Hi guys, thanks for stopping by, I realzie the chapters are short but I'll try my best to keep them frequent. Like I said before this one's taking a little bit of time to develop. Regardless, thanks for the reviews, they motivate me to keep writing. Some of you may have noticed that the rating has changed and that's because I haven't decided how graphic I want to get with this one, so for now it's fine and if I need to change it later I will. Well, enjoy and of course review.

Tommy stared at the blonde haired woman in astonishment; she was most definitely the last person he had expected to encounter at Earl's. She stared back at him in amazement and finally she broke the silence.

"Oh my gosh, Tommy!" she said in excitement as she captured the confused paleontologist in a warm and tight hug.

Tommy was even more surprised than before at Heather's reaction, which was hard to imagine. Though it struck him as oddly coincidental that their second meeting was much like their first. Tommy had been a mere teenager of seventeen when he had first had the pleasure of meeting Heather Thompson, world champion snowboarder. It had been Kat and Billy who had forced Tommy to go on a ski trip in hopes that it would cheer him up after the biggest disappointment of his life, which again was the letter. But when he literally accidentally bumped into Heather at the ski lodge all heartbreak was forgotten, at least for a little while. Tommy and Heather had an amazing chemistry from the start and as they spent more and more time with each other as the weekend progressed, Tommy started to become more and more convinced that maybe life wasn't so bad after all.

Of course, being a ranger Tommy was very aware of the fact that all good things must come to an end and that weekend did end prematurely and so did the relationship between Heather and he. King Mondo had launched another vicious attack against the planet earth and the rangers at home just couldn't handle the heat alone. Tommy and Heather had really made a connection up on the bluff high above the ski valley; they even almost came close to a kiss. But Tommy's ranger duties always took priority. Tommy never forgot the look on Heather's face that day when he told her he had to cut the weekend short, and more vivid, he never forgot the look on her face the last time he saw her.

Kat, being the wonderful friend she was, wanted to help Tommy overcome his heartache over Kimberly, so she called Heather and invited her to a nice romantic dinner with Tommy at the Youth Center. Tommy was skeptical when he originally received the invitation for the mysterious evening, but when Heather arrived in that baby blue dress, all of his doubts were forgotten. They had a nice evening together however it was forced to a halt when Adam and Rocky barged in dragging Tommy away from any chance of a romantic relationship with the girl. King Mondo had once again sent out his monster of the week and as beautiful as Heather looked, Tommy had other responsibilities. Heather was disappointed and rather pissed off at the intrusion and Tommy's early exit. In fact she never bothered to stick around to say goodbye.

Since then, Tommy had wondered many times how different things would have turned out if only King Mondo hadn't ruined their short-lived romance. But every time he asked himself that question it never took Tommy long to come up with an answer. If it had not ended that day then surely it would have ended the next day or the one after that, or the one after that. Simply put, a ranger could not sustain a relationship with a non-ranger for long simply due to the fact that it would be a relationship built on lies and deception. That's most likely why he had turned to Katherine for consolation; something that no other girl could give him.

"Heather!" said Tommy in exasperation. "I can't believe it! How have you been?" he returned the woman's tight embrace, in fact he hugged her even tighter.

"Great!" replied Heather sweetly, finally releasing her hold on Tommy. "What are you doing here, Tommy?" she questioned eagerly.

"What am I doing here!" replied Tommy in surprise, "More like what's world champion snowboarder Heather Thompson doing in a quiet little itty bitty town like Shady Mountain?"

Heather giggled for a moment and Tommy remembered exactly why he had been immediately attracted to her all those years ago. She had the most intoxicating smile and her sparkling brown eyes only made it harder to resist.

"Well, I've got to live somewhere don't I?" replied the blonde beauty proudly. "Actually, after I won the gold medal three years ago it's been nearly impossible to go anywhere without being bombarded for pictures and autographs, and not to mention money."

"Really, money?" questioned Tommy as he tilted his head to one side in confusion.

"Yes money," answered Heather, rolling her eyes. "I'll tell you Tommy, once you've fallen into a little good fortune like I did with all of those endorsement deals all of the 'family,' comes out of the woodwork. It's like suddenly everyone's a cousin I've never met before or a long lost uncle in desperate need of a few thousand bucks." Heather once again swept a golden lock of hair behind her right ear.

"Gee, that must be tough," replied Tommy sarcastically with a smile.

"Shut up!" began Heather playfully, "It's a lot more serious than it sounds. Besides, I like it here. I've been skiing down the other side of Shady Mountain since I was four years old. This place has always been one of my favorite places to be."

There was an awkward silence as the couple became hypnotized by the each other's nervous glances. Tommy was immediately aware of the fact that there would be no trouble picking up where they had left off. Heather still had that vivacious twinkle in her eye that had immediately caught his attention and she clearly hadn't harbored any sour feelings for Tommy in spite of their falling out. Finally, Heather broke the ice once again.

"So," she began bending down to pick up the contents of her shopping basket, which were scattered randomly across the wooden floor, "now that you know why I'm here, do you care to share your story?"

Tommy joined her on the floor and began sorting the items, "Well, I'm actually a science teacher at Reefside High, well I was," said Tommy in hesitation. "I haven't quite decided if I'm going to return next semester, but for now I'm just enjoying summer vacation." He flashed Heather an award winning smile, assuring her that she was the one making his summer vacation enjoyable.

She smiled back at him shyly, "Well, why Shady Mountain?"

"My Uncle John has a cabin on the other side of the lake that he lends out to me whenever I need it, so I've been coming here at least once a year since I was two years old. It's also one of my favorite places to be in the whole wide world."

The two finished cleaning up the aftershocks of their collision and were once again standing.

"And how long is summer vacation?" asked Heather curiously as she dusted off the front of her white tank top and finally rested her hand in the back pocket of her Levi's.

"Well, depending on whether or not I decide to resume my position at Reefside High, I'd say indefinitely," answered Tommy, once again capturing Heather's gaze.

She then smiled again at him but this time her cheeks blushed a rose pink as she became flustered, "So I guess I'll see you around then Tommy." Heather turned around and headed for the cash register.

Tommy stood in the middle of the cookie and candy aisle in confusion. They had quite the flirty banter going on, why did she end it so casually?

"Come on Oliver," Tommy mumbled to himself as he contemplated the situation.

He knew that considering the almost microscopic size of the town that he would most definitely see Heather again, but he had waited so long already that he didn't want to wait anymore. It almost seemed like fate had stepped in that evening at Earl's. What were the chances that at the exact moment that Tommy began to feel the need for a woman, the woman of his dreams would literally knock him off his feet? It had to have been meant to be, but Tommy couldn't even remember how to successfully ask out a girl. Finally, Tommy swallowed his pride and caught up with Heather as she finished her transaction.

"There you are dear," said Aurora with a mischievous grin as she handed the brown paper bag to Heather.

"Thank you Aurora," replied Heather politely, ignoring Tommy and heading straight for the door.

Tommy quickly set his shopping basket down on the wooden counter and followed Heather to the door. He reached it in just enough time to open it for her; she nodded to him as she passed through. Tommy followed her out into the warm air; the fact that the sun had set had absolutely no impact on the temperature. Once the door closed and Aurora was out of earshot Tommy made his move.

"Uh, Heather, wait," he said lightly grabbing her left arm, guiding her to turn around and face him.

"Yes, Tommy?" she said with a devious grin.

"Well, it's just that, um…Well, you know since you and are both here and everything, I uh…", jeez Oliver he thought to himself. You're a grown man and you can't even ask out a woman! But Heather Thompson wasn't just any woman.

"Go on," urged Heather, enjoying the sight of Tommy squirming. She may have forgiven him for ditching her back in Angel Grove, but she certainly hadn't forgotten about it.

Finally, Tommy was able to spit it out, "Heather, would you like to join me for lunch tomorrow down by the lake?" He flinched waiting for her reaction.

Heather shook her head doubtfully. "Well that depends."

"On what?" questioned Tommy immediately.

"On whether or not you plan on staying past the first course," she looked at him seriously.

"Oh Heather," replied Tommy, "I plan on staying long past dessert."

Heather blushed once more, "What time?"

"How's noonish?" answered Tommy immediately, elated with relief. "I'll bring lunch, you can just bring yourself."

"Noonish is good," confirmed Heather, "but I'm bringing dessert."

"Great," said Tommy, "it's the cabin near the old coal mine."

"Got it," said Heather, turning to walk away, "See you latter, Tommy."

"You can count on it, Heather," finished Tommy as he watched Heather walk away to her small blue pickup, he couldn't keep his eye off her.

She didn't look a day older than the last time he had seen her. Just about the only thing that had changed about her was the length of her hair, it reached just bellow her shoulders and sparkled like gold in the moonlight. Tommy was once again falling for Heather Thompson and he was loving every minute of it. But now he had to hurry up and get back into the store, what was he going to make for lunch?

Rocky DeSantos stepped out of the steaming hot shower, wrapping the soft white towel around his slender waste. He approached the mirror and using a hand towel he wiped the condensation off the smooth surface allowing his handsome reflection to emerge. Rocky grinned at himself, flexing his biceps. It was time to get down to business, he began to lather up his face with shaving gel and before long he had a white foamy beard.

Rocky was pretty excited about the evening ahead of him; he had a date with Cheryl, the new human relations girl down at his office. Rocky had climbed up the business ladder quite easily at Stemford Inc., the computer Software Company he worked for. In all honesty, Rocky knew pretty much nothing about computers or software but he could navigate his way around the business end pretty well. In fact his charismatic personality and knowledge of business from college definitely gave him a leg up.

Roomer around the office had it that he was next in line for the head position in the gaming software department. But Rocky wasn't about to believe it until it actually happened. The promotion would be nice because of the money, but the hours were a killer. He already spent sixty hours a week at work now, when he got promoted he figured he'd just have to set up a cot in his office. Of course that would be a brand new corner office with its very own bathroom.

Rocky's face was finally silky smooth, but his hair was in need of some maintenance, actually it was in need of a trim. But since Cheryl was expecting him by 8:30 there had been no time for him to stop off at the barber's. He didn't know why but for some reason he was much more excited about his date this evening than he had been for a long time. It could have been because he hadn't actually been on a date for a long time due to the merge of Stemford Inc. with a smaller but promising company called Antronus Enterprises. It was all pretty dull but it meant a hell of a lot for the industry. And it was because of the merge that Cheryl was even hired. She was a sweet woman, just a few years older than Rocky himself but in all honesty her greatest asset was her looks. She was a ten.

By 8:00 Rocky was down the stairs and by 8:02 he was in his black BMW. As he pulled out the garage a steady flow of rain began to poor, but once he reached the freeway visibility was pretty low. That was okay, though, as long as he had the directions to Cheryl's house. Feeling down in the console between the driver and passenger seat Rocky searched for the small blue memo note, which contained directions to Cheryl's Los Angeles home. But, there was nothing there but a straw wrapper and a parking permit. Cursing himself Rocky realized he had left the tiny sheet in the breast pocket of his gray blazer, which he'd worn to work that day. Rocky immediately searched for a solution, his cell phone. Scrolling through his contacts Rocky found the woman's number and pushed the green send button. He listened eagerly for her voice, but he didn't even hear a ring.

"What? Come on!" yelled Rocky as he hit the steering wheel column with his fist causing the car horn to sound. The service must have been out due to the storm. "Damn it!" Rocky knew his only option now was to get off the freeway and turn around, there was no way he was going to look for a pay phone in this storm.

Rocky dashed out of his car, trying to dodge the rain as he made it up his driveway and into his house. He didn't bother closing the door behind him because he just needed to grab the stupid piece of paper and split. He opened the door of the downstairs closet, which was adjacent to the front door. He then reached in, fished through the pocket and pulled out the lightweight treasure, and stuffed it in his pocket. But as he closed the closet door he saw something out of the corner of his eye coming up the pathway to his front door. Taking a better look, Rocky was in complete shock.

The creature was absolutely hideous and although he had seen quite a few sights in his days as the red and blue rangers, they never even compared. Rocky took his fighting stance in silence, but before he could defend himself the monster's arm shot out in front of him, almost as if he were a changeling or something. The creature's hand cupped Rocky's mouth and without a fight Rocky was out cold, his last memory was the smell of the green gas escaping through the monster's tentacle.