Author's Note: Some more talking in this chapter, but we get to meet some old Rangers, so that makes up. Give me reviews, or give me death!!!!! I'll even accept flames! PLEEEEEEASEEEEEEE! God, I'm so pathetic…

Unexpected Ally Chapter 5: Forgiveness, and a Meeting

On Monday morning Alyssa woke early. Restless, she wandered out to the main courtyard and found Tara sitting by the fountain.

Their guest had been quiet since Friday night; she kept to herself, though she was unfailingly polite to all of them. When Danny invited her out into the courtyard, she quietly refused on the grounds that she didn't want to make Merrick uncomfortable.

She hadn't said anything else about herself; Cole had refused to let them ask her, repeating that it was her business. Taylor took the position that if it upset Merrick, it was all of their business, but Tara had simply refused to speak and Shayla wouldn't force her.

"Tara." Alyssa said now. "I thought you were going home today."

"That was the plan, Alyssa." Tara agreed. "But I can't go to work like this." She tilted her head towards Alyssa, displaying the bruise on her cheek. Faded but still visible, it was unmistakably a handprint.

"Does it hurt?"

"No. And it's healing—I should be able to go back to work soon." She closed her eyes, humming softly. Alyssa listened for a few moments.

"I know that tune."

"Yes. It's the princess and Merrick. They're singing to the deer zord."

"You can hear them?" Alyssa said in surprise.

"Not the way you're thinking, Alyssa. It is carried to me through the earth."

"You can listen to anything?"

"No." Tara looked away, pain visible on her face for a moment. "Not anything." Alyssa hesitated but before she could say anything, Tara went on, "Would you like to listen, Alyssa?"

"You can do that?"

"Yes…but you'll have to put your morpher down somewhere."

"My morpher?" Alyssa repeated.

"You can't carry it. Not for this."

"Don't, Alyssa." Taylor said warningly from behind them. Alyssa turned in surprise.

"Why not?"

"Don't put down your morpher." Taylor said. Alyssa looked back at Tara, who shrugged faintly.

"Another time, perhaps. They have finished singing now, anyway." She rose to her feet and headed back to her room.

Shayla stood in Tara's doorway, waiting for the girl to look up. She knew Tara knew she was there; you couldn't really sneak up on someone who could feel the earth move under your feet.

"Tara?" she said softly. Tara nodded absently, not looking at her. "Is something wrong?"

"It's…" she hesitated for a long moment before turning to look at Shayla. "It's nothing. What is it, Princess?"

"Come outside." Tara shook her head.

"Merrick is here."

"Yes. Come outside."

"I hurt him, Princess. It hurts him to see me." There was movement behind Shayla, and Tara looked up to see Merrick standing there.

"Come outside." He hesitated for a moment, then added, "Please." Tara rose and bowed. She brushed past Shayla on the way out and took up her usual seat on the edge of the fountain.

Merrick stood in front of her, looking uncomfortable.

"I want to…apologize. Whatever I believed you had done, I had no right to hit you. I am sorry for that." He took a deep breath. "And I am sorry for accusing you. Animaria's fall is not…easy for me to think about."

"It's all right, Merrick." She smiled slightly at him. "As I said, I have taken far worse in my time…" she trailed off, looking past him.

"Tara?" Shayla asked. Tara jerked slightly.

"Princess, where are the Rangers?"

"They left." Merrick said. "Why?"

"Where?" Merrick looked across at Shayla.

"Turtle Cove, I think." Shayla said. "Why, Tara? What's wrong?"

"No…not the Rangers—not your Rangers." Tara lapsed into silence again for a long moment.

"Tara." Shayla said finally. "What's wrong?" Tara closed her eyes, obviously struggling with something.

"Silver Hills." she said finally. "There's…it's an earthquake, but…" She shook her head. "It's not natural. It shouldn't be happening."

"Silver Hills?" Merrick repeated. Tara nodded, her eyes sliding shut again.

"I…can stop it, but not from here…I need to be there." Shayla looked questioningly at Merrick, who nodded faintly.

"I will take you." he offered, and Tara looked up in surprise.

"I…thank you."

"I'll call the Rangers." Shayla offered. Tara shook her head.

"They won't be able to stop this, Princess."

"But there will be damages and injured civilians." Merrick told her. "Rangers can help there."

"Yes, you…of course. I hadn't thought." Tara sighed and rose to her feet. "All right, Merrick. Let's go."

"Good luck." Shayla called after them. "Be careful." she added, but they were already out of range.

Wes and Eric were working on evacuating a building. The 'quake had hit without warning, trapping people in houses, shop and offices all over town. About the only bright spot was that it had hit early enough that a lot of people were still home, which for the most part meant the outskirts of town.

"This is nuts! No 'quake lasts this long!" Eric yelled in frustration. The tremors were constant, getting rougher or easier but not stopping. Wes shrugged slightly, turning to a Guardian beside him.

"Call up Delta and Gamma teams from HQ. Send them…" he glanced at the map the Guardian was holding. "Here and here. And have all teams on standby." He turned back to Eric and was about to speak when Eric nudged him, gesturing over his shoulder.

Wes turned and saw a girl coming towards them. She was younger than they were, maybe mid teens, with long blond hair. That wasn't what had caught Eric's eye, though. Despite the near-constant tremors, the girl was walking perfectly normally across the road towards them.

"Excuse me, Ma'am." Wes called, when she came into hearing range. "We're evacuating this area. Do you need an escort?"

"No. You need to call Cole." Wes blinked, sensing Eric moving up to stand beside him. The girl caught his gaze and visibly jumped, pulling back a step and looking back at Wes.

"Are you all right?" Eric asked, taking a step forward. She flinched away from him and looked at Wes again.

"What's wrong?" Wes asked. Touching Eric's shoulder, he pulled his partner back slightly and moved forward. The girl took a deep breath, ignoring his question.

"Cole. You remember Cole?" Before either of them could answer she reached out and caught Wes's wrist, turning it to show his morpher. "You need to call him."

"Why?"

"Because the 'quake's not natural. It's being caused by an Org." Eric shifted slightly but before he could do anything, another hand entered Wes's field of view and caught the girl's, freeing Wes from her grip.

"Merrick." Eric said. Wes took a step forward and turned to see the Wolf Ranger glaring at the girl.

"Let me go, Merrick." she said sharply, twisting out of his grip and looking back at Wes. "Are you going to call Cole?"

"Princess Shayla is doing that, Tara, as you know." There was a faint warning in Merrick's voice.

"Merrick, what's going on?" Wes asked.

"Tara thinks the earthquake is not natural."

"Tara knows the earthquake is not natural." Tara corrected him.

"Oh, Tara does, does she?" Eric asked. "And who exactly is Tara?" Merrick frowned slightly as he saw Tara flinch at the sound of Eric's voice.

"She is…" Merrick hesitated. "It is complicated. But she is trusted by the Rangers." Tara looked at him in surprise.

"And what exactly does Tara know about earthquakes?" Eric went on.

"Tara is uniquely qualified to know about earthquakes, especially this one." Merrick said carefully.

"Merrick…" All three turned. Tara had moved to the side of the path and placed one hand against the wall. "Bad one coming…"

Merrick was moving before he thought; Tara's words were underscored by rumbling as the 'quake returned in earnest. Morphing, he braced his arms on either side of her head, protecting her from the rubble falling from above. Wes and Eric joined him, one on each side and both morphed. Wes blinked as he felt Tara bump into him; even only half-conscious, she'd pulled away from Eric.

Merrick was braced for the rubble but very little actually hit them; it seemed to be falling further out on the road. As though we were being shielded, he thought. Or protected…

He looked down at Tara. She was staring blankly straight ahead, but her hands were white where they gripped his arms.

"Tara." he said softly, and her eyes flicked up to him.

"I can't stop it from here, Merrick. Stones and rocks…I need earth." Merrick nodded, taking a step back and looking upwards. The rubble seemed to have trailed off, and the 'quake was settling back down to tremors. He let his morph fade and turned to Wes.

"Wes, where's the nearest park or garden?"

"Excuse me?" Eric said.

"A park or garden. Somewhere with earth."

"Why?"

"Because Tara may be able to help stop this, but she can't do it from here. She needs earth."

"There's a park a few blocks from here." Wes offered.

"No." Eric was shaking his head. "Too near the center of town. She'd never get there."

Tara looked around. "Rangers." she murmured, sounding faintly surprised. Merrick followed her gaze and saw the Rangers coming towards them.

"I'll get you there." Wes said abruptly to Tara.

"What?" Eric said sharply.

"Merrick!" Cole called from behind them. "What's going on?"

"We need the help, Eric." Wes pointed out calmly.

"You can't stop earthquakes, Wesley." Eric retorted.

"Shayla said there was trouble." Taylor said. "What's she doing here?"

"We wouldn't have known there was trouble if not for Tara." Merrick reminded her.

"You can't but I can." Tara said to Eric, then she looked at Wes. "We don't have time for this. Can we go?"

"Yeah." Wes looked at Eric, who gave the impression of rolling his eyes as he turned away.

"Wait." Cole said suddenly. "Tara, you can track people?"

"If I have to."

"Come and help us? When you're finished. It'll be quicker than checking every building." She nodded quickly, turning and following Wes away.

"You really think she can stop this?" Eric asked, a little more subdued now.

"She can stop it." Merrick said. His morph flickered back into being. "I have no doubt."