KIRA - A DAY AND A HALF LATER
I'm sitting with Dr. O in the infirmary. Hayley, Mara and Dar finally were able to force Jason, Zedd and Pina to go get some food, showers and sleep. I volunteered to sit with him since, in spite of everyone popping in from time to time to check on him, it's still the quietest room on the whole damn ship and I have studying to do. Finals will be here before I know it and I'm struggling with science. Man, do I wish we had Dr. O back! The guy that took over seems to know less than nothing - to the point that Ethan has had to correct him and call him out several times.
I sigh as I remember going to see the principal over that. Basically she said not to worry about it, she'd take care of it but he's still there. I return to my reading, but some of this isn't making any sense. I read it a second time and then a third. Finally, I resort to reading it out loud. It helped some, so I keep it up, but quietly. I smile as I come across a word that Conner always mispronounces. I say it his way, grinning to myself as I do.
Suddenly, I stop, almost sure I heard something. After listening hard for a minute, there's nothing more and I return to my reading. I say the word wrong again and pause. Barely louder than a whisper, I hear Dr. O say it correctly. I look at him out of the corner of my eye, but nothing seems to have changed. Is he just reacting or is he playing possum so he doesn't have to deal with whatever happened? I refuse to believe that he's completely lost to us. Once more, I've been treated like I'm stupid and clueless, but this time I didn't fight and argue. I can pick up a lot more information when people think that I don't understand what they're talking about.
He was in some kind of fight, judging by the bruises and scraped knuckles. My guess is that's what led to him being chained up. I know they had some kind of argument about how Dr. O got lost in his own head when he'd had to be restrained when he was sick, but it sounded to me like, with the way he 'escaped', he was just working them. What if he's doing something similar now? Maybe meditating instead of panic driven hiding? If so, how the hell do we break through?
I set my books aside as I give this some serious thought. We'd talked about meditating a few times when he was training us. It's all about blocking out the expected disruptions so that you can focus. So something unexpected - like me mispronouncing something - starts to chip away at that focus. So what's the most unexpected thing I could do? I stare at my teacher, trying to figure it out. Zedd mentioned one time that he thinks that Dr. O views me as a daughter or little sister of sorts. Which may be true, but I certainly don't treat him like family…
An idea occurs to me. Could it really work? I bite my lip, knowing that if I'm wrong, I'm in for one hell of a chewing out. But if I'm right… Quickly, I get up and stand at the edge of the bed. I take his hand and then draw a deep breath. "Tommy Oliver, what the hell is wrong with you? More than twenty Rangers drop their lives to come and save you and you're going to play possum? Do you know how much you're worrying everyone? And, by the way, what the hell were you thinking? Surrendering yourself without so much as an alert on the distress channel? That goes against everything you ever taught us about working as a team! Never mind that Zedd said that you consider me like family, like a little sister or daughter. How can you treat your families like this? I wish you'd wake up so I can show you just what I've learned since you left us because you and Zedd both need serious ass beatings. And while I'm thinking about it, seriously? You move away to be with your mate and you never call, you never write - what's that about? I get that he's important, but just when did we all become chopped liver? Spoiled chopped liver, no less?" I'm so angry that tears of rage start to flow. "You wake up right now because you owe lots of people one hell of an apology for scaring us! I know you're in there somewhere, hiding. Well, guess what? The things you're hiding from - aren't going to happen. We got you away from what's his name and Zedd's so worried about you that he's going to make himself sick soon! You need to snap out of it and stop being a martyr. If you thought for one minute that your new family wasn't going to call in the cavalry to come save your ass, you'd better think again! You have no idea how much of a hole you'd leave in all our lives if you weren't around anymore, George Bailey!"
Yeah, I referenced a movie that we'd all watched together when they were home at Christmas, but it fits. Which reminds me of another one… "Life is pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something. Yeah, Zedd's stubborn as hell and a pain in the ass, but you know in your heart that he's worth fighting for or you wouldn't have saved him so many times. If you didn't really want to be with him, you would have just let him die and come home." I'm running out of steam. I pull my chair closer and sit down, resting my head on the mattress. "Just - please come back to us, Dr. O. We all love you and miss you and some of us need you."
There's still no response and I can't help it but my tears of rage turn into real tears, much like I'd shed when we almost lost him right after he was shot. I finally cry myself out. I'm about to get up and wipe my face when I feel a gentle hand run through my hair. I jerk away from the unexpected caress to find myself looking up at Zedd, who looks worse than I feel. Quickly, I wipe my eyes. "I thought you were going to get some sleep."
He smiles at me sadly. "I did, for a bit."
"Liar."
"Okay, I stayed in my room until Trey left me alone. Bite me, little girl."
"Yeah well, I guess I can't blame you. Maybe since you're here now you could have some luck bringing him around?"
Looking all the more depressed he shakes his head slowly. "I already tried. Actually I almost went the same route you did, but just couldn't pull it off as well you. It was a nice try though, Kira, but somehow I don't think that yelling at him is going to bring him back to us."
Slightly ashamed of myself now, I drop my gaze. "Sorry. I thought it was worth a try. When he corrected me-"
"Wait, he did what now?"
I explain what happened that led to me scolding him. "So I thought it was worth a try."
We're both startled when a soft voice speaks. "Besides, nobody is going to ignore Kira when she's tearing into them - no matter what condition they're in."
Zedd and I both snap around to the bed. "Thomas?"
Slowly, he opens his eyes, squinting a bit at the bright lights in here until he adjusts. He smiles weakly, lightly squeezing my hand. "Thanks for helping me find my way back - again."
I'd probably cry in relief if I had any tears left. "Yeah, well, if this is going to become a habit, I might need to move to the castle sooner rather than later."
"Finish high school and then we'll talk about it."
I wave my free hand at my school books. "Believe me, I'm trying. The new science teacher sucks. Ethan's had to correct him several times. He's having to tutor roughly half the class because of that moron." He chuckles weakly. "Now - you two are going to work your shit out or I'm going to take you both in the sim deck and beat the crap out of you."
Zedd says, "You can't beat me, child." Want to bet?
"Since Jason has first shot, I think I'll have no problem after. Although the way you look now, I don't think I need him to soften you up first. Now do you two need a mediator or can you talk like two grownups?"
Dr. O looks away. "There's nothing to talk about."
Zedd's voice is soft and pleading. "Please, Thomas, I'm sorry. The bond makes me more emotional and I'm not used to it - even now. It took the whole week after the incident to realize that you'd never behave like that because I was so hurt. Hell, it wasn't even until Goldar pointed it out that I realized that you weren't participating - just enduring."
"It isn't just that, Zedd. I understood that you needed to calm down. But when you called me Tommy the way you did" he shakes his head "that hurt more than you know."
"I know I shouldn't have done that. I was lashing out, wanting to hurt you like I was hurting."
"Congratulations. You succeeded."
"Thomas please, what do you want me to say?" Looking desperate, he actually says one of the few things I never honestly thought I'd hear from him. "I'm an impulsive, controlling, short-tempered idiot with the common sense and restraint of a five year old! I have tantrums, jump to conclusions, and destroy things when I get upset! It's what I do, love! It's what I've always done, and very likely always will do until you help me mature out of it! Did my mother not tell you how I peed on every piece of furniture in the house out of pure spite when they were trying to toilet train me as a child?!" Wow and that right there was a little too much information, amusing information, but still a bit too much of it.
"She did" he agrees. "But Zedd, that was hundreds of years ago. You've told me that you're roughly the equivalent of my age so I'd think that you'd be a bit more mature than that by now."
"Well considering I didn't pee on all your stuff I like to think I am." Fair point. Completely immature and stupid point, but still fair I guess.
Seeming unimpressed, Dr. O shakes his head. "So I should be impressed that you have more restraint than a German Shepard?"
"A German Shepard who loves you."
"Zedd you're an adult. Not even just an adult, but a damn former lord of evil. You've commanded armies, enslaved worlds, hell you trapped Zordon in a glass tube! You are not some clueless, self-centered teenager - not refering to you Kira - who can't foresee that there are consequences to your actions. That the things you do don't just effect you, but those that you care about and that care about you."
"Again, I love you."
"And yet, again, it never even occurred to you that I might be innocent."
Zedd swallows hard and looks at me. "Kira, could you - look, just go be somewhere else, all right? There's some things I need to tell Thomas and I'd rather they weren't common knowledge."
And now I'm offended. "Wow, you are just damn well determined to piss off your last ally aren't you. You know I don't think maturity is your problem, Zedd. I think your biggest problem is you need a leash on your mouth. You may not be a teenager, but you definitely have one quality that's common place among them. You speak before you think." I stand and gather my books. "If you wanted privacy, that's what you should have said instead of insinuating that I'm incapable of keeping a secret. If you really want to fix things with him, watch your mouth."
I head out the door and down to the galley where the boys should be studying - if they even can. I'm barely in the door and see how many people are in here when I'm instantly being scolded - by Zedd's mother, no less. "Kira, why are you not with Tommy?"
"Zedd's with him."
She stands up. "He's supposed to be sleeping." Turning on Trey now, she gives him a dangerous look. "You told me you made sure he was sleeping."
Holding up his hands in defense, the Gold Ranger shakes his head. "I stayed for half an hour. I didn't assume Zedd of all people had the patience to play possum that long."
I set my hand on her arm, stopping her before she can go retrieve her idiot son. "Wait. He's trying to fix things with Dr. O. Maybe we could give them some time - and privacy?" The last said with a glare at the half a dozen or dozen people starting to rise from their seats at the realization that Dr. O is awake. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Dar slipping around to the door. "You too, Goldar. Zedd's busy digging himself a hole and he really doesn't need any more help."
He pauses, as do most of the non-Earth people. Kerch asks, "He's doing what now?"
Hayley quickly explains the term as I find a clear place to set my books. I have to get back to work on this. Ethan has too many people he's trying to help. He doesn't need to add me to the list. Resolutely, I open my books, find my place and get back to work.
