My version of a Forever Red 2. This has previously been posted on Rangerboard and Rangercrew, where I go by TwilightRanger, and I've decided to bring it to FanFiction. Hope you enjoy my telling of this story, and don't be afraid to let me know what you think via reviews, if you'd be so kind. Some elements of this story where adapted from the Forever Red 2 posted by Mr. Quinn, which was partial inspiration for this story, so I hope I don't receive any plagiarism comments. So, after the disclaimer, let us begin.
Disclaimer - I don't own Power Rangers, although the villians are of my creation (I inadvertenly took a name of a video game I didn't know existed for one of them, though).
- Chapter 1 -
- Reefside, CA -
Dr. Thomas "Tommy" Oliver awoke slowly. At first, he grumbled in his sleepy state, wanting another five minutes in his bed, but then remembered what day it was. He sat up in his bed quickly, then eagerly hopped out. He checked out the calendar on his wall, making sure today was the day, and let out a big smile when the big red circle on the present date confirmed it. The source for the smile was the thought of meeting with an old friend, who would be flying in to Reefside later that day.
The high school science teacher headed into his bathroom, and took a quick shower. Afterwards, he brushed his teeth, then shaved, leaving only a goatee extending from under his bottom lip to his chin. He put gel in his short hair to spike it up, then returned to his room, where he pondered what to wear. He decided on a pair of black jeans, and a plain dark-red t-shirt. He looked at himself in the mirror, wanting to look good for the friend he hadn't seen in four years, then added the finishing touch by spraying on some cologne.
He walked down the hallway, glancing at the portraits hanging from the halls, and entered his kitchen. He poured himself a bowl of cereal and tried to solve the maze on the back of the box for the umpteenth time, but this time, he wasn't able to do so, being too excited to concentrate on it. After finishing his breakfast, he put the bowl in the sink, and pulled out his cell phone to call his best friend, Hayley Ziktor.
She picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"
"Hey, Hayley. You ready yet?"
"For what?"
Tommy's eyes widened for a second, but then caught on to her tone, realizing she was only joking. "Ha ha, Hayl. Very funny."
"Yep. And yeah, I'm ready. I'll call the others, they're supposed to be getting a ride with Conner."
They said their goodbyes, and Tommy let out a deep breath of excitement before exiting his house and climbing into his black Jeep. He drove for about fifteen minutes, until he pulled up to Hayley's house. He then pressed down on the wheel, honking at her to get out for five seconds straight.
Hayley walked out with an amused look on her face and tone in her voice. "Calm down, boy," she said dryly as she entered the Jeep.
On their way to the airport, they got caught by several red lights. At one of them, a red Mustang pulled up alongside Tommy and Hayley, being driven by Conner McKnight. Riding shotgun was Ethan James, and in the backseat sat the couple of Kira Ford and Trent Mercer.
"Hey, Dr. O," Conner called out to the legendary ranger. Tommy nodded in response as the light turned green.
About half an hour later, the two vehicles arrived at the airport. They parked next to each other, and Tommy was the first out of his Jeep. He was already jogging to the building before the last person was able to close their car door. Once everyone caught up with him inside, they sat down at a small table outside of the terminal his guest would be entering from. The Dino Rangers took this time to ask their mentor and friend a few questions about his friend.
"So, when was the last time you saw her?" asked Trent.
"Four years. Four long years," he replied with a bit of a sigh. "Last time she visited was in the summer of 2003."
"How come she went back to London? Hadn't she graduated already from school?" Ethan inquired.
"She had, but after she'd worked a few shows over in London, she got offered a job at her school. At first, she was unsure whether she should take it or not, since that would mean moving back to live in London, but we all encouraged her to accept it. She'd been a great teacher here, and she'd worked so hard for such an opportunity. We could tell she really wanted wanted it, and in the end, we were able to convince her that should take it."
"So how come you never talk much about her?" asked Conner with a sly grin. "There's a couple of pictures of her in your house. Granted, most of them are team shots, but..."
Tommy frowned at him and what he was doing, and refused to play along. "That's really none of your business."
"He doesn't like to talk about this stuff," said Hayley. "But, there's nothing wrong with sharing, Tommy, for the benefit of those that don't exactly know."
"Come on, Dr. O, We're not your students anymore, we're your friends. We've been friends since the five of us became rangers. So we respect your decision of not telling us, but I think it'd be best if you opened up to us. You've never really told us much about yourself, other than your experiences as a ranger," said Kira.
Tommy sighed, knowing there wasn't a way out of it this time. "Alright, here's the story. After Kimberly, the original Pink Ranger, broke up with me, she was always there for me, and I ended up falling for her. We dated for awhile, and even though our relationship wasn't as long as either of us hoped, we felt so connected. We had so much to talk about, so much to base on, and it wasn't just a high school relationship; it was real, it was love.
When she got accepted into the Royal Dance Academy in London, I knew that I had to make every moment with her last, because I knew what was going to happen. Her last day in Angel Grove, we both decided that a long-distance relationship wouldn't work out, so we broke up."
He didn't think it was necessary to include that afterwards, they held each other for hours.
"That sucks," said Ethan. "So, you think after all these years, she might want to get back together with you?"
The question made Tommy's heart skip a beat. "What makes you say that?"
"Well, she's moving to Reefside instead of Angel Grove, and she's going to be living with you," Trent pointed out.
"She's only staying with temporarily, just until we can find a place for her."
"Alright, but what's your explanation for her moving here instead of Angel Grove? Most of your old ranger friends still live over there, and I bet you're the only person she knows here," said Kira. Tommy's slight frown indicated that she'd stumped him.
"I think you should go for it, Dr. O," said Conner. "We can all tell you still like her. I mean, we were there when she called you to tell you she was moving back to the U.S., and you didn't exactly have the typical 'Yay, my old friend's coming back to town' response; there was a lot more to it. Even I picked it up."
"It's not that simple," said Tommy, his frown growing.
"Dr. O, you're twenty-eight years old. How many dates have you had since you broke up with her over a decade ago?" Ethan asked. Tommy lowered his eyes at this, confirming his suspicion. "Not many, huh? Out of the five of us rangers, you're the only one that isn't seeing someone. Conner and I have been with Krista and Angela since the senior prom, and Kira and Trent have been going out since Kira came back from New York after she failed to make it big in the music industry."
Kira gave Ethan a shove at that. "Just wait and see. My debut CD'll top the charts."
"Anyway," Ethan continued, moving down his seat, farther from Kira. "You need to find your lady love, and there's a good chance it could be her. Just follow your heart, and it'll lead you to her. And 'her', it could be, well, her."
"We tried it once."
"Oh, come on," said Trent. "Why are you denying yourself hope, Dr. O? Like Ethan said, there's a chance that she might want to get back together. So don't shut yourself away from that chance. Besides, it's not like you wanted to break up in the first place."
"Well of course not. I didn't want to lose the best thing that ever happened to me. But I did it so she could follow her dreams."
The six then turnd and saw a horde of people walking from the terminal, carrying luggage. Tommy stood up, scanning through the mob for her, and then he saw her: the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She was wearing dark blue short shorts, and a pink top with a white jean jacket. She was smiling brightly, her blue eyes shining, long blonde hair bouncing lightly with each step she took.
To Tommy Oliver, she was the definition of perfection, being beautiful on the inside and out, flawless in every way possible. She was the woman Tommy Oliver thought about every day.
Katherine "Kat" Hillard.