February 14th, 2022
"Lee!… Leah!" The voice of her mother rang out through the house, a note of impatience in her voice. Leah rolled her eyes even though her mom couldn't see it from downstairs. While she loved the fact that her parents loved each other so much, sometimes it made her throw up in her mouth a little at how sickly sweet and gross they could be. And nothing in their house was as grossly romantic as Valentine's Day. Of course, it was compounded by the fact that it was also her mom's birthday.
They'd already done the obligatory birthday-breakfast tradition, with eggs and bacon and doughnuts and bear claws, freshly squeezed OJ and champagne for the grown-ups. JJ and her had given a nice pair of silver-and-diamond studded earrings and their dad had matched it with the matching bracelet and necklace. But tonight, the old folks were going out, partaking in their own decades old tradition of dinner without children.
"I'll be right down!" She yelled back towards her open bedroom door and the stairs beyond. She reluctantly turned back towards the video-chat she was in. "Sorry! Duty calls… loudly. I'm babysitting tonight. The little twerp better behave!" Anne burst out laughing, seeing Leah's face. "Don't you lie to me, Leah Louise! You love that little stalker. You forget I was with you yesterday at the soccer field? I'm surprised coach McKnight didn't bench you for what you said to him." Anne grinned even wider, "You were very colorful in your wording, Marley would have been proud."
Leah shook her head. "Coach made a bad call! JJ scored a goal, he was on fire!" A peal of laughter fell from Anne at Leah's words. "C'mon now Lee… he first kicked over the water cooler, then he tripped over his own feet and accidentally pushed the ball into the right goal when he rolled out of the fall. It couldn't have been worse if he'd literally been on fire! He can spin-kick like he's 15 instead of five, but the next Lionel Messi, he isn't."
Leah's mind wandered back to the events of the day before. It had been a beautiful day, weather in the high sixties and clear blue skies as far as the eye could see. Anne, Will, Gia and her had gone to the park to cheer on Olli and Marley for their soccer match and they had been early enough to catch the end of JJ's little league game. Despite coach McKnight trying his very best to make something out of JJ, it was becoming increasingly clear to everybody but JJ himself, that soccer just wasn't the sport for him. It wouldn't be too bad, since there were sports JJ was great at, like karate. But the kid so obviously loved soccer, that nobody had the heart to tell him he should stick to his talents. Besides, he was only (almost) five, there still was growing potential.
Leah shrugged at her friend's words. "I guess you're right." She heard her mom yell for her again and she sighed. "Okay, I better get down there. See you in class tomorrow?" Her best friend nodded and flashed her a wave, "See ya, wouldn't want to be ya!"
A grin on her face, Leah clicked out of the call and stuffed her phone into her pocket. She headed down and into the living room just in time to see her parents say goodbye to JJ, reminding him to listen to Leah and go to sleep on time. "It's a school night, buddy, so no later than 8. And only one piece of pie after dinner, you got that?" Her dad was crouched down in front of her brother, looking him in the eyes with his most strict face. Leah almost burst out in giggles at seeing that. Her dad - for all his principal-esque ways in the hallways of school - was a major push-over at home. If it weren't for her mom enforcing the rules, it would be constant chaos in the Oliver household.
JJ blinked his doe-eyes at their dad, his face solemn as he nodded. If her parents spotted his crossed fingers behind his back, they didn't comment on it. Dad clapped a hand on JJ's shoulder and got up with a nod of his head. Then he turned towards Leah, that strange look he'd get around her lately flashing on his face for a moment, before it was gone. "Okay Lee-Lou… you keep the munchkin in check and we'll be back sometime around midnight." Leah scrunched up her nose at his use of her old nickname. "Da-had! I told you not to call me that anymore! I'm not five!"
The weird look crossed her dad's face again and Leah thought it looked like he wanted to grab time in a chokehold and force it to move in the opposite direction. The moment dissipated as quickly as it had come and her parents were laughing at her vehemence. They moved past her towards the door, ruffling her hair as they did so.
"Be good!" Her mom said while pointing a finger at her in humor. "There's lasagna already in the oven, it should be ready in about 15 minutes. There's salad and pecan pie in the fridge. Please, eat the first before starting on the second." Leah nodded mechanically, having no intention to actually follow up on that. "If there's a problem, we've got our cells with us. If you can't reach us," - "…start at the top of the family phone tree," Leah rolled her eyes as she continued for her mom. "I know mom. This isn't my first rodeo, remember?"
Kim turned her eyes skyward as she moved out the door and onto the front porch. "I think I need to call my mom and apologize to her again, because if I was anything like this," she pointed her thumb over her shoulder, "brat…". Tommy laughed again, his eyes shining with love and happiness as he gazed at her mom and Leah. Then he turned serious and looked her dead in the eye. "No boys! Not even ones named Scott. Scratch that, especially ones named Scott." Leah rolled her eyes again and stuck out her tongue.
Tommy ignored her in favor of checking his watch. "Beautiful," he said as he put his hand at the small of Kim's back, "we need to get going if we want to make our reservation." He pushed slightly, moving Kim towards the few steps that led from the porch to the driveway. They waved at JJ and Leah over their shoulders while bickering all the way to the car. "Like Rocky would dare to give away our table, especially on my birthday. I know he doesn't always look it, but he's smart enough to know not to get on my bad side," she heard her mom tell her dad as he opened her door and she slid into the car. As she was buckling her seat, he leaned in and kissed her in agreement.
"Can you please be gross old people somewhere else already?" Leah yelled towards the car from where she was standing in the doorway. "You guys are ruining our good name!"
Her dad turned towards her, his index and middle fingers pointing at her and then at his own eyes in the universal sign for I'm watching you, before he winked and got behind the wheel.
Kim and Tommy were silent for a few moments as they eased their way through the thick trees that lined their driveway. Kim dropped her head on the window beside her and lamented, "How is she a teenager already? It feels like just yesterday she begged me to go to school in her princess dress and wanted me to sing her to sleep." Tommy took her hand in his from where it was resting on her thigh. "Now look at her, all long legs and attitude."
Tommy squeezed her hand and chuckled. "Yeah, she reminds me of you more and more each day." Kim narrowed her eyes at him, "that's funny. I was just about to say that she's got that classic Oliver sass down pat."
Tommy took the exit that would lead them into Angel Grove with ease, his eyes sparkling. "Well, at least she came by it honestly," he said softly, a smile clearly audible in his voice. "And I guess that's karma, for all the attitude we had as teens." Kim rubbed circles into his knuckles with her thumb. "Yeah, well… after all we've been through to save this damn planet, karma should back the fuck off and leave us alone." They both snorted at that and fell quiet for the rest of the way to Rocky's diner.
After they'd said their hellos to the Chef and gotten his personal escort to their table, they settled down and Tommy picked up their conversation from the car. "I'm just happy she gets to be a kid for a while longer. That she doesn't have to worry about the faith of the world resting on her shoulders. As much as being," he dropped his voice a few octaves, "a Ranger," his voice turned normal again, is literally in our DNA, I don't want that for her." Kim agreed. Being a Ranger was difficult enough as an adult, difficult enough when chosen out of their own free will instead of by some sort of divine being. And while her time as a teenage super hero had led to their wonderful family, the disaster and heartbreak had resonated long after she first retired her Power Bow.
They placed their order with the waitress before continuing. "Yeah, I'm just glad that the Ninja Power Stars seem to be the last of the Ancient Powers that Earth was home to. Billy runs regular checks from PRISM and he's not picked up any Power Signs since the Ninja Steel kids were called."
Tommy nodded. "Yeah, they're good kids, but again, still just kids. Let's hope the absence of more Powers and the presence of the GRA and PRISM will deter any more megalomaniacs from trying to make the Milky Way and Earth their vacation home."
After a nutritious dinner consisting of extra-cheesy lasagna and two slices of pecan pie, Leah settled JJ in front of the TV and turned towards her laptop. She had a sociology paper due in 3 hours and she wanted to do a final edit before turning it in. It was a comparative study between her own North-American culture and that of a different country. She'd picked Belgium, not the most known of Western Europe but she'd fallen in love with it when she'd been there a few years prior. She loved the Old World feel of cities such as Bruges and Ghent, where the middle ages were only an imagination away. That and the chocolate, of course.
She was engrossed in editing a paragraph that was a little light in the grammar department, and hadn't noticed JJ had left the couch and started kicking his soccer ball around in the living room. Just as she finished putting in the last period, she saw JJ's ball flying towards her. In a moment of slow motion horror, the ball hit the tall glass of soda she'd just filled and spilled the contents all over her laptop. The machine sputtered a little before the screen went black and Leah's vision whited out.
She rounded on her brother with a growl. "JJ! That was my homework! I worked on it for three weeks and it's due tonight! Mom and dad told you not to kick that stupid ball around inside the house! You've just ruined my laptop and my grade! That paper was worth 60% of my total grade, you little twit!"
JJ's eyes misted and his bottom lip started trembling. He sniffled, "I'm sorry Lee-Lou... please don't be mad at me. It was an accident." Tears ran down his chubby little cheeks and sobs tore from his chest in sorrow. Leah rushed forward to put her arms around her baby brother. Sometimes she forgot he still wasn't quite five years old. "Shht, Jay," she rubbed his back and made soft cooing noises in his ear. "It's alright. I'm sure the autosave did its job before the computer died and I can always use dad's computer in the study to finish sending it in." More shushing noises, "It's okay JJ, shht, stop crying please."
While her brother could be a terrible pain in the ass sometimes, she really did love the little gremlin, and if he was crying her big sister instincts kicked in double time. Even if she herself was the cause of the crying. His sniffles died down a bit, "So," hiccup, "you'll still read me a bedtime story, Lee-Lou?" She smiled softly at him. "Of course I'll read you a story. How about we go read the one about Edison, the firefly?" JJ wiped at his cheeks and nodded, the book being one of his favorites. "Okay, let's go upstairs and get you ready for bed."
When she came back downstairs after JJ's bedtime ritual, she cleaned up the spilled soda as best she could, not quite knowing what to do with the soaked laptop. Deciding she would leave it at the dining room table and call her uncle Billy the next day, she moved towards her parents' study and the computer that was in there.
Luck was on her side for once when she accessed her cloud storage and found the last revised version of her paper. She posted it on the school's online platform as fast as she could, not wanting to take any chances. Leah was about to shut down the computer when she noticed a file titled "History" in the recently opened documents list. For a second she assumed it was one of her dad's boring lesson-plans until she noticed it was a video-file instead of text.
She got curious and clicked on the file, thinking it was some sort of Discovery Channel documentary, probably on dinosaur bones. Her mouth dropped open when the camera focused on the - albeit much younger - face of her dad. She didn't recognize where it was filmed, the background kind of looking like a cave of some sort.
Her dad's voice sounded loud in the quiet study.
"I'm Tommy Oliver. If you're not me, then something is seriously wrong. This video diary is a confidential record, only to be viewed in case of an emergency. What you're about to see is a history of my life, my history as a Power Ranger..."
Leah restarted the video to make sure she'd heard right. Because for a second it had sounded like her dad said he was a Power Ranger. Which was to ridiculous to even entertain. He was the dorky guy who was obsessed with the bones of long dead animals and weird ancient treasures. The one who never remembered where he put his glasses and who was perpetually late to everything, even his own wedding day. He was cuddly and sweet and frowned on violence outside of the dojo. There was no way he could be a Power Ranger. Leah hit play again and settled in to watch the video.
"… we thought we had lost the power forever, resigning ourselves to a life on the sidelines while others headed into danger. Until our researchers at PRISM finally made a breakthrough in translating an ancient alien text. In it a ritual was described to reconnect oneself with the dormant connection to the Grid that was part of our very DNA. Each Legacy Ranger was offered the same choice and all of them stepped up. It seems like the saying will always ring true; once a Ranger, always a Ranger."
Leah was gob smacked. The pictures that flashed before her eyes outed not only her dad as a Power Ranger, but every single other person in her family. Her mom, her sort of strict but mostly just sweet and funny mom was the original Pink Power Ranger. All of her uncles and aunts had worn a Uniform, as well as every other friend or PRISM employee she'd ever met. Leah's mind was whirling with all the information she was receiving.
"It's a good thing we were able to strengthen our numbers, because in 2008 Earth was faced with a threat like none that had come before. A massive interdimensional attack force, led by the evil Lord Drakkon, arrived intent on taking over our planet and by extension the entire galaxy. But Earth wasn't defenseless. No fewer than 13 Ranger teams along with assorted attack vehicles and Zords stood between Drakkon and the destruction of our world."
Images of several colorful Uniformed Rangers flashed on the screen, along with giant machines that resembled all sorts of animals and a funny looking robot shaped like a mushroom. Her dad's voice continued, sadness creeping into the next part of his tale.
"Weeks of near constant battle followed, both on earth and in space. In the end, the added help from several allied alien Rangers and a stealth mission into the bowels of Drakkon's mothership tipped the odds in our favor. Earth was finally victorious, but it had come at great cost. The Rangers - we - suffered a devastating loss. Original Yellow Ranger and keeper of the Cheetah spirit, Trini Kwon-Scott sacrificed herself and her Spirit Zord in order to secure victory for our world."
Tears dropped from Leah's eyes at the recounting of what happened to her aunt Trini. Olli and Anne had only been about two years old when their mother had died in a tragic car accident. Well, Leah amended in her head, supposedly a car accident. If what she was hearing was right; and judging by the images that she'd already seen, she could hardly deny the truth anymore; her aunt Trini had died a much more heroic death. Not that it would be of much comfort to Olli and Anne, as the end result remained them growing up without a mom.
"In the years after the defeat of Lord Drakkon, new Ranger teams were called to duty by the Powers of the Grid. Not one of the foes they went up against was as powerful and as diabolical as Drakkon had been and so the new Rangers were pretty capable of handling it themselves, under the guidance of the GRA and PRISM.
Until one day, 6 years after the Big Battle, one of our allies and member of the GRA, Trey of Triforia came bearing bad news. Drakkon had fled his ship before we destroyed it and had been hiding himself away in the darkest part of our galaxy. After long, it was decided that a team would be sent to investigate and if necessary, eliminate. I assembled a team of Reds and we went off in search of Drakkon.
Another flurry of images showed a large group of men - red being the predominant color - most of whom Leah recognized as family and friends of her parents. There was one in the group who wasn't wearing red, instead donning black pants and a white shirt over a green and white t-shirt. She didn't have to see his face to know it was her dad. As the frame showed all of them getting inside a strange looking airplane, her mom's voice taking over the narration of the video startled Leah.
"19 Reds left for the ultimate confrontation, but only 18 returned to Earth after. Another Ranger victory, signed for in tears and paid in blood. Tommy Oliver, White Falcon Ranger and leader of the GRA went missing, presumed dead."
Leah started crying again, heavy sobs that were pulled from deep within her chest. This part, she knew. Or at least, she knew the tale she'd been told. She'd been eight when her dad disappeared.
She remembered the day they told her, her uncle Billy picking her up from school. That in itself hadn't been strange but the assembly of people at her house had been. She'd walked into her house and all eyes had turned on her, all of them full of sadness and empathy. And then she'd spotted her mom, slumped on the couch, surrounded by her uncles Jason, Zack, Adam, Rocky and her aunt Aisha.
When her mom lifted her head and saw Leah standing there, she started sobbing hysterically, motioning Leah to come to her. She'd sat down gingerly and confused and while her mom tried several times to explain, she just couldn't. So her uncle Jason had told her solemnly and full of anguish that her dad's little twin engine plane had been lost somewhere over the Pacific. He'd been on his way home after a week spent searching for dinosaur bones on Hawaii.
She remembered the days spent in sort of fugue-state, just her mom and her in bed. Cocooned in memories and her dad's scent on the sheets. It had taken weeks for them to return to a somewhat normal semblance of life, never quite getting there. The missing piece that was her dad loomed big in every corner of their house.
Leah had been a daddy's girl, through and through. He'd taught her about dinosaurs and karate and read her bedtime stories with funny voices. But in the months after her dad disappeared, her mom and her grew closer over their shared loss of the Big Love. Leah had lost interest in dinosaurs and refused to step into uncle Adam's dojo again. She preferred her mom sing her to sleep instead of reading stories, because that had been dad's thing. She'd started gymnastics, because it was worlds apart from karate and it made her mom; if not happy then at least less sad.
The video kept going, unaware of Leah's decent into the past and the sorrow that clung to it.
"Life for the GRA and PRISM fell into a new normal. Jason Lee Scott was elected head of the GRA in the wake of Tommy's disappearance and new adversaries demanded the creation of new Teams. Then, nearly 2 years after he disappeared, PRISM finally located and rescued the White Ranger."
Leah's head snapped up at that. Her dad had disappeared a little after her eight birthday, but he'd not come home again until well after she turned 10. Based on the timeline presented in the video, it would mean her dad was rescued months before he actually came home.
She started to get mad. Not only had her dad, the one person she'd counted on for everything, left her. Of his own free will. To go hunt some guy who probably wasn't even a threat anymore - having already been defeated by the Rangers once. He'd also let her mourn his loss every day for months even though he'd been back home already! What kind of dad did that to his own kid? What kind of parents would do such a horrible thing! Leah had spent her 10th birthday away from her dad, even though he'd been home!
Leah lost herself in memories, all the times she'd wished for her dad to come back and help her through stuff. All the hugs she missed and the stories and the peacefulness of walking through the steps of a kata. She got more and more angry at her parents for keeping all this from her, for not letting her know they were heroes and especially for keeping her away from dad for months on end. Then, she again remembered her dad had left . He'd abandoned her, knowing how much she needed him.
Behind her, the front door opened softly and Tommy and Kim walked into their foyer, surprised by all the lights that were still on in the house. When they spotted Leah's laptop and the small puddle of fluid beneath it, they headed towards the study to find their eldest daughter.
When they found Leah, angry tears were streaming down her face and she was sitting frozen at the desk. Her mom's soft voice broke through her catatonic state. "Lee-Lou, what's the matter? What happened?" Her dad, who'd been hanging the coats turned his attention towards his wife's concerned tone. He moved to enter the study but before he could, Leah was out of the seat and pushing him aside.
Anger was flooding her veins and she couldn't control the bark of slightly hysterical laughter that bubbled up, mixing with the tears. "What happened," She said while wrapping her arms tightly around her waist, "is that I was today years old when I found out my parents have been lying to me my whole life. What happened is that today I found out that I wasn't enough to make you stay." Her head motioned towards her dad at that statement."
Tommy moved forwards towards his daughter, who while obviously very upset, was making very little sense. When she moved back and away from him, he felt as though he'd been slapped across the face. "Lee? What are you talking about?" She just kept shaking her head, again warding him off as he stepped closer in her direction. "Stay away from me! Don't touch me!" Leah's tears now ran uncontrolled down her cheeks and she'd stopped trying to brush them away. Her shoulders were hunched in and her arms were still around her own waist, as if she needed them to hold herself together. That's how it felt like to her anyway.
Her eyes flitted across the room and her parents, like a wild animal trying to find a way out. When she realized she was standing beside the door, she mumbled, "I… I can't be here," and ran out the still open front door.
Tommy moved to follow her, but Kim's hand on his arm stopped him. "Tom… you should let her cool down before going after her. You know following her and pressing for confrontation will only make it worse." He looked at her, bewildered. "Kim! Our 15 year-old daughter just ran from the house in tears. At midnight! How am I supposed to just let her cool down?"
Kim looked as concerned as he was, but she knew their daughter. "It'll be okay. She's on foot so it's not like she could go very far. Besides, we know or employ basically everybody on this street."
Tommy shrugged helplessly. He knew Kim was right though, their street was like the neighborhood watch on steroids. "I don't understand what just happened though. What was she talking about? What caused the hysterics?"
Kim peered into the study again, her gaze falling on the paused video she recognized all too well. "I knew that stupid video would come back to bite us in the ass."
As Leah made a mad dash towards the end of their ridiculously long and winding driveway, she came to several conclusions. Running away from your parents was much more satisfying if you could actually go somewhere. Her house was on the very edge of Reefside - as in, 20 yards further and you'd cross the Reefside/Angel Grove border. This meant that while her house was about equal distance from both town centers, that distance was too much to walk. Especially at midnight.
Another thing she realized was that while running away hysterically was quite satisfying in itself,it was also the stereotypical way a teenager might react to life-altering news and it was very inconvenient when you did so at midnight in February. While the days were pretty warm, the nights cooled off significantly and Leah was shivering without her coat.
The third thing she realized, when she got to the main road, was that her street must actually be the safest place on Earth to be. Ninety percent of other houses on her street were inhabited by either family or people who worked for PRISM. And since she just learned that Rangers and PRISM employees were pretty much the same thing, she was virtually surrounded by Earth's mightiest heroes.
Leah debated calling Olli or Anne to get her away from her house. They'd gotten their license a few months ago and always loved an opportunity to drive around, showing off. But calling them would mean facing them, and after what she'd just learned about their mother… Leah was shit at keeping secrets, especially from her boyfriend and best friends, so she didn't really relish the fact that she now knew this big thing. And she couldn't bear telling them, even if she thought they'd just believe her without actual proof.
She just started walking towards the little park slash playground that was created at the end of her street. It had a small paved sports field, with baskets and goals on either side, several swing sets and lots of grass for lounging and the occasional nap. It was where many an afternoon was whiled away.
She sat down on one of the swings and softly rocked herself with her toes on the ground. Her mind was wandering, back to the video, to her dad. She'd always thought her dad was special, mostly on account of him being her dad. He was kind and patient and he always listened to her, whether it was about school or hobbies or even boys. He was dorky and cheesy, but also strong and confident. And there was nowhere she felt safer than in his arms.
Did that change, now that she knew he was a Power Ranger? She went over it again, in her head. Not only did she feel safe in his arms, she supposed it was an objectively safe place to be. He'd earned his confidence, by virtue of the Earth still being mostly populated by the human race. She supposed nothing had really changed, except for everything.
Because… her dad had left her. How could everything not change after a revelation like that?
"Hiya, kiddo…" His voice behind her didn't come as a surprise. She supposed he'd made sure she'd heard him coming, as to not cause a big fright. He sat down on the swing beside her, silence settling awkwardly around them.
After a few minutes of that, he started talking. "So, I guess you've got a lot of questions, don't you?" Leah thought about that for a moment and realized that no, she did not have a lot of questions. Just the one, actually.
"Why did you leave me?" She hated how small her voice sounded, but she couldn't help the hurt and abandonment that laced through her words.
Tommy sighed and turned in the seat to look at his baby girl, almost grown up. "Oh, Lee… I didn't leave you, I promise. What I did… what we did, we did it for you. We did it so you could be happy and carefree and have a normal childhood. If for a second I had known how it would lead to me missing two years of your life… well, I'd like to hope I'd do things differently."
Tears welled up in Leah's eyes and she brushed at them. "But I needed you with me, not out there. And then… you were back for months before you came home to me." The drops came faster and she gave up on brushing them aside. "I just don't understand."
Her dad tiptoed closer and pulled her into his chest. "Honestly, honey… I hope you never do. Because a choice like that, that's heavy on your shoulders. And about coming home to you…" another deep sigh escaped from his chest. "I was not… good when I came back, and I most certainly wasn't the dad you remembered. Or the one you've got now, I suppose." Leah turned a questioning gaze on him, her tears slowly subsiding. "I wasn't in a nice place, when I disappeared and being there for so long, it skewed my perception. I wasn't healthy, physically or mentally, so the time between getting back and coming home… it was necessary."
There was so much anguish on her dad's face, that Leah didn't pry any further. She was curious, but something told her that now she knew their secret, things would be much more open at the Oliver household.
They sat together for a few more minutes, before they got up and slowly walked back towards their house. When they were at the door they hugged each other fiercely, Tommy placing a kiss at the crown of her hair. "I love you, Lee-Lou." Leah decided that she could let the nickname slide, this one time. "I love you too, dad." A moment passed, "So… how grounded am I?"