DISCLAIMER: Nope still not mine. If they were do you really think I'd be working at Walmart in Kansas?

SUMMARY: Kim and Tommy are staying in touch while Kim's running her center in Mariner Bay with Tommy living in Reefside where he's working with the Dino Thunder Rangers.

A/N: This chapter is primarily fluff. I felt the need to write it after some of the other stuff that I've written recently.

February 27, 2004

Kim woke up in a fantastic mood. She was going to go see Tommy. She was leaving that afternoon so Kristy was going to take her classes for the day.

Her bags sat by the door, packed and ready to go. She looked longingly at them as she headed out the door for morning classes. She had been waiting for this day for almost a full week. She was going to spend the morning just counting minutes until she could leave and she knew it.

"Kim? Earth to Kim, Earth to Kim. You want to come back here for a minute?" Kristy was getting frustrated. Kim hadn't been totally with it all day.

Kim snapped her head around and looked at her assistant. "What's up, Kristy?"

"The girls want to see your routine to 'Obsession'. And considering your current state of mind, I'd say that's a good choice." The young woman giggled as Kim's face turned a bright shade of red.

"Okay. I'll do it." She walked over to the music director and asked him to cue up the song on her CD. She shed her jacket and sweatpants before stepping on to the mats for the requested floor routine.

She stretched for the third time that morning and took her position on the mat for the opening run. The music started and Kim lost herself in the routine.

The girls were amazed as they watched the former Pan-Global medalist run through a routine as if she did that particular routine every single day. She was flawless. None of them noticed the older man who had walked into the center while Kim was performing.

Everyone was watching as Kim made her last tumbling run which was a double for this routine. When she hit the final pose for the routine, cheers and applause rang through the center and several of the girls ran up to Kimberly asking if she thought they could ever be that good.

She saw the man then. He walked up to her and held out a hand. "Hello, Kimberly. You've gotten better since you left Florida."

"Hello, Coach Schmidt. It's good to see you again." She shook his hand.

"You have put some of that weight again. It's good to see. You were getting much too thin while you were with me in Florida. And I see the sparkle is back in your eyes and the spring back in your step. Life in California is good for you."

"Actually, Tommy is good for me. He took care of me for a while and he's teaching in Reefside right now. We talk on the phone almost every night."

"Have you heard anything from Craig? I understand he was seen in Angel Grove not long after you left for the funeral."

"Craig died in an earthquake. He had kidnapped me again but Tommy followed him. When the earthquake hit the building we were in started falling apart and he got hit in the head. It killed him instantly. I spent days in the hospital after that. I'm fine now though."

"That is good. I wanted to ask you if you could help me out. The next Pan-Global Games are coming up soon and I was wondering if you had any students that might be ready to try out for the team. Or if you could at least keep an eye out for some that would be suitable for the games."

"Actually, Coach, I have several girls who are nearly ready for the games now. I have four who could begin training for the team right now and probably six that could be ready in no time. Kristy, you know which ones are ready now and which ones would be ready soon. Why don't you go grab the files and I'll talk to the coach for a few minutes?"

Kristy ran off, more than happy to get the files Kim wanted. After all, one of her little sisters was one of the four that Kim thought was ready to start training for the team now. Another sister was on the list of the six that could be ready soon.

When she came back out, she noticed that the girls had gathered around the balance beam where Kim was working out. They were all watching her move across the beam as if she were flat on the floor with no fear of falling.

Gunther Schmidt turned to the young woman with the files in hand and smiled. "Kristy, yes? Thank you for bringing these out. Does Kimberly practice every day?"

"Yes. Sometimes late into the night. She lives right here in the compound so she doesn't have far to go when she heads home. And she never leaves here without certain precautions being made. There are lots of lights along her usual path home and four phones set up along the path in case she needs to call someone. And she always carries change for the calls."

"Good. After what happened in Florida, I'm glad she takes such precautions. I would hate to see that happen to her again."

"I know all about that, Coach Schmidt. I worry about her when she stays late. So she calls me every time when she gets home safely. She usually just leaves a message on my machine but occasionally she gets me because I have a hard time sleeping when I know that she's not home yet."

"You are a good friend to her."

"Not to mention that she reports to Tommy if she thinks I'm doing anything foolish," Kim said coming over to the two as they spoke on the outer edges of the crowd. Kristy blushed and dipped her head. "It's okay, Kristy. I'm sure it's a good thing that someone here is watching out for me. I do tend to get wrapped up in things and lose track of what's going on around me."

"You mean like forgetting about counting minutes until you go to see Tommy today?" Trisha laughed walking over. Kim looked up at the clock.

"Oh Man! It's time! Coach, I have to leave but Trisha and Kristy can go over the files with you. They know the girls almost as well as I do. They'll be honest with you."

Gunther Schmidt laughed as Kimberly threw on her jacket and sweatpants, grabbed her towel and ran out the door.

Catching a quick shower was a necessity because of the workout she'd been doing at the center. She sped through the house after her shower, grabbing her bags on the way out the door.

Once on the highway, Kim took a deep breath and settled in for the hour and a half drive to Reefside.

Reefside High School

Tommy Oliver sat in his classroom finishing up his notes for Monday morning. He was also grading a few papers that had come in late. Of course, he kept looking up at the clock. He knew that Kim would be there today and he couldn't wait to see her. She had been his saving grace today when what he really wanted to do was kill Connor.

The young man had walked into class late and then had told his science teacher that he had to leave class early for soccer practice. After class, Ethan had told him that Connor was just trying to see how much he could get away with now that Tommy was a Ranger again himself. He discovered that Connor thought that he wouldn't get into trouble with Tommy for anything because of the simple fact that Dr. O was one of them and he couldn't fault them for not making it on time to class.

What Connor didn't realize is that Dr. O may be a Ranger but he was also a teacher and, in order to keep their secret, he couldn't show favoritism to the team over anyone else. After all, one of the rules of being a Ranger was that you had to keep your identity a secret. How could anyone do that if the team was being treated differently from anyone else?

He remembered how many times his originally team, the Zeo team and later the Turbo team had run out on drinks or food at Ernie's. He remembered that Ernie had always been patient with them. He had accepted their payment after the fact and never once pushed the issue. None of them had thought about it at the time but Ernie had known about the Rangers and knew who they were. He had let them slide more times than he cared to count and never once did anyone guess that they hadn't paid for at least half of the drinks and food they consumed there.

He smiled. He couldn't wait to see his Beautiful. She always made things better, just by being there. Her presence could calm anyone he'd ever known.

Of course, Hayley knew that she was coming and had insisted that he bring her by at least once over the weekend to meet her. He had given in, on the promise that she wouldn't tell his current team about Kim coming in. Hayley agreed and promised to give him the Cyber-Café for one night for a private dinner for two.

Minutes passed slowly as he waited for the end of the day and seeing his love again. 'Man, can that clock move any slower?'