War of the Hidden

Disclaimer: Nothing that you can google belongs to me.

A/N: Well...this is it. The story has come to an end. It's the first story I've actually finished writting it all the way through. Please review!

Epilogue:

It's been a week since Ragdlog's defeat. The Rangers had stayed to help with the destruction their battles had caused. At the same time, it allowed time for the Rangers and the Cullens to actually interact in a way that wasn't urgent. Rosalie made quick friends with Jason, Dustin, Hunter, Blake, and Nick through their love of vehicles (Rosaile with cars, the guys with bikes). It surprised just about everyone except Edward, but they were all thankful that she didn't join Alice and latch onto Kim, Kat, and Aisha for their love of shopping. Everybody had winced when the four had gotten together. Edward got close with Zack, Kira, and Vida through music, and Emmett and Rocky were inseparable, sometimes joined by other Ranger pranksters (i.e. Conner). Jasper was the quiet one, so he felt comfortable with the shier of the Rangers, including Maddie and Adam, though his best friend seemed to be the always-brooding Andros. Esme found companionship with Udonna and Shayla, the only two female Ranger mentors on Earth, and Carlisle and Dana's medical discussions were avoided by the rest, who were unable to keep up with what they were talking about. Bella bonded with practically everyone.

Without the physical strength to help with the rebuilding, Maxi found herself wandering in the Mystic Forest a lot. Not that she minded, the silence allowed her think…and boy, did she have a lot to think about.

Today, Maxi was sitting on a high root of a tree not far from Rootcore. No one was present at the base at that time, being all outside, helping, so she was kind of "watching" it for Clare and Udonna and the rest of the Mystics. Maxi had one leg up, her right arm hanging on her knee while her other leg was dangling, swinging in space because she was too short to touch the ground.

"Hey."

Maxi turned at the newcomer's voice, twisting a single blade of grass in her fingers. "Hey Nick," she replied as he sat down next to her.

"You all right?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she nodded. "I was just thinking."

"About what?"

Maxi shrugged. "A lot of things: being the Sage, a Ranger, the Vampire War, but most of all, my parents. All my life, I had no past; I just lived in the present and looked to the future. But now, not only have I found my past, but I'm also the Ambassador of the Past. It's a lot to take in."

Nick chuckled softly. "I know what you mean. I was adopted too." Maxi looked up at him in surprised. He merely nodded. "They worked a lot, and when they weren't home, I had to go around and live with my relatives. I had come to Briarwood to live with my sister after a year with my cousins when we became the Mystic Force Rangers. It was during my term as a Power Ranger that I discovered that Udonna and Leanbow were my parents, and that I was the 'Light', son of the most powerful sorceress and greatest of all warriors. Supposedly, it gives me the potential to be the most powerful wizard that ever existed."

Maxi laughed. "Wow, the two of us are pretty similar," she said. "But you're life is not as weird as mine."

Nick laughed with her. "You're right. I didn't grow up with all this craziness."

Maxi smiled at him. "You're starting joke around and crack jokes about them," she told him. "You're becoming part of the family, the Power Ranger family. It's a tradition."

"What's a tradition?"

"You're not officially in the loop until you've realized that we're all weirdoes fighting evil in spandex and are willing to laugh about it, no matter how many times you've saved the Earth," Maxi said with a grin. "It took Merrick the longest."

Nick had to laugh at that. "I'm not surprised. What about Eric? I can't really see him cracking jokes."

"That's 'cause you've only known them for a week that we weren't in the middle of a war. Eric actually loosened a lot after he got together with Taylor. Plus, he's extremely sarcastic."

Just then a familiar tune rang. Nick flipped out his Mystic Morpher. "Yeah?" he asked. Even without danger, he and his teammate often used their cell-phone-shaped wands to communicate with each other.

"Hey Nick, is Lori with you?" came Tommy's voice from the other end. Maxi leaned over to answer.

"I'm here Dad."

"See I told you!" they could hear Justin's voice in the background. "But why believe the genius?"

Nick and Maxi laughed.

"Don't feel bad Justin," TJ said, also in the background. "No one believes the kids."

"I'm not a kid!" Justin protested to TJ's snickering. A roaring laughter reached Maxi's ears, hers and Nick's included. She could just picture what was going on over there.

"No worries Dad, I can take care of myself," Maxi said.

"I was just making sure," Tommy replied. "A dad's gotta know these things."

Maxi chuckled. "Love you."

"Love you," Tommy echoed before hanging up.

Maxi sighed, shaking her head and she leaned back from her friend. "Parents," she said in exasperation. "Can't live with them, can't live without them."

Nick laughed, pocketing his Mystic Morpher, which seemed harder since he was wearing his Mystic Warrior uniform, with the big black cape. "True that," he said. "But I have a question."

"Shoot."

"What's up with your names? I mean, everyone calls you something different. I thought your name was Maxi, but I've only heard the Cullens call you that."

Maxi smiled. "Yeah, I was wondering when you'd bring that up. You see, my full name is Maximilian Lorelai Skylar Trygg Trueheart Conley Oliver. The people at the Little Angels Haven, the children shelter in Angel Grove, said that I had shown up on the doorstep with a tag that said 'Maximilian'. When I met Justin, I asked him to change it for me in all the documents, shorten it to just Maxi. After Mrs. Chafer, the old woman who had found me, died, no one besides Justin knew my full name. So to most people, I'm Maxi, that's my name.

"When Tommy adopted me, he added 'Lorelai Oliver' to my name. Only he and Uncle Jason call me Lori. After I uncovered their identities and met the Rangers, I told them my first name. They all called me Lian, it was a way to show that they were actually them and not bad guys in disguise. A safety net, if you will."

"What about all your other names?"

"I didn't know I had them until I met True of Heart that time. My brother's full name is MacBeth Nicolai Forester Dyre Gideon Conley Oliver, since Dad had adopted him too. Dad added Nicolai and Oliver to his name, while we (him and I) decided to add our father's name to his, since he already bore our mother's and he knew them both while I didn't. Conley was my father's last name. After what True of Heart has done for us, me and my dad, and Mac too, I added his name to mine: Trueheart. Coincidently, Dad's long-lost brother, David, was adopted by a man named Sam Trueheart, who bears a creepy resemblance of True of Heart."

"Wow," Nick said. "After finding out my past, I only added one name to mine: Bowen. You, you added half-a-dozen."

"No, just four," Maxi replied and they both burst into laughed, which echoed and rang through the quiet forest.

Before leaving back to their own homes, the Rangers realized they had missed Maxi's birthday, which had been on Independence Day, during the Vampire War (or the War of the Hidden, as Conner puts it. For a guy who didn't like to think, he sure comes up with a lot of nicknames for things. Just ask Ethan. Actually, don't, not unless you've got two days and nothing to do.) They all insisted that they throw her a party before going their separate ways.

"The 11th birthday is very special," Trini said.

"Yeah," Dustin added. "Have you not read Harry Potter?" Everyone turned to look at him.

"You've read Harry Potter?" Shane asked incredulously.

"Well, if there's gonna be a party, it won't be just for me," Maxi said. "It'll be for Mac too, and to celebrate the victory of the war, and the Independence Day that we missed."

"My dad's probably bought the fireworks already," Trent said.

"Good," Maxi grinned. "'Cause if I'm gonna have a party, it's got to be at home."

"Of course, where else can we have it?" Trini replied as if it was so obvious. And maybe it was to the adults, or maybe just Trini, Maxi wasn't sure. However, she was sure that Trini was a whole lot like Alice when she was like this.

And so it was settled. All the Power Rangers on Earth, their allies and mentors (ones that know their identities) and of course, the Cullens, got in their vehicles and drove the two hours out to Reefside where Anton graciously offered to pay for everything. They were holding it back at Tommy's old house, with a barbeque set up in the backyard. It was lucky that they lived by the woods on the edge of town, with no neighbors, that way, people who wanted to be outside could hang outside, and people who wanted to be inside could chill inside, everyone was happy and they had nothing to hide because they knew there would be no one to eavesdrop on them.

"Hey Mac."

The teen turned and smiled at his sister. "Hey Maxi."

"You all right?" she asked with concern, sitting down beside him on the stairs.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Don't you like the party?"

"Yeah, it's cool."

"Then what's up?"

"Nothing."

"Come on bro, you can't lie to me. We may not look like it, but we're twins."

Mac laughed and that was when Maxi realized his voice was musical, just like the Cullens. He was amazingly attractive, just like the Cullens. And she's never notice this but…

"You're eyes, they're…"

Mac just nodded. "The Cullens took me hunting a couple of days ago. Don't worry, it was outside Briarwood," he assured her after seeing the shock on her face. It was Maxi's turn to nod. And then something hit her.

"You're going to live with the Cullens, aren't you?" she asked in a quiet voice. He sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, it's safer that way. They're going to help me, teach me to become a vegetarian. I have to go with them," Mac added when he saw the sadness in her eyes. "I haven't been a vampire for very long, and I've spent that time under hypnosis. I don't remember any of it, so it's like I'm a newborn, except without the extra strength. It's hard for me to control myself. I've already done enough to hurt you and the others; I won't be able to forgive myself if I did any more damage."

"Mac, half the Rangers here have been evil at least once in their lives," Maxi said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Even the ones I'm closest to: Dad, Trent, Blake and Hunter, Nick, too. They're not the only ones, and neither are you. What matters is you're now on our side."

"I know. And I will be back…when I have better self-control. I promise."

Maxi nodded and Mac pulled her into a hug, being careful not to crush her by accident. Maxi squeezed him tightly. He was hard and cold…just like the Cullens.

"All right Maxi, how you liking your party?" Tristan asked, throwing an arm over her shoulders.

"It's awesome," Maxi replied. "It's nice to be able to just sit back and relax now."

"I wouldn't bet on that," Rocky said, joining them. "No matter what you do, there's always more evil coming your way."

"Don't jinx it, Rocko," Maxi replied wryly. The guys laughed. Suddenly, all the lights dimmed. The four of them got up from the stairs they had been sitting on and walked over to see what was going on. Maxi chuckled, shaking her head when she saw candle lights coming her way. Then the singing began:

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday dear Lian (Lori) and Mac (Nico),

Happy birthday to you!

"You guys didn't have to do this," Maxi said at the same time as the cake was wheeled in front of her and a knife held up for her to take.

"No, but we wanted to," Jason said, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

"Go on, make a wish and blow out the candles," several voices urged.

"But be careful what you wish for," Jenji warned, and everyone laughed. Maxi smiled and looked up at her brother, who smiled back. Together, they closed their eyes, made a wish and blew out the candles. The others clapped and cheered. The lights flickered back on as the candle flames went out.

"Sorry I'm late," a voice answered from behind them. "Did I miss anything?"

Everybody turned around to see who it was. A well-built Caucasian man with shaggy, sandy-blonde hair stood there. He wore strange shiny-silk robe-like clothing that was blue and had thick glasses perched on his nose. He was grinning widely, and when she recognized him, so was Maxi.

"Billy!" she cried, launching onto him. The room grew quiet when the others heard what she said. The first ten Rangers' expressions changed from shock to delight. Smiles broke across their faces.

"Billy!" they all exclaimed, running over to their old friend and embracing him all at once. When they finally let go, the original Blue Ranger was able to set Maxi back down to her feet.

"Happy birthday Lori," he said. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't make it back to Earth to assist you all in the Vampire War."

"Don't be," Jason said, clapping him on the shoulder. "We know you would've been here if you could have."

"Yeah, it wasn't like you didn't want to be here," Kim added. "You just couldn't."

"I know," Billy said, frowning slightly. "But I feel out of place now."

"You're not," Tommy said, putting a hand on his other shoulder. Maxi smiled up at the two men.

"'Cause once a Ranger," she started.

"Always a Ranger!" everybody chorused.

The End


This ending doesn't really wrap things up, does it? I'm thinking about writing a follow-up, what do you think? Review!