Chapter 28.
Kim, Kira, Anna, and Hayley got back to the house and emptied the groceries on the kitchen counter. The men heard them enter but were too engrossed in the baseball game to help. Kim and Anna stopped in the doorway and smiled.
"Look at them mom, put sports on and they lose contact with the outside world." Anna said with a laugh.
"They're men, Anna. What do you expect? They don't even know that we're back."
"That's not true. I was listening, keeping my ears open." Tommy said, never turning around.
"Well, we're gonna get started on dinner for you guys. We'll call you guys when it's done."
"Thank you beautiful."
"I'm gonna make him pay." Kim whispered to her daughter as they entered the kitchen.
When they entered, they realized that Kira was gone.
"Where did Kira go, Hayley?" Anna asked.
"There was a note for her on the counter, I have no idea what it said. She just read it and walked away."
Kira read the note for the tenth time and still it did not make sense. "Kira, go to the secret entrance to the cave and meet
me in the lab. Don't tell anyone. I'll be waiting." So here she was, at the secret entrance , anxious about what lay behind the wall.
Since Mesogog was defeated, she didn't have to worry about any traps, but why would this person want to meet her in private
when they knew she was with the girls. Cautiously, she made her way to the entrance and went inside. The lab was pitch dark,
she couldn't see two feet in front of her. It was eerily similar to Mesogog's lair.
"Kira?" A voice called out.
"Hello?" She replied.
"Kira?" The voice asked again.
"Who's there?"
"Kira, is that you?"
"Yeah. Who's there?"
"Come closer."
"I don't know where I'm going."
"Just follow my voice."
"I'll try."
"Come on, a little closer Kira."
"Is this good?"
"A few more steps."
Kira took three more steps before the voice yelled: "Stop! Lights!"
When the lights came on, standing directly in front of her was Conner.
"Conner? Didn't I just see you in the living room?"
"That's my twin brother Eric. I needed his help to pull this off."
"Pull what off?"
"Let's sit down."
They sat down on the stairs.
"Listen Kira, I have something I need to tell you and I have something I need to ask you and I didn't want everyone in the room when I did."
"Well you can say and ask me anything you want."
"I know. So here it goes. The last couple of months have been pretty crazy. While I was a prisoner of Mesogog, I had a lot of time to think. When I offered to serve him willingly, he asked why. I told him that everyone in Reefside thought that I was so big deal if he killed me. And then he took a verbal shot at you. I told him that even though I had never said it, you knew that I loved you. As soon as I said it, I regretted it because I knew he'd use against you. So when I was locked up, I had time to really think about what I said. Kira, you've been there since day one and I never noticed you. I'm talking about before we became rangers. These last few months have been hell on all of us and you've been there all along. Who was the one who listened to their heart and knew that the person that took Anna wasn't me? You. Kira, my biggest fear is that now that we're not rangers anymore, we'll go back to the way we were before we were rangers. I don't want to do that, I can't do that."
"Why can't you?" She asked.
"Because how can I turn away from someone that I love with everything that I have. I love you Kira."
"I love you too Conner." She said with tears in her eyes.
"I beleive you had to ask me something too?"
"Yeah, but first I have to do this." He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips.
"Kira?"
"Yeah?"
"Will you go to Prom with me?"
"I'd love to."
(In the Kitchen)
"Hey Kim?" Tommy called.
"Yeah, Tom?"
"Look, I wanted to aplogize for being such a dick earlier about dinner. I was halfway drunk. When you drove off, it sunk in what I did and I didn't like it. I'm sorry beautiful."
"It's okay handsome."
"Can I make it up to you?"
"How do you plan on doing that?"
"First, by helping you make dinner, second, by taking you out to dinner later in the week and third, asking you to be my date as a fellow chaperone at Reefside's Prom next month."
"I'll take you up on all three."
"Great, so what can I do to help?"
"Go watch sports. I've seen you cook remember?"
"Hey we were teenagers. I've gotten better."
"Yeah, and you drive a ferrari. Get in there."
"Fine I'll go but I'll be back."
"Not if you're hungry, you won't."
Tommy made his way back to the living room as the girls saw Kira come up from the lab.
"Hey girl, where did you run off to?" Anna asked.
"It's a long story. One I'll tell you while we're making dinner."
With that, the four girls continued their respective meals.
TBC.