A/N: Sorry it took a long time. It's a combination of cheering practices, softball games, work, writer's block, and sheer laziness. And I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed so far, I'm glad everyone's enjoying the story.

Setting: Right after White Light

Chapter 4

"When you think you have no chance of getting what you want, you probably won't get it, but if you believe in yourself, sooner or later, you will."

Man, is that quote true. I read it in this list Jason found in some inspirational book. Zack accidentally came across it in Jason's book bag one day in school, although Jason had tried hard to hide it, and showed it to the rest of us. I leafed through it until I found a page titled "Fifteen Things To Think About" and read that one quote. I couldn't believe how dead-on that statement had been about everything I've experienced these past few weeks.

When I lost my Green Powers, I thought my Ranger days were over for good. It seemed typical of my life up until that point, though. You know, move to a new town, learn to get settled to a certain way of living, and have to give it up only months later. There was nothing new there.

It hurt. Giving up my powers hurt more than giving up anything else before. I missed fighting. I missed controlling the Dragonzord. I missed Zordon's wise instructions and Alpha's witty guidance. It hurt to go to school and worry about what we would get hit with that day, then realize I didn't have to worry about that anymore. It hurt to practice in the Youth Center and hear the beeping of my friends' communicators and know that I couldn't follow them to a secluded corner to find out what was wrong.. It hurt to walk by Angel Grove Park and see my friends in their uniforms and know there was no way I could help them.

I had to get away from it all. I felt like I had no reason to stay in Angel Grove. Angel Grove had been the first town that my family moved to that I felt I actually had reasons to be there, and it had been taken away from me. Sure, I had a close group of friends, which had never happened whenever my family moved before, but things were different between us now. I couldn't stand it.

So I went to my uncle's cabin. It sounds strange, but being farther away from all the action made me not miss things as much. If I wasn't around my friends every day in school, it was hard to miss them. If I didn't have to look out my bedroom window and watch the Megazord fighting some kind of monster, I didn't miss being in combat as much. At my uncle's cabin, I could think about my friends and Zordon and Alpha without hurting too much, as long as I didn't have to watch anything happen and know that I still could have been fighting.

Eventually the pain went away completely. I would spend my days sitting up on the mountains or taking long walks through the woods or just sitting on the front porch of the cabin, thinking, remembering, and the peacefulness and quietness helped ease the pain. The day had finally come when I could watch the news and see a reporter covering one of the Rangers' battles and not get a funny feeling in my stomach from knowing it used to be me fighting, too.

But although the pain went away, I began to feel lonely, and I started to get really hard on myself. When I first lost my powers, I didn't blame anyone. But after a couple weeks at the cabin, I started to think that if I had done certain things differently, I would still be a ranger.

So I had to go back. I'd been away from Angel Grove for long enough. I was confident that I could face my friends without it hurting or that I could watch them fight without feeling any pain. I needed to be around people again, people who believed in me, because my belief in myself was wavering.

I never would have imagined that when I returned, I would have another chance at becoming a Ranger again, much less the leader.

I guess I should have known that Zordon and Alpha would do something to get me back on the team. They'd done it the first time my Green Powers were drained; I don't know what made me think they wouldn't do it again.

I like to think it was the fact that I had finally found the courage to face everyone in Angel Grove again that showed I was starting to believe in myself again. That was the belief in myself I needed to finally get what I wanted.

The quote is true. When I would wish I was a ranger again but then tell myself there was no chance of it happening, it didn't happen. But when I started to believe that there was a chance of anything happening, I got what I wanted.

Having a little faith in yourself sure goes a long way.