Chapter Seven
"Trini's Decision"
As Billy fought for his life against Lord Zedd, Sean continued guiding Zack and Trini. Instead of directly energizing their power coins like Zordon had done for Tommy years ago when his Green Ranger powers were temporary, he focused on opening them up to and feeling his ranger energy. Even though their powers were not theirs yet, Sean felt that part of their trials was to become intimate with his ranger energy. Having never been to Phaedos, they were strangers to this power, as it was to them, even though Zack had morphed yesterday. Therefore, as it is with all relationships, familiarity was needed.
Nestled in their triangle, Zack, Trini, and Sean remained poised in seated meditation, ignoring the battle outside. Even through his fatigue, Sean picked up faint impressions from each of the battles but kept his focus on Zack and Trini. These were the most important now. He trusted Billy, Rocky, and Adam, and Kimberly, all of whom could handle what Jason threw at them. Zack and Trini could not nor could Sean—at least not everything.
"Breathe into the belly… and out," he instructed through flowing whispers.
Zack and Trini did so, still grasping Sean's hands.
"Grasp each others' free hand; let them lay in your laps," Sean continued, "Bridging you to each other for this energy is yours as much as it is mine."
Without opening their eyes, Trini and Zack grasped hands.
Zack strained his senses for something new, but instead felt only a void, as if a part of him was blind. In his mind, he sighed. And then an unknown sensation tingled from outside his grasp, only giving him echoes from its source.
Patience, Zack, Sean said.
Zack perked up, remembering to keep his eyes closed.
Time reveals many things at different intervals.
I can hear you, Trini said.
Zack nearly jumped out of his skin at her mental voice.
Does that startle you? Sean asked Trini, allowing Zack to hear him.
No. I forgot how to speak with my thoughts. It's like learning how to walk again.
"Our breath is the key to our energy, which becomes power as we work," Sean elaborated. "We are stabilized by the earth—its foundation, our refuge. Even here, in this room, on this bed (though separated from the ground) we are able to tap into the universal power to touch our potential; for what drifts in the air will soon settle in the earth as what rests on and in the earth floats into the air. All of nature is connected. And now the door has been opened for both of you. Though premature, it still lies within you, a ripped portion that yearns to be whole. Cleanse the body with your breath. Open your pores to the universe around you. Explore it."
Tranquility wafted over Zack's mind, quelling his agitation, while awe stimulated his awareness. Having never experienced anything like this before, he opened himself to this experience—process. While there was still a lot he did not know and understand, he accepted that he would get his answers when the right time presented itself. His time as a ranger and as a representative at the World Peace Summit years ago had taught him that. As he settled into this truth, another twinge of sensory information drifted along the edge of his senses.
"Amazing," Zack whispered, hardly realizing he was speaking.
"What do you sense?" Sean asked.
Eyes still shut, Zack pondered, trying to put into words what he was experiencing. It was like tasting something instead of smelling it—touching and hearing it instead of seeing, and at the same time hearing instead of touching. Though uncertainty blurred his perception, he felt beings—people. And there was warmth steeming from them beyond temperature.
"Am I… sensing Kim and Tommy outside?" he asked.
"Yes, you are," Sean answered. "You are connected to a telepath and an empath. It's not surprising that you would share our senses."
Trini stirred on the word 'our' but returned her focus to the meditation.
"It feels… distant," Zack elaborated, "Like I'm receiving an echo."
"Have you ever experienced ESP before?" Sean asked.
"No. You can hear my thoughts now, right? "
Yes, I can.
Zack paused, reflecting. "Is this what it's like for you guys?
"More or less—Hmm!" he grunted. Without warning, Sean bent forward, tightening his grip on Trini and Zack.
At the same time, Trini gasped in sharp pain.
"What is it?" Zack asked.
"Billy—he's hurt," Sean reported. Though he did not reveal it, he felt his life force tug upon acquiring the sensation. "Trini, we must focus on our objective. Do not falter."
Behind her eyelids, she glared at Sean, old memories reconstructing on the words 'our objective.' I'm not a puppet, Sean!
I understand and respect that, Sean replied to her. "Please excuse the violation, but I must pull our energy… now!" Under his silent will, Sean directed a large burst of green, yellow, and silver electricity at Billy's teleportation column as it phased through the roof onto the floor between the bed and the door.
Zack felt the energy pull out of his hands.
With the added energy, Billy materialized from it, his body limp with fatigue and pain. Zack and Trini glanced at him. His pale white skin threatened the unfurling of the shroud of death. The two of them gasped.
"He will survive," Sean consoled, mentally surveying his friend. "He is alive, but needs rest. We must continue with this. Our friends cannot hold back this storm alone."
Zack gaped at Billy's almost lifeless body, fear and shock tightening around his trachea.
"Breathe, Zack" Sean urged calmly. "Hope exists more with the living than with the dead."
"It's just—Billy did this for us," Zack stammered. "We've never sacrificed our lives for each other like this." Memories of the battle with the Cyclops monster and the Green Candle swirled around his mental eye. Rita had tried to take Tommy's powers back from him with magic wax she had fashioned into a candle. Jason had been given an opportunity to steal it but Zack had called him back because the Cyclops monster was about to kill Tommy and destroy the Dragonzord. That was the closest they had ever come to sacrificing their lives for each other. In the end, Jason decided to return and save Tommy, but the Green Candle burned out as a result. Therefore, Tommy gave the remainder of his powers to Jason, so that Rita could never get her hands on them.
"Who was he fighting?" Zack asked. "Do you know?"
Sean looked Zack in the eye, keeping his face straight while showing concern. "Lord Zedd. He could have escaped but he wanted to make sure that Zedd did not interfere here, so he stayed while sending Tommy to us."
"You knew all along and never said anything!" Zack retorted, his anger from yesterday returning now.
"Harness your passion, Silver Ranger," Sean responded with the intensity and tranquility of a river. "I just learned this now. Nothing will be gained for us if we go to battle now. We must harmonize our bodies' energy so that mine can flow into yours easier and less energy is wasted."
Even through his burning frustration of wanting to have helped Billy, Zack saw the wisdom in Sean's strategy. Unable to quell it completely he simmered his frustration into mild annoyance. "I'm sorry."
"Thank you, Zack. And you are not being outrageous, but caution must be remembered in this time. Trust in your friends. They will not fail you. And remember Billy is alive."
Nodding, Zack closed his eyes in silent meditation, shoving Billy's dead-like face out of his short term memory. He reached out for the serenity to blanket his mind once more. Please, let us get through this day, he prayed, hoping some higher being was listening to him.
Meanwhile, Trini gawked at Billy's motionless face, her eyes hooked on the frozen limp body. Not even his nostrils were twitching—though his belly barely rose and fell. From afar, he appeared dead. However, it was not just seeing his appearance that had stabbed her with terror. She had seen that look before—no… She had seen death before! A person—a friend of hers…
But who?
Though the door to her past was unlocked, she could not make sense of most of her memories. Nevertheless, nostalgia (or was it remorse?) resonated within her. Not only had she seen someone dead but she had also seen that person murdered. It was a girl… teenager, she thought. But it can't be. That was different.
"Trini?" Sean asked. "What's wrong?"
She continued staring. "His body… it reminds me…"
Suspicion crawled up Sean's spine but he massaged it with patience and sympathy. He knew what Trini was referring to.
"Aisha…" she gasped. "Oh, God!"
The blurred silhouette of a frozen memory drifted into Zack's mind. Before he knew what he was looking at, it vanished. Snapping his eyes open, he darted his gaze on Trini. "What did you just see?" he asked.
Shuddering, she pulled her hands away from Zack and Sean, scurrying to the edge of the bed.
"Trini, what was that?" Zack repeated. "I know I saw something."
Trini shook her head, still staring at Billy.
"You remember," Sean said to her.
Trini looked at him, a single tear squeezing out of her eye as she struggled to keep her face from breaking once more into sobs.
"Remember what?" Zack asked, unable to sense Trini's thoughts now.
"You remember seeing Aisha's murder," Sean supplied.
Zack twisted his head around, gaping at Sean with wide open eyes, his mouth hanging open.
Trini closed her eyes in silent acknowledgement. God, she implored, let it not be true.
Inside the Chamber of Command, Squatt, Baboo, and Finster were hopping with joy at their steady victory. Though the rangers had been putting up a good fight (Tommy destroying Inciserator for starters), they were slowly being beaten back. Even Tommy could not defeat all of those tengas, The Skunk, and Goldar, and Scorpina, and Lord Zedd.
"I think we might win this time!" Baboo sang.
Squatt smacked Baboo's arm. "Quiet, Baboo," he said. "We might lose if you say that."
"But I just did."
"Well, don't say it again. I don't want to see Lord Zedd angry. He might clip our ears."
"Hush, you rejects," Rita yelled from the balcony as Zedd materialized beside her. "Nothing can stand in our way now unless the blue ranger wakes up."
"Fat chance of that soon," Zedd said, catching the end of her sentence. "Come, Rita; it is time to make our monsters bigger."
Grinning with glee, Rita stepped around her telescope. "No need to hit the tengas with it," she said.
Zedd sighed. "Fun as that would be, I agree."
Rita's grin stretched wider at those words, though she avoided eye contact with Zedd. "Let's start with the Skunk."
"Why not."
Lifting their staffs above their heads, they crossed them. "By the power and force of lightning, make our monster grow!" they shouted in unison as blue lighting shot out from the intersection of their wands. Laughter roared from their mouths at their success. Their minions cheered in the background.
Elsewhere on Earth, Rocky jumped out of the way of another acid spray just in the nick of time. "I don't know how much longer we can do this."
"If we don't figure something out soon, we better retreat," Adam yelled across the field.
"Would you please tell me why we're fighting when we can't win!" Rocky snapped.
Just then, several massive blue lightning bolts from an enormous thunderstorm cloud struck The Skunk. However, instead of exploding, it grew in size, towering over Rocky and Adam.
"Try to avoid me now, rangers!" it bellowed.
"I'd say this is worse," Rocky said.
"If he fires a bazoo—duck!" Adam began.
Back at Kimberly's backyard, Tommy kicked a tenga out of his way as he charged again at Goldar. "Don't think these tengas will make a difference, Goldar!" Tommy said, his resolve resonating with his voice. "You still won't win." He clashed swords again with Goldar.
"Wrong," Goldar responded, "This day was inevitable. Trini will succumb to Jason."
"You won't get past me while there's breath in me," Tommy growled. "I don't care if you send a thousand tengas after us."
"Both can be arranged." Growling, Goldar slammed his weight down on Saba, knocking Tommy's arms out of the way. Immediately, Goldar clamped his free hand around Tommy's neck, constricting it. With a mighty heave, Goldar lifted Tommy off the ground. "Don't be so sure of yourself, Tommy," he snarled, digging into Tommy's neck with his fingertips. "From where I'm standing, you can't do anything to stop it."
Caught off guard by the abrupt attack, sharp pain, and lack of oxygen, Tommy flailed his arms. He was too close to Goldar in order to slash at him, so he dropped Saba. Seizing Goldar's arm with both of his, he tried wrenching himself free.
"I don't think so!" Goldar exclaimed, sending forth a surge of yellow lightning bolts from his clenched fist into Tommy's neck.
Grunting, Tommy's now numb hands fell to his side, his throat cartilage almost ripping under the strain.
"That's more like it," Goldar said. "Now what were you saying about us not getting by you?"
Tommy kicked Goldar in the nuts.
Goldar laughed, unfazed by it. Tightening his hold, he tossed Tommy aside.
"I'll finish you later, Ranger," he said, walking toward the guest bedroom. "Tengas, take care of him."
Tommy did not get up.
Meanwhile, blood drained out of Zack's face, paling it to ashen. Trini froze. "Murdered?" Zack repeated, lowering his hands and opening his eyes. He gaped at Sean. "I thought she died in a firestorm."
"She did, but not from those flames," Sean said.
"That's… insane!" Zack spat, uncertainty suffocating him. He struggled for air and understanding, piecing the new information together with what he had known beforehand.
"I can't do this," Trini admitted, her eyes still locked on Billy. "I tried to save her, but I couldn't!"
"You were there!" Zack asked. From what he remembered, Trini had been nowhere near the firestorm that had ravaged the forest on the outskirts of Angel Grove a little over six years ago. Visiting from Africa, Aisha had been hiking through the forest, reminiscing of her life before Master Vile used the Orb of Doom to reverse time on Earth, to transform the Power Rangers back into kids. In order to restore the earth to its natural time, Zordon had sent the Rangers through different special and temporal portals to find the five Zeo subcrystals. Aisha's journey had taken her to Africa where she decided to stay with her family, and sent Tanya, a girl she had met along the way, back in her place. Although the time stream had been altered, all of the rangers remembered Aisha and their lives together, even though in the current time line, they had never met her.
"It was Jason's first attack on Earth as an agent of Evil," Sean elaborated, knowing that he could not keep this secret any longer. Trini was already remembering that day. "He killed Aisha as proof that he had turned permanently. And I nearly killed him."
"Why didn't you?" Trini demanded, glaring at him. "I remember—you could have. Why!"
"Our battle ended because Dark Specter intervened," Sean confessed. "But Jason's campaign ended because he forged a truce of honor. He blocked your memories of the year you two were on the run from Dark Specter, stating that neither he would attack Earth again nor would I mount a defense against him, until the hold was lifted."
"That's crazy!" Zack exclaimed. "What about all of the aliens, monsters and demons that have been attacking the Earth since then!"
"Those were not members of Jason's Empire," Sean said.
Trini was not listening now. Instead, she tilted her head like a wounded dog, and scanned her body. Convulsions wiggled in her gut, spreading up her esophagus. Disbelief and shock constricted her body, overpowering her senses. She clutched to her former ignorance, demanding that the recently revealed truth decomposed into ash.
No, he didn't, she told herself. No. It's impossible. "I refuse to believe it," she said, struggling to keep herself awake and her voice steady. "That can't be what happened."
Sean held her with his eyes, compassion watering them. "Last night was not the first time he raped your mind."
Though the truth screamed within her, she fought to deny it. "I… won't… believe this," Trini said.
"I'm sorry," Sean said, a tear falling from each eye.
"Bastard!" Trini yelled, slapping his face. "How could you do that to me?" she added, crawling backward, tears fighting through her stubborn eyes.
Zack beheld Trini, possessed by speechlessness. The only sentence that rang in his mind was that this woman, one of his best and oldest friends, had been raped continuously for the past six years. Alarm blared in his heart. Damn! There was nothing else he could think.
Just then, blue lightning swirled out of the corner of Sean's right eye. Without turning, he said, "Goldar and Scorpina have grown. The others need your help, Trini." Just then, his communicator beeped. Instead of answering he kept gazing at her.
Trini drifted her head side to side, not meeting Sean's gaze. "I can't fight," she confessed. "Not now."
"Very well," Sean said, lifting his communicator to his mouth. "Sean here."
"Sean, we got big problems outside," Tommy said a bit breathily. "We could use some help out here."
"Trini and Billy cannot fight now," he replied simply, betraying no emotion. "All of your Ninja and Shogunzords can be called upon. I hid them after the Earth was restored to its normal time."
For a brief moment Tommy paused, wanting to ask for more information, but the finality in Sean's voice deterred him from doing so. "Alright. We'll call the shoganzords."
Sean shook his head. "Tommy, use the ninjazords, and destroy the monster attacking Adam and Rocky at the park. They are designed to function individually whereas the Shoganzords are stronger as a full team."
"Good plan. What about Zack?"
Zack looked at him, his face drooping in uncertainty.
"He should stay here in case Jason makes a move for Trini. You have enough energy for a battle," Sean added to Zack. "Watch over her."
"I will," Zack swore. With my life, he added.
Sean heard him, and smiled. Sliding off the bed, he stood and instantly morphed into his ranger attire. Not wasting a second more, he teleported outside as a green column. "Let's do this," he said, staring into Tommy's visor.
Tommy nodded.
"We need Ninjazord power now!" chorused the rangers.
"Green Pheonixzord, power up!" called Sean.
"Pink Crane Ninjazord, power up!" cried Kimberly.
"White Falconzord, power up!" Tommy called out.
No sooner had they called out their zords' names, they heard the sounds of their calls. Three distinct bird calls: two screeches, and a melodious call from Sean's zord.
"Let's go," Sean encouraged, jumping into a cloud and landing in his zord's cockpit. Kimberly and Tommy followed suit with theirs. "Tommy, you and Kimberly go help Adam and Rocky. I'm sure they could use a hand."
"You sure?" Kimberly asked, once in hers.
"Positive. Now go!" Sean emphasized.
"Okay," Kimberly muttered, changing her trajectory to the Skunk on her targeting computer. Tommy flew beside her.
"So where is this awesome Zord of yours, Green Ranger?" Goldar taunted, looking up into the heavens.
"Right here, Goldar," Sean answered, plotting a course for Goldar's head.
"Well then, let's see it," Goldar sneered.
Scorpina readied herself in her scorpion sting fighting stance.
At the park, the Apezord was slashing at the Skunk with its twin swords. Because it was based on the Japanese mythical ape, it was more of a combination of a human man and a male gorilla. Unfortunately, the sword slashes seemed to do nothing more than irritating the Skunk.
"I thought you two understood!" the Skunk roared, blasting the Apezord with four energy projectiles. "I'm indestructible to you two!" The Apezord crumpled to the ground in a shower of sparks.
Kimberly, now close enough to see the battle, gasped. "Oh, that monster's had it," she said, gritting her teeth. "There is no way Evil is going to win today. Not. After. Last. Night!" With that, she opened fire from her twin laser cannons, slamming six blue energy blasts into the Skunk's hide.
Groaning slightly, it staggered back a step. "Who did that?" it asked, looking up. Spotting the Cranezord and Falconzord, it screamed.
Up on the moon, Rita pursed her lips. "Oh, drat! I didn't make the monster invincible to the other zords! Oh, they're gonna ruin everything!" she whined.
"Whether they destroy that monster, is none of our concern," Zedd remarked. "But, the rangers aren't at full strength apparently."
Rita checked her repulsascope again. "You're right!" she shrieked with a jump, jubilation running through her.
"We actually did something right! We're winning!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.
Zedd laughed beside her. "This was definitely worth the wait," he seethed.
"It's time we taught you some manners," Tommy said. Accelerating to a gliding coast, he shifted the Falcon into an upright perched position, with its wingtips pointed at the Skunk. "And fire!" Screeching, the Falconzord unleashed a volley of energy blaster shots at the Skunk's chest. Kimberly joined, firing a few more volleys from her zord.
The Skunk barely kept its footing under the barrage.
Just then an enormous stream of fire slammed into its chest as Tommy returned to flying mode, veering off the monster's left, while Kimberly veered off its right.
"Nice shot, Adam," Tommy said through his intercom. "I think that one hurt him."
"Keep up the cover fire because here come the mini-frogs," Adam announced, grinning. Off all his zord's functions that was his favorite. Opening its mouth, the Frogzord, extended its tongue to the ground like a ramp, and thirteen mini frogs hopped down it toward the monster.
Unfortunately, Kimberly kept flying around the monster and shooting at it, so it could not do anything to stop it. Tommy shot another volley at it, causing it to fall to a knee. A groan leaked from its snout.
The mini-frogs leapt onto the Skunk, stuck out their tongues onto him, injecting painful electric volts of purple electricity into the monster. Its screams were chorused by several explosions over its skin.
"Hold on 'cause the Frog's not done," Adam supplied, signaling his army to retreat. "Sean, do we still have Titanus?"
On the other side of town, Goldar and Scorpina stared in awe as Sean's Pheonixzord soared through a cumulus cloud. Primarily emerald green except for touches of scarlet and yellow here and there, it roared at the golden duo. Though only slightly bigger than the Falconzord, its body the fusion of an eagle and a swan, it dwarfed the duo in sheer majesty, demanding their fear. Like a pelican dips to catch its fish, it swopped over Goldar and Scorpina's heads, cuffing them with its enormous trailing tail.
"I'm not scared of some mythic bird!" Goldar snarled. "Come back and fight!"
"I've been ready to fight for over six years," Sean said. "Jason should have killed me when he had that chance during our duel." He added, thinking of their battle yesterday.
"Shoot it!" Goldar yelled, igniting his sword and hurling white flames at the zord. Scorpina energized her pincer hand with blue electricity, and shot out several yellow energy rings at the Phoenixzord. Unfortunately, both attacks were swallowed by an elliptical energy shield encompassing the Zord.
Pausing only for second, Goldar shot his fiery eyebeams at it as Scorpina fired a concentrated energy beam from her sword. The Phoenixzord's shields absorbed the two blasts.
Not missing a beat, they stepped toward each other, crossed their swords, energized them, and unleashed a cannon blast stream of yellow energy ringed with a magenta energy.
The assault nudged the Phoenixzord a few feet off course as it steadily flew toward them, but Sean corrected it with a minor coarse change. "Now, let's see if you like this," Sean asked, touching a button. Roaring again, the Phoenixzord shot its fiery right eyebeam at Scorpina and then its left at Goldar. Barely giving them time to groan, he shot each of them with a quick burst from both eyes.
"Enough of this!" Scorpina snapped. Leaping into the air, she raised her sword in preparation for an overhead strike.
Two seconds ahead of her, Sean dropped his shields, stirred his zord hard to port, and raked Scorpina's collar bone with his zord's razor sharp wing tips, following suit with its tail, as he about-faced.
She tumbled onto the ground beside her brother. "This can't be happening!" she screamed, frustration sweltering into a rage within her. Never knowing what Sean's zord was capable of, they had never able to prepare.
"Sean, do we still have Titanus?" Adam's voice rang through Sean's intercom.
"Yes, we do," Sean responded. "Tommy, the honor's yours."
"Thanks," Tommy said, pride kindling within him again. "I call on the power of Titanus!"
No sooner had he said it, the Carrierzord appeared along the outskirts of Sean's battle. Shaped like a brachiosaur, it fired three fireballs from its mouth at Goldar, knocking him backwards but not to the ground.
"Get up, Scorpina," he snarled. "That thing is useless without a megazord."
"Oh, really?" Sean asked. "Titanus, convert to cannon mode."
Upon Sean's command, Titanus' chest rolled down, its neck rolled down into a 45 degree angle while cannons slid into mounts on its front shoulders, aiming at Goldar and Scorpina.
"Titanus, fire!"
Titanus shot four cannon blasts at Goldar and Scorpina, as Sean fired two dual eye blasts at them. Crashing to the ground, they vanished in orange flame without rising up.
"Nice work!" Tommy cheered. "Everyone, Titanus, target that Skunk."
"Ready!" chorused the rangers.
"Rocky, you're up."
Leaping into the air, the Apezord combined its swords at the hilt, energized them with lightning, and slammed them down on the Skunk's chest. Flicking its wrists, it slammed the other edge into its hide also. As the monster grunted in pain, it fled out of the way.
"Everyone, open fire!" Tommy ordered.
Kimberly's laser beams, Tommy's concussive energy blasts, Sean's eyebeams, and Titanus' fireballs, and cannon blasts slammed into the monster's hide, lifting it into the air.
"How about this!" Adam snapped at the monster, pressing a button. The Frogzord, shot out an enormous stream of fire at the monster, slamming into its core.
"NO!!!!" the monster screamed, crashing and exploding into the ground.
"I don't care if they weren't at full strength!" Rita screamed into Zedd's face, mere inches from him. "They still blew up my monster!"
"They were able to repel all of our attacks," Jason muttered, lurking in the background.
"My Lord," Zedd cried, bowing his head.
"They passed the test of loyalty then," Jason continued, "but Trini was not with them. She has lost her spirit." He smiled. As charming and handsome as it had been when he had sprouted it many times as an agent of good, malevolence poisoned now it though did not rot it. "We have the edge. Let the game continue."
"Destroying them won't be easy," Zedd reminded Jason.
Jason looked at him. "Destroying a power ranger team never is, even without their powers."
"Guys, please let me talk to Trini alone," Kimberly begged as they assembled outside her backdoor. "I know I can get a reading off of her."
Each of her friends regarded her. Having just heard from Zack what he'd learned from Sean, they were unsure how to approach Trini. Normally they would have given her time, but they didn't have time now. Their enemy was alive, powerful, and ruthless. It was imperative that they become a full strength team as soon as possible. "Please, guys. I can do this. If what you said was true, Zack, then she'd prefer speaking to one of us instead of all five."
"Alright," Tommy admitted. "Go ahead."
"Sean, is Billy still unconscious?" Kimberly asked.
"He's sleeping now," Sean replied through closed eyes. Though the battle had been adrinalizing, mild fatigue withered his muscles. "I can drain the excess energy in his body now. We can do it here to give you space."
"Thank you," Kimberly said.
"Rocky, Adam, Tommy," Sean instructed. "Concentrate on Billy and teleport him here."
Not caring to see Billy's body, alive or not, Kimberly turned her back on her friends, and marched into her house. Worry and duty clashed within her. It had not even been a full day and yet she felt as though she had just gone through a week of daily attacks. But her resolve steadied her. She needed to know. So she kept marching, barely aware of what she passed as she went. Before she knew it, she was in the doorway of her guest bedroom.
Trini stood by the window, gazing at her friends as Sean extracted the Billy's excess energy and shared it with Zack.
Kimberly approached her.
"I felt everything," Trini uttered, not looking at Kimberly.
Kimberly halted.
"The battles everyone fought… your emotions—everything." She looked at Kimberly. "Even your bravery."
Kimberly watched her, uncertain if she should speak.
Trini walked over to Kimberly. With a mixture of seriousness and anxiety, she handed Kimberly her Ninjetti morpher.
Stunned, Kimberly gaped at the object in her hand and then at Trini.
"Trini, you can't do this," Kimberly said.
"Yes, I can," Trini said. "Yesterday, Jason tore my mind apart with his own mind. Last night, I dreamed about my honeymoon when Jason and I were happy together. And I woke up to him raping me. My own husband—did that!" she added in a spat, disgust and confusion distorting her face as she spoke. "He raped me for the last six years!"
"Trini…" Kimberly began, desperate for something to say, but nothing came to mind. Her prepared list drifted into crumbled ashes.
"I don't even remember if I am really married," Trini replied, eyeing her wedding ring. "For all I know, this is a fake!" She added, waving her wedding ring, still attached to her left finger. "Look at it, Kimberly! Look at it! It hasn't shinned since Jason disappeared a week ago!"
Kimberly stared at the dull stone. If she was honest with herself, Kimberly could trace it's dullness to the day Jason departed
"My heart is crushed and my soul's been shattered. Can't you understand what I am going through?" Trini continued, positively shouting. "And worse of all, I had no say in the matter. Instead I was nothing more than a puppet."
Kimberly gawked at Trini, and for the first time, she allowed a tear to fall from her eye. She nodded, understanding melding her shock. "I won't stop you from leaving," she said, "But I won't take your morpher." Trini opened her mouth in protest, but Kimberly cut her off. "I can't bear your power," she resumed, holding it out to her. "I have my own to bear."
"Then don't," Trini begged, refusing to touch it. "Just keep it safe."
Kimberly shook her head, closing Trini's hands around her morpher. "That's not for me to have," she said firmly, folding her arms.
Trini bent her arm downwards while a bemused expression stretched over her face. Just as she started turning around, Kimberly did something Trini never expected. She smiled.
"But I don't think you're the one to have it now," Kimberly continued in a softer tone, her smile illuminating her entire face. And in this one moment of wisdom, she was reminded of the time when Zordon had said that she had demonstrated wisdom beyond her years twice. It comforted her thinking of the moment when she had given her power coin to Katherine. "When the time is right, you'll know who to give it to. Take care."
Trini searched Kimberly's face incredulously for a long time. Finally, after discerning that Kimberly was telling the truth, she nodded. "Thank you," she said. She crossed to the dresser, grabbing some clothes from within. When she had everything she needed, she walked to the doorway.
"Where will you go?" Kimberly called after her, sniffling.
Trini paused with her hand on the frame. "I'm not sure," she said. "Somewhere unconnected to this mess."
Kimberly blinked back the tear that wanted to leak down her cheek as she understood the meaning behind Trini's words. Trini did not want to be anywhere nears her fellow rangers. For Kimberly, it was almost as if Trini was truly forsaking her lifelong and deep friendship with them. It was a testament of how she honored their friendship that Kimberly did not collapse onto the floor or say the practical wisdom shouting in her mind.
Trini met Kimberly's gaze. "Thank you for what you've done for me." Before Kimberly could utter a response, Trini walked out of the room.
Trini… is this for good? Kimberly asked. Even being honest with herself, she was unsure of an answer.
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