"Damn, who's the hot chick?" Jason muttered as he elbowed Thomas and Thomas shook his head and didn't even look around as he continued doing a basic warm up. He had no interest in whoever it was, as Kimberly was due back from a family vacation any day now and he really just wanted to steal a few hours with her as soon as she got back. Jason could have fun trying to hit on whoever this was and knowing how tough these sessions were- she would probably be gone the next day. Every other girl had been.
The term had been over for three weeks and many things had changed. His father had been moved to only mentor current ranger teams and Theo was now running the Academy. He had been given accommodations at the Academy and his father hadn't been able to lay a hand on him while he was here. Whatever had happened in the gym that night, it had motivated him enough to not touch him anymore and for that Thomas was glad. He finally felt like he was recovering properly from all of the sessions he put his body through and a few of the instructors had even commented on how good it was to see that he was filling out. Although that was likely thanks to being able to eat at the upper Academy for meals, as Theo had him coming back to the Academy each day to learn some of the more intricate Power Ranger functions. It seemed that everyone now accepted and encouraged him to catch up on the critical items.
"Hi," Kimberly said as she walked over to Thomas and he jerked around to face her. He stared at her for a moment before he threw his arms around her in a tight hug. He clutched her to him, surprising himself at how fiercely he held her and being equally surprised that she returned it. He then felt Jason tapping him on the shoulder and he internally groaned. He let out a sigh as he looked back and Jason motioned for Thomas to introduce him. He rolled his eyes as he turned back towards Kimberly and mouthed 'sorry', the moment was completely broken.
"Jason Scott- this is Kimberly Hart. Kimberly Hart- Jason Scott," Thomas said as Jason shook her hand and Kimberly nodded with a small smile. He watched as she moved closer to his side and he saw her, normally open, smile fade away. He slipped his arm around her and pulled her into his side and suddenly felt her completely relax. He knew that Jason was safe, but she didn't know that. Jason gave him a confused look and he felt some of the instructors watching him from across the field. He locked eyes with Theo and his uncle smiled as he gave him a nod. At least Theo wasn't going to blow who she could be, as prophets generally stayed away from learning any form of combat. "I'm glad you're back."
"Okay- if you've never been to ranger conditioning before- I need you up front. Pre- Academy- fill in the middle. Academy- take the back!" Theo yelled as Kimberly looked up at Thomas and he gave her a reassuring smile before nudging her towards the front. She jogged away from him and Thomas picked up his things before moving towards the very back. As much as he would have preferred to stay closer to her, he knew that she could hold her own in what they were doing today.
"Dude- you totally blocked me," Jason grumbled as Thomas looked over at him and gave him a slightly confused look. What had he blocked him from? "Kimberly- I didn't even get to use my best line."
"Do you know what my shirt is made of? Boyfriend material," Rocky imitated as Jason glared over at him, but Zach and Trini laughed. They had heard that line so many times already this summer and it never worked. "No offense Jase- don't think you stand a chance."
"Him? He has no game. He's also got to marry a Power Ranger- might as well share her," Jason said as he wagged his eyebrows. The others laughed for a moment before Thomas grabbed him and slammed him into the ground. A couple of instructors quickly grabbed him as he glared at Jason and he shrugged them off, before turning to glare at them as well. No one talked about her like that, even his friends.
"Thomas," Robert whispered in his ear as he wrapped his arms around him. He was one of the few people here that stood a chance a calming his nephew. "He's joking and she's safe here. Go take a lap and calm down."
Thomas barely nodded before Robert released him and he then turned to the track to go for a run. Robert walked over to Jason and pulled him to his feet before motioning for Thomas' friends to huddle up for a moment. They gathered around him, confusion obvious on their faces. Thomas didn't react like that and they had seen him brush off far more than a joke.
"You okay Jason?" Robert asked as Jason nodded as he rubbed his neck. "I can't explain, but I think you all understand that she's off limits and it's probably best to not joke around about her."
"She's his soulmate, isn't she?" Jason concluded and Robert gave him a frustrated look. Why did he just have to say what was on his mind? "He doesn't know?"
"No and we need to keep it that way for now," Tasia said as they nodded. "Spread out- get ready for training."
"Jase, look- I'm sorry," Thomas said as they jogged side by side on their warm up laps. "Just…not her."
"I got that," Jason said with a chuckle as he shook his head. "You could have just said it. She was the girl you took to prom?"
"Yeah. I just…I didn't think," Thomas muttered as Jason just nodded. He glanced towards the inside lanes and saw how easily Kimberly was keeping up with some of the elite Academy females. He felt a jolt of pride go through him and shook it off as he turned his focus back to his conditioning. She was going to be fine here.
"How the hell did we miss her?" Tasia asked Theo as they watched Kimberly battle her way through most of the elite Academy females. This was virtually unheard of to see someone this good not be in the Academy. "We're sure she's a future prophetess?"
"Yeah," Theo said as he crossed his arms and continued surveying the field for someone they could try against Kimberly to actually give her a challenge. His eyes landed on Thomas and he watched him quickly take out one of the current rangers that was volunteering today. Thomas then turned his attention to Kimberly and he watched as his nephew smiled, truly smiled during training. It was something that he never saw Thomas do and he was glad to finally see it. He was proud of her and it struck him just how good the two of them might be together if they were just allowed to follow through on being soulmates. "Do you think it would be a bad idea?"
"What would be a bad idea?" Tasia asked as Theo nodded towards Thomas and she then let out a heavy sigh. With their soulmate bond not being open- this could force it open, but it could also cause nothing. It was a coin flip and he wasn't sure if they should risk that today. "Anyone else that has done this well would get a chance against him. She doesn't know that, but everyone else does. Do we want to start those questions?"
"I know," Theo said as Kimberly threw Trini to the ground and then straightened up, brushing her hair out of her face and adjusting her ponytail. She then glanced around and saw that everyone else had paused what they were doing to watch her fight. He saw how quickly she sank into herself and he let out a sigh. She was confident in what she did, but she wasn't sure of herself in this group. Maybe Thomas could help her with that. "Thomas- come here."
Thomas jogged over to him and Theo saw Kimberly watching him as he moved through the others. Most mornings ended with Thomas fighting the best performer from that day, but he could tell that Thomas wished it wasn't that way today.
"Seriously?" Thomas whispered as Theo just nodded. Thomas placed his hands on his hips as he clenched his jaw and stared over Theo's shoulder. It was obvious to Theo how much even the idea of this bothered Thomas, but everyone would know something was off if Thomas didn't fight her. For the both of them, he desperately wanted to keep the questions to a minimum. "It's day one for her- pick someone else."
"You know how to moderate your fighting- just give her a challenge. She hasn't had one all day," Theo commented and Thomas shook his head before he gave a terse nod.
"Final sparring!" Tasia called as everyone fell into pairs and Kimberly found herself alone. She glanced around before she noticed that Thomas had not gone to spar anyone and she felt dread settle into the pit of her stomach. She could not fight him, she had seen how good he was. Thomas began picking his way around other groups and stopped in front of her.
"You get me. Apparently they think you're up for the challenge," Thomas said as Kimberly let out a shaky breath and glanced away from him for a moment. When she did- she locked eyes with Tasia and she nodded at her that she was capable of this. She took a couple of steps back and then fell into her fighting stance. Thomas gave her a small smile before he fell into his stance as well.
The minutes passed as they sparred with each other. Kimberly felt her muscles tremble with each strike and something tore at her each time she made contact. She saw the same thing in Thomas' eyes and before long they both were sparring through tears. None of the instructors noticed this change or they would have intervened. They all were well aware of what that signaled, but Thomas wasn't- so they continued.
She saw a kick aimed high in her torso and this time was unable to block it. She hit the ground, hard, and squeezed her eyes shut as Thomas fell to his knees in front of her and something shot out of his body. She felt a ripple go over her body and looked over to see the anguish on his face. She rolled onto her back and tried to breathe through her own pain. She faintly heard the instructors directing the groups to begin their cool down as a circle of instructors formed around the two of them.
"Hey Thomas, take a deep breath," Robert said as he squatted down next to him and Thomas struggled to breathe through the pain. He glanced over to see that Kimberly, luckily, was not in as much pain as he was. He didn't understand it though. While they had fought each other hard, he had been through worse fights in the past and most of those were at the hands of his father. Why was he hurting this bad? He felt a scream bubble up and he couldn't force it back down as another burst of energy shot out of his body, leveling all of the instructors around him.
"Tommy?" Kimberly whispered as she crawled over to him and he shook his head as she reached out to touch him. He didn't know what was going on, but he couldn't hurt her. He knew, in his gut, that hurting her would make this worse. She ignored him as she wrapped her arms around him and relief flooded his system. The instructors watched as the trembling slowly faded and Thomas fully relaxed into her arms. He slumped against her chest as he closed his eyes and she cradled him to her. He fought to stay present as the waves of pain continued to assault him. Theo broke into the circle of instructors and squatted down in front of Kimberly. Thomas was too far gone to be able to help himself as his soulmate connection was being ripped open. For whatever reason, Kimberly was handling it better and he was grateful that he didn't have two soulmates that were losing it.
"He's going to be fine, but we need you to stay with him for a bit. Is that okay?" Theo asked as Kimberly nodded and he gave her a smile. She was certainly braver than any of them expected and she was going to need to be with what was coming. Being a Power Ranger or a prophet was dangerous, being a prophet destined to marry a Power Ranger- they were going into uncharted waters. "Hey Thomas- she's okay. You didn't hurt her."
"Hurts," Thomas panted as tears streamed down his face and he shook in Kimberly's arms. He felt something was breaking inside of him and he didn't know what it could possibly be. It was like he was tapping into something that had always been there and the pain was the only way for it to come out. "I'll hurt her, please…get her out of here. I can't control…"
"Stop fighting it," Robert said as Thomas barely opened his eyes to see how serious his uncle was. Another burst of energy came out of him and he screamed again. He tried to push Kimberly away, but felt the pain spike dangerously as soon as he was out of her arms. "Shit. Theo- get the kids out of here- now."
"Tommy…hey…can you look at me?" Kimberly whispered as he turned his face towards her and forced his eyes open. She laid down next to him and put her face as close to his as she could manage, locking eyes with him. "Just stay with me, okay?"
He barely nodded before he closed his eyes and settled his forehead against hers. He wanted to keep his eyes open, but they felt so heavy and the pain just kept rolling through him. He nuzzled her hand as it cupped his face and he just focused on that feeling. He felt her slowly wrap her body around his which brought the pain down slightly at first and then drastically as he surrendered. It was then that he realized what his uncle had been telling him. It wasn't to stop fighting the pain. It was to stop fighting what he felt for her. He moved an arm that felt far too heavy around her waist and felt himself slip off into unconsciousness.