her to her feet. "It looks like we have a fight on our hands."

"Well I guess I better help out." She stated, pulling her solar morpher from his pocket.

"Are you sure you're up to this?" He asked her. "I mean after everything..."

"With you beside me, I have all the strength I'll ever need and more." She replied. "Besides, Dai Shi broke my glasses. I can't see more than a few feet without them. At least in my Ranger form I'll be able to see where I'm going."

"Straight into my heart." Theo replied, placing the ring on her finger. "Now and forever."

Fran pulled him into herself, kissing him passionately and letting all the horrible events of the last few hours melt into nothing. Her past was painful, but insignificant. Theo was her future and her life now. With him there, anything was possible.

"Theo, we need to get out of here!" Dom called through the grill. "The goon patrol's getting restless."

"But what about this?" Fran asked, gesturing to her bracelet.

"Come to the bars and hold still." Dom told her. She held out her left hand as he took a massive swipe, slicing through it with his rhino blade. She rubbed her wrist as she at last felt the release from its grasp.

"Lead us off." Theo beckoned his fiancée. "You've earned it."

"Jungle beast!" They called together, placing their solar morphers on their faces and activating them. "Spirit unleashed!"

Later that night back in JKP, it was certainly interesting as Fran and Camille explained everything that had happened to lead to them becoming Rangers. Camille and Casey made their way down to the restaurant to talk; clearly he wasn't happy about Camille going behind his back that way.

"I think that show you wanted to watch is on." Lily suggested diplomatically, nodding in the direction of the TV. RJ and Dom got the hint and headed off to the TV.

"Thanks Lil." Theo said gratefully. "I really want to talk to Fran."

"I thought you would." She replied. Theo looked at her for a second.

"Alone!" He told her.

"I'm not here." Lily giggled.

"Goodnight Lily." He chuckled as he led Fran out onto the balcony, shutting the door behind him, much to Lily's disappointment. She always had to know what was going on.

"Theo, I'm really sorry I never told you." Fran began, pre-empting his first question. "I wanted to tell you, I really did, but..."

"I understand." Theo cut her off, kissing her softly. "You did it for the Overdrive Rangers, I know that."

"Theo, when my spirit overtook me, I came back because of you." She continued, looking out over the city as her tears began to well up in her. "Everyone I've ever loved other than you had done nothing but hurt and humiliate me. I spent so long hearing that I was worthless I believed it myself until I met you."

"Fran, you are by far the most courageous person I've ever met." He told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I think it's amazing how you've turned out. I don't know what I would have done if I'd had the start you did."

"When the three of you came into the restaurant at first, I just knew you were different." She sobbed. "I felt it the moment you walked in. I saw you and I fell in love with you the moment I saw you."

"Fran, I never knew you felt this strongly." He whispered. "I liked you, but I never knew..."

"Theo, you're all that's made life worth living for longer than you realise." She told him truthfully. "I love you."

He came over to her, taking her in his arms and looking into her eyes deeply.

"I meant what I said to that monster." He told her seriously. "If I'd lost you, I wouldn't have wanted to live. I love you so much Fran, I just wish I could offer you more..."

"You offer me more than enough." She told him, kissing him and looking at her ring happily. "If you're here with me, that's all I'll ever need."

As the pair embraced, nothing else mattered. Only they existed in the world, and that was just fine with them.

Dominic stirred and came to on the couch, looking around at the darkened room. Noting the darkness outside, he surmised that it was late and the others had gone to bed. He must have fallen asleep during the crappy straight-to-TV movie that had been playing. He couldn't even remember what it was about, much less the title. As he got off the couch, he heard a voice behind him.

"You did well today rescuing Fran." Master Mao told him. "I've never been prouder of you my son."

"Don't call me that." He hissed in response through his teeth.

"Why not, it's the truth." Mao told him.

"You were never my father!" He snarled, rounding on the spirit of the old master. "You lied to me since the day I was born! You cast me aside like..."

"If your objective is to hurt me as much as you've been hurt you needn't bother." Mao replied, holding up a hand to stop his tirade. "Letting you and Jarrod go was by far the most painful thing I've ever done."

"Why did you do it?" Dominic asked him as his tears began. "Mom and dad never gave a crap about me! You left me..."

"I didn't think I could take care of you properly and also maintain my responsibilities as Pai Zhuq." He replied. "I thought the families I left you with would take care of you. I was wrong, that's something I can only apologise for, and though I know I can never repay that karmic debt, I hope that one day both you and Jarrod will find the strength in your hearts to forgive me."

"I don't know if I can." Dominic replied honestly. "Mom and dad made sure I knew I meant nothing to them, I felt worthless until I came to Pai Zhuq"

"I did all I could to make you feel loved and appreciated." Mao stated. "I only wish I had gotten to raise you myself. I know I was wrong to send you away. There's something I think you should see. Go to RJ's safe."

"But I don't know the comb..."

"It's 2517316." Mao interrupted. "What you seek is in an old wooden cigar box."

Dom punched in the combination, opening the door and pulling out the cigar box. He sat down with the box in his lap and opened it, seeing a collection of photos and assorted mementos.

"Is this me?" He asked, pulling out a picture of a much younger Master Mao and a blonde woman in a hospital maternity ward. She was cradling a newborn baby in her arms tenderly.

"Yes, that was taken only an hour after you were born." Mao told him.

"She was beautiful." Dominic remarked, seeing the first image he ever had of his true mother. "What was her name?"

"Her name was Christine." Mao told him, sitting on the couch next to Dominic. "She was as beautiful in spirit as she was in person. She stole my heart. The day she died I felt my whole world fall apart."

Dominic felt something he never thought he would since he'd found out about his true parentage. He pitied his father.

"Did she suffer?" He asked as tears welled up in him. Mao looked away unable to look him in the face, though he nodded.

"She suffered every day until she died." He replied. "She knew only a couple of weeks into her pregnancy with Jarrod, but she couldn't harm him. She kept her illness a secret, even from me."

"Surely there must have been signs." Dominic suggested.

"She was so weak and nauseous when she carried you I never noticed." Mao explained. "I just thought it was natural. She only told me the day Jarrod was born. She knew I loved her so much I'd have insisted she got help, but she didn't want to harm Jarrod. By the time he was born it was too late to treat her and she knew it."

"What happened?" Dominic asked.

"I did what I could." Mao replied. "When the time came, I held her hand, I kissed her and I said goodbye."

"Why couldn't you have told me this before?" Dominic asked wiping his face with his sleeve.

"I didn't know how." Mao replied. "Both you and Jarrod were so young I didn't know if you'd be able to cope. As time went on, it just became harder to tell you and easier to let you go on believing the lie."

"But it would have meant so much to us." Dominic told him. "You know how much I cared for you. You know how close we became. It would have meant the world to me to know."

"Would you have thanked me for telling you?" Mao asked. Dominic looked away unable to answer.

"But it hurt so much." Dominic sighed.

"I know I have no right to ask, but I want you to promise me something." Mao pressed on.

"What?" Dom asked him, all but completely spent emotionally.

"Your brother needs you." Mao told him. "I want you to save Jarrod."

Dominic turned to face his true father, tears running down his face. "I promise." He replied.

"I know I haven't always done right by you, but I want you to know I've always been proud of you." Mao told him as he faded away. "I love you, my son."

Dominic watched him fade away and turned back to his own tears.

"I love you too." He responded. "Dad!"

Fin.