Wow I was able to post this on time tonight. Go me! This chapter was hard for me to write simply because I didn't know how I wanted Tommy and Kimberly to act, but I had an idea. Anyway, it's what you've been waiting to read. As for the 100th reviewer, rosebudjamie is my 100th and I thank her for her reading. In return, I will be working to get a special from an episode and text added, so no one but rosebudjamie can claim it. Enjoy everyone!
Chapter 25 Silence in a Time of Need
When Kimberly awoke, her head was pounding. She groaned inwardly, pulling her knees in with her hands. It was then that she realized her head was cushioned on something soft, something that she did not remember passing out on. When she glanced up, she recognized a familiar face glancing down at her. "Tommy?" she asked shakily, fearing that he was simply another illusion created by Maroon's torture. Any familiar face was a welcome one. Heck, even seeing Skull's face would be better than nothing, which Kimberly was sure of.
"It's me," came the hoarse reply.
Kimberly pushed herself into a sitting position, ignoring Tommy's pushing to keep her laying down. "I'm fine, Tommy," she replied.
"No, you're not. You're cut and bruised all over," Tommy answered as he watched Kimberly maneuver her body into a more comfortable position, noticing the lack of use in her legs. He hadn't wanted to believe the video he had saw earlier, instead wanting to think it was a trick of Kimberly's own devising, but now he had to believe it. Kimberly really couldn't use her legs at all.
"I can take care of myself, Tommy," said Kimberly in a huff. Ever since her accident, she hated people caring for her like she was a simple cripple. She was independent, and she would prove it to anyone who'd dare deny it.
"I'm only trying to help you, Kimberly. You don't have to get defensive."
"I'm not. I said I'm fine, Tommy," answered Kimberly as she moved her body back into a corner as far away from Tommy as she could get.
Tommy felt his anger rising, but kept it in check. He turned himself away from Kimberly, and lowered his head. He couldn't believe the way Kimberly was acting. He was only trying to help her and she simply kept pushing him away. He'd done nothing wrong; that's what angered him the most. He should be pushing her away.
The two sat in silence for a long time. The next thing that both of them heard was the sound of footsteps coming toward their cell. Soon Maroon stood glaring into their cell. Kimberly knew that her anger knew no bounds, but she wasn't sure if Tommy knew that. However, she wasn't going to be the one to warn him. "Well, well…. Looks like I have a lovely twosome of ex-lovers," began Maroon. "It seems as though both of you are still fighting. No kiss and make up?"
"Stay out of our lives, Maroon," growled Tommy. "It's not your business."
"Well then I must make it my business," she responded as she slid the key into the lock, entering the cell. Tommy rose to meet her, but she simply shoved him back to the floor. Tommy landed hard, and couldn't find the energy to stand again. Maroon simply walked past Tommy and over to Kimberly. She bent over at the girl and grinned. "Miss me, Kimmy?"
Kimberly refused to answer Maroon, and received a hard slap across the face. "Don't toy with me, my little toy. I am the mistress here." Maroon place her arms under Kimberly's and dragged her so that she was back to back with Tommy. "Now, you two must suffer together. Nothing will tear you apart," she laughed as she exited the cell and locked it again.
Once the sound of Maroon's footsteps had disappeared, Kimberly tried to move herself away from Tommy, but found that Maroon had spoken literally. No matter how she struggled, she could not break free from Tommy's back. "Just great…" she muttered.
"What'd you say?" asked Tommy.
"Nothing that concerns you," retorted Kimberly.
"Why are you acting this way?" asked Tommy angrily. "What did I do wrong to you!"
I'm trying to keep you away from me because guys simply don't date girls in wheelchairs Kimberly wanted to say. Instead her terse reply was, "Because I can."
"There's no point in acting this way, Kimberly. We're probably going to be stuck here for awhile like this. Might as well be civil."
"You wish," answered Kimberly.
Tommy reached around and grabbed Kimberly by the wrist. "Stop treating me like this! First the letter, now this. What's up with you? I want some answers, Kimberly. You owe me that much."
Kimberly sighed, but didn't answer. She didn't want to tell him, wasn't prepared to tell him. He did deserve to know, he had every right. "I… I can't…"
Tommy released Kimberly's wrist and drew his hands together, resting his head on them. "I simply don't understand you anymore, Kimberly." He became silent and asked no more of her. He wasn't going to get anywhere by forcing answers from her. Minutes turned into hours and hours turned into late night. Tommy kept nodding in and out of sleep. Sitting up and trying to sleep at the same time was not a good combination. At some point, his ears picked up a soft sound. The sound of crying. "Kimberly?" asked Tommy softly.
"What?" came the strained answer.
"Why are you crying?"
"There's no other way. After everything I did, there's simply no other way."
"Huh?" Tommy was confused.
"You want answers, don't you?"
"Well, yeah…"
Kimberly wiped away the tears from her eyes. "I knew I'd have to tell this sometime, but I never thought it'd be here and certainly not now."
"I'm listening."
"I'm sure by now you've noticed I never use my legs."
"I saw the wheelchair in the video Zordon had, Kim."
"I caused it," began Kimberly. "I overworked my body training for Pan Globals and messed up on one of my beam routines, causing my body to be paralyzed from the waist down. I never told anyone, but Trini. Even she had to drag it out of me."
"Why?" asked Tommy.
"I didn't want anyone to have to deal with me. I didn't want anyone to know. I didn't want to even deal with myself. So I tried sparing you by sending the letter. It was foolish, but you didn't need me like this. I was a burden."
"Kimberly, you couldn't be a burden."
"Yes, Tommy, yes I was. As a Ranger, you didn't need me. You lead such an active lifestyle and I would simply be in the way as I am now. I would simply put you and the others at risk. So instead I kept myself distance, disappeared. Only Trini knew, and she kept the secret; in return I had to eventually tell everyone someday."
Tommy was silent for a few minutes as the information sank in. "So there was no other guy?"
"There never was another guy, Tommy. There simply was a new lifestyle."
"I see," nodded Tommy. "Why didn't you trust me, Kimberly?"
"It's not that I didn't trust you Tommy. It's just… I didn't think you could handle me like this, something totally different and changed."
"So you didn't trust that I could handle seeing you like this? Instead you sent me that "Dear John" letter, telling me we're through and that you had another guy? Kim, that was simply unlike you completely. You couldn't even call me and tell me, just some simple letter. To top it off, you sent it to where everyone else would see me get it. That was crazy."
Kimberly was silent, and Tommy figured that she'd retreated back into her shell, and wouldn't say anything else. However, she began to speak softly. "Tommy, what I did was a bit crazy, but I was upset and depressed. I didn't know what else to do and I did regret it for awhile after I sent the letter, but things were too late to be changed and I never heard from you again."
"I was too angry and upset at the time. I was afraid that if I did ask you about the letter, I'd find it true. I couldn't face that fact so I hid from it."
The two sat in silence, neither one speaking up. Kimberly felt somewhat relieved. She'd finally been able to keep part of her promise to her mother and Trini. Tommy knew the entire story now and she did feel much better about herself. There were no more secrets kept from him. She only hoped that someday he could forgive what she'd done to him. She hoped that he understood why she did what she did now and wouldn't hold that too much against her.
Tommy looked up to the ceiling. He'd finally gotten the answers he'd been wanting to discover, but they weren't the ones he thought he'd find. Kimberly didn't have another guy. Tommy had felt very relieved to hear that statement for some reason. He did wish that Kimberly had told him about her accident sooner… he wouldn't have reacted in a bad way, would he? He didn't think he would, but then again, he couldn't tell what he would have done. After all, he had thought that Kimberly was creating the disability when he'd first seen the video at the Power Chamber.
Footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway again. Tommy pretended to be asleep, and he had a feeling that Kimberly had as well when he felt her body go limp behind him. Loud cackling told him that Rita was on her way to pay a visit to the two of them. He hoped she would be more civil than Maroon had… the idea of Rita actually being civil brought a smile to Tommy's face. He must really be cracking when he hoped Rita would be civil.
Rita glanced in at the two teenagers. "Okay you two. Cut the act. I know that neither of you are sleeping. I heard you talking earlier."
Tommy groaned and his eyes snapped open to look at the alien empress. "What do you want?" he growled.
"Oh you think I'm up to something?"
"There's no doubt in my mind," answered Tommy.
"Very observant of you, Tommy. I do have something in mind, but that is not what I'm here for right now."
"Then why are you here?" asked Tommy.
"To see what my dear Maroon has been up to with the two of you. I've only heard stories up until now. I see she has done better than expected," noted Rita.
"Yes, she has and you just wait until the other Rangers get here. They'll kill her."
"Kill her? As if I care. She was simply created to serve a purpose and she has served that purpose well so far. If your Ranger buddies kill her, so be it. She was only a part of my grand plan. Soon I will have no more need for her."
"Then what do you want with Kimberly and I?"
"Oh, it's too soon to tell you that now. You'll find out in a few hours though." Rita noticed that Kimberly had kept quiet and that Tommy had done all of the talking so far. She didn't like the silence that the girl was exhibiting. "You're a little too quiet there, Kimmy. What's wrong with you?"
Kimberly didn't answer. She didn't want to answer. Rita had ruined her life. Just when she'd thought she was moving on, getting used to everything, Rita had popped an entirely new angle on everything. Kimberly was not one to hate anybody, but she hated, no, loathed Rita Repulsa more than anything in the world.
Rita wasn't going to take silence for an answer. She entered the cell and walked around until she was facing Kimberly. She crouched down and grabbed Kimberly's chin, forcing Kimberly to look at her. "I said what's wrong with you? I know you're not deaf so spit it out."
"I refuse to talk to someone who ruins my life and my dreams," spat Kimberly.
"Oh but I can change that," suggested Rita vaguely. Kimberly couldn't ignore that statement, but she wouldn't acknowledge it either. "You will see in a few hours." She released Kimberly's chin and then turned to leave the cell. "Remember what I said." Then Rita locked the cell and retreated down the hallway once again.
Tommy was in awe. Kimberly hadn't mentioned Rita having a hand in her accident. She had said it as though it had been her fault completely, not Rita's. He figured that Kimberly had only found out after being captured. He knew it had to be hard on her. It had to be. To have your dreams ruined by an enemy? One you'd not seen since your Power Ranger days? "Kim?" Tommy asked softly.
Kimberly didn't answer him. She was too busy figuring out what Rita had meant. Could she really give Kimberly back the ability to walk? That was a ridiculous idea though. Two to one she wants me to do something in return for her. I will never work for her. Never. Not even if it lets me walk again.
Well there you have it. However, I'm sure you all know that their talk is not finished. Keep reading to find out!
Next time on Windmill into the Fall Rita has a little chat with Kimberly. What happened to Bulk and Skull after they were knocked out? Plus, what are the Rangers up to back on Earth? Find out next time on Windmill into the Fall!