Disclaimer : I don't own a thing though I wish I did, but alas I don't…

A/N : Well, I figured I do this chapter from Tommy's POV and I may change it to someone else's later on in the chapter. I'll also see if I can attempt to make the chapters slightly longer but I can't guarantee anything. As for Kim and Tommy's first encounter, that's going to be pushed back just slightly and it's not going to be a happy reunion. I absolutely refuse to allow them to get back together like nothing happened, Kim wounded Tommy severely and it will take more that just merely explaining her reasons for the letter for him to forgive her, but he will eventually. As for Kat, you will not find any bashing here. I am not a fan of hers but I will not bash on her, what happened was not her fault or Tommy's. Ok, enough said and on with the story.

A/N : Oh, and by the way, you may see minor discrepancies here or there, I've tried to keep everything smooth and flowing one chapter into the next and such, but it is quite hard so if I do screw up here or there just please over look it or e-mail me and let me know so I can try and fix it. I've tried to keep everything flowing with the series, but that's hard to do when I haven't seen it for so long and I'm going mostly by what I remember but I seem to have to same affliction that Kim has, I was in a car accident a little over a year ago that scrambled some of my own memories-hence the idea for the story. Thanks again and please remember to review if you like what you're reading! I can't seem to ask that enough, I love reviews!

THE POWER RANGERS IN :

THE HARDEST THING I EVER DID

Chapter 5

I opened the sliding glass door to Jason and Trini's breezeway and silently stepped into their home. They were home, I could just make out their vehicles sitting in the dimly lit garage. Jase's car sat in its usual parking spot. So did Trini's car but there was a strange car sitting on the far side of her little bug…I walked further into the garage, flipping the light switch on, on my way in. I walked over to inspect the new car and my breath caught in my throat. I'd recognize this car anywhere…

It was a late 80's model Grand Am. Stark white with light pink racing strips running along the sides then flaring up over the trunk. I could make out the glittering, scrolling pink letters on either door: Kimberly. How in the hell did this get here…wasn't this car suppose to be over a thousand miles away, in Florida? Someone would have a hell of a lot of explaining to do…and there had better be one hell of a good explanation to go with it too!

I turned my attention away from the two door Grand Am and started toward the main house and just noticed the set of keys dangling from the key rack next to the door into the garage. The Pontiac symbol was unmistakable on the key chain. The dark blue circle with a chevroned triangle in the center, made of silver, gold and red with a silver five pointed star embedded in the center. The word Pontiac in bold white letters scrolled across the symbol… I grabbed hold of the keys and took them down from the key rack, flipped them over as I looked on the back of the leather pad the Pontiac symbol was embedded in, "What the hell?!" Just as I had expected, 'Kim & Tommy' was etched into the back of the leather key chain.

I rushed into the house, the keys still clutched in my fist and found Jason and Trini both standing in their kitchen regarding me with curious looks on both of their faces. "What is her car doing here?" I asked, She just can't be here, not after all this time…The look on my face told them I was in a fairly bad mood.

It was Trini who spoke up in her usual calm voice, "whose car?" She asked and I so badly wanted to walk over to her and wipe that calm smile from her face. Don't you remember what she did to me? The letter…my heart…she's here and no one saw fit to warn me about her arrival? I silently screamed at the both of them. I remember the Muiranthias mess, she'd tried taking Kat's head off, hell she tried taking my head off for that matter…but then again, so did Jason. They weren't themselves then…My heart wanted to forgive her but my mind didn't want to even think about her, give her the time of day. Absolutely nothing at all, she didn't deserve it!

"Whose car?" I repeated in pure confusion. "You're asking me whose car?!" I suddenly shouted the anger welling up within my body. "You know damn well whose car I'm talking about! The car that sits out in your garage. The car that isn't suppose to be there. It's suppose to be in Florida with its owner, but it's not, it's here…So if it's here, then that means that more than likely its owner is here as well!" I felt marginally better but not much. Amazing what an outburst of anger can do for your nerves. "Why in the hell couldn't someone warn me she was coming for a visit?"

"She didn't come to visit." Trini said so calmly I almost thought I'd misunderstood what she said.

"What?" I asked and grabbed the nearest chair from the kitchen table and flopped down onto it. "If she didn't come for a visit then what is her car doing here?" I really didn't understand at all what was going on here, I wasn't really sure if I wanted to either. "If she's not visiting than why is that thing here?!" I was becoming exasperated. This was just too much all at once. First she sends me that damn 'Dear John' letter…sure, like I really believe she met some other guy… It had felt like we were growing apart, even then, but I'd never thought in a million years that we'd grown that far apart…not enough for her to go and find someone else. Just like that, so quickly? Then again, it had become harder and harder to get a hold of her, she was never home or I had just missed her…then that damnable letter came and my whole world was shattered. As if the letter itself wasn't bad enough, she had to send it to the Youth Center so that everyone could see my utter and complete humiliation. A little while later I started dating Kat, I was trying to get my life back on track, though Kim was never far from my thoughts…why did she have to do that to me, hadn't my love been enough?

Then the whole mess with Divatox started…the telepathic message to Lerigot from Yara…seeing both Kim and Jason, my whole world was turned upside down again. Kat was there for me through everything, I don't know if I would've gotten through that particular mess without her. Then Maligore consumed Kim and Jase's purity, their innocence and they turned against us…Jase actually tried throwing me into Maligore's pit…Kim had been urging him on the whole entire time…

But we managed to rescue our friends…I'd wanted to talk to Kim but she refused to even listen to me let alone answer a single question. She was polite but distant…and the look in her eyes had been enough to scare me, it was like she was trying to cope with something, like she was trying to remember something that had happened or trying to forget something…I always assumed she was either trying to remember exactly what had been going through her mind at the time she had been under Maligore's spell or trying to forget the evilness she had felt…the rage and hate towards Kat and me. But she would never answer my questions and over the past few years I've tried to get on with my own life, but she'd always be there in my thoughts at some point in time and was always in my heart. I'm over her now, or at least as over someone as you can be, I may still love her but I won't set myself up to be hurt again…you can only survive so much heartache in your life and I've had my fair share to last me a life time…

"Tommy?" I barely heard Trini's voice. "Tommy, are you listening to me?"

I shot my head up and looked at her. "Um, sorry. I was thinking about something." I looked over at Jase and he had that look in his eye as if to say, 'Yeah, you were thinking about something alright, more like someone.' I ignored him and turned my attention back towards Trini, "You were saying something?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's about Kim and the reason her car is here." I was all ears, I needed to know why her car was here if she wasn't coming for a visit. Trini exchanged a furtive glance with Jason as if seeking encouragement from her new husband, or confidence. "You see Tommy…" she paused and actually started pacing. "Kim…well, her car is here…" she's nervous I realized. Just spit it out, I wanted to scream. "Kim's car is here…because Kim is here." She turned her dark eyes toward me as if waiting to see what my reaction would be to this latest bit of news.

"What?!" What kind of a joke were they playing on me? Trini had just said that Kim wasn't coming for a visit, but now she's telling me that she's here… "I don't understand…" I trailed off hoping that what I was suddenly thinking wasn't true. "You said she wasn't coming for a visit Trini…what's she doing here then?"

It was Jason who spoke up, he came over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Tommy, Kim moved back to Angel Grove. She's home to stay."

They dropped the bomb and my world shattered for yet the second time in my life due to just one small woman. My heart was thundering loudly in my ears at what they had just told me. "Where is she?" I asked, she has to be around here somewhere. Or maybe she was away, maybe she wasn't staying here…then why is her car here? This just can't be happening!

"She's upstairs lying down." Trini answered. "She had an unexpected surprise when we got back to the house…" Trini turned her coal midnight eyes toward her husband as if she was silently asking for permission to continue with the tale. I just barely caught his indiscernible nod. "Her mom sent her car over from France and Kim wasn't expecting it. Kim didn't even know she owned that car anymore…" Trini paused and I just looked at her like she'd grown a second head. What in the hell are you talking about anyways Trini, could you attempt to make some sort of sense? "She just arrived today and her car has been sitting here for about a little over a week now."

I looked from Trini to Jason, not quite fathoming what was going on here. "Why was the car over with her mother in France and why did it get here before she did? Did she move away from Florida or something?" There were to many unanswered questions flowing around through my mind and I wanted answers to all of them. "What in the hell is going on here Jase…Trini?" I looked first from one familiar face to the other.

"We really aren't quite sure either Tommy. We're waiting for Kim to wake up from her little nap. But from the note that was sent over with the car, the only thing we can figure out is that Kim sold the car for some unknown reason. Her mom found out and started looking for it so she could buy it back from whoever had bough it from Kim. When she found it though, it had been totaled. Pretty severely to from what I gather from her mom's letter. Anyway, Kim's mom bought it from the junkyard and had the car sent to a garage to be repaired…I guess a lot of time and money was thrown into the car, but it was eventually fixed then she put it into storage and waited until the right time to tell Kim she'd bough it back and had it fixed." Trini was saying as Jason interrupted her.

"When Kim's mom found out that Kim was moving back here she arranged to have the car sent overseas and shipped here. We never knew about it until the car arrived here. We were as much in the dark as Kim herself was…as much as you are. We have no idea what is going on here, the only way we're going to find out is when Kim finally wakes up."

That's when we heard the screams start from upstairs. It was Kim and she sounded terrified.

Well, you know I could end the chapter right there and leave you all wondering what's going on, but I'll be nice and continue the chapter, but I'm switching POV's and going to Kim's. It's going to be more of a flashback or a surfacing memory then anything, maybe you'll get a brief insight into what happened to her...maybe not, we'll see.

We'd went into the city proper early in the morning to blow off some steam. Shop, guy-watch, anything that wasn't gymnastics related, we needed a break. Coach had granted us a four-hour reprieve, but we all had to be back at the compound by noon to finish up on some our routines. Sure, the Pan Globals were still a good three months away, but we had pretty much most of our routines down to where we could do them in our sleep.

We'd been to various malls, shopping plazas…we'd even visited the local zoo, anything that wasn't normal routine. I could feel my muscles loosening and relaxing…and it felt good. My car was parked outside the small restaurant, the others had their cars parked nearby, they hadn't been able to find a parking spot as easily.

I glanced over at Annette and Kristin, they had their heads together talking but their eyes were locked on the waiter as he brought our food over to us. I tried not to laugh out loud, but couldn't help as the giggle escaped past my lips. Renee was sitting next to me and she too was trying her best not to laugh at our friends. For our hard work we both earned evil glares from our two friends. We ended up laughing even harder. Victoria jabbed me in the ribs and pointed to a guy who had just walked into the restaurant and my breath actually got caught in my throat. It was uncanny how much he reminded me of Tommy…

After that, it's all a blur and fused together in sporadic glimpses. We were leaving the restaurant, Renee was going to ride with Annette, they'd meet us back at the compound in a few, Annette had someplace she needed to go real quick and Renee was going to tag along. Victoria had decided to ride along with me. Kristin and I bid them farewell and got into our vehicles, Kristin told me she'd make it back to the compound before I would…she certainly would not. I looked over at Vicky and smiled and mouthed, 'Not in that Ford Escort she's driving, no way at all!' We both giggled and took off after her.

My car developed a flat and Kristin stopped to see if I needed any help. Nah, I was fine. Some guy stopped to help us, so she asked Victoria if she wanted to catch a quicker ride back with her, Vicky declined, so Kristin returned to her car and left. I thanked the stranger for his help and soon we were on our way too. I just happened to look down at the clock and saw it read 12:30 already…oh shit!

We were late and Coach was going to kill us. That was the only thing I could think about as I drove down the main street, trying to hurry to get back to the gymnastics compound, without breaking any traffic laws. I saw the green light up ahead of me and hoped I'd make it before it changed. I gunned the engine, hoping against hope that I could beat the light before it changed.

Not to be, I watched in dismay as the light flashed yellow then turned to red. I easily pumped the brakes and brought the small Grand Am to a slow stop and patiently waited for the traffic light to change colors. It took an eternity. I was flipping through the channels on the radio, Victoria wouldn't, she had a bad history with anything mechanical, when the light finally changed, but was unaware of it until the motorist behind us honked their horn. I swore silently beneath my breath and started out into the intersection after glancing quickly up at the light, making certain it had indeed changed color. It was green.

I was just easing out into the intersection when I heard the blaring horn and Victoria screaming…Then the earth shattering crash. The sound of twisting metal filled my ears and I felt something pelt me, driving into my skin. The pain was incredible…My car lurched, I could hear the tires skidding against the asphalt. I remember the world spinning out of control, I shut my eyes, terrified of what I'd see. The car continued to spin out of control then suddenly stopped as another loud crash resounded in my ears.

Something hard hit my head and as the blackness engulfed me the last thing I recalled was something sticky trickling down into my eyes and down my neck onto my back…

My eyes fluttered opened and at first I didn't recall where I was. I expected to see the blinking machines and beeping consoles surrounding me, the tubes and wires running from various life support apparatus to my bruised and battered body…And the images from the dream floated up in front of my eyes and tears welled up just behind them and I fought them back, but in the end the tears won and flowed freely down over my cheeks. My head ached and suddenly the large tractor-trailer loomed in front of my vision again and I screamed like I never had before. I continued screaming until my throat was raw and hurt, that was when I realized that someone had their arms wrapped around me protectively and was repeatedly asking me what was wrong, what had happened.

I looked up into Trini's eyes and tried to timidly smile, I could tell by the expression on her face that my smile faltered and never made it to my eyes. "I'm fine Trini," I said quietly, the tears still evident in my wobbly voice.

She looked at me disbelievingly. "You were screaming like you were in pain Kim, are you sure you're all right?" Her dark eyes took in my whole appearance, including the fear that I knew had to still be lurking within the depths of my brown eyes.

"I'm fine Trini, it was just a nightmare that seems to be in the habit of plaguing me lately," it wasn't a total out and out lie. It was a nightmare that seemed to be in the habit of bothering me, I definitely have lost enough sleep lately over it. The only problem was it wasn't a true nightmare, it was a surfacing memory, and I wasn't quite certain if I really wanted to recall what had happened that day.

Each time I have that nightmare another piece of the puzzle fits into place, today the tractor-trailer fit into its proper place. What would be next? Suddenly I recalled Victoria had been in the car with me…I never remembered that part before…they'd told me, but I'd never remembered it up until today. No one had told me she'd died in the accident…no one told me that I had killed one of my teammates…

The tears started falling again and this time I couldn't stop them as I repeated over and over in my brain, "I killed her, it was my fault…I killed Victoria, she'd still be here if it wasn't for me…I'm the only one to blame…" not realizing that I was chanting it out loud for everyone else to hear.

Renee's words came back to me then, She was in the accident with you Kim. Vicky was there, but she's in a much better place now…she's with her parents. She's ok, don't worry about her. Worry about yourself now, you need to heal…

"Kim?" Renee's voice echoed in my mind, "Kim?" Then it became Trini's and I turned my desperate eyes up toward her, past her to Jason. He had a look of surprise on his face and concern, that's when I noticed who was standing in the room behind him…Tommy. He was leaning back against the doorframe, his eyes boring into me, as if he was looking down into my soul. They were black and the look in them could have frozen my soul, it was total indifference.

I turned my gaze back toward Trini, "What?" I asked quietly. I couldn't meet his eyes, not right now when I had so much going through my mind. I didn't want to look into his eyes, what I had seen there just briefly was enough to freeze my blood in its veins. I really did not want to meet those eyes.

"Whose death are you to blame for Kim?" Trini asked in a mere whisper. My eyes opened wide in surprise, she had heard that? She wasn't supposed to hear that, no one was suppose to hear that! I cringed and tried crawling back within my shell, I didn't want to face them, not right now at least.

I couldn't answer her; I couldn't even look at her. Trini gently tipped my face up so she could down into my tormented eyes, her fingertips just barely touched my skin. No, I silently screamed, please don't ask me about it…I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to remember what happened that day, that dreadful day.

"Kim?" she said gently. I finally looked up into her eyes, "Kim, whose death do you think you're responsible for?" She asked so softly I was hoping I could pretend I hadn't heard her. My eyes turned down to look at the sheets that I clutched in my hands. "Kim, are you going to answer me?" She asked ever so quietly.

"No." I said in a shaky voice. "I can't…I don't want to remember it. I don't want to think about it…" my voice trailed off as the tears threatened to flow once more. "Please Trini, don't ask me to relive it! I just can't!" I cried out in despair, and then the tears flowed freely once more. I didn't try to hide them or stop them this time. I just allowed them to run down my cheeks and cascade down onto the sheets of the bed.

"Shh," Trini said and I felt her envelope me in her arms once more. "Shh Kim, you don't have to talk about it right now, if you don't want too." She put me away from her then and looked me directly in the eyes, "But we will talk about this sometime, it is apparently bugging you severely and you will need to talk about it at some point in time."

I smiled weakly at her, "I will, I promise I will talk to you about it sometime…" My voice trailed off and I looked away from her up to Jason and Tommy. Jase was looking at me with concern in his eyes and I smiled half-heartedly up at him, he returned the smile, but his smile looked like he meant it. I then shifted my gaze toward Tommy and froze, my blood turned to ice.

He was still leaning up against the doorframe, his eyes still lingered on me, but what I saw in them was enough to make me gasp in fright. I'd never seen his eyes like this before. They were cold, so very cold and he just stared at me. He didn't smile or say hi, no nothing. I realized then how deeply I had hurt him and any hope I had of us even recovering what we had once had died right there and then. Can we even be friends, I wondered silently. Will he even talk to me?

"Hi Tommy," I said shyly, unsure of what else to do.

He jerked his head as if I had hit him and his eyes narrowed. "Hello Kimberly," he said tersely. All my hopes fled down the drain with that short but indifferent greeting. He hates me, realized sadly.

I faked a yawn and looked imploringly up at my friends, then I looked at Tommy but he was already leaving the room, without so much as saying goodbye, or even a backwards glance…my whole world crumbled then. That's when my subconscious decided to make itself heard, What, you expected him to forgive you like nothing had ever happened? You broke the poor guy's heart…not to mention your own. People just don't forget stuff like that you know. You made your bed girl, now you're gonna have to live with the consequences whether you like them or not.

I cried myself to sleep after they'd left the room, it was the only thing I could do. I certainly wasn't ready to face my friends yet, least of all Tommy…would I ever be able to tell them the truth? Could I ever tell them what had happened down in Florida all those years ago? I fell asleep to the sound of breaking glass and twisting metal, a small whimper escaping from my mouth before sleep had completely claimed me as its victim.

Well? What do you think? I know, it's still not long enough and I'm sorry for that but I did try. Please don't get to mad at me for not putting Kim and Tommy right back together, but it's just not going to happen that quickly. I've been through the exact same situation and it takes what seems like forever until you trust your heart to another person, he's not going to just trust her again right away. Besides which, when they do finally get back together, it'll be all that much more sweeter! Review and let me know you've liked what you've read! Thanks once again to all who have reviewed.