Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Love Is Series - Heather Ray (little readers TXT) 📗

How can I say this enough? Thank you to everyone that has kept up with all my books! You all are awesome! When I started adapting my fanfiction to these books, I was just doing it in order to introduce the Power Rangers to a new generation and to also help reluctant young readers to find a new love for reading. But I have found out that with each new book there is resounding success! Thank you all so much!

True love is something so rare many people never experience it. When I refer to true love, I don't simply mean an emotional connection, or even an exchange of vows. I mean a union of souls, a dedication to each other that is so complete, they might as well be a single person.

When a love like this is found, it must be celebrated. And that is the purpose of this tribute... to celebrate the romance of two young individuals who's love for one another grew into something so powerful, it changed their lives. I am referring to Tommy Oliver, and Kimberly Hart: the original Power Couple. Each story is written to a song, which I feel aptly describes what's happening through the various stages of their romance.

As you may have guessed from the title (and the location)

, this is a Love Is fic featuring a hit from one of the greatest divas in history (and fellow New Jersey-ite)

... Whitney Houston! This story takes place during "The Green Candle."

He couldn't believe this day had come. He never expected it to, and it struck like lightning out of a clear blue sky. Completely unexpected, and thoroughly devastating. And he was convinced his life was over.

As young Tommy Oliver stood atop a rock bordering Angel Grove Lake, his arms and legs moving fluidly in the practiced rhythm of a kata, he reflected on the day that was without a doubt the worst day of his life.

It all started that afternoon, a rather typical afternoon by any other measure. Rita, furious with all her recent defeats at the hands of the expanded Power Ranger team, played her final remaining Trump Card, that she had saved in her bag of tricks for months: using a rare magical wax to create a Green Candle. As was revealed, when Tommy was under Rita's Evil Green Ranger spell, he touched that wax, which created a bond between it and the awe-inspiring Green Ranger powers. Even though he had defected to the side of justice after only a short stint as a villain, the wax remained, and the bond between it and the powers didn't fade. It couldn't be broken. And with that wax, Rita knew she had power over the ranger team. Once the wax was formed into a candle, and the candle was lit with a magical flame, destiny was irreversible: once the wax melted, his powers were to vanish. It was as if his powers could only exist as long as the candle did.

Rita offered him a choice. He could rejoin her evil ranks and once again take the mantle of the Evil Green Ranger, or the Green Ranger powers would be forever destroyed. For another person looking in, this decision doesn't seem too difficult, choosing between power and friends. However, there's more to being a Power Ranger than a stylish suit of armor. He knew then, and he knows now, that he couldn't just go back to being plain old Tommy Oliver. Perhaps that may surprise you, but then again, you've never had a Power Coin, so its difficult to see just how incredible being a ranger is. And how much it meant to Tommy.

Each day I live I want to be
A day to give the best of me
I'm only one, but not alone
My finest day is yet unknown
I broke my heart for every gain
To taste the sweet, I faced the pain
I rise and fall, yet through it all
This much remains

Its undisputed that a Power Ranger is granted the abilities needed to protect the planet. Inside the armor, you're nearly invincible. Every single motor function is increased a dozen fold: you can jump higher, run faster, fight longer, etc. Also, you are given access to the bottomless well of knowledge that is associated with the particular coin, including a mastery over the armory and battle machines each ranger must use to defend Earth. That's the primary objective to the rangers, to defend their planet. And one mustn't forget the adrenaline rush that comes with morphing. It could certainly be considered addictive, leaving a feeling of weakness and dizziness once the Power is taken. But even that isn't enough to make a person really depend on being a ranger. However, that's only the beginning of what being the Green Ranger meant to Tommy. Tommy forged a completely new identity for himself, and that identity had its foundation in that power coin, and what it symbolized.

When Tommy came to Angel Grove, he was alone. Before he transferred schools, he was a loner. He never had many friends, because he didn't really involve himself in scholastic activities that typically rule a teenager's afternoons. Instead, he lived his life for martial arts. Of course he spent time with his family, as well as doing schoolwork, but his free time was monopolized by practice. This made it difficult to make real friends, because the only people he shared anything in common with were the other martial artists. There weren't many in his old school, but they existed. However, there was always an air of competition. Unfortunately, they couldn't learn the distinction between being opponents in a ring and friends outside of it. So he didn't have many friends. Then he came to Angel Grove, and everything changed.

After the martial arts tournament, Jason was really nice to Tommy, despite the fact that he was the defending champion, and Tommy the opponent. True, Jason didn't lose, but he didn't win either. The two accomplished athletes tied. In a way, Jason lost his crown of being the greatest martial artist in Angel Grove. But it didn't bother him. He seemed to like the challenge, and befriended Tommy almost instantly. And the same held for everyone else. Even after Tommy first fell under the spell of the Evil Green Ranger, and acted cruelly to them all, they welcomed him into the fold nonetheless. For the first time in Tommy's young life, he had a circle of friends that were really Friends. With a capital "F"

. The kind you can depend on, trust in, and count on. The kind that you'd trust your very life with, and even give your life for. The kind of friendship that is truly more precious than any material riches.

Once he had lost his powers, he suddenly felt alienated from them. He didn't feel he was part of that inner circle, because he no longer had the Power, which was a membership card. Although it is difficult to believe true friends would suddenly stop being that once Tommy lost his powers, it made perfect sense to him, and he locked himself into his own little world, once again turning to martial arts in his free time. But rather than practicing for fun or exercise, he was practicing for solace. It was one thing he was always able to do alone.

He had hit rock bottom emotionally. He felt all alone in the world, stripped of his powers and self esteem. He believed he had lost the friendships that made him strong, and even the respect of his trusted allies. He felt Rita really defeated him in the truest sense. She stripped him of his identity, and separated him from his friends, his hopes, his dreams, and his goals. Without that power coin, Tommy Oliver had nothing.