Disclaimer: don't own it…

Wow! Thank you all for the wonderful reviews on chapter one! I never thought it'd get that many responses! Sorry for the delay in posting, but I was away for two weeks on a trip with my family. I came back to many wonderful reviews, thank you all!

For now, fast forward to where "Soul Specter" left off of, and we will continue from there…

Here it is, chapter two! This is going to be an AU from the series, as per some of us can already guess what the back story with Nick and Udonna is… but I have my own little twist, so bear with me, you'll like it!

Enjoy and please review!

Once Upon a December

With a triumphant grin on his face, Chip held is bow confidently in his hand as he walked into Rootcore with Daggeron a few steps behind him. His mind was lingering on his past few lessons with the Solaris Knight, and what Daggeron said about Udonna.

Was what Daggeron said true, was Udonna really married? If so, did she have any children? Chip remembered all the numerous stories Udonna told about the last battle between good and evil. Her sister was killed, and left Clare behind for Udonna to mentor and bring up. But a husband? Why didn't Udonna ever tell them about him?

"Daggeron," Chip started to say, "Why didn't Udonna ever tell us about her-" the Yellow Ranger paused as he turned around to see no one behind him. Confused, he retraced his steps a few feet back. "Daggeron?" he asked. But the Solaris Knight was nowhere to be seen. Chip shook his head and continued his way back to the center of Rootcore, where he heard Clare and the others laughing.

"Ladies, what seems to be the trouble here?" he said as he placed his hands on his sides. "For I, the Yellow Knight, have come to your rescue!"

"Yea, from baby Fireheart, right," Vida chuckled. "I don't think so."

Chip nodded. "Ah, ye baby Fireheart," he said in his best English accent, "Thou beist no trouble for the likes of me." Chip laughed and began to dance around with the small dragon who chased happily after him.

Madison, Xander, Vida and Clare were brought to another fit of laughter as Chip chased Fireheart around the globe, only to stop and catch his breathe.

"Energetic little… fellow… ain't he?" Chip panted. Looking at the other Rangers, he noticed someone was missing. "Where's Nick?"

Vida shrugged. "No idea. He was here, then left saying he had to run an errand or something."

"What about Udonna?"

Xander spoke up. "She left a few minutes ago, said she didn't feel well and was going to lay down." Xander also noticed a Ranger was missing. "Where's Daggeron?"

"He was behind me," the Yellow Ranger replied, "and when I turned around, he was gone. I'm guessing he took a hidden hallway. I'm sure we'll see him soon." But thinking back to Daggeron, his previous thoughts came back to him.

"Oh, hey, I wanted to tell you all something. You won't believe it, either." He motioned for the others to sit down. "You know how Udonna sometimes appears tired or upset about something?" They all nodded as Chip lowered his voice. "I think I may know why."

"What is it, Chip?" Madison asked.

He looked over his shoulder for a brief second. "It turns out, she was married."

"Married?" the three Rangers said simultaneously as Chip nodded.

"Yes," Chip nodded. "But, he died. Daggeron told me his name. It was something like Lion-baw, lean-bew,"

"Lienbow," came a voice from behind them as Clare slowly walked up to where the Rangers sat. "His name was Lienbow." Immediately, each Ranger noticed a tone in the young woman's voice that did not go unnoticed. "Well, Uncle Lee as we called him. He was a magnificent Wizard. He gave his life to protect Udonna, my aunt, and my baby cousin, Bowin."

"Udonna has a son?" Madison asked and earned a nod from Clare.

"Damn, I hope to look that good when I have kids," Vida muttered.

Xander asked, "What happened to the baby, Bowin?"

"From what I was told Lienbow was injured badly and was running through the forest, trying to escape Morticon."

Rain poured down hard as a figure came running, rather limping, through the forest with a weapon in one hand, and a child in the other. Blood dripped from every cut in his body, which left a trail that was seen clearly in the lightning flashes.

A cry came from the child as he ran under a large tree root that was covered by a thicket of vines.

"Shh, Bowin, shh," he cooed to the baby, hoping to soothe him, not to no avail. Hearing the hidiacs quickly approaching, he held the baby close to his chest and gently rocked him. "Hush, my son. Please, for both our sakes." But the baby did not stop crying.

With a heavy heart, he raised his wand to the baby's forehead and whispered a charm, "Dormi suenos." Slowly, the baby's cries lessened and he fell into a soft sleep. "I love you, my son. I'll find you, I promise." He said and kissed his son's forehead as a tear fell from his eye.

"Lienbow! You cannot hide from me forever! Come out and fight, or I shall have you wife's head!" Morticon screamed.

With a tremor in his fist, Lienbow felt himself slowly grow stronger as he finally placed the baby down and stood up. "If I must die, I will die fighting." He raised his wand up high as he charged out of the thicket as a red glow encased him, transforming him into the Red Mystic Wizard. "Morticon! You want me, you will have me!" He threw his wand up and a powerful blast of energy struck Morticon, but he brushed it off.

Giving Lienbow a shot of his own power, he laughed as a dark purple blast knocked the Red Wizard down. Lienbow drew in a painful breath as more ribs broke. An energy ring formed around him as he felt the air being pulled from his lungs and his body crushed.

"You thought you could defeat the forces of Evil, Lienbow, but you have failed. You failed your village; you failed your other Mystic Wizards. But most of all you failed the one person that you promised to protect."

Lienbow coughed as the horrible realization came to him. "Udonna," he whispered. "You touch one hair on her head and I swear, Morticon, I'll-"

Morticon cut him off. "You'll what? As far as I see, I have the upper hand in this battle. Now, where's the child?"

Lienbow struggled in Morticon's grasp. "You'll never have him."

The monster raised his sword. "Then it shall be you I have instead." With a heavy grunt, Morticon raised his sword and threw Lienbow up in the air, striking the Red Mystic Wizard hard across the chest as he screamed in pain and fell to the ground hard, a pool of blood surrounded his body as Morticon laughed. "Such a waste."

"Find the White Wizard and the baby, then destroy them both." Morticon ordered. "Take the body with us, it may come of use to us."

Slowly, the body of Lienbow was lifted from the ground, leaving a pool of blood under him, and a satisfying grin on Morticon's face…

"So, Morticon killed him?" Xander asked as Clare nodded.

"But what about the baby?" Madison said eagerly.

Clare sighed and shrugged. "I- I don't know. But for the past twenty years or so, Udonna hasn't given up on finding him. She thinks he's still alive, somewhere. It's like she can't forget about him."

"Forget about who?" Nick said as he walked in and pulled up a chair.

Clare sighed. "I must be going. I have spells to work on." She stood up and excused herself, leaving the Rangers in awe.

Confused, Nick grinned. "What was that all about?"

Madison sat next to him. "She was telling us about Udonna's husband, Lienbow. He was killed in battle, trying to defeat Morticon. Her baby boy has gone missing, as well."

Xander sighed. "It kind of makes me wonder, you know. About how lucky we are, and out there, some poor soul is walking around not knowing his mother is alive."

Nick rolled his eyes. "How dramatic." The others chuckled as they headed out for dinner and watched the sunset over Briarwood.

The warm night wind blew quietly across the balcony of her room as a soft chime of music notes came from the music box that was open on the dresser. The melody was soothing to her, whenever she needed to be alone. She let out a light sigh as she slowly stood up and walked over to the balcony, exiting gracefully.

The full moon sent a ray of light that danced in time with the music. Thousands of thoughts ran through her head, creating images in her mind, those of which she had been trying to forget. Subconsciously, she turned a ring around several times in her hand and her mind wondered again, taking its own path.

For years she had hoped that, somehow, they survived that awful day back in December, almost twenty years ago…

For hours she scavenged the forest, calling his name, and simply praying that she wasn't too late. Every village she passed through she asked for them, but all the people did was shake their heads no.

After coming to yet another batch of forest she passed through, she finally stopped to take a rest and catch her breath. The midday sun was bright now, and dirt and sweat now caked her forehead and clothes.

Panting slightly, she sat down on a log and rested her back against it. For being only age twenty-one, her muscles told her otherwise. She rested her eyes for a brief moment and opened them again, then sat up straight. A shimmer of light was seen immerging from the ground, and it had a green tint to it. A color she recognized…

"Please, no," she whispered and dropped to the ground and dug up the stone only to find her worst fears confirmed. She squeezed her eyes shut as tears slowly began to fall from her eyes and began to wash the blood away from her late husband's wedding ring. Next to it lay a wand, its red emblem was now scratched, it's handle covered in dry blood. She collapsed slowly to her knees as she cupped the ring in her hand and started to cry.

"Udonna!" came a young voice from behind her. A young man with dark curly locks and tanned skin came running through the forest, followed by a cat. "Udonna," he said and ran towards her, but stopped.

"Did she find him, is Lienbow-" Jingie was silenced by the man's hand as he finally saw the sight in front of him.

"Oh, no," the young man said and knelt besides his fellow Mystic Wizard. "Udonna, I'm so sorry," he said and put his arms around her.

"Both of them," she said between sobs. "Lienbow and Bowin, they're gone, Daggeron."

He too felt a tear come to his eye. How could someone be so ruthless to kill off an innocent baby, as well as a Mystic Wizard? "I suggest we move on, Morticon may come back here."

Udonna nodded in agreement. "I must leave this place, Daggeron. Too many memories shall haunt me if I stay." She stood up and took the wand with her and placed it next to hers. "I will take my sister's child with me, to a place where evil shall not find us."

Daggeron looked down, then back to her. "As well I. Jingie and myself shall disappear, and when the time is right, we shall return to fight."

"Dark times are ahead of us, Daggeron. For now, no one is safe." Udonna said and turned to her fellow Wizard. "I hope to see you soon, Daggeron. Please be safe." She hugged him tightly.

"You as well." He responded.

"Udonna, take care." Jingie said and hugged her as well. With a final look around, the trio departed from the area with a heavy heart.

As the sun set slowly along the horizon, Udonna found herself traveling yet again, across the vast forest with nothing but her most valued belongings and a baby basket, that held her niece, Clare. A promising young child that she intended to make her apprentice to learn the ways of magic.

Late into the night, she came to a large tree, with what looked like a dragon head for an entrance. Circling around the large base, she slowly entered to find a hollowed out center. It would be perfect for what she would be doing, starting her life over again and raising Clare.

Udonna sighed as she took her wand from the spot on her belt and slowly waved it, reciting a spell with it. Once her new home was complete, she planned to find a way to reactivate the Mystic Wizards powers, so that one day, when evil returned there would be some hope left in the world once evil returned… which she hoped wouldn't be any time soon…

"Twenty years," she whispered to herself. "It hardly seems that long ago." What she thought was correct. She smiled to herself as she thought of the task that she had of raising Clare and taking her up as an apprentice when she was old enough, and how her own powers had grown. Now, she could call herself a Sorceress, with the power of her snow staff. Her task had been to unlock the secrets of the Xenotome.

For twenty years she watched the town of Briarwood slowly grow and prosper into a large-scale city that rested on the outskirts of the forest. In twenty years time more creatures found their way into the forest and made a home for themselves, but lived by one rule. Never go outside of the forest.

Twenty years she waited for Morticon to finally find a way to the surface again, after her sister and the Mystic Wizards finally sealed and sunk the gate to the Underworld back thousands of miles below ground. But she knew this day would come, when Morticon would come back to take his revenge.

Finally, that day had come. He found a way to contact the surface world. He found a way to break free and steal away her powers. But she had found a way to counteract the dark magic. She found the protectors of this fair planet and gave the city a second chance. She found the Power Rangers.

Udonna had found a way to save the city, to save Clare and to save herself, but she could not find a way to save her baby. As far as she knew, Bowin was dead alongside his father. But she would never give up hope that maybe there was that slight chance he escaped certain death and is somewhere in Briarwood, searching for her, too.

Udonna suddenly found herself caught in a yawn as the old wooden clock rang out the top of the hour. Slowly walking back into her bedroom, she changed into her nightgown and let her hair down until it reached its full length. She lay down against the soft comforter and sighed quietly as the small music box alongside her bed continued to play the sweet tune she knew too well.

As she closed her eyes, an image began to form in her mind; an image of horses running gracefully across a road surrounded in a cold silver storm of snow. A man sat next to her, his warm hand held hers as his lips danced across hers ever so lightly. Sighing in her sleep, she whispered his name to the night sky as the stars above her shown brightly, but slowly glowed dim, like an ember slowly loosing its glow.

That night, her mind raced back to a time she remembered, once upon a December…

Chapter 3 coming up soon…