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After the Countdown
Zedd and Rita had somehow survived Zordon’s Wave and being good was a new experience for them. They knew that every other villain that had been with them on Triforia had been destroyed but they didn’t know who else had been destroyed and that was why Zedd was piloting a ship to Gamma Vile, where Master Vile, Rito, Finster, Baboo, Squat and their two year old son Thrax had been.
“Zeddy, do you think that there’s a chance that they’ve survived?” asked Rita, in a voice that was very different from her previous one, it was soft and gentle. Zedd glanced at his now, very beautiful wife, with her now garnet-red hair, rippling just past her shoulders and her soft-brown eyes looking at him. He loved her more than anything in the world, he didn’t want to disappoint her but he personally thought that the chances were very slim.
“I don’t know Rita, out of all of them I’d say that Finster had the best chance, he just followed orders and made monsters and he was fond of you, other than him, I find it hard to believe that the others could have survived,” he said and Rita sighed, knowing he was right. She looked at him, he was so different from who he’d once been, to see him as a human was shocking and wonderful at the same time. He was very handsome, with his short, dark-brown hair and gentle, dark-blue eyes. She smiled, she was so glad that they’d survived; now they had a chance to act like a real couple and have a real family, she hoped that Thrax had survived, she didn’t know what she’d do if her baby had been destroyed.
Thrax had been conceived three months before Zedd had destroyed the Machine Empire, when they’d still been staying with her father, then after getting back the Moon Palace, instead of going back to fighting the Rangers, they went into retirement awaiting their child’s birth, which had only been six months away. After that, all their time and energy had been devoted to taking care of Thrax. A year later, they’d been called to Dark Specters meeting and had left Thrax with Rita’s old nurse, Cala on M51, they’d spent a year fighting against the Vika Galaxy and the Gold Ranger, and now this had happened. Thrax would be just over two years old, maybe there hadn’t been enough time for him to be truly evil, maybe hers and Zedd’s love for him and his for them had been enough.
Zedd looked at Rita; she seemed distressed, “Rita, honey, is there something you want to talk about?”
“I’m worried about Thrax, I don’t think I could stand it, if he died from the wave,” she said quietly. Zedd was silent, he didn’t know how to respond to that, he only prayed that Zordon’s Wave had spared his son because although born evil, he’d yet to do anything evil, in all respects he was innocent and good. They continued the journey in silence.
Several hours later
Zedd landed the ship and as soon as he’d opened the hatch Rita rushed out and up the palace path, dashing through the great doors, past piles of dusts that had once been monsters, minions, servants and her family. She ran to the nursery, “Thrax, Thrax, where are you? Thrax!” she shouted.
“Thrax, son, we’re here, Thrax!” shouted Zedd and then they heard it, the wailing of a toddler, it was coming from under the crib, which somehow had been overturned.
Zedd quickly lifted it up and Rita crawled underneath and then backed out with a toddler in her arms and Zedd, giving a relieved sigh, set the crib down and then sat down next to his wife, who had their son in her arms. Zedd broke down into tears of happiness, Thrax had survived the wave! He put his arms around his wife and son, grateful that they’d all lived.
“Shush Thrax, it’s ok, mommy’s here, shh,” hushed Rita, gently rocking the toddler in her arms.
Little Thrax had looked a lot like his father in his evil form and now, in human form, still looked a lot like him, he had the same shaped face and dark-blue eyes but his hair was a pleasant mixture of brown and garnet and he had his mothers nose and eye shape.
“Mama?” he asked, looked at her face.
“Yes sweetie, it is mama,” she answered softly.
“Dada?” was the question, Thrax looking at the man next to his mama.
“Yeah champ, it’s dada,” said Zedd, softly carding his fingers through his son’s soft locks.
Thrax recognized his father’s touch and grinned, showing tiny, pearly-white baby teeth.
They spent some time on Rita’s home planet before deciding to go back to Earth and stay there.
They were not welcomed as everyone had seen what the wave had done and so everyone knew who’d they’d been, so they were treated like dirt and they struggled to find a place to call home, thankfully, they had help from a few unexpected sources, one being Billy, a family who owed their daughter’s life to one of their monsters powers, a woman who didn’t judge people for their past, Bulk and Skull and a Priest, Father Tuck.
Together, they got them a little house just outside Angel Grove, near the sea, there was a small daycare about a mile away, where the old woman was in charge of and she let Rita work there and Thrax was allowed to be there as well. Zedd was given a chance by the father of the daughter to work for him as an assistant in figuring out the history of old relics. They were a poor family and couldn’t pay Zedd much but his salary together with Rita’s salary, along with some help from Billy, Bulk and Skull every second week, they had enough to live on.
They tried to make peace with the other Rangers, Tommy downright refused, Rocky and Aisha were slightly reluctant, Adam and Taniya accepted the peace offered, Kat and Kim were as stubborn as Tommy, Trini forgave them, it took Zack some time but he soon made peace as well. Justin, not having much, if any contact with them, also forgave them, Jason was the most surprising, saying he couldn’t forget or forgive but would give them a chance anyway. The Space Rangers gave them a chance because, well, they’d be hypocrites if they didn’t, after all, they’d forgiven Karone and she’d been their main enemy.
All in all, it was better than Rita and Zedd had dared to hope for and they were content but how long would their small amount of good luck last, that was the question.
“Don’t worry Rita, we’re survivors, remember, we’ll find a way to have the life we’ve always wanted and to give Thrax the life he deserves, I promise,” said Zedd, one night after they’d wished on a star.
“I hope you’re right Zedd,” she said.
“I am, now go to sleep, night Beautiful,” said Zedd, kissing his wife on the forehead.
She sighed and snuggled into his arms, “Good night Zedd, I love you.”
“I love you too,” he replied and they fell asleep dreaming of a better future, which, unknown to them, was on its way.