I still remember what he did to Jenny when she mentioned she liked acting. Bawled her out in front of everyone, then told her that she couldn't act her way out of a wet paper bag, and the only thing she was even marginally good at was gymnastics, so get her buns out there and start doing something that she might be good at.
The small young woman curled herself up on her bed, sliding the instrument underneath the mattress where it wouldn't be seen. She had managed to conceal it in her luggage on the trip to Florida, and had considered practicing several times, until she had learned just how her coach felt about outside influences.
It wasn't good for Kim to not practice, though. She had always used her music to figure out how to deal with her emotions and how to think about things. Without it, she was beginning to feel just a little bit lost. It had been...months since she'd heard music that wasn't designed for gymnastics. Months since she'd talked to someone about other than a dismount.
I miss Angel Grove. She had never thought she'd be homesick, but there was not a single word that described how she felt better. Everything that had happened in the last days before she left had helped to prepare her for leaving, but she hadn't known what it was going to be like. In a lot of ways, she had left just to get away from the events that had occurred. From the way Kat and Tommy had traded looks. From the way her powers had almost been stripped from her. From the danger and near-death experiences that were a daily part of life.
She reached into her purse, pulling out something she had recently been sent. A picture of two people: Kat and Tommy. On a date. She wasn't overly surprised, nor truly hurt. She'd expected it. She'd wanted it to happen. Can't fight fate. Wouldn't even want to try. But it hurts. She didn't know who had sent this, but she really didn't care. The words on the back made her feel sick to her stomach.
I don't love Tommy anymore, but that doesn't mean this doesn't hurt. But not because I want him back. Because of what's on the back.
Slowly she turned it over and stared at it again. Words that had ripped their way into her mind and settled there harshly. He has forgotten you. You might as well have never existed, Hart.
She stared at it for a few moments, then sighed. Whoever it was, they were wrong. She knew Tommy remembered her...but it didn't matter. Stephan Rhodes, the boyfriend she'd thought she loved more than Tommy, was nothing more than a fading memory. He'd left her for a perky, busty redhead. And some day Coach will find another gymnast better than me, and won't want to waste time on someone who has outside interests anymore. Kim had been able to conceal things from him for as long as she had, but she knew the day would come when she would slip up. It was inevitable.
A long, deep sigh punctuated her thoughts. At least if that was going to happen, it would be of her will, and for once, she would express herself as she had been feeling since her arrival here. She put the picture away with a faint smile. "Good luck, you two," she breathed silently. "Love him forever, Kat...you two deserve each other."
The guitar slid from under the bed silently, and she spent a few minutes putting it in proper order, tuning and cleaning. When it was done, she leaned back against the bed and started a song from her heart.
I'm a Power Ranger. Powers don't make the Ranger, the heart does, and I'll always be one in my heart. Maybe my destiny lies among the stars...I know there's more to the universe than this world...maybe I could travel a little...I've never wanted to see things out there like Billy did...but maybe my niche is out there.
She smiled. She was alone now...but something told her she wasn't going to stay that way. Not now..and not forever.