Fic: Growing Pains (MMPR: the movie, Tommy, G)
Summary: Tommy learns the difference between being confident, and being cocky.
Disclaimer: If they were mine, the parents of Angel Grove would have actually leapt to their doom.
Warnings: Not particularly fun or happy, but the movie doesn't lend itself to that so much.
Present for queenoftheskies.
"Yeah, we're the Power Rangers."
Tommy had witnessed a lot of reactions to the team since he'd been a Ranger, but he was pretty sure outright mockery was a first. It didn't really bother him, except to make him angry, not even when the ooze men proved to be tougher opponents than they'd first expected. The Rangers had run into tough enemies before; they always found a weakness and came out on top. And if the ooze men didn't seem to have a weakness...well, in the end they'd still come out on top.
It didn't bother him until later, when they returned to the ruins of the Command Center, when he realized that, even with the benefit of hindsight, he had no idea what he could have done to stop this. There had to be something, something he was over-looking. They were the Power Rangers; they were supposed to find a way, no matter what.
There was no question about going after the Great Power. If they couldn't have stopped what happened, they could at least fix it. Nothing else was an option.
"Well we're different; we won't fail."
Under other circumstances, he probably would have approached her differently. But he was tired, shaken from the fight with the tengu, and still the leader; the team was looking to him for reassurance, and if bravado was all he had to offer, then that was what he'd fall back on.
He was on the ground before he even realized she was moving, another blow to his bruised pride and battered confidence. It was a relief when Dulcea took command, when he could let himself be as overwhelmed as the rest of the team and simply follow.
During the long hike to the ruins of the Ninjetti temple, the other Rangers periodically tried to engage Dulcea in conversation. Tommy said nothing, until he asked the all-important question.
"Can you help us?"
"The strength is inside you. Trust it."
Easier said than done, after the day they'd had. Then Dulcea took away any choice they might have had in the matter by turning into an owl right in front of them and flying away. That had pretty much killed the buzz they'd all gotten from their animal spirits, and after mercifully little conversation - time Tommy spent dreading someone asking what they were going to do, because he didn't have an answer - the others had made themselves as comfortable as they could on the bare stone and gone to sleep.
Tommy stared in the direction of the monolith and didn't notice the passage of time until dawn replaced the heavy darkness of the Phaedosian night.
Behind him, he heard the other Rangers stirring, waking from what sleep they'd been able to get. He probably should have rested himself, but he didn't feel tired, didn't feel the doubts which had nagged at him since they had fought the ooze men.
Kimberly joined him, and he took his eyes from their goal long enough to look at her. She was nervous, but even so there was a stillness, a surety, in her that had been missing before. Tommy drew a deep breath and let certainty fill him, spread to the rest of the team.
"It's time."
Disclaimer: If they were mine, the parents of Angel Grove would have actually leapt to their doom.
Warnings: Not particularly fun or happy, but the movie doesn't lend itself to that so much.
Present for queenoftheskies.
"Yeah, we're the Power Rangers."
Tommy had witnessed a lot of reactions to the team since he'd been a Ranger, but he was pretty sure outright mockery was a first. It didn't really bother him, except to make him angry, not even when the ooze men proved to be tougher opponents than they'd first expected. The Rangers had run into tough enemies before; they always found a weakness and came out on top. And if the ooze men didn't seem to have a weakness...well, in the end they'd still come out on top.
It didn't bother him until later, when they returned to the ruins of the Command Center, when he realized that, even with the benefit of hindsight, he had no idea what he could have done to stop this. There had to be something, something he was over-looking. They were the Power Rangers; they were supposed to find a way, no matter what.
There was no question about going after the Great Power. If they couldn't have stopped what happened, they could at least fix it. Nothing else was an option.
"Well we're different; we won't fail."
Under other circumstances, he probably would have approached her differently. But he was tired, shaken from the fight with the tengu, and still the leader; the team was looking to him for reassurance, and if bravado was all he had to offer, then that was what he'd fall back on.
He was on the ground before he even realized she was moving, another blow to his bruised pride and battered confidence. It was a relief when Dulcea took command, when he could let himself be as overwhelmed as the rest of the team and simply follow.
During the long hike to the ruins of the Ninjetti temple, the other Rangers periodically tried to engage Dulcea in conversation. Tommy said nothing, until he asked the all-important question.
"Can you help us?"
"The strength is inside you. Trust it."
Easier said than done, after the day they'd had. Then Dulcea took away any choice they might have had in the matter by turning into an owl right in front of them and flying away. That had pretty much killed the buzz they'd all gotten from their animal spirits, and after mercifully little conversation - time Tommy spent dreading someone asking what they were going to do, because he didn't have an answer - the others had made themselves as comfortable as they could on the bare stone and gone to sleep.
Tommy stared in the direction of the monolith and didn't notice the passage of time until dawn replaced the heavy darkness of the Phaedosian night.
Behind him, he heard the other Rangers stirring, waking from what sleep they'd been able to get. He probably should have rested himself, but he didn't feel tired, didn't feel the doubts which had nagged at him since they had fought the ooze men.
Kimberly joined him, and he took his eyes from their goal long enough to look at her. She was nervous, but even so there was a stillness, a surety, in her that had been missing before. Tommy drew a deep breath and let certainty fill him, spread to the rest of the team.
"It's time."