Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Notes: I'm not really all that with it today. My grandma is in the hospital. No real author's note...I'm just not in the right mind tonight. I'm kinda scared for her. Yeah, sorry. This is the 2nd last chapter. Please review.


Chapter 16
What One Person Can Mean


Tommy arrived early for the funeral the next day almost grinning as he thought of what Jason would say to him being early. This punctuality was sprung from nerves and grief. Tommy kept finding himself wandering into Jason's vacant room and staring at the bed that Tommy would soon have to get rid off before it drove him mad. Going to the church meant at least being with other people instead of moving through his home in a listless fashion.

When he arrived there were only a few cars in the parking lot. They belonged to the minister conducting the service, Jason's parents, Kim, Trini, Rocky and Billy. Tommy parked between Billy and Kim before slowly getting out of his truck. He stayed outside for a while, leaning on the door reading over the eulogy, before slowly making his way up to the church doors.

'Oh God I don't want to be doing this,' Tommy thought as he pushed open the doors. It was quiet inside, the minister was talking softly to Billy and Jason's parents while Trini and Kim were chatting softly as well. Tommy wasn't sure where Rocky was. Walking past the foyer and into the church itself Tommy spotted Jason's successor sitting the back pew.

"Hey Rocko," Tommy said coming to stand behind his friend.

"Hey," Rocky replied staring at a floral arrangement Jason's parent's had ordered with a fierce intensity.

Tommy was about to ask what was wrong when he realized how strange that would sound. Something was up with Rocky, the look on his face and the way he sat showed that but as Tommy ran through the list of questions to find out what's bothering someone none came up as usable in this case.

"Did you know I can't stand the scent of flowers?" Rocky asked softly.

Tommy was momentarily taken aback, "No, I didn't know. Why do you hate the smell of flowers?"

Rocky shifted a little before answering, "When my father died my grandparents had the whole church practically filled with flowers. All you could smell were those damn things. It was one of the worst days of my life and all I could smell were those Goddamn flowers. Now whenever I smell a bouquet of flowers I flashback to his funeral. I bet I'll think of today from now on as well."

"Rocky..." Tommy began unsure of what to say to his friend.

"No, don't say anything, Tommy. I'm okay, really. It's just something I have to deal with," Rocky told him.

The church door opened once again and Adam walked in. Rocky abruptly got up to go greet him, feeling uncomfortable for having revealed that much. He hadn't intended to let all that slip but he just knew that from now on the scent of flowers would not only bring back his father's pale face lying in a coffin but Jason's as well.

Other people began to arrive soon after and Tommy once again found himself assuring people he didn't know that Jason had died peacefully. Everyone wanted to hear that and Tommy knew even if it hadn't been true they would have wanted to hear that. A red headed young women with light green eyes had come up to Tommy and introduced herself as Cleo, the same Cleo that had dated Jason at one point and who had moved to San Francisco from Ireland after the Teen Summit had finished. She had been incredibly kind but also very subdued Tommy found the number of people he did not know there slightly overwhelming.

"Trey." Tommy greeted seeing the Prince of Trifonia approach them. "I'm glad you could come. I only wish we were meeting under better circumstances."

"Jason was a noble warrior and a good friend. He stayed in contact with me for a time after he gave the Powers back, to make sure the transfer was as successful as we first hoped," Trey commented. "All of the Rangers who had any connection with Jason will be here."

"Once a Ranger, always a Ranger." Tommy remarked sadly, echoing the comment he had initiated last night.

Trey nodded solemnly, "The Space Rangers will also be here soon."

"Jason hardly knows the Space Rangers," Tommy commented slightly surprised.

"But they know of him." Trey remarked. "You and Jason were Zordon's most prized Rangers. They feel a tie to him simply because of that. His legacy is known throughout the Universe, as is yours."

"I had no idea." Tommy replied, stunned at this information.

"Zordon was always very proud of you both." Trey commented. "He thought of the Rangers he mentors as his children. You and Jason were his two favourite sons."

"I never knew." Tommy whispered looking towards the closed casket, "Neither of us ever knew."

"Jason knew he was part of something that withstood many attempts to destroy it. He knew he was loved; you only have to look around you to see that is evident," Trey told him.

Tommy had to agree with that. The church was really filling up. He noticed TJ, Cassie and the others they had passed their Powers onto enter the church, bringing a boy with long, streaked hair and another with bleached hair with them. Tommy knew the one wearing red was Andros but he wasn't sure of the other. 'They came even though they never knew Jason,' Tommy was awed by the thought. The Space Rangers greeted him solemnly expressing their sincere remorse for the loss of Jason's life.

The church service was set to start at ten am so at fifteen to the Rangers assembled in the front pew on one side while Jason's parents and other family members sat on the other side. Tommy didn't look back at the rest of the church, he tried to block out everything while he waited for the service to begin.

At twenty after ten Tommy looked around to see why they hadn't started yet. The church was filled, no seat was untaken and people were standing at the sides. The minister approached them speaking quietly but loud enough to be heard over the dim murmur in the church.

"I'm so sorry for the delay we aren't used to having this many people in the church. We've had to find extra seating up in the loft." The minister told them.

Indeed the loft and the rest of the church was full of people who had been touched by Jason. There was standing room only in the back of the church, the choir loft and people had even crowded into the church's coatroom. People from the Peace Conference, people from high school Tommy had hardly known, people Jason used to teach back when he had only just become a Ranger, the whole staff and students from their Dojo...Tommy felt tears well in his eyes and choked back a sob. He had never realized just how many people would miss Jason's deep, calm voice and strong, able hands. Tommy had to turn away, knowing how much Jason meant to all those people was simply too overwhelming for him to handle right then.

Finally, at a quarter after eleven, the funeral began. It had been planned to be a very casual funeral. Jason had decided to comply with as many of his friends wishing as he could. Kim had requested one song be played, Tanya another, Adam suggested a type of slid show...Basically Jason had let them plan it for him, saying it didn't really matter all that much to him since he wouldn't be there to see it anyway. It was more their affair than his.

They went with Tanya and Adam's idea first. A screen was pulled down as a song began to play and images of Jason's life flashed across the screen.

We all want to make a place in this world
We all want our voices to be heard
Everyone wants a chance to be someone
We all have dreams we need to dream
But sweeter than any star you can reach
Is when you reach and find you've found someone
You'll hold this world's most priceless thing
The greatest gift this life can bring
Is when you look back and know
You were loved

A baby picture of Jason being held by his mother...two year old Jason playing blocks with little Billy...his fifth birthday party...his first day of school...Jason in his first gi when he was a little over five...dressed as a reindeer for the school's Christmas pageant...Jason as a Ninja and Billy as a scientist for Halloween when they were seven...with his first karate trophy when he was eight...

You were loved by someone
Touched by someone
Held by someone
Meant something to someone
You loved somebody
Touched somebody's heart along the way
You can look back and say
You were loved

Jason and Billy as science fair partners winning first place...the first picture with a tiny, smiling Kimberly with the two friends...another Halloween picture this time Jason was Robin Hood, Billy was Little John and Kim was Maid Marion...Zack, Billy and Jason playing with remote control cars...the first picture with the willowy figure of Trini in it...

You can hide diamonds in your hand
Have all the riches in the land
But without love you don't really have a thing
If somebody cares that you're alive
If somebody trusts you with their life
That's when you'll know that you have all you need
You'll hold this priceless gift
The finest treasure that there is
You can look back and know
You were loved

Jason, Trini, Zack, Billy and Kimberly gathered around a picnic table wearing their respective Ranger colours...Jason teaching a karate class to younger children...Tommy in a group picture of all of them when he still wore green...the Teen Ninja Finals...Jason in his football uniform...the whole gang including Aisha, Rocky and Adam...at the airport before leaving for Switzerland...

You were loved by someone
Touched by someone
Held by someone
Meant something to someone
You loved somebody
Touched somebody's heart along the way
You can look back and say
You were loved

Jason standing with Trini and Zack outside a snow covered campus...Jason making a speech in front of a large amount of the other delegates...Jason dressed in a tux at one of the dances there with a beautiful red head named Cleo accompanying him...a few shots of him with a few other delegates in various countries they had travelled to...at the small farewell party his friends at the conference had thrown him when he announced he was leaving...a group picture of the Ranger team when he was Gold Ranger before Billy left...

So many roads that can take
Whatever way you go
Don't take that road alone
It's better you should know

Jason in a cap and gown for graduation...Jason, Tommy and Rocky lugging boxes into his new apartment...working at a Dojo in town while they were trying to save up for their own establishment...the opening of their own Dojo...a full group picture taken that same day...Jason teaching the pee wee class...Jason teaching a women's self defence class...at his cousin's wedding...doing a presentation about karate at AGJH...the last picture of him taken when the disease had already started to make it's mark on Jason...

You are loved by someone
Touched by someone
Held by someone
Meant something to someone
You loved somebody
Touched somebody's heart along the way
You can look back and say
You did okay
You were loved

The last picture displayed was one Rocky had taken when he was finishing off a roll of film in his camera. He had brought it into the Dojo and taken a few pictures of the students and staff. It had been a few months before Jason's illness was detected and no signs of what was to come showed on the smiling face in the picture. It was from the a little above his waist and up, showing only the red tank top he had been wearing. His short brown hair was slightly mussed, he and Tommy had just finished sparing and they were getting ready to close up for the night. A wide grin covered his face and his eyes were full of laughter, it lit up his whole face. He looked so vibrant, so full of joy and love and life. It was the sort of picture you smiled at when you saw it.

So remember to tell that special one
You are loved

'Less than a year ago that was Jason,' Tommy thought as the picture faded to black, 'How can less than a year make such a huge difference?' It was an amazingly sad fact that within less than a year all of Jason's physical strength and hard earned muscles had been dwindled down to the thin figure lying under the lid of the coffin. It was incredibly depressing to know what could happen in such a little amount of time.

The screen faded into black as the minister began the service, "We are gathered here today to say goodbye to a wonderful young man. All of you here today knew Jason Lee Scott in some way. It seems he touched a great many lives in his time on this planet..."

Tommy tuned out most of what the minister was saying. He simply couldn't concentrate on the words of the man up there. He knew that Rev. Shepherd had known Jason most of his life, having been at the same church since before the time Jason was baptised there. All the same the he didn't really know Jason, at least not like they did. The words the minister spoke seemed to slid in and out of his head, blurring together slightly. It seemed like he was experiencing something out of a dream, one he wished he never had to have. Tommy wished it were really a dream, oh how he wished it were only a bad dream!

"Tommy, I don't want to go up there," Billy whispered snapping Tommy to attention and out of his detached state, "I don't want to do this."

"Neither do I," Tommy whispered back, "but would you rather back out?"

Billy shook his head slowly, "I can't do that."

Tommy squeezed Billy's shoulder gently, "Everyone here is hurting Billy, they don't know what we're going through but they have some idea."

"If it were anyone but Jason I wouldn't do this," Billy confessed quietly as he tried to mentally prepare himself for going up and speaking in front of all the people gathered in the church, "It hurts too much."

"I know," Tommy replied and, seeing the apprehensive look in the green eyes added, "Good luck."

Billy nodded before getting up from his seat. Tommy hadn't even fully realised the minister had stopped talking yet. Tommy watched Billy as he made his way to the podium, forcing himself to pay attention. He knew what Billy was going to say but couldn't let his mind wander as he had done before, it was easier to focus on someone who knew what he was going through.

Billy hesitated when he reached the podium, looking out at the people gathered in the church and wishing there didn't seem to be so many. He had spoken in public before but usually about matters which were more familiar to him. When Billy spoke in front of a crowd he liked to be well versed in the subject and comfortable with what he was saying. The matters of the heart which he would be speaking about now affected him greatly, he knew that, but he found it hard to understand them.

Focussing on the pew where his closest friends sat Billy began, "I knew Jason for most of my life, we were friends for a long time and I don't really know what I will do now that I've lost him."

Billy paused to wipe away a tear that had escaped out of the corner of his eye, "I remember a class we had, ages ago, where at one point we discussed what we would do when we grow up. Everyone has conversations like this at some point or another, it's part of growing up I guess. We had to fill out these little booklets about what jobs we wanted to have and what education we wanted to finish and what type of future we wanted to have. I remember rushing through mine, I had it all planned out, every detail was perfect to the point where, in my mind, I was already almost finished doing it all. I think most of the class was like that, we had it all planned, we knew exactly what was going to happen to us."

"Jason, and one or two other students, didn't particularly enjoy filling out those books. Jason never finished his. When our teacher came around she asked Jason, 'Why haven't filled out your book properly. Why haven't you written long paragraphs like everyone else? Don't you have dreams you want to fulfil? Don't you want to be successful?'"

"I will always remember Jason's answer, he said to her in the way only a child can, 'Of course I've got dreams, I just haven't finished making all of them yet! How can I write them all down when I'm not done living them yet?' We were in grade four at the time and most of us were already trying to plan out the rest of our lives. It was as if we wanted to grow up and face the world very quickly. Well, I've seen a lot of the world and I think I'd rather go back to my days of youthful innocense when being grown up was either a game or something on the vast horizon."

"The question, 'Don't you want to be successful?' struck me quite often over the years and especially in the past few weeks. Some would say that Jason left too young to be successful, that he was taken away to early to have really left a lasting mark. I feel sorry for the people who feel that way because they can't see how much one person can mean. I will leave you with a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I feel that Jason left a mark, a light, behind him when he left us. I know I will cherish the light he gave to me until the day I join him."

Billy cleared his throat and began the poem,
"Were a star quenched on high,
For ages would its light,
Still travelling downward from the sky,
Shine on our mortal sight."

Billy's voice wavered as tears escaped down his face. Covering his eyes with his hand he took a shaky breath, determined to finish now that he had started.

"So when a great man dies,
For years beyond our ken,
The light he leaves behind him lies
Upon the paths of men."

Billy refused to look into the crowd as he hastily made his way back to the others, not wasting a moment in getting back to the safety of his friends. He simply dropped limply into his seat when he reached them, trembling with sobs. Adam draped his arm around his shoulders, trying to keep from crying himself. Tommy fought back his own tears and placed a hand over Billy's, squeezing gently. The friendly reassurances through touches were something they all needed that day. And they knew the most trying speech was yet to come.