Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

Notes: Angel Grove in the original series was set in Southern California, probably near Los Angeles as where the majority of the filming took place. For the sake of the reboot movie, Angel Grove in this fic will be slightly further north towards Ventura county where dairy farms are and still close to the coast where commercial fishing occurs. There will be words from the Jicarilla Apache language. Shi Dadee (pronounced da-deh) means my sister, shi na'áá means my brother, shish dazha means younger brother/sister, dade' (near same pronunciation as dadee only with a shorter ending) means older sister, máá means mother, ka'éé means father. There's a wonderful little app made by the Jicarilla Apache tribe available for free where you can learn more words and a bit of the tribe's culture and history. Check it out!

Expert Level: Pro

The Goldar Dust glowed with the red energy of the Xalantan stone. Since Goldar's destruction, the left over "dust" reanimated Rita's putties but they were taken care of quickly by the power rangers. Then the dust was weak, letting its energy drain because it no longer had a master or a purpose. But then the red energy of the Xalantan stone gave it a purpose. It had a surge in power and needed a vessel.

Traveling in liquid form, glowing red with golden hues, the Goldar Dust made its way all around Angel Grove, but the town was too damaged and nothing strong enough to hold it could be found. So, it went further out, towards the mountains. It passed people and cars but they were either too quick or not strong enough to be of use. Perhaps there would be something in the mountains that the Goldar Dust could use.

After what seemed like an eternity, the Goldar Dust made its way to the base of the mountain and moved forward. Crossing its path, a badger crawled out of its burrow. The Goldar Dust observed it and regarded it as a strong and aggressive creature. Yes, this specimen would do well to be its vessel. Slowly the Goldar Dust moved forward and began to glow a pale flicker of red.

The glow attracted the attention of the badger and the animal walked towards the Goldar Dust. Just as the badger touched it with its nose, the Goldar Dust grabbed the badger and began to devour it. The badger screeched and bit at the Goldar Dust and tried in vain to scratch at it. The badger tried to fight it, it fought with all its might but it was futile and soon the badger was almost fully consumed by the Goldar Dust, only it's face and snout visible.

It wasn't long before the badger stopped hissing and moving and the Goldar Dust began to form its humanoid body. The hands were the first to form and it moved downward shaping the torso then finally the legs. Eventually the Goldar Dust became a new Goldar with the help of the badger.

His eyes shined red as he growled and clenched his fists as he rose to his feet. It was exactly like born again as Goldar took his first step and wavered. He caught himself on a boulder and used his other hand to cover his eyes. The world around him looked different and he could only think it was the cause of the badger's natural night vision.

Goldar felt a pinch at his hand and found a scorpion trying desperately to sting him as his hand was partially on top of it. Of course, the stinging of the tail did little to Goldar. He picked up the arachnid and studied it; it was a feisty creature with natural weapons. Goldar turned to his side and found some remaining goldar dust.

Perhaps it was enough to create another creature to help him in his mission. He tossed the scorpion into the remaining goldar dust and watched as it devoured the scorpion and began to form.

Kimberly wasn't one to be giddy and nervous, especially not over a boy, or girl for that matter, but for some reason Tommy gave her butterflies in a way no other person did. Not Ty Flemming, not Amanda Clark- truthfully, everything that had had happened with her was more experimentation and clarification than anything romantic-, and not Jason. Yet, here she was, holding her cell phone, obsessively staring at the screen waiting for a text, as she laid on her back on her bed. Then there was a beep. Speaking of the long hair devil.

Tommy O + You

Tommy O (9:03 am): Hey you

You (9:03 am): hi

She scrunched her face at her text. It wasn't her finest nor wittiest response she could've mustered.

Tommy O (9:03 am): Do you like batting cages?

Again, she scrunched her face. It wasn't that she didn't like sports, she just didn't want that to be what they did the first time hanging out. Or first date, whatever this would be.

You (9:04 am): I've been a few times. it's cathartic

Tommy O (9:04 am): I agree but don't worry that's not what we're doing. Least not today lol

Kimberly couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped her lips.

You (9:04 am): ok then what r we doing wise guy?

Tommy O (9:04 am): That's a surprise.

Tommy O (9:04 am): But when I pick you up I'm gonna have my sister with me. We share a car and I'm going to drop her off at the starbucks. She's having a coffee date with your friend.

You (9:05 am): ya Trini told me about it. What did u guys fight for the car?

Tommy O (9:05 am): Maybe *wink emoji*

You (9:05 am): lol ur dumb.

You (9:05am): but that's ok since ur cute… what time should I expect you?

Kimberly blushed. She couldn't believe she sent that.

Tommy O (9:06 am): Yeah but I'm a cute dumb *screaming emoji*

Tommy O (9:07 am): Is 11:00 okay?

You (9:07 am): I'll be ready

Unable to help the blush nor the giggles that escaped her, Kimberly put her phone down and grabbed her pillow and hugged it while burying her face.

Before long, Kimberly got ready but didn't want to put too much effort into dressing up, keeping it casual since she wasn't sure what to expect of this mid-day date. She wore her black biker-esque boots, black ripped skinny pants, a dark rose tank top, and her black jacket. She almost laughed at herself at all the black she was wearing and wondered why the black power coin didn't choose her. Then actually laughed out loud imagining Zack as the pink ranger.

Then there was a knock at the front door. Interesting, she thinks to herself. Tommy had deciding on coming up to her door and knocking rather than texting he was there. Something that Ty would do, even on their first date. "Dad!" she calls out, "I'm going out for a while!"

"Not too late!" he calls back.

Rolling her eyes in an amused fashion, the corner of Kimberly's lips curled as she shouted back, "I won't!" She grabbed her phone and her keys then opened the door to find Tommy leaning against the railing of the porch, his back to the door, looking out to the street. He turned around and formed a shy smile. His hair was in a ponytail and he wore jeans, a black shirt with a weird logo, and an olive-green bomber jacket. "Hey," Kimberly nearly whispered.

"Hey yourself," Tommy replied, "You look badass."

Kimberly let out a small, embarrassed laugh and said, "Thanks," before closing and locking the door. They began to walk off the porch. "The jeep is yours?" She pointed to a slightly older, black with a brown rag top Jeep wrangler.

"Yep. Well, I share it with my sister. Parents got it for us because we're amazing kids."

That caused Kimberly to giggle as she tried to imagine the Oliver twins as studious children when they were both in detention for fighting. She's only known him a day, but could already see his humor. It was really cute and made Kimberly nervous in a way she didn't think possible. She then playfully smacked him on the shoulder.

They reached the car and she made sure to grab the door handle before he could open it for her. It wasn't that Kimberly didn't want him to be polite, she just didn't want to seem like a damsel who needed every door opened for her or her seat pulled out for her. Sometimes she just wanted to open her own door. She opened the door and saw Tamsin waving at her from the back seat. "Hi," she greeted.

"Hey, Kim," she greeted back.

"Did you want the front? Since you're getting dropped off first, right?"

"Nope, I'm good. I want to be an observer to the mess that is Tomas." A smug smile grew on Tamsin's face.

Kimberly nodded, unable to resist smiling herself.

Tommy opened the driver's side door and got in and paused before looking at both Kimberly and Tamsin. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," the girls replied in unison.

Tommy slightly blushed then turned on the ignition. "Oh, Kim? You know how to get to the Starbucks on Reefside yeah?"

"Yeah, I'll direct you."

And they drove off to drop off Tamsin for her coffee date with Trini. Then Kimberly would be on her own afternoon date with Tommy.

The walk to Starbucks gave Trini time to calm her nerves. She was always someone who prided herself in making it look like she was put together on the outside, despite falling apart on the inside. Even in the morning, she took her time to find clothes that were casual, but well put together. She settled on fitted blue jeans that weren't ripped, her black shirt with a white flower, and her gold bomber jacket. She wore her clothes like armor and her mask hardly ever wavered in public. But right now, so many scenarios were playing out in her head. Would Tamsin realize what a weirdo she was then say, "Never mind," and up and leave? Would Tamsin even show up? And why was she acting like this when she barely met the girl yesterday? Because, she realized, there was something about her that Trini was attracted to. Not in a lustful way- though Tamsin was hot, but that was beside the point- but rather more of a wanting-to-get-to-know-her way. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she very much wanted to be around Tamsin.

When she finally made it to Starbucks, Trini decided to wait outside. She sat at a table under an umbrella, and played on her phone. Then a black jeep drove up and stopped in front of her. She instantly recognized Kim in the passenger seat and smiled at her. Kim smiled back with teeth shining brightly as she got out and moved the seat forward for Tamsin to get out. Trini got up and walked to her friend and gave Kim a hug.

"These two are so funny," Kim whispered in her ear.

Trini said nothing but couldn't help the crooked smile that formed on her face. She turned from Kim and waved at Tommy, who smiled and waved back from inside the car. Then she turned to Tamsin and said "Hey."

"Hey yourself," Tamsin replied.

"Okay, well, I'm gonna go now. Have fun!" Kim said excitedly as she got back inside the jeep.

"You too," Trini called back. Then they drove off. "So, hey," Trini repeated and took in Tamsin. Her hair was straight and down and long. Probably half way down her back, definitely longer than her brother's. She wore black combat boots, grey blue jeans, a grey shirt with maroon outlines, and a brown suede jacket that looked like it had an internal layer of a black hoodie inside.

"Hey again."

Then she noticed the butterfly bandages on Tamsin's forehead, which also had some bruising. That must've been from yesterday during the fight with Rockstar. Trini felt horrible that she was indirectly responsible for that. She decided to bring it up to Jason about fighting aliens and monsters when there's people around. "You okay?" she asked out of curtesy, motioning towards Tamsin's head.

"Hmm?" Tamsin paused, then brought her hand to her head, "Oh yeah, this. Yeah, I'm okay. That fight the power rangers had with that monster? There was some damage to a building I was in and I got hit by a falling piece of drywall. But I'm okay."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay," Trini conceded. She didn't want to push the subject as this was only the second day they've known each other. "So, um, wanna get some coffee?" Trini put out her arm towards the entrance.

"Yeah, sure." They began to walk to the entrance and Tamsin grabbed the door and held it open for her. "Oh, and it's my treat."

They both ordered a medium coffee, Trini a little surprised when Tamsin ordered hers with soy milk. Apparently, Tamsin wasn't lactose intolerant but rather she was lactose sensitive. Trini liked her coffee black with a packet of splenda on most days. Tamsin had also ordered a pastry for each of them and then sat outside.

"So, what's it like being the older sister of twin boys?" Tamsin asked, taking a bite of her marble cake.

Trini let out a huff and rolled her eyes, "Oh man, it's annoying. Sometimes they get into these fights over who gets what and my parents have to get something small but one for each of them. And it's kind of funny, but they take turns trapping each other under laundry baskets while the other sits on it."

Tamsin laughed, "That's so funny. Tommy and I used to do things like that to each other. One time, I think we were, maybe 10 or 11, he used to be so neurotic about his colored pens, and I changed the ink. Like, I put the black ink in the red pen and the blue in the black, and he was so upset. He eventually got me back though by taking the cream out of my oreo cookies and replacing it with tooth paste."

"Eww, but hilarious." Trini giggled and shook her head. "I think I'm gonna have to do that to my friend Zack on day."

"Yeah, it was pretty gross." Tamsin paused to take a sip of her coffee. "Are you in any sports at school?"

Trini shook her head while taking a bite of her chocolate croissant, "God no."

"Not an athlete?" Tamsin asked quizzically.

"No, just didn't like the girls on the soccer team. Or, actually, they didn't like me. Besides, I do yoga and tai chi so I wouldn't have time for sports anyways." Trini took a sip from her coffee.

"That's cool. Did you ever compete in tai chi?"

"Thought about it, but no. If you start to compete in something you love, it loses its fun."

"That's true. I'm glad I never competed in figure skating, even though I was kind of good at it." Tamsin broke off a small piece of her cake and dipped it in her coffee before putting it in her mouth.

"You were? Even though you weren't close to a rink?"

Tamsin nodded. "Every few weeks we'd go visit family on the Ute Reservation and they had an ice rink so my máá (mother) would take me and my cousin every time." She smiled sadly at the memory and looked away. "I really miss that. Last time we went was three years ago before my mom got sick." Tamsin's eyes got glossy and a tear fell down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly. "Ugh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."

Trini shook her head and reached out, placing a tentative hand on Tamsin's. "Don't be sorry. I'm sorry I brought it up."

"No, it's okay. I don't talk about it too much, but when I do, the memories just hit me, ya know?"

Trini nodded. "Yeah. I feel that way about my abuelita. Grandmother." Tamsin looked at her expectantly. "She died when I was seven, a couple months before we moved from Hawai'i to Oregon."

"Ah, that must've been a drastic change for you. Especially being seven."

"Yeah. That and no one bothered to explain to me what it meant to die. I didn't realize my abuelita wasn't coming back until she didn't and I was older." Trini paused and closed her eyes, leaning back into her chair. "I always felt so loved with my abuelita. I mean, my parents are great, but when I was little, my dad was always working on base and my mom is an ER, and OR, nurse so her hours were 12 hours shifts and she did a lot of over time. My abuelita was my whole world. And then, she was gone." Now it was Trini's turn for her eyes to sting and water. She rubbed them before her tears could fall. "Sorry."

"Don't be." Tamsin couldn't help but let out a small giggle, "We're quite the pair huh? Supposed to be having a coffee date and here we are telling sad stories and making ourselves cry."

Trini rolled her eyes and nodded in agreement before taking another sip of her coffee, "Anyways, enough sad talk."

"Agreed." They both paused, Tamsin finishing her cake. "How's the beaches here? I haven't gotten a chance to see them."

"The water is cold, but the sand is smooth. The pier was destroyed during that weird alien-robot attack, but the beaches are mostly open. Did you want to go down there? We're only a few blocks."

"Really? I've actually never seen the ocean before."

"Well then let's go." Trini rose from her seat, ate the last of her croissant and grabbed her bomber from the back of the chair. Tamsin doing the same.

They began to walk, both holding their coffees, side by side, arms barely brushing against one another.

Turns out, Tommy took them to a carnival that was taking place at California State University Channel Islands, which wasn't too far from Angel Grove. It was maybe about a 35 minute drive without traffic. They hadn't been there more than two hours and Kimberly had enjoyed herself a giant pretzel with a pink lemonade while Tommy had a limeade slushie and a hotdog. They both enjoyed driving the bumper cars, Kimberly having a bit too much fun bumping into Tommy every chance she got. They had ridden a few rides and played some games. Tommy had an arm for throwing the sand sack at a stack of wooden pegs to knock them over and won a stuffed dinosaur for Kimberly. She picked the cartoon eyed purple pterodactyl. Then she herself showed pretty good accuracy in shooting targets with cork guns, winning a small cartoony stuffed green dragon and then giving it to Tommy.

They had talked about their interests and Tommy shared he loved playing lacrosse and Kimberly learned that it was actually a sport that originated with Native Americans, specifically the northern tribes, but many plains tribes played it too. Kimberly told him she used to be in gymnastics when she was a kid, but then grew too tall to compete the way she wanted so she took her talents to cheerleading. He was a little shocked at that information as he didn't know any cheerleaders who "looked like bikers." It made her laugh and she had smacked him on the shoulder. He had asked why she wasn't a cheerleader anymore. All she mentioned was that there had been issues with other girls, she did something bad and decided she needed to figure out what kind of person she was. Kimberly was thankful that Tommy left it at that.

They talked about their family lives. Kimberly telling him she was biracial, half white- some mix of British and Irish and possibly Scottish ancestry- on her father's side and half Gujarati Indian on her mother's side. She told him that she could speak Gujarati, not perfectly fluent, but could communicate pretty decently. The problem was that the Indian population in Angel Grove was very small, and the Gujarati Indians were even smaller so really, the only practice in the language was with her mother and the occasional phone conversations with her grandmother. Tommy told her about his family, that he never met his paternal grandparents and only knew his maternal grandmother. She was still living, but suffering with dementia and didn't recognize anyone except his aunt. He also told her that he and Tamsin were pretty fluent in Jicarilla Apache and informed her about the different tribes that share the Apache name, but all had different cultures and languages.

Then they both talked about the casual racism they've faced. Some of Kimberly's family on her father's side, older aunts and uncles and long distant cousins, were not happy when her father married her mother. Even in town, there were people who whispered about not wanting to be seen by Dr. Joshi-Hart because "she probably doesn't speak English." Thankfully, those horrible whispers were few and far between as most of the town loved Dr. Joshi-Hart, who was an excellent general physician. Kimberly told Tommy that her father was a successful employment law lawyer who always made sure workers weren't taken advantage of by greedy companies. While Tommy's mother had been a school teacher before her passing- Kimberly learned she had passed away from cancer, and she saw the heartbreak in Tommy's eyes when he spoke of it, though didn't say much as there was a belief that speaking of the dead doesn't allow them to rest- while his father was a respected mechanic in New Mexico and moved to work on big rig commercial engines to small airplanes. Eventually Powers Brothers Aviation, a company that built airplane engines, reached out to him to hire him as a floor manager, which didn't sit well with the more blue collared workers of Angel Grove. Having an outsider come work when there were many qualified mechanics actually from Angel Grove who could have easily gotten the job. Then Tommy mentioned that his father recently left the factory to find his truck vandalized. That information didn't sit well with Kimberly.

Now they were in line for the ferris wheel and Tommy just finished his slushie and tossed the cup in a nearby trash can. Kimberly was having a great time. "How'd you know there was a carnival happening here today?" she asked as she put her hands in the pockets of her pants.

Tommy moved a loose strand of hair from his face. "I was looking at colleges nearby and found this one. They have a good Anthropology department."

"Oh, you're interested in Anthro?"

"Yeah a bit. What about you?"

"No idea. I figure I still have senior year to freak out about it."

Tommy laughed and nodded his head, "Can't argue that, Princess." Kimberly blushed at the term of endearment.

"Next couple step up please!" the ride attendant shouted.

Kimberly and Tommy stepped up together and Kimberly sat in the seat first. Once they were both in, the attendant locked them in and the wheel moved for the next people. They were both silent, enjoying the view as they were lifted higher and higher. Finally, they were at the top and Tommy made whispered "Wow."

"Never been this high up before?" Kimberly asked.

"No."

"You've never been on a plane before?"

Tommy shook his head and replied, "No," without moving his eyes. "You can barely see the ocean! Then the mountains over there!"

Kimberly couldn't help the smile that grew on her face at Tommy's excitement. Then she felt a little sad. These were small experiences that she took for granted and here was this boy whom she'd known for a day, a boy she's really growing to enjoy being around, and he hadn't even had the small experience of flying on a plane. "You know," Kimberly started, "My uncle does plane tours to Channel Islands and Point Mugu. If you wanted, we can go on a tour with him."

"Really?"

"Totally! It'll be fun."

"That sounds amazing," Tommy said, smiling brightly, staring deep into Kimberly's eyes.

She couldn't help but return the stare, swallowing the lump building in her throat. Slowly she reached out and touched his hand and smiled when she felt him wrap his fingers around hers. The ride moved and began to roll. They both turned forward and laughed. Kimberly scooted closer and leaned onto Tommy and wrapped an arm around his.

"Looks like Goldar is back and in a new form. I knew my friend would not fall so easily," Rita said as she looked on at the viewing screen of her ship, "And he's made a friend!"

"I'm working on a creature to assist them, Mistress," Finster said as he continued sculpting and grabbed a brush and coated his creation.

Rita walked up to his work table with interest, "What is this?"

The sculpture looked skeletal, almost humanoid, but not quite. "A nasty creature who will certainly give the rangers a very hard time. I also want to give him a weapon to displace the rangers in a time warp. I have a proton spark that could give him the power."

Rita smiled and tightened her grip on her staff, "Excellent."