"He wants to be left alone, sir," announced Z, as she reported her encounter with Cliff Chan, the former yellow A squad ranger, whose teammates had died months before at the hands of Gruumm. Their bodies had all since been returned back to the planets where they all had been born and buried next to their families.

Cruger could understand that, but at the same time still wanted to help Cliff in any way he could. He had been unable to help the others and Dru wouldn't take his help. He had hoped that things could be different with Cliff; the young man would be a great asset to have. He had already been one, helping defeat Gruumm. "Did he indicate anything about where he was going?"

"No, sir." Z shook her head and looked her Commander square in the eye. "And even if he did, I would respect his wishes." She was recalling when there had been a time in her life when she wished not to be found.

"Perhaps, but I do have other reasons and concerns for wanting to meet with him….." Though he knew that Cliff was no longer on the side of evil, that didn't quite mean that he wasn't a threat; he had spent his whole childhood in the grasp of Gruumm, and he had witnessed the deaths of his father, his teammates, and had done many horrible things. Things you only see in your nightmares.

Z could have taken that personally, whether it was due to her actions in the past for her own crimes or whether it was the sort of bond, a connection she had somehow developed with Cliff, she didn't know. "He's not a danger, sir. He could have done harm to me, but he didn't."

"I see." Cruger nodded his head and clasped his hands behind his back, whether it was because he really believed in her judgment or if he somehow knew that she wasn't going to be judgmental, he was beginning to wonder if she had somehow developed some sort of feelings for Cliff. It wasn't uncommon for someone to become attached to the subject they had been assigned to. He had seen it happen more than once in his career, even with himself. His wife had at one time been his assignment, he had been her bodyguard and as time went on he had fallen in love with her. "Thank you for the information."

Chase was working at the apartment table, going through some documented files, when there was a knock at the door. He looked at his watch; it was 7:00 pm, a little too early for Sky to be back from his birthday date with Syd, and it couldn't be Megan because she was staying in the Academy dorms. The knock came again. Realizing that it wasn't going to be going away, Chase closed the folder of documents. "Coming!"

He opened the door and was faced with someone with two large grocery bags in their arms; a second later a little boy came zooming in as if he was on a sugar rush. "Wesley!" scolded Hayley as she nearly lost her balance and dropped the bags. Thankfully Chase was able to catch them.

"Here, I got them." He took the bags and set them on the counter.

"Thank you." Hayley smiled and turned her attention back to her young son, giving him the mother of all mother looks.

"Sorry, Mommy." Wesley put on his boyish charm, which had always worked in the past for getting him out of trouble. "I love you." He winked and quickly gave her a big hug before she could say anything and then made his way over to the TV.

Hayley just shook her head, he had done it again. Her son definitely was on the road to being a heartbreaker.

"Quite the little charmer, isn't he?"

Releasing that Chase was looking at her and probably having no clue who she was or why she was here, she turned to the young man, looking at him apologetically. "Oh, I'm so sorry, you must think I'm some crazy woman coming in here without any reason." She put out her hand. "I'm Hayley Myers, Megan's mom, and you must be Chase."

"I thought you might be." He shook her hand. "You have your daughter's beautiful smile."

Hayley smiled, and she thought her son was the only charmer around here. It definitely wasn't what she was expecting out of Chase; from what Megan had told her he was just as hard working as Sky was, but with a little more relaxed outlook. "Thank you, Megan forgot to mention that you were such a charmer…."

Chase had to laugh at that. "Yeah, well one of use has to be, with Sky around…."

"Speaking of Sky, where is our birthday boy?"

"He's out with Syd, he protested against it, but she somehow convinced him to go out with her. I'll be taking him out for a drink when they get back."

"It's good to see that he's opening up some." But there was something hidden in the way she said it.

"Yeah… His uncle called for him, Drake I think it was."

Hayley let out a sigh, knowing that at least at this point no good would come out of it. "Yeah, Drake's been trying to get a hold of Sky for a while now." She had known he was pretty broken up about how things between him and Sky had gone, but at the same time no one was expecting Sky to have taken it well.

"Did the two have some sort of falling out?" Chase did recall a few things that Megan had said about how Drake and Sky were with each other and it didn't sound like a great relationship to him, but he didn't really know much about it so he couldn't be sure about anything.

"Something like that." Hayley looked over at her son, who was glued to the TV. She didn't want to get too in depth about the falling out between Drake and Sky. It had been bad, so bad that Sky had taken off for a couple of days to Silver Hills.

Seeing that she didn't want to stay on that subject and having a full understanding of situations that involved wanting to keep certain things to yourself, Chase turned to another topic they could discuss. "So the groceries…"

"Oh, they're for you boys…." Hayley turned back to Chase. "Wesley and I were in town for his school's field trip to the zoo, and I thought I'd just drop on by, was hoping to catch Sky."

"I'll be sure to let him know you stopped by, and thank you for the groceries."

"Oh, don't mention it. It's the least I can do; you two do have to put up with my daughter. I know she can be a handful." She patted him on the arm.

"She's no trouble, glad to have her around." Chase smiled, and he wasn't trying to put up a good show. He really did mean it, sure Megan could be a pain in the ass at times, but he really did enjoy her company.

"Your mother sure raised you well, she must really be proud of the young man you turned out to be,"

"I hope so." His smile faded slightly.

"I'm sorry…." She had almost forgotten that Megan had told her that both of Chase's parents were dead.

"It's okay. It was a long time ago." Four years to be exact, was when the accident had happened that had killed both of his parents. He had been only eighteen at the time, still a very young age to lose both of your parents. "It was hard at first, but I had people that cared about me back home, that helped me through it."

"You must miss home, being so far from it…."

"…..I do, but this is starting to feel like home." He didn't know what it was, but there was something familiar about Hayley, something he couldn't explain and for a moment he thought she recognized it too, but a second later the look was gone.

"Well, Wesley and I should be heading back home; we have a little bit of a drive back to Reefside."

"It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Myers." Chase put out his hand, smiling back at her.

"Please call me Hayley." She shook his hand. "Wesley, honey, time to go."

"Ah, but Mom…." Wesley whined as he got up from the couch and made his way over to his mother. "The show was just getting good…"

"You sure you don't want to stay the night?" Syd raised her arms up and wrapped them around Sky's neck pulling his head down to her. "I could make it worth your while," she said, as she began to kiss him passionately, as her lips opened under his.

The kiss began to deepen slightly, as Sky moved his arms up pulling Syd closer to him. Tonight had been difficult for him; it had been fourteen years since his father's passing, since Mirloc had ended his life. The painful memories of losing his father, the hurt, the years of feeling abandoned and then all the lies about his past…. Sky deepened the kiss even more than before; causing both him and Syd to fall onto the couch; everything else was forgotten.

"Looks like someone wants their present." Syd grinned as Sky lay on top of her body, their eyes locked with each other. But the more she looked into his eyes, she could see something troubling about them, something was wrong. She knew he was doing all he could to hide it, but since they had been together she had come to know all his looks and could recognize when something was wrong with him. "Sky, is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine." He leaned down to her, brushing his lips against her jaw and trailing them up towards her lips. "Never been better." He kissed her again.

"Are you sure?" she asked as she gently ran her hand over the back of his head and brushed her fingers over his ears. "Because I did see the news report about Dru. And in combination with today and what a few days from now is, I know this hasn't been an easy week for you."

"I'm fine, Syd. Really." He gently caressed her cheek and leaned down and kissed her playfully which turned into a more passionate kiss, just wanting this moment to last a while longer. Syd wrapped her arms around his back pulling him closer and soon all her concerns for him began to disappear.

Just as she was starting to finish unbuttoning the last couple buttons of his shirt... "Ahemm…" Both of them shot up to find Z in the living room; she had just gotten back home from her night shift at the Academy with Bridge. "Hey, guys…."

"Now I know where Megan gets it from, your timing sucks," grumbled Sky, as he started to button his shirt back up.

"How long have you've been standing there?" asked Syd, a little annoyed. "I didn't hear the door open."

"That's because you were too busy sucking each other's faces." Z grinned. "I haven't been here that long, so go on and continue doing what you were going to do. Don't mind me, I'm going to head in for the night." Z headed towards the counter to set her keys down.

"Well…" Sky stood up. "I actually should be going; I promised Chase we'd hang out."

"…All right." Syd smiled, a little disappointed, but she understood. She got up and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek. "Just try not to get into too much trouble; you do have to go to work tomorrow."

"Don't worry. I'll be…."

"I know, you'll be fine."

Sky nodded his head and then gave her a quick kiss, before heading towards the door. He briefly glanced over at Z. "Night, Z."

"Night, Sky." Once Sky was gone, Z watched as Syd turned to her upsettingly. "What!" Z said in protest, but knowing very well what Syd was upset about. "Don't even start with me, Syd."

"You could have knocked, you know."

"Oh, so I'm supposed to knock at the door of an apartment I pay half of?" Z just shook her head rolling her eyes. "Even if I did, it's not like you two would have heard me."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You really don't see it, do you?" Z knew that Syd had better sense than this, but she clearly was so hung up on Sky that she couldn't think clearly when it came to him.

"See what?"

"Okay, look," Z sighed, as she walked around so she was face to face with Syd. "I'm not telling you this to be mean. I'm telling you this because you're my friend and I don't want to see you get hurt."

Syd crossed her arms against her chest. "I'm waiting…."

"I lied about the amount of time I was standing there. I heard the whole conversation, about how you were worried about him…."

"He said he was fine!" Now Syd was starting to get irritable, if there was one thing she didn't like it was someone getting into her own private business.

"That's what he said."

"Meaning….."

"Haven't you noticed that anytime you bring up anything personal about Sky or how he is feeling, that he finds a way out of it so he doesn't have to talk about it? Like tonight for instance, he said he was fine and then did the only thing that would shut you up."

Syd's eyes widened, now she really was upset. She couldn't believe that Z would think such a thing. "That's not true. Sky tells me a lot of things!"

"Really?" Z crossed her arms against her chest, looking her friend square in the eyes. "Did he ever tell you why he was so upset when he showed up at your parents' front doorstep?"

Syd had about had it with Z's crap. "….Yeah. Well, at least I have a boyfriend and not some phantom that I'm chasing after!" Syd stormed off to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

"Syd!" Not wanting the two to go to bed on a argument and knowing that it was very important for them all to maintain a good relationship with each other, given their kind of work and need to trust each other on all levels, Z opened the door to Syd's room and sat down next to Syd. "I'm not saying Sky's a bad guy. I know how you feel about him."

"Okay… Then what is it? What's so wrong with him, that you don't like?"

Z took a deep breath, knowing she was going to need to word this carefully without upsetting Syd more than she already had. "I don't think Sky knows what he wants, and instead of dealing with his problems, he avoids them."

"You think he's using me?" Syd exclaimed. "Sky wouldn't do that!"

"I hope you're right." Z smiled faintly, but a part of her had a very strong feeling that that was what was happening. She might not have known Sky for as long as Syd had, but she knew him enough to know that he did not deal with things well and found one way or another to avoid them in any way he could. "Because I want you guys to be happy." And she genuinely meant it. She wanted them to be happy. They're two of her best friends. They both deserved to be happy.

"Thanks." Syd smiled faintly, but what Z had said really was starting to stick to her; maybe her friend wasn't too far off. It did seem that whenever she brought up anything that dealt with Sky personally, that he would find a way out of it, like tonight. "Sorry about what I said, about Cliff… I know that you kind of care about him."

"It's okay. I actually came face to face with him."

"Really?' Syd's face brightened. She had been the only person that Z had told what her special mission assignment from Cruger was. "Well….?"

Chase had taken Sky out towards the beach that was just a little way away from their apartment building. Another group of people had a bonfire going and Chase had brought a cooler with a couple of beers in it.

"So you and Syd had a nice time."

"Yeah…." Sky took a sip of his beer, looking into the fire and watching as the flames sparked into the fire. "Dinner and a movie."

"Syd seems like a nice girl. You're one lucky guy." Chase finished off his drink and went for another. He had known that Syd was very popular among many of the other male cadets and officers at the Academy. And he couldn't blame them for looking at her, she was a very beautiful girl. It was no secret that many of them were both jealous and envious of Sky.

"Thanks…"

"You okay?" He was sensing something was wrong, though he couldn't be sure, Sky was a hard guy to read and they hadn't known each other for long.

"I'm great. I'm going to go check out the ocean."

"Okay." Chase turned his head and watched as Sky walked over towards the ocean, watching as the water brushed against the shore, seeming so unaware of the commotion around him: the music playing in the background and the laughter.

Chase turned back towards the fire, watching it intensely, as if he saw something in the fire, nothing else around him mattered, only the fire burning brightly, the heat of the smoke brushing against his face.

"You're going to make it out of here…." A young woman coughed, she had long black hair. Her body leaned against a wall, mangled; blood drenched her uniform, as fire and smoke filled the building.

Chase took a sip of his beer, continually staring into the fire; his face was hot and sweaty. "…..You have to…"

"They'll come for you, you'll be okay…" She coughed again, but this time blood trickled down her chin. "I know you will." She stared up at the body lying next to her; he was looking no better than her.

"Don't…." Answered the larger body lying next to her. "Don't you let go…"

Tears covered Chase's eyes as he finished off the beer; he raised the bottle, looking right at it, seeing a vague reflection of himself, with the fire burning. "Don't let go…"

"You can't leave me….. Not now." He slowly moved his injured hand over hers, squeezing it gently. "I need you to stay with me."

"I will always be with you." Her breathing was starting to get weak, darkness from the smoke she had consumed was starting to come over her. "You're going to be okay, Chase, you'll make it out of here and I know you'll find them, just like we said we would. And they will be everything you hoped they would be…."

"Don't go…." he pleaded.

"I will….always be with you….." With one last breath, her eyes closed forever…..

Chase gulped in heavily; as he brushed away his tears and tossed his bottle into the fire several bright sparks burst. Still hearing those final words… "I will always be with you…"

"I know you are…. I know…" He bit his lips. "I know…"

"You know what?"

Chase turned around and found Sky standing behind him. "I know…..that we should probably be starting back to the apartment."

"Yeah. We probably should," agreed Sky. "It's late and we have drill in the morning."

KO-35

Twelve year old Mora sat outside in the backyard of her grandparents' home…her home. She had been here for months now, trying to adapt among the humans, a race that she once had hated and wanted nothing more than to see whipped out of existence, that was however before she had learned the truth. Her parents had been human: Andros and Ashley Hammond; they had been Power Rangers, a few of the first SPD Rangers. They had gone to Sirius, a planet that had once been Commander Cruger's home world and it was there they were killed, but not by humans as she had been told, but by Gruumm and his army.

Her whole life had been nothing but a lie. Everything that Gruumm had told her had been a lie. She had no memory of good things, only hate and fear. She did not remember what her parents looked like, what it felt like to have them hold her or kiss her on the cheek, the sound of their voices. She had been too young, just an innocent baby. She had also learned while being here, that both her Aunt Karone and Uncle Zhane were gone as well, killed by one of Gruumm's thugs. She had asked by which one, but no one would ever tell her. Deep down a part of her knew, a part of her knew that the monster that had once and maybe still did live inside of her was responsible for their deaths. No one would ever say and she would never ask.

A few tears rolled down her cheek, she knew her grandparents meant well and that they even had experience in things like this, but they couldn't ever fully understand. And anybody that could have was long dead. She hugged her doll close to her, just wishing for everything to get better. She knew that it wouldn't even help when her mother's parents would come for a visit, from Earth.

A distance away a man watched, hidden in the shadows, watching the young girl closely. Not a moment later Mora began to sense that she was being watched; she stood up and dried away her tears, looking around and then she picked up on the spot where the man was watching her. "What do you want!" she demanded. "Show yourself!" Moments passed with no answer and then he came out of hiding and walked closer up to her. Her eyes widened. "You….'

"Hello, Mora…" answered Cliff, the last time he had seen her was back on Gruumm's ship when he had to lock her in the closest for her own protection. Besides himself and Dru, she was all that was left of the children that Gruumm had abducted. Of the three of them, Dru would spend the rest of his life behind bars in a prison; Chase had tried to go and see him but had been unable to due to SPD tight security, not that it would have done any good. He and Dru had never been the best of friends and perhaps that had been Dru's biggest downfall, he and the others had always made trouble for Dru. He sighed heavily, hoping that things with Mora could be different.

"…..Is it true what they say about you, that you're the Phantom?"

"Yes."

"Is it also true that your mother knew my parents, that she was the Pink Ranger?" She had come to learn a lot of things these past months, overhearing things while her grandparents thought she was asleep.

"Yes, Mora, it is true." He knelt down in front of her, so he was eye level with her. "I was taken just like you were; I was there as Gruumm's army killed my father, the Phantom Ranger."

"Then we're alike."

"Yeah. I guess we are…."

"Take me with you…. I can't stand it here," she cried.

Cliff sighed, he could see the distress in her eyes. Her whole life had been turned upside down in ways only a few could ever truly understand. "You can't come with me, Mora, where I go, I must go alone."

"Why? We need to stick together; you're the only one that understands what it is like. They try, but they just can't….."

"I know that it is hard, but you must remain here, they need you." He gripped her shoulders. "Just as much as you need them." He looked in her eyes and smiled faintly. Though the memory was faint, he remembered when his mother and the other rangers had brought baby Mora for a visit. He remembered cradling her in his arms. That was so long ago, a life time ago... "Don't let Gruumm take anything else away from you. You'll be the one to get through all of this, everything Gruumm put us through; you will be the one to make it. I want that for you, Mora. I want you to live your life, I want you to grow up and enjoy everything life has to offer."

"What about you?" Did he not deserve that as well?

If only. "I can't go back; I still have many mistakes I need to make up for."

"What about me? I have done bad things too…. I know I have…" Tears filled her eyes; she hated to cry, she hated to feel weak, all she wanted was to forget and feel nothing, nothing at all.

"That's why I came here. I wanted to make things better for you." He raised his hand over her head. "To help take it all away."

"Will it hurt?"

"No…." He watched as she closed her eyes, his hand began to glow and a golden energy of light covered her face; it only lasted a few moments. And once he was done he dropped his hand down.

Mora opened her eyes and looked up at him, looking slightly confused. "Who are you?"

"I'm nobody…" Cliff backed away, a faint smile on his face, content with knowing she would be okay and that she would get through this. "Goodbye, Mora, everything's going to be okay now." Before Mora could even respond he was gone in a flash of light, leaving Mora standing there wondering who he was, but somewhere deep inside something told her that just as he said everything was going to be okay.

"Come on, Suzy Sunshine, lets go see what Grandma made for lunch!" Mora danced her way back to her home.