Well, we've come to the end of the road (no pun intended). I'm so happy you decided to give this one shot series a shot and delving into Jason's loneliness and grief concerning his lack of relationship with the women in his life. It wasn't easy and I really had to work hard to put this thing together, but reading your kind reviews and encouragements made it worthwhile.

One more thing, I have a new multi chaptered story coming once this one shot series is completed and yes, it's another Jason/Trini story. And you can thank SparklyTree3876 for the story idea about Jason having a psychotic ex-girlfriend stalking him as he moves on and starts dating Trini, with her dark past coming to light. It's called "At Every Turn" and it's chock full of romance, drama, suspense and everything in between. The first chapter will be posted next weekend.

So, I hope you enjoy this final chapter of "One is the Loneliest Number"; with Jason seemingly finally finding love with Emily...only he has his own 'dear john' letter moment and his seemingly never-ending journey into permanent loneliness.

Enjoy and happy reading!

Lots of love, hugs and kisses from your resident writer and friend, Nina!

X

Chapter six: Emily

Dear Jason,

This is the hardest thing I had to write; but my mother always told me that writing stuff down on paper is very cathartic and therapeutic, not to mention it's hard for me to say what I'm about to say to you in person. So, after reading this, I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. Well, here goes nothing:

Jason, you're an amazing man. You're kind, gorgeous, sweet, smart and everything I could want in a man...or so I thought. It's not you, don't get me wrong, it's me. I thought by moving to Angel Grove, I could finally find what I'm looking for, but, to be honest, I haven't. Remember when I told you that when I first moved, Eddie was the only guy who talked to me because I was the 'new kid'? Well, as it turned out, he was harboring a huge crush on me, only I didn't know it at the time because I was drawn to you. As much as I enjoyed spending so much time with you, I hated myself for leading you on. You see, the man of my dreams was right in front of my face the entire time...and it wasn't you. Like I said, I hated myself for leading you on, however, after you went off to college, Eddie and I started reconnecting and I ended up falling in love with him.

Jason, you've done nothing wrong. You didn't push me away, alienated me from my friends or treated me like crap. If anything, you welcomed me with open arms and saved me more times than I can count. I just felt that we were moving into two totally different directions and it wasn't fair to either one of us to maintain a long distance relationship because they never work out and we'll just end up resenting each other in the long run. After you left for Florida, I went back to New York to visit my beloved grandmother and she told me that in order for me to be truly happy, I have to let go of the past. And, as much as I cared for you deeply, I have to let you go. Believe me, this is just as hard for me as it is for you to hear this and I know it's not fair that I couldn't tell you this in person, however, just the thought of seeing you all brokenhearted and sullen, well, it would've made me feel more guilty than I'm already am.

I understand that it's gonna take time for you to process what I've just wrote to you and I'm sure you have questions, but sometimes in life, you just have to let it go and move on. Eddie and I are getting married and we're expecting our first child and I'm so looking forward to the next phase of my life. As I mentioned before, you're an amazing guy and I'm sure any girl will be lucky to be with a man like you, but that girl's not me. We had a wonderful time together, but we weren't meant to be. I'm not trying to sound harsh and coming off as a cold-hearted bitch, however, you get what I'm saying, right? Don't spend the rest of your life being so hard on yourself on why you can't get it right concerning relationships. It's not good for your health.

So, in closing, I hope in time that you'll find it in your heart to forgive me. I hope that you'll find the happiness that I was finally able to have for myself. I hope that, in the long run, that if we ever see each other again that we can try to be friends at least. I know you have a forgiving soul in your body and you're not the type to be holding grudges against anyone who has hurt you. I really do hope that everything works right for you in the future and I really do hope that if you find the right girl, she'll be able to bring some much needed happiness in your life.

I wish you nothing but the best, Jason Lee Scott.

Sincerely,

Emily Harper, soon-to-be Emily Costello.

He folded the piece of paper in half and tossed it right on the coffee table, then he grabbed a bottle of scotch and took a big swig of it; feeling the amber liquid burning his throat. A single tear streamed down his face as he started at the folded letter laying on the table. He couldn't bring himself to read it again; not after reading it for the first time and feeling the unimaginable sting piercing his already broken heart. Hell, he even contemplated throwing it away and forgetting all about it.

Jason thought he and Emily were happy together. After getting rejected so many times by Trini, Kimberly, Kat, Aisha and Tanya, the original red ranger thought he finally got it right with the blond bombshell. When he first laid eyes on her at the beach club, he found her to be quite intriguing; not to mention, in the beginning, she did come off as a little bitchy. But, when he saw her again as she was entering the Youth Center, he felt that he could somehow get through to her and make her see that what she and her bikers friends did wasn't right and because of their antics, Ernie ended up not only shutting the beach club down to avoid anyone getting hurt, but also spiraling into a mind-numbing depression.

In the end, however, after Jason was able to get Emily alone and got her to listen to reason, not only did Ernie was able to reopen the beach club, but Emily ended up working there after the last girl ended up taking another job somewhere else.

Thus, Jason and Emily's friendship was born.

There were some impromptu flirting between them; boasted by Jason bragging to his friends on how beautiful, smart and fun Emily turned out to be. So, Kat and Tanya convinced him to ask her to go to the charity fashion show with him. He was reluctant to be apart of it at first; due to the fact that he always thought modeling was more of a woman's thing. Well, after Emily revealed that she thought it was so cool that Rocky was taking part of the fashion show, Jason had a change of heart.

So when Emily finally showed up and watched the show with Kat and Tanya, she was pleasantly surprised to see Jason make his way down the runway.

And she couldn't help but notice how handsome he looked in his red outfit.

Toward the end of his run as the gold ranger, his attraction towards her was intensifying. And when he gave the gold ranger's powers back to Trey, he realized that he had a lot more time on his hands. So when he noticed Emily walking along the lake, he decided to focus his attention on her and nothing else. The sight of them walking off together with their arms around each other was truly a sight to behold.

Even more special, she took him back to her one bedroom apartment so they could spend some more time together without interruptions. Jason would end up getting more than he bargained for when they ended up making love for the next several hours.

He thought he had finally hit the jackpot.

After their special night together, things couldn't be better between them. Jason and Emily were pretty much inseparable. Up until he ended up going to Florida to visit Kim, his relationship with Emily couldn't be better. After all the rejections and letdowns he's gotten concerning his fellow female rangers, life simply couldn't be better for him. Nothing could go wrong, right?

Wrong!

After coming back from Florida (and after being kidnapped from Divatox and even having to endure turning evil for a moment), Jason came back only to find that Emily had gone to New York to visit her grandmother. He tried contacting her by phone or letter, but she hasn't responded to him, which troubled him greatly. He thought that they had something great and their relationship was on solid ground; with little to no problems brewing between them. After numerous attempts in contacting her, he finally gave up and decided to go forward with his life.

He moved to Los Angeles, graduated from UCLA, got his real estate license and carried on with his life. He attempted to give dating another shot, but it didn't work out how he wanted. He was still carrying a torch for Emily and hoped that if he ever heard from her again, they'll be able to pick up where they left off back in Angel Grove.

Until he received the dreaded 'dear john' letter.

Now Jason knows what Tommy when through when he got his breakup letter from Kimberly.

Not only will Emily not come back to him, but she has moved on with her life and found her own happiness, casting the original red ranger aside and causing him to now question if he's even worthy of having a meaningful relationship with someone.

I told you, Scott. You're wasting your time. Cut your losses and stop trying to find happiness for yourself because it didn't work for you back then and it's not gonna work for you now. Let it go, man. First Trini, then Kim, then Aisha, then Kat, then Tanya and now Emily. It's finally time for you to wake up and face facts: you're just not relationship material...

Trying to shake the negative thoughts out of his head, Jason took another big swig of his scotch and just sat in silence; pondering what the hell has he done wrong to deserve this. If Trini, Kim, Aisha, Kat, Tanya can find happiness with someone else, then why can't the original red/gold ranger?! Why can't he have his own happily ever after; to be able to tell his friends that he had found someone who truly loves him?!

It's simple: because he has spent so much time trying to save the world, being a leader and taking on the responsibility of being a teenager, he didn't have time to have a girlfriend.

Now that he's a grown man with a career and his own place, Jason thought that he finally had a chance of settling down and having a family.

Looks like that won't be happening anytime soon, if it'll ever happen.

Look at the six women who was able to find happiness without him:

Trini found love with a handsome Chinese delegate at the peace conference and is now happily married to him.

Kim found love with Skull of all people and they're happily raising their son Spike.

Aisha went to Africa and ended up with a handsome doctor, whom she ultimately married.

After her breakup with Tommy, Kat went to London, then returned home to her native country and found happiness with the son of a well respected prime minister.

Tanya did harbor a secret crush on Jason after her breakup with Shawn, however, love came knocking at the door again and now she's a happily married mother of twins, a boy and a girl. She's now happily expecting her third child.

And, finally, Emily went back to New York to visit her grandmother, came home to Angel Grove and reconnected with her friend Eddie, whom she's now happily engaged and expecting her first child with.

And where does that leave Jason? Alone, miserable and wondering where will he go from here.

He doesn't have the answers, but, for right now, as he's sitting in his darkened living room and nursing a bottle of scotch, he just has to face facts...

He's a broken shell of a man; left to pick up the pieces.

The End!

Thank you again for taking the time to read this story. I really appreciate it.

"At Every Turn" will be posted next weekend. Make sure you check it out!

Please review!