Spirits were not the highest amongst Trini, Kimberly, Kat, Aisha, and Tanya as they arrived back at the Command Center, as the girls were fast realizing there was more to fighting as Sailor Scouts than wearing cute outfits. Meanwhile, Usagi and her friends were equally as worn out, struggling with adjusting to the new Zeo powers.
As Usagi and her friends chattered in Japanese in frustrated tones with Zordon and Alpha, Kimberly, Kat, and Tanya immediately ran over to their respective significant others.
"Adam, can you please help me figure out who to use these Sailor Mercury digital goggles so I don't climb up a tree again?" asked a deeply frustrated Tanya to her boyfriend.
"Billy, I can't walk without falling over in these Sailor Jupitar green high-heeled boots," sniffled Kat, burying her face in Billy's chest. "I'm sooooo embarrassed."
"Tommy, why couldn't I use Mars' fire attack?!" whined Kimberly to Tommy, who put an arm around her. "I really was saying it correctly!"
"No you weren't," said Trini ruefully under her breath.
She looked over at Zack, Rocky, and Aisha, who were over by the Sailor Scouts trying to comfort their visitors from another dimension. Trini couldn't help but notice that the normally outgoing Aisha was alternating between staring wistfully at Rocky and then glumly down at the floor. Aware of Aisha's crush on Rocky, Trini didn't need "digital goggles" to figure out that Aisha – who had been made Sailor Venus, the goddess of love – was not in the right state of mind to be able to access any romance-based powers, especially in the heat of battle.
The battle, Trini groaned inwardly. She was Sailor Moon, the girls' leader but had acted like anything but. She thrived on carefully calculated, practiced moves in battle, not on taking the lead to formulate unexpected bold ones on the fly. What was she going to do?
"A penny for your thoughts, Sailor Moon?" Trini heard a voice from behind whisper into her ear, the warm breath pleasantly tickling her skin.
"Jason!" Trini gasped as she spun around to face her own crush. "You surprised me!"
"But here you are, still on your feet," chuckled Jason. "You survived my surprise attack. Need a hug?"
Jason held his arms out wide and Trini rushed into him. His strong, warm arms were so comforting. She suddenly felt as relaxed as she did with him on all those summer nights in Europe, when they spent so many weeks touring after the peace conference and had grown even closer.
"Jason, how did you do it, when you were the Red Ranger and leader of the Power Rangers?" asked Trini, stepping out of their embrace to gaze at him earnestly.
"You can't be so scarred of making the wrong move as the leader that you're paralyzed in the face of battle," replied Jason gently. "You've got to let yourself be OK with making mistakes. And if you make a mistake, still be able to trust yourself, and that your friends will still trust you, too."
"Would you trust me if I was your leader in battle?" asked Trini.
"Absolutely meatball-head," smiled Jason, affectionately flicking one of the big buns of hair on Trini's head. "I know there was a reason the Moonlight Kingdom chose you to be Sailor Moon."
"Thanks, Jase," responded Trini, feeling the confidence grow inside her. "Hey, so speaking of not being afraid to make mistakes, once we get out of this Sailor Scout situation… would you like to go out sometime for dinner, just us like we did in Europe? Just as…"
"As a real date?" smiled Jason.
"Yeah," nodded Trini, grinning ear-to-ear.
"Sounds like a good game plan, Sailor Moon," said Jason. "But first…"
"I have a Sailor Scout squad to get to!" said Trini, now brimming with self-belief.
Trini walked to the center of the room and whistled loudly. Everyone immediately stopped talking and turned to face Trini wide-eyed.
"Kimberly, Kat, Aisha, Tanya, I'm sorry I let you down as your leader in that last battle," began Trini. "I was so scared of suggesting a wrong move, because I didn't want any of you to get hurt."
"You didn't suggest any battle tactics, and we still got hurt anyway," pointed out Aisha. "Either by not being able to do our own attacks…"
"… or falling over in our high-heels," added Kat, still flushed with embarrassment.
"… or following the directions on digital goggles, up into a tree," said Tanya, shaking her heard angrily at herself.
"Trini, you're an incredibly strong and smart warrior," said Kimberly, putting her arm around her best friend. "We trust you as the leader of the Sailor Scouts. We're behind you 100% totally."
"Thanks girls," responded Trini, tearing up. "I love you all. Now, I think I have an idea how we can turn this all around…"
So what's Trini's big plan to get the new Sailor Scouts back on track? Stay tuned to the next chapter!
