Alright guys, I was pleasantly surprised to find that nobody had any trouble understanding the last chapter, which was great. But, for a little clarification Kimberly is no longer evil. Whoohoo, now we can throw a party! But, there's still a bit of a ways to go before we get to the happily ever after, that is if that's how it is meant to be. But, please review this one too because you have no idea what a differenece it makes when you recieve reviews. They're always what inspire me to say homework can wait, but my loyal readers can not.
Tommy quietly tiptoed up the stairs that led from his underground command center up to his seemingly ordinary house. It was late, real late, but he couldn't sleep. Eventually Conner, Ethan, and Trent had come to earlier that evening and woke up to discover that five of the original, well some semi-original Rangers had come to their aid and were now very concerned about them. They were so excited that they had completely forgotten what had actually caused them to be unconscious.
Conner spent what felt like hours to Jason drilling him with questions about being the leader of the very first Power Ranger team. Jason was gracious enough but eventually he gave Tommy a pleading 'help me' look, which queued Tommy to cut in.
"Hey Conner," said Tommy "how ya' felling?"
"Okay, I guess," said Conner recalling the fact that he had been injured pretty seriously that afternoon.
"Well, you took a pretty bad hit," continued Dr. Oliver pretending to examine Conner's head as he put on his glasses.
"Yeah man," added Jason, "I wasn't there or anything, but you looked pretty bad when we brought you in. I'm amazed you don't have the world's biggest headache." Jason had obviously picked up on Conner's limited intelligence.
Conner looked at the two men questioningly and then paused and thought for a minute. "You know," he began "now that you mention it my head does kind of hurt." He rubbed his temple slowly.
"Hey, why don't you take Ethan and Trent upstairs to the kitchen and make you something to eat. The fridge isn't terribly well stocked but I'm pretty sure there's some sandwich fixings," said Dr. Oliver. "Then when you're done eating there's some aspirin in the medicine cabinet in my bathroom upstairs."
"Good idea Dr. O," said Conner thankfully as he scurried away to gather Ethan who seemed to be quite captivated by Aisha's beauty. He had been very tentative being taken care of by the sweet and pretty Yellow Ranger all evening long. Usually it would have been Conner getting all the attention from the ladies, but things had changed since the young men had become Rangers.
Trent on the other hand wasn't so star struck. He was terribly concerned about Kira and he hadn't left her side since Haley woke him up with those nasty smelling salts. Dr. Oliver had joined him, as he too was worried about Kira and Katherine who was in the cot next to her. But, he couldn't refuse Jason a hand after what he had done for him.
"Thanks bro," said Jason giving his long time best friend their secret handshake, which they had shared since high school. "He's a great kid, but I just really wasn't in the mood you know what I mean?"
Tommy knew exactly what he meant; he had felt sick to his stomach since the whole ordeal happened.
"Yeah man," responded Tommy, "don't worry about it Conner's never been terribly perceptive." The two men chuckled to one another as they watched the three teenage boys head up the stairs.
"But how are you doing?" asked Jason with deep concern.
"Never better," said Tommy sarcastically in an attempt to avoid the question.
"No, I'm serious Tommy," said Jason with a stern look on his face. "If you wanna talk about it I got time."
"I know what you're thinking," replied Tommy, "that I'm trying to play the heroic leader when inside I'm suffocating with worry, heartache and regret."
"Well, I really just thought you might need to vent, but that'll do," said Jason.
"Well, I'm fine Jas, really," began Tommy. "I mean naturally I'm worried about Kat and Kira, and I'm extremely nervous about Zedd's next move, but I'm cool."
Jason looked at Tommy almost angrily. "I can't believe you Tommy, what's the point? You care for Kim, probably more than any of us and we all know that. There's no reason to hide it."
"I'm not hiding it," Tommy snapped back, "I just see no point in worrying about her when she's done a pretty damn good job of taking care of herself up until now."
"I feel sorry for you bro," said Jason sadly shaking his head before turning and walking away to join Billy and Haley at the master control panel.
Tommy made no attempt to move, he knew Jason was right. He was being ridiculous, Kimberly was in danger, why couldn't he just admit it? Probably because once he did he wouldn't be able to think strait. He recalled the time Lord Zedd had kidnapped Kimberly and kept her prisoner in his dark dimension as he slowly drained her life away. He couldn't remember how he was able to get through it. He had even made a conscious decision to let the Rangers pilot Zedd's zords as a trade off for Kimberly. Looking back on it his decision was made with his heart and not with his mind. He had a feeling that history was going to repeat itself.
But now, nearly three hours later Tommy found himself creeping through his own house like a cat burglar. Everyone had decided that it was only logical that they all stay together tonight. So, they flipped coins for beds and couches, the losers ended up with a cot in the basement. He had been a loser. What he felt worse about though was the fact that Kira's parents were probably in hysterics right now, worried their daughter hadn't come home.
Conner and Ethan had called their parents earlier and asked them if they could stay the night at Trent's. Had their parents known that Anton Mercer had left town for a business meeting earlier that day they never would have allowed it. But, the boys never told them that part. Tommy really wanted to call Kira's parents and let them know that she was okay, well hopefully. But how could he?
As Tommy carefully placed his steps he worked his way to the front door. When he finally reached it he heard a moan come from the couch behind him and he quickly rushed towards it. Katherine had been the one resting comfortably there. It was first decided that Kira was probably the most affected and should probably get the best bed, so she lay quietly upstairs in Dr. Oliver's bed, while Trent rested beside her in a comfy, cushioned chair. Although, Tommy wasn't dumb, he knew that Trent was probably lying right next to the pretty girl right now. At least that's what he would have done if it had been Kimberly.
Katherine was also in pain so she was moved to the next comfortable resting-place in the house, the fold out sofa in the living room. Ethan and Conner were in Dr. Oliver's office, which also had a futon and a recliner. Aisha was asleep in a recliner next to Kat in the living room and the other guys, along with Haley were stuck on the cots in the basement.
As Tommy approached Katherine she immediately dropped her mouth open as wide as it would go and started to let out a terrified scream. But, Tommy reacted quickly, putting his hand over her mouth. There was no reason to alarm anyone, especially after the day they had all had.
As his hand smothered Katherine's face she began to panic, her eyes moving every which way.
"Katherine," Tommy said softly next to her ear as he bent over her. "It's me, Tommy. Everything's going to be okay."
"Tommy?" Katherine repeated as Tommy removed his hand from her mouth and took a seat next to her on the bed.
"Yes, it's me," he assured her.
"What happened?" she asked in a whisper, "where are we?"
"Well," began Tommy, "we're in my living room in Reefside," he said soothingly. "You had us pretty scared there for a while," he paused, not wanting to tell Katherine the truth. "You see, Kimberly zapped you with a very powerful beam back in the forest."
"She did?" questioned Kat.
"Yes, you've been unconscious ever since," said Tommy regretfully. "Oh Kat, I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen to you. It was all my fault."
"I don't understand," said Katherine, "how could this be your fault? You had no more control over the situation than I did."
"Actually I did," confessed Tommy as he helped Katherine sit up. "I kind of knew that Kimberly had some hostile feelings towards you before you got here. I knew the second you showed up that there would be trouble, but I just wasn't thinking. I'm so sorry," he said again trying to conceal the shake in his voice.
"Hostile feelings?" she questioned. "Why would Kimberly have hostile feelings towards me?"
Tommy struggled to look his ex-girlfriend in the eye, but she softly embraced his right hand in both of hers and somehow it relaxed him. He slowly began to explain,
"Kimberly wrote that letter because she was afraid that I was falling for you."
Katherine was a little taken aback by the statement as her eyes widened and she griped Tommy's hand a little tighter.
"She was afraid that I was going to leave her for you, so she let me go first," he continued. "I know it was ridiculous and I think that now she knows it too, but it's true."
Katherine suddenly clicked, "But the karate tournament!" she gasped out loud causing Aisha to stir. She and Tommy had done everything short of making out at that tournament.
Tommy put his pointer finger to his lips gesturing for her to be quiet.
"I know," he said, "she was still in love with me then. She was going to confess the whole thing that weekend and tell me that she still loved me. But, when she saw you and me together it was too late."
"Oh," said Katherine closing her eyes tightly, "I had no idea!"
"I know, I know," whispered Tommy. "It wasn't your fault. Neither of us had any idea."
"I feel terrible about this," began Katherine.
"Shhh, shhh, shhh," said Tommy as he pulled his hands out of Katherine's grasp only to engulf the woman in his arms. "It's okay Kat, it was a long time ago. It would be stupid to get upset over it now because it's all over and done with, okay?"
"Yeah," muffled Katherine against his chest.
He could feel her tears soaking through his white undershirt and now he could smell her silky blond hair. She still used the same shampoo, it brought back so many memories. But, he was relieved to discover that it didn't bring back any of the old feelings, just the memory of them.
"Now," he said resting his cheek on top of her head, "I want you to get some more sleep. I know it probably feels like you've been asleep for ages, but you need your rest after everything you've been through. I promise we'll explain everything to you in the morning and Billy will run a scan on you and make sure there was no permanent damage."
"Okay," she agreed speaking in a normal volume.
Tommy released her and she lay back down under the covers as he stood up and turned around toward the front door, but before he could take a step she stopped him.
"Tommy, will you stay with me?" she asked. "Just until I fall asleep."
"Of course I will Kat," he said as he once again returned to the bed and sat down leaning against the sofa cushion. Katherine cuddled up next to him and rested her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beat, it had been so long since she'd heard that. It sounded really nice.
She never thought she would find herself in Tommy Oliver's arms again, but here she was. He was still so handsome and it had felt so good when he wrapped his muscular arms around her. But things were different now, they would never be the same again. He was still madly and desperately in love with Kimberly Hart. She could tell by the way he spoke of her. He didn't blame her for any of this, only himself.
Hell, who was she kidding? He had never fallen out of love with Kimberly, even when they were together. She always told herself when they were going out that he just missed Kim, but the feelings were gone. She had just been fooling herself and that's why she had let him go once she went off to college. She didn't have any kind of advantage anymore with a long distance relationship. Why would he pine after her when he could pine after Kim just as easily? But, for now she would just enjoy this moment of having the pleasure of falling asleep in Tommy's arms.
Tommy sat still as a rock with Katherine cradled in his arms. Soon he began to doze off to the even sound of Katherine's breaths. As he floated in and out of consciousness his lips cracked a smile. For a moment he had dreamt that it had been Kimberly in his arms.
In his dream the couple had been upstairs in his room on a chilly winter night. Only, it wasn't his room, it was their room. Kimberly had just come out of the bathroom in a pink satin nighty and joined him under the covers. Neither of them said a word, they just smiled at each other as she adjusted herself in his arms. Before long her head was resting on his chest and he could feel their hearts beating in unison. But suddenly he felt something strange happen inside of his chest. At first in his dream the two had felt it together, it felt as if they had been fused together and their eyes shot open in unison, just as he awoke from the dream. He found himself panting hard to catch his breath and sweat trickling down his temple.
"What just happened?" he asked out loud disappointed to find Katherine in his arms. She was still asleep but somehow he knew that where ever Kimberly was, she had felt it too.