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The first color Tommy sees is red. Not in a bad way, obviously, and why would it be?
He hasn’t even met this person properly, yet. Why would he be angry?
No. He just sees… red, as he locks eyes with his opponent. Judging by the other person’s face, he sees something, too, but he doesn’t look quite as surprised, more like he’s… squinting?
This isn’t supposed to be how it works, Tommy knows. You see all the colors at once.
But all Tommy sees is one. He doesn’t know yet that it’s red. But he smiles. Hopefully, he can still focus with the new color.
And it has to be color because nothing else could come close to describing it.
Whatever is happening, though, it gives Tommy an advantage for about five seconds.
(He has no idea how much rides on this.)
They clasp hands, and the other guy… Jason? He calls it a good game. He gives no hint that he might have seen color.
Just Tommy’s luck that he gets a broken, one sided soul bond.
The next day, Tommy helps a girl out with some bullies. Her eyes also start squinting when she locks eyes with him, and he see…
Pink. Her shirt and her lips and in splashes now everywhere.
But then, as he turns around, she calls him back, asks if he wants to hang out with her and her friends at the juice bar. And of course he says yes.
But then he goes down that side alley and everything changes.
The Green Ranger doesn’t see color, despite the one in his title. He doesn’t need to. It serves no purpose in his goals to aid in his Empress’ takeover.
He fights five Rangers wearing shades of grey. Nothing lights like it should.
Nothing is even truly black. Or white.
The Green Ranger enjoys fighting the Rangers and being cruel. Even - especially to Kim and Jason, What with faint memories of red and pink still there, despite their twisted natures.
“I know you’re the Green Ranger,” Kim says.
(Tommy will hate this memory in particular.)
The Green Ranger’s eyes flash his color and he threatens her.
It takes a week for them to free him.
Tommy gets Red and Pink back but he refuses to look the others in the eye. He’d threatened and insulted and tried to kill them all, and he doesn’t think he can handle knowing he’d done it to even more of his soulmates.
(Pink and Kim. Red and Jason. It would make sense, if he’s right…)
He can’t believe they’ve accepted him at all.
And… he notices Jason and Kim squinting, again, but he shrugs it off. Probably just understandable distrust.
The hardest part is looking in Jason’s eyes when he asks if Tommy wants to hang out with them, that very evening. It reminds him that he had tried to kill his one sided soulmate.
“Thanks,” he says. “But I really just want to go home. See you tomorrow?”
Jason continues to look at him, worriedly. (Tommy never asks to be leader and Jason becomes his goal when he does become such, and that goal starts this day.)
“Okay,” he says. “But just comm or call if we can help.”
And Tommy smiles a fake smile, nods, and teleports home.
( Man that is still weird.)
Tommy wakes up with a strangled cry, that night. And then he starts crying, curling in on himself.
Then he hears something. Kind of?
“…Tommy?”
Kim. It’s not a one sided bond.
But that means…
“I’m fine,” Tommy forces out. He doesn’t want to worry her.
“No, you’re not .”
Jason. Tommy sighs, hugging his knees tighter.
Two soulmates, both requited. And no help from that realization, right now. He’s supposed to be a help to the team, but he can’t even look them in the eyes, in case he’s right.
“No, I’m not,” he says. “I didn’t care who I killed when we fought except that you both, the whole team , had to die. I did terrible things and I had no control and… I’m sorry. I was the one who did these things and now I’ll handle this, myself.”
There’s silence, for a minute, and then two beams of light, pink and red, solidify in his room, as his soulmates. Tommy almost jumps and does loosen out of a ball.
“What…”
“This isn’t the first time one of us had nightmares after a battle, man,” Jason says. “Standard protocol is to pile whoever’s most upset. Or pile near them, sometimes.”
Kim steps forwards and takes his hand. Tommy lets her.
“Tommy, we don’t blame you for what you did under Rita’s control,” she says. “And if you want, we can go. But you’re our soulmate, and our teammate. We’re here for as long as you need.”
Tommy nods. He’s a bit too overwhelmed to say much, but he needs to say something.
“Thanks,” he chokes out. “Um… can you stay?”
And maybe they’re his soulmates and he tried to kill them earlier today, and maybe they shouldn’t stay, quite yet…
But he gets no more nightmares, that night.