Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2016 05:14:49 -0500
From: Hunter <painservedcold@aim.com>
Subject: Power Rangers Chase and Riley chapter 10

Adventures in Dating – Chapter 10

Christmas was in the air, and Chase was trying to get everything ready for
his big surprise for all the Rangers, Kendall and Keeper. He knew that he
wasn't going to be able to spend Christmas in Amber Beach, but he wanted to
be part of everyone's holiday celebrations while he went home. He had been
working on this little project to make sure he gave the best Christmas
present ever for a few weeks now, and everything was finally ready so that
he could give everyone their presents on Christmas Eve and still have time
to fly home.

As he was writing the note for each of the Rangers to read and signing each
of their envelopes, Chase smiled fondly at what he had created. Thank
goodness that Tyler was always taking team selfies and posting them to
Facebook; that made it really easy to find a photo that had everyone in the
team. Of course Tyler didn't know what he was getting from Chase, but he
was sure that it would be a hit with everyone. Making this jigsaw puzzle
was one of his better ideas; giving everyone one piece would help make sure
that they all had to be together during Christmas as well, which was
important considering how few of them had people to spend the holidays with
otherwise.

It was nice to be going home, he'd been holding onto this plane ticket that
Chloe had given him months ago. He had been waiting impatiently for the
moment that he'd be able to go home and be with his family again, and it
meant everything to him that he'd be able to spend Christmas with his mum
and sister. Christmas was still Chase's favourite time of the year, and
while he loved being around the Rangers and especially with all the time he
got to spend with Riley, he knew that home was where he wanted to be, if
only so that he could have a few days to himself and not have any work to
do.

When Chase rolled up to the base he made sure to put most of the gifts into
his locker, except for the piece of the puzzle that kept his face in
it. For that part, he needed to find Keeper, who always seemed to know when
he was needed by a Ranger. By the time Chase had stored the other presents,
Keeper had appeared in the base.

"Your calm personality belies the fear and panic you feel right now, what
is it that concerns you Chase?" Keeper asked, having appeared behind Chase
inside the base.

"How do you keep doing that...?" Chase wondered. "Anyway, doesn't matter
right now. I'm supposed to be leaving to go home for the holidays, but I
wanted to give the Rangers a present. Once I'm gone, can I ask you to give
this envelope to everyone once they're all together? It will complete the
present I've made for everyone."

"You have a good heart Chase; I sense how much of yourself you have put
into this. Give me the gift, I will deliver it when the time is right."

"Great! Thanks Keeper."

When Chase caught up with everyone else, part of Chase wondered why no one
else was giving out presents. He didn't think that they had all grown up
past wanting or needing to give out presents, so maybe it was something
that'd be happening later in the day. Hopefully it wouldn't be too much
later, since he did have to leave in a couple of hours and wanted to spend
a little bit of time celebrating with everyone.

Just then, their communicators went off and the Rangers were forced to go
help save Santa from Poisandra and Wrench. Chase was panicked, he knew that
this would take awhile, but he didn't have much time before he had to go
catch his flight. He also figured he couldn't just show up to the airport
still dressed in his Ranger uniform, that'd be something of a giveaway
about who he is, and the Rangers agreed that they should be trying to keep
their identities a secret.

With every step he took and every movement he made, Chase could see Chloe's
face flashing into his mind.  He was glad that nothing else had come close
to hurting her; ever since Prince Philip had to save her from the Vivix
it'd been on his mind that she could get hurt again. That was part of why
he was hoping to get home for Christmas, he wanted to be there and keep her
safe and know that everything was okay, even if that was just for a few
days.

Once they finished rescuing Santa's computer, the team raced back to the
base so that they could celebrate Christmas, and Chase quickly went to see
if there would be time to get to the airport in time or his flight. Sitting
at his laptop, he checked the time and realized his flight had already
left. Downcast, he returned to the base and let everyone know that he
wasn't going to be able to go home. That's when Santa appeared and offered
to let him take a ride to New Zealand to get home for Christmas.

Chase was excited; who wouldn't want to take a sleigh ride with the real
Santa Clause?! He went sprinting back to where his bags were, grabbed
everything and started to run after Santa to make sure this wasn't a
joke. He was just about to leave when he remembered to get the presents for
everyone!  Chase ran back to the lockers in the back of the base where he
had stashed all of the presents for the team. When he presented everyone
with their envelopes, he left before anyone could ask him what they were
supposed to do with them.

Keeper waited in the shadows, hearing the Rangers and Kendall putting
together Chase's gift. He smiled to himself as he handed over the final
piece of the puzzle, thinking that in the millions of years he existed
among humans, none had touched him and made him understand the species as
much as this Ranger team.

Thousands of miles away and tens of thousands of feet above the ground,
Chase was flying. Not in a plane, but in Santa's sleigh, watching as Santa
visited and left gifts for every last person on the Nice list in New
Zealand. He got to watch as every house lit up with the spirit of
Christmas, except for his own. He knew why without Santa ever saying so; he
wasn't home yet, so a Christmas wish hadn't been granted. He arrived just
as the sun was rising and as Chloe would be waking up to open presents.

The look on her face when the door opened with the sun shining behind him
was exactly what he wanted from her for Christmas. She looked so
wonderfully happy to see him that all of the stress from the last
twenty-four hours completely disappeared. He'd miss Riley and everyone
else, but being home was where he was supposed to be, and he knew that if
he were still in Santa's sleigh his house would be just as bright as all
the others.