The most evil ranger

Chapter 22 Jason gets through to Ariel & the new paleontologist

He said that he was serious because I was not taking the whole him being here for me thing seriously. It's just like him to be like that. "I'm always going to be here for you." Jason said. "Thanks Jason." I said. "Is there anything I can do that might help?" Jason asked. "Not really, seeing you again really made my day." I said. "Have you talked to a therapist?" Jason asked. "Not since I was young." I said. "Well, I think it will help. And if you ever need someone to talk to you have friends and a family that you can talk to. You can also talk to me if you can't get a hold of your friends and you don't want to talk to your family." Jason said. "Okay, I guess that I can go see a therapist." I said. "Anything else?" Jason asked. "Well, I guess you know everything now. It's just..." I said before Jason cut me off. "I know, you miss Tommy, don't you?" Jason asked. "Yeah." I said with tears starting to form in my eyes. "Look, you can't blame yourself for what happened out there. If Tommy risked it we all did, but that's the job, okay? He didn't die for nothing. You know that." Jason said as the others walked back over to us. "You know, there's this saying that says the difficulty is not so great to die for your friends but rather to find friends worth dying for." Virginia said. "I know. I just miss him so much." I said. Jason gave me a hug. "It's going to be okay." Jason said. It looks like I'm running away from my past but it's harder to see things that remind me of Tommy. When the others noticed my recent changes in the way I usually act around them they decided to show me that Tommy lives inside me the same way that Rafiki does with Simba in the lion king. (In case you guys are wondering I mean from the 2019 version.) John had me follow him to a secret pond that he found with the others. "Tommy is waiting." John said. I walked up to the pond and looked into the water. I saw my reflection. "Do you see him?" John asked. "I don't see anything but my reflection." I said. "Look closer." John said. I looked a little closer into the pond and watched as my reflection turned into Tommy's. "You see, he lives in you." John said. Then I heard Tommy's voice. "Ariel." Tommy said. "Tommy?" I said. "Ariel, you must take your place as the new paleontologist." Tommy said. "I can't." I said. "You must remember who you are. The new senior paleontologist." Tommy said. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to be like you." I said. "As a paleontologist I was most proud of one thing, having you as my partner, moreover like my sister." Tommy said. "That was a long time ago." I said. "No Ariel, that is forever." Tommy said. "Please, don't leave me again." I said. "I never left you, and I never will. Remember who you are. And remember that I'm always with you in spirit." Tommy said before fading away. John walked up beside me. "What was that? The weather, very peculiar, don't you think?" John asked. "Yeah, looks like the winds are changing." I said. "Change is good." John said. "Yeah, but it's not easy. I know what I have to do, but going back means I'll have to face my past. I've been running from it for so long." I said. Then John hit me on the head with a stick. "Ow! Geez, what was that for?" I asked. "It doesn't matter! It's in the past." John said with a laugh. "Yeah but it still hurts." I said as I rubbed the top of my head. Then I looked at my hand to see if there was any blood. "Oh, yes the past can hurt. But the way I see it you can either run from it or learn from it." John said before trying to hit me on the head again but this time I dodged it. "You see? So what are you going to do?" John asked. "First, I'm gonna take your stick." I said as I grabbed the stick out of his hand and threw it into some nearby grass. "No, no, no, not the stick!" He said as he went to go pick it up. Then he noticed that I was walking away. "Hey, where are you going?" John asked. "I'm going back." I said. "Good. Go on! Get out of here!" John said. I decided to go visit Tommy's grave before heading back home. I walked up to his grave and put a brachiosaurus dinosaur figurine on his grave to represent his sword. "Hey Tommy, I never got to thank you for being like a big brother to me. You helped me whenever we did research but when I was getting picked on, either by other students or by some other paleontologist, you were always there to stand up for me. But I guess I'm gonna have to stand up for myself from now on, unless Jason is around and he could stand up for me if I need him to. Thanks for being there for me when no one else was. I probably wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for you. I can never thank you enough for everything you did for me." I said before walking away. I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face Tommy's grave one last time. I did the girl scout salute thing from the hunger games. (Skip to 2:00 and watch up to 2:05 in the video)

I knew that I had a future, even if Tommy wasn't going to be there with me. Later that night I went outside and looked up at the stars. I needed a quiet moment to myself. It was a crazy day with my brother, my dad, and my stepmom. I really needed some peace and quiet. I looked up at one of the brightest stars in the sky. I have gotten told by one of the previous rangers that all of the great rangers look down on us from those stars. So whenever I felt alone I remembered that those rangers were always there to guide me, even when I felt lost and didn't know where to go. I took a deep breath. "Shine on Tommy." I said. The reason why I said that was because I feel like he was gone too soon. He changed my life in ways that I thought was never possible.

I knew that he was in a better place now, and I know that he's with me in spirit. I don't have to worry about anything right now, except for one thing. I still think that I'm going to get picked on by some of the other paleontologists but this time, I'll be able to stand up for myself. I went to the lab that Anton, Tommy, and I did research in the next day. I knocked on the door and Anton came to the door. "Ariel, what are you doing here?" Anton asked. "I came here to work with you." I said. "What made you come back?" Anton said. "I finally got some sense knocked into me, and I've got the bump to prove it. Besides, I used to work with you and Tommy all the time over the summer, you know, for a summer job." I said. "Right." Anton said. "So, what have you been working on lately?" I asked. "Well, I was just finishing up a project that you and Tommy started." Anton said. "I want to help you finish the project." I said. "Okay, there's only a few more things we have to do to complete it." Anton said. I was working with him so much that I never hung out with the others as much as I used to but they are happy that I was back to normal. I might be back to normal now but I never forgot about Tommy. I miss him but at the same time, it feels like he's still with me. A few months later it's summer time and we got a new junior paleontologist. Her name is Emma. She is a junior in high school. I got to show her how I do some of the research and Anton got to show her how he did some of the research. I got some more time to spend with my friends over the summer but from fall to spring, I won't be able to hang out with them as much as I used to. I told them this and they understood. It's great to have friends that can understand anything you tell them. My life is back to normal.

The end