A/N Power Ranger Zeo Settings and Characters all belong to Haim Saban and Toei Company and the Fox. Any original characters and this story are copyright © 2011-2018 to Hopelessromanticgurl, all rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.
Thank you mae-E for being my beta!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO MY AMERICAN READERS! I'M SO THANKFUL FOR ALL MY FANS AND READERS! Thank you all for waiting while my family and I went through another move. I should be able to update more frequently again.
Tommy gasped, and Kimberly let out a scream. Tommy hugged Kimberly tighter as she started to breathe heavier and heavier and her body shook with fear.
"We have to try and keep her inside as much as possible, and if we go out, we need to be extra careful. Maybe we should have Kim wear a disguise or cut or dye her hair." Jason said.
"I think it's best if Kim went back to living in the command center until we get this figured out," Billy said.
"That might not be a bad idea. That's one place nobody will find her. Most of the world doesn't even know it's there." Tommy said. "Zordon and Alpha can help protect her too. Let's do it."
Everyone quickly got to work packing up Kim things to help keep her comfortable during her stay at the Command Center. Tommy stayed holding Kim, trying to comfort her as she panicked from the news.
Suddenly the doorbell rang. Everyone froze and looked to each other. Kimberly whimpered and hid her face in Tommy's chest.
"Ignore it. Maybe they will go away." Tommy whispered.
The doorbell rang once more and then there was a knock.
"This is ridiculous!" Jason rolled his eyes. "All four of us have a lifetime experience of the highest level of martial arts underneath our belt, and we're standing here like deer in headlights."
"Jason does have a point. I highly doubt that's Kim coach outside right now."
"For all, we know it could be Rocky, maybe he forgot something," Billy said.
The knocking and ringing doorbell continued.
"I'll go answer it," Trini said. "Stay in here. I'll be right back."
She left the room, and Kimberly whimpered.
"She'll be back," Tommy said softly. Why did he suddenly feel like he was trapped in a bad horror movie? The one person who says 'I'll be right back' never actually comes back.
Trini slowly approached the door. She couldn't stop the gulp that formed in her throat as she slowly reached for the handle.
She turned the handle ever so slowly and…
"Mr. and Mrs. Oliver." Trini sighed in relief.
"Hello, Trini, are you ok?" Mrs. Oliver asked.
"Yeah. Sorry about the wait. I was just getting out of the shower."
"You look like you just saw a ghost." Mr. Oliver said
"I was watching a scary movie, and I'm home alone, so I freaked myself out." Trini smiled softly.
"I thought you just said you were getting out of the shower?" Mr. Oliver asked.
"Oh! I was. What I meant to say was that I was watching TV after the shower as I was getting dressed. The movie that was playing was a scary movie. I like to have the tv playing when I'm home alone to create noise."
"Oh, so Jason and Tommy aren't home?" Mrs. Oliver asked.
"No." Trini lied smoothly.
"Are you sure. It's very important we speak to them."
"What's this about?" Trini asked.
"Have you seen the news? Kimberly has gone missing from the gym."
"What? Oh my gosh, that's awful!" Trini faked a shocked gasp. "Please come in. I can check to see if they came home while I was in the shower."
Mr. and Mrs. Oliver went into the living room and took a seat on the couch. "I'll be just a minute," Trini said nicely.
"Jason? Tommy? Are you home? Hello?" Trini called a little louder than she really needed as she walked down the hallway.
Jason came out of the bedroom closing the door a little on his way out.
"What's going on?" he asked. "It's Tommy's parents. They saw the news and need to talk to you and Tommy right away."
"We can't let anyone see Kim right now. It's too risky. Not to mention we need to figure out a cover story since she did teleport here." Jason said. "Tommy can't leave her alone right now she'll have a panic attack."
Trini nodded. "Let's go."
The two of them went into the living room.
"Look who I found," Trini said.
"I'm so sorry. I was working out, and I had the music pretty loud." Jason said.
"I didn't hear any music." Mrs. Oliver said.
"Oh yeah, that's because,…I had my headphones in."
"Have you seen the news?" Mr. Oliver asked.
"Not recently. Why, what's going on?"
"It's Kimberly. She's missing from the gym in Florida. Nobody has seen her, and nobody knows where she is or how long ago she left."
"What? No!" Jason faked a gasp and shook his head. "No. How could they let that happen!"
"I don't know. But we need to inform Tommy as soon as we can. Have you seen him?"
"No. I…"
Before he could finish, there was a familiar six beep tone coming from the other room.
"What was that?" Mrs. Oliver asked.
"Nothing. Just my alarm for my push ups, I forgot to shut it." Jason lied.
"That sounds a lot like Tommy's pager. He never leaves it at home."
Mr. and Mrs. Oliver stood up and went to follow the sound. Jason and Trini tried to stop them but they couldn't.
They went into Tommy's room and gasped.
Jason and Trini sighed in relief. Tommy, Kimberly, and Billy were gone.
"Where did they go?" Jason mouthed.
Trini shrugged.
"If you hear or see from Tommy please tell him to call us. He needs to know about Kimberly." Mrs. Oliver said.
"We will," Jason said.
Trini walked them out, and Jason, let out a sigh of relief. That was a close call. But where did Tommy and Kimberly go?
With Tommy and Kim a few minutes before, Kimberly was crying in Tommy's arms shaking.
"It's going to be ok, Beautiful. I'm right here. You're safe. Shhh, breathe, breathe, just breathe." Tommy soothed rubbing her back.
Suddenly his communicator went off. He mentally growled. "Machine Empire has the worst timing." He brought his communicator to his lips. "Zordon this is Tommy."
"Tommy, you, Kimberly, and Billy need to teleport to the command center right away."
"ON our way," Tommy said.
He held Kimberly tighter and teleported him along with Billy to the command center. They vanished in streams of color just as the door opened.
As they landed in the command center, Tommy looked to Zordon. "I can't leave Kimberly right now, Zordon. She'll have a panic attack. I won't be any good in battle if Kimberly's Crane calls her Falcon."
"Relax, Tommy. You aren't here for a ranger battle. You are here because Alpha and I have become aware of the situation. Rocky informed us of what he saw. He also passed your parents on the way out and informed them. Jason and Trini handled the situation. We are working on a plan to help protect Kimberly. In the meantime, it is best that she stay here when she is safe."
"I agree. Thank you, Zordon." Tommy sighed in relief.
"Alpha and I have expanded the Command Center a little bit, and we have added another room. You can only get there by teleporting. It is just another way to keep Kimberly safe." Zordon explained. "However it looks like a normal bedroom. There is a bed, dresser, closet, and built in a bathroom with working shower and bathtub."
"Thank you, Zordon," Kimberly said softly.
"It is our pleasure. Kimberly, the room has been made big enough for two people. But if you ever want your privacy just tell me, and we can put Tommy in a different room." Zordon explained.
"No!" Kimberly cried. "I want Tommy with me."
"That is what I figured, but I just wanted to be sure. It is also good you're staying here. The two of you really need to work on your connection. We need test it and see just how strong it is and also learn to control it, so Tommy isn't forced into crippling pain every time you are spooked by something."
"Yeah. That might make watching horror movies a bit more difficult." Billy teased lightly.
Kimberly giggled. "I never watched horror movies before the connection. I'm not about to start now. But Zordon does have a point. If you're in battle and I get spooked by a spider or something, I don't want you to be affected by it."
Tommy chuckled. "A girl who used to battle freaky clay creatures and strange monsters is scared of spiders?"
Kimberly stuck her tongue out at him. "It's not funny. They are like so gross."
"And there is the old Kimberly we know and love." Billy laughed.
Tommy hugged Kim and kissed her head. "How would we test this connection, Zordon?"
"Different situations, sometimes you two will be in the same room, other times you two will be in different rooms."
"I don't like that idea." Kimberly said softly looking at the floor.
"We will not be starting today. You are understandably still shaken by the news. We will start in a few days when you've had some time to relax and readjust to your new living situation."
Kimberly sighed and nodded. She still didn't like the idea of testing her connection with him. What if she really hurt him?
A few days went by, and Kimberly got settled back at the command center. Tommy practically lived there with her.
One afternoon Zordon had them meet him in the main room.
"Rangers, I feel it is time to test your connection , we had discussed earlier," Zordon told them.
"Ok, how exactly do we test it?" Tommy asked.
"Today's test will be very simple. You will both sit back to back. Tommy, you will wear a blindfold, and then Alpha will show Kimberly a picture of an object. We want to see if you're able to see what Kimberly sees through your connection."
"Ok, just no pictures of Jason naked or anything." Tommy teased knowing Kim was nervous.
Kimberly giggled and shook her head. "Even I don't want to see that."
"They will only be pictures of objects," Zordon said. "Now take a seat."
Tommy and Kim took a seat on the floor pressing their backs to each other. Alpha wrapped a white blindfold over his eyes.
"Zordon this isn't a good idea. When my Crane called Tommy I didn't even realize I was doing it. I don't know how I did it." Kimberly said.
"We will work on that at another time. Right now all you're doing is looking at pictures. Do not worry, my Crane. I would never do anything that would cause you or Tommy to be hurt."
"I…I'm still your Crane?" Kimberly asked. "I thought Kat…"
"Kat controls the zord and the pink power coin. The Crane is your spirit animal. A spirit animal is an animal that lives deep within you, within your soul. Nobody can take that away from you. You are and always will my be my Crane just not as much as you're Tommy's."
Kimberly smiled with happy tears in her eyes. "Ok, let's do this."
Alpha walked over to Kimberly and held up a small white card with a red ball on it.
"Tommy, what do you see?" Zordon asked.
"Darkness." Tommy answered.
"I'm trying." Kimberly sighed. "I don't know how I did it the first time."
"What were you thinking about?" Tommy asked. He reached behind him and took Kim's hand giving it a squeeze.
"I was scared." Kimberly's voice cracked as she spoke. "I was scared and I just really wanted you. I wanted you to hold me and tell me everything was ok. I wanted you to promise me that nobody was ever going to hurt me again. I wanted you…"
A loud screeching sound was heard.
"Ah!" Tommy cried out grabbing his head as he fell over.
"Oops." Kimberly whimpered. "Tommy, I'm so sorry! Are you ok?"
Tommy sat up and grabbed her hand again. "I'm fine. That was nothing compared to some of the other times."
"Kimberly, I want you to close your eyes for a minute, take a deep breath, relax. Try and focus all your thoughts and all your energy on your Crane connecting to her Falcon." Zordon said.
Kimberly inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. She closed her eyes as thought about Tommy and nothing but Tommy. She opened her eyes and looked at the picture of the ball once more.
"It's a ball," Tommy said.
"Amazing!" Alpha said. He switched the card to something else.
"It's a cat," Tommy answered again.
"It's so cute!" Kimberly squealed making everyone laugh.
Alpha changed the card again. "It's a bird."
"This is amazing," Zordon said.
"It's a chair. It's a table. It's a bed. It's a dog. It's a desk" Tommy started flying through the flashcard faster and faster each time.
About an hour later Tommy removed his blindfold. "That was so cool."
"It was fun." Kimberly nodded.
"Good. Now it's time to switch." Zordon said.
"Switch?" Kimberly gasped.
"Yes, now Tommy must practice at connecting with you the same way."
Alpha walked over and wrapped a pink blindfold over her eyes. It wasn't complete darkness, but she couldn't see where she was or who was around her. She gasped softly, and she could feel her heart beating out of her chest. "Tommy!"
"I'm right here, Beautiful." Tommy soothed grabbing her hand again. "You're safe."
"No. Stop! I don't like this!" She ripped the blindfold from over her eyes and panted as she looked around.
"Hey, it's ok. You're safe." Tommy soothed. He pulled her into his arms. "You're safe."
"I can't." Kimberly gasped. "I can't. Please. I'm sorry, I can't."
"Shhh, breathe. You're safe." Tommy soothed rubbing her back.
Tommy nor Kimberly were sure how it happen but the next thing they knew they were in a field full of flowers. A pink crane sat on the floor crying and shaking. Seconds later her White Falcon flew down and wrapped the pink Crane safely in his wings. The Crane stopped shaking and stopped crying and relaxed feeling safe in the arms/wings of her true love.
Seconds later they were back in the command center, and Kimberly was calm.
"What just happen?" Alpha asked.
"I have no idea." Tommy said.
"Where did the two of you go?" Zordon asked. "All we saw was a pink and white glow around both of your bodies."
"I honestly don't know. All I know is I wanted to calm Kimberly down. I wanted her to feel safe again." All of a sudden a pink and white glow formed around them again.
"What's happening?" Kimberly asked.
"Your Falcon is working hard to keep his Crane safe and making sure she feels safe." Zordon said with a smile.
"We can do anything as long as we focus on our Falcon and Crane," Tommy said. "When you cried out to me the first time you were scared, and you really needed me. Just now I wanted to do whatever I could to make you feel safe again. I wanted to show you that you were safe with me and always will be."
"Your connection is truly remarkable." Zordon said. "I firmly believe that through your connection there isn't anything you two can't do."
Kimberly and Tommy shared a hug and kiss on the lips.
A/N What do you think? Leave me your thoughts in a review. Those who review with an account will get a sneak peek at the next chapter so please review!
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