[fanfic] Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: A New Coat of Paint

[higuchimon]

Title: A New Coat of Paint
Characters: Kim, Kat||Friendship: Kim & Kat
Word Count: 2,953||Chapters: 1/1
Genre: Friendship||Rated: G
Summary: An unexpected visit with Kat provides Kim with encouragement she didn't know she needed, just before she leaves for Florida.

---

A gust of warm air blew across Kim's face as she stepped into the Youth Center. It wasn't very cold, despite the fact it was January, but Ernie liked to make sure everyone stayed comfortable anyway. That was one of the things about him that she knew she'd miss.

She moved farther into the room, heading over to the counter where Ernie hustled this way and that, filling plates and glasses with one hand while taking orders with the other. Before she even got a chance to pick a stool, he caught sight of her and smiled broadly.

"Hey, Kim! Stay right there, I'll be right with you!"

Confused, she did as she was told, taking the few moments to look around the room, taking in the delicious scent of Ernie's food, the brilliant colors of every table and chair, the undertones of sweat, the sound of water coming from the showers, the low murmur of people talking about dozens of topics ranging from school assignments to what was on sale at the mall. She'd lost track of all the times she'd come here over the years. She couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever see it again. She might not come back from Florida for months, maybe even years. After the Pan-Globals, the Olympics rose up in her mind's eyes. She didn't know if she was that good, but maybe...

"Here you go!" Ernie stepped in front of her and held out a huge glass of fruit juice, a quick scent of which told her was mango, one of her favorites.

"Oh, thanks!" She started to dig for money but he shook his head and waved one hand in that careless way of his.

"On the house. Looking forward to seeing you at the Pan-Globals!"

Before Kim could say anything else, someone else called and Ernie hurried away. Kim watched for a moment or two, smiling. Yeah. Really going to miss him.

She glanced over the room once more before a gleam of golden hair caught her attention. A second look proved she wasn't wrong; Kat sat at one of the back tables, an empty plate and glass pushed to one side, giving her room to have one hand spread out as she filed her nails.

Kim wandered over there, sipping at her drink. "Hi, Kat," she said. "Mind if I sit down?"

Kat glanced up at the sound of her voice, a smile slipping across her features. "Of course not." She set her nail file down and examined the job she'd done. "This is going to take longer than I thought."

"Something wrong?" Kim leaned forward; she'd never paid attention to Kat's nails before but nothing looked out of the ordinary to her.

"I don't know." Kat shook her head. "Not really, I think. I just wanted to get them trimmed a little and maybe a new coat of polish. I grew them long after ..."

Kim had an idea of what she meant by the way her voice trailed off. A cat had to have claws, after all. She took another look, considering. Kat had done a pretty good job so far, at least in the clipping and filing part.

"Mind if I give you a hand? I'm pretty good with nails." Trini'd always said so, anyway.

"All right." Kat extended one hand while Kim put her drink down and examined everything more carefully. "I picked up some new nail polish at the mall the other day. I haven't had a chance to try it out, though."

She gestured to one of the small bottles off to the side. Kim gave it a brief look; she'd check into it more when she'd taken care of the nails themselves. It did look like a nice shade, a sort of darkish pink.

"Have you ever had a professional manicure?" Kim wondered, buffing a bit of a frayed edge. "They're really fun. I had one for my last birthday."

"I hadn't thought about it," Kat said, watching as Kim worked. "Where did you get it done?"

"There's this little store at the corner of Ivy and Mason. I can t..." Kim broke off herself this time; she wouldn't have time to take Kat there and get everything done properly. "I can show you where it is this afternoon?" Showing wouldn't take as much time as taking her inside and having it professionally done.

Once again it struck Kim hard that as of the very next day, she wouldn't live in Angel Grove anymore. She hadn't lived there her whole life, but enough of it so the smell and sight and sound of the place lived in her bones and thrummed in her blood. She could've walked from her house to the mall with her eyes closed and not made a single misstep. She knew every locker combination she'd had since she'd first had a locker by heart. She knew every teacher and most of the students.

And tomorrow all of that would be gone, for a life that focused on gymnastics.

She bit her lip even as she kept on working, making sure to give each nail the best job that she could.

"It's not easy moving to a new place, I know." Kat's voice was soft and strong. "Everything's so different, no matter where you go. You feel like it should be home, and it isn't. Not for a long time. Maybe not ever."

Kim glanced up at her, not surprised to see a bit of a distant look in the blonde's eyes. "Do you miss living in Australia?"

For a moment, she thought Kat would say that she didn't, or that it wasn't so bad. She didn't expect the faint, sad smile that flickered over Kat's lips. "Every day. It's like an ache that doesn't ever really go away. I know that I'm not going to go back any time soon, though. Mom and Dad love it here, and it's not like Angel Grove's a bad place."

Kim's attention dropped to the communicator on Kat's wrist, then lifted up to meet the other's eyes. Both of them grinned at that.

"Living here does have a downside," Kim said, returning her main attention to Kat's nails. "But it really is a good place. And I'm sure Florida will be too." It wouldn't have invading space aliens, of course, except on the nightly news. She wouldn't be involved in that fight. But she could live with that.

She carefully filed the edge of each nail until all five gleamed rounded and smooth. Leaning back to examine her work, she nodded in satisfaction. "I think that should do it for that one." She gestured for Kat's other hand and the tall girl set it out. "Have you always liked pink nail polish?"

"Most of the time. When I was in training for the Pan-Globals, I didn't bother to use it at all."

Kim nodded, gaze flickering between Kat's face and her nails. "Are you going to keep up diving?"

"I haven't decided yet." Kat carefully examined one of the completed nails, a pleased smile on her lips. "I used to do some ballet when I was younger. I wouldn't mind trying that again if I had a chance."

"Dancing?" Kim's eyes widened. "I've taught a couple of dancing lessons here. Modern stuff, though. Ballet's not quite my thing." She set the file down and took a sip of her drink, leaning back for a few seconds to rest herself.

"I might not be any good at it, but I think I want to try." Kat checked out her other hand. "These look really good. Thanks, Kim. I couldn't have done it like this."

Kim shrugged. "It's hard to do your nails right yourself, at least all the way." She couldn't begin to believe how much she wanted to talk about everything and how little time she knew she'd have for any of it. Time dripped through her fingers and there wasn't anything she could do about it.

She leaned forward and started back to work; she wasn't a professional by any means, but she intended to do this right.

Kat shifted as Kim picked up her hand, reaching with her free one for the nail polish. "I saw a new display while I was at the mall when I got this. It kind of surprised me."

"Hm?" Kim made a bit of a curious noise as she worked. "Why's that?"

"Well, I wasn't expecting to turn a corner and see the Pink Ranger looking back at me."

Kim brought her head up at once, blinking. "You saw what?" Rita and Zedd had both been quiet since the whole mess with Kat and her Pink Power Coin and the ShogunZords ended. She would've known otherwise.

"It was a display." Kat twirled the nail polish around in one hand. "A new polish being released that's the same shade as the Pink Ranger's uniform." Her lips curved upward suddenly. "They're also releasing a shade for the Yellow Ranger. I think they called the pink one 'Power Pink'."

Now Kim found herself smiling at that. She could never not be amazed at the ways Power Rangers touched people's lives. "I'm not surprised. What did they call the yellow one?"

"Youthful Yellow, I think it was." Kat set the slender bottle down. "I thought about getting some for Aisha, but I wasn't sure if she'd like it."

"Couldn't hurt to ask." Kim made a note to call Trini as soon as she got settled in Florida and see what she knew about these new polishes. Trini didn't do her nails as much as Kim herself did, but she'd probably get a chuckle out of it anyway. "What did you think of the shade, though? Did they get it right?" It was important to know these things!

"I think so. I didn't want to stare at it too much and make people wonder, you know."

Kim laughed and shook her head. "They won't. No one ever notices anything." She flicked one finger from her own pink blouse to Kat's. "We all wear the same color somewhere every day and no one notices. There've been so many times when I thought someone saw something and if they did, they just brushed it off. Short of morphing in front of the whole town, no one's going to know."

"Really?" Kat glanced around the room at everyone, those on the mats working out, a couple of people on the exercise machines, those at the tables. "They never notice?"
Kim shook her head again. "I asked Zordon about it once and he said it has to do with the Power itself. Something that just makes people not notice, unless we really do morph directly in front of them."

"Wow." Kat picked up her drink and took a sip of it as Kim buffed and polished more. "There's a lot more to this than I ever imagined." She looked once again at her communicator, a new hint of respect in her blue eyes.

"Don't worry about it. You'll pick it up fast, I'm sure. We all did." Kim blew a little on one nail and checked it out carefully. "I gave you my new address, right?" A package from Coach Schmidt had arrived a couple of days earlier, giving her all the information she'd need to make the move across the country, including where to send her mail.

"I've got it all written down." Kat brushed her hand past her purse where it hung on the back of her chair. "You'll call when you get there?"

"Trust me, I'm going to call everyone!" Kim knew she would have jetlag; she always did every time she flew anywhere, but she wasn't going to let that get in the way of letting everyone knew she'd arrived there safely. "I just hope I don't get confused about the time difference."

Kat winced at that. "I hope so too. But you can call any time, I know no one's going to care."

"Thanks." Kim checked the nails again and nodded. "There, that's it. Except for the polish parts. Want me to do those?" Painting her nails always annoyed her; she couldn't get her right hand done properly so she tended to ask other people for help. She didn't think Kat would be to much different.

"If you don't mind." She moved the one bottle closer, along with a bottle of clear.

Kim took a good look at the shade; just as she'd thought when she'd first seen it, it was a little darker than Kim herself would've liked, but it would go well with Kat's hair and eyes.

"This shouldn't take too long." Kim got started putting the first base layer on, taking extreme care with each stroke. "It might take a while for all the layers to dry, though."

"I didn't have anything planned for tonight," Kat said, lips twitching upward. "I've already done all my homework and there isn't much else to do."

Kim nodded, still bent over the slender fingers. All she'd planned for the night involved going home and putting the last touches on getting ready to leave. Somehow, that just didn't seem like the best way to spend her night, though, not anymore. "Want to go to the mall? I think there are a couple of decent movies playing." Those little touches could just as easily be done in the morning, since her plane didn't take off until the afternoon.

"Sure." Kat's voice took on a thoughtful tone. "It just occured to me there are a couple of things I need from there anyway."

One set of dried nails later, Kim and Kat entered the mall, both looking around with a practiced gaze. Kim hoped to find a mall somewhere near Coach Schmidt's compound; the little map of the area he'd sent indicated some interesting stores in the area at least. They weren't all ones she recognized, but at least she wouldn't be utterly deprived of shopping.

"I think we still have half an hour until the movie starts," Kim said, glancing at the clock that hung over the mall corridor. "Shop?"

Kat's eyes warmed with eagerness. "Shop."

Together the two of them strolled along the corridors, stopping here and there and making the occasional purchase. Kim wanted to save as much money as she could, but she couldn't help but pick up one or two items that looked interesting. She wanted to make her last trip to this mall one to remember.

It was almost inevitable that they ended up at the display of nail polish Kat mentioned earlier. Kim examined one of the 'Power Pink' bottles carefully. It really does look just like the suit.

"Hey, Kim?" Kat held out a bottle of nail polish toward her. "What do you think of this?"

Kim took a look; she'd never worn anything other than shades of pink, even before becoming a Ranger, and the shade Kat held out for her inspection was a deep, rich purple, with a faint hint of glitter to it. "That's kind of nice. Did you plan on switching?"

"No, it's for someone else." Kat smiled as she turned her steps toward the register. Kim nodded and returned to deciding if she wanted to go ahead and mail a bottle of the yellow polish to Trini or not.

Kim hadn't given much thought to how she'd spend her last night in Angel Grove, but a relaxing evening of shopping, a movie, and a quick dinner from a fast food restaurant put her in just the right mood to sleep without fears of the future and get up early, ready to finish wrapping up everything she needed in order to get on the plane.

"We're all going to miss you," Tommy said, wrapping his arms around her. She returned the embrace, making a note to call him first as soon as she made it to the compound. "But you're going to do great. Trust me."

She smiled up at him. "I do." Indeed she did. No matter what, she trusted them all.

One by one everyone gave her a farewell hug, a smile, and some words of comfort and encouragement. Kim was on the verge of picking up her carry-on and heading out when another voice, one she hadn't expected, spoke up.

"Hope you don't mind if we say good-bye too."

Kim turned to see Bulk and Skull there, Skull standing a little ahead of Bulk. She couldn't help a small mental wince at the pained look in Skull's eyes and answered it the only way she could: by walking over to give him a hug as well. "Of course not. I'm going to miss you guys too."

As much as she wanted to, she couldn't put off boarding forever. With one more wave for everyone, she headed to board, keeping back tears by force of will alone. I'll come back one day, she promised herself. She didn't know when or how or why, but she'd do it. Things might change, but enough would be the same that she knew she'd always be welcome there.

And it was the thought of things changing that came to mind when she unpacked her bags in the coach's compound and found something Kat must have slipped in there after their trip to the mall: the purple nail polish, and a note.

Change isn't always scary, you know. Try something new? Hope to hear from you soon. Kat.

Kim looked down at it and smiled. I think I will, Kat. She set the new bottle next to her old pink on her vanity table and admired the old and the new next to one another.

The End