Story Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.
Story A/N: This my first really major writing project I've set for myself. Kat needs some love. Seriously. I don't read enough about Katherine. She's always mentioned fleetingly when talking about a Tommy/Kim romance. But most of them ignore Katherine, who I believe was a central (But unseen) part of Tommy's development. The timeskip between Turbo and Dino Thunder gives me some room to play around with, and establish a timeline of events which I believe can justify the more cynical, more sarcastic Tommy which is portrayed in Dino Thunder beyond "He grew up." and "Kim broke his heart with a letter." For this reason, we'll start Kat-centric.
In this fic, we're going to go back and forth, between Present (2005) and Past very frequently. On more than one occasion, I have found a few of my drafts to be really messy because of the sheer number of flashbacks I have planned. I'm going to try my very best to organise them so that you're clear on where something happened.
One of the recurring themes that went through my head as I was writing this was "What does Kat want?" An Ex-Ranger has hopes, dreams... She has a life of ups and downs. She has a life of triumphs and failures. At many points in our lives you would have asked yourself that question, "What do I want?" This is a recurring theme I'm going to focus on. At that point in time, what did Kat want?
And so I present to you "What do I want?".
Chapter A/N: The first few years of MMPR were a mess, in terms of a 'realistic' age where teenagers can actually fight. If we count it off by year, MMPR season 1 would have occurred when the first five were between fourteen to fifteen. Yet, they're already in high school. In MMPR Season 3, it's entirely possible that Tommy has a driving license at 16... But it's practically impossible for Katherine to drive legally, Australian Drivers drive on the right, while in the US it's on the left. Anyway... Once again, I need to establish the main timeline and a few assumptions that this story is going to go through. The Turbo Rangers graduated High School in 1997, so that implies the graduation ceremony should have been somewhere during Summer break, so Turbo the Movie happens somewhen in May... Moving forward, Turbo 2 should have started somewhere in October/November.
Chapter 1: Decisions… Decisions…
May 2005
"You really don't have to give us an answer now. You still have two months, take some time off and have a think about it."
Katherine Hillard nodded, giving her boss a polite, non-committal smile. "I will, have a good night." As her boss left her room, Katherine threw herself onto the bed, landing and luxuriating in the soft, fluffy blankets, letting out a sigh as she did so.
She had finished the last performance of their world tour of Swan Lake just a few hours ago. It was the last performance of her four-year contract, and she had to admit, it felt good. They had started their tour off in London, making a year-long trip around the world, finishing back where they started. To be honest, Katherine hadn't realized that her contract with the company was ending until she had been reminded two weeks ago, when a journalist had asked her what her plans were for the future after her contract ended. It had come as a rude shock to herself that she had been so immersed in her dance that she had not noticed that her four year contract with the company was coming to an end.
Katherine could hardly believe that it had been four years(!) since graduation. Back in 1997, if anyone had told her that she would become a world-renowned ballerina, she would have laughed their faces off. She was hardly that good. That much was obvious, her auditions have proved that. More often than not, she had relied on her substantial Ranger-level strength while dancing, compensating for the lack of technical expertise which resulted from lack of practice due to her Ranger duties.
After starting school in London, Katherine had practiced hard. Dance was her life. She couldn't count the number of days where her legs had given out on her due to sheer exhaustion. Despite having an advantage in terms of strength, she had to work hard to play catch up with other ballerinas who had incredible technique. It was one of the first lessons that Tommy and Adam had imparted to her while teaching her how to fight. All the strength in the world didn't matter if you didn't know how to use what you had.
It was a difficult first semester. London was a loud, vibrant city as opposed to the smaller, quiet town that was Angel Grove. Katherine had felt rather overwhelmed when she first arrived in London. In Angel Grove, a few bus services took you everywhere that you needed to go, but in London, there was the Tube, a huge network of train stations in addition to a multitude of bus services. She had spent a majority of her first week just getting oriented. Not to mention that there were other small things which needed getting used to. Having lived in Australia until sixteen, it had taken a while for her to get used to Imperial units, which Americans used. However, in London, there was a strange mix of two. The weight of produce was displayed in kilograms (In metric units) while distances were shown in miles (Imperial) having to convert back and forth was a mild annoyance.
Most of all, Katherine was lonely and a tad heartbroken. It was a dream come true for her to qualify for the Royal Academy, however, reality had hit her the moment she had sat down at the Juice Bar with her friends.
October, 1997.
"That's incredible! You get to go to London to study now!" There was genuine happiness in Tommy's voice, which Katherine had been relieved to hear. His tone had been optimistic, and her spirits had lifted. Maybe they could…
"Yeah I know… It is pretty amazing… But there's just one thing…" Katherine wanted to make sure that the topic she desperately wanted to avoid for now never came up. Her downcast eyes met Tanya's, and it took less than a second for the two best friends to exchange an unspoken conversation.
"Kat, you can't give up this opportunity!" Katherine had never wanted to thank anyone as much as Tanya at that moment. She understood. Tanya knew the topic that she was trying to avoid.
"Well, you gave up singing to stay a Ranger, Tanya." Katherine replied. With the direction the conversation was heading, hopefully, Justin wouldn't be able to add anything to the conversation, innocent that he was, he could easily bring up a topic which was best discussed with a certain other Ranger in private.
"That's different; I can go back to it at any time." This wasn't really anything new to anyone sitting at the table. Tanya and Katherine were repeating a conversation they had had since graduation.
It was at that point that Jenny had shot her a smile over Stone's shoulder. Even as Katherine had returned it, she couldn't stop her smile from turning into a bittersweet one. Justin was probably too young to think about it, but she knew very clearly that Adam was trying not to bring up the elephant in the room… Or in this case, he didn't want to bring up the Red Turbo Ranger in the room.
It hadn't been long before Tanya and Adam had volunteered to take drive Justin home.
Finally they were alone at the table. Despite the noise of the juice bar, the silence that surrounded the two was deafening, the tension between them thick enough to cut.
It was Katherine who broke the silence first. "Tommy…"
Tommy stood up, offering his hand and a smile. To her surprise, his smile was genuine. Katherine could only stare at him in mild shock. His first smile had been a polite smile of interest, it had never reached his eyes… But this one… This smile was special. It had taken a while before Tommy had given her that smile, and she cherished it deeply.
"Kat. Let's have dinner."
"Tommy… I…" Katherine was conflicted. This… this was confirmation that the end was coming, wasn't it? Was half a year all she could possibly have with Tommy?
He shook his head, "I know what you're thinking, Kat. But today is your day. It's your life's dream to attend the Royal Academy. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I kept thinking about myself? No, tonight's all about you. So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to drive you home, so you can get showered and changed. I'm going to make a reservation at a restaurant, and we're going on a date. Don't think, Kat. Just enjoy yourself."
Hours later.
Tommy had been nothing but the perfect gentleman, and it was only when Katherine was standing on her doorstep with Tommy standing on the step just below hers did her mind go into overdrive. A tear fell down her eye, "Tommy…" Rationally, Katherine had always know that it was entirely possible that Tommy and her would not be forever, but being aware of that possibility and knowing that in just three months, she wasn't going to be together with someone she was in love with. She could feel the cracks forming in her heart, and she knew that as time passed, it was only going to get worse.
Tommy managed a smile before he leaned in, pressing his lips to hers. The kiss was a passionate one, his tongue slipping past her lips, exploring every inch of her mouth as if it was their last kiss. Tommy broke the kiss without separating completely. "We're not over." He whispered. Looking up into his eyes, Katherine watched his tears fall. Tommy had always been strong, as a leader, he had been strong for his team, he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and it was so easy to forget that despite all that he had accomplished, he was only eighteen.
"It's only October, we still have three months before January… Besides… it's only three years." Katherine knew that it was a lie. Odds were that after she graduated, she wasn't coming back to Angel Grove. Still, hearing herself speak the lie comforted them both.
Tommy nodded, his shoulders shuddering. "I love you." He whispered.
"I love you." Katherine replied through quiet sobs.
They kissed again, and this time, it was Katherine who deepened the kiss. "Stay with me tonight," she whispered.
Tommy's eyes widened as he broke the kiss. "Uhh… Wha…"
"I… have been waiting for a while." Katherine admitted, embarrassed. They had only been officially dating for four months, but the fact was that Tommy had taken six months to get his own feelings about Kim sorted out to ensure that his feelings for Katherine were genuine. In one of their rare heart-to-heart talks, Tommy had confided in Katherine that he did have very strong feelings for her, but it was the brainwashing fiasco with the Machine Empire that confirmed it. It was Katherine that broke though the haze that was Gasket's brainwashing. In the following months, their flirting had become more pronounced until Tommy finally found the courage to ask her on a date. To be fair, it was partly Katherine's fault as well. She had played hard-to-get. Shy Tommy was cute, and she had enjoyed seeing it while it lasted.
With hearts weighed down by years of combat and more loss on the way, they made love.
Present
Katherine shook her head, coming back to reality. It had been years since she had last seen her friends, and yet, her first thought had been Tommy. She sighed again, whether she liked to admit it or not, Tommy had played a huge part in her life. While they were teenagers, though it was embarrassing to admit it, she had basically worshipped the ground he walked on when she first met him. After finding out that he was involved with Kimberly, Katherine swore to stamp out the crush she had… But her hopes were raised six months later, after Kim broke up with him via a letter. It was another five before he asked her out. Besides Tommy, though, there was only one other person she was comfortable sharing intimate details of her life with, and that was Tanya.
Tanya, her teammate for nearly two years, her best friend and confidant… Katherine closed her eyes, her mind made up. Los Angeles it was.
End Notes:
Episode References: Power Rangers Turbo E15: Cars Attacks. Dialogue lines taken straight from episode.
This first chapter is a little short, but I needed to get some of what Kat's been doing out of the way.
