The Beginning of the End
Summary: Where did they go wrong? A reexamining of Season 3. Starting with a brief glimpse into Kat's first appearance and then retracing our steps with a little more insight and information; may we know perhaps just how Tommy and Kimberly's relationship came to an end.
AN:Here is the prologue, based on the episodes "A Ranger Catastrophe: Parts 1 & 2". The Prologue begins in the middle of the second part but references the first half. A lot of the dialogue is taken from the episodes that each chapter is based on. Some scenes and lines will be familiar. Some hopefully won't. ~MC
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Prologue
A Katastrophe
"Oh no, Katherine!" He remembered, looking a bit sheepish as he stole a quick glance to Kimberly, "We have to find her," he practically whined.
He banished his guilt as quickly as it had arrived upon delivering his thought directly at his girlfriend, reminding himself that it was simply his job to be concerned for an innocent civilian.
Billy gave his friend a sad smile and buried his hands deep into his pockets, "Rita and Zedd must have her. I haven't been able to locate her position anywhere."
Tommy clenched his jaw and shook his head solemnly. The guilt he had tried to reel in moments before, coming back as he spared Kim another quick look. What was wrong with him? Rita's comment must have really gotten under his skin.
"What would Kimmy think?" the witch taunted, " Spending so much time, worrying about another girl?"
He barely knew Katherine, but he had inadvertently gotten this seemingly innocent girl mixed up in Ranger business. Never mind the fact that, if he was being honest, he had found her attractive to the point of distraction.
The time to consider these more romantic complications was thankfully put on hold when the alarms began blaring and the Rangers were called into battle. A swift victory against some bizarre feline hybrid creation saw them power down the Megazord and teleport immediately to the park, only to run directly into Katherine.
So much for putting those complications on hold.
Seeing how genuine and amicable Kimberly was with the other girl left Tommy to wonder if he had blown his earlier guilt out of proportion. Surely there was no reason to feel bad about merely thinking Kat was cute, right? He'd only resorted to feeling badly about his earlier concern for the girl for fear that Kimberly would be mad that their date had been abandoned, what with his getting kidnapped and all. He silently chided himself for assuming Kim would give their personal lives priority over civilian safety…like he briefly had.
Little did he know, Kimberly had indeed let her personal life hold sway, for a time. While inside the command center, as the Rangers tried in vain to locate Tommy after they'd watched him vanish from sight on the viewing globe, Kimberly was scared yet seething.
She had been running late to meet up with Tommy for their date, and when she'd arrived at the juice bar he was nowhere to be found. Then she'd been summoned to the command center only to discover her boyfriend driving a sports car with some long limbed blonde girl clutching onto him!
Now, Kimberly would marry Lord Zedd before admitting she was jealous. Especially since the viewing globe had only shown her a brief glimpse of a recent event, out of context. But her relationship with Tommy was strained at the moment; their scheduled date having been the first in over a month due to a multitude of other factors in the past few months.
Naturally, or maybe even neurotically, Kimberly had begun to wonder if she and Tommy were headed for a break up. When their relationship was solid and when they themselves were all over each other, they'd gotten into playful spats about their mutual enjoyment of scoping out other people.
As it was now, Tommy and Kim had been spending more time apart than with each other, and attentions inevitably had begun to wander. With that thought, Kimberly hackles had immediately gone up upon seeing him in the viewing globe. No consideration for the circumstances of his current predicament could override the fact that Tommy was in a car with another girl.
When it was reported that he was trapped with Goldar in Zedd's dimension, her anger quickly gave rise to fear. Goldar had a long-standing vendetta against Tommy, and it scared Kimberly to death anytime that gold-winged freak got within ten feet of him. Thankfully Billy had located him and within the hour, the Rangers had managed to retrieve him.
The relief she'd felt, pulling him into that hug when he'd reappeared safely before her, was palpable. She may not ever admit to what she'd been feeling while he was captured, but the other Rangers knew, Aisha most of all. Aisha had been privy to all of Kim's woes about her slowly disintegrating relationship with the White Ranger. The Yellow Ranger saw it in her face when the viewing globe displayed the scene. She'd heard it in her voice when she'd asked the question that was on most of their minds, "Who's that girl?"
Kimberly had played it relatively cool when Tommy had said the mystery girl's name aloud and voiced his concern for her wellbeing. Mostly out of gratitude that Tommy was alive and standing in front of her, but also because she'd like to think she had some professionalism. She inherently understood that whoever this girl was; she was an innocent civilian and that Tommy's concern was ultimately justified. But she also knew that if Lord Zedd and Rita had somehow done something to this girl, Tommy would never forgive himself. And while Kimberly typically considered his white knight syndrome swoon worthy, the moment he glanced her way as he mentioned saving Katherine, Kimberly struggled not to roll her eyes.
"How convenient that this innocent civilian is also blonde and gorgeous," she thought to herself.
In a perverse way, Kimberly had never been more grateful to hear those alarms go off. For the sudden but real threat of another monster loosed on Angel Grove forced her personal frustrations to disappear and to concentrate once more on her duty as a Ranger.
Her responsibility as a superhero once again came to halt as she and the other Rangers landed back in Angel Grove Park and ran immediately into Katherine.
"Great, she's even more beautiful in person than she'd appeared on the globe," Kimberly silently huffed as the group spotted the girl sitting by a tree. They raced over, and Kimberly was grateful nonetheless that the blonde appeared unharmed.
Katherine's piercing blue eyes were glossy with tears as she looked at Tommy in idolatry. Kim watched her boyfriend carefully as Katherine addressed only him when speaking about the horrors she'd just witnessed.
"Oh, Tommy, thank goodness. It was awful! There was this witch, and all these horrible monsters."
Kim once again fought the urge to vomit at Tommy's chivalrous response, "You're okay now, Katherine. Everything's going to be alright," he told her simply.
Katherine blinked back a few stray tears and gave Tommy a small nod and a smile. And despite the fact that there were six of them to comfort her, Katherine extended her hand to help her rise, and Tommy accepted the proffered hand, gentleman that he was.
As Kat regaled them with her bizarre mini-adventure, Kimberly internally scolded herself. The young woman seemed so genuine that Kimberly was almost embarrassed by her previous anger. Though the battle moments before had managed to derail the Tommy and Kim drama temporarily, a few of the other Rangers were still minutely aware it, though no one had gotten the chance to speak up. Aisha, ever the diplomat, came around as Kat finished her story.
"You're really lucky to be okay," Aisha told her softly.
"I don't want to go through anything like that again!" Kat responded with a small laugh.
Kimberly rationally considered the scenario, and though she was still mildly annoyed that Tommy had apparently gotten into Kat's car and taken off for a joyride when he was supposed to have been waiting for his girlfriend, she was slowly coming to realize that this Katherine girl truly was just an innocent bystander who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. If Kim had been in her shoes, she probably would have done the same thing.
Mustering up her compassion, Kimberly leaned forward as they walked and said, "We're just glad you're all right, Katherine."
Katherine giggled, the terrible ordeal immediately forgotten, "Please, Kim!" she gushed, "Call me Kat. All my friends back home do."
Sparing a sheepish grin at the girl, Kimberly simply chirped, "Okay."
Tommy was relatively quiet as they all continued their walk, casually brushing his hand against Kim's while the others eagerly engaged Kat in conversation.
"So, Kat, do you live here or are you just visiting someone?" Adam wondered from his spot behind Tommy. It was a relatively innocent question, though the simultaneous thoughts that arose in the other Rangers were varied as they awaited the Australian girl's answer. Kimberly could have sworn she saw Tommy shoot daggers at Adam for asking the blonde that question.
"Oh, I just moved in," Kat explained, "My dad got transferred so we all packed up and came over with him."
The implication of Kat's answer was not lost on the Rangers. Adam graced the girl with a goofy smile as Aisha managed a small smile. Rocky favored Tommy with a nod and a content shrug, oblivious. At that, Tommy bowed his head to avoid looking at anyone, and just nodded. Kim caught the action and stiffened as Billy clapped a friendly hand on Kat's shoulder.
"Angel Grove is a great town, you're really going to like it here," he told her with a chuckle. Kat's laughter seemed to corroborate Billy's theory, despite the disastrous situation Kat had just found herself in.
Kat slowed down before glancing at her watch, "Oh! Well, I better be off," she announced to the group, "I still have some unpacking to do."
The Rangers offered nods of agreement and smiles, as she added, "It was wonderful meeting you all."
"Kat," Tommy suddenly said, taking a nervous step forward and bashfully offered, "If you uh… if you ever need anything," he stumbled, "You know, uh…just let us know," he concluded with a shy grin.
Kimberly's smile fell as she conspicuously watched the exchange between Kat and her boyfriend for a moment. Unbidden jealousy flared once more.
Kat noticed Tommy's fumbling and seemed utterly charmed. Staring at him a for a brief moment before nodding slowly and smiling she said, "I will, Tommy. Thanks."
Catching a quick glare from Aisha, Kim painfully contorted her mouth into a smile once more and was quick to deliver to the blonde, "Bye."
Aisha, right on Kim's tail, echoed Kim's "Bye" before the rest of the boys absently muttered their own partings.
Kat waved them off and turned to leave. As she departed, Kim abruptly turned to the group in her best saccharine voice, "She's really sweet, I love her accent."
"Yeah, she's really cool, " Rocky confirmed.
Billy gave a genuine nod to Kim's appraisal as Aisha managed a tiny knowing giggle. Tommy nodded dutifully but remained silent, his former guilt suddenly resurfacing. He could have kicked himself for tripping over his tongue the way he had when he'd offered Kat help just then. Why was he so nervous? He watched Kim anxiously as he tried to read her mind in the moment.
The gang started walking once more, as Adam chimed in, "It'll be great when she starts school in the fall," receiving excitable murmurs from Rocky and Billy.
Aisha raised her brows in Kim's direction before murmuring a small obligatory "Oh, I know."
Before he knew what he was doing, Tommy added, "Yeah, that'll be cool," as he locked eyes with Kimberly and gave her a sad smile.
"P.C." Aisha suddenly called out, moving from the group, "I've been looking everywhere for you!"
The others turned as Aisha continued, "I can't believe she made it this far."
Kimberly cooed happily as she and Aisha led the group toward the white feline, happily cooling herself in the grass.
"Hi P.C." Aisha approached the cat, "Hi there, baby." Aisha lovingly held the creature in her arms and kissed its nose.
The gang crowded around Aisha and her pet, Kimberly sidling up to scratch the animal's ear tenderly as Tommy reached out to stroke its back. The gang laughed affectionately as Aisha leaned into the cat's face and mused, "I am never letting you out of my sight!"
The Rangers resumed their walk back to town, chuckling as Aisha continued to smooch and love on her new pet. Tommy was grateful for the distraction. He'd unconsciously let slip that last comment about Katherine, and he'd immediately regretted it as he'd turned to see Kim's face. He didn't know why. He'd done nothing wrong. But that new girl had definitely had an effect on him, and it was already making things uncomfortable for him and Kimberly. Tommy supposed this nagging guilt that had been plaguing him since meeting the tall blonde had a lot to do with his still very much thriving love for the petite brunette.
He knew they'd hit a rough patch; Ranger duties seemed to take over most of the time, and the school year was closing out so Finals had reared their ugly head. Not to mention Kimberly's recent training for the Pan Global games. She'd been practicing so hard recently, and by herself a lot too. Tommy had offered to spot her once or twice, seeing as she was essentially coaching herself through the process. But he knew she enjoyed training alone. She could focus that way. In the past, whenever he had managed to convince to let him come along, it had always ended up in a make out session. Not that either of them were complaining. But these Pan Globals were a pretty serious opportunity, and if Kim wanted any chance to qualify, she had to concentrate. Besides, heavy make out sessions were few and far between these days. Fighting monsters was about all the action either one of them had been seeing as of late. Maybe this whole Katherine thing was just residual sexual frustration.
Yeah, that's exactly what it was. As soon as school was over, he and Kim would have the whole summer, and they'd be able to spend a bit more time alone.
Tommy spared a glance to his left, smiling thoughtfully as Kimberly continued to nuzzle the kitten while they walked. And as P.C. purred quietly, seemingly content in Aisha's arms, no one seem to notice the cat's eyes briefly flash green…