Here's the next chapter. I'm surprised that no one guessed the title allusion. For anyone who doesn't know where I got it, it's called Down the Road, and was sung by Kimberly and Zach during MMPR. I have no clue which episode, but I do have the song for those wanting to listen to it.

I've currently finished chapter 9 for the backlog. This will be the last chapter for I don't know how long. I go back to school Friday and I feel that my weekend will be taken up with the unpacking... I don't even know how long it'll be until I have internet. I may have to go elsewhere on campus to simply get it. Anyway, this chapter should be anticipated because of the talk that finally happens. Only question is, how will each react? Enjoy!

Chapter 7 Chatting with the Past

Kimberly softly shut the door behind her, being careful not to wake Nathan. The evening had been not all as she had expected. She smiled to herself. Nathan stirred gently in her arms, and she snuck quietly through the house, setting down the bags at the door before heading to Nathan's room. She placed Nathan on his changing table and began slipping him out of his clothing. She accomplished that without waking him, but when she went to change his diaper, he woke up and began to fuss. "Shh… shh," whispered Kimberly, hoping to sooth her son.

However, Nathan had something else in mind. He began bawling and tossing his arms and legs. Kimberly began to sing to him to calm him down.

Hush little baby don't say a word

Momma's gonna buy you a mocking bird

And if that mocking bird don't sing,

Momma's gonna buy you a diamond ring.

Nathan's fussing became small whimpers and finally he quieted down. Kimberly smiled and slipped him into a fresh diaper. She was glad that he reacted to her singing. It calmed him when nothing else could. After putting a white onesie on Nathan, she placed him in his crib. After winding up his star and moon mobile, she kissed him goodnight and closed the door softly behind her.

Now that Nathan was tucked into bed, she could turn her mind to other things. Namely, meeting Tommy again after years of not hearing a thing from him. Of course, she had been to blame too, for never keeping in touch with anyone but Trini, Jason, and Aisha. Things had gotten hectic over the years, and she'd lost touch with so many people, not just Tommy. What she'd talked to him about though, had been quite interesting.

Flashback

Trini and Jason snuck out of the room slowly while Tommy and Kimberly talked. They didn't want the friends to have to endure other listening ears. Nathan was the only one who would ever hear the conversation between the two, and he wouldn't tell a soul.

"Me? Well… after I was a Zeo Ranger, I became a Turbo Ranger, still red, of course. Eventually, I had to pass on my powers and move on with my life. Then came the long years in college. I studied for a paleontology degree, and finally earned my doctorate. I then began working with Anton Mercer, experimenting with dinosaur data and fossils, but things didn't turn out so well. I began working with Hayley on a few special projects, most of which I put aside for a few years later. I thought I would be able to settle down after a hectic teenage and early adult lifestyle, so I moved to Reefside and took the position of a high school science teacher." Tommy paused here when he noticed Kimberly stifling a laugh. "What?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," began Kimberly, "but you and quiet don't really go too well together."

"Wait until you here what happened next. I ended up being the leader of the Dino Rangers."

"The Dino Rangers? I never heard about them."

"Well, we pretty much stuck to Reefside. I would guess it wouldn't make the national news. There were three of them at first, and I was the fourth. We eventually added a fifth. I didn't want to be the leader again, but I had to start out as one. I eventually trained Conner to become leader."

"What was your color this time around? Purple?"

"Tommy gave her a friendly punch to the shoulder. No, I was black this time. There was no purple Ranger, or pink, for that matter. There was only five of us this time around. The other Rangers were my students." He realized Kimberly was trying to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. "Now why is this so funny?"

"You're way too old to be a Power Ranger. And the others were your students? That's priceless."

"You know, I don't think Conner, Ethan, Trent and Kira would have wanted to hear you say that."

"Those were your students?"

"Yeah. Conner McKnight was the biggest soccer star in the school, big athletic jock and clearly clashed with Kira at first. Ethan James was the biggest computer geek since Billy, and he was also the biggest gamer since I don't know when. It took him losing a tournament, among other things, to realize what was more important. Kira Ford was a rock star wannabe, and a really good singer. She always worked for her goals, and tried to bring the boys to their senses. Finally, there was Trent Fernandez. He was turned an evil Ranger at first, but he eventually was able to break the spell and came to our side. He was an artist in the making and even got to work with a professional comic book artist. We eventually defeated the enemy, Mesogog, but lost our powers in the process. My students soon graduated after that, and well, here I am."

"Seems like it was a very interesting team. Can I try and guess colors?"

"Sure."

"Conner was red, Ethan had to be a blue, and Kira must have been a yellow if there wasn't a pink Ranger. I'm not sure about Trent's though. You were evil as a green Ranger. Was Trent a green Ranger?"

"No, but he was one of my old colors."

"Then he had to be white."

"Lucky guess."

"No, it was just obvious. You've only been green, white, red, and now black. Unless… you've got some other color hidden up your sleeve."

"Tommy held his hands up in the air. "Okay, you got me. I was a Rainbow Ranger too."

Kimberly laughed. "Stop it, Tommy! I'm gonna burst from laughing!"

"All right, all right. Now that we've all laughed over me, what about you?"

Kimberly suddenly stopped laughing and gulped. She looked down at Nathan, who had rolled over on his stomach and was sucking on a stuffed lion. She had forgotten that she'd eventually have to tell him about her life story, and the letter. "Well…" she trailed nervously. She looked to Tommy, who was looking back at her expectantly. His face hadn't changed, hadn't softened, and she knew that she had to tell him everything. There would be no pity from him.

"Go on," encouraged Tommy in a monotone voice.

Kimberly cleared her throat. "After I went to Florida, it was nonstop training. I spent almost ten hours a day at the gymnastic compound, working on my routines for Pan Globals. While there, I met Andrew." When Kimberly received no response, she continued. "Andrew worked as a soccer coach for the younger kids in the evening while attending Florida State during the day. I won't go into details, but I was young at the time and we fell in love. A year after Pan Globals, he asked me to marry him and move back to West Virginia with him, to his home town of Romney. I agreed, since I had no family or friends in Florida. We were married two years after that and settled down. Andrew had just finished college and was looking to settle down and teach. Nathan was born in November of last year. Unfortunately, our problems had began before he was born." Kimberly sighed and paused, wishing for some kind of comment from Tommy. She looked up at him, and noticed his expression had softened some.

"Go on," he said softly.

"Andrew was becoming stressed out by school and he was worried about being able to provide for a new baby too. Every small thing became an argument, blown way out of proportion. Many nights I ended up on the couch, while he took the bed. He said that his teaching was more important than my gymnastics studio. Thoughts of the baby to come kept me going. It all came to a head one evening four months later. Andrew had called to say he had parent teacher night and would be home by 6. I was preparing dinner while keeping an eye on Nathan. The door bell rang, and before I knew it, two police detectives were telling me my husband had been crushed to death on the freeway." Tears began to roll down Kimberly's face as she thought of that night over again. "Unfortunately, that wasn't the worst thing to happen. Three months later, the house we'd lived in burned down due to faulty electrical wiring." Her tears became small sobs. "I'm sorry," she apologized.

Tommy reached out and hugged her. "It's all right," he said. "Just let it all out."

Kimberly continued to cry, until her sobs softened. Then she continued. "That's why I've moved back to California. There was nothing left for me in West Virginia and Andrew's parents didn't give a damn about Nathan or I after their son passed on. We spent the rest of the time in West Virginia staying with one of my neighbors before Trini and I talked about my moving out here."

Silence settled between the two and neither knew what to say. Kimberly focused on Nathan and Tommy did as well. Nathan looked up at the two adults looking down at him and tossed a rattle, hitting Tommy square in the forehead. Tommy recoiled, and rubbed his forehead. "Kid's got an arm there."

"I'm so sorry Tommy," apologized Kimberly. "He usually doesn't do that."

"I've found that a lot of things usually don't happen around me," answered Tommy sarcastically.

Kimberly glanced up at the clock and realized that it was almost eight thirty. "Sorry to cut this short, Tommy, but I've really got to get Nathan home. It's past his bedtime."

"No problem, Kimberly. It was nice seeing you again," said Tommy as he gave her a hug.

"Nice seeing you too," replied Kimberly as she picked Nathan up and began gathering his toys.

"Let me help you with that," called Tommy as he grabbed some of the toys, placing them in the diaper bag.

"Thanks." Kimberly picked up the last toy and zipped Nathan's diaper bag shut before picking up her son. Both adults walked into the kitchen, where Jason and Trini were talking over coffee. They instantly stopped once they noticed Kimberly and Tommy walk in the room.

"Thanks for having me over, Trini and Jason, but I've got to get Nathan home. It's his bedtime and he's tired."

"All right Kim. Should I expect you tomorrow afternoon?" asked Trini.

"Yeah, probably around two thirty or so," replied Kimberly as she hugged her friend. She hugged Jason next.

"Good luck tomorrow, Kimberly," he whispered to her.

Kimberly turned to Tommy, who was blocked the entrance to the living room that led to the front door. "Forgetting someone?"

"Goodbye Tommy," called Kimberly as she slipped under his arm and then turned to face him. "See you around." She smiled before opening the door and leaving.

End Flashback

Kimberly began changing for bed. Talking to Tommy had been interesting. He'd definitely kept busy through the years, no matter what he'd really wanted to do. He'd changed though. His mannerisms weren't the same. He was more serious, and somewhat colder. Kimberly didn't know if that was because he was talking to her, or if that was his normal manner.

Kimberly changed into a pair of silk boxer shorts with a white t-shirt and began to brush her teeth. Tommy lived and worked in Reefside. She knew that it was only a matter of time before they crossed paths again. Honestly, she was glad to see Tommy again. She had to stop staying out of contact with her old friends. They had some interesting life stories to tell, if they were anything like Tommy.

Rinsing her toothbrush, Kimberly looked at herself in the mirror. "New home, new life, new attitude change for me. I'm going to make things different. No one knows me in San Rio or Reefside. Now's the time to change myself for the better. And I'll start by making things right with all my old friends."

She shut the light off in the bathroom and decided to check up on the latest Internet news before she went to bed. However, the news was quite boring. Instead she pulled up the Google search engine and typed in "Tommy Oliver". Tommy had told her about his life, but that didn't mean the Internet didn't have something. She had suspected something wasn't being told.

As Kimberly glanced at the bright computer screen, she realized she'd been right. She read all the details available on public sites. Tommy Oliver had been a very busy man between the time he'd gone to college and the time he'd gone to Reefside to teach. By the time Kimberly was finished clicking, she realized it was edging closer to eleven thirty. Kimberly yawned. She knew that Nathan would be up early in the morning and she had to get some sleep if she wanted to feel refreshed.

She climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. She turned to her nightstand and smiled at a picture of Nathan and her, taken by Andrew when they'd gone to the beach. That had been a joyous day, and now Kimberly realized what joyous could be again.

And there we have it. I hope everything came out right. I'd like to know who's siding with who- do you side with Kimberly or Tommy after the talk? Just curiousity!


Next time on Unlucky Clover: Kimberly has her very first class at the Reefside Youth Sports Complex. How does it go over? Contest in the next chapter!