"So what do you two want for dinner?" Mrs. Rocca asked. "I can make something her at home or we can go out to eat when your father gets home. Our treat for you visit home."

Madison and Vida glanced at each other before answering.

"Here is good," Vida said, turning back to their mother.

"We haven't had a whole lot of home cooked meals lately," Madison added. "We use a microwave a lot…"

Mrs. Rocca smiled, shaking her head.

"I'm just glad you finally came home for a visit," she said. "It's been far too long since I've seen my little girls. And I still can't believe what you did to your hair, Vida. Did you really have to make it that shade of pink?"

Madison and Vida rolled their eyes, but smiled as Vida shrugged sheepishly.

"Now," Mrs. Rocca said, turning to look in the fridge and cabinets. "Let me see what I have and you two can decide what you want to eat—I may have to make a trip to the store."

The girls nodded, leaning on the counter as they sat on their stools, watching their mother check for something to make. They'd just gotten home the night before, surprising their parents with a visit. At the moment, they were planning on staying several days. Everything had slowed down in Briarwood—finally—and so they were taking a vacation from training and ranger duties to visit their family. They had missed Christmas by about two weeks, but they figured this was better than nothing.

Enjoying their time off, the twins had slept in late and enjoyed a lazy morning followed by a lunch made of whatever leftovers they could find in the fridge. And, even though the girls hadn't actually said how long they'd be staying, their mother had started making all sorts of plans. She was excited to have her girls home after so long. The girls were just hoping Jason wouldn't show up. They were counting on him being gone for a few days like Mrs. Rocca had said he would be when she had talked to them earlier that week.

"How does lasagna sound?" Mrs. Rocca asked, turning around.

"Yum," Vida grinned, Madison nodding in agreement.

"Wonderful," their mother smiled. "I just need to make a quick trip to the store to a get a few things. Do you two want to come with me?"

The twins shook their heads.

"That's alright, mom," Vida said. "I think we'd both just like to relax here. Being lazy is nice for a change."

"You must be working too hard if you never get a lazy afternoon," Mrs. Rocca commented, starting to write out a list.

The girls exchanged glances.

"We've just got a lot of responsibility now," Madison said casually. "Between classes and work there's a lot going on."

Mrs. Rocca nodded.

"And what about you, young lady?" she asked, looking at Vida. "Are you signed up to take classes next semester?"

Vida ducked her head.

"No," she mumbled. "I've got other stuff and I know I can't multi-task as well as Maddy can…"

"What other stuff?" Mrs. Rocca frowned.

"It's kind of like an internship," Madison said quickly, covering for Vida when she floundered for an answer. "Umm… we can talk about it more at dinner with dad. Okay?"

Sighing, Mrs. Rocca let it go for the moment. Finishing up her list, she said goodbye to her daughters and headed out to the car. The girls stood up, heading for the living room.

"Thanks, sis," Vida said the moment the front door closed. "But what are we going to tell them at dinner? I can't exactly tell them I'm a wizard and a knight-in-training…"

Madison shrugged as they walked into the living room.

"I don't know," she said. "But we have until dinner to figure it out."

Vida groaned, flopping onto the couch and stretching out across it.

"So much for relaxing," she muttered. "Maybe we should just tell them…"

"Ok, fine," Madison said, raising an eyebrow. "But you get to explain."

Vida grimaced, shaking her head.

"I think I hate that idea more," she grumbled. "Let's just come up with a cover story…"

Laughing, Madison grabbed the remote and sat down on the couch. Vida pulled her legs back so her sister could sit, too. Turning on a movie, they watched it absently as they tossed ideas for a cover story back and forth. Mrs. Rocca had been gone for about twenty minutes when they heard the front door open. Expecting it to be their mother, neither girl moved. But it was someone else who started calling from the hallway.

"Mom! Did Mark leave his Power Ranger backpack here?" Jason shouted from down the hall, his voice growing closer. "He says he left it here the other day and he's insisting that he had to have it to show Grandma and Grandpa Kwan—"

He rounded the corner into the living room, stopping in surprise to see Madison and Vida there. They stared at the doorway in shock—they hadn't expected to see him. But when he took another step forward, they both sprang to their feet.

"What are you doing here?" Vida demanded, glaring at him with her arms crossed.

"Getting Mark's toys," Jason growled back. "Better question—what are the two of you doing here? Don't you belong back in Briarwood with the rest of them?"

"We're visiting mom and dad," Madison said shortly. "You have no right to tell us we can't."

"Besides," Vida scoffed. "We're not the ones with dangerous friends. Still hanging out with Tommy?"

"When he's home," Jason said stiffly. "I don't discard friendships on a whim, especially when he needs me."

Madison took a deep breath.

"Jason, please," she said. "We told you what he did. Why can't you see that he's not a good person to be around? We know it's hard. He fooled us, too. But he could really hurt you…"

"And what about Trini?" Vida asked, trying another direction. "Does she know about all of this? Have you told her your best friend is an evil power ranger?"

Jason scowled at them.

"Like I told you the last time," he snapped. "You have no idea what you're talking about when it comes to Tommy or any of this. And of course Trini knows what he was—why wouldn't she?"

"So she knows and she's ok with it?" Vida said in surprise. "That doesn't seem like her—she'd never stay loyal to someone who hurts other people."

She'd been hoping to find a weak spot with Trini. It hadn't worked.

"Trini's loyalties lie with me," Jason growled. "Like they always have. She's never questioned my decisions when it counted—maybe the two of you should try following her example."

The girls stared at him, momentarily lost for words. Vida took a deep breath.

"Jason, let us—" she started to say.

"Found them, daddy," a young voice interrupted.

Vida stopped in surprise and Jason glanced down to see Mark tugging on his shirt. None of them had heard the little boy come in the house. He was holding the small red Power Ranger backpack he kept all of his Power Ranger figures in.

"That's great, Mark," Jason said, trying to keep his irritation at his sisters out of his voice. "Now go back out to the car. I'll be out in a minute."

But Mark had seen Madison and Vida.

"Auntie Maddy! Auntie V!" he exclaimed, smiling.

They smiled back and he started to run to them, but Jason stopped him.

"Go to the car, Mark," Jason said more firmly. "Now."

"But daddy," Mark protested.

"Now, Mark," Jason said shortly. "No arguing."

"Fine," Mark pouted, kicking at the ground as he turned and headed for the door. "Not fair… I want to see Auntie Maddy and Auntie V, too… I never get to see them anymore…"

The little boy disappeared down the hall and a moment later they heard the door shut. Madison and Vida glared at Jason.

"Why did you do that?" Vida demanded.

"Because I don't want you anywhere near my son—or my daughter," Jason growled, glaring back as he crossed his arms. "Not until you get your act together. I'm not risking their well-being with your nonsense."

"That's not fair!" Madison cried. "We would never hurt them. You should know that."

"I thought I did," he said. "Until you attacked Tommy."

"He had it coming," Vida snapped back. "Jason, we haven't even met Rose!"

"And you're not going to anytime soon," he said, not budging. "Not until I think I can trust you again."

The girls looked at him with hurt expressions.

"Jason, come on," Madison pleaded. "You can't keep us away from them forever."

"Watch me," he said shortly.

The front door opened again, actually catching their attention this time.

"Girls, I'm home," Mrs. Rocca called from down the hall. "Do you want to help me make dinner?"

Her voice cut off for a moment, meaning she must have stepped into the kitchen. The girls exchanged looks and then looked expectantly at Jason. But he wasn't even trying to hide his glares as their mother came down the hall.

"And is your brother here?" she asked from the hall. "I think I saw his car—oh. Jason."

She had rounded the corner into the living room to find Jason standing there, glaring at his sisters.

"Am I interrupting something?" she asked, glancing between her children. "Jason, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to visit Trini's parents for a few days. Are you here by yourself?"

"On our way out," he said, not taking his eyes off the girls. "Had to stop and get Mark's power rangers before he had a complete meltdown and ran into these two. Trini's in the car with the kids."

Mrs. Rocca nodded slowly, still eyeing the three siblings.

"Well," she said slowly. "I'm going to give you three a moment to settle whatever is going on between you while I go say hello to Trini. I'll be back in a few minutes."

No one said anything as she left the room.

"So you couldn't even pretend for mom?" Vida snapped the minute the front door closed. "She doesn't need to be involved in this."

"And she isn't," Jason said. "Siblings fight. She doesn't need to know why—unless you two really want her to know. But I'm not telling her my secret, and don't think she'll believe you if you try spilling it for me."

Madison gasped suddenly, her eyes widening.

"Please tell me you don't let Tommy come over here," Madison said. "You don't, do you?"

Jason scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Tommy can visit if he wants to," he said. "Mom doesn't care and neither does dad. Tommy usually swings b y to say hi when he's in Angel Grove."

"Jason, you have to keep him away!" Vida snapped. "He's dangerous—especially for people without powers like ours. He could hurt them!"

"Tommy's not evil and isn't going to hurt anyone!" Jason snapped back. "What part of that aren't you understanding? That happened a long time ago. It's over now. End of story."

"We saw the dark magic, Jason," Madison said. "It's still there. Nothing is over."

"Oh, it's over," Jason said. "As much as it ever can be—unless the five of you wake it back up because you can't keep those sticks to yourselves. So drop it."

The girls looked at each other, silently arguing for a moment. Finally, they both nodded. Taking a deep breath, Madison turned back to Jason.

"Jason," she said hesitantly and slowly. "Let us help you. I—we—think that Tommy has you under a spell. And if that's true, we can help you. We can free you and stop him before he can hurt—"

"Enough!" Jason roared, dropping his arms and clenching his fists. "I'm done listening to the nonsense. I've tried explaining—we all have. You two just aren't getting it. You aren't listening! And you know what? I'm done with this. You are and always will be my sisters—I will never deny that. But Tommy is my best friend and we've been through a lot together and you need to respect that, no matter what your prejudices are. I will not turn my back on him just because the two of you refuse to see sense."

"Big brother, please," Vida begged, reaching toward him. "Let us help you."

"Don't," Jason snapped, jerking away. "I am not under a spell and haven't been in a really long time. Every choice I make now and action I take is mine and mine alone except where they effect the rest. You are not allowed to blame anything on Tommy. He's held to the same standard I am. The same standard you should be following. And he tried explain all this when he came to visit, but neither of you even gave him a chance. As far as he knew, you could have been waiting to attack him but he went anyways—shouldn't that tell you anything?"

He took a deep breath, continuing before they could say anything in protest.

"And this is what I've decided," he said grimly. "And don't think you can get around this—my word is final on this matter. Until you and your team can figure yourselves out, consider yourselves on your own. I had hoped for a moment when I first walked in here that maybe I could get you to listen, but I was obviously wrong. You are so stuck on what Tommy was that you refuse to see who he is and, until that mentality changes, I will not change my orders. So don't bother contacting me or anyone else unless it's with an apology and a promise that you are ready to listen."

"Jason—" Madison started to plead.

"Don't, Madison," he said, shaking his head. "You can't talk me out of this one. Right now I want nothing to do with your magic—or you. Not like this. So, until you get your heads out of the sand, this is goodbye."

Spinning, he stalked out of the room and toward the front door.

"Jason!" Vida shouted after him.

He didn't stop or answer.

"Fine!" Vida yelled in frustration, her own fists clenched now. "Then go! We don't need you anyways."

The only response was the slamming of the front door.

"Now what?" Madison said after a moment. "How can we save him if he won't let us help?"

Vida sighed, shaking her head.

"Jason doesn't want our help," she said. "So, short of kidnapping him, there's nothing we can do. It's beyond our power and ability."

"I know," Madison mumbled. "I just hate this… I want our brother back the way he was…"

"Yeah, and what's worse is not we have to tell mom something," Vida grumbled. "Either we tell her we aren't talking and try and come up with a reason why or we pretend that everything is just fine… Personally I vote for just going back to Briarwood. We saw mom and dad and gave them their Christmas presents last night, so we wouldn't miss anything important."

"Yeah, I guess," Madison said reluctantly. "I just hate doing that to them after not coming home for so long…"

Vida nodded and then groaned as something dawned on her.

"Come on, sis," she said. "We've gotta pack and get out of here before Jason tells Tommy we're here alone—Reefside isn't that far away."

Madison's eyes widened.

"Let's go, then," she said quickly. "We'll just have to tell mom something came up. She's not going to be happy…"

"But we can't risk Tommy coming after us here with mom and dad around," Vida sighed. "So we have to run…"

In complete agreement, the girls darted up the stairs to pack so they could leave Angel Grove.

Outside, Jason stalked over to his car to find his mother smiling and chatting with Trini and the kids. Trini caught a glimpse of his stormy face over his mother's shoulder and frowned. Mrs. Rocca turned to see what she was looking at, frowning herself when she saw him coming.

"Jason, is everything alright?" she asked in concern.

"It's fine," he said shortly. "But we've gotta get going. We'll see you sometime after we get back."

Not giving his mother a chance to protest, Jason gave her a quick hug and kiss and climbed into the car.

"But what about your sisters?" she managed to get in before he could shut the door. "I saw your faces. Did you patch things up?"

Jason grimaced.

"There's nothing to fix," he said. "They're just being stubborn and irrational. But I'm not really in the mood to discuss it."

"But—" Mrs. Rocca started to protest.

"Love you, mom," Jason interrupted. "Bye."

Slamming the door shut, he put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb. He knew he'd have to apologize to his mother later, but for the moment he really didn't care. For a few moments it was silent as he fumed, glaring at the road ahead.

"Jason, what happened?" Trini asked a few minutes later, breaking the silence. "Did you know your sisters were going to be there?"

"Not a clue," he muttered. "And as for what happened, they're still stuck on Tommy being—well, you know…"

He glanced in the mirror at Mark as he spoke. Mark was the reason he hadn't spoken plainly, not wanting his son to hear or understand anything he shouldn't at his age. The little boy had emptied his Power Ranger backpack onto the seat next to him and was happily playing with some of his favorites, including the green and white original rangers. Now that he was older, and had such an active interest in the rangers, Trini and Jason were even more careful about what they said and did in his hearing. They didn't want to chance him finding out anything about their past as rangers until he was old enough to keep the secret, though they would both rather he just never found out.

"I still can't believe they were the ones responsible," Trini sighed, shaking her head. "And they've had time to cool down—I was hoping they'd be ready to listen…"

Jason sighed.

"So was I…" he said quietly. "So was I…"

After Jason took off, Mrs. Rocca headed back inside to see if she could get any answers out of her daughters. To her surprise, as she walked down the hallway, Madison and Vida came bolting down the stairs with their bags in hand.

"Girls, where are you going?" she asked, frowning. "We were going to make dinner."

"Sorry, mom," Vida said quickly as they both reached for their shoes. "Something came up in Briarwood and we gotta get home."

"This is still your home, too," she gently reminded them.

"We know, mom," Madison sighed, looking at her regretfully. "And we really are sorry…But it's important for V's internship and we need to get back right away. We promise to visit again as soon as we can, ok?"

Shoes on, the girls straightened up and grabbed their bags again. Giving their mother a quick hug and kiss goodbye, they headed for the door.

"We'll call when we get home," Vida called over her shoulder. "Tell dad we love him."

"Love you!" Madison added before the door closed behind them.

And, just like that, the house was quiet again. Mrs. Rocca sighed, staring at the door for a moment. This was not how she planned their first visit in over a year. The twins, and Jason, were going to be getting an earful as soon as she could get one of them on the phone. But, knowing none of them would answer now, she sighed again and headed back to the kitchen to put her groceries away.