Chapter 13-Two souls alone, two pairs intertwined

--

Then the rainstorm came, over me

And I felt my spirit break

I had lost all of my, belief you see

And realized my mistake

But time through a prayer, to me

And all around me became still…

…Through the rainstorm came sanctuary

And I felt my spirit fly

I had found all of my reality

I realize what it takes

I need love, love’s divine

Please forgive me now I see that I’ve been blind

Give me love, love is what I need to know my name

“Love’s divine”

Performed by SEAL

--

If Katherine thought that encountering a panther/falcon hybrid, along with several disgusting-looking lizard creatures was weird, that was nothing compared to what, or much rather, who she facing at that moment.

After she and Linda exited the dance school Linda gave her directions as to how get to Hayley’s Cyberspace from Cosmos. As she said goodbye and saw Linda drive off Kat looked at the scrap piece of notepad paper where Linda wrote the directions on. At first Kat decided not to, for she felt that, seeing as how she was still new in town (this being only her second day in Reefside), she would feel slightly out of place if she went.

Oh, come on, Kat. Quit inventing excuses for yourself. Since when has being a newbie ever stopped you from doing or going to someplace cool? Besides, what exactly are you going to do when you get back to your suite anyway? Snag one of those frozen turkey dinners from the corner 7-eleven? Come on, its Thanksgiving Day, girl. It’s a holiday of togetherness, not loneliness.

So with that Kat made her decision and headed to Hayley’s Cyberspace, reading the directions closely as she went.

Besides, it’s not like I’m going to run into anyone familiar there… much as I’d like to.

About a half hour later Kat had gotten to a street corner that, according to the directions written on the paper, once you made a right, Hayley’s Cyberspace would be on the right-hand side. As she turned on the corner she saw a small yet spacious parking lot surrounding a large, one-story building with Thanksgiving decorations all over.

A lot like Angel Grove. Kat thought to herself as she looked at the cyber café, it’s look reminding her of a different city, and of a different Youth center that, back in the day was the hangout spot for her and the rest of her Ranger friends.

Seeing as how she was at the place Kat then took the scrap piece of paper and put it in her backpack. But as she raised her head to look in front of her she then saw a black jeep pulling out of a nearby parking space. As Kat walked closer she noticed out of the corner of her eye the jeep wasn’t moving at all, and the ignition was on. Curious, she turned her head slightly to look and found herself staring right at the face of someone that looked all too familiar.

It was the face of someone she didn’t think she would ever see again, a face that even to this day she would still think about every now and then, a face that had been forever burned into her heart and soul.

“Kat?” Tommy asked, never loosening his grip on the wheel.

At that moment, Kat couldn’t move. For half a second she wondered if she was even breathing.

Tommy then turned off the ignition and stepped out of his jeep, walking towards her very slowly. “Kat?” He asked again.

Kat then snapped out of her trance and tried to look eye to eye at Tommy, but she couldn’t stop herself from drinking in the sight of him from head to toe. He was dressed in a black T-shirt with a green plaid shirt on top with blue jeans. His hair was cut mega-short and was spiked, much to her surprise, and there was a small goatee line running from the bottom of his lip to his chin, but even despite that one giant difference with the hair, Tommy couldn’t have looked more handsome.

Or, at least, as far as Katherine was concerned.

C’ mon, Kat, enough already! Her mind screamed as she tried desperately to nip those thoughts in the bud. “T-Tommy?” She asked, her Australian accent coming out completely as she said it.

“Uhh-yeah.” Tommy replied, already feeling a slight tinge of awkwardness, but he quickly forced it down. Even though he had already seen her in his Black Ranger guise, that was still nothing compared to actually standing in his civvies looking at her face-to-face. In spite of himself he couldn’t help but want to wrap her up in a hug.

And apparently, Kat was thinking the same thing too, because the next thing she knew she had her arms wrapped around Tommy’s upper torso before he could say anything else. Almost instinctively Tommy wrapped his arms around her slim waist, returning the hug.

“It…Kat…it’s good to see you again.” Tommy said, his voice slightly muffled against her long flaxen hair.

“It’s…been a long time, Tommy.” Kat replied.

“I…I mean…wha…what are you doing here?” He asked incredulously once they parted. A semi-wide grin of surprise and wonder was all over his face.

“It’s…kind of an interesting story.” Kat answered. “In fact, I could almost ask you the same question.”

“Well, I think you said it best, ‘It’s kind of an interesting story.’”

“Can only imagine.” Kat said.

“Yeah…Oh, damn! My keys…” Tommy quickly opened the door to his jeep, fished out his keys and pocketed them.

“Nice to see some things don’t change.” Kat said sarcastically.

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Tommy replied. “Well, um…” Tommy then ran his hand through his hair nervously. “Were you…on your way to the party at Hayley’s?”

“Yeah…I guess you could say that.” Kat said.

“Well, they just started the party, so everyone’s settling in and laying out food and stuff, so…”

“Where are you going?”

“Oh, I gotta head to Wal-Mart, I forgot to bring fruitcake for the party.”

“Ooooohh.” Kat mused.

“Yeah…”

For a couple of seconds that seemed to feel like hours, a silence began to hang in the air between the two of them.

“Kat-”

“Tommy-“ They both said respectively at once.

“No, go ahead, you first.” Tommy offered.

“Okay…is it ok if…I mean…would it be okay if I came along with you? I mean, I just recently arrived here, so I don’t really know my way around, and seeing as how there’s a Thanksgiving party going on in there, the least I can do is bring something to contribute.” She then smiled. “Besides, we could use the time to catch up on things. That is, if you don’t mind.”

“No, of course not…I mean…yeah, sure.” Tommy agreed. He then motioned for Kat to follow him as he walked over to the right side of his jeep and opened the door for Katherine to get in. As soon as she was, Tommy then closed the door for her and walked over to his side of the jeep and got in as well. Once he was seated he turned on the ignition and hooked up onto the opposite highway.

“So, what…brings you to Reefside?” Tommy asked.

“Well…” Kat began. “I guess I just felt that, after having spent so many years at the Royal Academy and already beginning to experience a great deal outside of it, it was time for me to go and kind of…break out on my own, make a fresh start, you know?”

“Yeah, I know the feeling.” Tommy said matter-of-factly.

“So, about a year ago, I began sending mail to dance schools inquiring about any possible teaching positions, with a little help from Tanya, of course.”

“You still keep in contact with her?” Tommy asked as he stopped at a red light.

“Oh, yes.” Kat replied. “Of course, it hadn’t been easy, what with it being long-distance and all, but hopefully Sprint won’t be cashing in too much on our phone talks now.”

“How’s she doing?”

“She’s been doing fine, in fact she was going to her parent’s house to have Thanksgiving this year, plus if I remember our last conversation, I believe she told me she had a nice collaboration with Michael McDonald quite recently.”

“Get out of here!” Tommy said in a disbelieving tone. “Seriously?”

“Mm-hmm.” Kat said.

“Was it on one of those two Motown CD’s he recorded?”

“I believe it was the second one…Motown two I think it’s called.” Kat answered. “She helped out with the programming and did some backing vocals on the song Michael did with Toni Braxton.”

“Man.” Tommy said. “Wish I could have been there.” Tommy then looked on his left side on saw a Wal-Mart in the distance. He then turned onto the left-turn lane and seeing as how the left-turn light was green he quickly made a left turn.

“So anyway, going back to looking for dance schools, you lookin’ to teach ballet?”

“Pretty much.” Kat replied. “Actually it was about a couple of weeks after I sent the mail that I got a response at the Cosmos dance academy here at Reefside. It turned out they had an opening for an assisting teacher position, so I packed my bags and made my way here.”

“You said you got here just recently. When was it?”

“It was actually yesterday.” Kat replied. “However, the airport here was closed because of some monster attack, so as a result, we had to land at Mariner Bay International.”

“Mmm.” Tommy mused, thinking back to when the second Terrasaurus monster had gone on a complete and total rampage after stripping his protégés of their powers. Among the places affected was Reefsides’ airport. Luckily though, Tommy had recovered from his coma just in time to help his students get their powers back and destroy the creature. “Yeah, I remember that.”

Kat turned her head. “You were actually there?”

Not at the time, but later. “Yeah.” Tommy answered nonchalantly as he pulled into Wal-Mart’s parking lot and began looking for a parking space. “I was actually on my lunch break and was driving downtown at the time when it happened. Luckily though the Rangers showed up and cleaned it out.”

“The legacy continues…” Kat said nostalgically.

“Yeah, that’s for sure.” Tommy agreed.

After heading down a couple of rows Tommy finally found a space they could park in.

“So where’d you go to stay at? I mean, if you’ve only been here for two days…?”

“Oh, I was able to get a small suite over at Days Inn. It’s not much, but until I can get an apartment here, it’ll have to do.” Kat replied.

Tommy nodded solemnly as they pulled into the parking spot. “So, when’s your interview with Cosmos?” He asked as he turned off the ignition and they got off the jeep.

“Oh, I had the interview with them just yesterday.” Kat answered as they walked together to the Wal-Mart entrance. “Apparently Linda Dawson, the head of the dance school, was so impressed that she gave me the job on the spot.”

“So, it wasn’t as difficult as you thought it would be?” Tommy asked knowingly.

“No, not really.” Kat replied. “Although I’ll admit, I was a little bit worried, but once I heard her say I got the job, I was more elated than you could know.”

“Oh, I can imagine.” Tommy said remembering his own interview with Reefside High. “So, when do you start?”

“Actually I started today.” Kat replied. “But since it was Thanksgiving today, we had it short, which is a pretty good idea because that way everyone could do what they want to do, and yet they can still go home and spend Thanksgiving with their families.”

“That’s for sure.” Tommy said as he and Kat entered Wal-Mart and headed for the Bakery section. “Wait, if you’ve only been here for two days, how did you know about the Thanksgiving party?”

“After class ended, Linda and I were talking about Thanksgiving, and she mentioned that there was some party going on at a café place called Hayley’s Cyberspace. So she gave me some directions and well, here I am.” Kat answered. “Besides, having a one-person Thanksgiving feast isn’t what I would call celebrating.”

“And it shouldn’t be,” Tommy said. “Because if you’re only celebrating a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas by yourself, no friends or family, then it’s not a holiday.”

“Exactly.” Kat agreed.

Tommy then looked around the Bakery section in hopes of finding one fruitcake that looked like it hadn’t already been handled by thousands of hands. Unfortunately, a lot of them were. “Good grief, did a fruitcake tornado pass through here or something?”

“There should be at least one someplace.” Kat suggested.

For the next couple of minutes Tommy and Kat then looked thoroughly through some of the racks/shelves to find a decent-looking fruitcake. Finally Kat saw one that was placed so far in the back, that unless one took out all the other packaged-yet-still-mangled cakes, you wouldn’t see it. “Tommy, come here. I think I got one.”

“Really?”

“Really, Really.” Kat replied as she held up a nice-looking strawberry fruitcake package for him to see.

Tommy was flabbergasted. “Well, it looks like you did a better job of finding one than I did.” He said as he turned his head towards a rack that had been horribly rearranged.

“So it seems you two were able to find a fruitcake that wasn’t crushed?” asked a Wal-Mart employee as he placed two packages of apples on an empty rack.

“More or less.” Kat answered.

“Well, actually, she was the one who found it.” Tommy said as he gestured towards Kat.

“Well, either way, good for you guys. ‘Cause mostly some of the other customers have had to buy (and are probably going to eat) mashed fruitcake with their Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Man.” Tommy mused.

“Well, Happy Thanksgiving you two.” Said the employee as he headed off to someplace else in the store.

“Same to you.” Kat said earnestly.

“Come on, let’s go pay for this before my students start to wonder if I just took off on them.”

“Students?” Kat asked curiously.

“Oh yeah. In fact, speaking of which, I haven’t told you my story.” Tommy said as they made their way to one of the ten-items-or-less register. “I’m teaching now.”

“You mean, martial arts…?”

“Oh no, sadly, no. High school science.”

Kat’s eyes widened a little bit. “No way.”

Tommy just nodded. “Ohhhhh, yes.”

Now it was Kat’s turn to be flabbergasted. “Well, I always knew you had a talent for teaching, but science?” Her azure eyes narrowed questioningly but jokingly. “You and Billy didn’t switch brains at any point during these nine years, did you?”

Tommy laughed. “Oh, no. I may have gotten a little smarter over the years, but not that smart.” He then shrugged and smiled nostalgically. “Y’see, while I was in college I decided I’d go all the way and get my Doctorates.”

Kat’s eyes widened completely. “A Ph.D.?”

“Yeah, in paleontology, of all things.” Tommy answered as the cashier rang up the fruitcake. Instantly the bill came up and Tommy fished a few dollar bills out of his wallet. Once the fruitcake was paid for Tommy thanked the cashier, and then took the change as well as the bag and he and Kat then made their way to the exit. “Pretty interesting, huh?”

Kat shook her head in amazement. “Yeah. I mean, like I said before, I knew teaching came naturally to you, but I never thought you for being one to dig up dinosaurs, or teaching high school science.”

“Well, I guess you could say that even though Billy and I didn’t switch brains, I rubbed off him a little bit.”

--

“Okay, now I will say that I am officially stuffed.” Ethan said as he came walking back to where his friends were after dumping his plate in the trash can.

“I’ll second that.” Kira supplied as she took a sip of her sprite.

“Me three.” Trent said.

Burp!

Suddenly all three Rangers looked at Conner, who was tapping his hand on his sternum. “Excuse me.”

“Conner!” everyone said.

“What? I said ‘excuse me’!” Conner said.

“Conner, next time you’re going to do that, turn your head, or at least let us know.” Kira countered.

“Okay, all right! Sorry.” Conner said. “But I’ll have you guys know that in some European countries, a belch is actually a compliment.”

“Yeah well, not here it isn’t.” Ethan said.

“Okay, whatever, guys.” Conner replied, already knowing that he couldn’t get his friends around to his point of thinking. He then sighed in exasperation and reached for his Coca-Cola. As he drank the last of it, he noticed out of the corner of his eye an auburn-haired girl sitting at an empty table.

“Umm, guys?” He asked. “I hate to bail out on you, but I think I’ll go and party over there.”

“Where?” Trent asked.

“Oh just…over there.” Conner gestured nonchalantly towards his right, which happened to be right where the girl was.

Please, let ‘em have my denseness for once…

Now, unlike Conner, who could be naturally dense, Kira, Trent, and Ethan weren’t stupid, and as soon as they looked where he gestured (which had some people talking and what not), they instantly knew why he wanted to go over there.

Trent sighed. “Conner, if you want to go talk to Krista, just do it already.”

“Dude, I didn’t say I was going over there to talk to her.” Conner stammered.

“No, you didn’t not say it.” Kira said with a mocking grin on her face.

Conner quickly found himself turning as red as his T-shirt as he looked from his friends to where Krista was sitting at.

“Bro, either you go over there or we’re gonna shove you her way, take your pick.” Ethan said with a hint of sarcasm.

“Okay, okay I’m going.” Conner said as he took his cup and put it in a trash can. As he saw Krista’s table up ahead he swallowed his pride and walked over to her. Even though he could’ve sworn his feet were held to the ground by sticky tack.

Come on, man. Get a hold of yourself; it’s only Krista. He thought. You’ve been able to talk to her before. Why the hell can’t you just walk over there like nothing?

Apparently someone had not been too careful with his/her drink and spilled some soda and ice over where Conner had just stepped, because the next thing Conner knew he lost his balance, staggered, and fell butt first to the floor. And right where Krista was, too.

From their distant table Trent, Kira, and Ethan saw the whole thing unfold, and they were trying extremely hard not to laugh. Ethan had to cover his mouth to hide the goofiest grin on his face, while Trent was just shaking his head in pure, utter amusement. Kira on the other hand was just trying to muffle her giggles and failing miserably.

And this is Conner McKnight, David Beckham/Franz Beckenbaur wanna-be? Also man of a thousand dates and he goes all Clark-with-kryptonite-wearing-Lana on Krista? Ethan thought. Man, I’d hate to see the dude in love.

“Are you okay?” Krista asked as she got up from her chair and tried to help Conner to his feet.

“Yeah, I just tripped, no harm done.” Conner insisted as he took Krista’s hand to help himself up. “Hi.”

“Oh, Conner, hi.” Krista said earnestly.

“Uhhh-hi.” Conner repeated.

“So you decided to come to the party too, huh?” Krista asked.

“Pretty much.” Conner replied. “Well actually, Hayley needed some extra hands to help decorate the place and get everything ready. So my friends and I decided to come here early to help. So pretty much everything you see around here is courtesy of yours truly and company.” He said as he gestured his left arm around the cyber café, finally gesturing towards his friends as he finished.

“Wow, well, I have to say, you guys did a pretty good job.” Krista remarked as she looked around.

Conner smiled. “Thanks.” He said sincerely. “Oh yeah, speaking of parties, what brings you to this party?”

“Well, I figured before I went home I’d stop by here and see what was up, drink some soda, have a little bite to eat, talk to friends…even sweet ones.” She included.

Conner blushed and chuckled slightly. “And have you had any luck in doing that?” He asked.

Krista just smiled. “I’ll let you know.” She said teasingly.

“You know, I never thought I would see the day when Conner would find himself going somewhat gung-ho-less than how he would usually be when it came to girls.” Ethan remarked to Trent and Kira as he saw Conner and Krista talking.

“Well, we all saw how he got when Zeltrax had kidnapped her.” Kira replied, remembering how Conner had tried to stop Zeltrax from kidnapping Krista the first time, and wasn’t able to. As a result he then started to doubt as to whether he could save Krista or not, and in comparison to how Krista was always so passionate about whatever she was doing that she wouldn’t let anything stop her, he wondered if whether he really had it in him to be a Power Ranger or not. Luckily though Dr. Oliver came through and told him that there was a great deal more potential he had yet to tap into, but he had to believe he deserved it. As a result, Conner was able to unlock his battlizer powers and was able to send Zeltrax running; and quite literally at that, too. Later on Conner went with Krista to see that instead of putting a new parking lot the school board was planning on planting a new tree to replace the one Zeltrax had stolen.

“Look, I know I was a jerk, but…people can change…if given the chance.”

And with that Conner willingly volunteered to plant the new tree and in a subtle way to the other, Conner and Krista made a toast to new beginnings.

“But you know something?” Kira asked. “In a way, I don’t think I could see a couple that would look as cool together as those two.”

“And y’ know what? You’re probably right.” Trent said as he saw the two interacting himself.

“Trent?”

Trent turned around. “Yeah, Hayley?” He asked.

“I hate to drag you away, but could you give me a hand for a minute? I’ve got some deserts in the fridge and freezer that need to be taken out, and there’s more than what I can carry.”

“No problem.” Trent said. He then looked at Kira and smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

“It’s okay, take your time.” Kira said.

“Alright.” Trent said, shooting Kira a sheepish grin as he got up from his seat and went behind the counter to help Hayley out.

“Well, well. Looks like everything’s turning out to be a good Thanksgiving so far,” Ethan remarked as he took a seat by Kira. “And no Elsa, White Ranger clone, or that MegaMan Zero villain copycat in sight.” He whispered.

“Ethan, I don’t mean to quote Conner, but do me a favor and try not to jinx it, okay?”

“I wasn’t going to.” Ethan said, already catching on to the subtext and realizing it would probably be better to just shut up and not mention Felectro or the others.

“Okay, everyone, can I have your attention please?” Hayley asked.

Trent then rang a bell that was on the counter, which got pretty much everyone’s attention.

“Thank you, well before anything, I would just like to say thanks to all of you for coming and for making this party happen,” Hayley said. “Because that’s what Thanksgiving is really all about; a time for family and friends and being able to give thanks for having them in our lives. Because of that, I would like to say thanks again to all of you for coming, for as I said before, you made this party happen; to those of you who brought their own entrees, thank you; that really helped make the party a little more interesting; and interestingly enough I would also like to say thanks to Dr. Anton Mercer, who while unfortunately he couldn’t be here, he did help supply some of our Thanksgiving supplies.” She then took a breath. “And last, but most certainly not least, I would especially like to thank Conner, Ethan, Trent, Kira, and Dr. Tommy Oliver for their help, for without them we wouldn’t have been able to get the preparations for the party done.” She then beamed at the four teenagers who then smiled and waved.

“Well, the reason I wanted to get everyone’s attention was because me and my helper Trent just got through getting the deserts out and you can come up and get some if you want. Also, the clear area by where the sofas used to be will be open for dancing, so if you don’t want desert and you’re in a dancing mood, get your partners ready.”

So while Trent served the guests and stayed near the food to make sure food fights didn’t ensue, Hayley walked over to the clearing and took the red tape off, unblocking the whole area. She then walked over to her stereo system, turned it on and put it on random play. Once music started to come out of the speakers she then turned around and she saw some kids and young adults already settling in and either dancing to the music or standing by the walls and talking. Satisfied, Hayley then walked back to where Trent was and gave him a hand serving the guests.

“Aren’t you gonna get some desert?” Ethan asked as he came back with a small portion of marble ice cream cake.

“No, not really.” Kira replied. “Besides, I still have a dinner of mine at home to go to.”

“Okay, well, whatever you say.” Ethan said. After taking his second bite, he then looked at his watch. “Hmmm. That’s weird, Dr. O should have been back by now.”

Kira then took a look at her watch. “Yeah, what’s keeping him?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Hope he gets back soon, though.”

After a couple of songs played on the stereo, a romantic ballad, “Help me find a way to your heart” started to play off the speakers. Almost instantly more couples, namely the adults, started to fill the makeshift dance floor.

Trent heard the song’s intro and almost instinctively he looked in Kira’s direction, even though she was looking at the other couples dancing.

“Go ahead, Trent.”

Trent then turned around and looked at Hayley. “You sure?” He asked.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of things here.” She said.

“Thanks Hayley.” Trent said and he slowly exhaled and made his way back to the table where Kira and Ethan were.

“Kira?”

Kira then looked up and saw Trent looking at her. “Oh, hi Trent. Back already?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Trent replied.

“So I take it Hayley relieved you of your desert-serving duties?” Ethan asked, trying to sound casual and semi-sarcastic, even though he already knew as to why Trent came back over to the table. As he took a quick glance at Kira he could have sworn that in those hazel eyes a part of her was hoping that Trent was off his serving duties for the night.

“Yeah, that’s one way of putting it.” Trent answered, also trying to sound casual, but finding himself looking more at Kira than at Ethan when he spoke. “I mean, she told me to go on ahead, and that she’d be able to handle things, which is kind of-I mean, which is why I’m over here.” He then took a deep breath. “Kira, there’s something I want to ask you.”

“What is it?” Kira asked, her tone becoming somewhat shy-like.

“Kira,” Trent began. “I was just wondering…if maybe you’d like to…dance?”

Kira smiled brightly. “I’d love to.” She said, offering her hand. Trent gently took it and led her to the dance floor, although they both had to hurry a little bit before the song ended. Luckily though the singer, Daryl Hall was just getting through the first line so as soon as Kira and Trent found a spot, they were able to get comfortable.

From a distance, Ethan grinned as he saw Trent lead Kira to the dance floor. “Way to go, Trent. Way to go.” He said to himself. He then got up from his chair and took a seat by the computers with the Zelda screensaver so he could have a better look.

Trent then slid his arms around Kira’s waist and she wrapped her hands around his neck. In no time at all they were both lost in the moment, slowly letting the lyrics echo in their hearts as they looked in each other’s eyes.

Another day and I’m spending

Time alone

I called your place but there’s

No one home

I’ve been laying low but I’m

Thinking of you

Out there by yourself, trying to find

Something new

Girl I thought what we had was so

Good that I’d never hear you say no

And for all that it’s worth, I can’t think about ever letting go

But I’m lost for the words that I

Need to over the way I feel

I can’t do it by myself

Girl I really need you here

Help me find a way to your heart

Help me find my way, I can’t see

In the dark

Tell me if I drifted too far

Am I warm? Am I cold?

Tell me now, let me know

Baby where we are

I’ve asked myself a thousand times

Or more

Girl, if we don’t communicate then

What is loving for?

‘Cos I thought what we had was

so good that I’d never hear

say why

I can’t do it by myself

Girl we’ve really got to try

Help me find a way to your heart

Help me find my way, I can’t see

In the dark

Tell me if I’ve drifted too far

Am I warm? Am I cold?

Tell me now, let me know

Baby where we are

Now at this point Kira was then resting her head on Trent’s shoulder, her hazel eyes closed as she relished the moment, which was quite rare considering the fact that usually she, Trent, and the others were either going to class, at Dr. Oliver’s lab, or busy foiling Mesogog’s plan of the week. Or in her case, all of that and also practicing the songs she had written and working on new ones. When she first heard the music begin to play off of Hayley’s stereo, part of her hoped that at least one of her favorites would play. Although she was a fan of Avril Lavigne and Maroon 5, she was also a fan of old-school music, particularly what some would call “Rock & Soul”; so once she heard “Help me find a way to your heart” she then saw some couples file off and begin to dance. She then looked at where Trent was supposedly serving the guests, but he had been talking to Hayley. Kira had then sighed defeatedly to herself and continued to watch the couples. Then when Trent had came up to her and said he was pretty much off his waiter duties, Kira hoped beyond hope that it was for the night. Then when he asked her shyly if she would like to dance, Kira felt her heart grow warm as she breathed out the answer she had wanted to say to him ever since the music kicked up.

Too much time, too much confusion

Love won’t let me be

Take a little time and show you care for me

Baby tell me what to say

‘Cause I can’t live my life this way

Show me where your feelings start

Show me sweet baby the way

To your heart

Trent, for his part felt like he was on cloud nine. In fact from the moment his career as a Power Ranger started he didn’t know if he could ever remember being this relaxed, or even this happy. Ever since the dark energy encoding on his gem was destroyed, Trent had busted his chops to try to regain his friends’ trust, namely Kira’s. Despite the fact that the White Ranger clone’s appearance complicated things a little, bit by bit he began to regain their trust and friendship again, although he regained Kira’s trust quicker, and Dr. Oliver trusted him wholeheartedly anyway, which surprised Trent a great deal.

But right now, at this moment, nothing could compare to being here, at his favorite hangout spot, dancing with someone who, in his mind was the most beautiful girl he ever laid eyes on. As he let his eyes wander and look at the other couples, he then saw his friend Conner and Krista dancing together. Krista had her head resting comfortably on Conner’s right shoulder, while Conner himself had his arms around Krista’s waist, along with a look in his eyes that mirrored the same emotion Trent had: Cloud-nine emotion. As Conner looked and saw Trent and Kira swaying to the ballad he then looked at Trent, grinned, and raised his left hand, giving Trent a thumbs-up. Trent smiled himself, and returned the gesture earnestly.

Help me find a way to your heart

Help me find my way, I can’t see

In the dark

Tell me if I’ve drifted too far

Am I warm? Am I cold?

Tell me now, let me know

Baby where we are

Help me find a way to your heart

Help me find my way, I can’t see

In the dark

Tell me if I’ve drifted too far

Am I warm? Am I cold?

Tell me now, let me know

Baby where we are…

As the song started to end, Kira slowly raised her head from Trent’s shoulder and looked at his eyes. Trent did the same as his brown eyes met with her hazel ones, letting their gazes try to communicate what they wanted to say but couldn’t say in words. Suddenly Trent got an urge to want to kiss her, but part of him was nervous about doing it.

Oh come on Trent; don’t start getting nervous now. If you feel that it’s right, then just go with it!

Still keeping his eyes locked with Kira’s, Trent then slowly but surely began to inch his face closer to hers. Suddenly Kira found herself inching her face closer to his as well, then ever so closer…closer…closer…

WHEEO!

Whump!

Kira and Trent, along with Conner, Krista, Ethan, and pretty much everyone else then turned their heads and found themselves surrounded by Tyrannodrones, Elsa, the White Ranger clone, and Felectro.

“Oh, don’t mind us.” Elsa said. “We’re just here to…crash.”

The four Rangers looked at Elsa and co., and unanimously yet unknowingly thought one thing.

Oh, shit.