Back at Rock Porium the party was in full swing and even Toby who was usually more quiet and reserved had joined in with the celebrations. Novi distanced herself from the rest of the team. She had tried to apologize to Chip but the second she got close to him, she could see a hint of fear in his eyes, and he quickly found somewhere else to be. Novi's instinct to run had kicked in and she only stayed because she had made a promise to Toby and her fans that NVi was going to perform tonight. As soon as the show was over, Novi headed into the office to take off the jacket and mask she used to hide her identity and found Toby there.

"Great show Novi, the crowd loved it," said Toby.

"Thanks," Novi replied forcing a smile. "Um…Toby I know the party is still going on, so I hate to ditch but I'm not feeling well. Would it be okay if I head out for the night?"

"Sure thing. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," She echoed as Toby headed out of the office.

She pulled a slip of paper out of her pocket and wrote a hasty letter to Toby tucking on his desk. Once she was sure he wasn't going to suddenly come back in Novi flamed to her room in Rootcore. There she quietly opened the drawer where she kept her training gear and took it out placing it on the bed, sliding the drawer closed again. She unfastened the hidden pouch that held her Mystic cellphone and set that on top of the clothes before she packed the rest of her things up into her rucksack. She slung the pack on her shoulder picked up the pile on her bed and headed into the central room. She placed the clothes on her symbol that was craved into the table the held the crystal ball with a heavy sigh and was about to leave when Udonna called out to her.

"Is something the matter child?" she asked gently.

"I just came by to…" She trailed off looking back at the pile on the table. Udonna followed her gaze as a look of realization crossed her face.

"I see."

"I think it's for the best."

"The best for who? The team or you?" Udonna probed gently.

"Them. What happened today is the one thing I knew would. I hurt the people I care about. Chip ended up in the infirmary because of me…I did that to him. This was tame compared to what could have happened. When Vida kissed Solar…she wanted to kill her. I can't take the risk of it happening again—I won't!"

Before Udonna could say anything more Novi flamed out of Rootcore and found herself at the bus station. She walked inside and looked for the next bus that was heading to Ocean Bluff, the next bus was in about 10 minutes to Novi hurried to the nearest ticket desk.

"One-way ticket to Ocean Bluff please," Novi asked.

She paid for the ticket and walked to the stand on her ticket. She felt her phone buzz in her pocket, pulling it out she saw a new message from Vida.

"Where are you?" it read.

Novi didn't even bother to unlock her phone instead puts it on silent and slides it back into her pocket. On the bus Novi finds an empty set of seats, tucks her bag into the overhear area and sits down putting her headphones in her ears. She pulls out her phone to message RJ and sees fifteen new messages mostly off Vida and 5 missed calls. Ignoring them she sends a text to RJ.

N- Hey RJ. Is my job still open?

RJ- Yeah. I said you can come back any time.

N- Cool, I'm headed back to OB now. I'll be arriving in about 6 hours. See you soon.

RJ- Everything okay?

N- I'll explain everything when I get back.

She looked up from her phone and almost dropped it as Udonna was sitting beside her.

"Don't do that," she hissed quietly.

"Are you sure this is the right decision? You were chosen for a reason. You can't run away from this otherwise you will always be running."

"Yes, I'm sure this is the right choice. I am not running away; I am doing this to keep them safe. Chip can't even stand to be near me and honestly, I don't blame him. I wouldn't want to be near me either."

"They will be weaker without your help."

"You mean they will be safer. What if I lose control again only this time, I'm not able to stop Solar from killing one of them, then what? Or what if next time I don't come back. I can see everything Solar does. I can barely stand knowing I hurt Chip. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did something worse." Novi said her voice breaking.

"I can see I wouldn't be able to change your mind." said Udonna sadly before the spectral image faded.

Once she was gone Novi allowed angrily brushed away tears that had started to roll down her cheeks, turning her music to full volume trying to block out Solar's taunting laughter.

~~~xXx~~~

Novi woke to a rough hand shaking her shoulder.

"Excuse me darlin' this is the last stop." He man informed her.

"Thank you," said Novi grabbing her pack and exiting the bus.

It felt strange but nice to be back in Ocean Bluff again. She hadn't realized how much she had missed it until now. She hitched her bag further on her shoulder and headed towards JKP. Fran spotted her as soon as she walked through the doors, leaving the customers she was serving to come over and hug her.

"What are you doing back? We missed you…RJ said you had…you know…when did you get back…" Fran asked hurriedly.

"Fran breathe…I just got back. Where is RJ? I kinda need to talk to him about something."

"RJ is in the back. Do you want me to get him?"

"No, I'll just go on through."

Novi walked past Fran to the kitchen where RJ was waiting for her. He took one look at her and knew something wasn't right so nodded for them to head up to the loft where they could be alone to talk.

Once upstairs Novi dropped her pack as RJ held his arms out to hug her, which she gladly accepted but as soon as he touched her the facade, she had been holding broke as the tears she had been holding back since leaving Briarwood started to fall. He lead to her a chair where they could sit comfortably and let her cry into his shoulders while he just held her in his arms until she calmed down enough to be able to talk to him. Novi pulled away from him wiping the remaining tears from her face.

"Sorry I didn't expect myself to break down so quickly. I didn't want to do that to you." She said.

"That's alright but what has made you so upset?" RJ asked.

"Well Solar took control of me again, and I hurt someone…" Novi let out a shaky breath before she continued. "Imperious tricked us to using Jenji, who is a genie, in order to capture him. Jenji was forced to grant his wish that the Power Rangers never existed which meant there was no good magic which is how Solar was able to take control. We tried to get the wishes reversed but they refused saying it was our fault it happened in the first place. Solar fed off the dark magic and took control attacking my team and Chip got hurt badly as a result. Seeing the other efforts to protect the city, they finally reversed the wish, but Solar had gathered enough dark magic that it wasn't enough for me to push her back until Vida kissed me and that was enough to force Solar back inside."

"Yeah, I saw parts of that fight, it was pretty brutal," said RJ.

"What? Are you keeping tabs on me? That borders on stalking you know," Novi teased.

"Yes and No. I got an alert that something big had happened and caught parts of it. But that still doesn't explain what you are doing here, surely you need to be in Briarwood in case of another attack, your team will need you."

"About that—I…"

"You what?" RJ demanded. "What happened to not running away from your friends when you have a problem? That's what you told me when I had that problem with my animal spirit.

"This isn't the same thing?"

"How is it different? Give me one example of how this is different, and I will accept it and let it go."

"I…it...It just is," said Novi unable to come up with an answer he would accept.

RJ folded his arms and just stared at her raising his eyebrow.

"Fine it is the same thing okay…I'm afraid I'll hurt them again but I'm more afraid that they won't want me around anymore. I've lost too many people because of this; I don't want to lose anymore especially Vida. I love her too much."

"You need to give them some credit instead of assuming the worst in people. Look at Casey, Theo and Lily, when you…well Solar joined Dai Shi and helped him capture the other Masters and fought against them, did they cast you aside?"

Well, no, but…"

"But nothing. Now I can't force you to go back, and you know you are always welcome to stay here but I will say that you made the wrong choice in coming back here," said RJ and he turned to leave.

"Hey RJ thanks."

"Your welcome."

Novi went and laid on one of the hammocks in the loft as she thought about what Udonna and RJ had said. She knew they were right but at the same time she couldn't bring herself to go back, she felt ashamed that instead of talking to them, she had fled without any explanation. She pulled her phone out of her pocket as it flashed, and she saw over forty missed calls and several voice mails. She pressed a button on her phone and the first message started to play.

1:45 pm: Hey Novi where are you? Toby said you left the party early because you weren't feeling well but you aren't at Rootcore. Is everything okay?

She hit '1' to delete the message and the next one started.

3:26 pm: Novi, Where are you? I am starting to get worried now. Nobody has seen you for a couple of hours. Please call me as soon as you get this. Novi could hear the worry in her voice. She skipped through to the most recent message.

7:52 pm: Novi what is the point of having a god-damn phone if you aren't going to answer it! Udonna said that you left, how could you leave without so much as an explanation. How could you just leave me like that. I though you loved me! If you don't call me back, I swear to god, we're though!

Novi could hear Vida was fuming at this point. She dialed Vida's number and waited nervously as the line rang. She heard a click as Vida answered but Vida didn't speak.

"Hey V,"

"Don't 'hey V' me. Where the hell are you? How could you just run off and not tell anyone?"

"I know, I'm sorry. I just panicked. I didn't know what else to do.

"You could have tried talking to us or at least me."

Novi heard Vida's voice crack as she spoke.

"I was too afraid of what you would say. Chip couldn't stand to be near me at the party, not that I blame him to be honest. I didn't want to risk hurting you."

"So, you thought running away was the answer? Did you think that wouldn't hurt me? You are my world and the thought of losing you is worse than anything Solar could do to me."

"And you are mine but if I hadn't been able to stop her, Solar wanted to kill you for kissing her. What if next time I can't stop her? If I lost you to her, I wouldn't be able to live with myself so I did the only thing I could think of, to get as far away as possible so Solar couldn't ever hurt you." said Novi as tears started to run down her cheeks.

"I can understand that but what I want to know is if you are coming back?"

"I need some time to figure things out, but I will come back, even if I decide I can't be a ranger anymore, I still have you right?

"Always."

"I love you,"

"Love you too. Just don't take too long okay."

Novi hung up the phone and wiped the tears from her cheeks just as RJ appeared followed by the smell of pepperoni and tomato sauce. She stomach growled in response.

"I figured with everything you had going on that you haven't eaten much today," said RJ grabbing a folding table and setting it up next to her.

"Thanks RJ, I'm starving."

"So have you decided what you are going to do?"

"There is a part of me that wants to go back, but at the same time what if I lose control again? I haven't told anyone this yet, but Solar wanted to kill Vida when she kissed her and now, she knows that Vida is my weakness, she would destroy her first so nothing couldn't ever bring me back. Maybe it's better if I just stay away after all the harm I've caused."

"May I suggest before you make any haste decisions, go talk to Jarrod. He could give you fresh insight on your situation."

"I'll do that."

~~~xXx~~~

As the flames dissipated Novi found herself on the grounds of the Pai Zhuq academy once again. It felt like a lifetime ago since she had first set foot here. She could hear the faint echoes of students training in the yard behind the tall iron gates that stood in front of her. She walked through the gates and for the first time got a look at the ancient building that formed the school. She entered through the gates and looked around at the crowd of students in the field, she spotted Casey clearing up from his latest class.

"Hey Cas, do you know where I can find Jarrod?

"I think he is over there teaching a class at the moment, but he should be finishing soon. What's up?" he asked.

"I just need to talk to him about something," Novi explained quickly before she hurried off.

She slowed her pace as she got close to where Casey had indicated seeing Jarrod leading the student through the Lion technique. She stopped at the edge of the mats and waited for him to either finish the class, he looked over and frowned at the sight of her as he ended his class. Once all of the students had left, he approached her.

"Let me guess, you are here to ask me about my time being controlled by the Dai Shi, aren't you?" he asked in a low voice.

"How did you know?" She asked surprised.

"It's the only logical reason you would come to see me. It's about Solar right?"

"Um actually yeah. Is there somewhere we can talk in private as I know this is an awkward topic for both of us."

"Follow me."

He lead her around the back of the school, grabbing a couple of lanterns off the wall, handing one to her and they entered what looked like the mouth of a cave. They walked down some stones steps and entered a dusty room. On the back wall Novi noticed a carving on the wall and on closer inspection realized it depicted the final battle between the rangers, Masters, and Dai Shi.

"How can I help you?" Jarrod asked.

"Well, this might be a difficult question but how were you able to resist Dai Shi control over you?"

"At first, I couldn't. I was so consumed by my anger and hatred towards Master Mao and Casey, blaming them for my problems, that I was the perfect host for Dai Shi. I let his darkness fuel my own feelings that I lost myself in it. As clique as this may sound it was Camille's love for me that allowed me to temporarily at first, be able to break free from his control. As her love grew stronger so did my resolve to be the person, she believed me to be. The day I defended her from Sonimax, Lepus, and Osiris, I realized I had feelings for her as well and it was those feelings and Casey's belief that despite everything I had done, I could still be a good person that allowed me to find the strength to resist Dai Shi influence and expel him from my body."

"So true love really does conquer all?"

"Yeah, I guess it does." He said with a chuckle. "That and having good friends who believe in you no matter what."

"That explains why it was Vida who was able to reach me when Solar took control and give me the ability to fight my way back. I was protecting her from Solar. So, I can use that to keep Solar at bay when I feel her taking control."

"I hope what I've told you helps with your problem."

"It does, more than you know. Thank you so much Jarrod."

~~~xXx~~~

Novi arrived back on the loft to find it empty when the alert sounded, and Novi grabbed one of the remotes as the TV flickered to life. Novi watched the screens as Daggeron was being attacked by both Koragg and Imperious and the rangers were nowhere in sight. Novi growled gripping the remote tightly, she threw it into the chair as the column of flames surrounded her. When they cleared Novi was stood between Imperious and Daggeron.

"Out of the way foolish ranger, this isn't your fight," warned Imperious.

"You made it my fight when you attacked my friends," Novi snarled her voice deeper than normal. "I call on the Spirit of the Wolf!"

As she spoke those words armor appeared on her body, it was gold and scarlet in color with knee and elbow guards and a helmet snapped over her head. It was shaped like the head of a wolf. She felt a wave of raw, untamed power course through her similar to when Solar would take control but this time it was different, she had never felt this rush of dark power before and realized just how powerful Solar could be if she wasn't holding her back.

"That's impossible," said Koragg.

Novi leapt into the air and pounced at Imperious knocking him away from Daggeron using her elbows to strike him. She charged a kick with scarlet energy and kicked Imperious sending him flying just as the other Rangers appeared.

"Who's that?" asked Chip.

"Novi or possibly Solar? I'm not entirely sure who is in control right now," said Daggeron as they helped him to his feet.

"I knew I sensed dark magic inside of you, child, but when we first met, something was holding you back. What has changed?" Imperious asked.

Novi responded but swinging her elbow to strike him in the chest, ducking under his fan as he tried to strike, her blow landed as he staggered backwards. Imperious raised his fan at her and fired a blast of dark magic, she caught the ball and it swirled in her hands.

"Impossible," Imperious muttered.

Novi threw the ball of magic back at him as it exploded on impact knocking him to the ground. Novi charged up her elbow as he got to his feet and dragged it down his whole body as he cried out in pain.

"This game has had a most unfortunate end," Imperious said twisting his cape as he vanished.

Novi's armor disappeared as she sank to the ground breathing heavily as Vida and the others sent Koragg packing as well, and they rushed over to her side.

"What was that?" Xander asked.

"That was incredible," said Nick.

"Novi you have to stop pushing your magic too far," warned Vida.

"I'm fine," said Novi pushing herself to her feet. "Ooh head rush. That wasn't exactly my magic, it was Solar's, and I didn't push it too far. It's a raw, primal power and it's a lot for my human form to handle. I guess that I can only use to for so long before it wears me out," Novi explained. "But yes, it was incredible. Look I owe you all an explanation for what happened yesterday and why I ran off. Let's go back to Rootcore and I promise I will explain everything."

Vida looped her arm through hers and grinned. As they walked back Novi felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out to see a text from RJ.

RJ- I'm proud of you. I always knew you would make the right decision.

N- How is it you always know exactly what I need to hear?

RJ- Just lucky, I guess.

N- Uh-huh… I am the one who is lucky. I'd be lost without you.

RJ- I know so, Spirit of the Wolf, eh? ;-)

N-What do you expect? I learned from the best.

RJ-Damn right you did.

N- Humble as always. It's a good thing I love you.

RJ- Well somebody has too. I always be a phone call away, you know this. I love you too.

N- Thanks RJ.