Cataclysm (Tsukino Akume, Drama/Friendship)
On a roll! ^.^V
Title/: Cataclysm
Author/: Tsukino Akume
Relationship/: Andros/Ashley, Zhane/Karone, mentions of Cassie/Phantom
Rating/: K+
Warnings/: emotional trauma, mentally disturbed people, depression
Disclaimer/: If I owned the Power Rangers, this universe would exist. We would have known who the Phantom Ranger was - and it *would* have been a girl because I'm weird like that - and team snuggles would be mandatory every episode. As none of that is cannon, it's safe to assume that I don't.
Summary/: When Astronema was defeated, the Astro Rangers gave up more than their Powers. Reporters, fans, and long-lost relatives are coming out of the woodwork as the team struggles to adjust to it all. Bright Skies Universe.
Theme/: #48. Missunderstanding
Author's Notes/: Zhane's memoirs was named by rosabelle, because she's weird and funny and understands Zhane *way* too well. Much love to her for beta work. ♥
"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?" Ashley asked anxiously.
Cassie gave her a look. "Of course I want you guys there," she sighed. "I just ... " She shrugged helplessly. "I should probably do this on my own."
"You don't have to," Andros reminded her.
She smiled. "I know."
Ashley stepped forward to hug her tightly. "If you need us, we'll be right there, okay?" she persisted. "And no matter what happens, we'll be still be here."
"Ash, if you don't stop fussing she'll never go," Carlos informed her, tugging her away.
Ashley made a face. "Darn. You figured me out," she sighed, and everyone laughed.
Cassie looked at them all for a moment, her smile softening even as the butterflies in her stomach worsened. "I'll be back, you know," she pointed out. "No matter how this goes, I'll still be back at some point, even if it's just to get my stuff for the night."
"But we'll still be worried," Karone said softly.
Cassie moved to hug her just as tight as she had Ashley. "I'll call, no matter how it goes," she promised. She kissed Karone's cheek before stepping away, making the other girl smile. While it hadn't been a conscious decision, the whole team been begun showing Karone as much physical affection as they could. It was an effort to get her used to it as much as it was to make her feel welcome.
She couldn't say she really regretted it, though. By consequence, they'd all been hugging a lot more and seeking each other out when before they would have preferred to be alone. With things as uncertain as they were right now, it was hard not to look for reassurance.
She took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm really going now," she told them.
"You sure?" Carlos smirked.
She rolled her eyes at him. "Yes. Really going."
T.J. grinned as he came closer, squeezing her shoulder and kissing her forehead. "You'll be fine, Cassie. Tell your parents we said hi." And then he pressed the button on her morpher.
"Traitor!" she tried to yell, but the world was already dissolving into pink sparkles.
****
She eyed the door, but turned away again at the last minute. "I can't do this," she muttered under her breath. "Why did I ever think I could do this? I should just go."
"Honey, you've been pacing that hall for ten minutes now. You wanna tell me what's goin' on?"
She looked up, startled. "Adelle!" She winced. "I'm sorry. I'll just - "
"Hold it, young lady." Adelle put her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes at Cassie. "You gonna talk to me about what's got you all tied up in knots, or am I gonna have to drag it out of you?"
She sighed, reaching up to run a hand over her hair. "I'm supposed to be meeting someone here, and I'm not sure if I'm ready," she admitted reluctantly.
Adelle frowned. "Does this have anything to do with you being a you-know-what?" She glanced up and down the hallway warily, but it was thankfully empty.
Cassie smiled a little. In the few times she'd been on Earth since Astronema was defeated, there had been a select group of people who had treated the newly-identified Power Rangers the way they always had; Adelle was one of them. It was one of the reasons she'd agreed to meet her parents at the Surf Spot instead of somewhere else. She didn't need her newfound fame interfering in what was already going to be a painful conversation.
"No, it's not that," she said finally. She swallowed, hesitating. "I'm meeting my relatives. It's been awhile since I saw them last, and I just ... "
"You don't know how they're gonna take the new you, huh?" Adelle said sympathetically. "Honey, you'll never know if you don't go in there."
She let out a slow breath. "You're right."
Adelle squeezed her shoulder. "You'll be fine. You just give me a yell if you need anything, okay? I'll keep the rest of those vultures away from you in the meantime."
She gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Adelle."
"It's the least I can do."
She looked at the door again, taking a deep breath. I can do this. I've faced down Astronema and Divatox and armies of monsters. I can face my parents.
"I'd take the monsters right now," she muttered to herself, forcing her feet the last few steps through the door and into the Surf Spot.
Her eyes moved around the room instinctively, looking for potential threats as much as the people she meeting. Thankfully there weren't many people here at the moment, although she knew that wouldn't last long. They'd probably have to find somewhere else to go soon.
"Cassandra."
The sound of her name made her jump, and she turned just in time to realize the person heading for her was her father. She forced herself to lower her arms, swallowing hard. "Dad," she said softly.
David Reynolds didn't stop, nearly barreling into her as she was suddenly yanked into a fierce hug. Then his hands were running over her hair, gripping her shoulders, holding her face as he pulled back enough to stare at her. "Baby Girl, you are in so much trouble," he murmured, leaning in again to kiss her forehead just as T.J. had less than half an hour before.
She blinked as her eyes stung. "Hi, Dad," she mumbled finally. She didn't know what else to say.
He leaned back to stare at her again, his eyes roaming over her face. She tried not to fidget. "You look different somehow," he said eventually, frowning. "I can't put my finger on it, but something's changed."
Her answering smile was slightly bitter. "Yeah. I guess you could say that."
She glanced around without waiting for him to reply, giving her mom a brief smile before scanning the rest of the room again. "We should leave before this place gets too crowded. I don't want to cause any problems for Adelle."
David frowned. "It gets that bad around you?"
She nodded, not wanting to get into detail. "Come on, I know a place."
She didn't wait for them to follow, and she didn't look back to make sure they really were. She still wasn't sure if she wanted to know.
****
The park was more crowded than it should have been, but still big enough that there were places to avoid people. The lake, she decided. Should be pretty quiet on the far side. She wondered if the candles they'd sent out last night were still there, or if they'd finally sunk.
"Cassandra Christine, will you *stop*?"
A hand caught her arm, and she spun, half-raising a fist on instinct. Her mother stared back at her, startled.
She flinched slightly, lowering her fist and looking away. "Sorry," she muttered. "Reflex."
There was a long moment of silence as they stared at her, but she kept her eyes on a spot in the distance. If seemed vaguely familiar, and she wondered which monster she'd fought there.
The hand on her arm moved to touch her chin. "Cassandra." Amy's voice was gentle. "We're not mad at you."
She turned just enough to give her mom a skeptical look.
Amy smiled. "All right, so we're mad. But that's because we've been worried about you." She released Cassie's chin to tuck some hair behind her ear for her. "Because we love you."
"You really scared us, Baby Girl," David added, studying her again, "But that doesn't mean we'd stop loving you."
Cassie bit her lip, blinking hard. "I never thought you didn't love me," she whispered. "That never had anything to do with it." She swallowed, glancing away again. Was it Crocovile? "I just ... I don't know what I'm supposed to say now," she confessed.
"Why don't we start with what you've been up to since we saw you last?" Amy suggested, elbowing David when he started to protest. "How did you end up in Angel Grove?"
She blinked again, grinning wryly after a moment. "It's a long story," she warned.
"We've got time," her mom promised, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and kissing her temple.
By the time they finally found places to sit by the lake, she'd told them how she became a Ranger, about meeting Storm Blaster and Lightning Cruiser, the fall of the Power Chamber and how they'd found Andros, Zhane's awakening, and even how they'd finally found out Astronema was Andros' long-lost sister.
"This sounds like the most twisted soap opera I've ever heard," her dad marveled. "Are you getting paid for this?"
She threw back her head and laughed, bracing herself on her hands for a moment before leaning forward to hug her knees again. "Not yet, but we've had plenty of offers," she told him with a grin. "Zhane's already started his memoirs. He says he's calling it 'My Life as a Power Ranger', but only because Andros won't let him use something more exciting."
"What's more exciting than life as a Power Ranger?" he wondered.
She shrugged, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Life as an ordinary person? I don't even remember what it's like to be normal now. It seems like I've been a Ranger forever."
Amy frowned. "Is it really that different?"
"You mean besides the fighting giant monsters every week part?" She ducked the swat, grinning. "Well, it's - " She stopped, frowning. "It's hard to explain," she said finally. Her eyes fell to her right hand, which had already healed completely. "We're stronger, for one." She lifted the hand for them to see. "I should have broken this yesterday, but I didn't. And thanks to accelerated healing, it's already fixed. We're faster, heightened senses, that sort of thing." She paused to think.
"It's more than that, though," she said slowly. "Like, when I walk into a room, I always have to check the exits in case I need to sneak away to morph. You always look around for a threat, like a monster in disguise, or some Quantrons hiding in a crowd."
She glanced at her communicator and found herself smiling softly. "You feel things more, too," she added softly. "When you know how easy it is to lose a teammate ... you start to spend more time showing them how much you care. If something happens, you don't want the last thing you said to them be something you didn't mean." She swallowed, thinking of when Ashley had been kidnapped by Psycho Yellow and Psycho Pink. Or Zhane, who might never have woken up at all. "Life is too precious to waste on stupid arguments," she murmured, touching the pink band on her wrist.
She closed her eyes, forcing herself to look up. "You were talking about getting another job," she informed them quietly. "Because you couldn't pay the mortgage. And Mom was worried that CPS would take everyone away, because you couldn't afford to keep us." She shrugged a shoulder, ignoring the lump in her throat. "I was the spare kid. Everyone else needs you more."
Her parents were staring at her.
"Oh, honey ... " Amy breathed.
She shrugged again. "It's okay," she tried to tell them. "I'm not upset about it. I mean, you took me in when you didn't have to, and that's always - " She stopped, swallowing, because words only seemed to make the explanation worse. "I know it wasn't your fault," she said instead. "And you did the best you could. I just couldn't do that to you anymore. If there was any way I could help take away some of the stress ... " She trailed off, staring at her knees.
Why aren't they saying anything? Did I say something wrong?
A hand touched her shoulder, and she could feel it shaking. Before she could say anything, she was pulled against her father's chest, squeezed so tight she could barely breathe. The word "Stupid" just barely caught her ears.
She scowled and was about to protest when one hand came up to stroke her hair, and she felt a kiss press against her head. "Beautiful, stupid, stupid, girl," her father whispered.
She pulled back enough to look at him, stunned to realize he was crying. "Dad ... ?" she asked tentatively.
His hands came up to grip either side of her face, and he glared at her through his tears. "*We* are the grownups, Cassandra," he told her hoarsely. "*We* worry about how to pay for things. You don't get to make that sort of decision for us. We *chose* to bring you home, and we *chose* to adopt you. You can't just ... " He swallowed, shaking his head, and pulled her tight against him again. "You don't get to decide you're not as important as everyone else in this family, you hear me?"
She blinked. "But I - "
"Cassandra, we love you," her mom reminded her quietly, and another hand came up to stroke her cheek. "We fell in love with you the first time we saw you, this tiny, fierce little thing fighting with your brother. We didn't bring you home with us because Tony wanted you there. We brought you home because *we* wanted you there." Her mom leaned in close, and there was another kiss to her head. "The day you disappeared was the scariest day of my life. We never *once* stopped looking for you. All we've ever wanted was for you to be back home safe, where you belong."
It was exactly what she'd wanted to hear, had wanted to hear for most of her life, and that made it hurt all the more. She closed her eyes, feeling tears spill over even though she tried to hold them back. "I'm sorry," she choked out.
"It's okay now, Baby Girl," her dad promised, pressing yet another kiss to her hair. "Everything's gonna be okay."
She shook her head, pulling away. "No, that's not - " She reached up to wipe her eyes, sniffling. "That's not what I meant."
"What did you mean?" Amy asked carefully, looking worried.
She swallowed, tilting her head back to stare at the sky as she blinked away more tears. "I'm not Cassandra anymore," she said eventually. "I'm not ... I'm not the person that ran away from home fourteen months ago." She took a deep breath, looking at her mother's pained expression, her dad's complete confusion. "I'm Cassie Chan, the Pink Astro Ranger. That's the name I go to school under, the person who the whole world knows is a Power Ranger. I have friends to worry about and a planet to protect. I can't just go home like the last year never happened."
Amy blinked rapidly for a moment. "Then what do you want to do?"
Cassie sighed, shrugging helplessly. "I really don't know," she admitted. "I need to finish school, and I'd like to do that here. With D.E.C.A. and my morpher I can teleport up to the megaship whenever the guys need me, so that's not so much of a problem. And after graduation ... " She shrugged again. "I don't know what I want to do."
"Then how about this," Amy suggested, reaching out to take her hands. "You can stay here, in Angel Grove, long enough to finish out the school year." She put a hand on David's chest when he started to protest again. "But after you graduate, you come back home - at least until you turn eighteen. We can work something out with all this ... Power Ranger stuff." She squeezed Cassie's hands, narrowing her eyes. "But I want my Angel Face back where she belongs. I want the chance to know my girl again."
Cassie smiled weakly, because as much as she hated the nickname, she wasn't sure if that part of her even still existed anymore. Becoming a Ranger had changed her so much, it was hard to say what parts of her life as Cassandra were left. But her mom's offer was more than she really had any right to ask for, and she did miss her family ... "Okay," she agreed quietly.
There was a moment of silence, and at last her dad let out a long sigh. "You've really grown up," he observed.
"Sorry," she offered, feeling guilty.
"Don't be sorry," Amy scolded. "It's a good thing. It just makes us feel a little useless, is all."
Her eyes widened indignantly. "You're not useless!" she exclaimed. "You're - I wouldn't even be who I am now if it wasn't for you!"
Her dad raised his eyebrows.
She scowled at him. "T.J. wanted to go find Tommy because Kat was worried about him, and I went back to try and find my bus. And then I remembered you telling me never to leave someone in need, and I went back for him. And *that's* what made Kat pick me to be her replacement. So it's all your fault I became a Ranger in the first place." She sniffed, crossing her arms.
Her dad laughed, a loud, booming sound that gave her a warm feeling even as it startled her. He reached out to pull her against his side, rubbing her arm. "Lord, I missed you, girl," he chuckled. "You *and* your bad attitude."
She made a face at him, but the smile she was trying to hide sort of ruined the effect.
"What in the world are those?" Amy spoke up, frowning.
"Huh?" Cassie turned to look and blinked. "Hey, those are the candles we burned last night!" She scrambled to her feet, kicking off her shoes and wadding out into the water to scoop up the pair that had floated over to the shore.
"Why were you burning candles?" David asked, looking puzzled.
"We were honoring the Festival of Remembrance for Andros and Zhane. It's a Kerovian holiday." She frowned at the bowls of wax in her hands. "I thought these things would melt or something. Darn." She shrugged, reaching out for another one. "I guess we'll just have to toss them."
"Don't you dare," her mom scolded. "We can always get a new wick and melt the wax down to make another candle. All this time on your own better not have made you forget how to recycle, young lady," she added with a mock-scowl, placing her hands on her hips.
Cassie paused, turning to stare back at her mom. "What did you say?" she asked softly.
Amy frowned, tilting her head. "You *do* still recycle, don't you?"
She looked down at the candles again, blinking. "Mom," she said slowly, "You're a genius."
Title/: Cataclysm
Author/: Tsukino Akume
Relationship/: Andros/Ashley, Zhane/Karone, mentions of Cassie/Phantom
Rating/: K+
Warnings/: emotional trauma, mentally disturbed people, depression
Disclaimer/: If I owned the Power Rangers, this universe would exist. We would have known who the Phantom Ranger was - and it *would* have been a girl because I'm weird like that - and team snuggles would be mandatory every episode. As none of that is cannon, it's safe to assume that I don't.
Summary/: When Astronema was defeated, the Astro Rangers gave up more than their Powers. Reporters, fans, and long-lost relatives are coming out of the woodwork as the team struggles to adjust to it all. Bright Skies Universe.
Theme/: #48. Missunderstanding
Author's Notes/: Zhane's memoirs was named by rosabelle, because she's weird and funny and understands Zhane *way* too well. Much love to her for beta work. ♥
"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?" Ashley asked anxiously.
Cassie gave her a look. "Of course I want you guys there," she sighed. "I just ... " She shrugged helplessly. "I should probably do this on my own."
"You don't have to," Andros reminded her.
She smiled. "I know."
Ashley stepped forward to hug her tightly. "If you need us, we'll be right there, okay?" she persisted. "And no matter what happens, we'll be still be here."
"Ash, if you don't stop fussing she'll never go," Carlos informed her, tugging her away.
Ashley made a face. "Darn. You figured me out," she sighed, and everyone laughed.
Cassie looked at them all for a moment, her smile softening even as the butterflies in her stomach worsened. "I'll be back, you know," she pointed out. "No matter how this goes, I'll still be back at some point, even if it's just to get my stuff for the night."
"But we'll still be worried," Karone said softly.
Cassie moved to hug her just as tight as she had Ashley. "I'll call, no matter how it goes," she promised. She kissed Karone's cheek before stepping away, making the other girl smile. While it hadn't been a conscious decision, the whole team been begun showing Karone as much physical affection as they could. It was an effort to get her used to it as much as it was to make her feel welcome.
She couldn't say she really regretted it, though. By consequence, they'd all been hugging a lot more and seeking each other out when before they would have preferred to be alone. With things as uncertain as they were right now, it was hard not to look for reassurance.
She took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm really going now," she told them.
"You sure?" Carlos smirked.
She rolled her eyes at him. "Yes. Really going."
T.J. grinned as he came closer, squeezing her shoulder and kissing her forehead. "You'll be fine, Cassie. Tell your parents we said hi." And then he pressed the button on her morpher.
"Traitor!" she tried to yell, but the world was already dissolving into pink sparkles.
****
She eyed the door, but turned away again at the last minute. "I can't do this," she muttered under her breath. "Why did I ever think I could do this? I should just go."
"Honey, you've been pacing that hall for ten minutes now. You wanna tell me what's goin' on?"
She looked up, startled. "Adelle!" She winced. "I'm sorry. I'll just - "
"Hold it, young lady." Adelle put her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes at Cassie. "You gonna talk to me about what's got you all tied up in knots, or am I gonna have to drag it out of you?"
She sighed, reaching up to run a hand over her hair. "I'm supposed to be meeting someone here, and I'm not sure if I'm ready," she admitted reluctantly.
Adelle frowned. "Does this have anything to do with you being a you-know-what?" She glanced up and down the hallway warily, but it was thankfully empty.
Cassie smiled a little. In the few times she'd been on Earth since Astronema was defeated, there had been a select group of people who had treated the newly-identified Power Rangers the way they always had; Adelle was one of them. It was one of the reasons she'd agreed to meet her parents at the Surf Spot instead of somewhere else. She didn't need her newfound fame interfering in what was already going to be a painful conversation.
"No, it's not that," she said finally. She swallowed, hesitating. "I'm meeting my relatives. It's been awhile since I saw them last, and I just ... "
"You don't know how they're gonna take the new you, huh?" Adelle said sympathetically. "Honey, you'll never know if you don't go in there."
She let out a slow breath. "You're right."
Adelle squeezed her shoulder. "You'll be fine. You just give me a yell if you need anything, okay? I'll keep the rest of those vultures away from you in the meantime."
She gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Adelle."
"It's the least I can do."
She looked at the door again, taking a deep breath. I can do this. I've faced down Astronema and Divatox and armies of monsters. I can face my parents.
"I'd take the monsters right now," she muttered to herself, forcing her feet the last few steps through the door and into the Surf Spot.
Her eyes moved around the room instinctively, looking for potential threats as much as the people she meeting. Thankfully there weren't many people here at the moment, although she knew that wouldn't last long. They'd probably have to find somewhere else to go soon.
"Cassandra."
The sound of her name made her jump, and she turned just in time to realize the person heading for her was her father. She forced herself to lower her arms, swallowing hard. "Dad," she said softly.
David Reynolds didn't stop, nearly barreling into her as she was suddenly yanked into a fierce hug. Then his hands were running over her hair, gripping her shoulders, holding her face as he pulled back enough to stare at her. "Baby Girl, you are in so much trouble," he murmured, leaning in again to kiss her forehead just as T.J. had less than half an hour before.
She blinked as her eyes stung. "Hi, Dad," she mumbled finally. She didn't know what else to say.
He leaned back to stare at her again, his eyes roaming over her face. She tried not to fidget. "You look different somehow," he said eventually, frowning. "I can't put my finger on it, but something's changed."
Her answering smile was slightly bitter. "Yeah. I guess you could say that."
She glanced around without waiting for him to reply, giving her mom a brief smile before scanning the rest of the room again. "We should leave before this place gets too crowded. I don't want to cause any problems for Adelle."
David frowned. "It gets that bad around you?"
She nodded, not wanting to get into detail. "Come on, I know a place."
She didn't wait for them to follow, and she didn't look back to make sure they really were. She still wasn't sure if she wanted to know.
****
The park was more crowded than it should have been, but still big enough that there were places to avoid people. The lake, she decided. Should be pretty quiet on the far side. She wondered if the candles they'd sent out last night were still there, or if they'd finally sunk.
"Cassandra Christine, will you *stop*?"
A hand caught her arm, and she spun, half-raising a fist on instinct. Her mother stared back at her, startled.
She flinched slightly, lowering her fist and looking away. "Sorry," she muttered. "Reflex."
There was a long moment of silence as they stared at her, but she kept her eyes on a spot in the distance. If seemed vaguely familiar, and she wondered which monster she'd fought there.
The hand on her arm moved to touch her chin. "Cassandra." Amy's voice was gentle. "We're not mad at you."
She turned just enough to give her mom a skeptical look.
Amy smiled. "All right, so we're mad. But that's because we've been worried about you." She released Cassie's chin to tuck some hair behind her ear for her. "Because we love you."
"You really scared us, Baby Girl," David added, studying her again, "But that doesn't mean we'd stop loving you."
Cassie bit her lip, blinking hard. "I never thought you didn't love me," she whispered. "That never had anything to do with it." She swallowed, glancing away again. Was it Crocovile? "I just ... I don't know what I'm supposed to say now," she confessed.
"Why don't we start with what you've been up to since we saw you last?" Amy suggested, elbowing David when he started to protest. "How did you end up in Angel Grove?"
She blinked again, grinning wryly after a moment. "It's a long story," she warned.
"We've got time," her mom promised, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and kissing her temple.
By the time they finally found places to sit by the lake, she'd told them how she became a Ranger, about meeting Storm Blaster and Lightning Cruiser, the fall of the Power Chamber and how they'd found Andros, Zhane's awakening, and even how they'd finally found out Astronema was Andros' long-lost sister.
"This sounds like the most twisted soap opera I've ever heard," her dad marveled. "Are you getting paid for this?"
She threw back her head and laughed, bracing herself on her hands for a moment before leaning forward to hug her knees again. "Not yet, but we've had plenty of offers," she told him with a grin. "Zhane's already started his memoirs. He says he's calling it 'My Life as a Power Ranger', but only because Andros won't let him use something more exciting."
"What's more exciting than life as a Power Ranger?" he wondered.
She shrugged, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Life as an ordinary person? I don't even remember what it's like to be normal now. It seems like I've been a Ranger forever."
Amy frowned. "Is it really that different?"
"You mean besides the fighting giant monsters every week part?" She ducked the swat, grinning. "Well, it's - " She stopped, frowning. "It's hard to explain," she said finally. Her eyes fell to her right hand, which had already healed completely. "We're stronger, for one." She lifted the hand for them to see. "I should have broken this yesterday, but I didn't. And thanks to accelerated healing, it's already fixed. We're faster, heightened senses, that sort of thing." She paused to think.
"It's more than that, though," she said slowly. "Like, when I walk into a room, I always have to check the exits in case I need to sneak away to morph. You always look around for a threat, like a monster in disguise, or some Quantrons hiding in a crowd."
She glanced at her communicator and found herself smiling softly. "You feel things more, too," she added softly. "When you know how easy it is to lose a teammate ... you start to spend more time showing them how much you care. If something happens, you don't want the last thing you said to them be something you didn't mean." She swallowed, thinking of when Ashley had been kidnapped by Psycho Yellow and Psycho Pink. Or Zhane, who might never have woken up at all. "Life is too precious to waste on stupid arguments," she murmured, touching the pink band on her wrist.
She closed her eyes, forcing herself to look up. "You were talking about getting another job," she informed them quietly. "Because you couldn't pay the mortgage. And Mom was worried that CPS would take everyone away, because you couldn't afford to keep us." She shrugged a shoulder, ignoring the lump in her throat. "I was the spare kid. Everyone else needs you more."
Her parents were staring at her.
"Oh, honey ... " Amy breathed.
She shrugged again. "It's okay," she tried to tell them. "I'm not upset about it. I mean, you took me in when you didn't have to, and that's always - " She stopped, swallowing, because words only seemed to make the explanation worse. "I know it wasn't your fault," she said instead. "And you did the best you could. I just couldn't do that to you anymore. If there was any way I could help take away some of the stress ... " She trailed off, staring at her knees.
Why aren't they saying anything? Did I say something wrong?
A hand touched her shoulder, and she could feel it shaking. Before she could say anything, she was pulled against her father's chest, squeezed so tight she could barely breathe. The word "Stupid" just barely caught her ears.
She scowled and was about to protest when one hand came up to stroke her hair, and she felt a kiss press against her head. "Beautiful, stupid, stupid, girl," her father whispered.
She pulled back enough to look at him, stunned to realize he was crying. "Dad ... ?" she asked tentatively.
His hands came up to grip either side of her face, and he glared at her through his tears. "*We* are the grownups, Cassandra," he told her hoarsely. "*We* worry about how to pay for things. You don't get to make that sort of decision for us. We *chose* to bring you home, and we *chose* to adopt you. You can't just ... " He swallowed, shaking his head, and pulled her tight against him again. "You don't get to decide you're not as important as everyone else in this family, you hear me?"
She blinked. "But I - "
"Cassandra, we love you," her mom reminded her quietly, and another hand came up to stroke her cheek. "We fell in love with you the first time we saw you, this tiny, fierce little thing fighting with your brother. We didn't bring you home with us because Tony wanted you there. We brought you home because *we* wanted you there." Her mom leaned in close, and there was another kiss to her head. "The day you disappeared was the scariest day of my life. We never *once* stopped looking for you. All we've ever wanted was for you to be back home safe, where you belong."
It was exactly what she'd wanted to hear, had wanted to hear for most of her life, and that made it hurt all the more. She closed her eyes, feeling tears spill over even though she tried to hold them back. "I'm sorry," she choked out.
"It's okay now, Baby Girl," her dad promised, pressing yet another kiss to her hair. "Everything's gonna be okay."
She shook her head, pulling away. "No, that's not - " She reached up to wipe her eyes, sniffling. "That's not what I meant."
"What did you mean?" Amy asked carefully, looking worried.
She swallowed, tilting her head back to stare at the sky as she blinked away more tears. "I'm not Cassandra anymore," she said eventually. "I'm not ... I'm not the person that ran away from home fourteen months ago." She took a deep breath, looking at her mother's pained expression, her dad's complete confusion. "I'm Cassie Chan, the Pink Astro Ranger. That's the name I go to school under, the person who the whole world knows is a Power Ranger. I have friends to worry about and a planet to protect. I can't just go home like the last year never happened."
Amy blinked rapidly for a moment. "Then what do you want to do?"
Cassie sighed, shrugging helplessly. "I really don't know," she admitted. "I need to finish school, and I'd like to do that here. With D.E.C.A. and my morpher I can teleport up to the megaship whenever the guys need me, so that's not so much of a problem. And after graduation ... " She shrugged again. "I don't know what I want to do."
"Then how about this," Amy suggested, reaching out to take her hands. "You can stay here, in Angel Grove, long enough to finish out the school year." She put a hand on David's chest when he started to protest again. "But after you graduate, you come back home - at least until you turn eighteen. We can work something out with all this ... Power Ranger stuff." She squeezed Cassie's hands, narrowing her eyes. "But I want my Angel Face back where she belongs. I want the chance to know my girl again."
Cassie smiled weakly, because as much as she hated the nickname, she wasn't sure if that part of her even still existed anymore. Becoming a Ranger had changed her so much, it was hard to say what parts of her life as Cassandra were left. But her mom's offer was more than she really had any right to ask for, and she did miss her family ... "Okay," she agreed quietly.
There was a moment of silence, and at last her dad let out a long sigh. "You've really grown up," he observed.
"Sorry," she offered, feeling guilty.
"Don't be sorry," Amy scolded. "It's a good thing. It just makes us feel a little useless, is all."
Her eyes widened indignantly. "You're not useless!" she exclaimed. "You're - I wouldn't even be who I am now if it wasn't for you!"
Her dad raised his eyebrows.
She scowled at him. "T.J. wanted to go find Tommy because Kat was worried about him, and I went back to try and find my bus. And then I remembered you telling me never to leave someone in need, and I went back for him. And *that's* what made Kat pick me to be her replacement. So it's all your fault I became a Ranger in the first place." She sniffed, crossing her arms.
Her dad laughed, a loud, booming sound that gave her a warm feeling even as it startled her. He reached out to pull her against his side, rubbing her arm. "Lord, I missed you, girl," he chuckled. "You *and* your bad attitude."
She made a face at him, but the smile she was trying to hide sort of ruined the effect.
"What in the world are those?" Amy spoke up, frowning.
"Huh?" Cassie turned to look and blinked. "Hey, those are the candles we burned last night!" She scrambled to her feet, kicking off her shoes and wadding out into the water to scoop up the pair that had floated over to the shore.
"Why were you burning candles?" David asked, looking puzzled.
"We were honoring the Festival of Remembrance for Andros and Zhane. It's a Kerovian holiday." She frowned at the bowls of wax in her hands. "I thought these things would melt or something. Darn." She shrugged, reaching out for another one. "I guess we'll just have to toss them."
"Don't you dare," her mom scolded. "We can always get a new wick and melt the wax down to make another candle. All this time on your own better not have made you forget how to recycle, young lady," she added with a mock-scowl, placing her hands on her hips.
Cassie paused, turning to stare back at her mom. "What did you say?" she asked softly.
Amy frowned, tilting her head. "You *do* still recycle, don't you?"
She looked down at the candles again, blinking. "Mom," she said slowly, "You're a genius."