Author's Note – I never expected the story to be so long (the story is finished, but I didn't consciously try to break it into chapters so there'll be no titles to the chapters), so I am trying to break it as I proof it…thanks goes to the people who've read this so far and have reviewed this. I greatly appreciate it. Also, I never watched the Turbo movie (sorry)so I don't know about some stuff. Disclaimer is the same as the first chapter. Thanks again for reading this.
"Excuse me, I apologize for bothering you, but my name is—" Trini found herself in a hug.
"Trini!" The muscular man laughed. "Where have you been?!" He exclaimed. Trini's mind finally realized the exuberant man hugging her was no other than "Billy?" she gasped. When he released her, she stepped back to truly look at him. "Billy, when did you lose your glasses? Wow! Why are you here, anyway? Aren't you a Nobel Prize winner now?" Her teasing voice lost its humor and she asked, "What happened to you? What happened to my friend?"
Billy hugged her since it seemed both of them needed it before he gestured her to come in. "Trini, I never expected to see you here! I only arrived a few days ago! Heck, even I didn't know I was going to be here. So what gives?"
"Strange, Kim and I were supposed to take a vacation here, but Kim suddenly felt…wrong," Trini ended, not knowing how else to describe Kim's decision not to come.
"Yeah, I know what she means," Billy confessed. "Since you came here, even though you didn't know I'd be here, why did you come?" Looking at his old friend intently, Billy waited.
"I guess…the memories. To be honest, Kim did say she wanted to retrieve her old stuff from you, but I guess I couldn't resist,." Trini admitted. "All I planned to do was look at your old house and then leave and see if Angel Grove had a hotel before trying my luck again and throwing myself upon the mercy of strangers." Throat suddenly dry, Trini cleared her throat. "Do you have any water?"
Billy apologized, "Sorry, it's been a long time since…" He left the sentence unfinished. "I'll get you a cup." He went into the kitchen.
Trini used the moment to look at the room. Solid oak furniture and an entire wall full of books graced the living room. The house had not change much since she first saw it when she was a teenager. The place still looked like a modest study-inclined bachelor pad.
"Bachelor pad, Trini?" Billy chuckled at her embarrassment over saying something out loud. He gave her a glass of water and sat down on the opposite end of the sofa. "So why do you even need to stay at hotel? I'm house sitting for my dad while he's on sabbatical. You could stay here," Billy offered. "I have a good concept on the location of her belongings. Besides, we could truly catch up on old times and other stuff."
Trini looked at Billy, saw the world-weariness in his eyes and the need to confide to a sympathetic and understanding soul. "If you're sure…I planned to stay for at least a week or two. Do you think you can stand it? Will your father let you have girls over" She joked, but Billy lost the bantering mood.
"Trini, trust me on this. My father will not be back for a month or so. Think of it as a vacation from the normal vacation," Billy suggested and wiggled his eyebrows. His expression sobered, "were we not more than friends?"
Coming from a former teammate, who she trusted her life with; Trini could not help but be just as honest to Billy. "Yes, yes we were." She paused and remembered her mental picture of him in overalls and adoring her from afar. She thought of the look in his eyes when he teleported and ran to see her, Jason, and Zack to the gate in the airport. It was if he was losing his best friend. In her own heart of hearts, she also admitted it felt the same to her too. "Yes, Billy, we were more than friends."
Billy didn't say anything, but looked at the young Chinese-American in front of him. Several minutes passed before he voiced his thoughts. "Like the brother you never had, right?"
"Back then, no. I thought I liked you – as a boyfriend," Trini added just in case Billy needed the clarification.
"It was mutual," Billy allowed. Inside, he felt strange, but his feelings reorganized, processed and settled into place. "But times changed?" he asked, since he could not utilize his vast vocabulary to express his understanding and reassurance. Billy continued, "don't worry, I know what you mean. No matter what, never doubt my friendship." Feeling the undefined ball of tension loosen inside, he smiled a little. "Trini, I'll tell you this much, if this is what we can talk about on the first day back, I think it's going to be quite a vacation for both of us." Confidence rang in every word.
With a grin on her face, Trini walked back to her car. "Just show me where I can sleep, Billy." She hefted the two suitcases from the rental car, she reentered the house, younger and no longer the high level executive in a power suit. A glance at her watch reminded Trini of the time that had elapsed since she knocked on the door.
"Oh my god! It's 7:30!" she cried.
Billy laughed. "Old habits die hard, huh? You picked that from Kim, didn't you?"
"Only you would notice that. At least I'm saying 'see you on the flip side.' So, are there any good places to eat around here anymore? My treat – and trust me – I can definitely afford something better than the old Juice Bar," she teased.
"I'm sure we'll find something. If all else fails, we'll use these little 'trinkets.'" He pointed to the communicators that allowed for teleportation and chuckled as Trini ran a finger one of the more delicate designs he made. He indicated that she should take one from the collection. Trini's eyes crinkled with amusement, "I never thought I would ever see these again."
Twenty minutes later, Billy and Trini sat down to eat at Louie's Cajun Crabs and dived into an enormous plate of fettuccine de la mar Cajun style. The color of the dish was a creamy white, but the flavor dazzled the guest due to the peppers added to the sauce. Both skirted around major life-altering events in the public place; the moment was to simply enjoy the food and moment. There would be more than enough time later to unwind.
By the end of the meal, both friends looked at the amount of food they consumed from the salad and appetizers to the fettuccine to the luscious cheesecake, Trini grinned and Billy signaled for the bill. "We could rival Rocky someday," he joked.
"In the FAR future," Trini concluded. She hugged Billy," Thanks for always being my friend."
Both were surprised when Billy blushed. "Let's go home."
** **
Rocky DeSantos joked with Adam Park, "You think we're going to find the Next Karate Kid?"
"Yeah right! Who's going to play Mr. Miyagi?!"
"You are, of course!" Rocky replied as they sparred in the dojo. "Don't tell me you can picture me as an old short Miyagi!"
Jason walked over with some equipment. "Everything looks great! We'll be fine if this keeps up. It's the third day! This is cool."
He viewed the grins on his partners' faces with an amused challenge, "since you two do not seem to be sweating, either of you up to taking me on?" He finished arranging the equipment and stretched.
Adam and Rocky exchanged a glance. Rocky answered, "We'll do better than that." With no more warning than an attack cry, the two jumped on Jason.
** **
Billy packed the last of the groceries into the car. Trini begged to just stay in his house and look for Kim's stuff for the day. Deciding to humor his friend and give her some private time to herself, Billy went on a grocery run and walked around the city and took care of some other errands. Trini insisted on cooking for him since it was "the least she could do" and Billy did not have the heart to argue. It just felt so normal.
The new strip mall across from the grocery store caught his attention and Billy wandered toward the complex, passing by a shoe store, a CVS, and a dentist's office before he found himself in front of a dojo. He saw the milling youngsters in the place. The Nobel Prize winner also saw the hopeful youngsters in the hardworking students and the ones simply staring agog at the trio of grown men sparring with each other.
Billy and Trini spent the past few days had unloading emotional baggage while catching up on stuff. Some things would remain silent, but did not need to be voiced out in any case. Every person had his or her secrets, after all. However, that did not prevent Billy from speculating about his friend.
After he walked up to the front of the demonstrators, Billy waited until the guys were done and simply wondered if the men recognized him. Granted, the water from Aquitar healed him, and he found a way, albeit accidentally, to significantly slow his aging; but at least he could age at a rate that looked somewhat natural. What kind of reception would he receive? Tommy was a friend, sure, but he was never one for deep thought. The man would blink and quite possibly not think twice about it.
The three men Billy approached had a level of thought that caused the blond scientist a moment's unease. All three men had black belts with very different personalities. Rocky was a jokester who tended to diffuse things. Adam was thoughtful, but Jason would always be a leader, no matter what happened – including dealing with powers that poisoned and nearly killed him. Billy knew that using the Nobel Prize, as an excuse for the estrangement would never work, so he simply waited.
Adam noticed the blond first. The clear eyes and the capacity for wealth of knowledge sparked recognition somewhere far away in Adam's brain. He looked familiar.
Rocky's glance to the front of the crowd paused a moment at the calm and patient man. He looked like Billy, but Billy was in Houston or working on something with the government. Rocky's eyes narrowed and his gaze fastened on the communicator on the wrist. Rocky rocked back on his heels and waited for the confusion to disappear from his friends' eyes.
Billy allowed his gaze to pass by Adam and Rocky's expressions before resting on Jason's face.
The man in from of them somehow knew them, Jason realized. The familiarity did not ring any bells from the past karate competitions, since the blond had more of a gymnast's build – smoother muscle tone, and a knowing look in his eyes. Nor did the person looked as if he was from Europe or Switzerland. The other man's hazel (?) eyes spoke of a painful loss. So who is he? Jason wondered. Why does he look at me with expectations? Jason decided to take a step toward the man, and with that one step the confusion cleared away, leaving only the certainty about one of his oldest friends. "Billy, is that you, man?"
His mouth widened to a smile, Billy nodded, "What took you so long?"
Adam's jaw dropped to the floor. "You return to Earth, win the Nobel Prize, don't contact us, and you ask us what took US so long?!"
Rocky simply laughed while Billy answered Adam. "I was joking. Relax. Do you have any time for an old friend?"
Jason ran a hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead and chuckled. "Not a problem. What's up?
Adam still had a dazed expression on his face. "Tanya's not going to believe this." My kids won't believe this…
Rocky glanced at the clock. "Shoot! My class will start in 15 minutes. I'll take a rain check. Let me know when we can get together." He left and went over to his students.
Jason knew Billy the longest and decided Billy must be up to something. "What do you think of my investment, bro?"
Billy grinned. "Not bad…so what happened to corporate law?" He helped Jason move the items for the upcoming class.
"Corporate law gave me a panic attack" and more. Jason left the last part unvoiced. With a smaller smile he asked, " So, do I call you Dr. Billy now? Or is it FrankenBilly?"
The two went into the closet Jason called an office. "Sit down." He leaned back in the comfortable leather chair and gave Billy a piercing look. "C'mon Bill, it's me. I know you." He pulled out a small thin picture frame of his family. Jason flipped it and opened the back and Billy noticed several other pictures Jason had hidden there. A few pictures of the Ranger teams taken by Alpha, a picture of him and Emily, a picture of him with Zack and Trini, and a picture of a glorious smile on Trini's face. Billy started a little at the sight of that picture since he remembered when that was taken. Billy and Kim had agreed to buy 3 disposable cameras for everyone to use and took pictures at the beach. Zack, Trini, and Jason shared two cameras. Kim captured that priceless shot of Trini's face and she and Billy developed the shot in the darkroom together. Funny, he distinctly remembered developing the photograph, but thought that since the picture was not in the pile of photos from that day, it was only in his mind. To see it in Jason's picture frame proved otherwise.
Jason sifted through the pictures before holding one of the original team. "I don't think anyone else knows you longer or better, save Trini or Kim. You were always first and foremost a person, not a genius and definitely not a Mr. Solve-It-All. You never complained to the others at being powerless, nor when anyone came to you to fix things, but when you left for Aquitar…Damn it man, didn't you miss anyone?!? We missed you!"
Billy stood up. "Miss anyone? Not once did anyone try to contact me. Why should I have contacted anyone? You had powers and a girlfriend. Everyone else were rangers. I was only the help or tech support! Tell me what would you have done in my place?" He broke off for a moment before continuing. "Even Tommy had it better – he might have felt powerless and occasionally evil, but at least it was possible to be normal. Besides, Kim loved him," Billy ended.
"Kim also broke up with him. She stopped loving him, Billy." Jason remarked. "We talked after the Muranthias incident." Taking a risk, Jason added, "she asked about you while we were trapped. I didn't know what to tell her since she could not get past the fact you would voluntarily go to what did she call it – Fishworld."
Billy chuckled, "I fell in love?"
Jason gave him a look. "Nice try. What about when you came back and then won the Nobel Prize?!"
Billy's expression hardened. "I was still angry. In fact, I still have some residual anger, but I guess I need to start somewhere and reach out to you guys." Billy paused "Even if you guys didn't."
Their eyes met and Jason took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm sorry."
Billy's mouth softened a fraction. "Me too. How about this – drop by my parent's house Saturday night. We'll catch up all right? Just you. I don't think I'm ready for Adam and Rocky yet for now."
Billy turned to open the door and put his hand on the knob. "You can bring Emily if you want. I remember the two of you ready to tie the knot and get married."
A sigh escaped from Jason's lips. "Emily left me, Bill. She left me for flower power. She became a hippie and went to a nudist colony, finding herself and 'expressing' herself."
Billy's mouth hung open. Slowly it closed, then dropped open again. He slowly turned to face Jason. Perhaps Jason and I could tie for 'The Sorriest life for a Power Ranger Award' if such a contest existed… He left the thought hanging and simply voiced an "oh. Well, drop by on Saturday, okay?" Billy left the office and the dojo.
Jason looked at the pictures scattered on the table and carefully put them into the picture frame. He gave the picture of the one taken at the Peace Conference . Zack joined the Peace Corps and went to Australia and some other places around the world before returning to the USA. Trini didn't contact him after he returned to Angel Grove or even after the Muranthias incident. I wonder how she is…Kim would know…or maybe even Billy…
Jason left his office with a speculative smile on his face.
** **
"Kim! What do you mean, 'never mind'?! What?! Now you tell me…By the way, I didn't go to the Scotts' place to stay."
Kim shrieked. "Trini Kwan – where are you then?! Are you with Billy? Tell me you're with Billy."
Exchanging a smile and mouthing a word of apology as she told Kim, "I couldn't stay with Billy, Kim. He –" Trini revealed to her friend, "Billy's changed."