A/N: Happy Saturday, everyone! Hope you are enjoying your holiday weekend. I know I am. I just received my copy of Soul of the Dragon in the mail today and can't wait to read it! But, I wanted to post a chapter of this first. I will let everyone know how it is once I finish it!
As always, thank you for reading and the reviews. Remember to R&R and I own nothing Power Rangers. If I did though, Tommy and Kim would be together. Sorry, not sorry.
Tommy
"I'm worried about you going alone." My voice said as I sat back in my own head, like I was in the front row of a movie theater. Standing in front of me, I saw Kimberly give me another smile in a motherly type way.
"I know. I'll be fine though. You can count on me." She tuned back to look up at Zordon. "I know I'll always have the power to protect me."
"That is correct, Kimberly." The mentor stated. "Billy, please charge the transmitters so that we will be able to teleport Kimberly to the moon."
"Yes, Zordon." My head shifted to look at Billy who walked over to two blue rods I recognized from our missions to the different dimensions. Was she time jumping? What was going on? She was going to the moon? Alone? "I'll need some assistance in neutralizing this."
"I can help." Trini said, stepping forward to help him. Jason followed as well, picking up the other rod to help him.
"I'm going to check in on Kim." Zach said before leaving the room.
"Hey." Kimberly's voice said, and I could feel her hand on my shoulder. My head shifted again, and I saw she was standing closer to me now. "Can I talk to you for a second before I go?"
"Sure." She pointed for the doorway and started walking. I followed behind her, leaving the Command Center. Everything seemed to be fuzzy for a moment, the image of her flickering in front of my eyes as we entered the hallway. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. It doesn't hurt that bad when it happens. I just wanted to talk to you quick. I'm going to say something to you that you aren't really going to understand quite yet. Just try to keep it in mind, alright?"
"Okay." I nodded. She sighed, looking down at her hands.
"What happened between us wasn't your fault. You are an amazing guy and sometimes, things just happen because that's the way they are supposed to happen. I wish I could tell you what is going to happen, but I can't. It wouldn't be fair to you or Kimberly. Just don't ever give up on her, okay? Even if she tells you that she doesn't want to be with you, just know that it's not the truth. Please. Don't give up on us—you." I could see tears form in her eyes and I wished with everything in me that I could reach out and hold her. I couldn't though. Nothing in my body worked the way it was supposed to.
"I would never let her go. I love her." I heard myself whisper. Kim let out a little soft chuckle and nodded, glancing up at him.
"I know. Sometimes, it's easy to forget that though. Especially when you're young and think you have the whole word at your feet. And if for some reason things don't work out, don't let your feelings for her stop your life. You are meant for greatness. You can't let the past cloud what happens in the future. Even if you think it's the right thing to do. If it's real love, it wouldn't end with someone getting hurt." She sniffled, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Don't kiss her in the middle of the ring the summer you graduate high school. Don't make her believe that you love her more than anyone else in the world. Don't let her go on living a lie because she's too scared to let you go."
"But…" I trailed off.
"Don't break her heart."
I woke with a loud gasp, my heart pounding in my chest. Like before, there was sweating pouring down me and the urge to vomit rolled over me. I felt a hard surface under me and felt an ache in the back of my skull. Rolling over, I realized I was on the floor of the hotel room. Reaching out, I grabbed a garbage bin and pulled it over just in time for me to empty the contents of my stomach into it. I heaved, closing my eyes and letting it wash over me. When it passed, I pushed it away and collapsed onto the carpet again.
"Tommy? Are you alright?" Gia's voice asked, and I realized that she was standing over me. Glancing up with heavy eyes, I nodded. I felt like I had just run a marathon after eating bad sushi. The nausea was still there but it wasn't hitting me like a Mack truck anymore. Just a small moving van it seemed. I turned my attention to the rest of the room. Trini was laying on the bed, Jason next to her. Both held looks of confusion as they spoke to TJ and Wes. On the floor near the bed, I saw Aisha and Rocky tending to Zach who was bleeding from a cut on his forehead.
"What happened?" I rasped out, tugging myself up to my feet. I stumbled a bit and Gia helped me sit in the chair by the other bed.
"You were all fine and then the next minute, you were all face down." TJ said, handing Trini a wet rag. She blotted her forehead, Jason checking her for any type of injuries. I saw movement on the monitor and saw Billy groggily hanging his head, a red mark on his forehead and between his eyes where his head must have laid on the table.
"We all fainted at the same time?" Zach questioned, holding a bandage to his forehead. Rocky helped him to the air conditioner vent, propping him up on it. Gia nodded.
"Yeah. At the same exact time. Is this one of Rita's tricks? Did something happen to where she might have casted a spell on all of you?"
"That's impossible." Aisha said. "No one has been in contact with her and Trini just got here. There is no way she would have been able to curse all of them. Besides, Rocky and I were fine. It would have affected all of us."
"And Billy fainted too." Trini said, wincing as she shifted to sit on the edge of the bed.
"Affirmative." He mumbled, rubbing his face. "It would seem that some kind of phenomenon just occurred."
"It's weird. I had the strangest dream when I was out. We were all at the Command Center." Jason said. "Kim was there but she was the only one not a kid." My ears perked up at this, but Zach beat me too it.
"No shit. I had the same dream! Zordon was talking to us about some kind of mission Kim had to do."
"Me too." Billy stated. "We were conversing about ways to stop Rita and Kimberly was involved."
"Maybe it's something that Rita is projecting to you." Rocky said. "She's done this before. It wouldn't be something she's not capable of."
"No." Trini said, standing. "They are memories."
"Memories?" Jason asked. "It's not something I remember. I think I would recall 40-year-old Kim in our Command Center when we were 16."
"She's going to kill you for calling her 40. And no, you wouldn't. I think its memories that our brains are forming now. It would explain why we all had them at the same time. It's what's occurring in Kimberly's current time but in our past."
"Which would mean she's with us at the Command Center in the past." Zach said, giving a hopeful smile. "She's safe! That's great."
"Now we just need to figure out a way to get her back to our timeline." Trini turned to look at me and I nodded. Had they not seen the complete memory I had? Probably not. It was between her and my past self. Kim was not safe. She was planning on heading to the moon and fighting against Rita. Fighting against Rita with no help and no powers.
"I've been having dreams like this for a while now." I said. "They started about two weeks ago. I figured they were just dreams. It used to happen when I was a kid, so I never thought much about it. I had one about Rita trying to take over my powers and then another one involving some green light and chanting." Rubbing the back of my head, I winced when my hand came in contact with the bump on the lower right-hand side. I must have smacked it off something on my way down.
"Kimberly's presence in the past is beginning to alter our current reality." Billy said. He typed something into the computer and scurried his eyes over the screen. "Rita's presence is still not on the moon. She must be in the past somewhere."
"Now we have a year though. It was when Tommy had the baby ponytail. So, 1994?" Jason asked. I nodded. "How do we get to that year then?"
"We can use the transmission poles like we did in our memory." Trini said. "It's what we used when we were younger. If it worked then, it will work now."
"They were destroyed with the Command Center, though." Aisha said. "There wasn't a lot that survived it's destruction."
"Billy, can we make new ones?" Jason asked. Billy nodded.
"Affirmative. It'll take some time though. I can create the core here and send the finished pieces to you via file transfer. You'll need two antennas that can with stand the frequency of 10,000 volts." He typed into the computer again. "According to my calculations, you can find those at the nearby radio station. You will need two to be successful."
"I'll go." Wes said, stepping forward. "I still have some kind of authority with my rank."
"I'm coming too." Trini volunteered. "I know exactly what we are looking for. I helped Billy fix those things so much, I could probably do it in my sleep."
"I'll drive." Jason scooped his keys up from the end table. The three of them headed out the door, Aisha ushering Zach into the bathroom to clean his cut on his forehead. Rocky's phone rang amongst the chaos and he excused himself outside.
"Tommy." Billy said, getting my attention. Things were still a bit fuzzy, but I walked over and sat in front of the computer.
"What's up, Billy?" I asked. Billy frowned, looking behind me. Turning, I saw that Gia and TJ were near the bathroom, assisting Aisha in caring for Zach.
"Kimberly's timeline has been altered." Billy said in a hushed voice. "I searched through our files we have for her."
"You have a file for her? Why?"
"We have a file on all the Rangers." He replied. "It was something the council asked us to do to keep records. It's something I've been working on since the council's early days."
"Okay. What's changed in her timeline?"
"I'll share my screen with you." He clicked a few buttons on the screen and suddenly, I was looking at numerous newspaper articles. The one on the top had a bold headline, ANGEL GROVE TEEN MISSING. Leaning in, I read under the headline. It was a story about a missing teenager. I realized it was Kimberly as it scrolled, a picture of 15-year-old Kim smiling brightly from the screen.
"So, she's considered missing. It would make sense with both of them there." I said. Billy kept scrolling.
"That's what I thought at first but…" He trailed off as he came to another article. There was another picture of Kim, but the headline was different then; MISSING ANGEL GROVE TEEN FOUND DEAD. It felt like someone had sucker punched me in the throat as I read it. I skimmed through the article where it stated her body was found on the beach in Angel Grove, her cause of death unknown. I shook my head and Billy appeared again on my screen.
"No." I said.
"Whatever is happening in the past is going to cause her to not be alive in our present time. Kimberly is going to die unless we figure something out."
"No, she's not. Not if I have anything to say about it." I stood up from the desk and I heard Billy call my name out behind me. Walking towards the door, I grabbed my coat and tossed it on.
"Where are you going?" Gia asked.
"To get some fresh air. I'm still feeling sick from before. I'll be right back." I lied. She gave me a hesitant glance but didn't say anything as I opened the door. I walked out, closing the door behind me. Reaching around to my back, I made sure the master morpher was in its place on my belt loop. Pulling it from there, I pressed the button on the side of it. I was enveloped into a blast of green light, teleporting from the hotel.
My feet went from solid cement to squishy wet sand as I landed on the beach in Orlando. It was the same beach that all of the dead animals had been found on. It was the only location in Florida that I could think of that would be secluded enough for me to do this. Looking around, I saw there was still yellow caution tape connected to wooden stakes, the flaps of it whipping in the ocean breeze. It was gray out, the sky taking a shade of grayish white and a slight drizzle hung in the air, clinging to everything in the area. I walked the beach, heading towards the closest area I could hide which was under the pier. It was an older one, the boards seeming to be slightly rotted from its time in the water and wind. Barnacles ran up the posts that supported it, sand rusting on to it as well. Water lapped at the shore, the low tide being in its favor. My boots sunk into the sand on the beach as I made my way under it.
This was going to be my only opportunity to do this. It wouldn't only be a matter of time before TJ and Gia realize I am gone. The rest of the team will instantly know what I am planning. It was now or never. I couldn't risk leaving Kim's future in the air on the hope of something that might work in time. The conversation she had with the younger version of me played through my mind. I broke her heart. She said it so clearly but yet still so filled with emotions that my eyes stung. I couldn't blame that on the sea salt spray either. I had always known that what had happened between us had hurt. It was the worst pain I had ever felt before. I just didn't realize just how badly I had damaged her though. In all of my foolishness, I allowed myself to believe I was the only one hurting. I wasn't though and now, it was all my fault that Kim's life filled with all of her accomplishments might be wiped off the face of the earth.
"Alright, Rita!" I called out, my voice echoing around me. I stepped forward, water splashing over my boots. "I'm here. Now. Take me if you want. I'm not running anymore. Let's end this, once and for all." I stood there waiting, hoping for some kind of reaction. There was none. Anger built in my chest and I balled my hands into fists. "Come on! If you want me so bad, come and get me!"
"As you wish, Tommy." A voice said behind me. Turning on my heel, I saw Rita standing there. Like I had seen in the surveillance video, this Rita was different. She wore clothes I didn't recognize; a tight-fitting maroon colored dress and a black robe that clasped around her neck. Her staff was in her left hand and a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Her hair was in a long black braid that hung from the hood of the cloak. I jumped into a fighting stance, ready to fight. "Oh, how cute."
"What did you do to Kimberly?" I asked, glaring at her.
"Your little girlfriend? It's adorable how love works here on Earth. Even decades later, the two of you still can't seem to move on, can ya? It has all the makings of a tragic love story. Two star crossed lovers…kept apart by fate…one of them meeting their hand at the end of the tale."
"Cut the shit, Rita. Let's finish this. Once and for all."
"If that's what you want but I think we should be doing this on my turf, don't you?" She raised her staff and brought it back down into the sand. The world seemed to dissolve into blackness around us for a moment. A new image materialized, and I recognized it as the throne room of the Moon Palace. The very place I used to serve under her when I first became the green ranger. "Welcome home, Tommy."