All in all Shane thought it had been a good day. He'd taught two classes that morning, had lunch with Cam, Marah, and Kapri, then went to his courier job for the rest of the afternoon.

And he was really perfecting his routes around downtown. Today he'd even managed to scare the crap out of several businessmen who were having a late lunch in the park.

The sound of his skateboard scrapping down the steep handrail had been enough to turn many heads. For their terrified looks, he knew they expected him to crash at the bottom in a bloody heap. But he just flipped his board off the end, and continued on his shortcut, leaving them behind with a cheeky grin and wave.

And now, back from his last delivery, he'd grabbed his check from Accounting and was eager to be going. Porter was leaving as well, and they talked as they walked out of the lobby.

"I heard we received another phone call about you today," Porter said with a smile. Shane just grinned and waved it off.

Several courier services had heard of Shane's speedy travels across town, and had called the company trying to contact him. They wanted him to 'go public', as it were. To work for their courier service and not to work privately for one company.

Shane had asked them to politely decline the job offers. While they might have been good offers, he liked working where he was. It was easy for Porter to cover for his absences, and his hours were flexible enough that he could teach fulltime at the Wind Academy and still have time for a life.

And he'd been talking to Porter a lot as well. After letting their age difference separate them for so long, it was great to finally get to know the older brother he hardly knew. They'd even practiced together at the Academy several times. Porter shared skills learned from over ten years of experience, while Shane taught Porter a few new tricks born from imagination and split-second decisions in Ranger battles.

"You must have been across town and back at least a dozen times today. Can I give you a ride home?"

As Shane shrugged on his backpack, he was sorely tempted to take Porter up on his offer. But he knew his apartment was way, way, out of his brother's way. Before he could answer though, his cell phone chimed with the arrival of a textpage.

After nearly a year with a morpher for normal communication, it had taken them all some time to used to using cell phones again. It was a good thing Cam had given them all new communicators for emergencies, because Shane knew for a fact that Hunter still forgot to carry his cell phone.

"Dude, pick up the pizza?"

Dustin, of course. He didn't even need to check the message info to know that. And he bet Tori was at the apartment too, looking for a quiet place to study. Not that their place was ever very quiet. But that didn't stop Tori from showing up on a regular basis, with an armload of college textbooks.

"Sorry, bro, I'd love to. But I can't," he told Porter, holding the cell phone up. "Duty calls. Or dinner at least."

"I understand," he chuckled. "I'll see you next week then."

"Later!" he waved, throwing his skateboard to the ground. He jumped on, pushing off toward pizza and home.

He made it to Wick's Pizza to find the pizza not only ready, but paid for. The marvels of the internet age - ordering pizza online.

Since Dustin had actually paid this time, he made an attempt to keep the pizza intact instead of just tucking it under his arm. Which was much easier when traveling by skateboard. The last time he'd done that, the reaction to the destroyed pizza had been loud and unpleasant. And while he had found it all funny, he had admitted, at least to himself, that he hadn't much cared for it either. What with the cheese and toppings having slid completely off.

As he rolled down the sidewalk, pizza in hand, something glued to the top of the box caught his eye. He expected to see the usual flier about deliveries, available deals, and this week's coupons. He wasn't disappointed. But next to the coupons was an announcement.

The pizza place had a small stage in the bar area that was normally used by local bands hired to play there. But the announcement said something new. They were going to have an open mike night that weekend. And while he was curious, he thought he'd stay as far away as possible.

He hadn't sung in public since the Totally Talented mess. And while Marah and Kapri were on their side now, he had a horrible feeling that him on stage would bring all the hiding monsters out of the woodwork. Murphy's Law at its worst.

He arrived home, tucked his skateboard under his arm, and ran up the stairs. He pushed open the apartment door to find things much like he'd expected.

Tori sat at the kitchen table, books spread out in front of her as she wrote in a notebook. Dustin had brought his work home with him again - the carburetor he was rebuilding had lost the battle with Tori's schoolbooks, and had been transplanted to the half wall between kitchen and living room.

Dustin was over on the couch, playing a video game and cheering at the screen while the radio blared.

"Suppertime!" Shane shouted, announcing his arrival.

"Dude!" Dustin paused the game and jumped up to relieve him of the food. Shane took off his helmet and backpack, dumping them beside his skateboard at the door.

Tori protested the moving of any of her books off the table, so they went out on the balcony to eat. Shane grabbed bottles of water and juice for everyone before joining them. The pizza box sat on the floor of the balcony, and they gathered around it cross-legged to eat.

"I hope you're ready," Dustin said, gesturing into the apartment at the Playstation 2. "NASCAR Thunder. Tonight's Bristol." Shane and Dustin had been playing their way through a NASCAR season on the video game.

"I'm ready," he answered around a yawn. He hadn't been sleeping well lately, but he wasn't going to make excuses for losing.

"Hey, Shane, did you see this?" Tori was pointing to the flier on top of the pizza box.

He nodded noncommittally, acting like it was no big deal.

"Dude, you should totally do this," Dustin said, reading the flier for himself.

He shrugged. "I don't know. It didn't work out so well last time, you know?"

"That was last time," Tori argued. "Not this time. Are you going to let that stop you from singing forever? It didn't stop Dustin or me." This was true. They were both out there performing whenever the opportunity arose. Tori was even thinking about trying out for the college's dance team. So she was trying to test out of the beginning dance class she had been placed in so she could take a higher level class.

"Okay, I'll think about it," he sighed. "How's that?"

Tori and Dustin nodded. Shane didn't like the gleam he saw in their eyes.

"Great! We'll see you there tomorrow night. Eight sharp," she answered sweetly.

Damn. He sighed again and reached for another slice.

It was bright and he squinted against the onslaught of light, trying his best to see. Blinking, he turned around to try and place himself in his surroundings. It only took a brief look around for him to discover where he was. He knew this place. There was no question in his mind about where he was.

The trees surrounding him, the soft soil beneath his feet, the bright sunlight pouring through the spaces in the canopy the trees around him created . . . Yeah. He most definitely knew where he was. This was a place he wondered whether he would ever forget. How could someone forget about a place where their life took a turn? He knew he wouldn't forget. Not that he wanted to. Forgetting this place was almost like forgetting her.

He never wanted to forget her.

He never wanted to forget this place.

Did he?

This place was a place where his life changed in a moment, where he met and lost a person that touched him in a way he had never imagined. She had given him so much without a second thought, and for that he was thankful. Thankful and guilty. He was thankful for knowing her. He was guilty for losing the gift she had given him.

Resigned, he started walking through the forest. Where he was headed, he knew not. He just had to keep moving. Running? Maybe, but he didn't care . . . much.

One foot in front of the other, the soles of his shoes pressing into the dirt, he continued on, waiting for someone to stop him, waiting for a reason to stop. Just waiting.

A flash in front of him made him turn away, shielding his eyes with his arms. He waited for his vision to clear before looking to see what had happened. And there, before him, was a floating light sphere. The brilliant glow never faded as it drew closer to him, swirling around him, almost happily, before going back to float in front of him. There she floated for a few moments before moving away. It took all his will to make himself speak before she was gone.

"Wait," he forced out, hoping it would stop her from leaving him, "Don't go."

She stopped before moving back to him, and there she stayed, floating unmoved, bathing him in her light. He didn't move, didn't breathe, afraid that she would disappear as easily as she had appeared. He didn't know if it was that he didn't want to move or if he couldn't move. All he knew was that he didn't want her to leave him. Again.

Light flashed once more, burning his vision, but when he opened his eyes this time, he wasn't in the woods anymore. The forest was gone and in its place was a white void. The trees, the dirt, the sky, all of it was gone, and complete white surrounded him. The white was everywhere, wherever he looked, showering everything and nothing in its light.

"Karmathians change all the time. Instead of dying, we pass from one life form to the next."

"I owe you one. And this is where I pay you back."

"I don't have much time left."

"You know what to do, Shane. Trust yourself."

"Only the person of the highest character can handle the power. The Red Ranger thing is a plus though."

"We will belong together forever by the power I pass on to you. The responsibility is yours. Use it wisely."

"Follow me, Shane. Remember."

"You're my destiny. And I am yours."

"Morning," Dustin said when he heard Shane's bedroom door close. "You're up early."

"Yeah," Shane mumbled as he sleepily made his way to the table, crossing the space between his door and the table, yawning while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Can I get you anything for breakfast?" Dustin asked Shane as he went to the fridge to pull out the milk.

"Nah. I'm okay," Shane said through another yawn, still trying to separate the dream from reality, which was harder than one would think, considering that the dream was close to the one he'd been having lately. That and it was still weird.

Dustin shrugged in acceptance, but picked up an extra bowl just in case. Sometimes you aren't hungry until you're around people that are eating. "'Kay. If you're sure."

Dustin gathered up the bowls, spoons, milk, and the cereal box. Holding the milk in one hand and the bowls and spoons the other, while using his teeth to hold a flap on the top of the box, he made his way to the table where Shane was at. Putting the bowls and milk on the table, he was able to take the cereal box hanging from his mouth.

It was only then that he caught sight of his friend slumped over the table, head resting on his arms. "Dude, you okay?"

"Yeah," Shane said lifting his head to look at Dustin.

"You don't look so hot." Dustin said as he began pouring the cereal into a bowl. "Here. Have a little. You'll feel better. I promise."

Shane took the bowl Dustin offered and looked at it. There were little flecks of color, which he assumed were marshmallows. He looked back up at Dustin questioningly as he started to pour some milk over the dry cereal. Normally he didn't eat sugary cereal for breakfast, but Dustin was being nice, and he didn't have the heart to turn him down.

"Ninja cereal! The breakfast for ninjas," Dustin said grinning as he started pouring the cereal into another bowl. "So," Dustin began as he started to pour the milk onto his cereal. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Shane replied automatically.

"Dude, it's early. Like, you're never up this early unless you have to be, and today, you don't have to be." He shoveled some cereal in his mouth. Trying to speak while chewing a mouthful of marshmallow ninja cereal, he continued, "So something's wrong or something's up because," he swallowed, "normally, you'd still be sleeping. It isn't that singing thing is it? Because Tor and I were only, like, being supportive and stuff. You don't have to do it if you really don't want to." He ate another spoonful of cereal as he waited for Shane's reply.

"I had a dream."

"Like, Martin Luther King Jr. I have a dream, where everyone's happy and playing together and everything's good, or like a weird dream where zombies were having a tea party?"

Shane paused in his chewing of his cereal to look across the table. Dustin's words were kinda garbled since he was talking with his mouth full, but Shane was pretty sure he heard something about zombies and tea parties.

"It was weird, but no zombies. Skyla was there. I think."

"Skyla?" Dustin said before taking another spoonful of cereal. "Like firebird, battelizer power, Skyla?"

"Yeah."

"What do you think it meant?" Dustin asked, milk dribbling out of the corners of his mouth.

"I don't know. It was weird," Shane said as he swirled the cereal around in his bowl. "I was in the forest and then I was in this white place. And then I kept hearing things." He thought about what he said before having another spoonful of cereal.

"What things?" Dustin questioned after swallowing.

"Things she said last year."

"And you don't know what it all means?" This time, Dustin didn't have cereal in his mouth, and his words came out completely clear.

Shane just shook his head.

"You had dreams like that before," Dustin said with a light question in his tone. Seeing that Shane wasn't going to say a word, he continued, "Dude, last year you had weird dreams that you didn't understand, and you went into the forest to try and figure it out because you thought there was somethin' behind 'em. Right?"

"Yeah."

"Why don't you do it again. I mean, the dreams, they might mean something. Like the other ones. And, dude, it worked last time. Why wouldn't it work this time?"

"If it doesn't?"

"If it doesn't, it doesn't. Then you spent a day in the forest getting in touch with your inner ninja and stuff. Tryin' it out wouldn't hurt. Not going would be worse, ya know." Dustin let Shane think that over as he picked up his bowl and brought it to the sink, rinsing it out before putting it and the spoon in the dishwasher.

"Hey, I've gotta get going. Early class at the Academy," Dustin said as he walked over to get his jacket where it was hanging near the door. "Just think about it. If you need some extra time, maybe someone can cover a class for you. Catch you later."

"Dustin," Shane called out when Dustin was just about to walk out the door.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks," he said with a smile, "for everything."

"Dude, no problem. Just doing the friend thing." Dustin smiled back at him before adding, "Still on for pizza tonight?"

"Still on."

"'Kay. See you then." With that, he left, closing the door, leaving Shane in the apartment alone with his thoughts and Dustin's words.

Continuing to eat the cereal, which was now starting to get a little soggy, Shane thought about his dream, about Skyla, about what Dustin said. Dustin was right. What would it hurt to go and try to see if a trip to the forest would make everything clearer?

Nothing.

And his schedule today could actually fit it in. He might have to move some things around, but it shouldn't be too hard. He formed a possible plan of action as he finished the cereal Dustin had given him before cleaning up.

He noticed that the cereal box was near empty when he was putting it back in the cupboard. He decided to swing by the grocery store later for a new box. Dustin was being nice and giving him some of his cereal, and that nearly finished the box. It was the least that he could do to get a box of Dustin's favorite cereal. Like Dustin said, doing the friend thing.