Always a Frog, Never a Prince
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It as a beautiful Tuesday morning in Angel Grove, the birds were out, chirping happily from their branches, while the sun shined up in the sky bathing the residents of California in soothing warmth. Adam walked slowly around Angel Grove campus reveling in the heat that they were blessed with. Taking a seat under a nearby tree he watched from his shaded area as students milled around happy in their everyday existence. It occasionally brought about a small smile from the black ranger in knowing that he had helped save these people from certain death more times than he could count. And yet it was surprising how fast people forgot about the danger that Zedd and Rita had once posed to Angel Grove. No more than three months ago the same people who were walking the streets would've been constantly looking over their shoulders, wondering whether or not the next time they turned around they'd see a flock of putty patrollers or another mutant creature created in Finsters lab bearing down on them.
"Hey," snapping out of his trance he glanced up, squinting his eyes in the process to try and identify whoever had addressed him.
"Tommy," now this was a surprise, the black and white ranger had never been best of friends and usually if they passed one another in the streets a simple nod of acknowledgement or 'hi' would be exchanged. Adam couldn't even remember the last time the two of them talked alone, without anyone else there.
"Do you mind if I," the white ranger motioned to the spot next to him.
Adam shrugged, "Go ahead, it's a free country," Tommy let out a contented sigh as he slumped down next to Adam, his back resting comfortably against the large tree trunk. "How're you feeling, Jason told me you had food poisoning."
"I'm okay," Tommy smirked, "Which is more than I can say for Rocky when I get a hold of him."
Adam chuckled, "Get in line, apparently Trini's got first dibs in the ass kicking department. Besides he's still pretty ill, must've been the amount he ate."
"We always said that mouth of his was going to get him into trouble," Tommy said, this prompted laughter from the two rangers. Once they'd quietened Tommy asked a question which Adam had been expecting ever since he sat down, "I hear Kim's staying with you."
"Yeah," Adam pretended to not think anything about it and instead kept his gaze fixed on the students passing.
"How is she?"
"She's fine, she didn't eat the meat so she's well enough."
"That's not what I mean Adam, and you know it's not," Tommy's voice was soft and calm, it sounded as if he really did care about how Kim was feeling.
"How do you think she's feeling Tommy? She comes back here expecting to have some fun with old friends, she already has to deal with the fact that you and Kat are together and then you shove that in her face," there was no venom or malice in Adam's voice. In fact there was no kind of emotion in it at all, his voice was just…neutral, as if the regular Adam had vacated the premises and his mouth had been left on autopilot, "It's breaking her heart to see you two together."
Tommy sighed, his face full of remorse, "I know, and I hate seeing her this way. But I couldn't not tell her, imagine what that'd look like," Adam kinda understood what he meant, but still, he felt no sympathy for Tommy. "Maybe I should talk to her, try to explain, maybe I can…"
"Make things worse than they already are," Adam finished. Finally turning his head to look Tommy in the eyes he sighed, "Listen Tommy, Kimberly needs time to heal. But by seeing and thinking about you she's not going to be ale to, just give her time. She'll be fine, you know as well as I do how tough Kimberly is."
"I suppose," the two of them fell silent, Tommy was fiddling nervously with a twig he found next to the tree while Adam just stared into space.
However the uncomfortable silence was short lived when Adam's cell phone burst into life, shrilling and vibrating inside of his pocket. Digging deep for it Adam finally managed to grasp a hold of the infernal contraption and held it up to his ear. "Hello?"
Hi, Adam it was Kimberly, Adam quickly gave a sideways glance at Tommy who was pretending that he was currently deaf.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked, trying to act as normal as possible.
Nothing, everything's fine. I was thinking though, as a thank you how about I buy dinner tonight? she sounded in a much better mood which brought an involuntary smile to Adams lips.
"Uh…that sounds great, thanks."
Good. What would you prefer, Italian or Chinese?
"Italian…definitely."
Italian it is then, see you tonight.
"Bye," Adam pressed the end call button and tucked his phone back into his jeans pocket.
"She sounded in a much better mood," Tommy said, his voice holding a sarcastic tone to it.
"Yeah, she's doing well," Adam commented as if it was nothing.
Tommy nodded, his jaw slightly clenched, "I'll see you Adam," abruptly he got to his feet and made his way back towards the path.
Adam winced slightly, "Yeah, see you Tommy." Groaning he ran his hands through his mop of black hair, 'Well that went well' his mind whispered sarcastically to him.
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Kimberly stared at herself in the mirror, grasping the hairbrush firmly in one hand she started to run it through her chestnut brown hair in long continuous strokes. She'd felt good when she woke up this morning, it was a beautiful day full of possibilities, and the one Kimberly had chosen was to treat herself to a day of rest and relaxation. First she'd taken a long relaxing bubble bath, followed by giving herself a facial, doing her nails and finally, now, combing her hair.
Out of the corner of the mirror she noticed a picture sitting on the desk next to Adams bed, turning around she approached the small frame and picked it up in her left hand while her right continued to run the hairbrush through her damp hair. She giggled seeing both Rocky and Adam striking stupid poses while dressed in what seemed to be Halloween costumes, apparently they both went dressed as women, their blonde wigs looking like dead cats on their heads while each had a leg up in the air while they hugged. Setting it back on the table Kimberly noticed one of the other pictures in the room was one of the rangers when they first got their animal spirits. It was set at the fireworks display, it showed all of the rangers together, everyone was smiling, except for Adam. He just stared back at the camera a solemn look on his face, it was almost as if he didn't belong there, and only he knew it. The other photos all consisted of him and Rocky or him and Aisha or him, Rocky and Aisha. They were definitely taken before they became rangers, large smiles donned each of their faces along with wicked gleams in their eyes.
She was brought back to reality by a steady knocking on the door, setting her brush down Kimberly scooted over towards the door, hugging her pink robe tightly to her body she unfastened the latch and pulled the door open.
Who she saw knocked her for six, "Tommy?"
He shifted nervously from one foot to another, "Hey Kim, can we talk?"
To Be Continued
By Boulder
Authors Note
Kinda short this time but I promise you the next one will be longer. On a different note I am completely blown away by all the reviews I'm receiving from people liking this story, those people are what motivate me to finish it. So a million thanks to everyone who has reviewed and if you're still enjoying the story please do so again.
Boulder
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It as a beautiful Tuesday morning in Angel Grove, the birds were out, chirping happily from their branches, while the sun shined up in the sky bathing the residents of California in soothing warmth. Adam walked slowly around Angel Grove campus reveling in the heat that they were blessed with. Taking a seat under a nearby tree he watched from his shaded area as students milled around happy in their everyday existence. It occasionally brought about a small smile from the black ranger in knowing that he had helped save these people from certain death more times than he could count. And yet it was surprising how fast people forgot about the danger that Zedd and Rita had once posed to Angel Grove. No more than three months ago the same people who were walking the streets would've been constantly looking over their shoulders, wondering whether or not the next time they turned around they'd see a flock of putty patrollers or another mutant creature created in Finsters lab bearing down on them.
"Hey," snapping out of his trance he glanced up, squinting his eyes in the process to try and identify whoever had addressed him.
"Tommy," now this was a surprise, the black and white ranger had never been best of friends and usually if they passed one another in the streets a simple nod of acknowledgement or 'hi' would be exchanged. Adam couldn't even remember the last time the two of them talked alone, without anyone else there.
"Do you mind if I," the white ranger motioned to the spot next to him.
Adam shrugged, "Go ahead, it's a free country," Tommy let out a contented sigh as he slumped down next to Adam, his back resting comfortably against the large tree trunk. "How're you feeling, Jason told me you had food poisoning."
"I'm okay," Tommy smirked, "Which is more than I can say for Rocky when I get a hold of him."
Adam chuckled, "Get in line, apparently Trini's got first dibs in the ass kicking department. Besides he's still pretty ill, must've been the amount he ate."
"We always said that mouth of his was going to get him into trouble," Tommy said, this prompted laughter from the two rangers. Once they'd quietened Tommy asked a question which Adam had been expecting ever since he sat down, "I hear Kim's staying with you."
"Yeah," Adam pretended to not think anything about it and instead kept his gaze fixed on the students passing.
"How is she?"
"She's fine, she didn't eat the meat so she's well enough."
"That's not what I mean Adam, and you know it's not," Tommy's voice was soft and calm, it sounded as if he really did care about how Kim was feeling.
"How do you think she's feeling Tommy? She comes back here expecting to have some fun with old friends, she already has to deal with the fact that you and Kat are together and then you shove that in her face," there was no venom or malice in Adam's voice. In fact there was no kind of emotion in it at all, his voice was just…neutral, as if the regular Adam had vacated the premises and his mouth had been left on autopilot, "It's breaking her heart to see you two together."
Tommy sighed, his face full of remorse, "I know, and I hate seeing her this way. But I couldn't not tell her, imagine what that'd look like," Adam kinda understood what he meant, but still, he felt no sympathy for Tommy. "Maybe I should talk to her, try to explain, maybe I can…"
"Make things worse than they already are," Adam finished. Finally turning his head to look Tommy in the eyes he sighed, "Listen Tommy, Kimberly needs time to heal. But by seeing and thinking about you she's not going to be ale to, just give her time. She'll be fine, you know as well as I do how tough Kimberly is."
"I suppose," the two of them fell silent, Tommy was fiddling nervously with a twig he found next to the tree while Adam just stared into space.
However the uncomfortable silence was short lived when Adam's cell phone burst into life, shrilling and vibrating inside of his pocket. Digging deep for it Adam finally managed to grasp a hold of the infernal contraption and held it up to his ear. "Hello?"
Hi, Adam it was Kimberly, Adam quickly gave a sideways glance at Tommy who was pretending that he was currently deaf.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked, trying to act as normal as possible.
Nothing, everything's fine. I was thinking though, as a thank you how about I buy dinner tonight? she sounded in a much better mood which brought an involuntary smile to Adams lips.
"Uh…that sounds great, thanks."
Good. What would you prefer, Italian or Chinese?
"Italian…definitely."
Italian it is then, see you tonight.
"Bye," Adam pressed the end call button and tucked his phone back into his jeans pocket.
"She sounded in a much better mood," Tommy said, his voice holding a sarcastic tone to it.
"Yeah, she's doing well," Adam commented as if it was nothing.
Tommy nodded, his jaw slightly clenched, "I'll see you Adam," abruptly he got to his feet and made his way back towards the path.
Adam winced slightly, "Yeah, see you Tommy." Groaning he ran his hands through his mop of black hair, 'Well that went well' his mind whispered sarcastically to him.
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Kimberly stared at herself in the mirror, grasping the hairbrush firmly in one hand she started to run it through her chestnut brown hair in long continuous strokes. She'd felt good when she woke up this morning, it was a beautiful day full of possibilities, and the one Kimberly had chosen was to treat herself to a day of rest and relaxation. First she'd taken a long relaxing bubble bath, followed by giving herself a facial, doing her nails and finally, now, combing her hair.
Out of the corner of the mirror she noticed a picture sitting on the desk next to Adams bed, turning around she approached the small frame and picked it up in her left hand while her right continued to run the hairbrush through her damp hair. She giggled seeing both Rocky and Adam striking stupid poses while dressed in what seemed to be Halloween costumes, apparently they both went dressed as women, their blonde wigs looking like dead cats on their heads while each had a leg up in the air while they hugged. Setting it back on the table Kimberly noticed one of the other pictures in the room was one of the rangers when they first got their animal spirits. It was set at the fireworks display, it showed all of the rangers together, everyone was smiling, except for Adam. He just stared back at the camera a solemn look on his face, it was almost as if he didn't belong there, and only he knew it. The other photos all consisted of him and Rocky or him and Aisha or him, Rocky and Aisha. They were definitely taken before they became rangers, large smiles donned each of their faces along with wicked gleams in their eyes.
She was brought back to reality by a steady knocking on the door, setting her brush down Kimberly scooted over towards the door, hugging her pink robe tightly to her body she unfastened the latch and pulled the door open.
Who she saw knocked her for six, "Tommy?"
He shifted nervously from one foot to another, "Hey Kim, can we talk?"
To Be Continued
By Boulder
Authors Note
Kinda short this time but I promise you the next one will be longer. On a different note I am completely blown away by all the reviews I'm receiving from people liking this story, those people are what motivate me to finish it. So a million thanks to everyone who has reviewed and if you're still enjoying the story please do so again.
Boulder