Chapter 27 – What belongs to you.
Fall – 1992
The new school year had started. They couldn't even believe it. A couple of years earlier, they were freshmen. The youngest students at Angel Grove High, full of anxiety, full of fear and dread. But now, they were nearly the oldest.
It felt good. They were comfortable, they were confident and they loved their high school life. And of course... Being the teenagers they were, they obviously got up to no good at times. But Jason, Kimberly, Billy, Trini and Zack were different.
A lot of kids in their year went off smoking cigarettes and marijuana after school. They often had crazy house party's when their parents weren't at home and often got so drunk, they forgot who they were and what they were doing.
Yes, these five did at times go to the parties, but they generally kept a close watch on each other, making sure they didn't drink themselves into oblivion.
Trini and Kimberly had more or less given up on Zack and Jason, respectively.
It was mainly Trini's idea. She had that belief that what belonged to you, would always find it's way to YOU. What wasn't yours, no matter how hard you tried, no matter how much you fought and tried to force it to happen, it would never become yours. There was no point stressing and no point killing yourself over it.
Zack's relationship with Trini was brilliant. You couldn't separate the two. They were practically joined at the hip, wherever one went, the other was there before them! But there was one problem...Zack had an absolute obsession with a girl called Angela.
Angela was a stunning, tall, leggy girl in their class. And Zack was crazy about her. Trini would often catch him gawping at her from across the classroom or hall. This did upset Trini, but what could she do? Zack was a 15-year-old boy. These were the years that he was bound to go crazy over women. If that was meant to be Angela, well then, at least Zack would be happy. Trini would be happy for him.
Jason on the other hand. Now he and Zack were both, good looking, athletic guys. They drew a lot of attention from the girls. Zack and Jason would often "scope out babes" according to them.
Zack had had a few girlfriends but Jason never really did, at least to Kimberly's knowledge.
That's what made it so hard for Kimberly. He wasn't like Zack, being so obsessed with a girl that it was slightly easier to forget about him.
Often, Jason would talk to a girl but then back off as soon as things would get a little serious, when the word "dating" was often exchanged.
This meant one of three things for Kimberly. Either Jason was not really into girls yet, and he just did these things for Zack, or he was just too shy to take it to the next level or then it could possibly mean that he Chad commitment issues. Yeah he had just turned 16 recently, so any boy his age would not exactly commit to anyone, but it was still possible.
Trini's theory was, that Jason didn't date anyone because he didn't want to date them. He only wanted to date one person, and that was Kimberly.
Kimberly of course, disagreed completely with Trini's theory. But she took her advice nonetheless and gave up chasing her crush. If he was meant to be, it would happen.
Kimberly's life was already difficult without boy troubles.
Her parents decided to move from Washington to California, in the hope that they could start over again. Start afresh.
It was going okay for the first couple of years, finally, Kimberly had hope that her parents would work things out. But now, it was getting pretty darn bad again.
Her parents would fight nearly every day. It wasn't just a quiet little debate either. They bellowed at each other as if they were at the opposite sides of a football pitch.
Kimberly kind of knew what it was about now that she was older. I mean, the entire street probably knew since her parents were so loud. But, her father had an affair with a co-worker back in Seattle. Her mom found out. That was the root cause of the issues. Going by her dad's words though, he had given that up and was trying his best to save his marriage. Though the alcohol didn't help. That only made him angrier and made the shouting much more aggressive.
Just the other day, something happened which may be the final straw. David Hart has struck his wife. A firm slap across the face.
How did Kimberly know? She heard it as clear as day from her bedroom next door and also heard the subsequent fallout of that incident. Her mom cried for days, her father begged for forgiveness but no forgiveness was given. David Hart rented out a motel room and had been there for the last couple of days.
Kimberly's home life was a total wreck. It was no surprise that she has nearly given up on Jason. She had to accept that Trini was right. If Jason was hers, she would have him all to herself one day. There was no point adding to her stress and killing herself over it.
She was currently at the back of Angel Grove High School. Right at the back, behind the kitchens and the gymnasium. School had finished for the day and most people had gone home. But Kimberly stuck behind.
She opened her purse and took out a small, rectangular, red and white box. She proceeded to pull out one of the cigarettes and popped it into her mouth.
Back at one of the house parties, Kimberly and her four best friends had all shared a cigarette. Just to see what it was like, and truth be told, Kimberly felt like it was a breath of fresh air. Combined with the small amount of alcohol she had drank, the cigarette seemed to have lifted her spirits, helped her forget about her troubles. So after that, Kimberly began to smoke, it was only a few days ago that she has started smoking, buying packs of cigarettes from some of the girls at school.
As she exhaled, she closed her eyes and felt a wave of calm wash over her entire body. It was crazy how this little stick of tobacco, made her feel so much better. It made it possible for her to go back to her house and face her depressed mother and deal the her shit-storm of a life.
Kimberly took another generous pull and a large smile formed on her lips. Not only did smoking help her, but she also felt like a rebel, like she was fighting back in a way, against her parents and against the crap that they were putting her through.
"I wondered where you were."
Kimberly's eyes snapped open, her heart stopped in its tracks, her mouth drying up and the cigarette hanging for dear life on the tip of her rosy lips.
She didn't have the courage to turn around and look into the eyes of the person who spoke these words.
Maybe she was hearing things. Maybe she was imagining it. No, you're not smoking pot, you're smoking a cig. She said to herself.
She saw the trainers and the jeans, it was definitely him.
"I've been worried about you Kim. You know that?"
Kimberly hastily threw the cigarette on the floor, stomped it out and finally found the courage to look up at a face so handsome, she felt like she had indeed smoked something much stronger. How could he look so damn fine?
"You not gonna tell me off?" She asked her best friend, Jason, managing to finally speak.
Jason shook his head and offered Kimberly a sympathetic smile. "I already know." He told her, piercing her soul again with just his eyes. "And I also know that there must be a reason behind it."
Kimberly's heart jumped up from her chest to her throat. Jason was against drugs and smoking, she expected him to shout at her, even maybe swear at her, but he didn't.
"You've not been walking home with me for a while, how about we do that today?" Jason asked her, sticking out a friendly hand.
Kimberly looked up into his eyes, her own eyes slightly wet, threatening to burst with tears because of his kindness and understanding. She looked down at his hand and quickly placed her hand into his. Feeling better as soon as their skin touched. She allowed him to direct her out of the school grounds and on their old route back to their street.
"Do you know how boring it is for me walk alone everyday? I almost feel like asking my mom to come pick me up." Jason said with a laugh. "I miss my best friend." He added, looking down at Kim's face, her eyes now slightly red, but tear free.
"We're still best friends then?" She asked him, looking back up at his face.
Jason's eyebrows narrowed with confusion. "Why would we not?"
"Well, I know how much you hate smoking."
"Do you really think I'd stop caring about you just because you smoked a cig?" Jason asked her.
Kimberly looked right into Jason's eyes. "More than just one."
"Oh, now you're just showing off." Jason responded, he offered her a soft smile and did his usual soul-searching stare. Kimberly wouldn't put it past him right now, to know exactly how many cigarettes she had smoked.
They had stopped walking and were in the middle of a busy street lined with stores. They could see Angel Grove Park to their left, which meant that their street wasn't far away now. But they were just stood there, facing each other. Not moving their gazes anywhere else besides the person in front of them.
"See, I knew there was a reason behind it." Jason said, having obviously finished his soul search.
"OK then smarty pants. What is the reason?" Kimberly asked him.
"I want you to tell me." Jason answered.
Kimberly realised that Jason knew what the issue was. I mean, he lived a couple of doors away. He was bound to know, and he could read her mind every damn time. How did he do that. It was such an uncanny ability of his that he didn't seem to have with anyone else besides her.
She loved looking into his eyes, it was rather intoxicating, but every time she did, Jason knew what was going on in her mind. But then again, why did he never realise how much she liked him. Why did he never use these skills to see how much Kimberly wanted him. It was so infuriating. He read her mind about literally everything besides the fact that she harboured feelings for him that transcended friendship.
Kimberly only just realised that they were still holding hands. She looked down and her heart nearly leapt out of her chest, and her hand felt like it was on fire.
She quickly let go and tried to save her embarrassment by pointing to an ice cream parlour around the corner.
"Can we go? I'll tell you everything inside there."
"Sounds like a fair deal." Jason replied, knowing how much Kimberly loved frozen yogurt and ice cream, but not knowing that Kim was just trying to cover herself for the way she reacted to them holding hands.
Nonetheless, they walked up to the ice cream parlour and Jason bought her a giant bowl of ice cream, ignoring her protests. Jason who had turned 16 before anyone else in their group, had found a job at a local burger joint. He had a little more money than the rest of them who had little part time jobs. This, truth be told, just gave Jason an excuse to treat Kimberly every chance he got.
They found a table at the back of the store and sat down, eating their ice creams. Kimberly got all of the ice creams that were pink or red. Strawberry, raspberry swirl, bubblegum, red velvet and plenty of others. Jason got Vanilla and mint chocolate chip. He was pretty simple when it came to ice cream.
They just sat in a comfortable silence for a while, stealing the occasional glance at each other, smiling, just enjoying each other's company.
Truth be told, the two of them hadn't really shared a lot of time together in the last few months. Well, ever since the new school year started. They usually just hung out in a group with the rest of the guys, so this alone time was long overdue.
It wasn't long before Kimberly began to pour her heart out to Jason. Telling him everything that transpired in the last few weeks and months. Telling him what started it off and down to the latest developments.
"See, then how could I blame you for simply looking for something that's going to help you forget or cope with the shit that's going on at home.". Jason said, eating the last of his ice cream and putting down the spoon.
Kimberly just smiled and copied Jason by downing her last spoon of ice cream, looking back up into Jason's comforting eyes.
Jason Lee Scott made her stronger. That was the bottom line. Whether he was hers as a friend or anything else, one thing was for sure. He made her stronger, he made her want to carry on going.
He did not even tell her off regarding the smoking, but she wanted to stop it for him. For his commitment, his friendship, his trust. She wanted it for herself too, but as he sat there trying to read her soul once again, she wanted to keep going partly for him.
"Thank you." She said, simply, not revealing any of the other things running around in her head. She moved her hand forward and placed it on top of his. "I was afraid of what you guys would think of me, so I hid away from everyone."
"Trust me, they're worried about you too." Jason lightly stroked Kimberly's hand with his thumb and gave her a warm smile. "And I promise you, they would never judge you or say anything bad about you. You can tell them whenever you're ready. We've got your back." Jason said, smiling as Kim squeezed his hand.
"You're the best Jase. You really are." She said, trying to keep her face straight as she thought, please read my mind now too Jason. I really wish that one day, I can have you all to myself. I love you as a friend, and I'll take that, but maybe one day, we can be more. One day, I want you to be mine!
"What's that?" Jason asked her, raiding an eyebrow, looking totally bewildered.
"What's what?" Kimberly asked him, trying to look innocent.
"That right there. That face you're making!" Jason said with a laugh. "What are you thinking?"
"Guess." Kimberly said rather quickly.
"Ummm. I dunno." Jason screwed up his face and tried to concentrate with all his might.
"That's so annoying. How can you read my mind when it comes to some stuff. But not with others?" She asked him.
Jason shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea. I can't control my psychic abilities."
"HA. Psychic my ass." Kimberly said, letting out a rather loud laugh, at least she was laughing again.
"You know I read your mind. I am a psychic." Jason winked at the smiling girl in front of him.
"Well, practice your abilities mister. There's a LOT more in here for you to read." Kimberly knew that sounded a bit awkward, and the fact that they were holding hands once again, it didn't make it any less awkward.
But they both just stared into each others dreamy eyes. Nobody saying anything. Until Jason cleared his throat when the waitress came by.
"Anything else for you two love birds today?" The waitress asked, causing both Jason and Kimberly to hastily let go of each others hands.
"We're just friends."
"Yeah, best friends."
The waitress just picked up their empty bowls, smiled at them both and walked away. Leaving the two 'love birds' facing an awkward silence. Though, it didn't last for too long.
"Hey ummm, do you fancy watching a movie later? The guys were thinking about going to watch the mighty ducks." Jason said hurriedly, trying to normalise the conversation.
"Yeah, why not. Mom is not exactly fun to be around these days." Kimberly replied, wishing that her hand was still on top of Jason's.
"Well, how about we go for pizza after the movie? Keep you company even more."
Kimberly felt her throat swell up. Not in a bad way, but rather in a good way. "A movie and pizza sounds good to me. I do think you're trying to fatten me up though." Kimberly said, standing up and grabbing her school bag, twisting on the spot and looking at her friend.
"Me? Never!" Jason replied, trying to look innocent as he grabbed his own bag and left the ice cream parlour with his best friend.
Kimberly's box of cigarettes lay at the bottom of her school bag. She would eventually get rid of them and not buy another pack for a few years.
Jason was right. Because him and the rest of the group stood by Kimberly and never once let her feel like she was alone.
Kimberly truly did not want to ever lose Jason, he was too important to her. Way too important. She finally believed and understood what Trini meant. What belonged to you, would always find it's way to YOU. Jason somehow always came back to her, and she held on to that faith for a very, very long time.
1993 – The final few days of the summer.
Another school year was up and running. Jason, Kimberly, Billy, Trini and Zack had just finished their first day back at the start of the new year.
Our five favourite teenagers had just completed a day at school and had a plan in place. They were going to go to the youth centre after school and take part in their favourite activities.
Kimberly was going to practice her gymnastics, Trini would be practicing her katas and tai chi, Jason would be giving Zack a one-to-one karate lesson and then take charge of another one of his karate lessons. He had really excelled in karate and had achieved his second-degree black belt a few months ago. His sensei deemed him experienced and talented enough to become a sense himself, and had taught him nearly everything he knew in private lessons.
Today was an absolutely monumental day for Billy. For the first time, he would be taking part in his first ever karate class.
He never felt comfortable going to the dojo, but with Jason now officially giving lessons, he felt so much more relaxed and confident to now take part. Jason was one of his closest friends. He felt safe with him. Confident that Jason would never laugh at him, but rather protect him from any harm.
Kimberly and Trini would take a break in their practice to cheer on their friend, hopefully giving him another boost in confidence.
Jason watched on as Kimberly went through her gymnastics routines. This was now a routine of his. Though he practiced his karate, gave lessons in karate and tae-kwon-do and hit the weights, he often found his eyes traveling over to the balance beam over where Kimberly usually was. Only Zack had noticed this, but others were unaware. But Jason was also unaware, that Kimberly, though she was focused on her own routines, she often stole glances at Jason working out, or leading his classes. She never told a single soul about this, not even Trini.
Even though Jason was blissfully unaware of this fact, there was just something that gave him confidence to believe that maybe she harboured feelings for him that were more than just friendship.
Jason felt brave today. Jason felt like this was the perfect time for him to maybe tell Kimberly about how he truly felt. She may turn around and find it disgusting, but this had been laying dormant in his mind for too long. But it had been awakened during the summer. They had spent a lot of time together in their group. Not much time was spent privately but that's what Jason wanted. That's what made him want to open up and tell her. He wanted uninterrupted time alone with her.
It was decided, today on their usual walk home from the youth centre, Jason would finally open up to Kimberly. Finally tell her how he truly felt. What's the worst that could happen? She would tell him no, tell him she loves him... As a friend.
Friend, he could deal with. He'd rather have her as a friend than nothing it all. Surely, it wouldn't ruin their friendship though, right? They had been close friends, maybe even best friends, for years now. He had to try and change that. He couldn't take it any longer.
Jason just finished his private lesson with Zack and noticed Billy walk out of the changing rooms in the karate gi that Jason had got for him. He looked brilliant, the gi really suited him.
But he was nothing compared to Kimberly who looked absolutely fabulous in her flowery leotard and bubblegum-pink leggings.
But as Jason went over to the designated area for karate classes, he watched as Bulk and Skull came in to cause a bit of trouble. He had faith in Kimberly and Trini though, and saw with pride when they dispatched the troublesome duo with ease.
The karate lesson went swimmingly. Billy learnt a new move and even correctly answered some questions regarding karate. Jason did have to teach Bulk and Skull a lesson though, because they thought interrupting the lesson was funny. But Jason left the huge bully, with his face red and on the floor after a tornado kick went horribly wrong. All in all, it was a terrific first lesson for Billy.
Not long now for the walk home.
After their workouts and practices, they retired to a table where they ordered some juices and drinks. Kimberly as usual, sat next to Jason, she even brushed a knee on Jason's inner thigh, but she either didn't notice or think much of it. Jason noticed, but he didn't mind it all.
The walk home was just minutes away now. And it was time for Jason to finally tell Kimberly how he felt.
But something would happen which would change their lives forever. As soon as Ernie came to give them their final rounds of drinks, including Billy's unusual order of spinach juice, something very weird happened.
It felt like an earthquake. But it wasn't an earthquake. And what transpired next, not only completely changed Jason's train of thought, but it made sure that none of their lives would ever be the same again.
They found themselves somehow zapped away from the youth centre and into a weird place they had never seen.
They came across a robot and a giant floating head. They told them a story about an evil witch called Rita and her plans to take over the world.
Zack and Kimberly were highly sceptical, highly suspicious. Billy was intrigued, mostly due to the technology they encountered. That left Trini and Jason. Trini was a bit of both. She was sceptical and she was intrigued. But she stayed quiet, as she usually always did.
Jason on the other hand. He had always wanted to be a superhero. Always wanted to be different, to save the world. And when this opportunity came, he thought of nothing else.
Even when Kimberly dragged him away from the floating head and robot, Jason did not want to believe Zack that it was, in his words, 'bullshit'.
He could not get this out of his mind. The chat with Kimberly was there, but it was slumbering in his subconscious.
And when they got attacked by some hideous aliens made out of clay, Jason knew that everything the floating head told them, was true.
It wasn't long before Jason used what Zordon, the floating head, told them and he asked his friends to morph into the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
They became encased in these amazing suits. In which they couldn't even feel a single blow from the babbling putty patrollers.
And when Kimberly asked where they were going, when they felt Zordon teleport them, Jason replied "We're going to save the world."
It was like Jason was 10 years old again. He was actually saving the world. The best part was, he was doing it with his best friends. They were all battling weird aliens and a huge golden monkey!
It was scary admittedly, when the golden monkey grew and became as tall as a building!
But Jason knew what to do. He remembered Zordon telling them about their fleet of fighting machines, called zords ... Was that what they were called? Jason was sure that's what Zordon said.
When they called upon these zords, which were based on dinosaurs, all suspicion was erased from all five of their minds. Even Zack and Kimberly were no longer sceptical.
They joined their zords together and formed the absolutely phenomenal megazord. Once they called upon their power sword, the giant golden monkey disappeared or rather, ran away. They had done it. They had saved the world!
Jason had to pinch himself many times to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
They were teleported back to what was called, the command center.
And there, Zordon gave them three basic rules. Or they would basically lose their opportunity to be power rangers.
1. Never use the power for personal gain.
2. Never escalate a battle unless Rita forces them to.
3. Keep their identities secret. No one must know that they are the power rangers.
Jason was scared when Zack thought they couldn't do it and they were lucky. But Zordon explained how luck had nothing to do with it. And even told them that the five of them had formed the finest group of superheroes there had ever seen. A huge compliment, given that Zordon had lived for thousands of years and had most likely gone across many superheroes.
Zordon told them that they needed each other and the world needs them. Jason was ecstatic, he was the first one to tell Zordon that he was in.
Zack, Trini and Billy also agreed, happily.
Kimberly scared them when she said that the "outfits" were cool but she said that her hair got all tangled up! She said she didn't think she could do it. No Kimberly, not you out of all people. Jason was scared for a second but when Kimberly screamed " NOT, gotcha!" Jason knew she was in too.
Alpha 5 began to fizz and smoke due to Kimberly's joke and remarked, "humour, what a concept."
Once Jason knew that Alpha was okay. He stuck his hand out and asked the rangers to put them together. They all joined hands and jumped up into the air, shouting power rangers!
Zordon teleported them all back to the youth centre, just at the side of the building where it was totally deserted. Everyone was busy inside watching the news about the power rangers defeating some monsters. Nobody even realised that the actual power rangers had just walked inside.
This was awesome. They were superheroes like the ones they had watched on television. Jason felt like batman. His body totally covered in a protective suit, and his identity a secret, nobody knew who Bruce Wayne was, nobody knew who the power rangers were either.
The five friends, the new power rangers celebrated with the rest of the youth centre. Celebrating a victory that nobody knew would the first of many. It wasn't until late in the evening that everyone decided to go home.
And that was when Jason remembered what he was meant to do today.
He was meant to tell Kimberly how he felt. But could he actually do that now?
What if she rejected him and that totally destroyed the chemistry of the team.
Jason wanted to be positive for a second, what if Kimberly said yes! What if she told him that she wants him just as much as the he wants her. That would make him extremely happy. But there were negatives to that as well.
He already cared about her, if they became an item, he would care about her even more. He would put her safety before everyone else, and that wasn't fair on the rest of the rangers.
Zordon had told Jason that he was the leader of the team. That meant that he would need to be impartial, put all four of his friends equally before him. Their safety being of paramount importance. Getting together with Kimberly would definitely tarnish that.
What if they broke up. What would that do to the harmony of the team...
Maybe Kimberly just wasn't meant to be his.
On their short walk to their street after having said goodbye to the rest of the rangers, Kimberly was in a joyous mood, the happiest she had been in quite a while.
What right did he have to stop her smiling and tell her something that may completely reverse her mood.
He couldn't do it. He couldn't risk the team, he couldn't risk his friendship with the new pink ranger. He had to smile back, he had to match her happiness even though his own happiness had been dampened a little.
As he gazed upon her beautiful face, his heart fluttered and then wrenched right there behind his chest like a car motor coming to a screeching halt. He would have to hide his feelings, just as he had done for the last few years.
She wasn't his, maybe she never was, maybe she never would be.
She wasn't making it any easier though. She was skipping along, laughing, joking, glancing up at him and he was relieved when they finally entered their small, quaint street.
"That was insane. Can you believe it? " Kimberly moved closer to Jason, stood on her tippy toes and whispered into his ear, words that he loved, but right now, wished that they were different words. "We're actually super heroes!"
Jason had to put his feelings aside. He gave her the biggest smile he could assemble, "I know right. It's amazing!" He said, putting as much excitement into his own whisper.
Kimberly moved her head away slightly and looked into his eyes, before closing the distance between them. Why was she making it so difficult!
"You have always loved superheroes and the fact that you are one now, no wonder you're a little quiet. This must be a dream come true."
She was right. It was a dream come true for him.
"You're right Kim. I can't believe this."
He just wished two of his dreams would come true, he had hoped the second one would come true today, but another came true instead. It was nice that one dream came true to be totally honest, but it was bittersweet nonetheless.
And when she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a huge, tight hug, he realised right there that maybe it wasn't over. Maybe this other dream could come true one day. The fact that Kimberly behaved differently, treated him differently when nobody else was around, when it was just the two of them, gave him hope.
Being superheroes with Kimberly and his best friends, ensured that he would spend even more time with Kimberly now. Just like they did when they were younger.
Maybe spending all that time together, saving the world together, would strengthen their bond even more. Bring them closer in ways which would progress further than just the excruciating boundaries of friendship.
Kimberly eventually let go, said goodbye and skipped over to her house. But she turned her head around and looked back him once more, waving happily. Jason couldn't help but smile and wave back at her. As she disappeared inside her house.
Jason opened his own house door and entered. His family blissfully unaware that he had just saved them and Angel Grove from that giant gold monkey.
Kimberly closed the door behind her and took in the silence of her home. Her dad must be at work, she didn't know where her mom was, but she was most likely in her room since her car was parked in the driveway.
Kimberly couldn't help smiling. Her life wasn't great with her parents constantly arguing, but this is exactly the tonic she needed.
Walking into her bedroom, getting ready for a shower, her thoughts changed direction and Jason's face came into her mind.
He was so happy when Zordon was telling them that they were now superheroes. She was ecstatic herself, but she was even more happy for her best friend.
He looked so cute today, and as she entered the shower, she was happy that the rest of her friends were power rangers too. But she was even more happy that she would be going into this adventure with her best friend, Jason.
Maybe this was a sign that he remains just that. A best friend.
She felt relief as the warm water soothed her body, but as she closed her eyes, she couldn't get Jason's face out of her brain. But she had to be strong and get him off her mind. After all, they were superheroes now. They had a mission, to save the planet from that evil witch Rita.
Maybe after they defeat her, maybe then, she could have what she had wanted for a long time. But until then, she just has to be patient.
She remembered Trini's words once again. What belongs to you, would always find it's way back to you.
Hope everyone's enjoys this chapter. Please remember to R .
Peace out.
RedDragon