Wes led Tommy into the living room; both of them sat down in silence, not even really looking at each other. Wes seemed to be avoiding Tommy's eyes. He had an idea as to why Tommy was here. He knew sooner or later he would show up and want to talk about the thing that had been bugging him for so long. The thing he wasn't ready to face.
Tommy looked around the living room. It was rather large for his taste but comfortable and cozy. He saw a big screen TV that looked to be over a decade old, in fact most of the stuff in here appeared to be in that decade range. It then became clear to him that no one had been here in a while. But why? Reefside was a nice place to live or even come for the summer. He had grown quite fond of Reefside in his last two years here.
It was beyond Tommy why someone who had a nice place like this just wouldn't come anymore. Tommy's eyes then wandered over to the fireplace, and above the ledge of the shelf he saw a picture frame. It was of a small family: a father, mother and a little boy. Tommy stared at the little boy for a moment; it was Wes. A thought then crossed his mind. Wes had talked about his father, but never said one word about his mother.
"How long has it been since you've been here?"
At first Wes didn't respond. Tommy thought maybe he hadn't heard him, and he was about to repeat the question.
"I don't know. A while I guess." The distance in Wes's voice told Tommy that it had be a long time since Wes had been here, probably a decade plus. Wes was twenty-six years old now. It could have been fifteen years that had gone by since anyone had been here.
Tommy wasn't going to push it. Something obviously had happened that caused no one to return here in fifteen years. Tommy looked over at the framed photo once again. You know what they say, a photo is worth a thousand words. Perhaps the thing that had happened was that someone was missing, out of the picture, and it was just too hard to return to this place.
Tommy knew that feeling. Maybe that was why he hadn't returned home to Angel Grove in so long. Most of his friends were no longer there. His brother had died a few years back. All that was really there were his parents, who he hadn't seen in a while, only talked on the phone with. Going back would only bring back those memories from his past; nothing was the same there anymore. The Youth Center was no longer the same place, even his high school was different, and as for the Command Center it was destroyed and Zordon was gone.
"Yeah," Tommy responded all too softly.
"So what do you need? You must have come here for something," asked Wes. He knew the reason for Tommy being here, but he needed to change the subject away from another problem he had been dealing with for most of his life.
It said it all in Wes's eyes, that he wanted to take the conversation in another direction. Tommy sighed. He had always thought of Wes as an easygoing, problem free guy. He was wrong, Wes might be rich, but he was no different from anyone else. "I wanted to tell you about someone I once knew. She meant the world to me," Tommy gulped in heavily as if he were holding back tears. Even now to talk about it seemed almost painful, even after all these years. "And I guess in some ways she still does."
"Kimberly?" asked Wes. He didn't know much about her, only the few things Jason had told him, Eric, and the others.
Tommy nodded his head, and smiled lightly. "Yeah."
"Jason said you two went through a lot together."
"Yeah. We did, probably a lot more than the normal high school couple."
"I guess being a ranger does a lot to a relationship," replied Wes.
Tommy bowed his head down. Wes was right; being a ranger had a lot to do with what happened between them. "Yeah, it did."
Maybe he wasn't as alone as he thought he was. "What happened?" asked Wes.
"She was given the opportunity to train in the Pan Global Games, it was a once in a lifetime chance." And it was, but like all things it came at a price.
"But wasn't she a ranger?" asked Wes.
"Yeah, we found a replacement for her, or rather she did." Tommy bowed his head down. That was Kim for you, always thinking ahead.
"You let her go, didn't you," asked Wes.
"Yeah. The day before she told me if I didn't want her to go, she would stay."
"Why didn't you? You must have loved her."
"And that's why, I loved her too much to hold her back from her dreams, so I let her go." Tommy bowed his head down again. "And in the end she let me go; she met someone else." The pain of that day came back to him, of reading the letter; if his friends hadn't been there he didn't know what would have happened.
"Did you ever see her again?" asked Wes.
Tommy nodded his head. "Yeah it was about a year and a half later. We talked and settled things between us."
Wes's face saddened at the young man's story. He would have never guessed it. He figured the legendary power ranger would have some great love story, but the truth is even if he was a legend, he was just like everyone else. "Was it hard seeing her again?"
Tommy paused a moment at the question. "A little. More confusing. At the time I was sort of dating another girl, Kat, on and off, in the end it never worked out for us. As for Kim I wasn't sure what I was feeling for her…"
"When was the last time you saw her?"
Tommy sighed. "That was the last time."
Wes's eyes widened. How was that possible? "You mean to tell me you haven't seen this girl who you must still love in all this time? Why?"
"I don't know." Tommy turned and looked Wes right in the eyes. "I could ask you the same question."
Wes turned his head away. He had wondered how long it would take until Jen would come up. "My situation is slightly different. Your old flame is living now and mine's a thousand years in the future."
"Yeah, maybe. But you have a chance now to contact her; you'll be able to see her again."
Wes sighed. "That's just it. I'm afraid of seeing her again, being with her, getting close again and then I know I'll lose her once this is all over."
Tommy's heart ached. He could sense Wes's pain all too well. "Maybe this time will be different."
"No." Wes sighed heavily.
Tommy licked his lips and gently gripped Wes's shoulder. "I know it's hard. But we really could use their help. I know I'm asking a lot. I wish there was another way."
"So do I," replied Wes, knowing now he had no other choice, whether he liked it or not he had to contact the future.
In Mesagog's dark chambers Janixsaur paced around back and forth, as Mesagog worked on one of his experiments. "It will be only a matter of time until they call for the other Time Force rangers. We must prepare now, you need to lend me some of your energy."
Mesagog didn't seem too concerned about other rangers coming. In fact it excited him, the more the merrier. He could take them all out in one gulp. "Why should we be concerned with a few more Time Force rangers, when the two who are here now are barely a problem?"
Janixsaur was upset by Mesagog's lack of concern with the issue. He got up right into Mesagog's face, interrupting the experiment.
Messagog's dark and gleaming eyes glared right at the mutant reptile freak. "Get out of my way."
"Not until you listen. You have never dealt with Time Force before; they have technology that you have never dreamed of," he stammered.
"I beg to differ." Mesagog turned around and headed towards a green portal. Before stepping in he turned around. "Why so eager to gain some of my powers? I think I will wait and let time take its course. We wouldn't want anything to go wrong with our deal, now would we?" Mesagog's tone was untrusting. In the last few days, he had begun to wonder if this reptile mutant might have other plans in store.
Janixsaur gritted his teeth. "As you wish, Mesagog."
Mesagog nodded his head and headed into the portal. Once he was gone... "You're safe for now, Mesagog, but just you wait, when you least suspect it I will make my move."