After Tommy, Kimberly, Trini, Naomi and Ethan all ate dinner, which consisted of spaghetti and red pasta sauce, Tommy took Kimberly and Trini out for ice cream. They invited the two teenagers but Naomi wasn't feeling like going out and Ethan decided to stay with her. Tommy was a little hesitant at first to leave the two teenagers alone in his house, but he figured if they behaved themselves when they were sleeping together the night before, he could trust them to be alone. The two adults and little girl left. Naomi sighed and lay on her side on the couch, her head lying on Ethan's lap yet again. Ethan smiled softly. He loved feeling her so close like this. He loved everything about her. The only problem was, of course, there was no way she felt the same. Of course, the night before she said she needed time when he tried to kiss her, but he didn't want to get his hopes up. She probably only said that to be nice. He thought.

"Hey, Ethan?" Naomi asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you still have that necklace?" She asked. Ethan smirked.

"You mean the one with the broken chain because you like tore it off your own neck?" He asked. Naomi playfully smacked him in the chest.

"Hey, I was pissed at you when I did that, I'd thank you to drop it." Naomi said with a laugh. Ethan laughed as well.

"Ok, ok, sorry. Yeah, I still have it." He said. Naomi turned onto her back so she was now looking up at him.

"Do you think I could…..Maybe have it…..Again?" She asked. Ethan stared down at her.

"Uh…….I guess……I mean..I have to replace the chain on it."

"I could do it, I mean, I did break it." Naomi said.

"Do you mind if I ask..Why do you want it?" Ethan asked. Naomi looked away for second then brought her eyes back to him.

"It's a nice necklace." She said.

"They sell it at the mall." Ethan said, knowing there was something else going on here.

"Yeah, but I just figured since you have it, and you did buy it for me, I could…" Her voice trailed off. "Unless you're planning on giving it to someone else."

"No of course not." Ethan said quickly. "I just…..I mean…" Ethan began, unsure how to put his thoughts into words.

"What?" Naomi asked.

"Naomi, why do you really want it?" Ethan finally asked bluntly.

"It was a gift from you, and I was wrong to just throw it back at you like that." Naomi said. Ethan looked at her.

"Is there some hidden subtext there or something?" He asked. Naomi rolled her eyes and laughed.

"No, I'm just saying I made a mistake in rejecting a friend's gift like that." Naomi said. Ethan's heart sank. I knew it; there is no chance for me and her.

"Oh." Ethan said. "Yeah, sure, you can have it back." Ethan said. Naomi looked at him.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

"No, no, I'm fine." Ethan said. He got up, forcing Naomi to sit up. She scooted backwards so her back was resting against the armrest. Ethan began pacing a bit.

"You sure don't seem fine." Naomi commented.

"It's nothing." Ethan said.

"Are you sure?" Naomi asked. Ethan stopped and looked at her.

"I said it's nothing!" Ethan yelled. Naomi wasn't expecting this outburst and slightly jumped. Ethan blinked, realizing he just yelled at her. "I need some air." He muttered as he quickly left the house, leaving Naomi sitting there stunned. Naomi slowly got up and went after him.

"Ethan, what's wrong?" She asked. She was now standing on the porch with Ethan off close to the woods. He had his back turned to her. "Ethan, please talk to me." She pleaded. Ethan sighed and turned to her.

"It's nothing. I just realized you don't feel the same way about me as I do about you." Ethan said bitterly. Naomi stared at him.

"I told you that I needed time." Naomi said. Ethan scoffed slightly.

"When you love someone you don't need 'time' to find out if you love them." He said. Naomi's breath caught in her throat.

"Yo..You love me?" Naomi asked. Ethan paused and looked at her. He hadn't meant to let that slip out, but now that it was out, he couldn't take it back so there was no sense pretending or anything. Naomi walked off the porch and approached him.

"Yeah, yeah I do." Ethan said. Naomi was now standing right before him and gently cupped his face. Ethan reached back and pulled her hands off him. "Don't." He said. "Don't patronize me."

"I'm not." Naomi said gently. "I told you, I don't know what I feel, okay?"

"That's just a nice way of saying 'no chance in hell'." Ethan replied. Naomi shook her head.

"No, that's not true." She said.

"If you really did feel something for me, you'd feel it. You wouldn't need to think about it." Ethan spat out. Naomi glared at him.

"Yeah, well, when you feel something for someone, a normal person would tell them, not woo them with their alter ego and totally mess up the person's head!" She spat right back at him. Ethan stared at her, unable to believe she'd bring that up. Naomi seemed to regret saying it too because she took a step back and looked at him. "I'm sorry, I..I didn't mean-"

"Yes you did." Ethan said. "You wouldn't have said it unless you were thinking it." He turned around and began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Naomi called after him.

"For a walk, leave me alone." He yelled back at her without even giving her a glance. Naomi watched him leave as tears slowly filled her eyes.

---

Trent closed his eyes. It was utterly hopeless. He was going to succumb to the gem's effects. He couldn't get it off, he knew Anton had no intention of getting it off for him, and his pride and the fact that they were his enemies kept him from going to the rangers for help. He took a deep breath and slowly released it. If you can't beat it………Let it destroy you…He thought as he slowly gave up and let the gem to with him what it would.

---

Kira stood before one of the sinks in the ladies rooms. Mrs. McKnight took Eric and Kyle to the McKnight house. She had offered to drive Kira home but Kira lied and said she called her parents and they were coming to get her. In reality, she just didn't want to leave Conner's side-other then at that current moment where she had gone to the bathroom. She now looked at herself in the mirror above the sink. There were dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep because she was so worried about Conner; her skin looked pale from not eating as much as she should've been eating; her hair probably was so knotted up that a brush would just break off in her hair if she tried to brush it. She sighed and left the bathroom, returning to her post beside Conner. The minute she walked into the hospital room, she paused and gasped, something had changed in her brief absence.

"Oh…God….." She whispered, staring at Conner.

---

"I don't know if it's such a good idea to give her that much sugar." Kimberly said. Trini had gone off to get them a table at the ice cream parlor and the two adults waited for the ice creams to be ready. Tommy smiled and looked at Kimberly.

"Sorry, I just couldn't help it." He said. Kimberly couldn't help smile. It seemed like Tommy was beginning to become wrapped around Trini's little finger. Kimberly put an arm around his waist and kissed his cheek.

"I know." She said. Soon the attendant handed them their ice cream. Kimberly took the two cups that held hers and Tommy's while Tommy took the sundae and the two went over to Trini and the three of them began to enjoy their dessert. Trini was sitting on one side of the square table by herself and her mother and Tommy sat on the other side. She was fully enjoying her fairly large sundae with hot fudge, whip cream and a cherry on top whereas the adults were enjoying two scoops of ice cream in cups. Kimberly's was strawberry and Tommy's was chocolate. If anyone looked at them, they would assume the three of them were a happy family with Kimberly and Tommy as husband and wife and Trini their daughter, as supposed to the reality where Trini was not Tommy's daughter and he and Kimberly were not married. About halfway into her sundae, Trini pushed it aside. By this time both Kimberly and Tommy had finished their ice creams and sat watching Trini as she tried to eat the mammoth dessert.

"Full?" Kimberly asked her daughter with a smile. Trini wrapped her small arms around her stomach and nodded. Tommy gave a small chuckle.

"How about I go get a cover for it and we can put it in the freezer back home?" Tommy asked as he began to get up. He took his and Kimberly's cups and tossed them in a nearby trashcan. He then went to the counter.

"Thank you, daddy." Trini said, causing Tommy to stop abruptly. He turned and looked at Kimberly who had the same shocked expression he did. He cleared his throat and looked at Trini and gave her a smile.

"No problem, angel." He said. He turned around and went to the counter. Kimberly looked at her daughter. Trini had noticed the expressions on their faces and now looked like she did something wrong.

"I'm sorry, mommy. I didn't mean to say it, it just slipped out." Kimberly reached out and took one of Trini's hands in hers.

"It's okay, baby." Kimberly said. Tommy soon returned with a plastic cover and placed it on the Styrofoam plate that held Trini's sundae. He picked it up and the three of them made their way out of the parlor. Right when they were about to get into his jeep, Tommy's phone rang.

"Hang on a sec." He said. Kimberly took the plate as he reached into his pocket for the phone. He answered it.

"Hello?" He said and nearly jumped at a frantic voice on the other line. "Whoa…whoa…..Kira? What is it?........" He paused, hearing her speak. "Oh my god…….Yes, yes, we'll be right there." Tommy said, ending the call. Kimberly looked at him.

"What's up?" Kimberly asked.

"It's Conner…" Tommy began.

---

About half an hour passed since Ethan went off to walk around the woods. He felt like he had cooled down enough and made his way back to Tommy's house. He was surprised to see Naomi sitting on the porch steps. She had her knees up and her arm was resting on it. Her head was buried in her arm. He went over.

"Naomi?" He asked. "What are-"

"I locked myself out when I came out after you." She said without even looking up. Her voice sounded as if she had been crying. Ethan looked down.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that." Naomi sniffled and lifted her face out of her arm. She brought her other arm up and rested both on her knees. She covered her face with her hands then moved them back, wiping her finger tips. She sighed and leaned against the banister on the porch steps.

"Don't be sorry." She replied. "I mean, you had every right to be upset." She got up and stepped off the porch, standing at the side, staring at the sky.

"No, I acted like a fricken two year old." Ethan said. He got up and stood beside her. "I mean, if you don't have feelings for me, then that's that, I can't get mad at you because-"

"Ethan." Naomi said, cutting him off, she looked up at him, her eyes shining. "That's not the case." She said. Ethan looked at her.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Naomi looked away. "You do have feelings for me?" He asked. Naomi nodded slowly.

"I just……..I wasn't sure what type of feelings they were and then when I did know that it was possibly romantic feelings, I wasn't sure how deep they were." Ethan stared at her, stunned.

"Are yo…You saying you love me too?" He asked.

"I don't know." She said. She looked up at him. "But it feels like something more then…I mean….I-" Ethan didn't let her finish as he cupped her face in his hands and swooped down and gently pressed his lips against hers. Her final few words were muffled against his lips before she gave a small sigh and placed her hands on his shoulders. After a while, Ethan pulled back, leaving Naomi reeling a bit. She blinked and looked up into his eyes.

"Sorry, I-" He began to apologize.

"Shh." Naomi said. She put one of her hands on the back of his neck and pulled him back to her. The two met for another kiss, much more intense then the first one. Ethan kept one hand resting against her cheek as the other traveled down to her hip. Naomi tilted her head to the side as the kiss grew deeper, their tongues gently meeting and dancing together. Naomi moaned gently as she felt all that Ethan felt for her through his kiss. Her knees felt weak and seemed to buckle beneath her. She leaned back against the porch banister to keep herself steady. Ethan's hand that was still on her cheek descended down to where her neck and shoulder met as his lips left hers. Naomi gave a small whimper which was soon replaced by a sigh as she felt his lips on her neck.

"Naomi." He whispered between kisses against her soft flesh. Naomi bit her lip as her eyes drifted shut from all the passion going on. She gently lowered her head, making his lips leave her neck. She wanted to feel his lips on hers again. They drifted back into the kiss and stayed like that for a while. But soon, regrettably, they both needed to breath. Ethan pulled back, resting his forehead against hers, both of them panting. Okay, that was so much better then that dream I had. Naomi thought. "That was…Intense." Ethan said, still catching his breath. Naomi gave a small laugh and nodded.

"It was." She said. They were suddenly interrupted by Ethan's phone ringing. Ethan groaned and stepped back, fishing his phone from his pocket. "Hello? Kira? Hey, what……What's going on? Hello? Kira?" He rolled his eyes and hung up.

"What is it?" Naomi asked.

"I don't know." He looked a little worried. "It was Kira, she just said to get down to the hospital…But she didn't say why." He looked down. Naomi picked up on what he was thinking.

"You don't think Conner's dea-" She stopped herself. "No, no, I'm sure he's all right."

"We should probably go." Ethan said. Naomi nodded. They got into Kimberly's car. Ethan, grateful he forgot to take the keys out of the ignition before, turned the engine on and the two were off. They soon got to the hospital, and saw Tommy's jeep. He, Kimberly and Trini were just getting out of it when Ethan pulled up into the parking space beside them. Ethan and Naomi jumped out.

"Kira called you too?" Tommy asked upon seeing them. Ethan nodded.

"I'll stay out here with Trini, you guys go on in." Kimberly said. If the worst case scenario had actually happened, she didn't want Trini in there to witness it. Tommy nodded and he, Naomi and Ethan ran into the hospital. They stopped right at the door to Conner's room. Tommy was the first to see inside and halted abruptly, causing Naomi and Ethan to bump into him. They looked in as well and were shocked in silence.