Disclaimer: All things Power Rangers continue to belong to Disney.
Author's Notes: The idea for this story came to me while reading “What Happens In Vegas” by Guardian of Hope, listed on fanfiction.net. For those of you who have seen that story, no, this is not going to end with a quickie Vegas wedding :) But I wanted to write a story about Tommy and Kim meeting up in the year 2007. And after reading the other story, I figured Vegas is as fun a place as any to have them meet.
This story is composed of twenty short chapters, originally written for fanfiction.net. This first part is chapters 1-11, all involving Kim and Tommy in Las Vegas.

Power Rangers
"Viva Las Vegas"
Chapters 1-11

Chapter 1
The Arrival of Kimberly

Kimberly Ann Heart sat on a plane that was currently circling the city of Las Vegas, waiting to be told to land. She closed her eyes and sighed as she sat in her seat, thinking about what in the hell she was doing here in the first place.

She knew what she was doing here. Her best friend Melissa had talked her into going so that she could get away from all the craziness. Kim laughed a little, she wasn’t sure if a vacation was quite the answer to the craziness. Life for her had been nothing but crazy for over ten years.

It all started back in her hometown of Angel Grove. She was once a normal girl, leading a normal life in a normal city. All that changed at the age of fifteen when Rita Repulsa was released from the space dumpster she had been trapped in and started to terrorize her home. It was then she was chosen to be a Power Ranger, defender of Earth. It was then that life became crazy for her, and she hadn’t turned back.

She spent the next two and a half years being a ranger. She had made great friends and had a great boyfriend. As a young girl she had thought that was the tip of the iceberg. Until she was accepted to go train with Gunthar Schmidt, to be a part of the Pan Global games. Kim was excited beyond words. She left the rangers, her friends, and her boyfriend to train for the games which were a few years away.

She thought by not being a ranger life wouldn’t be as crazy for her. Kim found herself sadly mistaken. Her life became hours of training for the games and hours of school to get her diploma. She would have little time at night to herself before crashing in the bed to get up and do it all over again.

Nine months into the training she found herself losing the will to keep going. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to do it anymore, that was, until she met him. Jeffery Baines was training for the Pan Global games as well. He was a male gymnast, doing all his training in Orlando before moving to Miami to train at the same facility as Kim.

From the moment they met there was a connection. They spent all their free time together. At first they pretended they were just friends, but that ended the day he kissed her. She was surprised at how wonderful that felt. The moment she let him out of her apartment that night she went to her desk and pulled out a piece of paper, sending a letter to her boyfriend back in Angel Grove. Telling him that she loved him but had found someone else.

After she sent the letter, she found herself spending more and more time in Jeff’s arms. At age eighteen, she thought this could be the man she spent the rest of her life with. With the exception of a crazy vacation with Jason that put her temporarily right back in the thick of things in Angel Grove, she spent all her free time with him.

Two years after she started seeing Jeff, things changed. Just days before the Pan Global games were set to start Zordon died. The wave his death sent around the galaxy affected everyone who had ever been a Power Ranger. She felt it in her heart, and all the sudden there was an emptiness there. He had been a father figure to her, and now he was gone.

Kim channeled all her anger and sorrow into her training and into the games. During that time she hardly spent any time at all with Jeff. Looking back, Zordon’s death may have been what fueled her to be the best gymnast she could be, as she brought home several gold medals at the games. When the games were finished and she stopped and reflected, she realized she wasn’t ready for a relationship at the moment. So she ended what she had with Jeff.

This was probably a good thing, as the next two years of Kim’s life were a whirlwind of activities. Winning the Pan Global’s meant overnight stardom. Suddenly there was a book deal, morning and nighttime talk show appearances, television guest appearances, a Wheatie’s box, a Nike’s endorsement, and the list went on. She spent the next two years of her life moving at this crazy fast pace.

Three years after her victory, things started calming down. Finally the next Pan Global games rolled around, and she commentated in them. After they had a new winner, the world started to forget about Kimberly Ann Heart. Which was fine by her, she thought she could finally calm down.

Kim found herself deciding to stay in Miami. She used the money she had from everything to purchase herself a house. As she got settled in she decided to relax, and pick up some hobbies. Money was not an object for her as she had made enough in that frenzy to last her two lifetimes. But quickly she found herself getting bored with staying at home. She almost missed the craziness.

She considered it fate when a woman from their local ABC affiliate stood on her doorstep one morning. The woman reminded her how she was still a celebrity, and even though other cities may have forgotten her Miami had not as she was local having trained there. She wanted her to co-host a local daytime talk show. The money would be decent, and it would keep her busy five days a week between that days show and prepping for the next show. Because of that, Kim agreed.

That was where she had been the last three years of her life. The show had made her life crazy again. Through the show she met her best friend Melissa. She had a few dates here and there, but nothing serious until a year ago when Cole came into her life. She thought Cole was amazing, but noone else seemed to view him that way. It wasn’t until last month she realized he was a cheater and a liar, among other things. She was quick to drop him, and Melissa was quick to say she needed a vacation.

She wasn’t going to go, but Melissa had all but booked it for her. That’s how she found herself on this plane that had just landed in Las Vegas. She waited anxiously to exit the plane, then headed down to the baggage claim. A few minutes later the light blinked and a loud noise overcame her, signaling that it was getting ready to spit out luggage. She waited to collect hers, then drug it outside as she signaled for a taxi. One it arrived she climbed in, telling him to take her to the casino she was staying at.

Kim got out of the taxi and stood in front of the casino looking it over. She had never been to Vegas before, and she had to admit she was kind of excited for the whole experience. She pulled her luggage into the casino and headed for the desk to check in. A few minutes later she was on her way up the elevator.

Her room wasn’t hard to find. She fumbled with the key before finally getting in, then lugged her suitcase in behind her. She spent the first half an hour unpacking and looking through all the information leaflets she found laying around. When she was done, she sat on the bed thinking about what to do next.

Kim thought for a few minutes before smiling to herself. What the hell, she was in Vegas, and she was going to gamble. She gathered a few things before heading out the room and down to the casino floor.

Chapter 2
From Reefside to Vegas

Hayley sighed as she leaned against the counter in her Cyberspace Café. It had only been a week since school ended, and there was Tommy, nose in his research again. Every summer he would start researching in June and finish up in August.

She got so frustrated with her friend as he refused to take a break. He was starting to look like a giant ball of stress, ready to explode at any minute. It had been three years since he had helped to destroy Mesogog. She could understand his refusal to take a break before Mesogog’s destruction. Leading up to that, even she had so much work to do that she couldn’t afford a vacation. But that was long since over, and here Tommy was, still all work and no play.

She was ripped from her thoughts when a young man came in, greeting her. "Hey Hayley.", said former red ranger Conner McKnight as he walked over to sit at the table with his former teacher. "Hey Dr. O."

Tommy looked up from his research to see Conner sitting there. "Hey Conner, how’s it going?"

"Good.", he replied with a smile

"And your classes?", Tommy asked

Conner grinned. "I officially have enough hours to be a senior."

"That’s great.", Tommy replied, proud of his former ranger

Hayley smiled as she listened to the conversation the duo was having. She couldn’t believe that they were seniors already. Where time went she would never know. She went on to listen to Conner talk about how Ethan would be home later that week, and Kira should be back next week. Tommy told him how he had seen Trent already, then Conner went on about how they should all get together, much like they had done every summer since the kids had gone to college.

It was amazing how this group all came home and got together every summer. She remembered being in college, and how you would promise your friends that you would never loose touch and you would always hang out. The first summer you usually kept the promise. But after that, people would start to fade away and pretty soon you hadn’t talked to your high school friends in years. They were different. What was so odd is they weren’t originally friends in high school. But being rangers gave them a kind of bond that was different, that made them closer than people who were friends their whole lives.

She continued watching as Conner finished talking to Tommy, then took off. Much to Hayley’s chagrin, Tommy went right back into his research. She made a face. If he was going to take a break, she was going to have to push him. She went over and sat down at the table.

"Hey Hayley.", Tommy said when he finally noticed her sitting there

Hayley put her hand on his research papers so he couldn’t look at them before looking him firmly in the eye. "We need to talk."

"Is something wrong?", asked Tommy looking at her curiously

"You need a vacation.", she said matter-of-factly

Tommy laughed. "What gave you that idea?"

"You haven’t relaxed since I’ve known you and you’re well overdue.", she pointed out

"Even if I wanted to go, I’d have noone to go with. So it wouldn’t be any fun.", he replied moving her hand off of his papers as he went to look down at them

"What if I go with you?", she asked. Quite frankly, she could use a vacation as well. Tommy snapped his head up and looked at her as she continued. "It will be perfect. We can both get out of Reefside for a while."

"I don’t"

"There’s no excuses now.", Hayley interrupted him as she smiled

Tommy sighed. He might as well. What did he have to loose. "Fine. What did you have in mind?"

Hayley thought about it for a few minutes then she smiled. She knew exactly where she wanted to go. "Clear your calendar for next week, I’ll take care of the rest."

And that was what had gotten Tommy Oliver into this taxi cab on this warm Nevada evening, heading from the Las Vegas airport toward their hotel. "I can’t believe you picked Vegas. We could have gone to the beach. Or the mountains."

"Come on Tommy. It’s not like we’re going to gamble our lives away. Neither one of us have ever been, it will be fun.", Hayley insisted. This wasn’t really a typical vacation choice for her either, but she figured if they were going to take a vacation, they might as well pick somewhere exciting.

"You had better be right.", he replied as he glanced out the window. It was exciting to be on the strip and see all the famous casinos going by. He frowned. He hated to admit it, but Hayley was right, it was a good idea to get him out of Reefside for a while. "It will be fun.", he said backtracking a bit. "Besides I needed a vacation. My last real vacation was." Tommy stopped short as he realized what the end of that statement would be. His last real vacation was when he, Kat, Adam and Tanya went together. They were celebrating the end of their tenure as rangers after they had passed the powers on.

"Was what?", Hayley asked curiosity peaked

"Was a long time go.", he finished as they pulled up to the hotel. "We’re here.", he said quickly getting out of the car to avoid having any more of that conversation.

Tommy helped get their luggage out of the taxi and paid the driver. The two of them wheeled their luggage into the casino and headed over to the check in desk. Hayley took the lead as she had made the reservations. A few minutes later she had two keys in hand and they were heading upstairs. She handed a key to Tommy and they both went into their rooms.

Tommy opened the door and walked in, standing in the entranceway until the door shut behind him. He brought his things into the room and set them on the bed. He spent the first few minutes taking in the details of the room. He would have to admit, it was nicer than what he expected. He sat on the bed and turned on the television, flipping through the channels for a few minutes. After stumbling across an interesting documentary, he got up and started unpacking his things while watching the program.

When he was finished he flopped back onto the bed and watched, which is where he stayed until he heard a knock at the door. He assumed it was Hayley, so he got up to answer it. His assumptions were right, as he let his friend in and they both had a seat on the bed.

"So what do you think?", Hayley asked as she smiled at him

"It’s nice.", he replied. "At least the only part we’ve seen so far.", he added

"I was thinking about that.", she said. "Do you want to go check out the casino floor for a bit? Maybe we can hit a game or two before hitting the restaurant and getting something to eat."

"Sounds like a good a plan as any.", Tommy replied. He clicked off the television then went to gather a few of his things before he and Hayley exited the room and headed down to the casino floor.

Chapter 3
Hitting the Casino Floor

Kim hit the casino floor mid afternoon. The first thing she noticed was the casino’s bar. She thought about it for a moment. She was never more than a social drinker, but she figured why not. After all, when in Vegas...

She approached the bartender and ordered a drink. She showed him her ID, then waited for him to prepare her beverage. A few seconds later he was back, and she dropped some money on the bar before turning to walk off. As she stepped away from the bar she glanced around the casino floor, her eyes catching the slot machines. She figured she would start with those and go from there.

Kim slowly sipped through the straw on her drink as she headed over, picking a machine. She put some money into it and pulled the lever down. Her first pull doubled her money, giving her two dollars. She smiled and figured she was doing pretty well for herself as she put some more money into the machine.

Thirty minutes later, Kim was up five dollars and down a drink. She stopped the waitress and asked for a refill, then looked around at the other slot machines. She picked one that cost more to play and went at it. A few minutes later the waitress returned with her beverage, and Kim paid her before taking a sip of the drink and sitting it down.

She continued to play the machine and drink. This slot machine wasn’t as profitable as the first. She had played for about forty-five minutes, and was already down twenty-five dollars. Of course one of her friends had told her the only way to win big in Vegas was to play big, so she stood up and looked for a machine that was worth more money.

Eventually she found what she thought was going to be her lucky slot machine so she started to put money in and continue playing. A few pulls into that game, she ran out of drink again. She sighed and looked down at the empty cup. She shouldn’t keep going, but the drinks were making her loose. And when she was loose, she was really getting into the games. And besides, why go on vacation if you don’t go all out.

Kim flagged down the waitress and sent her for another drink. The waitress quickly came back and Kim paid her before taking the beverage and continuing. Ten minutes later she was down seventy-five dollars. Obviously that was not her lucky machine. Maybe she wasn’t lucky at slots at all. Kim jumped up off the stool, then grabbed the machine to steady herself. She was a little shaky and she took a deep breath to get her bearings before heading off around the casino.

There was so much that she could gamble on throughout the casino floor. She glanced around and her eyes settled on the blackjack table. She walked over and had a seat, then waited for the next round to be dealt. Kim started playing, and she decided this was definitely more her game as she had won the first two hands.

Twenty minutes later Kim found herself doing pretty well at blackjack. She had brought herself up to even on the day, which was not bad at all for Las Vegas. As one of the waitresses walked by she signaled for her. She was out of drink again. She was starting to feel like perhaps she needed to eat something before continuing. But she was having so much fun for the first time since Cole walked into her life. And she was winning. Kim figured she would have another drink and go in search of food later.

She ordered a refill, and a few minutes later the waitress was back, drink in hand. Kim took it from her and paid her while she looked down at her card. She had twenty, and that almost had to be a winner. Kim smiled and took a sip as the game continued.

On the other side of the casino floor, the elevator doors opened and out walked Tommy and Hayley. The duo looked around the casino. They were excited to see what was going on since neither had ever been before.

"So what do you want to do first?", Hayley asked as she looked around

"I don’t know.", Tommy replied looking around as well. He glanced around the casino and caught a glimpse of the bar. "You want a drink?", he asked his friend

Hayley thought for a moment. "Well..."

"Come on, it’s on me.", Tommy said trying to encourage her. Hayley still looked hesitant. "Besides we are in Vegas."

Hayley sighed before smiling over at Tommy. "Yeah, let’s go get a drink."

They walked over to the bar and sat on the stools. Tommy quickly ordered his drink, and Hayley thought for a moment before ordering one for herself. Tommy waited for the bartender to deliver them, then he paid for the drinks leaving a generous tip. Tommy took a sip of his drink and looked around.

"Don’t tell me you’re going to spend your first night in the casino at the bar.", Hayley said smiling at him as she took a sip of her drink as well

"Of course not.", Tommy replied. "I am just going to relax and take this in for a minute before moving on."

"Let’s not forget the fun of Vegas is going out there and playing.", she said gesturing to the casino floor

"I thought we weren’t going to waste all our money.", Tommy pointed out

Hayley smiled. "Not all. But we are on vacation so we are going to spend some of it.", she said as she glanced around the casino. One of the games caught her eye. She sat her drink down on the bar. "Will you watch this for a minute?"

"Sure.", he said looking at his friend. "What’s up?"

"There’s something over there I want to check out.", she replied smiling at him. "I’ll be right back.", she promised. "Don’t move.", she added

"Ok.", Tommy replied smiling at her as she walked off. He made himself comfortable in the stool, enjoying watching the people around him.

Kim looked at the empty drink glass in her hand and frowned. She was debating going for another one, but the waitress was nowhere to be found. Kim was up a little over fifty dollars for the day, so she figured she could take a break for now. She wanted to go over to the bar and get her own drink, then search down something to eat before she made herself sick.

The former pink ranger hopped out of her seat. She felt a lot woozier than before as she walked off. She had trouble steadying herself as she made her way to the bar. As she got closer, she saw a man sitting on one of the stools chatting with the bartender. The man seemed oddly familiar. The more she looked at him, the more she knew why.

Kim cursed under her breath. She was supposed to be on vacation, and she had a few too many drinks, and now wasn’t the time to be running into an exboyfriend. She turned quickly and felt her stomach flop as she did so. She took a deep breath, now was not the time to be sick either. Kim stumbled forward a few feet and ran into someone. She looked up to see a woman standing there. "Sorry.", she muttered

"Are you alright?", Hayley asked the young woman. It was a stupid question, the girl looked like she was going to be sick.

"I’ll be fine.", Kim replied. Her legs wobbled and she grabbed Hayley for support before smiling at her.

This woman was obviously not fine. "Maybe my friend and I can help you.", she said motioning for Tommy to come over.

Tommy got up off of his barstool and headed over in Hayley’s direction. "What’s wrong?"

"I was thinking maybe we could help this girl to her room. I think she’s going to be sick.", Hayley said gesturing to the girl who was holding on to her.

Kim recognized the man’s voice as she spun back around to see him and to assure him that she was fine. But that last spin was more than her stomach could take as she found herself throwing up all over the floor in front of her ex’s shoes.

Chapter 4
Taking Care of Kim

Tommy blinked a few times. He wasn’t sure if he was more shocked to see his ex-girlfriend taking her vacation at the same casino he was, or at the fact that she had just thrown up all over the floor. He had to hold back his reaction for now as Kim looked like she was going to be sick again.

"Come on let’s get her back to my room.", Tommy said as he gently put her arm around his neck, then pulled her up

Hayley steadied her from the other side so that she wouldn’t waver and they slowly walked toward the elevator. Tommy mouthed an apology to the hotel staff as they were coming to clean up Kim’s mess. He didn’t know why he was apologizing for her, they hadn’t spoken in nearly ten years. Yet he still felt like he should.

They made their way to the elevator and hit the button. The doors slowly opened and Tommy and Hayley ushered Kim inside. Tommy hit the button for their floor and the elevator started to ascend. A few seconds later it dinged, and the doors opened. Tommy and Hayley led Kim out and down the hallway, pausing only long enough for Tommy to find his keycard to open the door.

"I think I’m going to be sick again.", Kim said, throwing in the open door and making a dash for the bathroom. She got there just in time to fling the seat up and lean her head over the toilet throwing up once more.

Tommy followed her into the bathroom and stood beside her. She threw up once more before collapsing on the bathroom floor and leaning back against the wall. She looked up at Tommy and couldn’t help but laugh. "This is not quite how I envisioned our next meeting to be."

Tommy found himself slightly amused and slightly annoyed. Hayley walked in with a wet washcloth and a glass of water, handing both to Kim. "Are you feeling better?" she asked

Kim nodded as she took both. "Thank you.", she said. "I think I’m good."

"Done being sick?", Hayley asked. Kim nodded and took a sip of the water.

"Have you had anything to eat?", Tommy asked. Kim shook her head no. "How much did you drink?"

Kim shrugged. "I don’t know. I was drinking and playing. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Kim you know someone of your size should eat more when you drink.", Tommy said sternly. "Or else you’ll make yourself sick. Like you just did."

Kim rolled her eyes. Ten years since she’s seen him and she ran into him in this condition. What she needed was a friend, not a lecture. "Tommy I’m a big girl now. I just was just trying to have a good time. I am on vacation."

"I don’t suppose your idea of a good time is hanging your head over your ex’s toilet.", Tommy said giving her a look

"It certainly wasn’t on my agenda.", she snapped. To be honest he was one of the last people she would want to run into on vacation. She was supposed to be in Vegas to be free and enjoy herself, and to stay away from some of the stress and craziness that was her life. And now she ran into Tommy of all people, who was already stressing her out and driving her crazy.

The last civil conversation she had with him face to face had been before she left to train for the games. They talked on the phone after that, and then of course there was the letter. After that she didn’t speak to him again until the day she was dropped into Maligore’s pit. Tommy seemed like he still cared about her in the moments following that. But once they were all in the clear, Kat was right back on his hip and he was all over her like Kim wasn’t even there.

Kim was never sure why he acted that way. Perhaps he was still hurt over her letter. They could have at least talked. Instead, Tommy gave Kat all his attention and Kim took off with Jason. That was the last time she had seen him until now.

"Do you need anything else?", Hayley asked snapping Kim out of her thoughts. Hayley felt bad for her. She knew who she was, she knew every detail about Kim from the man who claimed he didn’t care anymore. Now here she was, sick, and Tommy was treating her like one of his students.

Kim shook her head no. "I’ll be fine.", she said as she tried to stand up

"Kim maybe you should sit down.", Tommy said as she struggled to get to her feet

Kim brushed off Tommy’s advances as she stood up. Once she was up, she felt much better. "I’m fine.", she snapped

"Well maybe you should go back to your room. Lie down. And eat something.", Tommy said, his tone suggesting it was more of an order than anything.

"I’ll be fine.", she said a little stronger the third time around. She was so embarrassed throwing up in front of him, but then she thought he was going to help her and be her friend. Now here he was treating her like she was still seventeen, or his girlfriend, or a ranger under him. And she certainly didn’t want that. "Look," she started walking toward the door, "thank you and thank your girlfriend for everything you’ve done for me, but I feel better and I’m out.", she said slinging the door open and walking through, then letting it slam behind her.

"Well that went well.", Hayley said dryly

"What are you talking about?", Tommy asked. He was irritated that he had tried to help Kim and she acted like she neither wanted nor needed his help when she obviously did.

"Here you are being Dr. Thomas Oliver. The way you treated her, that might as well have been Kira throwing up, not an ex-girlfriend or friend. You helped her when she was sick, then lectured her when she said she was feeling a little better.", Hayley explained

Tommy made a face. "I did not lecture her."

Hayley sighed. "She was wanting you to be a friend to her at that moment and you ruined it by being a parent or a teacher."

"She wasn’t looking for a friend.", Tommy pointed out

"Yes she was. I saw it in her eyes for that brief second before you lectured her.", Hayley told him. Tommy shot her a look. "Call it women’s intuition."

"If you recall the story, things didn’t exactly end well for us and we haven’t really spoken since. Why would she want me to be her friend?", Tommy asked

"Because she was vulnerable. And you were there for her. Maybe she figured it was time to start over.", Hayley explained

Tommy sighed and Hayley flashed him a smile. It had been a long time since he’d seen Kim. And he did miss her. But she broke his heart once. And after that he really didn’t get to talk to her. He should have cleared the air after the incident with Maligore, but Kat wasn’t about to let him talk to her, to chance him getting close to her again. But when Kim was in trouble he felt his heart rip from his chest.

He still cared for her, he couldn’t help it. He followed the Pan Global games, then got his hands on every magazine article or advertisement that was about her. He always wanted to be friends again, but he figured it was far past that. Then here she was, sick, and trying to lean on him. And Hayley was right, instead of being her friend he was her teacher. It was all he knew how to be lately, a teacher. Maybe it wasn’t too late to try being a friend again.

Tommy sighed and looked over at Hayley. "I’m going to figure out what room she’s in. I have to talk to her. It’s been a long time, maybe we can try to be friends again."

Hayley smiled at him as he walked out the door. She was glad to see that he was going to hunt her down. To this day her name still came up on occasion. It didn’t take a genius to tell that he still cared about her. Hayley wasn’t sure he knew what to do when he saw her on the casino floor, so he treated her the only way he knew how. Hopefully he can make it up to her and they can be friends again. Hayley laughed. As of now, his friends included a café owner and four former students and rangers. It was time for him to start living a normal life that didn’t involve being a workaholic. If anyone could change that, it would be Kim. Hayley smiled as she walked out of Tommy’s room and over to her own, hoping to hear back from him soon.

Chapter 5
Truth Be Told

Tommy found himself sitting outside of Kim’s hotel room door, where he had been for the past hour. He had convinced the front desk to give him her room number. He rushed up there and knocked several times, but got no answer. Listening carefully, he could tell that she wasn’t there. Tommy decided that he would wait as long as it took for her to come back. He was determined to talk to her.

The elevator doors dinged for what must have been the twenty time that hour. Just like every other time, Tommy peered around to see who was coming. This time he was rewarded. "Kim.", he said her name as she approached

Kim stepped dead in her tracks. After what happened earlier, he was the last person she expected to see. "What are you doing here?", she asked as she pushed past him and to her door

"About earlier, I’m sorry.", Tommy said. Kim paused and looked back at him. "I just hadn’t seen you in a long time and I didn’t know how to react. The only thing I’ve known for years is teaching, so I treated you like one of my students, so I’m sorry.", he finished repeating his apology

Kim thought for a moment. She hadn’t expected him to come apologize, she figured he was coming to make sure she was in bed and had eaten. She didn’t know what to say so she smiled at him. A few seconds later she spoke. "You’re a teacher?"

"Yeah.", he replied smiling back. "It’s a long story. I’d love to tell it to you."

Kim tapped her foot for a second. "Ok.", she finally replied as she opened the door to her room. "Would you like to come in?"

Tommy smiled, relieved that he was going to get a chance to talk to her instead of her throwing him out. "Sure.", he said. Kim gestured for him to walk in and he did. Kim followed letting the door close behind her.

Kim walked over to the bed and sat down. She smiled as Tommy walked over and sat down in the chair across from her. "I can’t believe it’s been ten years.", Kim said as she looked Tommy over. He certainly wasn’t like she remembered. He had changed his appearance, but he still looked good.

"Yeah it has. The last time we spoke was, well, Maligore.", Tommy replied

"If you could call that speaking.", Kim pointed out

Tommy frowned. "About that... I was still hurt. And Kat didn’t think it would be a good idea for us to talk. But don’t get me wrong, I still cared about you then."

Kim nodded her head. Seeing him there had made her regret breaking up with him. But then she knew she was going to go right back to Florida and dive right back into her training with her new boyfriend by her side. "It’s ok.", she finally said. "So.... whatever happened between you and Kat?"

"She went to London for dance. As you know it’s hard to want to stay faithful when there’s that much distance between you.", Tommy explained

"Yeah.", Kim said as she nodded. "I’m sorry to hear that."

Tommy waved her apology off. "It’s no big deal. It was a long time ago."

"So what have you been up to since then?", asked Kim

"For starters I went through school and got my PhD in paleontology. Then I worked for Anton Mercer for a while doing some dinosaur related projects, before taking the job teaching science in Reefside.", Tommy started. He took a deep breath before adding on to that. "Plus I spent a year running a ranger team."

"What?", Kim questioned. She was surprised enough that her former flame was a teacher with a PhD. But the more she thought about it the more she shouldn’t be surprised that he got back into the rangers. She had seen news reports of the trouble in Reefside, she just never imagined Tommy was their mentor. "So you took care of that ranger team?"

"I took care of Ethan, Kira and Conner, the blue, yellow and red rangers. After a while, the white ranger Trent even worked with us.", Tommy explained

Kim made a face. "If I recall right, there was a black ranger too. Did he not work for you?"

"Well... honestly... the black ranger didn’t work for me because he was me."

Kim smiled and shook her head. She should have known that Tommy couldn’t lead a team without being a part of it. "And your girlfriend? Does she know?"

Tommy thought for a moment. "Hayley?", he questioned. Kim nodded. "She’s not my girlfriend. She and I have worked together for a long time. She helped create the dino morphers and helped with a lot of other stuff ranger related. But we’ve never dated."

Kim smiled as she thought for a moment. "So it was like having Billy all over again?"

Tommy laughed. He had never thought about Hayley like that. "Yeah, I suppose it was. Except I can understand what Hayley says."

Kim couldn’t help but laugh as she started thinking about conversations they had with Billy. The longer they were rangers, the more sense he made to her, but he still sometimes needed a translator from techno-babble to English.

"So what about you?", Tommy asked once she finally stopped laughing. "What have you been up to?"

"You mean you haven’t followed my life story with the rest of the world?", Kim asked. Tommy shook his head no. In all honesty he knew a lot of it, but he wanted to hear it from her. "I competed in the Pan Global games and won a lot of gold medals. That led to tv appearances and endorsement deals galore. Things started calming down after a few years of that. Then I commentated in the next Pan Global’s, and when America had a new hero, and I was forgotten about."

"Nobody could ever forget about you.", Tommy said smiling at her

"Why thank you.", she replied smiling back

Kim didn’t say anything more so Tommy urged her to continue. "And since then? I’m sure you haven’t been living under a rock the last few years."

Kim rolled her eyes at him as she smiled. "No I moved back to Miami, where I have been living and co-hosting a local daytime television talk show ever since."

"Really?", Tommy asked in surprise

"You’re not the only one whose career path led down a different road than what you thought ten years ago.", Kim pointed out

Tommy smiled. "Well I think it’s great. It sounds like everything has been pretty interesting for you."

"Not as interesting as having my own ranger team, but yeah.", she replied

"I’m sure there’s other evil out there if you want to do some more rangering.", Tommy said with a smile

Kim laughed. "Please Tommy don’t you think we’re a bit old for that now?"

"I’ve still got rangering left in me.", Tommy replied as he sat back in the chair

"Yes I’m sure you do.", Kim said smiling and trying hard not to laugh. "Tell Rita junior or whoever that the geriatric rangers are coming through and see how afraid she is."

"Twenty-eight is hardly geriatric.", Tommy reminded her

"In ranger years it is.", Kim pointed out. "Most rangers are around eighteen, and we were even younger than that when we got tapped."

"I think if the power ever called for us again we’d go. And be successful.", Tommy said. Although he would do it in a heartbeat, Kim was right, they weren’t exactly kids anymore. Even though they weren’t old, they did have more responsibilities now than just rangers. It was hard enough trying to teach and go against Mesogog at the same time. And he really didn’t do that very well.

"Maybe.", Kim said, smiling at Tommy as she tore him away from his thoughts. The former pink ranger slid back on the bed and leaned her back against the headboard.

Tommy smiled back at her as he glanced at the clock on her night stand. "Hayley’s going to kill me.", he said suddenly

"Why?", Kim questioned

"She’s been waiting for me for dinner.", he replied

She smiled. "Well don’t let me get in your way."

Tommy started to get up but sat back down. "Why don’t you join us? It would be fun."

Kim put a hand on her stomach. "Not really feeling like eating much tonight.", she said as she took her hand and pretending to be throwing back drinks, to remind Tommy of the position she was in earlier.

Tommy smiled. He had almost forgotten about their earlier encounter. He thought for a moment. "How about I take you out to dinner tomorrow night? Just me and you.", he said. Kim look surprised so he continued. "As friends, of course."

She thought for a moment. "Sure. It would be fun to go out to dinner. As friends."

Tommy stood up. "Then I guess I will see you tomorrow night?", he asked and she nodded. "I’ll be at your room around seven."

Kim smiled and scooted to the edge of the bed, standing up to see Tommy out. She walked him to the door and he opened it. "It was good to see you.", Kim told him as she smiled

Tommy looked down at her. He didn’t know what came over him, but he couldn’t resist the urge to reach down and give her a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and it seemed like forever before she returned the gesture. He stood back up and smiled. "It was good to see you too.", he replied as he stepped out into the hallway. "See you tomorrow night.", he added giving her a little wave as he took off

Kim shut the door behind him and leaned against it. She had forgotten how good it was to feel the warmth of Tommy’s body when he embraced her. She stood straight up and headed toward the bed before collapsing. They were just friends, she had to keep telling herself. Friends hugged each other all the time. Even if they were of the opposite sex. Between Jason, Zack, Rocky, Adam and Billy, she had probably handed out hundreds of hugs over the years.

What happened with Tommy was just another hug. Granted it felt different than most hugs, but it was just a hug. And tomorrow they would go to dinner as two old friends catching up and enjoying food together.

Kim smiled as she sat up. It was still early and she was in Vegas. It was a good time to go check out what exactly went on in this town at night. She quickly got ready and took off, her encounter with Tommy still on her mind.

Chapter 6
Preparation for a Date

Kimberly awoke slightly before lunchtime the next morning in her hotel room. She sat up on the bed and stretched. The day before had been bizarre. Besides the usual antics of Las Vegas, she had run into her ex-boyfriend, her first love. Now she had a "just friends" dinner date with him. She had spent that entire night seeing shows and checking out Vegas, but she just couldn’t get Tommy off of her mind.

The former pink ranger climbed out of bed and headed into the bathroom. She took a long hot shower before walking out and getting dressed. As she put clothes on, the thought occurred to her that she hadn’t brought anything nice to wear. Well, she had brought nice clothes, but certainly nothing fancy. And she wanted to wear something fancy to go out to dinner. After all, it had been a long time since she had hung out with Tommy and she wanted to look her best.

She decided to spend the afternoon shopping. She exited the hotel room and stopped briefly for lunch, before going to check out what kind of shopping venues the city had. She went to the first department store and looked around. In order to get to the clothing section, she had to work her way through the makeup counters.

One of the counters she passed brought back memories of her youth. They sold a perfume that Tommy once bought for her. She loved the smell of it, and he loved how it smelled on her. Once they broke up she stopped wearing it. Kim paused and thought for a moment. It would be fun to put in on for old time’s sake. Tommy would love it, it would bring back memories of good times past.

Kim walked over to the counter and spoke to the lady. She quickly picked out the perfume she wanted. As the woman went to ring it up, Kim stopped her. She wasn’t expecting to be dressing up or trying to impress a lot of guys while she was there, so she hadn’t brought all her makeup. But now that she was going out with Tommy, there were things that she wanted that she didn’t have. Not that she was trying to impress Tommy, but it would be nice to look good for him.

Kim picked out the makeup that she wanted and watched as the woman bagged the items. She handed her a credit card and waited for it to get approved, before signing the slip and throwing the card back in her purse. She put her receipt in the bag, then lifted it up off of the counter and took off.

The next stop was in the dresses section. She had to find the perfect outfit to wear for tonight. She wanted to dazzle Tommy. She didn’t know why, if it were Rocky or Jason or anyone else here she probably wouldn’t be as intent on dazzling them. But once she had Tommy had something special, and now she wanted to look her best for him.

As she looked through the dresses she realized one thing. They were all simple. Too simple to dazzle anyone. If she wanted to find a nice dress, she would have to go to a dress shop. Quickly she exited the department story and took off for more shopping. After some searching with the help of the yellow pages, she found the ideal store. She headed inside and a smile crossed her face. Now she had so many choices, she didn’t know how she was going to pick just one.

Kim walked through the racks and racks of dresses, with so many catching her eye. She lost count of how many she pulled out to try on. She grabbed all of the dresses and headed for a fitting room. One at a time she tried them on and walked out to the three way mirror. They were all beautiful dresses, and looked beautiful on her, but so far none had been the dress. She slipped into the dressing room and tried on another dress then headed back out.

Her eyes lit up as she looked at herself in the mirror. This was it. This was the one. She smiled thinking about how strange it was that she was going to pick this particular one. The design of the dress was amazing, but that wasn’t strange. What was strange was that she had settled on a gorgeous shade of pink. There hadn’t been much pink in her wardrobe in years. But now here she stood, wearing this pink dress, feeling somewhat comforted. It reminded her of the simpler times in her life. When all she had to worry about was school and her friends and saving the world. To most saving the world wouldn’t qualify as simple. But to her it was much easier than worrying about bills and house upkeep and her mother’s constant nagging to settle down with the right man.

She smiled as she walked back into the dressing room and took off the dress. She slipped her clothes back on after neatly placing the dress back on the hanger. She exited the dressing room and headed up to the front to pay for her dress. A few minutes later she was out of the store, her dress in one hand and her makeup in the other. As she walked to catch a taxi ride back, she passed a shoe store. She glanced in the window. Sure she had brought heels, but none that would look good with this dress.

Decision made, Kim entered the store and started browsing through the aisles. It didn’t take long to find the perfect shoe to go with the perfect dress. She made her purchase and headed back out, trying to get a taxi. She couldn’t believe all the money she had just spent. Not like it was going to hurt her, but it was still strange. All this for Tommy. She smiled to herself as she thought about how nice it would be to have dinner with just the two of them after all these years.

She finally got a taxi and headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

Hayley walked to Tommy’s room and rapped on the door. A few seconds later it opened, and Tommy gestured for her to come in. "Are you ready to go down to the casino?"

"No.", Tommy said looking over at her. "I don’t have anything to wear."

Hayley looked at him oddly. "For gambling, you look fine.", she pointed out

Tommy sighed. "I mean for dinner. With Kim."

"Why should it matter. You two are only going as friends. Unless"

"We’re just friends.", Tommy quickly cut her off. "And I love to look my best for my friends."

"You’ve never dressed up for dinner with me.", Hayley reminded him

"That’s different.", he replied

"What, I’m not a friend?", Hayley asked with an amused look on her face

Tommy opened his mouth but declined to say anything for fear of shoving his foot farther in. "Anyway as soon as I figure out what to wear we’ll go down to the casino floor."

"Well what do you want to wear?", asked Hayley

"A suit.", he replied. "Only I didn’t bring one because I didn’t think I’d need one."

"That’s an easy fix.", Hayley replied. "We can go get you something."

"Are you sure?", Tommy asked. That was the best idea he’d heard all afternoon as long as Hayley really wanted to go with him.

Hayley shook her head yes. "It will be fun."

"Great.", Tommy said as he grabbed his stuff. "I need some shoes too. An entire wardrobe."

Hayley smiled as she let him lead her out of the hotel room. For a just friends date, this was turning out to be quite a production.

Chapter 7
Dinner for Two

Tommy looked himself over in the mirror one last time. Everything had to be perfect. He thought it was perfect now. At least he hoped so. He took a deep breath before exiting his hotel room. He quickly headed down the hallway and hit the button on the elevator. It took forever for it to arrive on his floor, and even longer for it to take him up to Kim’s.

The elevator doors opened slowly, and he stepped through them, heading down the hallway to pick up his dinner date. Upon arriving at the door he took one more deep breath before knocking. A few seconds later the door opened, and the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen appeared before him. "You look... amazing.", he said as he leaned in to give her a hug. As he hugged her he smelled the perfume she was wearing and smiled. It was the same perfume he had given her once as teenagers.

He stepped back and looked at her once more as a blush crept into her cheeks. "You look good too.", she said as she smiled at him. Standing there in his suit he was more handsome than she remembered. He extended his arm to her and she linked hers in his as she exited the room and shut the door.

"So where are we going?", she asked

Tommy smiled. "I made reservations at one of the nicest restaurants in town.", he replied as he led her to the elevator. They waited until it stopped on their floor, then took the long ride down to the lobby. A few seconds later they were out in front of the hotel. Tommy called them a cab which quickly whisked them away to their dinner destination.

Kim climbed out of the door of the cab, which Tommy had opened for her, and stood to look at the restaurant. It seemed elegant from the outside, and as she entered and looked around she realized just how nice this place is. "Tommy this is too much.", she said. Not that money was a factor, she just didn’t expect this.

"Don’t worry I got it.", Tommy said as he smiled at her

Much to Kim’s surprise, she didn’t argue. Instead she let Tommy escort her to the table that he had reserved. As they sat down Tommy ordered a bottle of wine for them to share. "So what do you think?", Tommy asked as they got settled

"This restaurant is amazing.", Kim said as she opened the menu and started to look at it. Even though she was dressed up, she didn’t expect him to take her to this fancy of a restaurant.

"The bartender at the hotel recommended it.", Tommy replied. "I owe him a big tip when we get back.", he said with a smile

Kim smiled back as the waiter returned with the wine. He poured a glass for each of them before setting the bottle down. He waited a few more minutes before taking their orders and picking up their menus, leaving them to talk.

"This reminds me of junior prom.", she commented. Until now, that was the nicest restaurant she had ever been too.

Tommy smiled at the memory. It was one of the last events they went to together before they broke up. "I remember junior prom.", he said. He laughed as he thought about it. It was funny that here she was wearing a pink dress, yet at the junior prom as the pink ranger she wore a blue dress.

"What?", Kim asked eying him curiously

"I was just thinking about the dress you wore to junior prom. And how it was baby blue.", Tommy said

"I wore more than just pink in high school.", Kim said shooting him a look. Tommy made a face and Kim burst out laughing. "Ok maybe not. But that dress was perfect and it wasn’t in pink. Aisha said I had to have it and that the baby blue would look fabulous on me."

"It did look fabulous on you.", Tommy told her as he nodded toward her. "Pink looks fabulous on you."

Kim blushed and quickly changed the subject. "Remember the limo ride to the prom?", she asked. They had all taken a limo together. Kim and Tommy, and their friends Rocky, Adam, Billy and Aisha who had each brought a date from school. She hadn’t even thought it possible to shove that many people into one limo.

"Remember the ride back?", Tommy asked with a smile specifically thinking about Rocky standing up through the sunroof, yelling about how everyone was missing out until finally Kim stood up to join him.

"Yeah I couldn’t believe how I let Rocky talk me into ruining my hair.", Kim said as she smiled. To be honest, junior prom was one of the best nights of her young life. And one of the only important events that Rita didn’t manage to ruin.

"Perfect hair or not, you were still beautiful.", he said his eyes meeting hers

She could feel the passion behind his eyes as she turned away. "Thinking about that makes me miss high school."

"What the endless struggle between making the grade and saving the world?", Tommy questioned

"No I miss Billy and Rocky and Adam and Jason and Aisha and Trini and Zack. I miss the high school sports events and the Stone Canyon rivalry games. I miss the events and the dances and just the freedoms that you had when you were a teenager.", she commented

"Everything changes so quickly.", Tommy pointed out. He hadn’t spoken to Billy since he left for Aquitar or Aisha since she went to Africa. He wasn’t even sure if Trini and Zack ever made it back to the states. He had spoken to Adam and Tanya a few times, as well as Rocky. He kept up with Jason a little more than that but not much.

"I wish we could get everyone together.", Kim said with a sigh

"Maybe someday.", Tommy replied. He wouldn’t mind seeing his old friends again either. Regardless of how often they spoke, they were still a ranger family.

As they sat there the waiter delivered their food. They ate and drank and continued to reminisce about high school until their plates were clean and the wine bottle was empty. The waiter brought them a bill which Tommy was quick to cover. He smiled at Kim as he stood up and went to pull her chair back, before extending his hand to hers and helping her up.

She let him lead her out of the restaurant. Tommy called for a cab to take them back to the hotel. They entered the lobby and he headed for the elevator, waiting for it to come back down to the ground floor. A few minutes later they walked in and Tommy hit the button for their floor. The elevator slowly ascended, before dinging to let them know they were there.

Tommy put an arm around her waist and escorted her down the hallway. She looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you for dinner. I had a fabulous time tonight."

"Me too.", Tommy said. It had been one of the best nights since high school. He got to spend the evening with the most beautiful woman, who looked absolutely stunning tonight. It couldn’t get much better.

They approached Kim’s door and Tommy took his hand off of her waist as she leaned against the door. "I hope we can do it again sometime.", she said. Dinner with him reminded her of how much fun they could have together, and of why she fell in love with him in the first place.

"Absolutely.", Tommy said as he stood, moving his body dangerously close to hers. He leaned in and gave her a hug. Feeling her, smelling her, a wave of emotion came over him as he pulled back and cupped her face in his hands, giving her a kiss. Kim put her arms around his body and pulled him close, returning the kiss passionately.

As the kiss ended, Tommy stepped back to look at her. Neither knew what to say. Kim quickly looked through her clutch and found her key card, her hands shaking as she went to open the door. She muttered a good night before she slammed it shut, leaning against it and letting her body sink to the floor.

"Oh God.", she said to herself. "What was I thinking?"

The truth was she knew what she was thinking. She realized she missed Tommy, missed his voice, his touch, his embrace, his lips... But that was a long time ago and she didn’t know how she could even think they could try again.

What she really wanted was to bring him inside the room and throw him on the bed, and show him how much she missed him. But that was just a kiss and they were supposed to be just friends. Even though he had kissed her first and she was more than willing to return the embrace. She sighed. At least she was pretty sure they were just friends.

Slowly Kim pulled herself to her feet. She needed some time to think and sort this through. There was a lot to think about. After all those years, there was obviously still chemistry there. What if he wanted to give it another try? Would she? What if he wanted to back up and be just friends? Could she do that?

The questions bouncing through her mind were quickly giving her a headache. Kim walked over to the mini-bar and grabbed a few bottles, fixing herself a drink. It was going to be a long night.

Chapter 8
Effects Of A Kiss

Tommy tossed and turned all night until he finally shot out of bed at six-thirty in the morning. There was no point in laying there if he couldn’t sleep. All he could think about was Kim, and in the few moments he closed his eyes she invaded his dreams. Some were pleasant, some he didn’t want to wake up from, while in others she broke his heart again or worse.

He thought about what had happened all night as he lay in his bed. About how wonderful it was to spend and evening with Kim. How after all these years he could easily love her again. He thought about the way she smelled, what it felt like to touch her, what it felt like to kiss her. More importantly he thought about how he didn’t know how he could live without her anymore.

Somewhere in those lines of thought, reason would always take over. She lived in Florida, she had a full time job, a house, friends, responsibilities. He lived in Reefside, where he taught and lived. Most importantly his home in Reefside had a its own command center underneath it, one that he worked very hard to rebuild after it was destroyed years ago. Not that he was an active ranger, but he still kept up with everything that went on in the ranger community. He felt like it was his duty, his responsibility to make sure that the world was taken care of.

He couldn’t leave where he was to be with Kim in Florida, and he doubted that she would be able to leave Florida to be near him. For those reasons alone he didn’t think it would work. Neither of his long distance relationships had worked.

But God how he wanted to try, if of course Kim was willing. Tommy spent over an hour going through all this in his head before he jumped into the shower, going through everything one more time. By the time he was ready for his day it was close to nine, and he knew there was only one thing he could do. Go talk to Kim.

Feeling more nervous than he had in a long time, he exited his hotel room and headed over to the elevator. He waited for it to arrive on his floor before hitting the button for Kim’s floor, taking what felt like the longest elevator ride of his life. As the doors dinged open a woman stood in front of him waiting to catch the elevator as well.

"K..Kim.", Tommy stuttered surprised to see her standing there. "I, uh, was just coming to talk to you."

Kim blushed. "Me too.", she said softly as Tommy quickly held his hand out to keep the elevator doors from shutting in their faces. "There’s a diner across the street. Do you want to go get a cup of coffee?"

Tommy nodded as he let out a sigh of relief. She wanted to talk to him as much as he wanted to talk to her. At least she didn’t hate him. He moved out of the way and allowed her to enter the elevator before hitting the button for the ground floor. They kept more distance than usual as they descended, the only noise between them being the hum of the elevator.

As the doors opened they walked into the lobby, Tommy escorting her out of the hotel and across the street. They entered the diner and sat down in a booth, each ordering a cup of coffee.

"So...", Kim said letting her voice trail off as she stirred in her sugar

"So.", Tommy stated fixing his coffee as well. "I thought about you all night.", he started

"You were on my mind too.", Kim admitted. She knew where this conversation was going so she figured she might as well point it there. "About the kiss..."

Tommy took a deep breath. He was just going to say it and see what she had to say. "I’m not sorry for kissing you Kim. I want you to know that. I still care about you and regardless of what happens from here I’m not sorry."

Kim smiled. She would have to admit to enjoying the kiss as well. "I’m not sorry either. But where does that leave us?"

"I don’t know.", Tommy confessed. That was the question that had kept him up all night.

Kim thought for a moment. She had been up thinking all night. She had so much to say to him that she wasn’t quite sure where to start. "Ten years of bad relationships and I find myself regretting I ever let you go. You can chalk it up to being young and stupid I suppose.", she said shrugging her shoulders. "Yesterday was magical, it reminded me of why I loved you so much in the first place."

"So what are you saying?", Tommy asked. He knew what he hoped she was saying, but he wanted to hear the words coming out of her mouth.

"I’m saying that I could easily step back into a relationship with you. That I’ve always cared about you, and I’ve always thought about what could have been. The only problem is our lives are so separate now I don’t know if it would work.", Kim told him

Tommy nodded. That was pretty much the same conclusion he came up with over and over again. He thought about Kim’s words, how she still cared for him, and how he still cared for her. "I want to try.", he blurted out

"Try?", Kim questioned although she knew what he was implying

"Try to have a relationship with you.", he said as he reached across the table and placed his hand over hers. "You’re the one thing that’s been missing in my life since high school. As angry as I was with you, I could never stop thinking about you."

"What’s going to happen at the end of the week when I’m off to Miami and you’re going back to Reefside. That’s about as long distance as we can get without me moving to another country. And you said it yourself long distance relationships don’t work.", Kim pointed out. As much as her heart was screaming at her to hold on to him and never let him go, her head was screaming even louder. She didn’t want to break his heart again and she didn’t want hers to get broken either.

"I don’t know. We’re older now. Things would be different. But I would be willing to give it a try, to give us a try. I’d rather do that than spend the rest of my life thinking about what could’ve been." Tommy knew Kim was right. There was no telling what next week would bring. But he knew what he had this week and he wasn’t willing to let it go.

Kim sighed. "Maybe we can see each other in Vegas, and see how it goes.", she said as she started to give in to her heart. "We can date some, and spend some time together, and see what happens by the end of the week."

"You mean that?", Tommy asked as she nodded. He smiled at her. "So you’ll be my girlfriend again?"

Kim giggled. "Yes Tommy, I’ll be your girlfriend again."

Without warning Tommy leaned across the table and pulled her towards him, giving her another kiss, which she returned passionately until they heard a woman clear her throat. They scooted back and looked up to see their waitress standing there, wanting to know if they were going to order breakfast or not. The duo declined and the waitress left, leaving Tommy and Kim to themselves.

Kim smiled at him. Their last kiss had left her feeling panicked, while this one made her feel as though everything was right with the world. "Do you want to get out of here?", she asked

Tommy nodded. He threw down enough money to cover the coffee and a tip as he stood up, walking over to Kim and extending his hand. She took it and allowed him to help her up. As she stood he put his arm around her and kissed her neck. "Let’s go see what the day brings us.", he said leading her out of the diner

Chapter 9
Starting Over

Tommy and Kim walked into the hotel feeling refreshed. Everything had changed and they were giving it a second chance. They strode through the lobby hand in hand and naturally headed toward the elevators.

"So what do you want to do today?", Kim asked smiling and looking up at Tommy

"I don’t know.", Tommy replied. He honestly hadn’t given the day much thought past the talk with Kim. As they stood there the elevator doors opened, and out walked Hayley. "Hey Hayley. Where are you off to?", he asked, realizing the stupidity of the question. There aren’t many places a girl in a swimsuit would go.

She grinned at her friend. "I’m off to the pool."

"By yourself?", Tommy asked realizing yet again that it was a stupid question

Hayley smiled and shrugged. Kim looked at her for a moment. She had come to Las Vegas with Tommy and here Kim was monopolizing all of his time. "I haven’t checked out the pool yet. We should go.", she said as she looked up at him

"I’ve walked around the pool area, it looks amazing.", Hayley told her

"That sounds like fun.", Tommy said. He was relieved that Kim had suggested that they go spend some time with Hayley. He felt like he was leaving her out, as all he was concerned with since he got here was Kim. She claimed not to mind but he wasn’t going to drag her out to Vegas then ditch her. "Give us ten minutes then we’ll meet you down there."

"Ok. I’ll go find us some chairs.", Hayley replied as she headed off to the pool

Tommy and Kim rode the elevator up, each getting off on their own floor. Tommy headed to his room and unlocked the door, going in to get changed. He dug through his drawers to find his swim trunks, before throwing all his clothes off and putting the trunks on. As he was going to find a t-shirt, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and couldn’t help but chuckle. He hadn’t gone swimming much in the last year, and hadn’t paid much attention to how well the trunks represented him until now. They were all black, with one thick green, white and red stripe running down both sides. He certainly hadn’t gone hunting for trunks that summed up his ranger career, he just picked the first ones off the shelf.

Tommy pushed that thought away as he grabbed a t-shirt and put it on before heading back downstairs. He exited the elevator and kept an eye out for Kim as he walked toward the pool. Walking out toward the pool he saw what a spectacle the it actually was. Hayley was right though, it looked pretty amazing. Quickly he caught a glimpse of his friend and made his way over to her.

"These are the only three chairs together by the pool so, take them or leave them.", Hayley said smiling at him as she gestured to the other two seats beside of her, which all faced the deep end.

"They’re perfect.", he replied as he took a seat in the chair next to her

There was a moment of silence with Hayley just smiling at Tommy waiting for him to spill everything. When he didn’t get the hint, she spoke. "So?"

"So, what?", Tommy asked honestly clueless

"You and Kim. I assume your just friends dinner went well as you were holding hands.", Hayley said trying to contain her amusement. The previous afternoon Tommy had gone on and on about how he and Kim were just friends, and in five seconds with them she could tell they were much more than that. Not that she couldn’t have seen that coming from a mile away.

"We kissed last night.", Tommy confessed beaming at the memory. "And this morning we had a talk, and we’re going to try the dating thing again. At least while we’re in Vegas, see how it goes."

"That’s great.", Hayley said. It was nice to see Tommy finally dating some, especially with the girl he’s talked about ever since she met him

Tommy smiled and nodded as he caught a glimpse of Kim and flagged her down. He watched as she turned towards them and headed in their direction. He couldn’t help but notice how stunning she looked in her royal blue bikini and how it accented her tanned body.

As she approached the duo, Kim flashed them a smile. "Hey guys.", she greeted stopping in front of them and throwing her stuff down.

"Have you two been officially introduced?", Tommy asked as both women shook their heads no. The only time they met was when Kim had her head in the toilet. "Hayley this is Kim, Pan Global winner and original pink, and Kim this is Hayley, the mastermind for just about everything we had in Reefside."

"Nice to meet you.", Kim said extending her hand

Hayley shook it and smiled. "You too. Tommy’s told me a lot about you."

Kim pulled her hand back and turned away, hoping nobody would see her blush. "Well I don’t know if you can trust a word he says.", she joked throwing her towel and her sandals on the empty chair.

"Oh he’s had nothing but good things to say I promise.", Hayley assured her. She caught Tommy blushing as he was sitting next to her, and she assumed Kim’s refusal to turn back around meant she was doing the same thing.

Kim finally felt as though she could face Hayley without looking red, so she turned around. "So who’s ready to hit the pool."

Tommy smiled wickedly as he leaped up and jumped in with enough force to splash both girls. They watched as he went under for a second, before breaking the surface and grinning at them. "You guys coming?"

Kim looked at Hayley and laughed before leaping in. As she hit the water she felt Tommy’s strong arms around her, holding onto her so she didn’t sink too far down. Kim laughed as she came up, pushing wet strands of hair out of her face. Tommy put his hands on her waist, bringing her close before giving her a passionate kiss. As Kim was engrossed in the moment, Tommy started to tickle her. Kim tried to shoot away and struggled keeping balance between trying to splash him and tread water.

Hayley watched them play in the water and smiled. This was a side of Tommy that she had never seen before. As long as she’d known him it had been all work, whether it had been his doctorate or his research or the rangers. Now that Kim has walked back into his life he seems to be letting go a bit and enjoying things more. Not counting today they only had four days left in Vegas before it was back to real life. She hoped that Tommy and Kim could make it work, that their relationship would last past this vacation. That would be the best thing that happened to him in a long time.

Tommy looked up and saw Hayley still sitting on the chair. "Hey Hayley, you coming?"

Hayley’s thoughts snapped back to the situation at hand as she smiled at Tommy. "Of course.", she replied as she stood up and went to jump into the water, enjoying a nice day in the pool

Chapter 10
Leaving Las Vegas

Kim sat in her hotel room thinking. The last few days had gone by in a blur. Almost every moment of everyday had been spent with Tommy. They gambled and went site seeing and went to shows... it was a whirlwind of activities with some time spent enjoying each other’s company in between. Kim had also gotten the chance to befriend Hayley over the last few days as she had been in on some of their activities as well.

The former pink ranger had learned something very important from her time in Las Vegas. That after ten years she was still in love with the same man who she had fallen for back in high school. With both of them going home tomorrow she didn’t know what to do. It pained her to leave him, and the fact that she was going back to the other side of the country hurt even more.

Neither had brought it up the rest of the week. Their time had become like a fairy tale, and they didn’t want to ruin it by throwing reality back into the mix. Now they had no choice. Tonight they were going to have to evaluate the relationship, to see if they were going to be able to continue on together.

Nothing in Kim’s life had made her more nervous. Nothing as a Power Ranger, not the Pan Globals, not the letter, not even starting her job as a talk show host. Now the prospect of this one conversation with Tommy had the butterflies in her stomach kicking into overdrive. Kim looked at herself in the mirror and took several deep breaths, trying to calm down. Once she was convinced that she had gotten rid of the jitters, or at the very least tamed them for the moment, she grabbed her things and headed out of the hotel room

Kim was as ready as she was going to be as she hit the down button on the elevator door. It felt like it took lifetimes to arrive as the doors swung open and she climbed in. She took the ride down and climbed out when she reached the ground floor. Going through the casino floor, she headed for the hotel’s restaurant. As she walked into the doorway, she saw Tommy wave at her and flash her a smile. She smiled as she waved back, and headed over to his table to have a seat.

"I ordered us a bottle of wine already. I hope that’s ok.", Tommy said

"That’s fine.", Kim replied

They both sat there in silence for a few moments, neither wanting to be the one who brought up the topic they desperately needed to discuss. "You look beautiful tonight.", Tommy said avoiding the subject as he looked her over. He wasn’t just saying that though, she did look particularly beautiful that night.

"Thank you.", Kim said with a smile

Their waiter brought over a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. They thanked him and ordered, and he went off to put their meal in with the kitchen. They both looked nervously around as they didn’t know what to say or do. The silence bothered Kim more than anything, until finally she started the conversation. "I leave tomorrow morning."

"I know.", Tommy replied. He knew this had to be said, but he wasn’t ready yet.

"Have you thought about it?", she asked knowing full well that it was probably the only thing on his mind as it was the only thing on hers

"Of course.", Tommy replied. He had spent the last few hours working through every possible scenario. "I don’t want to give us up. I don’t want to lose you again."

"I don’t either. It’s just... I don’t want to get back to Florida and have the same thing happen again. I don’t want to send you another letter. I don’t want to break your heart.", Kim said. She wanted things to work out with Tommy so badly that she would give this long distance thing a chance. The one thing that was holding her up was the fact that they had tried once before and she had failed miserably.

"So don’t. Come to Reefside.", Tommy said surprising her a bit. She looked at him awkwardly for a moment and he continued. "You can get a place there and I know we have talk shows. Any television station would die to have you aboard."

"It’s not that simple. I have obligations in Miami. I can’t say to hell with them just to be with you.", she said. As she spoke she could feel the tears forming in her eyes. She wished it was that easy. That she could just go back to Reefside with him and send for her things later.

"I understand.", Tommy said. It was just a spur of the moment suggestion, he knew the idea was crazy. "But I don’t want this week to have been a fling. We’re adults now, we know what we want. You were young the last time, things have changed. We’ve changed."

"I don’t want it to have been a fling either. I want for us to have a future together. I want it more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life.", Kim said as a tear slipped down her face. She batted it away then continued. "I just don’t know how we can keep this kind of romance up from three thousand miles away."

"It will work Kim. I know it will. I’m not leaving us in Vegas.", Tommy said

Kim looked down at the table trying hard not to let anymore tears slip out. She felt Tommy’s finger as he lifted her head up and made eye contact, smiling at her as he leaned across the table to give her a kiss. She could feel all the power behind that kiss, all the emotion. It made her feel as though everything was going to be alright. She sighed as she grazed her hand across his face while he leaned back.

"I want this to last forever.", she admitted. "But we were in love once before and even that wasn’t enough."

"I love you.", Tommy said surprising her. It was the first time this entire week that he’d said it. "And I’m not talking about high school love. That wasn’t what we have now. What we have now is strong enough to keep us together no matter what the distance. I love you Kim."

"I love you too.", Kim said. She looked up and gazed into his eyes, and all her fears melted away. "You’re right, we’re older now. This is different. The way I feel about you now is enough to keep us together."

Tommy cupped his hand over hers. "Do you mean that?", he asked

"Of course.", she replied. She had tried to come to dinner and keep a sensible head on her shoulders, but she was mistaken. Who cares about distance. The only thing that mattered was that she had finally found someone that she cared about more than anything, and she wasn’t going to let that go.

"Do you want to get out of here?", Tommy asked with a smile

"What did you have in mind?", she questioned

Tommy reached down into his pockets and pulled out his wallet, throwing down enough money to cover their drinks and food. He grabbed her hand and whisked her off, back to the elevators and up toward her room. "Do you have your key?", he asked, waiting for her to hand it to him

She passed the key card over and he unlocked the door. Before she could enter the room he swept her up into his arms, carrying her over the threshold. He placed her on the bed as he heard the door close behind him. If this was going to be the last night with his girlfriend for a while, he certainly wasn’t going to waste precious moments with her in the hotel restaurant.

He laid down beside her and brushed her hair out of her face, giving her a passionate kiss. She smiled at him as he pulled away, thrilled that she could spend her last night in Vegas with the man that she loved most in the world.

Chapter 11
Airport Goodbyes

Kim and Tommy sat in the Las Vegas airport, where Kim’s flight was scheduled to take off shortly. Tommy and Hayley’s flight wasn’t due to leave for a few hours, but both had gone ahead and checked in so they could sit with her in the airport and say their goodbyes.

They made the first boarding call for Kim’s flight. Although she was flying home first class, she was planning on waiting until the last possible moment to board the plane. This was her last time with Tommy for who only knows how long, and she loathed to give up even a second of it.

"It was nice meeting you." Hayley said standing over Tommy and Kim who were sitting together at the end of a row of seats. She extended her hand to Kim before she continued speaking. "I’m glad you two found each other." she added

"Thank you." Kim replied shaking her hand. "It was nice meeting you too. I’m glad Tommy has you to keep him sane."

Hayley laughed as she let go of Kim’s hand. She didn’t know how sane she kept him, but she sure tried. "I’ve got some work to do so I’m going to leave you two to your goodbyes." she said. She went and sat down at the opposite end of the row, pulling out her computer and booting it up. She absentmindedly hacked away at the keys as she kept an eye out on Tommy and Kim, trying to see how everything was going.

"So....," Tommy started letting his voice trail off, "this isn’t the end."

"No of course not. With today’s technology it will be easy to keep in touch with each other." Kim said as she smiled at him. It was hard leaving him like this but she knew she could make it work.

"Exactly. We have email, IM’s, video conferencing, cell phones, even regular old letters." Tommy pointed out building on her thoughts

Kim started to laugh. "I may lay off the regular letters. Let’s not forget I don’t have a good track record sending you those."

"We’re starting new. All is forgiven." Tommy said as he smiled at her. All the bitterness he still felt about the letter Kim had sent him ten years ago had drained away in the past week. Now it was nothing but a distant memory, something that had happened in his youth.

"We’ll definitely have to plan some vacation time. Video conferencing isn’t is good as sitting here with you." Kim said. Although it was hard enough to find a replacement for her for this week, and she wasn’t sure she would be allowed to take off again any time soon.

"Absolutely." Tommy replied. He could fly out to Miami and visit her before the summer was up as long as he didn’t have anything important work related to do. Of course once school started he definitely wouldn’t be able to get out there again until winter break if that. Tommy sighed as he thought about how this could be the last time seeing her for months.

"Something wrong?" Kim asked as she watched his expression drop

Tommy hadn’t realized he looked as sad as he felt. He took his hand and grazed it against Kim’s cheek, smiling at her. "Nothing’s wrong." he replied. He leaned in and gave her a kiss, which she was more than willing to return.

Hayley smiled as the two were engrossed in each other. She was happy that after all that time they were with each other again. Over the years no matter what Tommy had said about how it ended, she could still see the joy in his face as he spoke of her and their time together before the breakup. As the kissing stopped, Hayley quickly stuck her nose back in her laptop so they wouldn’t notice her watching them.

Kim’s bottom lip started quivering and she quickly tried to turn it into a smile. "This is going to be great. We’re dating and," she paused trying to keep the smile on her face

"And what?" Tommy questioned not sure what the pause was for

"And you’re going to be on the other side of the country and I miss you already." Kim said as a stray tear fell down her face

"Kim don’t cry." Tommy said smiling at her as he brushed the tear away. "We’re going to keep in touch. Constantly. I promise."

"I know. It will be good, we’ll be able to talk to each other everyday." Kim said as she looked down at the floor. She didn’t want to look him in the eyes for fear that she wouldn’t be able to stop the tears from falling. "But I love you and I’m going to miss your touch and your" Kim didn’t get to finish the sentence as the tears started falling, eventually cutting her off.

"Kim..." Tommy said as he pulled her into his chest. God he was going to miss her too. Over the last week he had gotten used to her touch again and he didn’t want to give that up. As he watched her tears fall faster a tear slid down his cheek.

She looked up at him and noticed that he had started to cry, which escalated her own tears and created a snowball effect between the two of them. It didn’t take long before tears were quickly streaming down both of their faces.

Hayley heard the conversation stop and looked up to see the tears flowing down their faces. It was nice to see Tommy showing some emotion. She smiled to herself as she thought about how he was going to have to be extra nice to her if he didn’t want Conner and the others to find out that the great Tommy Oliver actually does have a sensitive side.

A voice came over the intercom making a last call for Kim’s flight to Miami. Kim and Tommy tried to quickly dry their eyes as they stood up. Tommy put his arm around Kim’s waist and led her to the gate. She looked up at him and smiled, her eyes meeting his. She willed the tears not to come as she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a passionate kiss.

"I’ll call you as soon as I get home." she promised. Although her flight was leaving earlier, it was going to land well after Tommy’s flight back to Reefside.

"I’ll be sitting by the phone waiting." Tommy assured her. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and brought her in for another kiss.

"Mam, if you’re going to board this flight you need to do so now.", the attendant said from behind them

Kim broke from Tommy and nodded. She held his hand as she walked over and handed the attendant her ticket. "I love you." she told him as she gave his hand a squeeze

"I love you too." he replied squeezing her hand back before letting it go. Tommy watched as Kim headed out toward the plane. She glanced back at him until she turned the corner and could no longer see him.

Tommy let out a sigh as he moped over toward Hayley and slouched down in the seat next to her. "I can’t believe she’s gone."

"Are you alright?" Hayley asked as she bent the top of her laptop down and looked over at him

"I’ll be fine." he replied. Well as fine as he was going to be considering in the last week he had found the love of his life again then watched as she flew off to the other side of the country.

Hayley saw the look on his face and frowned. He wasn’t alright, at least not at the moment. She hoped it wouldn’t take long for him to get back into the swing of things. Starting this afternoon his days would once again be filled with research and digs, preparation for the upcoming school year, and time spent with the former rangers. She knew Kim would always be on his mind, but he would have to be able to think of her and take care of what needed to be done.

"Let’s go get some lunch." Hayley suggested. She hoped that getting him out of this terminal would improve his spirits a bit. Besides by the time they found a place to eat, ate, then found their terminal, it wouldn’t be too terribly much longer before their flight started boarding.

"Yeah," Tommy said absentmindedly, "that sounds like a good idea."

"Come on." Hayley replied snapping her computer shut and throwing it back in her bag. She quickly stood and gestured for Tommy to stand with her. He did and she hooked his arm in hers, before leading him out of the terminal to find lunch.

Two hours later, Tommy and Hayley were sitting on a plane bound for California, waiting to get back to Reefside and back to their normal lives.