The next morning soon came to light, revealing six tired and worn rangers draped all over the cramped quarters.
Mike lay sleeping, splayed over the soda that sat before the coffee table, half of his body hanging off of it. Maya sat propped up in a chair, her head leaning forward onto her chest. Kai miraculously managed to fall asleep sitting at a kitchen stool, his head bent over and pressed against the kitchen counter. Damon sat at the foot of the front door with his head lolled back against it as he softly snored. Leo slept before the computer database, his cheek leaning against the keyboard and the screen blinking the flashing letters, "MESSAGE SENT."
Karone was the only one who slept fairly comfortably, lying on Leo's bunk. He had moved her there at around midnight, just about when she fell asleep at the keyboard as she finished typing up her press release. He was the one who had been responsible for sending it out.
Their peaceful sleeping demeanors were ones of content and of near innocence to what was happening around them. Those simple faces had yet to know of what was to come in the near future.
*****
Over the next few days following Karone's press release and eventual press conference, the Terra Venture around her morphed into something she had hoped to never see again: Angel Grove.
It wasn't that she didn't love the city, but more it was a place where everybody knew her name and got excited whenever she was in the near vicinity of them. A place where she was a celebrity is every aspect of the word.
Karone didn't want to be a celebrity, of all things to be. She wanted just to be seen and known as some pretty blonde girl walking down the street; normal. The only person she wanted to see her as more than that was Leo.
At first, little things started. She'd be heading home after work and someone would cautiously approach her, asking politely for her autograph. She would simply grit her teeth and comply. Sometimes, a person would stop her and ask her how she was. She would feign a smile and reply, "Fine."
Soon enough though, these little things began to escalate into bigger things. When picking up their children, parents would talk avidly with Karone for no apparent reason other than to have a brush with "stardom". Karone would always oblige them, even when she was thoroughly annoyed. People, mostly women, would stop her in mid-walk asking how her baby was and some would even be bold enough to ask who the father was. The blonde would tell them either, "Fine," or just tell them off entirely.
The stress was certainly mounting up, and she could feel it pulling on every bone and muscle in her body.
Karone didn't know how long she could take it anymore.
*****
Grabbing his jacket off a post nearby, Leo ran out of the barn at the stables and straight into the meadow, easily jumping the rickety fence. He ran faster than he had ever before, taking delight in watching the rather dumb reporters wait anxiously at the front of Terra Venture Stables for Leo to come out and "greet" them. He knew that that wouldn't be happening any time soon.
Leo continued his pace until he reached the grouping of buildings just beyond the stables. There, he slowed down to a walk while heading towards his favorite deli shop.
Entering through the shop's doors, he slid up to the counter and hastily told the man behind the counter his order. "Can I get a pound of potato salad, a half-pound of sauerkraut and three turkeys on rye; two should have swiss cheese and pickles in them too."
"Looking to feed a whole army, eh?"
"Just two," Leo fired back with a joking grin.
As the man went off to prepare his order, Leo couldn't help but laugh pleasantly and quietly to himself. "An army," he scoffed, imagining all of those reporters that were literally chasing after him, following their realizations that he was simply more to Karone than just a friend...as any other normal person could have probably told them!
For maybe the last few days, the media had finally began to look at Leo as more than just Karone's friend - he, after all, was always with her. The only thing Leo could think was that it was about high time that they started questioning, bugging and annoying him to no end; he could take it, but he wasn't sure that Karone could anymore. Her mental health and physical health already were strained with her being five months pregnant.
His train of thought was interrupted when the man came back with Leo's completed order. "You'd better be careful out there," the man grinned as Leo took the bag of food from his hands and continued to leave the store.
Turning back to face the counter one last time, he nodded, "I will; thanks."
As he exited the deli, Leo began to walk back towards the stables. This time around though, he didn't stop at the stables...he headed straight into the park.
Eventually, the Red Ranger came upon a group of children playing dodgeball in a clearing among a patch of large, cascading oak trees. Nearby, he could see a lovely blonde woman sitting on a bench, supervising the kids while they played.
Hoping he wouldn't be recognized by the kids, Leo tried being silent and stealthy, sneaking around them...least to say, he didn't succeed as well as he had hoped.
"LEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"
Little bodies slammed straight into him, causing him to fall backwards into the grass while still clutching his jacket and the bag of newly-prepared food. "I SURRENDER!" he shouted through the giggle pile of children.
Even as he did, the boys and girls didn't let him up from the ground. Leo could hear a new voice coalescing with the high-pitched laughter: a solid and somewhat sensuous chortle just barely touching his ears. "I think you guys better let him up before you make him a pancake," Karone's voice suggested gently over and beyond the happy noise.
Once the children retreated off of his body, Leo stood up and shook himself trying to get rid of all the grass that had stuck to him. "I don't think I've been able to laugh like that for a long time," she remarked, turning her gaze to where the kids had returned to their game of dodgeball.
"Compliment or insult?"
"Compliment." The Pink Ranger faced him with her hands resting against her belly and a gentle smile lighting her face as well as her dreary blue eyes. "How come you're here right now? Don't you have work for another hour or two?"
"I did," he answered with a grin. "I got permission to sneak out and blow it off though; my boss had some sympathy for me, unlike those reporters."
Karone's face puckered into a dirty pout at the mention of the media. "They're malicious hounds. They just don't know when to quit, and I don't think they ever will," she spat bitterly, but quickly changed moods as she eyed the still-intact bag of food hanging from Leo's hand. "You brought food?" she chirped giddily.
"I sure did," Leo winked, a wave of delight washing over him as he watched his girlfriend light up in such glee at the prospect of food. Watching her light up over anything brought him utter happiness. "All for you; I know how these kids can just totally run you down and leave you starving."
"You make them sound as bad as those reporters," she joked lightly. She smiled appreciatively and leaned closer to him, giving him a small kiss. "Thank you," she whispered softly. She was about to pull away, but Leo brought her back into his arms and gently pressed his lips to hers once more, slowly developing it further into a passionate kiss.
"EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!"
The two abruptly broke their kiss and glanced towards the kids who were all standing still and staring at the couple like they had done some bad voodoo thing. "Gross!" one of the little boys shouted. "She could have cooties!"
Leo and Karone instantaneously burst out laughing, still holding one another in each other's arms. "Cooties..." Karone breathed through her peals of laughter.
Soon enough though, the children found something else to do with their newfound discovery. "Leo and Karone, sitting in a tree...K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage!" they chanted in unison, breaking out into a fit of giggles.
"Hey!" Karone cried, her laughter slowing. "Why don't you all go back to playing and leave us alone!"
They giggled some more when Karone yelled at them, but quickly and eagerly returned to their game, no longer fascinated by the two older people.
"You know," Leo whispered into her ear as he nuzzled at it, his arms wrapped around her mid-section, "I think they have it backwards."
"Have what backwards?" she murmured softly, keeping an eye out on her charges.
He slowly drew away from her, grinning. "The song; you know, "...first comes love, then comes marriage"," he mimicked the shrill singing voices of the children, causing her to stifle a laugh. "For us it was, "first comes the baby, then comes love, and later on comes marriage"..."
Karone nodded in acknowledgement, gently smiling. She could look back on the events that had taken place before and smile, thinking about how good things were between her and Leo at that moment. She was madly in love with Leo and even those stupid reporters couldn't ruin that for her; besides, she was waiting for the perfect moment to tell Leo her good news...
Poking her side gently, Leo woke her from her reverie of thoughts. "You still hungry?" he asked teasingly, though they both already knew the answer to that very question.
"Very," she replied, grabbing for the bag of food but missing entirely once Leo hid it from her. "Hey! What're you doing?" she whined, trying to get at the food behind his back.
"One word: picnic," he winked, kissing her on the cheek. "How about leaving work a little early to join me in a peaceful paradise?"
*****
"Mmmmmm..." Karone moaned quite hungrily, swallowing down the last of her third turkey sandwich. "This is wonderful, Leo," she sighed pleasantly, lying down against Leo's body.
"For you it is," Leo grinned, brushing his fingers through her hair. "For me it isn't; you make me hungry!"
Karone chuckled and leaned her head backwards to stare at an upside down Leo. "Hungry for what?" she whispered sensually, sliding her hand up underneath his shirt.
He moaned at her touch, but answered, "I'm hungry for food." He gave her a sly smile. "The food I need, the other stuff I can get later."
Hitting him on the arm, the blonde slowly moved to sit up as Leo followed her lead. "Want some potato salad?" she asked, picking up a half-empty carton and poking at its contents with her fork.
"Yes, please," he requested in a soft, playful voice, his arms slipping around her as she fed him some of the salad stuck to her fork. She then took a forkful of the potato salad for herself and munched away.
After they both finished the rest of the potato salad together, Karone spoke up timidly, "Leo?"
"Hmm?" he acknowledged, removing his lips from her neck and looking at her with his chin settled against her shoulder.
"You remember how I had to go to the MegaShip this morning to do my monthly scan on how the baby is doing?"
"Yes..."
"Well, I went to it today and...Alpha found something on the scans."
"What? Is something wrong with the baby?"
"No, no. The babies are fine," Karone grinned gently, anticipating Leo's reaction. A few moments later she was rewarded.
Crawling around to sit facing his girlfriend, the Red Ranger stared at her, his visage expressing complete bewilderment. "What do you mean, "babies"?"
Her grin became an knowing smile that parted her lips and reached her eyes. Placing her hand against his cheek, her thumb stroked against his lips. "Leo, I'm having..." Karone was abruptly cut off by the tone of their communicators beeping.
Resentfully, Leo tore his attention away from the woman he loved to his communicator that sat strapped obediently to his wrist. "Leo here," he replied the call.
"Little bro, you and Karone better get down her to GSA Square! Deviot brought along some kind of monster and he's kidnapping people!" Mike's frantic voice rang through the device.
Leo was already standing up and nearly ready to morph, when he quickly told Mike, "We'll be there in a minute! Hang on!"
Just as he was about to morph, he realized that Karone wasn't standing at his side, but still sitting down on he ground and playing absently with a blade of grass. "Karone, aren't you coming?" he questioned her, kneeling down beside her quickly and brushing her hair away from her face.
She lifted her eyes from the piece of grass to meet Leo's gaze with a soft smile. "No," she declared quite clearly. "I really don't feel up to fighting; I wouldn't do you guys any good."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive, Leo," she assured him, letting him know her decision was final. "Go on; the others need you."
Unlike the first time she demanded to fight while being pregnant, Leo hesitated in leaving her behind. After a moment's thought, he reassured himself that it was for the best and stood up. "Go Galactic!"
He morphed and teleported away, leaving Karone to stare at where he had once stood, faintly wishing he had stayed behind with her.
*****
"SIYAH!" Leo pounded a roundhouse straight into the chest of a swabbie as he struggled to save the citizens of Terra Venture from the clutches of Nabotron.
Running from the swabbies and towards the crowd of people cowering on the ground scared or injured, Leo unsheathed his sword, shouting as he jumped into the air at Nabotron, "FIRE POWER!"
The Red Galaxy Ranger's sword lit up with a fiery blaze from hilt to tip while his sword neatly made a slash at the large monster. Pulling his sword away, he was surprised when all that was remnant of his attack was barely a singe on its armor. Almost immediately, Nabotron backhanded Leo into the crowd of people like a little housefly.
Gasps were echoed as Leo pulled himself up from the ground, holding his side and grunting. "I WON'T let you take these people!" he declared quite stubbornly.
"Neither will I!" Damon's voice rang from somewhere behind Leo. He turned around to see the Green Ranger fast approaching Nabotron, Quasar Saber out and ready to strike at will.
Joining in with Damon on his flight of attack, Leo grabbed his Quasar Saber off the ground where it lay beside him and charged at the monster. Damon got in the first hit, slashing at Nabotron's right side, while Leo got into the second hit, slashing at Nabotron's left side. Both got in good and solid hits on the monster, but didn't wound it critically, allowing Nabotron to blast them back into a cement wall that had been sheltering the scared and trapped citizens. The two fell to the ground, knocked out by the sheer force that they hit the wall with.
Nabotron took a second to lick his wounds, then thrust his hand out in front of him, an energy net flying from his hands and expanding over his prisoners, including both the Red and Green Rangers.
Kai watched in horror, held back swabbies, as the energy net flickered for a few moments and then disappeared, taking with it the many screaming people and the unconscious Leo and Damon. "NO!" he cried out, his hands trying to reach for the spot where they had vanished from, even though it was way far out of his reach.
He could faintly hear Mike and Maya's helpless shouts over the laughter of Deviot and Nabotron. Propelled with a newfound purpose, Kai hastily disposed of the swabbies that had been holding him and ran towards Deviot. "Where did they go?!" he screamed, his sword held at ready as he ran.
"I truly don't know..." Deviot mocked him, his hand placed to his chin. "But I'm sure I'll find them all for you in no time at all."
With his words, he flickered away and left, Nabotron and the swabbies diligently following their superior.
The Blue Ranger stopped dead in his tracks, staring somewhat angrily at the spot where they had once stood. "What are we going to tell Karone?" Maya's faint voice asked unsurely, as she and Mike approached Kai.
"What can we tell her?" Mike whispered quietly. "There's nothing but the truth to tell her. It's not like we can say Leo decided to go on a vacation."
"We've got to get them back," Kai stated fiercely, his gloved hand forming a tight fist as his side. "We've got to get Leo and Damon back before they start suspecting." He nudged hid head slightly towards their right, near the bare edges of GSA Square.
The two rangers glanced over to their right for a split second to see an endless flow of cars starting to pull up and stop, reporters and camera people flowing out of them and jogging over to where the three of them stood talking.
Mike bowed his head a touch, heaving a great sigh. "We'd better get going from here," he spoke up, saying what they already knew mentally.
Agreeing with him, Kai and Maya dissolved into their respective blue and yellow teleportation lights while Mike followed in a streak of black.
*****
"GET UP!" A voice screamed at Leo, as he grunted in pain from the strong kick he had received prior to the yelling. He turned his face to look up into the darkness and saw many silhouettes flanking either side of him.
A cold arm lifted him from the hard ground and threw him into a group of waiting swabbies, who held Leo's arms tightly. "Rise and shine, Red Ranger," the ice malice of Deviot's voice entered his hearing. "It's time for you to go on a little journey..."
His mind still clouded with confusion, Leo glanced to his right where Damon was also held somewhat against his will as they were dragged away from the sounds of metal clanging and clinking.
*****
Karone leaned against a tree, one hand resting on her stomach and the other one held out before her, fingers dancing while they manipulated a floating flower which kept her fairly occupied as she waited for Leo's return from battle.
The sanctuary of her peace was broken when the doors slid open to the Simudeck and part of the simulation disappeared, revealing the front part of the room where the controls were located. "Hmm?" She whipped her head around to glance at the door, her attention taken away from the small flower allowing it to gracefully descend towards the grass.
Kai, Mike and Maya all entered the Simudeck, helmets off and grave looks of concern plastered all over their faces. She watched them carefully, fascinated by the fact that she knew what they were going to say even before they said it; it just seemed so painfully obvious to her, with their downcast expressions.
"Something happened to Leo and Damon, didn't it?"
Startled by Karone's declaration, but not about to deny her the truth, Mike nodded. "Damon and Leo got captured by Nabotron; he took away some bystanders too."
Almost with a mechanical coldness, Karone solemnly stood up from where she sat and walked across the Simudeck, over to the controls, turning off the serene scene. Her three friends watched her in a dead silence as she left the room and walked down the corridor and out of their line of sight.
"Do you think she'll be okay?" Maya looked at her two teammates.
"She has to be," Kai offered apologetically. "We need all the help we can get to find Damon and Leo."
*****
Karone continued on her path down the corridor until she reached the Megalift. She then entered the Megalift and proceeded down to another deck. Once there, the blonde exited the small moving room and walked among the hall of cold gray doorways.
She finally stopped herself before one of the doors.
Gently, she ran her hand over the worn keypad belonging to the door, recalling the many times when she only had to push one simply key to enter the room; when the room was once partly hers to call home.
After her still moment, Karone keyed in a chain of numbers into the keypad, allowing the long locked door to slide open before her and let her into the domain she previously was blissfully happy to call hers and Zhane's.
*****
"Put me down this instant!"
"And why should I?"
"Because I said so!"
The door to their quarters slid open and a fidgeting Karone in Zhane's arms entered the room. "Do I have to?" Zhane whined playfully.
"YES!" The twenty-one old woman feigned seriousness for the moment, and then burst into laughter at the puppy-dog pout Zhane gave her in retort to her protest. "Oh, come on, Zhane! Let me down!"
With a humorous reluctance, he gave into her demands and threw her onto the nearby bed. "Better?" He simply winked mischievously.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head causing her long blonde hair to wave side to side. "Not exactly what I had in mind," she responded with a slight grin. "It'll have to do, I guess."
"You guess?" Zhane looked at her appalled, his hand held to his chest. "How can you say, "I guess"?"
She laughed, winking and saying, "I GUESS because I CAN!"
The blond man feigned another horrified expression and then jumped onto the bed, grabbing her in his arms once more. Their laughter continued, but began to wind down as they relaxed on the bed and into each other.
For an instant, all was still until Zhane gradually made the first move and kissed Karone. She quickly reacted to him, savoring the kiss and loosing herself in him...
*****
The quarters had pretty much remained the same since the had left it; since the last time she saw it.
The bed was crisply made, maybe a few wrinkles here and there on the gray sheets. Draped on the chairs were a few of Zhane's old clothes and few of her own, as they had decided before they left, to leave a few things they felt that they wouldn't need.
Karone moved to pick up a ragged-looking purple robe off of one of the chairs and pulled it in close to her chest like an old friend that she had dearly missed. Its softness against her skin and how it kept her warm, she would never forget.
It was a piece of memorabilia from her past.
And when she accepted that, the many memories that had hurt to recall came rushing back - one in particular.
*****
"Zhane?" Karone whispered lightly, almost sheepish that she had brought the subject up even after she knew his reaction from the last time. "Sit down, Zhane. Please...we need to talk this out."
Pacing the length of their bedroom over and over, he stopped for a split second to stare at his fiancée, a furious expression cast upon him. "We talked this out last time you brought it up, Karone, and I distinctly remember me not agreeing with it," he told her quite stubbornly, returning to his unnerving pacing.
She watched him angrily pace from the spot where she sat on their bed. She knew he had every right to be angry; he was sick of being in the public eye. Five years of having every move recorded, examined and analyzed in every way possible had turned him into somewhat of a homebody. Their celebrity status had affected them all, but no one more than Zhane. Over the years, the weight and pressure matured him, eroding away his fun and rather childish demeanor that hadn't been so easily washed away by the many wars he fought at a young age even. It was that old Zhane that Karone had come to love. He was still cocky and sarcastic as ever, but to Karone it wasn't the same and she knew that it probably wouldn't ever.
It had been the old Zhane who had helped her become the fun-loving, stubborn and compassionate person she had turned out to be. The new Zhane simply was too much of a contrast. The dynamic was lost; it just didn't work anymore.
Gathering her courage, Karone stood up and blocked Zhane's path of pace. Slowly, she began to slide the golden band off of her left hand, waiting for him to stop before her. He eventually did.
His eyes, which had softened some from the last time he had glanced at her, gazed on the blonde woman in confusion. "Here, Zhane," she gently told him, taking his hand and opening his palm up to her. She slipped her engagement ring into it and then forced his palm back into a fist around the piece of jewelry. "You have your own path, and now I have mine. We're different now; it's time to let go of the past and go forward."
"What are you doing?" Zhane looked truly horrified this time around, nearly frightened by Karone's sudden and abrupt course of actions. He tried to shove the ring back into her hands, but she refused it.
She hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek. "We've changed, Zhane. As much as I've tried to live and love that change, I can no longer. I need to go and set myself free. I need to fix my wrongs, and you need to find yourself again."
With her solemn words, Karone began to pack her bare essentials into a small duffel bag. Zhane begged and pleased with her, but with all the strength she had within her, she denied him and then began to leave the house itself. As she shut the door behind her for the last time, Zhane's words echoed into her hearing.
"I love you..."
*****
Karone sat down at the edge of the bed, frowning faintly as she remembered the heart-breaking memory of when she had to decide what was best for her and Zhane. She closed her eyes once more, lying back while placing a soft hand to her belly. She sighed.
"...but I don't love you."
*****
Leo slowly awoke, pain shooting through his sides and his arms. He twisted his body side-to-side, more aware, realizing that he was leaning against something; actually more like someone. "You finally awake, Leo?" the familiar voice of Damon ran in his ears.
"Mmmm...this is what being awake feels like?" Leo moaned lowly, his eyes tearing open to have the bright, burning sun shining straight into them. "I think I'll go back to sleeping then."
Still somewhat tired and his thoughts blurry, the weakened Red Ranger began to shut his eyes, but Damon nudged him hard in the small of his back causing him to let out a grumbled yelp. "Stay awake," the Green Ranger commanded. "Deviot left us out here in the sun. They'll be coming back at sunset to destroy us."
Taking in Damon's words, Leo looked up to see his hands held in metal cuffs dangling from a chain attached to a wooden pole structure that literally made it seem like they were both hanging down from it. Looking down, he finally realized that he was demorphed, back to wearing his torn khakis and dirtied red shirt. He could feel the bruises stinging on the bare parts of his body. "Where are all the other people?"
"Deviot mentioned that they had been taken to the "slave camps"."
"It all makes sense now," Leo sighed, his mind clearing and allowing him a bit of clarity. "He was attacking Terra Venture so he could kidnap people to work in the slave camps."
"Mmm-hmmm..."
They both were quiet for awhile considering the position they were in. "No one knows where we are," Leo mumbled regretfully, adjusting his wrists in the shackles. "Who knows what could happen..."
Damon suddenly began to laugh, the sun continuing to beat down upon both of them. "What the hell are you laughing at?!" Leo cried in frustration.
"The fact that you're always in trouble!" Damon shot back jokingly. "When I first met you, you were a stowaway on Terra Venture!"
Recalling that time in his life, Leo couldn't help but join in on the laughter. "I guess you're right: but I couldn't help it. I didn't want to get left behind when everyone else went on the adventure of a lifetime..."
*****
Hours later as the two captured Power Rangers chattered away their last few good moments with one another while recalling their past battles and experiences, a silence hushed them. Their recollection had led them to the point where Leo had been taken by Trakeena for those three days, one of which Leo wished he didn't remember so vividly.
"What happened with you and Trakeena?"
Leo was startled by Damon's question, not so much by the fact that he wanted to know, but more because of the fact that his friend had even tried to bring up the subject. That didn't cause Leo to hesitate with his answer though. If anything, it made the young man more willing to speak up about it, now that he could safely say that he had put most of it behind him with the help of Karone.
"She raped me." The words echoed between the two rangers. "I was under a spell and she raped me."
*****
Leo rose from the slumber, following his body beating, feeling sore all over. He glanced left and right, trying to distinguish whether Trakeena was still in the room and simply hiding in the darkness or she had left the room entirely. It appeared she had done the latter, of which he was grateful for.
Relieved, he rolled onto his stomach and crawled beneath the covers of the bed. At that moment he wouldn't have cared if a skunk had slept in the same bed, nonetheless Trakeena, for he was simply blank. He thought nothing, he just acted and reacted; a sort of effect of the spell she had put over him.
It was like he was being forced to relive the same nightmare over and over again within his mind. Every searing touch and caress he remembered - etched forever into his memories - when Leo would have preferred to forget it all.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching the room and quickly the Red Ranger fell into a feigned sleep. He heard the door to the bedroom open and someone enter. "We had a deal, Trakeena!" Leo barely registered the surprisingly angry voice as belonging to Villamax, Trakeena's new general.
Another pair of footsteps also entered and closed the door; he figured it was Trakeena. "We do have a deal, Villamax, and it still does stand," she paused, and Leo heard footsteps approach him. Long nails gently dragged down his bare back, while Trakeena began to speak once more. "Jealousy befits you although; you wear it well."
"You seduced this ranger last night."
"No; I used him." Leo cringed slightly, but hoped Trakeena wouldn't notice. He could now feel the weight of her sitting down on the bed beside his body. "Variety DOES do a body good, Villamax. You should know that better than I." Her hands slinked up into his hair, her fingers running through it.
The heavy and frustrated footsteps of Villamax stomped to the door and he left, the door slamming shut behind him. Leo almost dreaded the general's leaving because his leaving allowed Trakeena to call on him once again.
And call on him she did.
*****
"I thought that that was the worst thing that could ever happen to me as a ranger," Leo sighed heavily, his memories and mind returning to the present. "But when the Psycho Rangers came and then Kendrix died, I realized that it wasn't the worst thing."
Damon nodded solemnly. "At least we know Kendrix is in a good place," he assured, recalling the very moment they saw Kendrix's spirit float away from the site of her death. "Kendrix picked the perfect person to take her place as Pink Ranger though. Karone fits right in."
"She does," Leo smiled gently, proud of his girlfriend. "Sometimes I feel like I owe Kendrix for helping me and Karone get together. I just wish she didn't have to die to help us."
"You and Karone were made for each other; you guys have got the chemistry goin' on," Damon paused for a minute, "but you and Kendrix had dynamic. You clashed and it worked."
"I used to have feelings for her," Leo admitted, finally telling someone his secret. "I remember when I first ran into Kendrix and how I felt about her; it killed me when she died. Then when Karone came along and joined up with us, a whole bunch of new feelings towards her surged in me. I felt like I had betrayed Kendrix, after all the time that I had seen her alive I felt for her, but once she was dead I literally threw her away."
"What made that all change?" his friend asked with a natural curiosity.
"I had a dream about both of them after I got my powers drained out of me by Magnatox. It was eerie, but somehow it helped me more than anything else could have..."
*****
"Guess who?" a cheerful voice called from outside the darkness of his vision.
Leo felt a gleeful grin rise on his face as he recognized the pretty feminine voice. "Kendrix!" he declared, just as a pair of hands flew away from his eyes, allowing him his sight once again.
Looking around himself, he realized that Kendrix and him were in the park near the daycare center where he usually took the kids to go play Hide and Seek in. They were sitting on a bench together, the two of them, relaxing in the midst of the shady trees and the warm sun. "Didn't expect to see me so soon, did ya?" her voice teased melodically, her eyes dancing delightedly.
"No, I didn't," Leo answered frankly, a gigantic smile reaching his blue eyes. He took her by the shoulders and slowly moved towards her, but even before he could get near her lips, another voice cried, "LEO!"
Leo snapped his head up to react to the voice. He saw Karone, standing a couple feet away from Kendrix and him, her beautiful face looking as if right then and there her innocence had been completely shattered. Like a shocked child, she dropped the ball held in her hands and began frantically looking around for a place to find solace. She quickly ran away from the scene and out of Leo's sight.
Suddenly he was torn. His dream woman, the one he had known and felt for the longest, sat beside him. Though she was dead, for that instant she was alive and with him. He had to confess his true feelings for her before she vanished once more into the sanctum of death.
There was also the woman of flesh, the one who had the ability to make him laugh and make him feel because she was still there. She had run off in deep distress. He had never seen her like that before and it simply pained him. He felt the need to run after her and comfort her, to tell her that he also felt something strong and genuine towards her; to hope that she could possibly return those feelings even after what she had witnessed almost happen between him and his dream woman.
"Go to her," Kendrix whispered, cutting through his disorienting thoughts. Leo turned to face her once more and saw that she no longer possessed the solid human body that she had once before. She was now translucent and ghost-like in her appearance.
Kendrix's hand "brushed" the side of Leo's cheek, a comforting motion. "Go to her," she urged him once more. "She is alive. She is there for you to love. You can't live through your life, Leo, loving someone you will never have. You can have her; don't loose your chance, or her..."
*****
Damon smiled softly as he listened to Leo finished recounting the dream. "We all owe Kendrix a lot," he stated, licking his cracked lips with his tongue. "She gave her life for all of ours."
Leo also smiled a sweet smile. "She did. I'll never forget what she's done for me and I doubt Kendrix will let me forget..."
*****
Karone stood at the periphery of the Astro MegaShip's bridge, watching Kai, Maya and Mike search for Leo and Damon with the help of Alpha. As she watched them scurry about, she felt somewhat alienated from the group for an odd reason; like she didn't belong there.
She wanted to help. Beyond anything Karone badly wanted to help them find Damon and Leo. Leo was her boyfriend and Damon was a close friend. But for the first time in her life, Karone felt useless and more alone than she had ever been before.
"I think I found them!" Alpha cried out, while standing in front of a screen, his hands moving upon the controls.
"Where?" The question flew from Karone's lips, spreading its wings and gliding into the air.
Maya, Kai and Mike looked at the blonde woman, startled as they all had become accustomed to her silence. The four of them together walked over to where Alpha stood, and gazed up at the map on the screen. "Here," the robot reported, his metallic finger pointing towards a planet that was blinking red on the screen.
"We'll go find them," Kai piped up through the calm that had fallen over them awkwardly, motioning to only Maya and himself. He seemed to almost stare at Karone, seeking her permission or blessing - whichever she was willing to give.
The blonde nodded mutely, and the Blue and Yellow Galaxy Rangers ran off of the bridge towards the Glider Bay, Alpha practically toddling after them in his own fashion.
Mike and Karone solely remained, the oldest members of the Power Ranger team who carried the most responsibility, but who also had the strongest and deepest connections to the Red Ranger. One being a brother and the other one being a lover.
"Karone, you should go."
Mike's voice resounded in her mind. Perhaps the backing of someone was all she had needed to take the initiative to get Leo back, because after a still moment, a light lit Karone's eyes; one of knowing and one of hope. She quickly grabbed Mike and hugged him dearly, hastily hurrying off to do what she had to.
*****
"Well, well, Rangers; how are you feeling now that it's sunset?"
Deviot's voice ran hideously sweet in the men's ears, causing them to wince. Deviot had been the last person both of them had been hoping to see, and now most likely he was going to be the last person they ever saw, period.
"I feel good," Leo remarked sarcastically, pressing his cracked lips together. He quickly nudged Damon in the small of his back to provoke a response to the question from his partner.
The older man grunted, then chimed, "I'm just peachy keen!"
"Hush up with all these stupid word games!" another harsh voice snapped from beyond them all.
Leo looked up into the direction of the sun to see the silhouette of a rather bulky-looking monster, flanked by swabbies. The monster moved downwards towards the two hanging Galaxy Rangers in the very middle of the sparse quarry. "May I introduce, the great and all powerful Captain Mutiny!" Deviot announced, motioning almost gracefully towards the larger monster that now nearly stood beside him; it would have been completely graceful had it not been for the fact that it was terribly evident Deviot was simply sucking up to his "superior".
"Let us get this over and done with," Captain Mutiny heaved, brushing off Deviot's grandiose presentation with a mere scoff. He slowly took to his belt and unsheathed his sword. "Who wants to go first?" the villain chuckled devilishly, playing with his prisoners.
"I will!" Leo snapped out, immediately spinning around in the chains so that he was standing before the tip of Captain Mutiny's sword and the Green Ranger wasn't.
Damon was completely taken aback by his teammate's actions. Leo had so much to live for than he did. He had his brother, Karone and their baby, while Damon had nothing. He quickly forced Leo to switch positions with him, so that now Damon stood before Mutiny's sword. "No! I'll go first!" he cried out in protest, splaying him body before the monster to slice and dice.
Almost instinctively, Leo tried to shove his way back into being first to die, but Damon pushed back and so began their fight for who was to die first. Deviot and Captain Mutiny found it amusing for the first few seconds, then tired of it fast. "QUIET!" Captain Mutiny shouted at them in a growling manner. "Your fight is noble, but it is also stupid! You can't stall for time!" The monster began to raise his sword high in the air at Damon. "You will die NOW!"
Before Captain Mutiny could plunge his rather large sword through Damon, a round of laser fire fell upon him causing him to stumble backwards into Deviot, who caught him. "What was that?!" he huffed, glancing up into the rouge-colored sky.
Everyone's attention darted up to the sky to see two Jet Jammers belonging to the Blue and Yellow Rangers fire another volley of laser fire at the monsters. "Blast 'em out the sky!" Mutiny cried out in anguish as his plans were thwarted once more.
Deviot aimed the mounted blaster on his arm up at the two rangers, but Maya and Kai both easily maneuvered around and through his shots. Maya fired upon the group of monsters once more, causing them to back away from where Leo and Damon were held in their chains. She then swiftly dove in to where her two teammates were held, and with her Quasar Saber, cut the chains, freeing them.
"Go Galactic!"
*****
After flying the MegaShip to the planet where Leo and Damon were held and placing the ship into a concealed orbit around the planet's only moon, Karone teleported to the surface.
Hiking through the rocky hilly area around one of the many concentrated slave camps that had shown up on the MegaShip scanners, rapidly caused Karone to tire. She stumbled over the little rocks and nearly fell forward onto her stomach after tripping on the roots of a plant. Fortunately, she caught herself with her hands in time and rolled over onto her back in the dirt.
Karone held in a choked sob as she lay there on the ground, the setting sun still blazing hot above her. "I should have let Mike come with me," she berated herself gently, brushing the stray hairs from her bun out of her face.
As she said that though, she knew that as much as she may have needed Mike's help, she couldn't take it. Not now. She had to do something on her own, just to prove to herself that she was still strong. That she could take the crap and not run away from it, like she had been doing the previous two weeks.
With all of her strength, Karone slowly pushed herself off of the ground and into a standing position once more. Placing her hands at the small of her back, she stretched for a moment and looked ahead at the path before her.
Nothing but dirt and a somewhat steep decline.
Removing one of her hands from her waist, Karone let her eyes fall upon her morpher as she hesitated on whether to morph or not. That morning Alpha had warned her not to morph anymore because now that she was in the middle of her second trimester, the powers might have some painful affects on her body; while they would not be life-threatening to her or her unborn children, they would still be very painful. "There's not much other choice," she murmured to herself, caressing the morpher lightly with her fingers. "I need the stamina that the powers provide."
She debated herself on the move for a few more moments before deciding that she HAD to morph in order to continue. Reaching her hand out in front of her, Karone shouted, "Go Galactic!"
The morph was quick and painless, but as soon as Karone started to run down the hill, an enveloping pain overcame her and she fell to the ground with a sharp yelp, tumbling downwards into a group of bushes. Biting her lips furiously, she tried to overcome the sharp stabbing pains and gradually stood up once more. Wave after wave of the powerful feeling washed over her body, touching every single nerve, but she managed to endure it and eventually become used to it.
Mentally blocking out most if not all the pain, partly with her magic and partly with her own will, Karone began to trot down the hill once more until she reached a cliff drop overlooking the slave camp. She nearly gasped at the conditions. In her time as Astronema, she had never witnessed a slave camp up close before, even though after she would decimate a planet she would sell all of her prisoners straight into slavery. Astronema didn't see the point in being surrounded by people so much lower than herself.
People of many different alien races moped around in ragged and dirtied clothing, some carrying large wooden buckets while others dug with tools or even their hands in the rocky dirt. Swabbies surrounded them all, enforcing the labor as other superior monsters wandered around, checking on the swabbies' work. Off to one side, she could see a grouping of holding cells where it looked like the kidnapped citizens from Terra Venture were being held at that moment.
Karone was going move away from her vantage point, which was fairly conspicuous, to closer to those cells where she could try to free the prisoners. She continued to feel pain from her morph and she continued to remember Leo and Damon's precarious capture, but they didn't seem to take as much priority in her mind as before; no matter how much it hurt or how much she loved Leo. She wanted to free those people; no one should have to experience or even be forced to witness such an inhumane thing as slavery was.
Just as she tried to move away though, a man who had been working in the quarry looked up and saw her in her eye-catching pink uniform. "Help us!" he cried up towards her as if she were his savior. "HELP US! PLEASE!"
Horrified, the Pink Ranger became completely frightened and her mental will fell, allowing the full rush of pain consume her once more. She withered to the ground, lying on her side, moaning loudly.
Karone was so helpless in her position that she barely noticed when a large monster appeared on the cliff with her, a large ax held at ready in his hands as he approached her.
Luckily for the Pink Ranger, she managed to divert her attention away from the pain and noticed the long shadow that the monster was casting beside her. "No..." she grunted fiercely, pushing herself up from the ledge and slowly unsheathing her Quasar Saber.
Barbarax, the monster, simply chuckled at Karone's feeble attempt to defend herself. "You think you can take me, Girl? A small delicate thing like you?"
"YES!" she screamed, releasing her taut voice which had struggled not to cry out in pain for the last ten minutes. Without a mental thought to what she was doing, Karone ran at Barbarax; all of her weaknesses and strengths flowing through her body, becoming adrenaline.
First she stabbed at him furiously with her saber, catching him completely off-guard and knocking him to the ground. Taking his ax away from him, she proceeded to him beat him with it viciously; she would have left bruises if he had not been a monster. When she had had enough of the ax, she threw it aside and continued to kick and punch at the monster.
Karone's pent up anger and hatred flowed through her veins, finally allowed to run free as she took it all out on Barbarax. She was angry with Leo for leaving her when she needed him. She held a deep hatred towards the reporters on Terra Venture. She felt envy and disgust for Kendrix for leaving her with the Pink Ranger powers. She resented Zhane for becoming weak, causing her to feign strength that she had never possessed. She hated the Astro Rangers for taking her away from the familiar and placing her into the unknown. She loathed Dark Specter and Ecliptor for molding her into an evil woman. She despised Darkonda for many things. She was angry with Andros for letting her get kidnapped. Lastly, Karone hated herself for allowing her a life so filled with hate.
Karone suddenly stopped punching and hitting the fairly frightened Barbarax, collapsing to the ground. She began to sob terribly and the sharp throbbing returned with a vengeance, causing her to forcefully demorph. As she lay there, sobs wracking her body as well as pain, Barbarax was about to approach her once more, but then abruptly looked up and ran away from the site.
Confusion at the monster's actions barely registered in her mind when her teammates appeared out of nowhere, all five of them fully morphed. A pair of arms scooped up her trembling body from the dirt, and in a quiet hush, all of them teleported from the cliff; little wet spots in the dust the only reminder of what had just taken place there.
*****
"Karone, where are we going?"
As they entered the Megalift from where they had just been in the Medical Bay for the last twenty minutes, Karone steadied herself against Leo. "We're going to my past," she said cryptically in a hoarse voice, still somewhat weak and unbalanced.
"Are you sure you're alright?" he questioned carefully. When they rescued, if you could call it that, Karone from Barbarax, they took her straight to the Medical Bay and had Alpha immediately check her out. Turned out that she had been perfectly fine, but Leo was still a bit wary about that.
The blonde woman nodded softly just as the doors opened up to the deck. She walked straight up to her former residence, her boyfriend following at her heels. Punching the code into the keypad, the doors slid open again and the couple entered the quarters.
When the doors shut behind Leo, Karone spun around and faced him with a fake smile, announcing, "Welcome to the quarters I once shared with Zhane!"
Bewildered and stunned by what she was revealing to him, the Red Ranger absorbed his surroundings and didn't notice when Karone lifted an empty box above her head and flung it into the wall. As soon as she did that, the anger and hurt pulsed through her once more and she tried to lift up one of the metal chairs.
"KARONE!" Leo cried frantically, wrapping his arms around her from behind and separating her from the chair. "What the hell are you trying to do to yourself?!"
"Leave me alone!" she growled ferociously, trying to wiggle out of his arms. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"
"NO!" he barked back, struggling as he tugged her away from the furniture. "I won't let you hurt yourself!" As he backed away, he didn't see the bed standing directly behind him and Leo ended up tripping over it, falling onto the bed with a harassed Karone.
She quickly found a way to flip over so that she was on top of Leo's body, punching and hitting him while she had begun to sob. "You...you...you..." she voiced, hiccupping through her tears.
Wincing at the hurt being inflicted upon him, Leo grabbed Karone by her wrists, stopping her in the midst of her madness. His deep blue eyes peered up into her blurry blue ones, searching. "Karone," he whispered, "please tell what I did..."
"You, left me!" She tried to remove her wrists from his grip, but found that she simply didn't have the will to fight against him anymore. "I, needed you!"
Leo remained silent as Karone calmed down, her hiccups echoing through the quarters. He then began to laugh, a grin parting his solemn features. "What?" Karone queried innocently, hiccupping again.
"Your hiccups," he informed through his laughter, letting go of her wrists.
She hiccupped once more involuntarily and she too started to laugh.
Their laughter coalesced merrily, banishing the tears and hate that had filled Karone and the worry that had filled Leo. The happy music rang throughout, and as it dissolved gradually, she whispered, "I'm having triplets, Leo."
Leo's eyes widened with a true glee and he laughed once more, bringing her down to him. She laughed with him until his mouth pressed against hers, silencing them both with a passionate kiss.
*****
Clothes both old and new were laying about the room on various pieces of furniture as Karone woke up happily from her sleep hours later. Lying beneath the covers of the bed, she turned onto her side to gaze at the man with her, a soft smile touching her lips.
Leo slept peacefully, his face that of a quiet warrior resting after a hard-fought battle. His hand rested on his bare chest and she gently lifted it, bringing his fingertips to her lips and lightly kissing them. "Mmmmm..." He stirred from his sleep at the sensual touches and slowly opened his eyes. Turning onto his side, he faced Karone and stroked her cheek with his free hand. "Hello," he grinned through his happy sleep.
"Hello," she returned, now kissing at his palm as Leo moaned quietly. "Tired?"
"Never too tired to be with you," he answered playfully, his hand slipping away from her mouth and down her side. "Do you feel better?"
Karone nodded with a heavy sigh. "I still ache though. All that anger, I've never felt that way before. When I was beating Barbarax up...I don't know what to say other than it just felt right. Something in me must've been triggered."
"I still can't believe you beat up Barbarax when you were in so much pain!" Leo snickered slightly. "You should've seen the look on his face."
"I saw," she acknowledged, propping her head up with her arm. "I just never realized how much anger and resentment I possessed within me. When you're evil you're taught to suppress most of it; Ecliptor always said anger was a weakness an evil princess couldn't afford. When I was good I was told to suppress it because it wasn't worth the trouble it caused."
Leo's eyes remained on her as she spoke deeply of her experiences.
"But when I let it all out on Barbarax - that anger - it felt so good! Everything was washed away: the pain, the stress...just everything."
He wrapped his arm around her and hugged her close to him. "That's usually the way things go," he murmured. "It's better to be mad now than to save it for later. The last thing you want is a bank of anger sitting inside of you."
"You sound like you speak from experience."
"Maybe," Leo shrugged absently. "I'm only remembering what happened to the Magna Defender before Mike. He was so full of hate towards Scorpius for killing his son, and it only drove him mad. He didn't care about anyone or anything - just his mission to make Scorpius pay; never did get that done..."
Silence.
"I wanted to destroy it all," Karone muttered, her voice muffled by Leo's chest.
"What?"
"I wanted to destroy all of my past," she declared solemnly, meeting his gaze with her eyes. "I came in here and started throwing things because I wanted it all to go away.
"Astronema has always haunted me, and now, Zhane's starting to too."
Leo ran his hand delicately through Karone's long blonde hair, a soothing gesture. "How is he haunting you?"
"Astronema used to make me feel guilty for all the crimes I'd done as her; I've been over that for awhile now," she paused momentarily, considering Zhane's effects on her. He wasn't there physically of course, but the thoughts of him and how he might think of her were awful enough. "Zhane makes me feel guilty too, but in a different way. Guilty for loving him and then breaking his heart; guilty for sharing my mind, body and soul with him, then taking it all away; guilty for leaving him when he needed me..."
A light went off in Leo's head as he realized what Karone had meant by him leaving her when she had needed him. He pressed his lips into her hair and kissed her head. "You can't blame yourself or feel guilty for any of those things. You had to leave because you needed to," he assured her, smiling warmly down at his girlfriend. "Sometimes, your needs take more priority to what anyone else may want from you."
Karone embraced Leo, her head leaning against his chest as she listened to his steady heartbeat while absorbing his words. Leo was right about Zhane, she had decided. She only hoped that he had managed...
"Unh!" she grunted loudly, rolling away from Leo and onto her back in the bed. She grunted once more as she felt another kick from within her belly.
Leo immediately jumped to her side and clutched her hand in his while he gently squeezed it. "Karone, what is it?"
She chuckled softly to herself and placed Leo's hand on her belly. "Feel," she told him as she received another kick from inside of her.
At first Leo was mystified by what he had felt, but then smiled brightly. "Looks like they're having a party in there," he teased her, giving her a soft peck on the lips.
Karone giggled as Leo buried his mouth into her neck hungrily, cuddling in his embrace and feeling the warm touches wash over her. To be as happy as they were was fairly new compared to the horrors they'd faced together...but there was so much more to come before they could truly be content.
