Giving up on sleep, Vida sighed and sat up. She was tired from all of the fighting and having their powers drained and everything else, but sleep wasn't coming. Not that it was helping that the sun was still out. Stumbling wearily out of her room, she stepped out into the hallway of the apartment to see a light already on in the kitchen.
"Hey, sis," Madison said, glancing up from the table as Vida walked in. "I got you a snack, too."
Vida smiled, sitting down at the table with her. There was a pile of books on the table, but they appeared untouched. Apparently any attempt to do homework had failed because Madison just had a blank notebook sitting in front of her.
"Couldn't sleep either?" she said.
Madison shook her head.
"Too much on my mind," she sighed. "It's just—hard—some days to keep up with all of this…I wish we could take a break…Homework isn't helping…"
The fall semester had started several weeks before. Madison, however, was the only one who had opted to take more than one or two classes. All of the classes were online, which made it easier, but juggling twelve credits and rangers duties had been a difficult adjustment. Some days it was nearly impossible.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Vida agreed. "Not that I'd ever want to leave the guys to fight on their own."
"No, of course not," Madison said quickly. "I would never want to take off on them like that. I just meant it would be nice to think about something else for a while—like when Jason and Tommy were here…It was a nice distraction while it lasted…"
Vida nodded in agreement.
"Think we could convince them to come back?" she said after a moment. "Maybe Jason could bring Trini so we can actually meet Rose. Pictures just aren't the same."
"That would be nice," Madison sighed. "But I don't think it's going to happen. Jason hates magic, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember," Vida muttered. "But we could promise not to use any magic at all around them—not that we'd want to around Trini anyways. She doesn't know—or at least I hope she doesn't…"
"I guess it couldn't hurt to try," Madison said. "And calling Jason will get our minds off everything for a little while anyways."
"Then let's do it," Vida said. "Even if we can just convince them to come for the afternoon."
Reaching into her pocket, she frowned when all she found was her morpher. Some days it was hard to remember to carry their real phones with them. Especially because the people they were in contact with the most were the ones carrying wands as well. Retrieving her phone from her bedroom, Vida returned to the kitchen. The phone was already to her ear and ringing as she sat back down with Madison. Turning it on speaker, she set it in the middle of the table as they waited for Jason to answer.
"Hello?" he said, finally picking up.
"Hey big brother," Vida grinned. "How are things going?"
"Pretty good," he said. "Keeping busy. Are you two doing alright?"
"Been better," Vida said. "It was a long day today…"
"What happened?" he asked quickly.
"Jason, we're fine," Madison said. "There was just a lot going on. We're tired—"
"But neither of us can sleep," Vida sighed.
"So we called to talk for a while and check in," Madison added. "And we have a question…"
"Uh huh…" Jason said, though he didn't push for any more answers. "So what's the question?"
The girls exchanged glances.
"Well, we were kind of hoping you might come out for another visit," Vida said. "And maybe bring Trini and the kids so we can see Rose for real instead of just pictures?"
The phone was silent for a moment and then Jason took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, girls," he said. "But that's not going to happen. Maybe I'll come back out for an afternoon in a few weeks or so for your birthday, but I'm not bringing Trini or the kids."
"Come on, big bro," Vida pleaded. "We promise not to use any magic at all around them."
"Or you," Madison said. "And we'll get the boys to promise, too."
"No," Jason said firmly. "I am not bringing Mark or Rose anywhere near there while all of this is going on—and I can assure you Trini will agree with me completely. I don't want her or the kids anywhere near all that magic and those monsters."
The girls sighed.
"But we can't come see you," Madison said softly. "It's too dangerous for us to leave like that."
"And it's not dangerous for me to bring my kids to a city full of monsters?" Jason asked.
"You're right," Vida said reluctantly. "Sorry, Jason…We're just tired and hoping for a break from everything."
He sighed.
"I understand more than you think I do," he said. "But you know it won't last forever. I believe that you and your friends will succeed in defeating your enemies—just give it some time. And then you won't be tied down there anymore and can do your own thing again."
The girls nodded.
"So there's no convincing you?" Vida said hopefully, trying one last time.
"Not with the kids," Jason said. "But I'll talk to Trini about me coming out there for your birthday in a few weeks—though she probably won't let me come by myself. She doesn't want me getting hurt again."
The girls smiled.
"Thanks, Jason," Madison said, stifling a yawn.
"You two go get some sleep," he said. "I've seen caught bits of what is going on from the news and I know you've been running around almost non-stop. You need your rest."
"We'll try," Madison said.
"Good," said Jason. "And I'll talk to you later. Love you both."
"Love you, too," they chorused.
Both girls drooped as the phone line went dead.
"So much for convincing him," Madison sighed.
But Vida was picking up the phone and dialing again.
"V, what are you doing?" Madison asked.
"Calling Tommy," she grinned. "If anyone can change big brother's mind it'll be him."
Madison rolled her eyes, but didn't argue. Vida set the phone back down on speaker again. Tommy answered after just a couple of rings.
"Hello?" he said.
"Hi, Tommy," the girls said.
He laughed.
"Hey girls," Tommy said. "What's going on? Everything alright?"
"Just a little tired," Madison said. "A lot happened today…"
"You sound tired," he said slowly. "Why aren't you sleeping if you have a chance?"
"Because we can't," Vida muttered. "It's the middle of the afternoon, the sun is out, and our brains won't turn off long enough to actually fall asleep."
"Been there before," Tommy said ruefully. "Sleep will come eventually. I promise."
"We know," Madison said.
"But that's not the only reason we're calling," Vida said.
"Oh?" said Tommy. "Then what's the other reason—or reasons?"
The girls exchanged glances again. They were hoping this went over better with Tommy.
"Well, we were hoping you'd help us with something," Vida said.
"With what?" Tommy asked quickly, concern audible in his voice.
"With Jason," Madison said.
They heard Tommy sigh in relief. Both girls frowned, wondering what that was about. But, letting it go, they got back to their question.
"We want him to come visit us again," Vida said. "And we want him to bring the kids. We haven't seen Rose yet…"
On the other end of the line, Tommy took a deep breath.
"And you want me to convince him, right?" he asked.
"Exactly," Vida grinned.
"Sorry, but no," said Tommy. "I can't do that."
"Why not?" Madison asked, sharing a disappointed look with Vida.
"First off, nothing is going to convince Jason to bring Mark or Rose—or Trini, for that matter—anywhere near Briarwood while there are monsters and beings with magic running around causing havoc," Tommy said. "And secondly, I don't want to."
The girls frowned. They hadn't expected to hear that. So far, despite having been the one affected by the spell, Tommy had been far more accepting of their magic than Jason.
"It's because of the magic, isn't it?" Vida grumbled. "Why is it such a problem? Why do you and Jason hate magic so much?"
Tommy paused to take a deep breath.
"Let's just say we've both been burned by it before," he said cryptically.
"You keep saying things like that," Vida said in frustration. "But what is that supposed to mean?"
"Did you get caught in an attack in high school or something?" Madison asked.
"I really don't want to get into anything right now," Tommy said shortly.
"Please, Tommy," Vida said. "We just want answers. And you and Jason have been dancing around them for months now."
"I'm not talking about it," Tommy snapped. "So drop it."
The girls both fell silent. For a moment, no one spoke. Finally, Tommy sighed.
"Look, I'm sorry," he said. "But it's not an easy topic, alright? Did either of you ever think that it might be painful for us to talk about?"
"No, I guess we didn't," Madison said softly. "We're just so used to it now—I guess we never thought about how other people might look at magic…"
"We're sorry, Tommy," Vida said, staring down at her hands now. "We—I shouldn't have pushed you like that. We won't bug you anymore…"
"V," Tommy sighed. "You aren't bugging me when you need to talk. I'm always happy to listen. But there are some things that are better left alone for now."
"Will you ever tell us what happened?" Madison asked.
"Maybe someday," Tommy said slowly. "When you're ready. But right now you aren't. Alright?"
"Alright," they sighed.
Both of them yawned again, their weariness starting to catch up to them again.
"Go get some sleep," Tommy said. "Neither of you will be any good to your teammates if you're too exhausted to function. So no leaving the apartment until you've gotten some rest. Got it?"
"Yeah, we got it," Vida mumbled, resting her head on the table. "Bye…"
She trailed off, yawning again. Hanging up after Tommy said goodbye, Vida left her phone sitting on the kitchen table as she and Madison headed back to their rooms to get some sleep.