Long Journey Home

Adam watched as the group got comfortable. He didn’t understand what was going on; all he knew was that Jason, leader of the Rangers, didn’t seem to recognize the girl he’d been in love with for quite some time -- the girl because of whom Kimberly had broken up with him after she’d gone to Florida. *Not that he’s done anything about it yet, though!*
 
"Allright, Jason, what’s going on?"
 
Jason concentrated on the Green Ranger with obvious difficulty. "You’re asking me? I don’t know! All I know is that suddenly Tommy is a girl!"
 
"Who’s Tommy?" Kat asked, confused.
 
Jason stared at her incredulously.
 
"Your boyfriend."
 
"What? My boyfriend’s name is David!"
 
"David ... who?" A sick feeling started to settle in Jason’s stomach.
 
The girl ... Tammy ... spoke up, in a voice that was slightly lighter than Jason was used to hearing from e lie lips.
 
"David Trueheart. My brother."
 
Jason shook his head. "Please," he groaned, "please, will somebody just tell me why I’m suddenly in the Twilight Zone?" He buried his face in his hands.
 
Rocky scooted over to his team leader and draped a friendly arm around the broad shoulders, earning himself a strange look at his uncharacteristic behaviour.
 
"C’mon, Jason; why don’t you tell us what’s wrong? We’ll compare stories, and maybe we can work out what’s wrong here."
 
The suggestion made such an awful lot of sense that Jason relaxed somewhat. Drawing a deep breath, he began to talk. The more he revealed, however, the more incredulous his audience became.
 
"....so, Tommy is Zeo Ranger Five and has led the team ever since Zordon made him White Ranger. I left the team for good when the Gold Power proved incompatible with Human physiology; Trey took it back and left." It still hurt to talk about that. He looked at the Rangers with a helpless expression. "I don’t think Mondo, or anyone else, has put me under a spell; but why would I see Tommy as a girl, and not any of you guys?" His dark eyes swept over Adam and Rocky, who looked at him strangely.
 
"Uh ... maybe we’d better get Billy in on this," Kat suggested hesitantly. She could hardly believe the story Jason had just told them. She’d never stolen Kim’s Power Coin; her feelings of friendship for the Rangers had been too strong already, and she’d been able to cast off Rita’s spell after only a few days. Besides, Jason had never appealed to her as much as David did, so it was easy to resist the order to take him away from her predecessor.
 
Jason stared at the blonde. "But Billy’s on Aquitar."
 
"Not anymore. He came back as soon as he was healed." The quiet certainty in Adam’s voice rocked Jason.
 
"What ... what happened here?" He was almost afraid to ask.
 
"Why don’t we wait with anything else until Billy is here?" Tanya suggested practically.
 
"Great idea." Adam spoke into his communicator. Only moments later, a blue-white teleportation flash signalled the arrival of their genius friend.
 
"Allright, guys, what’s this about Jason thinking Tammy should be a guy?" The slight smile on Billy’s face disconcerted Jason even more; why was everybody acting so weird whenever his and this girl’s name cropped up in the same sentence? He tried to look at her without being too obvious about it; however, their eyes met, and she glanced away quickly, blushing slightly. Jason felt another twinge in his groin and turned back towards Billy, who was being filled in by the rest of the team.
 
"Hmmmm."
 
"Is that all you can say?" Jason’s frustration showed in his angry query. He noticed the startled looks his tone produced, and was immediately contrite. "I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have snapped, but this whole damn thing is getting so weird ...."
 
Billy didn’t take offense.
 
"Perfectly understandable. First of all, I think you should know that your --our -- history here is quite a bit different. For instance, you were at the Peace Conference only for little over six months before you returned; you then rejoined the team, while Trini and Zack stayed on in Geneva."
 
"But ... what about Rocky? Didn’t I transfer my Powers to him when I left?"
 
"Yes, you did, temporarily; Rocky took over again when Tammy couldn’t assume the Ninja Powers."
 
"Whyever not?" Jason looked at the beautiful brunette compassionately. He’d seen what losing the Powers did to people -- in Tommy, Billy and lately himself.
 
"Because of what Rita made me do as her Green Ranger," the girl answered quietly, remembered pain echoing in her eyes. "I know it wasn’t my fault, but it didn’t change the fact that I wasn’t ‘pure of spirit’ -- at least not enough for the Ninja Powers." Jason instinctively reached out and gently touched her shoulder, as he would have done with Tommy. He snatched his hand back, though, when Tammy blushed furiously. The others smothered their grins.
 
"Who piloted the Falconzord, then?" Jason wondered.
 
"We didn’t have a Falconzord; you were given the White Eagle."
 
Billy’s quiet pronouncement and the image it evoked sent a shiver of pride and regret down Jason’s spine. "An eagle, huh?" He’d often wondered what his Spirit Animal would have been, had he ever gone to Phaedos.
 
"Tammy rejoined the team when you took over from Trey; you couldn’t hold two sets of Powers, so she became Zeo Ranger Five and you Gold Ranger."
 
"I don’t get it; why am I still holding the Gold Power, anyway? I thought it was incompatible with Human physiology? Besides, didn’t Trey need the Power to reintegrate himself?" Jason looked at his teammates, but nobody would meet his eyes. Finally, Billy cleared his throat.
 
"Jason ... Trey’s dead."
 
"What?!?"
 
"Trey of Heart was seriously injured by the Varox attack; he was beyond our help when we got them to the Power Chamber. With him gone, it was only a matter of time until the other two died, as well. As soon as that happened, Zordon and I were able to realign the Gold Ranger Power to your physiology; you had already become attuned to it while you were holding it in trust, so it was not all that difficult." Billy’s explanation did little to dispel the sudden queasy feeling spreading through Jason’s stomach. He’d have given almost anything to be a Ranger again, but certainly not at the cost of another’s life!
 
He closed his eyes, remembering the courageous Triforian. A comforting hand touched his back. *Tommy...* he looked up into the compassionate brown eyes he knew so well. His subconscious reacted and he leaned into the touch, only belatedly realizing that his head was not coming to rest on a strong, broad shoulder, but against soft skin and long chestnut s ..s ... he flinched away, but not before he saw the flash of hurt in those chocolate orbs.
 
"Sorry," he mumbled, blushing.
 
"It’s okay," Tammy whispered, her own face coloring. Their friends shared exasperated looks. Really, those two ...
 
With an effort, Jason returned to the matter at hand. He saw that Billy was wearing non-descript gray clothes, but he seemed far more relaxed than he remembered him; the bitterness at finding himself powerless was mostly absent. Curious, he asked.
 
"But ... what happened to you? Why aren’t you on the team anymore?"
 
Billy grimaced slightly.
 
"I was unable to retrieve the sixth Zeo shard in time. We had to readjust the timestream before Master Vile changed it irrevocably; Zordon returned me before I could reach it. We’re working on alternate methods -- at least I was able to determine where and when it can be found -- but it takes time. Luckily, the Crystal is operational with five subcrystals. Besides, Mondo’s presence and his constant attacks are not precisely conducive to intensive research."
 
"If anyone can do it, it’s you, Billy." Although it was becoming more and more obvious that he was not ‘home’ anymore, Jason had the utmost confidence in his genius friend’s abilities. It showed in his voice, and Billy nodded in acknowledgement.
 
"Thank you; however, you don’t mind if I feel rather frustrated from time to time, don’t you?"
 
A round of affirmative answers brought a smile to everybody’s face. Then, Billy recalled the team to the current problem.
 
"I wish I knew why your memories would be altered in such a specific fashion; also, it is not really the favored form in which the Machine Empire operates. Jason, can you remember anything else that might have happened to cause this?"
 
"No; everything’s been fairly normal around here; ever since I lost the Power permanently, I haven’t been bothered by Mondo, anyway." He looked out over the park, lost in thought. His eyes were slightly unfocussed as something tickled the back of his mind. Closing his eyes, Jason replayed the events of the day until he saw ...'Tammy' in the Youth Center for the first time. Suddenly, he remembered.
 
"Wait a minute! Earlier, when I was on my way over to Ernie’s, I felt kinda dizzy for a moment ... I had some kind of hot flash, I guess, and I nearly fell, but that was all; I checked around, and everything seemed just like before. I thought it was just some kind of vertigo, or something. I’ve felt fine ever since."
 
Billy pounced on that.
 
"Do you remember when and where that happened?"
 
"Yeah, I guess; I remember the ten o’clock news just starting on my mom’s radio as I left home, and it usually takes me about 15 minutes to walk through the park ...."
 
"That gives us a timeframe; good. Do you remember where in the park you experienced this dizzy spell?"
 
"I think so. I could already see the Juice Bar, and I leaned against a tree ..."
 
Billy got up and reset his communicator.
 
"Go back to the approximate area and wait for me; I’ll pick up a couple of scanners from the Power Chamber and meet you there."
 
Billy vanished in a stream of bluish-white particles. The others scrambled to their feet and made their way back, letting Jason retrace his steps.
 
When Billy met up with the teens after a while, he scanned the area Jason indicated with a hand-held device. When the instrument began emitting a steady, high-pitched sound, the whole group clustered around their friend, anxious for news. Billy finally looked up.
 
"Jason, I’d like for you to come to the Power Chamber. I’ll have to take some readings on you to make sure ..." his voice trailed off in concentration.
 
"Have you found something?"
 
"I think so; however, I’d rather not say anything until I’ve confirmed these readings."
 
"Well, what are we waiting for, then? Let’s go!" Jason’s impatience brought yet another grin to his teammates’ faces. Quickly checking for civilians, the whole group teleported out.