Legal Disclaimer: I am using the following characters without the permission of Saban or his counterparts. All of the main characters in this story (Kimberly, Tommy, Rocky, Adam, Tanya, Katherine, Zack, Jason, Trini, Billy, Zordon, and Alpha) are owned and copyrighted by Saban Entertainment which is associated with Saban International, as is the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers title and everything that is associated with it. If I've missed anything else, please forgive me. You may notice that in upcoming chapters the writing credits will change slightly, as will the co-writers name(s). There are numerous writers helping in their own ways with this story. If it wasn't for them, this whole fic would have been shelved by now. Therefore, I want to make sure that all credit is given where it is due. If you have any concerns about who's getting credit or who's not, please contact me (Mary "Signkat") with them.

Writing credits: I would like say a huge thank you to Cheryl for her endless work helping me re-write this monster and encouragement. I'd also like to thank my friend Dawn for her unending help when I have major writers block. And also Luellon for giving this the final 'once over'.

Tortured Souls
by: Mary "Signkat" & Collaberators

FYI : There's a 6 hour difference between Florida and France, 9 hour difference between California and France.

It's late July; Kim has been in Florida training for the Pan Global's for almost 7 months. it's been about 5 months since Tommy received "The Letter" and the Turbo Movie never happened. Trini, Jason and Zack return to Angel Grove early from the Peace Conference (they were there for a year).

*Ring.....Ring.....Ring....... *

"Hello?"

*"Hi, is Kim there?" *

"Yeah, hold on a sec." The girl covered the receiver, muffling her voice as she called, "Kim! Phone for you!!"

"Got it, Renee! Hello?" Kim grabbed the phone on her nightstand.

*"Guess who!" *

"TRINI! I can't believe it's you!" Kim exclaimed. "How's Geneva? How's the Peace Conference going?"

*"Well, things wrapped up a few months earlier than expected, so we're home! Geneva was great; everything there is so different -so beautiful. But it's no Angel Grove. So, how are you doing?" *

"I'm hanging," she sighed. "I've made a few friends down here, so I have a little company... but all anyone around here wants to talk about is gymnastics.... It's almost like it's a religion, ya know? Thank God we have a break coming up!" Kim said, none too convincingly.

*"I've got some news for you... you might not believe this, but I'm dating Jason." *

Kim sat straight up on her bed "Wait - did I miss something? When did this happen?"

*"We had time to really get to know each other over the last year... BEEP!... oh, can you hold on a sec; I've got a call on the other line."*

"Sure"

(CLICK)

"Hello?" Trini asked, switching to the second line.

*"Hey Trini, is Jason there?" *

"Hi, Tommy. Yeah, let me just get off the other line first."

(CLICK)

"Hey, Kim, can I call you back in a little bit? The other line's for Jason."

*"Yeah, no problem." "Do you have a piece of paper handy - So I can give you my new Phone number!"

*"New phone number?"*

"Yeah, I got my own apartment! We just finished moving everything over here yesterday. I can't wait until you can see it for yourself!"

*"Just Let me grab a pen... ok, shoot!"*

"9-3-4-7-2-9-3-5-8-5. I'll call ya back, ok?"

* "Sure ... I'll talk to you later!" *

(CLICK)

"Jason, Tommy's on the phone!" Trini called out.

"Hey, Bro, what's up?" Jason queried, claiming the phone from his girlfriend.

*"So how's it feel to be back home?" * Tommy asked.

"Good. What's going on with you?"

*"Not a lot... I got your message the other day, but Uncle John has had me so busy practicing, I haven't had a chance to call you back until now." *

"Is he a work horse or what? So how's the racing going?"

*"It's good. Next week I'm racing in the Miami Classic.... Actually, would you and Trini like to come and watch the race?" *

"I'll have to talk to Trini about it and see about getting someone to cover my classes, but I'll let you know," Jason answered.

* "Where are you teaching at?" *

"The Double Dragon Dojo. They just opened on the edge of town; actually this was my first week," Jason chuckled. "Funny thing happened today, though.... In the beginners class, there was this kid named Brett who kept teasing a yellow belt named Samantha. He was picking on her because she has to wear a patch over her left eye - I don't know, something about trying to strengthen her right eye. Anyway, I had all the kids paired up, practicing kicks and blocks; I'm not sure what happened, but I turned around for one minute and the next thing I hear is Bret hitting the floor on his back. From what I was told, he got in Samantha's face, and she had had enough, so she flipped him over her shoulder!"

Tommy started laughing. *"That served him right! Bet he doesn't tease her again!" *

"You're darn right!" Jason replied. "He finally got up off the mats and ran into the locker room, crying. He was all right, but I would say that must have been the first time a girl stood up to him like that!"

beep

"Oh, hold on, the other line's beeping"

(CLICK)

"Hello?"

*"Hi, Jase. Is Trini handy?" *

To Jason, Kim sounded somewhat distracted. He looked down the hall at the bathroom door. "Uh, I think she's just finishing her shower. Can I have her call you back in a few? I'm still on the other line."

Kim yawned. * "Nah, it's not really that important. If she feels like calling me later, fine, but if not, I'll just talk to her whenever...."*

"Are you sure you're all right, Kim?" Jason queried in a big brotherly way.

*"Yeah, I guess I'm just tired," * she replied unconvincingly.

"If you say so.... I've gotta go, but I'll have Trini call you!"

*"Great. Thanks, Jase!" *

(CLICK)

"I'm back. While I'm thinking of it, Tommy, what's the number there so I can call you later about the race?"

*"Hold on; let me look up my pager number -it's the only reliable number, other than leaving messages with my mom." *

Jason could hear Tommy rummaging through his backpack for his pager. "Since when did you have a pager?"

*"Dad... he figured that way Mom wouldn't go nuts wanting to talk to me but not being able to call." *

Jason winced; it sounded like Tommy had just up-ended the bag all over his bed.

*"Here it is; got paper?" *

"Shoot!"

"Area code 9-1-5-9-9-8-2-8-5-8."

"Cool. I'll call ya later then, all right?"

*"Talk to ya then!" *

Jason hung up as Trini walked into the bedroom.

"So, what did Tommy have to say?"

"He invited us to his race in Florida. I told him I'd discuss it with you and page him later. Uh, Kim called while I was talking to him."

"The race sounds like fun! How do you think she sounded?"

Jason paused for a moment. "Lonely. The only time I've heard her sound that bad was when she was...."

"When her parents were getting the divorce?" Trini murmured, completing Jason's sentence for him.

"Yeah ... man, I hope Kim's all right...."

"Jason, what happened to them?" Trini asked. "Kim never told me about the break-up; the first I heard of it was from you."

"I don't really know. I don't even think Tommy knows. The two of them we're doing fine at Christmas, and then I get this phone call from Tommy telling me Kim dumped him. He was pretty broken up about it. No one had any clue."

Trini paused thoughtfully. "I know Kim, Jason. There is no way she ever meant to let Tommy go; I'm sure of it. We've got to do something to help them out."

"Like what?"

"I don't know yet, but I'll think of something. Let me dry my hair, then I'll call her back!"

A half hour later, Trini grabbed the phone.

Ring....Ring....Ring....

" 'Ello?" Kim sniffled.

Trini could tell that her friend had been crying. "Hey, Kim, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine... was just watching a sad movie. What's up?"

"Jason said you called while he was on the phone with Tommy, and I was wondering what was going on with the two of you?" she asked pointedly

"It's over," Kim blurted out. "What else can I say? I fucked up everything. Can we please change the subject now?"

"Kim, what's wrong?"

"What makes you think something's wrong? Can't I just be in a bad mood sometimes?"

"You normally don't swear, Kim," Trini responded bluntly.

"I guess ... I'm just getting tired of practicing -especially this six day a week training schedule. Even though I only have practice tomorrow and then Sunday off, I keep wishing that the Pan Globals were already over. The only thing keeping me going right now is that Coach Schmidt is giving us a ten day vacation starting a week from today."

"That's good, isn't it?" Trini covered the mouthpiece with her hand and whispered to Jason, "When's the race that Tommy was talking about?"

"Next Sunday. Why?"

She waved him off as Kim began speaking again.

"Yeah, but I'm going to be stuck here anyway! I mean, I can't come home 'cause I don't have the money; and I'm definitely not about to go to play tag-a-long with Renee...." Kim sighed with frustration.

"Well...." Trini briefly glanced at her boyfriend, grinning knowingly. She had an idea. "Do you want some company then?"

"Don't you have classes?" Kim inquired, trying not to get her hopes up.

"Jason's going to be flying to Florida to meet up with an old friend that he hasn't seen in a while, and neither of us start classes until winter semester. Why don't I talk to Jase and get the details ironed out, then we'll call you back!"

"That would be so great!" Kim's voice bubbled with renewed hope. "I've missed you all so badly!"

"I'll give you a call tomorrow night then, okay? You get some sleep; isn't it almost midnight there?" Trini commanded.

"Yeah, it is. I've gotta be up in about five hours anyway. So I'll talk to you tomorrow!"

"What do you have in mind?" Jason asked after Trini hung up.

"If we can just get them together, I know they'll be able to work things out."

"And you figure the race would be the prefect place to get them together."

Trini nodded and smiled. "What do you think?"

"I think it's a great idea." He reached for the phone and dialed Tommy's pager number.

"Hey, Tommy, it's Jase. Just wanted to tell you that we'll see you at the race. Let me know what your schedule is, and we'll figure out sometime to meet up either before or after the race! Talk to you soon, I'll be here at Trini's tonight and most of the day tomorrow, otherwise you can catch me at home, CALL ME!"

**********

A week later.....

Trini walked into the gym where Kim was training. After a quick survey of the gym, she spotted her friend on the uneven bars and made her way over to the side of the mat to watch as Kim did a well-practiced routine and stuck her landing. Kim heard applause from behind her and spun around to see her best friend.

"Trini! I thought you weren't gonna be here until tonight!" Kim sprinted towards her friend to hug her.

"I was able to get on an earlier flight," Trini chuckled softly as she returned the hug. As they pulled apart, Trini took a really good look at her long-time friend and saw how tired she looked. "How have you been, Kim, really?"

Kim glanced away briefly. Deciding to humor the girl, she looked back into Trini's concerned face. "I'm good.... Coach has been working us to the bone."

Trini knew the gymnast better than she thought, but figured she would get all the details later. "What time do you get done?" she asked anxiously, wanting desperately to spend as much time with her friend as she could.

"Hopefully around 7:00, and then we can grab some, dinner okay?" Kim smiled brightly at the thought of spending time with someone who didn't eat, drink and breath gymnastics.

Trini couldn't help but match Kim's wonderful smile with one of her own. "Definitely, I'll just go back to the hotel and unpack."

Kim glanced in the direction of Coach Schmidt, and noticed he wasn't watching her as she motioned for Trini to follow. "Where are you two staying?" Kim teased gently, as she watched the lovely Asian girl's face slightly flush.

"At the Marriott on Bayview Avenue, room 314," she replied softly, looking at her former teammate with a hint of embarrassment.

"All right," Kim gushed, giving her one more hug. "I'll see ya there when I'm finished." As she let go of her friend, she gave one more wave as she made her way over to the balance beam.

Trini watched with a sureness she hadn't felt in quite some time; this was going to be the vacation she would remember always.

Rule

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