Disclaimer: I wish they were mine...
A/N: Second chapter of the update! Consider it kind of like cyber-cookies for being good. :)
Chapter 8:
"You've probably guessed we're the Charmed Ones by now."
The old rangers shared unknown looks before anyone spoke.
"We don't even know what or who the Charmed Ones are," Jason stated.
"Well, we are, obviously," Ashley started. "And we're witches."
For a moment, it seemed as if time and life actually paused. No one said anything and everyone listening to Kimberly, Taylor and Ashley didn't make any movement or expression to show that they heard the ex-Yellow Astro Ranger. The laughs from Zack and Rocky didn't help them.
"You're kidding, right? I know we've been through some supernatural things, but witches are a bit of stretch," Rocky said.
"If Power Rangers could exist, why couldn't witches," Taylor countered.
"Besides," Kimberly began, "Rita Repulsa was technically a witch, albeit with some adjustments from the way we do things."
"Yeah, but-" Zack didn't have anything to say after those two words. Kimberly's short yet accurate argument made a point. Though it may have been his surprise at hearing the new rather than his disbelief that stopped him from commenting further.
Kimberly sent her sisters looks that they returned, all three knowing this was going to happen. "We know it seems crazy and totally unrealistic. But it's true."
The girls knew that just saying that it was true wouldn't make the fact acknowledged in their friends' minds. It was going to take a lot more
"How else would we have been able to do all that we did back at that big empty area with the demons," Ashley pointed out.
"I mean," Taylor continued, "that's too much to pull off for a trick if we wanted to pull one off. Besides, you guys saw the darklighter's arrow in Kim's side. That was all too real."
"W-wait a minute, h-hold on," Danny stuttered, not fully processing everything. "Witches? Demons? Darklighters?" He seemed to be searching for the right word, eventually only being able to get out, "Huh?"
The girls traded glances, knowing the others weren't far behind, or ahead, of what Danny was saying. They knew from the beginning that this was going to be no easy task. Honestly, they never had to come out with their numinous identities; they could have spent the rest of their lives doing what their duty as Charmed Ones called for, saving the lives of innocents, the magical and the human world along with other realms, leaving behind their pasts but always remembering the effect those histories had on their lives. They could've spent forever as the acclaimed Charmed Ones, leaving a blank in their friends' lives.
But they couldn't.
They couldn't leave those blanks, leaving everyone to wonder about what happened to them when they knew just as well that they wanted to see what was happening with their best friends. True, they had become best friends with each other, becoming sisters to this point, but the past could never be erased. They learned that a long time ago. Yes, they could have let things be, but they would never be truly happy even if their course as the Charmed Ones ended and their lives turned out to be the fairytale 'happily ever after'. They meant the world to each other, but their friends still had a major part of them the other two could never actually have: their pasts.
So they didn't.
"Don't worry, Danny," Taylor said. "I didn't understand everything at first either."
"Try showing up at the Halliwell manor because of some reason you don't know and have people tell you that you're a Charmed One," Kimberly added, creating more confusion among the small crowd. When Katherine inquired of the Halliwell manor, Kimberly continued. "It's the home of the Charmed Ones, and apparently where we were meant to meet. It's in San Francisco and it's where we've been living for the past five years."
"Well, Kim's lived there for five years," Ashley pointed out. "I've been there for three."
"Two for me," Taylor added in.
Oddly, many, "So that's where you've been all these years," popped up from the old rangers, nearly all thinking the same thing. After finally having the question of where each girl had been for the last few years answered, they returned to the big picture.
"So, is there more to this whole 'Charmed Ones' thing than just being witches?" Trini asked, actually more eager than she thought she would be in the possibility of such supernatural worlds existing.
"Well," Kimberly began, smiling to see her old best friend's curiosity back in her life. "You have to be witches in order to be the Charmed Ones. But our situation was really different. Usually you have to be born witches."
"But you weren't," Billy stated, before verbalizing his bewilderment by adding, "Right?"
"Definitely not," Ashley answered. "But apparently, we're still Charmed."
"How can you be Charmed without being witches?" Billy brought up.
"We are witches," Taylor replied. "We just weren't born witches."
"But… how?" Nearly all of the first Power Ranger teams were shocked, and even amused, at seeing the most intelligent and technical of them all finally being stumped. The fact made Kimberly just the slightest proud.
"To tell you the truth," she shrugged, "we still have no idea."
"Trust me," Taylor said, "we've tried our best to find out why. We just have no idea right now."
A few of their friends nodded, understanding most of what the girls were saying. Most of them were still the most perplexed they had ever been. "What else," Adam queried, becoming engaged in the pseudo-conversation.
"Well, the original Charmed Ones were the three Halliwell sisters," Ashley began, feeling an overwhelmed Kimberly at all her friends asking the questions and most them still being puzzled. "There was a sort of prophecy before their time that three witches, three sisters, would become the Charmed Ones and become the greatest witches ever."
"So there were more Charmed Ones before you?"
"There was only supposed to be one family of Charmed Ones, but we don't know what happened," Taylor explained from what she knew after what her mentors told her. "There was never a prophecy for more Charmed Ones."
Ashley extended her sister's thought. "We figured that the children of the Charmed Ones would be the next ones, if there was ever to be more Charmed Ones. But there were nine children, so maybe that had something to do with it."
"We also heard," Kimberly added, "that Wyatt Halliwell was supposed to be the most powerful witch ever."
"Wait," Billy said, his never-ending inquiring mind showing through. "I thought the Halliwell sisters were destined to be the greatest witches ever, from what you've told us. And wasn't the guy back there named Wyatt?"
Always the inquisitive one, Kimberly thought of her cerebral companion. "Yeah, that guy was Wyatt; he's the first child of Charmed Ones. Yes, the sisters were meant to be the greatest, but Wyatt is supposed to be the most powerful. He's the one who will shift the ultimate power to either good or evil. Basically, the end of the world depends on him."
"Or something along those lines," Ashley added when she saw the flabbergasted countenances on everyone's faces. It was obvious Kimberly scared them with her last statement, or at least put them in a small shock.
The others appeared to be silently discussing their misunderstanding of everything while the girls decided if they should continue. Thankfully, Cassie spoke and put the conversation back on track.
"Maybe we should be asking more about this Wyatt guy and the end of the world," she said, "but I have a feeling that might take forever. What does this have to do with you guys again?"
"The Halliwell sisters were destined to be the greatest," Ashley repeated Kimberly's words, "and as far as we know, they were. They destroyed the worst force against good that was out there, or at least the worst involving the magical world and the human world. But something happened that not even Wyatt and Chris remember and suddenly they were gone."
"Chris is Wyatt's younger brother," Kimberly included for clarification.
"It really is the weirdest thing," Taylor commented, thinking the same thought several times the past few years. "You'd think someone would remember what would happen to their parents and aunts, especially when they saved two worlds and however many dimensions from evil. But they don't and we don't know either."
"But apparently," Kimberly began, "a few weeks after the Charmed Ones 'disappeared', I showed up and weird things started happening. But then again," she contemplated aloud, "looking back, I guess things weren't that weird. After leaving Florida for San Francisco and meeting Wyatt and Chris, I got an explanation why I started disappearing at random times. The reason was easy: I was suddenly a witch. We didn't know why, but they just knew I was one."
"The same thing happened with me," Ashley commenced with her beginning. "When I got to California, I met up with Kimberly at the Halliwell house. I had a hard time believing anything they told me, but after showing me all their powers and things from the magical world, I could see it being real. Plus, after a while I figured if I could have been a Power Ranger, this whole magic and witch thing was totally possible. After a year with Kim, we met Taylor."
"And my story is basically the same," Taylor stated, "although it did take me a lot longer to accept it."
A shared glance among the three girls let everyone know that it did take some time for Taylor to believe anything about the world she was trying to convince them of. The idea wasn't too surprising for Taylor's friends; it may not have taken long for her to accept being a Power Ranger, but magic? That was already too hard for them to believe.
"It took me about a month and nearly dying a couple dozen times to finally acknowledge everything," she admitted. "But I think it was worth it. Plus, these powers are really great to have."
"Powers," Alyssa asked.
"Yeah," Taylor answered. "All witches have some type of power. Remember those fireballs and energy balls that shot out of my hand back there? Those are two of my powers. And when I could disappear from one place and come back? It's called shimmering. I have a new one I've only used once, but I can't really get a hold of it right now." Taylor turned to her sisters for her next sentence. "I never thought power synchronization would be so hard to control."
Cole's next sentence brought her attention back to everyone else. "And these are… powers?"
"Yeah," she repeated. "You can use them against anyone or anything, but as a Charmed One, I use them against demons."
When the question of what a demon was specifically, Ashley answered before going into her own powers. "Demons are basically the magical version of monsters for rangers; they're just things we have to fight with our powers for the greater good. My powers are superspeed, molecular combustion, temporal stasis, premonitions and empathy."
Seeing further looks of misunderstanding, Kimberly felt the need to explain the powers for which Ashley used the technical terms. "Basically, Ash can run like Superman, blow up things, freeze things and people, can read into the past and future, and she can literally feel everything any person is feeling." Once the others understood Ashley's gifts, they expected Kimberly to finish with her own. "I can orb to different places, which is like Taylor's shimmering; I also have telekinesis and psychokinesis, which are pretty obvious, but they go hand in hand so they're pretty much the same thing. I have the power of thermal transformation, regeneration, and I can heal wounds and injuries."
"Thermal transformation?" Aisha asked.
This time, Billy took the courtesy of explaining the term, hoping he was correct. "It's the changing of thermal temperature, raising or lowering the heat and warmth of one's surroundings." He finished by asked the girls whether or not he was right. He was happy to gain a nod.
"That's… cool," Jason stated, others agreeing with him afterward, though they still found it hard to believe. Their skepticism must have shown on their faces since the girls took the initiative to say the next thing.
"You know, we can see that you guys don't believe everything we're saying," Ashley said with a blunt face.
"You're not doing a good job of hiding it," Taylor continued. "And even if you were, Ashley's empathy would tell us everything."
"And in light of the fact that you guys can barely accept anything we're saying," Kimberly started before looking briefly at her sisters as if the three were considering something, "we'll just have to stick around until you do. Of course, that means more demons might show up and try to kill you guys as well as us."
"But our arsenal should be enough to stall them from doing anything serious," Taylor stated with a satisfied grin that rarely showed on her face.
Once the girls confirmed their resolve to stay in Angel Grove as long as they needed to prove to their friends the reality of this magical world they spoke of, their friends appeared as if they were having multiple silent conversations over what to do. Could they accept the world their long lost friends told of now or let their incredulity take over? More importantly, would denying that world allow them to keep the three girls they missed so much or lose them all over again?
"Listen," Trini began when she was sure everyone reached a common decision. "We want to believe you guys, trust me. It's been so long since we've seen any of you, especially you, Kim, but what you're telling us is really hard to believe, even after what we've seen back there."
"But," Cole started, "there's a lot in what you guys are saying. We don't want to lose you again, Taylor, just because we're unsure of what you're saying."
"Ditto for you, Ash," TJ agreed. "Too much has passed; we can't just let you guys go."
"And besides," Karone added to the surprise of many, "I want to see this paranormal world you guys are talking of. I don't know about everyone else, but I think it sounds pretty cool."
The Charmed Ones could see a lot in what their friends were saying. Their friends were overwhelmed with all the girls were disclosing to them, they wanted to believe something but they didn't know what to think; they wanted to see the girls for so long but they didn't know what to do or say now that they did. The list might've continued in their heads but each girl could see a bigger point through all this: their friends wanted to give them a chance. A chance to explain in full detail, to regain the friends they thought they lost, to see what they've missed, to have the comfort of smiling like in old times, to show their old teammates the world that commanded her promise to save humanity again, a chance… for everything.
And they were going to take it.
Kimberly smirked at the generations of Power Rangers sitting and standing before her. I guess they've become a little deaf over the years, she thought amused. "Didn't you guys just hear me? I said we're not leaving until you guys believe us. And trust me, that promise is as good as gold."
"Gold?" Adam asked, throwing everybody off with the one-word question. "I thought you'd say it's as good as pink. Gold was never your color."
Two silent seconds passed before chuckles and quick giggles came from the mass in reaction to the comment. Ashley, Kimberly and Taylor were especially entertained with Adam's remark. They were falling into the old bonds they had with their friends before, slowly but surely. Once they saw things were going perfectly fine, all three nodded simultaneously and took the unwary step of rising from their seats on the stone bench and walked toward their individual group of friends. To their surprise, and contentment, each of them was practically inundated with hugs and smiles, which their friends thought they should've been welcomed in the first place.
Each of them was special to every friend there. They were an integral part of their teams and left some of the greatest imprints on their teammates' lives. It would take time to heal all the absences and questions created over the last couple of years, but at least they wouldn't do it alone. They were all just happy to have the chance to finally celebrate their homecoming of sorts.
Unfortunately, a minute later they heard an abnormal ringing sound just a few yards away that captured everybody's attention. Everyone looked over in the direction of the sound and saw two pale creatures dressed in irking white suits. An audible, "Holy crap," could be heard from the three young women who were just beginning to enjoy their real homecoming.
"Who the hell are they," several rangers asked unconnectedly.
"Don't tell us they're more demons," Aisha said with distaste toward the creatures.
"Nope," Kimberly answered, almost wishing that they were.
"A little worse," Ashley continued.
"They're the cleaners," Taylor finished.
A/N: They finally explained!