Bright sunlight shone in through the curtains of the sliding glass door in the bedroom of the tiny apartment on 107th Avenue in Miami, Florida. Kimberly stretched and groaned as her face was illuminated in a punk hue from her curtains. She did not want to be awake. She did not want to get out of bed. She did not want to go to practice. Her recent trip home had been a nightmare and she was exhausted. It was supposed to be relaxing and fun and instead it was just a total nightmare. If getting kidnapped by an alien pirate and used as a sacrifice to raise a lava monster wasn't bad enough, she'd spent the following days watching her ex and her successor snuggle and giggle and do couple-y things that made her want to vomit. It just got to be too much so, the day after the karate tournament that saved The Little Angels Haven, she left. She didn't say a word to any one, she just got on a plane and left. It made her stomach turn seeing Tommy with Kat. She still didn't understand what he saw in her or why he had broken up with her. The letter she got had said that he just couldn't handle the distance but he had flown out there more than once on a weekend to spend time with her and she had done the same. Jason had convinced her to fly home with him and at least try and get some answers from Tommy but he seemed far more interested in Kat than he was with her. She supposed that the only time she mattered was when she was near death. Either way, there was nothing left for her there. She got home the night before and had planned on going to practice today but now she got up long enough to close her black out curtains and climb back in her bed. She had just gotten comfortable when there was a loud knock at her front door.

"What the hell," she grumbled, getting out of bed and adjusting her bunched up pink moon and stars pajama shorts and quickly adjusted her white spaghetti trap tank that had twisted in her restless sleep. The knock persisted and she responded with a loud, "I'm coming, geez." She walked out of her bedroom and past the kitchen counter to her front door and opened it.

Twenty Four Hours Earlier

"Hey has anyone seen Kim," Jason asked the group sitting around a table at the Juice Bar. Everyone shook their heads.

"The last time I saw her was at the arena," Kat said, giving Tommy's hand a supportive squeeze under the table. She knew seeing Kimberly was hard for him after he had gotten her letter and she had done her best to make him feel better. He had asked her to at least make it seem like they were a couple because it was too hard for him to see Kim and Jason together. He didn't want her to feel bad for walking away from their relationship. He just wanted her to be happy. So he faked happy this whole time so that she wouldn't beat herself up, which he knew she would do if she knew he was miserable without her.

"She's not at her hotel and all of her stuff is gone," Jason said, looking concerned.

"You don't think she left, do you," Adam asked, "I mean maybe after what happened, she decided to go home."

"But she wouldn't leave without saying goodbye," Jason said, sitting down, "I mean, maybe she would but I don't know."

"Well, look man, we can help you look for her. She has to be here somewhere, but I mean you would know before we would, wouldn't you," Tommy said and Jason furrowed his brow, clearly confused.

"What makes you think I would know," Jason asked.

"We all just kind of assumed that, you know, you guys coming home together," Adam said, swallowing hard because this wasn't easy to say, "That you two were…."

"What Adam is trying to say is that we all assumed that you were the other guy that she referenced in her break up letter to Tommy a while back," Tanya spit out, making Tommy wince. Jason looked at each of their faces, confused and amused. He started to laugh.

"I don't know what letter you all are talking about but Kim and I are not together," Jason said, "I had to convince her to come home. She flat out refused."

"What are you saying, Jason," Tommy asked, "Why didn't she want to come home?" Jason's eyes shifted and he let out an exhausted sigh. He pulled out his wallet, opened it and pulled out a seriously bent up piece of paper and tossed it in Tommy's direction.

"She threw that at me the first time I asked her that question and told me to burn it because the last thing she wanted was the memories of this place because her heart was broken," Jason said, "I don't know why but something told me to hold onto it." Tommy picked up the paper and unfolded it. It was a letter to Kim that appeared to be from him. He was breaking up with her in it. Saying that he had fallen for Katherine and that the distance was too much for him on top of school and keeping up with his martial arts. Tommy looked up at Jason, "I didn't write this."

"Well someone did," he said, looking in Kat's direction.

"It wasn't me," the blonde Australian protested, "I would never try to hurt either of you like that." Tommy pulled out the letter he had received and laid it next to the one that Kim had gotten from him.

"Who would do this and why," Tommy asked, looking at each of his friends.

"Well clearly someone that didn't want the two of you together," Tanya said, "But do we even know anybody that would go to this kind of grief to break you guys up? It just seems like a long way to go to see two people miserable."

"I mean, even I would look at me after everything I did when I was under Rita's spell," Kat said, "But my feelings aside, Tommy, I swear I didn't do this."

"I believe you," Tommy said, "I know this wasn't you." He was examining the letters and he recognized the way Kim's name was written in the letter from himself. He started shaking his head.

"Who was it," Adam asked. Tommy just stood and folded both letters and put them in his pocket. He walked over to Ernie and asked to use the phone. The others watched in utter bewilderment as he made phone call after phone call and then after almost an hour he came back to the table.

"She left," Tommy said, "The hotel said she checked out this morning. The clerk said he called her a cab to the airport himself. The airline said the flight took off about an hour ago. There's a long layover in Denver but the only flight I could book was a red eye and I won't get there until early tomorrow morning."

"You really are the white knight, aren't you," Tanya said with a smile. Tommy just kind of nodded. He tapped his index finger on the table and looked at Jason, who was still puzzling over who would go to such lengths to hurt his friends like that.

"Figured it out yet," Tommy asked and Jason looked up at him with a raised brow.

"No," Jason said, crossing his arms over his chest, "Care to enlighten us?"

"The only person that hates me with a passion," Tommy said, growing angrier by the minute. Jason hung his head, knowing immediately who Tommy was talking about. He shook his head and looked up at Tommy, feeling awful for him and for Kimberly too.

"Carol," Jason said. Tommy nodded and then ran his hands through his hair and walked around the table to sit down.

"Kimberly's mother," Kat said, leaning into the table, utterly surprised, "But why?"

"Because," Jason started, "Carol poured all of her money into Kimberly's gymnastics. She pressured her to take it as far as she could possibly go. She injured herself at a young age and lost her chance at Olympic gold so she put all of those dreams on Kim. When Tommy came along, Carol saw him as a threat to her investment. She's always thought you would derail Kim's career."

"Its her dream," Tommy said, "I wouldn't have ever stopped her from following her dream. I told her mother that more than once."

"Yeah but just you saying that means Kim never told you what happened when Coach Schmidt came here," Jason said and Tommy raised an eyebrow so Jason continued, "Carol pushed her to audition for him. To go train with him. Kim told her she didn't want too, that she was happy here. Carol guilt tripped her about all of the money she had put into her career and that Kimberly wasn't going to just throw all of it away for some guy. Kim argued back that she didn't even enjoy it anymore and hated what it was doing to their relationship. Not to mention the strain it had already put on you two. Carol went on a rampage about Kim's dreams and her dreams and all the things she had done and given up and gone through for Kim to get this far and that she would go train for Schmidt or Kimberly would be cut off. Disowned. Disinherited. Carol even threatened to ruin her reputation, make her out to be a whore or something. It was awful. So she went and here we are."

"Geez," Kat said, "Sounds like Mommie Dearest. I can't imagine." Tommy just shook it off. He just needed to get to her.

"I'm gonna go home and pack and then I'm gonna head to the airport. See if I can't get bumped up to an earlier flight," Tommy said, turning to leave.

"Good luck, man," Jason said, "I really hope you guys can work it out."

"Thanks man," Tommy said and turned and left.

Present

"What are you doing here," Kim asked, utterly confused to see Tommy at her front door at the crack of dawn. She couldn't help but think about how good he looked in his dark blue jeans and tight red t-shirt.

"We need to talk," he said, "Can I come in?"

"Sure," she said, clearly annoyed but she moved and motioned for him to enter the small apartment. He took notice of her cute messy bun and pj's and her adorable white tiger slippers that she had on her feet. She shut the door after he made it inside her apartment and set down his duffle bag and then she turned and stared at him with her arms crossed over her chest and her head cocked to one side.

"I am so sorry, first of all, for barging in like this," he said.

"Yeah, for real, what is so important that you couldn't have called," she groaned, tired beyond belief.

"This," he said, and grabbed her hand, pulled her into him and planted his lips on hers. She allowed it for less than a minute before she pushed him away.

"What the hell, Tommy," she all but screamed, "You can't just break up with me, like a coward, by the way, and then show up at my door and kiss me like that! Like nothing happened! I mean, what did you think? That I would just fall into you and we'd be together, no questions asked?"

"No, Kim," he said, "I came here because I didn't break up with you." She looked at him, with utter confusion.

"What are you talking about," she said, "I got your letter. You said…"

"I know what it said," he told her, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two folded pieces of paper and handed them to her, "Jason gave me yours. I got a letter too. From you." She took them and unfolded them both. She read his and then read hers and then she crumpled them both up and threw them across the room and let out a frustrated scream. He stood by the door and let her anger dissipate. She finally turned and looked at him, tears filling in her eyes. He knew they were angry tears.

"I hate her, Tommy," she said, "I hate her so much! This is a new low. I am so sorry."

"It's okay, Kim. You didn't do it to us," he said, taking a step toward her, holding his arms open to her.

"I know," she said, leaning into his chest and wrapping her arms around him, "but I'm angry at myself for not seeing it. I am so sorry."

"I'm sorry too, Beautiful," he said, "I should have fought for you harder."

"Honestly, I think we were both in such shock that we didn't even consider that we were being played. We were blindsided," she said and let go of him and rubbed her eyes and let out a yawn, "If that makes sense?"

"It does. It makes a lot of sense. I just don't understand why she would go to such lengths to see her own daughter miserable," he said, shaking his head, "It doesn't make sense."

"I think she thinks she's teaching me a lesson or something. That there will plenty of time for romance after I've achieved the dreams she never could. It doesn't matter that this isn't at all what I want anymore. It's not about my happiness, Tommy," she explained, "It's about her wounded pride and her own insecurities." She yawned again and walked into the kitchen to make coffee because nothing short of a miracle was going to keep her awake. Tommy followed her and leaned against the counter in the tiny kitchen.

"You drink coffee, now," he said with a raised eyebrow.

"This," she said, motioning to her bag of Seattle's Best, "Is the elixir of life and will be the only thing keeping me awake at this point. I am exhausted."

"So go back to bed," he suggested.

"And leave you out here to fend for yourself," she said with an edge of sarcasm, "I don't think so."

"Well, I will probably crash on your couch because I've been on an air plane all night and somebody's kid kept kicking the back of my seat," he explained, taking her bag of coffee and putting it back in her cupboard for her.

"Oh, no Tommy," she started to laugh, "You will be so uncomfortable on that couch. Its tiny. Come on." She took his hand and led him across the hall to her room. She kicked off her slippers and walked around to the side of her bed closest to the sliding glass door and got in and then she turned down the covers on the other side and just looked at Tommy.

"I'm not saying you have to sleep in here with me if you aren't comfortable but I promise you, you'll sleep better than you will on that couch," she said, "If you want to shower or anything, the bathroom is right behind you and the towels are in the closet between the bedroom door and the bathroom door. As for me, I'm going back to sleep. After this week and finding out what my mother did, I need sleep." With that she laid down and pulled the covers over her head. Tommy just smiled and shook his head a little. He went back out to the living room and took his shoes off and then took some black lounge pants out of duffle bag and quickly changed. She was already sound asleep when he got into bed next to her and he fought the urge to pull her into his arms and sleep with her spooned up against him, so he lay there with his hands under his head and stared at the ceiling until he started to fall asleep. Just as he started to fall asleep, Kimberly rolled over and cuddled up to him with her head on the right side of his chest and her hand rested right above his heart. He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.