He stared at his sword for a long moment. He hadn't touched it since that day, since everything had changed. The destruction of his planet, the death of everyone he held dear, Andros and the other rangers, his people, his friends, his wife Isinia, all of them gone. The sword had once meant so much to him, it was an honor to have such a sword. He had trained very hard with this sword, fought and won many battles. He had been given it at the SPD Academy on Sirius, back when he had been young, long before he moved up and became one of the Commanders for SPD, long before Earth had ever heard of Sirius or SPD. ...But now the sword was a reminding of his failure and all he had lost.

"Doggie."

"Hmm." He snapped out of his thoughts and turned around to see Kat facing him. "Is there something you need, Dr. Manx?"

"Yes. I just need your signature here, for today's reports." She handed him the clipboard. Cruger signed the sheets of paper and handed them right back to her. "Thank you." Kat had seen Cruger eyeing the sword, she had once knew he to be a very proud warrior. He had always been the first to stop out onto the battle field, but that all changed after that fateful day. "Do you ever miss it?"

He would never answer her back. He just turned around and walked right out of the Command Center, as if nothing had ever happened.

It had been over a month now. Eric's attitude would change from happy to depressed to anger without any warning. No matter how hard Hayley and Tommy pushed, they couldn't break the wall Eric had built up around him. So Tommy thought of taking another approach: fighting fire with fire, he was going to get through to Eric no matter what it took. He needed to, Eric was his friend, a friend that was going through a serious amount of hurt.

The two were out back in an intense sparring workout; both were excellent fighters. They had both trained for years, ever since they were little. One wasn't better than the other, they were equals, equally strengthened and knowledgeable of the martial arts.

"You're going to have to talk about what happened to someone, Eric," exclaimed Tommy. "Keeping it all inside is making things worse."

"I'm fine! There's nothing to talk about." Eric threw a punch at Tommy's face, who easily blocked the move, grabbed a hold of Eric's arm and twisted it behind his back.

"No, you're not fine." He's only fooling himself if he thinks he's fine. "You haven't been fine. Not for a long time."

That did it! Eric broke free and punched Tommy hard in the face, knocking him to the ground. Eric stood over him, breathing heavily.

Tommy looked up, feeling like he had the wind knocked out of him, but felt he was making progress. "Feel better?" asked Tommy, as Eric helped him to his feet.

"Yeah."

It was a slow process, but Tommy was willing to do anything and everything to help get through to Eric. He owed it to Hayley. She had done so much for him, it was time he returned the favor. "Good."

"So how did your therapy session with Eric go today?" asked Hayley as she walked into the living room holding Megan in her arms, over to where Tommy was lying on the couch with an ice pack on his face.

"Good. I think we're making real progress." He sat up and moved the ice pack off his face, to reveal a swollen eye.

Hayley just shook her head. It was beyond her why guys always seemed to think a good fight would make things better. "If you keep this up you're going to be needing to wear your reading glasses permanently."

"Well, that's not so bad, besides most of my students say I look better in them," he answered with a smile. "Makes me look smart."

Hayley laughed and put Megan into Tommy's arms. "Would that be all the female students?"

He laughed. "Well, they're probably just sucking up, hoping for an A."

"You always did have a way with the girls." Hayley smiled as Megan giggled in her Uncle Tommy's arms. It was nice seeing Megan having another Uncle role model in her life again; after Wes's death it was something she missed. Wes had adored Megan so much, she remembered him saying that he hoped that he would have a daughter one day. Someone for Megan to grow up with. It hurt to know that dream would no longer happened and that Megan wouldn't even remember Wes.

"Who knows," he lifted Megan in the air, as she laughed. "Maybe I'll have this little princess in my class one day."

Hayley smiled at the thought, but they weren't planning on staying in Reefside forever. They would be going back to Silver Hills as soon as Eric was back on his feet. That's where their home, her job, their life was. They couldn't just stay here. Could they?

"I bet she'd like that." She had to admit it did feel nice being back here. She hadn't realized how much she has missed Reefside.

Tommy was getting ready to head back to his home. He had stayed for dinner, and had already said his goodbyes to Hayley. He found Eric sitting out on the back deck staring off at the night sky as he drank a beer.

"Hey."

"Hey." Eric turned back around. "How's the eye?"

"Better."

"What are you going to tell the kids at school?"

Tommy laughed. "That I got my butt kicked by the Quantum Ranger."

That got a smile on Eric's face. And then the smile faded away. "You think I'm acting like him, don't you?" Eric announced suddenly finding himself able to open up about what he's been going through. "I told him the same shit you've told me, and I'm still screwed up," said Eric, remembering the times he had confronted Wes, who had gone through a troubling time. Wes didn't want to listen to him and had gone done a path that had nearly cost him his life and now the roles were reversed. The only difference was Wes wasn't here to knock some sense into him.

"We all deal with things differently, Eric," announced Tommy as he took a seat next to him. "Sure, it's easy to say the right things, but until you're in that person's shoes you have no idea what they're going through."

"And I'm sure you think you know how I'm feeling," he answered flatly. "But you don't know a thing about me, you're not-"

"I know I'm not," Tommy answered. "And I'll never try to be, but I'd like for us to at least be friends." He knew what Eric and Wes had was special; it was like the relationship he had with Jason. And he knew if anything ever happened to Jason, he would be a wreck. There would be no one one the face of his planet, in the entire universe that could take his place. "What do you say?" Tommy reached out his hand; although they had known each other for a few years, they never really had been friends.

Eric knew Tommy would never mean what Wes had meant to him, no one ever would. Wes was one of a kind, the first person who had gone out of his way to be his friend. You can't replace someone like that, but you can allow others to fill the void that has been missing. It might not be the same, or even better, but it was a step to moving forward, to letting go. Something he needed to do. "Just as long, as I can still kick your ass whenever I want," smirked Eric as he reached for Tommy's hand.

"I was going easy on you then." Tommy grinned. "Next time you won't be so lucky."

"We'll just see about that." And for the first time in a long time, things actually felt like they were going to be okay. Eric knew he still had a long way until he was himself again, but for the moment he felt like his old self again.

"Eric?"

He heard her call his name, but he didn't answer. He just stood there in Wes's old room. It didn't seem so long ago that they were all here together, staying in this cabin, while helping Tommy and the kids. Everything had been fine then, everyone was happy. Well….for the most part anyways, they did have a few problems, but they worked through them.

"Oh, there you are." Hayley came in and wrapped her arms around Eric's neck. "What are you doing in here?"

Eric shifted a little until he had his arms wrapped around her. "It's just hard to believe they're both gone." He stared deeply into her eyes. "It… It wasn't so long ago that we were all here." He bowed his head down. "A lot can happen in three years."

"It sure can." She gently caressed his cheek. "Eric, we don't have to stay here, if it's too hard."

He smiled faintly. "It is hard, but I like being here, remembering the good times we all had here, even with all the problems along the way." He leaned closer. "After all, Wes and Jen were happy here together for a time, maybe we can be too." He kissed her gently on the lips.

"Are you saying you want to stay in Reefside?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Why don't you stay?" asked Tommy.

After her talk with Eric about wanting to remain in Reefside and not to return to Silver Hills. She didn't know what to say to him or was even sure how she felt about it. They had friends back in Silver Hills; her job was there, Sky and Alec were there. Could they really just not go back? Could they really just stay here? "Tommy, you-"

"Hails, did you ever think what Eric may really need is a change? He's been through a lot."

"He can't just not go back; Silver Hills is his home."

"His home is with you," he exclaimed as he gripped her shoulder looking into her eyes with an all knowing look.

"I just don't know," she answered with a heavy sigh. They had been here for almost six months and she hated not going back to her job, who had been very understanding of their situation. "I didn't plan on staying here for good. I thought once I got him back on his feet, we would go back and everything would be fine."

"It's not always that simple."

Hayley sighed and sank down on the couch. "My job is there. I can't just quit."

"So you get a new job, here." He sat down next to her. "You've done it before."

"Tommy, it's just not that easy," she turned to him. "I can't just-"

"Don't worry. I'll get you a job here, besides, I owe you one."

"Tommy, no, you have already helped me with getting my last job." He had done more then enough. He has gone above and beyond. "I can't-"

"Hey, it's no problem. Really." He smiled. His face then became very serious. "Besides, you gave up a lot to help me." She had sacrificed a lot for him years ago, too much. He knew he would never truly be able to make up for everything she had done for him.

"Tommy…" She didn't know what to say. Was it really that simple, could they just stay? She had to admit that Eric had been doing a lot better, as of late. He was smiling again. He seemed more like himself. Maybe Tommy was right, maybe it was time for a change. "I don't know what to say."

"Just say yes."

She smiled. "Are you sure it's not a problem?"

"It's no problem. You're not the only one who's friends with a billionaire." He too had his connections, people who would happily help him out.

"Thank you." She hugged him. "You're a really good friend."

"Leaving without saying goodbye?"

Drake as he went by now, turned around and faced Jill. The woman he had saved months before, and somehow he had managed to stay at her home while working a few odd jobs here and there, saving up money.

"Sorry," he sighed heavily. "I was never very good at goodbyes." He smiled as he walked up to her giving her an all too quick hug. This was hard for him. They had grown close over the short time they had spent together. Closer than he knew they should have...

She smiled faintly and took his hand in hers. There was still so much she didn't know about him. He never talked about his past. His family, where he came from, how he came to come to her rescue. He was a mystery to her, but that was one of the things she liked about him. It gave her a sense of adventure. "You sure you can't stay?" She leaned closer looking him deeply in the eyes. "Not even for me?"

It wasn't that he didn't want to. It was because he couldn't. It goes against everything he stood for, everything he had worked so hard for. But then again, wasn't bringing Sky here against everything he stood for? Or maybe it was the fear of finding happiness that was stopping him? Was it really fair that he live happily with Jill, while Sky was growing up without both of his parents at his side? Was it fair he gets to be happy when both Jen and Wes died, without being at each other's side? What right does he have to be happy, to find love, to be in love? What right does he have?

He sighed heavily, looking into her eyes. "If only I could." He smiled faintly and distantly. "But there are things about me that you will never be able to understand. Things…" He was cut off by her lips pressing against his. It felt so right, so good, as he was lost in the kiss, wrapping his arms around her tightly, returning her kiss with one of his own, but then he came to his senses and pulled back. "I...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that." He stepped back, holding her hand for as long as he could. "Forgive me." His eyes were sad and heartbroken as he turned around, unable to watch as her face was overcome with sadness.

He was only a few blocks down the street when a voice inside of him spoke. Alex. I hope that some day you find happiness again. That had been the last thing Wes had said to him. The two had a long history of disliking each other and maybe even resenting each other, but in the end they had come to understand each other. Wes had wanted him to be happy. He stopped dead in his tracks. "What am I doing? He wanted me to be happy."

It was time to stop running from his past, time to stop making up excusing for not living and start trying to live again. He turned around quickly headed straight back to home. Home. It felt so good to have that feeling of home. It was the greatest feeling in the world knowing he had a place to call home. And that it was with someone he cared very deeply for. "Jill!" He knocked hard on her front door. Not a moment later the door opened and there she was. "I'm sorry, I…" And before he could finish she pulled him back inside, back where he belonged with her.

He knew he might never be able to reveal all of his past to her, but as they sat down on the couch, arms wrapped around each other, sharing kisses, he began telling her his story. And he finally understood why Jen had fallen for Wes. For so long he had wondered how she could have fallen in love with someone from another time. How she could break all the rules. He hadn't understood it back then. The truth was, she couldn't quite help it, maybe no one can help who they fall in love with. It just happens. And sometimes you just have to throw the book out the window and follow your heart.