Chapter 9: Renewal of Friendship

At the Power Chamber…

"Sweet Lord, two accidents in one day?" Jason asked in shock, surveying his friends. Everyone looked visibly exhausted from the turn of events. He was tired too, after sitting for five hours straight on a flight back home from Florida, but when he had teleported to the Power Chamber to check on his friends, he had found them all crowding around the medical bay. After a few greetings, the team proceeded to tell Jason the events that had transpired during the day.

"Yeah, it looks like Zedd and Rita aren't going to give us an easy time despite the fact that they pretty much decimated Angel Grove." Tanya replied.

Jason blew air through his teeth, aggravated. "Not good. And I thought that when I came back, things would be better."

Tommy softly laughed, "Not really. It looks like things are pretty much ordinary here in Angel Grove." The rest of the team chuckled along.

"Is Elizabeth alright?" Jason asked, turning to Rocky and Alpha. Rocky had remained silent since Jason came back, choosing to remain at Elizabeth's side and overseeing her analysis. Jason knew why, of course. It didn't take much for anyone to see that Rocky held a deep and committing love for Elizabeth.

"Her tests are perfectly in order. She'll be all better in a few hours after I give her some of this remedy and then we must let her rest." Alpha instructed, inserting a syringe into Elizabeth's upper arm.

"Good," Jason breathed, running a hand through his hair. "So, what else has been going on?"

"Well, before this, we were volunteering for this conservation project that Elizabeth was overseeing. After the planting's done, we're going to go to the party that Elizabeth helped organize." Adam said, leaning against a console.

"Everyone's doing so much work," Jason said, finally understanding why his friends were so filthy, "I'm more than ready to help pitch in."

"That's great, because we're going back to the project now. Come on, Jase." Tanya reached for his hand. Both teens noticed a sudden electrical impulse that coursed through their hands and they jumped. Jason stared at Tanya for a minute, his eyes bright. He noted that she was beginning to blush from the touch and they awkwardly held onto each other's hand for another minute, before separating.

Jason turned to his other friends, bewildered by the sudden electrical touch. He never had that sort of feeling before. It didn't just feel like static electricity. It was something more…vibrant and lively. It sparked an interest in him, but he remained silent as Adam turned to Rocky.

"Are you coming, Rocky?" Adam inquired of his best friend.

Rocky shook his head, "I'll be along in a few minutes." Adam nodded.

Tommy turned to Zordon, "We're going back to the park now, Zordon. Call us if you need us."

"I will, Tommy. Go and relax, Rangers." Zordon commanded, and five streaks of light teleported out of the Power Chamber.

At the Park…

"Wow, it looks great." Jason remarked as he watched volunteers scurry along the dirt-ridden paths, planting numerous flowers and seeds.

"Yeah, sooner than later, Angel Grove is going to look even more beautiful than before." Tanya observed.

Jason turned to the Yellow Ranger, thinking, Nothing's more beautiful than you. He shook himself from his daydream, wondering where the thought had come from.

"Jason, are you alright?" Tanya asked concerned.

"Me? Yeah, I'm okay." He gave Tanya a smile, urging her towards a patch of empty dirt. Shortly, they began planting, side by side.

"I hope Elizabeth will be able to attend tonight's dance. After all, it was her idea." Kat said worriedly, as she, Tommy, and Adam went to gather more plants.

"Don't worry. She's got spunk. She'll be celebrating with us in less than an hour on my watch." Tommy replied, smiling.

"Fifteen minutes on mine," Adam shot back, smiling as well. Though he was deeply concerned of Elizabeth's present state, he knew that she would pull through, just as she had always pulled through whatever crisis she found herself buried in. Elizabeth had been through much worse than unconsciousness. They all had. Being a Ranger wasn't an easy task. Most of them wound up in the Power Chamber medical bay with sprained arms and legs from putty and cog fights and monster battles. Some unfortunate ones even wound up in Angel Grove Hospital with a broken leg or arm.

Elizabeth's going to be fine. She's got spirit and she's strong. She'll fight until it's impossible to go on, and even then, she'll keep fighting, Adam thought. His mother had once told him that there were two kinds of people in the world: the ones that would keep fighting until there was absolutely no hope left and the ones that would keep fighting even after that. He always thought that Elizabeth fit the second category perfectly. She had undeniable faith in everyone she loved and everything she believed in.

"Rocky's really concerned about her." Kat's soft voice interrupted Adam's streamline of thoughts.

Adam smiled slightly, "Rocky and Elizabeth have always been like that. Even though the three of us, and Aisha, have been best friends since we were four, Rocky and Elizabeth were always closer. We may have been a closed tight-knit group of friends, but Rocky and Elizabeth always had a bond that Aisha and I were not apart of. We knew that, and we accepted it. The four of us always had a great time together, but it was Rocky and Elizabeth who were inseparable. They were always there for each other, since the beginning. Sometimes, I think it's because they were friends first before they became friends with me and Aisha, but other times, I think it's just because they understood each other perfectly without having to tell each other. They could just look at each other's expressions and know what's up."

"I always thought you and Rocky had that kind of inseparable friendship as well. And you and Elizabeth are practically joined at the hip every time I see you two!" Tommy teased.

Adam's smile brightened. "True, Rocky and I are best friends, and we have been there for each other for all the rough patches in our lives. He's been through all the hell that I've been through and he's usually the one pulling me through all the crap when my mom died and what I had to put up with my abusive dad. Hell, Rocky even gave up his family so that he could be with me and support me through a rough period in my life when I almost…" a lump grew in his throat and he tried to swallow past it, his head lowered and his eyes not meeting his friends'. He closed his eyes tightly, blocking away the memory that was trying to overwhelm him. "When I almost…never made it through…"

Kat gasped, rubbing Adam's arm comfortingly. Adam bowed his head, still unwilling to meet his friends' gazes.

"And Elizabeth…Elizabeth's been my constant support since I met her. She helped me through everything so I could overcome my fears. If it wasn't for her, I would be a totally different guy… someone I wouldn't be proud of. She realized the potential inside me and brought the best out of me. She can pretty much read my thoughts, know everything that's up with me. I have no secrets from her. I couldn't. Even if I wanted to, she'd see right through me," Adam swallowed his tears, recollecting. "The greatest thing about having Elizabeth as a friend is that no matter what, she'll always be there for you, as long as you asked for help or she intuitively knew, she'll come, even if she's an ocean away, she'll come. When we were eight years old, she promised me that she would make sure that nothing bad ever happened to me...and she kept that promise." He closed his eyes asthe memory coursed through him for the umpteenth time.

"Wow," Kat replied softly, "I can't…I…you never told us this before." She finally said, unable to form words.

Adam looked up sadly, catching the sympathetic glances Kat and Tommy were giving him. "It's a past the three of us didn't exactly want to unbury. We tried really hard to ignore the crappy life I led. It was Rocky's idea that we take up martial arts together, so we can protect ourselves when we're older," a twinkle sparkled in his eye as he remembered the day that Rocky bounded into his room with the exciting news, dragging the Korean boy to the local dojo.

"And it was Aisha's idea that we have all kinds of adventures, like playing Dukes and swimming in the quarry, so that we can actually enjoy our childhood years," another twinkle flickered in his eye as he recalled all the years of playing the Dukes of Hazzard with his three best friends, to the point that they were affectionately nicknamed The Dukes of Stone Canyon by the neighborhood.

"And it was Elizabeth's idea that we learn how to do everything, like rollerblading, surfing, baseball, and football," the final twinkle glimmered in his eye as he reminisced all the activities the four of them participated in.

"Anyways, with all their ideas, I was able to forget about the life I led, at least during the day. Sometimes it got worse, and now and then would come one of my suicide attempts, and one of them would have to save me, even though I didn't want to be saved. Finally, it got to them and they knew they had to get me out of Stone Canyon, and so we all moved to Angel Grove. Rocky and Aisha cut off all contact with their families, Elizabeth convinced her parents to move to Angel Grove and let us stay with them, and the four of us…stayed together…at least, until Aisha left, but still…" Adam sighed, running a hand through his black curls. "Sometimes I regret never thanking them properly. They sacrificed a lot out of their lives to save me and to be with me," dawning realization shone on the Korean's face, "And now, it's my turn to be with them." He stood up abruptly, startling the Pink and Red Rangers.

"Adam, where are you going?" Tommy asked.

"I've got to go back to the Power Chamber. They need me now. And I should be there." Adam added. Hurriedly, he waved goodbye to his friends and rushed behind a tree, disappearing in a flash of black light.