A.N: Fair warning, Kara's kinda dumb in this chapter, and will be kinda dumb in the upcoming chapters. Honestly, this is the first time I've sincerely thought a character I've written was dumb, but in a good (??) way. Just trying to make her as human as possible (at least, for a Power Ranger, lol).

Working with my best friends has been one of the best experiences, especially since it's in a field that I enjoy. Something I don't enjoy? Babysitting. Kids are okay. Some are even cute, I guess. But that's as far as my opinion goes. So when Commander Stanton walks into the command center carrying his daughter, Jodie, it's all I can do to give a polite smile and wave. Thankfully, this is more of Kendrix's territory, and she hands the little girl a device from one of our junk drawers.

After a while, the Commander returns, my brother in tow, and I nod to him. "You know my daughter, Jodie. I promised to take her skating this afternoon, but I can't get away. So I'd like you to take her and videotape her for me." The proud smile Kai's face drops away, and I can't help but laugh.

"So much for dangerous and daring, huh?" The glare he shoots at me isn't as terrifying as the looks Maya and Leo can give, so I merely shrug in response.

"You know what? Just for that, you're coming, too." My jaw drops even as Jodie cheers, taking my hand, and Kendrix gives us both a wave as we walk out.

"Have fun, you three!"

It's a good thing I know how to skate, because it doesn't even take Kai longer than a few minutes to get distracted. "Uh, earth to Kai?" He's probably going to get me back for this later, but I lift a hand, knocking it on the side of his head lightly. "You in there-"

"Hannah… Hannah," he murmurs, and I follow his gaze, only to find him staring at a girl. I roll my eyes. And he says that Leo can't pay attention, "I'll be back, hold the camera!" Kai shoves the recorder into my hands and I narrow my eyes at his back as he skates away.

"I didn't sign up for this!" I call, following after him, waving the camera haphazardly, which probably isn't the best idea.

"You did, the moment you thought it was a good idea to make fun of me-" His next words aren't audible, at least by me, because the next moment, I skate headfirst into someone else.

"Whoa, I'm so sorry," they apologize, and I shake my head, getting back to my feet quickly.

"It's okay, I was the one who wasn't watching where they were…" Holy shit, he's gorgeous. He's Asian, but when he spoke, he had a bit of an accent. Australian, I think. His light brown hair curls slightly over his eyes, and not to mention, his shoulders are the broadest I'd ever seen- Okay okay okay, wait. I'm still technically dating Zayne. But technically, we never agreed to continue the relationship once I woke up- Ughhh.

"Um. Going?" Even his voice is velvety smooth, a bit low, but not enough to sound coarse.

"Y-yeah. That's what I was gonna say. Uh, I'm Kara." The boy smiles, stretching out his hand, and I shake it, hoping he doesn't feel the tremors in my own grip.

"Chris. Nice to meet you, Kara." I'm about to ask him what brought him to Terra Venture, when out of the corner of my eye, I see Kai lose his balance and hit the ground. "That your brother?" I heave a sigh, nodding reluctantly.

"Unfortunately. I should go help him."

Chris shakes his head, sending his hair flopping slightly, and I nearly melt. "Looks like someone's beat him to it." Glancing over at where he'd fallen, I see a short, but pretty brunette helping him up. That must be Hannah.

"Good, then I won't have to take care of him," I joke, "I'm the younger of us two, but sometimes it doesn't seem like it." Chris' laughter is contagious, and his smile reveals the cutest dimples.

"I can attest to that. My younger siblings and I are on Terra Venture, but sometimes they're the ones who do the most to help me out-" Just as he's about to finish whatever he was gonna say, my communicator beeps, and Chris frowns, "You've gotta go?"

"Uh…" I crane my neck, searching for Kai in the spot where he'd fallen, but he's not there anymore. I'm not too sure if he's already left, (if he didn't wait for me, he won't hear the end of it), but I hear him before I see him go flying over the wall, "Yeah, sorry. Our friends are, uh, calling. I'll see you around-"

"Wait!" Chris takes my hand, keeping me in place, and my instincts almost get the better of me, screaming at me to flip him, "I can walk you out?"

I'd honestly really, really like that.

"I'm so sorry, Chris, but I've really got to go. It's an emergency. But what you could do is hold onto this camera for me." He glances down at Commander Stanton's camera, and I pass it to him, "I'll see you later!" Before I can regret leaving him here, I skate away, joining Kai.

"Where's the-"

"At the park," my brother answers, "Let's go, before I change my mind." Ironically, I don't ever think we agreed on something more than we do now.

"Stop right there!" Leo's one-liners are always funny ways to relieve the fear I get before we go into life-threatening situations, "You're in the wrong place at the wrong time, buddy." This time, the monster we face is something like a cross between a beetle and a moth, and I just so happen to utterly despise the latter.

"I don't think you quite understand your own predicament. Stingwingers, attack!"

The first thing I noticed when we got to this section of the park was all the fallen leaves littering the ground. Read: natural weapons. As one of the Stingwingers runs at me, I drop, gather a bunch of leaves into my hands, and toss them into its eyes. It stumbles back, rubbing at its stupid face with its antlers, and I jab them in their exposed midsection, sending it to the ground. Another takes its place, but after enough time of fighting these things, I've more or less gotten the hang of it. The Stinger dives forward, and I leap into the air. One kick into its back later, and it's got a face full of dirt.

"You, come here! I've got something for you." There's no need for it to tell us twice, since we've already taken down the last of the Stingwingers, and are ready to face their commander head on.

"Yeah, what?" Maybe Leo shouldn't have asked it that.

"This!" Glowing blue spikes erupt from its mouth, and we flip backwards, away from the projectiles. A shiver courses through me as the spikes burrow into the ground. A hybrid beetle-moth that can spit digging pointy things. No thanks.

"You wanna play games?" Maya shouts, "Well, then you're playing with lightning-" Much like Leo, she's spoken too soon, because Kai's already charging. Cosma Claw in hand, he slashes at the monster over and over, sometimes moving even faster than my eyes can keep up with. With one final cut, the monster hits the ground, and my jaw drops. Crazy what my brother can do given the right motivation.

"I'm outta here. You're too late to stop my handiwork anyway!"

"Wait! What do you mean we're too late?" Kai demands, but by then, the thing's already flown away on its (ew) moth-like wings.

"Where'd it go?"

"I wish I knew," I reply to Maya's inquiry.

"Oh shoot!" Kai exclaims, and I turn to him, puzzled, "I'm- we're in the middle of something!" He's right, I'd completely forgotten about Vernon, Hannah, and Jodie still waiting at the rink.

"Yeah, we'll catch up with you guys later!" The thought of seeing Chris's gorgeous smile, hearing his cute laugh sends a burst of speed into my legs, and I grin at my brother. "Race you!"

"They're never like this." I choose to ignore Damon's mutter. "Kai! Kara! You guys okay or what?"

"I'm not okay," Kai shouts back, "I'm great!"

"What he said! See ya later!"

… what I think it is? Leo's thought comes through the link a bit slow, but it still makes enough sense for me to reply with a, Speak for yourself, loverboy.

"Hey!" Chris calls, skating over to us. "Here's your camera." Kai gapes at me, incredulous. For what, I don't know: he was the one who left the kid he was babysitting to a total stranger.

"What? He kept it safe."

"Miss Kara, did you videotape me going really fast? I passed everyone! It's because of my new skates, they have these really cool wheels…" Jodie's frantic words fade into the background as Chris laughs, ruffling her hair lightly. Good with kids, too, "Miss Kara?"

"Oh, yeah! I got some footage, and Mr. Kai probably…" My footage was fine, capturing the commander's daughter as she had the time of her life. But the footage before that was all focused on Hannah, and I groan.

"What's wrong?" Chris asks worriedly, "Did I mess it up?"

"No," I reassure, nodding towards Kai, whose gaze is already somewhere far, far away, "This idiot did."

My brother says absolutely nothing to retaliate against the nickname, and that's how I know he's probably off in a daydream, which is unusual for him.

"Idiot? That's not very nice," Jodie repeats, and Chris laughs, throwing his head back as he does so, gorgeous dimples on full display.

"Yeah, Miss Kara. That's not a very nice word to call your dear brother." As he reiterates the words, he throws in a pout for dramatic effect, and my cheeks turn bright red.

"I-I can call him whatever I like. So I'll call him an idiot."

"Hey, I heard that." Oops.

Oops is right.

"Hey, Kai, who's that?" Leo jests, and I grin.

"That is the person he's-

"Kara entrusted the camera to a complete stranger just because he was cute!" Kai interjects, and I gasp.

"Kai!"

I try to snatch the remote away from her, but it's too late. Jodie fast-forwards the footage, leading the others to find that all the focus was on Hannah after that point.

"What? She's on the whole tape!" Kai doesn't react to this, instead simply placing down the platter of pancakes he'd just finished making.

"Alright, let me at it."

"Get ready to have your expectations blown out of the water," I comment, "I remember that Kai's pancake making skills have always been pretty good," During my time with the Space Rangers, I hadn't retained a single memory of my brother. But recently, flashes of recollections have started to return. I'm not sure how, or even why, but what matters is that it's happening.

"She's over-exaggerating, like always," my big brother retorts, but his tone is fond, and when I meet his gaze, he's grinning at me.

"Why are you both acting so strange?" Kendrix murmurs, "They look really weird." Maya scrunches up her nose as she goes to pick one up.

"Are they supposed to be that color?"

"No pancakes on Mirinoi?" I ask, and Maya shakes her head.

"Kai, Kara, is everything okay? I mean, look at this." Only Kendrix would be concerned over someone's well-being judging by the state of their cooking.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that." I crane my neck, peering into the kitchen in the hopes that I'll spot another batch cooking, "I forgot to add the syrup." Syrup? That's not syrup- Before I can voice these thoughts aloud, Kai squirts a good amount of ketchup onto his burnt pancakes. Yikes. There's nothing I can do to save him now.

"That guy is seriously off today," Damon whispers, and I shrug, glancing down at my nails as nonchalantly as I can manage. But the others have caught on.

"Girl." Leo pats my shoulder from where I sit on the ground next to his seat.

"And it sounds like our Aqua Ranger is smitten, too."

Screw you, Red.

Oh, gladly. It takes all my self control not to plug my fingers into my ears. I know it wouldn't work to block out his nasty jokes, but it might help.

Before either Kai or I can retort, the doorbell rings, and I sigh. Literally saved by the bell. The door slides open, and there stands Commander Stanton, and honestly, Jodie's reaction to him is pretty cute.

"Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, but you should see the tape, its-"

"Wonderful!" Kendrix and I interrupt in unison, grinning at each other, then at the Commander.

"But thanks, I can't wait to see how much she's improved."

"Yeah, and how grown up she looks too." I step on Damon's foot while Kendrix elbows him in the side.

"Tell Kai thanks," the Commander replies, and I'm shocked that he's decided to ignore our behavior.

"Hey, do you wanna stay for-" Stupid mechanic. He yelps in pain as I stomp on his other foot, and Damon glares between Kendrix and I.

"I didn't realize you had such a big mouth, Green-" The words freeze on my mouth as I turn, seeing smoke rising from the kitchen.

"Kai!" Kendrix groans, and I sigh.

"This is my sign to go to sleep."

"So their names are Hannah and Chris, neither of you have any of their phone numbers, you don't know where they live-" Kendrix (read: mom), stops in the middle of her interrogation, holding out her hands, "Whoa, watch out." Kai and I exchange sheepish glances. The two of us are, by a literal vote, the most observant in the friend group. So for us to be reduced down to this… "Where they live or where they work. It's a big colony, guys. You'll probably never see them again."

I rub my chest. "Ouch."

"Wow, thanks for pointing that out," Kai adds, turning to Kendrix.

"Listen, I've gotta go. I'll see you two later, okay?"

"Have fun on shift with the newbies!" She sticks her tongue out at me, and I grin, wiggling my fingers at her. I'm not on shift today since Kendrix is gonna be training some new hires, and it's like I can already hear her rant like some angry premonition.

"I'm gonna get a hot dog. You want one?" Kai asks, and I shake my head. I'd eaten before we left the apartment, but I don't think I'd drank anything since earlier today.

"Nah, but I definitely need to get something to drink." My brother frowns at me as he fishes into his pocket for some money for his food. "Geez, okay. Look, I'm buying water." I pull two dollars from my wallet and hand it to the street vendor, who hands me a large bottle and some change. "And I'm drinking it!" I go to uncap my drink, but as I do, a shout rings out from behind me. I turn a moment too late, because the skateboarder runs right into me, sending the contents of the bottle right onto my uniform.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry- Kara?" Kai bursts into soft laughter, and I kick his shin, effectively shutting him up.

"Chris, hi! It's okay, but we always do seem to be meeting like this." The curly-haired boy chuckles, and picks up his board, tucking it under his arm, "I didn't know you skate, too!"

"Yeah, it's just a little hobby of mine," he replies, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, "Hey, what's he doing?" I follow his bemused gaze, only to find Kai gazing off into space once more, spreading mustard all over his hand instead of his food.

"Kai! Kai, stop that!" I hiss, plucking the bottle from his grip and plunking it back down on the cart. "God, you're so embarrassing." Chris laughs at my outburst, and I sigh.

"Since I kinda, um, messed up your uniform, I think I owe you another drink," he murmurs, and I shake my head. The last thing I want is for him to feel indebted to me.

"No, you really don't have to do that-" Too late, I realize, since he's already going over to a vending machine and inserting a few coins. A few moments later, he's back, two cans of soda in hand. A small smile twists the corners of my mouth. "How'd you know I like this brand?"

Chris shrugs, a blush tinting his otherwise pale cheeks, "Lucky guess." To my dismay, awkward silence begins to fill the conversation, and Chris clears his throat, "Uh, let's go sit over there." I can't do so much as turn in that direction before he takes my hand gently, leading me towards an open table, and my jaw drops. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Kai with his eyes narrowed towards my date (if that's what you could call him), and I shake my head madly. Hopefully my brother won't go all big-brother-scary on Chris.

"No way, Kara. Their first mixtape is honestly so much better," Chris argues jokingly, crossing his arms.

"Stop your temper tantrum," I tease back, shoving his shoulder lightly, "The second has much better melodies-" Before I can continue to back up my extremely correct viewpoint, the ground begins to shake violently, buildings around us crumbling to ruins.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Despite his calm tone, Chris's hands shake, and I rest my hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not sure. Just stay-" Suddenly, an enormously loud ripping noise comes from behind him, and I gasp as a tree begins to tilt towards his seat, "Watch out!" I grab his hand, instinct taking over, and pull him off his seat and towards where I'm now standing out of harm's way. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I think so," he mumbles, giving himself and then me a once-over. "Thanks for that."

"For what?" I'm so focused on locating Kai and Hannah that I'm almost not keeping up with the conversation.

"For saving me, you clown." Oh. Yeah. I glance up, meeting his hazel eyes, and when he smiles, I have to look away. For all I know, Zayne is still out there somewhere, waiting for me. And what am I doing? Spending this sort of time with another-

"Kara, you dude, this way!" You dude? Whatever. That's my fault for not telling Kai his name. I take Chris's hand, and we follow the other pair in an attempt to head to safety.

"Oh no!" Hannah's scream makes me pull to a stop, and I turn to her.

"What is it?"

"It's Johnny!" She yelps, shaking hand pointing towards a car. A still occupied car that happens to sit right under a tilting electrical tower. I fling out a hand to keep her from running towards the obvious danger, but she wiggles away from me.

"Hannah, don't!" Kai manages to catch her, though, and I breathe a sigh of relief, "The tower can fall at any moment-"

"But the wedding is tomorrow!"

Despite everything, time slows down as realization settles in. What wedding?

"He went to go pick up my dress!" I'd like to think that I can predict my sibling's next actions pretty well. But he shocks me when he dashes up to the burning car, pulling Hannah's fiance out of the car just in time.

"Kara, the gas line!" Chris's warning pulls me back into reality, and I crouch, pulling him to the ground as well, shielding him as the explosions go off. As soon as I feel it's safe to get up, I'm on my feet, dashing towards my brother.

It hasn't been that long since I found him. If I lose him again… no. I won't- Relief smashes into me so strongly as he stands that I almost collapse myself, and I rush over to the trio.

Something's wrong, though. Well, obviously. Hannah's holding her wedding dress, and Kai's face tells me everything else I need to know.

"Kai-" I can't speak another word, because in the next moment, he's run off like some damsel in distress. In a way, he actually is. "I'm so sorry to keep running off like this, Chris." The Aussie takes my hands in his larger ones.

"Please be safe. Okay?" My throat constricts, tears flooding into my eyes. He's so much like Zayne. So protective, but so gentle… But I can't promise him that. "I'd really like to see you again."

Zayne…

"You stay safe, too, Chris." I give his hands one last squeeze, then turn my back on him, an action I hope I don't grow to regret. Anger, confusion, and heartache lend speed to my feet, and I'm caught up with Kai just in time for us to morph together.

It's not looking good for Leo when my brother and I arrive, the monster, apparently called Quakemaker, about to impale him on his sword.

"Get away from him, you creep!" My scream distracts it, leaving just enough time for Kai to tackle it off of the Red Ranger and into the trunk of a tree.

"Kai, Kara!" Leo cries, and I offer him a hand up. He takes it, but pulls away first to pat my shoulder, "I'm sorry, K. But you did the right thing." I want to believe I did. I really do. But leaving Chris like that… "Now, what was that training tip you gave us about turning emotions into weapons?"

That taste of my own medicine is all it takes, and I step over to Kai, watching in slight awe as he hurls Quakemaker into the air.

"You've quaked your last, Quakemaker!" He growls, and I unsheathe my own Quasar Saber, releasing all my pent up feelings into the blade. Then, with a final slash, my brother and I send blue and aqua bolts of energy into the monster.

"We did it!" I cheer, but my excitement doesn't last for long, since the disgusting monster grows giant before our eyes.

"Not quite," Kai mutters, "Gorilla Galactabeast!"

"Snake Galactabeast!" My Beast swirls out from the undergrowth, wrapping around Giant Quakemaker's ankles, and Kai's Beast leaps into the air, knocking it to the ground.

"Good job!" Kai and I cheer in unison, exchanging a glance. I can't see his eyes, but I don't need to in order to know that my brother's proud of me, and I of him.

"Let's finish this." The Blue Ranger nods, and we leap onto our Galactabeasts. Just like Kai'd done when Quakemaker was a normal, less disturbing size, the Gorilla hurls him into the air, and my Snake follows up with a bite. I'm not sure if it's venomous. I kind of hope it is. My snake Beast and I slip out of the way of an attack, and as we do, a roar signals the rise of the other animals.

"Zord transform, now!"

"Galaxy Megazord, transform!" Kai and I command, and dang, does it feel good to have this kind of power and control at my fingertips. "Condor Galactazord, missile mode!"

The blast from Damon's Zord strikes true, and Quakemaker falls.

"Those two haven't eaten a decent meal in days." Maya's remark barely reaches my ears, especially since I've got Cassie's headphones over them, my favorite music blasting from my player. The music Chris and I'd shared a common interest in.

"Neither have Leo and I, since they're the only ones who can cook around here," Damon replies, "Hey, sibs. How about some lunch?"

"No thanks," Kai mutters.

"I'll pass," I add.

"No, how about making us some lunch?" The others laugh softly, but even though they joke, I can tell they're worried about us.

"Where is Leo anyway?" Maya muses. I would reach out with my bond to ask him, but quite frankly, I can't bring myself to care much.

"Oh, he's standing right in between us. Except he's so skinny, you can't even see him!" Ugh. I roll over and turn up my music a few notches higher. I'm not even aware that the doorbell rings until a tidbit of conversation catches my attention:

"It's from Hannah… and Chris!" Wisdom from the mouths of children, I tell you, "They said it was important." Kai and I roll off his bunks, and when he nearly steps on my head, I smack his leg. He hisses in pain, and the others crack up.

Jodie carries two envelopes, and a golden package tied with a pretty ribbon to match, and I take the envelope addressed to me. "Thanks, kid. I owe you-"

"A pony? No, a unicorn!" I cringe.

"I was going to say ice cream." Jodie shrugs, and I smile, bending down and patting her head. "Thanks, Jodie. See you later!" Kai's already opened his letter, and I glance over at him as he starts to read.

"My sister's wedding was great. I was a beautiful… bridesmaid?" Oh. My. God. "Thanks to you, my hero."

I can't help the squeal I let out, and Kai slaps Damon's shoulder in disbelief. "Her sister married Johnny!"

"Which means you just starved us for nothing! Kara, read yours!"

"Okay, okay, calm down," I retort, but the grin on my face betrays my true emotions, "Thanks for hanging out the other day, even though our date kinda turned into a literal disaster. I meant what I said about wanting to stay in touch. Here's my number… with love, Chris." Shouts fill the room as each of my teammates hypothesize about what this could mean for me, especially with the word date added in there, but despite the excitement, I have to force the smile to stay on my face.

This is what I hoped wouldn't happen. That by me turning and walking away from him, that he'd let me go.

I was wrong, and now I'm truly, one hundred percent, betraying what I'd had with Zayne.