Power Rangers: Legacy
"Starting Over"

Tommy pulled up into the driveway of his parents beach house and stepped out of his jeep. He walked up the small path covered in sand and toward the front door, pausing long enough to unlock it and let himself in. As he looked around the place he went to the couch and sat down. It was early morning and he would have plenty of time to get this place cleaned up a bit before she arrived.

He shook his head to himself. He still wasn’t sure if this was a good idea or a bad one. He’d know soon enough, but if it turned out to be a bad idea it would be too late to do anything about it. But he had to do it, he had to know. He wasn’t quite sure if he was going about it the right way. But back home there were too many distractions.

There were some seconds spent wondering why he was doing this in the first place. Then he recalled that it wasn’t just his idea. He’d gotten some suggestions from a certain yellow ranger. Not that he could complain, he had asked for them after all.

The previous Sunday afternoon Tommy had called Carri and asked her to meet him for coffee. He wanted to meet in the Command Chamber where there was no chance of Kim finding him, but Billy refused to let him use the facility for something that wasn’t ranger related.

He sat at the small coffee shop and nervously waited, looking around every corner to make sure Kim wasn’t going to appear.

"Relax." Carri said as she sat down in the seat across from him, hot beverage in hand. "She’s working on the garden today which means it’s going to be a long time before she’s ready to leave the house." It only took a second to pick up on the red rangers uneasiness. He was always uneasy with the situation with Kim. He was afraid of her finding out. Carri thought it might not be bad, that if she found out it would save them some trouble of doing this little dance. "So what’s up?"

"How’s it going?" Tommy asked looking at her. Kim had been home from New York for the last two weeks. He knew Carri had been talking to her but he wasn’t sure if things were going well or not.

"Operation breakup?" she questioned watching as Tommy made a face. He refused to refer to their plan by the codename Jason had created. To him it seemed as though they were reducing his love for Kim and attempt to win her back to some sort of childhood game by calling it operation breakup.

Carri shrugged before continuing. "Not quite as well as we hoped. She’s noticing you and talking about you more. You make her smile. But she’s not in love with you, she’s in love with Josh."

Tommy sighed. That’s not what he wanted to hear. "You think I can change that?" Sooner rather than later because he hated playing these games with Kim.

"I think you should just tell her how you feel. It could take months to drive a wedge between those two." Carri said giving him a look

"What you think I should just drive over to the house and confess my love?" he questioned raising an eyebrow. He wasn’t sure that was the answer either.

"You need to surprise her. Be romantic." Carri suggested. A girl always fell for a little bit of romance. Even ranger girls, if you could catch them off-guard.

"That’s helpful." he said sarcastically. "She’s not exactly going to put herself in a romantic situation with me."

There was truth in that and Carri was well aware of it. She thought for a moment, then suddenly a lightbulb went off in her head. "We won’t tell her. We’ll trick her." she said. Tommy gave her a look. She knew what he was thinking, there’s no way to trick Kim off all people into spending alone time with Tommy. "We’ll invite her to a party that you’re throwing. We’ll get Jason and Rocky in on it so she’ll think we’re all going. And when she gets there, whoops we’re not there and it’s all on you."

"So you want me to convince her that we’re throwing a party in my little apartment?" he questioned raising an eyebrow

"You got anything better?" she asked. Not that it wouldn’t work, but she would like him to find a more romantic setting if he was going to confess his love to her.

Tommy thought about it for a moment. They could go up to his house in Reefside, but he’d have to kick Hayley out and besides that was a bit of a trek for everyone. "My parents beach house." he said suddenly. He had spent some of the most romantic time in his life there with Kim when they were younger. Where better to profess his love for her than the beach house.

"Beach house?" Carri questioned smiling. If there was one place a woman could feel the romance it was on the beach. She couldn’t think of anywhere better Tommy should tell Kim he loved her.

And that was what had gotten him at his parents beach house early that Saturday morning. He was going to confess his feelings to Kim. Best case scenario she loves him back and breaks up with Josh for him. Worst case she turns and runs, possibly kicking his ass on the way out.

Either way by the end of the night he would have an answer and would be able to stop worrying about trying too hard to get her attention. He took a deep breath and thought about how much he loved her, hoping more than anything that she felt the same.

Carri sat leaning against Rocky on one side of a small table at Bulkmeier’s finishing up her lunch while Jason sat across from them. Her plan was to stay out of the house all day until Kim had left for the "party". She spent the morning at Jason’s while Rocky was at work and once he was finished he met them for lunch.

"It’s been slow lately." Jason commented as he swallowed the last bite of his burger. He was referencing the lack of attacks in Angel Grove recently. They had all been thinking about it, but noone wanted to talk about it. Since Callisto had tried to take their coins they had three Cirranadrone attacks and one monster, a fairly lame attempt named Squawk which resembled Toucan Sam with fur.

"Yeah." Carri agreed absentmindedly. She didn’t want to talk about it but she wasn’t stupid. Callisto and Rhianna were just toying with them while they were plotting something and she was afraid to find out what.

Rocky put an arm around Carri and pulled her into him. "Billy will let us know if something happens."

Carri looked up at her boyfriend and smiled before making brief eye contact with Jason. She didn’t want to say it aloud but by then it would probably be too late. She and Kim have been talking to their contacts throughout the galaxy over the last week. Word is the duo had been moving some serious merchandise into their castle as of late. Separately nothing makes sense but if you put it together... she knew Billy was toying with solutions to the possible problem. She didn’t want to think about the consequences at the moment, there was no point. When and if it happened they would do their best and cross their fingers that it would be enough.

Before she had the chance to switch to a more cheerful topic of conversation her cell phone went off. She pulled it out of her pocket and glanced as Kim’s name came across the caller ID. Grinning she flipped it opened and answered. "Hey." she greeted

"Hey. What’s up?" Kim asked her voice cheerier than usual

"Not much. Just enjoying lunch with Rocky." She purposefully left out Jason’s presence just in case she would want to come down and hang out with them and go to the party together.

"Quick question." she said pausing for a moment. She waited until Carri said ok before she continued. "Do you want to ride down to the beach house together? I thought it would make more sense to just take one car."

"Normally I’d love to. But Rocky and I are going to be out running errands this afternoon and then we have to go help his brother out." It was only partially a lie, they were going to stop by and see his brother and he had promised to go do a few things with her.

"Ok." she said sounding kind of disappointed. "I’ll see you there then."

"Yeah see you there." Carri replied as she hung up the phone smiling from ear to ear. "This is going to be great. She has no clue."

"That doesn’t mean she’s going to declare her love for Tommy." Jason pointed out as his phone went off. Glancing down he saw Kim’s name and he picked it up. "Hey."

"Hey." Kim greeted

Jason picked up on the extra level of cheeriness as well. "What’s going on?"

"Not much. What are you up to?" Kim questioned

"Just took the bike for a ride." he lied

"Cool." she said pausing for a second. "I was wondering if you wanted to ride together to the party tonight." she asked. She didn’t know why but she felt strange and giddy about the whole thing and she didn’t want to show up alone.

"I’m a few hours out. I’ll probably go straight to Tommy’s from here." he said doing a good job to convey disappointment that he didn’t actually feel

Kim sighed. There went her last chance for a ride. "That’s ok. I’ll see you later."

"Yup. See you tonight." he replied hanging up the phone. He made eye contact with Carri who couldn’t help giggling uncontrollably.

"You’re evil." Rocky said as he looked down at her. She made eye contact with him and he flashed her a smile.

"What’s so evil about trying to hook a friend up with her soul mate?" she questioned raising an eyebrow

"Who said Tommy’s Kim’s soul mate and not Josh?" Rocky asked. The answer of course was every ranger that had ever worked with the duo. Carri knew that Rocky was well aware of that as she simply rolled her eyes.

"Besides if Josh was her soul mate I think I’d puke." she added, emphasizing feelings that the boys were well aware she had

Jason chuckled. He couldn’t help but wonder if she’d ever be able to be friends with anyone that her brother was dating without being disgusted by the image of the two having sex. Kim was different though and he knew that. Thinking of Kim with Josh to her was like incest. He smiled as Carri raised an eyebrow at him and stuck her tongue out.

The waitress came over and laid three slips of paper down on the table. Jason picked his check up and laid some money down to pay for it. Carri fished for money as Rocky quickly snatched up both of their bills and laid his check card down with them, putting his arm around his girlfriend and pulling her close. She glanced down at his card on the table and leaned into him, waiting for the waitress to come pick it up.

"So," she started smiling at the boys, "hopefully things go well and I get a call from Kim saying that she doesn’t hate us and loves Tommy."

"There’s still going to be hell to pay." Jason pointed out with a grin. Even if Kim didn’t find out about the whole scenario she was going to be pissed about tonight regardless of what happens. And they would probably get an earful the next day.

Carri shrugged as the waitress walked over and picked up the bills before quickly walking off. A few seconds later she returned with a credit card receipt which Rocky signed. They slowly stood up and looked around at each other.

"Call me later?" Jason said, half making a statement and half asking a question

"Of course." Carri replied as they started to head toward the exit of the restaurant. She climbed into Rocky’s car as Jason hopped on his bike before they each took off for the afternoon.

The afternoon dragged by. Kim spent most of it getting ready. She had to have the perfect outfit, wear the right makeup and jewelry, pick the right perfume. She didn’t know why she felt compelled to look her best. After all she was just hanging out with friends. Yet she spent a long time standing in the mirror before she finally climbed in the car and started driving toward the beach house.

Something about the entire event was giving her butterflies. She didn’t know what it was but she spent the entire drive thinking about it. She didn’t think it could be Tommy. They were just friends now, he had made that more than clear to her before. But then again he had been so sweet to her lately. The way he’d brush up against her and talk to her reminded her of when they were together. He was just trying to be friendly but god he still knew how to send a chill up her spine.

Even though Tommy got her attention she was in love with Josh. She felt guilty about going to this party without him. Her friends would be there, it wasn’t like it would be just her and Tommy. But it was at his parents beach house. It had been a long time since she’d been there. The memory of her and Tommy’s amazing weekend there was enough to give her chills all over again. She had to try to forget about that and enjoy herself, while trying to keep in mind that she was in a committed relationship with a man three thousand miles away.

The nerves wouldn’t go away and they only got worse as she approached the house. Pulling into the driveway she quickly noticed that the only car there was a black jeep. "Damn." she cursed to herself. The last thing she wanted to do was be the first one at the party.

She couldn’t help but wonder if she should sit in the car until someone else got there. There was something about the thought of being alone in there with Tommy. Then again if she sat out in the car he might see her and wonder what the hell she was doing. She didn’t want him to think she was afraid to come in.

A few minutes later she made up her mind. Slowly she opened the car door and put one foot out, taking a deep breath before pulling out the other foot. She stood up and shut her door, glaring at the house for a moment before deciding to walk toward it. She was in no rush to get there to spend alone time with Tommy. Taking her time she walked down the pathway and to the door.

Upon reaching the door she gave a quick knock. A few seconds later she heard footsteps shuffling and then the door swung open. "Hey." Kim greeted giving Tommy a smile. She couldn’t help but notice how handsome he looked and how nice he smelled.

"Hey." Tommy replied the nerves instantly settling in. This was the moment. He’d finally find out whether or not she loved him back. He hoped this was all worth it. "Want to come in?" he asked opening the door.

"Sure." she replied stepping through the doorway. "Are the others on the way? she asked as she walked into the house. As she looked around she stiffened. The house was full of candles and rose petals. This was not party decor and it took every bone in her body not to start screaming at him. "Are the others even coming?"

Tommy took a deep breath and spent the second deciding whether to lie or not. "No."

"So what the hell is this?" she asked the anger rising

Tommy tried to speak but all he could do was stutter. He couldn’t come up with the words. He couldn’t explain it, he didn’t know what to say, how to make her love him.

The pink ninjetti crossed her arms and glared at the Turbo leader. "Did you plot to bring me up here to show me what you’ve got planned for other women?" she asked harshly. There was no good explanation for the romantic atmosphere except that Tommy was expecting a date. "How dare you." she continued. "Have you forgotten that I spent the most romantic weekend of my life here with you? Now you rub it that we’re not together and you’re bringing someone else here? God Tommy I can’t believe you. You’re acting like our past together never existed, that I didn’t mean anything to you. This place was special to me - to us - and you’re destroying it. Why did you have to bring me all the way up here for this?"

That was the last thing Tommy heard. Words ceased to make sense. For a man who had done it all he had never been so nervous in his life. He tried to think of the right thing to do as Kim continued to yell at him about how much of an insensitive asshole he was and tears were forming in her eyes. He slowly inched toward her for fear of getting hit. As he got close enough he looked dead in her eyes. It was now or never and he was just going to do it. "I love you." he said quickly

Kim stopped speaking unsure of what to think. Before she had a chance to process what Tommy said he grabbed her arms and pulled her close, pressing his lips to hers. She resisted at first before she gave in and kissed him passionately back, all common sense escaping. Tommy paused and she pulled away, turning around so he wouldn’t see the tears that started falling. "Dammit Tommy." she said with feeling

"I’m sorry Kim. We tricked you into coming up here alone with me so that I could tell you that I love you and that I forgive you for what happened. You did the right thing by taking off and I know that." he said. When she didn’t reply he walked up behind her and put his hands on her arms. "Of course I didn’t forget our weekend here. It was the best weekend of my life. You’re the only woman I’ve ever brought here and you’re the only woman I ever want to bring here. That’s why I brought you here today, to show you that I love you."

Kim spun back around and allowed herself to fall into his embrace. "I’m in love with someone else." she replied softly

Tommy took his finger and glided it down her face, getting it under her chin and lifting it up. "Josh doesn’t love you like I do. He doesn’t know you like I do."

Kim ignored the fact that Tommy knew the identity of her boyfriend as she glanced into his eyes. "It’s not that simple." she said. She didn’t want to throw away a good solid relationship based on the fact that Tommy changed his mind.

"It can be." he assured her gently kissing her lips again

"How do I know that we can work? How do I know that we won’t go right back where we were again?" she asked. She found her body aching for the man in front of her even though her mind was trying to tell it no.

"Do you still love me?" he asked gazing into her eyes

"I never stopped loving you." she confessed. Even with Josh in her life, Tommy had been in the back of her mind. She truly loved Josh but she couldn’t help but keep thinking about a certain ranger. Now that she was here in his arms it was becoming harder and harder to remember her boyfriend even existed.

Tommy ran his fingers through her hair before running his hand down her back. "That’s all we need. We’re adults now, and we’re fighting together again. We know better and nothing will come between us this time, I promise."

"It’s easy to make those promises." Kim said recalling that the last time they got back together they said they knew better

"We deserve this chance. I was stupid not to see it before. I know we belong together and you do too. No other man will change that." Tommy spoke glancing into her eyes.

They gazed at each other for a moment but neither said a word. Kim didn’t know how to react. Right now she wanted him more than anything. She could feel the warmth of his body and his soft tender gestures against her skin. She didn’t know what came over her as she leaned up and pressed her lips against his.

Tommy was surprised at first by her kiss. He hadn’t expected it, he had expected her to say no and leave. He put his hands on her waist and brought her in, kissing her throughly. Memories of times past flooded back and all he could think about was how they were meant to be together. He remembered the last time they were there, the things that they did.... he got excited just thinking about it.

Reason escaped Kim and she let herself go to Tommy. She returned his kisses, putting her hands under his shirt and rubbing against him, barely noticing as his hands wandered up her shirt. Before either knew what was going on both of their shirts were on a pile on the floor. A night that was meant for talking to rekindle old relationships was quickly moving to the bedroom.

Carri walked hand in hand with Rocky at one in the morning back to Rocky’s brother’s apartment. She couldn’t believe that she had let his brother talk them into going with them to a ten o’clock showing of a movie called Grindhouse. Between being in space and being busy she didn’t keep up with movie news although she wished she had because she would have certainly not wasted her time or money on that.

"That was the greatest movie ever." Matt exclaimed as his girlfriend Jamie jumped and yelled in agreement

"It was pretty good." Rocky said although he wasn’t sure he agreed. But he was in no mood to argue with his brother about it at one a.m., instead he would just act compliant as they made the brisk walk back to his brother’s apartment.

"What did you think Carri?" Matt asked glancing at her

She flashed him a smile and gave him a thumbs up. She learned years ago not to argue with him about his taste in movies.

"We should all go see it again that would be awesome." Jamie squealed

"If I have time. I’m so busy with work now I hardly get to see Rocky." Carri replied flashing him a smile. That was a lie but Matt and Jamie didn’t need to know that.

Rocky squeezed her hand and flashed her a smile. It was nice that Matt had Jamie, they seemed a lot alike. Of course he was only twenty-three, which meant he probably wasn’t looking for a long term commitment from her. Then again at twenty-three Rocky was more than ready to marry Carri.

"Jake and Kurt will go see it." Matt pointed out referencing his two best friends and roommates

They arrived outside the building that Matt called home. Rocky and Carri stopped as neither wanted to go up. It was late and both had noticed how small and how much of a disaster Matt’s apartment was. "I think I’m going to get her home." Rocky said nodding toward Carri as he smiled over at his brother

"Ok. See you guys later." Matt said as Jamie waived goodbye. Rocky and Carri watched as the duo headed back into the apartment building before Rocky led his girlfriend to his car.

They climbed in and he cranked the engine up, putting the car into drive as he pulled away. Carri turned to him and grinned. "So we’re about to find out the answer to the question."

"What question?" Rocky asked not quite getting what she was referring to

"The do Kim and Tommy get a third chance question." she replied as giddy as a high school girl. She desperately wanted to see them get back together. Not just to get Kim away from her brother, although that certainly was a bonus. But from the first time she’d ever seen Kim and Tommy together she thought they were meant to be together, despite the fact that Tommy was with Kat at the time.

Rocky chuckled softly. Although he didn’t quite agree with Carri’s antics, he did agree that it would be nice to see Tommy and Kim together again. "Hopefully they do." he said as he drove down the nearly empty streets of Angel Grove

Carri looked over and smiled at him and he smiled back, taking his hand and grasping hers with it. "So are you going to come check us out tomorrow?" Rocky questioned. He, Tommy and Jason had been asked to come down to the revamped Youth Center to do a martial arts seminar for some of the local kids. It had been a long time since they had done a seminar together and they thought it might be fun.

"I’ll come by for a little bit. They made some changes to what they want to do in Venice so I have to go over those and approve them so they can start shooting." Carri said. She had voted to spend Saturday out but she knew she had to get up Sunday and get some work done or else her show would stall. They were on a roll now and stalling was the last thing she wanted.

"Good I’ll be looking for you." Rocky replied giving her hand a squeeze. She smiled at him and leaned against him for the rest of the drive to her house. They pulled into the driveway and Rocky put the car in park, leaving the engine running. "I’ll let you get in to talk to Kim."

"Thanks." she replied flashing him a smile

Rocky leaned in and kissed her goodnight. "See you tomorrow." he said as they separated

"Definitely." Carri replied, grinning at him as she jumped out of the car. She watched Rocky pull away before she headed up the sidewalk and to the front door, opening it quickly and going in. She locked the door before throwing down her keys and her phone and running off to find Kim.

She first checked her bedroom, which was wide open. Curious she went out toward the garage and looked for Kim’s car. It was possible that Kim was out by the lake or something and hadn’t gone to bed yet. One glance told her differently. Kim’s car wasn’t there. She tried her cell phone and it went straight to voicemail. "Oh shit." Carri said grinning. Kim not home and not answering could only mean one thing. She was still with Tommy.

Jason sat in a bar in downtown Angel Grove finishing his beer. He had come to check out the scene and try to meet someone. He was going to leave empty handed. Not that he hadn’t had a lot of women hit on him. But he hadn’t found one that he wanted to spend his time with.

Sadly he was almost used to leaving lonely. He wasn’t worried about it though, he knew he’d find someone eventually. Carri kept saying she had ins and that she could hook him up easily. He had told her no but now he was thinking about reconsidering. Anything was better than wasting his entire night at a bar getting nowhere.

He took the last sip of his beer then called the bartender over. It was after one a.m., anyone he would meet now would be too drunk or desperate for him. The bartender came up and he asked for his tab. The man set it down in front of him and he threw down enough cash to cover drinks and a tip.

Slowly he climbed off of the bar stool and headed outside. The burst of fresh air that hit him when he opened the door felt nice, and he took it in as he walked to his motorcycle. He climbed on and put his helmet on before starting it and heading home. He enjoyed the wind whipping around him as he drove down the street. He loved days that were nice enough that he could take his motorcycle out because there was nothing in the world that compared with that feeling.

As he drove down the road he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He wasn’t about to stop to answer it, whoever it was could leave a message and he’d get it when he got home. A few seconds later the phone vibrated again, this time to tell him that his mystery caller had in deed left him a message.

Jason forgot about the call as he barreled down the road and toward his home. His home wasn’t much, but it was nice. Jason’s work as a writer had gotten him fame and money, but he had yet to write the book that made him filthy rich. Although he was quite proud of the series he was starting now. The first book was shaping up quite nicely and the parts that his publisher had seen had been well received. It wouldn’t take much more work and he would be finished with it and would pass it on, and it would be out on the shelves during the summer.

This was the first book he wrote that had a little bit of everything, and he really enjoyed it. Hopefully his fans would enjoy it as much as he did. Of course some of his fans would probably devour anything he wrote just because they loved his stories.

Jason chuckled to himself as he pulled into his neighborhood. He maneuvered through the streets until he came up to his home, pulling in the driveway and shutting the motorcycle down. He lifted his helmet off and stuck it on the back of the bike before pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. The missed call had come from Carri. He was curious to know what she had to say so he quickly checked his voicemail.

She had called him to tell him that Kim was not at home and that her cell phone was turned off. She speculated that she had spent the night with Tommy as that was the only logical explanation. Jason chuckled as he jumped off the motorcycle and headed toward the front door. He couldn’t wait to call her in the morning to find out what was going on. He still had a few days before he had to get his book in and this could make for some very interesting material.

Kim awoke early the next morning, naked and in bed next to a sleeping Tommy. She brought her knees to her chest and put her head in her hands. She couldn’t believe she had done that. She didn’t know what came over her last night. Tommy hadn’t budged so Kim threw the covers off and slipped out of bed, quickly hunting down the previous night’s clothes and throwing them on. She found her keys and slipped out the door before Tommy knew what was going on.

Kim wasted no time getting into the car and turning on the engine, kicking up tons of sand as she threw the car in reverse. Seconds later she was out of the driveway and flying back toward Carri’s home in Angel Grove.

The entire ride home all she could think about was how much of an idiot she was. She had a boyfriend, she couldn’t allow herself to succumb to Tommy that easily. She didn’t know what she was going to do. The last time her heart was this torn was when she was debating whether or not to send Tommy the letter.

Eventually she made it home, pulling into the driveway and opening the garage door. She headed in as she hit the button for the garage. She could barely hear it close over the noise of the door slamming beside her. Kim tossed her keys down with force and headed in the direction of her bedroom, only to be stopped by Carri.

"So," she started grinning wickedly and leaning against the wall, "how was it?"

"You set me up." Kim pointed out anger rising. She couldn’t believe her friend had done that to her.

"I set you up because Tommy still loves you. And I know you still love him." Carri quickly pointed out.

"So you threw us in the beach house together? Why the hell did you think that was a good idea?" Kim questioned tears coming to her eyes

"I’m sorry it’s just... he wanted to profess his love. I figured the worst that could happen was you break his heart and leave." she replied smiling at her friend

A few stray tears fell down Kim’s face. "That’s not the worst that could happen."

Carri stiffened. Despite her setting Kim up, she was still her best friend and like a sister and she didn’t want to see anything bad happen to her. "What happened?" she questioned walking over and putting a hand on Kim’s arm. "Did Tommy do something? I don’t care how much stronger he is I’ll still go kick his ass." she assured her. No matter what she wouldn’t let Tommy get away with hurting her.

"We had sex." Kim replied as the tears started to fall

"Shit." Carri said with feeling as she gave her friend a hug. That definitely wasn’t on the night’s agenda. He was supposed to talk to her and romance her, see if he could win her back. Not screw her.

Kim let Carri give her a hug. She really couldn’t be mad at her, she thought she was doing her a favor. After all as Tommy reminded her the previous night, she did still love him. "I can’t believe I cheated on Josh. I don’t know what to do. I love Josh but Tommy...."

As Kim’s voice trailed off Carri could feel the guilt settling in. She didn’t realize how much Kim cared about her brother. She thought it was just a fling, and if she could push Tommy back into her life she’d forget about Josh and go back to him. "I’m sorry." she said softly

Kim stood straight up and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I’ve got a lot to think about." she said avoiding eye contact with Carri as she walked into her room and shut the door. She glanced at her bed where she first made love to Josh and thought about how wonderful that was. That was all it took for her to start bawling as she collapsed on the bed.

She had never been that confused in her life. She had a perfectly good relationship with Josh, a man who in the last few months she had grown to love. The moments that she had spent with him here and in New York were wonderful. They both loved each other and were in this amazing relationship together and she couldn’t be happier.

Then there was Tommy. She loved him too, only it was different from what she and Josh had. She had a history with Tommy. There was so much between them over the last thirteen years that it was hard to compare the two relationships. She had wanted Tommy back when she first came home and her exboyfriend waited until she was settled with someone else to feel the same way.

She didn’t know what to do. She and Tommy had two chances and neither ended well. Technically both break ups were her fault. Did that mean she didn’t love him as much as she thought? She wasn’t sure. She was worried about giving Tommy another chance for fear of ending up right back where she was now, only without Tommy or Josh.

Kim didn’t try to stop the tears that were streaming down her face as she laid on the bed. No matter how hard it was going to be, she was going to have to come up with a decision.

Several hours later Carri was sitting in her office finishing up the work she had to do for her show. She sent out all the emails before standing and stretching. She didn’t know what was going on, but Kim had yet to come out of the bedroom. She never meant for this to happen, she thought it would be pretty cut and dry. Either Kim wanted Josh or Tommy but not both. At least Kim knew that Tommy still had feelings for her, although Carri wished he wouldn’t have told her through sex. That just made Kim’s situation more complicated now that she’s cheated on Josh.

Carri sighed as she glanced at the clock. She still had time to get to the Youth Center and visit like she promised. Plus she felt like she owed Tommy a talking to, she had to figure out what went wrong.

She grabbed her keys and walked over to stand in front of Kim’s door. She wanted to knock and tell her that she was leaving, tell her that if she needed to talk not to hesitate to call. A few seconds of standing there and she decided not to, that it was best to leave Kim alone for the moment.

On the other side of the door Kim found herself still laying on the bed. She had stopped crying and had spent most of the afternoon thinking about what she wanted to do. So many scenarios had gone through her head. She wasn’t sure if she liked the outcome of any of them but she had to pick one.

She sat straight up and reached for the phone. After weighing all the pros and cons she had finally made a decision. Hands shaking she flipped through the contact list until she came across Josh’s name. She took a deep breath before hitting the send button and pulling the phone to her ear.

The rings seemed to come slowly and last forever. It felt like hours before anyone answered on the other end. "Hey." Josh said as he picked up

"Hey." Kim said softly. She wanted to sound less sad but she was afraid to try. She was afraid she’d start bawling all over again and she wanted to try and stay strong over the phone.

"What’s wrong?" Josh asked quickly picking up on the tone of her voice

The only way to do this was just to come right out and say it. She took a deep breath before speaking. "I called... I wanted to tell you that I cheated. That I slept with someone else. But I’m sorry and I was hoping that you’d forgive me and that we’d move on."

"It’s ok." Josh said surprising Kim

She felt her heart sink. Not only had she cheated but she’d cheated on an incredibly wonderful man.

"As long as we’re confessing, I slept with someone I met when I got back from Angel Grove." Josh told her. He hadn’t wanted to, he really loved Kim. But he wasn’t sure about their relationship. And when Samantha, the newest addition to his show arrived on set all he could think about was a hot steamy one night stand with her. And that’s all it was, that was all either wanted. He had Kim and she had a boyfriend of her own.

"Oh." Kim said suddenly. That changed everything. She cheated with Tommy, they had a history, she still loved him. Josh had an affair with someone he just met. Not that she was any better than him, but at least she had a valid reason.

"I guess everyone was right. It’s hard to have a long distance relationship with a ranger." Josh pointed out. Not that he didn’t enjoy it but he hated having to think about all the things that could be going on in Angel Grove while he was in New York.

"Yeah." Kim agreed absentmindedly. She didn’t know who had told him that but he was right. She had heard of all the troubles of non rangers trying to date rangers. "So now what?"

"We can keep dating." Josh said

The lack of emotion in the statement bothered Kim. And there was something that had been nagging at her since he confessed his affair. "Are you sorry about sleeping with someone else?"

"Yeah." he said. Although it was worth it and the sex had been awesome. Besides it was just that, sex. Kim was the one he was in love with.

Kim let out a long sigh. She still cared deeply for Josh. He spoiled her and the sex was great but she couldn’t help but wonder if there was more there. She longed to have a deep connection with someone and the more she thought about it, the more she couldn’t help but wonder if Josh was it. They had a good relationship especially on the physical side, but was that all of it? Not to mention that long distance relationships were hard and they obviously couldn’t keep theirs up without being swayed. "Maybe we should end it. Before we both get our heads turned again by someone else." Kim was worried about Tommy, there was no way she could have a serious relationship with Josh when every bit of her ached for the red ranger. Not to mention she wasn’t sure that Josh wouldn’t cheat again.

Josh thought about it for a moment. "Maybe you’re right." he agreed. He loved Kim but he couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t jump into bed with the next gorgeous actress that crossed his path. Things just weren’t as serious with Kim as he thought they were. The sex was great and she was a fabulous person, but that wasn’t enough to keep him in a monogamous relationship. They needed more than just the surface stuff and he wasn’t sure they had it. "We can still be friends right?"

"Absolutely." Kim replied, relieved that this conversation was turning out ok. And she was glad they weren’t going to hate each other because he was still Carri’s brother which meant she was still going to see him. "So... I guess I’ll talk to you later then?" she questioned not sure where else to go with the conversation

"Yeah. Later." Josh agreed hanging up the phone

Kim let out a sigh of relief as she hung up the phone as well. At least that was done and over with. Now she had to figure out what she was going to do with Tommy.

Carri wondered into the Youth Center and found a seat, flashing Rocky a smile and giving the boys a wave as she sat. They were surrounded by children who were all in awe of what they were saying as they demonstrated some things.

She tried to sit patiently as she waited for the seminar to be over. There was a lot to discuss and she wanted to discuss it sooner rather than later. Carri watched as the boys continued on thinking about everything that had progressed. Finally they finished, and after talking to the kids and parents they made their way over toward her.

"Hey." Rocky greeted giving her a kiss. "You missed most of the good stuff."

She shrugged in reply. "Work took longer than I thought." she said as she paused to glare at Tommy.

Carri didn’t let up and he looked at her strangely. "What? Did I do something?"

She almost didn’t restrain herself as she whopped him on the shoulder. He put a hand to his stinging skin and made a face at her as she spoke. "You slept with Kim. I can’t believe you did that. What happened to we’ll just talk and work it out."

"What?" Jason questioned but was drowned out by Tommy

"I didn’t mean for it to happen." Tommy replied quickly defending himself. "But it’s not like we both didn’t want it."

Carri crossed her arms over her chest. "We’ll I hope you’re satisfied. Kim’s been locked up in her room crying ever since she came home this morning. She loves you both Tommy, she doesn’t know what to do."

Tommy sighed. He never meant to upset Kim. But that certainly would explain why she left so abruptly that morning. "I should go talk to her. Straighten this whole thing out."

"Yeah you better." Jason replied glaring at him. He wanted Tommy and Kim to work out, but he didn’t want Tommy to hurt her. As close as he and Tommy were, if Tommy didn’t handle this situation with Kim he was going to have to deal with him.

"I’m going to go over to the house. I’ll see you guys later." he said as he quickly turned and took off

"How the hell did that happen?" Jason questioned once Tommy had left the building

"I don’t know. I think we screwed up. I screwed up." Carri said sighing heavily

Rocky put an arm around her to try and make her feel better. "No matter how much she cares about Josh, she had to find out that Tommy still loves her. It was the right thing to do, she wanted him back a long time ago." They probably could’ve gone about it better, but now wasn’t the time to point that out.

"I suppose." she said with a shrug

"I can’t believe they spent the night together." Jason said shaking his head. When Carri left him that message he just assumed Kim was working things out with Tommy and would be home later. Of course that did make for some added drama but he’d have to wait and see how it all turned out.

"I can’t believe Kim let herself give in. She must’ve noticed Tommy more than we thought." Carri replied. It gave her some small sense of doing the right thing. At least she was aware that Tommy was around and was willing to give him a second look. Kim was still upset and it was still yet to be determined how the whole thing was going to turn out though and that caused the guilt to return.

There was silence for a moment before Rocky spoke. "Why don’t you let me get changed and showered then maybe we can take a walk down the beach." he suggested. He knew what could get Carri’s mind off of things. The beach was always a good choice when she was bothered by something.

"Sure." she replied giving him a smile. He gave her another kiss before walking back into the locker room. She turned and looked over at Jason once he was gone. "So what are you doing this afternoon?"

"I’m going to work on some of my edits." he replied

"Are you almost finished?" she asked. She was excited that her friend had a new book in the works. She was hoping that it would be a success for him. She was sure it would be, although she had no clue what the book was about. It was supposed to be top secret, noone was allowed to find out until it was published.

"Yup. I should have it into my publisher by Friday." he said with a sense of pride in his voice. He glanced down at the time before looking back over at Carri. "Speaking of the book, if I sit here and hang with you I’m never going to get any work done."

Carri laughed. She certainly knew that feeling. "Alright. I’ll call you if I hear anything."

"Sounds good." he replied as he gathered his things and stood

Carri said goodbye then watched him leave then sat patiently waiting for Rocky to return so that they could go for a walk down the beach.

Tommy pulled up in the driveway of Carri’s home almost forty-five minutes after he left the Youth Center. He had gone home to shower and change so that he could look his best for Kim. He wanted to apologize, to let her know that if she loved Josh that much he wouldn’t stand in her way. As much as he wanted to be with her, the most important thing was that he wanted to see her happy.

He climbed out of his jeep and walked up to the door, reaching up to ring the bell. A few seconds later Kim answered the door, flashing him a quick smile. "Hey."

"Hey." he replied smiling back. "Can we talk?" he asked

"Sure." she said moving to let him in. Kim walked ahead of him and went to sit on the couch. She listened as he shut the door behind him then made his way into the livingroom.

Tommy sat down on the recliner making a point to stay away from Kim. He wanted to talk to her and as much as he enjoyed the sex, he didn’t want a repeat of the previous night. "I’m sorry." he started briefly making eye contact with her. "I didn’t intend for that to happen last night. I wanted to tell you how I felt. But you’re with Josh and if you want to stay with him I’ll understand."

There was silence as Kim wasn’t sure what to say or how to say it. Finally she decided on where to start. "I broke up with Josh."

"Really?" Tommy questioned trying his hardest not to let his excitement show. "Why?"

"He had an affair." she said simply. "It made me realize that maybe we didn’t have a tight relationship. I still care about him but he’s not a man I could see myself spending the rest of my life with."

"I’m sorry to hear that." Tommy replied although he really wasn’t. More silence settled over the two as neither knew where to proceed from there. Finally Tommy just asked the question that had been floating around his mind. "Where does that leave us?"

Kim let out a long sigh and Tommy wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. "I’m still upset about you guys tricking me into going up there."

"We’re all sorry about that." Tommy started trying to figure out the right words to say next

"I know. Noone wanted to hurt me. The sex was... a moment of passion between both of us." she said trying to think about how to carefully phrase her words. "Neither meant for that to happen but it did. It reminded me that I still have strong feelings for you. Real feelings, deeper than just a physical connection." After she hung up with Josh she spent a lot of time thinking about Tommy. Their closeness led to sex but the more she thought about it, the more she thought about how that wasn’t all their relationship was. They had a real connection when they were young, a strong bond that formed well before they ever had a physical relationship. That bond with Tommy was always there, through his relationship with Kat and her four years in space. That was something numerous rangers had pointed out. She wanted that, she longed for that part of her relationship with Tommy just as much as she longed for the rest of it.

"Do you think we could start over?" Tommy questioned trying not to let her see that his nerves were getting the best of him. He had been the leader of multiple teams of rangers, yet here he was allowing this situation with Kim to get the best of him.

Kim thought for a moment before replying. "I’d like that." she said giving him a smile

"Maybe we could go on a date. Say Thursday night." Tommy suggested

"Make it Friday and you have a deal." Kim replied. She had so many deadlines to meet at work she had a feeling every night would be a late night. Having a date with Tommy on Friday night would definitely give her something to look forward to.

"Ok. Friday night. I’ll pick you up around seven?" Tommy said practically glowing at the thought of a date with Kim

Kim tried to act like a diplomatic red instead of an excited schoolgirl. "Seven it is." she replied giving him a smile. It took every ounce of her body not to grab Tommy and head right back to the bedroom. But if they were going to really start over they were going to have to cool it on the physical side for a while.

"Great. Then I’ll see you then." Tommy replied admiring her composure. He decided to mirror her efforts and if she was going to stay calm about the prospect of another chance he would too.

Kim stood and walked over to Tommy, who stood as well. "I’m glad we could work this out." she said smiling at him

"Me too." he replied

"I have some stuff I have to get done." she lied. A lot had gone on in the last twenty-four hours and she just wanted some time to sit peacefully and wrap her mind around it all. Besides she had a feeling she’d spend the rest of the day answering to the other rangers.

"Not a problem. I’ll talk to you later?" he questioned hoping that the answer was yes

"Of course." she replied leaning up to give him a quick kiss

Tommy smiled and walked to the door with Kim close behind him. He said goodbye and exited while Kim shut the door and locked it. They both walked away with smiles on their faces, letting the excitement of another chance settle in.

Carri pulled into her driveway and noticed first that there was no black jeep parked there. She quickly opened the garage door and saw that Kim’s car was still there. She wasn’t quite sure if that was a good sign or a bad one. As she jumped out of the car she hit the button to shut the garage door and headed inside. Kim’s bedroom door was still shut and Carri sighed as she walked out into the livingroom. She glanced around and almost missed Kim sitting out on the back porch talking on the phone. That had to be somewhat of a good sign, or at least she thought it did.

Walking over to the patio door she slid it back and stepped outside, flashing Kim a wave. Kim smiled and waved back before going back to her phone conversation. "Anyway Aisha I’ll talk to you later." she said. The conversation on the other end continued before Kim said goodbye and hung up. Aisha had called shortly after Tommy left and Kim filled her in on everything. The former yellow ranger was thrilled to see Tommy and Kim an item again.

"So what’s up?" Carri questioned as she sat down at the table next to Kim

"Tommy came by." Kim said simply. She was pretty sure Carri knew that already and was wondering how it went but she figured she’d make her squirm.

"Oh? What happened?" She couldn’t wait much longer to find out she felt like she was about to bust.

"Well..." Kim started letting her voice trail off. She decided to backtrack a bit before getting to the Tommy part. "You know after you left I called Josh. I wanted to apologize. To fix things."

"Oh." she said again her voice sounding deflated

"Turned out I wasn’t the only one who slept with someone else." Kim informed her

"What?" Carri asked more than a little pissed. She had kind of expected it, but at the same time she didn’t want her brother to cheat on Kim. Kim did cheat as well, but she highly doubted that her brother had slept with an ex-girlfriend that he still had feelings for. He had probably chosen the next pretty thing that crossed his path.

"It’s ok." Kim assured her. Her friend looked like she was ready to fly to New York and rip her brothers head off. "We talked about it. I think our relationship was more sex than a real connection. Don’t get me wrong, the sex was great, but I want someone who I can have a well rounded relationship with. Who knows me on more levels than one. That’s why we broke up."

"You did?" Carri questioned trying not to burst with excitement upon hearing that. Now she wouldn’t have to be told about Kim and her brother’s sex life anymore.

"Yeah. It’s strange, I think he’s been thinking about it for a while now. He said everyone said it’s hard to date a ranger long distance." Kim asked. That comment still bugged her and she had a feeling her friend knew a bit about it.

Carri glanced down at the floor for a moment thinking of how to reply before glancing back up at Kim. "Yeah I may have helped push that point a bit. I don’t think I was the only one, but I may have given him that impression." she confessed as Kim glared at her. "Honestly I hated thinking of you with my brother like that. And Tommy said he still loved you so I figured if I could get Josh to back off maybe you and Tommy would still have a chance."

Kim nodded. Carri always pretended to be happy for her but she could tell by the way she reacted that Carri was never thrilled with the fact that she had been in a relationship with her brother. "You shouldn’t have interfered." Kim said as Carri let out a long heavy sigh. "But I’m glad you did. Tommy and I are going out on a date on Friday."

"Kim that’s great!" Carri exclaimed. She was thrilled that no matter how they got there, Tommy and Kim were getting their chance.

"It worked out. But in the future, tell me if you don’t like someone I’m dating. Don’t sneak around my back. You’re like my sister, I wouldn’t be mad at you." Kim promised

"So you’re saying that you would’ve been ok if I had thrown a fit about the fact that my almost sister and brother were sleeping together?" Carri asked for clarification purposes.

"Oh no I would’ve told you to shut up and that I was happy." Kim said smiling. Both girls giggled. "But in the end our friendship is more important than that relationship and I would have broke up with him." she said sincerely

Carri smiled and nodded. It was moments like these that reminded her why she was lucky to have Kim as a best friend. The girls had been through a lot together over the years and would do almost anything for each other. "Thanks." she said simply as she leaned over to give Kim a hug

The girls separated and Kim smiled at her. "So now what?"

"I think you need to come tan with me." Carri said flashing her a smile back. She had just been out on the beach and it was nice weather for laying out there and tanning. "You’re getting on the pasty side and you have a date on Friday. We need to get you some color."

Kim laughed at her friend’s comment. "Alright let’s go tan then." she said agreeing to soak up the sun. The two girls got up from the table and headed back into the house to get changed into their swimsuits. Kim couldn’t help but wear a smile on her face as she walked around the house. Work was going good, she was going tanning with Carri, Callisto and Rhianna had been quiet lately and she had a date with Tommy on Friday. Life just couldn’t get any better.

The End

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