Kimberly has been cut off from her Muirantian powers and Tommy is desperate to help her before she dies. To save her, he must come face to face with the one enemy he has never forgiven and still harbors an undying hatred for. Does he still love her enough to swallow his pride and beg for help?

All things Power Rangers belong to Saban and Disney. All things Carri belong to KJ, with many thanks. Demonking belongs solely to Daniel White and Teeg and Rexo belong to KS. The premise of the Coin Series has been borrowed from a story written by Terry, Chris, Daniel, Brice, Katey and myself.

Name Change: Kanara's name has been changed to Kemora

Sooner or later we all understand that love is more than verses on valentines and romance in movies. We know that love is here and now, real and true, and the most important thing in our lives. Love is the creator of our favorite memories and the foundation of our fondest dreams. Love is the promise that is always kept, a fortune that can never be spent, and a seed that can flourish in the most unlikely places. And this radiance never fades, this mysterious and magical joy, is the greatest treasure of all.

One known only to those who love.

(A wedding reading.)

Power Rangers: The Coin Series
The Circle of Life

As soon as the last monster was destroyed, Tommy ignored Elemi’s radio request for the teams to meet and transported himself directly back to the Command Center. Adam was in one medical bed and he glanced at it long enough to read his stable life signs before transferring his gaze to the other bed. Billy and Trini were both with her and alarms and warning lights flashed and chimed out of sync.

“How is she?” He asked, his heart sinking as he watched Kim’s lifeless from taken over by the computer.

“Not good.” Billy said under his breath as he adjusted a few settings.

“What can I do?” Jason asked, coming up from behind.

“She’s in complete system failure.” Billy said calmly. “I’m not sure there’s anything that can be done.”

Tommy turned slightly and looked at Jason. He had stopped short and seemed to be physically reeling. Tommy wasn’t sure he felt much different. Jason stepped around him and gently pushed Trini away from Kim’s side. He leaned against the side of the table and placed a hand on either side of her face. His eyes shifted to a red glow and energy transferred once again from one to the other. Alarms sounded and Billy shut them down as Kim’s vital signs began to stable. Her eyes fluttered open and Tommy exhaled the breath he’d been holding. He moved to the side opposite Jason and placed a hand on her leg.

“Kim?” Jason asked, hands still cradling her face. “Can you hear me sweetheart?”

Kim’s head turned toward the sound of his voice and she smiled slightly. Jason reached down and grabbed her hand, bringing it up to his heart.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, thinking to himself that was one of the dumbest things he’d ever heard himself say, but there was nothing else he could think of to articulate. He was at a loss as to what to do.

“Cold.” She whispered, her voice hoarse and raspy. “Tired.” She couldn’t really see him, just his shadow, but she knew he was there. Where exactly that was, she didn’t know. She’d been outside, then it had gotten dark and cold. She frowned, Zeo five had been there, but now Jason was, it was confusing. There had been a battle, she remembered a battle, but now everything hurt like hell. “Where’s Tommy?” she asked softly.

Tommy’s heart leapt when she asked for him. He sat down on the opposite side of the bed and grabbed her other hand. “I’m right here Beautiful.” He said, surprised at the choking sound of his voice. Her head turned toward him and she blinked, but it was obvious she couldn’t see either of them. Her soft brown eyes were clouded over and stared blankly at the dim shapes around her.

Jason took a deep breath and transferred a bit more energy into her. He really couldn’t spare it, but at least his body would regenerate. She moaned and twisted away from him as the energy stimulated her nervous system.

“Stop…it hurts.” She moaned.

Jason looked up helplessly at Tommy. He didn’t know what more he could do.

“What happened?” She asked, eyes a bit brighter and staring hard at Tommy’s shape.

“Kimora captured you.” He said gently.

“I remember.” She answered.

Tommy explained how Kimora had taken her, Thomas’s arrival and the plan to get her back. He told her how Thomas had captured Kimora inside the orb, but he could barely contain his anger as he explained that Thomas had refused to help them find a way to reconnect her to Muirantias, choosing instead to help the younger version of Kimberly.

“He was right.” Kimberly said softly. She looked at Tommy, but squeezed Jason’s hand for emphasis too. “Kimora couldn’t contain her rage. The Phoenix crystal activated shortly after she strapped me in. I’ve known for a while it was too late for a rescue.”

“What the hell is the Phoenix crystal?” Jason asked bitterly. She was talking as if she accepted death as a viable option. They weren’t done trying to save her; they were just getting started.

Kimberly turned and regarded Jason’s dim outline. “It’s a wild card.” She said, grinning slightly. She turned her hand over in his so that it was palm up. Closing her eyes, and with obvious effort, a small, dime sized red crystal formed in her hand. She smiled brightly as she turned her hand over and deposited the stone in his hand. “It holds the last of my powers.” She explained. “The ability to teleport, and more importantly the ability to release the coins from their containment. When the time comes…” She stopped and seemed to gasp for breath as a wave of pain shot through her. Both Jason and Tommy held her hands more firmly until the seizure passed and she relaxed a little. “When the time comes,” She continued in a much weaker voice, “The user will be able to combine the coins back into one of the six cosmic keys that locked Demonking away.” She laid quietly for a few minutes and the four people in the room simply looked at one another helplessly.

“Is there any way to use that crystal to reconnect her to Muirantias?” Tommy suggested.

“No.” Kim answered him, although she didn’t open her eyes. “It’s a last resort; permanent.”

“There has to be an answer.” Tommy said to no one in particular. Kim smiled at him and made an effort to open her eyes.”

“No love,” She said softly and his heart shattered into a thousand pieces at the endearment. “The field was designed to kill. It did its job.”

“I swear I’ll destroy Thomas for this.” He growled bitterly, ignoring the tears welling in eyes.

“No!” Kim nearly shouted, trying to raise herself up. It startled the two men holding her hands and they collided into one another in an effort to keep her from falling off the bed. “No.” She said again firmly, shaking with the effort to try and reach him. “You can’t let yourself become like him. Death is a part of life. You can’t become bitter or obsessed with it. Remember what Zordon told us. Life is to be lived for what it is, not to be wasted in grief, animosity, or anger.” Her head fell back against the bed and she began to shake. “Promise me.” She said, trying with all her strength to squeeze the hands holding hers.

Tommy swallowed hard, but didn’t answer. He couldn’t answer. His throat completely constricted. It had never dawned on him that there would be a day without her in it. All the years they had spent apart, at least he had known she was there, somewhere. What was happening now was incomprehensible. It was a thousand times more painful than her letter from Florida had been. He was going to lose her all over again, permanently…and there was nothing he could do about it.

“I need your help Tommy.” She whispered eyes fluttering open in the direction she hoped he was in. The power surge from Jason was fading and she was quickly becoming disoriented again.

“Anything Beautiful.” He managed to croak.

“Can you get me to the fish tank in the Command Center?” She asked.

He frowned, looking over his shoulder at the tank that stood just a few feet away and then met Jason’s eyes as they both realized she didn’t know where she was. He stood up slowly and pushed the medical panels away from her. They beeped and whined, but he ignored them. Carefully, he picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the tank, hugging her to him as if he could somehow give her part of his own life force to keep on living. As he stopped in front of the tank, he shifted her small weight in his arms, balancing her so that he could place one hand against the glass.

“Below the glass.” She said, head pressed against his shoulder. “On the right hand side, there’s a red mark.”

Tommy frowned and backed away from the tank. On the right hand side of the ornately carved wooden stand was a small red piece of inlay. It was part of the design, and barely visible, but it was the only piece of red on that side of the stand. He put his fingers against it, but nothing happened. Shifting her again in his arms, he leaned down and slid her fingers across it. On the second try, a small, thin drawer popped opened and he removed the black box inside.

He had seen many of these boxes before. They were security boxes. Hollow rectangular forms with no seems that would only open for specific people.

“Did you find it?” She asked softly.

“Yes.” He answered, placing the box against her chest and carrying her back to the medical table.

“It’s coded to your energy signature as well as Jason’s.” She said without opening her eyes as he laid her back down. “Open it, you need to know what’s inside.”

He did as he was instructed and opened the box to find two metallic data tubes. They looked a good deal like thumb drives and were used for basically the same purpose, but these were high security devices. You couldn’t just plug them into a computer and read the data. It took a special reader and you had to know the codes or they’d self destruct.

“Do you see the green one?” Kim asked softly, as if she was falling asleep. Tommy looked down and found the color tube she’d indicated and nodded, then remembered she couldn’t see him.

“I’ve got it.” He said hoarsely.

“The code is my birthday, you both know it. The silver tube explains my life as a Ranger up until Muirantias, the green one contains everything I know about the Demonking, Thomas, and so much more that you probably never wanted to know about me.” She chuckled softly. “I never was good at creating histories that weren’t ninety percent personal diaries.”

She smiled wryly and a tear slid softly down her face. “It’s yours now, you’re going to need it.” Her mouth twisted into another smile and her eyes opened. “If I had known this was going to happen, I might have erased the personal stuff though.” She coughed, and he wasn’t sure if she was laughing or choking. After a moment, she settled back and closed her eyes with a sigh. Tommy and Jason both lunged forward, but relaxed when they realized she was still breathing steadily.

“She’s dosing.” Billy said, coming around and replacing the medical panel Tommy had removed.

“Can’t you give her more of your energy until we figure this out?” Tommy asked, turning to Jason.

“It’s hurting her.” He replied, unsure what to do. “I can keep her alive but…” He didn’t want to see her die any more than Tommy did, but she was in pain. He wasn’t sure what to do.

“All the energy is doing is making her more alert.” Billy said more calmly than he felt. “Her body’s still shutting down. You’re just prolonging it and making her aware that she’s in pain.”

Billy clenched his jaw at the fight he fully expected to come. Tommy wasn’t handling this well and Kim was still clinging to life. Maybe it had been a good thing that Jason had revived her somewhat, she had been responsive enough to pass on the crystal and to explain its uses; she’d even been able to get an important data tube to Tommy. But enough was enough.

They needed to let her go now, before the process became torturous. Dying was not an easy progression; to be aware of the process while it was happening was cruel. He stole a quick look at Tommy’s face and considered calling in a few more of the reds to help him. Jason was a just as grief stricken and he doubted he would be much help when the time came. The question was who to call.

“Tommy?” Trini asked softly, coming up from behind him. He whirled around and she backed up a step. She’d never seen him this distraught before; it was unsettling. Tommy was always the calm leader. Even in his deadly mode, as Kim called it, she could still see the composed commander in him. But right now his eyes were wild; he was panicked and wasn’t even trying to shield it from anyone.

“What?” He asked her roughly.

“Elemi, the red Nova Ranger is demanding to speak with the red Zeo Ranger.”

“I’m busy.” He snarled.

“He’s demanding to see Kimberly.” Trini said helplessly.

"Tell him to go to hell.” Tommy barked.

Carri sat glumly behind the small table and pushed the offered food around in its dish. Delphine had sat with her last night, but this morning she was on her own. Cestro had been re-assigned to stand guard and act as her emissary while she was undergoing treatment, but he had retreated to meet his own needs while she broke her fast and waited for the next dunking, as she’d started calling it.

She was scheduled to receive three to six treatments a day, retreating back to her little room for an hour or two before being shuttled off to the next treatment. She was exhausted and time disoriented. Sleeping in the tanks had been encouraged, but there was so much pain involved in the process, it was nearly impossible.

She had no idea how long she’d been on Aquitar, but she’d only had five treatments so it couldn’t have been very long. The weeks of treatment that lay ahead stretched impossibly before her. She didn’t know how she was going to keep it up. There had been no word from home, which disappointed her, but she really hadn’t been on Aquitar that long and her friends might just be waiting until she settled in.

The food before her was not in the least bit appetizing, although Cestro assured her Billy quite enjoyed it when he lived here. There were several small yet brightly colored gelatinous masses and a few cooked mounds of plants; all of which induced a gag reflex.

Carri knew the Aquitians used and needed the pure water of the planet to sustain their life force, but she also noticed they ate the local plant life as well. The concept of salting food was apparently beyond them though.

The buzzer sounded to indicate someone was outside her door, but she ignored it. She was too preoccupied with her own self-pity to be bothered with company. Whoever it was would either enter of their own volition and take her to another tank dunking or they’d go away. The buzzer sounded again and she rolled her eyes. Dropping the eating utensil on the table, she pushed herself up and drug herself to the door. The buzzer sounded again just as she hit the release latch and the door slid open.

What she saw on the other side stunned her and she wondered briefly if she was hallucinating; she knew it could be a side effect of her treatments. Rocky beamed at her when the door opened and before she could say anything, he dropped his backpack and threw his arms around her.

“Oh my God.” She whispered as she realized the man before her was actually real. She grabbed hold of him, melting into his arms, and burst into tears. “Oh my God.” She repeated, clinging to him.

Rocky wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it hadn’t been tears. His embrace tightened as he tried with all his might to fill the void that had encompassed him in just twenty-four hours away from her. He buried his nose in her hair and breathed deeply. She smelled different, devoid of perfumes and soaps, but it was her and she was with him again, and he couldn’t get enough of it. He breathed in deeply one more time before pulling away just enough to claim her lips with his. She returned the kiss eagerly and only parted when several Aquitians in the corridor actually stopped and stared at the two humans interlocked with one another.

She pulled him forcefully through the door and he leaned back from her just long enough to pick up his backpack and find the door controls.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, still shocked that he was actually right in front of her.

“I couldn’t let you do this alone.” He said, moving forward and wrapping his arms around her again. He leaned forward again to kiss her and then stopped, staring at her face.

“What?” She asked self-consciously.

Rocky stepped back and brought one finger to her chin, gently pushing her face from the right to the left. Gone were the angry purple scars and swelling. Her face was perfectly smooth. Not even a freckle marred its surface. “Wow.” He said simply.

“Yeah.” She said shyly, “Cestria might be the biggest bitch in the known universe, but she’s a damn good at what she does.”

“How?” Rocky breathed, fingers gently tracing her nose and cheeks. “It’s barely been twenty-four hours.”

“It’s a kind of skin graft.” She answered, pulling back and unfastening the high collar of the gray uniform she was wearing. Beneath the fabric line were the splotchy purple scars, but they were far less angry looking and grayer rather than purple. “They just finished it, so it’s a bit sore still, but you can see the line where she stopped.”

Rocky’s finger traced the thin contour where the new tissue stopped and the old skin began and she shivered despite herself. “It’s amazing,” He marveled.

“The first dunk when I arrived was to soften and start peeling off the top layers of skin as well as start the healing from the inside out. It’s only really the epidermis that’s affected. It could be worse. She’s removing it in small sections so I don’t go into shock…although I do honestly think she gets off on slow torture sessions.” She gave him a sardonic look and he grinned at her. “There are specialty tanks that I have to sit in to control the pain while they remove the skin down to the muscle and then I have to float in a different tank to allow the new skin to stabilize and reattach. There should only be a few thin scar lines when she’s done.”

“Is it very painful?” He asked, frowning. It was beautiful work, but the process sounded barbaric.

She laughed softly, but somewhat hysterically and his arms tightened around her. She threw her arms around his neck and pressed into him.

“I can’t believe you’re here.” She whispered. “Wait!” she said, pulling back from him. “If you’re here, who’s with the Zeos?”

“Adam agreed to fill in for me for a few weeks.” He said sheepishly. “I couldn’t take it Carri. I was going crazy with you here all alone.”

“You’re insane.” She scolded, wrapping her arms around his neck again, “But I’m really glad you’re here.”

Elemi was beyond furious. They had abandoned their mission, raced to Earth, and saved the Zeo team from destruction, only to be ignored. The woman on the other end of the communications system had been very apologetic, but the red Zeo refused to speak with him. There was an emergency and he couldn’t talk with him. Elemi knew exactly who Zeo five was, even though they had never met. It was him. The one she had never let go of. She had admitted he was leading this team. The boy didn’t deserve her loyalty; didn’t deserve her. It had infuriated him to think she’d gone back to him once again, but what was he to do?

Elemi wasn’t a young man, but he wasn’t old either. Rheigans were a long-lived race of humans and he was just now reaching his prime, but he much older than she was.

He was a veteran career Ranger, a man who had held more than one morpher. A man who had seen many, many battles and conquered many demons. He was used to his power and used to others bowing to it. His dark brown eyes were sharp and intelligent and very, very cold with the anger he was trying hard to conceal. Kimberly had softened him dramatically over the past few years, but he was still a product of his culture and old habits died hard.

Rheigans were an aggressive and warlike society that had somehow managed to civilize themselves; barely. When they weren’t fighting someone else, they would fight each other. More Rheigans died from poison alone than by all other forms of death combined. Scholars had wondered for centuries how’d they’d managed to even procreate before the invention of artificial birthing tanks.

The planet Rheiga itself was uninhabitable. It was as hostile and uninviting as the population of humans it spawned. However it supported twelve moons, all of which were conducive to supporting human life. Each moon was divided into matriarchal and patriarchal societies and had its own government which consisted of principalities and an emperor or emperess. The Grand Emperor was elected for life and oversaw the ruling class.

Elemi’s father was a highborn noble. He was a younger son of the Grand Emperor and himself the elected prince of his province. His mother was an emperess in her own right and had contracted with his father to produce the next generation. In short, she would produce a male heir for him and she, in turn would take all females.

Elemi was his mother’s fourth child. Having produced three females before him, she was glad to done with her contract. He had been whisked away and had never known her. He never expected to know her. He had other brothers and sisters from his father’s mistresses, but he was the son of a contracted marriage with a highborn female, and thus the heir. He was raised in a nursery until the age of three and then shipped off to the Ranger Academy to learn strategy, intergalactic politics, and the fighting skills necessary to survive in his culture. He knew his father by appointment and he knew his duty to advance his family politically.

The only surprise in his life occurred when he was given his first morpher. As a red power Ranger he was an awesome fighter. He was Rheigan and he was expected to fight as a Rheigan, to command as a Rheigan. He was hard, demanding, ruthless, and very successful.

His prowess pleased his father. The success of his son boded well for his own succession, securing a clean transition when his own father passed from this dimension.

This was Elemi’s life. He was one hundred and twenty seven years old. As the average Rheigan lived just under three hundred years, if they survived that long, he was not quite half way through his natural life. He had contracted with two different spouses and produced four sons, of which only Garan, the Nova’s green Ranger, knew him anymore than his own father had known him. He also had a daughter by an Eltaran female, but he didn’t even know the child’s name.

By the time Kimberly had walked into his life, his course was set. His father would soon succeed his dying grandfather as Grand Emperor and with any luck he would live to one day succeed his father. The circle of life was completing itself. Kimberly had seen him as a path to information and he had seen her as an opportunity to secure his future.

Kimberly was Zordon’s own Ranger. Not a descendant of the line, but a Ranger trained by the master himself. More importantly, Zordon had recognized five heirs before his death and she was one of them. A recognized child was not always biologically related, but in the intergalactic communities, recognition held more power than bloodline. Genetic relationships happened, but acknowledgment was the choice of the parent. It was a high honor for the girl to be named as part of Zordon’s household and it exploded her worth in the intergalactic community.

Like it or not, she was also the confirmed spawn of Maligore. Zordon’s own histories attested to it. Maligore was the twin of Dark Specter and Dark Specter was, although admittedly evil, one of the few beings that had successfully claimed absolute and undisputed rule over the twelve moons of Rheiga, wielding more power than the Grand Emperor himself. Most importantly, Kimberly was breeding female; a trait practically bred out of Rheigan females due to over use of the artificial birthing tanks and prized as highly valuable. She was, quite simply, too good to be true. A marriage contract with her, or better a son with her, would assure him an easy succession to Grand Emperor, possibly even over his own father.

Kimberly, had no intentions of entering into a contract with him, but she badly needed information that only he had. She had been intrigued by his culture, even though it baffled her, but had flatly refused to entertain the idea. She had walked out on him, but had been forced to return shortly after. The information he had was critical and she was forced to deal with him.

At that point in her life, she had been no match for him strategically. She knew little to nothing of intergalactic laws and policies and was an easy provincial target. He had quickly and fairly easily altered the agreement to exchange the information she needed, if not for marriage, then in return for sex. Kimberly had been insulted and downright repulsed, but she was also desperate and in a time bind. She needed his information.

She had wrestled with the idea until the last hour possible. She was not a virgin, but she was also not as experienced as some women her age. In the end, believing she was certainly not the only woman in history forced into that particular situation and believing no one from her own world would ever possibly find out, she had at last, reluctantly agreed.

But galactic law was not so simple. Information had value and anything of value exchanged for a mutually agreed coupling between peers of the realm, was the equivalent to the fulfillment of a marriage contract. He had tricked her, but she had been willing and the bride price had been paid. Thus, she was his.

If marriage to Kimberly had been a relatively simple affair, holding on to her was not. If she had done nothing, he might have been content to let her go. He had no more need of wives or heirs, he needed only the connection to her, the bragging rights, which gave him a status that far exceeded even his own father. But Kimberly felt, rightly, that she had been taken advantage of. Her hackles had been raised and she fought back.

To his surprise, she was actually a worthy opponent. For a female Ranger from a non-rated fourth class world, she was surprisingly well connected. Earth was not a member of the federation, but both Aquitar and Triforia considered it under their protection. Her Muirantian twin brother was a recognized heir of Zordon and also held a legitimate claim to a recognized brotherhood bond with the Emperor of Triforia. Her former teammate, also recognized heir of Zordon, was very powerfully connected on Aquitar.

Within weeks, a delegation from Aquitar and the Emperor of Triforia himself were crying foul on behalf of Zordon’s daughter. That the female in question was Zordon’s recognized heir, or recognized daughter, had brought more than one Ranger Academy into the debate; academies with whom he owed an allegiance as a red Ranger. What he had done, was done all the time. It was just never, ever, done publicly. The resulting scandal was mind boggling and soon reached intergalactic proportions, with him as the butt of the joke.

He was furious and left his life and career on hold to track her down and find her. His plan had been to drag her back to Rheiga 4 by the roots of her hair, but once again, Kimberly was not so easily done in. He had no sooner mortified her by introducing himself to her mother, than she took off again. He tracked her once more to Phaedos, where he came face to face with Dulcea herself, a meeting he would not soon forget.

Dulcea was in the process of sending her on a quest, a mission related to the information she had obtained from him, which, when combined with the information on an amulet Kim possessed, would lead them to something called the Map of Sein. If he had any hope of ever taking her back to Rheiga 4, he would have to go with her and the two would have to work together.

At the culmination of their search, Kimberly surprised him by doing an about face and agreed to return to Rheiga 4 and quietly divorce him, negating the scandal, if he would help her locate the Nova crystals, which the Map of Sein led to. Elemi had been fascinated. The tide had been turned on him and he was never quite sure how it happened.

Over the next few weeks, Elemi became spellbound with the woman the Power had brought into his life. He, a master Ranger with several morphers under his belt, found himself enthralled by a mere girl. She passed on to him the knowledge Zordon himself had passed on to her, a stark contrast to the drills and hierarchy of the Academy Rangers in his system. She showed him how to reach down within himself and draw forth the power, not for his own victory, but to share with others, to unite.

She also taught him what relationships were like on her world. Not simply the coupling of bodies, but the closeness that comes with giving up a part of your heart to someone else. It was a sharing of energy, a merger of the soul. In essence, for the first time in his life, Elemi loved. And for the short time they were together, he loved her with a passion. In all his life he had never been as giddy or energetic about life as he was when she was with him.

She was his jewel, a prize worth more to him than any empire. His ardor shocked Kim. Once released, it seemed to know no bounds. If ever there was a hard, cold, calculating man, it was Elemi, and yet there he was pledging her his undying affections and surprisingly, she found herself returning those affections. After her relationship with Tommy ended, she had given up belief in the fairytale of soul mate. She had told herself that kind of love was unsustainable, childish. But with Elemi, she privately began to wonder if it was indeed possible to love more than one person and actually found herself longing to do so.

Elemi had simply dropped his life, baffling everyone who knew him, and taken up Kim’s cause as his own. He left Rheiga 4 behind, left the struggle for power and the sadistic climb for seniority, and begun Kim’s search for Zordon. When they unwittingly fell in the path of Demonking, a powerful being set on recovering Zordon’s six original power coins for his own use, Elemi had used his skills as a red Ranger and the power of the Nova crystals to form the Nova Rangers.

When word finally reached him of his annulment to Kim, he dismissed the news. She was the wife of his heart. The woman the Great Power itself had sent him. Laws could not separate him from her. She was not his, he was hers.

Kim, for her part, was at a loss as to what to do with him. She cared a great deal for him, but she could not come close to returning the depth of love he gave her. It saddened her, for she did have feelings for him. Elemi, seemed not to care. His love was hers when she needed or desired it. Physically, his passion astounded her. She desperately wanted to love him, but she did not believe she would ever connect with him the way he hoped and she couldn’t get past the fact that he had two other wives on Rheiga. For his part, he was a patient man and he was willing to wait for her.

“Elemi?” Kee asked softly, coming up from behind him and breaking his reverie.

“What is it?” He asked testily.

“I have Jason waiting to speak with you.”

“It’s about damn time.” Elemi growled. “On screen.”

“Sir, He wishes communications to be exchanged in private.” She said carefully.

Elemi gave her a measured look before slowly rising from his chair. The pit of his stomach rolled and churned. Something was very wrong. Every instinct in him burned like a fire through his nervous system. “I’ll take it my quarters.” He said evenly, turning his back on her and walking off the bridge.

Kee turned and took her place at her consol. The bridge was eerily quiet; the only sound coming from the soft beeps and whines of various panels. Garan made his way over to her, lightly brushing her shoulders, the only contact he dared to risk publicly, and sat down next to her. She looked up hesitantly and met his eyes, only to find them as worried as her own. Something was desperately wrong; they had only to wait for the gavel to fall.

Billy found Trini, her head buried in her arms, leaning against the counter in his lab. She had obviously been crying heavily and he silently berated himself for not following her sooner. She had escaped there when Jason announced Kimberly would want to talk with her ex-husband and that he should at least return Elemi’s calls. A loud and primarily vocal fight had broken out between Jason and Tommy and Trini, full of pregnant hormones, had been unable to handle the intense emotions in the room.

He couldn’t follow right away, Karone had gone to her brother’s house and although Adam was healed and sleeping soundly, he would have been little help with the two warring friends. If Billy had woken him, he’d have been too disoriented from the anesthesia to help. Besides, his leg was going to take time to heal properly and might be re-injured if the fight turned physical. Billy needed to stay and make sure the two didn’t kill each other. Only when the two had stopped shouting and Jason had made contact with the red Nova did he dare follow Trini, but he still needed to be back for Elemi’s actual arrival.

He knew how upset she was. She and Kimberly had been friends since junior high school and, although they had kept in distant touch while Trini lived in Europe, they had recently revived their friendship and become close again.

He approached her quietly, pulling up a stool and wrapping his arms around her protectively. She sat up and flung her arms around him, clinging to him as a new round of sobbing took over.

“Is she gone?” She asked between hiccups.

“No love.” He said gently, rubbing her back and holding her closer. “Jason revived her again. Tommy sent out a series of distress calls for help, he’s still holding out hope.”

Trini made a frustrated sound and sat up, her eyes and face swollen and red. “Revived her again? Don’t they understand the pain their putting her through?” she asked.

“I agree.” He said simply. “But I also understand, if it were you…” He paused and swallowed hard at the thought. “I would do just about anything to keep you here with me.”

“I understand Jason holding on to her.” Trini said, wiping her eyes and sniffing. “But I don’t understand why Tommy’s reacting like this. He’s pushed her away for years, ignored her, God he was absolutely mean to her the last time she tried to make amends.”

“She hurt him.” Billy defended. “I was there Trini.”

“They were kids, he’d never let her take it back.”

“No.” Billy said simply. He hadn’t been around during that time and didn’t know the details, but he knew Tommy and knew how wounded he’d been. He wasn’t surprised Tommy had shut her out of his life. He’d been astounded the two managed to work together as well as they did. The past few weeks they’d spent practically every day together securing the grid on her property. Perhaps Tommy had mellowed or maybe there was more to their renewed friendship than either had let on.

“He still loves her doesn’t he?” Trini asked.

“I suppose he does.”

“God, what a waste.” She lamented. “All that time is lost, all those years she wondered, and now she’s never going to know.”

Billy didn’t answer. He had his own compunctions to deal with. He had gone away and never told Trini how he felt either. Time had passed and they had both married other people, but by some miracle she was back in his life now. He had no time for regrets. He had been given his second chance; his focus in life now was to make up every day for the time they had lost.

In two days, she’d be free of her old life and completely his. He stood up and pulled her with him, guiding her quietly to the tiny bed they shared. On the way, he hit the series of sequences that sealed the lab off. He slid into the small bunk and pulled her down to him, turning her so that they could spoon together. There wasn’t enough time for anything else, but he needed to be close to her for a while. His fingers slid gently over her stomach and her hands met his there. He was worried about her. This had been a long and painful day, he didn’t want her or her baby in any danger.

“I love you.” She said, turning to face him. He smiled, kissing her forehead, but she tilted her head and brought her lips up to his. As the kiss deepened he found himself responding despite his decision to return to the Command Center quickly. It had been a traumatic couple of days. Shipping Carri off to Aquitar, Kim captured, the Retts Webbing, Trini charging off into battle, Adam wounded, Kim dying, it was too much. He needed to connect with her as much as she needed him. She tugged at his clothing with frustration and he groaned in response.

There wasn’t enough time for this, he thought regretfully. He didn’t dare leave Jason, Tommy, and Elemi in the same room together for very long, but she had succeeded in removing his shirt and as she melted against him, his willpower drifted away. Before long, the world and all its crisis were forgotten and it was just the two of them and the intensifying love that bound them together.

“Damnit I’m her husband, I have a right to see her.” Elemi demanded, for the first time in years losing control over his emotions. She was dying. It was impossible. The shock of it was like torture to his soul. It was unbearable.

“Ex-husband.” Jason clarified, although he immediately regretted the correction. Elemi wasn’t taking the news any better than Tommy.

“I still have rights.” Elemi snarled.

“Yes, you do.” Jason agreed. As much as he despised the man in front of him, he was a former teammate of Kim’s and he knew that she cared for the man. If the look on his face was any indication, apparently Elemi cared quite a bit more for Kimberly than Jason expected.

This was going to be interesting, he mused. Tommy was a wreck. In the thirteen years that they had been Rangers, a distress call had been placed only once, perhaps twice. In the last hour, Tommy had sent no less than six emergency calls to anyone who might have information. Soon every Ranger in the galaxy would know Kim was dying and it would probably not be much longer before word began to spread on the other side as well.

Jason had never seen Tommy like this. For a man who had adamantly shut Kimberly out of his heart for the last eleven years, he was utterly devastated by what was happening. He had known for years that his friend’s ambivalence toward Kim was a bluff. Tommy was a proud man and Kim had trampled on that pride, but he’d been genuinely surprised Tommy continued to reject her, especially the last and final time she’d tried to go back to him after his breakup with Katherine. Hell, he’d wanted to strangle Tommy for practically driving Kim back into Elemi’s waiting arms.

Elemi might be a controlling asshole, but he was more than willing to love her…and Kim had been lonely the past few years. Jason’s heart ached for her, but there was nothing he could do. It didn’t matter now; it would be over soon anyway. He was slowly accepting it, but Tommy was deep in hero mode, still determined to save her. The Power help him if she died before he was able to acknowledge and come to terms with it.

“It’s a difficult situation.” Jason said, trying his best to be diplomatic. Diplomacy was not his strength though. Even after a year on the Peace Council he still found it difficult. He didn’t like Elemi and he was loyal to the end to Tommy, but the Nova Ranger was correct, he had a right to see her and Kim would want to see him. Jason had no right to withhold him from her. “Our red is not handling the situation very well,” He stumbled on, thinking to himself that was an understatement. “Kimberly and he were…” He paused, thinking of the right words, “close.” He finished.

“I’m aware of that fact.” Elemi responded coldly, surprising Jason. “Kimberly and I were also close. She was my wife. I love her, he is the one who consistently refused her.”

Jason regarded the man on the screen for a moment; surprised that Kim would have told him about Tommy. Kim rarely spoke to anyone of her former boyfriend, least of all in intimate terms, and when she did, it was just as a wistful memory of childhood. He wondered just what Kim had told Elemi and what she’d left unsaid. “Send me your coordinates,” Jason said at last. “And prepare for transport directly into the Command Center. I’ll warn you right now though Elemi,” Jason said, his voice growing hard, “She’s weak and I’ll not tolerate her last memories of this life including you and Tommy at each other’s throats.”

Elemi’s communicator beeped loudly as the Novas realized he had transferred off the ship without telling anyone. He ignored it, but the sound roused Kimberly and she opened her eyes again. Elemi’s chest twisted in pain for her. She was so tiny. After all the time he had spent with her, he’d never realized just how small she was. The fingers entwined with his were almost childlike and seemed thin and frail. The eyes that had burned with the fire of life were clouded with cataracts and she was disoriented, head slowly rocking back and forth. Her forehead frowned a bit and he realized with regret that she didn’t he was there.

“It’s me jewel.” He said gently.

“Elemi?” She asked, head stilling in his direction, but the confusion clear in her soft voice. He smiled that she still knew him. “How?” She asked.

“When you didn’t respond to our summons I got worried.” He explained. “And when Jason didn’t respond either, I thought I should investigate.”

“I’m sorry.” She said softly.

“For what dearest?”

“A lot of things.” She sighed. She was dreaming. She had to be dreaming, Elemi was on the other side of the galaxy. “Where’s Tommy?” she asked, unable to see the pain that spread across his face at the other man’s name.

“I’m here.” Tommy said quickly, springing to her side again from the chair he’d reluctantly taken by a side control panel.

Tommy had been furious with Jason for allowing the red Nova access to their base, to Kimberly. Eventually, he backed down and let the man have a moment, but Kim had called for him, which negated any agreement on his part to back off. Their eyes met blackly over the medical bed and they openly measured each other as if they were about to enter into mortal combat.

Jason rolled his eyes and exchanged a frustrated look with Adam, who was slowly waking up, but doing his best to appear alert and conscious. Kim was slipping in and out of consciousness, the last thing she needed was those two cock fighting. He circled around them and maneuvered to the top of the table. He had regenerated enough to pass on a little more energy, but he was less and less convinced it was the right thing to do. She would become more alert, but it was obvious that the transfers were becoming less and less effective. Kim moaned and fought him and his heart sank. He gave Tommy a warning look that very clearly stated he wouldn’t put up with him and Elemi arguing in front of her and then gave Elemi the same look before moving away. He didn’t go far, he was still less than convinced he wouldn’t have to eventually pry the two red Rangers off each other.

Kimberly’s head turned again and she brightened enough to realize that Elemi was, in fact in front of her. “How?” She asked again.

Elemi sighed and smiled sadly at her and Tommy backed up a step, but didn’t move far from her side.

“I don’t understand.” Kim said softly. “It’s all confusing.”

“Teeg returned to Earth.” Elemi said simply. “We assisted the Zeos and drove her back.”

“That was the battle?” She asked. She remembered the battle, the feel of the ground shaking, but it had been Tommy with her, not Elemi. “What brought Teeg back here?”

Elemi took a deep breath and stalled for a second. He didn’t want to talk about Teeg and battles, he wanted to hold on to her for a few more moments, to desperately tell her how she had changed his life, how much she meant to him, how he’d love her for all eternity.

But cultural differences once again overcame them. His race abhorred showing those emotions as weak. Merely holding her hand publicly would have been frowned upon, but, given circumstances, considered allowable. Admitting his emotions in front of the other men in the room though, especially her former lover, was out of the question. He had told her often enough when they were alone. He could only hope she felt his emotions through the simple contact of their hands and perhaps, if the scribes were right, once she was gone she would know the true depth of his devotion to her. “She was after what’s she’s always been after my dearest.” He said at last. “We were able to save the Zeos; unfortunately Teeg left the planet with one of the coins that was located here.”

Kimberly frowned and shifted as if trying desperately to remember something. “Which coin?” She asked obviously distressed and Elemi cursed himself. She didn’t need to worry now; she needed to rest peacefully.

“It doesn’t matter. We’ll get it back love. We already know where she’s headed.”

“Which coin?” Kimberly pressed again.

“Adam’s.” Tommy answered and she turned her head towards him. “We’ll get it back Kim, I promise you.”

Elemi and Tommy regarded each other hostilely again and Jason nearly intervened, but then Kim did something no one in the room expected; she laughed. It was a surprisingly strong laugh for someone so obviously weak and it continued for nearly a minute.

“Kimberly?” Elemi asked, not sure if she had slipped into insanity.

“I win.” Kimberly breathed and then chuckled again.

“I don’t understand.” Elemi confessed, holding her hand tightly.

Kimberly’s face radiated peace and pure joy. “I win.” She whispered again. “Adam’s coin is a copy, it won’t work when she puts them together. Tears slipped down her cheeks and she smiled brightly at the two dim shapes in front of her. “It buys you time.” She said.

“I don’t understand.” Elemi said, a copy of a power coin? Surely Teeg would have suspected it, would have detected the shift in its power signatures.

“Adam’s coin was a replacement for Zack’s” Tommy said carefully, beginning to pull the pieces together. “Zordon charged them with the Sword of Light, transferring the power of the old coins into the new ones. The signature and the morph were identical, but they were different coins.”

Kimberly nodded, tears still slipping down her cheeks. “The transfer coins were made from the same source as the Tigerzord coin; not the cosmic key that created the original ones”

“Which means it can’t be combined with the older coins to make a key?” Elemi asked hopefully.

“According to the Mystic Mother.” Kim said softly.

Kim smiled to herself; she had done her part. All was not lost. She may not have completed her mission, but she had bought them much needed time and the relief of that realization was nearly euphoric. She had put her trust in Rita’s knowledge of both good and evil magic. Now, if the Power was willing, she might have given her friends a desperately needed advantage against Demonking.

Her thoughts drifted for a moment to Rita and all the battles she’d fought against her. She’d forgiven her. It hadn’t been easy, but she’d done it and found a measure of peace in that clemency. Perhaps now Rita would begin to forgive herself as well. Those thoughts then drifted into another idea.

“Tommy that’s it.” She said breathlessly. “Power preserve me… that’s it.”

“What is it Beautiful?” He asked, ignoring the other man beside him and taking Kim’s other hand in his own again.

“Lerigot, Dimetria and the others.” Kim said, trying to catch her breath. “They didn’t have the answer because they only know good magic.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’m demon spawn, born from evil magic.”

“No dearest, you serve the good.” Elemi corrected. He didn’t understand what she was talking about and he didn’t want her focusing on the circumstances that made her what she was. She needed to focus on all the good she’d done with her power.

“No.” Kim said, shaking her head, she looked hard in the direction where she knew Tommy was standing. “The Mystic Mother, Rita, she knows both sides; good magic as well as evil magic. If anyone has an answer for you, she will.”

Tommy stared hard at Kimberly, the pressure in his chest tightening. He hadn’t thought she’d been aware of his efforts to find a way to cure her. He had sent out emergency calls to everyone he could think of; Lerigot, Trey, Dimetria, Dulcea, Dex and others. Anyone in his acquaintance who could give him answers, a direction, hope of any kind. All had responded quickly, but without optimism. Only Dex had responded that Alpha Five remembered the Phoenix crystal from his days with Zordon, but not even Dex’s grandfather, King Lexian, knew how to reverse the effects. He had thought Kimberly oblivious to his desperate search, but she had been aware the whole time.

Now she was suggesting he go to Rita for help. The witch who had plucked him out of his normal life and made him a force for evil. The witch who had started it all, condemned him to a life of guilt and shame, a life in which the Power would always call him back to make amends for past wrongs. The witch who had ripped apart his world.

He swallowed hard and cast a quick glance over at Jason. He sat up straighter and was alert and interested, but he had about as much regard for the reformed Mystic Mother as Tommy himself did. They would have to trust her, to ask for and accept direction from her. Tommy would have rather begged for help from Mesogog or even Mondo; anyone but her.

He looked down at Kimberly’s listless form. He eyes were sunken and lined with deep circles, her skin had taken on an ashen tone again, and her breathing was thin and raspy. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. Bringing her fingers to his lips, he kissed her hand gently. “Where do I find her?” He asked quietly.

Jason wandered into the main control room in an effort to leave Elemi alone with Kim for a while. He didn’t want to leave her, but, at Tommy’s request, he had transferred enough of his energy to keep her stable until he could get to Briarwood and back. Adam was using the only other private room to call Tanya and explain his sudden reenlistment again and Jason needed to find a quiet place to be alone for a few moments.

He hoped beyond reason that Tommy could find an answer with Rita, but as the hours dragged by, he understood it was less and less likely that they’d be able to save her. He wanted Kim back, but keeping her alive like this was brutal. She was obviously in a great deal of pain and it hurt to see her cringe when he touched her.

He had always regarded her as a little sister, of the heart if not by blood, but since Muirantias she had been his twin. For ten years he had taken it for granted that she was there. She was the only one in the universe like him, the only one who truly understood the daily effort to resist the anger and temptations. She knew the struggle that came with their powers, the personal sacrifices it required.

From the moment the two had dropped into the Pit of Fire they were connected yet he had never realized how much the two depended on each other. He had bristled when she shut him out of her activities a few years ago, but she had still been there with her silent support. He had only to reach out mentally, even unconsciously, with his insecurities and she’d send back her reassurances. Now he was lost. He felt very alone and very isolated and even afraid of the future that stretched out before him.

Carri was gone too, which made it worse, but he doubted Rocky would have tolerated him leaning on his old girlfriend for very long. Absently flipping switches and mindlessly scanning through data that he really didn’t process, he found himself musing bitterly that the two women who had come to mean the most to him in the last decade had been brutally removed from his life in a matter of hours.

It was ironic, he smiled painfully to himself, if anyone had told him ten years ago the two giggle twins would come to mean so much to him, he would have laughed. The pair had literally driven him insane over the years, but emotionally, they had both wiggled their way into his affection and he loved them both dearly. They filled a void he had told himself he didn’t need and hadn’t thought until now that he wanted filled.

He had told himself that he had no room in his life for long-term female companionship. His involvements spanned out across the galaxy and were insanely dangerous at best. He couldn’t involve a layperson in them. Not only would they not understand, they would be placed in harm’s way just by knowing him.

Jason refused to consider the idea of a family anymore either. He struggled constantly with what he’d become and, even though he was at relative peace with his fate, he refused to pass on his genes. It wasn’t fair to condemn an innocent child to suffer its whole life just because he was selfish enough to want to father it.

The girls were his family. They had filled his life with their chatter and their dramas and as much as he barked, he loved what they brought to him. Now Carri was seriously ill and removed to Aquitar and he was about to lose Kim permanently. It was too much and the grief of those losses was beginning to overwhelm him.

He had long ago steeled himself that he would outlive his friends and family, but that was always couched with the knowledge that Kim would be there with him. They had resolved to see each other through it. Now he was beginning to accept that she wasn’t going to be there and he was going to have to face that long future completely alone. It was more than he could bear.

Karone walked through the archway and he blinked away the tears that were threatening to fall. Taking a deep breath, he absently returned her greeting and busied himself with the data on the screen.

“How’s Kim?” She asked, taking a chair on the other side of the panel and glancing back at the medical tables beyond the other arch.

“Dying.” He responded absently.

“Tommy’s not here?”

Jason shook his head, but didn’t look at her. “He’s tracking down one last option.”

“Oh.” She said simply.

She didn’t know Jason well. She had seen him in and around NASADA and run into him a half a dozen times on other worlds, but he was distant at best, and she respected that. On other worlds he was known as Maligore’s son, just as she was still labeled Dark Specter’s heir. It was a heavy mantle to wear. The loss of his twin must be devastating. Karone could appreciate the closeness of a sibling.

She sighed softly to herself. Being a replacement or fill-in was not an easy job to have, but it allowed her to make amends in some ways for all the damage she’d done as Astronima. She’d done it four times now. In almost every circumstance a Ranger had been badly injured or killed and the team was grieving. Only once had it been a happy occasion where a baby was involved and the team was excited.

It was hard to come in, the odd man out, with everyone looking at you and thinking of the missing team member. But it was a service she was happy, and grateful, to provide. This assignment seemed even more difficult because the team had been together for so long and the emotions ran deep. They were now down three out of five members. It was chaotic, but no-one seemed willing to deal with it until Kim passed. The leader in Karone bristled at this. Life went on, it didn’t just come to a halt because you were grieving.

“Your first twenty-four has been pretty tough.” Jason said absently, still looking at his screen. Karone wondered if he was really reading or just staring at it.

“The team is down three out of five and we just got our asses summarily kicked, but no-one seems to care or is the least bit concerned that Zedd could attack again at any time. We can’t keep depending on other Rangers to come in and rescue us.”

Jason turned to her and smiled sadly. “Not exactly what you’re used to is it?”

“Honestly?” Karone asked. “That had to be the most half ass, uncoordinated, sloppy mission I’ve ever participated in.

“Yeah, that just about sums it up.” Jason said wryly.

“Are they all like this?” she asked.

Jason let out a slow breath and shook his head. “No.” He said honestly. “But considering everything that’s going on, I think we’re doing pretty good. I mean, we’ve got two replacements in position, of course one is wounded, we have another substitute standing by, none of you guys have every really worked together, and the remaining original two are at each other’s throats…yeah, we’re do’in fine.”

Karone cocked her head to one side and tried to decide if he was being sarcastic or if he was serious. It was frustrating that Tommy wasn’t bonding the new team together and getting defensive plans in place. Instead, he was fixated on finding a way to cure Kim and Jason didn’t seem to care in the least about taking over command duties either. In the last three hours since they had rescued Kim, Tommy had sent emergency calls to Eltar, Liaria, Edenoi, Inquiris and Triforia. Time that could have been spent strengthening a devastated Zeo team.

“Everyone says Tommy’s the best.” She said absently.

“Considering everything that’s going on, you doubt it?” he asked.

Karone raised her eyes to the ceiling, but said nothing. Her brother was convinced that Tommy was the greatest Ranger that had ever lived. Tommy was good at what he did, that was certain, but she hadn’t seen any moments of greatness yet; just a lot of frantic grasping at straws. Everyone was so afraid of the Great Tommy Oliver. He was nothing more than a man, one that was running around scared that one of his team members was about to die.

Death was part of life. Karone didn’t understand why Tommy didn’t appreciate that. She felt sorry for Kim. The woman was obviously in a great deal of pain and the most humane thing to do was to let her go. But both Jason and Tommy refused to give up on her. Jason had already drained most of his own powers to keep her going and Tommy was now out somewhere trying to find a solution to mortality itself. Nothing else was getting done. The Power help them if Zedd attacked the city now.

Tommy stormed up the steps of the Lunar Palace Dance Hall, vaguely noticing the art deco style and large, blinking, neon half moon. He pushed open the doors, marched through the waiting room, and stopped in front of the old-fashioned ticket booth. The man inside was ancient. He was thin and frail with little tuffs of white hair on either side of an otherwise bald head and little round wire glasses sitting on the edge of his nose.

“Edward Moon.” Tommy growled through the hole in the glass, trying very hard to control his temper.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Moon is giving a private lesson this morning.” The little man said in a soft, feeble voice. He squinted up at Tommy, fidgeting with his hands. “Are you a new or previous client?”

Tommy turned and stormed through the swinging doors that lead to the dance floor.

“Excuse me!” The old man fretted through the glass of the ticket booth. “You can’t go in there now…oh my.”

Tommy pounded across the glossy dance floor looking more dangerous than he had ever looked before. A tall, blond man was giving a lesson to a tiny little woman who was perhaps in her eighties, possibly a little older. He stopped and looked up at Tommy’s approach; stepping back a step and swallowing hard as recognition crossed his face. He squared his shoulders and stepped in front of the old woman, as if to shield her from Tommy’s wrath.

“You know who I am?” Tommy snarled, coming to a stop inches from his face.

Edward nodded. “It’s me you want.” He said calmly. “Let Mrs. Barret go.”

“What’s going on here?” Mrs. Barret grumbled, pushing around Edward and confronting Tommy herself.

“Now see here young man, this is my dance lesson. I’ve waited all week, you’re just going to have to hold your horses and wait your turn. I’ve got another twenty-five minutes left that I’ve already paid good money for.”

Most of the anger boiling through Tommy diffused a bit as he stared down at the wrinkled old woman with a touch of amusement. Her old gray eyes looked sharply at him as if she were out for blood at having her time interrupted. It would have been comical except that Tommy was in no mood for humor and he certainly didn’t have time to placate the old woman.

“Mrs. Barret, I’m so sorry. This is a personal matter that requires my attention.” Edward demurred, placing a gentle hand on the woman’s shoulder.

“I’ve paid for another twenty-five minutes.” She responded firmly.

“Yes, I know and I apologize for the inconvenience.” He soothed. “But I’m afraid this can’t wait. Perhaps if I offered an additional four lessons free of charge?”

“One hour lessons?” The woman asked, obviously still miffed.

“Yes of course.” Edward agreed diplomatically. “Four additional one hour lessons. Just tell Finster on the way out and he’ll schedule you at your convenience.”

The woman huffed, but was obviously pleased with the offer.

“Very well.” She said, straightening her sweater. “I’ll see you next Saturday then.” She turned and left the floor.

Tommy’s gaze hardened as he looked at Edward. He looked as if he were in his late forties, perhaps early fifties, and he looked very much the part of a dance instructor, with tight black pants and an open polyester shirt. He wore two gold chains about his neck and another around his wrist. Tommy also didn’t miss his wedding ring.

“Where’s Rita?” He snarled.

“It’s not that simple.” Edward replied uneasily.

Tommy sprang forward, not grabbing him, but landing less than an inch from his face.

“Make it that simple.”

Edward backed up a few steps. “The human world is difficult for her…the temptations…it gives her migraines. She’s all but retreated into the Mystic Realm.”

“Then take me to her.” Tommy demanded. Edward hesitated, trying to quickly think of an objection that Tommy would believe.

“Kimberly’s dying.” Tommy growled, his voice breaking on the last word, betraying him. “I need her help.” He finished hoarsely, voice shaking with the effort to get the words out. His eyes misted with building grief and he fought with all his might to push them back. Zedd, even a reformed Zedd, would not see him cry and he would not beg.

Edward’s stance softened a bit and genuine concern showed in his eyes. “My word,” he said softly. “What’s happened?”

“I don’t have time.” Tommy said firmly. “Kimberly needs help and Rita’s my last option. Take me to her.” He demanded.

Edward regarded Tommy carefully. He genuinely loved his wife and didn’t want to put her in harm’s way. The man was deadly. He was one of the few Rangers Zedd had been wary of and now that his powers were gone, Edward felt a genuine fear of him. He had good reason to fear Tommy, so did Rita. He was one of the many unresolved issues they still had to work through.

The news of Kimberly was shocking. Kimberly was developing into a powerful sorceress. Even a poor sorceress wasn’t easy to destroy. Something devastating must have happened. Edward met Tommy’s gaze and saw the struggle behind his eyes. It had taken a great deal for him to come and ask him for help. He nodded, making his decision. “Follow me.” He said, turning and heading towards the back room, Tommy close behind him.

Before they had taken more than three steps, a large round man stumbled forward through the back door and dropped a large box of bight, sequined costumes all over the floor. “Hey Eddie, what’d ya want me to do with these?”

“Not now…” Edward hissed painfully, one hand slapping his forehead and sliding down his face. Not…now.” He said again firmly, turning and marching through a door marked Employees Only.

“Wha’d I do now?” The man called to Edward’s back. Tommy stopped and stared at the man, who was now trying vainly to stuff several feather boas back into a second box. Red and pink feathers were flying everywhere and he absently batted at them. There was something familiar about him…. Edward called back to him and he turned and walked through the door into the back office.

Tommy stepped carefully through the dimensional barrier, very much aware that he could be walking into a trap. Every instinct in him screamed defiance, but he pushed forward, willing to take this one last chance. Edward turned casually to make sure he’d made it through and then walked steadily forward.

Everything was white; white light, white walls, white floor, white ceiling. It was a stark contrast to the normal, if slightly messy, employee lounge they had left just moments before. His eyes adjusted quickly to the brighter light and he watched as Edward made his way up to a white clad figure who was engrossed in a viewing globe.

“Not now sweetie,” An all too familiar voice said, referring to Edwards approach, “I’ve got my hands full.”

“We have a visitor.” Edward said simply and the figure turned and looked up.

The emotions that stormed through Tommy as he met her eyes again were more than he could control. Bitterness was at the top of the list, followed by resentment, hatred, loathing, and just plain rage. It was true; she was alive. Every evil feeling he’d steeled himself in life to fight against came churning to the surface and no amount of deep breathing or focus would contain them.

Her face betrayed her initial shock, then smoothed out into a firm resolution. The man hated her, but he had a right to. The boy she had so easily plucked from obscurity was now grown, but the man before her still had a lot of evil green in him; at least if his face and body stance were any judge. If he was here to kill them, he would have made his move already, but she had a good idea the reason for this sudden visit.

“Kimberly’s not dead yet.” She said simply and watched his body shift as he digested the knowledge that she was aware of his plight. “So I assume she sent you here for help rather than to give me a chance to beg forgiveness.”

“You knew?” Edward asked, preempting Tommy’s initial response.

“Of course I knew.” She said, turning to Edward briefly. “I watched the whole damn thing. Rita the Idiot allowed Kimora to take her into one of my old dimensions.”

“And yet you did nothing to help her?” Tommy snarled.

Rita turned to him with a sad smile. “There was nothing I could do Tommy. Just because I can still see into those dimensions doesn’t mean my powers will reach there anymore.”

“Bullshit.” Tommy growled. “Powers don’t fade, it’s just a matter of you choosing to use them or not.”

“You know as well as I do that a second chance doesn’t mean total reformation.” She said, her course voice gentle, but firm. “I have to choose every day whether to be good or evil. Yes, I chose not to use evil powers, even for a good cause. Kimberly wouldn’t have wanted me to and, somewhere deep inside, you know that was the right decision.”

She stepped down off the dais and walked toward him, pulling off the massive white headpiece as she did so. The woman that approached him was Asian looking, and middle aged, just as Edward was. Without all her ornamentation, she was smaller than he thought she’d be and very ordinary looking. The wicked witch of his nightmares was gone and the woman before him was simply that; a small woman with sad brown eyes. “I am what I am… just as you are.”

“You made me what I am.” He said, unwilling to give up his anger towards her.

Rita shrugged, “I gave you a head start.” She said simply. “Zordon moved your family back to Angel Grove, arranged for a job your mom couldn’t refuse if I remember correctly. He wanted you there for a reason. I figured if he wanted you, I wanted you first… It doesn’t matter.” She said sadly, shaking her head. “I can’t undo it. I’m sorry Tommy, I’ve made different choices, tried to make amends the only way I know how, but that apology comes too late for you and I understand that.”

Tommy wanted to kill her. He wanted to attack and smash her into little pieces, it’d be easy now. Years of hatred boiled through his veins and he physically shook with the effort to restrain himself. But the woman before him remained calm, silently waiting for his judgment. “Do you know how to save Kimberly?” He asked simply.

“Yes.” She answered.

Jason rubbed his eyes with shaking hands. He’d transferred too much of his own energy into Kimberly the last time and his body was beginning to rebel. He steeled himself inwardly. The last transfer hadn’t worked well at all. Kimberly was barely awake. Her lips and fingernails were blue and she was taking shallow, raspy breaths.

Billy had returned with Trini. They, Adam, and Karone had joined him and Elemi around her bedside in a silent vigil. Part of him fretted that Tommy wasn’t going to make it back in time, but part of him was also relieved he would be able to quietly see Kim through this without having to deal with his friend. When his communicator sounded, the six of them jumped in unison.

“I have the answer.” Tommy’s voice came through and Jason exhaled a breath that was part air and part sob. “Grab Kim and the Phoenix crystal and bring her to these coordinates.”

Kee sat quietly on the small rock formation that was part of the ship’s small atrium and garden. It was a luxury for a ship this size to have any type of nature room, but Kimberly had started it and Elemi had seen to it that the room was maintained. Large, floor to ceiling panels showed a quiet Earth, floating blissfully and unaware in its cradle of stars.

Supposedly, the room with its small pond was a replica of a garden Kim used to visit when she was a Ranger in Angel Grove. It’s inspiration was somewhere down on the west coast of the continent below her, slowly slipping into darkness. Kee wished she could see that garden.

Elemi had communicated the news that Kimberly was dying and he would remain on the surface until she had passed. The information had ripped through the team, reverberating in Kee, and leaving her numb. The group had separated into their respective pairings for comfort and support, leaving Kee, once again, the odd man out. She’d made her way here, to the garden, because it was as close as she could come to Kimberly.

She wanted to be there, was angry that she couldn’t be there. It wasn’t fair. She was Kimberly’s descendant, her successor with the Novas. Kim had plucked her out of obscurity. She had been a nothing, a nobody, not even worth the acknowledgement of sanitation robots, and now she was a Ranger; all because of Kimberly. People now looked to her for guidance, sought out her advice. The change was laughable. Inside, she was still the same, scarred little orphan she’d been three months ago, but her status in life had been elevated so high it was dizzying.

Rheiga 10 was not the place to be born meek and it was definitely not the place to be born a servant. Like most females, she’d never known her father. Her mother was a lowborn worker and her father could have been any male in the household. The fact that her mother was a breeding female, able to produce children naturally, elevated her status considerably on a world where sterility was the norm, but she was still a worker. She had been killed when Kee was twelve and Kee, mousy and shy, had been sent to live with her only living relative, an older brother she had never met.

Her brother was the bastard son of a high nobleman and, although the man did not legally recognize him, Kav had been given an education. He was an engineer and good one, able to work miracles with the ships systems. Less than five years later, he had been ready to leave her behind when the opportunity to join Elemi had been offered to him, but for some reason Elemi had offered her a place too. It was unheard of, and Kee silently speculated Kimberly had a hand in the opportunity. There was no other reason for her placement. Kav had simply asked for an hour to drop her off at the local shelter and the next communication they had was for him to bring her with him.

On board the Enzway she was a worm. She’d been given a token job of cleaning the food units and servicing the satiation drones. No one looked at her, no one spoke to her, except for Kimberly. To her disappointment, the pink Ranger was not a regular part of the crew, but she came often enough to help out and Kee rarely spent more than a week without seeing her. Kimberly was sweet and kind, something Kee had never experienced. She always had a story about her life on Earth or about Zordon and the Rangers and Kee would go out of her way to cross paths with the Ranger when word spread that she had returned.

It never dawned on Kee that a woman could be strong, powerful, and well respected yet soft and kind. She had told the girl that they were very much alike her chest had swollen with pride and the fantasy that one day she could be like her. It had never dawned on her that fantasy would come true, but perhaps Kimberly had known all along. Kimberly was her mentor, the source of her power, her teacher and everything good that had happened in her life. In Kee’s young eyes she was as great as Zordon and the fact that she was somewhere below on the planet’s surface with her life ebbing away was more than the young girl could bear.

She didn’t cry, Rheigans didn’t cry, but her eyes were hot and misty and her nose red and congested. She didn’t hear Garan’s approach until he sat down next to her and she silently berated herself. On any other day he would have chided her about being alert for danger, but he held his tongue. She sniffed loudly and he placed what he hoped was a comforting hand on her shoulder. Despite her misery, she shivered at his touch and he smiled, gliding the hand down and across her back and resting it on her other hip. She leaned into him and he sighed.

Theirs was a forbidden familiarity and he had to be very careful on such a small ship. Garan was the youngest of Elemi’s sons and although he was only half Rheigan blood, he was the product of a legitimate, if only political, marriage. Although they were both Rangers, Kee’s status was far below anything the government would recognize for him legally. If their relationship continued, Kee could only be his mistress, and he was reluctant to shame a fellow Ranger with that standing.

He had joined the Ranger Academy to gain his father’s notice. Unfortunately the only notice he received was the knowledge that Elemi’s fourth son was not nearly as proficient in combat as either his father or any of his brothers. Garan had tried hard to be the consummate Rheigan warrior, but whether it was his half blood or simply his personality, it just wasn’t in him. By the end of the first year, it was painfully obvious that he had very little fighting skill, was not in the least suitable for warfare among his race, and would never be considered for a morpher. Instead, he tried a different tactic.

Garan was a natural linguist and fascinated by anthropology. Language came easily to him and social communication and interactions fascinated him. He began to study the intricacies of societies and by the time of his graduation from the Academy had mastered more than thirty languages and their alphabets. His ability to decipher, comprehend and communicate among the variances of diverse cultures earned him the recognition that his fighting skills couldn’t. He had immediately been accepted to train for a position as an ambassador and for the first time in his life, his father actually noticed him.

He had been floored when Elemi had offered him a morpher. It was a rouge team, but one of Zordon’s own Rangers was second in command. Elemi didn’t need another warrior, he could have his pick of some of the finest soldiers in the galaxy if he so desired. But his team was not a Rheigan team. It was a diverse group of specialists assembled specifically for the quest he was leading. He needed someone who could not only stabilize the cultural diversity of the team, but also act as a contact and interpreter between the Novas and the various races they would encounter. His father needed him and placed a value on his skills over those of his siblings. In his short twenty-five years of life, he had been able to do what all three of his older brothers couldn’t accomplish; obtain the praise and respect of their father.

Garan had no illusions of power. It simply didn’t interest him. Elemi’s three older sons were more than content to see their father chase off across the universe. They used their father’s absence and their grandfather’s ascension to Grand Emperor to further their own goals. Only Garan knew the man himself and there was a huge satisfaction in that for him.

Whether it was true or not that Kimberly had mellowed him, Garan didn’t know. But he had grown to respect Kimberly. She had changed his own outlook on life and he could only speculate how she had changed his father’s. He envied his father the bond he shared with her, but had never honestly expected to find something similar for himself.

It had started simply enough. Kee had been given a morpher. The girl could barely read let alone understand the duties she was taking over. Garan lamented daily that Kimberly could not have known what she was doing. Day after day, Garan patiently taught her what his father had no time for. Math, statistics, languages, Kee had absolutely no exposure to any of it. She was lowborn and had never had a day of schooling in her short life.

The ship was designed on KO-34 and, although the readouts were in Basic speech, many of the systems had to be reprogrammed in Kaoan if anything went wrong. The zords responded to their Rangers thoughts and feelings, but, by tradition, maintenance and most of the readouts were printed in Eltaran. Kee had to learn to read, write, and perform in Basic, Eltaran, Kaoan, and Rheigan and she had to do it immediately. Her first battle, three days later, had been a disaster, but she was Rheigan tough at the core and through shear tenacity had compensated and survived it.

He had banged his head against the wall for a better part of a month and railed against many deities for the challenge that had been thrust upon him, but then the tide turned. Kee was a proficient student, eager to learn, and good at what she mastered. Although she excelled in math and strategy, she also enjoyed linguistics and he found himself more and more eager to seek her out during the down times to converse with.

He wasn’t sure exactly when his feelings intensified for her. It was a gradual awareness that he was holding his breath when she went into battle or a small touch that sent currents of electricity through them both. She was painfully young, and it was horribly inappropriate, but they were both aware of the connection.

Garan was not a typical male of his culture. He was scholastic and had dedicated his life to the study of other cultures and their languages. Although he still clung to the core values of his society, he understood that most other humans didn’t exist in separate male/female societies, but cohabitated. His nation was extreme in its harshness, but it was the culture in which he was brought up. His father’s relationship with Kimberly fascinated him. Elemi was a very powerful man and very stereotypic of his society, but when Kimberly was present, he softened and he allowed that softness to be in evidence publicly. If such devotion was acceptable to the father, then his son felt justified in his own feelings for Kee.

Kee was soft and sweet like Kimberly, but also like Kimberly, she could turn in an instant and become a fierce combatant. In many ways, she was more aggressive on the battlefield than Garan, but when the fight was over, she resumed her calm nature. Garan could identify with this character trait immediately. He had taught her how to take that quietness and use it to her advantage, to develop an air of stony authority as he had. But between the two of them, the quietness and calmness of their inner natures had become a bond between them. They, who had been born into a culture of power and severity, were kindred spirits in their silent appreciation of the sereness of the universe.

But their relationship was completely and totally unacceptable at all social levels. In a society of long-lived humans, he was considered barely out of adolescence and she still considered not much more than a child. Their difference in status was also intolerable. Kee was a pink Ranger of Kimberly’s line, a direct descendant to the master Zordon, but it was not a title she could publicly proclaim. There were many who would know it, but many more who would remain ignorant. On the Enzway, and within the Ranger community, she would always hold rank, but to the outside universe and by Rheigan law, she was still the daughter of a servant. It was not possible for their home government to recognize any official union between them. This put him in a quandary. Kee could become his mistress, but she was a high-ranking Ranger and that dishonored her.

Garan, who understood other cultures better than most of his race, could barely comprehend how Kimberly could prefer to be his father’s mistress and not his wife. To have any kind of long term union, in his culture and at the foundation of his beliefs, required an official union. His father vehemently denied that he carried on any type of physical relationship with Kimberly after the annulment, but no one believed that to be true. He understood his father’s protection of her honor as did the others, but it didn’t change the example he set for the team. He knew, with every fiber within him, that if he valued Kee, he should stop what was developing between them before anything serious occurred, but each time he saw her, he simply couldn’t do it.

He turned his head slightly to look at her. She was devastated by the news of Kimberly’s impending death. In truth, they all were. Kimberly was a larger than life figure to them; it never occurred to them that she was as mortal as they were. But to Kee, it was twice as devastating and he found himself hurting for her. She turned slightly and her large, dark brown eyes met his. He never intended to kiss her, was never quite sure afterwards how it happened, but the next thing he knew she was in his arms and all the tensions and frustrations of three months of denial seemed to burst forward in one frantic and passionate embrace.

Jason transported directly into the dance hall, Kimberly held tightly in his arms. He blinked, eyes quickly adjusting to the yellow florescent lighting. Tommy jumped forward and took her from him. He made a token resistance, just enough to let him know that he didn’t want to give her up, and then allowed his friend to take her. On the dance floor with them were two other people and the muscle in Jason’s jaw visibly twitched when he realized exactly who he was looking at. They looked different outside of their robes and armor, if he had passed them on the street he would have walked right past them.

“We have to get moving.” Tommy said, breaking Jason’s gaze away from the two ex-villains.

“Let me see her.” Rita said, walking forward and Jason fought every instinct in him not to rip the small woman apart. “She doesn’t have long at all.” She pronounced, shaking her head and smoothing back Kim’s hair from her forehead. Jason flinched. The raspy voice was less raged, but the same as he remembered from years ago. It was odd to hear that old growling sound come from the small woman. “Did you bring the Phoenix crystal?” She asked, turning to Jason. He nodded but couldn’t answer her. “Good, you need to use it to take her back to Muirantias.”

Jason stepped back at that proclamation. “Muirantias? Why?”

“We have to put her back in the Pit of Fire.” Tommy said in what he hoped was a calm voice. His heart was pounding and he’d actually begun to sweat with the adrenaline surge he was fighting. Kim looked very frail and weak and he wasn’t entirely positive she was even breathing.

“The hell you will.” Jason growled.

“It’s the only way.” Tommy said firmly. “Give me the crystal and I’ll take her myself if you won’t.”

“You both need to be there.” Rita said firmly. She didn’t want to put herself into the middle of a fight between these two particular Rangers, but Kimberly didn’t have enough time left for them to argue the matter. “Remember, when you get to the Pit of Fire, you have to get her conscious enough to know what’s going on.” She instructed.

“Absolutely not.” Jason roared and Tommy turned on him. He was still cradling Kim, but he’d fight his friend if he had to.

“It’s the only way to reconnect her to the Pit.”

“So you’re going to throw her in it again?”

“She has to regenerate.” Tommy said, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice.

“Then don’t wake her up, leave her unconscious.”

Jason’s mind whirled with the panic of emotions he was grappling with. Go back to Muirantias? Did Tommy have any idea how horrific that experience had been for them? They had been burned alive and remained wide-awake throughout it. The slow torture of regeneration had been excruciating and now he wanted to put her through it again; the very idea was unbearable. “You understand what you’re saying?” He all but shrieked. “You want to throw her back into a pit of molten lava, burn her alive, and expose her to pure evil again…all at the advice of…of…that!” He roared, pointing an accusing finger at Rita.

“The Pit is no longer evil.” Rita said calmly. “The evil stemmed from Maligore’s control. He’s’ no longer there. Kimberly needs to be conscious because she’s the only one of you trained in the magical powers necessary to regenerate herself.”

“Then you come with us.” Tommy said.

Rita stared at her former evil Ranger in stunned silence. It was a comment made out of desperation, but it was also the first indication that he was willing to trust her. Her eyes misted with the realization that one day it might even be possible for him to forgive her. “Tommy I can’t.” She said regretfully. “I wish I could. The pit is a source of pure power. There’s a reason it’s locked away behind the Nemesis Triangle, away from both the servants of good and evil. The temptation…” She shook her head. She couldn’t do it, she had worked too hard to stay good. Edward felt her conflict and walked forward, placing his arm securely around her. He understood, even if the two Rangers in front of him didn’t. Second chances weren’t easy. You had to make them work.

“You trust her?” Jason said incredulously.

“Kimberly trusts her.” Tommy said quietly, leaning down to place his cheek against her forehead. “That’s good enough for me.” They were out of time. It was this or nothing. Jason’s shoulders slumped and he closed his eyes with indecision.

“Remember,” Rita said firmly, in a quiet voice. “You have to wake her. She has to focus entirely on one joyous moment. It has to be something that can get her through the initial shock and pain. There can be no room for fear. The two of you need to focus your powers as well.” She stopped and looked Jason directly in the eyes. “You especially. Once she begins to regenerate, your connection will re-establish itself. You can’t let her feel any fear in you, any doubt. You must focus entirely on your connection and love for her. Send her all your encouragement to come back…otherwise she might be tempted to stay there.”

The last comment was something Rita didn’t want to think about and she could see the same thoughts cross Edward’s face as well. The temptation to remain connected to the pit would be awesome. She believed Kim strong enough to overcome it, especially with the two boys there encouraging her to resume a mortal form, but she wasn’t positive. In any event, the two Rangers didn’t need to be worried anymore than they already were. It wouldn’t help Kimberly to put any more doubts in their minds. There was nothing they could do about it anyway if it happened.

Rita took a deep breath and turned to Tommy. “You’re a powerful Ranger Tommy. You have to banish all thoughts of the pain and anguish she caused you. You have to forgive her, once and for all. You have to let it go. Find a place in your heart where she still exists, even if only in friendship. You have to focus on it, on how much you want her to return. Between the two of you, it should be enough…one more thing.” She added quickly and both Rangers looked up at her. “Make sure she doesn’t take the Zeo crystal into the pit with her. Don’t ask why, we haven’t time, just make sure you take it from her if you already haven’t.”

“How are we supposed to get past the Nemesis Triangle?” Jason asked. It had taken them days to make the journey before and Kim just simply didn’t have that much time.

“It’s your home.” Rita said gently. “You were born there Jason. You’re linked to its power. You’ll always have access that others are denied.”

Jason reached into his pocket and pulled out the Phoenix crystal. The little red stone glowed softly and felt warm to his touch. It was Kimberly’s power, he thought miserably. It was his only connection to her now.

“Let’s do it.” He said firmly, walking over and placing one hand on Kim and the other on Tommy’s shoulder.

“Clear your mind Jason.” Rita instructed, just as she had trained Kimberly when the girl had first come to her. “Focus on your objective. See the pit clearly in your mind. Remember the feel of it, the smell. Every sense you can relive will make the transport easier. Teleportation is a reflex, when you have your target identified, focus it through the crystal, then push off and go. There’s no room for misgivings.”

Jason held the crystal firmly in the same hand that touched Kim. As he focused, it grew warmer and she stirred slightly. Saying a silent prayer that he didn’t get them all killed and that this wasn’t a huge trap by Rita, he focused the image of the pit through the crystal and without any warning they were gone.

“Power protect you.” Rita called softly after them.

They landed with a thud, Tommy losing his balance and rolling to prevent Kim from being harmed. The room was partially collapsed and sealed off at every entrance by large boulders, but the pit itself was undamaged and looked exactly the same. It was pitch black except for an eerie red glow emanating from the chamber below.

Tommy stood up, holding Kim tightly to him and spun around as if to assure himself that they were alone. Their entrance had been too easy. Usually a quest for power required them to fight some sort of guardian. That they had simply teleported in was beyond his experience.

Kimberly stirred in his arms and he relaxed his grip a little. “Well, we made it.” He said, somehow falling short of the aloof tone he was going for.

“Sorry about the landing.” Jason answered, although his voice was monotone and far from apologetic. “So,” He said, walking over and touching Kim, “We really going to do this?”

Tommy nodded, his own insecurities surfacing and they walked together to the mouth of the pit. “We don’t have a choice.”

“Smells the same.” Jason commented dryly as Tommy sat down on the edge. He hugged Kimberly tightly, rocking her a little and unwilling to let go.

“Bro, if this is what we’re gonna do, we need to do it.” Jason said and Tommy nodded, swallowing hard and releasing his hold on her a little.

Jason reached out and cupped Kimberly’s head in his hands. This close to the pit, his energy was at its peak and it coursed through her with more force than he intended. She twisted against Tommy’s grasp and screamed in pain. Jason winced and pulled his hands back, but at least she was alert again.

“Where am I?’ She asked.

“Oh God Kim, I’m so sorry.” Jason said in a rush. Stroking the top of her head as if she were a small child.

“Rita had the answer.” Tommy said softly. The two men looked at each other hesitantly as if wondering how to explain what they were about to do. Finally, Jason nodded and Tommy continued. “We’re back on Muirantias, the only way you can reconnect is to go back into the pit.”

Kim’s eyes widened and though sightless, seemed to stare at him in horror. She twisted and fought as if to run away. She was still weak, and her movements not very forceful at all, but the effort she put into them broke his heart.

“It’s the only way Beautiful.” He tried to sooth her, but she continued to struggle against him

“No.” She cried. “I can’t…I can’t.” She pleaded, fists digging into his chest.

“I can’t do it.” Jason said shaking his head. He looked at Tommy miserably and backed up a few steps. “I can’t do it.” He said again. He knew what was in that pit just as well as she did. He couldn’t sentence her to another submergence.

Tommy took a deep breath. He wasn’t any happier with this situation than Jason. But they were here now and just moments away from saving her. The realization that he couldn’t bear a life without her in it overwhelmed him. Selfish or not, he wouldn’t lose her now.

“Beautiful listen to me,” He said gently. “Maligore isn’t here. You’re in charge of this one. Rita swears the pit isn’t evil, it’s just a source of power. You are the one in charge of your own regeneration.” He didn’t know if he was getting through to her or not, but she had stopped struggling and was now sobbing quietly against him. “Jason and I are both here to help you. We can’t go in with you, but we’re right here and we’re not going to let you go. We’re going to stay with you. All you have to do is reach out and we’ll be here.”

He shifted her in his arms so that his face was close to hers. Her eyes were now completely clouded over, but they tracked his movements in the dim light and he willed her to see him. “Only you can do this, but the Power help me Kim I can’t lose you again. I need you with me. Do you understand?” His hand came up and caressed the side of her face. “I love you Beautiful, I’ve always loved you. I can’t lose you now, not when there’s still a chance for you to stay with me.” He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her. Softly first and then with ten years worth of carefully sealed up longing.

Jason stared at his friend, not knowing quite what to do. On the one hand, he was relieved Tommy had finally forgiven her. On the other, his friend had obviously forgotten he had an audience. He averted his gaze and stared uncomfortably at the dim outline of skulls that hadn’t completely collapsed when the Rangers had all but destroyed this place on their last visit.

Tommy pulled back and watched the smile spread across her face. Her eyes fluttered open and she struggled to see more than just the dim form in front of her. “Say it again.” She said softly.

“I love you and want you with me.” He said, his voice deep with emotion. She was weakening again. Whether it was the struggle against him or just her inability to retain the power lent her, he didn’t know, but he could see the strength quickly draining out of her.

“I love you too.” She said, leaning against his shoulder and smiling, “I never stopped.”

His breath caught in his throat and he didn’t bother to hold back the tears that dropped unheeded across his cheeks. “Then help me save you.” He begged. She paused, the smile fading from her face, then seemed to make a decision. She nodded her acceptance and he all but crushed her to him in relief.

“Jase.” He called out and Jason nodded and turned around. He pretty much figured where this was going to go. “She needs more energy to do this.” Tommy said and Kim winced but didn’t shrink from Jason’s touch.

Jason was able to ease into it better this time, but she still groaned and clung to Tommy.

“Is that enough?” He asked and she nodded.

“You have to focus Kim.” Tommy instructed, passing on the information Rita had given them. “Find a memory, Rita said something peaceful and joyous. It has to be enough to keep your mind off the pain. You have to push away the fear. All your emotions have to be positive. She said once you’re inside, you’re training will take over and you’ll know what to do.” He began to disengage from Kim and move a step back, but Jason stepped forward and stopped him.

“Wait.” He said, remembering their other instruction. “Her Zeo crystal.”

Tommy nodded and helped Kim produce her crystal and morpher. Jason held them tightly as Tommy stood up fully and braced Kimberly in a sitting position on the edge.

“Kiss me again?” She asked uncertainly as he began to back away. He exhaled the breath he’d been holding and leaned down to kiss her once more, trying in that one simple contact to express the depth of all the feelings that assaulted him.

“I’m right here waiting for you.” He whispered, tears falling down both their cheeks.

Jason stepped forward and hugged her gently, kissing her forehead. “I’m right here too sweetheart.” He said. “Rita says the connection should be re-established instantly. Just reach out and I’ll be right here.”

She nodded and squeezed his hand as he stepped back. She was alert, but her body was incredibly weak. It shocked her how difficult it was to control her own movements. Tommy was holding her steady, she realized, and she was balanced precariously on the edge.

“You have to find a memory to focus on.” Tommy said gently. “Let me know when you’re ready.”

Kimberly nodded. “I’m ready.” She said far more calmly than he felt himself. Tommy glanced over to Jason who heaved a giant breath, and then nodded also. Leaning down to kiss her softly one more time, he removed his hold on her and she fell backward into the pit.

The next few seconds seemed to drag on for an eternity for Kimberly. She had her memory. It was the night she and Tommy had spent together up at the lake. Everything was perfect that summer. She was staying in Angel Grove to finish high school, she was living with Aisha, she was a Ranger, and she was hopelessly in love with Tommy. They had consummated that love in the woods up near the lakeshore and had talked long into the night of being together forever.

A few microseconds later the memory strayed and linked to other memories. She remembered that she had been a Ninjetti back then and flown the crane zord. That was a wonderful zord; powerful and a joy to fly. She held a pink Ninjetti power coin then, not the red coin she’d been given when she fell through time. At that one brief stray thought, a moment of panic assaulted her as she remembered the boys had taken her Zeo crystal, but not her power coin. She squashed the panic as soon as it happened, realizing she had to stay focused. Out of habit, she twisted her arm around and summoned the coin into her hand. The feel of the coin, brought back thoughts of her old zords again.

She had loved the crane zord, but her favorite had been the firebird thunderzord. The memory of it coursed through her and she exalted in the old feelings of flying in it. As the microseconds ticked by, her thoughts shifted back to the present again. Perhaps, if she wasn’t too far down, she could throw the coin back up and out of the pit. But as soon as her fingers closed around it, she hit the lava below and was consumed by its energy.

Tommy’s life ended as he watched her fall over the edge. All the memories and emotions of the last time she and Jason had been dropped into its depths came flooding back. But this time, he had willingly let go of her, encouraged her to go. The pain of that realization constricted his chest. If this didn’t work, he’d never forgive himself. He forced his mind to focus on the same place in his heart that he had found her before; when he refused to believe she was dead. She lived there, in his soul, and he held on and embraced it with all his might.

Jason also wrestled with the panic that enveloped him as Kim dropped out of sight. All his fears and doubts in Rita came screaming forward and it was all he could do not to rush forward and keep her from the fate he knew was to come. He gulped at the air of the chamber and forcefully steeled himself to focus on one single fact; he loved his twin and he wanted her back.

Tommy wasn’t sure if it was his imagination that heard the soft, muffled scream, but he did see Jason physically double over. He refused to panic, watching Jason and holding on tightly to Kim with his heart. His efforts were rewarded a few seconds later when Jason smiled and bounced back up, a huge whoop of triumph reverberating through the cave.

“She did it!” He yelled, with all the excitement the two had shared as they watched her win the gold at the Pan Games so many years before. Tommy exhaled forcefully, tears coming to his eyes again, but it wasn’t quite over yet. Both of them turned to where the pit was exploding fire upward in huge mushroom clouds and directed all their thoughts of love towards her.

What happened next was completely unexpected and completely contrary to what had happened before. The pit began to rumble and from its depths a huge plum of fire shot upwards. Jason and Tommy took several steps back and dove for cover under a small enclave as flames spread everywhere. The plum shot higher and both of them stared in awe as it spread what seemed to be wings. The firebird screamed a sound that Tommy briefly thought his student Kira would be impressed with and boulders and rocks tumbled from the ceiling and walls in all directions. The bird turned from the pit, flew a complete circuit around the small room, and then disappeared.

When Tommy and Jason crawled out of the shelter they had ducked into, they were as much awed as unnerved. The chamber had been completely restored, not as it had been when Maligore ruled here but in clean white marble. Gone were the skulls and rank of death and torture that had always haunted their memories of this place. The walls stretched three stories high and glistened with an aura of peace and tranquility. The pit itself still throbbed with red light, but it was neither ominous nor foreboding. On the edge of the pit, standing with her back to them and dressed in Ninjetti robes, was Kimberly.

Jason let out another whoop and ran towards her. She lifted the hood and mask from her face, then smiled as she turned and jumped into his arms. He spun her around several times then hugged her tightly, rocking back and forth with enthusiasm.

Tommy stared at her, hardly believing what he saw. She was alive…and she was all right. He stood, rooted to his spot, simply watching her laugh and hug Jason over and over again. When at last she turned to him, his breath caught in his throat. Her soft brown eyes were clear and alert and held more than an ounce of triumph and mischief in them.

“Last chance.” She said, coming to a stop in front of him. He frowned in confusion, still caught up in the magic of her bright eyes, and she fought the urge to laugh. She was full of victory and nothing was going to faze her right now. “Last chance to take it back.” She clarified.

“Take what back?” he asked.

“That you still love me.” She said simply and his heart nearly broke again.

He shook his head firmly, breath ragged from the release of all the emotions he’d suffered in the last twenty four hours. “Not a chance.” He growled, grabbing her and pulling her into a kiss that expressed all the relief and fear and hope and passion that he’d kept welled up inside him. There was nothing gentle about that kiss. It was frantic and desperate and she met and returned it at every corner.

Jason grinned and chuckled to himself uncomfortably, but before he turned around to give them a moment of privacy, he realized something that he hadn’t noticed before. Kimberly was in the red Ninjetti uniform she’d worn since they’d been thrown back in time to deal with Ivan. The thought stopped him cold and he allowed himself a closer inspection of the room.

A chill crept up his spine as he looked at the white marble, which seemed to glow and illuminate the room by itself. A border of large blocks, three hands high and completely circling the chamber, contained intricate carvings of animals. He’d seen similar carvings on the temple on Phaedos, but many more varieties lined the walls here. He allowed his gaze to be drawn upwards and there, carved in deep relief into the ceiling three stories above them, was a detailed statue of the phoenix, circling protectively around the cavern.

He glanced down at Kim’s Zeo crystal and morpher in his hand and then allowed himself a glance at the couple frantically clinging to one another as if they could somehow press two bodies into one. He had forgotten to take Kim’s Ninjetti power coin from her and she’d taken it into the pit with her.

“Shit.” He mumbled softly.

The End

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