Author's Note: I really am enjoying writing these missing Tommy/Kat scenes, and I hope that those who have been reading so far will continue to enjoy my "Inner Demons" series. Thank you everyone who has reviewed, favored, or followed so far. I will now be writing missing scenes from Power Rangers Turbo because Turbo really dropped the ball with Tommy's and Kat's relationship (at times their relationship seemed nonexistent), and I believe that they deserve a lot better. I will be starting with the episode "Weight and See" because it is an episode that many people, mostly girls but others as well, can relate to. Most of us have felt self-conscious about our weight at one point or another. Unfortunately, since a typical Power Rangers episode is only about twenty minutes without the commercials, this serious eating issue was very rushed.
Note: I recently re-watched the episode "Weight and See," and I believe that the name of the girl who insulted Kat is Myrtle. I hope that's right because Myrtle will be featured in this short fic, and the words just won't flow right if I'm constantly calling her "that jealous girl," LOL.
Note: This fic takes place after the Turbo Rangers defeated the monster from "Weight and See" but before Kat's performance at the end of this episode.
"You really were awesome against Numbor today," Tommy told Kat. "I don't think I've ever seen you quite like that, but I have to admit I liked what I saw. You were a wildcat, and it made me glad that I'm on your good side."
"Thank you, Tommy," Kat laughed, "I really appreciate it."
It had just been a few hours since the Turbo Rangers (largely due to Kat's sexy, wild side being unleashed according to Tommy) had defeated Numbor, and since Tommy had finished with racing practice beforehand, he had asked Kat if she wanted to spend some time with him. Kat, of course, had readily accepted his invitation. Between his times spent racing and her times spent doing her ballet, they had not been able to spend as much time with each other lately as they would have liked. Tommy loved the adrenaline rush that came from racing and Kat loved spending time with Tanya (her sister in everything but blood), but both Tommy and Kat considered their time spent together to be special and unreplaceable.
Tommy and Kat were currently sitting on Kat's bed in her bedroom. Kat's parents were both at work, but they had made it clear more than once that they didn't mind Tommy being there. They considered him to be a perfect gentleman. Besides, Kat had made it clear to Tommy after they had started to become more serious that she wanted to wait until marriage before having sex. Tommy respected Kat, so he respected her wishes.
Even though the mere sight of Kat often made Tommy think very dirty thoughts. And her battle with Numbor earlier definitely not help matters. In Tommy's opinion there was nothing sexier than a woman kicking ass.
Kat felt very similar whenever she was around Tommy, but she would never admit it. Just like Tommy would never admit it. Besides, both truly believed that their love for each other ran much deeper than just the desire to have hot, passionate sex.
"I was also relieved to see you the way that you were against Numbor," Tommy said. "I was starting to worry about you when you didn't want to eat lunch. Are you all right now?"
"I believe so," Kat replied, looking away from Tommy. She wished that Tommy had not bought that up, but she wasn't surprise that he had. Tommy seemed to have a sixth sense for knowing when Kat wasn't feeling good.
And it was in Tommy's nature to be protective of those he cared about.
As much as Kat appreciated Tommy's concern, though, she didn't want to think about food or about her weight because both items caused her to hear Myrtle's voice in her head, insulting the way that she looked.
Generally, Kat considered herself to be a confident person (even though she had the tendency to get nervous during ballet auditions), but just a few harsh words from Myrtle had been enough to bring Kat's self-esteem down.
"You're not okay, Kat," Tommy spoke, interrupting Kat's thoughts. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, it's nothing really," Kat answered. "It was just me being silly."
"Kat, nothing you do is silly," Tommy responded. "Only something serious would upset you."
Kat took a deep breath. She should have known that she wouldn't be able to keep this from Tommy. As Kat and Tommy grew increasingly closer, it become harder and harder for either to keep a secret of any kind from the other.
Besides, both tended to feel better after they had finished discussing a problem or an issue that they were having.
"It was something a girl a practice said," Kat confessed. "I think she was a bit jealous of me because everyone was talking about what a wonderful job I was doing, and she's use to getting all the praise. She's use to being the lead role. And then I came along."
"Kat," Tommy spoke, "you should never feel guilty about your talent. You have worked hard to get to where you are at now. You deserve all the praise that you receive."
"I know," Kat replied, "but I still think I made her feel bad, even though I never intended to do so. She is amazing, Tommy, she really is."
"Maybe she is good at ballet," Tommy said, "but if you're referring to who I think you are, she's not a very good person. I'm assuming you're referring to Myrtle."
"Yeah, that's her," Kat answered, "but I had no idea you knew anything about her."
"Ever since I've started to date you, Kat, I've gotten to know about the girls that do ballet. And from what I know about Myrtle, she's arrogant, completely full of herself, and thinks she's a bag of chips and all that."
Kat couldn't help but laugh at Tommy's description of Myrtle.
"That actually sounds like a pretty accurate description of her," Kat admitted, "even though I always try my best to be nice to her. She's probably receiving a lot of pressure from home to do well."
"That's one of the things that I love about you, Kat," Tommy said. "You are always so kind and sympathetic to others, and you are always trying to understand them so that you can find a way to make them feel better about themselves.
"But I'm sorry. I didn't let you finish, and we've gotten totally sidetracked. What did Myrtle say to you that made you so upset?"
Kat ran a hand nervously through her hair. Generally, she didn't mind that Tommy was protective of her, but she didn't want anything bad to happen to Myrtle. Kat didn't think that Tommy would physically hurt Myrtle or anything like that (he was much too nice of a guy for that), but Tommy was quick to get on the offensive if he felt like someone was hurting one of his friends.
And Kat was more to Tommy than just a friend.
"She told me that I didn't have the right type of body to play Clara," Kat finally admitted. "That's the lead role."
Tommy looked Kat up and down. "You look just fine to me, Kat," he said.
"You're just saying that because you're blinded by your love for me," Kat said teasingly, trying to make light of the situation so that Tommy wouldn't get too upset with Myrtle.
"No, Kat, it's not that," Tommy replied, "even though I am very much in love with you. I think every woman is beautiful in her own way, and you are no exception to that. I wouldn't want you to be any other way. I couldn't imagine you being any other way."
"Thank you, Tommy," Kat said softly.
"I mean it, Kat," Tommy continued. "You look just right the way you are."
"Really?" Kat replied. "Because I have to admit I sometimes feel awkward when I'm dancing."
"I think I know why," Tommy responded. "I have the same problem sometimes. We're both tall."
"Yeah, that's it," Kat laughed, "but I don't think there's much I can do about that."
"No, there isn't," Tommy said, "but I do appreciate you being as tall as you are. I don't have to bend down that far in order to kiss you. That puts a lot less pain on this old back of mine."
Kat laughed again.
"The point I'm trying to make, Kat," Tommy said, getting serious again, "is that we have to learn to be happy with who we are and what we have or don't have.
"I have watched you doing ballet, and as far as I'm concern your height never ruins your performance in any way. If anything, your height causes you to bring a unique approach to your dancing, and that helped you to get noticed. You have such raw talent, Kat, it truly is amazing."
"You're right, Tommy," Kat said. "I really don't know why I allowed Myrtle to get to me so much. I guess it's because I try so hard to always be perfect. That's why I love spending time with you, Tommy. I don't have be little Miss Perfect with you. I can be myself."
"I feel the same way about you, Kat," Tommy replied. "It just seems that with everyone else I can't truly be myself if I want to be accepted. The funny thing is, I use to not care about what everyone else thought about me. That all changed when I met Jason and the others and they accepted me as a friend, even after all the awful things I did to them while I was under Rita's spell. Their acceptance of me meant more to me than I could have ever thought possible, and I didn't want to lose that acceptance. So, I tried my best to act like them, to act in a manner that they found acceptable.
"Everyone in Angel Grove was always talking about how perfect Jason, Zack, Billy, Trini, and Kimberly were and how they wished their children were just like them. I wanted people to say the same things about me, so I always tried my best to be perfect."
"I know exactly what you mean, Tommy," Kat sighed. "Don't get me wrong. I had a happy childhood and I know that my parents love me very much, but it seems like sometimes they think I am absolutely perfect in absolutely every way possible.
"From an early age I showed a considerable amount of talent in various areas, such as ballet and diving. My parents were quick to see that talent, and they thought it would be best for me if I used all that talent to my advantage. They didn't get mad at me or anything like that when I lost a competition, but something about the way they looked at me made me feel like I had failed them in some way. Maybe I didn't practice enough. Maybe I didn't try hard enough. So, I made sure I was better each time I was in completion of some sort. I wanted to be the best, so that my parents could see that I was using all my talent to the fullest advantage.
"Don't get me wrong, Tommy, my parents have always been good to me, but I have always feel obligated to try my best to please them. I was, after all, born with all this talent; and my parents have always taught me that talent is meant to be used to it absolute fullest. I guess you can say I have a bit of a perfection syndrome."
"We all have our problems, Kat," Tommy responded, taking Kat's hand gently in his own. "That's what makes us human. That's what makes us beautiful." Tommy raised his eyebrow, looking at Kat significantly.
"I know," Kat said. "I just forget that sometimes. Thanks for all this, Tommy. It's nice to have someone to talk to who won't judge me. Sometimes it is nice to be accepted for not being perfect."
"I know exactly what you mean," Tommy muttered softly. "I really am glad you came into my life. So, are you all right now? I mean, are you all right as you are ever going to be?"
"Yes, Tommy," Kat smiled. "I'm going to try my best to not let Myrtle or anyone else make me feel bad about myself. Maybe Myrtle needs someone to talk to like I have you to talk to. Maybe she needs a friend."
"Maybe," Tommy whispered. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I appreciate your offer, Tommy," Kat answered, "but this is something I have to do myself."
"Of course," Tommy replied. "I wasn't trying to imply that you can't fight your own battles. You have proven yourself more than once, and I'm not just referring to Numbor. You showed great strength in breaking free of Rita's spell by yourself. You showed nothing but courage afterwards. You were willing to suffer the consequences of your actions, even though what you did was not your fault. You kept your cool after Rito had captured you.
"You showed that great courage of yours again when you distracted Zedd and Rita so that I could retrieve the Zeo Crystal. You were willing to place yourself at great harm in order to help me out, and I don't think I've ever thanked you enough for that.
"And I could never thank you enough, Kat, for the courage you showed in Gasket's arena. You never backed down once from me, even though I was clearly threatening your life.
"I think it would be clear to anyone that you can take care of yourself, Kat. I guess I have a bit of a syndrome myself. I wanted to always be there for the others because of their willingness to be my friend and to accept me, so I kind of developed a hero and White Knight syndrome."
Kat laughed. "Well, everyone needs a hero from time to time, Tommy."
"Including me," Tommy smiled. "You're my hero, Kat, in more ways than one."
"No, we're each other's hero," Kat corrected, kissing Tommy on his lips.
…
Kat walked into practice by herself. She had explained to Tanya that she needed to confront Myrtle by herself. Tanya had been reluctant at first. At times Tanya really reminded Kat of Tommy when it came to her protectiveness. Tanya, however, had eventually relented when Kat had explained to her that she wouldn't feel better about herself until she did this.
By herself.
Tanya was an independent woman who had no problem with standing up for herself, so it had not been hard for her to understand Kat's need to stand up for herself against Myrtle.
Kat immediately began looking for Myrtle. It didn't take long for Kat to spot her, stretching and warming up. Kat walked over to Myrtle.
"Hi, Myrtle," Kat greeted warmly. "Can we talk for a moment?"
"What do you want, Kat?" Myrtle hissed. "Can't you see I'm busy?"
It really was a good thing that Kat had more patience than Tommy did.
"Look, Myrtle," Kat said gently but firmly, "I know you're upset that I got the lead role. All of us have been working hard. All of us want to be the best. Unfortunately, not everyone can be the lead. But every role is important. Everyone here will make our performance one to be remembered.
"You are an amazing performer, Myrtle, but I'm not going to feel bad that I got the lead role instead of you. I'm very proud of myself because I know I have worked hard to get to this point. I would, however, have been just as proud of you as I am proud of myself if you had gotten the lead role instead."
Myrtle didn't say anything. She refused to even meet Kat's eyes.
Kat sighed to herself. She had tried, and she would continue to try. There was, after all, no telling what Myrtle's home situation was like.
And Kat believed that everyone deserved a friend because there was no better support system than the one that a good friend could provide.
Especially the type of support system that a certain Tommy Oliver could provide, Kat thought to herself with a smile as she began to stretch and warm up.
Author's Note: I have noticed that I have been having a tendency to place Tommy and Kat in the park, so I decided to give them a change of scenery in this short fic. So, I decided to have them talk in Kat's bedroom this time around. Thanks for reading.