CHAPTER 2
THE CALL

Jason snapped back into reality, realizing that the moment between him and Kimberly hadn't happened, he hadn't kissed her. He felt the urge to do so however, but was thankful that he hadn't let it happen. "Don't be sorry," he finally mumbled. "I'm actually kind of happy you brought it up Kim,"

Kimberly sighed at his mention of Tommy. She was tired of hearing about Tommy, and that's all Jason seemed to talk about. Kimberly felt like he was trying to avoid something, she wanted to bring him out of his shell so she decided to turn the conversation towards a different direction. "Are you still a virgin Jase?" she asked, trying hard to stop herself from giggling. She'd never asked one of her friends a question about their virginity, but the moment seemed right.

Jason's face turned dark red, and he couldn't believe that Kimberly of all people had asked him that type of question. Even with the awkwardness, he decided to answer it. "Um, no," he responded quietly. "I lost my virginity to a girl I thought I loved in Switzerland,"

Kimberly's face lit up, she was expecting a different answer. "Wow, I thought your first time was with Emily, I had no idea you lost it earlier then that,"

"Yeah," Jason replied embarrassingly. "I kind of regret it, but I really did believe I was going to spend the rest of my life with her,"

Kimberly suddenly felt uncomfortable because she couldn't count all of the guys she'd almost slept with in high school for stupid reasons. Things had changed for her when Tommy Oliver moved to Angel Grove, and Kimberly found herself attracted to his mysterious personality. After learning that Tommy was indeed the Evil Green Ranger, Kimberly's heart sunk into a worrisome state, because she knew that Rita had a tendency to transform Putties into human beings for evil plots.

Jason wasn't sure if it would be rude for him to return the question to Kimberly, but finally realizing that she wouldn't mind, he decided to ask. "Are you still a virgin Kim?"

Kimberly paused for a minute. Had Jason really returned her question? She was hoping he would but she didn't know if she'd misinterpreted his question. "Yes, I'm still a virgin… that's kind of strange isn't it?"

"No, Kim, that's nothing to be ashamed of and I'm very proud of you for being a virgin," he smiled at her. Then he remembered something Tommy told him. "Kim, Tommy told me that the two of you slept together the night before you left for Florida,"

Kimberly laughed. "We did sleep together, but nothing happened… it was innocent like the two of us laying here together talking about our past. That's all that happened,"

"Oh," Jason replied, grinning.

Kimberly yawned. "Jase? Do you mind if I turn off the light? I'm getting tired," she asked.

"Of course I don't mind," Jason shook his head. "It's a good idea; I'm getting tired too,"

Kimberly tapped his shoulder. "Jase?"

"Yes?" Jason replied.

Kimberly forced the words out. "Will you hold me?" she said in almost a whisper.

Jason couldn't believe she was asking him to cuddle with her, but he wasn't going to deny her the offer. A cuddle wasn't a kiss, but it was something. "Yeah," Jason yawned, wrapping his arms around Kimberly's tiny body. "Good night Kim,"

"Night," Kimberly replied, laying her head back on Jason's chest. She enjoyed the feeling of his strong arms around her, and she suddenly felt the urge to kiss him. She'd been hinting at the gesture all night, but she figured he hadn't picked up the signs. Soon, Kimberly felt herself drifting slowing to sleep.

Jason stared at the ceiling. He'd never been this close with Kimberly before, and he was enjoying the feeling of having her in his arms. Coming to Florida had miraculously done something to him, and his decision to come had been a last minute spontaneous thought. Now it felt right.

The alarm clock in the hotel room went off at 8:30 AM, awaking Jason. He found himself alone in the bed, Kimberly was gone. Looking around, Jason realized that she hadn't left because her purse was still setting on the counter. He arose and saw her in the other room, wheeling in a fancy cart full of food. "Hey," he groggily greeted her. "You must have gotten up early,"

"Hi there sleepy head," Kimberly replied. "The training times for the Pan Global Games have gotten me used to getting up early. It's a habit. I hope you don't mind that I ordered breakfast,"

Jason shook his head. "No, I don't mind. I'm awful hungry," he glanced at the different foods laid out on the plates, and spotted eggs and sushi. "Wow, you remembered what my favorite food is,"

Kimberly laughed. "How could I forget? I had a hard time getting the hotel's kitchen to serve sushi at this time of the day, but I used my charm… and it worked,"

Jason realized that he could wake up to her smiling face every morning, even if it would probably never happen. He shook the thoughts out of his head and walked over to the dining table. "How'd you sleep?"

"It was comfortable," Kimberly answered. She'd enjoyed sleeping with Jason a lot, even though she'd been telling herself to stop having such thoughts about him.

"That's good to hear," Jason replied, sitting down in a chair across from Kimberly. He picked up a piece of toast, and prepared to take a bite.

Kimberly quickly pulled it out of his hands. "Wait! I still have to butter it!"

"Just the way I like it," smiled Jason. "So, I promised that I'd tell you what's been going on in ranger world. What would you like to know about?"

Kimberly shrugged. "Well, I haven't heard from any of you since the events on Muranthias, and I didn't want to ask questions then because I didn't want to sound nosy. I'm a bit confused though, I know Aisha is in Africa and Rocky injured his back. Why on Earth did Rocky choose a kid to pass on his powers to?"

Jason couldn't help but laugh. "That was more Zordon's idea then Rocky, but I'll start with the events that occurred after you left for Florida. "Rita's father shows up, and uses a magic orb to turn the planet back in time, making everyone about seven years younger. Zordon and Alpha called upon the Alien Rangers of Aquitar,"

"Did you say Alien Rangers?" Kimberly asked, sounding a bit confused. "Did they look like ET?"

Jason laughed at her comment. "Nah, they resemble humans, and they're awesome fighters. Billy created a device that used the power coins to restore the correct age to everyone… unfortunately after testing it on himself, Goldar destroyed the machine along with the power coins,"

"The Crane Power Coin is gone?" Kimberly asked, sounding a bit heartbroken at the thought.

Jason nodded. He knew that Kimberly had always been sentimental over her possessions, especially the various zords she'd piloted over the years. He thought it would be best if he moved on through the story, to keep her attention away from it. "Zordon sent Aisha, Kat, Tommy, Rocky, and Adam on a quest to find the Zeo Crystal, which was the only known solution to the orb's time warp. All of them were successful, and time was fixed, however, Rita and Zedd blew up the Command Center. Everything was okay though because Alpha and Zordon had always kept a secret chamber underground, and the Power Chamber was born,"

"So is this when they became the Zoo Rangers?" Kimberly asked.

Jason snorted at her question, but became serious when Kimberly frowned at him. "No Kim. They became the Zeo Rangers... but with Aisha choosing to remain in Africa she sent Tanya in her place. Due to the fact that there are only five sub-crystals Billy stepped down and assisted Alpha 5 in the Power Chamber, eventually going to Aquitar when he fell for an Aquitan. Since I already told you about becoming the Gold Ranger, I'll jump ahead to after the Island of Muranthias,"

"Wait a second," Kimberly interrupted. "Is Billy still on Aquitar?"

Jason nodded. "We haven't heard much from him since he left for the planet, Zordon blamed it on a bad frequency link between planets, but I think he's happier where he is,"

Kimberly nodded, wondering how Billy could be happy living away from Earth. "Go on, this is like reading a book I can't put down. What happens next/" she joked.

"After our high school graduation, Lerigot, the little wizard who assisted us on Muranthias discovered a worm hole in space which allowed Zordon to return home to Eltar. Both he and Alpha 5 left, and were replaced by a woman named Dimitria and an Alpha 6. Tommy, Justin, Adam, Tanya, and Kat continued their reign as the Turbo Rangers for months until Dimitria decided that it was time for them to pass on their powers,"

Kimberly looked horrified. "She requested them to pass on their powers? How lame is that?"

"Yeah, Tommy was really bummed about it. He didn't want to question her though because apparently Zordon showed his approval. I guess in Tommy's heart he'll always be a Power Ranger," Jason replied.

Kimberly smiled. "We'll all be,"

"I don't know much about the new Rangers, other then that one was a cheerleader at Angel Grove High, and the other was on the soccer team," Jason finished his re-collection of the past two and a half years.

Kimberly nodded. "Are they still fighting Divatox?"

"As far as I know they are still fighting her forces. As I was driving down here yesterday I heard that there had been a large battle in downtown Angel Grove, they lost both Megazords but were successful in defeating the monster," Jason replied.

Kimberly gasped. "They lost both of their Megazords? Shouldn't we be doing something to help them?"

"Adam is supposed to call me if he needs help, there isn't much we can do without morphers anyway," Jason answered. "Supposedly, these new Rangers have so many weapons at their disposal they'll be fine without zords," he added, not realizing how much worse the Turbo Ranger's situation really was.

Jason and Kimberly left the hotel around noon. Kimberly wanted to take Jason sightseeing before they left Orlando for Angel Grove. Kimberly had the radio blasting to one of her favorite songs. Jason thought Kimberly was a terrific singer, although he wasn't into the song as much as she was he couldn't help but smile. He felt the vibration of his cell phone against his leg, and turned the radio down.

"Hey, Jason here," he answered his cellular phone.

Adam Park's voice replied to him through the phone. "Jason, this is Adam. I'm afraid I've got some bad news,"

"What's wrong?" Kimberly asked, sensing trouble by looking at Jason's alert facial expression.

Jason shrugged and pulled over to the side of the road. "What's wrong Adam?" he asked, dreading the answer to his question.

"I teleported to the Power Chamber to check up on the Rangers, and it's been destroyed by Divatox's forces. It's gone," Adam replied.

Jason frowned. "Where are the Rangers?"

"I don't know Jason. There weren't any bodily remains at ground zero. I haven't heard from any of them all day though, and none of them are at the Youth Center. I'm checking over at their houses now… I'll call you back,"

"All right, thanks bro," Jason replied, clicking off his phone. He turned to Kimberly who was waiting patiently for an answer. "It was Adam, the Rangers are gone… and so is the Power Chamber,"


TO BE CONTINUED