Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do own the characters Nicarni-Aso, Zefoid, the asoriods, the amephors, Mrs. Alison Sipper, Tanya Sipper, and the planets Asoriotan and Nonatasion. I also own the armor flexor, invisashield, and any other weapons that you have never heard used on the Power Ranger series.
Daisyz: Thanks for the review and I'm sorry, but this story will have to end sometime, but it might have a sequel (hint, hint).
jedi4jesus19: This story takes place before DinoThunder, I have to admit I have not watched much of that series so I am not sure when Tommy moved to Reefside, but Tommy and Kim are not together in the TV episodes of DinoThunder, so if I write a story with that in mind, it will probably not follow the one on TV at all.
Ghostwriter: Thanks for the review and I hope that you enjoy this next chapter.
Now, on with the Story!
"Welcome to beautiful Reefside," Tommy said, as they entered the city limits at about six o'clock. They had been on the roadway for the past forty-five minutes and Tommy was glad that they were making good time, as he had been worried about having to slow down in order for Jason to keep up. "It may be best that we eat somewhere before we go to my house, I don't have any groceries. Blame it on bachelor life."
"I'll call Jason and tell him," Kim said, wishing that they still had the communicators. Billy had destroyed their communicators about an hour ago and she was not enjoying it at all. She didn't know how they did it, but they had somehow managed to fit all ten of them into two cars, without a fight breaking out. "Jase?"
"Yeah," Jason said, holding the phone to his ear.
"Tommy says he doesn't have any food at his place, so follow him wherever he is taking us," Kim said, as Tommy scowled at her. He knew that he was a bachelor, but now it really hit him hard, knowing that if he had been dating Kim before the mission, they would have eaten at his home, as he would have had some food there.
"Alright, but remind him that I never raced, so he's going to have to slow down some," Jason said, as he sped along trying to keep up with Tommy, who seemed to be in a hurry.
"Okay," Kim said, thinking that Jason had sure gotten cautious in the past few years, as he had never been one to complain about how fast someone was driving. "We'll see you when we all get there."
"Okay, bye," Jason said and flipped his phone closed. "We are going out to eat, somewhere."
"Big surprise," Zack said. "I know that is what we would have done at my place."
"Bye," Kim said and looked over at Tommy's speedometer, which read right at seventy-five miles per hour. "Tommy, you have to slow down. Jason's not a race car driver, you know."
"Oops," Tommy said and took his foot off the gas to slow his jeep down. "Where do you want to go?"
"We don't care," Rocky said, as his stomach rumbled for the second time that day. He did not like the feeling of being much more hungry than usual, twice in one day.
"I do," Katherine said, rather hastily, "that is if the rest of you don't care."
"Your suggestion is bound to be better than any of theirs," Kim said with a smile and turned around to look at Katherine.
"How about Chinese?" Katherine asked, rather timidly, it had always been her favorite and she did not want to bring up any bad memories for Tommy.
"That sounds good," Kim said, looking over at Tommy, who seemed as if he was not pleased by their decision. "Are you alright with that, Tommy?"
"Yeah, but I'm going to take a little detour before I eat," Tommy said, as they passed a jewelry store, he then received some very confused looks from the occupants of his car, hoping that did not mean they would have to wait to eat.
"I thought you were starving," Rocky said, thinking that Tommy could possibly be willing to hold him up from eating, but knew in the back of his mind that Tommy would drop them off first.
"No, that's you, Rocky," Tommy said with a laugh, as he pulled into a parking space, in front of the Chinese restaurant. "Just save me a seat."
"Alright," Kim said, as Jason pulled into the parking space on the passenger's side of Tommy's vehicle. "Don't take too long of you might not have anything left to eat."
"I'm sure that they will leave some food," Tommy said, glaring at Rocky.
"Yeah, we will," Rocky said, trying to get out from under Tommy's glare.
"Good," Tommy said and began walking down the sidewalk, towards the jewelry store.
"Where is he going?" Zack asked, as they entered the buffet style restaurant.
"I have no clue, but whatever it is seems important," Kim said, as the hostess came up to seat them.
"How many?" The hostess asked, looking at the group of adults and silently wondering if they were two separate parties.
"Ten," Kim said, as she was the closest to the young woman.
"All of you are the same party?" The hostess said, as she grabbed the silverware for all of them. It had been a very long time since they had this big of a crowd and she was honestly worried about the seating configuration of the restaurant.
"Yes," Jason said, stepping forward. "Sorry about the inconvenience, this was a spur of the moment get together."
"It's fine. I'll have a table for you in a moment," The hostess said, walking off to look for a table.
Sipper's Jewelry StoreTommy continued on his way until he reached Sipper's Jewelry Store, which according to most of the people he knew in Reefside, was the best jewelry store in town. He walked into the quaint little shop, which held over a dozen cases of jewelry, within its pale green walls. He immediately spotted a woman standing at the back of the store. She was a short woman, who choose to have her graying hair cut into a short bob, which framed her features. She had a friendly grin and upon seeing a new customer enter, she put on a pair of glasses that had been sitting atop her head, so that she could properly see the person.
"Hello, Mr. Oliver. What brings you here on such a lovely day?" Mrs. Alison Sipper asked, her oldest daughter had been a student of his the previous year and was smitten with him from what she could tell. Who wouldn't have been? All of the teenage girls seemed to have voted him the sexiest teacher ever within the first two days of school and now that she had met him in person, even she could see why that was so.
"A woman, Mrs. Sipper, " Tommy said, with a smile. He knew that Tanya Sipper was her daughter, which meant she probably knew more than another jewelry consultant would about him. Tanya was a straight A student, so he had never had any other opportunity to meet her family, but it was obvious that the two were related as they looked so much alike.
"So, you are looking for what? A necklace? A bracelet? Some earrings, maybe?" Mrs. Sipper asked, heading towards the cases that contained these items. She knew, from the rumor mill, that Mr. Oliver had not been seeing anyone, so he surely wouldn't have come looking for an engagement ring or any other type of ring for that matter.
"I'm sorry, but it is none of those Mrs. Sipper," Tommy said, as Mrs. Sipper stopped her hand in mid air from unlocking the back of the first particular case.
"Then what are you looking for, Mr. Oliver?" Mrs. Sipper asked, holding the key steadily between her thumb and index finger, as she focused her critical gaze upon his face, awaiting his response.
"I'm looking for an engagement ring," Tommy said, as his face turned slightly red at this confession. The older woman then looked at him with a dissatisfied glance, but she did turn herself toward the cases that would hold the rings in question.
"Oh, you are? Now, Mr. Oliver, please don't take any offense to this, but I have heard that you were single and have been for a long time. It's a surprise that you would want an engagement ring," Mrs. Sipper said, making her way over to the engagement rings, with slow methodical steps.
"Well I was, until a few days ago," Tommy said, as the woman dropped her keys in pure shock. This man must be some sort of lunatic if he was thinking of getting married to a woman he had only known for a few days. Tommy, quickly bent down to pick the keys up and then handed them back to Mrs. Sipper. "You see, my old girlfriend came back and I don't want to wait any longer than I have to."
"An old girlfriend you say?" Mrs. Sipper asked, having recomposed herself, at least he did know the person longer than she thought, but that still didn't explain why he was in her shop.
"Yes ma'am, we went to high school together and we actually dated through most of high school, but she broke up with me after she went to train for the Pan Am Globals. I know this sounds crazy, but even after almost five years apart, we still love each other," Tommy said, as he looked through the glass case, although nothing had caught his attention, yet.
"You know that you are going to upset a lot of teenage girls when you get married, don't you?" Mrs. Sipper asked with a bittersweet smile, she herself knew what he had gone through, but she had never been so lucky as to get a second chance.
"I know," Tommy said, with a laugh. "Your daughter will be one of them, right?"
"She'll live," Mrs. Sipper said, as she watched him looking carefully at each ring, but she could tell from his eyes that he had not seen the one he wanted to purchase. "Now, what does this special lady like?"
"That's hard to say," Tommy said, noticing several simple diamond rings, but none of these seemed to fit Kim. "I know that she loves diamonds, but that is not what I want to get her, I want to get her something that will mean more to her than that."
"Alright, what's her favorite color?" Mrs. Sipper asked and then steered Tommy towards a case that contained rings with diamonds and other assorted gems.
"Pink," Tommy said, without a bit of hesitation in his voice.
"Sassy, little lady, is she?" Mrs. Sipper asked, as she brought out about twenty rings for Tommy to look at.
"Yes ma'am," Tommy said, as he looked down at the rings that had been put in front of him. He then came to one that he liked and slowly picked it up to examine it further.
The ring had a white gold band with three oval shaped pink sapphires in the middle with two small oval diamonds flanking the edges of the two outer sapphires. He knew that it wasn't an ordinary engagement ring, but this wasn't an ordinary woman that he was going to ask to marry him. The price didn't matter anymore, this was what he wanted her to have, and he knew it would mean a lot to her.
"Mr. Oliver?" Tanya asked, walking out of the back room and almost dropping the box she was carrying. She was not expecting her science teacher to be standing in her mother's jewelry store and none of the girls ever wanted to look bad around him, which she did, in her opinion, at the moment.
"Hello, Tanya," Tommy said, flashing a quick grin at his student before taking one more look at the ring in his hand.
"Mr. Oliver, has come in to buy an engagement ring, Tanya," Mrs. Sipper said, in a tone that suggested it was best she leave, right away.
"Congratulations, Mr. Oliver," Tanya said and walked back out into the back room. This was a tiny shock, no this was a huge shock, but she figured that if Mr. Oliver hadn't deemed it wise to tell his students about his significant other, she would be wise to do the same.
"This is the one I want," Tommy said, handing it to Mrs. Sipper with a grateful look dancing upon his eyes.
"Well, the little lady should really like this one, Mr. Oliver. Are you sure this is the right size?" Mrs. Sipper asked, looking at the size six ring, with a little bit of apprehension.
"Yes ma'am, she hasn't changed that much since the last time I bought her a ring," Tommy said and Mrs. Sipper rang up the price.
"It costs," Mrs. Sipper said, as Tommy held up a hand to keep her from saying the price.
"I don't want to know, Mrs. Sipper," Tommy said and took a Visa card out of his wallet. "Just put it on this one, okay?"
"Alright, Mr. Oliver," Mrs. Sipper said and then handed him the receipt to sign. She then placed the ring in a small, black velvet ring box. "Here you go."
"Thank you so much," Tommy said, with a smile. "Hopefully I'll be coming back to get wedding rings some time soon."
"Your welcome," Mrs. Sipper said.
"I better get going, my friends might have eaten all of the food at the Chinese Buffet," Tommy said and then left the store.
"Tommy, what took you so long?" Kim asked, as he slipped into the chair next to her. Billy then saw a box peeking out of Tommy's pocket and grabbed in without him noticing.
"It took me a little bit longer than I thought it would to find what I wanted," Tommy said, with a smile and then picked up his plate. "Is there still some food left up there?"
"There is plenty," Jason said and then followed after Tommy. "What were you doing?"
"I told you I had to go to the jewelry store, Jase," Tommy muttered, just in case Kim was to walk up behind him. Jason, looked shocked for a second, before he realized what Tommy was saying.
"You already got a…" Jason said and then took a look around before he continued, "ring?"
"I told you I wanted to hurry things up, but I'm going to wait until after the charity ball to propose to her," Tommy said, glancing over at their table. "Don't tell the others, please. I know that Trini and Zack will figure it out, but I'd rather keep it a secret from the rest."
"Sure," Jason said as they walked back to the table.
"Tommy, did you forget something?" Billy asked, holding up a tiny package as Tommy's eyes widened.
"Where did you get that?" Tommy asked, walking over to Billy and taking the package out of his hands.
"It fell out of your pocket," Billy whispered, "nice choice."
"Thanks but…"Tommy said, before being cut off.
"I know, keep it a secret," Billy said, jokingly.
"So, where is your house?" Adam asked, out of curiosity.
"It's back in the woods," Tommy said, loading a forkful of food. "But I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Sounds nice," Aisha said. "How long will it take you to eat?"
"All of you are done?" Tommy asked, not realizing how long it had took him to pick out the ring.
"Except Rocky and me," Jason said with a smile. "And we'll stop whenever you want us to."
"Don't worry, Tommy. We'll let you eat," Trini said, with a smile.
"Why are you so quiet?" Katherine asked Kim.
"I'm just thinking," Kim said, pushing her plate away from the edge. "We need to talk sometime."
"Well, why don't we go for a walk around the block and give them sometime to finish eating?" Katherine said, knowing that the other pink ranger was quite worried and having a good guess of what it was.
"We have to pay, we can't," Kim said, shaking her head adamantly.
"No you don't," Tommy said, looking over at Kim. "I'll pay for yours."
"Tommy, you really don't have to. I have the money," Kim said.
"I've got Katherine's," Adam said, looking down the table towards Kim. "So what is keeping you from talking?"
"Nothing," Katherine said and stood to exit the restaurant.
"Kat, I don't know where to start," Kim said.
"I think I might," Katherine said, with a smile. "You are still worried about Tommy having some sort of feelings for me, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am," Kim said. "But who would blame me? Look at what I did to him, Katherine. How could I have been so stupid?"
"I don't know, but I will tell you this. He was never meant to marry me," Katherine said, looking down at the considerably shorter woman. "Neither was Jason, they both had other people that took up that special place in there heart. You are the person that Tommy has always pictured going home to, Kim. Don't question why you have been given a second chance, take it and don't look back."
"Thanks," Kim said. "How did you know that you told Jason that?"
"Let's just say that all the other rangers were secretly rooting for you," Katherine said with a smile, as they saw the others exit the restaurant.
"Come on!" Aisha yelled, down the street to the two pink rangers, who then jogged over to where they were standing.
"Coming!" Kim yelled, as she jogged up to Tommy's side. "Are we going home now?"
"Yes," Tommy said with smile and a wink, and thought about what Kim had said. "Try to keep up, Jason."
"I'll try," Jason said and they loaded up the two cars.
Kim's POVWe traveled for about twenty minutes, before we came to the little dirt pathway and the light was much dimmer as Tommy's jeep traveled through the natural awning, created by the mature oak trees. There were many twists and turns, so after a full meal, I was becoming very sleepy and was about to doze off, as we came to an opening at the end of the path. From the outside, Tommy's house was a light gray and with charcoal blue trim, it seemed to have been built into a hill, as you could see a porch with ten foot supports protruding off of the back of the house. It seemed obvious, that this was a bachelor's house, for the lack of plants in the new earth flowerbeds. Upon the hopes the inside would be less lackluster, I failed to notice a white car in the drive.
"Tommy, where have you been?" Hayley asked, stepping out of her car. The woman, who seemed to be about 5'3", had reddish-brown hair that went past her shoulders and small glasses that framed her bright green eyes.
"I've been busy with a conference in Angel Grove," Tommy said and embraced his friend before moving out of the way to reveal his other friends.
"Bull shit," Hayley said, folding her arms and looking at only Tommy. "I called the school and they had nothing planned for you. You know that you have some explaining to do, mister."
"Hayley?" Billy whispered, recognizing the girl he had met at his first year at Stanford, but he had never gotten to know her, as she had transferred after first semester.
"Who are all of you?" Hayley asked, blocking the doorway, before returning to her interrogation. "Tommy, answer my question."
"We had some business to take care of," Tommy said with an air of finality, before moving Hayley so he could unlock the front door.
"No way in hell," Hayley said, finally taking full notice of the other nine people and found that she recognized most of the faces from Tommy's pictures. "Where did you pick all of them up from?"
"Angel Grove," Tommy said, turning on the lights, to reveal a taupe colored lobby and living room. "Do you want to come in and meet all of them?"
"Sure," Hayley said walking in, as the others slowly followed. Tommy had a small foyer, with granite floors and an oak table on the left wall, which had mail and other assorted clutter, littered on its top. From here, they were able to see into the semi-dark living room, which contained an old, comfy recliner and two cushy, deep red, couches. His television was encased in a stained oak, built in cabinet against the far wall.
"You just started working last year?" Kim asked, looking around and knowing that her wages would not have paid for something like this.
"For the school system, yes, but I worked through college and was able to save up some money," Tommy said, looking around at his awed friends.
"I'm Kim, by the way," Kim said, offering a hand for Hayley to shake and she returned the gesture rather quickly.
"Hayley," Hayley said, and then went into big sister mode. Tommy had told her the whole story of the letter and she did not want him to get hurt again. "You're the one that broke his heart?"
"Yeah," Kim said, looking at the floor as Tommy slipped a protective arm around her. "Don't remind me."
"I'll try not to anymore, unless you plan on doing that again," Hayley said, as Tommy gave her a warning look that strongly suggested she drop the subject, immediately. Her gaze then fell on Billy, who seemed to look very familiar to her. "You look so familiar, where do I know you from?"
"Stanford, you came for your first semester," Billy said, as his voice brought back who he was in Hayley's memory.
"Billy?" Hayley asked, staring at him for a while before forcing herself out of that trance. "The two of you know each other?"
"Yes, hard to believe, isn't it?" Billy asked, with a laugh. "When did you get glasses?"
"When I started working with computers all day long," Hayley said and removed the glasses, out of impulse.
"Some of us are getting cold out here," Jason said loudly, as he saw Trini shiver from being left outside as the sun was setting.
"Sorry," Tommy said, as he ushered the rest of the Power Rangers out of the foyer and into the living room. "Does anybody want coffee?"
"No," they said in unison, as Hayley looked at them in shock. This group of friends had something hidden, but she just couldn't figure out what it was.
"Okay," Tommy said with a good-natured laugh, as he settled himself on one of the couches. "I was just asking."
"So, I know the two of them, but who is everyone else?" Hayley asked, as they situated themselves on the couches, recliner, and floor.
"I'll start," Jason said, sitting himself down beside Trini. "I'm Jason."
"Hi, I'm Trini," Trini said, waving a hand towards Hayley.
"Zack," Zack said.
"Aisha," Aisha said.
"Rocky," Rocky said.
"Adam," Adam said.
"And I'm Katherine," Kat said, hoping that Hayley wouldn't make a remark to her that was similar to the one she made to Kim.
"You are the other one, aren't you?" Hayley asked, recognizing the name from another one of Tommy's stories.
"Hayley, I've forgiven both of them," Tommy said, knowing that she meant well but was close to pissing Kim and Katherine off.
"And besides, he never fell as hard for me as he did Kim," Kat said, with a smile as she looked at the two of them.
"That's an understatement," Jason said, as Tommy looked around for a pillow to throw at him.
"Don't fight about this today," Kim said, leaning her head on Tommy's knee. "I'm to tired to be the ref."
"Alright," Tommy said, and placed a hand on top of her head. "Do you want to go ahead and go to sleep?"
"No, I can wait for a little while," Kim said, enjoying the company. "Hayley, what do you do for a living?"
"I own a cyber café," Hayley said. "It's close to the school, so I most of my customers are teenagers."
"Sounds like someone else we know," Jason said.
"Yeah, it does, but this is a little bit different than the Juice Bar, Jason," Tommy said, watching how Billy was reacting towards Hayley and inwardly smiled. He had the feeling that Billy would get over Trini a lot faster than he had anticipated.
"Tommy, have you seen the news about the Power Rangers being back in action?" Hayley asked, as this was one of her favorite subjects to banter with him about. She did not know that he was a Power Ranger, but she did know that every time she had said something negative about the Power Rangers, that she was usually given the silent treatment for awhile.
"Yeah," Tommy said and everyone in the room smiled, except Hayley. "It's amazing, isn't it? Did they defeat Nicarni-Aso?"
"From what I've heard they have, but we'll find that out for sure when there aren't any more weird occurrences in Reefside," Hayley said. "What are all of you smiling about?"
"Nothing," Aisha said, trying to contain her laughter. "It's just funny to hear about another group of Power Rangers after all these years."
"I don't think it's a new group," Hayley said, afraid to state her odd hypothesis in front of them. "I think it was some of the first ones, but what do I know about the Power Rangers? They could waltz right into my shop and I wouldn't know who they were."
"They're not supposed to be known, Hayley," Billy said, with a sigh of relief. She honestly seemed to be onto something from what he could tell. "It doesn't come with the job descriptionfor them to tell everyone who they are."
"How do you know so much about the Power Rangers?" Hayley asked, and gave a critical glance to everyone in the room.
"We grew up in Angel Grove," Trini said, sleepily. "You know a lot about them, when they originate from your hometown."
"I still think there is more to it than what all of you are saying, but since I can't prove it. I guess I'll have to live with all of this, unless I am lucky enough to meet them before my life is over," Hayley said.
"Tommy, where is a bedroom I can sleep in?" Kim asked, finally surrendering to her extreme exhaustion.
"I'll show you," Tommy said, letting Kim stand up before he got himself off the couch. "Anyone else ready to go to sleep?"
"Me," Trini, Aisha, and Kat said as they all stood up.
"Come on, I'll show you to a room," Tommy said, as he led them over to a set of stairs. They passed two rooms, before Tommy stopped at the third door. "Two of you can bunk up in there."
"I will," Kim said and started to walk in the room.
"So will I," Trini said and closed the door behind her.
"Here's the other room," Tommy said and opened the next door on the right.
"Thank you, Tommy," Aisha said, as Kat and she went inside and closed the door.
"Your welcome," Tommy said, then walked back downstairs.
"He gave us his room, Trini," Kim said, as she opened the closet and found all of Tommy's clothes hanging up. "I hope he doesn't mind me borrowing a T-shirt and a pair of boxers."
"I don't think he would," Trini said, grabbing her pajamas out of her bag. She had remembered to bring in her bag from the car, while it was obvious Kim had not.
"I can't believe he gave up his room," Kim said, having changed into a white T-shirt and black boxers. "Trini, I feel like such a bad person."
"Why?" Trini asked, looking over at her best friend, with astonishment.
"He takes me back, let's us stay here for the night and he gives up his own bedroom to let us get some rest," Kim said, throwing herself on the bed, which only smelled more like Tommy. "I don't deserve this."
"Jason doesn't deserve what I have done to him either," Trini said, sitting down on the bed.
"Trini, you didn't break his heart with a lie," Kim said, bluntly. "I did that and he may have forgiven me, but I haven't forgiven myself."
"Kim, are you happy that you have him back?" Trini asked.
"Yes," Kim said.
"Then, I would dwell on that and save the worrying for later," Trini said and then rolled over to go to sleep.
AN: I have never seen the DinoThunder series, so I do not know what Hayley looks or acts like. Please, do not send me flames if I have portrayed her inaccurately, which I am pretty sure that I have. If you would please tell me, in detail, what she is like I would really appreciate it. Thanks for reading and feel free to review!