Long Journey Home

The next day brought them further away from the lush vegetation, although they never lost sight of the treeline. Jason seemed to know where he was going, although it had no plan as far as Tommy could tell. Mindful of his promise to Dulcea, he tagged along, content in their companionship. This time, they talked and laughed in between the comfortable silences, touching often, sneaking in quick and not-so-quick kisses and gropes -- even the occasional pinch into firm cheeks. The sensuality was always simmering under the surface, but both were careful to keep it at a manageable level.
 
By midafternoon, they had reached an area where a small river drew a dividing line through the landscape. Picking their way cautiously along the rocky shoreline, Tommy noticed that Jason became increasingly restless. Just as he was about to call a halt and ask what was going on, Jason stopped and seemed to listen intently -- for what, Tommy had no idea.
 
Jason felt his heart beating fast in his chest; he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to happen. He scanned his surroundings. Shading his eyes against the afternoon sun, his gaze was drawn upwards. Far in the distance, a small dark speck seemed to hover in the air. As it came closer to circle overhead, he could make out the enormous wingspan of a bird of prey. It was too far up, but the sharp cry and the smooth glide in the air currents seemed very familiar, somehow. Without knowing how he knew, he was sure the creature was an eagle, come for him. He turned towards Tommy, who was watching the raptor with delighted eyes. Just as Jason was about to speak, a movement at the edge of the trees behind Tommy caught his attention. Gasping with surprise, he recognized the powerful lines, the golden-brown fur and darker mane of a male lion loping towards him. The beast settled about halfway between the jungle and the two boys, fixing Jason with large golden eyes, his tail twitchingst tst then, the eagle settled on a boulder across the river, also staring towards him.
 
Tommy watched all this, his own heart thudding almost painfully. This was it -- the decision Jason had to make. Part of him wished he would choose the Eagle; his own Spirit Animal, the Falcon, spoke to him of the joys of shared flight, of soaring high above the Earth, conquering the skies. But he dared not speak. Waiting breathlessly, he divided his attention among the two magnificent beasts and his friend.
 
Jason felt torn as never before. He’d always been so close to Tommy, no matter in which reality he found himself; their bond seemed to transcend space and time, and he could feel the kinship between the Eagle and the Falcon. In the first alternate reality, his Spirit animal had been an Eagle ... He looked at the great cat once more. He’d raised himself on all fours again, slowly turning away, back towards the trees. Something caught Jason’s attention. He squinted slightly against the sunlight. Just barely, he could make out other golden-brown shapes among the foliage, smaller, some lighter in colour, waiting for their leader. With sudden insight, Jason knew what he was seeing.
 
*It’s his pack! Of course -- the Eagle is solitary; apart from his mate, he lives alone, far away from everything. The Lion is a pack animal, with one male commanding the pride, the others hunting and living together, never alone, but .... almost a team.*
 
Words from his past echoed in his mind. *We’re a team.*--*This means nothing without my friends to share it with me.* -- *We’re always here for you.* -- *You’re a part of us.*
 
Once more, Jason glanced at the Eagle. The giant bird thrust himself into the air with a single strong sweep of his wings, circling above his head and crying out. Then, he winged off, into the distance. Jason watched until he was once more just a speck in the sky, then turned resolutely towards the jungle. Summoning Tommy with a single glance, he followed the Lion and his pack into the trees.
 
The two made their way on the barely-visible path, catching only occasional glimpses of bronze fur, but Jason picked his route without thinking; he knew where he was going. All Tommy could do was follow. Not a word was spoken until they reached another glade, a large grassy patch bathed in sunlight, with a profusion of blooms bordering the edges. A small waterfall to the left splashed with muted noise into a rocky basin, to form a stream which led further into the jungle. The Lion stopped in the middle of the clearing, sitting and turning towards them, as if he was waiting. Instinctively, both stopped. Hardly daring to breathe, Tommy watched, mesmerized, as Jason went on, approaching the large predator who sat, tail twitching, until the young man was within touching distance. Then, he raised himself on all fours and roared a challenge. Jason stood stock-still. As if in a trance, he reached out with his right hand until he made contact with the dark brown . Be. Before Tommy could call out a warning, the Lion moved, pressing himself against Jason’s legs. A bright flash of light obscured his vision for several seconds, then all was quiet.
 
The White Ninjetti waited for the colourful spots to clear from his eyes. When he could see again, he anxiously scanned the clearing. Of the Lion and his pack, there was no trace, but Jason lay in a crumpled heap where he had stood before. Tommy dashed forward, suddenly afraid. He skidded to a halt next to his friend. Before he could say anything, Jason moaned and stirred, sitting up slowly. As he opened bleary eyes, he looked directly into warm brown orbs which sparkled with something he couldn’t quite name. Jason shook his head once, to clear it. He reached out a hand to Tommy, who helped haul him to his feet. Just when he was about to comment on the strange experience, he became aware of what he was seeing: his arm, which was held in a firm grip by his friend, did no longer show his tanned skin, but was instead swathed in soft, bronze-coloured folds, his hand covered by a gold-edged gauntlet. Jason made a quick visual inspection of himself, then his eyes met Tommy’s in a delighted exchange. Like Tommy, he was wearing a Ninjetti uniform, with the image of a roaring Lionhed hed into the golden coin on his chest.
 
 
***
 
The six Rangers met at the seashore once more to take their leave of Billy, who had to stay on for another few months. Though he missed Earth, he didn’t seem too put out to be spending more time on the Sacred Plains, and he promised to let them know about his return.
 
"Just remember, you have to focus your energies into the Zeo Crystal to stabilize it. Once that’s done, give it a couple of days, then you call the energy outward to allow the Omega Emanations to work on Jason for exactly 3.4 minutes. Anything less, and you risk damaging the resonance between his mind and body further; anything more, and you’ll trap him in this reality, with no chance of reversing the process."
 
"Thanks, Billy. I really appreciate all you’ve done." Jason drew his oldest friend into a brief hug, which made Billy blush slightly. The others grinned, while Tommy looked on indulgently. The sexual energy between him and Jason had not gone unnoticed by the rest of the team, and they’d come in for a goodly share of good-natured teasing, whenever they were caught kissing or just scoping each other out. Jason was slowly becoming less self-conscious about expressing his desires, and had even learned to initiate contact between the two of them. Tommy was filled with anticipation; long talks with Jason had helped clarify both their motivations, apart from the obvious, and they were both at peace with what they both had and wanted to do. Besides, he and Jay indulged themselves frequently -- they were all but living together, anyway, dividing their time between both their houses. It was a rare night they spent apart. Consequently, abstaining had not been easy. They had not repeated their mutual masturbation session, both fearing they’d get carried away. They’d had some close calls, though.
 
Recalling himself to the present with a mental shake, Tommy said his goodbyes, promising to return with Jay if he could. Then he activated his communicator to send the special signal to Alpha so that the little android could teleport them home. Billy called out last greetings as the Rangers felt the familiar tingle of the teleportation beam and they dissolved into a rainbow of coloured lights -- white changing to red, red into blue, black to green, pink, yellow and golden-bronze.
 
At the Power Chamber, their return coincided with the collapse of the solar flares which had prevented the Machine Empire from attacking the Earth for the duration of their absence. Almost immediately, the five Zeo Rangers launched into battle against another of Mondo’s monsters -- this time, he had transformed someone’s boom box into a grotesque shape which blasted the city with sonic waves, damaging the structural integrity of several buildings and shattering glass wherever it turned. Jason watched with Zordon as the Megazord finally landed a killing blow, and the monstrosity shrunk back into a mangled heap of circuitry and smashed plastic.
 
The battle over, the Rangers decided to go home to get a good night’s rest before they reassembled the next day to infuse their Power source with their combined Ninjetti energies. Jason especially was thrilled to participate; it hadn’t happened often that the whole team called upon the Power to work. When they did, though, it always tended to reinforce the bonds of friendship and caring the Rangers shared; never had he felt so close to all of them. Kat and Tanya nearly bubbled over with excitement once they were done -- the girls had an almost overwhelming urge to be close to the whole team, and all of the male Rangers got more than their fair share of affectionate hugs and friendly pecks.
 
As for Jason and Tommy, the experience drew them even closer. They touched frequently, not caring who saw them, enjoying the added sense of oneness. The others watched them indulgently, well aware that they soon would share one last encounter before Jason was hopefully returned to his own reality, and they got their own Bronze Ninjetti back -- or maybe Jay would choose to follow the Eagle instead, in which case his colour would be different.
 
The two days they had to wait for the Zeo Crystal to realign itself passed for Jason in a strange dichotomy of passing time -- on the one hand, the minutes seemed to crawl as he waited for the moment when he could begin his journey home; on the other, the time he could spend expressing his feelings for Tommy seemed to fly, and a part of him desperately wanted to cling to this. Finally, the moment had come. The team reassembled in the Power Chamber, morphed and ready as Alpha set the timer. The five gathered around their friend in a circle, raising their hands high and touching palms as they called upon their link to the Crystal, the Great Power and the Grid. Jason stood in the middle, watching the intense concentration on their faces as he felt the energy build around him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up, his skin began to tingle all over and there was a sound like waves crashing on the rocks in his ears as he dimly heard Zordon give the signal to the Rangers. He could almost see the brightly coloured streams of energy flowing into the Zeo Crystal, diffusing and breaking as if filtered through a powerful kaleidoscope and rushing outwards toward him, seemingly entering every cell of his body. A sensation of heat and cold enveloped him, then a flash of brilliance obscured his vision, and he knew no more.
 
The white flare slowly died down, and the circle broke up. Tommy took a step towards Jason, steadying his friend who was swaying with his eyes closed. The touch of his hand brought Jason back to his senses.
 
"Whoa!" he croaked, rubbing his eyes. "That was intense!"
 
"Are you allright?"
 
He smiled at Tommy.
 
"Yeah, I think so." He returned the firm grip with one of his own.
 
"Jason, let me take some readings," the squeaky voice of Alpha interrupted. Grumbling under his breath, he let himself be placed on the medbed, uttering dire threats towards Rocky and Adam, who took the opportunity to wisecrack about the amount of time he’d spent lately being scanned for this or that. Finally, Alpha was done, and they all quieted down as they waited for the results. Tommy drew unconsciously close to Jason, slipping a reassuring arm around the broad shoulders. Jason leaned slightly into the embrace, relishing the unspoken support.
 
"Ai-yi-yi, Zordon, there is a marked difference in the data; it looks like we succeeded in matching resonances."
 
The Rangers released a collective breath, and soon the atmosphere in the Power Chamber became somewhat boisterous. Zordon didn’t exactly kick them out, but after a while suggested strongly that they take their celebration elsewhere. By mutual consent, the group teleported out to meet at the Youth Center. Only Jason stayed behind a few moments longer. He looked up to the bluish face of his mentor, hovering in his timewarp.
 
The booming voice betrayed no surprise as he addressed the young man who had been instrumental in shaping his Rangers into one of the most formidable fighting forces of the known galaxies.
 
"Is there something you wanted, Jason?"
 
The first Red Ranger shook his head.
 
"No. I ... I guess I just wanted to thank you, Zordon .... for everything. If you hadn’t picked us that day, I don’t know what my life would have been like. I’ve had some hairy moments, true, but ..." he shrugged, at a loss for words. "Thank you."
 
The ancient interdimensional being nodded, understanding perfectly.
 
"I could not have chosen a better leader for the first team of Earth Rangers, Jason. Your service was always exemplary, and I sincerely hope that you will be able to rejoin the team, now that the damage done by the Gold Power has been repaired. I wish you luck in your return to your own reality -- and it is I who has to thank you. Without you, the Rangers would perhaps have taken a far different path. May the Power protect you -- always."
 
There was nothing more to be said. More than slightly choked up, Jason activated his communicator and teleported out, to join his friends at the Juice Bar one last time.
 
The gang had claimed their usual table in front of the counter when Jason joined them. He sat next to Tommy as he earnestly regarded his friends. The mood was not as jubilant as before, but not exactly somber either as theyped ped their drinks. After a while, Jason took a look around before he spoke up, as much to himself as to the team.
 
"You know .... this is where it all began. Not just this little jaunt I’m on right now, but ... everything. I was here when Zordon picked the first team, I saw Tommy here for the first time ...." he smiled at his friend as Tommy laid a comforting hand on his arm. "I guess ... I guess I just want to thank all of you for being my friends. The last six weeks --- I don’t know if I could have made it without all of you. It was such a relief to know that, no matter where or how, we’re all still friends. The other two times, I never had the chance to say good-bye ...." Jason’s voice trailed off as he saw Kat’s and Tanya’s eyes mist over. Both girls hugged him silently, and Adam and Rocky nodded in agreement. Tommy just sat next to him, his support evident in the closeness and the reassuring pressure of his hand on his arm. Then, Jason shook off his melancholy. He cast about for something to lighten the mood, when he suddenly hit on the perfect means.
 
"Say, guys -- I know that the history of the Rangers in this reality is somewhat different from my own. Isn’t there anything funny that happened to you, but not to me?"
 
Intrigued, Rocky sat up.
 
"Like what?"
 
An impish smile spread over Jason’s face. He winked at Tommy as he launched into his first tale.
 
"Well, this was before you joined the team back home. There was this one time where Billy had invented a machine which was supposed to enable us to read minds -- but somehow, when he tested it on Kim and himself, it backfired, and ...."
 
Soon, they were laughing uproariously, as they dredged up funny anecdotes from their past, and the shared laughter helped them to get past the inevitability of saying goodbye.