DISCLAIMER: Nope. Still not mine.

SUMMARY: Kim and Tommy are coming back together. Can her father's secret bring them closer or will it tear them apart?

FEEDBACK: I beg for it. I thrive on it and my muse loves it.

September 15, 2001

Kim had sent Tommy to check on Jason while she talked to her father and brother.

"Daddy, I found out that the doctors lied to me. There's no serious chance that I could be paralyzed if I were doing gymnastics."

"Really? That's good news." Alex was looking square into his daughter's eyes, but she could tell that he wasn't telling her everything.

"That's great news," Kim corrected. "I could go back to Orlando and go for the 2004 Olympic team. Or maybe even open my own training center."

"If you went for your own center, where would you open it?"

"Maybe here. Maybe in Stone Canyon. Maybe even over in Reefside. I just don't know yet. Part of me is screaming to stay close to Tommy. Especially now that we're back together. He's been so good to me, Daddy."

"And good for you, baby." Alex noted his daughter's surprised look. "Did you think we didn't know? Did you think we really couldn't see how miserable you were?"

Kim was starting to get a bad feeling. "Daddy, what have you done?"

Michael had the good grace to look away as his sister's gaze bore into him. "That's not important now. Sweetheart, anyone who knew you could see that you weren't happy. The light in your eyes was gone. You had lost weight."

"So what? I lost a few pounds. It's no big deal."

"Sis, you didn't weigh enough when you left here. When we saw you in July, I could damn near count your ribs through your leotard from halfway across the room." Michael was trying to stay calm. It wasn't easy. Kim was just as stubborn about some things as their parents were.

"I didn't lose that much weight!" Kim's voice was rising. She turned away from the two and started ranting. "You just couldn't understand! The smaller a gymnast is, the bigger her advantage. A smaller gymnast can make the tighter moves, higher leaps. She can get more spring in her tumbling runs." Kim slapped her hands against the wall. "I had to lose weight. The routines just weren't coming together quite right. My leaps just weren't high enough."

She slumped to the floor. "I just wasn't good enough," she whispered.

Michael looked at his father with an accusation clearly written on his face. He ran over and put an arm around Kim's shoulders. "You were, and are, more than good enough. You were the best they had."

Kim looked up at her brother and smiled sadly. "You're just saying that because you're my brother."

"Nope," Michael said with a knowing smile. "I'm just saying it because I know it's the truth."

"Thanks, Mike," Kim said, laying her head against his shoulder. "You always know how to make me feel better."

"Yeah. But I also know that, if I didn't feel that way, you could kick my butt just like the Pink Ranger used to do to all those monsters that used to run wild in the city." He leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "After all, my sister was the Pink Ranger."

She looked at him in shock. He nodded. 'He knows? How does he know? How much does he know? How long has he known? How did he figure it out?'

She looked up as headlights pulled into the front lot, two of them right next to each other. Scrambling to her feet, Kim ran to the door.

Jason and Tommy stepped through the front door only to be attacked by a 5'2" ex-Power Ranger who tried valiantly to hug the both of them together only to give up and turn to Jason first.

"Jase, are you okay?" she asked, looking up at him.

"I'm fine, sis." He kissed the top of her head. "You were worried about me?"

"Of course." She slipped from his embrace into Tommy's. "Where did you find him?"

"He was at the cemetery talking to Trini." He leaned closer. "I'll explain later." Looking up at Alex and Mike, he said, "Thanks for watching out for her."

"I was glad to get to see her for a few minutes," Alex smiled. "It's also good to see her putting on some of the weight she lost in Orlando."

Kim yawned. "Tommy, will you change my bandages if I go up and take a shower?"

"Sure. Why don't you go up and start your shower? When you're done, just make sure that everything's laid out to change it and lay down on the bed. I'll be up shortly." Kim nodded and headed for the stairs, stopping to give her father and brother a hug and kiss on the way.

"Night sis," Jason called from his spot by the door. She paused to turn and smile at him before going upstairs.

The four men watched her disappear up the stairs and then turned to each other. Alex sighed. "Tell Kim that we'd like to meet her for an early lunch tomorrow at the Country Kitchen? Of course, both of you can join us if you want." Alex offered as he and Michael got ready to leave.

"I'll tell her," Tommy promised. "I won't be able to join you though. I have to teach a class."

"I'm sorry about that. It's been nice to see you again. Take good care of my baby."

As he shook Alex's hand, Tommy promised that he would. Alex then turned to Jason. "Will you be joining us tomorrow?"

Jason didn't want to interfere with any conversation between Kim and her family but a nagging feeling at the back of his neck told him to be there. "Sure. I'll be there."

With that conversation over, the two men left. Jason and Tommy went about their nightly closing up routine and headed upstairs to get some sleep. After all, it had been a long day.

Tommy stepped into his apartment with a sigh. Jason had told him of how Kimberly nearly went off the bluff out there and it scared him to think that she had been so close to leaving him just because of a mood swing.

Of course, his mood brightened considerably when he saw Kim laying on the bed, face down. She was in her pajamas with the shirt pulled up so that he could change the bandages on her lower back. She was also sound asleep.

"Hey, beautiful," Tommy called softly as he sat down next to her on the bed. She moaned and rolled just enough to see him.

"Hey, handsome." She was still half asleep.

"I didn't want to startle you when I started to change the bandage." She nodded sleepily and rolled back to her stomach.

Tommy went to work and shortly had the bandage changed. Kim had already fallen back to sleep. He smiled as he pulled her shirt down and went into the bathroom to change for bed himself.

Kim rolled onto her side as her dreams turned against her. She saw herself back up on the bluff. Only this time, it was Tommy talking to her.

The quake tore through again and Kim felt herself falling. Someone caught her hand and held tight. She looked up to see Tommy holding her up. "Tommy, don't let me fall. Please! Please, don't let me fall!"

"Never, Kim. Never."

Suddenly, a bigger quake shook through and Tommy lost his grip on her hand. She was falling.

"Tommy!" she screamed as she sat up on the bed. She was alone in the room but she saw a light on in the bathroom. She stood up and stumbled toward the bathroom.

Knocking on the door, she pressed her head against it as she heard the water in the shower shut off. The next thing she knew, the door opened and Tommy stood in front of her.

She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He seemed puzzled for a minute but wrapped his own arms around her and held her for a moment. "What's wrong, princess? Bad dream?"

She nodded. He sighed and bent over to kiss the top of her head. "I'm right here, Kim. I'm not going anywhere."

She just started crying at that. 'Must have been one doozie of a dream.' He just tightened his grip on her and rocked back and forth a little until she calmed down somewhat. Once he was sure she was okay, he led her back to the bed and lay down next to her. She curled up close to him and pillowed her head on his chest.

"Don't let me go, Tommy. No matter what happens, never let me go again," she whispered.

September 16, 2001

Tommy was teaching class in the dojo when Kimberly left with Jason to meet her father for lunch. He smiled and waved as she ran out the front door. Her pink dress was perfectly fitted to her. He had to laugh to himself; she never let go of the pink.

He remembered how she used to wear a green or white ribbon in her hair when she competed. She always kept those two ribbons close in order to keep him close, she always told him. He always felt proud that she wanted him that close.

He watched as Jason's red and gold SUV pulled out of the lot and drove off.

Kim and Jason had been talking to her father and brother for almost a half hour before Alex brought up Kim's future plans again.

"So, sweetheart, have you thought anymore about opening your own center?"

"I was actually considering going back to Florida. Training for the Olympics. Tommy and I can stay in touch."

"Are you sure, Kim?" Jason was worried that the two of them would lose touch again and things would happen to tear them apart again.

"Jason, Tommy and I aren't going to let go of things that easily. We took long enough to get back together and I, for one, don't plan on going through all that again. I don't think he does either."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Kim." Her father's cavalier attitude was starting to irritate Kim. "Florida wasn't good for you."

Michael was steaming and Jason could see that an explosion was brewing.

"Why not, Daddy?" Kimberly asked, trying to figure out exactly what her father was hiding. After all, he had set his mind on her opening her own center and not returning to training.

"Dad, why don't you just tell her the truth?" Michael asked. He was tired of lying to his sister.

"Michael," was all the warning the young man would receive.

"Dad, I'm tired of lying to Kim and of hearing you say that it's for her own good." Michael turned to his sister who was going pale. She thought she had figured out what was going on. "Dad's the one who paid the doctors to lie to you. He said that if we could get you back here in Angel Grove where your friends were, you'd be happier and healthier. He told them exactly what to say."

Jason watched as Kim's face went almost completely white. "Michael, what are you saying?"

"He sabotaged your career, Kimmy. He even went so far as to tell Coach Schmidt that you wouldn't be coming back because he wanted to find you someone who was more attentive to his gymnasts. There's no way you can go back."

Kim's face was so ashen that Jason was worried he'd have to carry her out of there. She set her fork down on the table and looked at Jason apologetically. "Jase, can I have the keys? I don't feel so good right now."

Jason fished the keys out of his pocket. "You look a little pale. Want me to take you back to the apartment?" She nodded. Jason stood up and looked square at Alex. "I don't know what made you think you had the right to do this to Kimberly, but you better hope that Tommy doesn't find out. He's even more protective than you are of her."

"I'm not scared of Tommy." Alex was firm in his belief that he had only done what was best for his daughter.

"Maybe you should be. And Mike, thank you for telling us. I just wish you could have told us sooner."

Jason helped Kimberly to stand on shaky legs and led her carefully out of the restaurant. He gave her credit; she walked out under her own power and didn't shed a tear until the door was closed behind her on the passenger side.

But, by the time Jason had walked around the car and gotten in on his side, Kim had curled up in the seat and was facing out the window. He knew she was crying by the way her shoulders were shaking. He drove back to the dojo in silence.

Pulling around back, he made sure that they parked close to the door. Kim bolted from the vehicle and up the stairs. Sighing, he turned off the engine and went inside.

He headed straight for the locker room to put on his ghi. He knew that Kim would need Tommy to comfort her.

Tommy saw Jason come in, head straight for the locker room and come out in his ghi. He realized that his friends hadn't been gone very long at all. He could also tell that Jase wasn't happy.

"Tommy, Kim needs you upstairs. I'll take over the class." Tommy nodded and grabbed a towel. "After class, I'll be ready to spar with you."

'Things couldn't have gone well if he's offering to spar with me before I've even talked to her,' Tommy thought as he headed for the stairs.

Tommy couldn't believe his eyes when he opened the door to the apartment. The place was trashed. He hadn't seen destruction like that since his room after the letter.

"Kim?" he called. He walked through the living room and into the bedroom, almost afraid of what he might see.

The bedroom was even more trashed that the other rooms. Tommy saw something glitter in the trash can and bent over to look. At his closer look, he found the medals Kim had won at the Pan-Global Games. Three bronze and two gold medals sat in the bottom of the can.

He still hadn't seen Kim and he was starting to get worried. He walked into the bathroom, definitely afraid of what he might see there. "Kim? Kim, are you here?"

Her whisper was almost inaudible. "It wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth it at all."

That's when he saw her. What he saw was worse than what his fears had conjured up. Kim was sitting in a corner next to the toilet, almost under the sink. She had her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms were wrapped tightly around them. When he saw that her knuckles were bleeding, he looked around to see what she had done. The bathroom mirror was shattered.

Tommy knelt down in front of the young woman he loved more than his own life. "Kim, what happened?" When she didn't answer, he reached out to touch her hand. He tried to hide the hurt when she pulled away. "Kim, talk to me. I can't help if I don't know what's going on."

She just shook her head and buried her face in her arms. "Beautiful, come here." She just shook her head. "Please. Please let me take care of your hands." He reached out to her again and she just pulled away again.

He was hurt. She had only pulled away from him like this once before. But he remembered the words she had whispered last night. "I'm not going to let you go. I'm going to sit right here until you're ready to talk to me." He settled in, sitting down right in front of her. He was determined that she not slip away from him again.