There was never any doubt
All would try to take her home
But she refused their every move
Preferred to be alone
And a rose...a rose is a rose
Poe
The man not only had power, he dressed to show that power as well. He knew that he was at the top of his game. Everyone admired him- everything from his CEO position of one of the most prestigious companies in the world to the downright good looks he still held even with his fifty years of age. The woman with the office four rows down especially thought so. He could have her if he wanted, he supposed.
He sat at his desk late one night and counted the money, placing them in piles of ten dollars. He could only take so much, or the company might notice their funds dwindling at a rapid pace.
His workspace was decorated with good memories: his son and daughter hugging his wife, the fishing trip last summer, and the Bahamas vacation he'd used some of the company's money for.
Quietly, he placed that night's sum into the briefcase that woman had given him. Such a silly thing for her to do, giving him such a public gift. He snapped it shut and leaned back in his leather swivel chair.
Then, darkness. The lights had gone out. He sighed, standing up to switch them back on. Maybe it was that woman, trying to make the moves on him. He never made it passed the desk, however. He felt hands push him back onto his chair; a grunt resounded from his large body. Well, if she wanted him that badly…
Still, he needed to make sure it was she. "Who's there?" He mentally scolded himself for allowing fear to shake his normally arduous voice.
"That's none of your concern." It was a woman, but not the woman he had been expecting. His coworker had a higher pitched voice, while this one was guttural, yet velvety at the same time, as if she held high power wherever she was from. "I know what you've been doing."
The man couldn't see any outline of her body, even with the city lights cascading dimly into the large office. He opened his mouth to speak to the formless woman.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He protested weakly. Who could know? He had been so careful!
"Don't give me that BS, Mr. Parker." She stated sternly. So she knew his name. He felt her breath pressing on his neck as she spoke, but he still could not feel her presence. "Do you realize how power corrupts even the most innocent or gentle man? Get over yourself. Think of your kids and your wife. Do you humans only think of yourselves? Stop this, or I'll stop you."
He felt movement of air pass by and then nothing. The intruder was gone.
"I feel like we should be out there searching for him still!" Conner slammed his fist onto the café's countertop. Kira jumped at the sudden blow. Ethan, however, had no reaction at all. He had not spoken a word since they had arrived at Hailey's.
The yellow Dino Ranger sighed, "I know, Con. I feel that way too, but Trent and Hail' are out there searching. It's their shift."
Conner let out a frustrated grunt and turned so that his back was facing the petite girl. "I don't care."
The weather outside seemed to agree with Conner's fury and the tears that his teammates had shed for their fallen leader. He was surprised that Hailey and Trent had not asked one of them to go with them. Outside he heard a loud thunder sound. Lightning lit up the darkened room. By force of habit, he counted the seconds until the deafening noise returned. He let himself get lost in the powerful resonance, ignoring everything around him. For one second, he wanted to forget that he wasn't normal and pretend this wasn't happening.
A few moments passed before he felt a small hand squeeze his left shoulder. "Conner, don't shut me out. You too, Ethan. We need each other more than ever. We need to be a team."
"But Dr. O was the reason we were brought together." Ethan replied lamely. His eyes still seemed unfocused as if he was in a distant land.
"So what good would it do to break that up? It would be like a slap in Dr. Oliver's face!" Kira protested. "We need to stay unified."
"Kira, what makes you so worried about this?" Conner suddenly brought up. They hadn't been fighting or leaving. Both he and Ethan were still there sitting next to her.
Her hazel eyes dropped to the floor. She took a breath before answering his question. "I just know that once something traumatic happens to some people, they tend to drift away and retreat into a shell. I don't want that to happen to us. You guys are probably the best thing that has ever happened to me."
"Really?" Ethan asked, slightly surprised at the confession. Although, he did concur with what his female friend had to say. Before the two of them had come into his life, he had been just another nerd at Reefside with no passion save for technology. Not only that, but the red and yellow ranger seemed to balance his hobbies out remarkably with their own.
Conner seemed to be thinking along the same lines as his teammates. He nodded and gave them a small smile. "Yeah, it's true. Don't worry, Kira, we won't be leaving anytime soon."
Her smile, still sad for their tremendous loss, seemed reassured and more confident than the ones before. She glanced at her watch. "They should be back soon, hopefully with some good news."
Conner grabbed her arm and checked the time. It was only 6:30 p.m. This day had to be the longest ever.
"Just…promise me one thing, guys?" He pleaded. "Can we go out just one more time?"
A bell sounded throughout the room, and the three turned to the entrance where Hailey and Trent walked through the door. Their faces still held the somber expressions from before.
Nevertheless, the question had to be asked. "Did you find him?"
Hailey shook her head slowly while Trent found a seat next to Ethan. He buried his face in his hands and let out a long breath.
"Sounding an alarm won't help Kim, Jase." Rocky stated simply. They had been discussing the current situation for the past hour, yet they seemed to be making little ground on how to mend everything. The music from Ernie's surprise party blared behind the closed door to the office.
"I haven't been able to find anything online." Billy said from behind the computer that Adelle had left behind.
"I hate this." Kat uttered somberly. "Why can't our lives just continue on normally?"
"I don't know." Jason shook his head. "I guess that's what Zordon meant when he kept repeating that even when we won those battles, the biggest battles were yet to come."
"I really wish he was here." Kat sighed. "He would know what to do."
"I'm sorry." Karone looked at the floor. Andros was staring at a map on the wall, obviously thinking of the day that changed his and all the other ranger's lives. Zhane put his arm around the siblings sympathetically.
"Oh no, Karone, I didn't mean it that way." Kat added immediately. Her eyes pleaded forgiveness, but Karone just shook her head.
"It's all right. I know you didn't. I…just feel that the whole thing was my fault. I could have freed him at any moment, and I didn't."
"You were brainwashed." Zhane reminded resolutely. "You had no control over your actions."
"But before then, I did. He was captured before I was brainwashed. I could have saved Kimberly too! Instead I was selfish because all I wanted was a friend, and Kimberly became that person until I threw her to the ground." Karone folded her arms, angry that she could not seem to forgive herself. "Now look at her. She's like me: angry with the universe."
"You said she was in France?" Billy interrupted the intense conversation. Karone tore herself away from her dark thoughts and nodded in affirmation.
"Well, I figured out where she was. You gave me just enough information to locate where Divatox's lair was. It's very intriguing. Apparently, Divatox blocked all signals from penetrating a force field years ago, and it's still operating. That seems to be why I could not locate Kimberly." Billy fingered his chin thoughtfully.
"Didn't you try tracking her a few times after the crystal died though?" Kat questioned skeptically.
"Yes, but it could have malfunctioned." Billy shrugged. "Or there is something more to the piece than we thought."
"She did have that weird thing on her face." Rocky inserted; then looked at the silent Jason. He didn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation.
"That could possibly be the solution." Billy copied down the position of Divatox's old lair onto scratch paper and clicked out of the program. He turned to the original red ranger who remained in his unspoken condition. "Jason?"
The dark haired ranger's eyes lit with recognition of his name, and his head snapped towards the speaker. "Yeah?"
"Sorry, you seemed to be lost in another world." Billy shrugged. "We found Divatox's old lair."
A small, sad smile grew on Jason's face. "Okay. Let's form a plan then."
Each ranger jumped when a knock came from the door. Ernie popped his head on. "Hey, guys! You going to join us?"
Kat was the first to react to the returning owner. "Oh, yes. We were just reminiscing about the old days, Ernie."
The large man grinned. "The good ol' days!"
"Yeah, they really were." Jason agreed. Ernie gestured for them to come out of the office, but closed the door as he returned to the party to give them a few more minutes of privacy.
"We need to go to Reefside first." Jason said.
"Tommy's gone, though." Zhane frowned.
"She could have been lying- trying to break us down." Andros leaned against the desk.
"I doubt Kimberly would lie. She always has been very honest, and to a point, very blunt. She says what she believes to be true." Kat shook her head seriously as Billy nodded.
"This isn't the Kimberly you knew." Andros countered.
"Maybe she believes Tommy is gone, but he survived." Jason corresponded.
"I know Tommy. He wouldn't have wanted to fight her back." Billy folded the paper with the information and placed it in his back jean pockets.
"I don't know, Jason. We've been lucky so far, not losing anybody during battles." Kat shook her head, the usual optimist gone.
"Tommy isn't dead." Jason interposed with an almost glare. "We had this bond, a connection, ever since I tried to destroy the green candle. It took us forever, but we learned to use that bond to our benefit and leaderships. I would feel it if that line was broken. We need to go to Reefside. He'll be there when we get there."
The current flowed at an astonishing rate; it was no wonder the black ranger had not been able to escape from the river that the former pink ranger had sentenced him to. The night was slowly tiptoeing towards them; the clouds covering the sun brought it closer. The storm around them only hindered them. Hailey had not let them return until the rain stopped, but the threat of it beginning again forced them to stay clear of the water. That, and the red head had convinced herself that they would be struck by lightning. As of right now, Conner could care less whether he was struck by lightning. His only goal was to find the black ranger.
It wasn't fair that someone could pick and choose when one person was going to die. Conner didn't understand how someone, especially someone like the small brunette who had once been a Power Ranger herself, could justify this. She wasn't even under a spell!
"He's not here, Conner." Ethan informed his friend, although his voice sounded as disbelieving as Conner's actions were. Kira grabbed Conner's wrist as he tried to enter the raging river. The red Dino Ranger glared at her and jerked his wrist away. Tears sprung to her eyes, and his face immediately softened. He was not the only one going through this tragedy.
"We gotta go out there, guys!" Conner exclaimed passionately. "He could be caught on a rock underneath the water or something!"
Kira sighed heavily. "If that is the case, he could be caught anywhere by now."
"We tried looking down here earlier man. Hailey has special devises that detect his location anyway. He isn't here." Ethan reminded the ordinarily calm jock.
"You cannot completely rely on technology, Eth! Don't you remember that?" Conner retorted just as firmly.
Ethan shrugged. Conner looked into his dark eyes and relented yet again on his harshness. Ethan was just reacting in his own aloof way, just like Conner was reacting in his "go get em!" one. "I'm sorry, guys."
Kira touched his bicep. "It's all right. We're sorry too…I wish we could do more."
"Don't worry, Kira. I'll make her pay for what she's done." Conner paused and contemplated his words. "For what she's doing to us."
He glanced at Ethan who, after glancing at the sky, checked his watch. "It's almost 8 o'clock, and the sun is almost completely gone. We should get out of here before we get lost in the dark. Hailey said to meet her at Dr. O's."
Conner nodded and took a heavy step towards his car. He glanced back and saw Kira still standing by the riverbank, staring intently into the water. Conner frowned and called out to her, "Kira!"
He could see that it took great effort for her to turn away from where their mentor could be currently dwelling. As she turned her face towards his, a few wet streaks glistened from the reflection of the sun. Conner felt the leader inside him straining to comfort her. Both Ethan and he immediately returned to their female counterpart and took a respective arm in theirs. They each journeyed back to Conner's car, leaning on each other for support mentally and physically.
When they arrived at Dr. O's house, their hearts broke to see the reminder of the man that would never walk through that front door again. Conner shut the door behind him and turned towards the living room. What he saw startled him. He had expected to find Hailey in the lab, but she was there in front of them with seven somewhat familiar adults.
"Here they are." He heard Hailey say. "The red, yellow, and blue Dino Rangers."
Conner glanced at his teammates who seemed equally surprised. Has Hailey gone mad? Just because Dr. O is gone does not mean we reveal our identities!
Instead of voicing his thoughts, however, he remained silent. He wasn't in the mood for denying anything. Hailey turned towards him and smiled. "Guys, these are former rangers."
"Oh, great." Ethan said a little dully. Conner understood his demeanor completely; they'd always complained to Dr. Oliver that he should have some of his old friends visit, and now they'd gotten their wish. Under his breath he muttered, "Well, this is isn't how I pictured it."
Only Kira and Ethan heard him. Kira spoke next, "We know. We saw you in the video that…Dr. Oliver made."
Conner mentally kicked himself for not remembering. Then again, it had been a long time ago. "Okay, for a moment there I thought the genius had gone insane. I'm Conner."
"Kira." "Ethan." They said simultaneously, but everyone seemed to have caught their names, nodding in acknowledgement.
Conner watched as the one in black stepped forward and reached for his hand. Conner immediately took it. "I'm Jason. Original Red Ranger."
He wished they were meeting under different circumstances. Still, he'd never wash his right hand again.
This began a sequence of introductions. "Zhane. Silver Space Ranger."
"Karone. Second Pink Galaxy Ranger…and Astronema." Conner observed Kira raise her eyebrow in interest. He'd have to ask her the significance of this later. Kira seemed to know all of the Power Ranger history, save their faces obviously.
"Andros. Red Space Ranger." The guy with long striped hair stated.
"Billy. Original Blue Ranger." Conner smirked as Ethan's face reacted with contained excitement.
"Rocky. Second Red Ranger." A grin escaped Conner's face. Three red rangers that stood before him. Three!
"Kat. Second Pink Ranger." All three put on an 'O' face as they heard the blonde state her name and position on the team. Obviously she was the one that replaced their current problem.
Conner's heart hardened slightly at the thought of the evil sorceress. She would pay for what she had done.
After they had all sat down in Dr. O's living room, Kira sighed and asked, "Not to be rude, but what are you doing here?"
"We came here looking for Tommy." Jason replied. He had his arms crossed.
Conner exchanged momentary glances with his teammates and stepped forward slightly. "Dr. Oliver…" He gulped slightly as his eyes dropped to the ground. "He's dead."
Before there had been hope in the original red ranger's eyes, but now Conner saw nothing except indifference. The Dino Ranger realized that this was just a façade; one that every leader learned to pull whenever hard times had come.
It was the same façade that Conner was using at this very moment. He could only push the dark emotions away for so long; he was afraid that if he came face to face with his teacher's murderer, he might condemn her to the same fate. His hands clenched and unclenched, until finally Conner couldn't take the action any longer. He forced his hands to clasp in his lap. Satisfied for the moment, Conner caught sight of the other ranger's reactions. If he hadn't already hardened his heart, he might have cried along with them.
Tears fell from Kat's eyes, and Billy comforted himself by pulling her closer. Karone had the same hard face that Jason, Rocky, and Andros were dawning, and Zhane was staring intently at the wall. He had not known Tommy like the others' had, but he could still feel the pain of losing a fellow teammate and brother.
"When?" Jason strained to keep his composure; Conner admired his strength.
"This morning." Hailey intervened. She glanced at the younger rangers sympathetically. They were strong, but she was stronger when it came to a crisis.
Jason pursed his lips. "Kim, what have you done?"
Conner's forehead narrowed in response to the red ranger's statement. "Wait, how do you know about Kimberly?"
Jason's eyes met his. "She's already been to see me. God, this is all my fault."
His resolve seemed to be crumbling, or so it appeared to Conner. He saw Billy reach for the man in black. "You cannot blame this on yourself. If there is anyone to blame, it's me. I was the one who failed to find her when she disappeared."
"Neither of you can blame this on yourselves!" Kat snapped, surprising the others. "You two and Tommy always did this, and I won't take it anymore. You had no way of knowing what was happening to Kimberly. We still don't know exactly what happened. Now let's go fix this before any more damage happens!"
"She's right." Andros agreed. He turned to his younger sister and added, "Karone, you know this Kimberly the best. What do you think?"
All eyes turned to the shorter blonde. She bit her lip timidly and stared at the rain that fell once again. "The Kimberly I knew was always kind, even though she was technically evil. I think it was before she turned. Since we know where she lived or possibly lives, I think we should investigate that area. Find something that might break this state of mind that she's in."
"Do you think she'll be there?" Kira questioned, finally speaking up.
Karone shook her head. "Most likely no. Not if we create a diversion."
Conner liked the way this woman thought. "What kind of diversion?"
"We have a few people stay behind and keep her busy." Karone looked to the others for more specific ideas.
"No, I will stay behind. Everyone else can go." Jason announced. Before anyone could protest he included, "Earlier she was looking for me. Obviously she knew that…killing Tommy would weaken me in a way. She must have thought that fighting six of us wasn't worth it when she came to the Youth Center, and that's why she bolted after revealing her identity."
"She hid her identity from you?" Ethan asked. "Why would she do that?"
Obviously embarrassed that he had not recognized her earlier, he replied, "A few years ago I saw her at the Youth Center, asking for Ernie…the owner…and I approached her. I didn't recognize her because at the time she had bright orange hair, and she said her name was Krosa. I guess she was hurt that I didn't realize that it was her. She came back in the same disguise. I don't know how she changed so quickly though."
"I taught her how to do that." Karone admitted guiltily. "Back when I was Astronema."
"Oh, don't worry about it, Karone. Nothing was your fault." Jason added. He threw her an understanding glance and continued. "So that will be the plan. You all will go to France, while I stay behind and fight her."
Conner, Kira, and Ethan shook their heads, horror written all over their faces. Kira spoke softly, "You can't do that."
Ethan jumped in, "We have to stay here. Mesogog might take advantage if we were to leave."
"You cannot fight her alone. Dr. O made that mistake." Conner stared at his clasped hands that were neatly placed in his lap.
"She has remarkable power." Hailey declared. "We won't allow you to fight alone."
Jason narrowed his eyes. "I won't allow anyone else to risk their lives. She wants me."
"And us later!" Kat broke in. "Listen to them, Jase. We don't want any more lives to be taken."
"We always worked better in groups." Billy joined. "The three current rangers will stay; as will Andros and Zhane. Karone, Kat, Rocky, and I will go to France."
Jason relented when he heard Billy's idea. "Fine. As long as you five stay out of the fight until I desperately need it. And I don't want you to be seen. This is between Kim and me. I want to see if I can break through to the real Kim."
"Don't you think Tommy would have been able to do that?" Kat posed. "I mean, they dated for almost three years."
Conner glanced at Kira and Ethan. That answered their questions about why there was this unspoken tension between the two of them whenever they were together, minus the whole "evil vs. good" thing.
Jason looked knowingly at the Australian blonde. A crash of thunder set the tone. "That was a long time ago. Their friendship was never really repaired after Kim broke up with him."
"Exactly, so why would Kim have harsh feelings against him? I would think it'd be the other way around." Kat protested as Conner wondered why she was so insistent on this idea.
"Kat, she's evil. She'd make up a reason for it to be his fault. Plus, she was angry with him when they broke up." Jason shook his head. "That wasn't the point! Trini would have been the only one who could have ended this. Since she can't be here, Billy and I are the only ones who might make a difference."
"What about me?" Kat queried. "We knew her too."
"You might accelerate her anger." Jason's eyes averted to Rocky who was staring at the floor. "Rocky, are you all right?"
"Where is the phone, Hailey?" Billy suddenly asked. "I distinctly remember Zack telling me to call him whenever we needed help at Trini's funeral."
Jason's face seemed to sadden, then brighten to some extent. "Yes, definitely call him. We need people that Kimberly knows." Hailey and Billy exited the living room and entered the kitchen to find the nearest phone. Conner guessed that Zack was another original, probably the black ranger. A few minutes later, Billy and Hailey returned.
"He'll be here in a few hours." Billy affirmed. "I hadn't realized that he had moved back."
"When he gets here, do we begin then?" Rocky voiced. Conner frowned when he realized that this was the first sentence that Rocky had made since introductions. Apparently seeing Billy and Kat's disturbed looks, it was unnatural for the second red ranger to be this silent.
"As soon as he gets here." Billy acquiesced. Then he turned to the people who would be staying behind. "I have one request; if the worse comes to happen, please do not do anything rash before contacting us."
"You know I won't. Kimberly was- is the heart of our team. Not even the greatest ranger can destroy his or her own heart." Jason replied.
As the words were spoken, the reality set in on Conner. This would be one of the most life-altering encounters he would face. It wasn't just an ordinary monster they would be fighting, but a human being- one that had once laughed and joked with the people sitting before him. He couldn't satisfy his own anger by destroying the hope of his heroes. As long as they believed, he believed.
Something startled him. He didn't know quite what it was, but with his heightened sense from the power, he thought he heard something outside. Great, he thought, Couldn't she let us mourn for one night?
He stood up, alarming the others who were still pondering the future events and possible consequences. "I heard something. I'll be right back."
"No way are you going alone." Ethan stood up. Kira stood up along with the blue ranger, and the trio headed towards the door. Before the reached the white door, however, it burst open, and Trent rushed through the door, stumbling.
"Trent!" Kira cried out and immediately rushed to his aid.
"I found him crawling on the ground during the storm. I was on my way back from getting us dinner." His explanation confused Conner. Peering over his shoulder and out the door, he saw a form lying on the front porch. "I couldn't get the door open with him on my back."
"Dr. Oliver?" Ethan's voice rose slightly. At once the four rushed out the door and lifted their teacher. They carried him into the living room where the others were standing, confusion written on their faces.
"You said he was crawling?" Conner interrogated the white ranger.
"Yes, he was crawling. The movement was how I was able to see him through the rain. He's lucky the streetlights were working. They usually don't have enough stability to stay on during a storm like this. By the time I got to him, though, he'd passed out."
"I'll get you a blanket." Kira proposed and ran up the stairs.
When she reached the upstairs, she couldn't hold in the tears any longer. Sobs of withheld sorrow and sobs of happiness and relief conjoined into one. She felt herself slide down the hallway wall and cradled her legs. It took a few moments to compose herself, but she finally lifted her head up and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Hopefully she didn't look like a chipmunk by the time she returned to the scene.
She didn't know which room was Dr. Oliver's, so she went to the far left and peeked in. Sadly, it was just a bathroom. The second door, however, was the right choice. She decided that she should find a sweatshirt for both of them as well. She searched through the closet, only pausing for a moment to contemplate that she was snooping through her teacher's closet, and found one white one and one black one. Perfect, she grinned.
As she crossed the bedroom, something on Dr. Oliver's bed caught her eye. It was a thick manila folder, with contents spilling out the side. Out of curiosity, Kira found herself retracing herself back to the bed. Setting the sweatshirts down on the comforter, Kira fingered the papers. When her interest was too hard to fight, she finally opened the folder and filed through the papers. They were all letters from one person. Kira couldn't help herself- she began to read:
Dear Tommy,
It's only been three hours since the plan took off, and I already miss you guys like crazy! You in particular. And my smoothie. I don't know how I'm going to survive training without Ernie's smoothies!
I hate to have to write vague letters. This will kill me, not knowing the exact details of what is going on. You know how curious I can be! Haha! You have to promise to keep me as informed as possible though. I'm afraid you're going to want to kill me because I'll be calling you so much!
Tell Adam, Rocky, Aisha, and Billy that I miss them terribly and love them! I wish they could have seen me off at the plane, but I understand their reasons. And tell Kat that she will be wonderful; I did pick her to be my successor for a reason.
I'm really scared, Tommy. I don't know what will happen within the next few months. It's not the normal spur-of-the-moment thing that I'm used to. This is my future, and I don't want to fail or make the wrong choice. I really hope that leaving you guys, and you, was not the wrong choice. I know that you promised you would always be there for me, and you always have been (thank you so much for that), but I still have my doubts. I wish that we were still young and didn't have to make these choices.
I'm not used to not being able to see you whenever I want. We barely ever went 24 hours without seeing each other; now what will I do? I doubt Zordon would allow teleportation. I can hear him say it now, "Teleportation was not made for your own pleasure," or something along those lines.
I wish you could visit me. Don't feel bad though! You have a responsibility to take care of issues that will always be more important than I am. Remember to be true to your heart and follow your instincts. You are a great leader, Tommy. Don't ever doubt your abilities. I believe in you and have faith that you will lead us all to triumph one of these days.
I'd better go now; they're bringing dinner! Great yummy plane food! Woo!
I love you with all my heart! Never forget that.
Love always,
Kimberly
P.S. Catch ya on the flipside! ;-)
Kira blinked a few times to let everything settle in. Kimberly wrote this; the same Kimberly they were planning on battling within the next 24 hours. Kira leafed through a few more, catching a few lines like, "I miss you more everyday; and I cannot wait for a chance for you to visit me!" and "I love you so much. Everything I see somehow reminds me of you." Kira only stopped when she saw that the handwriting changed. Somehow, Dr. Oliver had all of his replies to her letters as well.
Beautiful,
It seems like years since I saw you last, but it's only been a few months. I keep replaying every memory we have together, just to make it seem like you were here. So far, it has kept me sane. Unfortunately, it does seem a bit obsessive, and Billy wants to have me checked out. Haha This has been a bad week. Lately, they've been picking on me. I think they realize that I'm in a vulnerable state, otherwise they have really good timing. I find myself wishing I had told you not to go, but every time I take it back. You were given the opportunity of a lifetime, and if I had asked you to turn it down then I wouldn't be able to bear with my selfishness.
I hope training is all right- better than my training. Are you having any signs of withdrawal? Please tell me if your emotions are roller-coastering or not; I don't want you to go through anything like that alone, especially since you wouldn't let me when I lost my own.
The other day I was looking through a few of the letters you sent me, and I found the lyrics and music that you and Zack wrote for me afterwards. I don't know if I ever truly got to express my thanks and love for that song. The next time we see each other, I want you to play it for me. Speaking of that, I might be able to take a vacation soon. Big Blue has been hinting at a break for the past week. It wouldn't be like Australia though- only a few of us could get off at a time. I think Billy, Kat, and I have the first choice. (Rocky and Adam tried to pull seniority off of Kat, but they couldn't decide who should get it first. Haha. I wish you could have seen the props they used to plead their case!)
Rocky is making fun of me right now. He says I'm getting fat because instead of working out, I sit on my butt all day writing letters to you. Pretty soon he's going to get a foot shoved up his own butt if he doesn't stop. We have to do a marriage project soon. I'm not looking forward to it…mostly because I can't think of marrying anyone except you (even if it is pretend), and you're not here. Okay, I have to go beat Rocky up. I'll write you another one this week to make up for this one ending short!
I love you!
Your White Tiger
Some good advice from the wise Tommy ;-) : Just because we don't have our powers, doesn't mean we're not Power Rangers. You'll always be a Power Ranger in our eyes, Kim!
They really had been in love. They had even talked about marriage! The thought of getting married within the next year gave Kira the willies. She placed the letters aside and found a newspaper article about Kimberly moving to Florida to train for the Pan Globals. A picture of the gymnast was right beside the article. She really was beautiful.
The next paper had musical notes and lyrics. This must be the song mentioned in Dr. Oliver's letter. The lyrics were not very personal, but then again Dr. O had said that Zack co-wrote it. He probably wouldn't let Kim write anything sappy.
Kira felt more connected with the Kimberly that the older ranger's knew. Surprisingly, Kira had many things in common with the original pink ranger. Kira made a mental note to make sure that Conner, Trent, and Ethan got a history lesson on her. She felt that it would be a good thing for the boys to learn about the woman they would be facing soon. Not for leverage, but also for the sake of the other rangers.
Kira neatly placed the papers back into the folder and bounded down the stairs. She entered the living room and smiled when the familiar voice, though softer than usual, brought joy to her heart.
"Hey, Jase." Tommy said wearily. He was still sprawled on the couch. Kira covered him with a blanket. He nodded, "Thanks, Kira."
Jason grinned. "Took you long enough."
Aaaah::frustrated sigh: I am so sorry I haven't been updating that much. Seems I've lost a few readers though. Oh well, I love you all:)
Anyway, I feel that some of this is going in the wrong direction, so I'll be working on fixing that. The next chapter is a biggie, so I don't know when I'll end up posting that since it really needs patching.(Although, it isn't the last chapter.)
Any suggestions, comments? Anything. You guys do have a lot of input into how this story goes, like the characters and such!
Much love,
Lar