A/N:

HEY EVERYONE! I'M IN SUCH A GOOD MOOD TONIGHT... GO RED SOX!

ANYWAY, SINCE I'M IN A GOOD MOOD, I'LL POST THIS TONIGHT, AND HOPEFULLY TOMORROW THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE UP...

ENJOY!

"Taylor? Has she woken up yet?" Cam asked from the other side of the room.

Taylor looked down at her baby sister. Blake was near tears as he gently held her in his arms. It had been almost two hours since Tori had been shocked and she hadn't awoken yet.

"No, Cam," Taylor answered weakly. They were all exhausted, but couldn't bring themselves to rest.

The sky outside was becoming darker as the hours wore on, and in the past few hours Master Org had released his minions.

The familiar Putrids made Alyssa want to vomit. This was all supposed to be over with!

Shane stood the entire time, the leader in him refusing to give up. He stared over at his fallen teammate and wanted desperately to help her. Another thought was plaguing his mind... his daughter and the others.

He felt a soft hand on his shoulder and turned to see the gentle sight of his wife. He placed a hand on hers and smiled a little.

"Shane, Sky's alright. I know she is," Kelly said gently. "And Tori will be too. She's been through worse then this."

Shane found some comfort in her words and kissed her forehead. "I know," he said softly.

Blake ran his fingers through Tori's hair. Her skin was warm and she appeared to be asleep. He bent down and kissed her forehead.

As soon as his lips touched her skin, a strange feeling came over Blake... almost like when he first placed his morpher on his wrist.

"Dude, do you feel that?" Dustin asked to no one in particular. Hunter and Cam slowly nodded, as did Shane.

"Blake?"

Everyone turned and looked at Tori as her eyes slowly opened. Blake smiled at her and held her a little closer.

"Are you alright?" he asked her. Tori slowly nodded and sat up.

"I feel... weird... like..."

"You just got your powers back?" Cam suggested. Tori nodded. As they were pondering this, Cole, Alyssa, and Taylor got a similar feeling.

"Cole, you don't think..." Alyssa began.

"It makes sense," he said.

"Shayla. That's the only way they could have gotten them," Taylor said.

Eric smiled and went to touch his wrist when he realized that his morpher, as well as Jen and Wes's were gone.

But, a few minutes later, the three Time Force Rangers felt the same feelings that the others had.

"Xander," Wes said softly. "He must have put mine on and unlocked it."

"And Brady can deactivate the voice lock on mine," Eric said as he began to place everything together.

Everyone in the two rooms immediately felt a little better. Their children were still in danger, but they weren't as helpless as they thought.

At long last they all settled in and tried to sleep a little.

On the Animarium everyone was also beginning to settle in for the night. Shayla and Merrick disappeared somewhere and the kids weren't about to question anything.

Kyle, Andy, Sam, Cody, Jack, and Ethan were all sitting around the fire pit.

"Some birthday," Ethan said to himself. The day had been full of so much joy while at the same time, so much pain, that he didn't know what to think.

"You know what the family got you right?" Kyle asked. Ethan shook his head 'no' and kept his eyes on the fire.

"Well, it's in the garage if that helps any," Cody said.

"Sky and I helped too," Sam piped in.

Ethan smiled. "Is it that new bike I was looking at?

"Yup," Jack said. As excited as Ethan was, he couldn't really express it. After a short pause in time he spoke.

"I just want everyone back," he said softly. Sam placed a hand on her cousin's shoulder.

"We will get them back Ethan. I know we will." With that, the six of them stayed out for a little longer and finally succumbed to sleep inside the temple.

Owen sat by the lake, gently tossing rocks into it. The moon cast a soft glow over everything... it was a nice way to end an awful day. Well, it hadn't ALL been awful. He and his siblings as well as their friends were made rangers like their parents had all those years ago.

His heart and thoughts drifted back to his parents. The feeling he had encountered earlier that day still shook him, knowing that his mother was hurt.

Then there were his siblings... more specifically Kyle and Andy. As the oldest, Owen had ALWAYS looked out for his youngest siblings. Now they were, in essence, powerless against anything they came up against.

'I won't lose them too,' he said in his head.

"O?"

Owen turned and smiled when he saw Charlotte walk towards him. During the course of the day they had been very close, and neither one of them wanted to lose that.

"Hey," he said softly. Charlie smiled and sat next to him. They were quiet for a few moments before Owen's arm slipped around her waist, and she leaned into him. "Charlotte?"

Charlie's heart nearly melted then. She looked up at him and leaned closer. Their lips met softly and they held their position for several seconds.

When they pulled away, Owen held her closer and Charlie rested her head on his shoulder. Together they sat by the lake and felt comfort for the first time all day.

Across the lake, Brady was utterly lost. After watching his sisters go off with Leo and Xander, he decided to go look for Nicky.

Nicky on the other hand was in the same boat. She took after her mother in more ways than one. Sometimes she was a total space cadet, but usually she was very smart in certain situations.

Neither one of them was looking where they were going...

Charlie suddenly felt something hit her...hard. She fell to the ground with a thud, while Brady landed on top of her.

"Hey!" She began to protest until she saw who it was.

Brady just stared down at her nervously. From the moment he saw her yesterday he thought she was gorgeous. Without a second thought, he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.

Nicky was shocked to say the least, but when he pulled away, she realized that she didn't want him to.

"Uh, sorry," Brady began to apologize, but Nicky leaned up quickly and kissed him.

They settled into the earth and continued their little make-out session.

Elsewhere, Andy was sitting back by the fire pit, unable to sleep for two main reasons. One being that her parents and family were still in danger, and two, she had given up her chance to be a ranger.

She knew it was the right one, but she still wished deep down that she could be a part of it. Her decision had left both she and her twin in danger of being targeted. She sighed and tossed another log on the fire.

Kanoi stood stone still as he watched her. During the course of the evening he had met with Shayla and Merrick in hopes of learning everything he could about their current situation.

However, they seemed like they had some catching up to do, so he went in search of Andy.

Andy sensed someone behind her and turned. A smile spread to her face as Kanoi Joined her by the fire.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he said gently.

Andy didn't say anything and just leaned into him. Kanoi put an arm around her and pulled her close.

"I know what you did was hard."

"It was... but I'm glad I did it," she replied.

"Are you? Really?"

Andy sighed and put her head on his shoulder. "Yes. As hard as it was for me to, Nick's my best friend and I KNOW she'll do great."

Kanoi was about to respond, but he felt Andy's arms snake around his waist as she leaned closer to him. Kanoi placed his other arm around her and they sat by the firelight.

Lindy and Leo found a nice spot to settle down for the night near the cliffs of the Animarium.

They had spent the night together before, but they hadn't done so in a long time. Under any other circumstances they would have been thrilled to get away from everyone, but not tonight.

Leo unfurled a sleeping bag and they climbed in. Lindy's slim, but muscular body fit perfectly against Leo's muscular one.

"Lin?" Leo asked as he kissed her forehead. Lindy looked up at him. "Are you ready for all this? I mean, my dad was such a good ranger."

"So was your mum," she said. "And I KNOW you won't let them down Leo. You've never let me down," she said as she kissed his cheek.

Leo sighed and pulled her closer. "I love you, you know that?"

Lindy smiled and snuggled up to him. "I love you, too... now go to sleep. We have a long day tomorrow."

Leo complied and they fell asleep almost instantly.

Xander and Evie on the other hand were having a hard time figuring out sleeping arrangements.

"We've never..." Xander began as he looked at the sleeping bags in front of them.

"Slept together," Evie finished. In the time they had been together, they had never had this type of freedom to sleep together in the strictest of senses.

Both of them scratched their heads. This was going to get interesting. "Xan, we shouldn't be nervous about this."

"I'm not nervous about the whole sleeping part, but you know how we get sometimes... I wouldn't want to,"

"Do anything we'd regret later," she finished. Xander nodded and lay in his sleeping bag. Evie got into hers as well.

"Well Miss Meyers, I guess we should get some sleep," Xander said as he faced her. Evie turned towards him and smiled. There was some awkward silence.

"Screw it," Evie said as she huddled closer to him and allowed her arms to go around him. Xander did the same and instantly felt better. "I'm tired and all I want to do is sleep."

Xander agreed, kissed her hotly on the mouth and pulled her closer. Evie smiled as the kiss broke.

"Goodnight," she said. "I love you," she whispered into his broad chest.

"Love you," he replied as he too fell into slumber.

Merrick stood guard outside the small cave where Shayla was supposed to be sleeping. With stealth-like moves, Shayla emerged from the cave and stood next to him.

"You should be sleeping," Merrick said. Shayla looked at him.

"Merrick, I've been asleep for far too long." She took his hands in hers and said the boldest thing she had ever said in her life. "The only way I will sleep is if you are with me."

Merrick turned to her in shock. "Shayla," he almost whispered... a hint of desperation in his voice. He hadn't called her by her given name in nearly three thousand years. He never wanted to leave her side after they had defeated Master Org the first time...

"Merrick. I was a fool. After you left, I realized how much I had missed you... how much I needed you here with me." She reached her hand out and gently touched her face.

"You're sure?" he asked. Shayla calmly nodded and led him back with her.

From his hiding place, Master Org smirked. 'They think they can defeat me? Fools. Now that I've remade my Putrids those children don't stand a chance.' He thought of his captives.

The Ninja rangers were strong, even without their morphers. They would be the first to suffer his wrath...