Fusion: A Power Rangers Story Chapter 1, a power rangers fanfic

AUTHORS NOTE: Hey guys, I started writing this story back in the sixth grade... now 9 years ago (starting as a ZEO spin off) and it has made it's way onto the net in various places but I have decided to stick with this place for my official "publishing". These first four parts are what I consider to be an incredibly long prologue of a series :)

One thing I have to point out is that this story takes place directly after Dino Thunder. However, being as I thought throughout the entire season that Kira Conner and Ethan were juniors (apparently having missed the giant word "senior" in the last episode) this is supposed to be their senior year at Reefside high. So just go with it. :) Also being that Tommy and Kat were presumably 18 in Turbo (1997) That would make Tommy and Kat about 26 this season.

Anyway, I've worked hard on this and it could probably pass for T but I rated it M just in case. This is Power Rangers loaded with Drama so certain situations present themselves =)

Fusion: The Rise of Devone
A Power Rangers Story
"The Future Is Now"
Part One

The sun shone high over the small city of Reefside, California, and it was hot. Californian summers usually got that way, but as the fall season approached, people were beginning to think that the heat was never going to go away. However, the heat wasn't the worst thing on the teens' minds that evening. Today was schedule pick-up day, which meant the first day of the 2005-2006 school year would officially begin soon and let's just say that most of the students were less than ecstatic about it. The school year did bring some fun activities though, and for Conner McKnight, that meant soccer. Lots and lots of soccer.

Conner McKnight ran past a blue jerseyed player as the ball was passed smoothly over to him. He stopped the ball lightly with the side of his foot and quickly made his way down the field with the ball just inches in front of him. Sweat sidled down the side of his face and his medium-length brown hair was matted to his forehead, but he didn't care. The heat never bothered him when it came to soccer; it made him feel whole. There was only one other thing that had ever made him feel this way and that was when he had been the red Dino thunder ranger, and now that Mesagog had been destroyed, this was all he had left. Conner's red jersey hung loosely over the red tank top beneath it, his black shorts coming to a stop just barely above his knees. His soccer socks were pulled up, which didn't exactly make it any cooler, but at least he wasn't wearing his shin guards. Conner easily evaded another blue jerseyed opponent and continued on down the field. He stopped the ball by stepping on top of it and turned his body, yet again making it past another player. However, the rest of the team was now closing in on him, so he decided that it was probably best to get rid of the ball; just for a moment so that he could open himself up for the shot. Looking across the field he saw Jake Thomas, his teammate, running parallel with him, almost completely open.

"Jake, heads up!" Conner shouted out, passing the ball across the field.

Jake received the ball safely and progressed down the field, but it wasn't long before he too needed to pass the ball off to someone else. While Jake had the ball, Conner freed himself from the defenders and got into position to make the shot. Jake glanced over to see him just in time to pass the ball smoothly towards him. Conner kicked the ball hard towards the upper left hand corner of the net smirking as the goalie tried and failed to block his shot. Conner turned as the whistle blew signaling the end of the game.

"That's the game." The coach hollered as the blue and red jerseyed players alike ran to the center of the field where their coach stood. "Great job you guys, if we keep this up we'll have no problem winning against Angel Grove in the match on Wednesday... McKnight, Thomas. If you two keep playing the way you have, then we might just keep our undefeated title."

"Not a problem coach." Conner told him confidently, still catching his breath.

"Yeah, we'll win the conference title this year for sure." Jake smirked, his hands on his hips.

"Yeah." Another boy spoke up. "As long as Conner doesn't bail out again like he did last year. He didn't even show up half the time, and when he did, he always left early. Yeah, that's what I call commitment."

"Shut up, Hayden." Conner retaliated, a little angry. "Some things are a little more important than soccer."

"Oh yeah?" Hayden questioned, taking a step towards Conner. "Like what?"

Conner had to bite his tongue to keep himself from saying any more. He wanted more than anything to tell his team all about his adventures as the red ranger, but he knew better than to do that. His time as a power ranger had to be kept a secret from everyone, with the exception of Cassidy Cornell, Devon Devalle, and his fellow teammates. Hayden and Conner had once been friends, but that was back in the time when he was a jerk without a care in the world. His ranger days had changed him, maybe more so than any of the others. He cared about his friends and he did well in school. The girls he went out with weren't just pretty faces anymore. He was able to control himself better than the hothead that he had once been.

"Take it easy." Jake said, positioning himself in between Hayden and Conner. He knew how hotheaded they both could be. "The important thing is that he's here now."

"Move it, show-off." Hayden said pushing Jake out of the way.

Jake stumbled sideways, pushed out of the way. Conner clenched his teeth and took a step forward, wanting to punch the living daylights out of him.

"That's enough." The coach barked, moving in between the two boys. "You guys need to get it together; we've got no chance in winning if we can't get along with each other. But Hayden does have a point, Conner. We have to be able to depend on you."

"You don't have anything to worry about." Conner retaliated. "You can count on me."

"Good, cause I'm making you captain." The Coach spoke with a hint of a smile.

Conner looked at the coach a little confused. He thought for sure after his little disappearing act last year that Jake would be made senior captain. He was grateful, nonetheless.

"Thanks, coach." Conner said, enjoying the astounded look on Hayden's face.

"Don't thank me, you've earned it." The coach told him. "You've worked your ass off since freshman year, being the youngest person to make varsity in over twenty years. You've got talent, and we've won a lot of games because of you. Don't for a second think that you don't deserve this."

Conner nodded, glancing over at a disappointed Jake.

"I'll talk to him later..." Conner thought to himself.

"Alright everyone hit the showers!" The coach ordered, as practice came to an end. "And don't forget to pick up your schedules in the office. Principal Randall expects to see you all."

There was a soft groan as the team turned and headed towards the boy's locker room to get cleaned up. Conner grabbed Jake's shoulder to get his attention.

"Hey." Conner greeted, slowing their walk. "Are we cool?"

Jake smiled. "Yeah. We're cool. Coach is right. You deserve to be captain. We both know that you're the better player. Besides, you have more confidence on the field than I do. You'll lead the team better."

"Thanks." Conner smirked. "And thanks for sticking up for me back there too."

"No problem." Jake told him. "Hayden can be a total jerk. Did you see his face when coach named you captain. It was classic."

Kira Ford sat patiently on the sidewalk outside of the boy's locker room exit, a vanilla bean frappuccino in each hand. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail; leaving it down just made it feel even hotter than it already was. For the time being, she had shed her fishnet leggings and boots, and now wore a yellow spaghetti-strapped top and a pair of jean shorts complete with a pair of yellow flip flops in order to stay cool. She waited outside of the school for Conner, hoping that the two could pick up their schedules and then spend the rest of day just hanging out.

Conner, Kira, Trent, Ethan, and, surprisingly enough, Cassidy had spent a majority of their summer together, just hanging out and becoming even better friends than they had been before. Trent and Kira had tried dating, but it just got weird for both of them, and the two decided that they were much better as friends. However, sparks had flown for Cassidy and Trent who were currently in a relationship to everyone's disbelief. They were an odd couple, and there were tremendous amounts of banter between the two, but they made it work, even with Trent at an art institution in another city. Conner and Kira had probably formed the strongest friendship of all of them. Trent now resided in another city and Ethan had taken off around a month ago for Technical school a few miles outside of Reefside. He had accumulated enough credits over the years to graduate early, though he still needed to take his English twelve and Government courses, which he would be taking online. He would be returning at the end of the year to graduate with his class. With Ethan and Trent both gone, Conner and Kira had spent most of July and August with each other, Cassidy occasionally tagging along, though she spent most of her time with Trent or Devon.

The exit to the boy's locker room opened and Conner stepped out in red gym shorts. His white T-shirt was slung over his shoulder, and his hair was dripping wet. It looked as if he had neglected to dry his hair off at all.

"Hey." he smiled at Kira.

"Hey!" Kira grinned as she got up and turned to face him.

She handed him his drink and went to say something, but her thoughts were lost as she looked at him standing there.

"Thanks." Conner said, taking a sip of his frappuccino.

However, Kira's smiled faded away as her eyes drifted down to his bare chest. Drops of water slowly drizzled from his shoulders and down his chest. Her heartbeat sped up as she stood there, staring at him.

"Kira?" Conner asked. "Are you OK?"

Kira blinked a few times, forcing herself to look away as her smile returned. "Yeah, I'm fine. How was practice?"

"It was great. I think we've really got a shot at the state championship this year." Conner beamed. "And coach made me captain."

"That's great!" Kira said enthusiastically, grabbing him into a hug.

"Yeah." Conner agreed, returning her embrace. "So what's up?"

"Not much, I was thinking that we could get our schedules for the year and then hang out at Hayley's or something."

"Sounds cool." Conner agreed, both of them turning and starting off towards the front of the school.

Principal Diane Randall walked down the empty hallways of Reefside High, dressed in a gray pant-suit and black dress shoes. Her hair was twisted and braided into a fancy bun, but even so you could tell that her hair was much longer than it had been when she had been known as Elsa. She continued down the hallway in silence until she reach Dr. Tommy Oliver's classroom. She sighed when she saw that the door was closed and the lights were still turned off casting a dark empty sort of shadow to the room.

"Tommy, I told you to be here twenty minutes ago." She mumbled to herself as she reach into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone.

Principal Randall quickly punched in Tommy's cell number and held the phone up to her ear, irritated that he was late... again. She waited patiently as the phone rang in her ear until she finally heard Tommy's voice at the end of the line.

"I know, I know. I'm late." Tommy answered, at the wheel of his jeep. "Sorry, I overslept. I'm on my way now."

"Tommy, you do realize that you are a teacher of a school. You're supposed to be setting the example." She lectured. "Excessive tardies are not the way to that."

"Hey, school isn't open yet." Tommy retorted. with a small grin. "I promise I won't be late when things get started back up. I just have to get back into the grove of getting up early."

"Well you'd better do it quickly. School starts back up on Monday." Principal Randall reminded him.

"Don't worry, I will." He promised. "So why do I have to be at school so early anyway? I'm nearly finished getting my classroom prepared for the year."

"The new English teacher arrived today." She explained. "I wanted you to meet her. I really think that you'll like her. She's incredibly sweet and about your age. I think you two could become friends."

"Ah, OK I forgot that we were getting a new teacher." Tommy replied.

"Now why doesn't that surprise me?" Principal Randall joked.

"Hey." Tommy grinned. "I've been doing really good lately at remembering things... Well better than I used to be. If you think this is bad than you should have seen me in high school. Well hey, I'm pulling in now. I'll meet you in the front office?"

"OK, see you there." Principal Randall confirmed, hanging up the phone and heading towards the front of the school.

Tommy Oliver pulled into the teacher's parking lot and quickly took a parking spot nearest to the school. The parking lot had a few cars in it, most likely students there to pick up their schedules. There were only a couple of cars resting in the teacher parking lot; so luckily, he was able to park fairly close to the building. Tommy's hair was spiked up as usual, and his goa-tee was cleanly cut. He wasn't dressed in his usual suit and tie; instead he wore a pair of off-white khaki pants with a well fitted black t-shirt that just barely clung to his skin, accenting his muscular body. . He pulled his keys out of the ignition, and quickly pocketed them as he got out of his vehicle and jogged to the front of the building. He was just about to enter the building, as the doors opened, Kira and Conner walked out looking at their schedules. They didn't seem to notice Tommy.

"So it looks like we have English together, Government, and Science." Conner said.

"Hey look we have Dr. Oliver again." Kira responded.

"Aw man, you mean I have to put up with you two again?" Tommy joked, causing the two to look up and notice him for the first time. He was only a short distance away.

"Oh. Hey, Dr. O!" Conner smiled along with Kira.

"What are you doing here so early?" Kira questioned. "School doesn't start for about another week. You're missing out of you're beauty sleep."

"Very funny, Kira." Tommy said. "I'm actually really late. I was supposed to meet Principal Randal here about a half an hour ago. I'm supposed to meet the new English teacher or something."

"Oh man." Conner chimed in. "She is so hott!"

"Conner." Kira grimaced, as Tommy chuckled.

"No, I'm dead serious. Those golden locks of blond hair and the accent." Conner continued. "Oh man, the accent. I swear she's some sort of goddess."

"Oh, shut up." Kira told him, disgusted.

"Why?" Conner smirked. "Making you jealous?"

"Of you?" Kira retorted. "No. Definitely not."

"Well I better get in there, before Principal Randall has my head." Tommy laughed. "I'll catch up with you guys later?"

"Yeah sure." Conner grinned. "We'll be at Hayley's."

"Cool." Tommy said, taking a step towards the school. "See you later."

"See you." Kira said, as she and Conner walked off into the parking lot.

"Conner, she's like twice you're age." was the last thing Tommy heard Kira tell Conner before he pulled open the front door and walked in, entering the office just off to his left side.

Tommy closed the door behind him and smirked at the secretary who was sitting behind her desk with a book, apparently waiting for any students who were planning on showing up today. The Secretary looked up from her book at the sound of the door and smiled.

"Hey Tammie." Tommy greeted, leaning on the counter.

"Hello, Tommy." She smiled.

"Waiting for students?" He questioned.

"Of course." She answered, showing him her book. "The mornings always slow, so I came prepared. The kids normally don't start showing until the afternoon."

"Ah." Tommy nodded.

Tammie smiled. "Mrs. Randal and Mrs. Hillard are in the Principals office."

As soon as those words came out of the secretary's mouth, Tommy felt every single one of his muscles tighten all at once. He was sure that he had stopped breathing. He slightly shook his head, confused. He had to have heard her wrong.

"Mrs. who?" Tommy asked.

"Mrs. Hillard." She told him. "The new English teacher."

Tommy gripped the counter so tightly that his knuckles began turning white. She couldn't have said Hillard, could she? He felt as if he was going to fall over, which he was sure he would have done if he had not been leaning on the counter at the moment. Tommy swallowed and pushed himself off the counter. He straightened himself up before running his fingers through his hair, nervously. He scratched his neck, as his breathing seemed to quicken. A million questions and thoughts raced through his mind at the moment. He was confused and even a little shocked.

"Hillard?" He wondered allowed.

He had to be sure that 'Hillard' was exactly what she had said. But even if it was, it couldn't be the same Hillard could it? Surely not. The last time he checked, that girl had been in London studying ballet. Then again, it had been a while since he checked. When they ended things, it hadn't been on the best of terms.

"Those golden locks of blond hair and the accent. Oh man the accent!" Conner's words floated through Tommy's mind; it all fit too well.

"Yes. Hillard." Tammie confirmed, a little agitated. "Are you OK? They're waiting for you."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Tommy choked out.

A small gentle laughter was heard only faintly in the room, coming from the crack in the principals office door. Tommy looked at the door as the sound reached his ears; his stomach knotted up all over again. He felt like he was going to throw up. He knew that laugh anywhere. It was that of his best friend, his teammate/former pink ranger, and that of his ex-girlfriend...

"This is ridiculous." Tommy told himself. "You have to face her sometime. Just get it over with now. Maybe she doesn't hate you...Yeah right. I should have told her everything."

He thought of just bolting right then and there. He could meet up with Conner and Kira at Hayley's and just forget about everything. He'd never return to Reefside High again.

"Yeah, that's real smart, Tommy." He told himself as he just stared at the cracked door. "How long could you really avoid her anyway? A week, maybe two. You live in the same town... Man, this is bad."

Tommy took a deep breath and stepped forward towards the door. He gripped the knob and pushed it forward before entering the room. He looked directly at Principal Randall, no where else.

"Tommy." Principal Randall greeted. "It's about time you showed up."

"Hey." Tommy said, uncomfortably shifting his glance to Katherine Hillard.

He looked at her for only a second before shifting his eyes down to the ground. It was too hard to look into her blue eyes that were now staring back at him. He knew that he hurt her when he had broken it off. Thinking back, he wished that he had done it differently. Told her everything about Mesagog and Smitty. He told himself that he did the right thing, but he wasn't so sure anymore. Had he? Really?

Katherine just sat there, her hair pulled back into a pony tail, her bangs hanging just above her eyes, much like she wore her hair during her time as a turbo ranger. She wore a pink blouse with black dress pants. It took her a while to comprehend exactly what she was seeing. She knew that she was meeting a Dr. Oliver, but never in a million years had she expected to see Tommy; former power ranger, former boyfriend, former best friend. Besides, Oliver was a pretty common name and the last time she checked Tommy was a Paleontologist, not a teacher. She stared at the man before her. She was little angry, shocked. A little irritated, but also a little relieved; a mixture of about a million emotions filled her body. She wasn't sure if she should smile or punch him in the face. He hurt her, and seeing him there in front of her for the first time in years... it broke her heart all over again. As much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't over it. She thought she was, but she knew now that she wasn't. She wasn't sure if she ever would be. Deciding to take the Tommy Oliver approach, she kind of just stared at the ground, suddenly becoming very interested in the patterns and texture of the carpeting.

"Tommy, this is Katherine Hillard." Principal Randall introduced him. "The new English teacher."

"Yeah." Tommy exhaled and looked up at the principal. "We've met."

"It's nice to see you, Tommy." Katherine said quietly.

Tommy just glanced at her again, but only for a quick moment. He nodded and returned his gaze to the floor, obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"Oh?" Principal Randall responded.

"We went to high school together." Tommy filled her in.

Principal Randall raised her eyebrows as the room was suddenly filled with an awkward silence. Both Tommy and Kat focused on the ground, avoiding one another's eyes. Kat fiddled with her fingers nervously. She thought that she had dealt with this years ago. She thought that she was over it, but seeing him in front of her now, all of those feelings that she had felt years ago just came rushing back. It didn't seem fair, but that was how it was. She'd fallen for Tommy the moment she had laid eyes on him. She'd fallen in love even while she was under an evil spell, thanks to Rita Repulsa, in which love should not have been a factor. It had taken time, over a year, for Tommy to return those feelings, but when they finally got to that place, it was perfect. Or so Kat thought. They started dating at 17 and broke up about 2 years ago. 7 years, they were together. And then just out of the blue, he said they couldn't be together.

"Conner was right, she looks great." Tommy thought to himself. "Damnit."

Principal Randal looked at the two of them suspiciously for a moment before deciding to break the silence. She sighed and looked from Kat to Tommy.

"OK" She started, getting both of them to look at her. "Obviously something went on between the two of you, and I don't want to know. Honestly. However, I do need to know, now, if this is going to present a problem."

"No." Katherine quickly spoke up. She'd been waiting for a job like this to come along for months, and she wasn't about to give up on it now, just because Tommy suddenly came back into her life. "It's fine, really."

Tommy looked at her through the corner of his eye. He wanted so bad to just tell her everything that had happened. He wanted to hold her in his arms again. But he knew better than to think that that had any chance of happening.

"She's right. We can handle it." Tommy agreed.

"Alright then." the Principal smiled. "Welcome to Reefside, Katherine."

"Thank you." Katherine stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Of course." Principal Randal smiled.

Katherine walked past Tommy, his breath catching in his throat as she did so. He could have been imagining things, but he swore that he could smell the coconut scented shampoo that she used on her hair. She walked out the door and Tommy let out a long breath. Principal Randall looked at him.

"Diane..." Tommy started. "The next time we get a new teacher, can you make sure it's not an ex-girlfriend?"

"Noted." Principal Randal smirked, shaking her head.

Katherine walked down the hallway, her arms folded across her chest. She wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings; her mind was on other things. She entered her classroom before even realizing that she had walked that far already. She opened the door and was about to step inside, but leaned on the door frame instead.

FLASHBACK

An eighteen year old Katherine smiled as she heard Tommy honk his horn from outside of her house. He was late as usual, but it had given her time to finish packing the rest of her stuff that she needed for the weekend. She slung her pink book bag over her shoulder and grabbed her small suitcase buy the handle. It was on wheels which made it a bit easier to lug around.

"Katherine!" Her mother called up the stairs. "Tommy's here, Hun."

"I know, I'm coming." She answered, walking down the steps with her suitcase making a loud thumping noise with every step.

She quickly made her way to the front of her house and opened the door to see Tommy standing there smiling. His hair was curly and long, but he had the top part of his hair tied back as he normally did at age 18. He was wearing a black tank top with a pair of red gym shorts.

"You're late, again." Katherine smirked.

"I know, but I had to get the keys to the cabin." Tommy smiled, dangling the keys in front of her before kissing her on the cheek.

"OK, you're forgiven." Kat grinned. His kisses still made her weak in the knees, even after months of dating.

"Are you all set?" Tommy asked.

"Yep." Katherine said, taking a step off the porch.

"Here, let me get that." Tommy said, grabbing the handle of her bag.

"Thanks." Kat smiled as they both began walking towards Tommy's jeep.

"I can't believe that we're going to have the whole weekend to ourselves." Kat exclaimed.

"I know." Tommy agreed. "No Divatox, no pirannahtrons, no monsters to go and fight. Nothing. Nothing should get in the way of this weekend."

"Yeah." Katherine agreed, but a sad smile glinted across her face.

"Hey." Tommy put his hand on her shoulder. "The power's in good hands. TJ and the others are going to be great rangers."

"Yeah, I know. But it's only been a week." Katherine told him. "My wrist just feels so naked without a communicator on it."

"I know what you mean." Tommy agreed. "But it was time. Besides, you're going off to London soon, and I'm going to be racing around the world. We should enjoy the time we have left together, starting with this little camping trip. Our last one got a little ruined."

"You're right." Katherine smiled.

"I always am." Tommy smirked, kissing her forehead.

"Yeah, right." Katherine rolled her eyes as they both got out of the vehicle.

It didn't take long for the two to take all of their things inside. They unpacked the food that they had brought and put it away in the refrigerator, and unpacked their toothbrushes and things like that. They left their clothing in their bags.

"You can have the bedroom." Tommy told her. "I'm gonna camp out on the couch."

Katherine nodded and took her bag into the bedroom. She had to admit that things were going to get a little awkward this weekend, but she knew it would. It was the first time that they were staying together, alone, overnight. No Tanya, Adam, Rocky, Jason, or Justin to interfere. Situations were bound to present themselves and no one would be there to prevent things from happening. It was just her and Tommy. Alone.

Katherine placed looked around the small room. There was a queen-sized bed, and a small TV mounted in the corner, but not much of anything else. It was a cabin after all. She put her bag in the corner and walked out of the room and back into the living room. She chuckled as she saw Tommy sprawled out on the couch with the TV on.

"This hardly qualifies as camping." Katherine joked.

Tommy turned. "You don't like it?"

"It's perfect." Katherine smiled, and walked over to him.

Tommy grabbed her hand and pulled her down to him. He smiled and kissed her gently on the lips.

"How do you like that?" Tommy asked.

Katherine bit her lip as she smiled. "I like it. I like it a lot."

She leaned down to kiss him again. Things were good for them, especially now that they didn't have the weight of the world on their shoulders. They actually had time to do things together without getting interrupted. Katherine looked at Tommy for a moment and just smiled at him.

He chuckled nervously. "What? Do I have something in my teeth?"

Katherine laughed. "No. I just want to remember this moment, that's all."

Tommy's eyelids began to fall as the movie went on. Katherine was already asleep, her head resting in his lap. They had had a great day. They swam, took a walk in the woods, built a fire and roasted marshmallows; they did all sorts of things. There was an awkward moment where Tommy had accidentally walked in on her changing, but other than that everything had been perfect. However, it was now reaching midnight and they were completely exhausted.

Tommy yawned as he strained to keep his eyes open. He was tired, but he didn't want to move. He looked down at Katherine and smiled. She looked beautiful, he thought to himself as he stroked the side of her face softly, pushing back her bangs. Finally, he decided that he had better go to bed if Katherine had any shot at waking him up in the morning and he didn't want to waste their entire vacation sleeping. He hit the power button on the remote, turning the TV off, and hit the lamp switch. Light illuminated the room. He slipped out from under her and stretched his legs a bit before putting his arms under her and lifting her off of the couch. He carried her to the bedroom.

"Crap." Tommy mumbled. "I should have pulled the bedspread down first. Wait to go Tommy."

"It's the thought that counts, right?" Katherine spoke, sleepily.

"You're awake." Tommy stated the obvious.

"Not really." Katherine chuckled; she was still having trouble opening her eyes.

Tommy smiled and let her down slowly. As her feet hit the ground, she stretched a little and rubbed her eyes as Tommy pulled the covers down. She smiled at him, appreciative of his actions.

"Thanks." Katherine spoke. "I had a really good time today."

"Me too." Tommy agreed. "Goodnight."

Tommy kissed her lips softly. Kat could feel the passion within the kiss as she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. It wasn't hard for her to fall into his kisses, not hard at all. They allowed the kiss to go on for a few seconds before they finally pulled apart.

"I should probably go, now." Tommy told her.

"Probably." Kat agreed. "But, that doesn't make me want you to stay any less."

Tommy looked into her blue eyes, looking for any clue that might help him figure out what she meant by that. Did she mean what he thought she meant? Probably not. This was Katherine Hillard he was talking about. There were certain boundaries with her. Tommy forced a small smile as he let out a deep breath.

"I'm gonna go." He repeated.

"Why, you should stay a little longer." Katherine persuaded. "At least till I fall back asleep."

"Katherine." Tommy started; he decided to take the honest approach. "If I stay in here, with you, I'm not sure... I don't want to make you do anything that you either aren't ready or don't want to do."

Katherine bit her bottom lip. She was flattered by his words and she liked his honesty. It was a sensitive topic to begin with, and they hadn't even discussed the possibility of taking their relationship to that particular place yet. But they both knew that the situation was bound to present itself sometime over the weekend, and Katherine had made up her mind earlier; whatever happens, happens. Besides she wanted her first time to be with Tommy, she was sure of that much. No one knew her like he did and vice versa. They'd been through so much together already. Katherine shook slightly. She was nervous, but excited at the same time.

Tommy turned to walk out of the room, but stopped as Katherine's hand gently closed around his own. He turned to look at her, he felt as if his brain had temporarily stopped working.

"Are you OK, you're shaking?" Tommy asked sincerely.

Katherine nodded as she took a step closer to him, their fingers intertwining with each others. She leaned over and whispered softly into his ear.

"I want to." She spoke, sending chills up his back as he turned his head, quickly, to face her.

END FLASHBACK

A single tear fell from Katherine's eye as she stood frozen in the doorway. It felt as if that moment had been a lifetime ago, but she remembered it as if it were just yesterday. It had been a monumental step in their relationship... back when they still cared for one another. Everything seemed so simple back then.

"Kat." Tommy spoke from behind Katherine.

She jumped as she was suddenly forced back into reality. She quickly brushed the fallen tear from off of her cheek and turned to face Tommy.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you." Tommy mumbled.

"It's fine." She spoke softly.

"Look, I was wondering..." Tommy started. "I mean... can we talk sometime?"

Kat stared at him for a second before responding. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Tommy sighed. "Can't we just start over?"

Katherine exhaled and looked at the ground. She wanted to be Tommy's friend again, but she just didn't think that it was possible.

"I'm Tommy, Tommy Oliver." Tommy smiled, extending his hand.

Katherine shook her head, clenching her jaw. "It doesn't work that way."

And with that she turned and walked into her classroom, slightly slamming the door behind her, leaving Tommy outside.

Tommy's head fell backward as he stared up at the ceiling for a second before he too turned and walked away.

Casey Daniels collected the dirty dishes from off of the table and put them into the red plastic box next to her. She took her rag out and rapidly began wiping down the table, knocking all the crumbs to the ground below. Her slightly curly blond hair was tied back into a sloppy ponytail which somehow came off as stylish. Her long bangs rested on either side of her face. At the time being, she was wearing a blue apron over her pale green tank top and blue jeans. She wore a pair of pale green converse shoes that matched her shirt quite well.

Casey pushed the chairs in and snatched up the plastic box that contained the dirty dishes before making her way to the back of the building. She walked through the double doors and sat the box of dishes on the counter next to the guy who was currently washing them.

"Have fun, Ty." Casey joked.

"Yeah." Ty agreed sarcastically.

Casey smiled and walked back out to the main area and looked around for Hayley. It didn't take her long to find her; she was standing at the end of the counter writing something down on a piece of paper. Casey walked over to her.

"Tables are cleared." Casey informed her, grabbing an order pad off of the counter as Kira and Conner walked through the entrance.

"Great." Hayley said, not even looking up from the form. "Can you get them? I've got to finish this order form or our menu will be very tiny next month."

"Already on it." Casey said, walking away backwards, wiggling the pad so that Hayley could see it.

"Thanks." Hayley smiled.

The stone command center rested alone in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. It was an extremely dry environment; There wasn't a single sign of plant life to be found. Nothing but rocks and dust for miles and miles around, making the building look oddly out of place. Everything appeared to be quiet from the outside. However, within the chamber was a different story.

Alpha 5 scrambled across the room in a panic stricken state. Alarms were wailing loudly as the orange and red lights flashed off and on as a warning. The robot ran to the front of the chamber where a large monitor revealed a detailed map of the galaxy, Earth and its surrounding planets in particularly A dark red dot was approaching Earth at an accelerated rate. Alpha jumped and placed his hands on his helmet.

"Aiy, yi, yi, yi, yi!" Alpha screeched. "Zelta, we still haven't been able to locate the final crystal and Devone is getting closer to Earth with every second!"

A woman dressed in all white focused her attention on the robot. She looked very much as Dimitria had with the white gown, and flowing chocolate brown hair. She looked almost angelic. The woman's head and upper body shone through the glass cylinder that contained her life force.

"I am aware of the current danger approaching Earth." Zelta responded wearily. "And I'm afraid that we don't have much time."

"Do you think we can make it?" The robot questioned.

"I am not sure." Zelta responded. "But we must try Alpha, or Earth and all of human-kind will be doomed.

"Who's that?" Conner questioned as he and Kira took their seats in the far corner.

Kira looked around the room for a second, wondering who he was looking at. It was much more full of people than it usually was. She and Conner had taken one of the last available tables left. Finally, she followed his gaze towards the blond waitress approaching them. She looked back to Conner, not entirely sure of whom she was seeing.

"I think her name is Lacey or Casey. Something to that effect." Kira mumbled, already knowing where this conversation was going. "I've seen her around a couple of times these past few weeks. She must be new."

"She's cute." Conner smirked.

Kira shifted her eyes upward, irritated by the comment, before she kicked him lightly in the shins from under the table. "Leave her alone."

"I'm kidding." Conner smiled. "I mean, she's cute, but she's no you."

He winked at her after he said this, causing her to roll her eyes, but with a much softer face than she had worn seconds ago.

"Oh common." Conner continued. "You know you liked it."

She couldn't stop a small smile from creeping across her face. It was flattering to know that Conner thought of her as pretty, regardless if he was kidding or not. She tried to suppress her small grin, but couldn't.

"Shut up." She responded, playfully.

"Hey guys." The waitress greeted as she reached the table.

"Hey." Kira smiled.

"Can I get you two something?" She smiled, taking a pen out from her apron.

"Sure, I'll take a strawberry-banana smoothie." Kira told her.

"Uh." Conner started. "What's you're favorite type of smoothie?"

Casey looked up from her pad. "Um, I like the Hawaiian smoothie. It's got like pineapple and coconut in it. Bananas. It's good."

"Alright." Conner stated. "I'm sold."

"Cool." Casey smiled. "I'll be back out in a second."

Casey put her pen back in her apron and left to get the order filled. Kira just looked at Conner. To be honest, it bothered her when he hit on other girls right in front of her. However, she would never admit that to anyone, least of all him. They had been through so much together and they'd grown so much as friends, she couldn't help but like him. She wasn't exactly sure what her feelings towards him were anymore and it weirded her out. She shrugged the feeling off and decided to let it go.

"You were so hitting on her." She told him.

"I was not." Conner denied, but Kira tilted her head and looked at him disbelievingly. "I didn't know what type of smoothie I wanted." He explained. "So I asked."

"Yeah, that was totally it." Kira said sarcastically, forcing a small half-smile. "It doesn't matter. She so wasn't interested."

"What? Not interested?" Conner faced her, disbelievingly. "Did you see the way she was looking at me?"

"She was trying to take your order." Kira chuckled.

Conner sighed and he was about to say something in return but he stopped as he looked over to the entrance just in time to see Jake enter through the double doors. Conner tapped Kira on the shoulder and nodded towards him. Kira looked to where he was looking. Jake Thomas stood in the entrance, scanning the now quite full room for a place to sit. He was now wearing a pair of faded blue jeans which were ripped stylishly on his left knee as well as in a few other random places. He wore a well fitting navy blue t-shirt with a matching headband that pressed his short dark hair to his forehead.

"Jake Thomas?" Kira questioned as she realized who Conner was looking at.

"We'll see what he thinks. He's a guy, he'll understand." Conner said, raising his arm to wave Jake over to them.

Jake saw Conner beckoning him over to their table and nodded to acknowledge that he had seen them. He made his way over to them and took a seat.

"Hey guys." He greeted. "This place is packed."

"Tell me about it." Kira agreed. "I guess everyone's trying to enjoy the little bit of summer they have left."

"OK, here she comes." Conner interrupted.

Jake wore a confused look on his face. He turned his head, trying to see who Conner was talking about. "What?"

"There's this girl." Conner turned to Jake. "Kira's trying to say that she isn't interested in me. I need you to prove her wrong."

Conner darted his eyes back to the girl. He smiled almost excitedly.

"What?" Jake asked again, smirking as he noticed exactly who Conner was looking at. "I don't really think you're her ty-"

"Shhh, shh!" Conner looked away and quieted them quickly as the blond waitress re-approached the table with their drinks.

"Alright, Strawberry Banana..." she started, handing Kira her drink.

Conner smirked at her as she handed them their smoothies. Jake looked from Conner to the waitress and then back to Conner.

"Conner, I don't -" Jake started, but Conner cut him off, completely ignoring him.

"I'm Conner." Conner introduced himself to the blond girl.

He continued to look at her as he picked up his glass and stuck the straw in his mouth. He tried to stifle his cough as he swallowed the off-whitish liquid. Kira snorted softly with laughter as she quickly looked down so that Casey wouldn't see her face.

"Casey." She responded with a slight smile, though she looked weirded out. She turned to Jake. "Can I get you something, Jake?" She asked with a much more comfortable smile.

"Nah, I'm good." Jake responded. Conner looked dejected.

"I haven't seen you around before." He tried again. "I'd remember if I'd seen a face like yours."

Casey shifted her eyes towards the ground, chuckling to herself as she placed her hands on her hips. She looked back up to Conner with a smirk.

"I just transferred into the school district and I started working here just recently." She responded. "I've been around. I've watched you play soccer; you're actually really good."

Conner looked confused. Kira just sat back enjoying their little conversation. It wasn't everyday that you found a girl that was so obviously uninterested in Conner McKnight everyday.

"Jake," She explained, pointing towards him. "is my best friend."

"Ah." Conner responded, now starting to feel like a complete idiot.

"I'm Kira, by the way." Kira smiled, cutting into their conversation. She was way happier than she should have been. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too." Casey responded.

"I was trying to tell you." Jake told Conner. "We've been friends for years."

Casey chuckled as she noticed a few people entered the building. "Well hey; I've got to go take their orders. I'll talk to you guys later?"

"Sure." Kira grinned.

Casey turned to walk away once more. Conner just didn't get it. Why wasn't she interested? He was joking at first, but now he was just plain irritated and confused, plus he felt the need to prove a point. He decided he'd try one last time.

"Hey, Casey." Conner called, getting her attention. "Are those moon pants? Cause you're butt is out of this world."

Kira's eyes widened as she snorted with laughter and choked on her drink, which she had been taking a sip of. Jake, his eyes wide with disbelief, just looked at him, trying his best not to laugh. He couldn't believe that Conner had actually just said that out loud.

"Are you kidding me?" Casey turned and laughed. "That was awful... in a totally awesome way."

"I try." Conner responded, laughing a bit himself.

Casey grinned, laughing to herself as she made her way over to the new customers and Kira, unable to contain herself any longer, busted out laughing.

"Shut up." Conner said, shaking his head.

"It was a nice try." Jake said, trying to sound sincere, but his laughter betrayed him. "I tried to tell you. You're just not her type."

Conner slumped in his chair before taking a sip of his smoothie. He grimaced at the taste, which only made Kira laugh harder. Finally, her fit of laughter faded away and she shook her head.

"I knew you were hitting on her." She told him. "And I told you she wasn't interested.

"Only a little." Conner retorted. "And it's like second nature to me. I see a pretty girl, I hit on her. I can't believe she wasn't interested." He sounded a little dejected.

"See now, if you just would have admitted that the first time, the whole second half wouldn't have happened. And don't worry. You've got all kinds of girls at school that would kill to date you." Kira mocked. "Do you want to trade smoothies?"

"Yeah." Conner said disgruntingly, switching his own smoothie with Kira's. "I hate coconut."

Katherine ripped open a box of pencils and multicolored pens and dumped them into the glass jar on top her desk. She'd nearly finished decorating her entire classroom. The once bland classroom now bore many posters with grammatical reminders posted upon them as well as a few definitional reminders of terms that her classes would need to know for any papers that were assigned. She'd positioned her desk in the far corner at the front of the classroom, and even managed to set the student's desks in five rows of seven, all of which facing the front board. She'd hung the coiled white board above the dry erase board, and placed the projector at the back of the room. A lesson plan booklet was resting on her desk. A filing cabinet rested off to the side in which she planned to store all of the student's work once school began. Katherine sat in the rolling chair behind her desk and looked at the empty classroom. She was excited about the job and she couldn't wait to get started.

Katherine reached inside her purse and pulled out a framed photo. It had been taken right before she had left for London, and consisted of her, Adam, Tanya, Justin, Rocky, and Tommy. Tanya had insisted on taking it.

FLASHBACK

"I'm here!" Justin shouted as he ran around the house to the backyard where the others were standing. "Sorry I'm late. Divatox decided that she wanted to play a little baseball today."

Tommy, Kat, Tanya, Adam, and Rocky all gave him confused looks.

"It's a long story, but we totally kicked butt." Justin told them.

"...Man, I was afraid that I was gonna miss you, Kat."

"Still here." Katherine forced a smile, but you could sense the sadness in her voice.

"Are you OK, Kat?" Tanya asked her.

"Yeah." Katherine assured her. "I'm just really going to miss you guys."

"We're gonna miss you too." Adam smirked.

"But this is an amazing opportunity." Rocky stated. "You've got the chance to follow your dreams!"

Tommy remained silent, clenching his jaw. He took her hand in his, gently, instead. It was all he could do to stop himself from begging her to stay. He too, forced a smile. She looked at him, but looked away quickly. It hurt her heart knowing that she was going to leave while he remained here.

"Write lots of letters." Adam told her.

"I will." Kat promised.

"And not just to Tommy." Rocky joked, looking over at Adam. "Cause that's not cool. All of us thought you were hott; you could have ended up with anyone of us."

"What?" Tommy finally cut in, disbelievingly as Kat blushed.

"That's right. You've got competition now that the truth's out there." Rocky continued. "Me and Adam. Oh, and Jason."

Tommy shook his head, smirking. Justin just laughed.

"Justin too." Rocky kidded.

"Rocky, what are we going to do with you?" Tanya laughed.

"Just answer me this." Rocky went on. "How is it that out of everyone that you could have chosen, you end up with him! I mean, he's no hotter than us and we're just as smart. The only difference was that he had a girlfriend already! How does that happen!"

Kat just chuckled softly, Rocky always had a way of making her laugh even in the toughest of situations.

"Some things are just written in the stars." Tanya answered generically, getting a smile from Kat and Tommy.

"And some things just make me wanna throw up." Justin mumbled, causing Adam to put his hand in his face and push him backwards.

"How about I throw you in the pool." Adam joked as Justin laughed.

"You see Kat, I love you!" Rocky continued, completely ignoring Tanya, Adam, and Justin as he pulled Kat away from Tommy and took her hands. "Pick me!"

Tommy stood up laughing. "Kat, can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Yeah, sure." She chuckled as she took her hands back from Rocky.

"Sorry, Rocko. But I need my girlfriend back." He said as the two walked towards the side of the house.

"Aw, Kat." Rocky held his heart and acted like he was hurt. "That stings. I tell you I love you and you walk off with another man! I'm scarred for life!"

She turned and stuck her tongue out at Rocky playfully as she and Tommy disappeared from view. Rocky turned to face Adam, Tanya, and Justin who were all shaking their heads, chuckling at him.

"Told you, I could make her smile." Rocky grinned.

"What did you need to talk about?" Katherine asked, as she noticed Tommy had now turned serious.

"I just needed to make sure that you knew, before you left." He started, Kat looking at him confused. "Just because you're in London, that doesn't mean we're done."

"I know that, Tommy." Katherine looked at him suspiciously.

"I mean, we're gonna make it, me and you." He continued. "I'm gonna visit as often as possible and I'm gonna write you all the time. But we're gonna make it, cause it's me and you. Forever. I knew it from the first time I met you, and I know it now."

Katherine nodded, she was sure that she had tears in her eyes. "Dang it, I told myself I wouldn't cry."

"Come here." Tommy smiled, pulling her into a loving embrace. "I just needed you to know. I won't ever give up on us, because I love you, Katherine."

"I love you too, Tommy." Katherine told him, he head leaning on his shoulder. "You and me. Always."

END FLASHBACK

That day she had been so sure that they would make it, even against all odds. They both had been...

Knock. Knock. Knock. Once again Kat was forced back into reality by a soft knocking on the door. She looked up to see Principal Randall at the door. Kat placed the photo on the corner of her desk before getting out of her chair and opening the door.

"Wow, it looks like we won't be needed to meet tomorrow after all." Principal Randal spoke as she saw the classroom.

"Yeah." Katherine gave a small smile. "I had a lot on my mind, so I just stuck around."

Principal Randall nodded. "Well I'm gonna lock up the building, so are you ready to go?"

"Oh." Katherine said. "Yes, of course."

She quickly retrieved her purse from her desk and flicked the lights out. Principal Randall smiled at her as she shut the door behind her and the two walked towards the parking lot.

Tommy punched and kicked as he continued the kata that he had been working on. He stood on a set of black mats, currently in the middle of his living room, with sweatpants and a tank top on. Sweat poured down the sides of his face and down his chest, and though it was an odd setting, he found it oddly comforting to be practicing Karate. It forced him to keep his mind focused and away from the beautiful blond woman that had reappeared in his life today. Her blond hair and her piercing blue eyes. He felt as if she had seen straight through him for that second that their eyes had met. They had been so close, yet so far away from each other in that room...

Thud. He fell to the ground as he lost his balance. He had let his mind wonder and because of it he had lost focus and fell to the ground in mid spin-kick. Tommy got up slowly, rubbing his back side. He walked over to the couch and took his white towel from the soft black couch and wiped his forehead, looking out of the window as he did so. The sun was beginning to set, casting an orange glow throughout the woods that he now called home. It wasn't until now that he realized that he had been working out the kinks in that kata for hours. Tommy yawned, dropping the towel on the couch and making his way towards the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of water, quickly opening it and taking a drink from behind the island. He set the water down and walked back through the kitchen and down the hallway leading to his bedroom. He pulled out a fresh pair of sweatpants and a new black tank top before heading towards the bathroom, where he quickly took a hot shower and changed into the new clothing. He didn't even bother combing through his hair. He simply walked out of the bathroom, which lead straight into his bedroom. He plopped down onto his bed and stared at the ceiling for a while. Finally, he picked up the phone from off of the nightstand. The silence was driving him nuts; he had to talk to someone. He dialed the first number that popped into his mind and waited as the ringing continued.

"Hello?" the voice of Kimberly Hart answered.

"Hey, Kim." Tommy greeted. "Is Jason around?"

"Oh, sure Tommy." She responded. "Let me go get him."

"Alright, Thanks." Tommy spoke.

Kimberly sighed; she could tell by his voice that something was wrong. "Is everything OK? You haven't gone and had anymore accidents in the lab have you, cause Tommy I swear, Jason will kill you if you've done it again."

"No." Tommy chuckled softy, remembering the conversation he had had with Jason about Mesagog and Zeltrax. He thought Jason was going to skin him alive he was so mad. "No, it's nothing like that."

"Oh." Kimberly sighed with relief. "Good. I'll go get him then."

"Eeeek!" Tommy heard Kimberly squeal from the other end of the line. "Don! Come back here! You do not squirt mommy with the squirt gun!"

He could hear the little boy squeal with laughter as he ran from Kimberly and Tommy couldn't help but to smile. He was four now, Jason and Kimberly's son, Don. Don was short for "Zordon", which Jason and Kimberly had named after their mentor during their time as rangers.

"Daddy told me to!" the little boy squeaked with laughter.

"Oh did he now?" Kimberly asked. "Can I have that gun, Don? I'll give you a chocolate chip cookie..."

The voices died away as Kim and Don went further away from the receiver. Tommy wondered if Kim would even remember that he was on the line now that she was planning revenge on her husband. However, it wasn't long before a laughing Jason answered the phone.

"Hey bro." Jason asked from the line.

"Hey, Jase." Tommy greeted, happy to hear his voice.

"So, what's up? Kim told me that you had something to talk to me about." Jason started. "And Tommy if you say that you've created anymore of those psycho Dino dudes than I swear I will kill you."

"No, it's not like that!" Tommy said defensively. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Because, you nearly destroyed Reefside last year with your little experiments." Jason reminded him.

"Well, that's not it." Tommy said again. "It's her. She's back. Here. At my school."

Jason looked confused. "I'm gonna need more information bro. Try full sentences, I know it'll be hard but-"

"Kat." Tommy interrupted.

Jason instantly understood. "Oh."

"Yeah." Tommy said.

"What did you tell her?" Jason asked.

"I didn't tell her anything. I was going to, but she didn't even want to talk to me." Tommy told him.

Jason hesitated. "Well... Can you blame her? Really?"

Tommy thought for a moment before answering. "No. If I was in her position I'd have punched me."

"Yeah, well Kat was never like that." Jason said. "So how did this happen anyway."

"She's teaching at Reefside High." Tommy said. "How crazy is that."

"That is crazy." Jason agreed. "I still can't believe that you're teaching."

"Maybe I should have called Adam." Tommy mumbled.

"Relax, I'm joking." Jason told him. "Honestly, it sounds to me like someone's giving you two a second chance."

"What?" Tommy questioned.

"Everyone knows it's meant to be. I know it, Adam and Tanya know it, Kim knows it..." Jason said. "You need to sit down and tell her exactly what happened. About Mesagog, Zeltrax, everything."

"You don't understand." Tommy spoke. "She doesn't want to have to even look at me. She won't want to hear what I've got to say."

"Then make her listen, Tommy." Jason instructed. "Make her listen. Now, I'm not saying that she's gonna jump into you're arms, it's gonna take time, but you can't shut her out anymore. It may have been easier when she was in another continent, but now you're going to see her everyday. You'll drive yourself crazy."

Tommy sighed. "She's going to shoot me."

Jason smiled. "Yeah well, that tends to be the general response when you almost destroy the world with your science experiments."

Tommy smirked. "Thanks, Jase."

"No problem." He responded. "Night."

"Night." Tommy spoke, hanging up the phone.

Tommy returned his attention to the ceiling.

"Make her listen, Tommy." Jason's voice rung thought his mind.

"Easier said than done..." Tommy mumbled turning onto his side and facing the nightstand.

He stared at it for a moment before opening its drawer. Tommy reached his arm into the draw and dug around towards the back, pulling out a dark red velvet box. He felt its texture with it fingers. He hadn't looked at the object much, hardly ever. She had sent it back to him shortly after the break up. He didn't need to be reminded of it daily, so the box had laid in the back of the drawer, hidden from view. He opened the box to view the diamond ring and he felt that his heart was going to rip into pieces as it began to ache. Why had he ever got involved with the dinosaur project? Why? He regretted it so much now. If he had just let everything be, he could be living with Kat, possibly with children of their own, but no. He had screwed it up, and he knew it. He stared at the diamond that glinted in the setting sun.

FLASHBACK

"Tommy, where are you taking me?" a blindfolded Kat asked.

"You'll see in a second." Tommy answered lamely.

They were in Angel grove, right outside of what used to be Ernie's Juice Bar, now owned by Lt. Jerome Stone. The two were now in their early twenties and Kat had come home from London for Christmas They were dressed nicely, but not too overly dressed. Tommy wore a pair of tan Khakis with brown dress shoes. He wore a nice red dress shirt, which was tucked in. His long hair was tucked into a ponytail. Kat was wearing a pink dress, and her hair was done up in nice curls much like it had been when she set up Tommy and Heather's date.

It was night time, around about nine o'clock so the juice bar would be completely closed. Lt. Stone had told Tommy that he could use the building that night. Tommy smiled as he guided Kat up to the door and pulled the keys from his pocket. He unlocked the door and guided Katherine inside. The juice bar had been decorated in tons of pink and red and white balloons, similarly colored streamers were wrapped around polls. A single table sat in the middle of the room, a pink and a red candle burning in the middle with a wreath of pink, red, and white flowers around the base. A White table cloth had been placed over the table. Tommy, Rocky, Jason, and Adam had been slaving over the building for hours, while Kim and Tanya had taken Kat out for the day. Tommy however had to leave to pick up Kat and left it to the others to finish it up. Tommy however did not walk over to the table. He instead stood in front of the counter, about a foot away from the stools. Exactly where he had stood when he was sixteen years old. He removed Katherine's blindfold and smiled.

Katherine's eyes widened in surprise as a huge smile spread across her face.

"Tommy!" She said happily. "You did all this?"

"It was my idea, but I had a lot of help." Tommy smirked, pleased by her response.

Kat couldn't seem to remove the smile from her face. The place looked amazing and to think that he had done all of this for her...

"But why?" She asked.

Tommy simply smiled. "Do you know where I'm standing?"

"Um." Kat looked at him confused her smile fading.

"I'm standing in the exact place where we met for the first time." Tommy smiled. "You asked me to help you with your car. I was waiting for Kim so that we could go on a date. However, I couldn't help but to think how pretty you were."

"I knew it!" Kimberly hissed from behind the counter, Jason clamped a hand over her mouth.

All of them sat hunched together behind the bar, listening to their friends. Kim, Jason, Tanya, Adam, and Rocky. Rocky wore a tux and a fake mustache that made him look like a butler or a waiter of a very fancy restaurant. They had all had to rush to hide when they heard the door to the juice bar open. They had just barely finished decorating the room when Tommy entered with Kat. Luckily, they hadn't noticed Kim's voice.

"Even though you were evil and just trying to kill me off..." Tommy added playfully. "But this is it. Our beginning."

Katherine couldn't seem to muster up any words to describe how she was feeling at the moment. So she just stood there and listened to him speak.

"I brought you hear tonight because so many significant things happened here, in this place. Ernie's Juice Bar." He continued.

Tommy took her hand and walked her to another spot in the room.

"This is where Rocky pounded me into the ground continuously because I couldn't get you out of my mind. You were practicing ballet right over there," Tommy continued, pointing to the place she had stood years ago with her ballet students. "I couldn't keep my focus as Rocky and I continued to spar. Finally, Rocky told me to just ask you out, so that's what I did." He guided her to another spot. "Right here. I asked you to Ernie's Luau. And you agreed to go with me."

Katherine's eyes glinted in the light. He sure seemed to have a pretty good memory of all these things for a guy who would lose his own head if it wasn't attached. Now Tommy guided Katherine to the table.

"And here..." Tommy started.

"Was where I set up the dinner for you and Heather." Katherine finally spoke.

She remembered the spot well. It had nearly killed her setting him up with another girl when she loved him so much. However, as much as she was enjoying this trip down memory lane, she was still confused as to why Tommy was doing this all.

"Exactly." Tommy responded. "I didn't know it then, but even though you loved me, you were able to get Heather to come here and give me another chance. You did everything you could to make sure that I was happy, even when you weren't... When you walked through the door, I seriously thought that you had set that dinner up for you and me, and I loved that thought. I loved the thought of you and me, but then you brought out Heather, and I could barely hide my disappointment. That night, I wanted it to be you and me, and tonight, that's who it's going to be. You and me. The way it should have always been."

Katherine blinked the tears of joy out of her eyes with a smile. Tommy pulled her into a hug, and she wrapped her arms around him tightly. He kissed her cheek before letting her go. Katherine smiled as they both took their seats.

They sat in silence for a few moments, waiting. Katherine, however, didn't know what they were waiting for.

"That's your que Rocko!" Tommy said, still not taking his eyes off of his beautiful girlfriend.

"Oh!" He heard Rocky hiss from behind the counter. "I forgot."

He heard a bit of scrambling from behind the counter as Rocky got up and rushed off towards the back room.

"Ouch!" He heard Adam cry. "That was my hand, Rocky!"

"Sorry." Rocky hissed back.

Kat resisted the urge to laugh as Tommy shook his head, smirking. Rocky returned a few minutes later with a silver plate that held two glasses of wine.

" 'ere is zey wine." Rocky said harboring a fake French accent. "I 'ope it is to your liking, meester Olivair an' mees 'illar'. I shall retaurn wiz your food in a momen'."

Rocky placed the wine in front of the two of them and strode off to the kitchen.

"Please tell me you didn't make him use that accent." Kat chuckled.

"No." Tommy smiled. "That's just what you get for choosing Rocky as your waiter."

"Should have picked Adam." Adam hissed audibly from behind the counter, causing Katherine to chuckle.

Tanya silenced him quickly by elbowing him in the chest. A smile creped across Tommy's face as he shook his head.

It wasn't long before Rocky returned with two large plates of Chicken Fettuccine Alphraedo.

"Ah, 'ere it is." Rocky spoke before abandoning his fake accent. "Fettuccine Alphraedo with chicken, and broccoli, and... other stuff."

Katherine looked at Rocky strangely.

"What?" He questioned. "I don't know how to say all that with a French accent! It's not as easy as it sounds!"

Katherine and Tommy chuckled softly to themselves as Rocky turned and walked back into the kitchen.

"I hope its OK" Tommy spoke. "Fettuccine was like the only thing the cooks seemed to know how to make."

"Cooks?" Kat questioned.

"Don't worry it's edible." Tommy told her quickly. "Rocky had nothing to do with it."

"Hey!" They heard Rocky say defensively from the other room.

"That's good to know." Katherine continued as if she hadn't heard him, winking at Tommy.

"I can hear you!" Rocky said elated.

Tommy just smiled as the two began eating their pasta, which was remarkably good. They ate mostly in silence, with occasional appearances from Rocky to refill their drinks and bring out their desert of strawberry cheesecake. It wasn't too long before their plates were nearly cleaned. As Katherine took the last few bites of her desert, Tommy seemed to be getting more and more nervous. He felt as if a million butterflies had been suddenly released within his stomach. He was excited, but nervous about what he would soon be doing. Tommy noticed Kimberly, Tanya, and Rocky sneaking out of the exit as Katherine took the last bite of her cheesecake.

"I can't believe you did all this, Tommy." Katherine spoke. "It's perfect."

Tommy smiled heartily. "It's not over quite yet."

Katherine looked him in the eyes for a moment, trying to find some sort of hint at what would be happening next. He looked so sincere. She looked up as Jason and Adam walked over to the table.

"How was the food?" Jason asked.

"It was amazing guys, thanks." Tommy told them.

"We're the cooks." Adam explained to Kat.

"Really?" Katherine answered, surprised. "That was fantastic. I didn't know that you two could cook like that."

"Yeah well, if girls knew, they'd be all over us." Jason joked.

"We like to keep it on the down low." Adam added. "Don't want Kim and Tanya to get all jealous."

"Haha." Kim laughed, as she poked her head in through the doorway. "Nice try guys, but the last time I checked, you didn't know how to cook anything but Fettuccine and cheesecake." She spoke before turning to Kat and Tommy. "It's time to come outside. You're really gonna like this, Kat."

Jason, who had already made it over to the door with Adam, clamped his hand over her mouth for the second time that night, so that she couldn't divulge any more information. He led her outside, Adam following close behind.

Tommy got up nervously and took Katherine's hand. She looked at him quizzically before he too led her to the outside of the building. Once they were outside, Katherine looked around for the others, but they were gone. Tommy put his arm around Kat, looking up to the sky expectantly.

"Tommy, what's going on?" She asked him, excitedly.

"You'll see." Tommy said smiling at her.

No sooner had the words came out of his mouth when an extremely bold and loud 'pop' echoed through Angel Grove. Katherine jumped from surprise and quickly shifted her gaze to where the noise had come from. Her eyes widened as she saw the purple firework fade away.

"Fireworks?" Katherine asked, grinning. She couldn't hide the excitement and awe in her voice.

Tommy just smiled at her as Katherine put her arm around his waist. The two of them stood there, in front of Ernie's Juice Bar, watching the fireworks go off. Flashes of all sorts of colors illuminated the night sky, each crackling and popping, as firework after firework were launched. Tommy's insides seemed to be squirming, as nerves overtook him once more. It was almost time. His breathing quickened as the end drew nearer.

Suddenly, an enormous amount of fireworks began popping all at once, a mass amount of light erupting above the entire city. Kat couldn't help but notice that all of the fireworks were pink, white, and red. Finally, the lights faded and nothing was left in the sky except for the lingering smoke of the extravaganza. Katherine turned to Tommy. He was fidgeting slightly.

"This has been the most amazing Christmas ever." She told Tommy, placing a soft kiss on his lips.

As he kissed her, he felt as if his heart was going to burst as it beat quicker and quicker with every passing second. He looked into her blue eyes and couldn't help but smile.

"I think there might be one more." He told her, before returning his gaze to the sky.

Katherine looked at him, puzzled, before she too returned her gaze to the place where the fireworks had been shot off. The smoke had nearly all cleared away. As if on cue, a single firework shot into the sky and exploded with a thunderous 'boom'.

She looked at the firework with shock and excitement as she read what it had said.

'Will You Marry Me?'

The firework had glinted in pink and red, lingering for only a moment before fading away. She watched it go, as her heartbeat quickened. She turned to look at Tommy, a million fantastic emotions now flooding her body. She was certain that she had tears streaming down her face. He returned her gaze lovingly. He was holding an open velvet box containing a diamond ring in his hand.

"I know you have to finish your last semester up in London," He began. "but I didn't want to wait any longer. I've wanted to ask you that question for so long now, and I don't want you to go back to London without knowing that we've made this promise to each other. I wanted to make this night mean everything to you, Katherine. This is the place where it all began, and it just feels right for this moment to be here to. I love you, Katherine Marie Hillard, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So, I'll ask again. Will you marry me?"

Tears streaming, Katherine looked into the sincere eyes of Tommy Oliver and answered with a huge smile creeping across her face.

"Yes!" She said, happiness overcoming her.

Tommy beamed as he took her in his arms with so much passion that she was lifted off of the ground. He kissed her passionately before putting her down. He couldn't seem to wipe the grin off of his face.

"I was hoping you'd say that." Tommy sighed with relief.

"What'd she say?" He heard five voices ask as they walked quickly to where Kat and Tommy were standing.

"We couldn't hear over all the sound." Adam told them.

"And sorry the last firework was a little late." Tanya added.

"Yeah, Rocky went and caught himself on fire." Jason chided, elbowing Rocky in the ribs.

"Hey, you're the one who put the thing way to close to me." Rocky defended, trying to hide the charred piece of his t-shirt. "Those things are sparky when you light them!"

"So what did you say?" Kim asked impatiently turning to Kat.

"I said yes." Katherine answered with a smile.

Kimberly screamed and grabbed Kat into a tight hug. Tanya came next as the three guys went and patted Tommy on the back. He wore a grin that he was sure wouldn't go away for weeks.

END FLASHBACK

Tommy slammed the box shut and closed the drawer grumpily before he turned to lay on his other side.

Jake sat on the stage behind the drum set at Hayley's. Almost everyone had cleared the café as it neared its closing hours. Only he, Conner, Hayley, Casey, and Kira remained. Casey wiped down tables and put the chairs up as Conner and Kira lounged on the couch flipping through channels. Conner slouched at the far end of the couch as Kira laid at the other end, her legs on Conner's lap. They looked incredibly bored. Hayley counted the money in the cash register before disappearing through the double doors leading into the kitchen, leaving Casey, Conner, Kira, and Jake alone. Jake picked up the drum sticks and began tapping the drum set lightly. Once he came up with a beat, he played louder and began singing his own little rap.

"Uh, Uh. Uh, Uh. Yo Listen, I'm Jake Thomas. I'm your best friend." He started. "Open the fridge, eat a chicken. What's up, oh. 7 Eleven might be down the street. Beat boxin' with my 2 feet. Brand new feet. When I was born I walked out of the room. I was like Brrrrup, burdurup. My mom was like yo that's crazy. And I was like yeah, I'm a baby."

Conner and Kira laughed at Jake's utter randomness and ridiculous attempt at a rap, as Casey just shook her head chuckling to herself.

"You like that?" Jake asked, grinning and pointing a drumstick at her.

Casey gave him a sympathetic look.

"Yeah, That's what I thought." He responded. "I think I'll just stick to rock music."

"Good plan." She smiled at him.

"You sing?" Kira asked him.

"Yeah, sometimes. With my brothers, and Casey and her sister." Jake told her. Casey looked up from the table that she was cleaning. "We go to the orphanage or shelter and put on little shows."

"Really." Kira said, rather impressed.

Conner raised his eyebrows and turned off the TV. He turned his attention to Kira and Jake.

"Can I hear something?" She asked him.

"Uh. I don't usually play without the rest..." Jake started, but once Kira looked at him, he caved. "Sure."

Jake picked up an acoustic guitar that someone had placed at the back of the stage and strummed on it softly. He nodded and picked up a stool carrying it over to where Kira sat. He sat down and picked up the guitar.

"This is called Inseparable." He said beginning the song.

"Take my hand tonight
We can run so far
We can change the world
To anything you want
We can talk for hours
Just staring at the stars
They shine down to show us

Even when the sun forgets to shine
I'll be there to hold you through the night
We'll be running SO fast we can fly
Tonight
Even when we're miles and miles apart
You're still holding all of my heart
I promise you we'll never be apart
I know
We're inseparable"

He stopped strumming and looked up at Kira. A small smile spread across his face.

"Of course it's longer, and faster, and sounds better with all the instrumentation." Jake said. "And Nate usually opens the song up, but it's all I can do now."

"It was good!" Kira ensured him. "Do you guys play a lot?"

"It's not really my thing, but Nate and Hannah are pretty serious about it, and Eric's really into playing the guitar, but I'm more into soccer and other things, like playing video games." Jake told her. "And being lazy. Its fun to perform though; seeing people's reaction to something that I helped create. It's really my brother's thing though."

"That's too bad." Kira said. "You have a great voice."

Jake smiled. Conner sat on the couch wishing that he had something interesting to say. However, he knew close to nothing about music.

"Yeah, we're constantly getting told off by one of the others for not being 'committed to the band'." Casey added. "I love music, especially when Hannah and I are singing together. When the guys are singing, Hannah will play the drums or we'll play the keyboards or pianos. I mostly play the base guitar. It's a lot of fun, but Jake and I mostly only play because the others need us to."

Jake nodded in agreement.

"We work well together and we may even have something special, but it's not really my dream. I'm into filming and editing. Reading, writing. All that good stuff." Casey finished, putting a smile on her face. "I hear you want to be a singer though."

"Yeah, I do." Kira told her.

"She's amazing." Conner said immediately, feeling a little left out.

"So I've heard." Casey smirked. "Maybe we can play together sometime."

"That'd be awesome." Kira grinned. "And if you want to, I'm sure Hayley would let you guys play here. She lets me sing all the time."

Casey smiled as she put a few chairs on top of the table. "That would make Hannah's year."

"Nate's too." Jake agreed. "They may even actually give us a break for blowing off practice last week."

"I doubt it." Casey started, thinking of the major telling-off that she had received from Hannah already. Before she could say anything else, Hayley entered the room.

"Casey?" Hayley interrupted, reappearing from the double doors.

"Hmmm?" Casey answered, looking over to Hayley.

"Oh, I thought I heard you guys still out here." Hayley stated upon seeing the four teenagers.

"Hey Hayley." Kira greeted. "Have you heard Jake and Casey's band?"

"No, not yet. Not live anyway." Hayley turned to Casey. "I've actually been meaning to talk to you about that. You're sister dropped by and gave me a demo yesterday. She told me that I just had to listen to it and that I wouldn't be disappointed. She also said that she could have the band ready to perform by next weekend."

Casey shook her head chuckling. "That sounds like Hannah. Look, don't feel like you have to let us play. She's always way too over confident with our work not to mention over aggressive."

"No, no, no. Its fine, and I'd love to have you guys play this coming weekend." Hayley told her. "It was actually really good. A little different from Kira and the usual bands I have play here, but in a good way. It'll be nice to mix things up a little bit."

"OK." Casey said, pleased and excited. Music may not be her first choice, but she always got excited when she was able to perform in front of other teenagers. "I'll be sure to tell Hannah. She's gonna be so stoked. Thank you."

"Anytime." Hayley winked. "And you should go ahead and take off. I can get it from here."

"Are you sure?" Casey asked, looking at her watch. "It's only nine."

"And we close at eight-thirty." Hayley retorted, smirking. "You've worked enough for today. I think I can handle sweeping the floors."

"But-" Casey continued.

"Go." Hayley encouraged. "Hang out with your friends, have fun! This is your last weekend before school starts back up."

"Alright." Casey smiled, removing her apron and hanging it behind the counter. "Thanks."

"Sweetness." Jake said. "We should all go and see a movie or something. I hear the new Hitcher movie is amazing." He looked at his watch. "And we should be able to make the nine-thirty showing."

"Aw! I'm so in." Conner said, jumping up from the couch enthusiastically. "I've been dying to see that movie forever."

"Yeah, I could get into that." Casey agreed, nodding. "I'm always up for a scary movie."

Kira looked at her friends nervously. "I dunno. Scary movies really creep me out sometimes."

"Oh common, Kira!" Casey encouraged. "It'll be fun. Besides, You've always got Conner to hold you're hand if you get too scared." She winked.

Kira smirked and quickly turned her gaze to her own lap. Her cheeks had reddened slightly. She shifted in her seat away from Conner and looked at Casey, hoping that the small amount of blushing had already faded.

"He only wishes." Kira smirked. "I'll be fine. Besides, it beats sitting around on the couch all night."

"Awesome!" Jake said, hopping up from his chair.

He snatched up the stool and the guitar and ran them back to the stage, hyper actively. He put them in their proper places and hopped down, spinning as he did so.

"Wooooo!" He shouted enthusiastically, running over to Casey, weaving through every table as he did so. "We're seeing The Hitcher!" He continued, throwing his voice into a very high pitched girly sounding note when he said 'hitcher'. He put his voice back to normal and continued to shout. "Sophia Bush, Zachary Knighton, here we come! Wooo!"

Kira and Conner just watched him as he did this, trying to understand what he was doing. They weren't sure if they were supposed to be scared or laugh. Conner broke into a grin, deciding to laugh.

"I'll drive." Jake faced Casey, before running through the entrance and out into the parking lot.

Casey looked over to Kira and Conner who had now reverted their attention to her. She smirked, trying to repress her own laughter.

"He gets a little over excited about things." Casey explained.

"We see that." Kira laughed.

Once the three made their way to the parking lot, the found Jake already pulled up to the entrance in his navy blue jeep. The black cover was off, giving Casey, Kira, and Conner a clear view of Jake in the driver's seat. The sun was setting, yet he had still put on his large black sunglasses. One hand rested on the steering wheel. He was looking at them, a smirk resting on his face.

"Let's ride." He said simply, as the three piled into his car.

A black light shot through the atmosphere of Earth and plummeted to the deserted ground below. The light hit the earth forcefully, sending a mixture of sand and dust flying into the air. The distinct shape of a man penetrated through the sand and dust. Devone Kalavaar stood, looking around at his surroundings. He was a dark, extremely muscular man with black hair that was trimmed close to his head. A neatly trimmed mustache rested below his nose. He wore a pair of shades that covered his eyes. His black leather armored suit fit him snugly, seeming to accent every muscle in his body. He wore a matching untied leather trench coat that fell just above his ankles to stop him from treading on it. A pair of leather black boots came to just below his knees and a pair of matching gloves covered his hands. A black belt wrapped around his waist, an S-shaped silver blade clamped to his right side, a long sword on the other.

With a dark purple light, a young dark skinned woman gracefully landed a few feet behind him. The girl wore a dark purple armored uniform of the same texture and material as Devone's. Her metallic, leathery, pants gripped her legs tightly, her pointed boots rising just below her knees. The suit nearly mimicked, Devone's the only difference being that she bore no trench coat. Her hair was tied up in a tight ponytail, high enough to fit through the open metal piece she wore around her forehead. The purple piece circled around her forehead and curved down gripping both sides of her face. The points both forked towards the bottom, one point stopping just beside her chin, the other fork resting on the far side of her cheeks. Her purple eye shadow was done heavily, as well as her dark purple lipstick, which only accented her chocolate brown eyes, making them look darker and eviler than normal. A mole rested just below her left eye and slightly to the left of her nose. It was near the top of her cheek bone. The girl coughed as she breathed in the dust around her.

"Daddy, you've really got to work on your landings." She told him.

Devone chose to ignore her, letting out a soft growl.

"This will do." He said in a deep, dark, voice clearly obscured by evil.

He seemed to have landed in a desert somewhere in California. Miles and miles of seemingly endless yellow sand that stretched around him in every direction. The sun was setting slowly, but was still letting off an enormous amount of heat. The wind appeared to be nonexistent. Even as he stood there, beads of sweat began formulating on Devone's forehead.

Devone took one last look around at his new surroundings before screwing his face up in an extremely ugly smirk.

"CYLATRONS!" He yelled forcefully, snapping the fingers of his right hand together.

Zzzzzzzzppppt. Instantly, thousands of armored henchmen materialized all around Devone and his daughter, each with a bright flash of white light. They were rough, black, leathery creatures covered with silvery metallic armor. They wore a layer of thin silver armor around on their heads, leaving only their eyes and leathery black mouths exposed. A metallic black faceplate encircled the areas around their red and black eyes curving upwards; it did not cover their foreheads. The faceplate also curved downwards ending just as it curved upwards beneath their chin. The henchmen also wore silver armor vests covering their chest and back which was grooved with various designs. A grooved black and silver shield rested over the plait, pointing sharply outwards. Their leathery arms were exposed, only protected by the metallic armor around their elbows. Sharp, thick, silver spikes jutted backwards from their muscular arms. Their hands were four-limbed claws, each ending in a thick two inch yellowed nail. They each held a double-sided, double-edged silver and black sword. Their lower bodies were covered in black armored pants along with silver metallic knee pads. Their feet were covered by black leather boots that rested under the pants, blending so that you could barely tell that they were separated at all. A large thick, heavily spiked tail accented their appearance, making them look extremely dangerous.

The Cylatrons stood as straight as they could not daring to move for fear of being vaporized by their master. The end point of their long double sided swords rested on the ground, sticking straight into the air and rose until a few inches above their heads. Devone kept his gaze straight forward, not even bothering to see how many of his servants had arrived.

"You are going to dig a giant hole and you are going to do it quickly. It must be at the very least 800 feet deep. Once you have completed that task, the base will bring itself down from its hiding place on the moon and will place itself within the hole. After it comes to a stop, you will replace the sand and conceal the ship. Do you understand?" Devone commanded, in a way that made it clear that there were no questions to be asked. "Now dig you idiots!"

The Cylatrons instantly went to work, digging with anything and everything that they could. Shifting sand to the best of their abilities. Some instantly threw themselves onto the ground and began clawing at the grains of sand with their 'hands'. Others used their tails and blasted away sand with lasers emitting from their swords, while the rest summoned shovels, tossing their swords to the side and digging with all their might. Devone watched for a moment before turning to his daughter, his face twisted horribly into an ugly smirk.

"Lets go." he demanded and with that the two disappeared in flashes of black and purple.

Back in the newly constructed command center, the alarms still blared and the warning lights continued to flash.

Alpha was pressing buttons on the console as fast as her fingers would allow her, muttering to herself as she did so.

"Aiy yi yi yi yi!" Alpha burst. "Zelta, two unidentified beings have arrived on Earth! its power levels are off the charts!"

"Alpha, you must work quickly and try to remain calm." Zelta instructed in her strangely calm voice. "The beings are most surely Devone Kalavaar and his daughter Syria. We will have no choice but to construct the power crystal without the sixth piece. At least for now. The most important thing for us to do at the time being is to slow Devone down, and protect the citizens of Earth. There will be time to find the final crystal later."

"But what if Devone discovers that we don't have all six crystals and gets to it first?" Alpha questioned. "His power combined with the final piece of the power crystal will be nearly unstoppable!"

"It's a chance that we will have to take, Alpha." Zelta told him, gravely. "We must protect Earth now."

"Aiy yi yi yi yi." Alpha sighed, twisting a knob and hitting a few select buttons on the council. "Beginning to activate the crystal now."

The assembled crystal rested on a podium in the exact center of the command center. It resembled the Zeo crystal greatly, the only difference being that there were no defined shapes at the base of each crystal. At the time being five of the six crystals were bound together, leaving an open space where the sixth crystal should have been. As Alpha hit the last button, the power crystal began to glow a searing white hott color as the power within began to awaken.

Grace and Jim flew down the highway crouching low in the silver cop car they had stolen. The tires were shot out and they were being chased by at least 3 or 4 real cop cars. A helicopter watched them from the sky.

"OK, we're pulling over, just please stop shooting!" Grace pleaded in her panic stricken voice.

"You've got another vehicle approaching fast from behind. It's a white model black transam." The guy from the helicopter warned the other policemen.

The guy that had been after Grace and Jim throughout the movie sat in the transam wearing an ugly murderous looking face.

Kira's heart raced as she watched the movie. Every muscle in her body was tight with fear. Conner sat to her immediate right, while Casey sat on her left and Jake next to her. The guys had insisted on putting the girls in the middle, so to protect them if they got too scared. Kira tore her eyes from the screen and focused on her friends for a moment. She looked at Jake who was watching the movie excitedly. She half expected him to keel over from a sugar rush considering he had downed nearly seven boxes of sour patch kids, and eight different candy bars. Not to mention a large coke. His eyes seemed to be glazed over. Casey was a little harder to read. She seemed to be concentrating hard on the movie, as she held a bucket of popcorn in her lap. Kira couldn't tell if she was scared or just really engrossed in the movie. Conner, who was also holding a bucket of popcorn, was definitely into the movie. However, Kira had noticed several times already that he was way more into it when Sophia Bush was on the screen.

Kira swallowed as the murderer sped up and drove off the road, running through the grass instead. He was rapidly closing the distance between himself and the cop cars. She gripped the armrests of her seat hard. She knew what was coming. He fired some shots and killed at least two of the cops. Kira jumped and flung her hand onto Conner's, gripping it tight, as the maniac caused the cop cars to flip over and kill another couple of cops.

Conner's eyebrows shot up in interest as he felt her hand jump on top of his. A smile crept across his face. He liked the feel of her hand on his, but quickly shook off the feeling, and turned to Kira. He laughed quietly as the crazy man shot down the helicopter.

"It's not that bad." He murmured to her, her breathing had quickened quite a bit.

"Yeah, it is." She turned to him.

She looked at her hand which was still gripping Conner's tightly. She released his hand hurriedly and trying not to blush.

"Bathroom." She muttered, getting up quickly and making her way past Casey and Jake.

Once she was through the door and into the well lit common area, she seamed to relax a bit and her breathing returned to normal. She looked around for a moment, noticing that the area was rather empty; the only people around were the people that worked there. She walked over to the bench that rested to the side of the room and sat down with her back against the cold wall. She looked at the small silver and yellow watch that rested on her left wrist. It was ten-forty-three. She thought about getting some munchies but as she looked up to the candy counter a blond boy of no more than fifteen was looking at her, smiling.

"Hey." He said in a deep voice, while giving her the nod.

Kira stopped herself from laughing as she got up.

"Hi." She scoffed, before spotting the bathroom and ducking into it.

She didn't really have to go to the bathroom, but she did anyway. She washed her hands before exiting the bathroom and walking towards the candy counter, careful not to go to the register that the fifteen year old boy was running. She glanced at the candy selection before making her decision.

"Can I have a box of Mike and Ikes? The red box." Kira asked. "Thanks."

Conner quietly walked up from behind her. He leaned down so that his mouth was level with her ear.

"Hey." He said with a deep voice.

Kira jumped, the back of her head smacking Conner in the face, as she quickly turned around to see who the guy was. Once she recognized Conner she immediately punched him hard in the arm.

"Ow!" He complained, holding his nose with one hand and rubbing his arm with the other. "You already smacked me in the nose. You've got to hit me to?"

"Yeah." Kira shot. "You scared the crap out of me."

Conner chuckled, causing her to glare at him even harder than she already was.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't resist!" Conner pleaded. "You've got to come back into the movie."

"No." Kira told him, the glare vanishing from her face. "It's too scary. I won't and you can't make me."

"Common." Conner begged. "It's no fun without being able to see you jump and flinch every five seconds."

"No." She repeated, turning to pay the cashier and taking her candy.

"It's almost over, there's maybe ten minutes left, and I'll even let you hold my hand if you get too scared." Conner persuaded, before seeing Kira's face and adding quickly. "I won't say anything about it. No stupid remarks."

"Somehow, I doubt that." Kira said, a small smile spreading across her face. She looked over to see the kid smiling at her again. "But, I guess I'll go back in...You promise it's almost over?"

"Swear." Conner grinned broadly.

Kira rolled her eyes and turned back to the cashier. "In that case you'd better give me a couple of boxes of sour patch kids."

The cashier handed her the candy as she laid the money in his free hand. She thanked him and walked back towards the movie. Kira reluctantly grabbed Conner's hand causing him to smile.

"Stop smiling." She told him as she dragged him into the movie behind her.

"I'm not." Conner lied, making their way over to their seats.

Kira dropped the box of sour patch kids into Jake's lap as she passed. He looked at them blissfully.

"Kira, you are my hero." He said softly, ripping open one of the boxes.

"I try." She smiled, falling into her seat next to Casey who was trying to get Jake to share a sour patch kid with her.

"Common." She hissed. "You've already had seven boxes!"

"But they're mine!" Jake told her.

"Pleeeeeease?" Casey asked again.

"Oh fine. But only one." he told her digging into the plastic wrapper.

Casey looked at him batting her eyelashes, her lips in a puppy pout.

"OK, two." He told her. "And you can't use that look for a week."

Kira smiled as he ended up giving Casey about ten little sour patch children. Kira diverted her attention to the screen noticing that something was different. She turned to Casey.

"Hey, where's the guy at?" She asked.

"Oh, he um -" Casey cut herself off as she caught Conner staring at her from behind Kira, shaking his head quickly. "He-"

"Ditched the girl and left town." Conner finished. "Can you believe that? Talk about a loser."

"Oh." Kira said, returning her attention to the screen. John Ryder, the murderous maniac was now handcuffed in the back of a police van and Grace seemed to be a much angrier person than she had been before she had left the room. She had a feeling that something much worse had happened to Jim.

Devone returned to the desert where the Cylatrons had managed to dig quite a large crater into the ground. Syria arrived next to her father as he looked at the crater, unsatisfied with the Cylatrons' work.

"Still not deep enough." He grumbled before raising his arms and expelling bright purple streaks of energy from his fingers.

The streaks of energy shot through the tips of his fingers and rushed towards the bottom of the hole that his henchmen had been working on. Upon impact, sand shot upwards and out of the crater, deepening it to the appropriate level and vaporizing any and every Cylatron that had happened to be in the energy blast's way.

"You know," Syria started. "If you would've done that in the first place, this thing could have been built a whole lot quicker."

Devone ignored her comment as he turned his focus to the sky where a giant base was beginning to lower itself into Earth's atmosphere and into the hole.

"Ah, here it comes." Devone said, pleased. "This planet will be under my rule in no time and all these humans will bow down to me. After we obtain the Crystal of Power we will be unstoppable! Billions and billions of people will have no choice but to join my army; to join us in our quest to conquer the universe or die with their pitiful attempts to stop us. Evil will prevail!"

Casey walked through the empty ally way with a confused, yet intrigued, expression upon her face. Everything appeared to be much brighter than she remembered it; it seemed to glow. As she stood there she could hear explosions and screams of pain and torture. She could hear children and women crying, people pleading for their lives. She heard the sinister evil laughter of a man and the cruel chuckling of a young woman. There was another sound that Casey couldn't quite recognize. It sounded almost electronic and metalisized. It sounded like bugs buzzing and humming, but much more synthesized. However, all this sound seemed to be far away and distant.

She appeared to be in the ally way behind Hayley's cyberspace; she recognized the dark green trash cans. She must have gone to work, but how and when did she get there? She didn't remember going to work that morning. She tried to pull the back door open, but it was locked so she continued to walk. As she turned the corner she did not see the music store across the street as she usually did, instead she saw painfully bright white light. She squinted as she looked at the light, intrigued further. She walked closer. The sounds that she heard before seemed to be getting louder with each step.

Her heart hammered in her chest with excitement and fear, as she stood before the light. There was no where else to go. She reached out a hand went to touch the light barrier. It did not burn or inflict any pain on her at all as her hand and forearm penetrated the barrier and went completely through it. She didn't feel anything at all. Confused as well as intrigued, she retracted her hand and looked at it. It appeared to be perfectly normal. She returned her gaze to the light, staring at it as if it would suddenly give her the answers that she needed. It did nothing. Curiosity got the best of her. She cracked her knuckles with her thumbs nervously and closed her eyes, before taking a step through the light. When she was completely through, she opened her eyes. What she saw made her mouth fall open in surprise.

The light was gone, but the sounds that she had heard before were suddenly at full volume as metallic warriors battled hundreds of human beings in the middle of town. It was obvious that they were in a full-blown war. Reefside was practically destroyed. Smoke was everywhere and fire burned any and every surface it reached uncontrollably. Buildings were blown apart and on fire. The road itself seemed to be on fire. The music store was simply non-existent. She turned around to see Hayley's Cyberspace sign hanging on a single nail before it to fell to the ground, crushing a few humans who hadn't managed to jump out of the way. half of the building was blown apart; the other half was blazing with fire. The metallic warriors were punching and kicking humans. Some humans were helping the warriors, holding struggling men and women still so they could spear or slice open them with their double sided swords. Casey flinched and grimaced as a warrior drove his sword deep through a man who was trying to defend his family. The woman and child screamed and cried. No one seemed to take notice that Casey was even there. She quickly turned at the sound of a familiar scream, tripping over a piece of rubble as she did so. She fell to the ground on her butt, her hands behind her, holding her up. A terrified expression wove over Casey's face as she saw Eric and Hannah. Hannah was crying on the ground holding a bleeding Jake in her lap. His neck was twisted in an odd direction; blood fell freely from his wounds. He was dead; Nate laid motionlessly beside them. His back had a deep gouge in it.

"You'll never get me!" Eric screamed, punching one of the warriors, but he was outnumbered.

He was knocked out and then stabbed, causing Hannah too scream once again. They turned on her, but Casey couldn't watch. Her sisters screams penetrated her mind as she desperately crawled backwards, terrified. Tears streamed down her face as she pushed herself up and ran in the other direction. She couldn't shake Hannah's screams from her mind.

bzzzzzzzzzzzzt.

She saw Kira and Conner next. They were fighting as well, but to no avail. Casey turned again and ran off. She wanted to put as much distance between her and this terrible scene as she could. She wished that she had never stepped through the light. She looked back to see if anyone had noticed her, but the war continued on. She slowed as she saw the figure of a dark man standing on top of a large boulder. He was laughing. A girl stood giggling in delight behind him.

"Yay! We've won!" She was saying gleefully. "The crystal is ours and these petty humans can do nothing to stop us! Just look at them try. Oh dear, there goes another one. Look at his head roll down the street" She giggled.

bzzzzzzzzzzzt. What was that noise?

Casey felt hatred like she had never felt before sear through her body. These people, if you could call them that, found it funny that humans were being tortured and killed. They were laughing. Her friends and family were dying and these two couldn't be happier about it.

bzzzzzzzzzzzt. Casey ignored the sound. It wasn't important now.

Casey clenched her jaw tight. She wanted to kill them. She picked up a deserted sword and started to climb.

bzzzzzzzzzzzt. Casey stood upright on the rock as she reached the top and stared into the eyes of the man. She shook with anger. They stared right through her, full of glee. She stepped forward and pulled the sword back and just as she was about to take a swing at them she felt something hit her in the head... She jerked around to see what had been thrown at her.

"Casey!" She heard a voice call out to her.

"Hannah?" She questioned. It couldn't be. She had heard her die...

Casey felt something squishy hit her in the face. Her eyes jerked open.

"Casey, answer your damn phone." The groggy voice of her sister told her.

She was in her bed. Hannah was sleeping in the bed across the small room. She was sweating mildly, her breathing was returning to normal. It had all been a dream; a nightmare. Relieved, she looked to the floor to see a beanie baby pig and dog that Hannah had thrown at her to wake her up.

bzzzzzzzzzzzzzt. Her phone buzzed once again. Casey reached up to the nightstand in between her and Hannah's bed and flipped open her pink Motorola phone.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hey." Came Jake's voice.

"What time is it?" Casey said yawning and rubbing her eyes.

"Nine-thirty." Jake answered.

"Dude, you know I don't get up before eleven." Casey grumbled, plopping back down onto her pillows and closing her eyes.

Jake laughed. "I know, but I thought that maybe you'd wanna hang out down at the beach before I have to go to practice. We can meet Kira and Conner or something."

"Yeah, OK." Casey agreed. "Give me a half-an-hour."

"Cool." Jake said. "See you then."

"See you." Casey said, yawning and hanging up the phone. She tossed it back onto the night stand.

"Who was it?" Hannah asked, sleepily.

"Jake." Casey answered. "He wants to hang out at the beach before he has to go to practice."

"That jerk face is gonna die the next time I see him. That's not even important. No one calls us before eleven from now on. It's gonna be our new rule."

"I second that." Casey grinned, clamoring out of bed.

Hannah sat up, yawning. She looked at Casey. "Where were you last night? You missed curfew again. They were pissed."

"I went to a movie with Jake and some friends after work and they'll get over it." Casey told her as she pulled an outfit out of her closet. She suddenly remembered something. "Oh hey. Hayley said she's cool with us playing next weekend."

Hannah's eyes widened with excitement. "How could you not tell me this earlier!"

"It must have slipped my mind." Casey shrugged, as she pulled out her bathing suit from her dresser. "And don't even start that commitment crap."

Hannah closed her mouth before opening it to speak again. "Fine... Ah, this is gonna be so cool."

Hannah got up and pulled a pad of paper and red pen out of the nightstand draw and started scribbling on it rapidly. Casey looked at her sister as the dream came flooding back to her. Hannah, Jake, Eric, Nate, her friends ...all dead. Casey got goose bumps at the thought of it. Now, Hannah sat right in front of her, so excited about this gig. Casey sat her outfit out on the bed and sat next to Hannah. Hannah turned to look at her.

"What are you doing?" Hannah asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason." Casey said, hugging her. "I'm just really glad to be your sister."

"OK..." Hannah said in a weirded out sort of way. "Somebody definitely slipped something into your drink last night."

Casey laughed and got up from the bed, retrieving her outfit. "I've gotta go get ready. You can come if you want."

"No, that's OK. I've got a gig to plan." Hannah said, still weirded out.

"Alright. See you later then." Casey said, turning and exiting the room.

"You freak." Hannah muttered as she picked up her phone to call Nate.

"I need ice cream." Casey spoke. "And coffee."

Kira laughed. "Ice Cream and Coffee? Those are like polar opposites."

"Yeah but they're both yummy." Casey explained.

Casey and Kira were both laying on their beach towels, their backs facing the sun. Kira was wearing a pastel yellow bikini and Casey, a pastel green one. Casey had almost completely forgotten about her dream. They were now both enjoying the warmth on their backs as Conner and Jake threw a water ball at each other in the water. Every once in a while you could hear it smack hard against their skin.

"How about a Vanilla Bean frappuccino with a bit of coffee mixed into it." Kira resumed their conversation. "Then you get a little bit of both."

"That sounds ridiculously good right now." Casey agreed. "We should go before the guys have practice."

"I agree."

"Do you think we'll be able to get them out of the water?"

"Probably not."

"Damn. Maybe I should put my moon pants on..."

At this both girls laughed, remembering Conner's awful attempt at hitting on Casey the previous day. They rolled over their large solstice sunglasses shielding their eyes from the sun. There was a loud smacking sound as the ball hit one of the boys.

"Haha, look at that giant red mark you got on your back now." Conner's voice traveled up to them.

"It's kinda hard for me to look at my back, Conner. Seeing as how my head doesn't turn that way." Jake retorted. "It would be so awesome if it did though..."

At this, images of the terrible dream Casey had had flooded back into her memory once again. The thought of it alone made her uneasy. The entire thing had seemed so real. What did it mean? Was it just a nightmare? Or something else? She couldn't shake the feeling of grief and uneasiness that it gave her. She turned her head to face Kira.

"Kira," She started, but then stopped. She didn't know how to start.

"Hmmm?" Kira responded.

"I had this dream last night." She started. "It was weird. You and Conner were there."

"OK, If this is gonna get kinky I don't wanna hear anymore."

Casey smirked and chuckled softly.

"No, it's not that. I was in the ally way behind Hayley's and there was this white light. The entire time I heard screaming and the sounds of war. I couldn't make anything of it, and I was curious so I stepped through this white veil and there were these things. They were silver and black. Kind of metallic, armored dinosaur tailed things. They had double sided swords and they were killing humans. Mercilessly. Some people were helping them kill them. It was awful. The city was destroyed and going up in flames. No one seemed to notice me. They killed you guys. All of you. Hannah, Nate, Eric, Jake, you, Conner... There were these people. They were laughing. Talking about winning and obtaining a crystal of power. I dunno. It just felt so real, and I can't shake this feeling that I'm having."

Kira turned to look at Casey. She didn't speak right away. She really didn't know exactly what to say. She had to be careful with her words.

"Well..." She started. "It wouldn't be the first time that strange things had happened in this town."

"What do you mean?"

"Last year this evil guy came into town terrorizing the city with monsters. If it wasn't for the power rangers, we probably wouldn't be here right now." Kira explained. "They fought against him and protected the city."

"Oh yeah, I remember Jake saying something about that... So you think that that what I'm seeing, it could come true?" Casey questioned.

"I don't know." Kira said thoughtfully. "It might be some sort of warning. Or maybe it was just a bad dream. Something like that is enough to shake anyone up."

"Yeah." Casey mumbled. "It was probably just a nightmare."

Kira looked at the back of her closed eyelids. Dinosaur tails? It made her wonder if Tommy and Dr. Mercer were experimenting again... Something about the way Casey had described it made her feel uneasy, not to mention vulnerable with no active power rangers at the time being. She'd talk to Conner about it later, when Casey and Jake weren't around. And then, if he agreed, they'd go to Dr. Oliver with it.

Jake and Conner jogged up from the shore shivering as the wind blew chilling their wet bodies. Conner wrapped his red towel around his shoulders. Jake pulled the towel over his head and held it tightly near his neck as the bottom part of the towel fell below his shoulders.

"Hey guys." Kira sat up. "Cold?"

"Just a little." Jake shivered.

"So what were you guys talking about?" Conner questioned.

"Nothing." Casey answered quickly. She wasn't too keen on the idea of everyone thinking she was crazy. "Just how school starts soon. I still haven't gotten all my stuff."

"Me either." Conner said. "Anything to put off thinking about school starting back up. We should go tonight. You know finish school shopping."

Casey raised her eyebrows as Kira rolled her eyes from behind her sunglasses.

"Yeah Casey." Jake chided, pulling his towel down to his shoulders. "You should wear you're moon pants."

Conner smacked him in the back of the head and mumbled. "Dude, shut up."

Casey smiled. "Yeah, OK We can go tonight. But I warn you, shopping with a girl takes a really long time and I don't like being rushed."

"I think I'll manage." Conner smirked. "I'll pick you up around four? Just give me your address, I'll find it."

"Oh." Casey started, Jake looked at her. "Um. No. I'll just... I'll meet you at Hayley's. Hannah will probably want to check out the place so she can start planning what songs we're gonna be performing and all that good stuff for next weekend."

"OK, that works too." Conner grinned hopefully. "It's a date?"

Casey shook her head with a smile. "Not a date."

"So who's up for some Starbucks?" Kira wondered randomly.

"Starbizzucks?" Jake smiled, his head seamed to perk up.

"Jake, I swear you are 90 percent caffeine and sugar." Kira joked.

"I know. Isn't it awesome?" Jake smiled excitedly.

Katherine walked into Hayley's Cyberspace and took a quick look at the place before taking a seat at an empty table. It was a nice place, she thought. Not too different from Ernie's Juice Bar from back in her teenage years. She wasn't sitting long before Hayley walked up to her.

"Hi." She greeted. "I'm Hayley."

"Hi." Katherine started. "I'm-"

"Katherine Hillard." Hayley grinned. "I know."

Katherine raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"I'm all about information." Hayley explained. "Plus, I'm a friend of Tommy's so that helps."

"Ah." Katherine understood.

"And at the risk of stepping across the line," Hayley continued, lowering her voice. "Don't be too hard on him. He had his reasons... for everything."

Katherine felt uncomfortable. She didn't even know Hayley, yet she felt like she should trust her. That was just the type of person that she was. There was silence for a few moments, as Kat considered, for the first time, hearing Tommy out. A part of her hoped that he had a good reason for leaving her. That was the same part that wanted him to hold her in his arms again...

"Well, can I get you something?" Hayley broke the silence.

"Oh, I'll just have a Caesar salad please, with a diet coke." Katherine answered, pulled from her thoughts.

"Coming right up." Hayley smiled and walked away.

Katherine looked around once more. Kids were sitting on a couch watching television; some were playing video games at the computers in the corners. Others, probably college students, were sitting at tables typing up papers on their laptops. She liked the set up for the stage up front. She always thought that live music would have been cool. The place had a very home-y feel to it. As she sat there, Katherine wondered if Tommy had started up his own little karate class here like he had back at Ernie's.

Katherine opened her bag that she had brought with her and pulled out twelve pieces of paper, six of which being transparencies, and a black magic marker. Out of eight period days, six of them were classes. Three senior English classes, two junior classes, and a freshman class. She pulled out one of the transparent sheets of paper that resembled her class room desks. In the far right corner sat her desk, the remaining desks were blank, positioned in five rows of seven. She picked up a piece of paper that contained a list of her first period class's names. Her first period senior English class.

She began randomly filling names into the transparent desks. She started with the first row. Alyson M., Joseph J., Amanda M., Emma L., James N., Jason F., Catherine S. She went on like this until every desk was filled with a name. She slipped the class roster and the transparency into her bag and was about to start her second period when she was interrupted.

"Hey, Kat." Tommy started, he was fidgeting nervously. Katherine turned around but before she could speak, he went on. "Look, I know that you don't want to talk to me, and I understand. I do, really, but please just let me explain. I know it won't make up for what I did, nothing can, but I want you to know the truth."

To his surprise Katherine didn't protest. Instead she motioned for him to sit across from her. He gave her a confused look, before taking his seat.

"Are you sure?" Tommy asked, surprised. He half wondered whether or not the chair had something gross on it, but then he remembered who he was dealing with.

Katherine sighed before letting a small smile creep across her face. "I'm sure. I've been thinking about it ever since you tried to talk to me yesterday."

She was looking Tommy in the eyes; it took everything he had to keep himself from looking away. She had leaned forward on the table. He did the same.

"I was angry, especially yesterday." Katherine said honestly. "A lot of it had to do with you, but some of it was because of me. I was mad because I thought I was over you, and it turned out I wasn't... "

That wasn't what he expected to hear. He caved and shifted his glance towards the solid blue table. Silence filled the space between them and for a moment, all that could be heard was the sound of people around them. Video games, television, dishes clanking, people socializing.

"We were engaged, Tommy. Engaged." She paused after saying this. Her voice was just barely over a whisper yet it still sounded forceful. Tommy returned his gaze to her eyes as she said this. "It meant something to me, and I know it did to you too. And I won't ever be able to forget what you did. But I do want to be able to understand it."

Tommy nodded in agreement.

"You deserve the truth." He told her softly. "You deserved it then, but I was being selfish. I was scared."

Katherine was confused, but she didn't interrupt.

"Something happened." He continued. He seemed to be struggling with himself. "There was an accident. Remember, I told you Anton Mercer and I were doing some experimenting with Dinosaur DNA. Well things went wrong. Way wrong. The guy that I had beaten out, Thomas Smith, had an accident and transformed himself into a being called Zeltrax. He looked a little like Ecliptor from the Astro Ranger era." Tommy explained so that Kat could visualize him. "Anyway, he hated me for getting the job instead of him. I think that part of him had always blamed me for his accident."

"So you thought that he'd come after you?" Katherine asked, trying to understand. It just didn't seem to be fitting.

"Kind of." Tommy started. "But it doesn't end there. You see, Mercer and I created a lot of things. Tyrannodrones for instance. However, there was an explosion and Mercer was transformed into an evil being known as Mesagog. Though I didn't know it was him at the time. He came after me, and altered the Tyrannodrones programming to do his dirty work. They became his foot soldiers. It wasn't long before he teamed up with Zeltrax. They even abducted a woman, the Principal, Diane Randall actually, and altered her memory to make her believe that she was known as Elsa. She was evil and did a lot of terrible things with Zeltrax by her side. With Hayley's help, I was able to harness powers from the Dino gems and create a new power; a new team of rangers. That's when Conner McKnight, Kira Ford, and Ethan James came into the picture. They became the Red, Yellow, and Blue rangers. They fought off Mesagog until I was able to obtain the fourth gem. Hayley created the black ranger morpher. I became that ranger. Trent Fernandez, Mercer's boy, joined later on as the white ranger. He gave us a lot of trouble as the evil ranger but he came through in the end."

"So you were a ranger, again?" Katherine asked quietly for clarification.

"Yes." Tommy answered simply.

Katherine leaned back, breaking their eye contact for the first time.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Katherine asked. "I could have helped."

"No, Kat." Tommy said. "You couldn't. Don't you see? Zeltrax was a friend of mine. He knew things about me. He would have used you to get to me."

"Tommy, I just wanted to be with you." Katherine told him. "I could have handled the dangers of it. I wouldn't have cared -"

"I cared." Tommy told her sternly. "If Mesagog would have gotten to you, he could have killed you. I couldn't live with that. The less that you knew, the safer you were. That was my first priority. Keeping you safe. That way they couldn't use you to get to me. They couldn't hurt you. They knew what my weakness was. They knew that it was you. I know you, Kat. You would have done anything and everything you could to help and you could have handled it, I know that. You proved that years ago. But If you would have sacrificed yourself or if they would have killed you... I could never live with myself if something like that happened. I loved you and that, that would have killed me. With you out of the picture, it just made things easier. For both of us."

Katherine leaned on the table, her head in her hands. It made sense; she knew it did. Everything in her body seemed to be fighting against it. She wished that he would have just told her in the beginning. Shed never hated someone as much as she loved him before. It was really confusing.

"I knew that if I told you what was going on, you would have wanted to help. It's part of who you are." Tommy told her, as if he was reading her mind. "You would have came back and convinced me to let you stay. That's why I called. I couldn't look into your eyes and not tell you everything."

They sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity, the only sounds coming from other people around them. Katherine didn't lift her head out of her hands. Tommy focused on the top of the table.

"That's all." Tommy broke the silence. "I just wanted you to know why."

Katherine nodded, to show that she had heard him. She wasn't ready to look up yet. She was trying not to cry. Trying not to jump into his arms; tell him that she loved him. She was frustrated, but she understood.

"I'm just gonna go." He said getting up.

Katherine took a chance and looked up, shaking her head slowly.

"You don't have to leave." Katherine choked out in a whisper. "I understand and I forgive you, but Tommy, you hurt me."

"I know." Tommy sat back down, staring down at the table once more.

"I just...It wasn't easy for me. Realizing that you weren't there anymore- that we would never be together forever like we promised. You broke my heart, Tommy. " Katherine started.

Tommy just nodded, understanding.

"We can't go back to how we were." Katherine told him. "Let's just try to start over... as friends."

"I can live with that." Tommy agreed, the slightest hint of a smile creeping across his face.

Back in the desert, Devone was sitting comfortably in his black chair. They were inside of the base, which was dark even with the help of the yellow lights implanted at the top of the walls. The base had been successfully planted into the crater and recovered by sand. No one could have possibly known what was beneath the ground. Devone and Syria had placed a power force field around the area making it completely undetectable by any means, as well as impenetrable. No one would be able to locate or reach them. They were safe, beneath the ground in a Californian desert.

The deck in which Devone was now sitting contained several viewing screens and computer councils. Syria was pushing buttons, while staring at one of the many monitors.

"Have you found anything yet?" Devone grumbled to his daughter.

Syria looked at the screen intently. "It appears that five of the six crystals reside in an impenetrable chamber. That's Zelta's handy work, no doubt. But the sixth crystal remains unaccounted for. It doesn't appear to be anywhere on Earth."

Devone grumbled again. So Zelta had five crystals... that was a major set back.

"I should have known Zelta would have tried to interfere with my plans." He spoke in his deep husky voice. "No matter. We will need only one crystal to destroy Zelta and her pet robot once and for all. Even if they do manage to create a team of rangers. By infusing the final crystal with my power, we will have more than enough power to destroy them all. Do not fail me Syria. Find that Crystal and do it before Zelta does. If you don't, you will have to answer to me and family or not... it doesn't make any difference."

"Right." Syria responded, doing her best to hide the fear in her voice. "I'll extend the search, now."

"Good." Devone breathed. "Now it's time for a little fun."

"What are you going to do?" Syria questioned.

"I'm gonna find myself a ranger." Devone sneered.

To Be Continued...