Hunter shut his eyes to the commotion around him. He had once again lost the control that he so direly needed. He heard Cam's voice, soft, call to him, "Come on Hunter, respond. You're in shock, it's ok."

"I'm not in shock, i'm fine." Hunter said.

He opened his eyes, the light making him squint. Hunter rubbed his eyes and looked. The light was taking form and he could see the outline of Cam's face. Hunter's jaw dropped. He rubbed his eyes some more, shaking slightly. Cam squeezed his shoulder, "Come down, Hunter, It's alright. Lothor's monster is gone, so is Marah."

"I can see... kinda..." Hunter said.

HUnter heard the group collectively gasp. Hunter sat up and stared into Cam's face. Cam shifted uncomfortably. "Hunter... explain... can you see me? What do you see?"

"Shapes. I see your outline, Cam... It's not clear. It's fuzzy and you're like a giant shadow." Hunter took a deep breath, "My eyesight... its coming back."

"Hunter," Blake said, to Hunter's right, "I'm right here, we're going to get you to stand and go to a doctor. Our doctor. Like last time."

Hunter shook his head, "Home?"

"Yeah, Hunter, let's go home." Blake said.

"Not yet. I'll go to a doctor here... I..." Hunter pursed his lips. "I want to go home soon."

"Then it's time to start doing something about it instead of talking about it." Blake said, echoing the cabbie's words.

Hunter nodded, "Doctor. Let's do this one step at a time."

Blake and Cam helped Hunter up and they led the shook up man from the coffee shop. The Winds looked on. Tori made the decision to contact sensei and tell him the news. Hunter was close to coming home, and his eyesight was improving. The Winds felt as if they should be celebrating, but instead they were more afraid with how unneasy Hunter felt. No one was prepared for the emotional turmoil that would come with Hunter's condition. They all felt, for the first time, that they were completely helpless. To make matters worse, Dustin kept looking towards the direction where Marah ran off. Shane grabbed his shoulder, stearing him towards Hunter, their first priority.

Hunter sat in Tori's van, surrounded by the group. He leaned his head against Cam's shoulder and said outloud, "I miss this. It's so strange to be surrounded by all of you."

Blake reached over, patting Hunter's leg. "You're surrounded by people who support you, Hunter."

"I gotta call Tracy and Jason. They need to know about this." Hunter paused, "If I go back, I've gotta give two weeks notice, at least."

Shane nodded, "Yeah, we understand that. You can't leave your new friends hanging. We can respect that."

"Did you find what you were looking for, Hunter?" Dustin asked.

The group became silent. Dustin didn't often make the most intelligent of statements, but every now and then, his naivete served to ask the questions of the most simple importance. Hunter mulled over his answer a bit, "Yes and no. I am independent. I can do things on my own. My life is pretty good right now. I just don't feel necessarily complete. There's something missing."

"Twenty mile jogs and hours of meditation as punishment from our beloved Sensei Guinea Pig?" Tori quipped, "I bet you missed that."

Hunter laughed, thankful the mood was lightening up. "I've been meditating here, actually."

Blake laughed, "You? Meditate? I won't believe it until I see it."

"I make all my little kids do it too. There's a little one just like you Blake. His name is Hal and he wears blue all of the time." Hunter said, calming down.

"I'm Blue." Tori said, "He's navy. Big difference, buddy."

The group chuckled. Cam cleared his throat. "Hunter... you never told us where you lived..."

Shane, who was driving, said, "I figured I'd drive until he told me."

"I live in the apartment building next to the track, actually. Tracy's place is around the corner. I can walk to both places quite easily. You'll see it when you get there. Its the smallest of the three." Hunter pointed out.

Shane made his way there and Hunter said to the group, "You can all come in. I was thinking of making some tea anyway. I meditate at night, but I can skip it for good company."

The group easily agreed and made their way to Hunter's home. The doctor would be called tomorrow.

Marah sat inside a twenty four hour restaurant. She didn't know where to go. The waittress had taken pity on the girl, since she arrived with puffy red eyes. Marah held her chin in her hands, resting her elbows on the fake wood table. She wanted to run to Kapri, first off. Kapri, as mean as she was, always had an answer. Whether or not it was the best one, wasn't exactly the debate. Marah needed only answers at this point. Marah sipped her coffee, thinking of anything she could do. She could only fight, being an semi-evil space ninja. Lothor, most likely than not, would send one of his minions after her. "Poetic justice if he sends Kapri."

Marah stirred her coffee. She needed to live like a human. She had attacked them long enough to know what they did day to day. She needed a home, she needed a job, and she needed to lay low. After all, the power rangers wouldn't save her if Lothor came after her. Grabbing a newspaper, Marah began to flip through the classifieds. "I've got to be good at something..."

Secretary, teacher, stock girl, healthcare provider... none of these she could do. Why, thought Marah, couldn't there be a professional semi-evil doer job opening? The bell to the diner rang, signalling someone entering. Marah, frustrated, crumbled up the paper and pushed it away, her lip trembling again. "Hey, stop that..." said someone from behind her.

Marah turned at the statement, her jaw dropping at seeing Dustin there. He looked tired and worried. Marah's hand flew to her mouth, tears forming again, "He... he's dead isn't he? Oh... Dustin, I'm so sorry... I understand what you have to do now... just, know that I'm so sorry."

Dustin looked at her shocked and Marah stood up, dropping her hands to her sides. "Go ahead. I'm sorry... I am just so... afraid and I was trying to be evil... and just... go ahead."

"And do exactly what?" Dustin said, sitting at Marah's table.

Marah blinked, "You said you'd hunt me down if he... if he didn't make it, and you look exhausted. Just go ahead and do it, please. I can't talk with you. I can't handle it."

Dustin raised his hands, a sign of surrender. "Marah, Hunter is fine. He's exhausted. We all are. It's been rough. Sit with me?"

Marah looked at Dustin cautiously. She sat down and fidgetted a bit. Dustin waited until she was comfortable. Marah leaned across the table, "So... why aren't you killing me?"

Dustin leaned across the table, mimicking Marah's movement. "Because killing people isn't nice."

"Well... how about beating up? Are you going to beat me up?" Marah said, "I just killed your friend, and you're... oh I get it... this is psychological stuff... like messing with my mind. I saw a movie like that once."

Dustin looked down at the reference to Hunter. "He... isn't dead, Marah. You didn't kill him."

"Wait... then why are you here?" Marah said, "I mean... there is not a single good reason. I've hurt you repeatedly, Dustin."

Dustin dragged a hand through his hair, seemingly asking himself the same question, "Listen Marah, i know how much you hurt me, ok? I'm here because you have no where to go."

Marah leaned back and looked down, "I don't need your charity, Dustin, you did good by just letting me live."

"Well that's just... stupid." Dustin said, for lack of anything better.

"What's going on, Dustin, I'm confused."

"That makes the both of us." Dustin said.

The waittress brought Dustin a coffee and Dustin leaned back in his chair. "OK, Marah, it's time we talk this out. Clear things up."

Marah shook her head, "I think it's too late, Dustin, I'm sorry. You should go see your friend Hunter."

"He's healing just fine... those ninja powers...Also, it kinda shook his eyesight into focus." Dustin smiled at the memory of Hunter's real smile.

Marah's face lit up, "Yeah? Well, good."

"You know, you'd be very good at being good, if you just tried it." Dustin said, "I mean, I thought we were friends."

"I didn't mean for that to happen." she whispered.

"The friends part of the betrayal part."

"The friends part. I'm not supposed to have those."

Dustin nodded. He really felt for Marah. She'd been forced into this her entire life. She never had a chance. Dustin cleared his throat, "You know what I want to do, Marah, if you'll allow?"

"Chop my head off?"

"No." Dustin said, smiling, "I'd like to start over. We've got all night to go through our past. Well, lets just sit and have coffee, as friends. You tell me whatever you want, I tell you whatever I want."

Marah smiled back, "I'd like that."

Dustin reached across the table, "Hi, I'm Dustin."

"I'm Marah." She shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you. Finally." Dustin responded.

Hunter awoke early in the morning. He was an early riser in general. He liked to spend his mornings watching the sunrise. Whereas, Hunter knew he couldn't see it, there was a certain feel to a sunrise. He'd have his morning tea and perhaps meditate. He did miss it once he got home. Everyone decided to stay over, with the exception of Dustin. Hunter smirked. He certainly hoped that situation ended in a fairy tale instead of the well established chaos that might result instead. Hunter sipped his tea, hearing someone open the doors to the balcony and join him. "Hey Cam."

"How do you know it's me? You're getting near my father's creepiness." Cam retorted, his voice sleepy.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Hunter said, returning to silence.

Cam watched the blonde warrior look from his apartment, as if he were seeing everything. Cam reached over, impulsively, and pulled Hunter into his arms. Hunter gasped at first, surprised, but soon fell into the embrace. Cam held on tightly, burying his face into Hunter's hair. Hunter let his hand gently roll in circles on Cam's back. "Hey, it's alright."

Cam responded by holding on slightly tighter. Hunter continued to talk, his voice low and soothing, "I'm safe, we're ok. We'll get through whatever there is. I'm becoming whole again."

Cam let out a deep breath, "I want to stay."

Hunter froze slightly, unsure. "What do you mean by that?"

"The others leave in a few hours. I'm staying, Hunter. I need to be with you, so we can sort everything out. If you really love me, if you were serious about me... then we need to put everything back in order." Cam loosened his grip enough to kiss Hunter's forehead. "I'll stay till you're ready to come back."

It was Hunter's turn to squeeze Cam tightly. Hunter said quietly, "I think that would be perfect."

tbc...

OK, im kinda struggling with the story. I know where i want it to go (mwahahaha) but i'm having trouble getting there. So it might be a bit until muse returns.

THANK YOu all for the reviews! I really need them about now.