Always a Ranger - Part 5
A
Ranger of Another Color
By Jeannine Trevizo
Black.
Well, at least it isn’t white again. I always ended
up with grass stains that never came out. I still wonder how Zordon always got our uniforms clean. And there were the
boners. God, high school was just not the time to have your hormones in an
uproar, a beautiful girlfriend and wear white.
Anyway, it looks like I’m back in the spandex again.
Guess it’s true what they say,
you can’t keep a good ranger down. Now, when I helped
Maybe
I’m just fated to always be a ranger.
Just like I’m always going to love Kim.
As
I walk away from the new team and my formerly ‘silent’ partner in crime, I hear
my name loudly yelled from the door of the cybercafe
and turn back to see what is going on.
“Dr.
O!” calls out Conner again, as he, Kira and Ethan run out the door.
All
I can think of is more bad news, or more questions about my ranger days.
Sighing, I turn towards them and look at them expectantly. I really was hoping
to get out of there without much more explaining. It was bad enough when I
found out that Hayley had showed up at my place and
told the rangers about her helping me create the morphers
and everything. Okay, so I’m not Billy smart and I needed help. Sue me.
Besides, I’m used to teamwork and working with geniuses, not being one myself.
I
bet Ethan won’t let me live this down. I just hope they aren’t going to start
ignoring me in class because of this. I did get my education fair and square. I
just needed some help.
“We
forgot,” Conner said with that his smirk of his plastered again on his face as
they pulled up in front of me, “you got a phone call while you were missing.”
“I
thought it might have been Mesogog calling for a
ransom of our powers or something,” Ethan started to explain, now feeling a bit
guilty for invading their teacher and mentor’s privacy by answering the phone.
Now
I’m curious. They’re all looking at me like the cat that ate the canary, or
they know something they shouldn’t. I’m at a loss to figure what they’re trying
to get at, and so I stand there dumbly, my mind unable to process anything as I
try to wrack my brain for what could be going on.
“Well?”
I ask rather stupidly.
“Kim
called,” Kira announces before Connor or Ethan can
open their mouths, and I see both of them look at her and glare, as if she just
upstaged them.
“Kim?”
I ask, more desperate sounding than I’d like.
There’s
a round of smothered laughter and some knowing looks. Shit, what the hell did
Kim tell them? They’re acting like they caught their teacher in the broom
closet with their significant other. Hmm, now that I think of it, that’s not a
bad idea. I’ll have to add that to my fantasy list…
“Yeah,
you know, the original pink ranger, friend of yours from your days in Angel
Grove, saving the world and all that,” Conner smugly said, his smile getting
bigger by the minute.
“Oh,
that’s good,” I try to cover, “it’s always good to hear from an old friend.
I’ll have to try and catch up with her soon.”
“Nice
try Dr. O,” replies Ethan, giving Conner a nudge with his shoulder and a look
at Kira that says they know a lot more than they
should about Kim and
Damn,
busted. Okay Tommy, think, how do you get out of this? Because
if you don’t, they’re going to give you hell forever about ‘rangers in love’
and shit like that. Maybe something about advice from
a former ranger about the situation. Yeah, that’s good.
“Okay,
I have talked to Kim about what’s been going on recently. As a former ranger,
she can understand very well what is going on here at Reefside
and what you’re all going through. I thought I might ask her advice on guiding
you along.”
With
that, Kira rolls her eyes and crosses her arms across
her chest. Beside her, Ethan shakes his head and Conner simply gives me an intent
look that says ‘you really expect us to believe that line’.
“She
sent a message after she yelled at us to go rescue your butt,” Conner finally
stated, deciding that if they were going to get any answers, they were going to
have to take a more direct approach. “She said to tell you that she called and
that she was worried about you.”
Oh
god, I need to wrap this up now and get to the phone and call Kim. They had to
have told her about my being kidnapped by the Tyrano-drones.
If she thinks that something happened to me, it’s probably driving her crazy
with worry…
“Oh,
okay, well then I should call her back so she won’t worry anymore,” I comment
inanely, more focused on ending this conversation and getting to a phone and
calling Kim.
“I
know that would be a good idea Dr. O,” Ethan informed me, looking very pleased
with himself. “I’d hate to have the lady and former
fellow ranger think we didn’t finish our job and
rescue you as planned. After all her support and
encouragement and everything.”
That
brought me up short, and I stared at them attentively. “What was that?”
“Kim
told us she trusted us to rescue you. That we were rangers and that we
shouldn’t forget the legacy of power rangers. Then she said one last thing,
which surprised all of us I think,” Conner continued.
“Which
was what?” I asked, curiosity growing at what my love could have told these new
rangers that would have made them so shocked.
“May
the power protect you.”
The
moment the words left Conner’s mouth, I felt the weight of Kimberly’s statement
in my soul. Zordon’s words. The ones he always imparted to us as a reminder of
the protection of the power we bore. How our connection to our power coins, and
in the later years, our different powers and abilities would get us through
everything we had to face. That phrase became a part of us, part of being a
ranger, a member of the team and helped us to stand up against the evil that
faced us.
And
Kim had graced these new rangers with that same benediction. Given
them the benefit of her approval, her encouragement as they took on their
ranger mantles. They were luckier than they would ever know.
“She
must have been one hell of a ranger,” Ethan said, breaking me out of my
reverie.
“She
was,” I replied simply, my mind on getting home and calling her so I could hear
her much-missed voice wash over me.
“Were
you and she…” asks Kira suddenly, and I fight to keep
a straight face and hope that I’m not glowing red with embarrassment.
“That’s
really not your business,” I stutter out, and then start to take a step
backward. “Anyhow, I hear the mall calling. Black shirts and
slacks to fill up that closet. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”
I
quickly turn and head away from the discussion that I really have no desire to
have about how Kim and I were the longest ever ranger couple. Of course, I
realize as I make my way farther and father from them and the café that they will
assume, ‘rightly’ that Kim and I were together. But I’m not going to worry
about that for now. I have to get back to the house and find Kim’s number.
As
soon as I’m in my jeep, it’s a matter of minutes before I’m pulling up to the
house. Quickly I turn off the ignition and nearly jump out of the still idling
vehicle in my haste to get inside. I get frustrated with the door as I try half
a dozen times to get the key in the lock before it turns and swings open. With
a negligent throw of my arm I slam it closed behind me as I head straight for
the phone and the address book on the computer desk.
Flipping
pages like a man possessed, I find her number and scramble for the phone. I
dial the number before I realize that I don’t know exactly what I’m going to tell
her. The phone rings, and I start trying to decide how to explain what’s
happened.
The
phone rings again, and I start to worry. Is it too late? I thought it was still
early enough on the East Coast. Then before the third ring, I hear the phone
pick up and the breath of the woman I’ve loved since before I was a ranger on
the other end of the line.
“Hello?”
“Hi Beautiful.”
I
hear a deep breath being sucked in, and beneath that the thick sound of a
stifled tear-filled sob.
“Oh God Tommy! I was so worried! Connor said that Mesogog
had you and I just couldn’t think of what was going to happen, you without your
powers and being held by him, it just scared me so much, we’d put off
everything for so long,” Kim rambled on, the terror in her voice audible probably
only to those who know her well. Like me.
“Hey,
hey, its okay, I’m fine,” I said soothingly, trying to assure her that I’m
alright. “The team got me okay. As it was, we ended up with a bonus out of all
this.”
“A bonus?” Kim asked uncomprehendingly, and I couldn’t help but tease her a bit.
“How
do you feel about ‘black’ spandex?” I ask with as much humor and
lightheartedness as I can.
“You’re
kidding me,” Kim half asked in surprise and shock.
“I
guess I’ll have to send you out a black dinosaur.”
There’s
a pause, and I wonder if she’s changed her mind. A relationship with a former
ranger is a lot easier and a lot less dangerous than with an active one.
“Are
you okay with this? Being a ranger again?” Kim asks finally, her voice sounding
hopeful yet nervous.
“Hey,
I’m just trying to cover the ranger rainbow,” I joke lightly, remembering the
ranger’s comments earlier. “Four down, four or so to go.
Except, now I’m going to have to go shopping.”
Kim’s
laughter flowed across the phone line and made me join along. The fact that Kim
knows my sense of humor made it all the easier to make light of this. The truth
was that Elsa’s comment about me being too old for this had given me some
pause. I remember thinking that same thing before today. But once the crystal
bonded to me, all of those thoughts just melted away. No matter what, I’ve
really always been a ranger. Now I’m just a ranger of another color.
“Need
some help?” Kim asked suddenly, bringing me back to the conversation. “With the
shopping I mean. I could send you some website links for some great places.”
I
try not to laugh at the thought of shopping online, then
sober quickly as I realize that I really would rather she was here to help me
buy what I need. To be here when I get in from a hard day of battling
Tyrano-drones and super villains. Give me a
reason to come home in one piece every night.
“I
sort of need to go to the store soon. So unless you’re arriving on tomorrow’s
morning flight…” I subtly suggest, wishing she’d say yes, she was on her way
and to come pick her up at the airport.
“You
know I wish I could handsome,” Kim replies, her voice quiet and filled with
more emotion than I’ve heard there in a long time.
“But
you can’t.”
“I
made a commitment to the girls,” she replies soberly, regretfully. “I need to
see it through.”
“I
understand,” I tell her, my own voice feeling raw as I realize just how much I
wish that wasn’t the case. That I could go to her, or she could be here with
me.
“After
“Beautiful?”
“I
think I could use a change.”
I
realize what she’s suggesting, and I can’t help but let myself start thinking
about weekend picnics and doing dishes and finding more space in my closet.
We’ve been so scared of this for so long, trying to decide when and where we
could make a go of it again that I can’t stop the smile that surfaces at the
thought of her back with me.
“I
think that maybe that could be arranged. Would you be interested in settling
someplace where there’s a regular threat of evil henchmen and the downtown
being assaulted by huge monsters?” I ask carefully, trying not to break the
mood.
“Been
there, done that, could do it again if I had the right motivation,” she
replied, and I can hear the humor in her voice.
“How
about I keep giving you that kind of motivation until you leave for
“I
think that sounds great. But, are you alright with having to wait until the
fall?” she questions, her voice concerned.
I
can’t help the laugh that bursts out of me, and have to stifle it before she
thinks I’m laughing at her. Tell her Oliver, I reprimand myself. Tell her now.
“I
love you Kim,” I finally get out. “I’d wait as long as it took.”
I
can almost see the smile on the other end of the line as she listens to my
declaration.
“I
love you too,” she replies with that same loving tone of voice I heard for
three years almost non-stop. “So, let’s plan on you helping me make a good
decision come fall and keep me in the loop with what’s going on out there. I
don’t ever want to go through another day like this one, worried about you not
coming back.”
“Alright,”
I agree quickly.
“Alright. I hate to do this, but we have a
“I
understand. We new/old rangers need our rest too.”
We
laugh, and I feel that pang in my heart again that wishes she was here. But for
now, her love and her voice will have to be enough.
“Take
care.”
“Night Beautiful.”
With
that, she hangs up, and I carefully set the receiver back on its hook and head
for my bedroom.
It’s
been one hell of a day.
-End-
tbc…
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