Chapter 1 - Welcome Back
It had been 11 years since Kimberly Hart had seen Angel Grove. And much hadn't actually changed. It was still as beautiful as Kimberly has remembered it. Every tree, every building, and every rock reminded her of her ranger days. She rolled down the taxi's window and took a deep breath of the familiar air. She hoped this would last. She missed everything about this town. Everything.
The flight back from Florida had been long which gave her a lot of time to reminisce. She wondered what her old friends might be up to or even if she would see them. She knew Aisha Campbell was going to Angel Grove University; she was the only one who Kimberly kept in contact with. Kimberly had transferred to Angel Grove University after being persuaded by Aisha. "It's time to come home" were Aisha's exact words in her last email.
So here she was back at her first and only home. She traveled around the world but nothing felt as right as Angel Grove. But of course she did not leave Angel Grove on the best of terms everyone. Her thoughts drifted to Tommy Oliver. She wondered what he was doing this days. Probably married with a couple of kids and a dog and lived in a beautiful home on the country side somewhere. Kimberly laughed to herself.
"What are you laughing at?" The small voice next to her asked. Kimberly turned to look at the handsome little boy who was drooling on her favorite pink sweater. Pride swelled in her at this strong little man by her side. No matter how many tournaments she won or prizes she had gotten in her life, nothing made her more proud than Jackson Hart.
"Nothing baby. Go back to sleep." Kimberly kissed the top of his head.
Her 10 year old son was a trooper throughout every move they've had. She knew it took a toll on his schooling. But she had choice. The alternative of staying...a cold shiver crept up her spine….staying was not an option. She dug her fingernails into the palms of hands at the thought of him. Angel Grove had to work out. For Jackson's sake.
The taxi pulled up in front of her hotel. My aunt and uncle thankfully had paid for them to stay for 2 weeks. And in that time she had to register herself and Jackson for school and find an apartment. Aisha said she had some places she found for Kimberly to check out.
"Jackson, wake up baby. We're here." The boy rubbed his eyes and groggily grabbed his favorite dinosaur book and stuffed Stegosaurus that lay on the start next to him.
Kimberly started grabbing their bags out of the trunk when a hotel servicemen rushed out to help her.
"Oh, thank you!" She grabbed her small personal bags as he grabbed the heavier bags.
"Wow Mom, this place is huge!" Jackson looked around as they entered the lobby. From the high ceiling hung a beautiful chandelier. Kimberly wondered if there were real diamonds in there. He tugged on her sweater. She bent down to hear him whisper.
"Do we have money?" Jackson whispered. Kim's heart broke. She knew her son saw their struggle. She sometimes forgot how much he saw as he got older. Sometimes he proved wise beyond his years.
"I've got money saved. We'll be fine." Kimberly took his hand and looked around her.
"It'll be fine." She said in her bravest voice, more to convince herself than her son. He gave her hand a small squeezed. She smiled and squeezed his back. While she was getting her associates degree in Florida she worked late nights at a diner near her aunt and uncle's place. Jackson would often try to stay up and wait for her to read him a story, which always had to be about dinosaurs.
She signed in at the front desk as Jackson went to check out the red plush couch.
"Hi, my name is Kimberly Hart." The receptionist was looked young and bored. She snapped her gum loudly as she typed quickly into her computer. Kimberly stared at the girl's mouth and winced at every pop.
"Here you go, Room 2301, " the young woman placed the key card in front and Kimberly with a loud snap of her gum. Kimberly stared in disbelief and prayed she was never like that when she was younger. Actually she was pretty sure she wasn't.
"Yeah, thanks." Kimberly gave her a forced smiled as she turned around. She gave her room information to the man who helped with her bags. She quickly sent a text to Aisha, grabbed Jackson, and jumped on the elevator.
When they walked into their room Jackson immediately ran and jumped onto one of the 2 twin beds.
"So sooooft!" Jackson said. His voice muffled by the pillow he stuffed his face into. He sprawled his his entire little body out onto the bed.
Kimberly laughed and bounced on the bed next to him. "What do you think champ? We can make this work right?"
Jackson rolled over and propped himself up on his elbows. "Are we going to stay...for a while?"
Kimberly sighed. "That's the plan kiddo." She knelt down next to his bed. She took his face in her hands gently.
"You know I'm doing this for us? For you?" She spoke softly. He nodded.
"So we can be safe, I know."
Kimberly sighed. She kissed his forehead and stood up. "You know I love you right?"
"Yes, but I think I love this bed more right now." Jackson giggled.
"Oh really!" Kimberly jumped on the bed and started to tickle him. They were both laughing when there was a loud knock at the door.
Kimberly tried to calm herself down and smooth down her hair as she hopped off the bed. "I wonder who that could be?"
When she looked they the peephole she squealed and threw open the door.
"Hey girl!" Aisha squealed and jumped onto Kimberly. Both ladies embraced tightly and screamed with excitement.
"I can't believe you're here!" Aisha pulled back from Kimberly and looked over her. "You look great."
"Me? You look amazing!" Kimberly hadn't made many friends in Florida, so she was overjoyed at seeing her old friend.
"Oh stop." Aisha pushed her playfully. She looked pass Kimberly to the boy sitting on the bed with his tussled hair. "Well you must be Mr Jackson. I've heard a lot about you." He stuck her hand out.
Jackson bounced off the bed and grabbed her hand firmly and shook it. "Please to meet you too. And I hear a lot about you because I think you're my mom's only friend."
"Jackson!" Kimberly shouted, embarrassed.
Aisha laughed heartily and Jackson smiled from ear to ear at his new friend.
Before they unpacked anything the trio headed out to find food and to check out the AG University campus. They grabbed some ice cream in the cafe and walked around the grounds.
"Mom, this school looks awesome. I bet they have a killer library! Can I go see it?" Jackson jumped around excitedly causing his ice cream to drip onto his clothes.
"Oh Jackson!" Kimberly groaned.
"Oops." Jackson stood still as his mother wiped at the ice cream on his shirt with a napkin.
"Honey, I have a lot to do, and only 2 weeks to do it. I still have to go register, get my I.D. sign up up for classes." Kimberly looked at him. His eyes were focused on the ground avoiding her gaze. She sighed.
"Hey, I have an idea." Aisha touched Kimberly's arm. "How about I take this little man to see the library while you go and do what you need to do."
Jackson's face lit up. "Oh, yes! Mom, please, please, please!"
She looked at Aisha. "I don't know…"
Aisha placed her hands on her hips. "I run my own clinic. I think I can manage a child Kim. Go ahead. You see that little bridge overpass over there, cross it and walk straight to the gymnasium, go upstairs and three doors to your right you can get an I.D…"
"Aisha, I'm going to get lost!" Kimberly groaned.
"You'll be fine! Ask someone for directions. You're a big girl." Aisha leaned closer to Kimberly. "And still a hot mama. BYE!"
Jackson held Aisha's hand as they took off in the opposite direction.
Kimberly couldn't believe they just left her. And her son didn't even say bye. He so loves dinosaurs more than me, she thought to herself. She trusted Aisha and knew she would protect him if anything helped. Kimberly shook her head and turned towards the bridge.
"Focus," she said to herself and started out on her adventure.
She started towards the bridge like Aisha told her to as she also pulled up a map of the campus on her phone to see where she needed to go. She used her index and thumb finger to enlarge the map.
"Oh come on!" Kimberly pulled and tapped on the screen but the map would not get any bigger. "Ugh, I should have majored in graphics. Because this app sucks."
She looked up too late as she walked right into a guy knocking his book bag off his shoulder.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" She quickly bent down and started to pick the fallen items up.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down." The guy bent down gently took a book from her hand. "Hey."
Kimberly looked up and froze. She stared back into soft brown eyes. The man had black curly hair down to his ears and the nicest smile. His blue collared shirt and gray suit pants fit him...perfectly.
"Oh, uh, I'm s-sorry again." She stammered.
"No harm, no foul." He smiled. His teeth were so white. It made Kimberly self conscious of her own. She smiled with her mouth closed. He eyes looked her over.
"The name's Derek." He held out his hand.
"Kimberly." She held his hand. So smooth. She let go quickly.
"Well Kimberly," his smile disappeared and he stood up after grabbing the last book. He stuffed it in his bag with a serious look. "Since you've made me late for my seminar and my students are probably on the verge of walking out of my class…"
He was a professor! "Oh god." Kimberly covered her face with her hands.
"I feel that you joining me for dinner sometime might be the only way to rectify this situation." Derek smiled widely.
Kimberly turned red. "Oh." She laughed nervously. "I don't know about that."
"You usually knock single men over and just walk away?" Derek teased. "Come on, I'll give you my number, and you can decide whether you will continue to break my heart further. I have 5 more minutes before my students get a free period." He taped the face of his watch.
Kimberly smirked. It had been years since she went on a date with a man. Then she remembered the reason why. She couldn't get tangled up with anyone.
"Look, you seem like a great guy...Derek. I'm just not...I just can't right now. Sorry about your students and your bag."
"Maybe I'll see you around campus then. You wouldn't happen to be studying History would you?" Derek called to her as she walked away.
"Sports!" Kimberly shouted back.
Derek crossed his hands over his heart as if he were struck by an arrow. Then he smiled and waved before turning and jogging away. Kimberly returned to her mission, but not before feeling how flushed her face was. It was a long time since anyone looked at her like that. Not since high school.
As she approached the overpass she spotted a group of students practicing martial arts. Nostalgia washed over her. She found some steps and walked down to get a closer look. She stopped a female student passing by her.
"Hi, I'm sorry. My name is Kimberly, I'm new here. Do you know what that's about over there?"
The student looked at the group, "Um, oh, that's the martial arts club. I guess they got kicked out of their usual spot. They're pretty cool I guess. I have to get to class now."
"Thanks!" Kimberly walked closer. She pictured her body trying to remember the moves as she watched the students. She felt the urge to join in. She walked closer to get a better look. As she looked over the students to see who was leading, a familiar voice gripped her heart. She moved around the group to match the voice to the face. The the students actions started to slow down. One of the students stepped forward to lead everyone in a cool down routine. She was lean, fit, and blonde.
Katherine! Kimberly's heart dropped.
Aisha had told her that Katherine Hillard and Tommy had been in on and off over the years. So if Katherine was here, he couldn't be too far off. This was not how she expected her afternoon to go. She started to turn on her heels when Katherine's eyes spotted her. The woman's face fell. Almost into a scowl. She forgot her routine. The students grumbled as they came to a halt.
"Kat? What are you doing?" One of the students asked. There was the familiar voice. The ponytail was gone, replaced with short, clean, spiky hair. The tall, and very grown up, Tommy Oliver turned to see who Katherine was staring at.
Kimberly could not move as she locked eyes was Tommy. It brought her back to the first day she saw him at the martial arts tournament. Except the sweet smile was replaced by a blank stare, as if she were a stranger. He crossed his arms around his chest and his chin tilted up a little as he studying her.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb." She said barely above a whisper. All eyes were on her. It was time go.
Thank you all for reading. I do not own any of these characters blah, blah, blah, etc. I hope I did alright here. This is something I've been working on for a while. I used to love all of these characters when I was little and now my son is into it. So I have recently been able to enjoy the Power Rangers once again. I have not followed many of the series after the original but I have tried. I will step away from the "Ranger" life and build a sort of normal life for these characters. I hope you enjoy the rest of my story there is still more to come!