Thanks again for the reviews! Great connection with Hannah Montana, eagle219406! I've never thought about this story that way.

Anyway, here's the new chapter! A little more into Kim and friends' mind. Hope you guys like!


Kim finished the song and waited for her breath to return to normal. She looked out at the crowd again, who cheered for her once more. "Towards the end of high school, I got in a real bad way. It lasted for...quite a while, actually. It was probably the worst time of my life. The only thing that got me through that were the love and support of my friends. To all my friends, especially Jason, Trini, Aisha, Rocky, and Adam, I love you guys and I don't know where I would be if it weren't for you all.

"That was probably around the time she sent me that letter," Tommy whispered to Billy, who nodded. "Why was she in a bad way? She broke up with me."

Billy shrugged. "Regardless of the boyfriend from the letter, I'm sure Kimberly felt some sort of sadness as a result of the two of you parting ways." Tommy looked doubtful.

Kim tried looking for her friends from the stage. She couldn't see them because of the lights, so she blew a kiss towards their general vicinity. She knew where they sat. The same place they sat for the other shows that they went to whenever they had a chance. "This is for you guys. Thank you. For everything." Kim closed her eyes as she sat down on her stool again. She remembered the day her friends sat her down and tried to get her to open up about everything. About her injuries and the depression that followed. It was about six to seven months after Adam had passed his power on to Carlos.

"I know this really isn't you
I know your heart is somewhere else"

Kim saw Trini sitting in front of her, pulling her into a hug and saying those exact words. "You should call Tommy. He'd want to hear from you," she had said. "Once you explain everything, he won't care." Trini always tried to get her to call Tommy, but Kim never wanted to bother him.

"And I'll do anything I can
To help you break out of this spell"

Aisha had said these words to her. She was always so patient, never pushing Kim to talk to her or to call Tommy. She always listened and knew when it was the right time to give advice or to just be a listener.

"I see you following your crowd
I know you're trying to fit in
But if you're gonna find yourself
You gotta start from deep, deep within"

"You're not you, Kim," Rocky had said. "You're going along with life, but it's not you. Find yourself. The only way to do that is to search within yourself." Kim's eyes started tearing up as she sang. Rocky always made her laugh. He always tried to make her laugh.

"Hold on to what you believe"

Kim thought back to Trini. 'You know who you are and what you believe. Hold on to it. Don't lose sight of it.'

"I will always be your friend
I know who you are inside
I am with you till the end
Never far behind"

Jason was her first friend ever. Their mothers were best friends and Jason and Kim literally grew up with each other. He is the one person who knew her inside and out. She knew he was always there. And that he would always be.

"I am standing in the distance
You can take your time
And I will be there waiting
Never far behind"

Like Aisha, Jason was patient. He never pushed her, always gave everything up for her. He would stay awake all night with her, even if she didn't feel like talking. Which happened a lot after the accident. He would stay up with Kim in the hospital room, both of them not saying a word, not even watching tv. Just staring at each other. The same thing would happen when Kim finally got to go home after the accident. Trini and Jason were staying with her, so she wouldn't be by herself. Trini would always try to talk to her, but Kim wouldn't say anything. She barely ate. She only ate when Jason would sit in front of her, staring her down with a plate of food in front of her, not saying a word until she ate something.

I am sending you a message
Don't ever think that it's too late
When you care about someone
There's always room for change
You're allowed to make mistakes
It's a part of every life
I don't see you any different
The truth is shining in your eyes"

When Adam came to Florida, Kim was most afraid of what he would think. Although she and Adam were friends and served on the same team for a bit, he and Tommy had been teammates longer. They finished out their Mighty Morphin powers together, upgraded to Zeo and Turbo powers, and even left the team together. So it meant a whole lot to Kim when Adam went to Florida and convinced her that she was going to be fine. She told him about the accident and the letter and made Adam swear to not tell Tommy about anything, like she did with the others. Adam agreed and was a rock to lean on. He always told her that mistakes were a part of life and they couldn't help but make them. Some are big, some are small, but he cared about her and he always accepted her. He never looked at her different, he just always reassured her that everything would be alright. Like Jason and Rocky before him, Adam became one of Kim's brothers.

"Hold on to what you believe"

And everything was okay. Kim knew that her friends would always be there to protect her and be there for her.

No matter what.


Kim ended her song and jumped right into her next song with no hesitation.

"You, you're always there for me
When I need you most
Day and night, you're by my side
Protecting me"

Jason has always felt like Kim's older brother. He was already four months older than she was and they always went everywhere together. At school, whenever Kim would get picked on by all of the bigger kids, Jason would always protect her, even though she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself. They practically grew up at the Youth Center, Kim practicing her gymnastics while Jason sparred on the mats.

"When I feel like crashing down
You seem to be around
There you are
You're not that far cuz"

Trini knew whenever Kim was feeling down. From the time they met in kindergarten, she knew how Kim felt. When Kim got into an accident, Trini knew something was wrong the moment that she heard the phone ring. She couldn't place it, but she knew they were connected.

"Whenever, wherever,
You'll protect me
No matter what
Hold me tight
With all your might
And you'll never let me go
Protecting me"

Kim's thoughts went back to Jason. When Kim's parents were getting divorced, she remembered how Jason was always an outlet for her to reach out to. They were neighbors, so she always snuck over to his house whenever her parents would fight, not letting Kim sleep. Jason's parents always welcomed her, and his mom always called hers to let her know that Kim was alright. She thought of the very first big fight that she witnessed between her parents. She was 12 years old, getting home from gymnastics practice. She unlocked the door and was surprised to find her father home early. Usually her father came home from work, just in time for dinner and it wasn't unnatural for him to miss dinner. She walked into the living room and first heard yelling. She then saw her father pick up her mother's favorite vase and throw it against a wall. Kim could still hear the echo of glass breaking. She ran out of the house to Jason's, who gave her a big hug and told her that he would always protect her. From anybody and everybody. Including her father. To this day, Kim never found out the reason behind the fight or any others that erupted during the long, painful divorce, but she always figured that it had to do with the bruises her mother had and the scent of perfume on her father's clothes that wasn't her mother's.

"You listen to me when
I speak out loud and you
You know right when my heart's been beat'

Kim thought of the first day she met Aisha. Kim was rollerblading in the park with Billy and Tommy while Aisha was rollerblading with Adam and Rocky. They were in town because of a ninja competition that the three were competing in. Their teacher's son accidently got loose while in his carriage and the six of them raced to save the baby. From then on, they became fast friends. Especially since they found out that Kim and the others were rangers soon after that. So when Jason, Trini, and Zack went to Switzerland, Rocky, Adam, and Aisha joined the team.

"When my life's tumbling around
You take me off the ground
You tell me everything's okay"

When Kim finally began to mentally and spiritually heal from her accident and depression, she began to write songs. It helped her express herself, after years of keeping everything in. The first song she had written after her accident was "Goodbye". It was a long time after her accident. Adam was the first person she sang the song for. Before that, she hadn't written any songs or even touched her guitar since the accident. Adam encouraged her to keep writing and to perform her songs. He was the first person she told when she landed a meeting with some record executives. And he was the only one she had in mind when she needed a manager. He was always there to count on when she needed a critic and a friend.

"Wherever, whenever
You'll protect me
No matter what
Hold me tight
With all your might
You'll never let me go"

Kim thought back to when she and her friends first became rangers. Nobody really believed Zordon or Alpha except for Jason. She remembered how during the first year of their being rangers, she and Billy, in particular, would get into trouble one way or another because of Rita Repulsa. There was that time when the two of them switched personalities and another time when Rita turned them into bullies. Kim missed Billy. The five original rangers (except for Kim and Jason) have known each other since kindergarten. She missed Zack, too. She remembered how he would always fight the putties in his own unique style, with his slick dance moves.

"When it's my turn
To help you out
I gladly lift you up without a doubt"

Kim remembered when Zedd cast a spell on Rocky to make him addicted to a Pachinco game at Ernie's. He told her about how he went through a stage when he thought he was unneeded. Kim told him that he should have never felt unneeded on the team. He told her that she wasn't and would never be a burden to anybody. So she let him in on a secret: she sometimes saw flashes of light from the corners of her eye and her eye felt like it weighed a ton. Rocky told the doctors who checked her eye. As a result of the accident from so long ago, a small tear occurred in her retina, allowing fluid to enter. Since she kept it quiet for a long time, the retina tore a bit more. But because it was caught before tearing completely, Kim underwent eye surgery to repair the retina. She was fine, for now, but if there were to be any other type of pressure on her eye, she would be susceptible to blindness in that eye. She had an even higher risk because of the oblong shape of her eyes, so her retina was stretched thin in some places of her eyes. Kim, of course, wanted to prevent blindness, so she wore a hat low across her eyes to protect it somewhat, though she knew it wouldn't protect her eye completely. Whenever she swam, she didn't dive; she didn't go skydiving anymore; she didn't want to go bungee jumping; and she stopped riding extremely fast roller coaster rides. Her friends gave up these extracurricular activities as well, even though they would usually do something extreme together once in a while.

"Wherever, whenever
You'll protect me
No matter what
Hold me tight
With all your might

I'll never let you go"

Kim remembered all of the good times she and Tommy had in high school. She thought of the numerous walks and picnics in the park and the times when they were interrupted by Rita's or Zedd's putties. She remembered all of the times they stayed up talking to each other, about anything and everything. She missed how they were friends.

Above everything, Kim missed her friendship with Tommy.


Songs are: "Never Far Behind" & "Protecting Me" both by Aly & AJ.