I never wanted to be a Power Ranger, he thought. I just wanted to help my friends. He wondered what would have happened if he had just returned to Terra Venture and not come looking for the others that day. He knew a few things that wouldn't have happened: Damon wouldn't have been with them, and the Astro MegaShip would still be a museum, a relic of the past, instead of the necessary vessel it was fast becoming for them.
He glanced down once again, this time seeing the blue on his sleeves instead of his sword. He knew they weren't the first Rangers, not by a long shot. The Astro Rangers were legendary heroes, despite barely five years having passed since they had saved the entire universe. Kai wondered what the other Blue Rangers had been like.
Wait. ..the Astro Rangers had a Blue Ranger. I wonder. . .he was moving almost before he realized what he was doing, heading for the Astro MegaShip. He got lucky; everyone else was out doing something else right then.
"How can I be of assistance to you, Kai?" the computerized voice of DECA spoke as he stepped onto the bridge. As always, he felt a sense of history and of power flowing through him when he did. This was where so much had happened. ..where history had been made. History was what he was in search of now.
"I'd like to see all you've got on all the Blue Rangers of the past," he said quietly. "I want to know everything about them."
DECA's machinery hummed for a moment, then an image of four males of varying ages appeared. "Who is who?" he wondered. A column of information came up on a screen near him, and he started reading.
What in the world am I supposed to do with that kind of history to live up to? he wondered. He might not have wanted to be a Power Ranger, but now that he had the power, he wanted to live up to the responsibility. He wanted to prove worthy of the Sabre that he had drawn.
"Kai?" he turned around to see Maya behind him. "Is something wrong?"
"No," he shook his head. "I was just looking up some things about----" his voice faltered. Could she understand what was going through his mind?
She walked over to him, glancing at the readouts that were still up on the screen. "Other Blue Rangers?" she looked back at him. She had made a remarkable transition from the things of her world to theirs, something that startled him when he thought about it. Then again, almost everything of recent events startled him. "Why are you looking them up?"
"I was . ..wondering if I measured up," the words came from his mouth before he could stop them, and they didn't end with that. "All of them have done so many great things, and I'm scared I won't live up to the legacy of this color," he gestured to the color on his sleeves.
Maya sat down next to him and looked deeply into his eyes. "Kai, how long have we had these powers?" she asked simply.
"About a week," he admitted. A lot had happened in those seven days, too. They had found the Galactabeasts, nearly lost their Quasar Sabres, gained the Transdaggers. . .it made him wonder what was going to happen in the weeks and months to come.
"The other Blue Rangers held their powers for longer than we have so far, and did great things, yes. And so will you, in time. You already have, we couldn't have saved the Galactabeasts, or the Quasar Sabres, without you."
He blushed a little; it had been his idea to make the fake Sabres before they'd left the ship to go searching for Leo the previous day, in hopes they got the chance to switch them for the real ones. "I guess so," he said after thinking for a moment. "I . .just have to give myself time."
The Yellow Ranger nodded, smiling. "Exactly. Now, come on. DECA told me there's something called a 'Simudeck' on this thing, and I want to find out what it's like!"
Kai found himself smiling back at her as she dragged him to his feet. Not for the first time since he had seen her practically falling at his feet, he thought of how beautiful she was. He didn't know what would happen in the future, but as they started down the corridor, he felt a growing conviction that he would live up to the legacy of the Blue Rangers. For a moment, he felt as if all the others were watching him, all the Blue Rangers of the past.
And they were smiling at him.