Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Heather Ray (fun to read txt) 📗

Eleven years ago, we lost a wonderful actress: Thuy Trang. Without her we wouldn't have had the awesome yellow Ranger that she had become, Trini Kwan! We all still miss her to this day. Thank you so much for everything you did Thuy!

How can I say this enough? Thank you to everyone that has kept up with all my books! You all are awesome! When I started adapting my fanfiction to these books, I was just doing it in order to introduce the Power Rangers to a new generation and to also help reluctant young readers to find a new love for reading. But I have found out that with each new book there is resounding success! Thank you all so much!

As you are aware, the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers belong to Saban Brands. Just about all the characters you will see in this piece are Saban's. For the record, this fic takes place near the end of 2003. I've worked out a timeline for some major PR events for the sake of this story, so pay attention: the Countdown occurred in the end of 1999 (since it was predicted by the Millennium Message)

, and I heard that PRLG takes off five years afterwards, so I placed it in early 2005. So this fic takes place a little over a year before the space colony has been fully developed. Also, for the sake of my stories, Trini, Zack, and Jason left Angel Grove in November of 1995, yet had they remained, they would've graduated in 1997 with the Turbo team. As for the song, it's Mariah Carey... again.

It had been years

since she last stepped foot in the building. It was very different, with surfing memorabilia and trophies against the walls, and the absence of any sports equipment on the lower level. It was more a restaurant than a hangout, complete with many more tables, a fuller menu, and waiters that circled the entire floor, taking orders and carrying trays.

Still, while the appearance of the restaurant didn't trigger memories, the atmosphere hadn't changed. The vast majority of the clientele seemed to be high school students, conversing excitedly over burgers, chilidogs, and smoothies.

"Hello, and welcome to the Surf Spot," said a teenaged waitress, her high ponytail swinging as she grabbed a menu, "Is it one for lunch?"

"Yes it is," the woman answered, greeting the teen with a warm smile.

"Would you like a table, or a seat at the bar?"

"The bar will be fine."

"Right this way!"

The woman followed the girl between tables, and took a seat on one of the elevated stools stationed next to the aqua-hued bar. She leaned her briefcase against the bar, and adjusted the collar on her cream satin blouse before looking at the menu.

"Someone will be here shortly to take your order," the waitress said cheerfully, before leaving. The woman skimmed over the menu, which was far more diverse than what was served at the Youth Center.

"But they still have the Veggie Pita Platter, and banana shakes," she noted, a grin crossing her lips, "What a stroll down memory lane."

"Can I help you, ma'am?"

"Yes, I'll have the Veggie..."

Her voice caught in her throat when she looked up from the menu, and laid eyes upon the young man behind the bar. He had the deep tawny complexion distinguishable to those of North African descent, which only enhanced the pearly whiteness of his toothy smile. Hazel eyes shone from beneath wavy, mahogany-colored bangs, which seemed to emit a smile of their own.

He looks so much like...

"uh... the Veggie Pita Platter, and a banana shake," she finished, releasing a breath. The young man fixed her with a curious look before turning to hand in her order.

"Excuse me!" she called, an almost urgent tone to her voice, "What's your name?"

The young man turned around, and pointed to his gold nametag. "Paul. Paul Hasada."

"Hasada," she repeated thoughtfully, "You wouldn't be related to a Richard Hasada... would you?"

At the question, the young man's smile returned. "Yeah," he answered, leaning against the counter towards her, "he's my big brother! How do you know him?"

"I went to school with him for a few months," she answered.

"Wow, so you're an Angel Grove High alum?" he inquired with interest, "What class are you?"

"I would've graduated in 1997, but I moved to Geneva for the World Peace Conference. I finished up high school there, as a matter of fact."

Paul's eyes widened at that. "You wouldn't be Trini Kwan, would you?"

Trini almost gasped at his insight. "How'd you know?"

He favored her with a knowing grin as he stepped away from the counter. "Richie talked a lot about you," he answered, "I'll be right back; lemme put in your order, or you'll be here awhile."

Trini kept her dark eyes on Paul's back as he disappeared into the kitchen. After he was out of eyeshot, Trini leaned her elbow on the counter, completely thunderstruck.

Of all the coincidences... Richie had a younger brother that was practically a dead-ringer for him, who just happened to have the same job he did eight years earlier.

She pursed her lips together tightly, as memories filled her mind. She inclined her head to the lower level of the restaurant. Even though it was filled with circular tables brimming with teens, all she saw was the smooth tiles of the gym floor. For the occasion, the gym equipment was cleared away, to make room for small goals at either end.

It was then, at the first broom ball practice, that she saw him. Smiling brightly, he kindly returned the rogue ball to the players.

"Oh, that's Richie,"

Kimberly had related to her, "He's a new kid in school. He's super, super nice!"

"And cute too,"

was her own dreamy response.

While Richie Hasada was certainly not her first crush, it was the first time she was literally slapped in the face with one. It wasn't love at first sight... a sensible woman like Trini didn't believe in such things... still there was an undeniable attraction. An interest that was so strong it was practically unbearable.

She had felt so embarrassed when she stared at him, unsure how much time she stood in awe of the light in his eyes. And now, eight years later, a blush crept on her cheeks just as rosy as the day she met him.

You look in my eyes
And I get emotional inside
I know it's crazy but
You still can touch my heart.
And after all this time,
You'd think that I,
I wouldn't feel the same
But time melts into nothing
And nothing's changed.

"Nothing's changed," she whispered to herself, sighing inwardly and shaking her head in amazement as she fished through her briefcase. She couldn't believe just the thought of Richie had stirred such powerful feelings within her. He wasn't even there, but just the memory was so intense that it affected her in the here and now.

How pathetic can I possibly be?

she wondered, pulling out her itinerary, I haven't seen the man in eight years, and I'm still fawning over him like a schoolgirl!

She hadn't come to Angel Grove to see Richie. No, she wasn't even here to visit her parents. In fact, her entire family had moved from California while she was in college, in pursuit of a promotion that offered her father more money, as well as a closer proximity to her aging grandparents in Illinois. In fact, she hadn't even visited Angel Grove since she helped her parents move, not long before the Countdown. Thankfully, her parents had left just in time to avoid the climactic alien attack that focused in Angel Grove, and nearly razed the city to the ground.

However, it was that famed Countdown that did indirectly bring her to California again. That event gave birth to NASADA's space colony program, the GSA. With the aid of Earth's new ally KO-35, humans have developed the technology needed for hyper-speed travel, making it possible to visit other planets within a lifetime.

The goal of the GSA was to send a space colony on a mission to find another planet suitable for human life by January of 2005. Ever since 2001, however, NASADA has been preparing for this grand venture, establishing the GSA Academy to