Tommy arrived at the gym and handed his membership card over to a clerk who insisted on trying to sell him tickets to a gymnastics competition. At least some things stayed constant. The competition had been in planning for weeks, the whole sports centre would be given over to it, with workshops and beginners classes as well as the main event. He'd been declining to buy tickets for about a month now, but the staff weren't taking no for an answer.
"If you want to get a look at what you're missing out on, one of the gymnasts has already arrived. Have a looked at her practicing and you might change your mind."
"Thanks for the advice," Tommy said, grabbing his bags and heading into the practice hall.
The hall was a huge space, empty except for piles of mats in the corners that users could drag across as and when they needed. There were a few bits of gymnastic equipment neatly stacked against the walls too, but mostly the room was used for floor work.
Tommy saw immediately who he was supposed to look out for. She had a section of mats set up at the other end of the hall and was running through a complex routine of flips and rolls. He recognised the style and grace of movement before he ever got a clear look at her face. Kimberly.
She finished her routine with a flourish, only then becoming aware of her audience. She saw him and all colour drained from her face. She stared at him for several long moments, the expression of shock fading to something akin to fear. She turned away, hurrying to a bag at the side of the room. It was like an animal panicking when it saw something it didn't understand. She was about to run.
Tommy rushed over.
"Kimberly," he said.
She didn't say anything, just shoved her things in her bag.
"Kim," he said again.
"You're not real," she said, staring steadfastly away from him.
Tommy was confused, concerned, surprised and so many other emotions that was quite sure how to think or react. All he knew was that the love of his life was thoroughly ignoring him. On top of everything else that had happened over the past few days, he couldn't deal with this as well. He needed answers desperately. He needed to understand.
He grabbed her arm and turned her to look at him with a little more force than he'd intended.
"I'm real, Kim."
Kim tugged, trying to free her arm from his grasp. "Let go."
"Kimberly, talk to me, please."
"Leave me alone."
"I just want to talk."
"Hey!" Tommy turned towards the new voice and was met by a fist impacting his jaw. From a position sprawled on the mats, Tommy blinked up at Jason.
"She said leave her alone."
Tommy didn't know how to respond. Jason, the closest friend he'd ever known, was glaring down at him without the slightest trace of recognition. His brain couldn't supply the right reaction.
Kim did react. She swung her bag over her shoulder and ran out of the room. Jason called after her but she didn't respond. Jason looked back at Tommy to give him one final warning, "Stay the hell away from my fiancée." Then he ran out after Kimberly.
Tommy was too shocked to even pick himself up off the ground. He stared after Jason's retreating back. Fiancee? Jason and Kim? They were engaged? How the hell did that happen? And how was it that Jason looked at him like a total stranger, after all they'd been through together?
"Hey, man, are you OK? That must have been some punch." A small crowd had gathered around him, among them a kid he'd occasionally given pointers on karate.
Tommy climbed to his feet, assuring the others he was fine. When asked who they'd been, Tommy gave an approximately honest answer. "An ex-girlfriend. And her new fiancé." He rubbed the sore patch on his jaw that would be a spectacular bruise before too long. "I think we may have issues to work on."
He left the sports centre. There was way too much to think about now.
Jason hadn't recognised him. Tommy supposed that, without the Power Rangers, he might never have moved to Angel Grove. When Rita first showed up, loads of people moved out to get away from monster attacks and so Tommy's dad had got a job. Without that, he might never have met Jason or the others. If something had happened to change history and erase the Rangers, it could have erased that whole friendship.
But Kim had recognised him.
She'd told him he wasn't real.
That meant she remembered him. That meant she remembered the Rangers. But if no one else did, no wonder it would be confusing.
He needed to find her and talk to her. He needed to know what she knew. He needed to know if there was any way to put the world back.
He headed back to his house and got out the phone book. It was a lousy option, but it was the only one that presented itself to him. He rang up every hotel, in order, to find out if they had a reservation for Kimberly Hart or Jason Scott. They had to be somewhere.
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Kim ran back towards the hotel. There were tears flowing unchecked from her eyes. Tommy. It couldn't really be him. But he'd known her. He'd spoken her name and he looked just like the boy from her memories.
"Kim?" Jason had caught up with her. Kim stopped running, but the tears kept flowing.
"Kim, what's wrong?"
She couldn't tell him. She'd spent too long trying to convince everyone she was sane. If she started talking about Tommy and the Rangers again, Jason would think she was crazy. Maybe she was crazy. She still remembered Tommy as clearly as any of her real high school friends.
She leaned against the wall of the hotel, suddenly not able to hold herself up. She had a fiancé who was kind, supportive and definitely real. Why did she keep thinking about Tommy? Why couldn't she be satisfied with the person who had always been there for her? Jason was everything a girl could want, yet she saw the face of an imagined lover in a stranger at the gym.
"Please, Kim, tell me what's wrong. Who was that guy?"
"It doesn't matter." She turned away from him, continuing her walk into the hotel. Jason followed her across the lobby and towards the elevator.
"It seems like it matters to you." Jase, always trying to be supportive, even when she wanted nothing more than to let the past die.
They walked to their hotel room, Kim not saying anything else. Once there, Jason put the kettle on to fix a drink for them both. Why did he have to be so sweet? Maybe if Jase was a bit less perfect she wouldn't feel so guilty about constantly thinking of Tommy.
"Who was that guy?" Jason asked again, a little while later. Kim didn't know how to answer. She couldn't say it was Tommy, because it couldn't possibly be Tommy. He was just someone her mind had created that she couldn't shake. But he'd known her, somehow. She didn't want to hope that he was real, because she knew that her hope would be shattered again and she couldn't bear it any more. She'd accepted that the Rangers weren't real, because the constant loss was too much to deal with.
After a while, Kim said she wanted to go out for a walk, to clear her head. She told Jason she wanted to go alone and he reluctantly agreed.
She waited until she was certain Jason hadn't followed her before finding a bench to sit out and reaching into her back pocket. The photo was severely crumpled and somewhat faded. She knew she ought to throw it away. She'd known for years. But somehow, she could never bring herself to do it. She could accept, logically, that Tommy wasn't real, but she still wanted to hold onto this final piece of him. There was a reason she had this picture and she would keep it for the rest of time, even if every kiss with Jason came with a dose of guilt because of it.
Maybe seeing Tommy was some sort of sign from her subconscious that she didn't really want to marry Jason. But she definitely didn't want to spend the rest of her life alone. And Jason had always been there, despite the craziness, despite everything. As a consolation prize, Kim couldn't hope for anyone better.
But still dreamed of a photograph.
An illusion.
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Jason heard the knock on the door and wondered if Kim had forgotten her key. He opened it, hoping to find her calmed and ready to talk. He wasn't best pleased to find, instead, the guy he'd warned away in the gym.
"I thought I told you to stay away," he said.
"I want to speak to Kimberly."
"I think she made it pretty clear she doesn't want to speak to you." Jason wondered what had happened between these two before he'd walked into the practice hall and seen this guy holding Kim's arm tight enough to hurt her. She'd looked so scared. She was so strong and capable, Jason could never have imagined seeing her so terrified of anyone.
"Let me see her." The guy had some nerve! Jason wanted to punch the guy again, give him a matching bruise on the other side of his jaw.
"Walk away now and maybe you won't get hurt," Jason said, stepping closer, glaring at the man from a distance that had to be intimidating. Instead, the man laughed.
"You're threatening me, Jason?" Jason took a second to wonder how this guy knew his name, but he gave another laugh and continued speaking before Jason had a chance to ask. "You got lucky in the gym. In a fair fight, you wouldn't stand a chance."
Jason wouldn't normally have risen to the challenge, but this guy was hitting every nerve. Jason was mad at Kim for not talking to him and this man for causing the problem. Right now, hitting the guy again seemed like a very good option.
He blocked. Jason attacked again, but this guy knew his karate. What had been intended to be a quick blow to knock some confidence out of him appeared to be turning into a full-blown karate match in the hotel corridor. It was as though this guy could anticipate every move Jason was going to make. For a minute or so, he wondered if this guy was playing with him, blocking every move but not attacking. Then came the attack and Jason wished he'd continued just defending. A series of blows and kicks Jason couldn't anticipate or prevent, and then one final kick in the chest sent Jason flying down the corridor.
That guy was good. It was as though he could see every weakness in Jason's style and exploit it. Jason looked up at him. Then he looked beyond him, to where Kimberly stood watching the fight. The guy noticed Jason's gaze and turned, standing silent for a long while, looking at Kim. She looked at both of them in turn. Jason felt kind of embarrassed at his unsuccessful attempt to defend her honour.
"Are you both quite done?" she asked. They may have been a trace of humour in her voice.
"I did come here to talk to you," said the guy, "not to beat up your fiancé." There was a bitterness in his tone on that word and Kim almost flinched at it.
"I don't want to talk to you, Tommy."
Tommy didn't seem disheartened by this. Instead he smiled. "So you do remember me."
"What is there to remember?" She wasn't looking at Tommy. Or at Jason. There were tears back in her eyes.
"How about our first kiss, by the lake, when you were comforting me about the candle? How about when I got the white powers and you were so surprised you fainted? How about when I rebuilt your float when it got destroyed? How about when this?"
He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to her. Kim reached into her own pocket and pulled something out. She started sobbing uncontrollably. Jason had had enough. He rushed over to her and hugged her. She dropped the things in her hand and wrapped her arms around Jason, crying into his shoulder.
"Never forget," she sobbed. Tommy picked up the two pieces of paper and smiled at them.
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Author's note: OK, so I can't describe fights. I think it's fair to say that Tommy would beat Jason easily, since Tommy would remember training together and Jason wouldn't. Plus, in King for a Day, Jason says that Tommy could match him move for move.
No Justin in this section, I'm afraid, but I wanted to get the meeting of these three done.