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schizoauthoress
Title: Multiple Choice
Author: D.L.SchizoAuthoress (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
schizoauthoress)
Fandom: Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
Pairing/characters: Trini Kwan, Jason Lee Scott, Zordon, Alpha-5
Rating: G/PG
Disclaimer: Despite the numerous fights I got into with my best friend over who got to be the Yellow Ranger when we played in grade school, I have no ownership over the Power Rangers, in their first incarnation as Super Sentai, Saban's Mighty Morphin', or others.
Prompt: Power Rangers, Trini, Whenever Trini morphs, her body becomes male. She's surprised at how comfortable she feels with a male body and starts to question her gender identity.
Summary: It's not a simple question -- she can answer with what's true, or with what her family thinks is 'right'...
Warning: Wasn't able to get a beta. Anything terribly glaring or unclear, let me know and I'll fix it. :)
Word Count: 2581
Author's Notes:
1) I'm a very casual fan of "Power Rangers", having only watched the first and second season (and eventually giving up a couple episodes after 'The Power Transfer') so I don't know about what came after. I did some research, but I'm not claiming that anything I establish here is remotely canon. Heh.
2) Okay, name-nerd here, and I admit it. "Kwan" as Trini's last name is kind of problematic, because that's just not how Vietnamese should be romanized. The "Kwan" spelling is much more common as the surname of a Chinese person, or a Korean given name. It was really hard to find out how her surname 'should be' written; "Quan" is probably the closest. For simplicity's sake, though, I'll spell the Vietnamese version of her name with her canon surname.
Multiple Choice
"That is not proper behavior for a young lady, Ba-binh."
"Then I don't want to be a lady."
"You guys go on, I'll catch up with you," Trini said to her teammates, giving them a smile she didn't quite feel. Jason and Zack returned her smile with more sincere ones, and Zack gave her a little wave as he vanished in a blur of black energy. Billy looked concerned and was on verge of saying something, but Kimberly nodded her understanding to Trini and took his arm, leading him to the teleportation columns. Trini watched as they teleported out of the Command Center. Some of her tension eased.
Trini turned to the crystal tube that held the wavering image of Zordon. She found that she could not meet his eyes as she said quietly, "Zordon, I need to talk to you."
"Yes, Trini?"
"Zordon, why... when I morph, why do I..." She stopped, struggling for words, finally settling on one that was inadequate, but not wanting to voice what it truly was. "...change? Why do I become..."
"...physically different?" Zordon suggested gently.
"Yes!" Trini cried out, hating that frustrated tears filled her eyes. "If it happened to all of us, maybe I could understand... I could say, 'oh that's just the nature of being a Power Ranger,' but Kimberly!" Trini's voice nearly broke, and she wrapped her arms around herself, swallowing hard before trying again, "Kimberly stays a girl. So why do I become a boy?"
"Trini, I wish I had answers for you. The Power that I've tapped into to create the Power Rangers... it is not fully understood. I tried to shape the nature of it as much as I could, but there are things I cannot control about the Morphing Grid." Zordon looked grave. "My memory is long, but I cannot recall hearing of the Power forcing such a change. We shall inspect your Power Coin for any damage that might have caused this."
Trini's hands flew to the Power Morpher on her belt. She detached it and, for once, flipped it over in her hands so that she could inspect the face of the coin within. "It doesn't look damaged, Zordon."
"There could be something else. Perhaps magic -- a curse can be placed on an object without giving any visual clues. I would rather take the precaution of making sure than lose you."
Trini turned to Alpha 5, who had been watching the exchange in silence. She wordlessly held out the Power Morpher, and the robot walked up and took it from her. "Don't worry, Trini," Alpha 5 said comfortingly, "If there's anything wrong, I'm sure we'll be able to fix it."
"It's just..." she looked at Alpha 5 and Zordon. She was reluctant to tell them this, but she knew that it was better to be honest with them, especially since it was clear none of them were sure what was going on. "When I morph, even though I... change... it doesn't feel wrong. But it should. I'm a girl, I'm not supposed to be this way..."
"Trini," Zordon interrupted, his deep voice stern. "There is nothing wrong with you. The Power chose you as its bearer, as its warrior, regardless of anything else but your spirit. What is inside you, your pure heart and your true self, decide that you are a Power Ranger, not your body."
Trini closed her eyes briefly. "Thank you, Zordon."
****
"You're late, Ba-binh." Trini's grandmother scolded, catching sight of Trini as she walked past the living room. "You were suppose to be home from the Youth Center hours ago."
"Sorry, Grandmother," Trini apologized softly. "My friends and I walked Billy home... that earthquake today made a mess of his garage. We were helping him clean it up." It wasn't quite a lie, just the part about her being there. While Alpha 5 had been scanning her Power Morpher for any defects, she had checked in with Billy. She still felt bad about lying to her grandmother, but she had promised to keep the Power Rangers a secret.
"You should have called." Grandmother said sharply. In the kitchen, a timer buzzed. She got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen. "If you haven't done your homework, go up to your room and finish it. If you're not finished by the time dinner is done, I'll make you a plate and bring it up."
"Yes, Grandmother," Trini replied meekly. She didn't want to fight. She had too much to think about and was grateful that she could avoid the family dinner. Her feet pounded up the stairs.
Below, in the kitchen, Grandmother yelled, "NO RUNNING IN THE HOUSE!" before turning back to basting the chicken in the oven, muttering to herself in Vietnamese all the while.
****
Her homework was not very difficult, but Trini remained upstairs anyway. She had to think about things. She had always spent a lot of time thinking about things before acting... before speaking... for as long as she cared to remember.
She doesn't like to remember the last time she acted on impulse.
****
"That is not proper behavior for a young lady, Ba-binh."
"Then I don't want to be a lady."
"You must. Little girls grow up to be ladies."
"Jason, do you have some free time? I'd like to talk to you."
"Sure, Trini, what about?"
"It's... kind of personal. Maybe we could grab one of those tables..." Trini looked over at the smaller tables set up against the wall. Usually, none of their group ever sat there, because they'd almost always all be at the Youth Center at the same time.
Jason considered this as he did another rep on the weight lifting machine. Something was definitely up with Trini. She'd always been a quiet person, but she wasn't given to being secretive or shy. He replied, "Sounds good. Let me just finish up this set."
Trini gave him a look that was so relieved and grateful, all his mental alarms started going off. 'She's got to be in trouble somehow. We've always been there for her... does she think we won't be, that I won't be, once she tells us what's happening?' Jason wanted to hurry through his last set, but he resisted the urge -- he didn't want to hurt himself, and Trini could use the time to collect her thoughts.
He finished in due time and walked over to the small table that Trini had claimed, mopping at his face with a towel. Trini smiled at him and passed him a bottle of water, which he drank. When she remained quiet, he looked at her, raised both eyebrows and said, "So...?"
"Ah... sorry." Trini glanced down at the tabletop, breaking eye contact. "I was just wondering... what it was like when you... came out."
Jason blinked. That was nothing like what he'd been expecting Trini to say. "Well, my mom was bummed out because of the grandkids issue and my dad was thrown for a loop at first. But you and Zack and Billy and Kim were cool with it, so I could deal until they both came around. Which they did. You know this, Trini." He reached out and took her hand.
"Yeah, I do. I guess what I mean is... what was it like for you?" Trini kept her eyes down, staring at their intertwined fingers. Jason squeezed her hand briefly.
"What did it feel like...?" He asked, fishing for clarification.
She sighed, and asked, "Why did you do it? What made you decide...?"
"I wasn't ever going to hide the fact that I'm gay, and I didn't want people to think I had -- especially people I care about, like my family or you guys -- and I think most people would, if they found out about it without me telling them." Jason shrugged. "I guess I... I just wanted to be honest. I'm not ashamed of it..." He saw Trini flinch, and reached out with his other hand to lift her chin, meeting her eyes. Softly, seriously, he asked, "What are you ashamed of, Trini?"
"I'm not!" Trini denied. "I'm worried. I'm scared. And I don't even know what I am, so why should I go around telling people..."
"Hey, hey. It's okay," Jason said. "What brought all this on, anyway?"
Trini gaped at him for a moment. "You... you mean you haven't noticed?"
Jason laughed gently, and took both her hands in his. "Man, that's familiar. When I was agonizing over my gayness, I was sure everyone could 'tell'."
Trini thought this over. Generally, she had not morphed into the Yellow Ranger at times when the others would be focused her; they all would have their attention on the battle at hand. She didn't have to say anything to them if they hadn't noticed.
'But... I don't want to lie to them either.'
"What should I have noticed, Trini?" Jason inquired, his concern for her clear.
"Well..." she glanced around the Juice Bar nervously, and lowered her voice even more. "When I'm like this, I'm a girl. And when I'm morphed, I'm... not. Not a girl."
Jason opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. Forehead furrowed in confusion, he remained silent. Trini bit her lower lip hard and tried to pull her hands away from his. He kept hold of her for a moment, but let her go when she continued to pull. "Trini, wait, don't..." he said quickly, "Just let me... let me get my head around this."
Trini stopped. Her chair tilted backward and banged loudly on the tile floor. Several people looked up to see what was going on. She ducked her head, letting her long black hair fall forward to hide her face, as she turned and picked up the chair. She was blushing deeply as she retook her seat.
Once she had, Jason leaned forward and whispered, "You're saying that... the Power makes you a boy."
"Yes," Trini confirmed, speaking just as quietly.
"Are you sure?"
"It's a little hard to miss," Trini replied dryly.
"Does Zordon know about this?"
"I told him right away." Trini shrugged, "Alpha couldn't find anything wrong with my coin or... anything else."
"And..." Jason scratched his head. "You... think... I can fix it?"
"N-no..." Trini sighed. "I'm sorry. I suppose I am being rather vague."
"Yeah, you are. But it's okay," he smiled at her, "I guess this is just as confusing for you. Probably more."
"Actually..." Trini sighed again, then reached out and took one of Jason's hands in both of hers. She confessed, "To tell you the truth, Jason... it makes a lot of sense. I've never been one hundred percent comfortable in my own skin. Not until I could take on that other body."
Jason looked at her thoughtfully. "You have seemed happier, Trini. And that's really the important thing, you know? At least to me, it is."
"I know, Jase." Trini smiled at him.
"Maybe this body-switching thing happens to you so that you can use the Power to its fullest potential." At Trini's frown, Jason clarified, "Just thinking aloud. You did say you feel more comfortable... more confident. After all, if you think about it, you're not the only one who changes. Billy gets a big boost in martial arts skill, and Zack and Kimberly knew how to use their normal abilities as fighting methods after their first morph..."
"And Jason gets no skill boosts, because our leader is mighty mighty!" Trini teased him.
"You know it, man!" Jason jokingly struck a body-building pose with his upper body. As Trini giggled, he dropped the pose. He said quietly, "And you know if you ever need to talk like this again, you can come to me."
****
"...I don't want to be a lady."
"You must. Little girls grow up to be ladies."
"I will be a boy, then. I'll be a boy and I'll grow up to be a man!"
Trini was grateful for Jason's offer; she took him up on it whenever things got to be too much. Even though she'd realized the truth about herself, she knew that it was a secret she'd have to keep... at least for now. She had no illusions about how her family would react. To them, she was Kwan Nu Ba-Binh -- daughter and granddaughter, strictly defined, with no room for leeway from the norm. And she was unsure of how the rest of the community would react. They saw her as Trinity "Trini" Kwan -- and because of her body, they thought of her as female. People expected certain things of her, and she'd learned at a young age not to defy those expectations unless she was prepared to fight. And it seemed like such a small thing, in the face of battling monsters from outer space for the freedom of the whole world, that Trini let it go.
The other Power Rangers were told soon enough (in part because she was tired of Jason asking her when she was going to say something), in Command Center after a mission. Zack had shrugged and said, "Hey, cool. Screw labels." Billy's eyes had lit up with understanding, like the pieces of a puzzle he'd been working on had finally come together. Kimberly had seemed a little unsure of what Trini was telling her, but seemed to accept it at least as far as the physical change. Because he'd come into the team after that, she never got around to telling Tommy.
After having his leadership position taken from him, Jason had drifted away from the other Rangers for a while. Out of loyalty (and truth be told, deeper friendships), Zack and Trini started spending more time with him that with Tommy, Kimberly, and Billy. And when Zack had shared his idea of applying for some of the newly vacated American spots at the World Peace Conference, the three Rangers decided together that they would all apply, hoping that at least one of them would be accepted.
****
It had been a long flight, after a long, long day. Trini, Zack, and Jason lagged at the back of the group which consisted of the latest crop of World Peace Conference representatives. Trini reached into the pocket of her yellow coat and touched her Power Coin again.
After the Sword of Light was used to duplicate their powers to Rocky, Adam, and Aisha, the three Rangers had been teleported out of Command Center and back to Angel Grove proper. They'd let the Power fade from them for the final time, their uniforms being replaced by normal clothing. And that final time, their Power Morphers vanished as well, leaving them each holding their coins. Perhaps some of the Power still resided in their coins, but without the Morphers, they had no way to access it.
'And you're stuck in this body,' Trini had thought then. She thought it again now, and hung her head.
Zack reached out and touched her arm. "You okay?"
"Maybe," Trini answered truthfully, after a moment of thought.
"You know... I've been thinking," Zack said, hefting his backpack up onto his shoulder again. "This is a new start. You don't have to be Trini Kwan anymore if you don't want to."
****
When they were waiting for the buses that would take them to the site of the conference, another representative asked their names.
The others replied with "Jason Lee Scott" and "Zack Taylor".
He replied with "Binh Kwan," and smiled.
END
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A few notes now that you've finished -- I wanted this to be a bigger story that it was, but my plot bunny deserted me. I might write more to follow up this fic, but it's not set in stone. I'm sorry if the story comes across as rough because of it.
Trini's birth name was constructed 'backwards', and only after I couldn't find elements of Vietnamese names to approximate "Trini". Literally, Ba-Binh means "Third-Peace" (which I broadly translated as Trinity within the story, after reading a few MMPR stories that gave her full name as Trinity). I found that "Quan" is probably the proper way to romanize her surname, and that it can mean "Warrior" in Vietnamese, which struck me as quite fitting. The name "Binh" by itself is a unisex names that means "Peace".
****
Oh my god, so nervous over how people will take this. But I had to post it today, and with my work schedule, I'd have no chance to work on it after now.
If I really did something wrong, be brutal, dudes.
Author: D.L.SchizoAuthoress (
schizoauthoress)Fandom: Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
Pairing/characters: Trini Kwan, Jason Lee Scott, Zordon, Alpha-5
Rating: G/PG
Disclaimer: Despite the numerous fights I got into with my best friend over who got to be the Yellow Ranger when we played in grade school, I have no ownership over the Power Rangers, in their first incarnation as Super Sentai, Saban's Mighty Morphin', or others.
Prompt: Power Rangers, Trini, Whenever Trini morphs, her body becomes male. She's surprised at how comfortable she feels with a male body and starts to question her gender identity.
Summary: It's not a simple question -- she can answer with what's true, or with what her family thinks is 'right'...
Warning: Wasn't able to get a beta. Anything terribly glaring or unclear, let me know and I'll fix it. :)
Word Count: 2581
Author's Notes:
1) I'm a very casual fan of "Power Rangers", having only watched the first and second season (and eventually giving up a couple episodes after 'The Power Transfer') so I don't know about what came after. I did some research, but I'm not claiming that anything I establish here is remotely canon. Heh.
2) Okay, name-nerd here, and I admit it. "Kwan" as Trini's last name is kind of problematic, because that's just not how Vietnamese should be romanized. The "Kwan" spelling is much more common as the surname of a Chinese person, or a Korean given name. It was really hard to find out how her surname 'should be' written; "Quan" is probably the closest. For simplicity's sake, though, I'll spell the Vietnamese version of her name with her canon surname.
Multiple Choice
"That is not proper behavior for a young lady, Ba-binh."
"Then I don't want to be a lady."
"You guys go on, I'll catch up with you," Trini said to her teammates, giving them a smile she didn't quite feel. Jason and Zack returned her smile with more sincere ones, and Zack gave her a little wave as he vanished in a blur of black energy. Billy looked concerned and was on verge of saying something, but Kimberly nodded her understanding to Trini and took his arm, leading him to the teleportation columns. Trini watched as they teleported out of the Command Center. Some of her tension eased.
Trini turned to the crystal tube that held the wavering image of Zordon. She found that she could not meet his eyes as she said quietly, "Zordon, I need to talk to you."
"Yes, Trini?"
"Zordon, why... when I morph, why do I..." She stopped, struggling for words, finally settling on one that was inadequate, but not wanting to voice what it truly was. "...change? Why do I become..."
"...physically different?" Zordon suggested gently.
"Yes!" Trini cried out, hating that frustrated tears filled her eyes. "If it happened to all of us, maybe I could understand... I could say, 'oh that's just the nature of being a Power Ranger,' but Kimberly!" Trini's voice nearly broke, and she wrapped her arms around herself, swallowing hard before trying again, "Kimberly stays a girl. So why do I become a boy?"
"Trini, I wish I had answers for you. The Power that I've tapped into to create the Power Rangers... it is not fully understood. I tried to shape the nature of it as much as I could, but there are things I cannot control about the Morphing Grid." Zordon looked grave. "My memory is long, but I cannot recall hearing of the Power forcing such a change. We shall inspect your Power Coin for any damage that might have caused this."
Trini's hands flew to the Power Morpher on her belt. She detached it and, for once, flipped it over in her hands so that she could inspect the face of the coin within. "It doesn't look damaged, Zordon."
"There could be something else. Perhaps magic -- a curse can be placed on an object without giving any visual clues. I would rather take the precaution of making sure than lose you."
Trini turned to Alpha 5, who had been watching the exchange in silence. She wordlessly held out the Power Morpher, and the robot walked up and took it from her. "Don't worry, Trini," Alpha 5 said comfortingly, "If there's anything wrong, I'm sure we'll be able to fix it."
"It's just..." she looked at Alpha 5 and Zordon. She was reluctant to tell them this, but she knew that it was better to be honest with them, especially since it was clear none of them were sure what was going on. "When I morph, even though I... change... it doesn't feel wrong. But it should. I'm a girl, I'm not supposed to be this way..."
"Trini," Zordon interrupted, his deep voice stern. "There is nothing wrong with you. The Power chose you as its bearer, as its warrior, regardless of anything else but your spirit. What is inside you, your pure heart and your true self, decide that you are a Power Ranger, not your body."
Trini closed her eyes briefly. "Thank you, Zordon."
****
"You're late, Ba-binh." Trini's grandmother scolded, catching sight of Trini as she walked past the living room. "You were suppose to be home from the Youth Center hours ago."
"Sorry, Grandmother," Trini apologized softly. "My friends and I walked Billy home... that earthquake today made a mess of his garage. We were helping him clean it up." It wasn't quite a lie, just the part about her being there. While Alpha 5 had been scanning her Power Morpher for any defects, she had checked in with Billy. She still felt bad about lying to her grandmother, but she had promised to keep the Power Rangers a secret.
"You should have called." Grandmother said sharply. In the kitchen, a timer buzzed. She got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen. "If you haven't done your homework, go up to your room and finish it. If you're not finished by the time dinner is done, I'll make you a plate and bring it up."
"Yes, Grandmother," Trini replied meekly. She didn't want to fight. She had too much to think about and was grateful that she could avoid the family dinner. Her feet pounded up the stairs.
Below, in the kitchen, Grandmother yelled, "NO RUNNING IN THE HOUSE!" before turning back to basting the chicken in the oven, muttering to herself in Vietnamese all the while.
****
Her homework was not very difficult, but Trini remained upstairs anyway. She had to think about things. She had always spent a lot of time thinking about things before acting... before speaking... for as long as she cared to remember.
She doesn't like to remember the last time she acted on impulse.
****
"That is not proper behavior for a young lady, Ba-binh."
"Then I don't want to be a lady."
"You must. Little girls grow up to be ladies."
"Jason, do you have some free time? I'd like to talk to you."
"Sure, Trini, what about?"
"It's... kind of personal. Maybe we could grab one of those tables..." Trini looked over at the smaller tables set up against the wall. Usually, none of their group ever sat there, because they'd almost always all be at the Youth Center at the same time.
Jason considered this as he did another rep on the weight lifting machine. Something was definitely up with Trini. She'd always been a quiet person, but she wasn't given to being secretive or shy. He replied, "Sounds good. Let me just finish up this set."
Trini gave him a look that was so relieved and grateful, all his mental alarms started going off. 'She's got to be in trouble somehow. We've always been there for her... does she think we won't be, that I won't be, once she tells us what's happening?' Jason wanted to hurry through his last set, but he resisted the urge -- he didn't want to hurt himself, and Trini could use the time to collect her thoughts.
He finished in due time and walked over to the small table that Trini had claimed, mopping at his face with a towel. Trini smiled at him and passed him a bottle of water, which he drank. When she remained quiet, he looked at her, raised both eyebrows and said, "So...?"
"Ah... sorry." Trini glanced down at the tabletop, breaking eye contact. "I was just wondering... what it was like when you... came out."
Jason blinked. That was nothing like what he'd been expecting Trini to say. "Well, my mom was bummed out because of the grandkids issue and my dad was thrown for a loop at first. But you and Zack and Billy and Kim were cool with it, so I could deal until they both came around. Which they did. You know this, Trini." He reached out and took her hand.
"Yeah, I do. I guess what I mean is... what was it like for you?" Trini kept her eyes down, staring at their intertwined fingers. Jason squeezed her hand briefly.
"What did it feel like...?" He asked, fishing for clarification.
She sighed, and asked, "Why did you do it? What made you decide...?"
"I wasn't ever going to hide the fact that I'm gay, and I didn't want people to think I had -- especially people I care about, like my family or you guys -- and I think most people would, if they found out about it without me telling them." Jason shrugged. "I guess I... I just wanted to be honest. I'm not ashamed of it..." He saw Trini flinch, and reached out with his other hand to lift her chin, meeting her eyes. Softly, seriously, he asked, "What are you ashamed of, Trini?"
"I'm not!" Trini denied. "I'm worried. I'm scared. And I don't even know what I am, so why should I go around telling people..."
"Hey, hey. It's okay," Jason said. "What brought all this on, anyway?"
Trini gaped at him for a moment. "You... you mean you haven't noticed?"
Jason laughed gently, and took both her hands in his. "Man, that's familiar. When I was agonizing over my gayness, I was sure everyone could 'tell'."
Trini thought this over. Generally, she had not morphed into the Yellow Ranger at times when the others would be focused her; they all would have their attention on the battle at hand. She didn't have to say anything to them if they hadn't noticed.
'But... I don't want to lie to them either.'
"What should I have noticed, Trini?" Jason inquired, his concern for her clear.
"Well..." she glanced around the Juice Bar nervously, and lowered her voice even more. "When I'm like this, I'm a girl. And when I'm morphed, I'm... not. Not a girl."
Jason opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. Forehead furrowed in confusion, he remained silent. Trini bit her lower lip hard and tried to pull her hands away from his. He kept hold of her for a moment, but let her go when she continued to pull. "Trini, wait, don't..." he said quickly, "Just let me... let me get my head around this."
Trini stopped. Her chair tilted backward and banged loudly on the tile floor. Several people looked up to see what was going on. She ducked her head, letting her long black hair fall forward to hide her face, as she turned and picked up the chair. She was blushing deeply as she retook her seat.
Once she had, Jason leaned forward and whispered, "You're saying that... the Power makes you a boy."
"Yes," Trini confirmed, speaking just as quietly.
"Are you sure?"
"It's a little hard to miss," Trini replied dryly.
"Does Zordon know about this?"
"I told him right away." Trini shrugged, "Alpha couldn't find anything wrong with my coin or... anything else."
"And..." Jason scratched his head. "You... think... I can fix it?"
"N-no..." Trini sighed. "I'm sorry. I suppose I am being rather vague."
"Yeah, you are. But it's okay," he smiled at her, "I guess this is just as confusing for you. Probably more."
"Actually..." Trini sighed again, then reached out and took one of Jason's hands in both of hers. She confessed, "To tell you the truth, Jason... it makes a lot of sense. I've never been one hundred percent comfortable in my own skin. Not until I could take on that other body."
Jason looked at her thoughtfully. "You have seemed happier, Trini. And that's really the important thing, you know? At least to me, it is."
"I know, Jase." Trini smiled at him.
"Maybe this body-switching thing happens to you so that you can use the Power to its fullest potential." At Trini's frown, Jason clarified, "Just thinking aloud. You did say you feel more comfortable... more confident. After all, if you think about it, you're not the only one who changes. Billy gets a big boost in martial arts skill, and Zack and Kimberly knew how to use their normal abilities as fighting methods after their first morph..."
"And Jason gets no skill boosts, because our leader is mighty mighty!" Trini teased him.
"You know it, man!" Jason jokingly struck a body-building pose with his upper body. As Trini giggled, he dropped the pose. He said quietly, "And you know if you ever need to talk like this again, you can come to me."
****
"...I don't want to be a lady."
"You must. Little girls grow up to be ladies."
"I will be a boy, then. I'll be a boy and I'll grow up to be a man!"
Trini was grateful for Jason's offer; she took him up on it whenever things got to be too much. Even though she'd realized the truth about herself, she knew that it was a secret she'd have to keep... at least for now. She had no illusions about how her family would react. To them, she was Kwan Nu Ba-Binh -- daughter and granddaughter, strictly defined, with no room for leeway from the norm. And she was unsure of how the rest of the community would react. They saw her as Trinity "Trini" Kwan -- and because of her body, they thought of her as female. People expected certain things of her, and she'd learned at a young age not to defy those expectations unless she was prepared to fight. And it seemed like such a small thing, in the face of battling monsters from outer space for the freedom of the whole world, that Trini let it go.
The other Power Rangers were told soon enough (in part because she was tired of Jason asking her when she was going to say something), in Command Center after a mission. Zack had shrugged and said, "Hey, cool. Screw labels." Billy's eyes had lit up with understanding, like the pieces of a puzzle he'd been working on had finally come together. Kimberly had seemed a little unsure of what Trini was telling her, but seemed to accept it at least as far as the physical change. Because he'd come into the team after that, she never got around to telling Tommy.
After having his leadership position taken from him, Jason had drifted away from the other Rangers for a while. Out of loyalty (and truth be told, deeper friendships), Zack and Trini started spending more time with him that with Tommy, Kimberly, and Billy. And when Zack had shared his idea of applying for some of the newly vacated American spots at the World Peace Conference, the three Rangers decided together that they would all apply, hoping that at least one of them would be accepted.
****
It had been a long flight, after a long, long day. Trini, Zack, and Jason lagged at the back of the group which consisted of the latest crop of World Peace Conference representatives. Trini reached into the pocket of her yellow coat and touched her Power Coin again.
After the Sword of Light was used to duplicate their powers to Rocky, Adam, and Aisha, the three Rangers had been teleported out of Command Center and back to Angel Grove proper. They'd let the Power fade from them for the final time, their uniforms being replaced by normal clothing. And that final time, their Power Morphers vanished as well, leaving them each holding their coins. Perhaps some of the Power still resided in their coins, but without the Morphers, they had no way to access it.
'And you're stuck in this body,' Trini had thought then. She thought it again now, and hung her head.
Zack reached out and touched her arm. "You okay?"
"Maybe," Trini answered truthfully, after a moment of thought.
"You know... I've been thinking," Zack said, hefting his backpack up onto his shoulder again. "This is a new start. You don't have to be Trini Kwan anymore if you don't want to."
****
When they were waiting for the buses that would take them to the site of the conference, another representative asked their names.
The others replied with "Jason Lee Scott" and "Zack Taylor".
He replied with "Binh Kwan," and smiled.
END
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A few notes now that you've finished -- I wanted this to be a bigger story that it was, but my plot bunny deserted me. I might write more to follow up this fic, but it's not set in stone. I'm sorry if the story comes across as rough because of it.
Trini's birth name was constructed 'backwards', and only after I couldn't find elements of Vietnamese names to approximate "Trini". Literally, Ba-Binh means "Third-Peace" (which I broadly translated as Trinity within the story, after reading a few MMPR stories that gave her full name as Trinity). I found that "Quan" is probably the proper way to romanize her surname, and that it can mean "Warrior" in Vietnamese, which struck me as quite fitting. The name "Binh" by itself is a unisex names that means "Peace".
****
Oh my god, so nervous over how people will take this. But I had to post it today, and with my work schedule, I'd have no chance to work on it after now.
If I really did something wrong, be brutal, dudes.
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no subject
on 2010-06-16 07:52 (UTC)As far as getting things wrong, I didn't catch anything from my educated-as-I-can-be cis* perspective. It was broad strokes as far as the issues go, but it felt like it hit the emotional points to me.
(And if anyone tries to tell you it's horribly unrealistic that a bunch of teenagers in 1992 would be totally cool with a trans* friend, remember: the first few teams of rangers were written to be the most ridiculously morally upstanding and accepting people to pretty much an impossible level. They aren't just "a bunch of teenagers from 1992," they're a bunch of horribly improbable teenagers from 1992. :D )
no subject
on 2010-06-16 07:59 (UTC)I knew that I was gonna end up skimping on the issues (damn plot bunny abandonment) but I figured as long as I went for the emotions, I'd be okay. I know the emotions more than I know the issues, closeted as I am.
I love those horribly improbable accepting teenagers, I really, really do. :)
Thank you for your thoughts and feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed the fic.
no subject
on 2010-06-16 13:00 (UTC)no subject
on 2010-06-16 14:02 (UTC)no subject
on 2010-06-17 03:17 (UTC)no subject
on 2010-06-17 03:22 (UTC)