Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or anything affiliated with the subject. I do, however, own the character of Alex Meyers.
Jason's POV
The park is darker than it has been in ages and for the first time in a long time, it is peaceful while I am here. None of the other rangers are around or even know where I am. I've stayed away from them all afternoon, I had to. I have been able to think some more about what happened earlier today and I can only hope I did the right thing. It definitely was not an easy thing to do, but I had to do it.
My list, back home, let me know that I had to talk to Emily and I did, as soon as I could. She is mad at me for what I did, but I know that I am saving the both of us from a great deal of pain that would occur later. Now, I can only hope that Trini will understand everything that I have done and not be mad at me. I can't deal with her being mad at me. I need her to be here for me right now, although I haven't been there for her lately and I really want to make that up to her.
"Who's there?" Jason asked, jumping at the sound of footsteps coming up behind him.
He wasn't too worried about who it could be, unless Emily showed up because all of his other friends were welcome right now. He would love to have someone to unload all of his thoughts on that would not yell and scream at him for them. He knew that Kim and Tommy had a well deserved I-told-you-so to say, but he would even welcome that right now. They would at least listen to him after they got through.
"Just me. I'm surprised to see you here. I thought you would be teaching Emily some manners," Trini said, jokingly, as Jason saw the hurt in her eyes, but the pain she was feeling was well hidden everywhere else.
She really was the person he wanted to see here with him, but he dreaded to have to tell her that he had gone against what she asked. No one else would be mad at him, they actually would be happy to hear it, but there was a definite possibility that she might be mad at him. She did not want to cause a break up, but she inadvertently had. He was grateful for it, but she might not be happy about it at all. She didn't like to cause stuff like this; it was't a part of who she was.
"I'm not talking to her right now, Trini. She shouldn't have said anything like that to you. She doesn't know you, at all and she has no right to say that about my best friend," Jason said, solemnly, as Trini still avoided sitting down next to him and choose to stand several feet away.
She knew that she had gone walking with a purpose earlier this afternoon, but it wasn't until now that she figured out why she had gone to all of those places. It was in the hopes of bumping into Jason and maybe being able to set things straight between them. She just hadn't thought that she would find him here. This place was way too obvious for his liking and he usually avoided these places when he was trying to think.
"Jason, she's your girlfriend. I expected her to be like that, well maybe not as bad as it was, but I did expect some sort of lashing out. Not many people understand our friendship, you know that," Trini said, as Jason looked at her.
Well, he might as well admit to her that they had broken up and take the wrath that he was sure was headed his way. He just couldn't do what she had asked him to do this time. It was causing both of them too much pain and he couldn't stand to see her hurting, especially from something that he had done.
"Not anymore, Trini. She…I…you're more important to me. I don't want to lose you because of what some girl thinks," Jason managed to spit out as Trini took several more steps back from him.
She couldn't believe him. She did not want him to do that because of her and she knew that was what had pushed him over the edge was her being there. Maybe she should have stayed in Geneva and never come on this trip, then things would at least be comfortable between the two of them.
"Jason, why? She seemed nice," Trini lied, as Jason shook his head. Well if he had to say it was because she was not Trini, then he would say it. He just hoped that it did not come to that.
"Trini, she is not who I want to be with. Can you just accept that and sit down?" Jason asked as he patted a patch of grass next to him. She looked at him and then sat down on the patch of grass he had indicated next to him. "Now, what are you doing out in the park at this time of night? It's not safe for anyone anymore."
"Except it is safe for you, right? Since you're a ranger and I'm not?" Trini asked as he looked over at her to see her attempting to not laugh hysterically at him. He always acted protective in the past, but this was starting to become ridiculous.
"Trini, you're not a ranger anymore and for all those weeks we didn't have powers, we had to patrol the park at night. I'm still used to doing this alone and it gives you time to think about things, without anyone being around you," Jason said as an excuse, knowing that she probably wouldn't buy a word that he said about his reason to be out here.
"Still, you have your powers back. You shouldn't be out here, either. You should be hanging out with the gang or at home resting for the next battle. You know that better than anyone else, Jase," Trini said, as Jason knew that she was avoiding the subject that he had first questioned her on.
"Okay, I admit I shouldn't be here, but you still haven't said why you are here. Let's face it, you only come out here when you have something to think about yourself, Tri," Jason said, as Trini looked over at him and then looked away from a few moments.
Damn him! He knew her better than she had thought and she did not really want to admit that right now. No matter what he had said to her already, she didn't want to have to admit her feelings so soon. She wanted to have some time to feel everything out and really see where he was.
"Um…I went for a walk this afternoon," Trini said, vaguely, as Jason looked over at her. How in the world was going for a walk this afternoon what had landed her here, next to him, at eight o'clock at night?
"Trini, what in the world does that have to do with you being here now?" Jason asked, as he had been at the park for the past few hours.
He had been trying to think of how to talk to her, as talking to Emily had been simple, but he had not been able to figure it out. He was just going to have to go with everything as it came up, which didn't work for him a lot of the time.
"I was looking for a friend to talk to," Trini said as Jason gave her a curious look. How many places had she been this afternoon looking for a particular someone?
"Who? Which friend?" Jason asked, as he could imagine that she had run into Tommy or Kim, sometime today, as they had to be worried about both of them, in some shape, form, or fashion.
They had definitely been worried about the two of them when they had gone their separate ways after Emily's hissy fit. They knew that if the two of them were fighting, then all hell would really break loose among the rangers. Jason needed her as a friend in order to keep his sanity and they all hoped that Trini realized that.
"You, I kinda made an afternoon of it," Trini said as Jason wondered why she would do that, instead of talking to Kim about Emily's actions today. She was really starting to confuse him now. "I called Zack, he said that he wanted me to talk to you. So I went looking for you and I found you, but you are not as easy to find as you used to be."
"Zack. Is that why you came out here?" Jason asked, as he knew it was fishy for her to just show up.
She actually enjoyed the Peace Conference, while he had had a hard time adjusting to that way of life. She had made it easier on him and he had in turn helped her with her endless nightmares. Losing their powers had done odd things to all of them, but Trini had seemed to suffer the most and he was the only one that could help with it.
"He made me. I've been kinda miserable these last few months and he thought coming home would help me some," Trini said as Jason knew he could probably trace her unhappiness back to the day he had left Geneva to come to Angel Grove.
They had become so close and now he knew that she would never be pushed aside by him again. He could not lose her the way he almost had by his dumb actions he had committed when he became scared. He knew that he could not let his fear of failure overcome him again. He had to do something before it was too late.
"It's not going to help you if you won't let us help you. Why were you miserable out there?" Jason asked while Trini laid down in the grass and looked up at the sky. There had been so many more stars in Geneva, but she was willing to trade all of that to have Jason beside her right now. "Trini, please tell me."
"You left. You left me to be with the rangers. I couldn't be selfish and tell you not to go, but when you left, I realized how alone I was. I was lost," Trini mumbled and he looked down at her from his seated position.
He felt as tall as a blade of grass looking at her. She had cried for months because of him, gone to class without sleeping an hour the night before and tried to act as if her whole world had not been torn up, when it really had been, all because of him leaving to be a ranger again. It seemed so selfish to him now, but he knew that she would have killed him if he had not come back. They had both thought that it would not be as bad as it actually turned out to be.
"I didn't realize what I was doing until I left there Trini," Jason said as he laid down next to her. He silently reached out for her hand and felt that she had been sweating. He really was worried about her now and he could tell she was still nervous about being around him. He hated knowing that she felt nervous around him. They had known each other for ages and she should not be this nervous around him. "I ran away because I was scared."
"Scared of what, Jason? You've never been scared of anything in your life," Trini said, as Jason did rarely show his fear of anything to anyone, but her.
"Trini, I was scared of falling for you. I was scared of losing what I have right now and I almost did, because I tried to replace you. You see how well that went," Jason mumbled, as Trini slowly turned her head to where she could see Jason's face and noticed he was staring straight up at the sky.
If she had not known him, she would have thought he was confident, but that was not the case. He was really worried about all of this and he did not want to see rejection by looking at his friend and finding nothing more than friendship in her eyes.
"Well, I wish you would have said something to me," Trini said as she watched him turn to face her. She knew he was expecting her to be mad at him, but she wasn't. She was just glad that he was finally being honest with her.
"Why? So you could tell me that you only want to be friends? Trini, I couldn't make you feel that uncomfortable about everything. I thought that I was protecting you, but I hurt both of us," Jason said, as they heard a clap of thunder, but both of them ignored it. It probably wouldn't rain for a few hours, as the weather here was always odd.
"Jason, we can try to make things right because I'll admit I was wishing that you would say something then. Jason, I was dumb too, but we need to be able to talk about all of this. We can't just jump into it. We're going to be half a world apart. You know what that does to people," Trini said as it began raining and she sat up. She was wearing a white tank top with her shorts and she knew Jason would figure it out soon. She didn't want him to figure it out, but he was no moron and he was a teenage guy. He was bound to look at her sometime and have his eyes pop out of his head. "Come on, we better be heading to your car or somewhere."
"My car is at Tommy's. So do you want to make a run for it and try to get to the Juice Bar before Ernie closes up for the night?" Jason asked as Trini began to shiver as the water sank into her shirt. Ernie's was much closer than either of the two other choices. She just hoped they would be able to get there quickly. "You know the last time this happened we were in our ranger suits."
"Jason, at least we had a purpose then. How are we going to explain ourselves to Ernie and our friends when we show up soaked to the bone?" Trini asked, as they ran along and her hair began sticking to her face, as the water streamed out of it. These sudden storms were something that she hated, but she knew that it could have been much worse. They could be running from a monster right now.
"Don't worry, we're almost there, Trini," Jason yelled, back as he glanced back at her and it was then that he noticed her clothing and nearly fell flat onto the pavement that he was now running on. He knew that he had on two shirts and he was more than willing to give her his top one. He did not want anyone else to see her in that shirt when it was soaking wet. "Here."
"Jase, I'll be fine. It's just a few more yards and we'll be inside," Trini said, as they hurtled down the sidewalk and up to the door of the Juice Bar. The sign graciously read 'open' and the two of them barged into the foyer, glad to be able to get out of the rain.
"You're soaked," Jason said, as he reached down and brushed some of the hair back behind Trini's ear and let his hand linger there. It had been so long since he had done something like that and he had almost forgot how it felt. "Do you want to get some of my karate clothes to change into?"
"I'll be alright. I'm sure that Ernie will have a jacket I can borrow for a little while," Trini said, as she felt uncomfortable about the idea of what others would say if they saw her wearing his clothes. She didn't want another arguement to ensue today because of her. "Are you coming?"
"Yeah," Jason said, as he walked behind her. He was not sure who was at the Juice Bar, but he could only pray that it was there friends. He didn't know if he could deal with people that didn't know about the delicate situation that was at hand.
"What happened?" Kim asked after she vaulted off the balance beam and Tommy went to sit down.
It had cleared out over the last hour and the rangers were the only ones left, except Ernie when Trini and Jason ran in. They were glad that Emily had left or Jason would have been yelled at again. They weren't too sure how much more he could take, as he had only done what he thought was best for the two of them.
"We kinda got caught in the park when it started to rain," Trini said, as she looked down at the puddle on the floor, from the water that was still streaming out of her hair and then she looked over at Jason. He held a dry shirt in his hands and he passed it over to her without a word. She didn't know where he had gotten it, but she was grateful for something that was not soaked with water.
"What were the two of you doing?" Tommy asked mischievously as Kim thumped him on the back of his head. She knew he meant well, but they needed to talk about some things away from everyone else.
"Talking," Trini said, as her teeth chattered together and Jason reached out to put an arm around her. He had to admit that it seemed much colder than normal in here, but he was not going to ask Ernie why it was this temperature today.
"Okay," Billy said, as Trini noticed he was there. She had seen him in passing when he came to Tommy's welcome back party. She had been fairly concerned about Jason and had not paid attention to much of anything else, including Billy.
"Billy!" Trini yelled as she ran over to give him a hug and managed to soak ever inch of his shirt with her hair while Jason and Kat laughed at them. They had all been wondering how long it would take Trini to realize that Billy was back. "Why didn't you say hey earlier?"
"Well, you were preoccupied with your own thoughts. I thought it best to leave you alone. I certainly did not want to receive your wrath, I have been most unfortunate to have that happen before," Billy said as he looked down at his soaked clothing and Trini, then nodded towards Jason. "So, you took Zack's advice?"
"How'd you know?" Trini asked as Jason was now toweling off with a towel Ernie had brought him.
"Zack is the only one who would set you on the crusade you were on this afternoon. He knows too much about the situation," Billy said as Trini sighed. He really was right about that. "Go find some dry clothes, Trini."
"What's wrong with this?" Trini asked, as she looked down at the shirt and saw that it officially looked like a short dress on her, but it was keeping her warm and the towel that Jason had now thrown around her shoulders was helping too.
"It's Jason's," Emily said, as she had come back to pick up some bags that she had forgotten. Trini froze on the spot she was standing in and looked over at Jason. He looked mad, but in the back of his eyes she could see that he was inwardly smiling. He didn't care what Emily had to say, as long as Trini was fine. "You move on very quickly."
"Jason," Tommy said, as he thought that Jason was going to explode, but Trini surprised them all.
"He has not moved on. We're only friends," Trini said stubbornly, as Jason reached out and pulled her back towards him. He knew that Trini was irate and he had to make sure that she did nothing. There was not much he could do, except hold her still, even if Emily did get mad about it.
"Trini, do not do this," Jason said as Trini looked up at him. She was going to listen to him, but it was only because of the fact that he seemed to have more common sense right now.
"Yes, Trini. Listen to Jason, he'll never lead you astray," Emily taunted as Jason hugged Trini to him and felt her shaking in his arms.
"Emily, you're mad. You are not thinking rationally. Please just go," Jason said, as he was trying to keep his own composure and hold Trini still, which was becoming harder by the second.
"Fine, Jason, I'll go. But remember that it is only a matter of time before he does this to you as well," Emily said, as she stormed out of the Juice Bar and managed to slam the door on her way out.
"Don't worry about it," Jason said, as Trini glared up at him. She had just wanted to see him and be around him, but it seemed that wouldn't work for either of them. They had to be together and Emily was just going to have to learn to deal with it as well.
AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter. It may be a little while before the next chapter comes out, so please be patient with me. I'll try to make it worth your wait.
