Authors Note: Upon working on the buildup to the climax of this episode, I wanted to add more information about what Trini was going through. Otherwise, the climax would not be as strong.
Chapter Three
Kimberly sat beside Trini on the linen sofa within her living room with her hand on Trini's knee. Yet the hand went unnoticed by Trini. She remained in her crumbled slump, her hair hanging like Weeping Willow branches in mid-autumn around her face.
Although rain pounded on the skylight above them as the thunder boomed, for Kimberly the silence within the room shrieked louder as she agonized that she could not think of what to say. She had never experienced anything like this. Granted her parents' divorce had been terrible, but they had been honest with each other in regards to their feelings. Whatever had happened to Jason, it was clear to Kimberly that he had kept it from Trini. Otherwise, the rest of the current Ninjetti rangers would have known about it. And the question rang continuously in Kimberly's mind like the thunder outside: What had Jason done to Trini that had reduced her to this? Learning that Jason was the Monarch of Evil was terrible, but with Trini like this, made the day even worse.
Finally, Kimberly could stand it no longer. Mustering her courage she sat up, leaning toward her friend. "Trini?" she began, avoiding the tentative pseudo-compassionate tone a councilor would adopt to a first time patient.
The yellow ranger stirred. "Yes?" Trini whispered, not meeting Kimberly's eyes.
Kimberly almost fell off of the couch with surprise. "Are you alright?" she asked.
"I don't know," Trini sighed, clapping a hand onto her forehead as she slumped forward even further. "I keep seeing these images in my head."
"Images?" Kimberly repeated. "What do you mean?"
Trini sighed again, swinging her head from side to side. "They're just flashes," she said. "I can't explain them." She added, cradling her forehead in her hands.
Kimberly rubbed Trini's back. Not being a professional therapist like Trini had been for the past four years, Kimberly found nothing she could say to this. Nevertheless, she opened her mouth to speak, desperate to ease the suffering stirring within her best friend. Yet before she could say anything, she was interrupted by Zack jiving down the hallway towards her and Trini.
"Two Zack Taylor melon/mango smoothies for the lovely ladies," he said, his face shining with joy as he carried two small glasses filled to the brim.
Kimberly smiled at the gesture. Zack had not changed at all since high school. Trini glanced at the smoothies with apathy. The last thing on her mind was food.
"Take a sip; you'll feel better," Zack said, handing the small glass to Trini.
She took it, and sipped, glad for a distraction from the flashes within her mind fighting to the surface, but the smoothie had no taste to her. It was cold and smooth. But there was no pleasure in drinking it. When she swallowed, she felt it fall into the chasm inside of her—hollow and dead.
"It may not be Ernie's, but it's the best I could do," Zack chimed in.
"It's delicious," Kimberly said, meeting his eye. "Thank you."
Zack beamed with a goofy smile in response.
Trini turned to Kimberly. "Do you mind if I get ready for bed?" she asked. "I'm a bit worn out."
"Sure, no problem," Kimberly said.
Without looking at either of them, Trini rose to her feet, walked down the hall, and closed the guest bedroom door behind her.
As soon as the door was shut, Kimberly and Zack exchanged significant looks of worry—each of them understanding the other: There was more going here than Trini was letting on.
"So did she say anything?" Zack asked, sinking onto the ottoman in front of the couch.
"She said something about images in her head, but that's it," Kimberly replied, gulping down a mouthful of smoothie.
"I wonder what that means," Zack pondered.
"I don't know," Kimberly said. "She needs help, but who could get her through this?"
"One thought comes to mind but I'm not sure if it's a good idea," Zack said.
"Billy?"
Zack shook his head. "Sean," he corrected her. "Obviously, he knows more about what's going on than we do. Remember how he faced off against Tommy, and then Jason?"
"That gave me goose bumps."
"Yeah, me too. I've never seen anybody fight like that. But there is something about that guy that I don't trust."
"We just met him a few hours ago."
"It's not just that," Zack said, hesitating to say more.
"What? What is it?" Kimberly asked.
Zack sighed. "I overheard some of what Jason and Sean said when they were fighting. They mentioned a pact."
Kimberly's glass slipped from her grasp. She caught it just in time. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I am," Zack said. "I don't like where this is going. There is so much we don't know and the bit that we do know about, we haven't had time to process."
"Such as what happened on the moon?" Kimberly suggested.
"That too. Tommy, Rocky, and Adam didn't seem like talking."
Kimberly bit her tongue to stop retorting. "What do you want to do?" Kimberly asked coolly.
"Stick together," Zack answered with a stern face. "And hope for the best."
Kimberly scanned his face. To anyone else, Zack could have been declaring that the rangers be a team, but Kimberly knew better.
"Zack, I know you are trying to be protective, but you can't shut out all our options," Kimberly said. "I guarantee you that Billy had a very good reason for not telling us seven and a half years ago. And there are a lot of unanswered questions, but if we reject Sean, we reject Billy's trust also. If we can't trust each other, then we'll be through. We barely survived this evening, and that was just a test!" Zack rounded on her. "When Zordon first called on us, we were all reluctant. Only Jason saw that Zordon's offer was genuine."
"And look where he is now," Zack interrupted.
"You're missing the point!" Kimberly snapped, but recovered herself almost instantly. "Zordon had faith in us. Why should we not have faith in one of his friends or in Billy?"
Zack shifted on the ottoman. Kimberly's words had struck a nerve within him. Putting aside his skepticism, he had to concede that Kimberly was right. Thought it made him feel worse that he was wrong about one of his friends. "I just want Billy and Sean to be upfront with us," he said. "That's all."
"They will be," Kimberly said, moving her eyes to the guest bedroom door. "Sooner or later, we will know the truth… and so will she."
With the door behind her, Trini relinquished her fake smile with a sigh, as she slumped back on the door, not caring to turn on the lights. She just hung there with half opened eyes, neither conscious nor unconscious, but lost in a haze of confusion, taking no notice of the almost utter darkness of the night and the pounding of the rain. Her head drifted down.
It was better for her to be away from Zack, Kimberly, and their sympathy. Unfortunately, not even the door or the chaos of her mind could separate her from the fact she could still feel Kimberly and Zack's presences, even though she did not know why nor did she care. Yet she was glad for the physical separation from her friends. Neither of them could understand what was going on with her. Even she did not know.
Ever since Jason had held her with that strange eye stare—how had he frozen me like that? she thought—a tornado of images had been gathering strength and mass within her mind. She saw her wedding; people laughing, Jason making a toast—that she saw with clarity as if it were a film.
Yet at the same time, she saw things that made no sense. For a brief second she saw the outside of her wedding church on what seemed a bright sunny day. There was a man walking through the cemetery to the right of it. Trini recognized the man from somewhere, but couldn't quite place him. All she could was his back. It was like looking at a black and white photograph that had barely survived a burned down building. The more she tried to focus on it, the more distorted the image became.
Plus she also recalled echoes of swords clashing, as though from a battle, but could not picture one, nonhuman snarls and yells, and muffled dialogue to the point she could not tell if it was human.
What does this all mean? she pleaded, wishing the conflicting thoughts would vacate her mind. And why can't I think?
Half of her wanted this nightmare to go away, to fade like the sunlight when the storm clouds had stretched above Kimberly's house less than an hour ago, while the other half of her (the part that had guided her when she was a ranger, she believed) wanted to keep thinking. Yet she leaned more to the former, hoping that the visions would stop. But they wouldn't stop. Like a slave's spiritual, the images rang softly but grew in intensity and substance over time. Unfortunately, they did not fill her with hope. Instead, they filled her with dread and terror.
A lightning bold struck outside the window near the house, casting a brilliant silvery light throughout the room, ripping her from her woes and confusion. Trini turned to the window.
What is going on? she thought. There had to be a reason she was seeing these things. But her strength waned. Her body ached as though she had a fever and her inside felt squeezed and empty as though she had vomited repeatedly for the past few hours.
None of this made sense.
Rubbing her temples, she crossed to the bed.
