Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Saban. May be considered AU, but I think it fits into the Dino storyline a bit.

Also, this story is self edited.

Thankful

The forest outside was filled with color. The cool Autumn breeze blew in through the open window of the kitchen, barely making a dent in the heat of the kitchen. A lone man with messy dark hair opened the oven door slightly. Everything had to be perfect. It was their first Thanksgiving in the new house. Of course, he wasn't the greatest cook, but it wasn't like they could go his parents house this year much less her dad's or even her mom's. No this year they were on their own, and he wanted to surprise his wonderful, amazing, understanding wife with a perfect Thanksgiving dinner.

She was still upstairs. He had heard her get up about half an hour ago. That was one of the advantages of living so far from everyone else. Hopefully, for today he could just be Tommy and not Dr. Oliver, Dr. O, or the Black Dino Ranger. That had been a tough call to tell her he was a ranger again. Of course, she had just laughed and told him that there was no one better to mentor a team of rangers than him. Of course, she was bias, but he couldn't help smiling. Too bad his rangers wouldn't be able to meet her, since they were all of spending the holiday and long weekend with their families (Well, they would be as long as Mesogog stayed quiet.), and she was flying out early Sunday morning. (No matter what.)

He wanted her to stay safe. Zedd still haunted him. As did the one time he had actually failed in saving her. (They never brought up that time.) No, she had past on her powers, and unless something happened to cause it, the Pink Ranger would not return.

Tommy closed the oven door as she came down the stairs.

She stopped at the door to the kitchen. "You do know that makes it cook longer right?"

Slowly, he turned towards Kimberly. Even with slightly damp hair, and in clothes she would never wear outside of the house, she was beautiful. "I'm following the recipe my mom sent. It's almost ready."

She gave him a half smile as she leaned against the door jam. "Ah, ha. Is there coffee or did you forget to start it?"

He guestured "Nope, it's sitting there waiting for you."

She gave a quick nod before walking over to the machine. "You did remember to call your parents, right?"

Tommy groaned. "No, but it's still early."

After pouring herself a cup, Kim glanced at her husband. "You know you could had just bought everything pre made. We don't need the traditional stuff." She added some sugar and cream, "and, you don't have to go through all of this trouble for just the two of us." She stirred her coffee and then put the spoon back on the counter.

He shook his head. "No, we're going to have a traditional Thanksgiving."

Sighing, she lifted up her cup. "Well, there's a back up plan if this doesn't work."

Tommy looked over at her. "What, you don't think I can cook Thanksgiving dinner?"

"You can do many things, Tommy, but cooking really isn't your thing. Remember the last time? We didn't have a single pan or pot that survived." She took a sip of her coffee.

He really didn't want to remember the last time. It had not been one of his best days. Nodding, he guestured towards the laptop on the counter. "But this time I have a recipe."

Smiling, she shook her head slightly. "I'm sure that's going to help." She walked over and kissed his cheek. "You know I don t care about the food. I get to spend almost a week at home instead of traveling with the team."

"Well, it's a great honor to be asked to help train the US Women's Gymnastics team." He smiled down at her.

She looked up at him. "I would rather be home and helping with Mesogog."

The truth was he wanted the same. She had just as much experience as a ranger as him (maybe even a bit more). She was after all one of the five chosen by Zordon, and his second in command, no matter if she had her powers or not.

Frowning, she took a step back. "Are you okay?"

Tommy gave her a quick smile. "Yeah, I was just thinking about Zordon."

She gave him a slow nod. "He'd be proud of you. You're doing great supporting them. You were once in their shoes after all."

"There are times I wish I could ask him for advice."

Kim smiled at him. "Well, one thing's for sure. He wouldn't want us to be sad. Now I'm going to go watch the parade since your so bent on cooking."

He watched her walk out of the kitchen. After all these years, he was still happy she had come talk to him after he had past his powers to T.J. It hadn't been easy since then, but she had stayed by his side. She believed in him even when he hadn't. That big degree on the wall was because she had believed in him. It was more for her than him.

His day dream came to a halt with the beeping of the smoke alarm. Groaning, he opened the oven to find the turkey black and on fire.

"Don't worry, Hayley invited us over!"

Well, she did know him better than he knew himself at times. Sighing, he grabbed the fire extinguisher. At least, he hadn't ruined the oven. Well, hopefully he hadn't. Maybe he should had just grilled the turkey instead, or had tried frying it.

Sighing, he pulled the blackened bird out of the oven and set it on top of the stove. Shaking his head, Tommy shut the oven door. Kimberly's voice drifted in from the living room.

Today was the day to be thankful, and even if his plans went up in smoke (well, they had literally), he was still thankful to have his crane by his side, as always.

So this is just something nice and sweet for the Holiday. This in no way goes with my Christmas story from last year.

Thanks for any reviews.

Review if you please.

Love,

CL

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