Chapter 20: Home and Away
"Can Amelia come and play again soon?" Taylor smiled at the pleading expression on Katie Delgado's face as she looked up at Ashley and Andros.
Amelia nodded, her streaked hair bouncing as she encouraged her parents' response. "Please?"
Ashley smiled at the girls. "I suppose we can make that happen."
Amelia nodded even more vigorously. "Aunt Maya's portals can send me back and forth like that!" She snapped her fingers.
Maya's eyes widened. "Oh, so now I'm facilitating this?" She looked at the girl who had drafted her. "My portals are supposed to only be used for emergencies."
Amelia's face fell, and she placed her hands on her hips. "But you use them to come and see Uncle Zhane. That's not emergencies."
Maya looked helplessly at Ashley.
"We'll figure it out, sweetie," said Ashley.
"Are you guys going right back to KO-35?" Eric asked.
"No, it's been a little while since these two have seen their grandparents and uncle. This is a good opportunity for a visit."
"We're going to Angel Grove?" Amelia beamed, seeing a new opportunity. "Can Katie come?"
Catching the enthusiasm, Katie turned to her own parents. "Can we go to Angel Grove with Amelia? And can we bring Lizzie?"
Danny blinked, and Kendall placed a hand on his back. After a moment, he replied. "Alright, we'll go and find Lizzie. And then we'll go and see Amelia in Angel Grove."
Katie beamed, and turned to Taylor. "Do you want to come, Aunt Taylor?"
Taylor smiled gently. "Maybe some other time. Uncle Eric and I never really got to celebrate our anniversary."
When they parted from the others, Eric grinned slyly. "Yes, we do still have our anniversary to celebrate."
"Yeah, but let's stop by the hospital first. I just want to make sure Jefferson is okay."
He nodded, and they detoured over to the hospital. Entering the ER, Taylor went up to the desk. "Captain Taylor Earhardt, Air Force. I understand that one of my cadets was brought here earlier by a power ranger. The name is Jefferson."
The woman behind the desk nodded, pointing up at a television that was showing the ruins of the air base. "It's amazing that no one was hurt any worse. I saw that and thought things were about to get nuts here. Thank goodness for the power rangers." She perused her records. "The patient is conscious and will make a full recovery. Room 2E."
Taylor thanked her and went to the room in question. Jefferson was lying on the bed, looking up at another television that was showing the news. "How are you feeling, Cadet?"
Jefferson turned to her. "Stunned by what I'm seeing, Captain. But physically, I'm fine."
"Good."
"All thanks to that power ranger." He gave her a knowing look. "Don't worry, Captain, your secret is safe with me."
"Thanks."
"At least now I know where you go on those secret flights of yours."
Taylor smirked. "Yeah."
Ronny and Lily watched as Maya bid farewell to the lion and giraffe. "So, no cheetah wildzord?" Lily asked the apparently magical Princess Shayla.
"No. Though perhaps a cheetah spirit would be welcome for a visit."
Lily smiled and turned back towards the wildzords. "Unleash the cheetah." Her cheetah zord emerged, stretching before facing the lion.
The lion grunted, its yellow eyes narrowing.
"Or perhaps not," said Shayla.
Lily recalled the zord back into herself. "One too many big cats?" she asked the wildzord.
"Lion is very protective of his friends," said Shayla. "I suppose a jungle spirit takes getting used to."
Lily nodded understandingly as Merrick, Summer, Kira and Kelsey came up behind them.
"Apparently Deer has a new favorite," said Merrick, his arms crossed. He nodded towards Kira. "She performed with both voice and instrument for him."
"So I've heard." Shayla clasped her hands, looking at Kira.
"Don't worry, I'm sure your voice is far more suited to that ballad than mine is," said Kira. "And a guitar is no flute."
"Maybe you should learn guitar," said Merrick, looking at Shayla. "That way I could sleep in some mornings."
The other rangers laughed, but Merrick was silenced by Shayla's look.
Then Shayla turned to Kira. "What you did is very admirable."
"Thanks."
Maya joined the group. "I should be going."
"You're welcome to stay as long as you like," said Shayla. "The wildzords clearly like having you here."
"I appreciate that, but I have to get back to Mirinoi and let the refugees know it is safe to return to KO-35. At least with all five quasar sabers it should only take a couple rounds of portals this time."
"It was great seeing you again," said Kelsey.
"You too," Maya replied. "Maybe next time we won't have to save the world again."
Kelsey smirked. "With our track record, I wouldn't count on it."
Maya bid farewell to the others, then morphed and drew her quasar saber. Creating the portal, she gave one last wave before disappearing through it.
Ronny looked down. She was stalling, and she knew it. She had a hovertek cycle to return and teammates to apologize to. "I should get going too."
"Could I get a ride to the airport?" Lily asked.
"Me too," said Kelsey. "I can't fly Joel's plane back to Mariner Bay." She turned to Shayla. "I'm not one to interrupt an anniversary celebration, but Taylor will have to return the plane at some point."
Shayla nodded. "I'll see that she does. And Lion will be very happy to see it go."
Kira and Summer followed the other yellow rangers back to the hovertek cycle. "Well, I'm certainly glad we were all in Italy at the same time," said Kelsey.
Lily nodded, looking at Summer. "Yeah, it's a good thing you just happened to arrive in this universe near Master Phant's cabin."
"As long as I don't wind up back in Italy when I return," said Summer. "Have you figured out what you're going to do?"
Lily shook her head. "No, but I'm not so sure that's a bad thing anymore." She looked at Kelsey. "Perhaps a little less structure and a little more wandering is what I need right now."
Kelsey nodded. "And for me, the opposite. It's time I restored a little structure to my life. Like Joel said, I need to find a way to be happy once I'm no longer able to go on adventures all the time."
Ronny looked from one to the other, relating to both of them. But her solution would require a much heavier dose of humility.
"Well, you're all getting free tickets to my next tour," said Kira. "Backstage, if you'd like. Just no more interrupting my vacations."
On that lighter note, farewells were said and hugs were exchanged, and then Lily and Kelsey climbed onto the hovertek cycle behind Ronny, and she flew them over to the nearest airport. Deciding it would catch too much attention to drop them off right outside the terminal, she landed atop the parking garage.
"Thanks," said Lily, dismounting.
Kelsey hopped off behind her, but hung back as the cheetah ranger went on ahead. "Time to go home." She turned to Ronny.
"Yeah." Ronny nodded. "Time to go home."
Kelsey placed a hand on Ronny's shoulder. "They'll be glad you're back." Then she turned and followed Lily towards the stairs.
Ronny hesitated for another moment, then took off again.
When she landed in front of the mansion, there was a longer moment of hesitation. Then she kicked her leg over the side and stood.
"That bike belongs to me, you know. I'm not usually the one getting stolen from."
Ronny took a moment to brace herself, then turned to Will. "Actually, it belongs to Hartford Industries."
The thin facial hair caught her off-guard, but it didn't look bad on him.
He approached, his gaze remaining stern. "About time you came back."
"I know. I didn't think you would come back, either."
He shrugged, and glanced towards the mansion. "Yeah, I didn't think so for a while, but..." He shrugged again. "This is the closest thing to a home base I've got. And a family."
She looked down. "Yeah."
"Come inside. Tyzonn would like to talk to you."
She winced, not looking forward to getting chewed out by the Mercurian again.
Inside, however, she spotted Dax and Rose first. "Ronny!" Rose jogged over and pulled her into a hug. "Finally."
Ronny returned the hug, realizing she shouldn't be so surprised by the warmth of Rose's greeting.
Then she turned to Dax. "Why didn't you tell me about this? About any of this?"
"I didn't think you wanted to know." Dax looked down. "I'm sorry, I should have told you. But it would have been too disappointing if you still decided not to come back."
"Well, the important thing is that you're back now," said Rose.
"Right." Everyone turned to Tyzonn, who was watching with crossed arms. His silver eyes pierced right through Ronny, just as they had before. "I'm sorry about what I said before."
That was not what Ronny expected.
"I was angry. I'm still a little angry. But that isn't how someone should welcome a sister when she finally comes home." He glanced at Vella as she came up beside him. "Especially when she's just in time to become an aunt."
Ronny looked at Dax. "You could have at least told me about this sometime in the past nine months."
"Nine months? It hasn't even been three."
"Mercurian pregnancies are three times faster than human ones," Rose explained.
"And thank Mercuria for that," added Vella. "I'd never be able to stand nine months of this."
Tyzonn smiled at her, then turned back to Ronny. "We're glad you're home." He held open his arms.
Ronny stepped forward and hugged him. "Me too."
"Me three!" Norg entered the room and wrapped his fluffy arms around both of them.
"Bentornato a Italia."
"Gratzi." Lily retrieved her passport and turned towards the exit. Outside, she found Gabby waiting by the jeep.
"Saved the world again?"
"Yup."
Gabby pulled her into a hug, but then turned her towards the two men who stood off to the side. Lily hadn't noticed as she passed them.
"Hey, Lily."
"What are you guys doing here?"
"We came to find you." Casey's smile was far stronger than Theo's was.
Lily hugged the tiger master. "It's great to see you."
"You too." Then, with a decidedly more awkward smile, he stepped back alongside Gabby, leaving Lily to greet her other former teammate.
"Hi."
"Hi."
Lily stepped forward and gave him a friendly hug. "It's good to see you too."
"Yeah."
Gabby cleared her throat. "Well, why don't we get back to the cabin?" She looked at Casey, who nodded, and they got into the front seats of the jeep. Not looking at Theo, Lily climbed into the back, and he followed.
Silence reigned for far too long before Casey looked back at her. "So, it sounds like you had quite the adventure."
"Yeah." Lily dove into telling them what happened.
When they arrived at the cabin, however, Gabby tugged on Casey's arm. "Come on, let's let my uncle know she's back." The two went inside.
Lily sighed, knowing there was no sense in putting this off longer.
"I'm sorry," said Theo, before she could say anything. "I shouldn't have gotten angry at you. I knew you weren't always happy at the academy."
She looked down. "Yeah."
"But you know there's always a place for you there, whenever you're ready to return. I'll wait for you."
"Theo, I'm not sure that's best."
He didn't look surprised by her words. His gaze dropped.
"We'll always be friends. But I need to figure out where I belong, and I've learned that it doesn't have to happen overnight. I want to see more of the wider world. And I want to show that wider world who I am. It's time that I stepped out with both feet."
He nodded. "Okay. I understand."
She nodded back, and then led the way inside. They found Casey and Gabby out back with Master Phant.
"Welcome back, Lily."
"Thank you, Master Phant."
Master Phant and Casey looked expectantly at Gabby, and she turned to Lily. "I have something to show you."
"What?"
"Unleash the crane." A large, pink-and-white bird emerged from her, looming overhead.
"What? Since when?"
"The animal spirits that were held captive by Dai Shi and his allies and used for evil are now free to find their true partners," said Master Phant. "I believe, in the coming years, many of the animal spirits we once fought will reemerge as allies."
"I took your place working with my uncle this past week," said Gabby. "And voila."
Lily glanced at Master Phant, then back at her. "So are you going to join the academy?"
"If they'll have me."
"And you'll have great masters to learn from," said Master Phant, nodding at Casey and Theo.
"Yeah." Gabby smiled at Casey and Theo, but the smile faltered as she looked back at Lily. "But not you."
Lily shook her head. "But I'll be sure to visit."
"Don't be attached to the master, but to the lesson," said Master Phant, drawing smiles from the three rangers. "And I daresay Lily has already taught you some very important lessons."
Gabby nodded. "Yes, she has." She turned to Casey and Theo. "They have pink outfits at the academy, right?"
