Chapter 25 – Meet The Parents
Dino Mansion
A few days after Kiera's discovery of her own Energem, the new purple ranger was once again the center of attention. Today was her eighteenth birthday and most of the day had been centered on the festivities. There had been a special morning breakfast prepared by Jason and Tyler, followed by a round of present giving out in the backyard. With the sun beginning to set, Shelby was going to take the teen into Hunston for a night on the town.
"Man birthday's are so exhausting", Koda sighed as he laid on a sofa.
"Don't forget that we need to clear up", Ivan added, earning him a cushion to the back of the head from Chase.
"You're such a buzzkill", the black ranger said.
Riley was idly stirring his straw in his drink, "How long does it take for two people to get ready?"
Tyler laughed, "You've got a lot to learn about women". The sound of heels on the stairs caught their attention and they immediately turned to the entrance to the front room. Shelby was the first to enter, her hair had been styled into some loose curls and she was wearing a white top with a floaty pink skirt.
Chase tapped on his chest in an exaggerated manner, "Stop my beating heart", he teased the pink ranger.
"Seriously Shel, you look great", Koda added.
"Just wait until you see the birthday girl", the pink ranger began and looked to the entrance, "Kiera that's your cue".
"I'm not sure about this", she replied from outside the room.
"Trust me", Shelby stated. After a few moments Kiera entered and the jaws of every male in the room dropped. Her hair was out of its usual ponytail and hung loose around her shoulders. She wore a strappy light purple dress that stopped just above her knees. It wasn't especially short but Kiera held onto the hem and kept trying to pull it down. Shelby turned back to the guys, "Well aren't you going to say anything?"
"See they don't like it", Kiera cried.
"Actually we're just too stunned by your beauty to speak", Ivan said, taking hold of her hand and lightly kissing her knuckles.
"Yeah seriously you should ditch the baggy jeans and t-shirts more often", Riley added.
The black ranger gave Kiera a small smile, "You've never looked better", Kiera returned the smile and her cheeks blushed a light shade of pink.
"Well don't wait up fellas", Shelby grasped Kiera by the arm, just in case she felt like running away. To the surprise of the residents of the Dino Mansion, the door bell rang, "That's odd", the pink ranger commented.
"No one's ever used the doorbell", Tyler added, "well not since Ivan almost beheaded the postman".
"That's not my fault", the gold ranger replied, "he snuck up on me".
Koda groaned and got to his feet, "I'll get the door then", he said to the others, "I don't even live here". He was gone a few moments and when he returned he had two people with him, a man and a woman, "You've got a couple of visitors Kiera", he said to the purple ranger.
"Dad?" Kiera gasped, the other guest was Doctor Morgan from the museum but she saw the way her Dad had hold of her. That meant it could only be one person, "Mom, you look different", she added.
"It has been a while Kiera", Cestria replied.
"These are you parents?" Tyler began, "how come we've never met before?"
"I understand that you all have a lot of questions but we would like to speak to our daughter", Billy stated, "alone".
"Hey this is our home, you can't dictate terms to us", Chase replied.
"He's right, whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of my friends", Kiera added.
Cestria looked slightly nervous, "Do they know about where I'm from?"
Kiera shook her head, "No time like the present".
"Very well", Cestria nodded and deactivated her hologramatic projector, revealing her Aquitian features.
The other rangers gasped, "Dude your Mom's-", Riley began.
"An alien", Kiera interrupted, "from the planet Aquitar", he took a deep breath, "that's where I was born. I'm a human/Aquitian hybrid". She held up her hands to interrupt the others, "Yes this is my real appearance and I'll answer any further questions later", she turned to her parents, "What brings you to Earth after all this time", she said in a slightly frosty tone.
"Other than our daughter's eighteenth birthday", Billy began, "we're here to make you an offer. Now that you've reached maturity, the healing waters of Aquitar can be used".
Kiera had heard the story about her father from Jason, the waters that were used to heal him from his rapid aging had given him Aquitian like physiology. In theory they could do the same for her, "You mean I could go home?" Both of her parents nodded.
"Woah let's think this through for a moment", Koda began, "Kiera we need you here, who else can keep Chase in line like you can", the black ranger elbowed him in the ribs.
"And I need someone to keep me sane in this sea of testosterone", Shelby added.
Finally it was Ivan's turn, "You're a valiant warrior Kiera but also a wise one, don't forget that".
Cestria took her daughter by the hands, "Kiera it was the hardest decision we made to give you up but you deserved a chance to grow up on a world where you could live without restrictions. Not a day has gone by that didn't miss you, please make our family whole again".
Kiera looked between the two groups and took the only decision that she could, "I need some air", she ran past her parents and grabbed a jacket, slamming the door on the way out.
Chase looked like he was about to say something some to Kiera's parents. Fortunately Koda sensed this too and led the black ranger away before he could say something he would regret. Everyone else descended into an uncomfortable silence and it was to this scene that greeted Jason when he emerged from the kitchen, "Did Kiera not say goodbye?" He then saw the two new arrivals, "Oh, that explains everything."
Hunston Park
After driving into the city, Kiera left her truck in the street and retreated into the park. She found a swing set and casually drifted back and forth, all the time thinking about her parents. If they had appeared before she moved to the city and offered to take her home, she would've said yes. Things were different now, she had proper friends for the first time in her life. She also had a responsibility to the team, especially now that she was a ranger herself. She couldn't just pack up and move back to Aquitar but at the same time she didn't want to lose her parents again.
The purple ranger wasn't sure how long she had been in the park but she was soon joined by her parents. "Mind if I sit down?"Billy indicated to the empty swing beside her. Kiera nodded in confirmation and for a few minutes the Cranston family sat in silence.
"You're friends are very protective of you", Cestria began, now back in her disguise as Doctor Morgan, "I'm pleased to see that you're happy".
"Then why would you ask me to move", Kiera asked, "for the first time in my life I feel like I belong somewhere. I'm not a weird alien hybrid struggling to adapt, I'm just Kiera to them".
"I'm sure you assist them in their ranger duties admirably", Billy replied, much to the shock of his daughter, "don't look so surprised, if anyone can spot a ranger it's me".
Kiera sighed, "Then you of all people should know that I can't leave them behind".
"I did once", Billy stated, "it was the hardest decision I ever made but I was confident that the rest of the team would manage without me".
"Yeah but we don't have Alpha to run the systems", Kiera replied, "and no offensive to Uncle Jason but he's no Zordon". She paused for a few moments before stating, "I'm sorry I want to say yes but I can't leave the team behind".
Cestria grabbed her by the arm, "Kiera please think about this some more".
The purple ranger shook herself free, "I'm really sorry I haven't come to this decision lightly", she left her seat on the swing and began to walk away from her parents. They followed closely behind but suddenly their path was blocked by the appearance of several Vivix, "And I was having such a good day". Kiera dropped back slightly to protect her parents but she was surprised to see her Dad stepping forwards to stand beside her, "Dad you need to step back", she said.
"Once a ranger Kiera", Billy replied, "I think the tussle with the Armada last year knocked off most of the rust". He sprinted forward and kicked one of the creatures in the stomach, knocking it to the ground. Another Vivix tried to slice through the former blue ranger but Billy expertly backflipped away. Kiera was impressed, her Dad was as good as Jason and the other former rangers had said he was.
The purple ranger was pulled from her reverie by a charging Vivix. She reacted quickly and kicked it away, "Mom stay behind me alright", she said to Cestria. Kiera bounced on the balls of her feet before unleashing a roundhouse kick at the nearest footsoldier. She picked up its discarded weapon and sliced through another couple with the blade. Showing that she had inherited her Dad's gymnastics skills, she cartwheeled away from another attack. Turning quickly, she rammed her weapon into the gut of another green haired creature.
Billy didn't want to admit it but he hadn't worked this hard since he last faced the Tengas. His pace was slowing and he had got caught in the arm with one of the blades. "Damn it", he swore as he noticed blood seeping on to his blue shirt. He stood up a little straight and reaching behind his back, "Time to turn up the heat", he pulled out his Power Morpher and thrust it forward, "It's morph..." but he didn't get to finish as he suddenly felt extremely weak.
"Billy", Cestria called out, "it's been a while since you last hydrated".
"Shit", Kiera swore as Vivix began to swarm towards her Dad. Reaching into her jacket she pulled out her Dinovolver and fired off several rounds, destroying the Vivix near her Dad. Retrieving her Energem, she slammed it into the barrel of her morpher, "Dino Spirits, Dino Charge", she called and in a flash of purple light, she morphed into the purple ranger.
Pulled out her Dino Blade, she sliced through a couple of Vivix that had hold of her Mom. Rolling to the ground, she cut through the legs of another couple of creatures. Cestria had grabbed hold of Billy and was helping him toward the road. The Vivix had begun to mass in front of Kiera now but there were too many for her to take on one at a time. Suddenly she had an idea, "I wonder if I have Armour Mode as well", she rolled the chamber of her Dinovoler down her arm and sure enough, metal plating appeared.
In her hand was an white coloured oversized rocket with purple stripes running along its width. "Plesio Rocket", she called and fired the weapon at the footsoldiers. The rocket smashed into the Vivix, turning them to ash, "Hmm one use only, that's a shame", she commented.
"Kiera, you're a ranger too", Cestria gasped.
The teen turned around to face her parents, "That's another reason why I can't leave", she ejected her Energem and demorphed.
"Like father like daughter", Billy grimaced.
"We need to get him to water", Kiera stated and looked around, "there's a teleportation point nearby, we can use it to get to the ocean". Leading her parents to a nearby building, they all stood on the dinosaur symbol and disappeared in a flash of light.
Dino Mansion – The next day
Kiera and her parents had return late that night and the purple ranger recounted the story of her life to her fellow rangers. She had been waiting for everyone to reject her for lying to them but to her surprise, they shook it off without a second thought. Now it was after breakfast the following morning and she was sitting underneath a tree at the bottom of the yard. After a few minutes she was surprised to see Chase join her, "Hey mind if we talk?" the blacked ranger asked.
"Be my guest", Kiera replied, "out of everyone on the team, I didn't think it would be you that I'd be talking to".
"I can be sensitive about this kinda stuff", he smiled, "I just wanted you to know that your heritage doesn't change anything about how we feel about you".
"Thanks Chase", she replied, "and I promise I won't tell anyone that you're a big softy at heart".
Chase laughed, "Yeah I've got a rep to protect", he paused and looked in her directly in the eyes, "seriously Kiera don't change, I like you just the way you are". Kiera responded by giving him a shy smile.
Over on the paved area Jason, Billy and Cestria were sitting on some chairs watching the scene between the black and purple rangers, "Our little girl isn't so little anymore", Billy sighed.
"Shame out of all the guys she could pick, it had to be Chase", Jason groaned.
Cestria rolled her eyes, "Give him a break, you can see that he's fiercely loyal and protective of her", she looked back and the pair were laughing at something, "I think it's sweet and we get to see our daughters first crush".
"Yeah I guess", Jason replied, "so what now, are you heading back to Aquitar?"
"Not just yet", Billy replied, "we've rented a small place down by the beach for a few months. It'll be a good chance to conduct some research into the marine biology in the local area".
"Just try not to be seen, legally you're dead remember", Jason stated. After Billy left for Aquitar, there had been a state wide search for him as he was technically a missing person. In possibly the hardest thing the rangers ever did, they had to make it look like Billy had been taken by the Machine Empire. With the destruction of the United Alliance of Evil in 1998, it became clear to Billy's parents that their son wasn't coming back. After waiting a few more years, they had no choice but to declare him legally dead.
"I know Jase", Billy sighed, "it's a shame that Kiera will never get to meet her grandparents". His thoughts drifted off for a few moments and silence descended.
"Are you alright man?" Jason asked.
"Yeah just got lost in thought", Billy replied but the truth was he was keeping something from Jason. He had sensed a long forgotten presence on Earth soon after arriving and it was for this reason that he was staying. Jason had a lot to deal with currently so Billy would only worry him if it became a threat to the current rangers. He just hoped that the signal he picked up was wrong, otherwise they would all be in serious trouble.
A/N – I've created an "Armour Mode" for Kiera, I don't believe that Kyoryu Violet had anything similar. It did annoy me that Yayoi hardly ever got to pilot her own zord either, that's something I'll definitely be changing in this story.
So this is the first hint of Chase/Kiera that several people have wished for. I didn't have any plans for them to be together initially but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. I've held it off until now due to their ages, Chase is a few years older than in the show and he didn't want to enter the minefield of dating a minor...I didn't want to enter that minefield either.