Disclaimer: I own none of it.

Pairing: Tommy/Katherine

I did a oneshot kinda like this before that featured them- only this time it's Kat coming to Tommy. Among a couple other lil changes. Besides, I just really wanted to use this as a title. LOL.

In this, Katherine still lives in London- for now. Whenever she leaves for home after a visit to California, Tommy basically feels like he's losing a piece of himself and all that. He's come to realize that there're lingering feelings.

(I've just got Tommy and Kat on the brain a lot these days for some reason. LOL).

Age: 2l

Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone

She'd headed back to London two days earlier- the day after New Year's Day. Yeah. Katherine Hillard's two weeks in California had flown right on by and it was annoying Tommy Oliver the most. The nearly twenty-one-year-old man was sitting in his dimly lit apartment, on his couch, holding a can of soda and staring straight ahead.

Three years. Katherine'd been in London for almost three years now. Her friends and family were always incredibly happy to see her when she visited. But Tommy... well, he always felt more than happy whenever he saw her. Everytime she returned to England, it felt like somebody'd roughly yanked away a very important piece of a puzzle. Everything always seemed different... strange. Tommy always felt this, this... heaviness inside. And he felt so crappy right now.

He'd get to thinking about what they'd had together and how special it'd been. How they hadn't had enough time together... how he wished liked crazy she'd never gone to London in the first place. Sure, he'd wanted her to live out her dream- her happiness was very important to him- but, a part of him had wanted to be selfish and beg her not to go.

He closed his eyes. Darkness. Everything always got a little less light everytime she left California. A little less warm. A little less sensible. It may've sounded a little corny, but, damned if it wasn't true. Tommy knew what it was: feelings that'd never really faded. It made perfect sense to him. After all, Katherine'd left the country soon after his love for her had began deepening.

They'd shared so much. They'd connected on so many levels. She still seemed to understand him in a way no one else could come close to. But she wasn't here anymore. She was miles and miles away.

'God, Kat. I really thought I'd be able to move on,' he told her silently. It wasn't like he hadn't tried. He'd seen girls casually, but, something inside always prevented him from getting even close to being serious about them. At first, he'd figured that it was a uncertainty about commitment- considering the way he'd lost two girlfriends- one to another state and one to another country.

But he'd come to realize what it truly was. Katherine was still deeply rooted in his soul. They'd been nowhere near being done. Absence really must've made the heart grow fonder because something inside of him shut off whenever she said goodbye. Yeah, he'd been counting on the other saying: out of sight, out of mind. 'Didn't quite work out that way, though, did it, Oliver?'

Now, he was sitting here... alone. Alone with thought after thought of her. Her absence affected him in a way that almost scared him. He'd always known she had a very important role in his life, but, man. This was just... . He needed her. Now more than he ever had. He needed the woman whom'd been, in her own way, his guardian angel. The woman whom'd mended his heart. The woman whom'd always seemed to be and give just what he really needed without him ever having to say a word.

She was his best friend. She was the very special woman that he couldn't seem to let go of... that he didn't want to let go of. And she was gone. She was gone. But she wasn't supposed to be. She was supposed to be with him... picking up where they'd left off. 'I'm this close to just picking up and moving to London. Seriously. She needs to know.' And it'd be perfect timing since he knew for a fact she wasn't seriously seeing anybody right now.

But what if she turned him down? His heart sank. 'It'd probably be a good idea to find out how she feels first,' he thought. Knocking sounded on the door then and his eyes slowly opened. Lovely. Annoyance filled him. He honestly wasn't up for company right now. The former ranger leader sat his soda can on the table, stood, mumbled a few things that would make an old lady hit him with her purse, then, headed for the door. His jaw nearly hit the floor after he opened the door.

"Kat!"

The blonde was really here in the flesh. Really standing here in front of him. She smiled and he managed to recompose himself several moments later.

"Um, what, what are you doing here? Why aren't you in London? Is something wrong?" he asked, his pulse rate picking up a little.

Katherine sighed and nodded. "Yes, Tommy. Something's definitely wrong. It's..."

"Come on in," he said, stepping aside. She walked into the apartment, he closed and locked the door, then, they headed over to the sofa. "Are you okay?" he asked in concern.

"That depends. I just got back to California- you're the only one who knows I'm here. Tommy, I... there's something I wanna talk to you about. Something I've wanted to tell you for a while now," she said, her tone solemn.

Tommy laughed and her eyebrows shot up. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's just- well, this seems kinda like fate, you know. Because I've really wanted to talk to you for a while now, too. But, ladies first."

She took a deep breath. "Tommy, I... well, I haven't been able to make it work with any other guy because of you," she confessed. "I know that might sound a little crazy since we've been broken up for quite some time now, but, you're still in my system and what's more... that's where I want you to stay. I'm still in love with you."

Tommy had no idea how to react. Was she really sitting here telling him what he wanted to tell her? "This is unbelieveable. No. This really is fate!"

Her blue eyes widened. "Are you saying-"

"That I feel the same? You better believe it. Aw, man. Kat, I've gotta tell you. Everytime you left for London, it just felt like somebody was turning a light off," he said, taking her hands in his.

She smiled. "I know what you mean. But, speaking of London, I've decided to move here. Even if you'd told me you didn't wanna get back together, I'd have still come back. Because this is where I wanna be."

"Are you sure, though?" he asked.

"I'm positive. I love London, but, nothing's more important to me than being with the people I care about," she said.

"I love you," he said quietly. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt happier- neither could she, for that matter.

"I love you, too," she said softly. They shared a long kiss, then, grinned at each other. "So, you felt like somebody was turning a light off. I'm telling the guys you got mushy on me," she teased- causing him to laugh. He sat back and pulled her to him. A contentment neither had felt in a long time filled them.

The darkness had totally lifted. No more clouds blocking the sun. The puzzle was complete for good now. She was back where she belonged.