Author's note: Hey guys! Dominic and True_Blue, if you mean why she picked that name you'll have to wait and see. We're nearly at the end of Old Faces…but don't worry, the Rangers'll be back in the next interlude.

Aftermath

Tara's back door wasn't locked; Merrick held it for Shayla and left her in the sitting room while he went looking for Tara. She was sitting on the stairs, looking upwards. Merrick stopped just below her. "Tara?"

"I'm trying to decide if it's worth going upstairs." She didn't sound particularly surprised at his presence. "Who came with you?"

"Princess Shayla." He moved slightly, trying to see her face. "You couldn't tell?"

"I heard you, not sensed you. No sensing."

"Nothing?"

"Elven. Nothing like I'm used to." She shook suddenly, almost falling off her step until he caught her.

"Tara…"

"Thariin." He took a deep breath.

"All right. Thariin. What's wrong?" She turned at that to stare disbelievingly at him.

"I just told you, Merrick. I can't sense anything."

"Forever?"

Tara shrugged slightly. "Don't know. This has never happened to me before. I hope not." She wrapped her arms around herself. "I really hope not."

"Tara…"

"Go away. Please."

"No." he said firmly. Tara sank to the step, eyes wide. Shayla came into the hall, looking questioningly from one to the other, but she didn't speak.

"No." Merrick repeated. "Not like this."

"Please go away." Tara rested her forehead against the banister.

"Tell me what's wrong." Merrick hunkered beside her.

"How can you ask that? You were blind, Merrick. You don't remember? This…lost feeling? The helplessness?" Shayla looked sharply at Merrick.

"I remember." Merrick acknowledged.

"I don't know who I am. Thariin…Thariin would have died after the war. Without the earth, who am I?"

"You are…" Merrick hesitated.

"You see?" Tara laughed bitterly. "Even you don't know who I am."

"I know who you are." Merrick contradicted her. "I was just wondering which name to use."

"I know which name to use." Shayla said, moving slightly so Tara could see her. "Deirbhile."

"Don't…call me that." Tara said tightly.

"Why not?" Shayla asked. Merrick looked down at her, and she explained, "Tara's first night on the Animarium, she talked in her sleep."

"Deirbhile." Merrick repeated. "It's a good name."

"It was a good name." Tara corrected him bitterly. "It's not anymore." Catching hold of the banisters, she pulled herself to her feet. Merrick rose as well. "I'm going upstairs."

"Not leaving you alone." Merrick said quietly, and she almost smiled.

"The Princess will have to go back to the Animarium some time, Merrick. You're her protector, not mine."

"No, I'm your friend."

"Just…take her home, and let me try and get used to this. Please?"

"Tara." he said, helplessly.

"You didn't cry in front of me, Merrick. Don't make me cry in front of you. Take the Princess home. I'm not going anywhere."

Merrick started to say something but Shayla caught his arm, and he paused long enough for her to say, "We're going, Tara, but we will be back."

"Of course you will." Tara said dully. "I'll be here." Shayla nodded quietly, and Tara went upstairs, leaving them to do whatever they wanted.

"We shouldn't have left." Merrick said again. "She didn't leave me."

"It's not the same thing." Shayla said patiently.

"It is the same thing! She even told me so!" Merrick protested.

"No, it's not." Shayla said again. "You lost your sight, Merrick. Tara has lost what makes her her, and she needs time to adjust to that."

"But…she will get them back, right?" Alyssa asked.

"I don't know." Shayla admitted. "I know very little about Tara's powers, only what you all know. I hope so, for all our sakes."

"There's nothing happening to the earth." Max said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Cole asked.

"While Tara was in the other dimension there was some weird stuff going on. Earthquakes and floods, stuff like that. But once you all came back it all stopped."

"So she's doing something." Taylor said thoughtfully.

"She's always been able to sense." Merrick said quietly. "And whatever she's doing I don't think she's doing it on purpose."

"She certainly thought she was cut off." Shayla agreed.

"I'll go talk to her." Cole offered. "She might listen to me." Shayla nodded quietly.

"Good luck." Max called after him.

Tara's back door was still unlocked; Cole let himself in and headed upstairs. Tara was sitting on her bed, staring out the window, and she didn't turn when he came in.

"Tara." he said quietly.

"Cole." She turned to look at him, and he was struck by how calm she looked. "Is everyone all right?"

"Every…are you all right?"

"Fine." Seeing his look, she added, "Honestly. Yelling at Merrick made me feel much better. Is he all right?"

"He's worried about you."

Tara looked away. "He needn't. It's not like this is the first time this has happened."

"He's your friend."

"So he said. How is everyone?"

"We're fine. Why do you keep asking that?"

"Because I'm fairly sure you're not fine, Cole. Someone wearing your face terrorized your girlfriend and all the rest of your friends for the past week, almost, and none of them realized he wasn't you until he went critical and started kidnapping people left right and center. I'm pretty sure you're not fine."

"He wasn't me." Cole said quietly. "You said it yourself."

"I know he wasn't, Cole. I didn't say he was. Just that he had your face." She glanced up at him. "I should've known the difference."

"You had no reason to think he wasn't me." Cole reminded her. "He fought Jindrax and Toxica? We've all done that, even you. He was tired after a fight? That's always true. There wasn't anything he did that I wouldn't."

"Until he started kidnapping people." Tara murmured. Cole laughed, ducking his head.

"Until then."

"How is Alyssa?" Tara asked. Cole stilled, watching her reflection in the window.

"I haven't seen her. Not alone, anyway. Taylor's sticking with her."

"Can't blame her, can you?" Tara asked idly. Cole didn't answer, and she turned to look him straight in the face. "Your Rangers love you, and they trust you. But Alyssa…there is something special there. Connor has hurt that bond, bent it out of shape, but he didn't kill anything. Not if you don't let him."

"I don't know how to fix this." Cole admitted softly.

"Be yourself. Don't treat her differently than normal." Catching the faint frown on his face, she added, "If you do anything out of the ordinary she'll immediately think you're Connor. Just…act like always."

"You still sound like Tara." he muttered.

"Some reason I shouldn't?"

"Merrick told me…"

"Oh." she interrupted him. "Don't worry about that."

Cole looked up at her. "Why not?"

"I feel much better now." She glanced up, smiling. "I can't sense, exactly, but I can feel something…something I couldn't then."

"You're getting better?"

"I'll be able to sense again, some time."

"When?" Cole asked.

"I don't know. But I can wait, Cole. If I know it will happen I can wait."