End
Legal Disclaimer: Saban owns the Power Rangers.
Notes: This takes place after "A Talk", and continues with it's continuity breaking.
Trini Kwan slowly wrote another line in her diary, wishing that her daydreams would come true once again. Never before in her life had she dreamed like she had since coming to Switzerland. She hadn't had to dream before; because the object of her dreaming was with her every day.
And I've been here for the last two years. She slowly brushed back a long strand of ebony hair from her forehead and considered a shower. Maybe she could get some decent daydreaming time in. That was how she'd spent her days since Jason had left. Thinking about the person he was soon going to be seeing, the one she would give her left arm to see again.
She couldn't remember when she didn't love Billy Cranston. They had known each other since they were five years old, and every moment of her life that she could remember, he had not just been there, but she had been in love with him. Oh, yes, there were handsomer boys and men out there, and she had met many of them since she had gotten out into the world and seen things that even in Angel Grove she had never dreamed existed.
Not one of them had impressed her, though. They all seemed to be lacking something. What it was, she had no idea. Not long after their arrival in Switzerland, just as they had been getting settled in, she had encountered Francois, a cultured and debonair French delegate who had asked her out on a date. With Jason and Zack's urgings, she had agreed, hoping that perhaps she would finally figure out why no guy seemed to mean anything to her except for Billy.
Instead, she had found out why it was a good idea for her to keep up her martial arts training. It appeared Francois had heard stories of how 'loose' American women were, and he wanted to try for himself. What he had found was that a woman from Angel Grove, Monster Capital of the World, was not someone that he really wanted to have annoyed with him. She hadn't hurt him all that badly, but ever since then, even Jason and Zack had been careful of getting on her bad side. The particular portion of the anatomy that she had targeted was very sensitive in the males of her species.
That had been the end of her dating in Switzerland. The boys around there weren't afraid of her, but she just didn't want to bother anymore. She had tasks to accomplish and those she would, but nothing would ever take the place of the life she had lived in Angel Grove. Monsters and all, it's home. She'd figured that out within ten minutes of her arrival there.
Switzerland was a beautiful place, sparkling with lights, laughter, romance, and everything that normally made life worth living. She didn't have to worry about getting jumped by putties or Goldar or anything else here. She could sleep safely at night or go to class without wondering if she was going to hear her communicator go off. She didn't even have to wear it.
It should've been freedom. Instead, she felt more chained than if she'd been in Lord Zedd's deepest dungeon. At least, then, she told herself, she would have been truly accomplishing something with her life. She would matter. Here, she was only going through the motions. Oh, there was a chance this Teen Peace Conference would actually work, and what it stood for was enormous. But it was sucking the very spirit from her soul.
She had never liked to fight. Like Jason, she would do so only when she had to. She had wanted peaceful, honorable solutions to the world's problems. The mock politics here were rapidly showing her that things didn't work that way in this world. It was enough to make her nauseous. At least in combat, things were fair and even. Most of the time. Even a ten to one Putty fight was more balanced than some of the deals she heard and had to participate in.
And some of the rest of the U.S. delegates make me want to strangle something at times. I've never felt so alone since Jason left. At least he was someone I could talk to about kung fu and karate. You wouldn't even know Zack hadn't been born here from how well he fits in. Of course, he can fit in anywhere. That's what he does. And the only place I fit in is a town infested with monsters.
"Trini?" Zack called her name from the doorway and she looked up. "You've got a visitor. Someone here just to see you." He was grinning in a way she hadn't seen him look since the days of Angel Grove and the Power Rangers.
She frowned slightly. Her friend knew she didn't like casual company; she'd never really been all that outgoing when she was on her own, and effectively she was now. Zack had his friends around here, and was seeing a rather lovely young woman who hailed from England. She had been paying attention to her homework, her dreams, and the few duties that being a Teen Representative had, more or less in that order. Socializing hadn't really been all that high on her list of priorities. "Who is it?"
A pair of black-jeaned legs topped by a gray sweater stepped around the corner and two blue eyes looked at her. As her brain processed the image she was seeing, all the loneliness and sorrow she'd been feeling vanished like mist in the wind. She leaped up off the bed she'd been draped across and stared at Billy.
"Hi," she tried to sound nonchalant, calm, and courteous. "Been a while since we saw each other."
Billy looked at her, and something different was in his eyes, something she couldn't remember ever seeing. Footsteps signaled Zack leaving, and she motioned her old friend into her room, shutting the door behind them. "How'd you get here?" she asked as they both sat down in opposite chairs. "I didn't know you had the money for airfare."
"I didn't," he chuckled, then touched the communicator on his wrist. "I came express."
She grinned a little. For several minutes the two of them got caught up on old times. As each second passed, the tension between the two of them increased. Finally, they both simply stopped speaking and stared at each other.
Billy had changed somewhat to her eyes. He was taller, broader in the shoulders, and dressed in grays and blacks instead of the familiar blues. There was a look of mature wisdom in his eyes that sang a song of love to her soul. She could easily find herself spending the rest of eternity with him.
Trini wasn't quite the same person he had waved farewell to as she had soared away to Switzerland. She had grown a couple of inches as well, was more willowy and toned than ever, and a blouse of deep purple and blue jeans covered her. He'd almost kill to say he loved her.
Don't have to, he reminded himself of what Jason had told him, and gathered his courage in both mental hands and spoke. "Trini, there was a reason I came here. It wasn't just to see two of my best friends, either."
She practically froze in her chair. "A reason?" Keep it in, if he felt the same way, he would've said something before you left, he doesn't love you, you know that.
"Yes." Billy looked directly into her eyes, and she felt herself going soft and hopeful inside, whether she wanted to or not. "I came to tell you that I love you."
She opened her mouth to say she understood, that he couldn't be expected to care about someone like her, when the words got all the way into her brain. Wait a second. She rewound the last minute of conversation in her head, and blushed. "You...you love me?"
"Yes, Trini," he stood up, holding his hand out to her. "I should have said something about it before you left for here, but...well..." he faltered, not quite sure what to say next. "I really don't have any excuses for not saying anything before then. I'd like to say I didn't know how I felt, but that's not true. I was just...too scared. Too scared you'd say you only liked me as a friend. Even more scared that you'd love me back."
Trini was just staring at him, uncertain of what to say or do next herself. Then something inside her compelled her. She stood up, wrapping her fingers around his hands. "I love you, too, Billy. I love you too."
The two of them drew closer together, their lips moving at last towards a kiss as perfect as eternity and as long-awaited as sunrise after shadow. As they pulled slowly back from it, their eyes met and both of them smiled. "Want to go home, Trini? Back to Angel Grove, back to monsters and Cogs and a whole new team pretty much full of people you've never met?"
She smiled broadly. "Sounds wonderful to me!"
"Let's do it!" the voice from the door startled both of them, especially since they hadn't heard it open up, and they turned to see Zack standing there with all bags packed and an eager gleam in his eyes. "What? I want to go home too!"