Author's Notes: This is the final 9 chapters of "Viva Las Vegas". This story does end in a cliffhanger, meaning there will be a sequel story for it so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Power Rangers
"Viva Las Vegas"
Chapters 12-20

Chapter 12
Getting Back to Normal

Conner and Kira walked into Hayley’s Cyperspace Café looking to enjoy a late summer afternoon, and hoping to spend the time with old friends and former rangers. As they walked in they noticed Dr. Oliver hunched over his work on the table. They went to approach him and he adjusted. Kira noticed the cell phone at his ear and quickly grabbed Conner’s arm and pulled him back shooting him a look. Conner shrugged and looked confused as Kira pulled him aside.

"He’s on the phone." Kira whispered a little loudly

Conner rolled his eyes. "Probably with his girlfriend again." he said making a face. Conner was supposed to be the one of the Dino Thunder team who was popular with the ladies, but since Dr. Oliver got back practically the only thing he had done was try and continue to woo Kim from three thousand miles away. "I still can’t believe he’s dating a ranger."

"Kim’s not just any ranger. She set the precedent for female rangers." Kira reminded him. As soon as Dr. Oliver got back from Vegas they knew something was different. It didn’t take much prying to get the truth from Hayley. Then they had to go find out everything they could about Kim, starting with the fact that she was one of the first female rangers and was handpicked by Zordon. That alone was enough to earn Kira’s respect.

"Yeah, well, whatever." Conner replied as Dr. Oliver hung up the phone. Kira nodded toward him and they walked over to the table and sat down. "Hey Dr. O, what’s up?" he asked

Tommy was glowing as his two former students and rangers sat down beside him. "Oh hey guys. Nothing much."

"How’s Kim?" Kira asked. She couldn’t help but be nosey. She thought it was awesome that her teacher was putting himself out in the dating world. She was beginning to wonder if he was going to die old and lonely in his command center with a bunch of dinosaur bones.

"She’s good." Tommy replied with a hint of sadness in his voice. They had been home for a little over a month, and he talked to her practically everyday and exchanged emails, but it wasn’t the same. He missed the way her face lit up when she laughed, he missed the way she lightly touched him to get his attention, the way her lips felt when they touched his... he just missed having her there with him.

"Hey Dr. O why so glum?" Ethan asked as he sat down at the table with his former teammates. Kira and Conner shot him a look and he made a face. It was obvious that Dr. Oliver was sad about something and he didn’t know what the harm was in asking about it.

Tommy didn’t reply but he didn’t have to. "He misses Kim." Hayley said as she walked over and leaned on the back of Ethan’s chair. The team was surprised to see their mentor blush and quickly look away. Hayley smiled, she hadn’t intended to embarrass him. "So when are you going to Florida?"

"I’d love to go when I get this done." Tommy replied turning back toward the group and gesturing to all the research on the table. He had been hired by a major corporation to lead a dig and do some research over the summer. It was a huge project, and it was the main reason he was hesitant to go to Las Vegas in the first place. Teachers were due back into school in a few weeks, and he had to have his final report done before then.

Conner looked at the pile of paperwork. "You can’t put that," he started gesturing to Tommy’s research, "in front of a woman. Trust me Dr. O I know a lot about women."

Tommy chuckled softly. "Unfortunately Conner when you get to be my age things aren’t as simple anymore."

"For you maybe." Conner replied with a smile. He had gotten into college on a soccer scholarship and planned on being a huge nationwide soccer star after he graduated. Then he would have plenty of time to concentrate on women.

"I’m trying to go at the beginning of August, but we’ll see." Tommy replied. If he didn’t make it out in August he wasn’t going to be able to get to Miami until Christmas. Either way he planned on spending Christmas in Miami, which was a travel itinerary he wasn’t looking forward too. Flying around the holiday’s was a mess. But if it meant seeing Kim, he wouldn’t think twice about it.

"So what are the plans for today?" asked Ethan, switching topics as he looked around the table

"Trent should be here soon and we can all hang." Kira replied with a smile. Kira and Trent had been seeing each other since they started college. The only thing that stopped them from calling it an official relationship was themselves.

Tommy nodded in Kira’s direction. He enjoyed being able to visit with the former members of the Dino Thunder team. He had seen them around most of the summer, and they had a few official gatherings. This would be one of the more official ones, and he was hoping that at least for the time they would spend together he could forget about the fact that his girlfriend was on the other side of the country.

"There’s Trent now." Hayley said gesturing toward the front door as he walked in

Trent smiled and headed over to the table. "Hey guys. Sorry I’m late my dad was keeping me busy."

"You’re not late." Kira assured him with a smile. "We were just getting ready to figure out what we wanted to do this afternoon."

Tommy thought for a moment then stood and gestured for Trent to take his seat. "You guys think on it, I’ll be right back." he said as he headed over toward the counter. The more he thought about Kim, the more he thought about how he wanted to show her that he missed her. Phone calls and emails were great, but he had an idea that was much better than that.

He stood in private so the kids wouldn’t say anything to him as he dialed 411, looking for a Miami florist. As soon as he got through to one he had them send the biggest, most beautiful bouquet of flowers they had to her office. He gave instructions for a card and then payed for the flowers before hanging up the phone, a huge smile on his face. Kim was going to be thrilled when they arrived for her.

"Are you alright?" Hayley questioned as she walked over toward him. She had been waiting for him to hang up the phone so she could check on him

"Yeah, I’m fine." he replied smiling at her

"Anything you need to talk about?" she asked wanting to make sure that everything really was ok

Tommy shook his head no. "Just ordering some flowers for Kim."

"Oh." Hayley said her voice perking up as she smiled at him. "Well the kids have an idea." she told him as she gestured over toward their table

"Great. Let’s hear it." Tommy replied as he followed Hayley back over. He was now completely ready to focus on spending time with the former rangers. It made him feel somewhat better knowing that even from three thousand miles away he could make his girlfriend’s day a little brighter.

Chapter 13
"Missing You"

Kim sat in the desk in her little office located in the middle of ABC studios in Miami. She was working on preparing for the next days show, looking at what guests they were going to interview and what topics they were going to cover.

She was having trouble concentrating as the topic of her thoughts was a man three thousand miles away. It had been a little over a month since she’d seen him, and her heart was aching to be with him again. Luckily for her, her morning show kept her pretty busy. But it was late nights and weekends when she missed him the most, especially after she heard date stories from her friends in Miami.

It wasn’t like they hadn’t spoken since they’d been home. She tried to talk to him on the phone at least once a day. They were constantly emailing and she had even gotten a card in the mail from him recently. Each time she received word from him it made her smile, but it wasn’t the same as spending every moment with him like she did when she was in Vegas.

Kim sighed and tried to get back to her work. Before she left for Vegas she had been so passionate about her morning show, and now it seemed less important. She no longer spent hours digging into stories as the show wasn’t the only thing in her life. She was still the same bubbly Kimberly Heart when the cameras rolled, but there was a difference in the material she produced. Although she still did a good job, there was something missing.

Kim was trying to look into a story about a local hero. She knew the details of the incident and the details behind the man they were going to have on the show in the morning, and she was working on formulating what to say from that. It was taking her a while as her thoughts kept drifting back to Tommy.

Eventually there was a knock on the door. Kim was grateful for the interruption, and was hoping that after her visitor she would be able to focus more on the work at hand. "Come in." she called to the mystery person behind the door

The door cracked open and her friend and one of the production assistants on the show, Melissa, slipped through closing the door behind her. She grabbed a chair and pulled it to the front of the desk. "Hey girl." she said smiling at her

Kim smiled back at her friend. "Hey. What’s up?"

"Just coming to chat." Melissa replied. Which was only partially the truth. She couldn’t believe it when Kim told her she hooked up with her high school boyfriend while on vacation. Melissa supposed that was a good thing, as it meant that she was definitely over Cole. But she wasn’t sure how good it was for her to hook up with someone on the other side of the country.

Kim said they were still in love after all these years and it was great to see her so happy. As happy as she was, she still seemed sad. Melissa assumed it had to do with the fact that she couldn’t see Tommy on a regular basis. She knew that was part the reason Kim strayed the last time they were together. But Kim assured her that things would be different this time, that she would never break his heart like that again. Melissa was inclined to believe her as she had never seen her glow like that when speaking about anyone.

"How’s the work on tomorrow’s show coming?" Melissa asked

"Good." Kim replied. Well at least it was going as good as it could be.

Melissa nodded. "You gonna finish on time?"

"I should be out of here by six." Kim replied

"Great then you can meet me at eight to go clubbing." Melissa said. Kim made a face and she continued. "Some of the girls from here are coming. It’s going to be a girls night out. It will be fun." The women who worked on the show felt bad that Kim was moping around about a boyfriend on the other side of the country. They wanted to make her feel better and get her mind off of everything, and what better way to do it than a girls night out.

Kim sighed. "I don’t know..." she said letting her voice trail off. Clubs used to be fun, especially when she was going out looking for dates. But now that she had Tommy, she wasn’t sure if she had any interest in them.

"I’m not giving you a choice." Melissa said sternly. She smiled then continued. "Besides it is going to be all girls, no guys allowed."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "Does Kate know that?" Kate was one of the women who worked on the morning show and every time they went out she got a number from at least one guy at every bar, and usually ended up hooking up with all of them.

"Kate will behave. Well as much as Kate behaves." Melissa replied with a laugh. "Seriously Kim it won’t be as much fun without you."

Kim thought for a moment. It wouldn’t hurt to have a night out with her girlfriends. And it might just make her feel a little better. "Why not." she agreed

"Great I’ll let the girls know you’re in. You won’t regret it I promise." Melissa replied

Kim smiled at her as there was a knock on the door once again. Melissa jumped up and cracked the door open. "Delivery for a Miss Kimberly Heart." the man on the other side of the door said

Melissa let him in and gestured toward Kim’s desk. Kim was surprised as the delivery man came in and set a huge bouquet of flowers down in front of her. The man left and Melissa looked down at the bouquet. "Wow those are amazing. Who are they from?"

"I don’t know." Kim said although she had a pretty good idea. She looked around until she found the card, then picked it up and read it out loud. "Hey beautiful. Just a little something to brighten your day. Love, Tommy."

"Aw how sweet." Melissa said. She was now amazed by Kim’s boyfriend and she hadn’t even met him yet.

Kim took the card and held it against her chest for a moment as a huge smile spread across her face. She stood up and looked the bouquet over. It was absolutely beautiful, she couldn’t believe he had sent her something so elegant just because. She bent down to smell the flowers and a tear formed in her eye. She tried to quickly brush it away before her friend could see.

Melissa didn’t miss the tear. She saw Kim getting all gushy over the flowers and took that as her cue to leave. "Alright I’m leaving you with your flowers and your work. But I’ll see you at eight."

"Right, eight." Kim said. She stood over the flowers for a few more moments while Melissa exited the room, shutting the door behind her.

She sat down and tried to keep the tears from coming. The flowers were wonderful, and they were a reminder of just how much she missed him. Kim took a deep breath and tried to pull herself together. She stared at the flowers a few more minutes before picking up the vase and setting it aside so that she could get back to work.

As she pulled herself back up to her desk, she realized her concentration was now much worse than it was before. The only thing on her mind was Tommy and how she wished she could jump into his arms, to shower him with kisses and give him the proper thank you for the flowers. Of course that was nearly impossible with him in California and her in Florida.

Even though she couldn’t do that, she decided to give him a thank you. She picked up her cell phone and flipped through the contacts, quickly finding Tommy’s number. Kim hit send as she leaned back in her chair and looked over at the flowers.

"Hello?" a familiar voice said on the other end

"Hey." Kim said

"Hey beautiful. What’s up?" Tommy asked

"Not much. Just wanted to thank you for the flowers." Kim replied

Tommy’s voice perked up. "Do you like them?"

"They’re beautiful. I can’t believe you sent them." she told him

"Anything for you." he replied

Kim was thankful that he was only on the phone so he couldn’t see her blush. "They make my office look so much nicer."

"I’m glad you’re enjoying them." Tommy said. "Hang on a second." For a few seconds there was a muffled sound on the other end of the phone then Tommy returned. "Hey babe can I call you back later? I’m on Anton’s boat with the kids."

Kim tried not to laugh as someone in the background yelled something about not being kids. "Alright. I’ll talk to you later."

"Love you." Tommy said

"Love you too." she replied before hanging up the phone

Kim sighed as she went back to staring at the flowers. She would give anything to be with Tommy right now, to be out on the boat enjoying his company, to be a real part of his life. She would love to meet his ranger team, to see the school he works at, to meet the people he works for. None of that she could do from sitting in her little office in Miami.

The more she thought about it, the more certain ides kept flowing through her mind. She missed his touch, the smell of his cologne, the feeling of his breath against the back of her neck. She missed him there with her, and that was never going to change, not at this rate anyway. The more Kim thought about it, the more she thought about how there was only one thing left to do. The entire idea made her nervous, and she didn’t know if it was even a good one. Who knew what was going to happen if she went through with it.

But she definitely knew what was going to happen if she didn’t. The more she thought about Tommy and her future, the more she thought she’d take that chance. After sitting there for an hour debating on what she wanted to do, Kim finally made her mind up. Decision final, Kim got to work. It wouldn’t take long before everything was ready and she would be happy.

Chapter 14
"Home Sweet Home"

Two weeks after Kim's epiphany she sat in a taxi being driven to her final destination. She had thought long and hard about her final decision and no matter what she knew it was the right one. There was still a lot that needed to be done to finalize this, but most of it was in the works so at least she didn’t have to stress out too much.

The taxi pulled up to the address Kim had given, stopping a few feet shy of hitting the black jeep parked in the driveway. Kim paid the driver and stepped out, pulling her two duffle bags with her. She watched the driver pull away before collecting her things and heading toward the front door. As she approached the door she put her things down, before knocking and waiting for an answer.

A few seconds later the door cracked open, then was flung open. "Kim!" Tommy exclaimed throwing his arms around her and pulling her close before letting her go and kissing her. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I really don’t have anywhere else to stay in Reefside so I was hoping you’d put me up for a while." Kim said with a grin working her way around the question

"Absolutely." he replied. He gestured for her to come in as he reached down to pick up her bags. She headed into the living room as he closed the door and put the bags aside, before going to sit with her. "It’s great that you’re here. How long are you staying?"

"With you?" she questioned shrugging. "Hopefully not longer than a week or two."

Tommy looked at her curiously. "Then what?"

"Well by then I hope to have my own place. I mean all my stuff will be here soon and I have the money so it shouldn’t be too hard to find a house of my own." Kim explained smiling at him. She eagerly waited for his response. She wasn’t sure what he was going to think of the whole thing, she hadn’t even given him a clue about it over the last two weeks.

"Wait, you’re moving to Reefside?" Tommy asked

"Well I’ve kind of moved here. I sold my house, quit my job...." she let her voice trail off for a moment before she continued. "Anyway I figured enough with Miami. I’m a California girl at heart so why not come home where my California boy was waiting."

He put a hand on her knee as he grinned at her. "Kim this is great. But are you sure? I mean you just gave up a lot to come here."

"I’ve never been more sure of anything. I do miss California. Some of the best friends I’ve ever had still live out here and I’d love to spend time with them again." she said referencing the former rangers. Sure she had friends in Miami, but seeing Tommy in Vegas reminded her of the team and how much she’d like to renew friendships with them. "Plus you can host a talk show anywhere. And Florida didn’t have monster attacks and that kind of takes the excitement out of life." she joked. She did realize that moving to California meant she’d be closer to ranger action than she had been in years, regardless of whether or not it was still going on in Reefside. "Most importantly Florida didn’t have you. And it really sucked being away from you like that."

Tommy had never been more happy in his life as he leaned in and gave her a kiss. He pulled back and looked at her, the smile still on his face. "Well if you’re going to be staying here, you need to get a feel for the place."

"Well Dr. Oliver, would you care to give me a tour?" she asked grinning at him

"But of course." he replied. He stood up and held his hand out to Kim. She placed her hand in his and allowed him to pull her up.

Tommy put an arm around her waist as he led her off. They walked through each room, with Kim examining every detail of the house. He really had done a decent job on the house considering he was a teacher and paleontologist with no true flare for interior design.

"This is the best part." Tommy said coming to a stop

Kim smiled and looked around, jumping as the floor next to her opened up. "What’s down there?"

"Come see for yourself." Tommy replied as he took her hand, leading her down the stairs and into his command center. "This was the home of operations for the Dino Thunder team. Well kind of anyway."

"What do you mean by kind of?" Kim asked as she looked around in amazement. She knew Tommy had been involved with the rangers but she didn’t realize he had built all this.

"It was destroyed during the final attack. With the help of Hayley and the rest of the team we rebuilt it. We’re not an active team now but I like to be prepared." he said smiling at her. He rebuilt it so that he could continue to be informed on what went on in the galaxy. So if something ever came up like the resurrection of Serpentera, he would know about it and be ready for it.

"This is incredible Tommy." she said as she finished taking it all in

"Thank you." he replied watching her. It was so amazing to have her here with him again he wanted to never let her go. He watched as she was taking second looks at the equipment, trying to figure out what it was for without touching it and breaking something. She was so beautiful and now she was going to be living here in the same town that he was in. "Live with me." he blurted out suddenly. He didn’t know where that came from, but the more he thought about her living there the more he thought about how he’d want her living with him.

"Tommy I don’t know...."

"Think about it Kim. It would be great to live together. This place needs a woman’s touch. And if it doesn’t work, you can always go find a place of your own." he said trying to convince her

She made a face as she considered it. "What about my things?"

"When they arrive we’ll go through all of your stuff and my stuff and redecorate the house. Whatever we don’t use, we’ll go put in storage."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked still skeptical

"You moved to Reefside to be with me. I love you more than anything, and I know you love me too. To hell with everything else, if we’re going to be together let’s be together." he said looking her in the eyes

She could feel her heart melt as they made eye contact. Her shoulders slumped, releasing tension as she gave in. "Alright. We’ll live together." she replied

Tommy went over to her and put his arms around her, lifting her up off the ground. He sat her down and cupped her face in his hands, before brushing away a few stray strands of hair and leaning in to give her a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too." she replied leaning up to give him another kiss

As they separated Tommy ran a finger down her arm before taking her hand in his. "Come on." he said as he led her up the stairs

"Where are we going?" she asked as she allowed Tommy to drag her away

"To the Cyberspace Café." he replied

"Why?" she questioned as they once again stood in the house, the trap door closing behind them

"There’s some people I want to introduce you to." he replied. He grabbed his keys off the counter and barely gave Kim enough time to grab her purse before he whisked her away to his jeep and headed off to Hayley’s Cyberspace Café.

Chapter 15
"The New Girl"

Tommy pulled up and parked his jeep outside of Hayley’s place. He jumped out and ran around to the other side of the car, opening the door for Kim. She grinned at him and grabbed his hand as she jumped down.

"So who’s here to meet?" she questioned as she walked hand in hand with him to the front door

"You’ll see." he replied grinning at her. He opened the door and let her go in first before following her. They glanced around when they got in and Tommy spotted Hayley beside the counter. He flashed her a smile and she looked at the duo curiously before making her way over to them.

"Hey guys." she said smiling at them. "I didn’t know Kim was coming for a visit."

"She surprised me too." Tommy said looking down at her

Kim smiled at him as their eyes met before she looked over toward Hayley. "Actually I’m not visiting. I decided to move back to California permanently. To Reefside."

"Really?" Hayley questioned with a look of surprise on her face. She glanced from Tommy to Kim a few times and noticed that they both stood there with huge smiles on their faces. "Well it will be great to have you around." she replied as the realization of what Kim told her sunk in. "So did you guys come to check out the Cyberspace Café?"

"I was hoping to catch up with the others. Have you seen them?" Tommy asked

"Ethan’s over there," Hayley said pointing in the direction of the computers, "and Conner is over at that table. I think Kira and Trent should be here soon."

"Thanks." Tommy replied. He placed Kim’s hand back in his and gave it a squeeze as he walked over to Conner’s table. "Hey Conner."

"Hey Dr. O." Conner replied, doing a double take as he looked over and realize he was standing with a woman. A woman who was smiling at him, amused at hearing Tommy being referred to as Dr. O. "Who’s your friend?" Conner asked as he looked over at Tommy

"Conner this is Kimberly Heart." Tommy replied. As he introduced her Conner stood and extended his hand. "And Kim this is Conner McKnight, my red." he said lowering his voice at the end

"It’s great to finally meet you." Conner said as she took his outstretched hand

Kim smiled and nodded. Tommy had told her about his Dino Thunder team and it was nice to finally put faces to names. "Nice meeting you too."

"So what are you doing here?" Conner asked. "I mean besides hanging with Dr. O."

"I’m actually moving here. I lived most of my life in California and I thought it was about time to come back." she replied flashing him a smile

"So did Dr. O bring you out to check out the cyberspace?" questioned Conner

"I think he brought me out to meet you guys." she replied with a smile

"Oh." Conner said smiling, quite pleased with the fact that Dr. O found it important for them to meet the woman who was not only his girlfriend but the original pink ranger. "Kira and Trent are on their way...." he said his voice trailing off as he turned toward the computer. "Hey Ethan!" he called out

"What?" he asked, irritated that Conner would even try to pull him from his video game. He didn’t have many days left until he was back off to college and he wanted to finish it before then.

"There’s someone you have to meet." Conner replied

"Can’t it wait? I’m on level fifteen." Ethan replied not even glancing away from the computer

"Whatever." Conner replied smiling and rolling his eyes

"Blue?" Kim asked looking at Tommy

"Yeah. How did you know?" he replied. He had told her about the rangers but they hadn’t gone in depth about the team. He had told her the ranger colors but had never really spoken about who was what color.

She smiled at him as she shrugged. She had a reason, but it was silly and she didn’t want to share it at the moment. She remembered being a ranger, and how the only blue ranger she ever worked with was geeky, and how this ranger struck her as geeky too. On that basis alone she figured him for a blue.

"Why don’t we have a seat." Tommy suggested. Conner was quick to sit down and Kim and Tommy followed.

Kim looked around the Cyberspace Café and thought about all the times the rangers would have gathered here during the school year, probably only for a short time before they were off for sports or clubs or saving the world. She felt nostalgic for her own high school days. Despite the differences, the place reminded her of the Youth Center and lazy afternoons spent hanging with the other rangers in between duty and homework and gymnastics.

"What are you thinking so hard about over there?" Tommy asked pulling Kim out of her thoughts

"What?" she asked as she took a moment to process his question. "Oh nothing." she replied as she smiled at him

"Hey guys." a female voice said from behind

"Hey." Conner replied, smiling at whoever was standing behind Kim

The former pink ranger spun around and saw two figures, who she could only assume to be Tommy’s yellow and white rangers. "Who’s this?" Kira asked as she looked over at Kim

"Guys I’d like you to meet Kimberly Heart. And Kim this is Kira and Trent." Tommy said as he smiled at his two former rangers

The trio said hello to each other before Kira and Trent pulled chairs up to the table. "So are you visiting?"

"Moving actually." Kim replied

"To Reefside?" Kira questioned

Kim smiled at her and nodded. "It was time for a change and I missed California."

"Alright so who is it so important that I meet." Ethan said as he finally dragged himself away from the computer and over to the table.

"Our newest Reefside resident, Kim." Kira replied as she pointed toward Kim

"As in Kimberly Heart?" Ethan questioned as she nodded. "This is awesome. It’s great to meet you. I’m Ethan." he said stretching his hand out. He was thrilled to meet someone who was a ranger well before Dr. O was, someone who probably went through more as a ranger than anyone on any other team. He had done his ranger homework, he knew of the destruction, the villains and the quests that the early rangers went through.

"Kim." she replied taking his hand and shaking it

As she released her hand, Ethan pulled a chair up to the table. "So guys what’s up? Besides Kim being here of course."

"Dad said we could throw a party at the house. I told him it was going to be just us." Trent paused before smiling at Kim. "Plus one now." The summer was winding down and in two weeks the four friends would be back off to college, each getting ready to start their junior years at their respective universities. At the end of every summer they threw some sort of party for the former rangers and their colleagues, and this year Trent had convinced his father to let them throw the party at their house. Well it didn’t take much convincing on Trent’s part, as his father still felt like he owed them a lot.

"That will be fun. We’ll have to figure out what we want to do." Conner replied

"We’ll work on it." Kira replied flashing Conner a smile. "We’ll have to get together some this week." she suggested. At this point however she was more interested in getting to know Kim. Kim was Zordon’s first female ranger and as a female ranger Kira couldn’t help but look up to her.

"Let’s hang out one night." Ethan said. "You guys can come too." he added turning to Kim and Tommy

"I wouldn’t want to interfere." Kim replied flashing him a smile

"You wouldn’t be interfering. We let Dr. O tag along." Conner joked

"Thanks." Tommy replied not hiding the sarcasm in his voice. Although he didn’t tag along much, he had too much of his own work to do. Not to mention although he was very close with the group as his former students and rangers, he wasn’t their age and sometimes they wanted to go off on their own and have fun which didn’t hurt his feelings one bit.

"Conner’s right. I mean we don’t have much time left this summer but it would be cool to get to know you." Kira replied

"Well," Kim started as she looked over at Tommy. He smiled and nodded and so she continued, "I don’t have any plans this week so just let me know."

"Great. We’ll figure something out." Kira said as the realization hit her that she didn’t know what they could do with Kim in Reefside

Conner glanced down at his watch. "So now that we’re all finally here, are we ready to go?"

"Yup. We don’t want to be late." Kira pointed out

"Where are you guys going?" Tommy questioned

"To a movie." Trent replied

"Not just any movie." Ethan chimed in. "To the Bourne Ultimatum. The third in the series. It’s going to be awesome."

Tommy smiled and nodded. It was nice to see that there was a mainstream movie that the five of them could agree to go see together. "Well have fun."

"We will." Kira promised as they got up. Each of the former rangers said goodbye before heading out the door.

"Well what did you think?" Tommy asked as he looked over at Kim and smiled

"Of your team?" she questioned as he nodded. "They seem like great kids. They kind of reminded me of us." she replied.

Tommy couldn’t help but laugh. "Trust me it wasn’t always that way." The original team of rangers were close friends well before they ever donned their morphers. It took being rangers for these four to speak civilly to each other. They never ran in the same social circles.

"So I’ve meet everyone. Now what?" Kim asked turning toward him

Tommy cupped his hand on top of hers. "How about I take you to a welcome back to California dinner?" he suggested

"I’d like that." she replied smiling at him

Tommy leaned in toward her and gave her a kiss before grabbing her hand and pulling her up out of the chair. They each said their goodbyes to Hayley as they headed out the front door for a nice romantic dinner for two.

Chapter 16
"Adjusting"

Sunlight beamed through the window and into the bedroom of Tommy’s Reefside home. The warmth of the sun on her face was enough for Kim to stir. She stretched out across the bed and opened her eyes, noticing first that the spot next to her was empty. Rolling over she read the giant red numbers on the clock.

She was surprised to realize it was ten thirty already. It had been a long time since she allowed herself to sleep that late. However they did spend the entire previous day playing with furniture. It took a lot of moving and debating, but by midnight they were finally satisfied with what was staying in the house and what was going to storage. They spent the entire day working because it was going to be Tommy’s last day to get everything situated before he was needed in the school full time. He was going in at one this afternoon to work on a few things then it was everyday from there. She wouldn’t have much time left either since as of two days ago she had been hired by a local television station.

Kim was more than a little excited that things in Reefside were coming together so easily. She had a job, a place to live, a boyfriend and even a new friend in Hayley. Of course living with Tommy was taking some getting used to. It was strange at first waking up next to someone every morning and realizing that you both belonged there. It was strange noticing mens clothes in the closets and drawers alongside her own. There were petty arguments stemming from the fact that there were little things that Kim did differently from Tommy, such as the how to load the dishwasher.

The arguments were never serious and they always ended up working it out. The same thing happened the last time Kim moved in with one of the female gymnasts right after the Pan Globals. It was all part of moving in with someone, getting used to the way they do things and making adjustments so you can continue to live together without ripping each others heads off.

Fortunately working things out with Tommy was easy. Which was good for the long term. Assuming of course there was a long term. Kim couldn’t imagine there not being, considering she was so excited to continue her relationship that she had moved across the country for him. She knew he was as excited as her if not more so. He was the one that invited her to move in and things have been wonderful since.

Kim finally decided that she was tired of the sun beaming down on her face. Besides she had already slept late and it was past time to get up. She slowly pulled herself up, sitting cross legged on the bed and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. As she lifted her arm up she groaned at how sore it was from pulling furniture around all day. The more she thought about it the more it made her want to laugh. As a gymnast she had more than her share of mornings where she was too sore to want to function, let alone get out of bed.

As if it took all her energy, Kim scooted to the edge of her bed and swung her legs down, her toes grazing the floor. She scooted up a little more until the bottoms of her feet touched before she pulled herself up. She stretched once more as she stood before she turned and exited the room.

It didn’t take long for the smell of bacon to reach her nostrils. It made her realize that she was actually quite hungry, and she followed the smell to the kitchen. As she stepped into the room, there stood Tommy flipping pancakes and munching off of a plate of fresh bacon.

"Good morning beautiful." Tommy said turning and flashing her a smile as she entered

"Good morning." she replied as she walked up behind him, wrapping her hands around his waist and stepping on her toes so that she could put the top of her chin on his shoulder. Tommy turned and kissed the side of her head and she smiled at him. "What’s for breakfast?"

"Bacon. Pancakes. And I can makes eggs if you’d like." Tommy replied. It had been a long time since he had made breakfast, but he wanted to surprise Kim and do it for her.

Kim let go of his waist and kissed the back of his shoulder. "I think the pancakes and bacon will be plenty." she told him as she walked over and poured herself a glass of orange juice. She took the juice and headed over to the table, making herself comfortable.

"So what time do you have to leave for school?" she questioned. She was curious to know how much more of the morning she was going to have with him.

"I just got a call from Anton. I have to meet him at noon to discuss some things. After that I’m heading over to the school." Tommy replied as he put the pancakes on a platter. Picking up the bacon and pancake plates, he walked them over and set them on the table where he had already placed two place settings and syrup.

Kim frowned "So you won’t be around long after breakfast?" she asked watching as he shook his head no. "That’s ok, there’s a few more little things I wanted to straighten out around the house anyway." she replied as she set some pancakes on her plate. She put some syrup on them before stealing a piece of bacon and munching on it.

"At least you’ll only have to be here alone a few days before you start working." Tommy pointed out as he started on his breakfast. He felt bad about leaving her home alone during the day but it was alright. The other day Kim headed over to Hayley’s café and the girls ended up chatting for hours. About what Tommy didn’t know, but he had a feeling his name was brought up more than a few times. That was alright, he was glad that Kim had already found someone to talk to in Reefside.

"Yeah I can’t wait to get into work again." Kim said flashing him a smile. Fortunately for her they were looking for a new morning show host in Reefside. She loved her job in Miami, and now that she had gotten her life settled here in Reefside she was excited to get back into it. She was starting over with a new network and new coworkers, but the concept was still the same.

There was a few moments of silence as they both were working on food. Tommy looked up at her and smiled before starting a new conversation. "You ready for the kid’s party this weekend?" he asked referencing the former ranger’s end of summer gathering

"It should be fun. They’re a great bunch." she replied. They had gone out with them twice over the last week so that she could get the chance to get to know them. It didn’t take her long to understand why they made great rangers and why Tommy cares so much about them.

Tommy laughed. "We’ll have to wait and see what they’ve got going on. They’ve been hush hush about it."

Kim finished the last few bites of her breakfast. "I’m sure whatever it is, it will be fine." she replied. She gave Tommy a smile as she pushed her chair back and stood up, walking the plate over to the sink. After rinsing it off she sat it down, and was startled by Tommy coming up behind her.

He didn’t let her move as he stood behind her and washed his plate off as well, letting it drop down to the sink with a clang before he started kissing her thoroughly on the neck. "I need to go take a shower and get ready." Tommy said as he lifted his head up and away from hers

Kim turned around and put her hands around his neck. She pulled him down to her level and planted a kiss on his lips, before easing him back and smiling mischievously. "Would you like some company?"

Tommy grinned at her. "It depends on who it is."

Kim tossed her head back and let out a laugh, which quickly turned into a squeal as Tommy swept her off of her feet. "Mr. Oliver, what do you think you’re doing?" she asked as he walked her out of the kitchen

"Taking you for a shower." he replied leaning in and giving her a kiss before carrying her upstairs and into the bedroom

Chapter 17
"Party Hard"

Tommy rolled his black jeep into the driveway of the Mercer residence. Kim climbed out of the passenger seat and stood there for a moment, taking the place in. "Nice." she said to herself as she shut the car door

Kim walked around to the front of the jeep and was quickly joined by Tommy. He put an arm around her waist and led her to the front door of the house where he stopped and rang the bell. Seconds later a man Kim didn’t recognize opened the door.

"Tommy it’s good to see you." the man said with a smile as he extended his hand

Tommy smiled back at the man. "Anton." he greeted giving him a firm handshake

Anton looked at the woman standing next to the former black ranger. "This must be Kim." he said giving her a smile

"Kim this is Anton Mercer. And Anton this is my girlfriend, Kimberly Heart." Tommy said as he nodded to answer Anton’s statement before doing the introductions

"It’s good to meet you." Anton told her as he extended his hand. He looked at her as he smiled and shook it before gesturing for her to come in. He couldn’t help but wonder how much she knew about him, about how much he went through. He wondered if the original pink ranger would judge him for what Mesogog did, or respect him for the man he was. At the moment she was smiling sweetly and gushing over how beautiful his home was so he assumed it was the latter.

"Where are the kids?" Tommy asked as he looked around the house for any evidence of his former rangers

"They’re out back. They’re getting ready for a party." Anton said with a smile

Tommy chuckled. "I don’t know if I would consider it as much a party as old friends gathering for one last get together."

"They’re certainly calling it a party." he replied. As he spoke vibrations from the speakers outside shook the back of the house. He raised an eyebrow and looked over at Tommy. "Shall we go make sure they haven’t destroyed anything yet?"

"That may not be a bad idea." Tommy agreed, although he doubted his rangers would actually destroy anything.

The trio made their way to the backyard, where they found the rest of the Dino Thunder team and Hayley waiting for them. "Glad you guys could make it." Conner said as they stepped out onto the lawn

"We were beginning to wonder if you’d show." Kira said glancing back and forth between her former teacher and his girlfriend

"We got caught up at the house." Kim said smiling at her, trying her hardest not to blush. Caught up meaning Tommy had captivated her in bed all morning before stealing her away for a shower. Before they knew it, they were going to be late. "With work." Kim added trying to make her story more believable

"Right." Kira said not falling for a word of it. Not that she wanted to think about what Dr. O may or may not have done that morning, but she certainly didn’t think it was work.

Tommy walked out onto the lawn and saw the table lined with snack foods and drinks. He shook his head as he realized why Anton said they considered this a party. "You think you guys got enough food?" he asked. Between the food and the drinks and the music, they looked like they were ready for a huge gathering instead of a small ranger party.

Ethan put a hand to his stomach. "I don’t know about you, but I plan on parting all night and being hungry."

Smiling, Tommy shook his head but didn’t reply. If this was really going to be a huge affair, he and Kim probably wouldn’t stay for the whole thing. After all it was more for the kids to say goodbye than anything.

Trent looked around the side of the house before looking back toward Tommy. "So Dr. O are you ready for the new school year?"

"I think so. I’ve got everything set. The curriculum hasn’t really changed much since I taught you guys." he replied. He glanced over at his former students and noticed that they looked antsy about something, but he couldn’t quite figure out what was up.

Conner smiled as he popped a chip in his mouth. "It’s going to be another boring school year."

Tommy couldn’t help but laugh. "Not every year I get students who become power rangers and help me save the world. And I kind of like not saving the world all the time."

"Liar." Kim said looking over at her boyfriend and smiling. Tommy gave her a playful shove and she continued. "This is the man who was a ranger until he was pretty much told to go enjoy life. And it wasn’t long at all before he jumped in again. And knowing Tommy the way I do, he’d jump back into the game in a heartbeat if he could. He still monitors the bad guys you know."

"Figures." Conner said as he rolled his eyes. They helped him rebuild the place, and according to him it was just in case something happened and the Dino Thunder rangers were needed. The team assumed Tommy was itching to stay involved in worldwide ranger activity which is why he wanted the place rebuilt.

"Someone has to make sure the world is safe." Tommy said sternly as he looked over his former rangers. He shook his head as they snickered and exchanged glances. He felt Kim’s hand on his back and he looked over at her. She was smiling at him so he flashed her a smile back before leaning over and giving her a kiss, ignoring the sounds coming from the peanut gallery.

The duo broke apart and looked back at the rest of the rangers. Trent was staring suspiciously at the side of the house again. This time Tommy had an idea why as he thought he heard footsteps and voices. "I thought this was just us?" he questioned as figures emerged from the side of the house

Kim jumped up and squealed with delight as she realized that the figures coming their way were some of her former teammates.

"Surprise." Kira said giving the duo a smile. "We thought that we shouldn’t be the only ones hanging out with our former teammates."

"So you hunted down ex-rangers?" Tommy questioned raising an eyebrow, surprised to know that Kira and the rest of the team would be able to find names and locations of the older rangers.

"They had a little help." Hayley said with a smile as she stood and walked toward Tommy. The team had mentioned to her one afternoon that they thought it would be cool to get a bunch of former rangers that Tommy and Kim had served with to come to their end of summer ranger party. Hayley knew the former rangers names and who they wouldn’t mind seeing so she took care of the rest. She smiled at the duo as she gestured toward their friends. "Come on guys, you have a lot of people to introduce us to."

Chapter 18
"Reunions"

Kim ran over to the group of former rangers and first threw her arms around her might as well be brother. "It’s so good to see you guys." she said excitedly

"It’s good to see you too." Jason replied as he returned the hug. It had been a long time since he had seen Kim. They kept in touch over the years, but they each were so busy they hadn’t had time to get together. He had to find out from Hayley that she was back in California.

"Hey bro." Tommy greeted Jason as his girlfriend relinquished herself from him. Jason was probably the only original ranger he kept up with as they were both interested in ranger activities. Tommy had periodically updated him with things going on with Mesogog and they shared any information they had on other ranger happenings.

Jason returned the greeting as Kim glanced around to see what other rangers that they’d worked with had made it to the kids party. Zack and Trini were there from the original team. Billy hadn’t been able to make it, he was now a highly respected intergalactic scientist working primarily off of Aquitar. Hayley had tried to contact him. It took her days to go through all the proper channels just to speak to him, only to be told by his secretary that he was off planet and unreachable until the following Friday.

Rocky and Aisha had shown up, but there was no sign of Adam. Hayley called Adam but he was unable to make it. He and his wife Tanya were heading off for the cruise that Tanya’s radio station was sponsoring. It was five days in the Atlantic Ocean stopping in the Bahamas and was something Tanya’s radio show had put together, with all the proceeds going to five charities of the DJ’s choices. Tanya’s pick was Little Angel’s Haven, where one of their teammates once was. Justin had been contacted but he had already left for school at MIT and was unable to make it.

The only ranger that served with either Tommy or Kim that Hayley left out was Kat. She didn’t think that either would particularly want to see her. Tommy because of the fact that the breakup didn’t go well and Kim because of, well because of Tommy. Both of them having affections for the same man ruined any friendship they would have had.

Kim and Tommy finished saying hello to each of their friends and former rangers before going to introduce them to the rest of the Dino Thunder team. Tommy smiled at his friends before gesturing toward his rangers. "Guys I’d like for you to meet the Dino Thunder rangers. This is Conner, Kira, Trent and Ethan."

"And guys these are my rangers." Kim chimed in. "Jason, Zack, Trini, Rocky and Aisha." she said quickly doing the introductions on the other side.

"Your rangers?" Jason questioned raising an eyebrow. "Since when did we become your rangers. Zordon’s rangers yes, but your rangers?"

"Jason!" Trini scolded swatting him lightly on the arm

Kira looked over the former rangers. She was more than excited to have them there, it was going to be great to talk to more of Zordon’s rangers. "So guys are we ready to start this party or what?"

Rocky grinned. "Just point me to the party food." As he spoke, Aisha made eye contact with Kim and both girls giggled. Some things never changed.

"Over here." Conner said as he pointed Rocky in the right direction

"There is one more thing we need to make this a party." Trent said as he looked over at his former rangers. He turned and jogged back into the house, and a few seconds later the small cd player they had been listening to shut off and music came blasting from several directions. The rangers looked around to try and figure out where the speakers were just as Trent reemerged. "Now we’re ready to party."

The rangers all started to relax and converge as Tommy made his way over to Hayley. "Thank you." he said. It was amazing to have all of his old friends around even if it was for an afternoon. They would have to figure out where everyone was so they could remain in contact. "Any more surprises I should know about?"

"You’re welcome." Hayley said first before giving him a sly grin. "And if I told you they wouldn’t be surprises anymore." she pointed out as she walked off to mingle. Truthfully there wasn’t anything else going on at the party. But she loved the idea that Tommy was going to be worried about it for the rest of the afternoon.

Hayley went to join the group of girls that was forming in the lawn. They had just pulled Kira into their group and she thought she’d go see what was going on. She flashed a smile at them as she went and stood between Kira and Aisha.

"So you were Tommy’s female ranger?" Trini questioned trying to start the conversation going. She had a lot she wanted to catch up with Kim about, but first she wanted to make sure to include Kira in with them. She and Kim had plenty of time to catch up.

"Yup." Kira replied flashing her a smile. "Yellow."

"That’s the best ranger color." Aisha was quick to point out. She grinned and turned to Kim who promptly stuck her tongue out at her.

"Just because I’m out numbered here doesn’t make yellow a better color than pink." Kim was quick to point out. It wasn’t here fault that she was the pink ranger on both of their teams, and Tommy’s team didn’t have a pink so there were no other pinks there.

Kira nodded. "You’re right. It’s the fact that pink is a crappy color that makes yellow a better color than pink."

Aisha and Trini laughed while Kim mock pouted. Hayley smiled at the girls. It was nice to see that they were starting to get along.

While the woman at the party were starting to loosen up around each other, the men met around the food table and were trying to break the ice as well. Jason looked at the three guys who were Tommy’s rangers and he was the first to speak. "I’m sorry you guys had to have Tommy as a teacher and as a teammate. I can’t imagine you’d ever get anything done between Tommy being late and forgetting all of his lecture notes." he joked

Conner laughed. "Dr. O was a good teacher. I actually enjoyed his class."

"Please you enjoyed being a ranger. Class was secondary." Ethan corrected. Conner laughed and nodded, there was some truth in that.

There was a moment of silence before Zack spoke up trying to keep the conversation going. "So what were you guys into in school? Martial arts? Sports?"

The three rangers were quick to give answers.

"Soccer."

"Computer games."

"Art."

"Too bad Adam couldn’t make it." Rocky commented. He and Conner would have had a lot to talk about. Soccer was never one of Rocky’s sports but Adam loved it.

"Why’s that?" Trent questioned

"He loved soccer. He and Conner would have something in common." Rocky replied

Conner made a face. "What, nobody else likes soccer?" He couldn’t imagine that out of all of the guys Tommy served with, only one of them were a soccer player. He watched as they all shook their heads no.

"I take it there’s no computer game fans either?" Ethan questioned

"Billy liked computers." Zack supplied trying to make him feel better. Of course that was quite different from computer games, but still.

"I know what we all had in common." Conner said as all eyes shifted toward him. "We were all good at kicking evil ass."

The men all laughed. Conner was definitely right. If there was one tie to bind ths group it was the fact that they were all rangers.

As they all stood around and chatted they all started to feel more comfortable with each other. Now it was time to really get the party started.

Chapter 19
"At Night’s End"

The hours of the night flew by and before anyone knew it the party was winding down. The group of former rangers found themselves sitting in a circle on the lawn, drinking and conversing with each other as if they were all old childhood friends.

Kim finished off the beer she had been working on before she leaned over toward Tommy. He smiled down at her and put his arm around her, bringing her in even closer. The rangers that had served with the duo were nostalgic watching them. They always thought that Tommy and Kim would have been married with children of their own by now. Noone could’ve anticipated the infamous letter or that now years later they would be getting a second chance.

Of course nothing in life ever turned out the way you wanted it to as they found out from catching up throughout the night. Rocky ran a karate school, but wasn’t able to do much teaching. His back healed but it always gave him trouble. He was never able to compete in a tournament again, and he could only teach in small doses without his back bothering him. Aisha always dreamed of traveling the world and saving animals. The only place she had ever been outside of the U.S. was Africa, and she wasn’t there for long. She was however a vet at a small animal hospital in town.

Jason wanted to be a ranger forever and marry Emily. Neither of those was plausible as he broke up with Emily well before he and Kim were captured by Divatox and noone could be a ranger forever. He did get to run the mission with the other reds and that made him feel like a kid again. Although he wasn’t a ranger, he still saw a lot of action as he was a police officer for the town of Angel Grove. As for Zack and Trini, Zack always wanted to be famous and Trini wanted to be a diplomat. Thanks to months spent at the peace conferences Zack went into politics and was now a city councilman and Trini was a court judge.

All of Kim’s friends lived in California which couldn’t have made her happier. They were more than just minutes away and she could still visit them on occasion. Things were falling into place in her life and it felt amazing. She hadn’t been this happy since high school. She sighed and leaned further into Tommy, almost to the point of sitting in his lap.

"Do you want another beer?" he asked breaking her away from her thoughts as he looked down at her. She smiled and shook her head no.

"Hey watch it we don’t want her getting drunk." Jason teased as he and Zack laughed and worked on finishing their fourth beers.

"I’m no lightweight." Kim quickly defended herself. She had one drink and two would hardly have been enough to get her drunk. Not that she was a drinker but on the few nights she had gone out with her girlfriends and had a few she had never gotten drunk.

"We could have a contest." Conner said sitting straight up. He and the other Dino Thunder rangers were barely twenty one and this was the first time they had been able to drink together. They were having a good time and at the early hour in the morning Conner was ready to really make this a party.

"Hey." Tommy said sternly the teacher in him coming out. "We are not getting everyone drunk. People still have to drive home."

"Actually," Trent started as all eyes turned him, "dad said you guys were welcome to stay here if you needed to."

Aisha laughed. "That doesn’t mean that we all want to get drunk." To the older rangers a night over the toilet didn’t sound amusing.

Conner let out an exasperated sound as he rolled his eyes and fell back on his elbows. He hated that noone was down with his idea and he hated even more that Dr. O was still the authority figure. He wondered if Dr. O would ever think of him as an adult. It irritated him even more when Kira snickered at him.

"We’ve had a lot of fun without being drunk." Rocky pointed out smiling over at a red ranger who was pouting like a high schooler.

There was a moment of silence before Trini decided to start a conversation that wasn’t about alcohol. "Ok rangers. What was the funniest monster you ever faced?"

Those who had the pleasure of fighting Lord Zedd or Rita suddenly came to life and started yelling out monster names. Ethan cut in loud enough to make them stop. "Wait are you guys serious? Robogoat? Eyeguy? Pursehead?"

"Lord Zedd and Rita came up with some of the craziest monsters. Looking back on some of the things we fought... yeah they were scary at the time but now they’re just plain funny." Jason said smiling at Ethan. "What you guys didn’t get a lot of insane monsters of the week?"

"We had some strange monsters but not like that." Kira said shrugging

"Things were a bit different." Tommy pointed out. "Between Rita and Zedd we had three years of insane monsters, one right after another, in their attempt to conquer Earth. Mesogog sent down some strange named monsters but they were a bit more hard core than Rita and Zedd’s."

"Plus he didn’t need a lot of monsters, he had me." Trent quickly added. It was still hard to think about, but it was a fact and it was something that he felt he should point out.

"Don’t feel bad, Tommy started out evil too." Zack reminded him trying to get him not to be down about it

"I know." Trent said simply. His days of fighting on the wrong side were not something he wanted to discuss and as far as he was concerned that was the end of the conversation.

Zack looked around and decided to spark up a new conversation. He wanted the rangers to continue to talk together about common things but decided to stray from rangering. "Ok what about crazy teachers. I know everyone had some of those."

"In high school?" Kira questioned as Conner snickered

"Yeah we had Dr. O." he pointed out quickly. His team laughed and Tommy looked at them sternly.

Kim noticed the serious look on her boyfriend’s face and reached over to tickle his sides. He cracked a smile and looked down at her as she smiled back. "You can’t be as bad as some of the teachers from Angel Grove high."

"I miss my high school teachers." Trini said absentmindedly. "Like Mrs. Appleby."

"And Mr. Caplan with his hairpiece." Zack chimed in reminding everyone of their high school principal. Jason looked at him and the two boys cracked up at the memories.

"I for one am glad to be far away from my high school days." Kira said as the older rangers continued to speak fondly of high school moments

"In a few years you’ll miss high school." Aisha assured her. Eventually the free from high school feeling disappears and you get nostalgic for your high school days. They just hadn’t gotten that far yet.

"The only thing I miss about high school is the fact that I got gigs at Hayley’s." Kira promised her

As Kira finished speaking Jason slowly pulled himself to his feet. "Does anyone want another beer?" he asked looking around the crowd. Zack and Rocky’s hands shot up and he nodded.

"Does that mean you’ll be staying here?" Trent questioned looking at him curiously

Jason paused and glared at the empty bottle in his hands. "Yup." he said. Better to be safe than sorry. He headed over to the cooler and grabbed three drinks before walking back and plopping down, passing them out.

The boys started their new drinks as new topics of conversation were brought up. Kim enjoyed Tommy’s warmth as she chimed in to stories when she could. She enjoyed sitting outside with friends old and new and the man she loved, talking and carrying on like there was nothing to it. If there was ever such a thing as perfection, this moment was it.

The group of friends and former rangers sat outside until three in the morning before they all stumbled into the Mercer household and found a place to crash.

Chapter 20
"The End is the Beginning"

Things were starting to fall into some category of normalcy for Tommy and Kim. It had been over a month since school started back, and both Tommy and Kim spent their days working and their nights cuddled up together.

They hadn’t heard from Tommy’s rangers since the party at the Mercer residence, but that was to be expected. The kids were back in school and were busy, noone having time to call an old teacher with an update. They had however kept in touch with the former rangers. The previous weekend Kim had gone with Aisha to the mall while Tommy met Jason and Rocky at Rocky’s karate school.

Kim couldn’t help but think about how well things were going for them as she walked into the front door of the house on a Saturday afternoon after spending her morning catching up at work. She walked over to the kitchen and found Tommy leaning over the counter. "Hey." she greeted

He turned around and wrapped his arms around her, planting a kiss firmly on her lips. "Hey." he replied grinning

Kim peered behind him and saw the picnic basket sitting on the counter. "What’s that?"

"That is for us to go out to the park and eat lunch." Tommy replied grabbing the basket with one hand and her with the other. "Let’s go." he said heading to the door, not giving her a chance to say no

Kim shrugged and smiled. Tommy wasn’t usually this romantically spontaneous but she had to admit she liked it. She followed him out to his jeep and stood there as he opened the passengers door for her. Kim climbed in and Tommy threw the basket in the back, climbing into the drivers seat and taking off.

A few minutes later they arrived at the park. Tommy led Kim hand in hand until they came to the small man made lake. He placed a blanket on the ground and gestured for Kim to sit before removing the bottle of champagne. He sat next to her and poured them each a glass.

Kim raised an eyebrow as she took a sip. "So what’s the occasion?"

"Nothing." Tommy said in a tone that was hardly convincing. "Can’t a guy just give his girlfriend champagne?"

"Ok." Kim said with a shrug as Tommy reached into the picnic basket and started pulling food out. He placed sandwiches, fruit and potato salad out on the blanket and helped Kim fix a plate before they both started eating.

"This was a really nice idea." Kim said as she swallowed a big bite of her sandwich. "Thank you for bringing me out here."

"I just wanted to bring the most beautiful girl I know to the most beautiful spot on the lake." Tommy said making Kim blush

Kim tried to ignore the warmth crawling into her cheeks as she continued eating. "We should do this more often." she said absentmindedly. Tommy knew just the right words to say to get her excited and she was trying her hardest to push that feeling aside for the moment.

"Yeah I’d love to bring you out here more often." Tommy said thinking for a second before he spoke again. "I mean we have our whole lives in front of us I’m sure we can do this plenty more times."

"Yeah.... yeah we do." Kim said. She had never thought of it that way but she supposed he was right. If he’d have her she’d be in it for the long haul. She looked forward to spending her life right here with him. Kim finished her sandwich and started picking at her fruit, smiling as Tommy picked up a strawberry and fed it to her.

They worked slowly on the rest of the food, and when they were finished Tommy pulled out a few slices of cake for desert and poured more champagne. They both took bites of their cake while feeding it to each other, and before they knew it the food was gone. Tommy topped their drinks off and scooted next to Kim. "I hope you enjoyed lunch." he said as he wrapped his arm around her

"I did." she replied. Things couldn’t get any more perfect than they were at that moment. She wished that she could just hit the pause button and stay right there forever.

"I’ve been thinking..." Tommy started letting his voice trail off. Kim gulped, nothing good ever started like that. "You and I, we have a history together. Spending the last few months with you reminded me of that history, reminded me of why I’ve always loved you."

"I love you too." Kim said not quite sure where this conversation was going

"Anyway." Tommy stated putting his glass down on the ground. He took Kim’s hand in his and continued. "Not only have I always loved you, but I always will love you. I don’t want to spend another second of my life without you. Which is why," he said as he scooted in front of her and got on one knee, "I want to know Kimberly Ann Heart, will you marry me?" he asked as he brought out a box which held the most gorgeous ring she had ever seen.

Kim’s hands started shaking. She had never been this nervous in her life, and that was saying something considering she racked up a lot of nerves between rangering and gymnastics. She hadn’t expected Tommy to propose. But if there was one thing she knew it was that she did love him more than anything, and that he was the one man she could see herself spending the rest of her life with. "Yes. Yes I’ll marry you." she said excitedly

Tommy put the ring on her finger then threw his arms around her before kissing her thoroughly. They both fell to the ground, not caring about the champagne that was knocked over in the process. They rolled around showering each other with kisses before Tommy paused and regarded her intently for a moment. "Come on. Let’s go home and celebrate properly."

Kim giggled like a school girl. "Ok." she replied as they jumped up and worked on quickly packing their basket back up. As soon as they had everything together they jumped into the jeep and sped off to Tommy’s house.

As they pulled into the driveway Tommy cut the engine off, running around to the passenger side and sweeping Kim up before she had a chance to say anything. He led her through the threshold of the door and was about to lead her upstairs when he heard a noise.

"What’s that?" Kim questioned upon hearing it as well

Tommy set her down and walked over to the trap door. "I think it’s coming from down here." he said as he opened it up and headed down to his Command Center. The noise got louder the farther down the stairs he went. It was definitely coming from down there.

Kim followed him down and stood behind him as he sat in the main seat and started playing with the controls. "What’s going on?" she asked. In her head she started thinking of all sorts of attacks that could be going on in the world that they were going to be required to attend to.

"We’re receiving a message from Dulcea." Tommy said not bothering to hide the surprise in his voice as he turned toward his fiance. "And it’s for you."

The End

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