TOMMY - FIVE YEARS LATER

I'm almost home, having been away a week on business, that in truth, really shouldn't have taken more than a few days if my damn contact hadn't been so incompetant. Honestly, how do I always end up with the problematic ones? And why in the hell does it in the end still take the threat of unleashing my mate on them to finally get any actual results? Zedd is not the only dangerous one here, and the I swear the next time one of these newbies dares consider me some lackey or pet of his, heads will roll. Literally.

Sighing as the palace comes into view, now complete with playground added in the back, I do my best to push aside my still present annoyance and refocus on being home. Pina and Dar are very likely still on vacation, which would explain the slightly overgrown state of the gardens. Kira went to visit some friends on another planet, which would probably account for all the toys laying around the yard as she is generally the one to remind Mara Jane to clean up when done playing. However other than that everything seems to be in order upon first glance. I have to admit was a little worried about leaving Zedd alone with Mara Jane, given the way she has him wrapped around her adorable little finger, but there wasn't really a choice, and despite my fears of coming home to find half the castle destroyed, it seems like he did all right.

Relief and excitement growing as I can't wait to see my mate and daughter, I'm already planning out just how to spend the evening with Zedd after we get our little princess put to bed when those thoughts are quickly pushed aside at the feelings of distress I'm starting to get from him the closer I come. What the hell is going on? I land the ship as quickly as I can, shut it down and hurry off of it, thankfully not seeing or hearing any signs of an attack, but still highly concerned by the onslaught of misery Zedd is giving me through the bond. I race through the passages of the castle, following the bond to my mate.

"Zedd! Mara Jane!" I find my mate in our room, curled up on the floor in the corner, sniffling. "Zedd, what's wrong? Where's Mara Jane?"

He bursts into fresh tears. "I don't know! I give up! I'm a complete and utter failure!" Oh this isn't good.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"It's been an awful week! She's never been so bad! You were right, I can't take care of her! She doesn't listen to me, every time I turn around she's destroying something, she won't eat what I cook, she won't let me work, I try to tell her to behave and she hides my staff!" Oh for the love of…

Sighing and crouching down next to him, my earlier panic fading now that I see his anguish isn't related to an attack or either of them being injured, I shake my head. "Zedd, mate I never said you couldn't take care of her, I just said that she's at an age where she's going to be a bit of a handful for just one person." Especially when that person can't seem to bring himself to ever tell her no.

"A handful? She's been an absolute terror the entire time you've been gone!"

"Mate, she's five."

"She's evil!"

Covering my mouth and doing my best to hide my amusement at his exclamation, I try my best to remain reassuring. "She's just pushing her boundaries to see what she can and can't get away with."

"She painted your office pink."

"She's dead."

Laying his head back on his knees he really does look the definition of defeated. "What am I going to do? What if you have to go away again? What if Kira leaves? What if something happens to Pina and Dar?" Lifting his head eyes shimmering once more his next question really and truly makes me want to go find my daughter and for the first time ever give her a good sound spanking. "Why does she hate me so much? I'd do anything for her and she refuses to even listen to anything I say."

"Love, she doesn't hate you, she's again just at that age where she's going to start pushing her limits and ours. What happened just before I got here?"

"I was giving her a bath after she covered the kitchen and herself in her dinner and I turned my back for a second to find that silly duck toy thing she likes and she climbed out of the tub and took off! I can't find her and she's going to get sick and it's my fault because I'm a horrible parent!"

It really must have been a particularly bad week because he can usually handle this sort of thing as it's not the first time she's escaped from a bath, nor will it very likely be the last. I stand up. "I'll find her, Zedd. It'll be all right, mate."

Swiftly, I leave the room. Starting at her bathroom, I follow the small, wet footprints until they disappear - not twenty five feet from Kira's room. My voice changes to a tone I'd hoped not to have to use with my child for many years yet. "Mara Jane Elizabeth Anise - you come here right now - or else."

Slowly, the door opens and she gives me an angelic smile. "Hi, Daddy." She's pulled on one of Kira's tee shirts, which hangs on her like a dress.

"Don't you 'hi daddy' me, young lady. Come here." As soon as she's in reach, I grab her hand and start walking her toward our room. "What have you done to Papa?"

She sets her jaw, looking so much like Zedd I'd want to laugh - if I wasn't so angry. "I was just playing. Papa was no fun while everybody was gone."

"He says you didn't behave."

"I did" she protests. I shoot a look at her. "Sort of" she amends. As much as I love my daughter, sometimes I wish she was more like a human five year old, rather than the more advanced mixed breed that she is.

"I've warned you about lying." She starts to look more than a little worried. "Besides, you made him cry."

"Nuh uh" she objects. "Papa doesn't cry."

"Yes, he does. You just haven't seen it before but you're going to see it now."

"No." She sets her feet, refusing to take another step.

Momentarily stunned by her flat out refusal, my surprise however is thankfully covered by my still present aggravation over the hell she's put Zedd through in my absence. "Excuse me? You want to rethink that statement, young lady?"

Wide eyed, she looks up at me, tears starting to gather in her eyes now. "I don't wanna."

I pick her up and tuck her under my arm, ignoring my own breaking heart at her tears. "Too bad." Now able to take much longer steps, it's not long before I'm pushing open the bedroom door and setting her on her feet next to him. "See?"

Seeming momentarily stunned by the wrecked state she's put Zedd into, it only takes a few seconds before she bursts into tears and quickly burrows into his arms. "I'm sorry, Papa."

"Mara Jane" he breathes in relief, holding her tightly. "Why did you run away?"

"Cause I didn't want to take a bath." Fairly certain that wasn't her only reason if her behavior has been as bad as he's said, I however let it go this time, mostly for Zedd's sake.

I let them be for a few minutes, taking the time to quickly check on my paint covered office – isn't that going to be fun to fix - before I return to our room and break things up. "Zedd, get a shower and some clean clothes and relax for a bit. Mara Jane, come with me."

Reluctantly, the child does as she's told. I still can't figure out how I became the disciplinarian instead of Zedd, but I am. Silently, we return to Mara Jane's bathroom where I rerun her bath, bathe her quickly, get her in her pajamas and put her to bed. Once she's in bed, I sit next to her.

"Are you mad at me, Daddy?" she asks in a small voice.

"I'm not happy. I love you very much, but right now I'm sad that my little girl couldn't be good while I was gone."

"I was just playing."

"You can't play like that, you hurt Papa's feelings." Pausing as I recall something else, I feel my annoyance ramp up slightly once more. "You also broke the rules and put him and yourself in danger."

"Nuh uh." Protesting quickly and no doubt going through the house rules in her head, she seems honestly certain she did no such thing. "I didn't go outside alone, or talk to strangers, or touch the weapons, I promise."

Knowing she doesn't view Zedd's staff as a weapon as she has no real knowledge of what it can do, she however has been taught from the time she could crawl that both of our staffs, much like Pina and Dar's swords were not to be touched. "Did you take Papa's staff?"

Suddenly looking guilty, she averts her gaze before responding softly. "I was just playing hide and seek."

"Where is it?"

Pointing to her closet, she watches as I retrieve the power staff before quickly piping up once more, "I was careful, promise."

Sighing and shaking my head, I lean the weapon against the wall before rejoining her at her bed. "That doesn't matter, you still know, that just like the knives and swords, our staffs are off limits. I know it doesn't look dangerous, but it is, and what's more if something had happened while we were all away and Papa didn't have his staff to protect you both, he and you could have gotten badly hurt."

"Why?"

Thinking over the best way to explain it without scaring her or making the weapon sound tempting to her curious little mind, I recall how she'd seen me and Jason both morph before when he'd come to visit last year, both of us having decided to have a powered sparring session near the end of his stay. "Okay, you know how I can call on my power to help me fight and keep us safe? Just like your Uncle Jason?" At her nod I continue. "Well Aunt Kira, Aunt Pina, Uncle Dar, and Papa have power too, you just haven't seen it like you have ours."

"So they're Power Rangers too?" Crap.

"Not exactly. Aunt Kira is, but Papa, Dar, and Pina aren't. Their power is different, and since it is different, Papa needs his staff to use his without it hurting him. So when you take his staff like you did, even if just to tease or play, it scares him and me because it means that if something happens he either won't be able to keep you both safe or he'll get hurt trying to use his power anyway."

"I didn't mean to scare him."

"I know, but you have to promise me you won't ever take his staff like that again. It's bad enough you spent a week torturing him, but doing this could actually end up with him or you getting taken from me or badly hurt and I honestly don't know what I'd do if that ever happened." But I can guarantee whoever was responsible would suffer beyond anything they ever thought possible.

"I promise."

"Good." Getting her resituated in bed, I'm not overly surprised by her next question.

"Did you bring us back something from your trip?"

Smiling slightly, I give a nod. "I brought home a new book for us to share, but we can't tonight and maybe not tomorrow either. We'll see if you can behave a bit better tomorrow then you have this past week."

"I'm sorry, Daddy! I'll be good, I promise!"

"That, baby girl, is something that my mother would have called a 'pie crust promise' - easily made and easily broken." I wait, knowing she's smart enough to reach the right conclusion.

Frankly, it takes longer than I expected before she says, "I'll try to be good."

"Better than you were for Papa?"

She nods her head firmly. "Yes."

"That's my girl." I hug her tightly and give her a kiss on the forehead before I tuck her in properly. "Good night, sweet dreams, I love you."

I make sure that her favorite bear is beside her and the night light is on before I grab Zedd's staff and leave the room. I head down to the kitchen. Somehow I doubt that Zedd ate much dinner if she was giving him that many problems and by the look of the mess that used to be our kitchen I'd say I'm right. Sighing as I see the state of the room, I quickly clean up before I put together a simple meal. I load it on a tray and take it up to our room, along with a bottle of bourbon.

Upon reaching our room, I find Zedd freshly showered and curled up in the big armchair as I set the tray on the table. "Let me get a fast shower, kalleimat, and then I'll be with you."

Without waiting for an answer, I shower and dress in record time. Really all I want to do is eat, make love to my mate and go to bed, but I doubt very much that things will be that easy. Not to mention that I had contemplated talking to him about maybe having another child, but this will clearly not be the time.

I return to the room, set out the food and pour drinks. "Come on, kalleimat."

Reluctantly, he unfolds himself from the chair and joins me. He picks at his food for a minute before he mutters, "Sorry, Thomas."

"Mate, every parent has trouble with their children from time to time."

"Not Hayley and Jason."

I laugh. "Didn't I tell you that he almost got suspended from school for fighting?" Yeah, six years old and the school was going to suspend him.

Dumbstruck, his mouth falls open as he stares at me. "Seriously?"

I nod. "Until Hayley insisted that they investigate further. After talking to a lot of kids, they found out that the other kid was a bully and had been terrorizing several other children. Jimmy tried to keep the peace and stop it, but the other boy hit him so - he hit back."

Zedd shakes his head. "I can't even imagine how Mara Jane will behave if she ever has to deal with other children that aren't her cousins."

"Don't worry about that now, Zedd. Now, do you want to tell me what happened this week, my office, the destruction of the kitchen, and her swiping your staff aside?" He does, starting slowly and picking up steam as he goes. Individually, none of the offences are that bad, but one right after the other for days would wear anyone down and I tell him so. "As you used to tell me every so often, Zedd, you aren't perfect. You are going to have troubles from time to time. This is just a lot in a row."

As much as I'd like to tease him a bit about big, bad, evil Lord Zedd being defeated by a five year old, I know that it'll only upset him again and he's finally calming down. Maybe tomorrow. "By the way, your staff's back in your office."

"She hid it in my office?"

"No, she hid it in her closet. I just relocated it back to your office after explaining to her why despite not looking dangerous, her taking it is." Seeming suddenly worried, I study him closely as he frowns. "What's wrong?"

"What'd you tell her?"

"That just like how I hold power, you, Kira, Pina, and Dar do as well and for you to use yours you need to have your staff." Smiling slightly I give him a teasing nudge. "She asked if you were a Power Ranger."

Almost choking on his drink he looks at me in surprise. "What?"

"I had to think of a way to explain you having power that she'd understand right now. So I used Jason and myself as an example since she's seen us morph before."

"And?"

Shrugging I take another bite of dinner before responding. "I said you were the Pink Ranger."

"What?!"

Unable to help laughing at his expression, I shake my head. "I told her that Kira was a Power Ranger, but that the power you and the others hold is different."

"I thought we were going to wait until she was a bit older to explain that."

"I thought so too, but we can't risk her taking your staff again because she doesn't understand that it's dangerous." Reaching over and taking his hand, I give it a reassuring squeeze. "It'll be okay, she's five, she thinks it's neat you have power like mine."

"But it's not like yours, love."

"Maybe not exactly, but it'll help keep her safe, and that's what's important." Well assuming she doesn't run away from him and the others in terror upon seeing their other forms. Deciding to bank that concern for later, I refocus on the moment at hand. "Come on, I missed you way too much to be thinking about either of our powers right now."

Smiling at me, he shakes his head. "A week apart is way too long."

"Definitely." We finish eating quickly and move to the bed. I'll take care of the tray and dishes in the morning. I proceed to love my mate until all thoughts of his awful week are long gone, making sure he knows how much I love him.