Author's note: Merry Christmas everyone, and I'll see you in the new year.
Christmas
Christmas.
Merrick shook his head, side-stepping yet another person too excited/overloaded/busy to see him. People always seemed to go mad around Christmas, he thought wryly.
But then, they could afford to. He had no family, and, after disappearing for the better part of a decade, probably no friends either.
Giving up on getting anywhere, he sat down on a bench and admitted to himself, for the first time, that he missed them.
Now we have been through the harvest—
Winter has truly begun.
Ten years ago, he hadn't known what Christmas was. The decorations in Willie's meant nothing to him for a long time, until someone commented how festive it looked. He'd asked Willie then what they were for, and Willie had patiently and carefully explained Christmas to him.
It still meant little to him, truth be told, until Alyssa had stopped him after a fight and invited him to come to the Animarium 'for Christmas dinner.' Surprised, Merrick had walked away without answering; when he asked Willie for the time off, the older man laughed and told him the place would be closed anyway. Willie had a sister to visit and wouldn't be reopening for almost a week. Merrick could come and go, of course, but he'd have no work to do.
So the next time he saw Alyssa he accepted her invitation. Alyssa smiled, clearly delighted, and promised to have enough food he'd be full for a week.
The meal had been nice; the carols the Rangers sang, while not tuneful, were certainly cheerful. The decorations were colourful and didn't hang in the way, as Willie's were wont to do.
And then came the presents.
Merrick, unaware, hadn't brought any, and had to accept the presents the others had given him. None were huge, as none of the Rangers worked, but they were all carefully picked out and nicely wrapped. Merrick felt lower and lower as the afternoon went on, and the Princess's transparent attempts to take attention away from him didn't help.
A week later he came back to the Animarium with a carefully chosen and wrapped gift for everyone. Their obvious delight helped cheer him up, and Danny's comment that this was even better, they had something left to open helped even more.
Now we have walked in the chill of the night,
We are waiting for, waiting for,
For the Saviour's Day.
Now it was three days before Christmas again, and Merrick was considering his next move.
Zen-Aku had gone a while ago to deal with something personal; he and Merrick had a vague appointment 'sometime'. Merrick was relatively sure, though, that whenever he got to the meeting place, Zen-Aku would either just have arrived or would arrive shortly after. Neither would have to wait long.
So he had some time. And nothing to do in it.
Stupid Christmas.
Giving in the inevitable, Merrick got up and headed for the nearest bus station.
Many have come from the valleys,
Many have come from the hills.
Turtle Cove was…the same.
Oh, not exactly; that building, for example, hadn't been there, and there were new railings around the park. Small things were different.
But Willie's was still standing, and apparently open for business; Merrick didn't go in. Kendall's flower shop was open; here he paused for a minute, and then went in.
Kendall was doing something with some flowers when he approached the counter; he vaguely recognised her, having seen her with Danny sometimes.
"Hi. Kendall, right?" She glanced up and then her eyes went very wide.
"Oh…you're Danny's friend! Merrick, right? Oh, he'll be so upset he missed you! I'll call him for you…"
"No." Merrick said quickly. "Thank you. I didn't come to see him."
"Oh?" Kendall frowned slightly. "OK. Do you want to leave him a message?"
"No…I'm here for a surprise visit."
"Oh!" Kendall laughed. "Oh, how fun! But…then what are you doing here? He might see you."
"I need to know something." Merrick explained. "Danny's friends. Are they all still here?"
"You mean Max and the others? Sure, they're in town."
"All four of them?"
"Yeah…Alyssa's been visiting her father but I think she's due back today."
"Thank you. Please don't tell them I was here."
"Oh, I won't! They're having Christmas dinner at Alyssa and Cole's, if that helps."
"It does. Just the five of them?"
"Yeah, for dinner. There's some others of us going over afterwards, though. And then…oh! Danny said they were gonna have dinner again a week later. Something about recreating a past success…? I didn't really understand."
"I understand. Thank you." Merrick smiled briefly at her and turned to leave.
So I have a week to kill…I can manage that.
Many have started their journey home,
To be with someone, with someone
On the Saviour's Day.
1st Jan
Merrick watched the house quietly. Danny and Max had arrived a little while ago, but there was no sign of Taylor yet.
"She got here before you did." Zen-Aku said unexpectedly from behind him. Merrick didn't turn.
"Who did?"
"The Yellow one."
"They're not Rangers anymore." Merrick reminded him. "And they all have names."
"Taylor." Zen-Aku said, not the least apologetic. "They're all there."
"No they're not." Merrick muttered. Zen-Aku didn't answer, and he shouldered the bag holding their presents before leaving his hiding place and striding determinedly up to the house.
Open your eyes on the Saviour's Day.
Don't look back or turn away…
Cole actually did a double take when he saw Merrick. Merrick hadn't thought that was something people did, but Cole actually did.
"Merrick!" The Lion Ranger pulled him into an unexpected hug, whispering softly, "I was starting to think you were going to hide out there all afternoon." Before Merrick could answer he let go and tugged him into the house, yelling at the same time, "Merrick's here, guys!"
"Merrick!" came from several parts of the room at once, and Merrick dazedly nodded. Turning to give Cole his jacket, he muttered, "Do they know?"
Cole shook his head faintly, gesturing him in. "You're just in time to eat, Merrick! We kept you a place."
"You kept…" Merrick trailed off, picking up the nameplate. Merrick Baliton.
Baliton…he'd used that name only once with them, but apparently once had been enough.
"Of course we did! This is Merrick's Day, after all." Danny said, offering him champagne. Merrick shook his head, blinking.
"It's what?"
"Merrick's Day."
Merrick froze. That voice…he was imagining things. He had to be. She was asleep, god damn it, he'd seen her…
"Merrick?" Now everyone was staring, oh lord, she wasn't…she couldn't…
and then she was standing in front of him.
Don't look back or turn away…
"Princess." His voice was remarkably steady. "You look well."
She smiled faintly, not looking away from him. "You look…you look strong, Merrick." He bowed his head, accepting the compliment.
"How long…?" he asked softly.
"You kept your promise." she answered quietly, and he smiled again. Looking around, he realised the others were staring, and he deliberately made a face and said, "Merrick's day?"
"Sure. Every year we save the cards you send…"
"When you send any." Taylor interrupted Max. He barely seemed to notice, and kept going,
"And we all open them on this day. A week after Christmas. And that one year you sent Cole and Alyssa their present, they saved that as well."
"That…" Merrick shook his head. "That was a wedding present. For your wedding. In August."
"We wanted to wait." Cole said quietly.
"Every year we thought you might come." Alyssa said. "And now you have."
"Every year I thought of it." Merrick admitted quietly. "But it never…never felt right."
"And now?" Taylor asked, sounding—at best—faintly interested.
"Now it seems more natural than anything else."
"You know what else is natural? Eating!" Cole said brightly. "Alyssa, let's…"
"OK, Cole, we'll eat. Unless anyone wants to do anything else?"
"We could sing." Max suggested.
"Please don't." Merrick said quickly.
"Critic." Max said good-naturedly.
"Be careful, kid, you might scare him away for another ten years." Taylor said, grinning.
"Very funny, Taylor." Alyssa said. "Cole, come and help."
The meal was eaten, they'd all complemented Alyssa and helped clear up, and now they were sitting around the living. No one seemed too eager to move; the food had been very good.
Finally Merrick pulled himself upright and opened his bag, passing around the presents he'd bought everyone. Staying with tradition, they were only tokens, small gifts, but perfectly picked out and beautifully wrapped.
"Merrick, they're wonderful." Alyssa said, examining the small carved tiger; it was carved from Tigers' Eye, so the colours were right.
"Now you know why I haven't been back before. It took so long to pick those out." Merrick said, smiling.
"You didn't pick this out." Shayla was holding an exact replica of her necklace, the one Master Org had destroyed in his quest for the Heart.
"No. That I had made. Don't you like it?"
"It's wonderful." She held it out wordlessly, and he took it and put it on.
"That's it." Cole said, staring at her. He had received several very small things; a head band, like his old one but with a peace symbol in the middle; a copy of the dissertation that had won his parents the grant to go look for Animaria; and a promise, from Merrick, to come back every year.
"That's what?" Shayla asked in surprise.
"You look the same now. It always looked…wrong…without your necklace. Now it looks right." Danny said. Danny had seeds for several varieties of tropical plants, things difficult to get if you weren't willing to spend a month or more hunting them down through jungles.
"He's right." Max agreed. Max was holding a small model giraffe, and a make-it-yourself spear kit.
"Good choice." Taylor murmured finally. The eagle in her hand looked ready to fly away.
Cole glanced once around the room; then he nodded and looked back at Merrick. "Welcome home, Merrick."
Too much happening in too short a time sent Merrick to the back garden for some air. Behind him the Rangers had started up with the usual noise they always managed to generate, even now; he leaned against a tree, just out of sight of the windows, and simply listened to it for a long time.
"Merrick?" He didn't react to Shayla's voice for a moment.
"It doesn't work like your one." he said quietly.
"I wasn't expecting it to." Shayla replied. "Besides, there's no need; everyone I would want to talk to is here."
"Is something wrong?" He asked the question in the same conversational tone.
"No. Not at all. Something's right." He turned then to look at her, and she went on, "Jindrax and Toxica came back. They've been all over the world, and they haven't found any more Orgs. None at all, Merrick. And when they came back here, they both sensed what had happened…and Toxica used her magic, and she said that Master Org could never return, and neither could the Heart."
"I told you that ten years ago." Merrick reminded her.
"I know, Merrick. But I have a duty, I couldn't just put it down without being sure."
"You trust Toxica?" Merrick asked, looking away from her again.
"Cole does. He says she's not lying. I trust him."
"Yes." Merrick sighed. "Ten years…"
"Ten years can start today, Merrick." He turned to look at her again and smiled.
"That sounds good, Princess."
Many have started their journey home
To be with someone, with someone,
For the Saviour's Day.
On the other side of the house, Zen-Aku smiled faintly and turned away, ready to continue his journey…alone.
Now we have been through the harvest,
Winter has truly begun.
Now we have walked in the chill of the night,
We are waiting for, waiting for…
For the Saviour's Day.
Many have come from the valleys,
Many have come from the hills.
Many have started their journeys home,
To be with someone, with someone,
On the Saviour's Day.
Open your eyes on the Saviour's Day,
Don't look back or turn away.
Life can be yours
If you only say…
He is calling you, calling you,
On the Saviour's day.