Birthday Blow-up
Tommy took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. He was a little nervous about being here since the invitation hadn't actually come from Jason. He'd hung out at Jason's house a couple of times with the other rangers since the spell on him had been broken, but not since giving up the coin to stop Rita from taking back the green ranger powers with the candle. Though that was mostly because he'd been avoiding them because he felt bad about not being able to help anymore. And he knew seeing him just made the other rangers, especially Jason, feel guilty about not getting the candle in time. As he waited for someone to answer the door, he shifted his bag again. He'd been careful with it the whole way there because he didn't want to break the presents he'd brought for the twins. Vida's gift, a small handmade quilt, was safe enough even if he dropped his bag. But Madison's present, a music box, would break if it got banged around too hard. His mother had helped him pick out both gifts from some things that had belonged to his older adopted sister. She had passed away not long after he was adopted, but they'd grown close in that short time which made the gifts even more special.
"Hey, Tommy," Jason said as he opened the door. "Come on in."
Tommy nodded and walked inside.
"Presents?" he said.
"Kitchen," Jason answered, frowning as he looked back into the house.
He seemed slightly distracted. There was yelling from the backyard and Jason sighed.
"We're out back right now," he said as he took off down the hallway. "Stick your bag somewhere out of the way and come on out. Food is out back."
"Sounds good," Tommy said, heading toward the kitchen.
As he walked into the kitchen, a couple of kids went running through. He recognized Chip and Xander, two boys who lived on the street and had come over to play with the twins before. Tommy had seen them a couple of times when he was over with the other rangers. But he just dodged around them as they darted back toward the backyard with a couple of other kids. Seeing the presents piled on the counter, Tommy carefully swung his bag off his shoulder and unzipped it. Pulling out the two presents, he set them both on the counter with the other gifts. Zipping his bag back up, he slung it back over his shoulder and went to find a place to stash it. Deciding to just hang it on the stair railing, Tommy was heading past the kitchen toward the backyard when he heard a crash.
"What was that?" he muttered, turning back into the kitchen.
Tommy stepped into the kitchen and saw Xander standing by the trash can. Hearing Tommy, Xander whipped around and stared for a moment with wide eyes.
"What's going on?" Tommy asked.
But Xander didn't answer. He just bolted from the room. Tommy frowned after him, shaking his head, and went to see what was going on. The presents on the counter were all shifted around and one or two were on the floor. Xander had been checking out the gifts while no one was watching and the crash must have been him knocking them to the ground. Shaking his head, Tommy leaned over to pick them up and put them on the counter.
"Where did Maddy's present go?" he murmured to himself as he looked at the pile.
Glancing around, he froze as he remembered Xander by the trash can. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to check, hoping he was wrong. But when he peered into the trash can he saw a familiar box. Groaning, he reached in and picked it up. The sounds inside the box told him it was broken.
"Now what?" he said, looking around frantically.
He didn't have another present for Madison. The sound of footsteps and more voices distracted him for a moment, and he dropped the present back in the trash as he turned to see Jason and a Zach walking in.
"Hey, Tommy," Zach grinned. "When did you get here?"
"A few minutes ago," Tommy answered nervously, still trying to come up with a solution. "What's going on?"
"The girls want their presents," Jason grumbled. "So mom sent us to get them while she gets all of the kids to sit down."
"Oh," Tommy said, glancing back toward the trash can.
For a moment he thought about telling Jason, but the other ranger grabbed an armful of presents and was back out the door before he could say anything. Zach was right behind him. Tommy was left with no choice but to trail behind them as he panicked silently. He had no idea what to do, but he couldn't picture this ending well at all. And he was right. Opening presents went well enough until the end. The girls were both happy with what they had gotten until Madison suddenly realized Vida had a present from Tommy and she didn't.
"But I didn't get one!" Madison cried as she looked at her sister hugging the quilt.
Mrs. Rocca came rushing back out of the kitchen with the cake as Madison burst into tears. She'd gone inside as soon as all the presents were open to get the cake and ice cream out. As she rushed over to her daughter, Jason spun to where Tommy was standing. Growling, Jason grabbed Tommy by the arm and dragged him into the house. The other rangers started to follow, but Jason waved them away. Inside, and out of sight of everyone else, Jason slammed Tommy up against the wall.
"What are you thinking?" he snapped. "Getting Vida a present and not Madison?"
"Jason, I—I didn't—" Tommy started to protest, glancing toward the kitchen.
But Jason wasn't giving him a chance to explain.
"You made her cry!" he growled. "She's seven!"
"Jason!" Mrs. Rocca called from outside.
He glanced away briefly and Tommy took the opportunity to run before Jason could stop him. Snatching his bag off the banister, he bolted from the house and ran for home.
"Wake up, child," a familiar voice said.
Clare sighed, opening her eyes and blinking as she tried to clear her vision. When she finally realized who was talking to her, she stared in surprise.
"It's over," Udonna smiled, looking down at her.
"Udonna—you're alive!" Clare exclaimed.
Udonna laughed.
"A little frozen around the edges," she said as the rangers came up behind her. "But yes, I'm alive."
Nick stepped forward to help Clare to her feet. They were in front of Rootcore, the familiar dragon head off to one side.
"Morticon's gone, Clare," Nick said.
"For good," Xander added.
"Yeah," said Vida. "Udonna was able to channel her power of the snow staff to help us."
"But we couldn't have done it without you, Clare," Madison told her.
"You sealed the forces of evil back into the depths," Chip grinned. "You're, like, a super sorceress."
They all nodded in agreement, smiling at her.
"Yeah, I guess I am," Clare smiled, and then she paused, looking down at the ground. "But that was my mother's power, and now it's all gone."
She picked the circlet up off of the ground, holding it carefully as she looked at Udonna.
"Niella would be proud of you today," Udonna said softly, placing her hands on Clare's shoulders. "And so am I."
Clare smiled at her as the rangers nodded in agreement.
"Now, let's get you inside," Udonna said. "You need to recover your strength."
"And we need to get back to work before Toby flips," Xander said, looking at the others.
"Then we'd better get moving," Nick said. "Come on guys."
"Bye, Clare," Madison said. "We'll come back later tonight if we can."
"Bye," Clare smiled.
Waving, the rangers turned and headed off through the forest. Switching back into their normal clothes, they hurried down the street toward the Rock Porium. Toby looked up when they piled in.
"Oh, and who is this I see?" he said. "Could it be my wayward employees? No. Because that would mean they were actually here to work for more than fifteen minutes."
"Relax, Toby," Vida said. "We'll close up the shop tonight."
"V's right," Xander grinned. "We've got this."
Toby looked at them doubtfully, but didn't argue as he disappeared into his office. Laughing, they all pulled on their uniform shirts and went to work.
"So do you think Clare is going to be alright?" Madison said.
"Of course she will," Chip said with a smile. "She's got us, doesn't she?"
"And we'll make sure she is," Nick agreed.
"Udonna will help her out, too," Vida said. "And maybe now she'll get a better grasp on her magic."
They all stopped, looking at Vida
"Well, she has to eventually," Vida pointed out.
"Just don't take any of her potions until you've seen all of the side effects," Xander said, shaking his head.
"Says the voice of experience," Nick said drily.
Xander shot a glare at him as the others laughed.
"Come on, guys," Madison said. "Let's get closed up so we can head out. I've got some studying I want to do tonight. Summer won't last forever, you know."