Note: What's sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander … or rather vice- versa. Why should Tommy get all the anguish? *evil grin* Anyway, this interlude chapter got a bit longer than expected, but the story IS progressing, I promise. Hope y'all like …DB



Letters 2: A Little Help From Friends

By Dagmar Buse





Kat was hosting the gang's monthly dinner, in honor of Tanya and Adam's return from their honeymoon, and everybody had already assembled when Jason and Rocky showed up together straight from the dojo. As bad news can travel faster than the speed of light at times, the circle of friends was already aware of what had happened between Tommy and Kimberly. Not surprisingly, those two had chosen not to show up for once.

Conversation over dinner was kept deliberately general, but as soon as the dishes were cleared away and coffee served, Tanya turned towards Jason with a worried look.

"Okay, Jase – can you tell us exactly what's going on with Kim and Tommy? I was never so surprised as when Kat told me they'd broken up again."

The others all turned towards Jason, who passed a hand through his short hair as he sighed. He hadn't had an easy time dealing with Tommy's rather depressive mood swings, from anger to remorse with stops at every feeling in between, over the past weeks. Not that he was unsympathetic, but there were moments when he just itched to slug his best friend, or Kimberly, or both of them. That, or lock them in a room until they'd sorted themselves out.

"I don't know if you can really call it a break-up," he started. "But things are definitely going wrong for them." Briefly, he related what had happened, to sounds of shocked dismay and sympathy for both parties from everybody. "I'm at my wits' end what to do or say to Tommy. He's so completely shattered … I've never seen him quite so upset, not even when he was freed from Rita's spell, or lost his Powers for good."

"Can you blame him?" Adam asked. "He just got back together with Kimberly …"

Jason smiled a bit grimly. "Much as I hate to say it, yes. He really ought to have thought things through instead of just following his heart so impulsively."

There were slow nods all around. "You've certainly got a point," Zack admitted. "Sometimes, it's better NOT to follow one's impulses."

"At least not right away," Trini added. "I wonder what this is doing to Kim."

"I wish I knew. When I called her the next day, after I'd gotten the whole story from Tommy, she wouldn't say much. Maybe it's because I'm so close to Tommy, or maybe she was still too upset or whatever, but she gave me the impression that she wasn't ready to talk about it." Jason took a pensive sip of his coffee, feeling himself gradually relax in the company of his friends. It never ceased to amaze him how having their support and unconditional understanding helped getting over the tough spots. He knew it was the same for the others, too.

"At least Tommy's talking for once, not holding everything inside," he continued. "I was worried he'd crawl into a shell and not come out again for weeks after Kim had dropped off her letter. When he just grabbed the envelope and locked himself in his room for hours … good thing I heard him rummaging in the kitchen later that night."

"How is he holding up, anyway?" Aisha wanted to know.

"As well as can be expected," Rocky replied. "He's doing his work, he even tries to be sociable … but he's really hurting, I can tell. Heck, he even asked me for advice once – how I would act in his stead."

That startled everybody; while Rocky and Tommy were good friends in most things, their relationship wasn't such that sharing of confidences came easy to either of them.

"What did you tell him?" Sarah asked curiously. She was getting closer to Rocky the longer they were dating, and thoughts of marriage and children had started to appear more and more frequently of late.

The usually easygoing Hispanic shrugged. "Basically, that I felt for him, but that I'm the wrong person to ask. My family on both sides is so large that nobody has to worry about passing on anything, and even the few relations who don't have kids of their own for whatever reason can get the full experience by 'borrowing' some from almost anybody for a time. Or look after the occasional orphan. It's just not a problem I'm familiar with." And deep down, Rocky was very glad about that; he might grumble about the crowd of people taking an interest in his affairs, but knew he'd miss it if he didn't have it.

"Poor Tommy," Kat sighed, sympathy for her ex-boyfriend evident in her voice. "He really needs to talk to Kim."

"Which he's afraid to do, I think," Jason supplied. "He fears that if he confesses his mixed feelings about the matter to her, he'll lose her for good. Because it'll confirm her worst fears about him. If that makes any sense."

"It does," Tanya nodded slowly. "They're caught in a kind of vicious circle, each afraid to talk candidly about their feelings. All the while being so much in love with each other that being apart again must be killing them."

"Yeah."

The group was silent after that, each lost in their own thoughts about their friends' seemingly unsolveable dilemma. After a while, Tanya spoke up again.

"Jason, are you sure Kim won't talk to you? I mean, if we're to help them, we really ought to hear both sides first-hand. And you were there …"

"Pretty much. And to be honest, I kinda doubt that I could be completely impartial towards her; after all, I see every day up close how much this is costing Tommy. He is my best friend."

"Then somebody else has to go and talk to her," Zack said blithely. He grinned a bit deprecatingly at the looks he received. "Well, we all are her friends, right?"

"Yes … but who should be the one to go?" Aisha wondered. The eight young people exchanged speculative glances. Finally, Adam cleared his throat a bit awkwardly.

"Erm … I'm not trying to chicken out or anything, but do you truly believe Kim would open up to any of us guys? I mean … just as Tommy's come to Jason and Rocky for advice, wouldn't Kim be more likely to turn to you ladies?"

Aisha, Trini, Tanya, Kat and Sarah looked uneasily at each other. Adam certainly had a point; if they put themselves into Kimberly's shoes, they would prefer to talk to another woman rather than a man, no matter how much they liked or trusted him. But it was obvious that neither relished the prospect of being the one to confront the absent former Pink Ranger. At last, Sarah shook her head regretfully no.

"You're right, Adam, it should be one of us, but … I don't think I'm the one. I've known Kim maybe the least of all, and while we're friendly enough, we're just not that close."

"Same goes for me," Tanya sighed. "I'd really love to help her, especially after the way she helped my Mom, but …" her voice trailed off as she shrugged helplessly. "We just haven't had a chance to become real friends yet."

Jason had instinctively turned towards Trini.

"What about you? You and Kim have been best friends since grade school."

The slender Asian considered for a moment, then unhappily declined. "I may have known her longest, true, but … our separation was maybe too long. I feel as if we've lost something … if we hadn't, I'm sure Kim could have told me the truth when I met her in Europe that time. That she didn't … I just don't know, Jason. I'm not really comfortable at the thought." Loyalty made her add, "I will if there's no other choice, though."

"Aisha? You and Kim used to be so thick before she went to Florida," Rocky ventured. "You even lived together!"

"Yes, but I feel a lot like Trini, if for slightly different reasons. My staying in Africa so unexpectedly changed our friendship. I'm still convinced I did the right thing at the time, for the animals and myself, but perhaps not for some of the people I cared about. Kim and I are still close, but I wasn't there when she needed me most, and that is bound to have an effect …"

All eyes then turned to the last person at the table. Kat blushed when she felt her friends' scrutiny, squirming just a little. She did not want to do this!

"Oh no," she protested, lifting her hands in a warding-off gesture. "Not me!"

"There's no-one else left," Rocky said reasonably. "And why not you?"

"Are you crazy? Have you forgotten how I hurt her when Rita made me steal her Power Coin?"

"But you managed to shake off Rita's spell all on your own when Kim injured herself on the balance beam," Adam remembered.

"And you overcame your own inhibitions about diving for Kim's sake when she was ready to give everything up," Aisha added.

Agitated, Kat jumped up and walked to the window. "You can't be serious! I'm probably the very last person Kim would want to see right now! What makes you think she'll talk to me of all people?" she asked just a tad crossly. "After all, she may well think I took Tommy away from her …"

"But you didn't," Tanya protested. "You and Tommy got together AFTER she'd set him free, and it's not as if you deliberately set out to replace her! I know; I was there, remember?"

"Kim thinks nothing of the sort, Kat," Aisha reassured the blonde. "Besides, she trusted you enough to pass on her Powers to you. That alone should convince you she truly considers you a friend."

"If you're thinking of what happened on Muranthias, that wasn't really Kim," Jason added in a low voice. The memory was still a very sore point for him – as it was for Kimberly. "Trust me, I know. That's one thing she and I did manage to talk about, afterwards. Maligore's evil just picked on our strongest emotional ties towards you guys and made us go after you and Tommy respectively."

Katherine sighed, knowing it to be true. The whole group had discussed the events once they had the leisure to do so, and deep down she knew nobody was bearing any grudges. Still, it was not a pleasant prospect; at the least, she could envision the encounter to be highly embarrassing for both of them. And what if Kim refused to see her?

"Please, Kat," Jason requested softly, getting up as well. He stepped up close to the Australian and reached for her hand. "One of us really should talk to Kim, and the longer I think about it, the more perfect you seem to be. After all, next to me you probably know Tommy the best …"

She still refused. "It just doesn't feel right."

Trini exhaled softly. This was getting nowhere, and after all, they couldn't bully Kat into meeting with her predecessor. "It's okay, I'll go," she volunteered. "Jason's right, I've known Kim the longest. And maybe it won't matter that I haven't been around to see how close they'd grown, and how it affected them when Kim sent that first letter." It was obvious that Trini was quite skeptical about this – and with good reason, too.

With a half-angry, half-resigned sigh, Kat silently admitted defeat. It was nice of Trini to let her off the hook, but from what Aisha had told her, Kim and Tommy's relationship had progressed quite a lot during his time as the White Ranger – from mere High School sweethearts to young adults who were deeply in love. That was what Kat had witnessed between her friends, and what she had coveted for the longest time. Trini had not, and neither had any of the other girls. Well … Aisha perhaps, but her arguments about having been absent at that most crucial time were valid, too. * But I don't WANT to,* she thought rebelliously. She was distracted from her thoughts by Jason's deep voice.

"Please?" he repeated. Kat shook her head stubbornly, unwilling to give an inch.

"If you don't go, we may never be able to help Tommy and Kim," he murmured, sounding somewhat disappointed. She glared at him, feeling herself weaken.

"Stop manipulating me!"

Jason actually looked shocked. "Is that what we're doing? What I'm doing? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Neither do we, Kat," Tanya interjected. "If you truly don't feel you can, we'll just have to look for another solution." Only, there wasn't one, and they all knew it. With a gusty breath, Kat admitted defeat. After all, she'd done harder things for the sake of friendship.

*If I could just remember one right now!*

The dark eyes fixed so beseechingly on her tipped the scales.

"Okay, I'll go," she muttered reluctantly. "But you owe me for this, Jason Scott!"

"I know," Jason replied. To everyone's surprise, he lifted Kat's hand to his lips and gently kissed the back. "How does dinner at 'Le Petit Bistro' sound, with maybe some dancing afterwards?"

The blue gaze softened minutely. "It's a start." But she didn't remove her fingers from Jason's grasp.

Rocky's jaw dropped as he watched the little interplay, and he was on the verge of blurting out a comment, when a sharp elbow in the ribs shut him abruptly up. Tanya sent him a warning look, and he subsided, but continued to observe Jason and Kat with eagle eyes from then on until it was time to leave. Jason offered Zack and Trini a lift, and the Parks stood in the parking lot with Rocky, Aisha and Sarah until the black-and-red 4X4 had vanished down the night-calm street. Rocky turned incredulous eyes on his friends.

"Did you see what I saw, or is my imagination running amuck?" he demanded to know.

"If you saw Jason turning on the charm three inches thick in order to persuade Kat into doing him a personal favor by agreeing to talk to Kim, you're right," Aisha grinned. "Well, well, well!"

"Jason and Kat?!?"

"And why not?" Tanya demanded to know. "I think they'll be good together. Not that you couldn't have knocked me for a loop," she added. "Kat never said a word to me, the sly thing!"

"I think it's rather sweet," Sarah smiled, getting an enthusiastic nod from Aisha.

Adam just shook his head bemusedly as Rocky quite unconsciously slipped an arm around Sarah's shoulders. The two said their goodbyes then and wandered off. Aisha giggled as she caught a quick kiss Rocky was bestowing on his girlfriend just before turning a corner.

"I think you two started an epidemic," she laughed at Tanya and Adam as she, too, took her leave. "Rocky and Sarah – if there is no engagement in the air, I'll eat my microscope. Now Jason and Kat – and of course Kim and Tommy." She sobered a little. "Let's hope Kat gets somewhere with Kim so we can get those two back together again."

"Amen," Adam breathed devoutly, and on that note, they, too left for home.

~*~

It was two days before Kat could clear her schedule enough to make her way towards Kimberly's apartment. She still felt rather reluctant, but she had promised, and there was no sense in procrastinating. Besides, the sooner she went to see the petite brunette, the better it would be for them all. This situation concerned all of them very much – as if Kim and Tommy's renewed happiness was a guarantee that a 'happily-ever-after' indeed existed, if you only tried hard enough.

She rang the doorbell with some trepidation, identified herself and went upstairs. Kim let her in with a small smile, wordlessly poured them some sparkling water and motioned Katherine to sit. The two young women, both clad nearly identical in light shorts and pink t-shirts, looked at each other over the rim of their glasses, until Kimberly let out a short, not unfriendly laugh.

"So you drew the short straw?"

"Yes, I- no! I mean, I didn't … they haven't …" Hopelessly flustered, Kat blushed a deep pink at being found out like this. Kimberly took pity on her friend and smiled.

"It's okay, Kat; no reason to be embarrassed or anything. I was pretty sure that one of you would come by sooner or later, especially after you've all met the other day. I was also reasonably sure it wouldn't be one of the guys; Jase probably has his hands full with Tommy, and the others were rather unlikely." They shared a tiny, understanding grin at that. "I'm just a tad surprised that it's you, and not Trini," Kim added.

The blonde dancer took her time answering as her cheeks gradually resumed their normal color. Unobtrusively, she'd watched for a rection in Kim as she'd mentioned Tommy's name, and found her suspicions confirmed when a slight shadow darkened the expressive eyes. *Kim looks … tired,* Kat realized, taking stock of the pallor under Kim's tan and the faint circles around her eyes. Also, her movements lacked her usual grace and vigor; there was a languidness about Kim that was very unlike her customary vivacity. *Not physically; after all, she's not training for competitions anymore. No, she's mentally tired. Exhausted, even. And she DEFINITELY looks as if she needs a friend right now.* All of a sudden, Kat felt much better about being here. Kim had been the best of friends to her once; now she finally had the chance to return the favor.

"Trini did offer to come, but was a bit uncomfortable with the idea. She feels as if you've grown apart somehow during your separation," she started. Briefly, and as gently as possible, Kat outlined the discussion the friends had had two nights ago.

"Kim … the main reason I'm here is to see whether you need any help, and tell you that if you do, we're there for you. All of us," she concluded.

The brunette accepted the explanation with a quiet nod. "And of course you're not at all curious about why I turned Tommy down, are you?" she teased, but with an undertone of bitterness – *No. Despair, more likely,* Kat thought – that was unmistakeable if one knew what to listen for. But all she did was put on an innocent expression and say lightly,

"Of course not. You know us."

"Exactly."

Both young women had to giggle at that, and finally relaxed. Kim refilled their glasses, and curled up on the couch, tucking her legs under her as Kat sat comfortably crosslegged in the armchair.

"So … what do you want to know?" Kim asked at last, realizing that she couldn't stave off the conversation any longer. Kat chuckled.

"How about everything?" she suggested after a brief hesitation. "Tommy gave Jason your letter to read, so we know the bare facts, but … if you can, I'd still like to hear from yourself what you were thinking."

Kim grimaced wryly. "You don't ask much, do you?"

"Only for whatever you want to share, Kim. You're our … you're my friend, and I'd like to help you if I can. You and Tommy. And maybe you need to vent just this once, to someone who knows Tommy only like someone who's loved him like you do … don't you?" Kat said softly.

At the gentle words, Kim's hard-fought-for composure finally crumbled. Her large eyes filled with tears, and she seemed to wilt right before Kat's eyes as the first sob tore free from her throat.

"Oh God, Kat," she moaned, and the taller girl was up and beside her in an instant, hugging her friend comfortingly as she cried and related her story, her thoughts and feelings. It wasn't much different from what Kim had told Tommy in her letter, but for the first time Kim shared her feelings of inadequacy as a woman, of her sense of loss at the thought of being unable to bear children to the man she loved with a sympathetic friend. Kat listened with a heavy heart, on the one hand pleased and honored that Kim would trust her this much, but on the other very much disappointed that there really was very little she – or any of their friends – could do to help. As Jason had postulated, this was something that Tommy had to decide on his own. All the cards were dealt; it was up to him to play or fold.

"I'm so sorry, Kim," Kat whispered when the other girl had calmed somewhat. "I wish there was something I could do."

"You can't," Kim gulped, wiping her reddened eyes and sniffled. "Nobody can."

Desperate to hold out at least some hope, Kat sought a smile that came out rather wan. "Maybe Tommy will decide for you, after all. Perhaps he just needs time to come to terms with the idea …"

Kim shook her head rather violently. "But that's exactly it," she exclaimed, gripping Kat's hand in her agitation. "I don't WANT him to come to terms – I want him to be happy, to have all his dreams fulfilled." More subduedly, she continued, "If Tommy has to make such a sacrifice for me, then all I've done was in vain."

"Maybe so. But Kim … so far, you have made all the choices. Yours, and for Tommy. He's a part of this too, an adult who has the right to be consulted. You'll have to let him decide for himself, even if it's not what you would've wanted his choice to be," Kat admonished her friend, unconsciously echoing and amending Jason's words to Tommy. "It's all very nice of you, wanting to spare him, but life isn't like that. Sometimes one has to give up one thing for another."

"B-but what if he chooses me and then regrets it, later?" Kim asked, torn between despair and a sliver of hope. "What if he leaves me then?"

"Tommy would never do that," Kat declared emphatically. "Kim, I can understand why you're afraid of this, but have a little trust in Tommy! You know him better than that!" She looked sternly at the petite young woman. "Don't you?"

"I-I guess," Kim whispered, a cautious light brightening her tear-dulled eyes. She bit her lower lip in indecision. "So … what do you think I should do?" she sighed, weary from her emotional storm.

Katherine patted her shoulder encouragingly.

"Something very hard, I'm afraid," she answered. At Kim's questioning look, she explained. "You should do nothing at all. Wait. It's up to Tommy now. He has to make a very important decision, and you'll have to give him all the time he needs."

"That's not going to be easy," Kim pouted.

"I never said it was. But surely it can't be much harder than letting him go in the first place – or turning down his proposal?" The blonde suppressed a sly smile; she knew Kimberly well enough to see how this roused her spirit. Like all the Rangers, male or female, Kim couldn't resist a good challenge.

"Do I have to?" Kim grumbled peevishly, suddenly impatient at the thought of being unable to do something, anything, to speed up the process.

"Yes. Now go blow your nose and wash your face," Kat ordered mock- sternly, mimicking her mother's tone to perfection. Kim looked startled for a second, then had to laugh despite herself.

"Yes, Ma'am!"



To Be Continued …