Chapter 54 New Home

A couple days later on the Galleon, everyone was finally winding down from the first wedding.

Now, it was Grace's and Marvelous' turns to have us try on clothes.

I wasn't sure about how Marvelous decided with the guys, but Grace was almost always satisfied with what we came up with in our first try.

The two had a great wedding, and it took a couple more days for the buzz around the Galleon to finally die away.

Now with my shoulder healed, Joe had me do wrestling, and true to his word, Marvelous always watched.

Sometimes, if things got too intense in the matches, I would have to call it over early, suffering from flashbacks with what happened with Basco.

Whenever that happened, Joe would wrap me up in his arms and let me calm down.

If that happened, Marvelous would back off and wait until we went again.

I always felt safe in Joe's arms. It was like no one could harm me while he was my guardian protector.

Mostly, we would go back to our match and start anew, but a few times the flashback was just too much to bear and I had to retreat to my room for the night to fully recover.

Whenever that happened, Joe joined me, letting me sleep in his arms as he kept them around me for the night.

And for some reason, my arm started to open again at night, meaning that again I was losing sleep, and with school coming in the next few days, that would make it difficult to work.

The night before school, not only had I suffered from the worse flashback yet, but my arm opened almost immediately after I went to my room.

Joe, keeping calm, went to where he knew I kept the bandages and gave me one.

I wrapped my arm, but this time it wasn't enough, quickly soaking through the wrapping and forcing me to try again.

"It's not working," Joe said as the second attempt failed like the first.

I started to feel lightheaded and bowed my head, closing my eyes.

Joe got the paste that we had used before and put it over the cuts, then wrapping it.

The effects right away worked wonders, making it stop bleeding.

"This is just getting worse," I said as Joe set the stuff down and sat next to me. I looked up at Joe. "I was lucky to survive the last time this happened. If this gets any worse," I shook my head, "then I won't be around to help you guys take down Zangyack."

"Don't say that," Joe said, taking my hand. "If this gets worse, then we'll come up as a team and work together to get this to stop."

"Why do you think this is opening again?" I said.

"I think it's because of Basco," Joe said. "Or your sudden use of the Zangyack power. If I'm right, the reason it kept opening when you first got it was because of that potion they put into you, causing it to reject the skin healing back together. And now that you used the potion, it is, once again, rejecting the healing skin."

"It took weeks for it to go back to normal," I said. "About two months. How long will it take this time?"

"I wish I knew," Joe said. "But seeing you in this state is certainly bothering me."

"I just want this to stop," I said, leaning on Joe's shoulder.

Joe put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close. "I know," he said. "I do, too."

With a sigh, I closed my eyes and without warning, fell asleep.

When school started again, it wasn't long before me, Ahim, Gai, and Grace noticed a change in the way the school was run.

It started with a full-school presentation during first and second hour on our third day back.

"What's going on?" Gai whispered.

"Don't know," Grace said.

We took our seats in the back of the auditorium, not wanting to draw any attention to ourselves.

"Should we contact the others?" Ahim asked.

"I think we should," I said. "This doesn't give me a good feeling."

Grace opened her mobirates and called Marvelous, telling them that we suspect something's going to happen and to keep a watch and keep in contact.

Already, we saw AkaRed in the shadows of the stage, and Marvelous said that they had the place surrounded, staying in the shadows and out of view.

The principle came onto the stage, the room quieting down. "As some of you may have heard, this school is undergoing a new way of running," he said. "And this is true. As of right now, this school if a boarding school. Anyone leaving the campus will be expelled. As of tomorrow, you will stay here. Tonight, you can go home and pack, but this will be the last time you see your family and friends out of school until the summer."

"But what about spring break?!" cried a senior.

"You will be staying here," the principle said.

"That's five months!" yelled a freshman.

"It's better this way," was the reply.

"Who arranged this?" a sophomore exclaimed.

"They wish to remain anonymous," the principle said. "And those Gokaigers out there, yes, that means you can't leave to fight."

Grace, Gai, Ahim, and I buried our faces in our hands.

"This is just great," Gai moaned.

"Why?" I whispered.

"So, unless there are any questions, there is a video you have to watch," the principle said.

"Hold on," said a boy, getting to his feet. "I'm not sure about these guys, but I play for a basketball team for the community, and that means I need to leave campus to go to practices and games. What, the captain has to bail on the team when it's time for the playoffs?"

"And what about the other people that have classes out of school and can't leave?" added a girl, getting up. "I take judo classes, and I'm the student teacher. That is my dedication, my life. I can't give that up!"

"And we play on a soccer team!" added a group of boys.

"I have violin lessons with a private instructor!" added a girl.

"What are we supposed to do about that?" they all said.

"You will need to get in contact with your coaches and teachers and send letter to me," the principle said. "Then you will be allowed off campus."

The students reluctantly sat down.

"Any other questions?" the principle said.

"Yea," said a voice, and the Gokaigers, morphed, came onto the end of the stage, Marvelous in front. "We have four of our teammates that attend here."

"What do you mean we can't have them with us?" Joe said.

"They are our comrades, our teammates, our partners!" Luka added.

"We need them to help us fight!" Don said.

"You can't keep them back when we need them on the field of battle!" AkaRed said.

"And a pirate's heart goes for treasure," Marvelous said. "As captain of the team, I want all hands on deck when we go hunting, and these four staying here means we don't have our full team!"

"I understand that you're upset with this, but I have no way to control what they tell us," the principle said. "I would want the others to join you, and if I do, I lose my job and another person will only enforce this."

"Marvelous, fall back!" Grace whispered. "You're not helping our case!"

"Joe, get to the Galleon!" I breathed.

"This does not look well," Ahim said, looking at her hands folded in her lap.

"I know I'm not going to like this," Gai said.

There was a tense moment when Marvelous and the others were frozen, the principle keeping a distance.

Then, Marvelous took a step back. "To the Galleon," he said, though he wasn't happy.

The Gokaigers left and we watched the presentation.

After school, Ahim, Gai, and I tracked our karate instructor down after stopping by the Galleon, telling him our problem.

"Sir, we need you to write a note saying that you we are allowed to come to our classes," I said.

"I will," Dave said. He wrote a note with all three of our names on it. "I will see you Monday."

"Yes sir," we said, returning to the ship.

"Just who does this person think he is?!" Marvelous demanded, who hadn't stopped pacing since they got back, by what AkaRed said to us.

I was concerned because I was told the Joe was out, but he wasn't training in his usual spot, and he had yet to return, nor answer his mobirates.

He had an argument with my brother, AkaRed had also told me, but about what, he refused to say, but I had an idea I knew about what.

We packed our bags for the time we would be gone, hoping that something would change the events to let us return to the pirate ship each day.

Late afternoon, I tried to contact Joe again, but there was still no answer. "Joe," I whispered, closing my mobirates. "Where are you?"

"Amanda, do you want me to locate him?" Don offered, pointing to the computer.

"Please?" I asked, putting the mobirates in my jacket pocket hanging on the hanger with the others.

Don nodded, starting up a search.

I went next to Don, looking at the map.

I guessed by how the others became alert to the search, they were also worried about the first mate.

A point flashed on the map, in the park where my first battle was all those months ago.

"Amanda, go talk to him," Marvelous said.

I nodded, grabbing my jacket and putting it on as I ran out of the Galleon.

XXX

Joe, having had a huge fight with Marvelous after getting back to the Galleon, was too frustrated to return, even though he knew that school was out.

He walked to the park and sat on a park bench, elbows resting on his knees and forehead in his hands.

Never, on his whole time on the Galleon, a few years now, had he had such a huge fight with Marvelous, and it made him shake, his hands trembling as he placed them on his forehead, arms and legs shaking as he tried to take steady breaths, and his body quivering as he cleared him mind.

Couples passed him, holding each other's hands and looking lovingly into their significant other's eyes.

As Joe saw these people walk by, he wanted more than anything to have his love by his side, her hands resting on him, her soothing voice calming him, and her reassurance to guide him.

"Amanda," he whispered.

XXX

I went to the park and tried to look for the familiar blue jacket that Joe was wearing. I saw him at a bench, forehead buried into his hands.

"Joe," I whispered, going to him.

I sat down next to him without a word, him knowing I was there.

Joe didn't know, despite me moving closer to him. He didn't resist when I wrapped my hand around his, pulling it between us and then placing my other hand around the back of his.

Actually, he made a tighter grip.

Finally, Joe straightened up. He looked over at me, seeing the gentleness in my eyes, the innocence, the love, and smiled. "How am I going to see you?" he said, hugging me tightly. "I don't want to let you go so soon after our wedding."

"I don't either," I said. "But, we will be able to see each other." I pulled away slightly from the embrace and pulled out Dave's note. "This here will allow me to go to my class. We'll see each other then."

"Good," Joe said.

"Now, do you want to tell me what that fight was about?" I asked.

"Marvelous was saying that you guys would transfer schools but I argued that this was the only way you could reach your dream," Joe said. "We just couldn't see eye-to-eye."

"We're going to stay at this school, but if they think they can keep us from a good battle, they're wrong," I said. "Just bring the party to us and we'll join in."

Joe smiled. "Marvelous will like that," he said.

"That's what I'm planning on," I said. "Now, let's head home."

"Alright," Joe said, getting to his feet.

We got to our feet, looking into each other's eyes, and kissed before heading back.

The next morning, I gave my medical handbook and medicines to Don, since he would be the ship's doctor while I was gone.

Then, we went to the school, getting our rooms taken care of, being lucky to share the four-bed room with each other.

The day was strange, since some people had transferred as soon as the news reached their parents.

That night, after giving the note to the principle with the ok of continuing our karate classes, I walked along the fence keeping me from the outside world.

I sighed and sat down against one of the poles, wishing that Joe was here.

"Missed me?" asked a voice, someone sitting on the other side of the fence, leaning on the same pole.

I barely turned my head to the side before seeing the signature ponytail and blue jacket. "Joe," I said. "Can you read my mind?"

"Yep," Joe said, sliding to the floor and resting the back of his head against the fence. He looked back at me, seeing me chuckle. "I'm going to miss that sound. And that smile."

"I just wish this wasn't the case," I said. "What am I going to do if my arm opens? Or if I have a vision? Or if I have a nightmare? Or flashback? I still haven't fully recovered from Basco's assault. I have to force myself to remain normal when there's a sudden movement out of the corner of my eye or someone goes to touch me. I'm getting better with Ahim, but it's still taking time with someone else. And now, we aren't doing wrestling, so if Basco does try that again, I'm as good as gone."

"Don't say that," Joe said. "You're grown more skilled than you think. I've already talked with your sensei about doing more wrestling lessons, and he agreed, saying that he hasn't found the time to fit it into his curriculum."

"But what about the other stuff?" I said. "For my arm, I'll be sent to the nurse, and I really don't want to explain to her what happened, and she'll most likely send me to the hospital, which will make matters on my side torment."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Joe reached back and slip his hand through the two bars.

I took his hand, knowing that it was the best comfort I could have from him.

"Talk to Ahim about this stuff," Joe said. "I trust her the most out of the three to make sure you're fine. She'll be able to help you. I know she will. When she first came onto the ship, she would be woken up by nightmares and unable to go back to sleep. If that happened, I would comfort her. Marvelous, he claimed that he was the captain and didn't have to deal with her, being the newbie. Don was too shy of her. Luka only wanted to keep her from her jewelry. I was the only choice. From what I know of her, she has great understanding. She was my first sister out of my home planet. And I see the same thing between you two."

The bell sounded for dinner.

"I'll talk to her," I said, getting to my feet, unwillingly releasing Joe's hand as he got up. "It's time for dinner. I've gotta go."

"Meet me here tomorrow night," Joe said. "Each night met me here so that we can talk. We'll still be able to see each other."

"Ok," I said, heading off to the cafeteria.

After eating, I approached Ahim and told her about my worries, and true to Joe's word, she promised to stay by my side if something happened.

Since we still had a couple hours before lights out, we tried to find something to do.

I brought the others to the badminton court and played for a little bit with some of the girls on the actual team, being able to tie with them and create a sudden death, but they topped me there.

"Amanda, how are you so good?" Gai said.

"I played a bit when I was younger," I said. "I'm surprised I still got it."

"Let's finish our homework," Grace said. "It's the only thing we can do now."

We went to our room and did that, soon finishing by each of us doing a separate piece of work and the others copying it off of them while they explained it.

We decided to turn in early, since we were bored and could do nothing.

That was, until there was a knock on the door.

I laid my jacket on my bed and answered the door, finding the principle. "Mr. Ragnoff," I said. "Is everything alright?"

"School-wide game of dodge ball, class vs. class vs. class vs. class," Ragnoff said. "Everyone must be there to represent their class."

"Alright, we're going," I said.

Ragnoff left.

"Guys, you've heard him," I said. "Let's go."

We joined the other seniors in the large gym, where each class was pair up, freshmen and seniors against sophomores and juniors.

The freshmen were, well, taken out easily, but we took out the sophomores without breaking a sweat.

Now, both upper classes were seeing who the best was.

Leading the seniors was me, Grace, Gai, and Ahim, and standing in front of the others, it was pretty impressive to the others.

Soon, it was four-on-four, us for the seniors and four of the best juniors for them.

Ahim and Gai were soon out, and Grace followed, leaving a four-on-one, and hopes for the seniors were dropping.

"It's the doctor left," a junior said.

"Let's see what happens," said the second.

"We can take her out," the third said.

"Easy," added the forth.

I forced myself to relax. "Don't be so sure," I said, getting a ball in my hands. I blocked two shots and caught a third, sending one of them out.

"You sound confident," said the first.

"Because I am," I said. "I'm not just a doctor," I threw a ball and knocked another junior out, "I'm a pirate, as well, and as a pirate, I will do what I want to get to victory." I threw another ball, getting a third out. "One-on-one."

"Don't be so sure I'll be easy," the junior said. He threw the ball but I jumped over it, grabbing another one and throwing it at him, but he blocked it.

A few rounds went by where we threw balls at each other and then dodged them, my using my skills from karate d being a pirate and him using his skills from his soccer and yoga classes.

Finally, it reached the point where we both froze right before throwing, being complete replicas of each other.

"Go ahead," I said. "Throw it."

"You first," the boy said.

"Then we're going to be here all night long," I said.

We moved down the line that separated the courts, keeping in perfect sync.

In the blink of an eye, I released the ball, it hitting his leg and taking him out of the game, giving my class the win.

"Yes!" the other seniors cried, jumping to their feet and celebrating.

"That's why you don't mess with a pirate," I said.

That night was a rough night, having nightmare and Ahim comforting me, and when classes came, I just didn't want to be there.

It was another tough day for everyone, still getting use to the longer classes and smaller number of students in each room.

Plus, with Basco crawling around again, I was having a harder time focusing.

The other three saw him two and always watched me for my reaction, seeing that I was trying my hardest to ignore him.

Each night, I was able to talk to Joe, tell him about what was going on, let him know about my problems and accomplishments.

"Ahim has been a huge help," I said. "She's just so patient and understanding, it makes it so easy to talk to her."

"I told you that would be the case," Joe said.

We talked for a little bit before I had to go to dinner, leaving Joe, again, like so many nights before.

I was fell into a routine each day when we had school. Since I had a habit of losing the other Gokaigers while on the way to classes, I always made sure that, since I knew that Basco was following me, I always had other kids around me.

If I kept myself alone, Basco would surely get me, but if I had others around me, and kept myself between them, then Basco had a hard time finding me.

But, since she could tell what was up, Ahim refused to leave my side, and I feared that if something happened, then she could get hurt, and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.

I kept that fear in my mind, knowing that if I spoke it out loud, then Ahim would definitely say something about it.

But more than anything, I wanted to be wrapped in Joe's arms, and the person who I could talk to about that was Grace, who was missing Marvelous.

And I missed my brother. Though sometimes we didn't see eye-to-eye, we always made up and he would protect me when Joe wasn't around.

If I went walking and Joe was training, Marvelous could keep step next to me, and Grace knew it was for family, for the sake of keeping together.

Now that it was almost a week that we were gone from the Galleon, we felt alone, even though we had each other to keep company.

True, Ahim and Gai were the couple here, but even they missed the other pirates.

We knew that if we couldn't leave the school out of karate, we would soon be driven crazy. After all, there was only so much that could be done in the school, despite what they have around.

But we were glad that the school had added something that all of us loved since the announcement of becoming a boarding school: a simulation.

Now, true, it wasn't like the one on the Galleon, but it allowed us to keep up on our fighting, and other students loved seeing what we could do.

Ahim, Gai, and I also used it to help us with our karate, focusing on moves and getting it perfect in a fight.

However, it only made our feelings worse.

Grace asked if she could join karate, just so she wouldn't be left alone, and we promised to talk to Dave about it.

And since Monday was only a day away, we were practically counting down the hours until we could leave.

It'll be the start of something, we knew.

We didn't like this new home.