"Hey!" Trini called as Kimberly walked into the cafeteria and she waved her over. She got some odd looks as she weaved her way over to the Power Ranger side of the building and sat down next to her. Most of the Ranger cadets were aware of her relationship with Thomas and it was not well recieved by almost all of them. "Thomas got held back for some sort of meeting with the newest team of rangers. He asked me to grab you for lunch."
"Thanks," Kimberly said as she forced a smile. It had been a month since her miscarriage and while she was back to 'normal', nothing felt normal. She spent hours a day triaging her prophecies with Phoebe and Amelia and it still didn't feel like she really knew what she had written. They had both said that this was normal and should be expected for how much she had seen at once.
"You don't have to pretend with me. I know you're exhausted and would much rather be having lunch with Thomas," Trini said as Kimberly gave her a real smile and shook her head. She liked Trini, a lot. She had been one of the few female cadets that welcomed her with open arms. Most of the female cadets were insanely jealous that Thomas Trueheart was off the market- Trini didn't seem to care.
"Trini, thank you. Really. You're one of the few people that has just accepted me," Kimberly said as Trini just shrugged. She had never been under the impression that Thomas was going to be anything other than a teammate. She didn't have the ranger legacy to even be considered by the Truehearts.
Cold water spilled over her head and Kimberly froze as Trini stared at the whoever was behind Kimberly. She knew that it had been on purpose and she slowly turned around and looked up at the girl. Most of the girls had kept their distance because of Thomas' prowess and she could only guess that this girl felt wronged by her relationship with Thomas.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't even see you there. You're so invisible, almost like you shouldn't be here," Abigail said as Kimberly stared at her. How did she think this was going to play out? "He's mine. You just haven't seen the contract."
"No, I have," Kimberly shot back as Abigail's eyes widened and a smile spread on Kimberly's face. "It's funny- there's always loopholes."
"He. Is. Mine," Abigail ground out as Jason, Rocky, and Zach dropped into seats at the table and motioned to Trini who just shook her head.
"He's not and I'm really sorry that they've not been honest with you about that," Kimberly said as Abigail screamed and dove at her. The boys jumped up to try to separate them, but they soon saw Abigail fly across the room and the lunch room stilled. Most of them had not seen her fight this summer and none of them knew that she was sparring with Thomas on a regular basis now. Abigail came from one of the most elite Power Ranger families and no one in her class had ever been able to touch her. "You should open your eyes, Abi…there's someone far better for you."
"What do you possibly know about that?" Abigail retorted as she charged at Kimberly again and Kimberly easily dodged her. The instructors glanced around as Theo and Thomas walked in. Theo placed a hand on Thomas' chest as he moved to protect Kimberly and Thomas glared down at him.
"Let her handle it first," Theo said as Kimberly brought a knee up into Abigail's gut and the girl fell down to her knees.
"I don't know. It's like I can see the future or something," Kimberly said as she leaned over and placed a hand on Abigail's back. Kimberly then leaned closer and lowered her voice to a whisper. "I'd consider Adam if I were you."
"You bitch!" Abigail screamed as Kimberly threw her hands up and resumed her fighting stance. She didn't have to do much as Thomas stepped between them and Abigail visibly paled. She had only done this because Thomas was not here. She knew that she did not want to face him on this and had hedged her bets that she could take Kimberly out easily.
"I'm really sorry that they didn't explain what happened to you," Thomas said as he placed a hand on Abigail's shoulder and she looked up at him, surprised by his compassion. "But you come after me if you have a problem, not her."
"Thomas…she doesn't even call you the name you prefer and…" Abigail started as he folded his arms and glared at her. Apparently, his compassion had a very small limit.
"Walk away. Now," Thomas said and Abigail nodded before she turned and sprinted out of the cafeteria. Thomas walked over and quickly assessed that Kimberly was fine. He then noticed that the cafeteria was still eerily quiet and he glanced back at Theo who barely nodded. "Anyone else?"
"Power Rangers can't be with prophets," Terrance, one of the older prophets, said. "Legend says there will be very few exceptions, I do not believe either of you qualify for any of them. So why is the contract null and void?"
"Because her being my soulmate is one hell of a trump card," Thomas replied and the cafeteria broke out into a different kind of noise as he put an arm around Kimberly's shoulders and walked her out of the cafeteria. He hadn't realized she was soaked to the bone until then and when he looked down at her she just shook his head as they continued on. They could talk about it later. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Kimberly whispered as she shivered against him. They finally slowed down when they got to Theo's office and he nodded for them to come in. They had been headed to grab her anyways, as some of her prophecies seemed to be directly lining up with this team. Normally prophets were in one of two categories- far future or near future. Kimberly seemed to be a rare mix of both. "You were coming to get me already."
"Yeah. I know you've been reviewing things that don't deal with your or Thomas' future, but we need you to take a look at things that we're guessing will happen in the next couple of years. After how David's team imploded…I'd just like a look at that timeline," Theo said as Kimberly nodded. She didn't see why she couldn't look at that, especially since it was much more pressing. She had found out over the last month that no one else had such a collection of prophetic works and even the ones that were closer- were not nearly as detailed. "I also was going to ask how they're treating you, but…well…"
"Abigail isn't an anomaly, but Trini, Jason, Rocky, and Zach are great. There's a few others that are friendly….so long as her posse isn't around," Kimberly said and Thomas gave her a shocked look. Why had she not said anything? "It's not a big deal, I'm barely around anyone at either academy and I've got friends outside of here. I'll look at those when I get back up to the library this afternoon."
"Thank you," Theo said as he looked at Thomas and then nodded towards the door. Thomas crossed his arms and shook his head before Theo let out a sigh. "Give us just a couple minutes, T."
"Fine," Thomas grumbled before he gave Kimberly a possessive hug and then walked out of the room. His protectiveness of her had been triggered and he really did not want to leave her alone with anyone.
"I know that I'll read about my death Theo, it's okay," Kimberly said as Theo let out a sigh. They had kept the recent future away from her because of what she had seen, they just weren't sure if she remembered it. This confirmed that she had and she just hadn't talked with anyone about it. "It's kind of hard to forget watching yourself be killed. Theo…I need you to promise me…that you'll keep him safe."
"Kim, you know that's going to be impossible. He's going to try to save you," Theo said as Kimberly locked eyes with him and he felt her powers swell up.
"I've seen him try, over and over- and every time that he tries, we both die and we leave our son an orphan. If I…he needs one of us. I don't make it out of this either way, but there are ways for Tommy to make it out of this, promise me Theo," Kimberly said as Theo crossed his arms and let out a long sigh. He did not want to agree to this, but he also knew that she had a point. "You owe me this much, to keep some things from him and to keep him safe. Please."
"I'll do what it takes to stop him if it comes to it," Theo agreed and Kimberly let out a sigh of relief. "So…a son?"
"Yeah, I'm going to save that tidbit until we get pregnant again," Kim said with a smile as Theo gave her an amazed look. Amelia had seen herself die once and it had been months before she had been able to shake the feelings it caused. "I know my time is short with him, I'm going to make the most of it and that includes giving him at least one baby."
"When are you going to tell him?" Theo asked as she had her hand on the door and she turned back to look at him. "He's going to read your prophecies. We're reinstating that part of his education and I don't know if it is a good idea for him to read it in class when he's married to the woman who saw it."
"Will everyone know these are my prophecies?" Kimberly whispered and Theo nodded. "My son is going to read these one day, can we…is it possible?"
"We will adjust the curriculum after Thomas' class. These potential rangers need to know who saw this," Theo said as she walked over to him and then sat down across from him. "What else is there?"
"There are some prophecies that…that I hope won't come true. I need them to be kept out, until you can see that they will come true," Kimberly said as he just shook his head. He could not deceive Thomas this much. "I will not be there to help him, to help them. I want them to not live with worry over them until it is necessary and only if it is necessary."
"Deal."
"How much do you think it'll be?" Theo asked as Kimberly looked away. "I will help you with this, but we will need to discuss what will be kept from him and why you are suggesting those be kept from him."
"We should start that right away," Kimberly remarked and Theo nodded his head in agreement. "I will tell him, but I need it to be in my time."
"He will start reading through the prophecies at the beginning of the next academic year. We will start as close to current as we have. Those are all yours, except for a few very old prophecies that seem to be aligning as well. That's as long as I can give you," Theo replied and she walked over and gave him a hug. He was surprised but hugged her back.
"Thank you, now I'm going to calm him down. Every single protective bone in his body is upset right now," Kimberly said as Theo laughed. She didn't miss a thing when it came to Thomas and he was glad for that.
