A slight rumble of thunder was heard as the steady pitter patter of rain fell outside. Dark gray rain clouds hung over the skies of Angel Grove as Jason sat by himself at a small corner table of an old coffee house which had recently been converted into a brand new Krispy Kreme. The place was surprisingly quiet that afternoon and the Red Ranger sat watching the storm while an untouched donut lay on a plate in front of him. He had been lost in thought going over the recent situation in his mind. He weighed the input from Zordon along with the potential threat of Goldar and the possibility that one of their other classmates might now be in danger.

At the center of it all, he couldn't help but think about Kimberly and worry about her. Of course having a power crisis was a big thing, but there had to have been more to it. He wanted to see her and get to the bottom of it. He couldn't be sure if these strong feelings of concern were coming from his responsibility as de facto team leader or from his own personal feelings, but it didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was that the Rangers had to be proactive to tackle this new situation and he was going to do just that… with a little bit of help first.

The shop door finally opened and Jason glanced over to see Trini enter. The Yellow Ranger shook off some rain from her coat and she casually ambled over to his table. She slid into the booth across from him and gave a sigh, "Well, I made it. I've gotta say, you picked a crummy day to have a meeting Jason."

He gave a small apologetic smile, "Sorry Trini. Thanks for coming. You want a donut?"

He slid the pastry over to her and she quirked an eyebrow in amusement, "Are you bribing me here?"

"If it makes you more willing to talk… then yes," he replied meeting her small smirk with one of his own.

Trini snorted out a laugh and picked up the donut. She took a bite and fixed him with a cool smile, "I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. What did you want to talk about?"

"I was hoping you could tell me what's going on with Kimberly right now," Jason said folding his hands together, "Something's been really bothering her. I figured maybe you talked to her a little after the whole Goldar incident? Or maybe she mentioned something to you in passing?"

"What makes you think she'd tell me anything?" Trini asked while taking another bite.

"Well, I don't know... maybe because you're both girls and you seem to get along?" Jason shrugged weakly.

Trini looked to him in amusement, "Oh we are friends... but I don't think we're close enough yet to be having sleepovers to do each other's hair and talk about boys we like... or girls as the case may be."

"Trini..." Jason prompted her patiently.

She sighed and kicked her feet up as another gentle rumble of thunder was heard outside, "All right, no. She hasn't said much to me either. I figured if you were so concerned about her, you'd ask her yourself. She's always struck me as being a little more receptive to what you have to say."

"Yeah... well, I'm not so sure she's too keen on talking with me right now," Jason replied. He told Trini about his discussion with Zordon and finished with a sigh, "I can't help but worry a little that maybe I'm partially to blame for whatever is upsetting Kimberly. God, I'm kinda regretting asking her out to that stupid Homecoming Dance now."

Trini stifled a quiet laugh, "You asked her to that dance huh? I knew something was up between you two."

Jason narrowed his eyes, "Trini..."

She raised her hands apologetically before settling in to her seat again, "All right... will you at least tell me what happened between you two then?"

Jason related his own story and waited patiently as Trini mulled over the information for herself, "Well... what do you think?"

"I think you need to get over yourself," Trini said as she finished off the donut and licked her fingers. "You actually think you're responsible for this whole mess?"

Jason frowned and crossed his arms in mild annoyance, "All right smart girl, then you tell me. What's the problem and what am I supposed to do about it?"

Trini gave a sigh and rolled her eyes before glancing back at the rainstorm outside, "If I had to guess, I'd say Kimberly actually cares more about all this Homecoming business than she's letting on. Girls like her are all about that stuff and I'm sure deep down she'd really like to go."

"But I asked her to go," Jason insisted, "And she said she didn't want to."

"What girls say and what they actually mean are often two completely different things Jason," the Yellow Ranger explained while raising a finger academically.

"Yeah... I'm kinda seeing that," he mumbled in dismay.

Trini reclined gently in her seat, "Given her situation, she probably misses parts of her old life but doesn't want to deal with all the crap from those people she pissed off now. I'm sure she's confused about a lot of things and now that she may have to fight Goldar through Amanda... can you really blame her for being afraid of all that? I'm sure having to deal with this monster is only a reminder of everything she did wrong in the first place, because it's one she created herself."

"All the more reason why I have to help her then," Jason said in a level tone, "I also kinda know what it's like to fall from grace and to have to pick up the pieces again. The only way you're going to overcome the problem is to confront it head-on. I had hoped that maybe if I went to Homecoming with Kimberly, she wouldn't feel so bad and we could work to get past all that stupid stuff we're dealing with... together."

"She's not you Jason," Trini observed, "And she might not think the same way about it... but I'm sure she'd appreciate knowing she had someone on her side about this."

The Red Ranger nodded and began to rise from the table, "Yeah... maybe you're right Trini. Thanks again."

As he moved for the door, he stopped and turned back to her as an afterthought, "You know... girls can be really hard to figure out."

Trini could only shrug and reply with her own playful wink, "Trust me, you don't know the half of it."

To none of the Rangers' surprise, Amanda did not show up to school the next day. Because none of the other students or people around town actually witnessed her monstrous transformation, no one eles's suspicions had been raised yet either. Few people at school seemed to pay much attention to her absence given the excitement of the Homecoming Dance and parties that were going to take place later that day. The rains had passed and the rest of the weekend was supposed to be pleasant weather for the football game and after parties. The Rangers all maintained a guarded silence among each other during the school day and decided to go on patrols in case Goldar showed up again. None of them had opted to participate in the school activities and went to work after their early Friday dismissal.

That evening, a dull red and pink hue hung on the horizon as the last dying light of the setting sun clung to the skies over Angel Grove. With twilight setting in, the warm glow of a large campfire crackled in the makeshift fire pit as Kimberly sat on a log bench looking out over the lights of the town below. For the time being, Zack had offered his campsite and abandoned little shelter by the quarry for Kimberly to stay in. He had been a little bummed about not getting the night off to party, but he knew that it was time to be serious right now. The idea of staying at the campsite was also fine by Kimberly as it was located just off the hiking trails that she often took to get back home. She had told her parents that she was staying over at Trini's house for the night to avoid any further suspicion.

It was probably for the best that she stayed away from home with Goldar-Amanda still on the loose. If that monster wanted to come after her, then at least her family would not be put in any immediate danger. The fact that it was also the evening of the Homecoming Dance was an added bonus too. As long as Kimberly was holed up here, she could avoid all that mess and get some quiet time to be alone. She hoped she could take the opportunity to think more about what happened in the prior battle. For her, things just seemed to keep getting worse and she was no closer to figuring out what to do about it either. The warm fire continued to crackle, warding off the chill of the evening air and Kimberly pulled over a small storage chest containing some canned food and water bottles that she could use for dinner. As she rummaged through the contents, she wondered if Zack had stashed away any more bottles of beer that the Rangers had all shared on their first night together on the mountaintop.

The shuffling of footsteps suddenly came from the darkness causing Kimberly to stop and turn quickly. To her relief, she saw the Red Ranger approach from the hiking trails.

"Jason… you startled me," she said with a confused frown as he walked into the little campground.

Jason shrugged and shifted the weight of a backpack that he carried behind him, "Nice to see you too. Mind if I sit down?"

"What are you doing here?" Kimberly asked as she watched him carefully.

Jason sat down near her on the log bench and dug into his red backpack, "I thought I'd bring you some extra camping supplies and another blanket. I heard Billy was going to come by and check in on you, but I volunteered to take his place instead."

"You didn't have to do that for me," she sighed, "I can manage just fine on my own."

"Really? I'm not so convinced right now."

Kimberly narrowed her eyes in mild annoyance, "Thank you for coming by Jason. Now can you please just leave me be tonight?"

He shook his head, "Come on Kim. Drop the tough girl act already. You're not fooling anyone."

The two stared each other down before Jason gave a pleading huff, "Come on. Just talk to me here, will ya?"

She watched as he dug into his bag and offered her some granola bars and a water bottle. She took the offering before relenting with a deep sigh.

"Are you angry with me?" he prompted her after a few moments of silence.

She looked into the fires and shook her head while eating, "No. I… I've just been more angry at myself lately."

"Thinking about that whole thing with Goldar and Amanda, huh?" he asked.

Kimberly idly ran her fingers through her dark brown hair in thought, "Kinda. I guess I can't help but think that this is all my fault… that I created this monster… for Amanda, and for myself."

"It's not your fault."

"Isn't it?" she retorted quickly, "I let my angry feelings get the better of me. If I hadn't sent that stupid picture in the first place… if I hadn't torched my bridges with Amanda and the cheer squad and everyone else at school, this wouldn't be a problem right now."

"You don't know that for sure," Jason said gently but Kimberly shook her head.

"I wouldn't still be paying for that one mistake that ruined everything and be reminded of it when we face Goldar now."

"Look at it this way… if you hadn't screwed up, then you might not have met us and become a Ranger either," Jason replied as he pulled out some marshmallows and put them on a stick for cooking.

"Some Ranger I am," she snorted unhappily, "I can't even morph right now so what good am I to you guys?"

The Red Ranger chewed his lip, "Zordon said this was all probably because you were out of balance… in your mind and in your heart. He said the powers work better when your intentions are clear and good."

"Well, then I guess my power coin knew what a shitty person I was being… how much I wanted to hurt Amanda back for all the mean things she's said and done to me. What do you think I should do Jason?"

He sat cooking his marshmallows in thoughtful silence before turning back to look at her, "I think you should get over yourself."

"Excuse me?" she said with a sharp defensive tone.

"You heard me. Get over yourself," Jason said taking a cue from his talk with Trini, "Let all that past bullshit go. Accept that it happened and just try to move on and do better. There's no point in dwelling about it and making yourself miserable."

"Just like that?" she challenged him, "Is that what you're doing right now? You had a similar experience to me… being a somebody and then just losing all of it in a flash… only to have everyone give you the stink eye now."

"I'm not going to pretend that it doesn't still suck," Jason said with a serious frown, "But I'm trying to move on and be better the only way I know how. Being a Ranger now is putting that into perspective for me and giving me the courage to just confront all that head-on. I was hoping I could help you confront those issues too… that we could both help each other."

She looked to him in surprise and her expression softened while he continued, "Listen Kimberly, I'm your friend and I… well… I care about you. You don't have to deal with all this stuff by yourself anymore and I wanted to remind you of that."

Kimberly fell silent and thought over his words. "I'm guessing that's why you asked me out to the Homecoming stuff, wasn't it?"

Jason glanced over and caught her studying him, "Well… partially, yeah."

He offered her a cooked marshmallow and she took it gingerly before softening her expression some more, "You know… to be honest, a big part of me actually did still want to go to the dance and the parties tonight."

"Oh? You don't say…" Jason replied while trying to sound neutral and disinterested.

"I also didn't want to have to turn you down when you asked last Friday either."

He stopped and glanced at her as she leaned back with a thoughtful sigh, "I thought that maybe if I didn't go and punished myself, I'd be working to make some kind of amends for my mistake. Amanda made me worry that if I did go to Homecoming, even with you… that I'd still be feeling self conscious and I'd still have to put up with a lot of crap with everyone there… so I'm sorry for having been kinda cold around you lately."

"Well look on the bright side, I guess this isn't such a bad way to spend Homecoming evening instead… right?" Jason smiled while trying to sound positive and reassuring.

Kimberly nibbled at her marshmallow before fixing him with a curious look, "Jason… why are you still being so nice to me?"

"Because you're my friend," he answered quickly.

She fixed him with expectant look, making him squirm evasively, "Try again."

"Because I didn't want you to keep thinking that you were a bad person," he replied off handedly.

"Anything else?" she prompted him with a knowing smirk.

Jason paused for a moment and began to speak but she stopped him, "Jason… it's okay. It's kinda obvious."

"What is?"

She glared at him for a moment before shaking her head with a gentle smile, "I've seen the way you look at me. I've noticed it… ever since we were freshmen."

"That's funny," Jason muttered sheepishly as he reached down and put another log on the fire, "And here I always thought you didn't even know who I was."

"I didn't," Kimberly admitted gently as she scooted closer on their makeshift bench and put a soft hand on his, "I mean… I guess I didn't really bother trying to know until just recently."

"Kim…"

She cut him off again, "Jason, wait. I know that there's this… well, weird thing going on between us right now and I kinda wanted to talk about it with you, but there just hasn't been a really good time to do that."

Jason looked her in the eyes and shifted his hand to twine a couple of his fingers through hers, "Well… I guess now's as good a time as any."

A slight shadow of worry crossed her features, "Okay. Well, the thing is…"

A twig snapped nearby causing both Rangers to stop abruptly and turn in the direction of the noise. To their horror, a familiar voice called out from the dark as it approached, "No, please go on. I think it was sweet, and things were just getting interesting."

Jason and Kimberly parted and sprung to their feet as the light of the campfire revealed the approaching form of Amanda Clark. The young woman wore a sinister smile and rubbed her golden bracelet menacingly. Kimberly narrowed her eyes and growled, "What do you want Goldar?"

Amanda smirked again as the bracelet activated and covered her in a liquid suit of golden armor, "Isn't it obvious? I'm here to finish what we started."

The monster morphed the end of its arm into a new battleaxe-like weapon and took a step forward. Jason immediately intervened and put himself between the Pink Ranger and the monster. "Get outta here Kim! Get to safety. I'll protect you."

"I'm not going to leave you! You can't do this all by yourself!" she insisted to her friend as she picked up a heavy stick from the ground, "I've got to help somehow!"

"If you can't morph then you might get hurt," Jason argued quickly as he pulled his power coin, "I'm not going to let that happen!"

He turned to face the Goldar symbiote and called his powers in a flash of red light. As the morphed Red Ranger summoned his own energy sword and activated it, Kimberly stepped back with a fearful expression, "Jason…"

He didn't get a chance to respond as the monster charged forward and brought its weapon arm around for a deadly slash.