"We haven't seen a white ranger in a few decades," Theo remarked as Thomas pulled off his helmet and locked eyes with his dad. He was glad to finally put on the uniform, but it was bittersweet. If he had been able to do this sooner, he could have saved her and they all knew it. They all knew that him not having powers had contributed to Kimberly's death. "I wish it had been sooner too."
"Dad!" JJ yelled as Thomas fixed his face into a smile and squatted down as JJ sprinted over to him and gave him a bear hug. His son didn't understand why Thomas clutched him a bit tighter this time, but Thomas knew why. He knew that his son's life would have been so different if he had been able to get these powers earlier. He also knew that his son's life was going to change now that he did have powers. He was officially stepping into the role that all Trueheart firstborns eventually held. "This is so cool! Can I see your blaster?"
"You can look at the helmet," Thomas pacified as he passed over his helmet and JJ jumped up and down before he ran off to his grandma. Thomas stood up and looked around at the rangers he had saved. Most of them had known him since he was a teenager in their lower academy class, but one of them had no idea who he was. She had no idea what this really meant.
"I have never been so glad that you beat our asses as kids as I am today," Jason said as he gave him a tight hug and Thomas shook his head. Leave it to Jason to pull him out of the downward spiral he was feeling right now. "No one else would have come."
"I wasn't supposed to…" Thomas muttered as Jason jerked back and looked at him. Thomas had never been one to break the rules, except when it came to Kimberly. This had nothing to do with Kimberly. "I couldn't…all of you have people in your lives that care for you. None of them were going to go through…"
"Thank you," Trini said as she walked over and gave him another hug as Thomas squeezed his eyes shut and he tried to keep it together. He had been told what being a Power Ranger would be like, but he had no idea that this is what it would look like when he got here. He had been passed over. He had been deemed unfit to be a ranger. He had gone against every mentor in this place to bring them back home and that, that had flipped the switch. It made no sense that him disobeying the rules would be what earned him a spot on a team. "She would be so proud of you."
"I know," Thomas whispered as he pulled his hair up into a ponytail and smiled as JJ continued to run from mentor to mentor. Kimberly wanted to see this day and he wished that she was here. The one thing that he knew was that she would be proudest of how he was raising JJ, even if that had been the hardest thing for him to do. He slowly made the rounds with his friends as they all said various forms of the same thing.
The door slammed open and the Power Rangers loved ones poured into the room. Brittany sprinted over to Jason and launched herself at him. He felt a smile tug at the corner of his lips as he was so glad that his sister did not have to go through the pain he had gone through. He watched as the pink ranger separated from the rest of the group and he glanced around. No one had come for her and he didn't understand why.
"Katy?" Thomas asked as he plopped down next to her and she gave him a weak smile. "You're Katy, right?"
"Yeah," Katy said and he heard the lilting Australian accent. Ah, she was one of the international Power Rangers. That explained why he didn't recognize her immediately. "He's yours?"
"Yeah," Thomas said as JJ started scanning the room and he held up his hand so that he could spot him. JJ waved at him and then continued chattering with his grandparents.
"No one has showed up to make sure you're safe," Katy said as Thomas' jaw clenched and he stared straight ahead. She didn't know what had happened, she didn't know his history, but she was going to be a ranger with him now. She deserved to know the history just like everyone else, the only difference was that everyone else lived it with him.
"Everyone that needs to know I'm safe is in this room," Thomas said as he motioned to JJ and then to Theo and Amelia. It didn't pass by Katy that he hadn't motioned to one of the other female mentors or one of the women that ran in. "My wife died several years ago. They're all I have."
"Hey Trueheart! You need to come do press!" Steven yelled and Thomas stared at him for a moment before he pushed himself to his feet. He had hoped he might be able to avoid this bit of being a Trueheart. He hated that he was expected to be the face of the Power Rangers now.
"Trueheart?" Katy questioned as Thomas nodded his head and she stared at him. It was the same look he got from everyone that realized what Power Ranger line he came from. It was also part of why he was so grateful to have friends that had known him for so long. "How? How were you not already on this team?"
"It's a long story, I'll tell you how I got here when I get back. Promise," Thomas said as she nodded and he jogged off. She had just been saved by one of the most legendary rangers to ever live and she now realized that he had never even had powers before now.
AN: If you're very confused about this world and why Tommy Oliver is now Thomas Trueheart, I highly suggest taking a read through the Where It Began Series to get a bit of an idea of how Thomas Trueheart was introduced. You can just read Aftermath and Time of the Yogen-sha if you are only interested on where this universe was introduced. This story is meant to be a bit of a companion piece, but is critical to understanding some of what will happen in the next story in the Where it Began series.
AN2: Thank you to HighffelFlower for leaving a review back at the beginning of Time of the Yogen-sha saying that it would be great to learn about Thomas' world. That review went from a mind niggle to this story, which I did not have in the original plan. Sometimes, you just have to go where inspiration strikes.