Chapter Two

Trini's funeral came faster than the rangers had expected. Truthfully, the rangers wondered whether Jason was doing his best to ensure that he could move on quickly without grieving, it was that fast. Trini had been murdered on a Wednesday and by Monday she was ready to be buried.

Despite their own thoughts, the rangers did their best to support him and Minh through the sudden loss. Supported them through having to tell her parents and family members, supported them through the obituary that went out in the paper and supported each other through their own grief. It was one thing if a ranger had passed due to a car accident, if they'd passed through sickness, or if they ended up living out the rest of their life—as they were supposed to, but an entirely other thing for having lost them in the middle of a battle.

But, the one thing that could be said was they continued to get support from all of the rangers of different teams over the years, especially the Lost Galaxy team. Leo, Kendrix, and Maya had been the first ones to reach out to Jason after they'd received word of the rangers losing one of their own. Having lost Kendrix in battle with the Pink Psycho ranger, it had devastated the Lost Galaxy rangers through the rest of their battle. Leo, having lost the woman he fell in love with, Maya, having lost her best friend, and Kendrix the one being lost before she was revived.

It did give a sense of closure to the rangers, having had heard from Kendrix and what she went through. "I promise you, Trini is in a good place. If there were any place you'd rather be than Earth…where I went…where she is…is where you'd want her to go," Kendrix said when she had gotten on the phone with Jason. "But Trini wouldn't want you to push yourself away from everyone around you. It hurts, I understand, it's hard…I watched over my ranger team and saw how much what happened to me had affected them. But you need to lean on them now more than ever. Especially for your daughter."

Jason took in everything they had said, but then turned his focus to continue planning the funeral. The night before, he sat on the side of his bed, running his finger over a picture of him and Trini on their wedding day, smiling sadly at it. There was a light knock at the door, and he quickly put it away before calling "Come in."

Kimberly opened the door and gently smiled at her friend. "Hey," she said. "Minh's asleep."

"Finally," Jason said with a heavy sigh, shoulders slumping as he did so. A fraction of Kimberly's smile fell. Nothing got past her. She quickly noticed the missing picture off Jason's bedside table. He knew she did. He saw the way her eyes darted around the room before she spoke. "Kim…"

"Don't 'Kim' me," Kimberly said. She folded her arms, leaning against the doorframe, studying one of her oldest friends. "I know she's gone, Jase, but she hasn't even been buried yet. You can't move on that quickly." Jason lifted his chin and looked defiantly out the window. "You can't forget her, make anyone else forget." She gestured vaguely with her hand. "You can't make Minh forget her mom."

"I'm not trying to."

"Then what are you doing?"

Jason took in a deep breath through his nose. He knew what he wanted to say; he was trying to stay strong. He wanted to be strong for himself and Minh. Then deal with his feelings later. Like he always did. Like he did with the Green Candle, like he did when he moved away from Angel Grove after losing his powers, like he did after his stint of taking steroids when he was a teenager, like he did when he had broken up with Emily…he didn't need all the attention and sadness and worries from people around him.

Not until he was able to have it all out of his face and he could grieve in peace. It always worked that way for him. It helped and was better. He was strong for everyone else, was strong for himself, and then was able to deal with his sadness his own way. He could deal with his sadness with Minh in his own way, without prying eyes. He was a leader and leaders needed to lead.

"Because it looks like you're trying to scrub every point of existence from her," Kimberly said.

Jason shook his head. "Not everything." He turned and looked at Kimberly meaningfully. Kimberly's eyebrows rose. "Kim, I know Billy told her she was a ranger." His voice hardened. "That we all are…"

"Okay." Kimberly rubbed at her forehead. "I don't know what's going on with you and Billy, but it needs to stop." She ignored Jason when he let out a low groan and started to protest, cutting him off. "You guys have been friends since we were kids, and it's like you started to hate each other since you both stopped being rangers."

"He told Minh we were rangers—"

"—That was an accident, and you know it."

"And I would've liked to tell her in my own time," Jason continued, this time ignoring Kimberly like she had when she spoke before. "He was able to make that choice with Casey, why were we not able to do the same with Minh?"

"It was an accident, Jase, you know that. We all made the decision that we would choose if and when we told our kids. Tommy and Kat told JJ right away, you decided to wait, and you know Av and Billy decided to wait and you saw what happened to them and Casey. Things were tough for a while."

"Yeah, but she was a ranger, too." Jason pointed out. "And I'm not going to let that happen." He stood and walked to the dresser where Trini's morpher sat. He picked it up and rolled it in his palm, moving his fingertips over the Saber-Tooth Tiger Power Coin sat in the center.

"Oh, so this is what this is all about." Kimberly walked over and placed a hand on Jason's arm. She gently rested her head on his shoulder. "Jase, you can't protect Minh from this. And it's not even a guarantee that the Power Coin is going to choose her to be a ranger." Jason nodded in agreement. "But that doesn't mean that you have to shield her from all of this. You already have her training in Praying Mantis style." She lifted her head and looked Jason in the eye. "It's in her blood, it was going to happen. She was kicking and punching when Trini was pregnant."

Jason chuckled to himself. He reached up his free hand and rubbed the side of his jaw. "Yeah, I remember. I was laying my head on Trini's stomach one day and I got socked right in the cheek." His smile widened. "She didn't really seem to like how affectionate we were with each other."

"That's a lie and you know it." Kimberly gestured toward a picture that sat on the wall. Of him and Trini kissing while a toddler Minh sat nestled between them, smiling up at her parents rather than at the camera. "She adored you two and the love you had for each other. I mean, we all saw it."

"And it still took years for us to get together."

"Well, we were young and stupid." Kimberly said it so bluntly it made Jason laugh. "And we were Power Rangers. How were we supposed to know how to handle all of that? Especially when our hormones were going out of control." She rolled her eyes. "I mean, with as much time as I spent with Tommy, who would've thought I would be the only ranger ending up single?" She giggled.

"Single looks good on you, Kim. You can't deny that." Jason thought for a moment. "And the jury's still out on Zack and Angela. I'm still shocked on how that ended up working out." He turned and lifted an arm, placing it around Kimberly's shoulders. He hugged her to his side. "Thanks for everything, Kim. You really know how to keep my head on straight."

"That's what I'm here," Kimberly replied, hugging him tightly. "To bet he voice of reason and to by the godmother of all of my friends' kids. Which is perfect, I get the motherhood aspect and then I can give them all back when the time comes."

Jason laughed again.

Then he stopped and looked down at Trini's morpher once more. It glowed once, a bright yellow that shone across the face of the coin resting inside. He curled his hands around the morpher and dropped back onto his bed, bowing his head.

"She'll learn about Trini being a ranger, about us, about what's been going on. But I'm not going to let her know anything other than that. I know Minh, she'll want to jump in the ring and do everything we're doing and I can't let her do that." He looked up and shook his head. "I need to protect her the best I can."

Kimberly pressed her lips together. "Well…you've been protecting her from the truth for this long…maybe it's time to let her in." She shrugged. "But what do I know? I'm just the godmother." She gave a humorless smile, gave Jason a gentle kiss on the head, and left saying, "I'll see you at the funeral tomorrow."

Jason simply nodded in reply.

He didn't move when he heard the front door close. Sat still, absent of thought, meditated on the right course of action moving forward. Finally, he stood and walked to Minh's room. He gently opened the door and found her curled up in bed, tightly holding onto a picture of her and Trini from when she was a child. Jason smiled a little, went in and pulled Minh's blankets up to tuck her in. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to the side of Minh's head, tucking her hair behind her ear.

She really did look like her mother. Which was the best outcome they could've had. Jason remembered how long they had talked about what they thought their future children would look like and every time, boy or girl, he always wished they would take after her. He's gotten his wish and it was the best thing that'd ever happened.

Maybe, part of him hoped to have another version of her if anything like that had happened. The hardest part was that they'd always talked about what would happen if anything happened to him rather than her. He wasn't prepared for it.

But who ever was?

Jason went back to his room and curled up in the darkness of the room.

It was the sunniest day that Angel Grove had seen in years. A perfect cerulean blue sky without any clouds, and the shining sun that was the brightest of yellow. The kind of day that Trini would've loved to spend outside, whether in her garden, spending the day in the park, working out, or volunteering somewhere. It was a perfect Trini day.

But the worst day of Jason's and Minh's lives. It made everything real. Trini was gone and people were coming from all over to pay their respects for her. They filed in, faces down, eyes away, hands clasped around each other or their significant other's. The receiving line was always the same thing.

"I'm so sorry."

"She was so young."

"Her poor daughter."

And the odd, "Everything happens for a reason."

Jason fake smiled through it. Everything did happen for a reason; they became rangers for a reason, but death wasn't for a reason. Death didn't answer any questions and was simply jarring. The funeral moved quickly. The organs began to play, different religious people came in and out, saying their peace. Jason said some words, Minh said some words, Kimberly and Billy said some words. Jason could see all his teammates and friends in the audience, even saw his ex-girlfriend Emily in the back, smiling softly at him.

Jason sat in his spot in the pew next to Minh, his arm wrapped around her. Lilies and Lotuses sat at the end of the church pews. The scents were heavy and filled the air with a sweet perfume. It both eased and created more heartache for Jason as they were Trini's favorite flowers. The candles flickered; people whispered around him too much.

None of it would bring her back, none of it was going to give Trini the justice she deserved against Robo Rita. Their search for her through the Dark Dimension brought nothing back but a sense of darkness that filled in around Jason's broken heart. He gripped Minh tighter. Her expression was stoic though tears fell down her cheeks, a good combination of her parents. The stoic expression Jason tried to hold and the emotions that Trini always allowed herself to feel.

Someone's hand pressed to his shoulder, someone leaned forward and whispered, "Give it time. This will pass in time. Not today, tomorrow, next week or next month, but in time. It will pass."

Jason pulled his shoulder away from whomever was speaking to him. Faced ahead.

Tommy, Billy, Zack, Bulk, Skull, and JJ were the pallbearers, something that made Jason smile. JJ, clearly took the job seriously, looking to his father for reassurance in what he was doing and where he was going, only smiling when Tommy gave his son the reassurance he needed. Bulk and Skull had immediately offered their positions to carry the casket as well, and it had touched Jason more than he thought it would. A sort of closing of a chapter.

They went to were Trini was going to be buried, laid yellow roses on the top of her casket. Then everything ended and those that came to mourn went back to the reception. The rangers stayed, silently staring at the headstone that took everything about a vivacious and beautiful woman down to a few words.

Trini Kwan

Mother to Minh, Friend to All

1977-2022.

They all stood there until they were able to, finally, pull themselves away. Tommy, Zack, Bailey, and Avalon all gave Jason a hug before going away. Kimberly gently patted his shoulder before putting her arm around Minh and leading her away. Billy moved to leave, but was stopped by Jason's voice.

The red ranger didn't look away from his wife's headstone, his words as cold as the granite.

"Just so we're clear, Billy…" Jason took in a deep breath through his nose, gently shook his head. "I do blame you for what happened. I'm not going to get over it."

Billy nodded and walked away.

Jason knelt down and pressed his hand to Trini's headstone and closed his eyes. Allowed the sun to shine down on him. If he concentrated really hard, it was as if she was right there with him, filling him with her warmth as she always did.

And never would again

A/N: I meant to have this chapter up sooner/a few days ago (and I need to respond to a few PMs/reviews) but I'd been working on some job stuff and then figuring out what was going to happen with this story as well as figure out ages/timeframes of this happening. I've never really cared much about that before (considering I still don't know the age difference for sure between Av and Bay for some of the fics to make sense) but am working on it a little bit here. Especially since Casey was a ranger in Megaforce and this happens after that she'd be in her twenties here while Minh seems like she's anywhere between 15 and 18. So, that's fun, lol

Well, Jason and Billy are at odds for things, but I think it'd be very realistic if they were, because they both cared about Trini in different ways over the course of Trini's life and they both have different ideas of what they thought was right and it'd clash at some point. Don't worry, everything isn't going to be so bleak, there are still going to be lighthearted and humorous and good action moments as the story goes on as well. I just wanted to be sure we were able to give Trini her due diligence with being able to see her funeral.

Also, last short(er) chapter, things pick up in the next one and it'll be longer!

~Av