Ok, so I kind of accidentally lost the notebook where I'd been writing this, but I found it again, so I figured it would be update time. (plus I spent the past few days writing happy fics. I needed a different emotion.)

She always told us that death was not the end. I'd spoken to her several times while she was gone, training to be a famous gymnast. She never feared dying. She never really feared the moment when she would draw her last breath. Deep in her heart I knew she regretted not telling anyone; distancing herself from the group, from him. But she never feared because she new death was not the end.

Kimberly was right, death wasn't the end. As she lay in the hospital bed, she heard the sounds of the machines and her friends' sobbing slowly drift away. They were slowly replaced by the sounds of birds and running water. As her mortal eyes saw no more, her spirit's eyes opened to show her that she had not reached an end.

She found herself standing on a winding path, surrounded by a thin mist. The sounds of nature reached her through the curtain of fog, luring her off the path. She pushed her hand through, and finding no harm, she glided off the path, only to find herself in a familiar park. No longer was her body that of a sick twenty-eight year old woman, but rather she had regressed to a seventeen year old girl. Her hair was her own, restored to the shine it had had before she'd begun the chemotherapy treatments. Beside her was the playground she'd hung out on, fought aliens on. She smiled and continued to look around, noticing a small lake in the distance. She let a sad smile cross her face when she regonized it as the place where she and Tommy had shared their first kiss. She began to walk toward it, feeling like something invisible was drawing her sundress clad body toward it.

Kim dropped to her knees by the edge of the water, watching her reflection, really taking in every renewed inch of her body. She already missed them. What good was it being young and healthy if you were alone in a desolate park. Kimberly sighed, dropping her hand into the water. The moment her hand touched the cool surface, the water became more translucent until she no longer saw her reflection but rather she was looking down into the hospital room she'd just left. Startled, she drew her hand back, once again seeing the cool water's surface. Frowning, she plunged her hand into it. With her whole hand submerged, she heard just as much as she saw.

There was her body, lifeless and cold on the bed. Trini was sobbing, while a tearful eyed Jason tried to tug her away so doctor Mitchell could do her job. Billy's mouth was drawn in a tight line and he looked much older to her now. She saw the pain Zack was desperately trying to hide. She let a tear fall as she tried to reach out and comfort him. Her hand went right through him, reminding her of her reality.

Over the next few days Kimberly would sit by the lake with her hand in the water, watching and listening. She was there when they found Tommy. She felt his falcon scream, but the crane's response wasn't coming. She'd followed him to the beach the next day, trying to reach out again, but unable to. She'd cried the next day, refusing to put her hand in the lake again. It was pointless to be able to see and hear her friends but do nothing to comfort them.

However her curiosity overpowered her and she sat through her own funeral, wanting to scream out that she wasn't gone. She was right there. Kim left them for a while, and just lay in the grass, staring at the sky, just listening to her surroundings. She didn't know how much time passed. She never got tired, nor hungry, nor cold, or hot. She felt nothing but emotions, and she could tell that without the lake, she might even lose those too.

A sound broke through the near silence of her world. To her ears it sounded like a loud yell, but to her heart she could feel the different voices of her friends' powers calling out to hear, loudest of all was the falcon. Kimberly instinctively plunged her hand into the water, finding them all connected. She wanted to join their hug, but she couldn't. She wanted to tell them she loved them, but her voice didn't reach them. As they turned to go she reached with all her heart, afraid that this was her last chance.

"Tommy! Wait," she called, feeling the once dormant crane call out as well. When he didn't respond she turned and began to pull her hand out, but his voice caught her and she returned it immediately. Had he heard her? Could he see her?"

"Beautiful, for some reason, I know you're there. I don't know how, but I can feel it. So I'll say it now, as it may be my only chance. I love you more than I want to. I love you so much it hurts, and I would do anything to be with you again, but I won't. I'll honor your wishes in the letter you wrote me. Yes, you should have told me. Maybe then saying goodbye wouldn't be so hard. But I'm not going to say goodbye," he paused and smiled. She loved his smile. She wanted to kiss that smile. "I'm going to say that we all love you, and someday, we'll all be together again. It's not going to be the same without you, but I can wait until its time to fly with you again."

She tried to respond, to tell him she loved him, but she couldn't. She just had to accept that he knew she did. In the far recessed of her mind she heard something beeping. Gazing down at her wrist, she rubbed her hand over a communicator that hadn't been there a moment before. She whispered an I love you and drew her hand out of the water knowing she was being called by a friend, and wanting nothing more to see him and get some answers.

Over the years Kimberly learned the secrets of her world; she learned that she'd always been right: death was not the end. She'd learned that her mentor, Zordon had never left left them. He'd been beside them whenever he wanted, whenever they'd needed him, and she learned to do the same for her friends.

A little over a year after she'd passed on, she stood beside Trini at the alter when her best friend said "I do" to Jason, just as she'd always promised she would. Kim even guided the bouquet straight into Aisha's lap, one of the only women not trying for it. Aisha seemed to know it was Kim's doing, and took it as a sign. Two days later she'd command Rocky to propose to her, which he happily did.

Kimberly attended man more weddings, birthdays, births, and holiday get togethers, always sitting in the empty seat next to Tommy that they always left for her. He always came and left alone. Whether he knew she was there or not, Kimberly wasn't sure. In the ten years she'd watched them all grow and their family expand, she never saw him smile the way he'd smiled on the porch after her funeral. She wanted him to smile like that again.

One morning he asked her the same question he always did. Could he come be with her yet? And everyday she answered him "No, not yet, they need you." But that morning she couldn't. All she could think of was his face without its smile, and she didn't answer; not that he ever heard her response. Instead she just tagged along with him for the day.

It was Alexander's sixth birthday, and Tommy was down on the floor in the living room playing with his oldest nephew, tickling the boy until he collapsed helplessly into his uncle's warm embrace. One of Tommy's friends stuck her head into the livingroom from the kitchen.

"Tommy, you're going to tire him out before the party even starts," the boys mother told her friend. Tommy just grinned, stood the boy up, and gave him a light tap to send him on his way.

"Sorry Trini," Tommy responded, pushing himself to his feet and walking into the kitchen. His eight year old niece Candace was sitting at the table eating her breakfast, while her father was reading the paper. Tommy kissed the top of her head, and sat beside her. "Anything interesting, Jase?" Tommy asked, picking up the sports page.

"Nothing much. That kid, Cole Evans, you remember him?"

"Ummm… yeah, he was the really enthusiastic one. Poor kid, nearly fainted when he saw you," Tommy responded, keeping the conversation limited, since Candace was in the kitchen. Her mother, told her if she was careful she could finish eating in the living room. The eight year didn't hesitate to leave; her favorite cartoons were on. Jason shook his head at his daughter anymore, and gave Trini a look of gratitude as the former yellow ranger sat down at the table beside him.

"Rookies. Anyway, says here he's organizing a nation wide wildlife conservation program based here in California," Jason continued.

Tommy nodded. "Looks like we all find a way to move on once the power's gone," he told his friend, and glanced out the window at the circular loop, with the crane charm on it hanging from the porch. He remembered when Candace had first asked about it. She had been sitting on the bench watching Tommy and Jason spar. Her mother had been inside feeding Alex his bottle at the time. Candace had told her uncle she wanted to be a gymnast when she grew up, after Tommy told her about Kimberly. The thought had always made him smile. She'd been so proud when she brought home her first trophy.

"We do," Trini confirmed. "And in light of moving on, I've got to finish setting up for this party. And you two should be helping," Trini told them, looking expectantly from her husband to Tommy.

"What's there to do, Trin?" Jason asked her, not taking his eyes off the paper he was holding. Tommy finally turned his eyes away from the window, and looked at her, eyebrows raised, as if to say, "I'm not his father".

"Well, I could use a hand decorating, and one of you needs to go get the cake."

"I'll get the cake," Jason said, jumping up and grabbing the car keys. "Hey Candy-girl, want to go with Daddy to go get Alex's birthday cake?" he asked going into the kitchen, Tommy glaring at him for taking the easy job, and following.

"Nope," Candace replied.

"Why not?"

"I'm helping mommy," she replied, matter-of-factly. She took her plate and cup back into the kitchen and placed them in the sink, before getting her step stool to help wash the dishes. Jason shook his head.

"How about you Alex? Want to go get your cake?" Jason asked his son who was sitting on the living room floor playing with a toy truck. The boy head his mother's black hair, but otherwise he was the splitting image of his father, where as, Candace had much more delicate features, but her father's athletic nature. She wasn't as patient as her mother and brother.

"Ok," Alex said after a moment. He stood up and followed his father out to the car. Tommy tried to follow.

"Where do you think you're going, Dr. Oliver?" Trini teased. Tommy cringed, and turned around, running his hand through his hair.

"Uh… I was looking for the decorations?" he asked, hoping it was the right answer. Trini just smiled and hit him lightly with the dish towel.

"Nice try, decorations are on the coffee table in the living room," Trini told him, disappearing into the kitchen when she heard the sound of water hitting the floor. Obviously Candace had gotten a bit over enthusiastic with the dish washing. Tommy shook his head as he heard the sounds of Trini panicking. He'd just sat down on the couch to look through the decorations when Candace emerged from the kitchen, her pink shirt drenched.

"You should go change," he told her when she sat down next to him, picking up a pack of balloons, and pulled them open. She shook her head, and began to blow up the balloons, kicking her feet on the edge of the couch. Tommy smiled at her. Of course she wouldn't change. She was too afraid she'd miss something. Bed time for Candace was a nightmare. She just didn't want anything to happen without her. He resumed his task of decorating, and was joined by Trini, and later Jason when he returned with the karate cake Alex had wanted. The kids ran off to play outside, Trini begging them not to get dirty.

Fifteen minutes before the party was supposed to start, the doorbell rang. Tommy put down the balloon he was hanging, and went to get it, since Trini had gone to get Candace and Alex to change to party clothes, and Jason was trying to mount the piñata. He opened the door and was attacked by three little children. The force of them all hitting his legs nearly sent him backwards, and he stooped to hug each of them.

"Uncle Tommy!" The three five and a half year olds were like little monkies. They were hanging on him and jumping and yelling only moments after he'd greeted the other three members of the family behind them.

"Rocky; Your children are insane," he told the man, as Aisha escorted Toby, Margret, and Louis, the triplet terrors, at least that's what Zack called them, into the living room.

"Hey don't blame me. They get it from their mother," he told his friend, shaking his hand. Aisha looked back over her shoulder when the three kids ran to tackle their other uncle, who had jumped off the ladder the moment he realized who was at the door. She stuck her tongue out at both Rocky and Tommy, while Tommy bent down to lift the sixth member of the DeSantos family into a bear hug.

"And how is my little Allie-cat?" he asked the seven year, as she threw her arms around his neck. White the triplets and Alison all had a skin tone between their mother and father, there was no doubting that Alison looked more like her dad. No to mention the fact that she was daddy's little girl, a role she wasn't overly willing to share with Margret. Where the younger three were hyper and always ready for fun, Allie was much more reserved and quiet.

"I'm good," she replied. "Can I go play with Candace now?" she asked, squirming in his arms. Tommy gave her a mock hurt look, kissed her on the head and put her on the ground.

"Sure kiddo," he replied.

"Say hi to Uncle Jason and Aunt Trini first," Rocky called after her, as he and Tommy walked into the living room once more. The triplets had abandoned Jason who was back up on the ladder, in favor of finding ways to get into trouble with Alex. Margret was the boss, Toby the comedian, Louis the sweet one, and Alex was the mediator. Usually, they got along perfectly, at least until Margret decided they should spy on Candace and Allie. Then things usually got out of control. Aisha was in the kitchen helping Trini, with the food for the adults.

Jason finally got the piñata done, and Tommy hung up the last balloon, as they plopped down on the couch and the door bell rang again.

"Its open," Jason shouted, breaking from the conversation with his friends for a moment. The house was already starting to sound like a circus, and it wasn't helped by the sound of more running. A boy with short curly black hair launched himself into Rocky's arms.

"Josh, you're going to kill your uncle if you keep doing that," Tanya told her son, as she entered the living room. She placed the birthday gift on the table beside the ones from his parents, Tommy, and the DeSantos family, and moved to help Rocky disengage the four year old from his neck. No sooner was Rocky free, than the child latched onto to Tommy. Tanya gave up, as Adam finally got the baby stroller into the house. The former ranger just shook his head at the boy who was sitting on Jason's lap talking about everything in the world.

"I swear, that boy isn't mine," he remarked. While Tanya wasn't nearly as reserved and shy as Adam was, no one knew exactly where the talk-a-tive nature of the toddler had come from. Tanya lifted the eight month old baby girl from the stroller, and pulled a bottle out of the bag.

"Course he's not; I told you about the mail man, didn't I?" she joked, kissing the stunned Adam on the cheek and disappearing into the kitchen with baby Lillian. Adam stared after her.

"Give it up man, she won," came a voice from the entrance way. The guys looked from Adam to the new comer in the doorway.

"Hi Zack!" all three women called from the kitchen.

"Hey ladies. Angela says hi, and she's sorry she couldn't come, but being sick and all, she didn't want to be around all the kids," Zack told them, placing three year old Jessica on the floor and adding another gift to the pile. She and Josh took off down the hall toward the kids rooms, as Adam and Zack joined the other guys on the couch.

Conversation resumed before the doorbell rang again. Trini went to answer it, as the other women entered the living room. Trini returned carrying a six year old girl in her arms, leading two more of their friends. The moment the child saw Tommy she reached out towards him. Trini handed her over to the child's other favorite "relative". Tommy just bounced the very quiet Abigail on his lap, as Haley plopped down next to him, hugging him around the neck.

"So, the genius family decided to join us common folk after all?" Rocky said, as Billy added a gift to pile and went to sit beside his wife. Tommy had released Abigail who went to find Alex and the triplets. Together the five of them were dangerous. Unfortunately, dangerous wasn't what they had to worry about. Once single mother Kat had arrived with her son Brandon, they were all doomed. Tommy had always said the six of them reminded him of themselves.

Billy glared at Rocky for a moment as the group laughed. The party was in full swing, even without the remaining guests, and the children were running around, getting underfoot, and making royal pains of themselves, well before Kat arrived. No one noticed Brandon until they heard crying. Josh sat on the floor, bawling his eyes out, pointing at the larger six year old blond boy who was holding Alex's fire truck and glaring at him. It took them all a few minutes to get Josh to calm down, and Brandon was put in time out for stealing the fire truck. Margret had taken it upon herself to scold him, and as a result found herself in another corner, her father standing over her.

"Is it safe to come in?" a new voice asked from the doorway. Tommy who was closest looked to see Conner and Ethan standing in the doorway. Tommy nodded, and the two entered, adding more gifts to the ever growing pile.

"We could hear you all the way down the street," Trent said, helping Kira into the house, as the two followed their friends.

"Next time I vote we all just take one big bus," Kira told them. "It'll save parking spaces," she added, placing her and Trent's gift beside the rest, and then finding a seat on the couch beside Aisha and Tanya.

"How are you feeling, Kira?" Trini asked her as Trent brought his wife a glass of punch.

"Huge," Kira responded, causing all the girls to laugh.

"When's the due date?" Adam asked her, knowing it was soon.

"The doctor said any day now. I'm so ready for this to be over," she said, laughing a bit.

"Can we please talk about something other than my former student being pregnant?" Tommy asked, looking uneasy. "It makes me feel old."

"You are old," Ethan told him.

"Gee, thanks." Tommy said dryly, as the party resumed.

It was only a five hour party, but it felt like forever. Alex had enthusiastically opened his presents, throwing wrapping paper everywhere. Jason who'd agreed to be on trash duty had to race around the living room to collect it so that Trini wouldn't glare at him from leaving a mess. Trent and Kira had bought the six year old a portable CD player; Conner had bought him a soccer ball; Ethan had given the boy a video game for his game boy; From Kat and Brandon, Alex got a red watch; Billy, Haley, and Abby got him a set of books on karate; Zack and Jessica gave the boy dance CD, which he immediately wanted to put in his CD player; Adam, Tanya, Josh, and Lily got him a pair of soccer cleats; Rocky, Aisha, Allie, Toby, Margret, and Louis got him a punching bag; Candace gave her brother a home made card; Jason and Trini had redone his whole room with a mixture of Karate and Soccer themes; lastly, Tommy gave the boy a ticket to the Angel Grove Karate and Gymnastics finals in a month. When Candace looked jealous, Tommy handed her an envelope revealing another ticket. The eight year old had immediately launched her self against him, and then run off to go call her friend Susan.

By the time they'd all eaten cake, and broken the piñata (during which Brandon had given Rocky a black eye with the bat), Lily, Josh, and Jessica were sound asleep, Kira was falling asleep; Brandon and Margret were being more bossy than usual, Abby and Alex were even quieter than they usually were, and Toby and Louis were just plain cranky. Allie was looking through Jason and Trini's wedding album on the table, with Candace. The party broke up slowly, eventually leaving only Jason, Trini, Tommy, Billy, and Haley in the house. Abby and Alex had finally fallen asleep on the couch, and Candace had curled up in front of the TV watching cartoons again, while the adults cleaned up the mess.

"So, when are you going to settle down, and add another Oliver to world?" Haley asked Tommy, who was helping Jason get the remains of the piñata off the ceiling. He looked at her and shook his head. "Come on, even Kira and Trent have started a family. Ethan and that girl Megan he's been seeing are getting really serious, and I caught Conner looking at engagement rings at the mall. I think he's going to ask Annie soon. What about you?"

"I'm perfectly content being the fun loving uncle with no commitments," Tommy retorted, stepping off the ladder.

"What about that nice girl Stacey?" Trini asked him, bringing in coffee for them all. "You seemed to be getting pretty serious about her. I'm sure she'd love to go with you and the kids to the finals."

"No," Tommy told her. "I don't think so. It's not right," he said sitting down. Jason and Billy had brought Abby and Alex into the boy's room so their conversation wouldn't wake them.

"What was wrong with her?" Haley asked, as her husband sat down beside her.

Tommy shook his head, and sat back, looking at the cartoons on the tv. Candace seemed lost in them. It was her favorite one. The main character was a teenage gymnast who could transform into a pink super hero, who fought aliens along with her four friends: a girl in blue, a boy in green, another boy in yellow, and the last was a good alien who was red. Candace had told him that the girl had a crush on the new kid at school, but she didn't go out with him even though he liked her back because she didn't want him to know she was the pink super samurai.

"Tommy, no one is going to be exactly like Kimberly," Billy told him. Tommy's eyes flashed with anger, as he glared at his friends.

"You think that's what I want?"

"Well, yeah bro, we do," Jason told him.

"You're wrong. I just don't want to go out with Stacey, or anyone else for that matter," Tommy told them.

"Alright, fine," Haley snapped. "You don't have to be so defensive."

"I wouldn't have to be if you'd all keep your noses out of my business," he yelled back, startling Candace, who jumped and looked back at the adults.

"Candy-girl, go finish watching your show in your room please," Jason told her.

"She doesn't have to. I'm leaving." Tommy said, getting up and walking out of the house. Just as he reached the car he felt someone tug on his pants. He turned around and saw Candace standing beside him, tears in her eyes.

"Aww, Candy-cane, I'm sorry I scared you," he told her, kneeling so he was eye level with the girl.

"You really miss her, huh, Uncle Tommy?" the girl asked. "Mommy said you never loved anyone as much as you loved Aunt Kimberly."

"That's not true," Tommy told her, hugging her. "I love you just as much."

"Really?"

"Yep. You're my little crane," he told her, standing and kissing her head again. "Now go back inside. Tell your parents, Aunt Haley, and Uncle Billy I'll talk to them later. I'll see you in a few weeks for the finals."

"Ok, Uncle Tommy," she replied before running back onto the porch and waving goodbye like she always did. He waved back, knowing she wouldn't go inside until he was out of sight. Tommy sighed and climbed into his car, and started the motor up. He put the vehicle in reverse and began backing out of the driveway and onto the street. He never saw the eighteen wheeler come barreling down the road. He never heard the screech of tires. He heard the sound of crunching metal as truck slammed into the drivers side door, shattering the windows.

Airbags pushed against his body, but he couldn't feel them. There was nothing around him but white. He knew he was bleeding and broke, but that didn't seem to matter. All that mattered was her. Kimberly stood in front of him looking like the seventeen year old she'd been the last time he'd seen her, when the turbo rangers had broken the spell that made her and Jason evil. She had a smile on and was wearing a pink and white dress. "You can come be with me now. I need you," she told him, reaching her hand out. He hesitated a moment unsure, as he heard footfalls running towards him. He knew if he didn't take her hand, he might live. "It's alright, I promise," she encouraged, tears in her eyes. "They're ready to let you go," she added, giving him her hand. He nodded and gripped it tightly and felt himself being lifted up, out of his body.

Candace's scream had brought the adults running. Trini dropped to her knee's and held Candace to her, as she stared at the crumpled jeep that was turned on it's side, completely destroyed, while the front of the eighteen wheeler looked crunched up. Candace sobbed against her mother, unsure of what was going on. Trini felt her heart break, knowing that even as Jason and Billy raced to the jeep and Haley ran to call 911, it was too late. He was gone, but she felt he wasn't alone, as tears fell down her face.

"Trini! Get Candace inside now," Jason's voice called. "Trini! Now! Don't let her see," he said, snapping her out of her trance. She nodded slowly and picked up the little girl, bringing her into the house.

"Trini?" Haley asked, through her own tears. The woman shook her head, and Haley raced back outside.

"Haley, don't. Stay with Trini," Billy yelled, seeing his wife. Jason was on the ground, holding Tommy's head in his own arms. There was blood all over his arms and hands, and several smears on his t-shirt. Billy was just as bad as he kneeled, holding Tommy's lifeless hand in his own. Haley just leaned against a porch column and began to sob into her hands.

Later that night, after the ambulance had taken his body away, Jason, Trini, and Billy sat in the living room. Trini was once more on the telephone. Haley came out of one of the bed rooms.

"The kids asleep?" Billy asked her as Trini hung up the phone. Haley nodded.

"What's wrong, Trini?" Jason asked his wife who'd gone paler than she already was.

"I can't reach Kira or Trent. Neither is answering their phones. You don't think…"

"No, I'm sure they're fine. Call Conner," Haley told her. Trini nodded and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Conner?"

"Hey Trini, what's going on?"

"We're trying to get in touch with Trent and Kira but they're not answering and we're worried that something's happened…" Trini replied, panicking. Jason pressed the speaker phone button.

"Relax Trini. Kira's just gone into labor. I'm on my way to the hospital now. Why would you think something had happened?" Conner responded, confused. Trini tried to answer, but couldn't find her voice. She started to cry. How could it be so cruel that Kira's baby be born the same day he left them. Haley began sobbing as well. "Trini?" Conner asked, getting nervous and pulling the car over.

"Conner," Jason began, taking a breath. "Conner, Tommy died tonight. His jeep was hit by a truck," he said. Conner nearly dropped the phone.

"Dr. O?" he said, half crying, in a whisper.

"I'm sorry, Conner," Jason said, starting to cry again. "He went really quick and painless. He didn't suffer." The other end was silent.

"Conner? You there?" Billy asked, scared by the younger man's silence.

"Yeah, I just –" they could tell he was crying. "It's a lot to process. I – I thought he was – he was supposed to be invincible." They all knew what Conner meant. They'd all felt the same way, but they didn't say anything. "I'm just going to sit here a minute. I'll tell Ethan, Trent, and Kira. Oh, god, Kira. How can I tell her this now?"

"Do you want us to?" Jason asked.

"No; the power's gone, but the team's still mine. It's my responsibility," Conner replied, brushing away tears.

"You sure?" Billy asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to go."

"Alright, but we're here if you need us." Conner just mumbled a thanks, and hung up the phone, sitting on the side of the road. He leaned against the steering wheel and sobbed.

A few days later, Jason stood beneath a tree in the cemetery, Trini leaning against him, Candace attached to his other side. He held a red rose, while Trini held a yellow one. His daughter held a pink rose. He looked around him. On the street beside the plots rested a limo full of children, all who barely understood what was going on, and all who were currently asleep. To his left, Zack stood, his wife Angela's arms around him, supporting him, a black rose in his hand. Billy and Haley were to the right, leaning against one another for strength, Billy holding a blue rose. Beside Zack, Adam stood Tanya in his arms. Tanya was crying, and Adam looked like he was desperately trying not to, each was holding a rose that matched their respective colors (adam's was a rose dyed both green and black). Rocky stood beside them with Aisha, Alison between them. Once again, each of the adults carried a rose that matched their power colors; Allie held a white rose in her trembling hands. Kat leaned against Tanya, a pink rose in her hand, on hand over her mouth, trying to conceal her sobs. Kira held her and Trent's newborn daughter Tabitha, named for both her father and her recently departed uncle, in her arm, a yellow rose in her other hand. She had her face buried in Trent's neck, sobbing violently as the priest continued speaking. Conner and Ethan stood on either side of their friends, looking at the ground. Each of the three men had a rose that matched their colors as well.

Many other ranger teams were in attendance; some just partial teams, many of them former red rangers who had fought alongside Tommy and Jason on the moon mission. Finally, the priest finished his speech, and all of the former rangers, save the remaining original nine, walked up and deposited their rose into the casket. Trent had to drag Kira away, as she almost collapsed beside the wooden box.

Jason asked that everyone else leave at that point. When the priest hesitated, Conner and Ethan insisted, nearly dragging the man away. Everyone else complied, knowing that Tommy's "family" would want to be with him alone. Haley leaned up and kissed Billy on the cheek. Angela did the same to Zack, and together the two women joined the Dino Thunder rangers beside the black limo with the children. The six of them leaned against it, watching Jason step up beside the casket. From the car, they could still hear what was going on, but they were giving the first rangers their privacy.

Jason turned and looked inside the casket. Billy had made sure Tommy's old communicator was in place on the man's wrist that morning. Haley had had to search for it in the mess Tommy'd called home. It had been hard going through all his things. He was dressed in a black suit, with a white shirt, a green tie, and a red rose pinned to the jacket. Three roses surrounded his head: red, green, and black. Jason felt the first tear fall, as he turned back to his friends, his daughter, and his niece.

"I don't even know where to start. Tommy was more than a friend to me. He was my brother. He was the god father to my children. He was the best man at my wedding. He was the one person I would blindly follow into any battle and not be scared because I knew if he was there I'd be alright. I knew from the moment we became friends that it was a friendship that would last, one that wasn't going to end, no matter what. And despite the fact that we did lose contact with one another for a while, our friendship returned stronger than ever. He helped Trini through the birth of Candace when I got stuck in New York on business. He was there when Alex was sick. He was always there when one of us or our kids were in danger. He never missed a birthday, or a Christmas. He was the hero, the leader, the one that held us all together. We could call him at all hours and he'd be there.

"Tommy was all of our leaders at one point. He lead us into countless situations we didn't know we'd come back from. But we never doubted him. We never once thought he'd get us killed, because we know he'd risk himself for anyone of us without second thought.

"He never gave up on us. Not once. No when were arguing, or when Kimberly and I were kidnapped all those years ago.

"And when we were young, and he was broken hearted, he pulled himself together for the good of the team. Not because he wanted to help himself, but because he knew he needed to be there for us.

"These past ten years have been hard on him. They've been hard on all of us. When Kimberly died, it was as if part of Tommy died too. But again, he pulled himself together, and stayed in our lived because we were a team, and he knew we needed him. I can't imagine what life would have been like this last decade if he wasn't in our lives.

"Tommy was our light in the dark. He always will be. And even though it hurts that he's gone, we know he's finally happy. He's with Kimberly again, where he belongs. We've got to be happy for them, because they wouldn't want us to feel like it was our fault. One day we'll all be together. Death does not mean the end." Jason was crying fully by the time he'd finished his speech. None of his friends had dry eyes. Allison and Candace had turned to grab their parents tighter. Jason constantly thought they were too young for this, but the girls had been Tommy's favorite and they had both loved him so much. He looked down at Tommy's body again, and tried to smile. "I'll miss you bro," he whispered, kissed his rose and laid it down. Trini followed and added her own. Next was Billy, and then Zack. Rocky went next, followed by Aisha and then Adam, and then Kat, and Tanya put hers in last, reforming a group on the other side of the casket. Jason looked back at the two little girls. He pulled a untied thread loop from his pocket and went over to him, hugging both of them in his arms. Both girls were crying but they stood straight as Jason untied the loop and handed it and a white falcon charm to Alison. She tied the falcon beside the already existing crane and handed the loop to Candace, who handed her the pink rose she held. Alison put the roses together, and Candace wrapped the tread the roses, knotting them tightly together, and then took the small bundle from her "cousin". Together, the two approached the casket, and Candace set the two roses on top of Tommy's heart. Jason sent them back to their mothers, and finally closed the top of the casket, glancing at the tomb stone beside it. "Our leader in life; Our hero; Our spirit; Our freedom; Our love", he murmured, reciting the words carved on the white marble beside the pink stone. He turned to see that the other had left him alone with the two graves. They'd piled into the cars, leaving one for him to take back when he was ready.

Jason knelt at the base of the two graves, and let the tears fall for a few minutes. He felt a slight pressure on his left shoulder.

Jason turned to see who was with him, but all he saw was a bit of transparent white. He lifted his own hand and touched his shoulder, a small smile creeping on his lips, as the white mingled with a bit of pink. "Thanks guys," he whispered. "Thanks for telling me you're together. I'll miss you, but we'll be together one day." He stood up and walked back to the last remaining car.

Sorry it took so long to get that up. I never meant to go so long. I hope it'll never happen again.

Fateless Wanderer