Author's Notes: Hi, readers. Here's chapter twenty-two of "Running From Here." This chapter has some Alan/Ellie and Tommy/Kim. Ranger action is coming very soon. I will also be bringing the crossover to and end. I hate to do this, but all good things must come to an end. Stay tuned for chapter twenty-three.
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Chapter 22: Starting a New Day
Lex and Tim stirred in their sleep. They opened their eyes slowly. They found blurry vision and blinked multiple times to clear it. They saw they were looking at each other and had their heads on their arms. They sat up quickly and looked up at the sky. They could see it was fully lit up. They peered at the put-out campfire in the corner of their eyes. Tommy and Kim walked up to them. They squatted before them. Lex and Tim glanced at them. The White and Pink Rangers still had their helmets off.
"Good morning, kids. It's nice to see you two awake," Tommy said.
"Where are Rexy and Mia?" Lex wondered in concern.
"Rexy and Mia woke up hungry. They went off to eat. Jason, Trini, Billy, and Zack went with them. Tommy and Zack picked both of you up and carried you to the campfire," Kim explained.
"When will they be back?" Tim wondered.
"They won't be back for a little while," Tommy admitted and ran his hand over the boy's hair. "Don't worry. They can take care of themselves."
Footsteps caught the group's attention. It turned to see Alan, Ellie, Ian, and John coming its way. They stopped before it and got on their knees. John smiled at them as he laid his cane on the ground.
"I am so glad you kids are finally awake," John whispered, warmth coming from him.
"What time is it, anyway?" Lex asked.
Alan looked at his watch. "It's about fifteen minutes until nine o'clock."
"Jeez. I didn't think we'd sleep that late," Tim said in amazement.
"You needed your rest, kids," Ellie said honestly. "You may have been riding on Rexy, but not moving can make someone quite tired."
"You got that right, Dr. Sattler," Lex agreed.
"I am right a lot of the time," Ellie said with pride.
"Oh, you have such pride, Ellie!" Alan teased and snickered under his breath.
Ellie glanced at him. "If you tease me about pride again, you will get a knuckle sandwich."
Alan held up his hands while looking away. Ellie giggled and touched his cheek. She moved her head back to where he was looking at her. She kissed his nose. Lex and Tim made disgusted noises. The couple looked at them, their eyebrows raising.
"I hope you two are not going to play kissy-face," Tim grumbled, cringing badly.
"It's gross, especially when it is done in front of kids!" Lex added, shuddering badly.
Alan ruffled Tim's hair. "You kids will be doing that with your significant others someday."
"Not me!" Tim said, shaking his head rapidly.
"Me neither!" Lex added and crossed her arms. "Never."
Ellie pinched Lex's cheek. "Don't say never."
Lex and Tim stood up as John grabbed his cane. They stretched their arms and legs a bit. Tommy, Kim, Alan, Ellie, Ian, and John rose to their full height. Tommy rubbed his neck with both hands. He placed them on his sides. He emitted a sharp exhale.
"Once the others get back, we're heading toward the Visitor Center," Tommy announced.
"Since we are just a couple of miles away, we should get there in an hour or less," Kim added.
"Let's hope we don't get distracted by a hungry carnivore," Lex muttered, fear showing in her voice.
"Or an aggressive herbivore," Tim added.
"Lex, I was wondering. Why are you a vegetarian?" Kim asked, curiosity filling her eyes.
"I don't like the taste of meat," Lex admitted with a disgusted shudder. "Seeing carnivores kill animals disturbs me too, even if it is for food."
"Nature can be quite cruel. Some carnivores have a…peculiar way of eating their food. You can't deny they are an important part of ecosystems. Without carnivores, herbivores would destroy their habitats by overeating their food. They are kept in check by the carnivores," John explained in a low but firm voice.
"You see what your grandfather is saying, Lex?" Ian asked.
"I do," Lex admitted. "Still, I wish carnivores—"
"It's okay, Lex," John interrupted in a gentle manner. "We understand your feelings. At least you can see the importance of maintaining balance."
"It's like in Ridley Scott's Legend. There is no good without evil, no love without hate, no heaven without hell, and no light without dark. The balance is maintained. When one overtakes the other, it is thrown out of whack," Ian commented.
"That's right, Dr. Malcom," Tommy said. "The Lord of Darkness said to Jack, 'What is light without dark? What are you without me? I am a part of all you. You will never be rid of me. We are brothers eternal.'"
"The Lord of Darkness was right. We all have our dark sides. We must never let them control us," Kim said seriously.
"Unfortunately, some people don't have a choice," John muttered with a frown.
"Tommy is one such example. He was brainwashed by Rita into being evil," Alan said, crossing his arms.
"I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I couldn't control myself. I had to follow Rita's orders. If I had disobeyed her, she would have tanned my hide to kingdom come," Tommy said. "I saw Goldar, Scorpina, Finster, Squatt, and Baboo tremble before her. She wasn't very nice to them."
"Lord Zedd is no better," Kim added firmly. "He treats Rita's minions like crap too. I would say he is worse than she is."
"Villains betray each other for their own interests all the time. This can be seen in cartoons, comic books, etc. That's not to say heroes can't do bad things. They can," John murmured. "Sometimes, they have to make very risky decisions that can result in serious injury or death."
Lex and Tim heard squawking. They moved away from the clearing and headed into the rainforest. John, Allie, Ian, Tommy, and Kim followed them close behind. The group spotted a scarlet macaw sitting on an overhanging tree branch. The macaw moved to the edge of it. It spread its wings far apart.
"What a beautiful parrot," Lex whispered amazingly.
"It's actually a macaw," John pointed out matter-of-factly. "Macaws are the largest of the parrots. Their tails are always longer than their bodies are."
"Imagine having a tail that is longer than your body, kids," Alan said, chuckling to himself. "You'd be able to wrap it around you for use as a blanket."
"That is true," Tim said and looked at his sister with a smirk. "Of course, Lex would have the longer tail."
Lex smacked him in the back of his head. "I would until you grew taller than me."
"I hope I grow way taller than you do," Tim said, holding his nose upward.
"Don't hold that nose so high, Tim. You will drown if it pours down rain," John warned.
Tim blew a raspberry. "I don't care. I will hold it as high as I want."
Lex placed her finger on the back of her brother's head. She pushed it to where he was looking ahead. She placed her hand on top of it. She moved it from side to side three times before pulling away. He narrowed his eyes at her. A huff came from him.
"You just had to move my head around like I was a robot, didn't you?" Tim grumbled in annoyance.
"Yep," Lex said proudly. She placed her hand on his head and moved it from side to side twice. She took it away with a snicker. "I guess my hand forgot to behave."
"Very funny," Tim said while hitting her on her shoulder lightly.
"This reminds me of Bart and Lisa always annoying each other in The Simpsons, Tommy," Kim whispered, leaning close to her boyfriend.
"It sure does," Tommy agreed. "As I recall, Ben had a habit of annoying you and vice versa."
"He usually started it," Kim said and looked at the others along with him. "Let's head back to the clearing."
"Yes. Let's do that," John agreed. "We don't need to be in the forest when the others are not back yet."
Tommy, Kim, Lex, Tim, Alan, Ellie, Ian, and John returned to the clearing. They gathered around the fire pit. Tommy started talking about wrecking the Command Center.