Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do own the characters Nicarni-Aso, Zefoid, the asoriods, the amephors, Mrs. Alison Sipper, Tanya Sipper, Principal Randy Strigner, Ms. Fanny Abbott, and the planets Asoriotan and Nonatasion. I also own the armor flexor, invisashield, and any other weapons that you have never heard used on the Power Ranger series.
Daisyz: Thanks so much for the review!
Brent87: Thank you for reviewing!
jedi4jesus19: Thanks so much for the review!
Warstock-Leonhart: Thanks for the review and I'm gonna stick with what I have in the story right now and let Tommy tell her after he has received his PhD and is in possession of the Dino crystals.
Dreadbomb4527: Thanks for the review and I'll tune into the episodes sometime, but my description will probably be way off base, but oh well.
Ghostwriter: Thanks for the help and Principal Randall will make her appearance after Principal Strigner retires, which means she will basically appear in the next story, along with Mesogogg and his gang.
Slshadowfox: I haven't really thought about whom I will bring in for Rocky, but there is going to be someone, eventually. I know I'm a bad person for not having him someone already, but I'm not sure if I want to create a character or bring in another old character. Thanks so much for the review!
Now, on with the story!
"This is it," Tommy announced as he pulled his jeep into the teacher's parking lot and into his normal parking spot. Before he got out of his car, he looked at his friends beside him and remembered the last time they had all gone to a school together. That day was the beginning of the Power Rangers being torn apart,they were never the same once Trini, Jason, and Zack left. Aisha, Rocky, and Adam were great replacements, but there was still a huge difference between all of them and then Kim left and all hell really did break loose.
Billy's POVReefside's campus reminded me more of a college, than any high school I have seen before. If I had known there were high schools that looked like this, I probably would have tried to convince my parents to move here, but oh well, if I had done that then I wouldn't have been a Power Ranger.
The mammoth buildings seemed unfit to be placed upon the plush green lawns. There is an open air space, in the center of the buildings that had several picnic tables, supposedly for the students to eat lunch at, but they were being used for garbage can storage at the moment. The main building was adorned with a welcome sign and gigantic oak doors, unlike the rest of the buildings, which had been upgraded to metal doors. As we entered this building, the dull thud of our shoes echoed through the empty hallway. All of the classrooms, abandoned for the summer, stood there empty in a building that usually contained so much life. The principal's office, was the only room alive with light, among this place that has doomed many high schoolers in its history.
"Mr. Oliver, what a surprise to see you here. How has your summer been?" Principal Randy Strigner asked, looking up from his work when the office door creaked open.
He was a man in his mid-fifties and had a receding hairline and a growing middle, but a welcoming smile none the less. His experience in education began thirty-three years before and he was looking forward to retiring to lazy mornings and planting gardens in a few years. He wore a charcoal gray suit, and having chosen to leave his jacket on the back of his chair, revealed a long sleeved navy blue shirt, with red suspenders lying over it. Although it was not a school day, he still dressed himself as if over a thousand students would be seeing him throughout the day, which was something Tommy did respect in him.
"It's been alright, I've been busy with a lot of stuff in Angel Grove," Tommy said, motioning to Jason and Kim to follow him into the office. They had been waiting right behind him as Tommy had opened the door and he thought it best to leave the others outside for fear of bombarding Principal Strigner, which would not help their cause any.
"Sounds like fun. Some friends of yours, I presume?" Principal Strigner asked, as a young man and woman now flanked his employee. From the look on Tommy's face he could tell there was much more to his story of how he had been spending his summer vacation, but decided it best to not push him into a confession, now. There would always be time for that later or so he hoped.
"Yes, this is Kimberly Hart and Jason Scott, we went to high school together," Tommy said, as he watched his employer give them a critical stare before standing up to greet them.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Randy Strigner," Principal Strigner said, walking around to the front of his desk. He was still a tall man, at 6'2", even though he had lost some of his height over the last few years.
"Nice to meet you too," Kim said with a smile, and then cast her gaze back towards her feet. She was not as good at pitching ideas to total strangers as she used to be and hoped that Tommy would be able to fly solo for a little while. It wasn't that she didn't like Mr. Strigner, but she was not comfortable talking just yet.
"So what can I owe this visit to, Mr. Oliver?" Principal Strigner asked seating himself on the front of his desk.
"A charity," Tommy stated nervously.
"What are you wanting to do for this charity, Mr. Oliver?" Principal Strigner asked with a smile on his face. Ernie had called him a few days ago and told him that one of his employees was going to be asking to hold a charity event at the school.
Tommy Oliver was a good teacher, but he had never expected it to be him to come and ask. He had only started teaching here last year and was planning to leave at the end of first semester to get his PhD. It didn't bother him that Mr. Oliver was leaving, having already found a replacement, but it did bother him that by the time he came back, there would probably be a new principal. The young man showed so much promise and he did regret that he would not be here to see how his abilities would improve as the years ticked by.
"We were wondering if we could hold a charity ball for Child Haven," Tommy said, as Kim and Jason seemed to think it best to give him silent support. He had never been too fond of talking for a great length of time in public, but teaching had changed that, a little bit.
"A charity ball? Here?" Principal Strigner asked, skeptically. Ernie had mentioned a charity event, but a ball did seem to be a big project to pull off, even by Ernie's standards. Of course, he had never seen their work before and he trusted Ernie's judgement, to an extent. "What would this involve?"
"Well, the gym would have to be closed to the school for a few days prior to the event and I don't know if this will help, but here's a sketch of what we were planning to do," Kim said, taking her sketch out of the folder she haphazardly thrown it in minutes before. She watched as Principal Strigner gave the sketch a critical review and then looked at the three adults as if they had lost their minds. Kim knew it looked like a lot of work, but she had pulled off much more extravagant with less time and less help.
"You plan to do all of this and not cost the school a thing?" Principal Strigner asked, although he knew all to well where the money source was coming from.
"Yes sir," Kim said, confidently.
"And when do you plan to do this?" Principal Strigner asked, as he watched the anxious group look at him.
"Two, three weeks into the school year," Kim said. "That will all depend on how easily we can find the supplies."
"Well, I think we can do that," Principal Strigner said, walking over to the calendar and checking both weeks for any possible problems. "Which week would be better?"
"The third week, that way it can be advertised," Kim said. "Hopefully we can get a good turn out."
"Friday the seventh sound good?" Principal Strigner asked, with a bright smile.
"Yes, thank you so much," Kim said and then gave Principal Strigner a tight hug, before retreating to stand next to a confused Mr. Oliver. Tommy had seemed to forget Kim's spurts of happiness, but quickly smiled, as she put an arm around him.
"Your welcome, but I do have one question. Who will be helping you do all of this? I know that the three of you will not be able to do this alone," Principal Strigner said, recovering from his shock. Ms. Hart was a bundle of energy and hecouldn't help but wonder how someone like Mr. Oliver wound up with Ms. Hart, although it was obvious she was very happy with Mr. Oliver.
"They will," Jason said, pushing open the door with one hand, while keeping the other firmly behind his back. This action revealed the rest of the work force that would be pulling off this charity event to Principal Strigner.
"So, you are Ernie's friends?" Principal Strigner asked, as they looked at him in shock. It was very clear that they were all wondering how he knew him, but he waited for one of them to ask him directly.
"How do you know Ernie?" Zack asked, as they all peered at the principal, with expressions of curiousity on their faces.
"We've been friends for a long time," Principal Strigner said with a smile. "And he speaks very highly of all of you, seems to think your superheroes or something. Any way, he was confident that you could pull off something like this and I hope he is right."
"Thank you, Principal Strigner, but we really need to get going," Kim said, taking hold of Tommy's hand and starting to drag him out of the office. She was uncomfortable to stay there any longer knowing that he might guess that Ernie wasn't too far off base, eventually, if they only gave him long enough to and as far as she knew Hayley did not have a clue about all of them either. "We have a lot of work to do."
"Thank you," Jason said, as he started to exit the room, having the same feelings as Kim. He may have been joking, but this was not something to joke about, not now at least.
"Your welcome," Principal Strigner said, "And tell Tommy good luck."
"Yes sir," Jason said, confused by what had been said to him. How could he have figured out that Tommy was interested in Kim by just spending a few minutes with them?
"Can you slow down some?" Tommy asked, hearing the others running to keep up with them and they still were lagging behind a good bit.
"No, we have so much work to do, Tommy," Kim said, as she continued flying down the hall. "I need you to go to Lowe's and pick up some things."
"We're splitting up?" Tommy asked, feeling mixed emotions about that. He knew that he did not want to go fabric shopping, but he also didn't know exactly what Kim would want for her grand idea.
"We have to, we only have six weeks to do all of this," Kim said, as the others finally caught up to them. They saw Kim looking up at Tommy, who seemed ready to argue about something and they got into earshot just in time to hear the next statement."I'll make you a list of what you need to pick up."
"You're getting lists already?" Rocky joked, although he did wish he could find someone, but knowing his friends they would try to set him up pretty soon, at least that is what he hoped they would do.
"Does any one have some paper and a pen?" Kim asked, as Hayley started fishing through her bag and came up with a legal pad and a pencil.
"Here you go," Hayley said, handing it over with a smile, no wonder Tommy had been crazy over her. The night before Hayley hadn't really gotten a chance to get to know Kim, but from Billy and some other people her idea was becoming much more clear. "She's training you good."
"No, I'm not," Kim said, looking up briefly from her scribbling. Tommy had always been a good boyfriend, even if he was a tad bit forgetful, she had never though about having to train him. He had always seemed to have a good idea of what to do and when to do it.
"No, she's right. I was trained a long time ago," Tommy joked, as Kim shot him a go to hell look. She then finished the list and handed it to a smiling Tommy, who then gave her a hug before looking at the list.
"How am I supposed to pay for all of this?" Tommy asked looking down at the list and back up at Kim. He knew that her plans were detailed, but he had not expected to have to pick up this much in one trip, ever.
"I don't know, Ernie said he would pay for everything," Kim said, truthfully.
"Mr. Oliver, I forgot to give you these," Principal Strigner said, holding up two credit cards. Tommy immediately stopped trying to figure out how much credit he had on his own and sighed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you," Tommy said, grateful he would not have to be paying out of his own pocket. If that had happened, they would have gotten maybe two of the items necessary, with him not knowing exactly how much a certain ring had cost earlier that week.
"Have fun and get some good decorations. The gym is open for you to use at any time," Principal Strigner said and turned to go back to the main building. He had given the rest of the office staff the last few weeks off, so it was best he did not leave the office that much, although it did feel like a jail sometimes. Times like these were when he honestly wondered why he went into education, but he always came up with the same answer, because he loved being around the kids.
"Thank you, Mr. Strigner," Kim said and they continued on their way to the faculty parking lot. The parking lot was across the small, one lane road, which kept it from taking away from the beauty of the campus. They were the only ones that had chosen this lovely, last day of July to visit the school. There were three weeks before school started and about six until they hosted the ball. "Tommy, could we possibly use your jeep?"
"Kim, I'd love to let you take my jeep, but six grown men, in Jason's truck, plus all of this," Tommy said, indicating the list he held in his hands. "I don't think it is going to happen."
"Alright," Kim said and stood on her tip toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. She then headed towards Hayley's car and waved a good-bye. "I'll see you when we get done."
"Okay," Tommy said, as he saw her climb in Hayley's car and leave. His hand was on his cheek and he couldn't help but day dream for a few seconds, before Jason brought him back to reality.
"Let's see that list," Jason said, as Tommy put it on the hood of his jeep.
Tommy,
I know you hate shopping, for anything, but I hope you can bear going to Lowe's to get these supplies for us. We'll start working later on this week, but most of this will have to be constructed at the school (sorry). Here's your list:
10 white tables seven feet long (they can be plastic,)
3 circular tables (they will be covered)
12 2"x4"
4 sheets of plywood
5 boxes of nails
6 boxes of staples
3 staple guns
3 hammers
1 circular saw (I know you don't have one)
1 drill (look up one line for explanation)
4 boxes of screws
12 cans of grey primer
12 cans of silver paint
I think you can handle this and you'll get to use the power tools while we're stuck doing sewing and such.
Love,
Kim
"What have we gotten ourselves into?" Tommy wondered aloud, as they all exchanged worried glances.
The only one who seemed to actually be looking forward to this trip was Jason, who had always enjoyed woodworking, but even he did seem worried about what their work was going to actually be. The girls had been known to have some pretty crazy things up their sleeves and it scared them to think of what they had in mind this time.
"I don't know, but I'm glad we are not having to go to the craft goods store," Jason said, as the others nodded in agreement. "Lowe's beats that any day."
"Follow me," Tommy said hopping into his jeep, as Adam, Rocky, and Zack got in as well. They had decided earlier that if they ever got a chance to let Billy and Jason talk that they would, even if they didn't want to talk to each other just yet.
"They did that on purpose, didn't they?" Jason asked, as they had left Billy and he to go in his truck. He wasn't sure if he was ready for the conversation that would surely come out of this car ride.
"Affirmative," Billy said, with a shake of his head and a slight shrug. They wanted them to talk before Jason made a move on Trini and it seemed like a good idea, to them. Even Billy wanted to talk, considering everything that would happen, if Jason ever got up the nerve to ask Trini out. "They want to make sure I won't kill you."
"Well, will you?" Jason asked, as he pulled out of the parking lot and found himself only half focusing on what Tommy was doing. His friendship with Billy was almost as valuable to him as getting the chance to tell Trini the truth and that is saying a lot.
"No," Billy said, with a smile. "If you haven't noticed, I like Hayley, a lot Jason. I probably would have never seen her again if it wasn't for all of you and I would have never been happy with Trini, knowing how she feels."
"Yeah, well I would have never told anyone about Trini, but the aisle of deception decided to bring her into my fear," Jason said, looking slightly ashamed.
He had rarely talked about the mission that the fighting force had gone through, leaving Tommy and Kim to answer most of the questions. Now it made sense to Billy why Jason had refused to answer the questions. He was afraid he would say something that would let them know what else had happened, outside of the context of the actual mission.
"So that's why you wouldn't tell any of us about what happened to you?" Billy asked, as Jason simply nodded his head. He wasn't ready to tell anyone, not even Trini, what had happened in the aisle of deception a few days ago. "How long have you kept all of this a secret?"
"Almost ten years," Jason said with a sad sigh. If only he knew what Trini thought, it would make all of this much easier. He didn't care that Kim and Tommy, both assured him that she felt the same, he just wished that she would give him some sort of sign. Of course that did not look like it was going to happen anytime soon.
"Jason, you mean to tell me that all those times we were fighting beside each other and almost died, you felt this way?" Billy asked, shocked. He had been suspecting three, maybe four years tops, but a decade in which the first half they spent fighting to keep the world safe, was even absurd for Jason. It now made sense why he had been so protective of Trini, even if he wouldn't admit it, to anyone.
"Yeah," Jason said, he may have been their fearless leader, but asking one of his best friends to go on a date with him scared him shitless and the only person that seemed to understand that was Tommy, but even he was getting aggravated with Jason's waiting. At this point, Jason didn't even blame his friends for what was beginning to be said. He had caused it and now he was only hoping that he'd get the courage up to actually tell Trini.
"Do I even want to asked what went through your mind when they captured her?" Billy asked, cringing at the thought of how Jason must have felt keeping the anguish inside. He had at least been able to show his grief, but Jason had to try to keep it all inside, because then questions would have been asked. These questions wouldn't have been easy to answer, so it made a lot of sense to keep it a secret.
"Let's just say if it had been well known, I would have broken something and cried for about half a day. Then I would have wanted to kill Nicarni-Aso with my bare hands," Jason said, shaking his head to try to keep from reliving the feelings that were still right under the surface. "I still cried and I still wanted to do that, but no one else knew about it."
"I didn't know that," Billy said, although it didn't surprise him, since he had been going through the motions of being extremely upset about Trini, which he honestly was. "Why didn't you tell all of us?"
"You were still dating Trini, Billy. I couldn't. It wouldn't have been right," Jason said, as the pulled into the local Lowe's parking lot.
"You're right," Billy said and got out of the truck to begin their mission.
Fanny's Fabric Store"Hayley, are you sure that this place will have what we need?" Kim asked, as Hayley took off her glasses and placed them in her carrying case. Although Hayley had said this was the best fabric story in town, Kim was still slightly apprehensive as it looked to be small.
"Ms. Fanny will, don't worry about that," Hayley said, as she saw Ms. Fanny Abbott approaching. The little widow had been in business for the past forty years.
She had moved from Alabama to California in her mid-twenties and within a year had opened a little fabric store, which had grown into the massive building that it occupied now, even if no one would have thought that from looking at the front. The front room was deceptively small, as it held only the bare essentials for almost any small sewing project. The real wealth of the store was hidden behind a door placed between the elastic and ribbons.
"Hayley, darlin', how are you doin'?" Ms. Fanny, as she insisted to be called, asked. Ms. Abbott made her feel too old and it did help, on the rare occasions, she would have to actually explain her strong Southern accent to someone. Some people just never seemed to get used to it and in her opinion that was someone who needed others to take pity on them.
"I'm doing fine Ms. Fanny, but we are going to need some help with a big project," Hayley said, hugging the woman. Ms. Fanny, had gray hair, but she pulled it back in a neat ponytail with little spectacles that sat on the end of her nose. She stood about 5' 3" at the most, but her personality could fill up a room. "She can fill you in on the details."
"Well, what's your name missy?" Ms. Fanny asked with a bright smile, singling out the petite woman dressed in pink, for some reason she looked very familiar. She just couldn't figure out where she came from or where she knew her from just yet, though.
"I'm Kimberly Hart, but call me Kim," Kim said, offering a hand and Ms. Fanny graciously shook it. She had never turned down someone, who offered this formality, although she did prefer giving someone a hug over a handshake any day.
"Well it's nice to meet you, but that name sounds so familiar for some reason," Ms. Fanny wondered out loud. She just knew someone had told her about a Kimberly Hart before, but she put that thought aside for a little while. Maybe her granddaughter would be able to jog her memory when she came out to help with the store. "Never mind that now, we have work to do. Do you need to see the full stock?"
"Yes ma'am," Kim said, as the others had scattered to pick up ribbons and other materials needed for their sewing project.
"Come with me," Ms. Fanny said and walked to the back of the stored and opened the bright blue door. Kim's eyes then widened with shock; the back of the store had bolts upon bolts of fabric in different colors and textures. She could have had her choice of any color, but immediately found herself drawn towards certain fabrics that would help create her vision most accurately.
"Ms. Fanny, all of this is so beautiful," Kim said as she marveled and started making her way towards one area.
"Thank you, darlin'," Ms. Fanny said as she watched Kim move over to the bolts of sheer fabric.
"How much is this a yard?" Kim asked, pulling out an arm length of sheer, baby blue fabric.
"It depends on how much you buy," Ms. Fanny said.
"Well, I don't exactly know. I am planning on lining some arbors with this, but I don't know the dimensions of the arbors, yet," Kim said, looking over in Ms. Fanny's direction.
"How 'bout we put that on hold for you and you just swing back by here once you know?" Ms. Fanny suggested.
"Can you do that for more than one fabric?" Kim asked, knowing she had her eyes on at least four more fabrics.
"As many as you need, sweetie," Fanny said and over the next thirty minutes or so, Kim selected five additional fabrics and before leaving the store, purchasing over forty yards of ribbon and such.
"Where to next?" Hayley asked, as their bounty was put in the trunk of her car.
"I don't know. I think a florist maybe, but I don't know," Kim said, running her hands through her hair. She had always loved shopping, but craft shopping was one of her least favorite types. "I need to call Tommy and add some things to his list."
"Here," Hayley said, passing Kim her cell phone.
"What's it under?" Kim asked, having not seen Tommy's name or anything she thought could possibly be him.
"Oh, it's under sexy beast," Hayley said, as Kim found the name and then cast a curious glance towards Hayley. She would have to explain this later, but right now, it didn't really matter.
"Tommy," Kim said, hearing Tommy's voice through the receiver.
"Kim, what are you calling for?" Tommy asked, as the boys came to a halt in their journey.
"I need to add something to your list," Kim said, as she heard a deep sigh echo through the receiver.
"What is it?" Tommy asked, as he pulled a pen out of his pocket.
"I need five steel arbors, if you don't know what that is, ask Billy or Jason. We have to get going, oh and also pick up about twenty more two by fours," Kim said.
"Alright," Tommy said, mentally adding thirty more minutes to their trip at Lowe's. "See you later."
"Okay, bye," Kim said and handed the phone back to Hayley. "Now, let's go on to the florist."
"We may not want to go there today," Hayley said.
"Why not?" Kim asked.
"He is never in a good mood when a bunch of women walk into his shop to pre-order flowers five weeks ahead of time. Let's visit him in about two weeks and then he will be able to get the flowers in just in time for the ball," Hayley said.
"Alright, I trust you on that one," Kim said and paused to think for a few second, "Since we don't need to go there, steer me towards the nearest craft goods store and then maybe we can go look for some clothes. You know that we are all going to have to buy new outfits, considering the fact none of us brought or own anything appropriate."
"Sounds good to me," Hayley said.
Lowe's"Well, that is everything on the list," Tommy said, looking through the three carts one more time before heading to the check out counter.
"Good," Jason said, eagerly.
"Why, you got a hot date planned, Jason?" Zack joked, as the others laughed at Jason's expense.
"It's not as easy as all of you make it seem," Jason said, with enough bitterness to stop the laughter. "What if she doesn't feel the same?"
"Jason, I'm asking some one to marry me in a few weeks and you know what, I'm worried about it," Tommy said, moving the boxes of screws onto the check-out counter, "but I can't go on without her and if you feel the same, it will only be a matter of time before you can't help but tell her."
"How do I tell her?" Jason asked and they all swiveled their heads towards Billy.
"Well, how about the two of you go out somewhere tonight," Billy suggested. He knew there was no way Jason would tell Trini in front of them, absolutely no way in hell.
"I don't want her to think something is up," Jason said, as the Lowe's employee looked at him as if he was a little crazy, but he did seem that way. He was pacing and pulling at his hair, while the others watched on, very amused by Jason's actions.
"If you can wait six weeks, you can tell her at the dance Jason," Adam said. "But I, personally wouldn't wait that long. A lot of things can change in six weeks and if something does, don't you want to know that everything was out in the open."
"I'll wait until the dance," Jason said. "I don't have much of a choice, if I want to do this my way."
That day they did all of the shopping and then the madness began. The next five weeks was a flurry of building sewing, stapling, and such. The week of the dance finally came and the whole school was about as excited as the rangers were about the dance.
AN: I know this chapter took a long time to get out, but I got a small case of writer's block. Feel free to review and I hope that you enjoyed it!