Disclaimer: PRZ does not belong to me, and neither does the title of the story, the only thing I own in all this is the plotline.
Author's Note: Thanks to IvyDraken, I have expanded this story; it took me a while to get the flow going. But I hope this is a good way of closing the story. And of course quenching your itchy thirst for details.
Golden Homecoming Pt 3
He watched Tommy walk away; shaking his head sadly he closed the door. His thoughts were shattered in his brain; he needed time to sort them out, to understand if he was making the right choice about the offer that was given to him. But he was very aware of the fact he didn't have much time.
Neither did the person who held the power. Cursing, he took the stairs to the second story of his house, into his room.
He raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. Was Tommy blind that he couldn't see past their friendship? By now Tommy should know where he stood in their so-called friendship. Jason grunted, as he looked into the cloudless blue sky.
He had made discussions that couldn't be taken back. He had decided to leave, to end all contact with the Rangers, and the floating head he thought of as a father. And of course Alpha, a small smile played on his lips at the thought of the robot he had become fond of.
Thinking of Zordon, he closed his eyes as the tears blinded his vision. Blinking rapidly, he tried to focus.
The pain of seeing Tommy again was still fresh, it always was whenever he saw the former Green Ranger. They had been best friends for years, had gone through a lot together, but now it was odd knowing he wasn't his best friend anymore. Not to be at his side when something happened.
Their friendship had started after a long battle with the Green Ranger, only to discover he was the same person who Jason had competed with in the school tournament in the Karate Finals.
It had been the spell; the guilt and the sorrows of the outcome that had bonded them. Even the power did. The first time the Green Ranger Powers had been drained, it had been Tommy's choice to hand over the coin to Jason, for its survival, for the rangers. Both had known it was a choice they would never come to regret, even when the coin was lost to them for the second and final time, after Zedd had decided to fully destroy the power.
There wasn't one time in his Ranger days that he had regretted asking Tommy to join them to continue to battle evil, for them, for Earth.
Those had been the best years of his life.
God, he sighed and blew out a breath, had it been all that and more. Had he lost count or did he force himself to forget. He had forced himself to block out the life that once he held dear.
The life that was full of promises, joy and endless battles. The laughter and friends. He had thought of his leaving as an exile from life as he had known it.
But was he being given a chance to end it, to build what was once shattered?
Was he really letting go of a chance that would help heal his pain, mend his regrets?
He gazed, squinting, at the photo that was taken two months before Zedd arrived; by then he had gotten his ear pierced. Absently he touched his left ear to feel the earring that was still there, it had been a gift from Tommy and the others on his sixteenth birthday….
"He's soooo gonna kill you; you know," he heard Zack say to Tommy, from behind him. Next thing he knew Tommy tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the back yard.
Placing his drink on the coffee table, he had followed the Green Ranger to the back yard. "Enjoying the party?" Tommy asked.
He grinned, "Yup, sure." He said it easily with a smile on his face. "Thanks for throwing it for me."
Tommy waved off the politeness. "That's nothing." Pulling out a small package, Tommy offered it to his leader. "Happy Birthday," he said with a grin.
He narrowed his eyes at his friend and gently took the box, he saw an impatient gleam in the Green Ranger's eyes, and on purpose he took his time unwrapping the box and opening the lid.
On the white velvet lay a small plain gold earring. His jaws dropped open. "How…How…" He tried to get the words out, but was stuck.
"All of us put in our pocket money for this, Jase," he explained. "Just enjoy it."
"Yeah," Kim's valley girl accent joined in, "or else you are going to disappoint all of us by not wearing it, after all." She continued with innocence written on her face, "You are grounded for getting that thing done, you know."
He poked his tongue at her. One by one, each of them had something little to add, giving him every excuse to wear their present. Even the rational-minded Trini had her own opinion…
He remembered that day as if it had happened yesterday. Was a day like that worth forgetting? Because of a decision that he wasn't able to prevent? He sighed and rubbed his face. He was no closer to having an answer to this than to giving one to Tommy.
But he knew one thing for sure; he couldn't, wouldn't let the power be destroyed, no matter what bonds they shared once or what happened between Tommy and himself. He couldn't allow their broken friendship to overrule his choice of saving the power and its holder. Just this once, he pleaded with himself, just this once he would take the power and keep a distance from Tommy.
Knowing his answer clearly in his mind, he knew just where to find his one-time best friend.
He had been given the final rejection from Jason; the final nail in the coffin in their once tight friendship. Old friends weren't fools; Tommy grunted bitterly, he was.
The biggest one in the world or even in the galaxy.
Why had he dared hope again that Jason would put aside their differences and listen to him once, just once, and not throw the "thanks for coming, but I got better things to do" motto. That bloody line was getting to his nerves; if that was what Jason was aiming for, well he was doing a god damn fine job of it.
He sighed and tried to calm himself down by listening to the crashing of the waves. But it gave him no comfort. The pain of the rejection he had just been given was too strong, the shards of the daggers from Jason's tone stabbed in his blood, into his veins, then into his soul, until he was numb from pain.
He rubbed his face and felt the dampness on his fingers. Had he been that lost in his thoughts, not even noticing the tears that were on his cheeks.
Cursing, he dried his face, sighed and stared aimlessly out towards the sea.
He had no more energy to fight Jason, he never wanted to, but fate was cruel, as it was kind.
It was this kind of cruelty he couldn't stand – sure he had lost his powers, gained them again – it was loss of a friendship he couldn't let go of. Couldn't come to terms with. He tried and he failed, something he wasn't used to.
It was too late to save what he shared with Jason.
It ate him up; slowly and deliberately.
It was one thing he couldn't stop, he didn't; he could have tried, or should have tried, maybe; he argued with himself if it wasn't too late to start healing.
But how should he start healing from the pain? Where was he to search?
Getting answers for these wasn't going to be easy. He hated to admit it but it was true. He had now found his biggest challenge to date, but wanting to look back would hurt.
They all waited in silence, something that was unusual for all five of them, including Zordon and Alpha. Knowing Trey's situation, they all wished Tommy would hurry up. Mondo wouldn't be this patient.
"I hate this," Rocky did all but scream at the top of his lungs.
"Tell me about it!" Tanya joined him. Both Blue and Yellow Rangers wore identical pouts on their faces. The look was enough to make Adam snicker.
"Gosh, you two look like, kids who are waiting for Santa to arrive." He shook his head, looking at Billy; he frowned. "You okay, Billy?" Adam asked.
"Uh," he replied, a bit distracted. "Oh yeah, I'm okay." He had a slight idea as to who Tommy was asking to become the Gold Ranger, but he was having doubts that Tommy would able to convince the other man to join them.
"So who do you think Tommy is going to ask to join us?" Kat questioned, trying to keep the boredom at bay.
"No clue," Tanya stated firmly. "What about you guys?"
Uh-oh. Rocky panicked. Building up the courage, he replied, "Same here, no clue that is," and laughed nervously. Tanya narrowed her eyes as she caught the nervousness from Rocky.
"Are you hiding something, Rocky?" she asked with traces of sharp edges in her voice.
"Who, me…. NO!" he said it dramatically, but his face had different features on it.
"Could have fooled me, Rocko." Billy shook his head at the Blue Ranger, when their eyes met a message passed. Both nodded; but to keep it to themselves, Rocky poked his tongue out, making the former Blue Ninja Ranger laugh.
"Sure, whatever," Rocky muttered under his breath.
"Yeah, you all could be hiding something," Kat said, knowing what she was about to say might offend her friends, but she had discussed it with Tanya after their meeting with the guys in the juice bar few days back.
She wasn't blind; she had picked up on the tension surrounding the new teen – as Rocky had put it – and Tommy. She knew that Tommy would try to make the guy comfortable in a new area, but this time around he was doing the opposite. Kat had seen the exchange the other day at the Juice Bar and it confused her.
She had seen Tommy greet the teen, but not long after that the other guy got up and left. But she did get a good look at his face and it tugged at her memory. She had seen him before, somewhere, but couldn't place it.
All she knew it had something to with Tommy. Her face twitched as she started searching her mental database of all the pictures she had seen in Tommy's house. She stopped abruptly at two photos.
One picture of six figures in a group. Another with Tommy and the teen she had seen in the Juice Bar. She tried to recall the name; Jay, John, but all she knew that his name started with J. Frowning, she gladly gave up, knowing she would find out soon enough.
"I wouldn't bet on that, Kat," Billy replied, in return he all he got was a snort out of the Pink Zeo. The Former Blue Ranger smiled. Oh, she was pissed, but she never held on for long. This time it wouldn't for the same reasons as before, when all the guys used to play amusing pranks on the second Pink Ninja to make her feel at ease after being entrusted with Crane Ninja Coin. But this round he hoped she wouldn't take her anger out on anyone.
He snapped out of his trance, only to find that Adam was trying to get his attention. He saw Adam motioning him to follow. His brows blended in a gentle frown. What did Adam want to know without the others around to overhear it? Or was it just his imagination. It must be the latter. Oh boy, he exhaled.
"Didn't think you would have shown up," Tommy stated two hours later, without looking at Jason. He had heard the shifting of the sand and the heavy breathing; had seen Jason coming his way, in changed clothes, just as he was about to give up and go back to the Power Chamber.
"Yeah, well, neither did I," he told Tommy uneasily, "but…" he trailed off, as the wind kissed his cheeks, and combed through his hair. Once it would have been easy for him to say what he wanted to say; now it was different.
Taking a deep breath he looked Tommy squarely in the eyes and continued, "But this doesn't change anything between us." Who was he kidding, himself or Tommy? He knew his taking on the power changed few things between them. But it didn't totally wipe out the frost between them.
Melted it slightly, but neither of them knew.
Without giving a reply Tommy walked towards his car, not waiting for Jason to catch up, he brought the engine to life and waited.
Jason shrugged, and tied the hair scarf he had brought with him around his head, and climbed in. Tommy drove in silence, in the direction where the Command Center, now known as the Power Chamber, was hidden.
It was a long silent drive down the familiar road; stirring up memories he wasn't sure if he was capable of handling. For one simple reason, he wasn't prepared for it, yet the landscape looked like it was waiting for him. It was an odd sensation, but the pain of it hit him like tons of bricks. Hitting every part of his body with more force than he knew, forcing him to take sharp deep breaths.
He wanted to turn back, knowing he would be taking a coward's way out. It was something that seemed a stretch for his personality. Something one person wouldn't expect him to do. "Not much has changed," Jason commented, trying to keep his mind away from the memories.
Tommy smirked. "You wanted things changed?" The daggers from his voice were finally dripping. Jason's reaction or lack of surprised him; his friend had always been hard to read. For that, Tommy somehow seemed to be grateful. Not that he was trying to be rude, but it was the fact from his side.
"Well…." He trailed off for the second time. How the hell was he going to answer that without sounding like a moron?
"Don't," Tommy pleaded with Jason, his throat tight, without looking at the former Red Ranger. He didn't want questions unanswered, the ice between them to be frozen forever. All he wanted was his friend back.
"Don't what? Tommy?" Anger flared in his eyes. All Jason wanted was to get to the Command Center and take the power, just basically get it done and over with.
Don't keep that wall, Jason, just don't, Tommy thought. He was getting tired of the way things were going between them. He wanted Jason to finish what he started to say rather then trail off in mid-sentence, it was irritating, and it tested his patience. The last thing he wanted to happen. Between Mondo, the rangers and Jason's attitude, he was all but ready to scream. Somehow he wondered how Jason was able to keep calm during the times like these. He had Zordon, but Jason didn't when Rita had got him to her Green Ranger, and he had sent Zordon to another dimension. From what he knew Jason didn't even seem to be under pressure.
The man had been determined; strong and solid as a rock. Didn't seem to be fazed with the fact that there was an evil ranger running around. If he was, Jason was very good in hiding it. For that he had the utmost respect for the former Red Ranger.
He looked at Jason from the corner of his eyes, but he realized that he never audibly answered Jason's question. But the way he saw it, it was better to let Jason brood.
While Tommy was driving Jason to the Power Chamber, the rest of the rangers were waiting, silently waiting for either Tommy to show up or some action to take place. But what Rocky, Tanya and Kat found interesting was that Adam had taken Billy aside for a talk. It wasn't like Adam to do such thing; he was the quietest person among them. So it was a puzzle as to why he would not talk while in the company of his other friends and fellow rangers.
Before any of them could make a move, let alone think, the alarms activated.
Crap, Rocky thought as Billy and Adam came running in. It was just what they needed, right before Tommy could make it to the Power Chamber.
Moving fluidly, Billy was already getting the communication system ready to contact the red Zeo Ranger. After some fiddling with the computers, they all heard Billy swear.
"What is it?" Rocky asked, looking worried.
"Tommy's still out of the teleporting zone, but something's jamming the communications," Billy said, looking at the others with uncertainty on his face. Whatever was jamming the communications wasn't coming from their end; this work was most likely to be done by Mondo. If that was the case, there wasn't anything they could do; their only choice was to wait.
"What you mean, something?" Kat asked.
"It's not from our end, Kat." Billy ran his fingers through his hair. He was a patient man by nature, but this was testing his limits. Mondo wanted to stop Jason from coming, but the king of the Machine Empire didn't know that he was dealing with the most stubborn man ever placed on Earth, who had given Rita headaches and tested Zedd's temper. And now, Jason was about to give Mondo a run for his oil and bolts.
Either way, the results would be amusing.
Once Billy's words were absorbed, Tanya looked on in shock. "Mondo." It was followed by an uncomfortable silence.
While Billy was lost in his own train of thoughts, the others were unsure as to what they could do to help Tommy and the chosen Gold Ranger. As the silence deepened, it was Billy who broke it. "Okay, here's the plan. Rocky, you get out there and see what you can find," handing Rocky a scanner.
Rocky nodded in agreement. "It's Morphing Time. Zeo Ranger 3 Blue," and he left in a column of blue.
"Kat, Tanya, make sure the Treys are okay. Keep them up to date with things so far." Both nodded and were out of his sight before he knew it.
"Adam, I'll need your help here, with the consoles," Billy said.
"Right, I'll get the tools." There went the sound of teleporting and back again in a quick flash. "All the tools are here," Adam announced, waving the box in the air.
Billy nodded. "Let's get started."
Rocky landed not far from the Power Chamber, and sighed. What a mess this past few days had been. First Jason showed up, then Tommy went through another emotional rollercoaster, the second one in the past three months. He gave another shake of his head. He didn't know Jason well, but from what he did know from Kim, the original red ranger never held grudges against anyone. Yet the one Jason was holding against Tommy seemed a bit odd and totally out of character.
While Tommy did what he did best, channel his energy through a different line. Fighting it off, or better, ignoring it. Since Jason's arrival, Tommy had been more withdrawn than he remembered in a long time. Edgy, irritated and snappy, along with twitchy eyes, a perfect picture of a brooding Tommy Oliver, Rocky snorted. It wasn't a perfect picture; it was a statement that things weren't going right for the Red Zeo Ranger for some time.
"Rocky, have you found anything?" Adam's voice buzzed in his ear jolting the Blue Zeo out of his thoughts. Damn it, Rocky silently grunted, if sounds could kill, Adam would be the first on his list.
"No, I haven't. I don't even know what I'm supposed to be reading for." Nice excuse, his mind replied.
He heard Adam sigh. "Something along the lines of an invisible force field."
Rocky nodded and waved the tiny machine in his hand and walked north. Getting a faint beeping, he moved a bit in the direction of west; the signal continued to get stronger. Once he got a proper lock, he pulled out his blaster and fired; whatever the device was, it appeared, before blowing up in a ball of fire. "Communication System should be online soon." He had pulled his arm to his face and spoken into the communicator.
It was a few minutes before Adam's reply came. "They are back online. Well done, Rocky."
"Thanks." He took the compliment and teleported out in blue.
Tommy parked his car, killing the engine; he looked at Jason, who hadn't spoken in the past twenty minutes after their short argument. While the silence suited Tommy better, he hated to admit that he was dying to know just what was going through Jason's mind.
The former Red Ranger had simply chosen to keep his thoughts to himself. Not wanting to interact in another conversation, which happened to be annoying, really. Clearing his throat, Tommy got Jason's attention, along with a frown on his face. "We are walking the rest of the way," he told Jason.
"You can't be serious?" the deep voice said, not bothering to conceal his surprise. It hadn't occurred to him till now that they hadn't used the teleporting system earlier. When Tommy just looked at him, Jason's vocabulary was soon very colorful, he muttered every oath under his breath. "Why didn't we just teleport?" He gave Tommy an accusing stare.
The Former Green Ranger looked at his friend calmly, something he hadn't done in days, nor had he expected himself to do so. "Since we brought Trey to the Power Chamber, we overused the teleporting gems; it will take another few hours for them to recharge, you know."
Jason blinked. Teleporting gems? He had been a leader for one and a half years and he didn't know about teleporting gems. No wonder Billy did most of the work. Sure they helped out, but not to the same level as Billy. That boy knew the Command Centers, both old and new, like the back of his hand.
"What teleporting gems?"
Tommy sighed and looked at Jason; he was acting like a five year old who had lost his favorite toy. "They are what helps all of us get into the Command Center"
"Oh" He clearly looked blank for few moments, then up at Tommy. "Right."
Before Tommy could utter a word, his communicator flicked to life. "Now I really hate to destroy this moment," there was a snicker from someone, as small amount of humor dripped from Billy's voice, "but quadra fighters in jets are heading your way." Billy voice came through the tiny speaker.
Calmly Jason raised an eyebrow at Tommy, waiting for the Red Zeo to speak, but instead he got was a blast near his feet, throwing him off balance and throwing him few feet away.
"JASON!" Tommy yelled, fearing creeping up his neck and watched as more blast hit around the former ranger.
"Get the hell outta here, Oliver" Jason deep voice commanded as his eyes roamed to get a way out. Finding none, he motioned for Tommy to get the heck out of there.
"No," Tommy stood firm on the ground, ready to battle. He was tried of having Jason doing what he usually did, plan out the strategies, leaving him to follow, but not right now, Jason needed him, whether the former red ranger wanted to admit it or not. "I already did that once, now we are going to it my way."
Jason snorted, but didn't comment, only nodded, and waited – like a tiger waiting to pounce on its prey. His midnight black eyes were already alert and darted around his surroundings.
His hand were fisted, his body in defense posture and there was an army cogs around him. He gave a quick glance over to Tommy, who seemed to have more luck with less, cogs. While he wasn't paying attention to his surrounding, cogs used that to their advantage and attacked, but unknown to them Jason was waiting, he delivered a 360 degree kick to the on coming cog, sending it flying into a group of cogs (behind the cog he kicked), then used that chance to escape from the broken circle they had made around him.
Once he got a seemingly a safe distance, he looked back for Tommy, "Oliver" Jason shouted the Red Zeo's name.
Tommy looked towards Jason after he had grabbed an arm of one cog and winged into the rocks behind him, "Go" he yelled back as he ducked from an oncoming cog, letting it fly over his body and crash land on the ground, "Jason, GO. Get to the Command Center" Tommy motioned with his hands for him to get moving.
Jason nodded, made a movement, before coming back and doing a flying kick on one cog, making him sit, then foot-sweeping few more.
The air filled with electricity crackles, the heat of the battle still hung around. Tommy gawked at Jason who's face was red with anger. Jason's eyes snapped towards Tommy the daggers clearly visible in the midnight eyes.
Tommy gulped and knew he had a retort coming when he saw Jason's move, but only received blasts near their feet, sending both of them to their knees. Tommy knew he was ready to snap, with fierce determination he got up, but not before another blast was thrown in their way.
He looked at Jason, helped him up, when the second blast moments before had thrown them off their feet, "Let's go" as they struggle to keep ahead of the cogs. He didn't know long it had been, before his communicator went off again. "Tommy just few more blocks." Billy's voice came through. The Red Zeo Ranger didn't bother responding, instead he used his anger into his feet.
Once both were in a safe distance, a familiar sound to Jason's ears arrived, whisking them away.
He stood, lost in his thoughts, outside the Command…no, he shook his head; it was now known as Power Chamber. It was a reality of how much had changed since he was last here. How much time has passed. How far things had come.
Even now after taking the power he was struggling to hang on to something he wanted to let go of. Did he dare take that step? He did leave behind the anger, the dislike, and move forward.
Try to mend what was once the most important thing in his life. The friendship he shared with Tommy. If he was to savage what was left, where did one start? When was the right time, if ever?
He knew the answer as soon the question came out. The wind played with his hair, teased his shirt, even the light breeze wasn't heavy enough to sooth the ache. He angled his head towards the Power Chamber; he should be in there, he thought, should be celebrating along with the others. But somehow he didn't want to make it awkward for everyone, making them sense tension all through the cheer. It wasn't fair for them nor for him.
He looked back at the before him. Beyond the small dessert lay the city of Angle Grove, the very same city he vowed to protect before, and just today he made that vow again. Against the fading light of the day, the lights blinked into houses like stars did in the sky once the sun had gone down.
He heard footsteps approach, he stiffened.
"You know, Kim said you really enjoyed parties." Rocky's voice floated into the air making Jason relax a little.
"She did, did she?" his deep voice asked with traces of affection.
"Yup" The Blue Zeo confirmed, looking out at the scene, jamming his hands in his pocket, unsure of what to say. He turned to see Jason still staring at the view, he opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
It was Jason who asked the question, "You want to know why I accepted to become the Gold Ranger?" Rocky nodded, "Well, the thing is…" Jason sighed and rubbed his neck, unsure as to how to proceed. He gathered his though and began again, "The reason, is, no matter what I choices, I made or make. What directions I took, I'm still a ranger here," he placed a fist on his heart, "and if my taking the power helps Trey, than I'm glad I did something worthwhile."
Rocky stared at Jason; the other man hadn't mentioned anything beyond that. "I mean," Jason spoke again, "We did lose the green Ranger powers, had trouble fighting Rita. I couldn't let the same thing happen twice, no matter what choices I had made in the past, with leaving the rangers and going off to another country."
"So you ran?" Rocky accused Jason of being a coward; in his way challenging the new Gold Ranger to open up.
Jason eyed Rocky calmly, "No" he whispered softly and shook his head. "My reasons for leaving were selfish, nothing to do with anyone."
You wanna bet one that Rocky though, but he snorted.
Jason narrowed his eyes dangerously at Rocky, wondering how much did the blue ranger knew. "You know don't you?" Jason gave a low growl.
Rocky blinked seemingly unfazed by Jason's anger, while he did feel uncomfortable, he wasn't going let the Gold Ranger know that, "Know what?" he asked confused.
"That, Tommy and I…." he trailed off, took a step back, tried closing off.
"Are not talking?" Rocky questioned with some caution. He knew he had to take approach to this slowly.
Jason's head snapped towards Rocky, "uh...Yea" he slowly came around the idea.
"Oh," he swung on his heels, "some of us noticed" he said innocently.
"I guess, it would have been noticed," Jason sighed, and that was the last thing he had hoped to happen.
TBC….