At Billy's statement that he knew someone else that may be able to help wake Tommy, the rest of the Rangers as well as Zordon and Alpha once again looked hopeful. There was still a chance they could save their friend. It wasn't over yet. They just needed to hang on a little longer and then they'd get their leader back from under Zedd's spell…
But Kimberly's vehement objection swiftly shifted the atmosphere of the room from excited to confused. If Billy had a way to save Tommy, why would Kim protest so strongly? Didn't she want to help her ex be free from the apple's poison? She had come all the way from Florida herself to attempt to fix him with a kiss. Why now would she want to prevent an end to the boy's slumber? In fact what did it even have to do with her?
"Billy, we promised," Aisha reminded the Blue Ranger, in a soft but clearly warning tone. They had made an agreement with Kimberly to protect her secret. But there would be no way to do that if they went through with what their bespectacled buddy was implying.
The blonde young man's shoulders slumped at the gentle chide from his yellow partner as well as the way Kimberly had so passionately disagreed. He knew he would be breaking his word if it went about what he wanted to do. But at that point he was out of ideas and desperate. The team had always relied on Billy to be the one to form solutions to their troubles. They trusted his judgement and his ability to get outside of a problem and solve it. For years he had done so at every pass, but if he failed now. If he couldn't help Tommy, it would be all not.
All the good he had done… That the entire team had done, wouldn't matter if they lost the White Ranger, "It's the only idea I have left," I admitted, a pained and desperate look playing behind his usually clear blue eyes, "I can't think of anyone that Tommy would love more than his own daughter, even without meeting her,"
The almost pleading tone in the teens voice struck Kimberly in the heart, as if she'd been hit by one of her own arrows. Her lifelong friend was clinging to just one shred of hope, fearful that he wouldn't be able to riddle this one out another way. That he wouldn't complete this mission and he'd let everyone down.
From the day they had switched bodies a few years before Kim and Billy had developed a deep bond that likely most wouldn't expect. The bubbly cheerleader and the awkward Scientist didn't seem like two people that would be particularly close, but because of their shared experience they understood one another on a deeper level. For that reason, Kimberly knew how badly Billy wanted to fit in. How important it was for him to keep with the status quo of the team, terrified that if he could no longer fulfil the role of the brain of the group, they would have no need for him anymore. If they couldn't depend on him to be the fixer, what then would be.
It was those thoughts that occupied the former Pink Ranger's mind, when her replacement spoke, "Daughter, what you are you talking about, Billy," Katherine asked raising her fair brows in a perfect arch, "Tommy doesn't have a daughter,"
"Kim," Coaxed Aisha, her tone gentle but prodding. She didn't want to push too hard and make her friend shut down, immediately demanding Alpha to send her home. But she knew that it was going to require delicate coaching to get her to open up. Stepping over to Kim, she rested her hand on the other girl's shoulder supportively, offering a light squeeze as the rest of the Rangers looked on perplexed.
As every eye in the room seemed to bore into her, stripping away the armor she had guarded her new life with, Kimberly began to feel naked and exposed. The carefully constructed walls she built to keep the truth in and prying eyes out crumbling. What could she do? Could she lie to her friends again, to deny the truth right to their faces? Could she leave Billy and Aisha looking like fools for suggesting the existence of her child. Leave Tommy stuck in his eternal sleep just to keep Bianca's parentage hidden? Or continue the lie of her affair with another man just to separate herself from the baby's father?
No. No she couldn't do any of those things. Not anymore. The dishonesty had been so easy to remain from a distance. A few well placed lies and she had created a false trail that had led them all in the wrong directions. They had never suspected her subterfuge because they trusted her. Believed her without doubt cause they had thought her to be an honest person who wouldn't mislead people she cared about. And now, now that she was once again standing in the Command Center surrounded by those who had such faith in her, Kimberly knew it was time to end the charade and to once again be the girl they thought her to be.
Kimberly's eyes dropped to the floor, her face hidden in shame. Her throat felt suddenly dry and she swallowed several times to moisten it before speaking, "Yes he does… He has - we have a daughter," The words left the young woman's lips as more of a croak than as the strong confident statement she had meant for it to be. But it was out there now. The truth hung in the air like a thick, heavy haze.
Around her everyone was speechless, stunned into silence by the revelation that none, not even Zordon with all of his centuries of life experience and wisdom had ever suspected. Perhaps he had kept better tabs on his former Ranger when she left the team. Maybe he should have continued to monitor the young girl in the time she was gone. Then this news wouldn't have come as such a shock to the rest of the teens. But the ancient being had been far too focused on the current team to dedicate time to those who had left. Forgetting about them when he no longer had need for them. And guilt filled him.
Rocky was the first to find his voice, eyes wide and mouth agape, "Woah, wait you and Tommy have kids," He asked looking entirely bewildered.
"A kid, Rocky, one, singular," Billy clarified for their petite friend, giving Kim the chance to collect her thoughts. She had been keeping this secret for a long time and he knew it couldn't have been easy for her to admit it to everyone in one fail swoop.
Quiet and pensive Adam stepped over to Kimberly then, and wrapped one of his strong arms around the girl's shoulders, offering a supportive hug, "Why didn't you tell us," He asked, squeezing her gently.
In all those months of secrecy and all that time of doing this alone, Kim had been so strong. She had held it all together for her child. She had fought when others would have given up. And she had done it without those she cared about behind her. She thought she was fine on her own. She never would have guessed all it would take to undo her strength was the kid hug of a friend. As tears trickled down her cheeks, Kimberly finally admitted to herself how much she had missed her friends, missed her home and how badly she missed her old life. Out of sight had been out of mind for over a year. But now, when face to face with care and love of those that deep down she could have counted on, the truth was absence had made the heart grow fonder.
"It's a long story," She sniffled, wiping her weepy, dark eyes with the back of her small hands, "I'll tell you all, all about it… I promise. But first we have to wake Tommy up, so I can tell him… And he meet his little girl,"
From the tube in the center of the room Zordon's booming voice finally pierced through into the conversation, "Yes, I believe we all wish to meet your child, Kimberly. We can only hope she will have the ability to bring her father out of Zedd's spell;"
Katherine had been standing by the wayside during this entire scene taking everything in as it happened. It was all far too much to process. One minute the other Rangers were welcoming Kimberly back into their folds as though she were their long lost best friend. Next they were discussing a baby… The illegitimate love child of her boyfriend and his ex? If having Tommy under the Poisoned Apple's spell was a bad dream, this was an absolute nightmare, "This is ludicrous, all of this… First you bring Kim back here to help Tommy, which was an utter failure, now you're suggesting the solution to the situation is an infant that may or may not even he his daughter,"
The small noise that Kimberly made in the back of her throat in response sounded more like a squeak than any real articulation. Though she couldn't necessarily blame her female foe for not believing her, she had been lying to her friends for a year and a half, there was something about the way Kat had questions Bianca's paternity hit hard. Yes she had created the fake boyfriend with the intention of protecting the identity of the child's father, but now that the truth was out in the open she had never expected to be questioned. Perhaps her rouse had worked far too well. Or maybe the Pink Ranger simply thought Kim was a disgrace. A liar and a tramp who betrayed the boy she loved by having an affair and getting pregnant and now she was trying to pin the child on her honorable ex. Katherine couldn't be further off the mark though.
Luckily Rocky was quick to come to the defense of his old friend, "If Kimberly says Tommy's her baby's father, then he is," The Red Ranger snapped back, his voice firm, yet holding a gentle quality that showed his unwavering support for Kim. Stepping closer to the gymnast he stood on the opposite side of her from where Adam remained after their hug. A protective circle forming around the girl, with Katherine looking in from the outside.
"We don't exactly have the time to sit here and debate it anyway," Adam spoke up, he trusted Kimberly and had no doubts about what she was saying. But he was also always trying to be the peacekeeper, "If we're wrong, we're no worse off than we are now. But right now Tommy needs us to get along and find a way to save him. We have to try everything."
All eyes were on Kim once again, the pressure of their gazes heavy on her shoulders. She knew they wouldn't do anything without her permission. And she knew that this may be their last hope to save her former flame. Still she was scared. She had put this off for so long for a myriad of reasons that seemed so incidental now. Her back now against the wall she had no choice and could only answer with the slightest nod of her head.
Quickly Billy sprung into action beside Alpha 5, working the keys of the computer like a virtuoso, a maestro at the piano, "Alpha do a sweep of the area of our last teleportation and lock on to readings that seem to be a molecular match for Kimberly and Tommy," He instructed the kindly android.
"You got it Billy," Replied their robotic buddy as he tinkered with the controls, "I've found something. Teleporting now,"
Within seconds, an adorable 8 month old, with dark hazel eyes just like those of her father, rosy round cheeks and dressed in tiny pink overalls appeared in her mother's arms, "Hello my beautiful girl," Kim spoke soothingly to the infant, knowing as an adult how traumatic teleporting could be as an adult, she was sure it had be to worse for an unsuspecting child.
Bianca Jade, made a handful of small fussy noises that expressed her discomfort about the entire situation. Especially finding herself in an unfamiliar space, being stared at by a group of strange faces. And when Zordon spoke welcoming the tiny tot to the Command Center, the little girl let out a large wail, which caused the Rangers to wince at the sound. Luckily the crying didn't last long as once the child peered Alpha in the corner all shiny, bright and colorful she let out a series of the most adorable giggles, with wide excited eyes, it was obvious she thought she had just found the coolest toy in the galaxy.
Slowly, Kimberly ascended the stairs to the platform where sleeping Tommy lay. Carefully she sat back down beside him, holding BJ in her arms, "I hope this works," She said, speaking to no one and everyone at the same time, "Give kisses, BJ"
Leaning in gently she allowed the little girl to nuzzle her face against her father's, small drops of baby drool dripping onto Tommy's cheek as her mouth rubbed over his flesh. It wasn't exactly the most precise kiss, but it was close. The best a small child could muster on instruction. And the results were almost immediate.
One second Kim was handing the baby over to Aisha to hold, the next she felt a slight tickle at the side of her jeans. Tommy's hand had been laying beside her leg, on the bed when a small twitch started in his pinky, rubbing against the rough fabric of Kimberly's pants. Quickly the retired ranger snatched up her ex's gloved hand in her own, small clutch, "Tommy," She cried, her voice full of glee, as her other hand moved to stroke through the young man's long, dark hair, "Tommy, open your eyes,"
Fingers curled around his, as Tommy's lids began to slowly flutter. A faint voice cutting through the fog in his brain. It was a distant voice but a familiar one, a voice that tinkled like bells in his ears. It was a sound that made him feel safe and warm. A sound he couldn't place, but knew it was there to lead him from the haze. So he followed the beautiful sound through a tunnel of darkness and out the other side into dazzling light.
Hazel eyes opened slowly, then closed again with a groan. The light at the end of that tunnel had been the bright lights of the Command Center and the boy grimaced at all the stimulation surrounding him, light and sounds finally penetrating his mind after a long slumber. Squeezing his eyes shut tightly he tried to find that voice again. To pick out of the din of frantic friend's, excited by his reanimation, the sound that he followed back to consciousness.
"Tommy, open your eyes," Kimberly coaxed again in a gentle tone reminiscent of sweet honey.
And he knew in that moment, what the lyrical voice that led him through the dark was, "Kim," A sleepy smile spread over the boy's face, his full lips, curling up at the side, as his eyes fluttered open again. It took a second for his gaze to focus, but when he did, he was staring at the pretty face of his ex, "Kimberly, what are you doing here? What happened,"
"White Ranger, you were spelled by Lord Zedd's Poisoned Apple Monster. You have been under its spell of eternal sleep for several days," Explained Zordon speaking above the rest of the team, "You were finally awoken by the kiss of true love,"
"Is that why you're here Kimberly, did you wake me up," Sitting up slowly the White Ranger took a moment to adjust to waking up. He was still slightly groggy as the spell wore off and his muscles were in desperate need of stretching. His throat was also quite dry and he could use a glass of cold water. But first he wanted an explanation of his ex-girlfriend's presence. Why had it been Kim he saw first when opening his eyes and not Katherine… Where was Kat anyway?
Biting her lower lip nervously, Kimberly dropped her gaze down in a shy, insecure manner for a second. When she looked back up, the gamut of emotions she had run through in the last twenty four hours were clearly visible on her face, "Not exactly," She answered sincerely, gesturing to Aisha to hand Bianca to her, "She did… Tommy, I want you to meet your daughter,"