It had been two weeks since Trini was told that she was going to have a husband. And within those two weeks, Khoa and his parents had been around her house more often than she thought they'd be. Not only did it make it more difficult for her to completely wrap her head around everything that was being decided for her, but it made it more difficult to go out for ranger duties.
At one point, she had to pretend to be sick then sneak out of her bedroom to teleport down to the park where Goldar and putties were terrorizing it with the new monster, Tangzilla—a vine monster that lashed out with thorny vines with cactus ends.
"I'm here, guys!" Trini called as soon as she landed in the park.
"It's about time!" Zack cried.
"Khoa again?" Kimberly asked.
"His whole family this time," Trini explained. She then turned and struck with her foot into the Z-plate of a putty, knocking them to the ground where it wiggled spastically before breaking apart. "Believe me when I say I don't want to talk about it."
"Then let's take this guy down," Jason declared. Trini nodded, flashing him a grateful smile and the group came together; Tommy, Jason, Kimberly, Trini, Zack, Billy, Avalon, and Avalon's little sister, Bailey. "It's morphin' time!"
"Tiger zord!"
"Stegosaurus!"
"Ankylosaurus!"
"Mastodon!"
"Pterodactyl!"
"Triceratops!"
"Saber-Tooth Tiger!"
"Tyrannosaurus!"
"Power Rangers!"
Once morphed, Trini leapt forward and flew into battle with Jason against Goldar. Goldar was one of the toughest monsters they'd ever had to face. No matter what they did, he was always able to come back from whatever attack they gave him until Rita and Zedd sent them out again. This time, however, it appeared that he wanted nothing more than to show off his newfound power since he got his wings back. No matter what she and Jason did to try and take him down, he knocked them back with little to no effort.
"Power Daggers!" Trini summoned her power weapons.
"Power Sword!" Jason followed her head.
The two leapt forward and started to attack Goldar once more. He pulled out his word and slashed it this way and that, keeping Trini and Jason from getting too close to him. Trini gritted her teeth and flipped her daggers in her hand. Hers were a close ranged weapon and she needed to be sure she could use them that way. Trini looked over and glanced at Jason's Power Sword, immediately getting an idea.
She looked around, watching as her friends had summoned their weapons; the Power Bow, Power Axe, Power Lance, Power Staff, and the Ankylo Blaster and were taking down putties left and right. Tommy, on the other hand, worked to take down Tangzilla, who continuously used his cactus hands to keep him and Saba at bay.
"Got it," Trini said. She turned to Jason, holding up a fist. "You think you can handle Goldar for me?"
"What do you have in mind?" Jason replied.
"Getting up close and personal."
"You got it!" Jason stepped back away from Goldar and ran his gloved hand up the length of his power sword. A red glow raised along the sword. "Hey Goldar, how about we make this more interesting!" He called. "Power Staff, power up!" With that he raised his sword high overhead and leapt through the air towards Goldar.
Goldar lifted his sword and clashed it against Jason's, the surge of energy knocking him to the ground. Goldar laughed uproarisly and continued to push his sword down towards Jason's neck. Jason's arms shook with effort as he tried to hold the tip of the blade away from him. It came down closer, closer, closer.
"Say goodbye, red ranger!" Goldar crowed, eyes shining with mirth.
Trini took the opportunity to race forward. She leapt high intot he air and brought her Power Daggers overhead. "Power Daggers, Power Up!" Her daggers cracked with yellow electricity. She could feel them pulse with power beneath her palms. "Hiya!" Trini spun in a quick circle, slashing Goldar across the back with both of her weapons.
Goldar screamed as electricity shot through his body, enough so that in glimpses of the electricity ravaging his body she could see his skeleton. Finally, the power from her Power Daggers combined with Jason's Power Sword proved to be too much and Goldar rocketed across the park and into a set of trees before falling to the ground.
"This isn't the last of me, rangers!" Goldar cried. He disappeared back to the Lunar Palace in a rush of flame. Tangzilla followed afterwards with the last of the putties being taken down by a quick tag-team of Avalon and Bailey.
"Power Down!" Tommy declared and they all de-morphed. "Is everyone okay?" He asked, looking around at his friends.
"Yeah, we're fine," Zack agreed. He cracked his knuckles, stretching his arms out in front of him. "It'll take a lot more than that to take us down."
"What was that, anyway?" Trini asked.
"That was Tangzilla," Avalon said. She reached up rub a scratch on her arm. She must've gotten caught off-guard by one of Tangzilla's cactus hands before Trini got there. "It was created by one of the cactus plants out in the dessert."
"My class was taking a field trip of the area today," Bailey explained. "To learn more about the ecosystem and how delicate it is, I reckon Rita and Zedd had been watching and thought to use it as a monster for us."
"Judging by its characteristics of an actual cactus," Billy added. "The better way to take it down wouldn't be with an overabundance of heat, but with an overabundance of cold." He rubbed his chin. "So far we don't seem to have any weapons that has that sort of capability. So if he does become more bothersome in the future, we'll need to be prepared for it."
Kimberly let out a low laugh. "For a cactus? Goldar is scarier than that. We can take him."
"You got that right," Zack agreed. He reached up a hand and the two high-fived. Then his stomach growled. "Now that we've got that settled, I think we deserve to have a bit of a celebration. So let's go to Ernie's and have some milkshakes." He placed his hands on his chest and smiled his charming smile. "On me, of course."
"This isn't your ploy to get Angela's attention again, is it?" Jason asked.
Zack made a show of shaking his head, then placed his hand on Jason's shoulder. "If that were the case, I'd just go straight into telling her I'm a Power Ranger. And we all know how badly that'll work out." Zack raised his hands in the air. "But I'm being nice to my friends, can't say I don't do anything for you. You better take it now or I'm going to change my mind."
"If you're paying, then I'm going to get the biggest milkshake on the menu," Tommy declared.
"That's not any different, mate," Bailey pointed out. "You normally do that anyway, but you make Kim pay." Kimberly gave Tommy a smug smile as he blushed. Then Tommy reached over and ruffled Bailey's hair, pushing her fringe into her face. Bailey squealed and backed away, doing her best to fix her hair.
"Didn't you know?" Avalon teased. "Bay has to look perfect now because of Fred. You can't mess up her hair or anything else."
"Av!" Bailey protested, her cheeks turning red.
Trini laughed along with her friends then frowned. The mention of Fred reminded her, she had to get home or her parents and the Nguyen's would soon realize she was gone. "Thanks for the offer, Zack, but I can't make it," she said. "I have to get back home before anyone realizes I'm gone."
Kimberly sucked in a sharp breath of air; a mocking, teasing gesture. "You mean the great and honest Trini Kwan has lied to her parents about her whereabouts?" She then wagged her finger towards her best friend in a way that only a parent could. "Shame on you, Trini, I thought we raised you better than that."
Trini laughed along with her friends.
"Why would it matter now?" Avalon pointed out. She brushed her hair behind her ear, eyes flashing. "You're already out and if they haven't called you yet, the don't know you're gone. I reckon with this whole wedding thing you've probably got another half hour or so, yeah?"
"Yeah…" Trini agreed. She tried not to be swayed by her friends' teasing. They weren't so keen on her upcoming wedding, whenever that was, either. But all the same she didn't think they were taking it too seriously. How could they? They didn't understand what it was like in her culture. You didn't disrespect your parents without causing them great disappointment that meant…a lot, actually. Her friends made fun of her for keeping her grades up to be straight As or nearly straight As, but they didn't know how shameful it was to get even an A- or a B+.
"Av's right," Jason agreed, to her's and Trini's surprise. He smiled at her, crossing his arms. "You're already out, so chances are that you can't be in any more trouble than you already are. Why not come with us? I promise I'll have you back to your house as soon as you want to leave. "
"Hey!" Kimberly stepped forward and poked Jason in the chest with her finger. "How come you get to take her? What makes you think one of the rest of us wouldn't want to do it?" Trini recognized the sparkling look in Kimberly's eyes and shook her head. She knew her best friend was up to something but it appeared that Jason was none the wiser. "We have lots of stuff we need to talk about."
"Like what?" Trini asked.
Kimberly looped her arm through Trini's. "Liiike, girl stuff, that's what. We haven't had a girls' night in a long while. We need to get together. Right?" She turned and looked at Avalon, almost glaring at her.
The Orange Ranger held up her hands defensively. "No need to give me the eyes Pinkerbell, I completely agree."
"And Bailey, too," Kimberly agreed.
"Me too?" Bailey looked surprised.
Trini smiled at her. "Of course." She was part of the team, too. Just because she was younger didn't mean she didn't enjoy having her around. Seeing her exuberance for everything they were doing as rangers was always a treat. And she knew she didn't have any friends her age other than Fred Kelman, so it had to be lonely sometimes.
"Then that settles it," Kimberly declared. "We're having a girls' night."
"Okay, then we'll have a boy's night, too," Zack said. He looped his arms around Billy, Tommy, and Jason's shoulders to pull them closer to him. "Only because I don't want to be left out."
The group all laughed. "Let's get to Ernie's then, if I'm going to take advantage of the one-time Zack has any money to spend I can't look a gift horse in the mouth," Billy said. With that, the rangers all teleported to the Youth Center, around the corner from the locker rooms where no one would see them. Then they strolled inside as if nothing had happened and they arrived like normal.
"Hey, there are my favorite customers," Ernie said as they trooped in. "I was starting to wonder when you guys were going to show."
"We don't come here that often do we?" Billy asked modestly.
Avalon snorted. "Even before I met you lot I saw you here all the time. It got to the point I wondered if you ever went home I saw you so much." She crossed her arms. "Yes, Smurf, you guys come here a lot."
Billy rolled his eyes. "Thanks for that, Ava. You really know how to shoot down someone's modesty."
"Any time."
Trini smiled. She looked around the Youth Center, watching as her classmates and students from other schools in the Angel Grove area danced on the practice mats, climbed up the ropes, lifted weights, and followed classes around the gym. Part of her wondered if Khoa was going to show up; she hadn't seen him around before but he had been in Angel Grove as long as her family was. And as far as she knew, he couldn't quite stomach all the attention from their families either, despite being on board of their arrangement.
"I'll get your drink," Jason said as soon as they stepped up to the counter. He lowered himself onto a stool and Trini sat next to him.
Trini blinked at him in surprise. Pleasant surprise. How nice. "I thought Zack was going to get it for us?" She asked instead.
Jason smiled. "Have you met Zack? Chances are he's going to run out of money before he realizes how much this stuff costs. Didn't you notice he bought Angela's lunch yesterday? And she got a lot."
Trini shook her head. Oh yes, Angela. Zack had been smitten with her since he first saw her and bent over backwards to try and get her attention. She didn't think Angela was a gold-digger by any means, but she did think Zack worked too hard to get her attention when it wasn't clear if she thought the same way. Why would you have to jump through so many hoops to get someone's attention like that. If they liked you back, they would've made it clear from the beginning.
"Should we tell him to give up?" Trini asked. "It's starting to become a little pathetic."
"Nah, I think we should give him a little more time, then we can tell him." Jason turned to look at her closely. "Speaking of which, how are thing going with you and Khoa? It's been a couple of weeks but it doesn't seem like you've grown on him at all. Or, that he's grown on you?"
Trini shrugged. "We spend nearly every night together."
"Really?"
Really. Her parents insisted they do homework together. Not just so that they would get more time to spend with each other, but to understand how they worked with stress. They were only made to speak Vietnamese together when they were alone and they were hardly ever alone. His mother or her mother would continuously pop their heads in to make sure that things were going okay between the two of them.
"They come over for dinner a lot," Trini explained. "That's why they were over when I left to help you guys fight."
"Ah, gotcha." Jason looked at her curiously. He smiled over at Ernie when he gave them their order. They went to the Youth Center enough that he always knew what they wanted. "So…what do you think of him? It didn't seem like he liked me very much when we met."
"He likes you just fine, he just doesn't know you," Trini explained. "He can actually be kind of shy. It makes me wonder what my parents see about him that they think is perfect for me. It's kind of hard to make him be a little more extroverted. But it's not like I can change him."
"No, that wouldn't be good," Jason agreed. "He doesn't look like your type, anyway."
"Then what is my type?" Trini teased. "Someone like Zack?" As far as she could tell, they were complete opposites. And if it weren't for the fact she'd known Zack so long so might've entertained it. There was only so much time you could spend with someone before your feelings for them changed a little bit. Like…Trini turned to rest her arms on the counter, looking at Jason out of the corner of her eye. She'd been doing that a lot lately as well.
If only she wasn't so shy and could tell him how she felt. But how weird would that be? She was engaged in any sense—it still wasn't official—and was thinking about dating someone else. She hadn't exactly said she was going to go along with the marriage but her parents continued to talk about it as if things were done and done. Maybe she should explain more about wanting to date other people before getting married. To at least let her voice be heard.
Or at least to be able to kiss someone else before saying 'I do'.
"No," Jason said. "Someone who's strong, a natural born leader, is tall, handsome…and can kick your butt in a fight."
"If I wasn't for the last part, I'd think you were describing yourself," Trini joked. She was sure she had an advantage over Jason's martial arts training. She'd been training practically since she was born and Jason hadn't started until he was five. She had a couple years edge on him.
Jason flicked his gaze towards her. "What if I was?"
A flush rose to Trini's cheeks. She tried not to let out a squeal of excitement, suddenly understanding how Kimberly always got to be so mooney over Tommy. Here she was wondering if she'd ever get the chance to go out with Jason—or anyone else for that matter—and here he was practically saying they were a better match. She certainly thought so.
"Then I'd say…you're probably right," Trini agreed, finding her voice shaking.
Jason's eyes lit up. He turned her way and said, "Are you doing anything Saturday? I was thinking—"
"Hey, uh, Jase," Zack said, pushing between them at the counter. He looked sheepish, leaning forward, resting on his arms. "I hate to ask this, but, uh, you wouldn't happen to have any extra money, would you? I kinda didn't expect everyone to really take me up on my offer to pay so…"
Jason shot a smirk towards Trini, making her laugh.
An hour later Trini arrived back at her house after Kimberly dropped her off down the street. She had expected she'd be able to sneak back into her room and was surprised to find Khoa waiting on the front porch for her, fiddling with a book in his hands. Funny, it was like how he'd run into her and Jason a few weeks ago.
Still, Trini held her breath as she walked up the front path towards him. She knew what was going to happen next; Khoa would go running inside to announce to everyone she was back and that she had snuck out and not been sick and she would get in so much trouble. Grounded for two months was the more likely punishment for lying. The most severe punishment she had received was when she'd gotten a B- on a test after a hard week of monster fights.
She couldn't think about it without her heart sinking to her feet.
"So, you're back," Khoa said as she stopped in front of him. "You're not sick."
"Yeah, I uh…I just needed to get some air," Trini explained. "I went on a walk." If by walk you mean take on responsibilities that were given to me, she thought. She glanced towards the house, wondering if her parents of the Nguyen's knew she was gone.
Khoa must've read her mind as he said, "I told them I would go check on you and that we were going to get some ice cream. They barely looked up when I left. I don't think they knew you weren't up there."
Relief washed through Trini's body. Okay, that was good. She could avoid angering or disappointing them in any way. "Thanks, Khoa." She started to go by him but Khoa didn't move out of her way, prompting her to take a step back.
Instead, he closed his book and stood up from the porch. "Do you understand the seriousness of what I've done for you?" He snapped. His eyes flashed with anger. "I just lied to both of our parents for you and you know how bad that can be. Lying to our elders!" His nostrils flared. "And all you can say in response is 'Thanks, Khoa'. I expected a little more gratitude for that. I could've told them that you snuck out."
Trini took in a deep breath. She hadn't seen him so angry before.
"And what were you doing that you had to lie and sneak out?" He demanded, taking a step towards her. "It must've been important if you were willing to put everything on the line like that?"
"I had…some stuff I needed to do," Trini said slowly. She couldn't tell him she was a ranger, but she couldn't quite come up with a good excuse for it either. "Some people I needed to talk to. I forgot about a school project I needed to work on—"
"—Nothing's more important than you family," Khoa interrupted. "And we're going to be family soon. You can't lie to us, to me, about these sorts of things."
Now Trini started to feel angry. How dare he speak to her that way. "We're not related, Khoa! We're not family. We're nothing more than friends."
"I'm your husband!"
"We're not married, Khoa and we're not going to be!" Trini stepped around him and started up the stairs but Khoa grabbed her wrist. He forced her around and tightened his grasp around her communicator, pressing the metal against her wrist in his tight grasp. Trini gasped in pain.
Khoa ignored it and leaned his face close to hers. "You're not going to embarrass me like this. If you don't like it, I'll tell everyone where you've been and we'll see how it feels to be a disgrace to your family."
Trini looked back at Khoa with a straight glare. "Let go," she said firmly.
Khoa continued to tighten his squeeze.
"Khoa, I mean it. Let go of me." She wouldn't give him the satisfaction that he was starting to hurt her, no matter how much she wanted to cry out. Instead, Khoa let go of her hand, still glaring at her. Then he smoothed down his shirt and waited. There was a long moment of silence between the two before Trini went to the door and went inside.
The two walked to the living room and their parents looked up from their conversation. "So, how was your ice cream?" Mr. Kwan asked.
Khoa stepped forward to answer before Trini could, the angry mask immediately replaced with one of pleasant enthusiasm. "It was great. Trini showed me around the Youth Center, this place where she and her friends hang out, I think I'm going to go there more often."
Trini stared at him in disbelief. Moments before he was practically threatening her and now here he was talking about ice cream and their good time. She shook her head, turning away from him. She couldn't hear Mrs. Nguyen's question, only snapping back to attention when her mother cleared her throat and gave her a tight-lipped smile saying, 'answer the question'.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Nguyen, what were you saying?" Trini asked.
"I asked if you were feeling better," Mrs. Nguyen replied. "You were in your room for a long time."
"Oh, yes, I'm doing much better. Thank you for asking," Trini replied.
Mr. Nguyen clasped his hands together. "Great, then that means you'll be perfectly healthy for Saturday night."
"Saturday?" Trini looked around the room. "What's Saturday."
"Our date, of course," Khoa replied. He turned to look at her. "You can't expect us to get married and not go on a few dates first, did you?"
Actually, she did.
A/N: Sorry, I didn't have so much time to respond to reviews for the last chapter. But I've got this one up a lot quicker in response. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and favorited and alerted so far. I'm glad you're enjoying the second story to the series so far. The next update will come soon.
~Av