Thomas jerked upright as he looked around and felt the soft bed underneath him. He glanced from side to side and saw Katy asleep next to him. He was not sure how much time had passed here, but he hoped that it hadn't been that long. It was always hard on his family when he was pulled away for any length of time and this had to be one of the most unexpected disappearances for them. There weren't any threats to their world and suddenly he was just gone.
"Katy," Thomas whispered as he shook her shoulder and she rolled over in bed away from him and he groaned. Sometimes he wished that she didn't sleep like the dead. He moved out of their bed and walked over to the other side and shook her again. "Katy…come on, wake up."
"Thomas? When did you get back?" Katy asked as he let out a sigh and gave her a fierce hug. When this had happened in the past, he had come back with physical injuries. This time- it was all mental and he was not sure how to work through that. He was not sure what he should even talk with her about it, but he had long ago promised her that he would always talk through the hard. He would not run away from it just because it might hurt, he had done that for too many years when he lost Kimberly. "Thomas…"
"I just woke up here, so probably not that long ago. Katy, this was so different than anything else that's ever happened," Thomas whispered and he closed his eyes. How did he explain this to her? He loved her, but she knew that if Kimberly had lived that she would have never had a chance. They had talked about it, but this was different. This was him seeing what his life could have been and it shook him to his core. "I saw her again."
"Her? Kimberly?" Katy asked and Thomas nodded his head. He watched the fear come into her eyes and he hated it. He hated that she was scared about what he may have done while he was in another world. Everyone knew how much he had cared for Kimberly and although Katy wouldn't admit it- she had always worried about what he would do if he ever met another version of Kimberly. While she had no doubts he would be faithful in this world, she knew that he was only human and that might be too much temptation. "How is that possible?"
"I was pulled to her world to help them with mentorship- she was one of the two Power Rangers left in their world that could be a mentor. I never thought she was still alive somewhere. I've never met her before when things like this happen and she is so happy. Tommy is so happy- even with the shit show that is their world right now. Katy…" Thomas trailed off as he finally let the tears flow. He had held back so much when he was with them, but he couldn't hold it back anymore. It had hurt so much to see her, but know that she was not his. She belonged to another version of him and that man was so lucky.
"Baby, I know. It's okay, have you thought about how you're going to tell JJ?" Katy asked and Thomas shook his head. He wasn't even sure that he should tell his son about what had happened. JJ was aware that Katherine was not his mother, but he rarely talked about Kimberly with him. He had made a choice not to talk about her when he was young and as he got older, JJ had not asked many questions. He guessed that was more because of how upset he got than a lack of curiosity. "Thomas- you need to tell him. He's always been curious about her and I know why you've shut it out, but I think it's time he really knew."
"I know and I agree, it doesn't mean that I like it. Our sons…" Thomas trailed off and he met her gaze and she gave him a sad smile. "I don't want them to feel like I don't care about you, about our family."
"And we'll explain that to them if we need to. They know that JJ has a different mom. Maybe you went there to help them fix their mentorship, but I think you may have also gone there to realize that you need to have this talk," Katy said as she gave him a long hug and he settled against her. While he desperately wished that this part of his life was different, he could not deny how good Katy was for him. How lucky he was that he had a second woman who loved him, and all the craziness that came along with him, this much. "It is 3am, you may want to wait a few more hours."
"I'm going to go check on how things are going around here and I'll be back in a few hours. I'll talk to him after that," Thomas said as he gave her a quick kiss and then stood up. "How long have I been gone?"
"A couple of months," Katy stated and he barely nodded. He was surprised time had passed the same in both places, but didn't want to think about that too much. "They'll be glad to have you back. Your dad has been on a bit of a warpath and they're hoping you can put a stop to it."
"I imagine that he has- I'll see you in a few hours," Thomas said and he grabbed his communicator and teleported to his Command Center. He was sure the rangers would have a ton to tell him about what had been going on and he was glad to catch up with them.
"Dad! Glad you're home," JJ said as Thomas walked in the front door and his son walked over to give him a hug. It had been just the two of them for the first five years of JJ's life and another two years before he'd married Katy. He loved all of his children, but JJ knew him when he was just trying to survive being a widower with a baby. Their bond had always been different because of that. "Mom just took Tyler and Devin to get some ice cream. Man they're going to be jealous I got to see you first. What's…wrong…"
"I asked her to take them. I know you've had questions about your mom for years, come with me," Thomas said as he put his arm around JJ's shoulders and led him down to his office. The boys regularly destroyed the room, but none of them had ever found his real office. The office that held his secrets. They knew he had been a Power Ranger, they had known that from birth. They knew virtually nothing about when he was young and he had purposefully kept it that way. He walked over to a bookshelf and pulled a few books out in a, seemingly random, pattern. The door popped open and JJ jerked around to look at it.
"What is that?" JJ asked and Thomas chuckled. Leave it to his son to deny what was right in front of them. "We have a secret room?"
"Yes- I have a secret room- go on," Thomas said and JJ walked through the door and he followed after him. His son stilled as he met eyes identical to his, staring back at him. While JJ had visited Kimberly's grave regularly, he had thought it would be easier on his son to not have a mental image of his mother. He knew that was unconventional, but it was how he compartmented his life to survive. "That's Kimberly, your mom. I know I've told you that I couldn't save her, but it wasn't that simple. Have you heard Pop and I talk about Kiros?"
"Yeah- isn't that the guy that comes after Prophets?" JJ asked and Thomas barely nodded his head. "Mom?"
"She was one of the most powerful prophetesses of our age. When I was in the academy, an assignment came down for guard duty. Being a Trueheart- they gave it to me automatically. They thought I'd be the best bet at keeping this person safe without tipping the person off as to the fact that they needed to be kept safe. I 'bumped into' your mom at the Juice Bar and befriended her. She was…unlike anyone I have ever met," Thomas paused as he looked over at JJ and then walked over to a picture book from around that time in his life. As he flipped through the pages, he found one of the first pictures he'd ever taken with Kimberly and passed it over to JJ.
"Dad…did she know?" JJ asked and Thomas gulped. He had known that was coming- JJ knew enough about prophets to know how much a powerful one could know about their life and the lives of their loved ones. "Did she know how it was going to happen?"
"She didn't start having prophecies right away. I thought the assignment was a bust and after the first year of fighting myself to stay professional, I asked her out. I wasn't supposed to, but I figured if she hadn't had anything happen in twelve months that they probably got it wrong and I was not going to give up that chance. She called me a month after we started dating, scared out of her mind. It was something about the current rangers. I can't remember what it was anymore, but I do remember the recognition when I told her what she was and why I had met her in the first place. I expected her to hate me for it- she didn't," Thomas said as he wiped his face and squeezed his eyes shut. "I also had to tell your grandfather about my feelings for her when I brought her in to give them the prophecy. The Command Center made it clear that she was my soulmate. I went against his wishes- he demanded we break up and that someone else be assigned as her guard. Someone else became her guard, but I wasn't letting her go. We married, in secret, when we were 18. A month after that…she wouldn't wake up one morning. I took her to the academy and it was a week before she woke up. When she did- she just started writing. She wrote and wrote and wrote. And when she was done…she knew it all. Her books are here and the academy has transcribed copies, we still use them now."
"Why couldn't you stop it?" JJ asked and Thomas closed the door to the room. While he knew Katy would do her best to keep the boys away- he didn't want to risk them hearing any of this. He hated that he had to talk with JJ about this.
"Kiros, in part. And in part because your mother saw that if I saved her, I'd die to do it. I didn't care about what the rangers would become without me. I didn't care what would happen to this world if I didn't make it. I tried everything that I could and at the end…my father sent his rangers to stop me. And they did as they were ordered, but just barely. I saw all of it and it's why I served for so long on teams. I wanted Kiros to come back here. I wanted him to come after another prophet and give me the chance to take him out again. It doesn't look like I'm going to get that chance, but there are other universes. That's where I was," Thomas stated and JJ jerked his head around to look at him. He had never talked about his disappearances in the past. "It's in book ten or so that this would happen if I didn't die. I didn't expect to see your mother again though or at least that world's version of her."
"You…you saw mom?" JJ asked and Thomas met his gaze and nodded. He pulled his son into a hug and held onto him as he sobbed. "Dad…can I…"
"I don't know. There's a lot about you in those books too, but I only ever read a year or two ahead. But you- you have to make your own choices about how you want to handle her…your legacy. I think it's time for you to be able to make that choice," Thomas stated as he stepped away from him and motioned to the shelves of books. "My only boundaries- don't tell your brothers and none of these books leave this room."
"So Katy knows- all of this?" JJ asked and Thomas nodded, something was not adding up in his mind. "What am I missing?"
"Book one- your mom said I'd be a ranger, an amazing one. After everything that happened with your mother, my father was dead set against it. I had broken too many of the ranger rules to even be considered in his eyes, your uncle was his choice, but Erick had gotten severely injured early in his career. It wasn't going to be him and we knew it. I saved Katy and that group of rangers- when no one else would go in. When everyone else counted it as a loss and was willing to let them die, I was determined that they wouldn't. Because I was going to make my life worth your mother saving it and that was how…that was when I re-met Katy and the initial rangers I worked with. I told her everything upfront- I told all of them. They had been in training when a lot of it happened. Katy had read the books at the academy, everyone has that becomes a ranger- they just didn't know who wrote them. I did and you do now. I can't say what this will change for you in the remainder of your training. Katy knows I have this room and she's never asked me why, but she knows. This is where I come to connect with your mom and I want you to have that chance too. I don't know if you'll ever get to meet a version of her, but you can have this. I hope it'll be enough," Thomas said as he gave him another hug and then moved to leave the room. "JJ- take your time. Ask the questions. I've spent 18 years not showing you this and that was a choice I made- be mad at me about that if you need. I don't care. I want you to know why I loved her so much and that she loved you too."
JJ gave him a sad smile as he walked over and grabbed the first book on the shelf. He picked it up and flipped through a couple of pages. His eyes widened as he recognized the words and he glanced back over to see that his dad had left the room and closed the door. He wanted to rage, but he was so glad. He was so glad that his dad had finally shared this with him, even if it hurt so much. He wanted to know his mom, but he knew that this might be all that he ever got.
"He's fine. He made it back just fine," Kimberly said as wiped the tears off her face and gave Tommy a forced smile. She was just starting to get an idea of how powerful she really was when it came to being a prophetess. After waking from having her powers restored, she had started scribbling everything she could remember in notebooks. She wasn't sure how else to get it all out and sometimes- it was too much to try to talk through. She had seen the concern in Tommy's eyes, but he didn't push it. They were all learning what it was like to have prophets and she was having to learn the most.
"Kim…" Tommy trailed off and her face crumbled as she was wracked with sobs. She hated how Tommy could read her so well. "What is it?"
"I saw how he told his son about it all. About how I died in that world. About everything that he did to try to save her and what kept him from saving her. JJ was only a baby…" Kimberly forced out and he just wrapped her up in a strong hug. "I can't leave our babies."
"I know, but we know that the worlds are different and have different rules. Let's not worry about it unless it happens," Tommy said and she barely nodded. She looked down the hallway as she heard a cry and he smiled down at her. "My turn. I love you, babe."
"Love you too," Kim whispered as she watched him walk down the hall and she tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut. Sure, she hadn't seen her death- but the monster that had killed her in the other world was here. What were her real chances at making it out of this alive? What was the chance that she'd actually cheat death again?
AN: Welcome to story 3 of 5 in the Where it Began series! If you're just finding this series- I'd suggest you take some time to read Where It Began (s/13741921/1/Where-It-Began) and Aftermath ( s/13892218/1/Aftermath). You can the partial links at end of the main website address to take you directly to those stories (if anyone knows how to get hyperlinks to work- give your girl a yell). You can read this story as a stand alone, but a lot of the background will be missing. For those of you that have been on this journey since story one- I hope you enjoy!