Zaley Love: Okay, so I know the last chapter might have seemed a bit rushed… but I can't bear it when I leave a chapter with Kim in trouble! So I just had to have them rescue her. ^^ I hope this next installment is up to par, as well as expectations.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Power Rangers, they belong to people immensely more creative then myself... but I do own the 'Gem Force' idea, this plot and some characters.

Angel Grove, CA

Jason's house…

When they had returned to Jason's house, the scene taking place was one they hadn't expected. Vera lay in a heap on the floor, her head cradled by a humming Gwen. Tommy had been so surprised he nearly dropped the woman in his arms.

"What happened?" Jason asked, looking around for Kat and Billy. They appeared coming in from the back porch, an odd contraption in Billy's hand. Kat instantly jumped into Jason's arms and held onto him tightly, tears springing to her eyes as her emotions quickly took over.

"It was terrible. We didn't know what to do, she just got hysterical and I couldn't do anything to help her." Kat said, letting Jason hug her tightly and try to ease her helplessness. Her eyes fell upon Kim and she briefly brightened, then she realized she was getting wet. Why was she getting….

"Jason, you're soaked! You all are what happened?" Kat said, breaking the embrace and wrinkling her nose. She wiped the tears from her face, taking in the four with a quizzical brow. But before anyone could answer they heard a whimper of pain from Vera. Everyone trained their eyes on the woman and fell quiet. Something had happened to upset her, and they wouldn't know until she came around.

"We can talk in the morning. Kim needs to be changed and kept warm, can you handle that? We're going to change and get rested up." Tommy said, now heading up the stairs as Kat followed. Though he was loath to part with her, Tommy set Kim on the bed and gave one last nod to Kat before heading downstairs.

"I think we could all use some rest after today's events, what do you think Tommy?" Jason said, quirking a brow as he turned to his best friend. Tommy shrugged.

"Yeah, we could." Tommy said, feigning a yawn. Everyone left Gwen and Vera in the living room, not wanting to disturb the sleeping woman. Gwen had a soothing touch that seemed to be helping Vera sleep peacefully. Kim had that touch as well. Shaking his head, Tommy followed the guys to the basement and pretended to sleep since it seemed he was going to battle insomnia tonight.

Three hours later…

Tommy sat on the porch steps in the backyard, looking at the woods. So many different things demanded his immediate attention; but all he could think about was Kim. Was he the reason why she was so hesitant to tell them about her gem? Was she afraid of being on a team with him again? Or did it have something to do with her mysterious disappearance and the letter. He winced. Even after all these years; thinking about the letter still hurt. Back then, he had it all planned out. He was going to fly down for the competition to surprise her, and then take her out to dinner and stay with her until she was ready to go home. After that, he was going to take her for a picnic at the lake and propose. Looking back at where they had been, and comparing it to where they were now… it made Tommy sigh. He wasn't going to push things with Kim. Not when it could end up pushing her farther away from him. And after tonight; he wasn't willing to risk losing her.

"Are you alright?" The voice was soft and gentle, almost fearful of disturbing him. Tommy didn't need to see her to know she was leaning against the door frame, face looking tired and slightly cautious; he just knew. Letting out a sigh, Tommy shook his head.

"I think the better question is are you alright?" Tommy retorted looking up as Kim walked over to the steps. He shrugged at her questioning gaze and scooted over, making room for her. Kim bit her bottom lip, and then eased herself down next to him. Her arm brushed past his, causing Tommy to slowly exhale. He had to keep reminding himself that she was safe now.

"I thought I lost you there for a while." Tommy said, pausing to brush a few stray pieces of fuzz from his pants. Looking over to Kim, he saw her brow knit in wonderment. He lifted his own brow for a moment, then quickly covered.

"I mean, we thought we lost you. You know, everyone and I." He said, watching with a pang in his chest as she simply nodded and turned her face away. Kim pretended to be concentrating on something in her hands. At first he didn't care to notice, but as his eyes searched for something to focus on; he took note of the bloom. It was an orchid. But not just any orchid, it was the cymbidium orchid and note that he sent to her while she was in the hospital.

"I never told anyone else that I loved orchids… I'm just surprised that you remembered." Kim spoke up after a moment, letting her gaze linger on Tommy for a few seconds before turning back to the items in her hand.

"Don't say things like that Kim, especially not to me." Tommy said, pushing himself up from the steps and turning to face her. He could feel his emotions building, but he wasn't going to explode at her this time.

"I didn't forget you just because you weren't around, and I couldn't forget anything that makes you smile." His tone was softer, trying to return to a tender friend's voice than come off as an outraged former lover. Kim met his gaze and fought off a half smile as she stood and shook her head.

"And I thought you had a bad memory." Kim's voice was only half serious, though she disguised the hurt from his comment behind amusement. Tommy gave a slight laugh, shaking his head as he offered out a hand to Kim. She looked at his hand for a moment, then took it. But instead of shaking his hand as he expected, Kim took ahold of his hand and began to pull him toward the woods. He wanted to ask where they were going, but he had a pretty good idea… and he didn't want to speak and ruin the silence. They walked in the quiet night for some time, hand in hand, until they reached the pond.

"I've missed you, and I'm not going to keep things from you if it means pushing you away. But it's not going to be easy to explain." Kim started, releasing his hand as she turned toward the water and gently lowered herself a few feet back from the edge. Tommy watched her, his own mind reeling. So she actually wanted him around?

"You don't have to explain everything all at once to me Kim, I'm not going anywhere. We can wait, you've been through a lot the last few days and you need some res-"

"I didn't write the letter." Kim interrupted him, her voice unreadable. For a moment Tommy was left beyond confused. After all the years of believing she had penned the very letter that had shattered every one of his dreams for their future, now she was telling him she didn't write it.

"Kim, it was your h-"

"Hand writing, I know. But I didn't write the letter. I was forced to watch what it did to you, but it wasn't from me. But after everything I saw you go through, I couldn't just show up and tell you it was a lie… not when I knew you wouldn't believe me." Her words rang so clear in the woods, echoing slightly through the night. Tommy eyed her from behind, but decided this conversation needed to happen face to face. He sighed, sitting down next to her. Kim's eyes held a far off look, a look that hid everything but the fear lingering about. That's when he knew that she wasn't lying to him.

"What happened?" At this moment, Tommy felt years older. Every pain caused by the letter weighing on his mind, while he was trying to sever the connections of the pain with Kim. She said she didn't write the letter, but who did?

"It's a long story…"

"I'm not going anywhere Beautiful." Tommy spoke in a gentle, but reassuring tone. At the nickname Kim seemed to momentarily wince, and then relax. She turned to face him, knowing she was going to do her best to be honest and not hide anything.

"I got caught up training for a few weeks, and decided to spend some time alone walking through town in the evenings. Coach Schmidt had advised me to be taking some brakes from the beam, as he was afraid I was going to push myself too far. I didn't make many friends, due to how competitive everyone was, so I was often alone. During one of my walks, some robots or something appeared. There were six of them, gold heads and silvery outfits. I thought I had remembered hearing something about them from Aisha, but I never figured on them showing up in Florida. Fighting them off wasn't easy, they weren't anything like the putties I was used to fighting. But after taking two down, one landed a good blow to my head. When I woke up, someone called King Mondo was informing me that I was going to bring down the power rangers." Tommy's brow furrowed in confusion for a moment as he took in her words.

"Wait, how did they even know you were connected to us? I thought Zordon would know if something happened to you… that I would know if something happened." Kim looked at him sadly, offering him a little comfort as she rested her hand on his.

"I don't know how they learned anything, but they knew about my friends and our relationship. But I don't think Zordon realized I was in trouble. I was only connected to the pink power coin for a short while after I gave it to Kat. As time passed, I could tell I wasn't connected anymore. At first I could feel whenever you were in pain, and still sometimes, after everything, when you've been really hurt I can feel it. But it wasn't the same. Somehow they knew exactly how to hurt me." Kim stopped, swallowing past the lump that was forming in her throat. If she stopped now she might not ever convince herself to finish.

"King Mondo began to notice how I struggled whenever you were hurt in battle, and he made the connection. Apparently he had someone listening in on you for a while, and learned that we weren't just friends. So, he sent some cogs to steal a letter that I wrote to you. He said something about needing a sample. I didn't know what for at first, but he soon began to gloat about his plan to destroy the power rangers by breaking their leader; you." Tommy froze for a moment, remembering briefly how he went through her letters when packing for college. He thought one was missing, but never got past wondering about it.

"They used my letter to mimic my hand writing and writing style so you wouldn't second guess it. And then you'd have no reason to doubt the authenticity of it and... you didn't." Kim's voice seemed etched with masked pain as she tried to keep from becoming too emotional. Tommy looked confused, then closed his eyes and swallowed as he understood what was bothering her. She thought he didn't really love her because he didn't doubt her feelings for this guy she'd never mentioned before.

"So, King Mondo created the letter, sent it, and made me watch what it did to you and the team. Jason learned of the letter through Billy, and decided to pay me a visit. When he talked to Coach Schmidt and learned that I hadn't been seen or heard from in over three weeks, he decided to go to Zordon. They couldn't find me. In fact, there was no trace of me anywhere from the scanner. Jason stayed quiet on the matter, not wanting to upset your newly formed relationship with Kat, and did research alone. When you and Kat split, she went to talk to Jason and Billy about possibly going to find me. The last anyone had heard was that I was dropped from the Pan Globals. So, Jason told her what he learned and they started doing some digging around. Their first big break came from a very unlikely source; Lord Zedd." Tommy practically jumped at her final comment.

"You're kidding; Zedd actually helped them find you? Zedd helped, and I didn't even get the chance to know?" Now Tommy seemed genuinely frustrated, but he let his anger simmer down. Kim wouldn't continue to be open with him if he bit at her. Kim stood, running her hands through her hair as she began to pace before continuing.

"Don't blame me, I didn't have a say in who knew what. But apparently Zedd and Rita wanted the Machine Empire over-thrown so they could take over once again. And they happened to know from watching their rival, that they held a former ranger captive. It was only a matter of when to try and bring it up to someone who could actually do something about it. You know, they might have helped with information, but they wouldn't be caught dead rescuing a former power ranger. Jason didn't want to trust him, but he didn't have many other leads and he had to be sure I wasn't there. So Zordon granted Kat and Jason's request, and they went to the Machine Empire posing as prisoners. It took them a few tries, but they eventually saw me. King Mondo was mocking and teasing, boasting about his triumph in destroying not just a power ranger, but two." Kim's voice began to fade, her eyes growing distant. One look at her and Tommy could tell she was back in those horrid memories. But he was there this time, and he wasn't going to let her relive that. Standing, he stopped in front of her and ever so gently gripped her shoulders. Her eyes searched his, confusion there for a moment. But it passed and she looked down.

"King Mondo thought it fitting that my torture be not anything physical, only mental. So every day, he made me watch what you went through with the letter… all the while calling me 'Beautiful'. He turned the name into a form of torture. When Jason and Kat got me out of there… I didn't speak for weeks, grew extremely paranoid, and would get hysterical if I ever thought that Jason was gone. I had gotten hurt when we escaped, so it took a while to get me better. They thought it best to seek Billy's help in my rehabilitation, and eventually let it slip to the others that I was alright. Rocky and Adam eventually came around to accepting me again, but Aisha hasn't spoken to me at all. Trini tries to visit every week, but usually can only make it once a month. I've been living in Fresno for two weeks, but in California for five years. I didn't know you were still around. I mean I saw the news talk about some rangers in Reefside, and I assumed you might be a part of that. But I didn't know for sure. No one talked to me about you, and I couldn't bring myself to ask. I just figured you wouldn't want me to interrupt your life after everything." Kim finished, seeming to finally breathe. After eight years of not being able to speak to him, of keeping him in the dark; she'd finally told him everything. Sure it seemed rather hard to believe, but she had people who could vouch for her; Jason, Kat, Billy and Trini.

"Kim… I've always wanted you to be a part of my life. Did my refusal to question your letter really make you believe that I didn't care for you? Was it wrong for me to be the supportive boyfriend and just let you go?" Tommy spoke slowly, letting his hands weigh on her shoulders. An odd expression flashed across Kim's face as she stared at him for a moment. Looking down, she let out a deep breath and pulled away. He didn't think she was going to respond, but she did.

"I never wanted you to play a part or just be supportive; I wanted you to fight for me. Every day for the past eight years I've been wondering what I could have said to make you understand. I still don't have that answer." Kim met his gaze, a pained expression on her face. Tommy looked bewildered.

"If you wanted to stay, why didn't you? I just assumed you wanted this, so I was willing to let you go after a dream. A dream you talked about all throughout high school. It wasn't like we all just guessed this was something you wanted; it was something you told us you wanted. We all just wanted you to be happy Kim. I didn't want to be selfish, and keep you from accomplishing your dream." Tommy's words only seemed to bring the tears that had been threatening to fall, back. Kim did her best to reign in her emotions, but she couldn't. She was tired of always being under control, tired of keeping her feelings in check, and exhausted from keeping quiet. She'd held her peace in this for far too long, and it was about time she let him know exactly what her thoughts were on the matter.

"Dreams change as people grow... as relationships grow. I never once imagined myself with someone else. Only you. So when it came time for me to make a decision, and the only person whose opinion really mattered was telling me to go; it hurt. So, no. It wasn't your refusal to question the letter that made me doubt your feelings. It was your ignorance to the pleading in my eyes and the longing of my heart. I wanted- needed you to ask me to stay… but you didn't." Kim's voice cracked as she spoke, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. She began to back away, readying herself to run. But she had one last thing to say.

"That is when I began to doubt that you loved me." Kim admitted before running off toward the house.

(Okay, so I've finally decided to share what happened to Kimberly. Sorry if it's confusing or stupid to you, but I think it makes much more sense than her ever believing some guy was better for her than Tommy. But that's just me. Hopefully this isn't a disappointment after everything. And yes, it's not as sappy as the last chapter's ending might have been; but I'm not ready to launch them into a healthy relationship yet. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ^^ I love you all! PLEASE review!

~Z.L.)