“Well, that was, um, wow. And kinda fast.” Dustin looked around his apartment. One second he’d been in the dorm hallway. The next he was home. This teleportation thing without having to mess with Cam, Ops, and technology was really cool. Maybe Shane had the right idea in trying to learn it.

Marah turned to him as she dropped his hand. “I’m sorry, Dustin. I just couldn’t listen to her anymore. I needed to get out of there. And I just…”

“No, hey, it was really cool. It was just unexpected. I mean, I haven’t teleported with you that often. Still getting used to that.” Marah just stood there, looking kinda depressed and way confused. He half-expected her to bolt again. And he didn’t want that.

When they'd left the beach, the plan was to go to Tori's tryout. Then to the Academy for dinner and so Marah could visit her room to pick up some things. They'd never made it to dinner obviously. They'd planned on coming back to the apartment to talk about things parent-ish. But that was after they'd eaten and after a Ranger check-in at Ninja Ops.

It was no big deal. But with so many villains running around right now, the Rangers checked-in at various times of the day to see if there was anything that needed to be done. The encounter with Kapri in the dorm room had been unexpected. So instead they'd left with no food and no check-in. He'd have to call Cam later to let him know things were good on his end.

Which they weren't. But he couldn't just tell everyone that. Marah was too bothered by it all. He didn't know what she'd do. This parent thing was a totally serious situation. He didn’t want her to be alone right now. Who knows what would happen if she was? He had this unnatural fear that she'd disappear as soon as he turned around. If Lothor was any indication of what her family was capable of, he didn't want to let her out of his sight.

“C’mon,” he said, and holding out his hand for hers as he started walking toward the couch. She sighed and followed, dropping her bag along the way. When they’d settled on the couch, Ninja jumped to curl up beside them.

“So do you wanna talk about this parent thing?” he asked carefully. He knew this was a big deal. He couldn’t just brush over her feelings. He figured that’s why she was turning against Kapri, even though he bet she knew her sister was right. She just needed to make the decision on her own.

She nodded slowly. And they talked late into the night.

Wednesday…
“Kapri.”

Cam’s voice called to her. She turned to see him approaching slowly.

“Hey, Cam. What’s up?” Cam’s face showed great patience, and she wondered if he’d been calling her for a long time. She was more than a little distracted. Marah hadn’t shown up for morning meditation. And as she walked out of the cafeteria, she now knew her sister hadn’t made it to breakfast either.

“Grandfather found this while meditating in the woods,” he opened his hand to reveal a small piece of her PAM.

One of the wings of the cover. It must have flown off when she had blasted it.

“Oh, you found it. I was looking for that.” She took the piece carefully in her hand.

“So it is part of your PAM,” Cam concluded. “What happened to it?”

“It’s no big deal. Guess I textpaged one too many votes. Then boom, you know?” she lied.

“Really,” Cam drawled in an unbelieving tone. “I thought the technology was more stable than that.”

“Never underestimate the power of “American Idol” voting,” Kapri joked, hoping to distract him.

“No, I guess you shouldn’t. Look at what so-called singers they’ve inflicted on the world.” Cam’s tone changed as he became serious. “Listen, Kapri, if you bring your PAM to Ops, I’m sure between the two of us we can repair it.”

“Hey, thanks, Cam. I’ll do that,” she smiled genuinely at Cam’s attempt to help. She waved good-bye and headed off to her dorm. It was very nice of him and all. She just didn’t know how she’d cover up the fact that she’d obviously destroyed the PAM herself.

Marah trudged slowly up the stairs to her dorm. Dustin was waiting for her outside. They had an Earth class this morning, and she needed to get moving.

Her hand was on the doorknob when she heard someone on the steps. She turned to see Kapri come around the corner. Both sisters stopped and stared. Finally Marah opened her door and walked inside. She left the door open behind her, silently inviting Kapri to follow.

Kapri came into the room, shutting the door behind her. “You didn’t come home last night,” she started.

Marah shrugged, “Dustin and I had a lot to talk about.”

“Marah,” she said slowly. “I’m sorry for pushing you. It’s just—“

“I turned it off.”

“What?” Kapri walked further into the room at her sister’s interruption.

“I turned it off,” Marah repeated. “Yesterday. I just… I just needed to think things through.”

“What changed your mind?”

Marah sighed and sat on her bed. “It didn’t exactly change. I think I always knew what was right. But, well… you. Cam. Grandfather. I have all the family I need. And who knows what our parents want. I don’t want to leave Dustin. I like Earth.”

“I like it too,” Kapri agreed and sat beside her. “There are more reasons to stay here than to go back to space.”

“Yeah. And I don’t care how evil our family is. I like being good.”

“I’m glad. Because Dustin would be totally bummed if you left.”

Marah laughed and bumped her sister’s shoulder. “Like Shane wouldn’t miss you if you were gone.”

“What? Shane?” Kapri waved her off. “Shyeah, right. There’s nothing between Shane and me.”

“Uh huh,” she said knowingly. “Just like there’s nothing going on between Cousin and Hunter.”

Kapri smirked, but didn’t respond. It was quiet for several minutes then, and finally Marah knew she had to ask.

“So what do we do?”

“Well, hopefully our parents couldn’t get a lock on us. If they couldn’t, then maybe we have nothing to worry about.” Kapri looked her way, “But I don’t think we should tell the others. There’s no need to worry everyone for something that might not happen.”

“Dustin’s already worried,” Marah answered. “He’d never admit it, but I think he’s really freaked. He doesn’t want to let either of us out of his sight.”

Kapri shrugged, “Can’t say that I blame him really. He’s lost you to space and your evil family once before.”

Marah shook her head. “I don’t want to leave him again. Ever.”

“So we go on with well, everything. Like normal. Only with Dustin looking out for us.”

Marah smiled at Kapri’s words. “And if our parents come for us?”

She stood and walked toward the door. If she was late for class, Dustin would probably come running. Kapri stood as well, and followed her.

“We fight like hell,” Kapri answered.

Marah nodded in agreement. And they headed their separate ways.

Catch an ALL NEW Power Rangers Ninja Storm, NEXT WEEK!!