“Okay guys, now just move that side a little bit like that-ah ha! That’s great.”

“Hayley, are you sure we got this thing straight this time?” Conner asked as he and Dr. Oliver took the hooks on their respective sides (Conner on the left, Tommy on the right) of the banner and fastened them to the ceiling.

“Definitely.” Hayley replied sincerely. For the past 15 minutes she had been coaching Conner and Tommy how to properly hang a Happy Thanksgiving banner on the ceiling, and the guys weren’t having much luck, or at least up until now.

As soon as his side was secured, Conner breathed out a sigh of relief as he climbed down his ladder. “Finally.”

“Oh, come on, Conner. After helping me out last night and this morning with the boxes at my house, this should be a breeze.” Tommy said to his student as he climbed down himself.

“Oh, believe me doc, it is.” Conner answered. It had been around 11:00 this morning when he had gotten a call from Ethan saying that he, Trent, and Kira were going to Dr. Oliver’s house to help clean out the rest of the boxes at the Dino Ruins. Conner had then jumped into his car and drove over there to help. By the time he got there his teammates were already sorting through the last ones so he helped Ethan out with his box. At one point Conner almost wanted to “indirectly” say something regarding Katherine but decided against it…unless of course, he found something Kat-related in any of the boxes.

By the time 2:00 rolled around, the fivesome were done, and it was actually just in the nick of time, for Trent had to go on ahead to the cyber café to help Hayley out with the Thanksgiving party she was having tonight. Ethan then asked if he could go with him to help, followed by Kira and then Conner. Dr. Oliver also volunteered to come along, saying that between the six of them they could actually get the place ready quickly than two. Trent wasn’t one to turn down help, so he accepted.

Now, two hours later, they were just getting through putting up the banner, which was the last thing Hayley needed before she opened the cyber café to start the party.

As soon as he was on level ground, Conner then took a look around, drinking in the entire decorated café. It wasn’t a complete makeover, for it still had it’s signature retro, comic-book art look, but there were also Thanksgiving decorations like scarecrows in the middle of the tables, and on some parts of the ceiling were Happy Thanksgiving banners. Another interesting decoration was that some of the computer screens had a screen saver on them that showed a little boy dressed in green chasing after what looked like a white chicken. Then the screen went to that same boy running away from a mob of chickens chasing after him. On some of the other computers, the screen savers showed a scarecrow doing some kind of funky dance.

“Yo!” Ethan beamed at Hayley as he saw the screen savers. “You were actually able to put some Zelda stuff in there? Sweet!”

“Dude, I thought you liked that other game you played, what was its name-Wizard Book.” Conner said as he looked at the screen that had the scarecrow doing its funky dance. As he saw it move in rhythm to some background music that he could only imagine was a video game tune of some kind; it was all he could do not to start laughing himself.

“It’s called Wizard Wood, Conner.” Ethan countered. “And while that game is pretty tight, it can’t compare with Zelda, it just can’t. Especially when there’s a new one in the works for the Gamecube, and unlike the ‘Toon Shading’ they used in Wind Waker, this ones’ like Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask times 10. Besides, I’ve already downloaded the whole trailer from that E3 convention I saw online. And as soon as I find out when I can reserve my copy, I’ll go to Game Stop and reserve it.”

Conner sighed. “OK, whatever, dude.” He said as he patted his friend on the shoulder.

“It wasn’t too hard to program them onto the screen.” Hayley said as she answered Ethan’s question. “Besides, the dancing scarecrow and Link chasing Cuccos looked fitting enough for this Thanksgiving, and as Ethan saw, there’s going to be a new Zelda coming out next November, so…”

“Wait a second, it’s gonna take that long?” Ethan asked.

“Afraid so.”

“Damn.”

All of a sudden the back door opened and Trent stepped out, wearing an apron and carrying a large pot with a turkey in it. “Hayley, it’s done, where’s the oven?”

Hayley walked behind the counter where she then quickly opened up an oven that was right behind Trent. He quickly turned around, put the turkey in and shut the oven door.

“So, I take it you had no problem with the stuffing and whatnot?” Hayley asked.

“No, not a one.” Trent replied as he took his cooking gloves off.

“Whoa, wait a minute, you put the stuffing in the turkey?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah.” Trent nodded as he took off the apron.

“I mean, the stuffing, seasoning, all that-“

“The whole thing.”

Conner had more of a half-surprised, half-skeptical look on his face. “No way.”

“Way.”

“But, dude, how’d you learn how to…?”

“Back when my real parents were alive, I always used to watch how they’d do Thanksgiving: how my dad would prepare the turkey, or how my mom would do the cranberry sauce. After a few years I finally asked them if they could show me how to cook a Thanksgiving dinner, even if was at least a small version of it.” Trent smiled nostalgically as he hung up his apron on a hanger by the back door. “So they showed me how, and the next thing I know I’m whipping up a mini-feast. So now when my dad and I have Thanksgiving, I’m the one who does the cooking.”

“Aren’t you going to have Thanksgiving with him tonight?” Kira asked.

Trent shook his head. “Not this year, sadly. But he was kind enough to supply some of the Thanksgiving stuff though.” Even though that was true, another reason Anton Mercer couldn’t have Thanksgiving with his adopted son this year was also because he wasn’t so sure if he could keep Mesogog from taking over his body again if he did. So he told Trent to go and have Thanksgiving at the cyber café, and to not worry, for he’d even help supply some of the Thanksgiving stuff they’d need, like the turkey, cranberry sauce and whatnot. “Trent, believe me, nothing would please me more than to have Thanksgiving with you, but…it just can’t be done this year. Now just because I can’t celebrate Thanksgiving this year doesn’t mean you can’t either. Thanksgiving isn’t just having a sit-down at a table and eating turkey and such with just one person. It’s a holiday, like Christmas, where you go and spend time with those you care for, whether they are family or friends. So go and enjoy yourself. I’m not about to let you ruin your Thanksgiving on my account. I may have been an only child when I was your age, and I may have made mistakes in wanting what’s best for you, but I do know this.”

“That was nice of him.” Conner remarked.

“So, you can actually cook?” Kira asked.

Trent couldn’t help but blush slightly. “Among other things.” He said nonchalantly as he smiled at her.

Conner sighed and rolled his eyes in amusement as he saw the exchange between the Yellow and White Rangers. Dr. Oliver, on the other hand, smiled a gentle smile as he saw the exchange himself. Ethan however, was too busy watching the screen savers on the computers and humming a Zelda tune to himself to even notice.

Hayley then heard a knock and saw that there were some people, teens and adults waiting by the front doors. She then motioned for Trent to come over and they both walked over to the doors, where Hayley unlocked one of them. As she did, she then motioned for the people to step back from the door a little bit so she could open it.

“Good evening, everyone.” She said. “Well, the good news is you won’t have to wait out here anymore, for me and some very generous individuals have just gotten through putting some finishing Thanksgiving touches, so I think it’s safe to say…let the party begin!”

No sooner did Trent open the other door did everyone just start filing into the place like fans at a rock concert. In no time at all music came on and people started sitting down at the tables and even at sofas to watch some TV. Hayley had programmed it so it could pick up channels that were giving Thanksgiving specials, like ABC Family, and even VH-1 classic was giving a Thanksgiving special.

“Oh yeah, Tommy, were you able to get the fruitcake?” Hayley asked.

Tommy’s eyes furrowed a bit. “Fruitcake?” Then all of a sudden a feeling of realization hit him and he hit his head lightly on his hand. “Uhhhgg! I knew I forgot something!” He grumbled.

“What did you forget?” Conner asked as he and Ethan came back carrying plates that had slices of turkey, cranberry sauce, and sweet potatoes.

“Fruitcake.” Tommy and Hayley answered.

“Dr. O, you never ever have Thanksgiving without the fruitcake, that’s like playing Halo II without the cool vehicles and having to fight the Covenant with only a pistol.”

“Tell me about it.” Tommy replied. “Hayley, could Publix be by any chance open?”

“More than likely, no.” Hayley answered. “Wait, the Wal-Mart down on 17th street might be open.”

“It’s Wal-Mart. If it ain’t open, then we are in an alternate reality.” Tommy said as he reached into his pockets for his keys. “I’m gonna go and get the fruitcake, you guys enjoy the turkey and stuff in the mean time.”

“Oh, don’t worry Dr. O, we are.” Ethan said as he chowed down on his sweet potato.

Tommy shook his head and laughed a bit. “I’ll be back in a bit, guys.” He said before he headed out the door to the parking lot where his jeep was.

“Oh yeah, where’s Kira?” Ethan asked in between mouthfuls of sweet potato.

“Right over there.” Conner said as he gestured with his head towards an adjustable table that Hayley had put out earlier so people that had brought in food would be able to lay them out there. That way anybody who was hungry could just walk up, grab a plate and utensils, and just help himself (or herself) to some entrees. Trent and Kira were by the table getting some food and talking to each other as they went.

“Okay, y’ know, why doesn’t the dude just ask her out already?” Conner asked. “I think it’ll do him some good.”

“Who knows?” Ethan replied as he saw the two Rangers talking. As he did he started thinking back to when he and Cassidy were “hanging out” and he wanted to have a picnic/date with her but he didn’t know how to go about it. Luckily though Conner, Kira, Trent, and surprisingly enough Dr. Oliver were able to help him not be so hesitant, and even though things between him and Cassidy never took a romantic turn sadly, Ethan had no regrets about it.

Once it looked like they had gotten enough food, Trent and Kira then walked over to where their friends were.

“Where’d Dr. O go?” Kira asked as she sat by a table near the counter where Ethan and Conner were.

“Forgot the fruitcake.” Ethan and Conner supplied.

“Ooohh.” Trent mused as he took his seat opposite Kira.

Ah, my infamous faulty memory strikes once again. Tommy thought as walked out of the cyber café and turned left towards his jeep.

Well, hopefully they didn’t sell out of fruitcake completely. He thought to himself again as he got in and started the ignition. As he pulled out of the parking lot and got ready to turn at the corner he looked at the right side to see if any cars were coming. Then when he looked at his left side his jaw dropped partly open, his eyes widened, and he quickly found himself tightening his grip at the wheel, but neither the jeep nor he could move, for at that exact same moment a tall, curvaceous, crystal-eyed blonde-haired woman was coming just right up the opposite corner.