a/n-sorry if the timeline in this story seems a little out of order, or the dates are too close to each other. it just the way things worked out.

Chapter Three

"TOMMY!" Charlie hollered as she burst through the front door of their new house. "WE'RE BACK!"

"Way to make an entrance, kid." Jason said in a much quieter voice as he followed her into the house. "But I'm not sure the people in China heard you."

Before Charlie could reply, Tommy walked into the room.

"So, you find the gymnastics place alright?" He asked.

"Yep." Charlie said with a nod of her head. "And guess who was there?"

"Who?"

"Trini!" Charlie said excitedly. "And another lady. It was her gymnastics studio. Oh, what was her name again Jase?"

Jason glanced at Tommy with a grim expression on his face. "Kimberly Hart."

Tommy's face paled visibly, but Charlie didn't seem to notice at all.

"Yeah, that's right. Where does that name sound familiar from, anyway? Oh well, she was really nice, but she didn't talk much. And she said she knew you back in high school. So, did you know her? Huh, did'ya?" Charlie questioned rapidly.

"Erm...yeah." Tommy said hesitantly. "Hey, Char, why don't you go...organize your room or something. All your stuff is up there now."

"Ooh, yay!" Charlie said excitedly, already halfway up the stairs. "I miss my stuff."

Jason shook his head slightly as she disappeared. "Kind of scary really, how much she reminds me of...Kim. You know?"

"Yeah." Tommy said shakily. He walked into the living room and collapsed onto the couch. After a moment, he looked back up at Jason, who had followed him into the room. "Was it really her, Jase? Kim, I mean? Is she gonna be Charlie's new coach?"

"Yes." Jason said promptly. There was a moment of brief internal battle, before a determined look appeared on Jason's face and he continued, "Look, dude, did you ever try to at least contact her after...you know, the letter?"

"No." Tommy sighed and looked down at his hands. "I was in shock. Man, I loved Kimberly. And she just threw it away. In a letter."

Jason nodded sympathetically.

"And by the time I got over it," Tommy continued, "Mom and dad had adopted Charlie. That just pushed everything out of my mind. Then we got our Turbo powers, and Divatox captured you and Kim. And then I saw her for the first time." Tommy paused, and looked up at Jason again. "Bro', that was hard. Seeing her with you, when I was still a ranger. And she acted like nothing was wrong when she was around me. It was almost as of we never happened. I spent the rest of the time you were in Angel Grove trying to avoid her."

"Yeah." Jason agreed, speaking up now. "You did spend a lot of time with Charlie that weekend. Of course, that was before you ever told me you had a baby sister." He added as an afterthought.

"But it didn't work." Tommy said hollowly, ignoring the jab at his memory issues. "Every time I looked at her, she reminded me of Kim. Jase, it was like I was actually looking at Kim. It was scary."

Jason was silent in thought for a moment. "You know, I've thought about that a bit, as well. Charlie does look an awful lot like Kim."

"Yeah." Tommy said distractedly, not paying Jason, or what he was saying, a bit of attention. "Look, just...I don't know, take her to the practices for me for awhile, would you?"

"No problem, bro'." Jason said. "I knew there was some sort of reason I agreed to move in with you two. I would have thought I was crazy, otherwise."

A shadow of a grin appeared on Tommy's face.

"Well, I better go call Hayley. I told her we'd stop by sometime. And she has to help me with the you-know-what." Tommy said, speaking the last bit softer, and in 'code'. Which really didn't do any good, because if someone was listening to the conversation, and someone was, then it would just make them more curious about what their older brother-ahem what Tommy was trying to hide.

"This place looks good." Trini said randomly pulling Kim towards a building that looked as if it sold food. "Come on, I'm starving. I need nourishment!"

"Ugh, you sound like Rocky." Kim replied. "Rocky with a higher intelligence, level that is."

"Good." Trini said. "Now, get in."

Kim obediently walked through the door, ahead of Trini.

"What's this place called, anyway?" Trini asked no one in particular.

"Hayley's Cyberspace Cafe." Kim answered promptly.

"Hayley's Cyberspace...?" Trini repeated dazedly. "No way. It couldn't be..."

Just then, they got a good look at the counter, through all of the people in the place. There was a woman with red hair standing behind the counter, serving beverages.

"Hayley!" Trini practically shouted.

The woman at the counter looked up in surprise. A look of recognition crossed over her face. She quickly handed the two people in front of her their smoothies, and walked out from behind the counter, leaving her employees to deal with the crowd.

"Trini?" Hayley questioned when she was standing before the two former rangers. "Is that you?"

"Yeah." Trini said, throwing her arms around Hayley's neck. "I haven't seen you in ages."

"I know." Hayley said, hugging her back. After a moment, they broke apart, and Hayley turned to Kim. "And who are you?"

"This is Kim." Trini said quickly. "She's one of my friends from Angel Grove."

Hayley pursed her lips, and a forced smile appeared on her face. "How...nice, to meet you, Kim."

"Um, you too." Kim said hesitantly, noticing Hayley's hostile expression.

Hayley turned back to Trini.

"You'll never believe who just called me." Hayley said.

"Was it Tommy?" Trini asked. "We just came from Kim's gym, and Charlie signed up for lessons. So, is he coming over?"

"Yeah, you read my mind." Hayley said with a smile. "He should be here any minute."

Just then, Charlie walked in the door, closely followed by Jason. The young girl quickly spotted Hayley through the crowd.

"Hayley!" Charlie exclaimed, running over and giving the woman a huge hug. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"I've missed you too, kid." Hayley said. "Where's your brother?"

"He's parking the car." Jason answered.

"Nice to see you too, Jason." Hayley replied with a smile. Jason grinned back and turned to Kim and Trini.

"So, long time no see, huh?"

Trini rolled her eyes. "I know. We haven't seen you in positively ages."

Jason glanced down at his watch. "A whole thirty eight minutes. These long-term separations are really driving me insane."

Charlie giggled. "Jase, what's taking Tommy so long?"

"Eh, he probably got lost." Jason said nonchalantly. Trini nodded her aggreance as Tommy finally walked into the cafe. He quickly spotted the group, standing right in the middle of the place, but stopped dead when he saw Kim standing there with everyone else.

Kim's face visibly paled. "Oh, look." She said suddenly. "Computers."

She quickly wandered off to the computer terminals, just as Tommy made up his mind, turned around, and walked swiftly out of the cafe.

"Well, that wasn't awkward at all." Jason commented. "I'll go after him."

Trini glanced at Kim, who had abandoned the computers after her first glance, and was now sitting at an empty table furiously searching her phone for what was probably a number.

"I think I'll leave Kim alone, for now." Trini said slowly. "She looks...busy."

Meanwhile, over at Kim's table, she had finally found the number she was looking for. Pressing the send button, she hurriedly put the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?" The pleasant voice of a middle-aged woman said. "This is the Angel Grove Adoption Agency, how may I help you?"

"Um, hello." Kim said. "I-I was wondering if you could help me with something. You see, about ten years ago, I gave my daughter up for adoption. And I was just wondering if I could maybe just know who adopted her. When I did it, they said I could meet the parents then, but I didn't want to. So, is it possible?"

"Yes." The woman said slowly. "Just so long as your intentions are only to make sure you know where she is, and nothing else."

"That's all." Kim promised.

"Okay, then." The woman said. "I'll need your name and the date of the birth and the adoption."

After Kim gave her the necessary information, the woman was silent for a moment looking the data up.

"It would appear that your daughter was adopted by couple with the last name Oliver." The woman finally said. "They were from Angel Grove, and our records state that they named her Charlize Renee Oliver."

Kim swallowed. "Thank you. It really means a lot to me."

"No problem." The woman replied. "I hope you have a nice day."

"You too." Kim said before hanging up.

With a shaking hand, Kim put the phone back in her purse. This was not good. This was definitely not good.

Her little girl. Her beautiful little girl that no one had ever known about. Tommy's parents had adopted her. Kim knew that Tommy's parents were dead, had been at their funeral. She had seen the little girl there, who had clung to Tommy. That little girl who had resembled him so much.

This was all too much for Kim to handle.

What was she going to do now? She would be able to see all three of them, the family they could have made together. She was going to be her baby's gymnastics coach. She was going to be able to see her little girl grow up, in a way. But her precious baby girl would never know that...

Would she?

a/n-just for the record, i have no idea if an adoption agency would ever do that, probably not. so, don't go yelling at me that it was all wrong. trust me, i know. but it fit in well with the story, didn't it? anyway, more kim and tommy next chapter. hey, maybe i'll update sooner this time...