Disclaimer:  The power rangers belong to Saban. 

The Tide Changes Forever

Why does he have to be like this? Why can't he say, 'hey guys, I'm going to be gone a few days, DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME! Don't worry yourselves sick; really, I'll be JUST fine.'  Kim thought bitterly to herself as she walked aimlessly down the street. She'd been searching for Tommy the entire day and had turned up nothing. No sign at his apartment, his regular haunts or even the Youth Center.  It was like he disappeared.

He'd been missing since late Friday afternoon and it was Tuesday and still Kim had found nothing. As much as she told herself it couldn't be, she had to accept it was a possibility that Tommy was gone.

She walked to the beach, the last place she hadn't searched. The sun was setting and the entire sky was lit up in a thousand different hues of red and yellow, a painting in the sky. Slowly, she stepped onto the sand, eyes searching for anything suspicious. From her standing place she couldn't see the shore line or the occupant of it. However, she could hear the crashing of waves and the squawk of seagulls. And the smell...the smell was that of nothing else. The oceans beauty enveloped her and despite the circumstances, she breathed in the welcome peace, the utter wonder of the ocean.

Remembering she was on a mission, she continued her search of the deep dunes of the shore. Stepping cautiously, she kept her eyes trained on the sand until she saw a dark figure sitting on a small incline near the water. "Hello?" she called pensively to the person. No response. As the former pink ranger neared, she was shocked to see... it was the man she had been looking for.

"Tommy?!" she asked. "We've been searching for you for two days! Where the hell have you been?"

Again, there was no response except for the crashing of waves.

A thousand different possibilities going through her mind, Kim neared even more, finally standing next to her boyfriend.

"Tommy?"

In a voice barely above a whisper, he asked, "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Kim's immediate shock and anger wore down to worry and she sat next to her boyfriend.

"Yea, I guess it is. Tommy, what's going on?"

As if he hadn't heard her, he continued to speak. "When I was little, five, six years old, Erik and I came here. Well not here at this beach, but a beach just like this.  We always came at night; we'd use our walkie talkies to talk to each other, since he lived right next door. We'd come here on the sly to play commandos or astronauts or whatever we wanted to be that day. One of our favorites was Submarine. It was always so dark and deserted, we felt like we were the last human beings on earth."

As the sun went to down and the sky turned to pink and purple, Tommy went on.

"We were like brothers, Erik and I. Even when we got older and were to mature to play commandos, we would still come out here and just talk to each other. About the hell that our lives were, especially when I found out I would be moving. He was sort of the reason I went on everyday. I don't doubt for a minute that if he hadn't been there I would have been dead a long time ago. Not here," Tommy put a hand to his chest, "but here," he said, touching his head. "I think the saddest thing is that I'll never see our kids play here." he whispered softly.

After staying silent for a moment, Kim asked softly, in confusion, "What?"

Staring out into the water again, Tommy looked on as the darkness filled the night, the last rays of sunshine falling beneath a sparkling sea. After an eternity, he spoke. "I went to the doctor on Friday. I have three tumors, two that they have to take out. The cancer, it's spreading to my lungs, but they said they'd try to do what they can to make me comfortable." Looking down briefly, Tommy's eyes clouded before he blinked the tears away and he nodded, as if accepting his fate. "I have a few weeks, a month at most."

Stunned beyond words, Kim gazed at him, finally realizing why he was here and what he was telling her. "No...no, there has to be... you have to fight this thing, Tommy! Why didn't you tell us?  Why didn't you tell me? We're always here for you, always."

"Why didn't I tell you? I don't want your pity. I don't want Jason's remorse or Kat's fake sympathy or your anger. I don't want to leave like that. I don't want you all too..." he stopped briefly before continuing, his eyes trained on his hands. "I don't want you all to remember me."

"How can you say that?" Kim asked in a choked whisper. "How can you say you don't want us to remember you? We love you Tommy, I love you."

Still staring out into the dark, Tommy's face slackened, his eyes dulled. His eyes finally met hers, and Kim felt pity beyond words for the man she loved as she stared into his deep brown eyes.

"Promise me, Kim? Promise me that you'll bring me here? So I can always look out and remember this place? That I can know that someone loved me too?"

Kim looked into his pleading face and nodded gently as she agreed to his plea. His tears spilling unrestrained over his cheeks, he leaned over and put his head onto her lap, his eyes roaming out over the ocean as he wept.