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!
A/N IMPORTANT READ: I'm so sorry! I know I said I'd be able to post regularly again and then I failed at that. :( To be honest, I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again. My family and I are now attending a Church on Sunday mornings so that will no longer work. I will put a poll up on my page with my current options of when I'll be able to update again. Please go vote! I will do my best to have the next chapter up soon. In the meantime read and review! :D
Kimberly and Tommy shared a hug and kiss on the lips.
Kimberly snuggled into Tommy's arms. "I don't like the blindfold." She clung to Tommy's shirt. "Once my Co…he thought I'd be more willing to take the injections if I couldn't see them. So he would blindfold me and then have his men pin me down, and he would inject me. I just…" Kimberly shook her head, shaking away the memories. "I can't handle being blindfolded. It scares me."
"Then you won't be," Zordon said. "At least not for right now. For now, you can just close your eyes."
Kimberly nodded. She felt a lot better now.
They sat back to back again. Kimberly closed her eyes. Seconds later there was a picture of a tv in her head. "Tv?"
"Good Kimberly." She heard Alpha said.
Another second went by, and she saw a picture of a lamp.
"Lamp," Kimberly spoke.
"Amazing!" Alpha cheered.
"Couch, blanket, pillow, fireplace, dog, cat, star, flower, angels, and shells." Kimberly started listing the things just as fast as Tommy had.
"That is amazing!" Alpha said.
"Indeed it is," Zordon said.
The training continued for another few hours. It wore them both out, so they decided to go to bed early.
Tommy and Kimberly laid together in bed snuggled up in each other's arms sound asleep.
Alpha had powered down for the night, and Zordon had gone into a resting stage as well.
All was quiet in the Command Center when a flash of pink teleported inside. Kat stood there with her eyes glowing so red she looked like a vampire. She slowly stalked toward the couple on the bed.
She reached them and looked down to Kimberly. She smirked as she shook her head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk poor little Kimberly, just couldn't take the pressure. Not as a ranger, or as a gymnast. All you are is a pathetic, nuisance, or roadblock between me and what I want. Your crane can't save you this time" With that Kat raised her dagger over her head and...
Kimberly shot up in bed with a blood-curdling scream. Her Crane screamed out as loud as it could. Tommy woke up with a loud cry, grabbing his head as he fell off the bed.
Kimberly continued to scream and cry, as her body shook, trembling from head to toe.
Tommy finally realized what was going on and he quickly sat up and grabbed Kim gently pulling her down onto the floor with him. He could barely reach her with the unbearable amount of pain he was feeling, but he managed to grab her around the waist and bring her into his lap. "Hey Beautiful, Hey, It's ok. You're safe. Shhh, it was just a nightmare. Shhh, I'm here. Shhhh. You're safe." He soothed the best he could through the pain. He rubbed her back and helped to soothe her.
It took a few minutes, but Kimberly finally calmed down enough that the pain ended. Tommy carefully stood up, keeping Kim in his arms and sat down on the edge of the bed letting Kimberly sit on his lap as he held her close.
"You're safe, Beautiful. It was just a nightmare. You're safe." He soothed. He stroked her hair behind her ear as he rubbed her back and whispered soothing words in her ear.
Her crying slowed to soft sniffles, but her shaking and panting continued.
"You're ok, Angel. I'm right here. Nobody is going to hurt you. You're safe."
Kimberly inhaled and exhaled a deep breath before collapsing onto Tommy's chest. Her shaking stopped as she panted softly getting her breath back.
Once she was fully calmed down Tommy stroked the hair behind her hair once more and spoke. "What was your nightmare about? Was it your Coach?"
Kimberly shook her head but didn't speak.
"Can you tell me what it was about?"
Kimberly shook her head.
Tommy sighed. He kissed her forehead and continued to rub her back. "Why won't you talk to me?" He thought to himself.
"I-I'm scared." She whimpered.
It took Tommy a few seconds to realize she had heard his thoughts. The question was, did she realize it? So he tried again. "Beautiful, you don't need to be scared. You're in the safest place you can be. Not to mention that you are completely 100% safe in my arms."
Kimberly didn't respond.
Tommy sighed once more. "Beautiful, can you hear me?" he thought.
Kimberly nodded.
"Angel, I'm not speaking." Tommy thought once more.
Kimberly looked up to Tommy confused.
"I'm thinking things to myself. You're just hearing it in your head." Tommy said.
Kimberly noticed his mouth didn't move once. She could hear his thoughts, did that mean he could hear hers? "Testing 1 2 3, Tommy can you hear me? Testing 1 2 3?"
Tommy chuckled. "Yeah, I can hear you. I guess we found another thing we can do with connection."
"Yeah." Kimberly nodded.
Tommy sighed softly and stroked her hair. "Can you think about your nightmare and I'll see it?"
Kimberly inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. She closed her eyes. To both of their surprises, they saw themselves sleeping together on the bed.
"Whoa, you can show me exactly what your dream was?" Tommy said.
Kimberly nodded. "I can just think it…"
The room started to vanish.
"No, no, no," Tommy said quickly. "Please, let me see it."
Kimberly nodded and inhaled a deep breath allowing the room to return.
They both watched as a flash of pink light was seen, and Kat went over to them. They heard everything she had said and then they both gasped as she raised the dagger above her head. The room vanished quickly, and Kimberly shook her head. "She was just about to kill me when I woke up." Kimberly thought.
Tommy hugged her and rubbed her back. "Kat's slipping. Every day she gets closer and closer to revealing her true colors and soon everyone will know the truth. She already blew it with Rocky he's back on our side again. It's only a matter of time before the others are too."
Kimberly sighed and nodded. "I hope so."
Tommy hugged her close and rubbed her back. He was hoping so too. "Hey." He thought suddenly. "Let's keep practicing our talking telepathically so we can show Zordon when he wakes up."
"Ok." Kimberly nodded.
Tommy chuckled. "You're going to have to say more than ok if we're going to practice."
"Ok."
He smiled softly. He kissed the top of her head. Lucky for him he knew exactly how to get her to talk. "So Kim, I was going to buy my mom this nice suit for work because her birthday is coming up, but it had these weird pad things where the shoulders are. Is that a woman thing or…"
"No, no, no, no, no." Kimberly thought quickly. "Don't you dare get her that. Shoulder pads are totally out of fashion."
"But…"
"No, no buts. If you want to get her, a nice gift try jewelry, or flowers, maybe a new purse, shoes! Women love shoes! If you want to get her clothes you can…"
Tommy smiled softly as Kimberly went off on a rant about clothes. He loved every second of it, even if he had no idea what she was talking about.
The next few days went by fast. Tommy and Kim continued to test their connection and practice being able to control it. They were pretty much pro at speaking telepathically and being able to see what the other saw, as well as being able to show each other events just using their connections.
One afternoon Kimberly was at the command center with Billy, Trini, and Jason. Tommy was out in a cog battle with the others.
They were laughing as they talked about old times.
"Kimberly, do you remember that time we convinced Jason to dress up like a girl for Halloween?" Trini giggled.
"How could I forget? He used my make-up and my clothes."
Everyone laughed.
"I only did it because you said it would help me get girls. All it did was scare the girls away." Jason answered.
Trini giggled. "I may have had other reasons for asking you to do that."
"You knew you liked me even back then when we were younger?" Jason asked.
Trini nodded. "I wasn't about to let you go out where any other girls."
"Awww how cute." Kimberly squealed.
"You're lucky I love you." Jason leaned in and kissed Trini on the lips.
"I love you too."
Suddenly Kimberly let out a gasp, and her hands flew behind her as a pain surged through her back.
"Kim, you ok?" Billy asked.
"Yeah. Just stiff from sitting so much." Kimberly said. She slowly climbed off her bed and stood up. "See…all better." The second she finished her sentence she collapsed to the floor screaming in pain.
"Kimberly!" they all rushed over to her. "Kimberly what is it, what's wrong?" Jason asked.
"It hurts!"
"What does?" Jason asked.
"My back! My back!" Kimberly screamed. She hunched over and squirmed around trying to relive the pain.
Billy lifted the back of her shirt. There was nothing to be seen that would cause pain. "Is it from her attack? I don't see any marks."
"No." Jason shook his head. "Zordon said her body had completely healed."
"What's happening!" Trini cried.
"Wait a second..." Billy said. "Tommy could feel Kimberly's pain when she was forced to have those injections and even felt the aftermath of them. So isn't possible that if Tommy is hurt in battle..."
"'NO!" Kimberly screamed. "TOMMY!"
Suddenly all four of them were teleported into the main room of the Command Center.
Kimberly was still on the ground crying and squirming in pain asking for Tommy.
"Rangers, observe the viewing globe. Billy is right. Tommy was thrown into a tree and hit his back. He is fine. Except, for now, that Kimberly is worried about him..."
As everyone looked to the globe, they saw Tommy on his knees holding his head crying out for Kimberly. The other Rangers formed a circle around him to protect him from the cogs that were surrounding him.
"Kimberly, you must turn it off," Zordon said. "You must shut Tommy out, so he can battle again."
"I can't just shut him out." Kimberly whimpered.
"You must. It is important for you to help him."
"But I..."
"Kimberly don't listen to him," Trini said.
"Trini!" Jason and Billy gasped.
Trini ignored them. "Don't shut it down completely. Don't ever shut him out completely! Just turn it down, like a volume button on a stereo remote. Turn it down a little."
Kimberly inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. She closed her eyes and did her best to focus on Tommy.
When she opened them again, she looked at the viewing globe to see Tommy was back to fighting again. She was happy he was ok, but she felt different somehow, different in a way that couldn't be explained in words. She sighed softly.
"You did the right thing, Kim," Jason said.
"Then why do I do feel so terrible?" Kimberly asked.
"It wasn't easy what you did, Kim. But you did it to help Tommy."
"Yeah…I guess."
"Kimberly, Jason is right. You should not feel terrible. You did what was best for Tommy, to help him in battle." Zordon said. "You should be very proud of yourself."
"Ok," Kimberly answered softly.
"Are you ok?" Jason asked.
"I just want Tommy to come back." Kimberly whimpered. She was scared. Trini had told her to pretend her connection was like a stereo remote control and she had. But now she was worried that instead of just lowering the volume she had completely muted it and turned it off all together. What if she couldn't get it back on? Her connection with Tommy would be ruined forever.
Trini went over and hugged Kimberly tightly. She knew her best friend, and she knew she wasn't as "ok" as she was pretending to be. "It's going to be ok. Tommy will be back soon."
Kimberly didn't speak after that. She just stayed in Trini's arms allowing her best friend to comfort her.
After what felt like years a flash of colors was seen, and the Rangers appeared back in the command center.
"Zordon, is Kimberly ok?" Tommy asked. "I heard her crane, and then it just vanished."
"Kimberly is fine. She was just worried about you." Zordon explained.
Tommy looked around and saw Kimberly sitting curled up in a fetal position with Trini hugging her close. He sighed and went over to them. Trini saw Tommy and stood up and gave them some privacy.
Tommy knelt down next to Kim. "Hey, Beautiful. What's going on?"
Kimberly didn't speak or even show she heard him.
"Hey, let's not do that. Don't shut me out." Tommy said. "Talk to me."
Kimberly continued to ignore him. He sighed. He pulled her into his arms and rested his head on hers. He kissed the top of her head and then closed his eyes.
Suddenly they were at the Angel Grove Park, the same spot they had shared their first kiss. Kimberly looked around to see where they were but still refused to speak.
Tommy tried to read her mind.
I don't understand. How is he not mad at me? How can he still love me and care about me? I shut him out! I turned off our connection. I don't know how or even if I'll ever be able to turn it back on again. I hurt him! He's going to be hurt, and it will be all my fault.
It is not your fault Kim.
Kimberly jumped and looked to Tommy who smirked but didn't speak.
What? Did you forget we could do this?
No, I didn't forget I just…I thought…Zordon had me….I'm sorry.
Kimberly laid her head on his chest and started to cry. "I'm so sorry. I'm really so sorry. Zordon had me turn off our connection so you could go battle again! I didn't know what I was doing! I think I turned it off forever and I don't know how to get it back on!"
Tommy rubbed her back and gently kissed her head. He didn't speak. Kimberly, don't cry. Don't you realize that if you had shut off the connection completely, we wouldn't be able to read each other's minds? I wouldn't be able to take us to this place where we can be alone.
"I don't know how to turn it back on!" Kimberly cried.
"All you have to do is focus on our connection, think about your Crane and let her do the rest." Tommy soothed her. "It's not off, just turned down."
Kimberly sniffed softly and looked to Tommy. "Why are you not mad at me?"
"Because you've done nothing wrong," Tommy told her. "You were just practicing like we've been doing. We've all been so excited to see how strong out connection really was that we've forgotten about the downside of our connection. I think it's good. We need to start practicing how to control the intensity of our connection. Why do you think the pain in your back stopped. We both turned it down, so we didn't hurt each other. We need to keep learning how to do that so my battling doesn't hurt you and how your crane doesn't cry out to her Falcon every time she gets a little nervous or worried."
Kimberly just sighed. "I'm sorry."
Tommy sighed too. Then he got an idea. "Would you feel better if I was mad at you?"
Kimberly nodded.
"Ok. Then I am very mad at you. In fact, I am so mad I feel like you should be punished." Tommy said.
"Ok." Kimberly nodded. "I deserve it."
Tommy just shook his head. "You deserve everything you're about to get." With that, he started to tickle her.
She squealed and pulled away from him but, his fingers followed her. She giggled as she tried to get away from him. "Tommy stop it!"
"Nope."
He continued to attack her sides and belly as she squealed and giggled. She managed to stand up and then she took off running. He quickly caught up with her and grabbed her around the waist and spun her around.
Then he pinned her arms to her chest and tickled her stomach and sides. She squealed and giggled and squirmed in his arms.
"Ok! Ok! I'm sorry! Stop it!" she begged in giggles.
He chuckled but continued. "No. I'm not going to stop until you can stop apologizing."
"Ok! Ok! I'm sorr…stop it now!"
He chuckled. "Nope. You have to ask me to stop without saying sorry first." He moved his hands up higher, getting to her ribs.
She let out a small scream, and her giggles turned to laughter. "Ok! Ok! Stop it!"
Tommy stopped and kissed her head. "Just close your eyes and focus on us. The connection will come back. I promise."
Kimberly nodded and closed her eyes. She took a few calming breaths and suddenly she felt normal again. She opened her eyes and smiled. "It works."
"Of course it does." Tommy smiled. He kissed her one last time, and then Tommy let the image fade, and they were back in the command center.
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