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Jason is pretty sure Zordon has known this whole time. At least since they brought Billy back, begging for a way to revive him. Definitely once their zords merged to create the megazord, as Billy dubbed it.
They asked Zordon about it, a week or so after the dust cleared and it more fully sank in that they'd saved the planet. Not just themselves, or their families and friends or their little town, not just the country - the whole freaking world. That was heavy shit. That took some time to come to terms with, even if it was a good thing. And then the questions came. Then they returned to the ship.
Zordon was cagey about some of their questions, but Alpha 5 was blissfully loose-tongued as usual. Weird for a robot. Eventually from the both of them they got some answers - yes that had happened before, no not with Zordon's old team, yes there were many teams before Zordon's, yes Rita had once owned a Zord but it was destroyed hence why she created Goldar, and no the megazord was not a common occurrence.
It had been Alpha, of course, who'd blurted out that only the strongest of Power Ranger teams before had ever been able to combine their zords into the warrior zord, as it had been called in the old, alien languages of the teams before. He'd told them it had happened three times before as far as recorded ranger history was aware.
Jason wonders if those teams were as, close, as his team. Was that part of how they were able to achieve that megazord? Not just trust in your teammates, but love? He almost wants to ask, but though there is respect and gratitude to Zordon at this point, Jason still sees the former ranger as an authority figure, and authority figures tend to look down on things they find unconventional. Maybe to Zordon, whatever he is - was - it isn't all that unconventional, but he can't shake the feeling that admitting it to him would be like admitting it to his dad.
Maybe he's afraid if Zordon reacts badly, it'll only make his concern over his parents finding out worse.
"I think we're drift compatible, Jason. I think that's what it is," Billy says, an hour after the five of them have finished watching Pacific Rim, this week's pick for movie night.
Trini chuckles and Zack smirks, while Kim laughs and nods her agreement.
"I think Billy's on to something," she chimes in, glancing at Jason who's grinning. She likes seeing him this way - carefree, at ease, shoulders not weighed down by any leader bullshit or any of the lingering pressures from his parents.
They all seem a little lighter on movie night. It's good for them. On these nights, they're just a bunch of kids. Not Power Rangers, not heroes, not almost adults who should have their lives figured out by now. Just kids, just friends.
Maybe a little more than friends.
"You know, Billy, I think you're onto something," Jason says, grabbing the empty popcorn bowl. "Though I think Goldar might have been a little easier to deal with."
"Shit, I don't even want to think about that," Zack replies, leaning back with Trini still using him as her seat - she wears a hat or beanie every time, too, after Zack made a joke about being able to see the screen just fine because she was so short. "That day was rough enough, or do you not remember how close we came to dying before we upgraded?"
It's light ribbing, really, but a hush falls over them at that. Without meaning to, Jason, Kim, Trini, and Zack all glance at Billy, who is quiet too. They all came close to dying - but Billy actually did. For him, that would have been number two. Kim's pretty sure they all have nightmares, though so far nobody's had any panic attacks.
But she's still not so sure they came out unscathed beyond nightmares. They're superheroes, sure, but - being a superhero is terrifying, she's learned. That's why they don't watch comic book movies usually. Pacific Rim was the first movie with giant monsters and robots they'd watched on movie night - before it'd been stupid comedies and a couple chick flicks Kim had convinced the others to try.
It's been three months since Rita and Goldar. Since becoming Power Rangers. They figured, why not? It did look like fun and maybe it would help them. It'd been good. But now they're all back in the zords, feeling the heat of the earth's core and the Zeo crystal, the force of Goldar's strength, memories of Rita killing Billy fresh on their minds.
It hits them, finally, that they're holding hands - only none of them feel any skin, because somewhere lost in their memories, they'd morphed.
"...this is kind of like when Mako started freaking out over her memory, isn't it?" Billy asks, and they all let out a nervous laugh, but the tension starts to seep from their bodies, their armor fading with it.
Much to Trini's relief and also complete embarrassment, her mother is fully -and happily - convinced that she and Zack are dating, and Kim is just her wingwoman. Much to Trini's confusion, while the exact opposite is true, she's not all that sure that her mom is entirely wrong either.
In fact, Trini thinks they might all be dating each other. Sort of. It's complicated. She knows her mother wouldn't be so happy about that idea, which is almost worth the confusion. Except it is really confusing, and Trini was only just making peace with how confusing her life is without realizing the five of them might be more than a team and more than friends.
Of course, she could be reading the whole situation wrong. She isn't the best at people or emotions. She doesn't get the same fluttering feeling inside her when any of the boys smile at her, not like what happens when Kim smiles at her. But there's something comforting - almost, intimate - about sitting on Zack's lap to make him shut up about her being short, or the feeling when Jason puts an arm around her shoulders when they're hanging out sometimes, or sitting so close to Billy they're almost touching, but not, because he just isn't big on a lot of physical contact, and she gets that.
And they all get her.
She thinks - no, she knows - she loves them. Maybe in love with loves them. She is pretty certain Kim is in love with all of them, to varying and different degrees, though probably on a more physical level than Trini, if the touchy-flirty-ness between her and Jason is anything to go by.
Trini is pretty sure that's what clued her in on this suspicion of hers - that they're all kind of dating, kind of are more than friends and teammates and rangers -the realization that somewhere along the line, she stopped being jealous of Jason. When that hit, she'd taken a step back, looked at the five of them, how she felt, how they all seemed to feel and act with each other.
How Jason seems to look at them all the same - like they mean the world to him, like they are the world to him. It's comforting and confusing and overwhelming and maybe scary, too, but then that's what being a Power Ranger is. There's a comfort to knowing inside of her is a strength, a tangible power - and it's just as terrifying. This is kind of the same thing. Except without superpowers.
She wants to say something to Kim, but she's not sure how. 'Oh, hey, by the way, are we one fireside chat away from a fivesome?' doesn't seem like a very good option. So instead, she asks Billy.
"Well, that's kind of what I meant when I said we're drift compatible."
Billy looks back down at his laptop, but he feels Trini sigh as much as he hears it. He pauses, lifts his head, and then, "You want me to slow down and have a discussion about this, don't you?" He's taken to being direct with the others because it helps - and it's nice, because he likes being direct even if he can sometimes get off topic, but they don't seem to mind and usually let him unless they're pressed for time in which case they get him to focus back on the matter at hand, and the matter at hand here seems to be a talk Trini needs to have without him trying to find any more news about what the government is doing to figure out where and who the Power Rangers are.
Trini nods and hops up onto a part of the workbench that isn't cluttered with his stuff. "Technically, not everyone who was drift compatible loved each other."
"Or was in love with each other?" he asks, just for clarification, cause it hits him that that's what she's really saying. And he isn't sure if he's getting better at reading people, or if he's just better at reading the others, or if they've all tapped into each other's emotions and energy and brainwaves, because he's noticed he's been able to pick up on how the others are feeling a lot easier than he used to, or can with anyone else.
He really needs to talk to Alpha later about that.
"Billy?"
"Oh, sorry, was just reminding myself to ask Alpha if we're becoming telepathically linked or at least forming some kind of empathic connection."
Trini blinks at that. "Huh. Maybe that's it."
"Oh, no, we all love each other. Are in love with each other. I'm pretty sure, anyway, which I definitely think means we might be forming some kind mental or emotional connection due to being Power Rangers, cause I don't think I would know that or be so certain I know that otherwise."
For a moment Trini looks bothered by what he's saying, and Billy doesn't know why - that's why he doesn't think it's a full on telepathic link, otherwise he'd know her thoughts, instead of just being really good at reading her emotions, which is still weird and kind of unsettling for him, but he's adjusting. With all of them, not just Trini.
"Do you think that's...influencing us?"
Oh. Oh, that makes sense. "No. I mean, I don't think we would be friends or as close if we weren't Power Rangers, but look at Zordon and Rita and Zordon's team - they weren't close or at least not like we are. In fact, I have been thinking about what they told us about the Megazord and previous teams, and I've theorized that it wasn't that those teams were the most physically strong or the most intelligent teams, but that they had the strongest bonds."
Trini relaxes some at that and even smiles. "That's...kind of cool."
"I know, right? I was going to go ask Alpha about it today, you want to come with?"
"Sure, not like I have any other plans." She hops off the workbench and starts heading for the stairs, and Billy realizes she's not interested in waiting for him to finish what he was doing which, he guess doesn't matter cause Google or Bing aren't going to give any real answers, and he can't hack the FBI or the men in black.
At least not yet.
Alpha is always so happy when any of the rangers come to visit - especially Billy - and to be honest, Zordon is happy for the reprieve because he's a little tired of having only Alpha around, who is determined to make up for lost time when it's just the two of them. All sixty-five million years of it.
"Yeah, tuning into each other's emotions and state of mind is totally normal - in fact, that was how Zordon and the others realized Rita was becoming a threat. She found a way to start cloaking her feelings from them. Even from Zordon!"
He just wishes that Alpha had something of a filter.
"Alpha. I'm sure Billy and Trini would rather not talk about anything to do with Rita." And he doesn't want to hear - let alone have to speak - that name more than necessary anymore. He doesn't add that it took him too long to realize that truth, and that it was after months of the others telling him something was wrong.
He doesn't want to think about his blind spot when it came to his second in command. He doesn't want to think about the damage she caused, the zord they lost, how he let the rest of his team down. Seeing how well this new team is doing is reminder enough of his own failings, of how his team went down in ranger history as the weakest, the one that left the universe without the Power Rangers for millions and millions of years.
"Of course, Master, who would? Brr, Rita." Alpha makes that ridiculous defensive motion he often does when bringing her up, and then merrily resumes explaining the team's growing connection to each other and how it works.
It is a relief, honestly, to see how these five care for each other. He'd suspected they were forming equal bonds among the team when they brought young Billy's body back after Rita's trap. And with the rise of the warrior zord, his fears they might follow in his mistakes were assuaged. Seeing the five of them becoming a unit without jealousy, without blind spots and emotional tunnel-vision, is a good omen.
This team will be a great team, one that will repair the tarnished legacy that Zordon left for them.
Zack's mom is the first of their parents to find out that the five of them are, well, in a complicated, definitely more than friendship relationship. He tells her one night, when she's not doing so great and the medicine isn't helping much, and that fear that she won't be with him anymore when he wakes up nearly makes him vomit. He wants her to know, and to know he's happy, and he has people in his life, people who love him.
She smiles and cups his face and tells him that is good. "That is what I want for you. Family and love." She looks like she's going to say more, but she's tired and her eyes are wet like his - and it kills him to know that his mom is afraid too, twists his insides up like that fear when Billy was drowning, and he couldn't do anything, he can't do anything to stop this - and she doesn't go on.
He thinks it's better that way. He doesn't want a goodbye speech. He isn't sure he can take it. He tries to just hold onto her not being upset or confused by what he told her, not being disappointed that he isn't...well, someone he's not.
Mom falls asleep not long after, and he stays in the room with her. Maybe if he watches her, he can keep her there with him - pin her life with his stare. She looks so weak though, and he wonders if he needs to let go now. If he should close his eyes and pray that maybe tonight really is the night, for her sake.
His phone buzzes a few times before he realizes he's crying, focusing so hard on being quiet that it hurts, that he's almost choking on his sobs, throat constricted. He shakes with the need to calm down and grabs the cell, looks at the screen to see the group text is full of messages asking if he's okay. Zack's about to text back when another message pops up - 'on the way' - and his fingers hover over the keyboard, ready to tell them no, but he doesn't.
He needs them. And if his mom wakes up in the morning - he wants her to meet them, his people, the ones who will be there so he isn't alone when she's gone.
There's a soft knock on the door twenty minutes after the last text, and Zack opens it to find them all there, Jason and Trini at the front.
"So, that whole emotional connection thing really is true, huh?" he tries to joke, but he knows he's red faced with tear-stained cheeks, and the words come out strained and hoarse, a struggle not to break down even after he says it.
Trini reaches forward and hugs him, one of her bear-hugs that's as tight as she is tiny, and he just hugs back, grateful for it. The others follow her example, and Zack is vaguely aware they're hugging half in the trailer, half out of it, and should probably come in but it's not too cold tonight, and he isn't ready to move.
"You want us to stay over?" Kim whispers as they finally disentangle from each other and come inside fully.
"Yeah, um, that'd be great actually. I kind of told my mom about us." They all stare at him, confused and wide-eyed, and Zack laughs then - a good feeling - quickly adding, "Us being in a relationship. Not about what we moonlight as."
"Oh," they all kind of whisper and nod, shoulders slumping in relief.
"Anyway, I want, if she's," he stops, that if heavy on his heart.
"You want us to meet her?" Jason asks, finishing that thought for him.
"Yeah actually."
Kim smiles and squeezes his hand, and Billy gives him a hug, something Zack treasures and savors. Trini and Jason nod, and the five of them settle down on the floor in front of the sofa with the two extra blankets Zack has, and any pillows he can find that he doesn't have set aside for his mom for when she needs more cushioning to sit up. They burrow around Zack, the other four talking about anything and everything to take his mind off it, until finally he passes out.
When he wakes up in the morning, his mom is still there, awake and sitting up in bed and talking to Kim and Trini who've fixed her breakfast and made sure she got her morning meds. He swells with relief and smiles, and Billy and Jason follow him in to meet his mom too.
Later, when the others finally leave, his mom smiles at him and says, "I like them. But what kind of marriage ceremony will you have? So many different people!"
Zack laughs with his mom and tells her not to worry. "We'll figure out something. Even if it's five different ones," he jokes back.
He texts the others later, on his way to work. 'Love you.' His phone buzzes in his pocket, four times over the next few minutes. He doesn't have to check it to know. He thumbs the coin in his other pocket, thankful more than ever to be a Power Ranger.