The Pai Zhua school, hidden as it was the eyes of others nestled in the mountains away from civilization, looked far more like an ancient temple than a school. Then again that was probably exactly what it was after all.
As he finally made his way through the portal, Tommy could make out a sprawling practice ground and a massive multi-layer building, built perhaps eras long gone but well taken care of. People, some he recognized but most being that of the civilians of Briarwood, were spotted here and there, some in groups and some just staring at the peaceful surroundings that in comparison to the destruction of their homes had to be jarring. There was no war there, no flames or battle, just a bright blue sky and forests and a complete sense of calm.
"Dr. O!" a voice yelled his name and he turned to look as Kira ran over to him, concern etched into her face; following close was Zedd and Billy, and seeing the former he remembered and his heart fell.
"Are you alright?" Billy questioned as Kira checked him over, "When you didn't follow us immediately we got worried and thought maybe..."
"Where's the female red Ranger?" Zedd had to be the one to ask that one.
Tommy didn't answer them immediately, trying to force a smile, to pretend it was okay. Based on the reactions of the others though it seemed clear his attempt was not going over well. He stopped for a moment then sighed before turning to look at Zedd; the man had new bandages wrapped around his head rather loosely and Tommy could see the blood and a glimpse of exposed sinew and muscle from the edges of the wrap. He was sure he didn't want to know more about any of that.
"Lauren went back to the ship," he finally spoke and found his voice far too detached for his own liking; he paused, "I didn't...want to leave Rita behind so she volunteered to take her."
"What?" Billt said quietly, brow furrowed.
Zedd stared at Tommy before speaking, "Tommy, what happened to Rita?"
"She...something happened, I was going to die, I know it, and she showed up and saved me." He wasn't sure why he didn't mention the pain or the demorphing; it just didn't seem like the right time. "She told us to go and I tried to stop her, I told her that Jason and the others would kill her, but..."
She'd blasted him away and then came Jason's sword and her body falling, her words, her pin. He swallowed hard and thought how he needed to explain better, that Zedd needed to know what had happened to his wife. But all he could muster was "I'm sorry."
"So Rita's gone," Billy spoke sounding almost incredulous, almost as if the mere thought of it was impossible.
Kira was silent, which was far less surprising than Zedd's reaction to the words and implications of the veteran Green. Zedd did not react nor did he speak, simply staring at Tommy as if to bore a hole through him. It took what felt to be an eternity before he finally spoke, head shaking as he clenched his staff tight.
"Why are you apologizing, Tommy? You're not the one who killed her, you're not the one who struck her down." It was hard to tell if he was angry or not, he sounded so cold and disconnected but there was something painful in the way he spoke.
"I didn't save her though," Tommy answered softly.
"That wasn't your duty to do. And seriously you probably wouldn't have been able to do it anyway knowing how stubborn she could be," Zedd said with a bitter sort of laugh, "No, you aren't the one who needs to apologize and you aren't the one who's going to pay for what happened."
He looked to his staff and a disgusted look crossed his face. A change in subject seemed necessary, urgently so, and Kira took it upon herself to provide it. "Annie went to look for someone in charge; when we arrived we found the training grounds empty but she and RJ both assured us that it's likely more because of the small number of students currently than anything bad."
"The Order of the Claw has always been more than a little picky but it works in our favor I think," RJ said, walking towards them, his usual sort of smile stuck to his face; something didn't feel entirely right with it though.
The martial arts master, once standing with Tommy's group, glanced back towards the building that made up the school. "Still it is a bit odd, things being so quiet. There's no sign of anything bad having happened here so I'm optimistic but with everything that's happened, it's never a bad idea to be careful."
"You're always optimistic though, RJ, that's why everyone loves you," Kira stated.
"You do keep us all sane after all," Billy agreed, "You and Annie and Kira."
Kira herself blushed at the compliment and shook her head. "Hey, you've done a lot too Billy, tending to wounds and trying to fix up the Megaship; without you we never would have survived this long. You and Hayley have done so much for the Megaship and everyone. Well, you, Hayley and Anton and Tsuki..."
"We've all done our part to try to make things easier on each other," RJ agreed nodding., "We're a team after all, even if we're a pretty mixed and matched sort."
"Yeah we are." Tommy could agree but his mind was still mostly far away; he felt Zedd's hand on his shoulder but though they looked at one another neither spoke.
In time they all choose to start moving towards the school itself; in Tommy's mind it was about getting the Briarwood people safely settled and decide what was the next step from here. He did not expect the destruction that had been wrought, and the knot of anger and resentment only grew remembering the disregard for human life there. And the fact Jason and his allies had let it all happen. Part of him wanted so badly not to think about how many they had lost, the people who had died, the extent of the damage; he wanted to focus on the fact that they did save people, and they seemed to have the primary members of the Mystic Force team as well as allies. Again he knew little of their team and couldn't begin to try to figure out if any were lost too. Save for Chip, still unconscious, they all really fine, and he tried to focus on that and all the good. And forget the bad just for a moment.
Three figures came from inside the building and the one he recognized, Annie, looked far more jovial than he could remember ever seeing her be before. On either side of her was a man and a woman; the former, dark haired and imposing, stood with purpose. But a smile cracked the seriousness of his face and something told Tommy he wasn't a threat but rather an ally. The unfamiliar woman was slender and had the eyes of someone far older than they looked, someone who'd known trouble and caused enough of it. Yet both wore the same sort of training garb that RJ and Annie tended to, though theirs were in dark tones for the man and shades of green for the woman, and as they did approach RJ seemed delighted by the sight of them.
The woman did a polite bow, and Tommy knew it was more to the wolf master than to any of the rest of them. "Looks like you've been busy, Master RJ."
Tommy turned to the man in question and RJ chuckled before moving to hug the woman. "Camille, Jarrod, I'm glad to see you both safe and sound."
"The school is well hidden, and the few members of our Order not here already would never betray it's location," the man Jarrod spoke with a shrug, yet he too was smiling, "Even if they did though, we'd never let anything happen to this place."
Annie gave Jarrod a playful slap upside the head. "You, talk of betrayal? Funny."
"I learned my lesson and have grown," he answered, rubbing his head, "Don't hold the past against me; it's not very enlightened of you."
Camille looked to Tommy and the others, and as if reading the confusion from them she decided to give a short explanation. "Jarrod was previously possessed by the soul of Dai-shi and I was his loyal lieutenant. After some things happened-"
"As they do," Zedd said nodding.
"-we choose to join them against Dai-shi and his Rinshi army. Afterwards we became students of the Pai Zhua to atone and restart our training and have been here ever since."
"How have you two been anyway?" RJ asked, normal enough but the implication was clear to them all.
Jarrod and Camille looked at one another and the former shook her head. "I assume you mean our powers coming back? I'll admit that some of mine have returned, I seem to have regained my camouflage ability and transformation skills. I'd be lying I said there wasn't temptation to delve further but I have no interest in the end of returning to how I was, nor am I afraid of the darkness within me."
"I'll admit it's weird and uncomfortable, feeling the allure of Dai-shi's power again; he was defeated after we were separated but obviously some of his...essence still lingered, waiting to wake up. But I refuse to give into my anger and negative emotions again. I will not be controlled again," Jarrod added with a small growl, the aura around him intensifying for a second before calming again as he breathed. Neither RJ nor Annie seemed concerned by it, and thus nor was Billy, Tommy or Kira.
"With Casey and the others gone, it's up to those of us still here to protect this school, to act as true members of the Pai Zhua," the man continued, "It is our duty as elder students to do what is right."
"You needn't do it alone either," RJ said beaming and put a hand each on Jarrod and Camille's shoulders, "You are part of our team and we'll do whatever we have to to protect this place as well."
Annie shook her head, her excitement seeming to be impossible to hold back any longer. "But the thing is, RJ, they're not alone here."
"Yes yes, there are the other students-"
"RJ!"
"What?" he asked looking at her; she pointed and they all turned their gaze towards the practice grounds where others were coming from. He froze, eyes wide as he watched them and words stuck in his throat.
"What is going on?" Kira asked, looking at Billy and Tommy; the veteran Rangers simply shrugged, unsure as well but Zedd nodded.
"Obviously something good."
Another male-female pair, though with a far grander physical age difference. The girl, young and timid looking, squeaked in confusion as RJ rushed over and picked her up, hugging her tightly, her glassed narrowly avoiding falling off in the collusion. The man, far older than any of them and with a look even sterner than Jarrod's, watched until RJ grabbed hold of him and hugged him too, catching the elder man off guard. That passed though and eventually he put his arms around the visibly shaking wolf master, patting his back gently as he spoke, "RJ..."
"You're alive...you're both alive..." RJ was crying, it was obvious from his voice, the way his body shook, and yet there seemed to be no sadness to it. Only joy.
"Yes, we're alive," the man said and there was a softness to his eyes suddenly; the girl stroked RJ's hair gently, whispering something into his ear.
"Who are they?" Billy asked the jackal master, seeing her watching this strange interction with tears in her own eyes and a beaming smile.
"Francine Conway, Fran," Annie said; a strange expression crossed her face as RJ looked up at the older man and let him pull him closer, "And that is Master Finn, Pai Zhua Shark Master."
"Finn, as in Robert James Finn," Tommy commented.
Annie nodded and gestured. "Meet RJ's dad."
Now that it was in the air there was a family resemblance between the two masters. The trio finished their reunion to join the others and while Fran looked at everyone and introduced herself with a light smile, Master Finn took stock of them all and nodded. "So you're the Renegades."
"Part of them yes," Kira answered; she noticed more moving and soon enough the group grew to include the rest of the planetside Renegades, as well as the Mystic Force Rangers.
Hunter moved carefully with Tori, their eyes on Annie and Tommy could only guess at what she had done to get such a reaction. The Baliton siblings seemed to have become the patron gods of the children as they had a small army of them surrounding them, scruffy and dirty and sticking close. One of the kids, a young boy, saw Billy and ran over immediately, clinging onto the blue's leg; Tommy raised an eyebrow but Billy, blushing some, only patted the boy's head gently.
"Where's Lauren?" Ileana asked, looking around.
"She returned to the ship," Tommy said leaving it at that.
The ancient warrior glanced at him but almost as if sensing it wouldn't be worth it to ask more, did not say more. She instead turned to RJ and Annie, took note of RJ's face and then looked to Master Finn. "Okay what did you do to him?"
"I don't know you nor you I; why would you think to blame me for how he looks?" the old man asked annoyed.
"Because the girl looks too sweet, our group would never upset him into crying, and you look exactly like the type of grumpy old man who would pick on dorky RJ."
"So does Jarrod honestly, minus the old part," Annie said point to the dark haired man.
RJ chuckled weakly and smiled as he wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "I'm fine, Ileana, really; I'm just really happy."
"The man is his father and the woman is a friend of his; he's just happy to see them alive," Kira explained; Ileana nodded, believing her at least.
"Wait how does good-natured, sweet, nearly obliviously optimistic RJ have a dad who looks like he eats souls for breakfast?" Trent asked glancing at Master Finn.
This predictably started more argument and a small fight, but after some soothing words from RJ, interspliced with his usual strange speech, and some scolding from various adults, the problem was ultimately resolved. For the most part at least; the wolf master had to work to calm his father and Trent stood, looking more amused than honestly upset. That only lasted until Annie grabbed hold of him, by the ear of course, and the white ranger was forced to yelp out an apology for his behavior. Some semblance of peace fell and Kira took stock in that moment of all that was around her. She came to a realization: that this was perhaps the most peace they had had in a long time, this aftermath after a tragedy. Sure Trent and Ileana almost started a fight with RJ's dad but everyone was otherwise calm and they were all safe. Not a cloud dotted the bright blue sky and she breathed in deep the fresh air, taking advantage of the temporary freedom.
"So what is the plan now?" Tori asked but even that couldn't burst Kira's bubble of contentment; it was like this place was made to bring about a sense of tranquility. Made sense for a place that once trained RJ of all people.
No one answered immediately; Tori turned to Tommy but he still seemed lost to some inner thoughts that he wasn't about to share aloud. Billy patted the head of the boy on his leg and spoke, "Will the citizens be able to stay here?"
"We're not really set up for taking in a lot of people at once," Camille said, "But Annie explained the situation to us and it seems only right to do what we can to help."
RJ nodded. "We'd appreciate it, honestly we would, and we wouldn't ask if-"
"If it wasn't the only way, yes we know," Jarrod responded, "It's fine."
Ileana then looked to the Mystic Force team and their allies, Zedd included. "You guys will be wanting to stay here I assume?"
"It would be for the best," Nick said.
"The people of Briarwood need us, we have to stay with them," Udonna continued, nodding.
"We understand," said Tommy, "We wouldn't dream of forcing you to leave or to stay, the choice is yours."
"I for one actually plan to go back with you." Zedd's words took multiple people by surprise, if the collective facial expressions were anything to go by; he seemed neither to notice nor to care. Tommy did not seem to be one of them and he simply nodded as if it all made sense.
"Chip still hasn't woken up," Leanbow commented, causing Billy to approach and start to examine the slumbering ranger.
The blue turned to Tommy. "We might want to take him back with us so we can do a proper examination, just to make sure he's okay and everything."
"I'll come too then," the pink Mystic Force Ranger piped up, stepping forward.
Udonna looked to her then to Billy and Tommy. "As much as I would rather them both stay, it's not my choice."
"We promise to take good care of your yellow," Tommy said, "And as for your pink-"
"I have a name," the young woman protested, "Vida Rocca."
He smiled some. "As for Vida, it's up to her to do as she wants. And we'll welcome her of course."
Madison furrowed her brow and walked over to Vida. "I'm coming too then."
"I'll be fine sis, no worries," the pink told her dismissively, "You should stay, help the people here, keep an eye on Nick and Xavier. One of us needs to make sure Chip stays focused once he wakes up and that duty is best left to me."
"So you don't plan on coming back," Camille commented.
Vida didn't answer and though the Renegades exchanged looks, none could attest to knowing her thoughts.
The elder Master Finn turned to his son. "I expect you'll be going back with them."
"They're my team now, my place is with them," RJ answered smiling.
The man nodded and Fran stepped forward. "Be careful, RJ, Annie. If anything was to happen to you two as well I..."
Annie wrapped her arms around the other woman, holding her tight for a moment before letting go again. "We'll definitely try to stay out of trouble but you know RJ; he's graceful and klutzy all at once. Meanwhile I need you to keep Jarrod and Camille out of trouble, okay? We're depending on you."
Billy sent the message and the Renegades, plus tagalongs, started to teleport back; the blue murmured something to the little boy, convincing him to go back to the other kids before he returned to the Megaship. As they did Kira took one last look around, at the faces of the few they'd saved, the Mystic Force who stayed behind, the Pai Zhua holding their ground. She felt good truthfully, for the first time in a while. Briarwood was a disaster but some still lived, hundreds really. That wasn't nothing in the end.
Returning to the ship was simple. RJ took Chip to the infirmary and Vida followed, leaving the rest of the team to return to the command room. As they entered Abby turned and made her way over to stand before Tommy.
"I saw Rita." The green flinched and he glanced at Zedd, the ex-villain still and quiet. He seemed to be holding his staff a little too tightly though, causing blood to seep through his bandages and drip to the floor.
"What's happened down there?" Andros asked, "Alarms go off, you leave to go down and then Lauren returns carrying yet another dead body, the dead body of a woman who was a major villain for a long time. Plus Tommy's covered in blood, Zedd looks even more hurt, what occurred in Briarwood?"
"A lot of bad things," Billy answered, "And a few good."
"We did save a lot of people," Annie added, "And we found out the Pai Zhua school is safe; some of our friends managed to survived and promised to keep an eye on the survivors of Briarwood."
"We lost a lot more than we ended up saving though," Trent morosely stated; Kira lightly smacked him but none of those who had been there argued.
Zedd nodded. "It would seem Rita died protecting Tommy; I apologize for making you deal with her corpse."
Andros stared at him like he'd grown three heads suddenly then shook his head. "Rita is far from the first body we've had. We'll simply do with her as we did with the others."
"We'll bury her in Angel Grove." Abby's words drew Zedd's attention; she continued without looking at him, "Where the command center used to be; that's where we bury everyone."
Blake. Emma. Antonio. Kevin. Mia. Mike. Jayden. Now Rita; it was the safest place they could find, and by that of course they meant the only place they knew no one would dare look, obvious as it was. Yet a part of Billy and Abby wanted to believe that of all places, Jason would never dare try anything there, not where once upon a time a wise space wizard gathered them together and gave them their powers for the first time. No one suspected them to visit under dark of night, carrying the bodies of their dead, to bury them where Zordon had once been. It was only six, seven now, who lay there; they had been unable to retrieve Tori's teammates, and she, Hunter and Laura seemed in agreement that it was best to let them lay where they were. Ethan was already long gone, and the Jungle Fury quartet's bodies could never be safely taken from where they were buried in Ocean Bluff, though RJ said they would have liked the grove where he and Annie put their precious students to rest. The Renegades, every last one of them, hoped that seven would be the end of it. Not a single one believed it would be,.
"273," Merrick spoke and those who understood shuddered; he shook his head, "It could be worse of course. As Annie said we saved a lot of people, all of which save two are now safely in RJ and Annie's secret school."
Ileana smiled. 'What my brother means to say in his awkward way is that we shouldn't feel too guilty; we did what we could, we saved who we could. He and I, we understand better than most I think how it feels to beat oneself up over massacres like this. Don't go making his stupid mistake."
He threw her a look and she threw him a smile. A weak laugh escaped Tommy though and Billy nodded. "We cannot risk excessive introspection at this time, nor excessive regret over events we cannot hope to change or fix now. We can only continue forward as we are."
"Regret is cheap; action is far better," Abby stated; she turned to Merrick, "You mentioned two aren't down there?"
"The Mystic Yellow Ranger Chip got knocked out; RJ took him to the infirmary when we returned. His pink comrade Vida went with them both," Annie explained.
"We suspect the two might be sticking around," Trent offered then stretched, "But maybe we can discuss that later, after we get some food and rest. After what we just went through I think I can safely say I speak for everyone when I say I'm tired after fighting assholes."
"Once night falls in Angel Grove I will go down with Tommy and Billy to bury Rita," Abby stated; finally she looked at Zedd, "Lor...Zedd, we welcome you to join us, if that's what you wish. She was your wife after all."
Zedd paused for a moment before smiling some. "Yes, I would appreciate that. Thank you Abigail."
Andros took a deep breath. "Then it's settled; we'll adjourn to lunch and if more discussion is needed we'll deal with it as it comes. Zedd, Abby, Billy and Tommy will take care of Rita's burial once it's safe. That is all."
He wasn't too sure how he ended up there but it could have simply been that in the mooment, that's where he felt he needed to be.
Tommy walked into the infirmary expecting to find it empty; he'd left the others after the burial, a solemn event that had strangely lacked in the same tense pain that came with the other deaths. Billy had said he was tired and going to bed, Abby went to check on Tyler, and Zedd had simply walked off to perhaps think to himself on what his next steps were to be. Trent never much liked to be in the infirmary, Tommy suspected seeing his father like this caused problems for the white still battling with residual darkness. As for Andros he was always busy working on the ship or out on missions; honestly he and Tommy had a lot in common when it came to avoidance. Dustin's sister Laura came by occasionally but those were always quick, to check he was breathing and then to escape; he was recovering but still hadn't regained consciousness and sometimes they all worried he might never do so. Thus Tommy figured he'd be alone.
He wasn't. Sitting on a table, staring over towards the beds, was Heckyl. He didn't seem to notice the door open, he didn't seem to realize someone had walked in. Tommy stopped once this hit him and simply watched for a time, contemplating saying something but never doing so.
Moments passed before the blue streaked man took note, blinking with a shocked expression before getting up. Tommy held up a hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt whatever you were doing."
"Just...thinking, that's all." There was a lot more to it than that, and he thought on how little he really knew about the other man. Heckyl helped out around the ship, normally with Annie and RJ though he wasn't uncommon to see hanging around the labs. He'd stepped in to save Lauren and it was safe to say that she was less gruff with him than she was with Tommy or the others. But Heckyl was a mystery, a civilian who choose for no real reason it seemed to ally with the Renegades and join them aboard the Megaship; he stuck around instead of asking to be left somewhere, anywhere else. Sometimes Tommy caught himself wondering if he was plotting something, somehow in cohoots with their enemies. Mostly though he just was glad that the man didn't seem to hate them all actively.
Once more time went by and neither spoke again, lost in their respective minds and thoughts. There was something comforting in the silence, peace that felt like it had been millenia since last he'd known.
"Can I ask you a question?" In the end it was always Tommy who ruined it.
"Only if I can ask you one."
The green shrugged. "Sure, shoot."
"After you," Heckyl directed, causing Tommy to pause before speaking.
"Why are you with us?" It stuck in his head, rattling around and demanding answers, "You aren't a Ranger, and despite everything you've done for us, saving Lauren, helping out around here, you're not an ally like Hayley or an ex-enemy like Anton and Zedd. You could have left us be, could have demanded to be returned to Amber Beach, done something that wouldn't make you-"
"A target?" the civilian raised an eyebrow and the Ranger nodded; Heckyl thought for a second. "Isn't it the right thing to help others? I don't regret what I did or where I am, despite everything; I like to think I'm right where I need to be. People might say you're evil and dangerous but you fought to protect Amber Beach without doing excessive damage; you ran to Briarwood even knowing what you found there was unlikely to be pretty. If the choice is supposed to be either you guys with your rundown ship and your somehow still surviving morals, and the government who seem to causing a little too much chaos, I'd prefer the fugitives over the law makers."
"Surely you have a family, people you care about that you'd like to get back to though."
Again a silence and Heckyl looked at the trio's sleeping forms, Anton, Tsuki and Karone. A light smile crossed his lips. "I...did have someone, someone I cared very deeply for."
"And?" Tommy asked.
"And we were separated long before all this business occurred; I loved her, more than I can remember ever loving anyone, and she loved me. But some things happened, her overprotective family forced me away and I haven't seen her since. Honestly until recently I thought her dead, and I resigned myself to the belief that I'd never see her again."
"But not anymore?"
Heckyl shook his head. "No. I recently found out she's still alive. And back on the question you asked, I believe that the best chance I have of reuniting with her is to stay with you, all of you. So stay here I will."
Tommy couldn't argue, though he had to wonder how the Renegades were going to help Heckyl reunite with his lost love; they could barely reunite a team. Still if the man believed that this was the way to do it, and he really didn't regret his choice, then who was Tommy to try to push further? He should just be happy that they had an ally like him around.
"Now for my question," the blue haired man said and Tommy turned to him, "Why did you come to the infirmary?"
The green froze up, but saw no point in hiding things. Not when Heckyl had spoken of his own feelings. "I made a mistake today, like I make a lot of mistakes. And like those mistakes, it came with consequences."
"The death of that woman, Rita." Tommy nodded.
"Rita was...there's no easy way to describe what that space witch was to me. There used to it; if you asked me back when I really was this age I would have told you I hated her. She made me the Green Ranger by force, she dragged me into this life and though I ended up thriving in it, as much as anyone can, it doesn't change that my first days of being a Power Ranger involved trying to kill Jason and Billy and the others, and I hated her for that. But the woman who saved me wasn't the same one who used to terrorize us; she was...she was good, and she was willing to die to save me."
She'd formed so much of his teenage years in the end, his adult years, his life. There should have been some relief but all he could think about was her face in the end, her words, and the deep pain that dug into his soul. To escape the ache he moved to stand by one bedside in particular and Heckyl watched him carefully.
Ethan's Dino Gem was orbiting Tsuki again, and Tommy felt a tinge of pain seeing Justin's Turbo Key had joined it. He reached out, his fingers lightly touching her face as he stared at her.
"I've been a Power Ranger five different times, three different colors. I've morphed more than any other individual, mentored the Dino Thunder group, fought multiple enemies. There are people who call me a legend, and there are people who want me very much dead, and hate me...for all the right reasons. Because I'm much more of an idiot than anything else." Some of her hair had fallen over her face and he brushed it back. "Rita's far from the first to do something to protect or save me because I failed to be smart enough or good enough to do things right. But she's the second to do so during this stupid ordeal."
"That woman I assume is the first?"
"Tsuki is like this because of me and my stupid choices. I should have made her leave earlier, to keep her safe and out of danger, but I never really could bring myself to push her away. And when I heard her call out my name..." He remembered the pain and dying and how upset she was. "I made her feel like it was her fault that I got shot when it was my fault for letting my guard down. She gave us back our powers, which isn't great in the longrun considering how much more trouble it's caused, but she never would have had to if it wasn't for me. And now, now I can't even talk to her anymore."
That was the real reason he supposed deep down. Under the guilt of Rita's death, the guilt of the things that had happened, after everything was said and done, Tommy just wanted to talk to his girlfriend again and hear her voice. He was sure she'd scold him, smack him upside the head or pull on his ear.
Or maybe just maybe, with the uncertainty growing inside him, after whatever had happened to him in Briarwood that caused him to be in so much pain and to demorph, she would have just let him set his head in her lap and feel her fingers through his hair as she braided it for him again. Maybe Tsuki would tell him it was alright, that everything would be okay, even if they both knew it would be a lie. He wanted her to talk to him but all she did was lay there, silent, alive but so far from him that even though his fingers could touch her skin, his heart felt the coldness of being alone still.
Heckyl didn't comment immediately, simply staring at him. But there was for a moment a kinship that neither perhaps would have expected, and he let himself, as Tommy was distracted by his sleeping love, to turn his gaze to his own slumbering princess. Yet he knew deep down that there was no fairy tale there if she woke up; he was a monster and her a Power Ranger.
"It sounds to me," Heckyl spoke finally, in a slow faraway voice, "That we have much in common on that front. "