It had been about two hours since the battle had ended. Sky had been taken to the SPD medical bay, so that the doctors could attend to his injures. Everyone had been told he was going to be okay. He would just have to take it easy for a while, which was one thing they all knew Sky wouldn't like, taking it easy wasn't in his vocabulary.

"How bad is it?" asked Boom, leaning over Kat's shoulder, watching her working on Sky's morpher. It had been damaged when Omni had blasted at Sky. Kat had been trying to see if she could repair it.

"Bad." She set what was left of the morpher onto the table. "I won't be able to repair it. I'll have to just build a new one," she sighed heavily. It had taken her six months just to make the B-Squad morphers. It would be at least a couple more months until she could have a new blue morpher ready.

Boom bit his lip. "Kat, do you think Sky will get kicked out of the academy?" He had known Commander Cruger wasn't too excited about Sky disobeying order, again.

"It's not up to me, Boom. You know that."

"Yeah. I know, but…."

"He broke protocol. Commander Cruger will do what he has to do," she answered.

Boom smiled faintly and nodded his head. This hadn't been the first time Sky had broken protocol and every time he had been punished harshly, but even that didn't seem to keep Sky from doing things his own way. Boom just hoped it wouldn't come down to this; Sky was a great officer and Ranger. He knew SPD needed him.

Cruger was standing in the Command Center, which already was being repaired. He still couldn't believe that both Gruumm and Omni were defeated and gone, no longer able to hurt anyone else. But the thing that still amazed him was his wife; she had been alive all this time. He had spent so many years believing she had died during the war that had cost him everything he had ever known.

She was in his room, resting comfortably. She had been through so much; they both had, but maybe now they could start moving forward in their lives and not let troubles of their pasts hold them back.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes, Cadet Landers, I did." Cruger turned around to face him. "I just received your resignation papers-"

"Sir, before you-" Jack figured Cruger would try to talk him out of it and try to change his mind. It wasn't that he didn't like being a Ranger; he always got a thrill out of morphing, saving the world from mass destruction, but as of lately... He knew this wasn't where he was supposed to be. He belonged somewhere else, helping people in the way he had always loved. Only this time, doing it the right way. And then there was Ally….

"Jack, it's alright. I actually was expecting this."

"You were?"

"Yes." Cruger nodded his head. "I always knew you wouldn't stay here for long."

If he hadn't been confused before, he sure was now. "But then why, sir, appoint me to red Ranger if you always knew I wouldn't stay?" questioned Jack. It seemed like such a strange move for Commander Cruger to have appointed him the leader of the team all the while knowing it would be only temporary.

"Because you needed to learn something first."

"And what was that?"

"You needed to learn what it means to be responsible for your actions." The old dog looked him straight in the eyes.

Jack grinned. He knew where this was coming from. "This is about taking Z out on the street with me, isn't it?"

"That and more." Cruger walked up to him and gripped Jack's shoulder. "But you learned your lesson, and learned what it means to be responsible. You did what you needed to do here. Before you leave for good, there is one more thing I'd like you to do." He handed him a piece of paper.

"What's this?" asked Jack as he took the paper from Cruger's hand.

"The responsible thing to do."

Jack looked from Cruger to the piece of paper, and after a moment he unfolded it. There was an address on it. He looked up at Cruger, confused. "An address, what is this for?"

"It's where you'll find your parents. It took me several months, but I finally found them. I haven't contacted them, but I think you should."

"But sir, I haven't seen my parents since I was a kid," exclaimed Jack as much as he'd loved to see them again. It seemed just too hard. He had been away for so long. "I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"Don't worry about that, it'll come to you."

Jack nodded his head. He knew it was the right thing to do, but it wasn't going to be easy. But the truth was he did miss them, more than anything. He looked up at Cruger and saluted. "Thank you, sir, for everything." He put out his hand and shook Cruger's hand. "It has been an honor serving on your team, sir."

"You're an honorable man, Jack."

"Thanks." With that said, Jack started out of the Command Center, but stopped and turned around. "Oh, before I forget. I'd like to make a recommendation for red Ranger for you to consider, if you don't mind."

"Go ahead….."

Later that night….

"How is she?" asked Eric as he walked up behind Kat who was looking through a two way mirror over at Mora, who was huddled against a corner. She had been like that ever since she examined her. The spell that Omni had placed on her was gone, but to their disappointment she had only been under it a few days, tops. They had hoped that she had been under his control all along, but that wasn't the case. She had been raised in evil and therefore became evil herself.

Kat had tried to find a way to age Mora to the age she should be, just a few years older than she appeared, but believed in the long run it would only do more damage than good and that it would be better to leave her the way she was, to age normally.

"Not well. It will be a long time before she will be able to live a normal life."

Eric sighed heavily, watching Mora huddle against the corner with her doll that she had had since she was a baby, holding on for dear life. He couldn't even begin to imagine what she was going through. For her whole life she had been lied to, had her mind filled with hateful thoughts and lies. "If she is anything like her parents, she'll pull through." Although he didn't really know Ashley, he remembered Andros as being strong-willed, a fighter, someone who would never give up, even when the odds were against him. There still had to be a little of her parents in her.

"I hope you're right." Although she didn't know the details to any extent, only what Commander Cruger had told her. She knew he would never be able to forgive himself. He would always feel responsible for what had happened to Mora, what kind of life she had lived. It was the same kind of guilt, but even worse, than Andros had felt when Karone had been taken from him as a small boy. But Cruger had someone to share in the blame; his wife blamed herself as well, believing that there could have been something more she could have done, that she could have fought harder to protect Mora.

"When will they be here?" asked Eric. Just hours ago, Cruger had contacted KO-35, getting in touch with Andros' parents. He had also called Ashley's parents, informing them of the situation, but only in small details.

"The Hammalds will be here in a few hours. Andros' parents will arrive tomorrow afternoon."

"What did Cruger tell them?"

"Enough for now," Kat sighed heavily. "There's no need to go into great detail yet, it will come in time." It would be hard telling them the truth about what had happened to Mora over these last years. She had just been a baby when she was taken, but a lot had happened since then. People had gotten hurt, many had died and she had been a part of it. It wasn't going to be an easy adjustment.

"Yeah," He couldn't know for sure, but he knew that there was more going on here than he would ever know.

"I just hope that one day she'll be able to get over this." Kat bowed her head down. So many lives had been destroyed by Gruumm, "She shouldn't have to be the one who suffers."

Eric looked up and smiled as young Sam teleported into the room with Mora. "I'm sure one day she will." He patted Kat on the back. "I'm going to head in for the night." It had been a long and trying day and he needed all the rest he could get. Hayley and the kids were arriving in the morning and he knew that once Hayley got done with him, he'd probably never be allowed to leave the house again.

Kat watched as Sam walked up to Mora. "Just maybe, things will turn out for the best."

"Hi, remember me?" asked Sam as he sat down next to Mora.

"What are you doing here? I'm the bad guy, remember." Mora rolled her eyes. "Besides, won't you get in trouble for coming to see me?"

"You're not that bad. You just didn't have the right friends before." He smiled kindly. A part of him had always believed that somewhere hidden deep inside was a young girl who was scared, as much as he had once been. "And I don't care if I get in trouble. Besides, you looked like you could use a friend."

"Friend? Why would you want to be my friend? I tried to destroy your friends and your home." She couldn't understand why everyone seemed to want to help her. Gruumm had told her these people were evil and responsible for killing her parents.

"Everyone needs a friend."

"No one's going to want to be my friend, not after what I've done."

"That's in the past." Sam smiled; he didn't know why but he truly wanted to help her, wanted to be her friend. "Besides, everyone deserves a second chance." He licked his lips. "When I was real little my dad left my mom and me. And after she died he didn't want me, but a month ago he came looking for me. He was sorry for leaving me and he wants to start being my dad again."

"And you're going to let him, even after how he hurt you?"

"Yeah. He's my dad and I want to give him another chance. Just like I'm going to give you another chance."

Mora didn't know what to think; no one, not even Gruumm, ever truly wanted to be her friend. The only real friend she had was her doll, but somehow in the back of her mind she wanted something more real. "I guess you can be my friend. If you really want to."

"I want to."

Mora smiled faintly and started playing around with her doll. "That Kat lady said that my grandparents were coming to see me."

"Have you ever met them?"

"I don't know. I don't remember meeting them." She turned to Sam. "What if they don't like me?"

Sam gripped her shoulder. "Give them a chance, they might surprise you."

Eric was in the small one-bedroom dorm room that SPD had provided him for the night. He sat down on the bed, took off his shoes, and set his watch on the night stand. He slowly took off his morpher, and recalled earlier in the evening when Cruger proposed a position for him to return to SPD. Although they both had put their past history behind them, Eric declined the offer, saying this had been a one shot deal. He had a family to think about, and then, he wasn't as young as he used to be. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?"

"Hey Alex, I mean Drake. It's me."

"Eric. How are you? Hayley called and filled me in on the details."

"I'm good. I just wanted-"

"It wasn't me, Eric."

"My morpher picked up on a signal from the red morpher, how do you explain that?" It wasn't possible, especially since the morpher was locked away in a safe at Bio-Lab.

"I don't know, but I can honestly tell you that it wasn't me who came to Sky's rescue."

Eric rubbed the back of his head. He wasn't sure what he wanted more, for it to turn out to be Alex who had saved Sky or that somehow, something he might never be able to understand, that Wes had somehow managed to come back to save Sky. Was it possible that Wes's spirit had come to Sky's aid, could it be true that a parent's love and bond with their child is stronger than death? "Yeah…"

"What did Sky say?"

"I didn't really talk to him for long, just enough to know that he believes he saw Wes."

"Maybe he did."

Eric stood up and looked out the window and stared out at the stars. And for a moment he could have sworn he saw one of the stars shining brightly at him, as if it were talking to him. He smiled faintly. "Yeah, maybe he did."

Cruger stood outside, looking up at the stars, feeling the cold breeze against his face. So much had happened, so much had changed, both good and bad. He thought with his wife being alive everything would be okay, go back to normal, but… The world they both had known was gone, their kind, their people were gone.

"What are you doing up? You should be in bed, with your wife," asked Kat as she joined him.

Cruger turned to her and smiled briefly before turning back to the stars. Kat, his good friend, had always been there for him. There was even a time when he had felt they had something more than a friendship, but they were from two different worlds. And now his wife was back, there couldn't be anything more than friendship. "I couldn't sleep."

"Your nightmare again?"

"No."

Kat smiled faintly. "It's Charlie and the others, you're thinking about them."

"It's hard not to." He turned to her. For years, unbeknownst to him, they had been working for Gruumm. Today they had triumphed over him, only to lose their lives in the end. "If I had known the truth, maybe I-"

"Doggie…" She placed her hand gently on his shoulder.

"I know. Blaming myself won't change things." There was nothing he could do or say to change things. What was done was done, there was no going back.

She gently squeezed her shoulder. "I did, however, find out what happened to them. I did some backtracking off the information Bridge had given me. I searched in the galactic files going back twenty years…."

"And?"

It was difficult reading the files, the gory reports; so much death, it was just like Bridge had described. "They were all taken from their home planets when they were very young, their families murdered." Kat bit her lips, this was hard, but it was something Cruger needed to know. "I've been in contact with Trey of Triforia, Kim and Kane's home planet. He'll be arriving tomorrow to bring their bodies home and bury them next to their parents and brother." Trey had been searching for Kim and Kane for the last twenty years, that's all he had done, feeling somewhat responsible for what had happened. He was grateful that now he could bring them home, but was saddened by the news.

"And the others?"

"A wise elder from Aquitar will be here tomorrow as well to take Tusk back with him. And Tykwa will arrive with Andros' parents, to take Charlie back with her."

Cruger nodded his head. At least now, after all these years, they would be able to go home and be able to rest in peace. And be remembered not for their tragic story, but for their sacrifice. "Were you able to find anything out about Cliff?"

"He was a little harder, but the only attack that is similar to the others is one that happened on Eltar. It was the same day the Phantom Ranger went missing, it was also…"

"Yes, I remember. A young man died in Cassie Chan's arms." It had just been a fluke that she was there when she was. That's what Andros had said. She was just doing a routine check of the planet when she found him injured, barely hanging on to life.

Cruger turned to her. "What does that have to do with Cliff?"

"I examined and ran more tests on Cliff blood sample from a year ago… He's half Eltarian, and from the looks of it a very rare one." She paused for a moment. She was still blown away by it. But every test showed the same result. "I believe Cliff may be a descendent of Zordon the wizard."

"That's impossible, no one even knew whether-"

"But some believed that the Phantom Ranger was his son."

"Even if that's true, no one even knew his identity." It had never been revealed to anyone, as far as he knew.

"Perhaps, but then how would Cliff be half Earthling?" A smile curved around her face as Cruger turned to her in shock.

"What? That's impossible, how…." And then it hit him smack in the face. Why he hadn't figured it until now he didn't know. But it all made perfect sense now. "Cassie…" It had to be. The only humans who had ever had any real contact with the Phantom Ranger was Andros' team.

"Yes. Which would explain why Cliff survived Gruumm's blast, unlike the others." It was because of his Eltarian heritage, they could survive powerful attacks while in their youth and if he was a descendent of Zordon, it would make him the all more powerful.

"If this is true, then maybe, just maybe, Cliff isn't gone." He looked back at the stars. "He could still be out there…."

Yesterday had been a long and tiring day, but a day he found himself wishing he could relive. He wandered into the room that had once been his sanctuary. It had been a little more than a year since he had stepped foot into this room and even longer since he had been out of uniform; for the first time in years he hadn't dressed in his uniform.

The doctor had put him on medical leave, but in the back of his mind, he knew the question of him remaining here was on everyone's mind. He had disobeyed Cruger's orders, which was something he had done in the past, but Cruger had made it very clear that if he ever disobeyed him again, he'd be kicked out of the academy.

Which wasn't something that bothered him as much as he thought it would. He had done what he had to do, and if he could go back he wouldn't change a thing. Well, maybe there would be one thing he would change… Sky stared up at the picture of his father. He knew that if it weren't for his father he probably wouldn't be standing there today. He wasn't sure how his father came to be there with him, maybe one day he would, but one thing was for sure, he would never forget his father's words. "I'm very proud of you." He would treasure those words for the rest of his life, whereever it might take him.

"Now, don't get any ideas. I expect to be long dead and with great-grandchildren before you end up anywhere near that wall."

Sky was hesitant to turn around. The two hadn't really talked yesterday, just a couple of nods, but sooner or later he knew they would have to talk. And it was better now than never. "Don't worry." He turned to face Eric. "Besides, I don't think Cruger will keep me around, not after the stunt I pulled."

"Want me to talk to him? I'm very good at persuading others."

"Thanks." He smiled faintly. "But I think it's time I started taking responsibility for my actions and behavior."

"I can understand that."

Sky found it hard to believe that there had been a time when he and Eric had been close. That seemed so long ago, a distant memory he couldn't quite recall. They had been through so much together, but….they were really just strangers. Something that was mostly his own fault; Eric had tried to make things right, but he pushed him away. "Eric…"

"Sky, you don't-"

"Yes I do." This was hard for him, admitting things: that he had been wrong, that he had acted badly and he was wrong to have pushed him away. "I need you to know that I never blamed you."

"Sky…"

"No, let me finish. I know you thought I blamed you for my father's death, but I didn't," annouced Sky with a heavy sigh. "I thought I did, but I know that you did everything you could. You were his best friend, his partner. You would have done anything for him."

"Yeah. I would have." Even though years ago he had forgiven himself for Wes's death, he felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It seemed odd, but maybe this was what they both needed. They both needed to come to terms with Wes death, that was where their problem had first begun. Maybe now, things would be different between them. Maybe now things could go back to what they had been all those years ago. "What was it like?" He stared into Sky's eyes. Even though he had spoke to Wes for just a few seconds, he still had trouble believing it was even him. "Seeing him?"

"It was great. It was like everything I thought it would have been." He bowed his head down, sighing. "I just wish I could have gotten him back."

Eric smiled faintly and gripped Sky's shoulder. "Me too. Me too kid."