The word "Crush," is such a childish term. It was probably a term that was invented by older generations, the ones with an interest in belittling young love. Tommy hated that word. He didn't have a crush on Kimberly. He loved her with the passion hotter than one thousand suns. She was the girl for him and he knew it. She was all he had on his mind. Kimberly was his pink princess, his crane, his best friend, his everything. Just within the last 24 hours, she competed in a gymnastics competition and won. Her dream was to compete in the Pan Global Games as a gymnast. Coach Schmidt had trained her for the competition and there was a huge chance that he'd probably ask her to come to Florida to train. If that happened, he was not going to let her leave Angel Grove without telling her how she felt.
Unknown to him, Kimberly was thinking about him at that very moment. She loved him, but her fear kept getting in the way every time she came close to telling him. What if he didn't feel the same way about her? There was the possibility that he would just want to be nothing more than friends. Maybe somethings were best left unspoken. She learned that a long time ago, when he parents got divorced. They fought and they cheated on each other. Kimberly had always believed that they just fell out of love because Andrew was never home. But, on day she got the courage to ask her mother why the divorced and she revealed that Andrew had cheated on her. Before she could think of anything else, the clock struck 7:30. She had let the time slip away from her and she was going to be late for a fun filled day with Tommy. Kimberly jumped out of bed and headed to the bathroom for a shower.
After taking a ten-minute shower, and a quick change into a pink floral knee length dress, Kimberly grabbed her tote bag and walked down the stairs to for breakfast. "Coach Schmidt is on the phone and wants to talk to you," Aisha informed as she laid the phone down.
Kimberly walked over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello, Coach Schmidt," Kimberly greeted as she watched Tommy's truck pull up in the drive way.
"Kimberly, I've never seen another gymnast as talented as you are," Coach Schmidt started. "Since your excellent performance at the Angel Grove gymnastics competition, I'd like to invite you to join my gymnastics teams, so I can train you for the Pan Global Games."
"R-really?" she asked.
"Yes, you are very talented," answered Coach Schmidt. "I think that together we can bring home a gold medal to the United States."
"Thank you," Kimberly hesitated as she heard the doorbell ring. "This something I've dreamed of my whole life, but I really need to think about this."
"You have until tomorrow to make up your mind," he said. "I will be leaving tomorrow afternoon."
The door opened just as Kimberly hung up the phone. Her heart sank as she watched Tommy walk in the door. He had the face that would stop any girl in their tracks. His face was strong and defined, his features sculpted from granite. He had dark ached eye brows, which titled downwards any time he had a serious expression on his face. He had chocolate jewel-like eyes that always sparkled like diamonds. His nose was perfectly straight, his ears were shaped like half of a heart and his lips were smooth and in the shape of cupid's bow. His shoulder length brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Even his body was charming, he had the prefect slim muscular body. But there was something different about him. There wasn't a wrinkle in his khaki pants and white Henley, every hair was in place, and he was wearing cologne. "Hey, Beautiful," Tommy greeted as he walked over to here. His strong arms wrapped her small petite body and he just stood there holding her. His body was warm as he hugged her which was always comforting. "I've got something really important to tell you. But I fear you won't feel the same way."
"What is it?" Kimberly gulped when he released her from his strong bear hug. His strong smooth hands held hers in his as he stared deep into her eyes.
"I can't no longer keep this secret from you," Tommy revealed in a serious tone. "Kimberly, I love you."
She reached up and cupped his face. He lowered his face down to hers and their lips met. the moment the they had dreamed of for the last two and a half years. He placed his hand on her waist and puller her closer deepening the kiss. As they parted, she saw the sparkle in eyes and his lips curved into a smile and she couldn't help but smile back.
"I take that as you feel the same way about me," Tommy chirped tucking a strand of her Carmel hair behind her ears.
"I do," Kimberly beamed gazing into his eyes.
"I was wondering when you'd confess your love to each other," Aisha smiled as Tommy and Kimberly took a seat on the coach.
The thought of the Pan Global Games traveled through Kimberly's brain that whole morning like a train. And they had no desire to stop at the nearest train station. As a child she dreamed of competing in the Pan Global Games. But dreams can change, can't they? She didn't know what caused him to hide his love for her, expect maybe he had been hurt a lot too. However, she needed him to hold the door open more often.
"Kim, are you okay?" Tommy asks with a smirk and a flash of excitement in his eyes. "You haven't said a word since we left Aisha's house."
"Yeah, I'm okay," she lied staring up into this face. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Who called you before picked you up?"
" It was Coach Schmidt. I was... I mean he invited me to... move to Florida so he could train me for the Pan Global Games; I told him I needed to think about it. I don't know if I want to go... I mean at one time I did, but I don't, " Kimberly vellicated and Tommy wrapped his arms around her.
"That's great," he congratulated hugging her tightly. "I'm so happy for you. Why don't you want to go?"
"I don't know if I want to do gymnastics for the rest of my life," she confessed. "The gymnasts who are really good get offers to go to the Olympics and then they get asked to go on tour. Coach Schmidt told me that when he first started to train me-"
"-Kim, I was thought that you wanted to train for the Pan Global Games," Tommy reminded her as they walked up to the beach house. "You once told me that you wanted to compete and train other gymnasts."
"I thought I did. But, when he started to train me, I thought it would end after the gymnastics tournament. And, it didn't. I miss having my own life, my friends, and I miss getting to spend time-"
"-with me," Tommy finished and they took a seat on a bench sitting next to the beach house. "Kim, you were so excited to have him train you. If you hadn't had taken that offer, you would have regretted it."
"I probably would have," she sighed, and a long silence followed that.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I wanted finish high school and graduated with my friends, go to college and get married," she confessed moving closer to him. "You said you love me-"
"-Kim," Tommy interrupted taking hold of her hand. "Please don't base your decision on me. I want you to follow your heart."
Kimberly barely made it through her party. Never had she been the person who looked at the clock every few minutes. It was supposed to be a time of celebration, wasn't it? To be perfectly honest, she didn't have a clue on what she was going to do. Tommy had confessed his love to her and she never felt that happy in years.
The last few years had been hard on her with her parents' divorce. It just happened so quick, one day they were getting along, and overnight things changed. Her parents were fighting and didn't want to work things out. So, they divorced. Caroline tried to date other men and those relationships didn't work out. When her mother met Pierre, they secretly dated for two years. She kept the secret from Kimberly until Pierre asked her to marry him and move to Paris. She accepted and came home all excited. It really hurt her that her mother would keep a secret like that from her. And she asked why she didn't bother to tell her that she was in a relationship. Caroline's excuse was that she wanted to make sure that things would work out.
"Ms. Hart, I want to talk to you outside," Coach Schmidt asked when he walked over to her table. "I forgot to tell I have to go over my rules with you, before you join."
"I'll be right back," she smiled giving Tommy a peek on the cheek.
Tommy waited until Kimberly and Coach Schmidt had left the room, and he got up and threw his cup of punch away. As he stepped into the hall, he saw they went outside and took a seat on the bench. Tommy slowly opened the door and hid behind a bush. Everything was so quiet and peaceful, which were her favorite kind of days. The telephone was still, and the clocks were silent, the random sounds that came from the breeze, the birdsongs coming so sweetly as if they had been spun by sugar.
"So, Ms. Hart, have you made your decision," asked Coach Schmidt.
"Yes, I think I have," Kimberly answered in a cheerful voice. "I've decided that I-"
"You've decided to come to Florida!" cried Coach Schmidt. "That's great I knew you would."
"Coach Schmidt, actually, I-"
"I'm so happy you are coming," he beamed. "Now, I am going to go over some rules with you."
"Okay," Kimberly replied. "But first let me-"
"-All of my athletes are to train, eat, sleep, and breath gymnastics. They also must practice 40 hours a week. I only allow my athletes to have one other person, besides me and the faculty members. And it will be your roommate. Both of you will eat your meals in a sound proof room. While you are getting your education, you will sit with your roommate in a cubical unit-"
"-Coach Schmidt, I've haven't told you my decision yet."
"-I know what you decided," he smiled. "Also, several of my athletes have been distracted by friends back home and their boyfriend or girlfriend. So, I have them cut of all contact with people back home. I've been watching you and Tommy ever since I've got here. He's going to be a big distraction to you. So, you can just write him a break up letter telling him you meet someone else-"
Tommy felt the nausea swirl unrestrained in his empty stomach. He couldn't believe that after they confessed their feelings for each other, it was over. His heart felt as if his blood turned into tar struggling to keep beating at a steady pace. His sadness hung over him like a black cloud, raining down personal sorrow where ever he went. He got up from behind the bushes. Tripping over his shoe lace, he landed face first into a mud puddle.
"Coach Schmidt, I've been trying to tell you that I'm not coming to Florida!" Kimberly interrupted as she ran over to Tommy and wiped off his face with her handkerchief.
"I should have known he talked out of it!" Coach Schmidt yelled as he got up from the bench.
"He didn't talk me out of nothing," Kimberly enforced looking up at the angry coach. "I had already made the decision shortly after you called me. And if I decided to come to Florida, I would have changed my mind because I am not going to write a break up letter to the boy I love."
"I'm going back to Florida! I done wasting my time with you!" Coach Schmidt remarked as he turned around and started to walk away.
"Kim, are you sure this is what you want?" Tommy asked as he let go off her and stared down at her muddy dress. "We could have put things on hold and you could have gone."
"Tommy, I didn't make this decision because I had to. It was what I truly want," she confessed. "We didn't get to spend much time together when he was training me here. And after hearing him say he wanted me to break up with you, it made me even more sure I didn't want to go Florida."
"Beautiful, you'll never know how happy you have just made me feel," Tommy whispered in her ear pulling her into a tight hug.
"No, Tommy. That wasn't what I really wanted. But having you here, having you with me... it gave me the confidence to tell Coach Schmidt that I didn't want to do gymnastics for the rest of my life. And do you know what? He respected my decision.
Author's note:
This is what I would have liked to have seen happen in a different shade of pink part 3. So, this is my version on what would Power Rangers would have been like if Kimberly hadn't left. Those wondering about Kat, she'll still be a friend to the rangers and help. During Zeo, she'll become a ranger.