Legal Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers, Saban does. This is the second story in my "From the Stars" series. To get a basic idea, read "And So Life Goes On" first so you get a basic idea of what things are about. I may not own the characters Saban created, but the character Sharie Triesta does belong to me, 'cause she sprung from my little brain several years ago, when I was hook, line, and sinker into Power Rangers: Zeo. But since I liked PRiS so much, I stuck her here instead.Takes place about two weeks after "And So Life Goes On." Timeline indications are the same as previously mentioned, and any other differences I note in dialogue. A couple little things of note. When I origonally wrote this story, I had little respect for the Surf Spot, and had still continued to use the Juice Bar. Now, to be fair, I will be using both. Also, I was trained in Taekwondo, not Karate, so this story mentions a Taekwondo class. Not to slight Karate, I am simply more familiar with Taekwondo. Also, in my vocabulary, "violet" translates into "purple," not "blue". A Crayola purple crayon is labeled violet, right?
Acknowledgements: Big thanks go to Starhawk, who generously allowed me to use her 'color withdrawl' concept for this series, and big thanks also go to Cinders, who patiently listened as I fretted my worries to her.
Distant Hope
By ZeoViolet
*Yet another battle won,* mused TJ, turning in his chair to stare out at the stars streaking through space, thanks to the hyperush effect. *This is beginning to get really *old*. Why doesn't Astronema just let up?*
HIs dark eyes left the dazzling effects of hyperush to focus on the other members of the team. Ashley was sitting in her chair, slumped forward, with her arms on the console and her head on top of them. Usually, she was addicted to the stars-in-hyperush phenomenon, but recently, a new fancy had her attention diverted. That dreamy brown gaze was turned from the stars, and was now fixed on Andros, instead.
Andros was pretending to be busy tapping in something on a wall panel, but it was clear he was perfecty aware of Ashley watching him. There was faint color in his face, and a small smile, rather new on a boy like Andros, played about his well-formed lips. Once or twice, he even turned his head to make eye contact with her, flashing her a real smile that, until recently, no one had ever seen on him. Whatever had happened between Ashely and Andros after the Emotion Wrangler's effect on them, it had done wonders.
*He is no longer so cold,* TJ mused silently. *And he can actually act friendly. Ashley, whatever you did to him, *thank you*.*
His gaze left the lovesick pair making puppy-dog eyes at each other, and continued to roam across the room. Cassie was in her chair, keeping an eye on readouts, or, at least, she *appeared* to be doing that. Her eyes were glassy, no doubt she was thinking about the shadow that had haunted her life since their Turbo days, the phantom who had claimed her heart from the first.
*I cannot believe she actually knows his identity,* TJ thought. *And she won't tell us, either.* It had taken her a week to even admit that she knew, and Ashley had barely managed to wrangle the information out of her that she was planning to meet him secretly every now and then. Otherwise, Cassie had said not a single word on the matter.
Finally, Carlos was doing nothing in particular, sitting in a nearby chair, staring at a blank console. For Carlos, he was unusually quiet.
*He's been quiet ever since Ashley hooked up with Andros,* TJ realized. Only TJ, of all of them, knew that the Black Ranger had once had an interest in the Yellow Ranger. It had long since faded, but TJ knew that Carlos often wondered if he had not made a mistake by not telling Ashley about his feelings in the first place. Now, of course, it was by far too late.
*Carlos,* TJ thought, turning his gaze back to the stars, *Once we get back to Earth, I am finding you a date, buddy. It's high time you had one, anyway. Ashley is out of the question, and Katya and Andri are *long* gone. Time to find new pickings.* He had to stifle a chuckle. Not prone to thoughts like that himself, he knew if Cassie had heard him say it, she would subject him to a three-hour lecture on male/female equality (or female superiority, depending on her mood) *before* she wrangled his neck.
*Nah, Carlos,* he thought. *We just need to find a girl who won't two-time you and truly understands and accepts you for who you are. *And* will accept the idea you will be disappearing into deep space an awful lot. Heck, maybe some alien girl will pick you up, like Ashley did to Andros….* Of course, Andros was human, but he *was* from space, and that was close enough to alien for TJ.
*Speaking of aliens,* TJ thought, his mind wandering back two weeks to the young alien Lord of another planet, who had helped them in time of need. TJ was not sure why, but there was *something* about Trey that made him certian that they had not seen the last of the Triforian, not by a long shot.
*Maybe it is because he acted sort of strange, just like Tommy told me about,* TJ thought, stifling an urge to shrug. *Tommy is right. Trey is in pain for a reason, but he never elaborated. Alpha called us away first.* TJ closed his eyes, his mind taking him back to that conversation…
*Flash*
"Ready for another history lesson, Teej?" called Tommy cheerily as they worked on racecars at the track.
The Red Turbo Ranger nodded. "Yeah. Have you ever heard of the Phantom Ranger? He is a good fighter and all of that, but he refuses to show himself or stick around. Almost literally a ghost."
Tommy paused, wrench in hand, looking thoughtful. "Nah. Zordon never mentioned him. But that does bring about the strangest feeling of deja vu, though. The Zeo Rangers went through sort of the same thing, once."
"Really, how?" asked TJ, his interest sparked.
"Did you ever hear of the Gold Ranger, TJ?"
TJ thought a moment. "Well, sort of, I heard news reports about a strange new Ranger that had been sighted with the Zeo Rangers. He had a black-and-gold costume. But I thought the Gold Ranger was Jason."
"He was, but it was only intended as temporary. The powers actually belong to an alien, a lord of another planet. His name was Trey."
TJ, always in the mood for a good story, put down his screwdriver and sat on the bench. No way was he going to work and listen at the same time. Tommy was too good a storyteller for that. Tommy also tossed aside his tool belt and sat, his eyes going distant as he began to relate the experiences he had had with the mysterious Gold Ranger.
"….And he simply could not hold onto his powers when he splintered. That was where Jason came in. After I yanked him from the ocean, Billy tried to take the powers, but could not, due to some negative protons or other technobabble I don't understand. I went and hunted out Jason, who had just returned from Switzerland. He took on the Gold Ranger powers for a few weeks, until he started to reject the powers. Trey had no choice, Teej, splintered or not, he had to return and claim them, and was force-rejoined by unconventional means so he could reclaim the powers. Usually, it is a process that takes much longer. Thank goodness for his people, it is a very rare phenomenon. They wish they did not have to deal with it at all."
"Was that the end of the matter?"
"Almost. Trey stuck around for another week, until we had completely defeated the Machine Empire, and were just about to assume the Turbo Powers. Then he was called away." Tommy stretched, realizing how long they had been talking. "I do have one picture of him, though. Kat somehow managed to talk him into a group shot, and Alpha took the picture."
He dug into his wallet, where he kept his copy of the photo. TJ, curious, took it and examined it closely. He recognized most of the individuals in the picture, arms linked in obvious friendship and team unity against a desert background. He saw Katherine, Rocky, Tommy, Adam, Tanya, even Jason was in the picture.
However, there was one boy TJ did not recognize, who was wearing strange clothing and had a distinctive gold streak over his left eye, extending onto his upper cheekbone. He had dark hair and tannish-colored skin, and a handsome face, with a certain nobility that seemed…fitting somehow. A high forehead rose over deep, dark eyes, high cheekbones, firmly chisled lips, and a chisled, noble, strong jaw. He held himself, not with a superior air, but with the attitude of someone with a calm, central countenance.
TJ also noticed something else. Though the boy smiled, and he held himself straight and tall, it did not extend to his eyes. They were hollow, empty of any positive feeling. Even at this distance, the camera had captured the sadness reflected in them, as well as hints of a guilt-burdended soul.
Tommy had guessed what he was looking at. "I noticed that in him, too, when I met him. He did not say anything specific, but I knew he was driven somehow. He just gives off that air of someone who clenches himself and throws himself into his work because he feels guilty and full of pain. And yet, he has that calm, central part to him, too. I suppose he's a complex person, and of course, I was curious, but what could I do? I could not be so nosy. I don't know enough of his customs, I could have insulted him somehow. It wasn't until later that I got some inkling of what could possibly be troubling him to such an extent."
TJ raised an eyebrow, but Tommy shook his head. "I have never told anybody this. It is a horrible, sad story, and I am not sure how much is truth. It was in a file that somehow formed an attachment to a file I downloaded from what Billy had brought back from Triforia. More like a virus, I thought. Or someone had attempted to destroy it but it stuck to a nonsense file instead, I don't really know how Triforian computers work. It may have been, even when I opened it up, translated, and read the contents."
Tommy would probably have told him, too, if TJ's communicator had not gone off just then. It would have waited until next time, or even after, but the subject never came up again….
*Flash*
…until now, anyway. TJ sent a mental note to himself to go to Tommy again and bring up the subject.
*But what about the nosy part?* a corner of his brain reminded him. *Would Trey respect your interference?*
*It is just out of…concern,* he tried to remind himself. *You like Trey, after all. Would you want him hurt?*
However, the stars from the hyperush effect thinned out, and as Earth came into view, he forgot about the matter altogether again.
This time, maybe for not as long as he thought.
The Angel Grove Jym and Juice Bar was bustling, as usual. In one corner, a few girls were practicing gymnastics, In another, a Taekwondo class was being taught. The various "HYAH's and HAH's that the class generated swinging roundhouse kicks and backhand strikes were audible a the Juice Bar, where the Lightstar Rangers were gathered.
Mr. Stone had just finished taking the orders of the boys, and turned cheerfully to Ashley and Cassie. "And what will you lovely ladies be having today?" he asked, knowing full well what they would order.
They looked at each other, grinning at the routing. "Coke," they announced at the same time.
Mr. Stone grinned and chuckled. "Two usuals, coming right up."
TJ rolled his eyes. *Boy, something interesting besides a monster attack had better happen soon, or I am going to go nuts.* He thought about asking Carlos to join him in a game of basketball, but he saw the preoccupied look on his friend's face and decided to let well enough alone. He turned his gaze to the nearby tv set, where the latest new flick was being played, and promptly forgot about the rest of the group. Ashley and Andros were to busy giving each other adoring glances and Cassie was too busy with her Walkman to notice.
Carlos, like TJ, was bored. As in B-O-R-E-D. *What is interesting anymore if all you do day after day after day is fight monsters? Geez, you can't even keep a girlfriend, with all the roaming out in space a ranger does. Is this the life I want to continue to lead?*
He looked around the Youth Center, reflecting that there was almost no one present he did not know well or was at least aquainted with. Even most of the children in the Taekwondo class were little brothers or sisters of people he knew.
*A big city like Angel Grove,* he mused, *And almost nobody is a stranger.* His gaze continued to flicker around the room, resting nowhere in particular–until the most peculiar feeling hit him, one of being silently observed from time to time.
The first time it hit, he shrugged it off. So what if somebody was looking at him, although he could not see who. But the feeling continued to come and go, until he got tired of it and really looked around the room.
Nobody was paying attention. The gymnists continued to practice on the balance beams, the teens at the Juice Bar continued to talk merrily with full mouths and with typical exaggerated gestures with hands full of food. The Taekwondo class continued to practice kicks, to spar, and to break boards. Nothing seemed out of place.
He was about to turn his gaze away from the class when a brilliant flash of gold caught his eye. Unsure why, he turned his gaze back to the class, for the first time, his eyes fell on *her*.
The petite girl was the one who seemed to be assisting the Master teach his class. She wore a black belt, but her white practice uniform was tinged purple.
It was her hair, though, that had caught his attention at first. It was a brilliant, pure-gold color, with near ringlet-curls that flowed down her slim waist.
She had caught his attention, and he simply *stared*.
*She looks familiar, somehow* he mused, studying her features. She had a high forehead, high cheekbones, a small, finely-chisled, arrow-straight nose, and a firm, noble jaw. Her lips were red and temptingly full, with just a suggestion of a pout.
In reality, though, he scarcely noticed that. There was something…he was not sure, *about* her, that drew his gaze. Maybe it was the aura surrounding her, or her posture, which spoke of a strong spirit, he was not certain. She was showing a child the correct posture for a roundhouse kick, and demonstrated for the boy with firm moves and an audible *snap* of her practice uniform. When the boy tried again, and suceeded, she smiled a brilliant smile that to Carlos's eyes, showed a rare light.
When the boy wandered off to practice, her gaze left the child, and to Carlos's surprise, turned directly to his. Carlos felt himself being drawn into the gaze of the deepest purple eyes he had ever seen.
"Carlos? Yo, Carlooossss," said Cassie musically, waving her hand in front of his eyes. What is *wrong* with you?"
He jumped, startled. "What?"
"He had The Look on his face," remarked Ashley with a grin. "Hey, Carlos, who are you infatuated with?"
He shot her an exasperated look, but obviously thought better of an angry retort. "Do any of you know that girl?" he asked instead, indicating the class, where the girl had gone back to teaching the students.
"The one with the golden hair?" asked Ashley. "No, I don't know her, but she looks about our age."
"Does she seem familiar somehow?" Carlos asked.
TJ shot him an odd look. "Not really."
"I–oh, I don't know," sighed Carlos, going red and shaking his head. "I just get the feeling she is very familiar–that I know her. That we should know her. There is something *about* her that I feel that I have encountered before, and will again."
Cassie gave him a slightly dubious look but did not question his notion. After all, she had gone through a similar event with the Phantom Ranger before she had managed to make her feelings known to him.
TJ, though, was also giving the girl a second glance. "Come to think of it, she does look familiar somehow–like she resembles somebody I know, but I can't place where. Is that what you meant, Carlos?"
"I–I think so," he stumbled. "But–"
"But you are also attracted to her," grinned Cassie.
"No, I–"
"Bull. Don't give me that. I've seen that look on your face before, but never so intensely. So you were caught up in her pretty face, so what?"
"No, it was not that. You know I don't care what a person looks like. I would not be a power ranger if I thought that way. There is just something, I don't know–" he waved his hand in confusion.
"Something that goes beyond words?" asked Cassie quietly, perfectly serious now. Carlos shot her a grateful glance.
"Exactly." He was glad she understood. She had acted that way with the Phantom Ranger for the longest time, he recalled…
"Why don't you go talk to her?" suggested Andros, out of the blue. He had a strange look in his eyes. "If you feel that way about her, don't let her get away, because you could seriously regret it." He shot a shy smile in Ashley's direction, and she grinned back.
His words had more impact for Carlos than Andros could have guessed. Carlos nodded numbly and turned his attention back to the Taekwondo class. When her gaze flickered back to his again, albeit breifly, he also got the sudden feeling she had been the one watching them earlier.
A little while later, the class ended. The girl had vanished into a dressing room with the other females in the class, and Carlos waited almost impatiently as she came out dressed in form-fitting, knee-length jeans and a light purple T-shirt tucked into them. She was fixing the strap on her duffel bag when he got up the nerve to approach her.
"Hi. You were doing a pretty good job of teaching those kids over there." he said shyly.
She looked up, her violet-purple eyes meeting his. She regarded him for a split second, then smiled. "Oh, hi. Thanks, Carlos." she said softly in a sweet voice.
"You…know my name?" he asked, surprised.
"Sure. Word gets around quickly here." she shifted her bag onto her shoulder, giving him a glance that said he was free to join her as they headed outside.
"Of course," he said, not sure of what else to say as he walked beside her out the door. Suddenly, he did think of something.
"Then, if you know my name, could I have yours?"
"You could," she grinned at him.
*Imp,* the thought sprang to his mind, unbidden and affectionate. "Okay, may I have your name, *please*?"
There was a faint chuckle. "Okay, yes you may. My name is Sharie." She shifted the bag on her shoulder and pulled a purple scrunchie off her wrist, pulling her golden hair back off her face, except for her bangs.
"Sharie…" he trailed off, indicating he wanted her last name as well.
"My full name is Sharie Jeanette Triesta, Carlos Antonio Perez." she flashed her smile at him again. He did not bother to ask how she knew his middle name, he was not sure he *wanted* to know.
"Sharie Jeanette Triesta," he repeated, wondering why the name rang a bell. She nodded. "Pretty name. It suits you."
"Thank you," she said, the slightest hint of color rising to her cheeks.
"I have not seen you around here before. You new here?" Carlos asked casually.
She bit her lip, as if trying to formulate an appropriate answer. "Not exactly. I did grow up in Angel Grove. I have just been out…traveling for the past eight months, so I am behind on the times. Last time I was here, the Zeo Rangers were recently joined by some strange Gold Ranger. Now, they are…different."
Carlos whistled. "Boy, you must have traveled far to not know that after awhile, the Zeos were replaced by the Turbo Rangers, and then more recently by the Lightstar Rangers. They are not around as much, though," he said, cautiously, not wanting to appear as if he knew too much.
Sharie bit her lip and tried to suppress a sigh. The time had come to tell them. No longer could she help, hidden from the background. Earth was in too much danger.
Carlos saw her thoughtful look, and was suddenly aware of her eyes breifly shifting from his face to the black-striped communicator at his wrist before meeting his gaze again. Carlos was immediately flooded by surprise and caution, and the eerie feeling that she knew, she just *knew*, who he and his friends were.
Seeing his expression go from open and easygoing to cautious, Sharie grabbed him by the hand and pulled him out the door of the building, out of earshot of anybody else. "Look Carlos, I must speak with you and your friends, and soon. Could you get Andros, Ashley, TJ, and Cassie, besides yourself, to meet me in Angel Grove park tomorrow?"
She saw his surprise and hesistation. She startled him into nodding an agreement when she leaned up and whispered, "I *know*, Black Lightstar Ranger. Now, I really need you to do this."
Numbly, he nodded. In response, she flashed him a brilliant smile. "Great! I'll see you tomorrow then." Without another word, she turned and walked off, leaving Carlos shaking his head in complete confusion.
As he walked back inside, something else occured to him, a feeling that had bothered him without his being sure why.
Her eyes, the ones that had pulled him in so deeply, were haunted. She had the most brilliant smile, but it did not reach those large purple irises. They were largely devoid of any positive emotion whatsoever, as if they had no reason to have any.
"She *what*?" asked TJ, incredulous. "And you agreed?"
"What else could I do? She tongue-tied me. Now the question is, what *do* we do?" sighed Carlos, frustrated. "I got no sense she was decieving me."
"Still, it could be a plot by Astronema," said Ashley.
"And then again, maybe not," said Andros. "I suggest we meet her, but with caution until we know her true purpose. Who knows what may happen."
* * *
Early the next morning, the Rangers gathered in Angel Grove Park, directed by an untraceable e-mail that told them where to go.
"This had better *not* be a trap," grumped TJ sleepily, rubbing his eyes. "If it is, I will *not* be happy."
They did not have to wait long before Carlos spotted the girl he had met the day before. She appeared out of nowhere a short distance away and walked toward them, as if not a thing was wrong. She must have seen their caution on their faces, for she smiled slightly.
"No, I am not what you are thinking. Astronema did not send me." she assured them.
"Okay, uh, Sharie," said TJ, in a getting-down-to-business tone and not wasting time on formalities. "How is it you know so much about us? Did Zordon tell you this and send you somehow?"
"No, TJ. What I have to say you may very well find hard to believe, but I have been watching the Power Rangers since I was twelve. I have known the identites ofmost of them, like Trini, Zack, Kimberly, Adam, Tommy, you get the picture."
"I see…" said TJ slowly, his voice not quite hiding his disbelief. "And how do you know…"
He was interrupted by several explosions, followed by various screams and cries.
Looking up, they all saw a group of monsters, so terrible-looking that the term 'hideously ugly' was a kind description, trashing Angel Grove park and sending innocent civilians running in all directions in sheer panic.
"Looks like we have a problem," muttered Ashley. They were vaguely aware of Sharie following them to an out-of-the-way corner, where the group of rangers looked at her for a moment before Andros shrugged, figuring 'what the heck, she already knows'.
"Come on, guys," he announced. "Let's rocket!" They flipped open their morphers and tapped in the numbers "3,3,5" and activating the morphing sequence. A brilliant light flashed as their suits materialized into place around them, their helmets appearing and concealing their features.
Once morphing was complete, Carlos cast a glance at Sharie, who had not moved, but now had an errie glow in her purple eyes, her slender body tensed as if ready to pounce. "Better get out of here, Sharie, before you get hurt."
"I will not," she said quietly, her chin lifting slightly. "I intend to help."
"How?" asked Carlos, puzzled. "You have no powers." He did not add that he was showing quite a bit of trust in her to not betray them to Astronema.
For answer, she gave him a slightly mischevious smile and backed away slightly. She straightened her arms and gave each wrist a quick jerk. Morphers appeared in their places at her wrists. She then bent her arms at the elbows and crossed her wrists. They could only watch in surprise as she gave the cry, "Zeo Violet Ranger Power!"
A bright purple light blinded them for an instant. When it faded, there was a purple ranger standing in it's place, a beautiful violet suit trimmed with gold that looked eerile familiar. She also wore a gold-colored chestplate, trimmed with violet,, like a certain Gold Ranger had worn before her. But the most astonishing item was her helmet design, the same design that the Gold Ranger's had been!
Noting their obvious astonishment, Sharie nodded. "Trust me, I will explain later. Right now, I wish to help, there are a lot of monsters and quantrons around. The more hands, the better."
Andros, too surprised to really register her words, only nodded in agreement, and the six rangers turned and dived into the foray of bad guys.
It was worse than they had first thought, for each quantron they bashed, two more leaped on them, or a monster, or both. Needless to say, the Lightstar Rangers were quickly overwhelmed.
Carlos was surprised to note, however, that Sharie seemed to have considerably less trouble than he was having. He was not quite sure how she did it, but somehow, she managed to duck the monster's claws and the Quantron's weapons and hit them right where it hurt. Though he was pinned at the moment, Carlos could not help but grin in satisfaction as a soprano yelp indicated where her well-placed kick had landed. *Ouch….*
Once she managed to get herself free, she turned her efforts to the rest of the team.
"Think you could show me a couple of those moves? And how do you manage to keep them off you like that?" TJ panted as she side-swiped a quantron in the neck, knocking him off the Blue Ranger.
"Sure," she said, as two monsters, outraged, each grabbed one of her arms. "That is, if we get through this. And instant teleportation is a trademark of the Zeo Powers." She jerked her wrists and yanked her arms away sharply, freeing them. She slipped them around the back of their heads and crashed them together, so the monsters saw stars. A low swoop of her foot sent them tumbling to the ground, off-balance. She had nothing else to do with them but draw a laser pistol from her belt and fire, letting them go in a blaze of agony. Without a further thought, she rejoined the fray, helping her new aquaintences to fight until only two monsters were left.
"Uh-oh," muttered Cassie as they blew up to Megazord size . "One of them looks bad enough, but two?"
"Sharie?" called Andros. "You've got the power, but you got a zord handy?" *After all, she can do everything else…*
"Sure I do. Several, in fact. Sphinx Ultrazord, power up!"
The ground rumbled, and a roar was heard. Up came bounding a gigantic zord, with the look of the Sphinx of Egypt on it. It stood, proudly ridged, by Sharie and waited paitently for further instruction.
"It fits," mused Carlos to himself. "The Gold Ranger had the pyramid shape of Egypt, why not the Violet Ranger have the Sphinx?"
"Good," called Andros. "Astro Megazord, power up!"
As their own gigantic zord swung into place, Sharie turned to her zord. "Sphinx Ultrazord, battle mode 1!" she ordered. Obediently, the animal legs reformed to form a humanoid posture, and it rose to the full height of the Astro Megazord. Magically, a sword and shield materialized, and it stood there proudly, daring somebody to mess with it.
"We'll handle the brown monster," called Andros. "Sharie, you take the piglike monster."
"Agreed," came her voice over their communicators. A purple teleportaion beam swept her away from their sight up into the zord. The rest of the rangers did the same, and the stage was set for battle.
A loud squeal of pain resounded in the air as a final swipe from the Sphinx Ultrazord's sword put an end to the pig monster's misery.
"Thank you," she said aloud. "You were enough trouble as it was."
Sharie held back a sigh of relief, the danger was not yet over. It seemed that the brown monster, with an ugly trunk that doubled as a third arm, was pretty evenly matched against the Astro Megazord.
"Need a hand?" she asked over the comm system.
"Need you ask?" answered Ashley. "How about blindsiding him for us? He has forgotten you are there."
"Sure." While the Megazord kept the monster occupid, Sharie piloted her zord to sneak up on him as quietly as it was possible for a zord to sneak. One swipe of her sword, and she did some nasty injury to the creature that is too gruesome to describe. The Megazord took it's window of opprotunity, and went in for the final blow, standing over the explosion triumphantly as the monster went out in a bright flash and a loud cry of agony. The Sphinx Ultrazord came up, and the two zords high-fived it in victory.
After sending their zords away, the teens returned to the park. Sharie came up to them and just looked at them for a moment, before sighing and settling under the trees with them. She had some things that she wanted to relate.
"How do I begin?" she said somberly. "As I said, I have been watching the rangers since I was twelve, and Rita Repulsa was first freed from her dumpster prison to wreak havok on the world in an attempt to conquer it."
"You were twelve then?" asked Ashley. "That makes you, what, sixteen or seventeen now?" she mused, struggling with her memory.
"I am seventeen, somewhat younger than the rest of you, but not by much."
"I don't remember hearing of you before," said TJ, hoping he had not caught her in a lie.
"That is because I have never visibly fought here on Earth before, with others knowing it. The times I lended aid to the rangers in the past were without their knowlege."
"You've had your powers since you were twelve?" asked Carlos. "Boy, were you young. Who gave them to you, Zordon? And why did you never show youself before this?"
She held up a hand to stop the flow of questions. "Zordon did not give me my powers. He has no idea I exist here on Earth. I have not showed myself openly on Earth before because my powers are highly dangerous to handle. They are not your typical Zeo powers, but it would be difficult to explain otherwise. And I got them when I was five, not when I was twelve."
"Five!" TJ gaped at her. "How could you possibly handle them as a child? Who would give a warrior's powers to a little girl unable to use them?"
"I know, it took me three years. My own mother gave me these powers," she sighed, then looked as if she regretted saying it. *Here come the questions…*
"Your mother?" echoed Cassie. "No offense, Sharie, but *where* did you say you were from?"
Sharie bit her lip and was silent for a moment, as if contemplating an answer that was extremely difficult to say. Her eyes also lowered, but not before Carlos noticed the heart-wrenching pain that flashed in them. He did not feel surprised when his own heart twisted in response.
"It is difficult to talk about, and there is only so much I may say," she whispered at last. "I am not exactly from around here, guys. I did not come to Angel Grove until I was nearly six years old."
"Where were you before that?" asked Cassie gently.
She swallowed. "Offworld."
"Offworld?" repeated TJ. "You are really *not* from around here, are you? Where are you from? A space colony like KO-35?"
"No, KO-35 was abandoned long ago. I am not even human."
"Not human?" repeated Carlos. "Then where are you from?"
Her eyes flashed again in pain. "I was born on a planet called Triforia."
The Rangers exchanged glances. "Then how did you end up here?" asked Ashley. "You are only seventeen, why aren't you at home where you belong?"
"I can't go back to Triforia. I no longer have a home to return to."
Carlos was closest to Sharie, he saw that her hands had begun to tremble. Unsure as to how she might react, he gently laid a hand on her arm. She looked at him in surprise, her eyes spearing him to the core of his being.
"What happened?" he asked.
She closed her eyes, as if steeling herself against an unimaginable horror story. Carlos, unaware of his own actions, slid his hand from her shoulder to rest on top of hers. Her eyes flew open again, surprised. He smiled slightly at her.
"You do not have to tell us, if you don't want to," he said quietly.
"No, I-I must tell you something," she said, just as quietly. "I was born on Triforia. I have one older brother who was already 2500 years old when I was born, since my parents thought they could never have any more children. That was not good, because if possible, siblings are always raised in groups of two or three so they aren't alone. I was a total surprise. I remember the look on my family's faces right after I was born. We were…what is the right word? Close-knit."
"You remember your birth?" asked Ashley in surprise.
"Most of us do. We have photographic memories all our lives."
"What happened?" asked TJ softly. He noticed she left her hand in Carlos's, it seemed to give her the courage to go on.
"My father died when I was three." she trembled, and seemed grateful when Carlos squeezed her hand gently. "My brother and I were extremely close, probably because he had grown up alone, which my people *hate* almost above all else. After my father died, we pulled together even more, along with my mother, and continued to live–until the attempted invasion and subsequent war of Triforia."
She stopped, and Carlos could see real horror flashing behind her purple eyes. Whatever terrors she had seen, she did not seem to be able to speak about it. He glanced at where her rather small hand still rested within his, he gripped it firmly, and also reached for her other hand.
"Do not go on if you cannot," he urged.
"I must," she whispered, looking at him with haunted eyes, which still showed no trace of tears, only what appeared to be an inherent stubbornness to control them. "I sense some of you still doubt my words. You must believe me when I say I am no threat to you, physically or mentally."
"I believe you," he urged. "You do not have to go on."
"I must," she repeated. She drew a deep breath, and Carlos felt her fingers clench his. "I–don't like to remember what happened then. Sometime during the war, one of the men who headed the enemy saw me, and decided I would make a cute servant girl, or some other kind of show-off, I suppose. There were other reasons, too, I just don't want to go into them." Her eyes lowered, and she barely whispered audiably, "I was kidnapped."
Andros's eyes widened, and Ashley's hand covered her mouth.
"I was kidnapped, and held prisoner for three weeks. Much of that time was so traumatic I don't even remember what happend…but I remember plenty that can never be repeated. Plus, the man who had me snatched was sadistic and cruel, not only to me, but all his servants. He beat almost all of them regularly, and loved to play mental torture games. I don't know how I managed to escape him, but I did."
She had begun to shiver violently, and Carlos was unable to help himself. He slid his arms around her while she gritted her teeth and stubbornly insisted on continuing.
"I am okay, Carlos, honest. After I escaped, I made my way home. It was my brother who found me, grabbed me up and carried me indoors. One would have thought that I was safe then–how wrong *that* little notion was." She drew in a shuddering breath and continued. "The man who had me kindapped–he was a bit of a free vocalizer. Too much. He was fond of repeating forbidden information to whoever was listening, information people outside of his species were absolutely *not* allowed to know about. It was death for whoever knew and whoever told, if it was found out. When my mother found out some of the information I was privy to, she truly feared for my life."
Sharie was silent while she took several deep breaths, as if really steeling herself. "And the man was furious, too. He had never intended for me to leave his service, even if the idea of ransom had evercrossed his mind. I had a price on my head, and people were out everywhere searching for me to return me to him–dead or alive."
Andros was white. He was not sure he wanted to hear the rest. But he felt he had to.
"Mother was terrified. She could not keep me hidden, for this man it was near-impossible to hide anything if he was determined to find it. To protect me, she knew that the only way to keep me alive was to send me away, into the unknown–where even she would not know where I ended up, in case she was captured and interrogated, she honestly would not know.
"She did not dare tell my brother, for he would have never let her do it. I remember she came to me shortly after I returned home, and handed me this." Sharie held out her hand, and a staff appeared, looking like the Golden Power Staff, except it was purple where the black should have been. "She told me to close my eyes and concentrate on the staff, it was for my own protection. I did, and felt a strange feeling flood through me as the power bonded with my very essence. I also knew it would be too much for me to control at that point, except for basic self-preservation. There is something about my powers…they don't exist in other Zeo Powers. And I have no idea where she got them. She never told me and I never sensed it from her mind."
"You are telepathic?" asked Ashley over her own amazement.
"Yes, I can do just about anything, and on any level, but it comes with a price. If I do not keep my mental barriers up at all times, I can be overwhelmed by another person's thoughts and feelings. It is not pleasant."
"Then what happened?" asked Cassie softly.
"The very next day, over my protests, she led me to a docking bay in one of the orbital space stations my family was on at the time. We were the only ones on board the station, and my brother was at the opposite end of the station from the docking ring where my mother placed me in a small craft and kissed me good-bye, no matter how much I begged to be allowed to stay. And she made sure I could not change course myself and returned before she shut me inside, and my craft was jettisoned from the station in an aimless direction I doubt even she knew."
"Why did you never go back later?" asked TJ. "I would have been furious."
"I was too, at first. But my family has to be dead. The last I saw of the station, I don't know if it was sabatoge or not, but it blew up. I had nowhere else to go, my planet is probably war-ridden still, for all I know. I traveled for three days before crash-landing on earth."
*She does not realize the truth!* thought TJ, shocked. *She never returned, so she does not know what really happened!* He had a feeling the others were thinking the same thing, but nobody said anything as Sharie continued.
"I crash-landed on the property of a wealthy young couple who had no children of their own. They offered to raise and adopt me, for which I was grateful. I had no control over my powers, and this gave me the chance to get control. Plus, I grew to love them very much." Intense pain flashed in her eyes again. "It was not worth it to lose them, too! My adoptive father died when I was nine, of meninginitis that spread so fast he never had a chance, and even I could not help him. My mother died when I was fourteen in a car accident. I've lived alone, pretty much, since."
"You are seventeen, right?" asked Ashley. Sharie nodded. "Who are your legal guardians? And you are not that much younger than us, but I don't remember seeing you in school before, and neither does Carlos. We both grew up in Angel Grove."
"My legal guardians are an aunt and uncle, both physicians and who also know the complete truth about me. My aunt was my mom's sister, and my uncle was my father's brother–a double-wedding deal, as they put it. As for education–to put it mildly, what your school systems teach, I already knew. Our style of educaiton is…different, and so it is learned faster. I do not know if you have ever heard of knowledge infusion, though. Anyway, I spent my time persuing university degrees, at fast rates, because there is not much to learn except for a few unique things on this planet. I am even a trained physician, though I don't have time to set up a practice. My aunt and uncle also are, so I occasionally help them." Her face now numb, she shrugged. "And it is a good thing I did not. When I assumed control of my powers when I was eight, I began to slip out into uncharted parts of space occasionally. I could not bear the thought of others going through what I had gone through. I am…driven to help others, I suppose is a term that could be used. But I usually only venture out into the deepest of space, because I have made more than a few enemies helping to eliminate evil. They would like to get their hands on me, and stop at nothing to do so. I am unwilling to risk the safety of this planet luring them here."
"Why did you never seek out Zordon when you came to Earth?" asked Cassie gently. "He could have helped you also."
"There are a lot of reasons, and not all of them pleasent. Zordon does not even know I exist, much less of my powers. Let me put it this way," it seemed to be her way of saying that she thought they were better off not knowing already. "It is too dangerous. Powers of my type would have attracted Earth a lot of unwanted attention, even before Rita showed up. Those evil would have been eager to get their eager little hands on my powers. They are not designed for evil use, but used in certain ways, they can easily be used to dominate galaxies, without hardly a blink. That is why I kept it a secret so long, only helping from the shadows."
"So why now?" asked Carlos.
"I will not lie to you. Earth is in even graver danger now than ever. Especially with Zordon missing. I have this feeling that in the future, things will get a lot tougher. I am offering my help to your team, if you accept it. The only problem is, I cannot be around all the time. I still have obligations to the darker reaches of space. My adoptive family knows who you are, too. They know of my decision, and are willing to keep your secret and offer aid if you need it, since they are doctors. They could help in an emergency."
Andros nodded. If he had any doubts, they had long before been dispelled.
Sharie had slowly stopped shaking, her body relaxing, though her expression remained one of carefully veiled neutrality, as if she was ashamed of showing so much of what she had felt. Her eyes, though, remained haunted, as if she was never able to dispel the horrors of what she had seen in her childhood or had probably seen since, being a Ranger.
Ashley glanced at the sun, it was nearing overhead. "What say we get a bite to eat, guys?" she asked, trying to dispel the melancholy mood. The rest nodded absently, except Sharie.
"I have to go. I have some things I still have to catch up on. I was not exactly lying, Carlos, when i said that I had been gone for eight months. A mission in deep space trapped me out there for that long, and I was only recently able to return."
Carlos nodded as they stood. "I understand. So…will I see you again soon?" he asked, his tone a bit wistful.
"Sure," she said softly, and for the first time since starting her tale, she let the corners of her mouth turn up slightly, though her eyes remained blank with the effort to bury what she had forced herself to dredge up. Her hands were still in his, she squeezed them. "And Carlos?….thank you," she whispered, almost fervrently. "You really did help me, more than you could know. Good-bye, I will see you soon." She disengaged her slender hands from his, and walked off swiftly, only once turning her bright purple gaze back to his as she rounded the corner. Just as she walked out of sight, a purple teleportation beam whisked her away.
* * *
"I cannot disbelieve her," said TJ that same afternoon. "But still, what she says sounds too incredible to be real. And yet, I cannot doubt her. I know nobody does," he sighed.
Carlos just looked at him. "She has never been back to Triforia since she left the place, how would she know things turned out differently than from what she assumed? Her eyes remind me of Trey's, because they are so full of loss, as a matter of fact, " he mused, as if suddenly something important hit him. "Did you notice how familiar she seemed? Dosn't she resemble Trey an awful lot in the face area, if you disregard the eyes and hair?"
"So what if she does?" mumbled TJ.
"Her last name is Triesta…"
"What are you getting at?" said TJ, raising an eyebrow.
"What was Trey's last name?"
"Triesta. So what, Carlos. That does not mean…." His eyes widened and he shook his head, hard. "No, Carlos Perez, don't even *start* down that direction. That is too fanciful a notion to think about."
"But what about their powers? Look at her helmet, man! The same design! I would not be surprised if she has a pyramidas of her own somewhere."
"She obviously also has no idea that the Gold Ranger is the Lord of Triforia. If they had been even distantly related, would she not have known that? Trey has had those powers for 2,000 years."
"But if for some reason, she had not known…."
"Carlos, stop grasping at straws! She has powers, and she is here to help. I know you like her, that is fine, I don't care where she comes from. But don't pry into her affairs like that! She would surely never forgive you, and *then* where would you be?"
"*Madre de Dios!* It is not just her face!" Carlos insisted. "She has this…*way* about her, I cannot understand it. It is in how she holds herself, her very essence, the way she was born with, like we are all born with the ability to carry ourselves a certain way. The only other person I ever saw carry himself even remotely like that is Trey."
"How do we know that not all Triforians act certain ways? It is all coincidence, Carlos. Please, drop it!"
But Carlos would not. "Did you not tell me Tommy knows more about Trey's past than we do? We could go ask him," he insisted.
"*Damn*, Carlos, when did you get so nosy all of a sudden? You are acting posessed!"
"Maybe it is because I am! I can finally understand how Cassie felt with the Phantom Ranger, TJ. I am asking you to help me on this."
TJ looked hard at Carlos, and then sighed in defeat. He, too, well remembered what Cassie had gone through. And now Carlos was just as lovesick and concerned. "All right. We will go see Tommy in a couple of days, when he gets back from that race. Until then, Carlos, *please* don't tell Sharie what is on your mind, or mention Triforia at all to her. She is in enough pain, you don't need to rub it in. Just try and get along with her when you see her, okay?"
Carlos nodded, glad to at least gotten somewhere with the conversation, and not caring that TJ probably thought him a basket case by now….
Over the next two days, Carlos took every opprotunity to see Sharie that he could. He hung around after her Taekwondo class, accepted when she offered to teach him some moves, explaining that they were different from karate, and took walks with her. They found a variety of subjects to talk about, but Carlos kept his promise to TJ and did not bring up her past, acting as if it did not concern him in the least. In case she already knew somehow what he was planning to do, though, he did ask if she usually read his mind and knew what he was thinking. She gave him a look of such shock he was puzzled.
"Why, no! Unless I have to, I keep my mental barriers up at all times. To intrude on another's mind is…rude, and it was discouraged in me since the day of my birth. As soon as I was old enough to understand, techniques for keeping others out was drilled into my mind unrelentingly."
Carlos nodded, tempted to ask her to specify further, but not daring. He reached for her hand and they wandered down the myriad paths that reached, far-flung, into the depths of Angel Grove Park.
How could she admit the rest of her story to them? There was so much she had left unsaid, but she had simply been unable to bring herself to say it. And what would they think, if they knew who she really was? Especially…Carlos?
Never before had she been drawn to a person in such a way. Her fingers burned when they were in the safe clasp of his hands, his dark eyes called to her inner self like destiny called to destiny.
*How could I bear to feel this way about him?* she wondered in the privacy of her mind, *when I could simply lose him, too?*
Revealing herself as she had done had been a major disadvantage, in a way, because she had no doubt that now, stories of a mysterious Violet Ranger were making it's rounds in the local Evil community. Nearby bad guys were now aware of her existence, wheras when she had been in the shadows, she had been able to help without revealing the source. Earth might benefit from her direct protection, but it would possibly also suffer more if word got out what her powers could do….
And yet, she could not ignore the feeling that this had been one of the wiser decisions of her life. Never before had she worked with a group of rangers like this, her other contacts with alien ranger teams had been brief. But this was Earth. Her second home. Where she belonged, and she had vowed to protect it at all costs, when she was here to protect it.
More importantly, she was developing friends like she had never had in a very long time. She had never been so grateful for acceptance as they had accepted her, without outside question. She sensed, offhand, that Carlos was curious, but he was also a person who sensed the feelings of another enough to know to not pry. Each time that she saw him, something about him drew her more and more deeply to him, she was very afraid of losing him, but she was even more afraid that if she denied this, she would be making the worst mistake of her life.
*But if I allow myself to find him, will I lose him like I did everyone else I loved?* An unwanted memory flashed to her mind, of a little girl curled in an escape pod, whimpering with the effort not to scream as the thought penetrated her brain she had just seen her loved ones blown into the cold, unrelenting vaccuum of space….*Momma, Trey, no, please no!*
Abruptly, she shook herself out of it. *What is the use of dewlling on it, when it can never be again?* She had told herself thousands of times, but each time, that part of her mind that agonized most insisted that there had to be some hope….and the more logical part of heself had insisted she never look back at the planet of her birth. She could never go back. It was simply no longer worth it. Her mother had even warned her, powers or no, it would be best never to return, unless she came for her…
*Carlos…* his hypnotic gaze sprang unbidden to her mind once again. She had seen it happen so many times. Even all her missions had never been successful, she had seen Rangers agonize over ones lost…family, friends….like she herself had, and still did.
*Carlos, can I go through that again with you, too?*
Tommy? asked TJ as they wandered into the auto repair area of the racetrack.
"Yeah, man?" asked a barely-visible head of black hair. Dark eyes rose over the hood of the car he was working on, and they twinkled as he realized who had shown up. "Hey, Carlos, TJ, how ya doin'? Can I get you anything? Or you want another history lesson?" he joked.
"Actually, yes, in a way," sighed TJ. He poked Carlos. "I need you to answer some questions, to prove to numbskull here that what he is thinking about a certain girl has nothing to do with the Lord of Triforia."
Tommy's head jerked in surprise. "Trey? I just saw him two weeks ago. What would a girl have to do with him?"
"That is what I told Carlos," said TJ. "But he won't listen. We sort of have a new companion, Tommy, a violet ranger who grew up on Earth, but says she is from Triforia."
Tommy came around from the other side of the car, laying his tools aside. He folded his arms and looked at them expectantly. "I'm waiting."
Before TJ could say anything more, Carlos suddenly blurted, "Does Trey have a sister?"
Tommy looked even more shocked, then sighing resignedly, he pointed to a nearby empty bench. "Sit." he said, in a tone that was his old I-am-team-leader-therefore-you-obey-me tone.
They sat.
Tommy sighed and sat beside him. "Now," he said expectantly. "What was that again? 'Does Trey have a sister?' TJ, did I ever tell you that?"
"No."
"I thought not, but actually, he does–or he did," sighed Tommy.
"How much do you know?"
"If what I read was true, then more than I'd care to know otherwise. Why? DId Trey tell you something he never told me? Because he never mentioned he had a sister, I found out by accident."
"How old would this 'sister' be by now?" asked TJ, looking pointedly at Carlos. "I mean, Trey is 2500 years old–"
"She would be seventeen, almost eighteen by now, I think."
"Did she have a name?"
"Her name was Sharie Triesta, now please, tell me *why* alerady?"
They only stared at him in shock for a minute, before TJ found his tongue, and a healthy new respect for Carlos's observation ability. Quietly, he started to tell Tommy about what had transpired a few days before.
"…And how did you know, anyway, Tommy?" asked TJ. Tommy looked at him silently for a moment, then got up and made his way over to the workshop computer. He reached up to a lockbox above it and twisted the dial, fumbling a few times as his terrible memory struggled to remember the combonation. Then he grinned, and tried once more.
It sprang open, and he drew out a disk.
"Here," he said, tossing it to TJ. "Read it. Then you will understand. But please, be careful how you bring it up to either Trey or this girl you told me about. It could cause a lot of trouble."
Carlos nodded. "What is in it?"
Tommy shook his head. "After I got it translated to figure out what the heck it was, it seemed to be a kind of…confession. It was written by Trey's mother, Jeanette. It tells a terrible story. I think after she wrote it, it was intended to be destroyed. The only reason why it was not was, I think, because it had something to do with their technology. Whatever happened, it simply changed form and attached itself to a nonessential file, and crept into the information Billy downloaded from Triforian files and brought home from Triforia. And when *I* got it…you get the picure."
TJ thought he understood. "Thanks, Tommy. We will read it."
"Be careful, man. I hope things turn out for the best. I always hated the idea of what was bothering Trey, and he deserves to have something positive happen in his life. Good luck."
"Whhhhhooooooaaaaa….." was all TJ could mutter when they finished reading the translation. It was far into the night, he and Carlos had shut themselves up in the latter's room with the file and had not come out, too engrossed in what they were reading, for it was horrifying, and very, very sad. And the pictures included proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Violet Ranger they had recently come to know was Sharie Triesta, long-lost princess of Triforia.
"No wonder they are so tormented," TJ continued. *I would have lost my sanity, going through something like that. And their mother–it was not self-motivated, to her, it was the ultimate act of love, trying to protect her child. It even tells why Sharie never knew that Trey was the Gold Ranger."
"Law," Carlos echoed his thoughts. "Until she was six, she was not to be told….when she was sent away, she was only weeks from her sixth birthday!"
"I think the question now is," said TJ, resting his chin in his fist, " is what to do now. Do we keep silent? Confront them? Let them see each other somehow and hope things work out?"
"We have to be careful," said Carlos. "We could have them both furious at us for our interference. But you've seen Andros, and how he behaved since Kerone vanished. I don't like Andros going through that, but I don't think I can stand Sharie continuing to go through that. She needs to be reuinited with him, TJ."
"That is what I think, too." he looked strangely at Carlos as the other boy squinted at one of the file pictures of Sharie as a child. "He Teej, you see this?"
"That weird pendant? What about it?"
"Sharie still wears it."
"She does? I've never seen her."
"That is because she usually wears it under her clothes. But I did see it on her once. I have been spending a lot of time with her." TJ glanced at the tri-moon pendant, a full sapphire-colored moon on top, below which were two sapphire crescents, side-by-side, embedded in the gold-colored charm, a strange encryption around the edge. "So how do we go about this, without hurting them more, or making them furious at us? We can't just jump head-first into this."
"Somebody needs to tell each of them seperately, probably, and arrange for them to meet. Or at least let them know we know, first, or in Sharie's case, somehow find out how she would feel to know someone from her family was alive."
"That might be a start," mumbled TJ, yawning. "Tomorrow, then, we will tell the others what we found out. Then we can go from there."
"You did *what* last night?" asked Ashley when the sleepy boys dragged themselves out of bed the next morning. "Are you two completely insane? Do you want to get us in trouble?"
"They did the right thing," said Andros in a defensivet tone. Ashley softened immediately at the pain in his hazel gaze. "Sharie and Trey have a chance to do what it seems I cannot do with my sister. They need to be brought together, and this whole thing ended, for their sakes."
Ashley's hand flew to the locket she still happened to be wearing. "You are right," she murmured, her own brown gaze flashing as unwanted memory hit for a moment. "I am sorry, Andros. I should have thought."
"It is all right," he assured her, gripping her hand firmly. "It is just that you and I can understand better than anyone else what they are going through, you know."
"How do you plan to pull this little escapade off?" asked practical Cassie. "Sharie seemed to be pretty sensetive on the subject, and Trey is not even *here*."
"I am not sure," said Carlos, biting his lip in thought. "I am not even completely certain how to get *ahold* of him, much less ask him to return to Earth without sufficent cause. He is so…driven to what he does, I don't know what he would think."
"And I would not have the courage to tell him over cyberspace," said TJ. "I would be afraid he would think it as the ultimate cruel joke."
"Well, we *willI* figure this out, one way or another," said Andros. "They don't deserve to live like that. I only wish I were in their shoes."
Early that afternoon, Ashley was on her way to the Youth Center to meet her brother, Johnathan, so he could pay her back the ten bucks he owed her from the week before. She did not have far to look, she found him patiently sitting at one of the tables, sipping on a Pepsi and looking for all the world as if she had not been late, because she was.
"Hey, Ash," he greeted her with a high-five. "Battled any cheesy mo