A/N: Graduate school is a pain in the ass, and is making writing and updating very difficult. Thesis is not helping either… Anyway. This connects to theme 39, so reading that first would help. A look at the reactions of those left behind during "Once a Ranger." Enjoy!

"…": characters talking to each other

'…': characters talking to themselves

(…): extra facts about something in the story

(Takes place during "Once a Ranger;" connects to theme 39)

Theme 47: Patience

Rootcore, March 25, 2008, 5:30 am – Briarwood, CA, USA

Vida Rocca was not normally a patient kind of person; far from it. When faced with a situation that required patience of any form, she usually had Maddie take care of it. Her tranquil sister was perfect for those kinds of situations, capable of keeping her temper even in the most difficult of situations (well, discounting the whole incident where she laid into Nick for thinking of giving up during the final battle) whereas Vida was the go-to girl for getting in and out of a situation or fight quickly, damn the consequences.

Now, however, she was prepared to wait. She turned her Mystic Morpher over in her hands, reveling in the power that she felt flowing from it. After memorizing the spell code and chant that her boyfriend had used to restore her connection to the Morphin' Grid (probably in an effort to make sure that she didn't feel left out while he acted the part of knight in shining armor) she'd watched as said boyfriend was transported in a stream of golden sparkles out of Hayley's Cyberspace thanks to the Sentinel Knight. She and Hayley had then quickly shut down the Cyberspace and set off for Dr. Tommy Oliver's house to let him know what was going on and, in the process, see if the spell would work on other Rangers' powers.

Amazingly enough, the spell worked, but only in small spurts of time; the amount of energy required was massive. Vida had first restored Dr. Oliver's Dino powers, and after a demonstration that showcased his Morphing sequence that had her scoffing at its dullness when compared to her own, the other Dino Thunder Rangers had been called to the Lair (who had a cave for a Lair, anyhow? It was just plain tacky) and after some short explanations the other three had agreed to have their powers restored. During the process, Vida had learned (and the other Rangers had been informed) that their Yellow Ranger, Kira, had also been called by the Sentinel Knight. The day had ended with her crashing on Dr. Oliver's couch, too exhausted to really do anything else. The other Dino Thunder Rangers had opted to stay as well, despite Dr. Oliver's grumbling and before Vida had let exhaustion take over, she'd gotten to know the three males a bit more, learning in the process that Kira had been the only female on their team of five. She had courage, that one. Hayley had volunteered to call her teammates in Briarwood and let them know what was going on.

The next day, Vida had taken all of the exams needed before the commencement of her Spring Break before driving back to Briarwood to update her team in person. In the process, she'd restored Nick's powers, who had then helped her finish the job with the rest of their team. Of course, Daggeron, Udonna and Lienbow's powers had also been restored and, after getting permission from Lienbow and Udonna to invite the Dino Thunder Rangers to Rootcore for a situation update she'd called Dr. Oliver, but in the process had learned that almost all of the former Ranger teams were all heading towards Rootcore. Udonna had done some quick finagling with Lienbow to allow complete strangers into Rootcore, but she'd succeeded, of course. Apparently, Lienbow couldn't resist Udonna's requests, in part because he'd done something to land him in the metaphorical doghouse. He was still trying to get himself back into her good graces. A set of construction spells had been used to expand Rootcore to deal with the influx of dozens of people, with Lienbow's reluctant acquiescence and a promise that Udonna and Daggeron would restore the Mystic Force's headquarters to its normal state once the crisis was over.

Soon enough, the entirety of the Ranger teams available had gathered in Briarwood (those who couldn't make the sudden gathering were tuning into the meeting through a private satellite channel that Billy Cranston and Trini Scott had set up with Kendrix Corbett and Cam Watanabe's help) to discuss the Sentinel Knight and the Overdrive Rangers' termination to the Morphin' Grid. It was also discovered that besides Xander and Kira, Adam Park and Tori Bradley had been called to San Angeles as well, leaving behind their significant others who, like Vida, were mildly upset, to say the least, that they couldn't go as well.

Vida revealed the spell code that Xander had used to restore her powers, and which she had later used to restore her teammates' powers, causing a stir of excitement amongst all those Rangers who had lost their powers during their final battles with their big evils. Dr. Oliver and the three younger Dino Thunder Rangers had all morphed to show that the spell code actually worked, which caused even more excitement; there had been a mad rush from most of the Rangers to petition the Mystic Force to restore their powers, just in case more evil showed up in the future. Billy had cautioned that he thought it only worked if their powers had been returned to the Morphin' Grid, not forcibly taken as the Overdrive Rangers' were. Despite this, the Mystic Rangers had agreed to restore various powers, and beams of multi-colored light were soon seen as the Mighty Morphin', Turbo, Wild Force and Ninja Storm Rangers regained their powers. The Ninjetti Rangers had merely needed a boost in power to recall their animal spirits, and the Zeo, Space, Lost Galaxy, Lightspeed and Time Force Rangers still had their powers, making Billy's warning defunct in their case.

Talk then turned to possible reasons for the calling of the four Rangers mentioned specifically, with said Rangers' significant others watching the back-and-forth banter avidly. Finally, Matoombo had stepped forward (spooking many former Rangers in the process, who were not used to seeing reformed monsters... well, not many) and announced that he had once known the Sentinel Knight, and said that the Rangers were chosen for inherent traits that matched those of former protectors of the Corona Aurora. Vida had been amazed that her friend knew this much of the Earth's history and wondered just how he remembered it all. Finally, after hours of arguments and grumblings over what was going to happen, a decision had been reached that all of the teams would return to their normal lives but be prepared to drop everything if needed to go help their fellow Rangers if the need arose. Vida sincerely hoped that the latter wouldn't happen.

This brought her to her current situation, where she magically transported herself back and forth from Rootcore to her dorm room at Reefside University (thank the spirits that she had a room all to herself, or there would be some awkward explanations in store) while awaiting to hear news of Xander's return; her father would kill her if he found out that she was slacking on her classes because her boyfriend was out of contact for a while. True to his word, he'd been calling her every night, but lately, the phone calls had died down to a mere trickle, alarming her greatly. Tanya Park had reassured her that the four Rangers were fine; Adam called every night so that he could wish his son Willis good night.

Vida sighed as she leaned her head back against the black leather sofa that Nick had brought into Rootcore upon his return from visiting his adoptive parents with Lienbow and Udonna. "Spirits, Xander, come back soon. I can't believe that I'm really saying this, but it's killing me that you're not here with me." She then glanced to her left where the Xenotome sat, its pages beckoning her.

"I could always cast a spell to hasten his return," Vida whispered eyes already imagining the relevant spell on the ancient parchment. Then she shook her head. "No. That's not what I need to do." She shuddered as she muttered the next words. "I'll be patient, and when he gets back I'll shock him." She smirked as she knew that Trent, Blake and Tanya felt the same. "That's what I'll do. I'll be patient and wait for him to come home… and he'd better or I'll kick his ass."