Disclaimer: the usual……………..

CHAPTER 6

Welcome Back

Lina fought the cogs hard and well, but they just kept multiplying before her eyes. She was winning the fight but she was tiring easily, she had forgotten how much time warping wore her out.

"This is nuts," she said as she managed to get a moment to catch her breath.

"HIYA!" came a scream before flash of pink and yellow crossed Lina's line of vision. She looked around and saw the pink and yellow zeo rangers engaging in battle followed closely by the blue and green zeo rangers. The red ranger stopped, seeming to be the only one who saw Lina.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked. Lina silently nodded.

"You might want to get to safety," he said before turning to the battle.

"Okay, thanks Tommy," she said before running off. Tommy stopped running and turned to watch the girl run off.

'Did she just call me by my first name?' he asked himself. Meanwhile, Lina silently cursed herself for that slip up and just kept running, knowing this was one fight the rangers could win without her. She would've kept running but she was engulfed in light suddenly and wisked away. When the light died down, she saw that she was in the new Command Center.

"Aiyiyiyiyiyi, Lina? Is that really you?" asked Alpha 5. Lina smiled when she saw the familiar faces of Zordon and Alpha 5.

"Alpha, Zordon, it's so good to see you," she said before giving the small robot a hug.

"Welcome back, Lina. It's been two and a half years since you have been here. The rangers greatly missed you after you left," Zordon said. Lina's heart sank a little as she felt guilty for not saying a proper goodbye to all of the original rangers. She was glad she still had their picture though.

"I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye to all of them. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to meet Aisha either," Lina said, recalling that at this point the second yellow ranger would have handed her spot over to Tanya, remaining in Africa to help with the animals.

"Well, you have yet to meet the current zeo rangers, Lina, but there is someone who will be happy to see you. He's in the zord bay," Zordon explained.

"Down the hall and the second on your right," Alpha said. Lina just smiled at the two and ran down the hallway.

"Ah, young love, isn't it great Zordon?" Alpha asked excitedly. Zordon just chuckled at his young friend. Lina found her way to the Zord bay, becoming very overwhelmed by the number and size of them. She heard clanking somewhere and followed the noise. She smiled when she found Billy bent over some wiring panels.

"Well that didn't take long, how was the fight?" he asked, thinking it was one of the Zeo Rangers. Lina just smirked.

"The other rangers are taking care of it," she said. Billy stopped what he was doing and carefully turned around at the sound of the voice. His eyes widened in shock and happiness when he saw who it was.

"Lina," he said, dropping all of his tools and nearly jumping out of his chair. He engulfed her in the tightest, most possessive hug he could lay on her. Lina couldn't stop smiling as she hugged the former blue ranger. After several minutes, they separated and Billy just framed her face with his hands, pure excitement rushing through him as Lina could tell by his smile.

"I can't believe it, I didn't think I'd ever see you again," he said. Lina just smiled.

"Same here," she whispered. The two embraced in another hug before deciding to walk back to the main part of the Command Center, hand in hand.

"So I slipped and called Tommy," Lina said, after explaining the story of her arrival. Billy just chuckled.

"Well, it's not like we wouldn't have some explaining to do for the others," Billy said.

"Do you miss it?" Lina asked. Billy frowned a little.

"Miss what?" he asked.

"Being a ranger," Lina replied simply. Billy sighed, looking down. He looked back up, meeting Lina's gaze and they both smiled.

"Sometimes. I mean, I feel really useful in the Command Center, but being a ranger changed for the better as a person and I'll never forget that," Billy said. Lina just smiled at him. Their gazing at each other lasted for several moments before Billy leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on Lina's lips. Lina returned the kiss whole heartedly as she wrapped her arms around Billy's neck and his went around her waist. The kiss intensified as their tongues fought against each other. Lina didn't realize Billy had missed her that much.

"WHOA!" came a voice. The two separated quickly only to see Adam, without his helmet on, staring at the couple, shocked at what he walked in on. His mouth was wide open, not knowing what shocked him more, seeing Billy make out with a girl or having a strange girl in the Command Center. He didn't know what else to do besides walk back into the main part of the Command Center. Billy and Lina just glanced at each other, slightly embarrassed before following him.

"Adam, what's wrong…who is that?" Rocky asked, turning his attention from his shocked friend to the strange girl holding Billy's hand.

"Apparently a REALLY good friend of Billy's," Adam said, still getting over the shock of what he saw.

"Hey, you're the girl from the fight. How did you know our names? Or my name at least?" Tommy asked, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at her.

"Shouldn't all rangers know other rangers?" Lina asked.

"You're a ranger?" Tanya asked. Lina simply nodded.

"She is telling the truth rangers. Lina is in the Red Inferno Ranger and has helped us before," Zordon explained.

"So THAT'S how you two met," Katherine said teasingly to Lina and Billy. The couple just blushed.

"Sorry about that Adam," Billy said to his friend. Adam was more or less over the shock by now and just shrugged it off.

"So where exactly are you from Lina?" Tanya asked. Lina glanced at Billy who just smiled at her.

"Where should I start?" Lina asked. She proceeded to explain to the Zeo Rangers her background and the entire story of why she was there. All the while having Zordon, Alpha, and Billy to back her up and not knowing what laid in store for her during her adventure in the Zeo Stages.