“I already told you,” he went into the bathroom to remove his contacts, afraid that if she saw his face, she would know he was lying. “a satellite link-up. I shouldn’t be gone for more than five days.”
“Can’t they send someone else?” he placed both hands on the sink and leaned heavily. He hated hearing her use that tone of voice. He already felt guilty enough about working all of the time, and this just made it worse. “We are so close now!”
“Five days Katherine,” he grabbed his glasses, and turned off the bathroom light. He stopped just to look at her, standing next to the window, staring out into the starry sky.
“I’m just scared,” she didn’t turn, or even look at him when she said it, and he treaded silently across the carpet to stand behind her.
“Of what?” he placed his hands on the small of her back.
“I just remember when we were rangers, and every time we went into battle, there was a good chance one of us might not return.” she leaned back, and he put his arms around her.
“I’m not going off to fight a monster!” Billy laughed, but the smile disappeared when she turned and he could see how serious she was.
“In this world, monsters come in many forms,” she said sadly, and her eyes became distant as they stayed in each others arms, looking out into the night sky.
“If it is 9:37 here, then it would be..” he said to himself, sitting up and stretching, “Then it is 5:37 a.m. in California.”
He knew it was too early to call home, but he wanted to hear her voice. Every second he stayed there, the feeling that something was wrong kept creeping over him. He picked up the phone, but stopped himself from dialing his number. Instead, he dialed room service, ordering a pitcher of orange juice, pancakes and some bacon. When he hung up the phone, he went look out off from the balcony that was connected to his room. He saw the ocean, the waves crashing on the beach, and for a moment he forgot everything else. He had seen the ocean in California, but it was different on the east coast, and he barely snapped out of it when he heard someone at the door.
“Coming!” he called, pulling back the sliding lock and opening it a bit.
“Billy!” he was not ready for the weight that was thrown against the door, and he went tumbling back, falling to the floor. “I’m so happy to see you!”
“Kim?” he hadn’t seen his “attacker”, but he recognized the voice immediately.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” he heard her giggling, and she kneeled next to him. “are you hurt?”
“No,” he decided as he gingerly picked himself up. “You just surprised me!”
“I was trying to!” another knock at the door, and Billy went to it, this time ready for anything. It was room service this time, but as the tray and pitcher were set on the table Billy realized he couldn’t find his wallet.
“Here,” Kimberly handed the room service person the money, and closed the door after he left. Billy felt searched frantically, collapsing in relief when he finally found it. He started to hand Kimberly some money to pay her back, but she brushed it away.
“Don’t you even think about it!” she hugged him then, and Billy realized how much he had missed her. She was one of his best friends, and he had been through everything with her. She looked great, practically the same old Kim. Her hair was shorter, cut to just below her ears, but other than that the same, which made Billy wonder:
“What’s wrong?” he pulled away a little, still holding her hands in his. The smile she had on her face faltered, and she bit her lower lip.
“You always did get to the point.” she turned away, going to sit in one of the chairs next to the bed. Pouring herself a glass of orange juice, she took a few sips before looking back at him.
“Kim,” he sat on the bed, watching as she pulled her knees up to her chin. “I didn’t mean to be insensitive, but I haven’t heard from you in so long. Then I do, and you make it out to be life or death, but when I get here...”
“I know, and I’m sorry,” she didn’t take her eyes from the glass. “Something came up, and I couldn’t get away.”
“Don’t worry about it.” he decided to let the previous evening go. “I just have so many responsibilities at home, I can’t...”
“Tell me about home!” her eyes brightened again, and she leaned forward in anticipation. “How is everyone?”
“Fine,” he knew she wasn’t going to let it go at that, but it was worth a try.
“Seriously!” she begged. “Have you heard from Zack or Trini? What about Aisha?”
“Well,” he settled back, trying to decide where to start. “Zack came back after the Peace Conference to go to college and become a teacher, where he met Aisha who was going to college too. They got married in their junior year, and moved back to Africa after they graduated so that Aisha could continue her work. Then last year they moved back, and Zack is a teacher at Angel Grove High.” he took a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing. “Adam and Tanya are still together, but neither one of them really wants to get married. They both have careers, and they live together, but I don’t see them getting married right off. Oh yeah, Jason and Emily got married about four years ago. Jason works at the youth center, teaching martial art, with Tommy helping.”
Her eyes dimmed a little at the mention of his name. “Is he..?”
“Married?” Billy had hoped to avoid this. “No. Involved? Yes.”
“Is she nice?” Kim stood and went to the window.
“I can’t lie Kimberly,” he sat up. “Lily is very nice. I haven’t seen Tommy this happy since...”
“I’m happy for him, Billy,” she smiled, and turned around again. “What about the others?”
“Jeez!” Billy groaned jokingly. “Okay: Rocky is a science teacher at Angel Grove High, and Trini is a lab researcher for some chemical company.”
“Sounds like they would be perfect for each other now!”
“Maybe someday.” he couldn’t keep all of the annoyance from his voice, but Kim didn’t even seem to notice. He didn’t know what she was up to, but he was starting to wish she would get to the point.
“What about you and Kat?” Kimberly poured some more orange juice and handed him the glass. “How did you two get together?”
“It was after I returned from Aquitar, you do know about that right?”
“I remember hearing something about it.”
“Anyway, I was really bummed because things didn’t work out with Cestria, and no one could get through to me. Everyone else just wanted to give me my space, but Kat just wouldn’t let me be. She would come by every day, just to read my horoscope from the paper, or tell me about how her job was going. I exploded at her one day, and told her that I just wanted to be left alone, but she was back the next day, as stubborn as ever. I guess that is when I started to realize how special she was, and we have been together ever since. It has been almost 5 years.
“How romantic,”
“Well what about you?” he changed the subject. “What have you been doing these last, what is it now, seven years!”
“Well, during the games, I met a very sweet man named Gregory Jones. I didn’t like him at first, but he kept sending me flowers and little gifts, and finally I agreed to go out with him on a date. I guess he was a little like Kat, in how he wouldn’t give up.”
“Is that why you sent the letter?”
“Yes,” she tucked her hair behind her ears. “I didn’t think it was fair for Tommy. I knew then that I wasn’t going to be going back to Angel Grove, and I wanted him to be able to get on with his life.”
There was an awkward silence, and Kimberly stood suddenly.
“I have to go,” She went to the door and was out before Billy could stop her.
“What!” he followed her into the hall. “Kimberly!”
“Finish your breakfast, and I will be back later.” Billy shook his head and returned to his room.
“What am I doing?” she thought as she started for her car. “Why did I drag him all the way here?”
She got behind the steering wheel, but couldn’t get herself to start the engine. She had panicked, that was all, but she couldn’t tell Billy that. Finally, she started the engine and pulled out into traffic. It was only going to take her a few minutes to reach her destination, but she wanted to make sure she was on time. She would know for sure today, and then she could make her decision. She pulled into the hospital parking lot, and locked her doors. The receptionist took her name, and then asked her to wait in the lobby. She flipped absently through a couple of magazines before she was called
“Mrs. Jones?” the nurse smiled as she got up and led her to an examination room. Everything was clean and sterile, and Kimberly felt very uneasy while she waited once again for the Doctor.
“How are you this morning?” the Doctor was fairly young, his name tag revealing that his name was Todd Douglas.
“Nervous,” she admitted, and he gave his best reassuring smile. Flipping through a few papers on his clipboard, he sat and faced her.
“Are you ready?” he asked, and it took her a moment to decide. Finally she nodded, and he took a breath.
“Well then, congratulations.” she stood and extended his hand to shake hers. “You are pregnant!”
Kimberly promptly fainted.
Comments can be sent to me at Cricker@Rocketmail.com. During the time of my fanfic, there are no rangers (I mean actually defending the world), and I haven’t decided if there are going to be yet. As for those of you who don’t like the way I coupled some of the rangers, (I’m talking to you Hilli and Aana!) I’m sorry, but you can write your own and couple them the way you want :p Keep smiling~