Kimberly stared into the fireplace in her family room. The flames leapt
and crackled around the fresh logs, much the same way flames of a different
sort curled around Kimberly's heart.
I killed him, she thought. I killed Tommy. His dying words
echoed in her head: It's all right, Kimberly. You did the best you could.
Everyone makes mistakes. I love you, beautiful.
"I love you, too, Tommy," she whispered, the tears in her
eyes blurring the image of the fire. "Only now you'll never know how
much." Kimberly wrapped her arms around her knees, letting the tears
flow freely, not caring what her dad or brother thought. Distantly, she
heard the phone ring. Her father came into the family room.
"Kim, sweetheart, Jason's on the phone. Do you feel up to it?"
he asked his daughter. His concern was readily apparent.
"Yeah, I'll take it," Kimberly choked out, wiping her eyes with
the back of her hand. "Jason?"
"Kim, how are you holding up?" Jason's voice said. "Are
you okay over there?"
"I'm..." Kim trailed off, waiting for her dad to be out of earshot.
"I'm not good, Jason. I can't stop thinking about it. This cut deeper
than any of them, even Rocky's."
Jason sighed. "I know. Tommy was my best bud. I still can't believe
he's gone." His voice grew serious. "Kim, Billy and I have been
talking. We have a plan." Jason then proceeded to tell Kimberly what
he and Billy had worked out.
"Count me in," Kimberly replied.
A week later, Jason's phone rang. He knew who would be on the other
end before he even picked it up.
"It's ready," Billy told him.
"I'll be there."
When Billy had returned from Aquitar to take Rocky's place on the team,
he had used his savings to buy a small house on the outskirts of Angel
Grove. That was where Jason, Zack, Trini and Kimberly were headed. Billy
answered the door, handing them each colored tapers. Jason received a red
taper, Trini, yellow, Zack, one green and one black, and Kimberly, one
pink and one white. Billy held a blue taper. This ceremony had been planned
out so thoroughly, they had no need to speak.
The five entered the living room. Thick midnight blue curtains covered
the windows, blocking out the noonday sun. On the mantle of the fireplace
stood, in a row, framed eight-by-ten portraits of their fallen comrades,
a colored votive or two in front of each photo. The five lit their tapers
and one by one lit the votives. Billy went first, lighting the blue votives
in front of Justin and Rocky's pictures. Trini then stepped forward, lighting
Tanya and Aisha's yellow votives. Zack went next, lighting the green votives
in front of Adam and Tommy, then Adam's black votive. Jason stepped forward,
lighting the red votives for Tommy and Rocky. Finally, Kimberly lit the
pink votive for Katherine and the white votive for Tommy. In front of Tommy's
votive she paused, pressed her fingertips to her lips, then touched them
to Tommy's picture.
The five sat in a circle: Jason, Trini, Billy, Zack, and Kimberly. Billy
handed a small glass bowl filled with a clear liquid to Jason, who set
his red taper in a holder in front of him. "I am the Red Ranger,"
he spoke, his voice firm. "I call upon the Red Protectors of Tyrannosaurus,
Red Dragon, Ape and Star for guidance for myself, Rocky DeSantos, and Tommy
Oliver." Jason took off his morphers, set them next to his candle
and took a drink from the clear bowl in his hands before passing it to
Trini.
"I am the Yellow Ranger. I call upon the Yellow Protectors of Sabertooth
Tiger, Griffin, Bear, and Balance for guidance for myself, Aisha Campbell,
and Tanya Sloan." She set her morphers next to her yellow taper
and drank from the bowl.
Billy set down his blue candle and accepted the bowl. "I am the Blue
Ranger. I call upon the Blue Protectors of Triceratops, Unicorn, Wolf,
and Triangle to guide myself, Rocky DeSantos, and Justin Stewart."
He placed his morphers next to his candle, drank from the bowl, and passed
it to Zack.
Zack set down the green candle first. "I am the Green Ranger. I call
upon the Green Protectors of Dragon and Square to guide myself, Tommy Oliver,
and Adam Park." He drank from the bowl after placing down the morphers.
he then put down the black candle. "I was the Black Ranger. I call
upon the Black Protectors of Mastodon, Black Lion, and Frog to guide myself
and Adam Park." He placed the empty black morpher next to the black
candle and took a second sip from the bowl before passing it to Kimberly,
who accepted it with shaky hands.
She set down her pink candle. "I am the Pink Ranger. I call upon the
Pink Protectors of Pterodactyl, Firebird, Crane and Oval to guide myself
and Katherine Hilliard." She set her morpher next to the candle and
took a swallow from the bowl. She continued, in a shakier voice, "I
loved the White Ranger. In his name, I call upon the White Protectors of
White Tiger and Falcon to guide Tommy Oliver." She set his empty white
morpher next to the white taper and finished the bowl.
The candles burned steadily in the draftless room, their faint light bathing
the room in shadows. They all knew what would happen next. When this plan
became more than idle musing, Billy briefed them on the chosen poison.
"It's not a fast poison or a slow poison. It's a gentle poison. After
about an hour, you'll start to feel fuzzy, kind of weightless and tired,
and then you'll drift off to sleep. Only this time, you won't wake up."
Everyone had agreed to this. To ensure that Zordon couldn't stop them,
Billy had set up a signal distortion field around his house once everyone
was inside. It was timed to shut off after three hours. The teens stayed
in the circle, talking quietly, sharing memories. None were afraid.
Kimberly felt the effects first, maybe because she was smaller than the
rest, maybe because she had drank more, but not long after, everyone else
felt the effects, too.
The five all died in that circle, surrounded by friends and memories. Not
one of then had a single regret about their last action.
Two hours later, the alarms in the Power Chamber started ringing frenetically.
Alpha ran to see what was wrong.
"Aye yi yi," he moaned. "Zordon, I have bad news. The
Rangers....The Rangers are gone, Zordon."
"Gone?" Zordon asked.
Alpha tuned the viewing globe to Billy's house. In the living room, most
of the candles had burned low; some had sputtered out. There was enough
light left, however, for Zordon to make out the five still, lifeless bodies.
"Oh, my Power Rangers," he moaned. "Why did you feel it
necessary to take your own lives?" His column began to glow brightly.
"What they have put you through will not go unpunished!" Zordon's
voice roared as his column exploded.
"Zordon!" Alpha cried out, remembering the last time. "Zordon!"
Final Goodbye, Part 2
Back to End of the Rainbow
Back to the Castle
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