Long Journey Home

Over the next couple of weeks, Jason slowly adjusted to his new surroundings. Luckily, his personal history, apart from his life as a Ranger, wasn’t too different in this reality, so that he had no problems with his parents and at school. His friends helped him cope with the rest, which included small things (such as Mr Caplan not bothering with a toupee) and not so small things -- like Bulk and Skull not being the inseparable twosome they were back home. Here, Skull was a somewhat uninspired student, but well-liked just the same because of his musical talent. He had organized a band, and was already making a name for himself locally. Tanya often sang with him. All in all, it wasn’t such a bad life, and it felt just great serving as a Ranger once more. However, there was one thing missing, and it became more and more obvious the longer his stay turned out to be: Tommy.
 
Jason knew what it was like to miss his best friend, from the times Tommy had withdrawn when he first lost his Powers, to the months he’d spent in Switzerland, but always there had been the feeling that the other was around somewhere, if temporarily out of reach. Now, Jason felt another kind of isolation, and it preyed on his nerves. There was no way of telling how long he’d be here, and with each passing day his uneasiness grew, until he felt he could scream with frustration.
 
His growing attraction to Tommy’s alter ego didn’t help matters. The more time Jason spent in her company, hanging out, fighting alongside her (Tammy was not quite as accomplished a Martial Artist as Tommy, having concentrated more on forms than on fighting, but could more than hold her own), or just spending time together, the more he realized he was falling for her.
 
Only shortly before the whole mess started, Jason finally had admitted to himself that his feelings for Tommy ran far deeper than simple friendship, or even brotherhood; he’d loved Tommy for quite some time, but been reluctant to say anything. Their relationship was already very close and satisfying, and Jason certainly didn’t want to jeopardize or possibly damage that by bringing up something what might only be a phase, forgotten as soon as either one of them really fell in love. While neither was homophobic and both had admitted to a certain amount of curiosity when they’d once talked about male/male relationships way back when, Jason had more or less resigned himself to letting the whole matter lie. He knew that Tommy loved him in his own way, no doubt about that -- the question was , did he love Jason like Jason loved Tommy? Experimenting sexually just for the sake of trying out what it would be like was not worth ruining their friendship over.
 
However, meeting a female version of the person he loved so much threw a monkey wrench in his whole life. If he gave in to his attraction, it would not carry the risks a liaison with Tommy would entail. He could tell Tammy about his feelings without driving her away permanently or risk censure from society. Her sense of humour, her steadfast support, her intelligence were the same as his best friend’s, and they’d quickly fallen into the same close rapport the two of them had shared right from the beginning. The fact that Tommy’s undeniable good looks translated into one gorgeous girl, who looked at him with what Jason liked to imagine was genuine affection -- he dare not hope it might be more! -- didn’t help much, though. What if they started something and he was suddenly switched back? Both of them would be hurt, and Jason certainly didn’t want that. So, he did nothing, trying to hide his feelings for the Red Ranger, stubbornly ignoring the subtle signals he was getting from Tammy, and went his solitary way, since ‘here’ he not even had Emily.
 
Looking at his watch, Jason saw that it was time for him to leave if he wanted to be on time for his workout with Tammy. He was looking forward to the next weekend -- Tammy would blow the other competitors at the Karate expo away! He felt pretty confident about his own performance; he’d defeated most of the others before at one time or another, and the only one in recent times who had really challenged him had been Tommy. But Tammy specialized in musical kata -- her weapons forms were awesome, and it had been fun to pick the right music with her. He’d never paid too much attention to that discipline before, but watching Tammy practise had been eye-opening -- in more than one way. She seemed to glow, her body effortlessly flowing from one movement into the next, her brown eyes sparkling with concentration and joy .... with a mental jerk, Jason drew himself away from images of crushing her to him and hugging the life out of her when she’d win. Grabbing his gear, he let himself out of the house.
 
Tammy, for her part, tried to ease the confusion and pain Jason had to be feeling; she often met with him, drawing him out abois his home and his friends, especially Tommy. She could tell her unknown alter ego meant a lot to Jason, and it pleased her immensely; in a way, it validated her own feelings for the handsome Gold Ranger. After all, Jason was talking about her with such warmth, or at least her counterpart, wasn’t he?
 
She’d fallen hard for Jason almost as soon as she moved to Angel Grove, but he’d been with Kimberly at the time; both seemed so perfect for each other, the champion Martial Artist and the top gymnast, that she hadn’t wanted to interfere. When Kim left for Florida, all of the Rangers had hurt with Jason and tried to take his mind off things, but when her letter arrived, telling him she thought it would be better for both of them if they sought companionship elsewhere ... Jason had been devastated. Again, Tammy put her own feelings on the back burner, but now, for the first time since she’d known Jason, there was hope. Then, out of the blue, the boy she’d fallen in love with at first sight subtly changed. They’d found out the reason soon enough, and it certainly was one of the weirdest things any one of them had had to go through since they became Rangers -- whoever had heard of a personality transfer, outside of the one time when one of Billy’s inventions misfired?
 
The "new" Jason -- Jase -- appealed to her even more than before. "Her" Jason was very serious, every inch a warrior; this one was more easygoing, the laughter closer to the surfacltholthough he was just as responsible and conscientious as before. For the first time, she felt as if her affections might be reciprocated, and she couldn’t help but respond to the openness in her team’s leader. Tammy resolutely shoved thoughts about what might happen if they got together and he was gone as suddenly as he appeared to the farthest reaches of her mind. If this was her one chance to be with Jason, she was going to take it!
 
*Easier said than done, though!*
 
Although Tammy wanted nothing more than hurl herself into those strong arms, her natural reserve held her back. She’d never been shy, but something about the way Jase sometimes looked and smiled at her made her feel like a twelve-year-old in the throes of her first crush. She became tongue-tied around him, blushing like a shrinking violet and generally behaving more awkwardly than Billy used to at his nerdish worst. She sometimes felt as if she could scream with frustration, but couldn’t help herself. The knowing grins and exasperated headshakes of the rest of the team didn’t help matters any, either. Whyever had she confessed her feelings to Kat on that sleepover?
 
Sighing, Tammy packed her gym bag and prepared to leave; she was due to meet ttherthers at Ernie’s in half an hour. Jason and she were registered to compete in a Karate expo the next weekend, he in free-fighting, and herself in musical forms. They had taken to training together, helping each other out. *Something else Jason never would have done -- he was only interested in my fighting abilities!* Slipping on a new jeans jacket with lots of decorative zippers, Tammy stepped out of the house and made her way to the Youth Center.