Chapter Text
CHAPTER FIFTY: EPILOGUE
SIX MONTHS LATER...
ZORDON
He was pacing around the field nervously. An entire army was before him, waiting in anticipation for things to begin.
Zedd stood beside him. Caius, Dale, Rito, Lachlan, and Topaz held their positions to the right. They were ready.
As music began to play and Iris made her way down the aisle, she tossed petals on the ground. As each petal landed, a flower grew in its place.
Iris was followed by Keilah's youngest son, Lando, who shyly walked down the aisle with the rings. Behind them were the "bridesmaids," Didi, Anise, Squatt, and two Putties in dresses. Next, the Maid of Honor, Angie, entered. Finally, Finster led Rita down the aisle looking as proud as any father.
She's beautiful, Zordon thought. He smiled as he watched her, temporarily forgetting that anyone else was present until she reached him.
"Dearly beloved," Hanry began, "we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two hearts. It has taken quite a journey to reach this day, and it is an honor to stand here united with you all in celebration of Zordon of Eltar and Rita Repulsa's hard-earned happy ending." He began to recite an Eltarian blessing before translating it into English. "As long as love lasts, united they shall remain, strong and blessed by the stars."
Zordon smiled as he took Rita's ring. "Rita Repulsa, you are the only woman I have ever loved," he began. "I have spent millennia dreaming of this day, even when it seemed it would never be possible. I never gave up on you, and I never will. Thank you for loving me and for agreeing to share the rest of our lives together." He slid the ring onto her finger.
"Zordon, my funny, handsome blue boy," Rita replied, "I have loved you from the first time we met, as both Rita and Misty..." She laughed as she mentioned the first name she'd given to him when she was a teenager and trying to hide her true identity. "No matter what name I use, I shall always love you with all of my heart and soul. Thank you for believing in me even when I did not." She slid his ring onto his finger.
"I will now unite the couple in a sacred Handfasting," Hanry said. He focused for a moment. Several red and white candles lit themselves in a circle around them.
As Zordon and Rita looked into each other's eyes, Hanry held five ribbons. They were green for Earth, yellow for Air, red for Fire, blue for Water, and white for Spirit. He began braiding them together as he cast the traditional Eltarian spell for blessings, good fortune, and love.
When the braid was complete, Hanry began weaving it around Zordon and Rita's joined hands as he recited, "By Earth, may your love remain grounded and strong. By Air, may your hearts soar to new heights together. By Fire, may your passion burn endlessly bright. By Water, may your love always flow freely. By Spirit, may your souls always find each other again."
Their Handfasting cord was now fully wrapped around their hands. Hanry smiled as he said, "By the power of the Eltarian Counsel of Elders, I hereby pronounce this union official! You may now share your first kiss as husband and wife."
Zordon leaned in and kissed Rita. Never in his life had he felt such pure joy in his heart. Hanry unbound their hands, giving Rita the cord. As was Eltarian tradition, it would hang on the wall of their new home facing the sun and inviting further blessings into their lives.
The Putties began batting at their eyes with tissues. Rito and Squatt started sobbing like babies. The sheer joy on Zedd's face said it all. As Zordon looked at everyone else, he knew they shared the same sentiment. Even his father, who had worked so hard to tear them apart when they were teenagers now beamed at them from the front row with pride. Aiyana sat beside him looking incredibly happy.
He scanned the crowd and saw everyone who'd fought beside them against Jezzeff, the Witch, and everyone else. Zordon and Rita had even invited Eris, T'Dania, and a few of their allies. True to her word, Anise had pardoned them for their previous crimes, and they now seemed to be living honorable lives. The entire Yizak family line and a large number of Eltar's other citizens had made the trip to Earth for the wedding.
Couples sat together including some who had only become official fairly recently. Zordon looked at Lauren and Diamond, Jayden and Emily, Charleigh and Dex, Elliot and Dora, Cooper and Patti, Laby and Ben, and so many others and smiled. Kizzie and Zyxx had gotten married for real after centuries of pretending to get married as a cover during various Rebellion missions. Kizzie had announced a couple of weeks earlier that she was pregnant, and she watched Amara and Captain Smith hold their infant daughter now like she was mentally taking notes. Just as he'd promised, Rupi had married Tedius in Las Vegas two days after the battle ended. They had adopted a three-year-old girl who sat between them now. It warmed Zordon's heart to be surrounded by so much love.
Lido and Dawn were both sitting with A'Vah, who they were raising together. It brought Zordon joy to know Lido and part of his mother had finally found peace together. Considering Lido had been in his life more than his father when he was very young, the pairing seemed perfectly natural to him.
The Circle sat with Angel, Hudzon's wife and kids, and Felina, who after much hesitation appeared to be cautiously dating Vrennius. His daughter Danica happily clapped her hands as everyone celebrated around her.
Tiktah and Aliese sat beside Andie, Greg, and Darcy, who were each with their respective dates, Sir Ivan, Mena, and Pierce. The Alphas stood together. Five, Twenty-Six, and Three were all leaking fluid from their eyes and fussing as they batted the tears away. Six was trying to remain outwardly calm but was practically twitching in excitement. Prime looked at Zordon with a peaceful expression on his face.
Rey sat beside Zydia while Zizi sat behind them. The unlikely couple was slowly trying to work through their issues and had gotten back together. This time, their relationship was built on honesty, and they seemed to be doing well so far. Grazziella sat with Bartello, Reyzzo, Poppy, and Daisy. Keilah and Tante sat with their children, finally getting to live together publicly and happily. D'Dodi, Mydo, and Zydo had not brought dates, but Zee and Mya were now an official couple and they sat together holding hands.
Plurri sat with his arms wrapped around Boom. Vagris and Truth were slowly becoming a couple, although neither wanted to rush things. Rhanna and Hayley were engaged and splitting their time together between Eltar and Earth. Talon and Drakaina had basically become Mr. and Mrs. Eltar just as Talon and Serafine had once been. Finally, everything was starting to feel right with the universe.
Angel and Liza had opened portals so Minh, Kat, Dulcea and her Rangers, and the Rangers from 2017 could attend the wedding. Zordon smiled to himself as he noticed Briar lurking in the shadows and realized she'd time traveled to witness the event. He was mildly surprised to realize Carissa and Pax had come with her. He nodded at his and Rita's children so they'd know they were busted. They remained hidden so as not to disturb the time line but smiled back at him in response.
Caius and Anise were each other's dates. Zordon was pleased to see his twin sister and his beloved friend slowly acknowledging that their feelings for each other might go beyond friendship. He knew they would take excellent care of each other.
Everyone Zordon and Rita loved was with them now, each finding their own bit of peace. He couldn't be happier.
"Did someone order a party?" Tinny asked. He, Branz, and Dex started conjuring lights, refreshments, and music. The field was turned into one giant party and the reception began.
Zordon and Rita danced to their song. After much deliberation, they'd chosen I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing by Aerosmith. It seemed fitting. After all, they'd missed so much time together because of outside forces, neither of them wanted to miss another second.
Everyone danced and drank and celebrated without fear of being attacked or forced to engage in battle. Eventually, Rita stood before them and raised her bouquet. She tossed it into the crowd. Rather amusingly, Dustin was the one who caught it.
Kira smirked. "Marry me," she said, not making it a question.
"Okay," he replied with a casual grin.
"About time!" Tommy declared. Cheers from the other Power Rangers followed.
Angie raised a glass. "I just want to wish my mom and Zordon a beautiful, happy life together," she said. "You guys deserve this!"
Zedd stood beside her and raised his own glass. "To my best friend and brother, Zordon, and my ex-wife-turned-best-friend, Rita, I wish you both an eternity of love, laughter, and peace," he said.
"Thank you both!" Rita said, grinning from ear to ear. "We love you all so much."
Zordon looked at the crowd before taking a deep breath. "I want to thank you all for being here," he began. "Not just today, but during every part of our journey. We would not be who we are today without each and every one of you." He paused. "Here's to the future!"
"To the future!" Everyone echoed.
As Zordon pulled Rita into his arms, he took comfort in knowing that, finally, both of the worlds he loved so much were at peace.
THE END.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I cannot believe this journey has come to an end. When I started Legacy Rangers in July of 2017, I never intended to do more than write a basic next generation adventure. Slowly, canon characters from other teams like Kira and Jayden made their way into the story, but I never imagined what it would grow into. When the idea for the prequel, The Chosen, came into play, all of that began to change. As I introduced the Rebellion of Eltar, things got even more complicated. Slowly but surely, I found myself exploring this complex, fascinating history of Eltar, and the story continued to grow and change.
It is now June of 2023. Seven fics later, I have finally finished this epic adventure featuring thirty years of canon characters and a tremendous amount of original characters. I honestly never imagined I'd get here, and there were times when I really believed I'd bitten off more than I could chew and I wouldn't be able to pull all of these different moving pieces together into one cohesive plot. I'm really proud of the Chosen Universe and am so glad you all took this journey with me.
I'd like to thank my Muse, Aura Mackenzie , for their unending support, helpful edits, and constant inspiration. I literally could not have pulled this story together without them. I also appreciate the use of their characters, including Casey, Sakura, Keilah, Grazziella, Lucy, Lilly, DJ, Denni, Taylor, Tye, Tessa, Tanner, Daisy, Poppy, Sophie Rogers, Lillith/Angel, and countless others I'm probably forgetting but have previously listed. Thanks for pointing out consistency errors, talking me through plots and plot twists, and for being here since the very beginning.
Thanks to my followers on Twitter who have been endlessly supportive and encouraging as I rambled about these fics. Thanks to everyone who liked or retweeted my updates. Special thanks to Pararaptorgirl, my soul sister, whose love and encouragement mean the world to me. Shoutout to Teddy Tellez, who helped me figure out how to write the Beast Morphers accurately, and to Dragonflydart, who not only did that but supplied me with endless information about them and the Dino Fury team, and who patiently let me rant, rave, celebrate, and cry as I finished Tales from the Rebellion and wrote Chosen Destiny. Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, liked, gave Kudos to, voted for, reviewed, or commented on these fics. I appreciate you all. Thanks Fimariemix for voting for every new chapter I posted once you followed the fics. Special thanks to Merendinoemiliano for your constant support since Stone Warriors. Your reviews always put a smile on my face.
If you would like to read more of my writing, I currently have two other Power Rangers fics in progress, Warped and Hidden, which do not connect in any way to the Chosen Universe. Warped features characters from Ninja Storm, Dino Thunder, and the Retro Rangers, as well as an original team. Hidden is an SPD/Mystic Force crossover. Hidden is currently on hiatus but I intend to return to it eventually. Warped is about to be resumed. I am also working on a Bleach fic that takes place in the same world as the Chosen Universe but is not part of the series. It's called Shades of Grey. It focuses on the Bleach characters I used in this fic, including Sakura, and there are some appearances by my original characters such as Trerry and Laby.
To everyone who ever read a single fic in this epic journey, thank you. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. I love you.
May the Power protect you Always.