Disclaimer: Don't own Power Rangers, that would be Saban/Disney/whoever. I just play with them a little.

Title: Don't Cry

Rating: T

Summary: Kira's heart has just been broken, so she runs to the only place she's ever felt completely safe. A Tommy/Kira FRIENDSHIP story. One-Shot.

Author's Note: The idea for this story came to me as I listened to the song March On, by Good Charlotte.

Kira blinked once; then twice, her heart still frozen in her chest, "What?" she asked, her voice no louder than a whisper, her hand clasping the locket he'd given her only months before. He couldn't have said what he just said, he just couldn't have. Not Trent, he wouldn't do this to her.

Trent sighed, "I'm sorry Kira, I just," he took a deep breath. He hated to see her like this, it pained him to be the one causing her such harm, but it couldn't be helped, "I love you, but I'm not IN love with you," he said softly, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder, only to have her wrench away from him, as if his touched burned. "Kira… don't," he began.

"How," she whispered, a hand coming up to her cheek, which was damp with tears. She hadn't even known she was crying, but her cheeks were flooded with tears. She turned and ran from him, ran for the only place she'd felt completely safe.

The trek through the woods was treacherous, her vision clouded by the endless stream of tears as she raced to her safe haven. She tripped once and that didn't even stop her, she jumped back up, ignoring the scraps on her arms and legs as she continued to race through the woods. Once she found the still secret entrance to The Lair, she stumbled through the entrance, collapsing onto a couch and cried herself to sleep.

Tommy walked into his house, tossing his keys onto the table near the door. It'd been a long day at school, and he didn't think he'd ever forgive Elsa for tricking him into teaching summer school. He was about to head into the kitchen when a blinking light caught his eye; it was the signal that someone was in the Dino Lair underneath his home. "What? Great… just what I need now," he grumbled, grabbing the T-Rex figurine to open the entrance to the Lair.

As he walked into the Lair his senses were on high alert for intruders. He heard a muffled sob and spun around to find a distinctly feminine figure curled up on the couch, her body shaking as she cried, her dirty blond locks tousled, and tangled with leaves. He slowly crept up to her and put his hand on her arm. "Kira," he said softly, causing her to start. She turned over and looked up at him, eyes blood-shot and puffy, cheeks marked with tear-tracks. He took one look at her and his heart broke for her, she was a wreck. "Ooh Kira," he said sitting down on the edge of the couch, pulling her up into his arms.

"Dr. O," she wailed, or rather, she would have wailed, if she had a voice left. She'd cried her voice raw and it came out as a scratchy whisper. "He dumped me," she said burying her head into his shoulder. "He dumped me," she said again, her shoulders shaking as she fought the uncontrollable sobs that wrecked her body. "Why? I mean… I don't understand," she mumbled against his shoulder.

"Shh," Tommy said soothingly. "Don't cry," he said softly, running a hand over her hair, absentmindedly picking the leaves out of it. He lost track of time as he rocked her slowly back and forth, whispering soothing words to her until her sobs quieted down. He hadn't the slightest idea what happened between Kira and Trent, they were so in love, they always reminded him of himself back in high school with Kim. He sighed softly, maybe they were more like he and Kim than he'd thought, or rather, than he'd hoped. "Open your eyes hon," he said pulling Kira back and tilting her head up. "It'll be okay," he said as he used his thumb to brush away the tears on her cheeks.

"You don't know," Kira whispered, coughing slightly and rubbing her sore throat. "It won't be okay, it'll never be okay again," she cried, turning her head away from him. She was upset, upset at Trent for breaking her heart, upset at herself for falling so in love with him, upset at Tommy for seeing her this way, though that was no fault of his own.

"Kira, I do know," Tommy replied, turning her head back to him. "I know because I've been there, the heartache, the tears, I've lived it," he said softly. "I was standing in your exact same shoes not even 10 years ago." He didn't want to bring this up, he didn't want to relive the pain he felt when Kim had broken his heart, but he knew Kira needed to here this. "My high school sweetheart, the woman I was sure I was going to spend the rest of my life with, wrote me a letter, telling me that she'd fallen in love with someone else, and she knew that he was 'the one.'"

"A letter," Kira gasped softly, "Ouch," she whispered, feeling for the first time all day, that someone else knew what she was going through. Someone else had felt her pain.

"Yeah, she couldn't do it person, she didn't have the heart to," Tommy said looking over Kira's shoulder, focusing on the wall of the Lair. "I didn't think I'd ever get over the pain I felt. It was like someone had reached inside me, and just ripped my heart out, and shredded it in front of me." He stood up and pulled Kira to her feet, "Come on," he said leading her towards the back exit of the lair.

"Where are we going?" Kira asked, letting Tommy lead her out into the woods. She looked around, gasping softly when she realized just how much time had passed since she'd snuck into the Dino Lair. It had been just after lunch when Trent pulled her aside; now the sky was the blues of twilight. "Dr. O?"

Tommy looked back at her, "It's not far," he said with a soft smile as he led her through the forest, to a ridge that overlooked the rock quarry they'd often battled in. He sat down against one of the tall Mountain Oaks and looked up at her. "Sit," he said nodding his head to the spot next to him.

Kira looked confused, but she sat down anyway, "Dr. O, I just don't understand why it happened," she said after a few minutes of silence between them. She looked up at the stars that were starting to appear in the night sky, "He never gave me warning, he just showed up, said we needed to talk, and then…" she trailed off, her eyes tearing up again.

Tommy sighed and put his arm around her, "I know how you feel, I was blindsided too," he said softly, looking up at the stars. "The pain will get easier to bear Kira, I promise."

"When?" She asked, wrapping her arms around her knees as she leaned into Dr. O's friendly and comforting embrace. "It feels like this lump in my chest will never go away," she said with a sigh. "It just hurts so much."

"If you can make it through tonight, you'll see the sun, and you'll realize that the world hasn't stopped turning," Tommy said wisely. "Then you'll make it through tomorrow, and you'll realize that life goes on. Eventually, the pain becomes bearable," he said giving her a soft squeeze.

"Is that why you brought me out here?" Kira asked after a few minutes. She'd been pondering his words and they made sense, even if her heart still cried for the loss of her first love.

Tommy nodded, "Yeah, it's beautiful here isn't it? It's so peaceful, and the stars are so clear here. It's a good place to just come and relax, and let the world go." He looked out at the blossoming sky and let out a soft sigh.

Kira curled her legs up under her and rested her head on Tommy's shoulder. She watched the stars come out and let her body relax. The stars were soothing in a way, she thought as the moon came out of hiding. Out here, in the middle of nowhere, she didn't have to think about the pain, she didn't have to ask herself why, she could just be.

After about an hour of silent stargazing she looked over at her former mentor, his eyes were half closed as he just gazed up at the night sky. "Dr. O," she whispered, not wanting to break the tranquility of the night.

"Hmm…" he murmured, not taking his eyes off the sky.

"Thank you," she said softly. "Thank you for being here for me, for letting me cry on you, for bringing me out here."

"That's what friends are for," he murmured in return, tearing his eyes away from the night sky to look over at her. "No matter what happens, I'll always be here for you guys," he said with a smile. He would always be there for his 'kids', their time as rangers together may have been short compared to his own adventure, but that didn't change the fact that as the Dino-gems had bonded to them, they'd bonded to each other.