2. Reflections

"Slipping through our fingers,

Like the sands of time

Promises made, every memory saved

Has reflections in my mind"

"Viva Forever", "Spice Girls"


It wasn't much of a surprise for TJ that Carlos didn't show up for school. Neither was he surprised when his communicator beeped. He slid into an empty classroom and answered the call: "TJ here"

"It's Andros. We have a surprise party to fix"

"Say what?"

"To make a long story short, we have very reliable intelligence that Shiera is alive and free"

"Oh"

"I didn't contact the girls, because I'm not sure how'd Ashley react and I'm dead sure Cassie will ask too many questions"

"Should I tell them?"

"Yes please"

"Surprise party?"

"Ashley mentioned the concept once. I thought maybe we'll throw one for Carlos – I kicked him and Zhane off board, they didn't sleep all night"

"I'll get the girls on it"

"Thanks"

"You're welcome. Just one thing"

"Yes?"

TJ took a very deep breath, and tried to find a civil phrasing for what he wanted to say. "Next time, tell me to sit down first"


"I think we could fit the ship through this one", said Zhane, as Carlos gave yet another yawn. The two boys were sitting under one of the trees in the Park, enjoying the shade and the not-too-warm weather.

"What?" answered Carlos, who clearly wasn't paying attention.

"I think you're tired enough to fall asleep"

"Maybe", agreed Carlos, stifling another yawn. "I'll teleport home and go to bed"

"Drop dead in bed, more like it"

"No death jokes" warned Carlos, without any real or mock threat in his voice. He looked around, making sure there was no one in sight. "See you". He teleported away.

Zhane stretched himself on the grass. The Angel Grove climate was hotter than he was used to from KO-35, but as it was also much drier, Zhane wasn't bothered. He closed his eyes. The light breeze played across his face. The only sound was the ruffling of the tree leafs. Images whirled around in his mind, scattered pieces of memories mixed with vivid daydreams of the girl he could never have.

"You really shouldn't fall asleep in the Park," he heard her saying, "Someone might attack you". It sounded so real, as if she really was there. He opened his eyes.

She was standing above him, her heavy make up, wig and armor gone, holding two cones of ice cream. He jerked to a sitting position.

"Want some ice cream?" she asked.

"Sure. Will you sit?"

"Sure". She set beside him and handed him one of the cones. "I wasn't sure what's your favorite, so they're both chocolate fudge and strawberry"

"It's ice cream, who cares about the rest?"

"I've never had ice cream before", she admitted.

"I'm new to it too, but I know that you're supposed to eat it before it melts and dribbles all over you"

"Oh". There were several large blobs making their way down her cone already. She tried to lick them away, and ended up with ice cream all over her face. "So that's why he asked me if I want napkins"

"Yes, napkins are handy, but I think it's more fun this way". He smiled mischievously.

She giggled, more because of the pink spot on his nose than because of what he said. "You made a complete mess of yourself"

"To keep you company, m'lady"

She tried to elbow him, but he avoided her, barely. "To your knowledge, I'm a princess, not a mere lady" she said in mocked snobbish tone.

"As you wish" he mocked back, and leaned forward to kiss the ice cream away from her lips. He ended up kissing a lot more than ice cream, and they were both quiet breathless by the time they finally broke off, not so due to lack of oxygen than due to other, just as natural, causes. For several seconds all the did was stare into each other's eyes, and then they kissed again, everything else forgotten.

"So, why did you come down here?" asked Zhane sometime later. They had both washed the ice cream from their faces, and were now strolling through the Park, trying to keep a little distance between them: they were both a little scared by their passionate kissing.

"To keep you company. So you could keep me company". She wrinkled her nose. "Some crazy day"

"I couldn't agree more. But won't anybody noticed that you're missing?"

"Not the Quantrones, and I made sure Ecliptor had his hands full before I left. How about you?"

"I'm not supposed to do any work today, or Andros will do some of your work and rid me from my head"

"I've heard that the red Ranger is hot tempered, but he can't be that bad, right?"

"He's got tantrums to match yours"

"Really?". She blinked and smiled sweetly. "What's he doing on your side than? Hey!". It was his turn to try and elbow her. She moved aside lightly, he made a grab – and all of the sudden, she was in his embrace. For a brief moment, they were staring into each other's eyes again, their heads moved closer – and just as suddenly, they broke off.

"Oh great" grunted Zhane.

"We are so going to be in trouble", she muttered back.

He smiled at her weakly. "We just can't keep our hands of each other, uh?"

"Not really", she nodded her head. "I don't think I can stand more than a few days of not seeing you"

"Same here. The others keep saying I wasn't myself lately"

"Ecliptor is constantly fussing that I look off color"

They shared a miserable look.

"You think we can keep this up?" he asked finally. "Meeting in secret?

"Coming up with excuses isn't hard", she shrugged, "But try as I might, Ecliptor will suspect something sooner or later. He raised me, and he knows me too well"

"Likewise. Andros and I are like brothers, I can't possibly lie to him – and as much as I like Ashley and the others, they can be very nosey"

"Ecliptor can get beyond nosey. If we're ever caught…"

Zhane flinched. "Question is, can we stand full separation?"

"It's my job to kill you and your friends", she reminded him, "What will happen when I succeed?"

"If, not when", he shot right back.

They both shot death glares at each other, but the moment passed quickly.

"Another problem", he sighed. "Can't you get yourself assigned somewhere else? Then maybe when the war is over…"

She shook her head. "I can't"

"Can't blame a guy for trying", he sighed, "So we burry our heads in the sand and keep this going until the bitter end?"

"Guess so", she replied gloomily. "Speaking of endings, I really should go back to the Dark Fortress"

"May I kiss you goodbye?"

"Can we limit ourselves to a single kiss?"

"We should learn to, and now is as good a time as any to begin"

"Okay than". She wrapped her hands around his neck, and they kissed for very, very long.


"Where's Carlos?" frowned TJ when Zhane entered the mess alone at lunch.

"Probably still asleep, he went home at about 10 AM"

"Told you", said Cassie.

"Told him what?"

"That we shouldn't have the surprise party at lunch break"

"Surprise party? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Ashley rolled her eyes. "We thought you were with Carlos"

"The party is for him? Good idea, Ash"

"My idea, really" said Andros.

"Wow!"

"Not as "wow" as some other things" said TJ, looking at Andros very sternly.

Andros had the grace to blush.

"What?" asked Zhane, highly interested.

"Later" said Andros shortly. "Can you keep Carlos away from the ship for the rest of the afternoon?"

"Shouldn't be hard, he'll probably sleep most of it anyway"

"We don't want him walking in on us" said Ashley pointedly.

"Oh, don't worry, I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise" answered Zhane with a rather devilish grin. Andros looked positively worried at that, and Zhane's grin turned fully wicked, making everybody laugh.


Try as she might, Astronema couldn't forget that Zhane said that the black Ranger will be asleep for most of the day, and the beach was quite full for the season. It was an opportunity to good to be missed.

"Ecliptor", she commanded, "Send two companies of Quantrones to the Angel Grove beach"

"Yes, my princess"

"And see if you can find any monster willing to fight the Rangers. Do try to find some worthy monsters this time"

"It's getting harder, my princess. Not many of them left"

"If we could only get the stupid creatures cooperate against the Rangers, instead of fighting them alone"

"Hmmm", said Ecliptor thoughtfully, "I might be able to find something appropriate"

"Good"

"Might", he warned her.

"I have full trust in you"

"It's not wise for the princess of Evil to trust anyone"

"If I can't trust you, I can't trust myself" she replied shortly. "Now, set those Quantrones loose"


"Those Quantrones came at a very bad timing!" growled Andros as he and Ashley returned to the ship's bridge. "How are you guys getting on with the balloons?".

"Uh, Andros", said Ashley quietly: both TJ and Cassie had their arms crossed across their chests, and that was hardly a good sign.

"Why didn't you tell us that Carlos pretended to be sick?" asked TJ.

Ashley gaped at Andros. "Sick?" she exclaimed, "We're never going to get him out of the house once his parents are home!"

Andros blinked. "I didn't think…", he begun.

"Obviously, you didn't" replied Cassie shortly. "We need a backup plan". Her expression made it very clear that as Andros was the one to mess it up, he was also to sort it out.

"How about…" begun Andros, thinking very fast, "How about we bring the party to him? Say, to cheer him up. His parents won't mind, will they?"

"Depending how sick they think he is" said Ashley.

"He and Zhane were aiming for the flu, but I think they got a little over-enthusiastic"

"Zhane got a little over-enthusiastic, you mean" frowned TJ.

"His folks think he slept the whole day through, and flue can pass very quickly" said Cassie, though somewhat reluctantly. "They'd buy it if he almost recovered. How long was the supposed illness meant to last?"

"Carlos wanted to end it by tomorrow"

TJ smiled encouragingly at Andros. "Nice save"

"I'll go make the phone calls", said Ashley, "We'll be there before his folks do, and they aren't the party to be surprised here". Cassie raised an eyebrow, and Ashley added hastily: "No pun intended"


Carlos and Zhane were sitting in the kitchen of Carlos's house, eating their way through the snack supply, when Zhane's communicator suddenly beeped. Zhane answered it: "Yes?"

"You're needed on board" came Andros's voice.

"You said no work today!" protested Zhane.

"Get here" repeated Andros shortly, "And tell Carlos to stay". With that, he severed the comm.

"Oh, great" said Zhane.

"It's okay", assured him Carlos, "My folks should be home in half an hour anyway, I should probably get back to bed, keep the flue show going"

"Want me to fetch the sneezeroids for you?"

"No" said Carlos firmly. "I want to be considered healthy before August"

"Oh well. See you", and Zhane teleported away.

Carlos tidied up the little mess that was in the kitchen, and went upstairs to his room. When he opened the door, however…

"Surprise!"

With a little effort, Carlos pulled his jaw to its rightful place.

"What?" he asked weakly. His room was full with friends, balloons and party foods.

"It a surprise party, silly!" cried Ashley and hugged him. "We wanted to have it on the ship, but we figured you won't be allowed out of the house"

"Thanks, Ash"

"Thank Andros, it was his idea", she said, letting go.

"Really?"

Andros nodded, a little embarrassed. To his surprise, Carlos said "Thanks, bro", and held out his hand. Andros reached out for what he though would be a handshake, and Carlos pulled him into a short, yet bone-crushing, hug.

"Little we could do", said Andros honestly. "Now", he continued, his face brightening, "I believe we have a chocolate cake around here somewhere"


Next time: I wonder if nightmares are catching

(Who said teaser lines have to be spoken words?)