Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie by Heather Ray (beach read book .TXT) 📕

"Gosh, I'm sorry I just appeared on your doorstep like this… especially so late," she hastily stammered. "I had to wait until my mother was asleep. She's been such a mother hen since…" Her breath caught, face twitching with the effort to maintain some sort of smile. She was unsuccessful. "..since… you know."

Tommy lifted his eyes, watching her with his concerned gaze. "How're you holding up?"

She ran her thumbs along the edge of her glass. "Better," she said honestly. "Much better. When I woke up I… was in bad shape." She lifted her left arm, indicating her pink and silver communicator. "Zordon and Alpha, they helped me out. Zordon contacted me every day since I came out of that coma. They've been working nonstop to understand the properties of the Flame… and help me figure out what I am now

." A wry smile touched her lip. "The evil of the Flame is far

different from Rita's spell on you, or even the spell Zedd used to make us hate each other."

"During the presidential campaign," Tommy reminisced, a wistful gleam in his eye. "We had the most childish arguments! I even drew mustaches on your posters…"

Kimberly found no amusement in the memory. "Yeah. Zedd's been trying to force a wedge between us for years," she murmured, her voice painfully soft. "This time… he did."

They both fell into a persistent, grave silence.

She set the glass on the coffee table, genuinely fearful of shattering it with her tense grip. Her jaw set, she lifted her head to him.

"Tommy," she spoke, her voice resolute, "if there's one thing I've learned from all this, it's that I have to be honest with myself. Brutally

honest. None of this would've happened if I had been better able to face my feelings, and deal with them."

She stared at her hands, almost surprised to see her fingers wringing nervously. "Instead, I buried everything, avoided resolution at all costs, and let my own fears and hurt eat me up from the inside."

Tommy winced at her admission, watching her bow her head once again. "Kim, this isn't

your fault --"

"Please, let me finish," she insisted. She took a shaky breath, struggling against the odd sensation that her tongue had gone numb, making it impossible to speak without stammering.

"There's...absolutely no

excuse for what I did; what I allowed myself to become. I didn't hear from you, and I immediately jumped to the conclusion that you were seeing someone else. At the first test...I found myself suspicious. I guess I…I didn't respect you enough to know better."

The tears streaked down her flushed cheeks, painting a silvery line on her skin. Still, despite the powerful urge to simply swallow this heart-wrenching honesty and retreat from the sickening shame, she fought for the coherence to finish. "Tommy, I…I'm so

sorry. I'm sorry that I didn't have more faith in you. Sorry that I believed what we had together could be thrown aside so easily. I'm sorry I didn't…trust you."

She pulled herself from the couch, her distress making it impossible to sit still a moment longer. "You've always been with me… standing by my side, lending a hand when I needed one. You always had my best interests at heart…you even encouraged me to go to Florida… leave the Power Rangers to follow my dreams. And even after that, you didn't let the distance come between us. You made time for me…and you made me feel special."

She sniffed, frustratedly wiping away the tears...the evidence of her own weakness and humiliation.

She couldn't bring herself to even look at him.

After a lengthy silence, Tommy finally found the presence of mind to speak. "I forgive you, Kim. For everything that happened...everything you felt, tried to do, or actually did. But you have to understand that we...we both messed up. In order to work, Zedd's scheme depended on both of our insecurities. I...I forgive you for doubting me. But, I need you to forgive me; for my cowardice."

Her head bolted upright, swollen eyes frowning in confusion at his request.

"I'm the one that got the letter, " he reminded her, "and I fell for it. It hurt so much, reading that you loved someone else on paper, I was terrified of hearing those words from your lips. So...so I..." He clenched his teeth, struggling against his own shame. "I didn't call you. I didn't visit you. I didn't do anything that could have unearthed the truth. I wanted to demand an explanation...but I was too much of a coward to actually hear your voice tell me you didn't love me any more...or worse, that you never really had." He sucked in a breath, and released it in a long, weary sigh. "I failed you, Kim."

She sniffled again, but she did managed to find a smile. "We...failed each other, " she resolved. She then moved toward him, reaching her timid fingers to graze his tear-stained cheek. "I forgive you...for all the choices you made."

He stared into her eyes, slightly puzzled by her choice of words. She must have seen his confusion, and pulled her hand away before he could say a word.

"I'm s...sorry," she murmured, dropping her eyes again. Tommy watched, perplexed, as she retreated from him, and finished the remaining water in one long sip.

There's something else bothering her,

he realized, a grim shadow darkening his mood. Something else standing between us...

But if there was one thing he

learned from his ordeal, it was never to just let her walk away without understanding why.

"Kim, what is it?" he insisted.

It seemed as if every drop of composure she had managed to maintain flowed out of her. She chewed her thumbnail, her agitation so great she actually turned her back to her ex-boyfriend to help her recover her speech.

Tommy was hurt by her inability to look at him, but chose not to say or do anything to add any additional pressure. Yet his insides twisted with panic as he considered what she could possibly have to reveal that would force her to turn away.

Oh God...she's dying

! Or...she's having Zedd's child

. He grimaced disgustedly at the notion.

"I," she resumed, her voice disturbingly weak, "I think I... " She cleared her throat, her scowl hidden from Tommy's view. "I mean, after everything that happened, I'm positive that..." She exhaled slowly. "I need you, Tommy."

Tommy startled. Despite himself, a fierce joy erupted in his heart, her words reassuring him that he still truly mattered to her.

But why was she so disturbed by her feelings? Did she still doubt him...doubt that he could provide the support and comfort she needed?

"I'm sorry, " she repeated, "but I'm convinced that I've got a long way to go to...to deal with what happened to me. And I need my friends...especially you...to remind me of who I was before the Flame, before Zedd's tricks, and...! "

She choked on her words, taking a moment to recover her breath. She released a long, forlorn sigh, and slowly turned around. Her eyes were closed, tears still running down her cheeks, but at least she faced him. "I...know

you're with Kat," she said without heat, "and I won't get in the way, I swear…but…I really need you in my li --"

She was silenced as Tommy caught her mouth with his own. Her eyes flew open in astonishment, staring quizzically at him until the soft, enveloping warmth of his touch made all conscious thought melt away.

Kim matched his kiss with equal passion, both conveying to the other the desperate longing that had burdened their hearts for so long.

Finally, when the thirst for oxygen was too strong to ignore, they parted. They both breathed shallowly, warm puffs of air tickling the other's lips as they gazed into each other's eyes.

Kim forced herself to blink, breaking the spell of his joyous gaze and shaking off the dizziness that lingered from his kiss. "But... " she stammered, "but Kat...!"

He responded with a warm, slightly amused grin. "Kat and I aren't together. We actually broke up that day Goldar and Scorpina kidnapped me."

Kimberly stared at him, her expression unreadable as he continued. "We had to be honest with ourselves, and each other." His fingers traced upward from her back, gliding slowly through her soft hair. "I had to face the fact that I couldn't… replace you. Ever."

She closed her eyes before more tears could escape, reveling in the warmth of his strong embrace, reassuring voice, and unconditional, unwavering love.

At an utter loss for words, she leaned closer to him, burying her face against his chest. His heart beat quickly against her forehead, proving to her how anxious he had been...how concerned her anguish made him.

And then...she finally knew for certain that she could always depend on him. Had he held any sort of resentment for the past few months, there wouldn't have been any hope of recovery. The guilt would have eaten her alive, for she never could have endured it knowing she'd cost the man she loved more than anything in this world any lingering pain.

Now, she could heal. Together, they could both heal.

Character Thesaurus

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

When the threat of Earth being taken over by Rita Repulsa arose after she was freed from her dumpster prison on the Moon, a wise old sage named Zordon, who had established a Command Center in Angel Grove, recruited five teenagers to assume the power of the Morphing Grid to defend the planet as Power Rangers - Jason, Zack, Kimberly, Billy, and Trini. When the battle escalated, they would call on their individual assault vehicles named Zords and destroy the monsters who threatened peace in Angel Grove, all while trying to live normal lives as high school students.

The Rangers have gone through many roster, Zord, and power changes. Rita gave the Dragon Coin to a new student at Angel Grove High- Tommy, who fought against the Rangers as the evil Green Ranger, and later joined the team