"Sorry, I don't believe it." Jason leaned back against the side of the garage, his palms scraping against the concrete. He watched as Zack grabbed the basketball that bounced back off the rim towards him. He spun it in his hands and turned to Jason, who nodded earnestly. Again, Zack shook his head. "No, I just don't."

"I was right there when he said it," Jason insisted. "They're going out on a date this weekend."

"Okay." Zack pressed his lips together. "But you're acting like this is something she actually wants to do."

"I have faith in the fact that Trini makes her own decisions, Zack," Jason said. He let out a long breath of air, eyes scanning the street in front of him. It was quiet, and while he enjoyed silence every now and then, he preferred the sound of Zack racing up and down the driveway taking shots to the way he was now looking at him. Like he was stupid. "She said, verbatim—"

"—Verbatim?" Zack repeated, making a face.

Jason ignored him. "—She's not interested in him, it's because of the arranged marriage thing, and that she doesn't want to disappoint anyone." He looked away. "I guess she didn't realize how much it disappointed me." Devastated was the better word. Not to be melodramatic, he was never one that considered getting to into his emotions. He was just too controlled for that sort of thing. But it still hurt.

He'd liked Trini for a while. He's admired her long before realizing his feelings went further than just being friends. She was strong in her own peaceful way and it was something he'd wished he was able to do. He couldn't restrain himself as well as Trini could; an inkling of something that would set him off, he did his best to keep down but his temper got the best of him from time to time. Her presence calmed him down, whether in battle or not, and he now knew for sure he took it for granted.

"Dude, you're more than disappointed, you're lovesick," Zack commented. He passed the ball over to Jason and he quickly pulled his hands out from behind his back and caught it before it smacked him in the face. "You've been in love with Trini for how long now? A couple of years?"

"I don't know if 'love' is the right word—"

"—And I've had to sit back and listen to it. Why? Because I'm your best friend. And I'm telling you, man, if you don't try to make a move now, then you won't get anywhere."

"Zack." Jason tried to stay calm. Even saying the words out loud irritated him. "She's getting married."

"We don't know that," Zack insisted. "She hardly even likes this guy. And besides, Khoa isn't right for her. He follows everything his parents say and I bet he hasn't had an original thought in his head since he was born. He doesn't care that his life is being made for him. That's not the kind of guy Trini needs or wants. She wants someone who can make his own decisions but is still respectable of everyone around them." Zack jabbed his finger into Jason's shoulder. "That's you."

Jason, still, was skeptical. A part of him believed what Zack was saying, it was all that he'd ever thought. But to actually see the guy who was his, unofficial, competition? That was harder. Trini had mentioned from time to time that her parents could be controlling, that they only wanted her to date a Vietnamese man. She had kept her relationship with Richie a secret and even that almost killed him. He'd seen the way Trini clammed up around him, how she batted her eyelashes—something he was sure Kimberly taught her—and tried her hardest to appear normal around him. And it made his heart sink. What made it even worse was that she would continuously talk to him about her relationship with Richie when she didn't talk to Kim.

She wanted a guy's perspective of the situation and he gave it to her, sitting back and watching as everything he said was what Trini took to heart and tried out. It was successful and they dated for a little while, all the while Jason did what he did best. Watched, waited, and was the shoulder for her to lean on when they inevitably broke up. And it still hurt to know that it could've been him had he opened his mouth and said something. Maybe it was all wishful thinking, but there had to be a reason they understood each other so well.

"I don't know," Jason finally said again.

"I do," Zack insisted. "Ask Tommy or Billy, they'd give you the same answer." Zack placed his hand on Jason's shoulder. "Hell, even Kim, Av, or Bailey would say the same thing. We all know that you two should be together, but you two and it's getting ridiculous." He started to shake Jason's shoulder but Jason winced and stepped away, bringing a hand up to rub his shoulder. He could feel a knot under his fingertips. "Dude, I barely touched you."

"It's not you. You know how I said I was sparring with Trini?"

"Yeah, and she kicked your butt."

"I also sparred with Khoa."

"He practices martial arts, too? Small world."

"Yeah, but he was doing this Vietnamese thing called Vovinam. I've never heard of it before. But he's really good. Some of the moves he did, I couldn't see them coming." He thought back to how he had been sparring with Khoa, how they both managed to knock each other to the ground. That wasn't the part that stuck in his mind, no, it was the look on Khoa's face as they sparred.

When Jason sparred or trained with his friends, or even when he was teaching his martial arts classes, they all had expressions of concentration on their faces. But in their eyes, he could see they were enjoying themselves as they worked. With Khoa, he saw absolutely nothing. There was nothing in his eyes, they were black pools of emptiness that offset Jason a little more than any of the monsters they'd ever faced.

But once they were finished sparring and they spoke about their different practices in martial arts, that's when Jason saw some semblance of life come back to him once more. And his eyes flashed, almost with challenge when he saw Jason's face when Trini and Khoa both confirmed the date they were going to go on that weekend.

Almost as if he were waiting for me to say something about it, Jason realized.

"Okay, let's go!"

Startled, Jason watched as Zack tucked the ball under his arm and headed towards the house. "Where are we going?"

"To the phone, you're going to call Trini and ask her out. I'm tired of listening to you bitch and moan about this and do nothing." Zack continued his lead inside and Jason followed after him. He hovered behind Zack as he went into the kitchen and set his basketball aside. He grabbed the phone and started to dial the number.

Jason reached out and grabbed onto it, putting it back into the cradle. Zack looked at him, bewildered. "What are you doing?" He demanded.

"You don't need to call the house, that's probably not a good idea," Jason explained. He took in a deep breath and pulled out his cell phone. "I'll just…call her myself." His palms immediately filled with swear. He could only put it off for so long. Zack was the impulsive sort of person that went and did things without thinking of the consequences. Jason never worked that way, he thought of everything that'd happen before he decided.

And he knew how things would turn out if they called the house. Mr. and Mrs. Kwan had always been nice to him, if not a little cold. But if they knew he was interested in dating their daughter, well…that'd be something he wasn't sure he could handle. Not when they were so set in their traditional ways as their want of Trini to marry as soon as possible.

Zack pulled himself up onto the counter and kicked his legs back and forth, waiting for the red ranger to make the call.

Jason took a couple of breaths to steady himself, then pulled out his phone and speed dialed her number. He put the phone to his ear, heart ramming against his ribcage. It rang a few times and he started to pace back and forth across the floor of the kitchen. Ring. Pace. Ring. Pace. Ring. Pace. Ring. Pace.

Finally, Jason was about to hang up when the phone was picked up. He could hear laughter in the background before Trini's breathless voice asked, "Hello?"

Jason could feel himself starting to smile. Then he cleared his throat and said as calmly as possible, "Hey Trini, how's it going?"

There was a slight pause and then Jason could hear a door close in the background and the laugher stop. She must've left her room or wherever she was so that it wouldn't be a distraction. "Hey Jason, how's it going?" Was it just him or did she sound as nervous as he did. "I mean, I'm doing well. How are you?"

"I'm doing just fine myself," Jason said. Zack rolled his eyes then waved his hands, motioning for Jason to get on with it. Jason waved his hand back at Zack then said. "Did I hear Kim and Av with you?"

"Yeah, we're just hanging out," Trini explained. He could still hear the laughter in her voice. "Listen, I'm glad you called. I wanted to see how you were doing. It looked like Khoa was, I don't know, really trying to hurt you today. Or maybe it was just me—"

"—It's fine," Jason interrupted. "I mean, he didn't hurt me. I learned a lot from him today." If by learning a lot, you mean working out your sore muscles, then yeah. It wasn't that Jason was in shape, but there were some of his muscles that had twisted in certain ways he hadn't felt in a long time. Not since he first met Tommy, not since a few of the stronger monsters they'd ever faced. "I didn't know Vovinam was a thing."

"Oh, yes, it's a very popular martial arts practice in Vietnam, most of my family learned it. Though I always preferred what my Uncle Howard taught me."

"Yes, he's a great teacher. He's done a remarkable job with Billy's studies. I haven't seen anyone improve so quickly."

"Billy's always been a remarkable student, too. No matter what you put in front of him, he works hard to figure out what works for him and implements it. But like you said, he improves fast. I'm always happy to see what he can do next."

"Yeah, you're right. Billy's a great student." Now Jason could see Zack rolling his eyes at the mention of their friend. They weren't supposed to be talking about him, they were supposed to be talking to each other. "Um, I wanted to call to ask you something."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, I, uh…" Jason held his breath. He couldn't do this over the phone. "Do you think we could meet up? I'd rather say this to your face then say it over the phone?"

"Yeah, I can teleport somewhere."

"We can meet at the park. I can teleport there. We can meet by the playground if that's okay with you?"

Jason then heard the smile in Trini's voice as she said, "Yeah, I can meet you there. I'll leave right now. I'll just tell Kim and Av where I'm going."

"Okay, I'll meet you. Bye, Trini."

"Bye."

Jason hung up the phone and replaced it to his pocket. He lifted a finger and pointed at Zack saying, "Don't say anything," interrupting whatever it was that he could say.

Zack held up his hands defensively. "I wasn't going to say anything, man. Meeting face to face, that's a good touch. I wouldn't have done that."

"Really?" Jason couldn't keep the skeptical snort out of his voice.

"Yeah, if it were Angela, I would've just said it on the phone. So that way I wouldn't have to look her in the face or embarrass myself in person. But you're much braver than I am." He patted Jason the shoulder. "Go get her, dude. I'm expecting a full report when you get back."

Jason finally smiled. "You know what? Sometimes, you're as bad as Kim."

Trini teleported to the park in a bright flash of yellow light. She looked around to be sure there was no one that had seen her arrival. Wouldn't that be her luck? The one time she decided to teleport out of sheer excitement and it'd end up with her secret revealed. But it was late in the day and most people were at home, no one was there to see her arrival.

As it was, Jason hadn't arrived yet either. So Trini decided to walk over to the swings and sat down. She lifted her feet and gently swung back and forth. How long had it been since the last time she just swung? A long while. She hadn't been to the park and just hung out without a monster interference in so long. She could hardly remember what it was like to be a normal teenager, the time she spent hanging out with friends right before she became a ranger was a blur. What was middle school like? She hung out with Kimberly a lot. Hung out with Jason, Zack, and Billy on more of a peripheral level. Then the later years of Middle School they started to talk more and became their own group of friends.

Bulk and Skull made it their mission then to target the group; Trini always thought it was because they were jealous. It was because they wanted nothing more than to be friends too, but didn't know how. They'd been held back in school so many times there was a big age difference between them. So much so it had to have been hard for them to fit in with anyone.

And what about Khoa? Trini didn't know him that well, but he seemed to be a good guy. He had to have some friends, but he didn't mention them. He didn't talk about himself very much. He just spoke about what they were going to do for their future. Khoa had called her right before Jason called.

To her surprise, he'd called to apologize. "I'm sorry for the way I acted today," he said. "It wasn't mature of me. I just wanted to get an idea of what Jason could do in his martial arts training. I've heard a lot about him through the newspapers."

"Yeah, Jason's cool," Trini agreed. But she didn't say more than that. She didn't know if he was being sincere, without being able to see his face, she couldn't know for sure. "He does a lot for this community, a lot for other people."

"And I didn't mean to spring our date like that," Khoa continued, as if he hadn't heard what Trini was saying. "I guess…I don't know, I got the feeling that he likes you or something."

And Trini had laughed it off. "Oh, me and Jason have known each other for years. It's not like that, it's just that we're really comfortable with each other." But she wasn't quite telling the truth when she said it. On her end, at least, there was something there. And now, maybe, it seemed like there was something on Jason's end, too…?

When had things started to get so complicated?

"You look like you're really lost in thought," Jason's voice came from her left, startling her. Trini looked to the side and noticed Jason slowly coming her way, stopping a few feet from her. She hadn't even noticed he'd arrived. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"You didn't," Trini reassured him. She smiled. "I was just thinking."

"I can see that," Jason teased. He reached out and sat down next in the swing next to her. Pressing his feet firmly to the ground he gently pushed himself forward and back, extending and folding his leg. "You looked to be on a completely different planet."

"Then call me an alien," Trini teased back.

"I couldn't do that. You're much better than Rita."

Trini smiled, feeling her cheeks flush, and laughed along with Jason. Then they lapsed into comfortable silence. She enjoyed the silence, though was curious to know what Jason wanted. But she wasn't one to push. She learned with her mediation practices with Ian and other students that it was better not to force someone to talk. Sometimes time was all that was needed.

"So, I, uh, I called to talk about what happened today," Jason said. "I wasn't really fair with you, I left abruptly, didn't really let you talk. I apologize for that."

"No, no, I understand," Trini said quickly. She reached up and grabbed the chains of her swing, gently swinging back and forth. She looked out in front of her, the wind gently pulling her hair around her face. "It was…weird." That was the best word to explain it all. Just plain weird. "Khoa apologized to me today. He said…" she trailed off. She couldn't believe she was about to say it out loud. "He said he thought you were into me or something." Then she blanched, immediately understanding the gravity of her words. "Not that that'd be weird at all, but that he thought it so quickly…I explained that we're just really comfortable with each other…"

"He apologized," Jason repeated. "For being standoffish because he thought I like you?"

Trini nodded.

And Jason was silent for a long moment, his eyebrows coming together. She had no idea what he was thinking, but something had come to his attention. Nevertheless, Jason shook his head after a minute and said, "It's not a strange thought," he said finally.

Trini's heartbeat immediately increased. She came to a stop and looked at him closely. "What's…?" Her voice escaped her when Jason looked at her, eyes intense.

"I…" Jason licked his lips, laughed a little. "I didn't realize it'd be hard to say it, but…I guess I was really confused about this whole wedding thing and your going on a date with him because I thought you didn't like him."

"I don't," Trini reminded him.

"I know. But it was hard for me to wrap my head around because…well, because I like you, Trini. Like, more than a friend. For a long time. And…and thinking that you're, now, supposed to be married to someone else, I guess it's a little selfish on my part to say it because of that. Or rather, in spite of it. I don't care that you're going to be married—" Now Jason paused, Trini had never seen him so flustered before. "I mean, I care—"

"—Jason," Trini finally interrupted. He immediately fell silent. "I get it." She could feel her heart start to soar. Her hands trembled on the chains of her swing, hard enough she was sure it was visible. "It's all happening so fast. One day I remember that I'm technically engaged to this guy, but another I realize that I'm not and I still have a choice. I just…I really need to figure out a way to talk to my mom and dad about what I want and my future and how I'm the one who should make all of my decisions."

Jason smiled and nodded.

Silence stretched between them.

She didn't know what to say after that. Her mouth went dry. Stomach erupted into butterflies, moths, and all of the wiggling creatures that made her insides squirm. But it made her feel as great as it scared her. She'd felt something similar with Richie, but this was different. It was comfortable.

"So…what did you decide?"

Jason's voice was soft as he finally asked the question, prompting Trini to look at him. Here he was, the red ranger, the goddamned red ranger who was the fearless leader of their team for a time, had his head lowered and refused to meet her eye. A blush bloomed on his cheeks like flowers in the spring. She could see his hands shaking, trembling violently. He probably didn't notice he was doing it.

He was nervous.

And it made Trini feel better. Like their ranger duties, they were in it together.

Trini shifted her feet to the side, propelling her swing over to Jason's. Jason, finally, lifted his head and their eyes locked. They stared at each other. At the same time they smiled faintly, understanding moving between them. Again, at the same time, they leaned forward and their lips pressed together.

Gently.

Totally.

Completely.

Bliss.

A/N: Am I getting character voices and personalities, right? I haven't written the rangers just as teens and not an overall ranger plot in a while so I want to be sure it's alright. Let me know what you think of the chapter. I haven't had much time to respond to reviews as of late, but I'll get back to it.

~Av