Warm Colors (Mae)

Jack happily hummed a jonty little tune as he strolled down the sidewalk. Today was turning out to be pretty swell if he did say so himself, and he did in fact say so himself. He said so outloud and quite frankly he was unaffected by the numerous weird looks he was getting from the passers by. Though less people were whispering about him when they assumed he was out of earshot... He briefly wondered why that was. That had been happening a lot as of late... It was subtle at first, but it had grown quite noticeable. People had begun to treat him differently sense he starting wearing his uniform. It was weird it was almost like people... Respected him.

Respect?... What an utterly foreign  concept to everyone's favorite Red Ranger. Though it was around the time he stopped BEING the Red Ranger that he started to get this respect... Could there be a correlation? Naw, had to be a coincidence.

Regardless of his new found status as an officer of the law, Jack was still on his way back from his weekly stop in at the radio tower to check if Miss. Divine had returned and was on his way to see an old friend at her work, maybe see if she wanted to grab some lunch or catch a movie, after all Jack was off duty and had to kill some time before clocking back in.

As he did many times before Jack ascended the steps of the Orphanage that Mae had begun working at. Though two years had passed them by, very little had changed between the Red Ranger and his Pink Ranger. Still close as ever, and still best of friends. With a warm smile Jack knocked twice on the solid oak door and waited for an answer.

The door opened shortly after the first knock by one of the kids living there. A brown-haired boy which Jack would recognize as Kevin, opened the door for him. The moment the little boy saw who it was, he couldn't help but smile widely. "JAAAAACK!" The little kid bounced up and down on his feet in excitement before pulling him in. The other kids there looked up at the sudden outburst from Kevin. Shortly, Jack would find himself surrounded by the little rascals of varying age, from 4 year-olds up to 8 year olds. Kevin himself was 6, a year younger than Kayle.

Hearing the commotion, Mae, who was busy helping Kayle with her homework, looked down the staircase, just to see what all the noise was about. Figures it was Jack. Kayle peeked out as well, before running down herself to meet him. Mae sighed deeply, partway in frustration, and partway in amusement before she finally headed down herself. It was always like this every time he arrived here. All the younger kids seemed to have taken a big liking to the Ex-Ranger. "Off duty, Jack?" Mae said once the commotion had died out somewhat, looking at Jack with a light smile on her face as the kids tugged at him in all manner of directions. Jack's sporadic visits here was very welcome by both staff and the kids alike. The door to the kitchen swung open shortly afterward. An older woman, who was known as 'Auntie' by the kids, and was one of Mae's collegues, peeked out. "Oh. Welcome Jack." Her face was somewhat dusty with flour as she was currently baking with one of the older orphans there. "Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Tea?"

"Whoa!" It was like a tsunami to be honest. No sooner had Jack pulled his hand away from the door had it opened and he was pulled into the writhing maw of childlike enthusiasm and love. Though he might have been pretty bad at being an adult, and drove most his own age crazy, he did seem to connect with kids rather easily."H-Hey Kids slowdown! Hah! There's plenty of Jack to go around so don't tug!" Jack roared with laughter as he picked up as many children as he could fit into his arms, making sure to give each a big hug for their excitement.

This was not the first time he had payed the orphans a visit... The first time he came by was a few days after Mae started working here. Back then the kids didn't seem to fond of him, though the more he kept coming around the more he grew om the kids. He liked to think he was helping out by being a good role-model or something, but even if the kids just liked having him around well... that would be good enough for him.

Jack's attention was partially taken from the kids when he heard Mae call out to him. With a smile and an arm full of screeching children he would chuckle and say, "Mae Mae Mae, You should know by now that I'm NEVER off duty! I'm the Super Cop! I always gatta protect the city!" As he said this he would pick up more of the children until he held each of them in some fission. Some hung from his arms and other clung to his legs, but as soon as they were all somewhat attached he would begin to twirl and giggle with them, "I would LOVE some Tea Auntie! Could you make my special blend? Extra mold if ya have it,"

In spite of his great strength, eventually the writhing mass of children wore on the exranger. He let out one last mighty roar before falling to his knees,"Hey Mae, can I get a little help here? You must save your valiant leader!"

Mae watched in amusement as the oncoming tide of small kids swept over Jack. It really was nice to see that the kids had taken such a liking to him over the course of time. Perhaps it was because of his lighthearted nature as a human being that made the kids like him so much.

"Jaaackiieee!" Kayle ran up to Jack once the other kids had calmed down. She leapt quite the distance considering her small legs before finally latching onto Jack. "I've missed you so much!" Indeed. Kayle and Jack were probably the closest out of all the kids here to Jack. He knew what had happened to the poor kid two years ago, when Ananke had first awakened from his slumber in Penecia. Both her parents had died in the catastrophe, but somehow, the little girl had survived. Mae had taken on the girl in an instant as the caretaker, feeling somewhat responsible for what happened there, being involved in the whole mess that had robbed the child of her parents... Two years might've passed since, but... the scars were still present.

Oh... that tea... Mae's face turned somewhat green at the thought of that. "J-Just give him some lemon tea instead..." Yeah... That was probably a better idea. The older woman stood there confused for a moment before returning back into the kitchen. Meanwhile, Mae walked over to Jack, and helped him with the kids tugging at him. "Now, now, you guys. Jack hasn't even taken off his shoes yet." Once that situation had been solved, Mae gave Jack a quick, friendly hug. "It's nice to see you again. How are you?"

Defeated and broken the Red Ranger lay in the doorway as those who took his pride scattered to the winds. Sprawled upon the cold oaken floor he lay, unmoving and unsure if he would leave this place. As the darkness overtook his vision he looked towards the sun one last time. Never had it looked so beautiful, never had the air smelled so sweet, never had the sounds of the world rung so true. He only wished... He had appreciated all this when he still had time...

"BLEH! I'm dead," Jack said as the kids climbed off him with a tongue flopped out,"You kids were to strong for me, I'm dead.... Bleg" Jack would lay motionless for a moment before cracking an eye and looking towards Kayle with a half hidden smile. "Mae Shhhhh... I'm dead, Pfft... Ya gatta honnor my passing with cake, chocolate cake with buttermilk frosting... And sprinkles.... OH OH! And Vanilla Icecream on top!... oh I mean... Bleh..." Jack held back a giggle as the children around him fallowed suit and looked to Mae for her reaction.