Disclaimer: The Power Rangers belong to me. And if you believe that... Anyway, All original ideas are mine because they are original to me. All borrowed ideas are not mine because they are borrowed. All redundancies are compliments of the R.D.R., Redundancy Department of Redundancy.
Timeline: After Cat within a Cat
Warning: There is within this document mild profanity, and situations which some might find upsetting, or at the very least a bit sad.
Notes: Well now, number three and boy am I proud. Woo Hoo! (note excitement in my voice.) This fic isn't as long as the other two, but I like it anyway. Enjoy and please send any and all comments wether they be on my fic or just because to — SetzerLebu@aol.com. Thank you.
The five Zeo Rangers stood in the Power Chamber. It was the morning after the attack by Lord Zedd. Billy looked up at Zordon, and then to his assembled friends.
"Guys, I've got bad news... Jason is unconscious, and... and he may... may not wake up." Billy squeezed his eyes shut. "I've already told his parents. They'd suspected his being a Ranger for quite a while now. They are taking him to the Angel Grove Hospital where..." Billy trailed off not able to continue. He looked at his friends; Kat had caught Tommy in a fierce embrace and was crying into his shoulder. Tommy just stared ahead, doing nothing but hugging Kat back. Adam and Rocky were in almost as bad a shape as Tommy, while Tanya tried to get Adam's attention, tears silently falling from her eyes.
"What about the others? Shouldn't we tell them?" Asked Tanya.
"They have been contacted. Kimberly will be here at twelve 'o clock, Trini and Zachary will arrive at four 'o clock. Unfortunately Aisha will be unable to join us until tomorrow morning." Zordon sighed. "I know this is hard Rangers. Keep faith, it will all turn out right in the end..." The last of his words trailed off as he faded from his tube into his meditative dimension.
"Now what?" Said Adam finally seeming to drop out of his shocked state.
"It's still only eight 'o clock. We've got four hours to kill before Kim gets here. Let's go to Ernie's... we can get our minds off it there." Tanya looked around. She seemed to be the only one fully coherent. "Alright guys?" She prodded.
"Yes." Said Katherine, "That sounds like a good idea." The Rangers all touched their communicators and teleported away, leaving Alpha in the darkened Power Chamber.
Kimberly sat on the plane staring out the window. The landscape below was green with reddish brown in-between. When she had told her coach that she had to leave for a week or so, he'd been surprisingly understanding.
"Kimberly! You can't leave, you must stay here and practice. The qualifying meets are in two weeks, think of how hard you have practiced, you can't throw all that away!"
Kimberly looked up at Gunther Schmidt and for the first time he saw the redness around her eyes.
"Kimberly? Kim... what's wrong?" The elderly gymnastics instructor's face grew concerned.
"Coach... A very dear friend of mine is... he's been injured. He may not survive... in fact it's almost certain he'll..."
"Ah...I see." Kimberly looked up at Gunther. He'd been very kind to her and she had developed greater skill in her gymnastics under him than she had under anyone else. And now she was leaving him.
"Kimberly...Kimmy. You have worked very hard. And for that I respect you, you have been my best student. However your friends and family live in Angel Grove, California. I knew this wouldn't last. I actually expected you to be pulled back some time ago. There is a feeling... a power, about that city. Maybe that is why those monsters attack. Go home." The wrinkled face smiled.
"I'll be back in a week. I promise."
"No Kimmy, do not make promises you can not keep."
And he'd hugged her and she had left. "Hold on Jason," she said quietly. "I'm coming home." Kimberly Ann Hart continued to stare out the window as the city of Angel Grove came into view... Home.
Tommy stood with his friends, silently awaiting the arrival of Kimberly Ann Hart. The girl he had adored and loved. He wasn't sure he'd ever been in love with her though. Katherine. Katherine was who he was in love with. It was confusing. He loved Kim, he loved Kat, heck he might even be able to say he loved all the Rangers. But when he truly asked himself who he was in love with... "Katherine." He said to himself. "I'm in love with Katherine."
This relieved some stress he'd been having. The arrival of his former girlfriend had been worrying him for the past couple of hours. "Jason..." One of his very best friends. "And he's dying..." Tommy shook that thought from his head. "Zordon will figure something out. What if he doesn't? What if Jason dies and is gone forever?"
"There she is." Adam said quietly. They all looked to the passengers getting off the plane, and spotted a short girl with mouse brown hair and wearing a pink top and white jean shorts. Kimberly rushed to meet them and a group hug was the result with some emotional tears as well.
"So... what do the doctors think?" Kim asked finally as the six teens departed from the airport.
"It doesn't look good." Answered Adam. "We told his parents the truth."
Kim hissed softly. "How'd they take it?"
"At first they seemed angry, then... proud." Replied Billy.
Kim nodded sadly. "When can I see him?"
"We'll go now. Rocky is with him currently. The doctors thought it best that someone be with Jason at all times. That's why Rocky wasn't here to greet you."
Adam sat at a table in the Juice Bar. "Zach and Trini will be here in a hour..." The thought floated through his consciousness. Someone sat down in the chair next to him, but he paid them no mind. Tommy and Rocky were sparring again, their usual way of relieving stress. Kimberly and Katherine were currently on the balance beams, while Billy was busy scribbling notes in a notebook. No one from the team was dealing well with Jason being in the hospital, and each was dealing with it in his or her own way. Adam had drawn into a protective shell that blocked everyone else out.
"Adam?"
Startled Adam looked up to see Tanya who had sat down beside him. "Huh? Tanya? I thought you were with Jason..."
"Emily is with him now. Adam, are you okay?"
"Yeah." He muttered rubbing his face. Every part of him felt numb. "I'm fine."
"I don't think so... you've become more and more withdrawn. You wanna' talk?"
Adam shook his head. Letting his emotions out was the last thing he wanted to do. "No, I'll be fine, I promise." Tanya looked doubtful. "But thanks, for your concern."
Zach and Trini stood in the hospital room looking at their friend. He had tubes in his nose and an IV in his arm. He lay completely still beneath his blanket, pale and weak.
"Oh man..." sighed Zach.
"He was always so st-strong." Trini was barely able to keep from crying.
"The others said we're supposed to talk to him." Zach looked over to his friend.
Trini nodded, walked over to Jason, and held his hand. "Jason, it's me, Trini. Zach's here also, we've come to help you through this."
"Hey Bro... how you doin'? Uh... I mean... Yeah, we're here for you. You will get through this. I promise."
Tanya couldn't sleep. Looking over at her clock she saw that it was two in the morning. Sighing she got out of bed and dressed. Aisha was to arrive at five this morning. Today was Jason's 'last' day. The doctors predicted that his systems would give out today... "No, he won't die. He's too strong, we need him too much." Tanya sighed again. "We'll think of something Jason, just hold on."
It was four thirty in the morning. A group of nine teenagers sat around the airport awaiting the arrival of Aisha Campbell. At about five 'o clock Flight 225 from Chicago arrived. Silently the friends drew into a group when the passengers began to disembark. They watched as passengers filled into the waiting area and were met by family and friends. Aisha was not one of them.
"Where is she?" Billy looked a bit worried.
"I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation." Replied Trini. She was standing close to Billy as she had been since leaving the hospital the evening before and this morning when they had all met at the airport.
Kimberly walked up to the attendant behind the ticket counter. "Excuse me miss? Our friend was supposed to arrive on this flight. She flew from Kenya to Chicago and then-"
"What is her name?" interrupted the attendant.
"Aisha Campbell."
The lady typed in the name and waited for the information to come up on the screen. "hmm, looks like you friend was bumped."
"What?" Someone behind Kim shouted angrily.
"Why?" Asked Kim in as calm a voice as she could produce.
"There was an overbooking. She was bumped because she was the least important." The attendant shrugged. "Sorry. She now has a flight to be here by tomorrow afternoon."
Tommy pushed up through his friends who were trying to hold him back and next to Kim. "Least important?" he yelled. "She was on her way here to see her dying friend!" People began to look at the scene Tommy was making.
"I-I'm sorry sir... she'll be here to-tomorrow..." Stammered the lady.
"Tomorrow it will be to late!!" Tommy brought both fists down on the wooden counter effectively cracking it.
"Come on Tommy." Said Katherine softly taking his arm.
"Yeah, we'll figure something out." Added Kimberly taking his other arm. The two led him away and the group hustled out before security could arrive.
In the Power Chamber the Rangers had already come up with a plan.
"One of us just teleports to the Chicago Airport and then the two of them teleport back." Said Zach.
"I'll be the one to go." Volunteered Tanya.
"Sounds like a plan. Will that work Zordon?" Kim asked.
"Certinaly. Tanya, I will teleport you to a stall in the women's restroom. Aisha is sitting in the terminal area."
Suddenly a beeping sounded. "My pager." Announced Billy. "Oh shit... Guys, it's the hospital."
"Rangers, teleport to Jason's hospital room immediately, Tanya, retrieve Aisha, I will direct your teleport to Jason's room as well." The Ranger's nodded, and they all disappeared in columns of light.
Doctor Stephen Riker looked at the assembled friends and family of Jason Scott Lee. Their faces ranged from distraught to stony. "He has approximately one hour to live if his systems keep decreasing as they have been." He sighed. "I'm sorry for your loss. I'll leave you alone with him now. I'll be back in about forty five minutes." Silently he left the room.
As he left Tanya and Aisha entered the room. Silently Aisha was introduced to those who didn't know her well. Aisha walked over to Jason and laid a hand on her shoulder, just standing like that for a while, then she walked to a chair and sat down.
Emily Conery walked to the windowsill and looked at the alabaster vase that sat there. In the vase were two deep red roses that she had brought the day before, already they were dry and wilting. Carefully she removed them from the vase and placed them on Jason's unmoving chest. Slowly she bent her head and kissed his pale face.
Debbie Lee touched Emily's shoulder and Emily turned around and hugged her and began to cry into her shoulder.
Rocky sighed and sank into one of the many chairs scattered around the room. Most of the others were already sitting, but all eyes remained on Jason and the equipment hooked up to him. All the Rangers past and present were there, as well as his girlfriend Emily, and him parents Mike and Debbie. Rocky continued to stare at Jason as his vision blurred and his body felt heavy, and slowly he fell to sleep.
"Rockford, Rockford DeSantos." Rocky sprang to his feet and looked around to find himself in a large cathedral like room. The floor was gray stone, as were the walls. Candles of many sizes and colors burned throughout the room and added to the light, however the ceiling still disappeared in shadows. Placed evenly along the walls were beautiful stained glass windows. Three windows caught his eye immediately. A Red Dragon, its sinuous body curved around it's self, floating in a background of blue sky. The second window depicted a large Red furred Ape on a background of green foliage. The third window showed a great Blue furred lion with a golden mane and a human like face, a Sphinx.
As Rocky starred at this window his vision blurred again and suddenly the Blue Sphinx was standing before him.
"Rockford DeSantos. I am the Sphinx, and I am you. You are a dream walker, and therefore me. The light of Red and Gold is in danger. The Roses and Unicorn can heal. You can walk the dreams of the Red and Gold, and lead the Roses and the Unicorn."
Rocky stared at the Sphinx and his vision blurred again. Before it changed completely two Red figures had joined the Sphinx.
"The Sphinx may only speak in Riddles." Said the Dragon in his sibilant voice.
"You can figure it out Rocky, for we are you, and you are us. Save your friend." The Ape's deep voice trailed off and Rocky found himself sitting in a green meadow.
Next to him were two flowers. "Roses..." One was entirely pink, while the other was pink with a white streak down each pedal. Looking closer he noticed mist like images within each flower. In the solid pink Rose there were three flying figures. "Pterodactyl, Firebird, Crane..." In the white streaked flower there were three figures as well. "Cat, Crane, Kieroo..."
"The Roses are healers." The voice of the Sphinx echoed through Rocky's consciousness.
"The Roses are healers." Repeated Rocky. "Kimberly and Katherine." Looking beyond the flowers he caught a glance of a horse like figure. "The Unicorn... Billy." Again Rocky's vision blurred, and he found himself in a field of stars. He had no body, his awareness merely floated in the void between the lights.
Three stars in particular caught his interest. As they began to come closer and closer they also began to merge. A great pressure began to fill the void and suddenly it all exploded in a rain of light. Rocky was standing in a clearing in a mountain forest next to a stream. Standing before him were Billy, Kimberly and Katherine.
In a flash he realized everything that had happened to him in his dream. The most important being the fact that they could save Jason.
"Guys." Rocky tried to get the attention of his friends.
"Rocky?" Billy looked towards his friend.
"What's going on?" Kim sounded a bit nervous.
"Where are we?" Asked Kat.
"We're in a dream state." Replied Rocky. "I've just had a little conversation with my spirit guides. I know how we can save Jason."
"Really? Yes! What do we have to do?" Kim was bubbling with excitement.
"I will enter Jason's subconscious. Pink being the color of the healer, and Unicorn representing health, you three will be able to use me as a focus to heal Jason, and call him back. The others, including Mike, Debbie and Emily will need to supply you three with power, it's going to take a lot to do this."
The others nodded. "We will have to inform Emily of who we are." Said Billy.
"Yes. She will need to know. Put me in a chair next to Jason, It will be easier for me to create the link from there. You three wake up now." That said the others began to fade away as they reentered their bodies and the realm of the waking.
Billy sat up with a start. Looking around he saw Kim and Kat beginning to stand.
"Tommy. Help me move Rocky next to Jason."
"Wha...?" Tommy lifted his head from his arms. His eyes were red and he looked groggy.
"Just help." Said Billy.
The two of them moved Rocky, chair and all, and set him next to the still form of Jason. Katherine addressed the rest of the group.
"The rest of you, join hands and form a semi-circle around Jason, Rocky, Kim, Billy and myself. Tommy you will be at the top, put your hands on Billy's shoulders."
Billy stood at the foot of the bed and Tommy put his hands on Billy's shoulders. Katherine stood to Billy's right, next to Rocky, and grabed his hand. Kimberly stood on Billy's left and held his other hand. The others spread in a semi-circle from Tommy, each holding hands with the one beside them.
"What are we doing?" asked Emily.
"We're going to save Jason's life." Replied Billy.
Rocky walked down a long, dim corridor. "Jason!" His shout echoed off the walls, mocking him in his futile attempt at finding his friend. "Jason!"
Rocky continued walking. Suddenly he spun thinking he heard footsteps behind him. He found that the corridor ended only two feet ahead of him. Looking over his shoulder he saw a red door. Reaching for the handle Rocky turned it and stepped into a small room illuminated by an unknown source. Standing in the middle of the room was a young man wearing a red tank top and black pants.
"Jason."
The figure turned around. "Rocky? Is that you?"
"Yeah man, I'm here to help you." Rocky sent out his thoughts. "Billy, Kat, Kim. Start now." Light began to shine from behind the two and Rocky turned to a swirling mass of every color of the Ranger spectrum. Breathing a sigh of relief he called over his shoulder "Let's go Jason." Looking back he saw Jason staring at the other side of the room. There was a mass of darkness, of nothing, of death.
"It's so calm, and quiet in the darkness Rocky. I want so much to relax, to have no worries." And Jason began to walk towards the darkness.
"Jason, no!" Rocky grabbed his arm and Jason turned around to see the light. "Jason, your friends and family need you. It's not time for you to die, you can't let Zedd beat you."
"But... it's so calm! I haven't been this relaxed since I became a Ranger. Just let me go Rocky."
The air flickered for a moment and then the figures of everyone who had come to support Jason in his final hours was in the room. Most were standing in a half circle while Billy, Kim and Kat were standing around his bed, and Rocky was sitting next to him. Around each figure there was a glowing aura of their Ranger color, or colors in some cases. Mike and Debbie Lee shone an off white color signifying the fact that they had no Ranger powers. Emily had about her a violet sheen...
"Jason, look at these people. They love you, they want you to come back. You know it isn't your time. Think of your friends, your family, Emily."
"Emily..." repeated Jason quietly. Jason shook his head as though trying to clear it. When he looked back up at Rocky he seemed more alert. He looked at the images of his friends and family, and of Emily in particular, taking note of the Purple shine. "Thank you Rocky." The images of their friends faded. "Let's get back." And with that Jason walked to the lighted portion of the room and stepped through.
Smiling Rocky faded from Jason's subconscious and back into his body. "No problem man." He said as he stood up, and looked down at Jason. Jason's eyes opened and he smiled up at Rocky.
The Rangers let go of each other's hands and the light in the room diminished significantly as their auras faded.
"Jason?" Debbie's voice cut through everyone's thoughts.
"Yeah mom?" Jason's voice was hoarse and soft, but all heard it.
With a cry Mike and Debbie rushed to their son's side and hugged him, with Emily right behind.
"I'll go get Doctor Riker." Said Adam in an exhausted voice. All the other Rangers sat down in chairs or on the floor. As Jason's family finally let him go the doctor came rushing in.
"Holy God, it's a miracle. All systems stable... this is unbelievable." Two nurses came in behind him. "Help me get this young man into observation. Mr. and Mrs. Lee, it looks as though your son will be fine." Jason's parents nodded and followed the doctor out of the room with Jason.
Emily was about to follow when she stopped and looked at Jason's friends who had somehow saved his life.
"We'll explain later." Said Tommy. "Go with them for now."
"I knew he'd be fine." Mumbled Tanya softly, "I just new it." Nobody heard her however. They'd already fallen into a deep sleep. Each happy and relieved to know that Jason would live.
In the observation room of the Angel Grove Hospital two nurses and one doctor wheeled a young man in to have X-rays taken. Not an hour ago his coming death had been confirmed. A miracle if ever there was one.
"Excuse me sir?"
Doctor Riker looked up to see a man, probably in his thirties, with pale skin, blue eyes and short blonde hair.
"Those flowers," The man pointed to the two roses lying on Jason's chest. "Might I have them? I'm a friend of the Lee family, they asked that I retrieve them."
"Certainly." Stephan picked up the two pink roses with blue tips. One of the roses had white streaks. "These are certainly beautiful flowers."
"That they are." Replied the man as he took the flowers. "Thank you." And he was gone.
In a personal pocket dimension, loosely connected to Earth's, a man held two roses to the sky. Slowly seeds from the roses scattered to the ground, then the air hardened around the flowers and they were preserved in perfect, beautiful and full bloom.
