Greetings, fellow Power Rangers fans. No, I do NOT own them. I think the legend(s) referred here fall under public domain but just in case I'm disclaiming any ownership here. Clear? Good. Now on with the fluff!
Just five left? Ai ai ai.
55: Knight
It was a rainy Sunday evening. Kimberly was sitting on the porch swing, watching the rain fall down like drops of memories as she thought. Junior year had begun, and she was still a Power Ranger. Rocky, Aisha, and Adam had really come into their own as the Red, Yellow, and Black Power Rangers. But that brought her to Billy and Tommy. Her true love and her boyfriend. Putties.
Tommy was her knight in shining… spandex. The thought made her lips quirk upward. He was a great fighter, loyal, well-meaning, and protected her. Plus he was cute.
But then there was Billy. The smartest guy she had ever met. Billy was also the sweetest; he always tried his best in battle, in school, and with friends. He had been adorable; now he was outright hot. Also he was now pretty much Tommy's equal in battle. And she had a feeling if he didn't know that Tommy would come to her rescue he'd come to it herself. Furthermore he put up with watching all her animated movies with her.
Tommy preferred action flicks. Of course, he never made her watch them just like she never made him watch animated movies. There was also the vague feeling that kissing Tommy didn't feel right. It felt like kissing Nick… and she had never wanted to kiss Nick. There was no magic in it; his arrival never made her heart skip a beat like whenever Billy showed up. Holding his hand, touching his cheek, hugging him- there was no tingle, no rush like there was with Billy.
In short, Tommy might be her knight, but Billy was her Prince Charming. The problem was that she wasn't his princess. They had been friends since pre-school and probably would always be friends. Just friends.
She looked out at the rain. Now it looked like the tears she wanted to cry. She was in a sibling-like relationship and all the while had to spend day after day being so close and yet so far from her real love.
A blue bike rode by and halted in front of the house.
"Kimberly?"
She recognized the face framed by the hood of the blue raincoat, and her spirits couldn't help but lift. She waved him over.
"Hello, Billy."
"Greetings, Kimberly," he replied as he walked up the porch steps. "Watching the precipitation I presume?"
"More or less," she shrugged, scooting over to make room for Billy on the porch swing. Dripping raindrops he did so. He looked out at the downpour.
"It is beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yes." And with her prince by her side, the rain no longer reminded Kimberly of tears.
"Your garden won't need manmade moisture for some time," he commented, smiling over at her. His smile was much brighter than Tommy's, she observed faintly.
"Yes," she replied breathlessly. She could smell his scent of electricity and vanilla, brought out by the rain, and it was putting her under a spell far more effective than any of Rita's.
"Rocky and Aisha had required my aid for their algebra homework, and afterwards I… I simply wanted to spend time with you."
"Oh."
Billy made to get up. "Is Tommy coming over?'
"What? No," she scoffed. "He and Adam went over to Adam's old dojo in Stone Canyon to find some new opponents to squish that aren't monsters."
"What? They're tired of the range of variety that Rita, Lord Zedd, and their friends offer?" Billy asked in mock shock, making Kimberly laugh. Gently reaching out a hand she pulled down his raincoat's hood.
"I was thinking of you, actually, and now here you are."
"I-" Billy's cheeks heated, and he looked down awkwardly. Almost inaudibly he told her, "I think about you a lot."
"Me too," Kimberly breathed, leaning in. Oh, she was drowning in him now as the night closed in on the clouds above.
"Too much maybe…" Billy confessed, still looking down at his hands on his lap.
"I can't stop thinking about you; and I don't want to."
"I don't want to either," he murmured. "Stop thinking about you, that is."
She overlaid her hand over his. "Billy…"
"Kimberly," he responded, finally meeting her eyes. "Kimberly."
She felt a shiver go down her back as the rain started to pound down in reply.
Their foreheads somehow, suddenly closing he sighed, "I should go home. Someone needs to make dinner and I know it won't be Dad."
Kimberly nodded, drawing back. She had almost kissed Billy while dating Tommy. He would have hated her for that, for being involved in a betrayal of their leader. That would have doomed any relationship they had had and possibly the unity of the Ranger team. He would have hated her for that. For repeating legend. Pulling back up his hood he waved farewell. She waved back.
As he rode back on his bike into the thick rain she sighed.
The only difference in the legend to her mind would have been that he'd be the king and Tommy the knight.
