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TV Shows » Power Rangers » It Was Supposed To Be Forever
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Author of 5 Stories |
"What are you talking about?" Young Kimberly giggled, eyeing her sillily despite the thoughtful and unsmiling expression upon her face. "You live just two blocks away from me, we go to the same school everyday, and I sit next to you in every class we have together. How can I possibly have the time to forget you when I see you so much?"
She giggled again, and this time she was rewarded with a small, almost wistful smile.
“I know," She averted her gaze, sighing. “It’s just; you're going to be an amazing gymnast someday. Everyone's going to want your autograph and picture, because you'll be famous. And well...Just don't forget about me." Kimberly met her eyes, falling silent at the Asian's words. “You’re my best friend, Kim. Everyone always says that after high school things always change. Friends drift apart and never see each other anymore, not even remembering the others name. I just don't want that to ever be us, you know?"
Kim nodded in understanding.
“You’re apart my life, Trini; I'll never forget you, I promise." Trini grinned, bobbing her head lightly as they glanced down the shoreline at Billy, Jason, and Zack playing frisbee. The warm wind swiped delicately through the dark waves of her hair as her eyes settled back in front of her; her body swayed gently to the song of the ocean crawling along the sand.
Kim's gaze never left her as their conversation drifted into a closure of silence, but Trini never responded as she slipped back into her poetic musings. They had been friends for years now, but Kim felt as if she were meeting Trini for the first time. As if she were witnessing something utterly divine. Trini was indeed a beautiful person inside and out, but the depth of her perception was the most radiant. Kimberly knew that was how she forever wanted to remember her.
"What about me?" Kimberly whispered, grains of powdery sand flowing from her finger tips and catching to gentle winds. " Will you forget about me? When your off earning scholarships and going to prestigious schools- Will you still remember me? Would you still want to be a wannabe gymnast's friend."
" Always and forever, Kim." Trini said softly, staring at her, looking wiser beyond her years. " Because anyone one else would have a lot to live up to, you're my best friend."
" Always and forever." Kimberly repeated softly. "I like the sound of that."
And she hated herself for it.
Gymnastics had been her passion, since she could practically stand, fulfilling so much within her that even being a ranger couldn't measure up to it. Kimberly wasn't the best ranger, she knew it, but where she lacked in ranger skills, she excelled in gymnastics. But even though doing gymnastics conciliated her, but they couldn't do the same for her memories.
Trini had been right- she had become a successful gymnast after all those years she lived in denial, but she had been right, also. Kim would never forget Trini. Even after death, Trini would live with her always. The only problem was that Kimberly didn't know how to live anymore when everything seemed to weigh so heavily on top of her. Gymnastics no longer felt like a passion anymore, but a daily duty to help pass time. Thanks to Tommy's new obligations, her stay in Florida had been extended in order to 'keep her safe' as Tommy had so charily put it.
Kimberly didn't like it. In fact, she took full pleasure in nagging him about the fact that she served as a ranger longer than any other female after her. That she more than once kicked a monsters ass without his help. Not to mention, she had to deal with Rocky, more than once, eyeing her goods clung within the tight fabric of her uniform, and battling PMS in the arms of battle. Of course, when the conversation wondered to that, Tommy immediately shut her up with a kiss, mainly to dull the image in his mind before she could lay on the heavy details of heavy blood flow and cramps. Kim would have kneed him in the groin for that, if his lips and the moment had not tasted so good.
Another pang in her heart.
How could she feel so good about anything after losing her best friend, nearly two weeks ago?
Her heart tearing, conflicted by her guilt and thoughts, she sighed. It was already well over an hour, since the gym had closed to the gymnasts, leaving Kim to piddled amongst the solitude in the company of her memories. She found herself needing to do this more often these days, needing to feel the tightening of her muscles and burning beneath her skin, to loosen all the pain and melt away the world, even if it were but a split second. The more she flung herself off the vault, threw herself off the edge of the beam, swung so hard around the bars they flexed wildly within her grip- the more she wanted to keep pushing herself. The more she wanted the lava of her endurance to overflow within her and explode in her fitness training.
“Just like I found you," Kim jumped and spun around at the elderly voice, distant in remembrance. “Training hard without end, always striving for the best, even when you've already achieved at harnessing your very best. Till this day, I have never seen anyone as passionate and spirited about this sport as you, Kimberly."
Kim could barely hold the small smile from fleeting off her face. “I didn't know anyone was still here."
“Apparently," His accent too light to hold any sign of anger. “You know better than anyone that its against the gymnasium policies for any gymnast to perform any type of exercise alone on the gym equipment. No matter what level of expertise they may bear." How could Kim forget? Two days straight in the hospital after that spill at the Youth Center, those years ago had knocked enough sense into her to know she never wanted to be cooped up like that again.
“I’m sorry, coach." She looked away, eyes focused intently on the powdered tape around her hands. She curled her fingers into her palms. “I just- I just got caught up in old memories, I guess."
"Ah, missing the sport; reliving your triumphant days." He eyed her carefully as his hands sunk into the blue pockets of his sweat pants. “You’re still young, my dear. The gold can still be yours. I must admit, though I am proud of your wish to be someone's mentor in the near future of your career, I wish I could witness another victory from you one last time."
“Those days are over, its someone else turn to bring home the gold." She grinned softly, turning away from him to collect her towel discarded away from the vault. Nothing in her voice illuminated the enthusiasm she once had of her new dream to start her own gym- Anything that brought her bliss only felt sinful.
"Perhaps, you are right." The fine wrinkles beneath his eyes thicken slightly to pronounce his ages as he smiled in reminisce. It felt like yesterday when he first saw her on the beam in her own spot light above the ground far more advanced than half the students that trained years for the Pan Global under a coach. With the natural born talent Kim harnessed, it truly surprised him that no local instructor snatched her up a long time ago, yet nonetheless he was grateful that the opportunity presented itself to him. To bring home the gold you had to recruit the golden. But even Kimberly had her flaws- instantaneous departures during practice made him question her dedication to the sport more than once. Still, the young woman was - and remained- unstoppable at what she did, rightfully owning the title she worked hard to achieve.
If only her heart didn't suffer so much.
A coach knows their students physical strengths and weaknesses as much as their mental and emotional strengths and weaknesses. Somewhere down the road, Gunthar Schmidt stopped thinking of Kimberly as only a student under his wing, but a daughter- her pain was his, and never in the few years of knowing her had he felt more powerless to protect her from that pain. Even in her performance it showed. Her spiritedness and unyielding enthusiasm to teach the younger gymnasts had faltered; her mind was completely drowned in the suffocating thoughts that Gunthar couldn't begin to comprehend. Kimberly had planned to extend her stay in the Florida gymnasium once she had returned from her trip, which was odd alone; he already deduced that she would want to begin her plans to move back to California earlier to be closer to her remaining family and friends. Whom she had lost had without a doubt meant a great deal to her and the dread of her passing still hanging heavily over her head in gigantic swells of black clouds and sickening storms. Now each day he was witnessing her dreams dissolve away into almost mechanical reactions to each day, more hardships getting in the way, though Kimberly would never be one to be strict or hostel even in her darker days.
"You know Kimberly; you don't have to feel obligated to get back to work so soon. You're welcome to take as much time off as you need to recuperate and tend to your own needs." Schmidt spoke gently, as if each word of tenderness and care would only hit like bricks against her skull. She whipped the stray drizzle of water off her chin as she lowered her water bottle away from her lips and sat it back down onto the floor. The coach continued, holding Kim's decrepit and tired gaze. "Helena would be more than happy to take over the choreography instructions for the next week or two if you need them."
“I can't turn my back on the girls this close to the trials." Kimberly sighed, exhausting suddenly lapping through her body in heat strokes. “Besides, I have nothing else better to do; might as well do something productive with my time."
Coach Schmidt clamped his teeth beneath his sealed lips, bobbing his head lightly as if understanding what she was telling him. Kim had yet to talk to anyone about her trip to Angel Grove for the funeral, when she got back it was all business.
“Do you want to talk about what’s really bothering you?"
"Coach, I'm fine, I promise you." She smiled a smile that was anything but convincing to him. “It’s just been... a really long week, you know? And now I have a lot of work to do here; I'm just trying to get back into the routine."
Gunthar halted any further actions of hasty motion as he laid his hands onto Kim's shoulder and made her look him in the eye.
"You're anything, but well, Kim. I can see it, your students and the staff can see it." Kim turned her gaze away, but stood motionless. “You need to take care of yourself, grieve. I know you lost someone who meant a great deal to you."
"Coach-"
"No buts, Kimberly." He lifted a finger to silence her. “Take another week off to tend to yourself. I don't want to see you step a foot inside this gym until your week is up, is that understood?"
Kimberly's mouth gapped open and flapped shut numerous times as coach Schmidt squeezed her shoulders gently. Satisfied, he turned away, preparing to leave the gym, before he turned around.
“Oh, and not that it'll matter much since your about to take some time off," His hands stuffed themselves deep into his pockets. "The martial arts competitors for this years Pan Global games will be affiliating with our gym in the lower rooms where the beginner gymnasts train. Seems there are problematic situations at their facility. I offered we unite and share ours, since Kane's studio is too small to support all of his students." Kim's brow curved towards one another at the news. “They should be moving in within the next day or two."
"Kane? Master Kane of that capoeira complex down the street of Portman and 9th?" Kimberly inquired, something tugging in her mind.
"That would be the one."
Coach Schmidt turned and exited the gym, leaving Kim on her own as an idea gravitated in her mind.
Maybe it was a good idea that she took a break from gymnastics after all.
Angel Grove
"I didn't mean to rouse you so early,"
He wiped the sandpaper skin of his hand over his face, feeling fatigue burning his eyes like a second layer over his corneas as he turned his face away from the invasion of a perfect day. She stepped in after him, her softness of words and smile lingering after him as he turned away from her leaving the door gaping without so much as a welcome from his lips. She shut the door, the light draining from the piercing silence and ruins of the room; heaps of cardboard boxes leaking spread sheets and wires over bold lettering across the boxes reading: 'Fragile, handle with care' along with their rightful locations. Furniture weighed with suit cases and hardware; stray strips of tape and markers scattered here and there on various surfaces in a result of haste.
She circled the living room, remembering exactly how each piece of furniture once set accordingly to make the place homey and hospitable before a blizzard tore through and made the space between the walls of the room cramp and unpretentious.
" Y- your moving, aren't you?" The words produced more as an utter of astonishment, rather than an inquiry that requested an answer. He didn't need to give her one. For three years he lived in this house, taking them all by surprise when he returned to Earth to stay after finding love on a distant planet named Acquitter. He never abbreviated on exactly what happened, she assumed maybe it was falling out of love or missing the people and planet he left behind. It went unspoken that Gordon’s sacrifice had shattered something within the first chosen rangers that even the second generation couldn't thoroughly understand.
“Were you ever going to tell us?" She asked, eyes widen; her heart splitting open and spilling out. He had to look away, the redness of her paining seeping through the walls and thrashing on to the floor like a tsunami against cliffs.
"Were you ever going to tell me?" He turned away from her, finding a perch as far away from those intoxicating celestial eyes as the tight room would allow him to travel.
“Kat, this really isn't the best time-"
"Then, when is the right time, Billy?" She closed the gap between them, invading her beauty into his soul, eyes seeking out his fleeing own. “After you've landed on Aquitar, leaving me with a note? Or hey, how about another one of your damn mullet video transmissions! Not only was that intimate, but the quality was stunning as hell!"
Billy's nerves tighten at the thought of his sudden departure as his heart shivered at the Australian's choice of words.
“I never said I was returning to Aquitar," Billy walked a tight circle to try to tame the frustration welling up within his chest. His fingers pushed through his blonde locks, eyes still refusing to meet her burning gaze of hope. “But I can't stay here either."
Kat wiped the shiver of tears from her cheeks, her skin hot against her finger tips as she collected the salty moisture.
“You mean you don't think you could stay here with me," The amount of agony in her voice stole the thin amount of strength that kept him distant from her. He closed the distance between them as she wrapped her arms herself feeling tormented by his sudden affection, knowing that in a matter of time it would all come to an end. He tried to wrap her in his arms; she pulled away, hands pressing against his cotton shirt and lean muscles beneath. The push and pull game, weaken Kat to no end as she broke into sobs fighting to keep him at arms length; fighting to keep her body from melting against his, feeling the beat of his heart against hers.
Kat fought him till her strength drained from her, and Billy waited patiently till she had weaken from tears and rage; hurt and abandonment, before he could fully fold her into this arms. Her sobs accompanied her warm breath against his ear, burning at his soul.
Why was it harder for him to stay, when this woman in his arms should have made his heart make the facile decision with ease? Why was he so torn when he shouldn't be?
“I love you, Billy." She breathe softly, pulling back gently in his arms with her gaze settled at the bunch of is shirt grasped within her fingers. The feeling of his hands running across her back drew her lips closer to his in an unsealed kiss; it was that ghostlike feeling of the faintest trace of skin and warmth; seeping passion and intoxication. They danced like that for awhile, thrown between what they both waited and what the other was ripping away from them. Kat hated these moments, the last few minutes before she knew her heart would dive off a cliff, but this time was different, she didn't know if she could ascend from this as easily as she had done with Tommy, and her ex Chris, after him. This was love; it burned, consumed and thrived, ripped her out from the inside, before it twisted every nerve in your body like a live wire inflaming life and all its little necessities.
He whispered his ' love you’s' and set loose his apologies, but they felt perfunctory and automatic, telling her only what she wanted to hear, while not giving her what she needed.
“You told me years ago, that you came back to Earth, because you missed home, your family and friends. You told me that you didn't want to be anywhere else in the galaxy as long as there could be an us. You told me that you loved me, and became my haven, I never felt like that with anyone one before, not anyone." She trembled meeting his gaze for the first time in the long minutes they clenched each other in a rage of emotion. " But see, before now, I never knew that you had felt the way I do...for someone else."
Billy's head shifted slightly from side to side as he gazed at her tearing eyes with his bewildered own.
" I did stay in Aquitar those years ago, but for all the wrong reasons, Kat. I told you, before..." Her finger tips hushed his words on top his tongue as she leaned her forehead against his in contempt for what she was about to say.
" I'm not talking about Cestria, Billy." Her throat tighten and strained to keep her voice steady from the retracted sobs. " I meant Trini."
Billy's heart all but shattered within his chest at the sound of her name. His arms loosen from around Kat's waist as his head bowed down and his body trembled, all from the sound of that name. For days, he had been running from that name, and everyone that repressed the memories attached, only to have it slapped back in to his face and jolt his soul. Kat pulled free from his arms, trembling- the truth unveiling and wounding her worse than she had prepared herself to handle.
A sob braced her throat and caused her jaw to ache with strain to contain it.
" When I saw you countless times gazing across the way at her, I looked away and shook the thought free from my mind. Trini was with Jason, they were in love and getting married- that same night we all found out about their engagement, I found you along outside, and you kissed me." Kat pushed back a lock of her hair behind her ear as her gaze shifted, recalling memories. "You took me home and made love to me... you were just seeking solace, weren't you? You were hurting that night, because you lost her to your best friend."
" That night had nothing to do about them, that was about us."
" How can I be so sure, Billy." She said, taking a slow step back away from him. " How can I be so sure that the reason your relationship with Cestria didn't work, because you were still in love with Trini?" She hugged herself as she spoke, feeling the chill of reality swallow her whole. "I mean, damn it, Billy, I loved her too. She was my friend just as much as she was yours, despite how long we may have known each other. She was a wonderful person. But never before now had I known how much I envied her."
Tears outlined her cheeks with her distress.
"You told me once, even before you left for Aquitar that you loved her for so long, but never once told her. How could I possibly know that the real reason you came back to Earth wasn't because you were homesick, but that you finally got the courage you didn't have those years ago to tell her? To tell her you loved her."
Billy turned away from her, fingers running over his face and into his hair, before his hands framed his hips. He couldn't bring himself to look at her, the room was pulling tight around his abdominal and gravity held him down and seeped him through everything dark and unendurable. Both the past and the present were suffocating him, like an infant unable to remove a pillow from over its head. Death and love were two things he never knew how to manage, something he never understood.
And healing... Where could he even begin?
As much as an intellectual he came to be, there were many things he could never understand, and with everything happening now... All he wanted was his mind to shut down and for the world to just stop rotating.
For a long time, silence plowed the room and eluded the voice of their thoughts and emotions.
" You're right," Billy spoke so softly, yet the impact slapped Kat in the heart. " I am returning to Aquitar. I'll be teleporting back to the planet by nightfall tonight."
Kat's eyes widen at the revelation, he had earlier dismissed without hesitance. Her hand reached out for the nearest stack of boxes with blue prints overflowing from them with diagrams as she felt the world tugged from beneath her feet. She never wanted to believe that him leaving could be true.
" Just like that," She said turning to face the short stack of boxes, the pale blue and dark designs mashing together in fuses of shapes without details. " You're just going to leave without resolving anything between us?"
" I have lots of preparations to take care of before I leave, Kat." He turned back to face her, his eyes hard and voice steady. " You should go."
Kat didn't know how she had the strength to stand, time just stopped along with her heart, and her tears ran dry along her eyelids. She stood dazed, before her eyes feel to where her hand laid trembling over the blueprints. Timid and heart broken, she finally left with a wispy thought that her mind never bothered to reflect on- Blue prints labeled: P. C. ESTABLISHMENT, 2001. Echo Version 3.
Reefside
" School does starts tomorrow; not everyone wants to spend their last day of freedom doing what they can being doing at home." The maroon haired owner eased a tall glass of his favorite fruit smoothy, decorated with a mini umbrella and a stripped straw his way with an astute smile playing across her face. " I may not have many teens today, but this business never fails at luring attractive men for company."
"Thanks, Hayley-"
“You think that guy over there would give me his number?"
Tommy glanced over his shoulder despite himself, before meeting Hayley's smug grin. Tommy offered her sheepish grin of his own, before the two mended in laugher. " Who said MIT students had no sense of humor."
" My parents; when I told them I was putting all my talents on hold to run a hang out for teens and placing all my skills on managing registers- they found it hilarious." She shook her head at the memory as she swung a dish rag over her shoulder. "That is until I told them I was serious."
Tommy's lips pressed into a fine line as his gaze fell down to the fruity blend of his drink; he gave the straw a lap in the glass.
" I know how... burdensome my life can be," He began, his eyes still leveled at his beverage. " If you ever feel-"
" I feel like pessimism should be tattooed on your forehead, Dr. Oliver." Hayley leaned forward on the bar, raising Tommy's chin with her finger tips. She took a quick look to make sure no one was nearby as she spoke. " You didn't make my life burdensome, you made it worth living; purposeful. I've always been grateful to be trusted so much as a friend to be told such an amazing thing. Now, I'm apart of it and I'm placing my abilities to better cause than I ever could working for NASA or any other extensive technology corporation. So don't you for one second think you dragged me into this by the scalp of my hair."
She flicked the end of her dish rag lightly at Tommy's shoulder mirroring his spreading smile. Tommy placed his hand on top of hers still laid on the bar.
" You're a great friend, Hales."
"Aw, well... Don't praise me too much." Hayley smiled, slapping the top of his hand, lightly. " Besides, I get a kick out of knowing the rest of world knows Clark Kent, whereas, I know you're really Superman."
Tommy had to laugh out loud as the woman hopped back to work completing orders for a group of new customers. Tommy took a long slurp of his drink, the berries and melon taste pouring cooly down his throat, before he felt a vibration against the top of his thigh. He quickly dug through the tight folds of his pocket, raising up on his stool to do so without slipping off the footings of the seat. The sleek black verison phone fell into the palm of his hand with the screen illuminating around the callers name; Tommy pressed the send button.
" Hey beautiful, thought maybe I wouldn't get a call today."
"Hey to you, too." Her voice in his nearly caused the distance between them to dissolve. " Sorry, it took me so long to call. Coach and I did double time with the girls today. You know, to make up for the time I lost. My replacement did a decent job, but the girls are still a little rough around the edges. Its going to be a long few weeks."
" Tell me about it. I have to go back to school tomorrow, so I've been rustling up my weekly assignments and lesson plans for our new principle to review. Apparently, Principle Reeves had a sudden departure, and the school got an immediate replacement before Reeves' seat could get cold." Tommy took another long sip of his drink, before he spoke. "I guess this had been planned for sometime now."
" That's kinda odd, the staff weren't notified or anything? The principle didn't want a farewell party, at least?"
" Dean Reeves liked to maintain a relationship with each associate of the school staff, helps keep the school environment as amicable and benevolent as possible. I really enjoyed working with him; he was always involved. It was a shame to hear that he left so abruptly, but I would have thought he might want a going away gathering as well. The new principle met with the staff when I was absent for the... funeral." Tommy's voice fell to a hush at the word funeral, the mere of burying one of his friends was still a sharp pang to his heart and mind trying to grasp the reality. Without a reply, Kim simply immersed herself in silence; he couldn't even imagine how Kim was feeling.
Tommy licked his lips wet, before breezing ahead, making a mental note to talk to her about it in a less public environment.
"Supposedly, she runs a school like a general running a troop of soldiers to war. Only if you loose a limb, she expects you to keep fighting and hold your tears for your mother to baby you."
" Oh, I doubt any principle could be like that."
" I don't know Kim," Tommy pressed his palm flat on the surface of the bar, remembering all the horror stories he had been told. " My colleagues looked pretty shaken when they told me."
The light sound of Kimberly's laughter put him at ease.
" You'll be fine, handsome." She said, her voice more brighten, rather than lethargic. " I'm sure it'll be nothing the great Tommy Oliver can't handle."
"With my luck, we'll be fighting on the school yard about field trip permissions to digs and science club budges." Tommy chuckled. " Maybe that'll spark my students interest in my lectures." Tommy murmured, sighing at the thought. Kim giggled, before coursing Tommy to do the same, missing the curious glances Hayley threw his way as she hopped from customer to customer serving drinks.
As stubborn as she was to admit it, Hayley was going to need more help on the floor, especially if she wanted to find out who it was that made Tommy smile, like that. Yes, the man was allowed to smile, she was actually relieved to know he still could after the tragedy had taken place. But why? Why was he smiling?
This wasn't the only occurrence; yesterday afternoon she had dropped by his house to see him after he kept himself in solitude to mourn for days after the funeral, assuring her that he was fine and not attempting to commit any suicide attempts. Of course, Hayley knew he wouldn't do it...hoped, anyway. She was just at lost on how to be there for him and help through such a tragedy when he wouldn't let her in to help. It was difficult enough not knowing Trini. Jason always told her, " Trini is very deep into her studies on geology and plans for their wedding that time just ran away from her", so what could Hayley possibly say to comfort Tommy on someone she didn't know. It was a shame Hayley would never got the chance, again.
The day she finally saw Tommy, he told her about everything that had happened, over the last few days she missed, and something didn't fit. There was an important factor that didn't add up; everything were just so uncanny and bizarre that it started to chew away at Hayley's mind. Tommy would smile or chuckle softly over things when he thought she wasn't looking, gazing longingly in areas when he didn't realize she had noticed- it was like he was hiding the secret of him being a super hero all over again!
Hayley hated not knowing, but most of all, she hated that she wanted to know. Call her passive- aggressive or whatever, but that was one character trait that annoyed her about herself. At least now she was one step further along the trail; she knew there was someone supplying these new mannerisms rather to him just growing simply insane. Now, she just wanted to know who that person was just as much as she wanted to choke herself with her dish rag for allowing curiosity to prod her, so easily.
" Hayley, I think I'm going to head home." Hayley nearly jumped as Tommy now stood directly in front of her on the other side of the bar. She blinked; exactly how long had she been immersed in thought? Tommy's left hand jiggled the slim phone in his pocket while his other embraced his car keys, waiting for her to respond- but he didn't wait.
Tommy was gone before she could think to utter another word, nor register the sadden look upon his face.
She turned her face towards the ceiling hanging over her, drowning her in its cliche' white paint and imprisonment. Where had the day gone? At first, it had begun in her usual routine, wake by four am, shower, breakfast, and to the gym by five- thirty am. Train the girls, give her prep talks, acts encouragement, all while maintaining wide, plastic smiles, till late in the evening.
Then, came the talk with coach- "Take a week off," He said. "And don't set another foot back into this gym, until that week has been complete."
B-E-A-Utiful!
It didn't work of course; not in the why he had hoped. If she couldn't be in that gym, fine! She found another: Kane's Capoeira Dojo. Okay, so it wasn't her first choice, but it was indeed a martial art, and along the lines of exactly what she needed. There was no way she was wallowing around her house for an entire week to kill herself in memories and pick up household chores. She needed to get out- the walls were suffocating her to no end, throwing themselves down on top of her like rampaging titans in clouds of white garments. The silence was agonizing, pulsing with her own lonesomeness.
Exhausted from her first day at a new sport, she dragged herself to this torture chamber, only to be flagged down by her neighbor, Mrs. Fray, whose kindness managed to annoy Kim for the first time since she knew her.
Now, here she was, hours later, recalling her phone call with Tommy, missing his body next to hers, his kisses, and breath against her ear. He genuinely sounded like he missed her, he had told her again and again, careful to keep the words hushed in a public area. After all, no one could know they were back together -or would be at some point-, if there still was a threat out there waiting for him. Neither of them wanted to risk the chance to get the other hurt when they could prevent it.
It was unruly how she could just love that man, so unconditionally.
So why didn't you tell him about it? Kim groaned, sitting up to toss her legs over the end of her queen sized bed to set her feet on the floor and trek slowly into her living room.
It was amazing how a cube of cardboard could swallow your heart and sear your pain to its utmost. She edged closer, cautious steps on top the carpeted floor that seemed to explode under her pressure. The box was open, Mrs. Fray had bad eyes and missed placed her glasses, before she noticed that it had been delivered to the wrong doorstep. Inside, a short note laid unfolded and written in clean cursive letters:
Take care of these precious things and all the secrets they contain. Never forget my words to you.
Chang Kwan
Kimberly sat the letter aside and gazed down at the contents within the box, a small heap of journals and worn notebooks that all once belonged to Trini Kwan.
Read and review! Also, a special thanks to those who have reviewed. To Shawn30 and Rickey, thank you for your comments, corrections, and friendship that helped me complete this chapter.
Happy reading, everyone!!!
EclipsingFlames
