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Tommy had given him an electric blue stuffed cat. Justin would privately admit that it was a little bit cute. If he had a little sister it was something he thought he would get for her. He might even use it when playing with her. It was too bad that he did not have a little sister. So, when Tommy proudly handed it over after winning it, Justin just told him how great it was and that it was so cool.
Kat had given him a ride to school one day. She asked him about the plastic bag. He had told her it was his lunch. When she saw that it was filled with soda, cookies and chips she looked absolutely dumbstruck. He told her it was what he usually did for lunch and that it was not that big of a deal. The next day she brought him an insulated lunchbox filled with vegetables, a sandwich on whole wheat bread and, of course, boxes of apple juice. There was also a homemade brownie for a treat. He thanked her with a big smile, even though he could not stand the vegetables.
Tanya freaked out on one chilly morning where he had gone out with just a light jacket and no hat or scarf. She insisted on giving him hers, even though they were too girly for Justin. Within a week she had bought him three scarfs, two pairs of gloves and two hats. There would never be a cold day where Justin would risk going out with an unprotected head again if she had anything to do with it.
One time when Justin did horribly on a test, Adam found out about it. The older ranger then insisted on spending time with him almost every day to help him with homework. Right after soccer they would work on homework, even though Justin would weakly protest it had only been one bad score and he was not having any other trouble. Adam persisted and together the two studied together.
Together the five of them were the Power Rangers. Justin could not stand that they treated him like a child in everyday life, when morphed they would treat him like equals. He did not like what they were doing, but he loved why they did it. They were the stable family that he always wanted to have. They gave him embarrassing gifts, they busied themselves with his wellbeing, they worried about him, and they took time out of their lives just for him.
He would not change it for the world.
Then they were gone. They still kept in contact with him. They still cared for him a great deal, but they were moving on with their lives. They were not even Power Rangers anymore. Now, there were four new Rangers.
Justin found himself working with T.J. to win a prize at Angel Grove Video Arcade. They spent all day and ten dollars in quarters trying to win that baseball card that cost 10,000 tickets. When they left, T.J. treated him to dinner for helping him win the card of his favorite player.
Cassie would remark about how healthy the lunches Justin made for himself were. When he saw her eating the same mass produced school pizza day in and day out he offered to make lunch for her too. From that day on he brought both their lunches.
When Ashley caught a nasty cold, he was the one that took off his scarf and wrapped it around her bare neck, unprotected by the low collar of her coat. She gave him a little smile and sniffled when she thanked him.
Carlos was having trouble with a lesson in Algebra. It was the same one that Justin had gotten such a low score on. Thanks to all the extra practice he had gotten it was a cinch to help Carlos with the concept.
They were closer in age to him. They went to school with him. They were his friends.
At night he hugged the electric blue stuffed cat and missed Tommy, Kat, Tanya and Adam.
When he left school one day, he was surprised to see a young man, wearing blue jeans and a red shirt sitting on a bench. There was a cane leaning against the wooden bench. He looked right at Justin and waved.
“Rocky,” Justin said and rushed over to him, “what are you doing here?”
“Well, I just finished my physical therapy for the day and I thought I’d come over and see you.”
“I can’t believe you came all the way here to see me.” Justin dropped his backpack to the ground and joined him on the bench.
“So, I heard you are now the veteran on your team.”
“Yeah,” Justin said. He looked down at his shoelaces.
“They are lucky to have you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, you have been a ranger longer than they have. You know what it is like to have two different lives. You make a good example for them.”
“You’re just saying that. I don’t think I can ever live up to the others or you.” Rocky laughed. “That wasn’t funny!”
“No, I wasn’t laughing at you. I was laughing at the situation. I used to feel the exact same way.”
“What do you mean?”
“I wasn’t originally the blue ranger either.”
“You weren’t?” Justin had always imagined Tommy and the others fighting the golden monkey with wings and wearing dinosaur themed spandex before he joined.
“No, the blue ranger before me was a genius named Billy. But, before that I was the red ranger and I wasn’t even the first red ranger. The guy before me was named Jason, a real friendly guy and a natural leader.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Those were some pretty big shoes to fill. I could never be either of them, so I didn’t try to.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Justin was honestly curious where the random story had come from.
“Well, you aren’t changing colors, but you just went from the rookie to the veteran. I just had to live up to the legacy of two rangers. You have to live up to the legacy of five.”
“Do you think I can do it? I don’t want the others to come back and think I disappointed them.”
“I know you can. You wouldn’t have become the new blue ranger if you couldn’t.”
“Thanks,” Justin said. He was feeling a little better, but he still did not feel completely at ease.
“What is it?” Rocky asked.
Justin sighed, “It was just like, you know, the others were like my parents. But, now their gone and the others-“
“Treat you like an equal.”
Rocky leaned back. “There isn’t anything that can change that. Time changes. Power Rangers change. Things can’t always go back to being exactly the same as they were before.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“So do you know what you do then?”
“What?”
“Play pachinko!” Rocky was up and grabbed his cane.
“Pachinko?”
“It is really fun. Come on, I’ll teach you all about it.”
Justin knew he could not go back to being the child with four rangers that were practically his parents. That time was over and gone. But, he could embrace it occasionally like when Rocky trained him in the fine art of collecting little silver balls in pachinko.