A/N: At long last, here is the epilogue and the final ending of Power Rangers Element Storm. I'll try to get up a preview and the first chapter of Power Rangers Trienith Destiny soon, but until then, I hope you enjoy this short reunion chapter
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Beth finished her song as she sat on her rocking chair, slowly making it sway back and forth. In her arms, a small baby lay wrapped up in a yellow blanket. Her tiny face looked peaceful and happy as she drifted off to sleep. Leaning on the arm of the chair, Marie laughed softly, grinning.
"She loves it when you sing to her, doesn't she?" she asked, looking at Beth with a questioning look in her brown eyes.
"Yes, she does," Beth replied, smiling at the eleven year old girl. "She just likes the sound of her mother's voice. It's not like she knows what I'm singing." Marie nodded slowly, thinking about this.
"It's a nice song," she said. "Where is it from?"
The older girl laughed a bit, her eyes filling with reminiscence. "I wrote it, actually," she told her. Marie's eyes widened with interest as Beth continued. "It was written for your brother soon after our Ranger days came to an end. I just had to put something about the Elements in it." Her voice drifted off as her mind wandered back to days long past. Suddenly, the silence that followed this was broken by someone entering the room. He went over to the rocking chair and leaned on the back of it, gazing down at the people near it.
"How's my baby?" he asked, smiling at Beth, who smiled back up at him.
"She's fine," Beth replied. "She's asleep now, so we can leave whenever you're ready, Sean." The boy moved around to the front of the chair and kissed the baby on the forehead.
"That's good," he said softly. "Now how's my other baby?" Sean leaned forward and kissed Beth on the lips.
"She's fine as well," she said, laughing a bit as she kissed him again. "But if we don't get going, we're going to be late."
"I know, I know," Sean laughed. I've got the car seat set up in the back and everything we need is in the trunk."
Next to him, Marie folded her arms across her chest, glaring playfully at her brother. "Don't I get a kiss too?" she asked in a mockingly stubborn way. Sean chuckled a little.
"Of course!" he smiled, kissing her forehead as well. "Now, let's go!" The three of them got up and went through the good sized house, going out the front door where their maroon Dodge Neon waited for them in the driveway. After settling both the baby and Marie in the backseat, Beth climbed into the passenger seat next to Sean, and they pulled out of the driveway and onto the open road.
The Overclocked Café was nearly empty except for three people. They were wandering around the large room, nervously and excitedly awaiting their arrival. Del took a deep breath as he walked slowly past the table where they had gathered at almost every day. He ran his fingers lightly across the top of it, almost feeling the memories flow into his mind. A smile formed on his lips and he closed his eyes, thinking happily of the times they spent here. It was exciting to think that soon, they would all be here again.
On the other side of the café, Erica paced back and forth, hoping that they would arrive soon. While she didn't have as many fond memories with them, she still couldn't wait to see them again. Sure, they had visited a few times here and there over the years, but never all at once. It had been exactly five years since the final defeat of Pyric, and about four and a half years since all of them were in the café at the same time. After high school, they went their separate ways, still keeping in close contact though, of course.
Behind the counter, Rufus sat on his stool, looking around at the festively decorated room. Streamers of bright Spring colors hung from the walls and the ceiling, and matching colored balloons floated and were taped everywhere. The reunion would be great. How wonderful would it be to see altogether again the people who were his first friends? But what would be even more amazing is seeing Ihim/I again. It was hard for him to visit, seeing as how he was living on a different planet. No one on Earth had seen him since he went home, although Rufus had kept some contact with him. Although he had once been Rufus' greatest enemy, he now had the greatest respect for the older man.
Suddenly, the ringing of the bell on the café door filled the room, interrupting their thoughts. In walked two people, one familiar and the other not. Rufus leapt over the counter and ran over to them, hugging the male warmly.
"Jud!" he cried. "It's great to see you again." The younger boy hugged him back.
"Great to see you again too, Rufus," he smiled. Del and Erica crossed the room and also hugged Jud, saying their cheerful greetings.
"Who is this?" Del asked curiously, gesturing to the strange girl standing next to his friend. Jud smiled at her and put his arm around her shoulders.
"This is Chelle, my girlfriend," he answered, beaming. The girl blushed slightly and held out her hand for Rufus to shake it.
"Nice to meet you," she said politely. Before anything else was said, the door opened again and the bell rang cheerfully. In walked two familiar faces. Beside them, two small children stumbled along, walking the best they could on their short legs.
"Dan! Peg!" Erica exclaimed, hugging her friends in turn. "I see you brought the twins." Dan grinned at her as he hugged her back.
"Of course," he said. "Not everyone has met them yet." He shook hands with Jud firmly, smiling at his friend.
"Including me," Jud laughed. "What are their names?" The toddlers hid behind their mother's legs shyly, aware that they were being talked about.
"Well," Peg began, lifting the small girl up in her arms. "This is Ana, named after Anaia." She paused for a moment as a short, painful silence passed between them. Then, she continued with some effort. "And this little guy," she said, patting her son on the head as he peaked out from behind her, "is William, or Will as we call him." The others laughed a little at this, smiling.
"Very appropriate," Del commented with a nod. His expression then changed to one of curiosity. "Where is Tiz?" he asked, looking at Dan. "I would have expected him to come with you guys. You two are still like joined at the hip, aren't you?"
Dan rolled his eyes in mock annoyance at Del. "We are still very close, and we hang out a lot," he said. "But, I haven't seen as much of him lately since he got a girlfriend." He winked at his wife, who was smirking back at him. The others raised their eyebrows in surprise, but Dan continued, pretending to ignore their reactions. "And that's why he's not with us. He's picking her up because he wants her to meet everyone."
By this time, they had all moved to their favorite table, standing near it and a bit away from the door. Peg set Ana down on the table and Will next to her. The siblings looked content as they gazed around the room at the colorful decorations. Before long, the door opened yet again. This time, Angela and Jorge came in, holding hands and looking happy. They exchanged happy greetings with the others, hugging and talking excitedly.
"It's so great to see everyone again," Angela said with a smile. "Can't wait until the others get here."
"Yeah, it will be great to have us all together again after all this time," Jorge agreed.
"Definitely," Rufus agreed. "It's been so lonely here since everyone left."
Then, the door opened again and Tiz walked in. The room went silent as they noticed a shy looking Asian girl walking next to him, holding his hand nervously. Tiz himself was blushing slightly as he entered.
"Hey, guys," he said, smiling. "This is my girlfriend, Ayumi." The girl waved slightly, her cheeks turning bright pink. Rufus was the first one to respond to this. He took Ayumi's hand in his and shook it gently.
"It's nice to meet you," he greeted kindly, a warm smile gracing his lips. He then shook Tiz's hand as well, and the others followed his example. Dan and Peg, who had already met Ayumi, just smiled slyly at each other as they stood near their kids. The room was getting crowded now, but there were still three people they were waiting on. The friends conversed merrily amongst each other as they awaited the arrival of the others. At last, the door opened again and three people walked in, one carrying a small baby in a carrier at her side. Beth set the carrier down gently as they greeted their friends happily.
"Well here we are all together again," Beth commented after the greetings and introductions were complete.
"Almost," Erica corrected. "There's still one more of us who should be arriving soon."
Dan looked at her with surprise. "He's coming? Really?"
Del nodded happily. "Yep. When we sent him an invitation to the reunion and he said he would come."
"That's awesome," Sean smiled. "Then it will really be like old times." Angela laughed at this.
"You sound like an old man," she said, shaking her head at him playfully. "It was only five years ago."
"But five years can feel like an eternity," Tiz said seriously.
"He's right," Peg agreed. "Especially when you're talking about being away from friends." Dan wrapped his arms around his wife and held her tightly, smiling.
"So Beth, what's your baby's name?" Jorge asked, changing the subject. Beth looked at Sean, then back at him before answering.
"We're going to wait until everyone is here before we announce that," she told him. He nodded understandingly and said nothing more about it. The friends talked for a few minutes, still waiting for the last person to arrive. Suddenly, the room lit up with a bright flash of red for a moment. Everyone there turned to see a figure standing in the center of the room. At first, they didn't know what to say. They stared at him in awe for a moment until Rufus finally broke the silence.
"Adus, it is good to see you again." He bowed slightly to him, showing respect for his older friend. The figure smiled a little at him.
"It's great to see all of you as well," he said. "It's been too long." Dan was the first to move forward and hug him.
"Yes, it has, Will," he said. "It hasn't been the same without you here." After this, the others also met with Will, hugging him and greeting him in their own way. Chelle and Ayumi just watched them in silence, seeing that this was a special moment for the friends.
"So, how are things on Trienith?" Jud asked after they had all finished. Will paused for a moment before answering.
"Everything is fine there right now," he began. "After what happened to you guys at our last battle with Pyric there, the Light Elements chose new keepers. Once I left, even Light Fire chose someone new. Mak found the Element holders a few years ago and he's been training them ever since, in case some new evil threatens the equilibrium."
"That's good to hear," Angela said, nodding. "How is Mak these days?"
"He and Crystal are doing well," he answered with a smile. "They're still together after all these years, of course, and they still run the café there."
"Not too surprising," Jorge laughed. He paused for a moment before looking at Beth suddenly. "Hey, now can you tell us your baby's name?"
Sean nodded, taking the baby out of her carrier and holding her gently in his arms. "Her name is Kimber," he said solemnly. A look of slight pain passed over Will's face as he gazed at the tiny child. Taking a deep breath, he then looked up at Sean.
"Thank you," he whispered softly. Sean and Beth nodded. A short and vaguely uncomfortable silence followed until Tiz spoke again.
"Hey, how about we do our morphing sequence just for fun?" he suggested. "Nothing will happen, but just for old time's sake, you know?" Dan put a hand on his friend's shoulder and nodded.
"That's a good idea," he agreed. The others thought so as well, and they all lined up facing the front of the café. Sean handed Kimber to Marie and lined up with his friends. "Ready, guys?" Dan cried.
"Ready!" the other past Rangers called out in unison. As they said their respective morphing calls, they did the familiar motions with their hands.
"Element, Fire!"
"Element, Water!"
"Element, Wind!"
"Element, Earth!"
"Element, Thunder!"
"Element, Light Fire!"
"Element, Light Water!"
"Element, Light Wind!"
"Element, Light Earth!"
"Element, Dark!"
Although for the first time ever, the morphing call had no visible effect on the eleven friends, the memories that stirred up in their hearts amazed them to no end. The room fell silent for now, but it was a thoughtful silence rather than an uncomfortable one. As they remembered the times they had spent together in the past, the Power Rangers knew that though their power might be gone, their memories and the changes they had experienced during their Rangerhood would last a lifetime.
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A/N: And that's it! Again, thank you all for reading and reviewing this whole time. And yes, that song is a real song written by me. Hope you like it.
