Chapter Five
Tommy sat on the patio late that night. He was just relaxing with a beer in one hand. What Kimberly had said the previous day replayed in his head.
He did remember when she tried to explain the letter and the reasons behind it, but like a stubborn jerk he didn't listen.
The truth was he already knew. Their connection with one another had lasted the long distance. He had never felt it that strongly before.
He remembered when Zordon had explained the bond that connected all of the Ninja rangers and that the bond between him and Kim was the greatest. The most purist of love. A bond that was only shared between them until Rocky and Aisha's relationship developed.
Zordon told him that only true love could feel such a connection and when Kim had sent the letter he felt the loneliness behind he words. She didn't mean to break his heart it just had to be that way. It was too painful for them to be apart.
Tommy sighed and took a sip of his beer. He was a fool to let her go in the first place, but unlike Kim, he did not regret his decision to wallow in his pain and not call or write to try to fix their relationship.
He liked the experiences he had after he was free. He enjoyed his time with Katherine, Julie, Melissa, Stacy and Veronica. Even though he did not date many girls, he dated the ones he was with for long periods of time.
Kimberly was so spunky and full of life in High School. She had immediately caught his eye. Albeit Bulk and Skull was blocking his view, but still he could tell she was beautiful. With her shoulder length brown hair and sparkling brown eyes. She was small but was nicely shaped, especially those legs of hers. Tommy loved how she would tan when the sun was just right.
They started off friends, but it was obvious they were never truly just friends. They were attracted to each other. Tommy didn't see it until she said she miss him and they kissed. Since that moment they were an item. Not even being constantly attacked didn't effect their relationship. It was sweet and romantic almost Elementary School like. At least in public. Tommy found himself sexually attracted to Kimberly and knew she felt the same. They discussed the possibility of 'going all the way' a couple of times and in the long run decided to wait until after High School. That way if anything unexpected was to happen they at least be a little more prepared for it.
Their relationship sustained everything until Kim went to Florida. She had met someone new and didn't want to cheat on Tommy. So she wrote that damn letter. A letter he still had tucked somewhere in a red, white, and green painted shoe box.
It took Tommy most of his Zeo career to get over Kimberly. In the end he realized how pretty Kat was. She was tall, blonde, blue eyed, sweet, and spoke with an Australian accent. He surprising found her accent alluring. Before he never gave a girl with an accent much thought.
Tommy and Katherine's relationship wasn't as sweet and as fairy tale like as his and Kimberly's was. Their relationship was like a normal High School romance. Even if he didn't quite love Kat as much as he had Kimberly, he would not have traded his time with her to have the former pink ranger back. He was so heart broken when they broke up but Kat just couldn't understand Tommy's dance with danger. She didn't want him to race cars any more and that grew to other problems in their relationship. They were not seeing each other often enough. The constant danger of being attacked didn't help either and then their was the thing with Maligore and Divatox. Tommy was still, somewhere, deep down, in love with Kimberly. A fact that came to pass when Tommy and Kat compared the dangers to the pink rangers' lives.
Earlier during their time in the jungles of Africa, Kat was nearly attacked by a giant snake and when Tommy save her the concern in his voice was so light. She then fell off the cliff into ranging rapids and had broken her leg. Again Tommy's concern for Katherine was not as apparent had it been Kimberly.
Later they found out that Kimberly and Jason had been kidnapped by Divatox. When Tommy first saw Kimberly, the emotion in his eyes were like non other. Kat thought he was going to cry. And then when they went to trade Lerigot with Kimberly and Jason, Tommy didn't give up until he checked both dummies. The next thing broke Kat's heart.
Jason and Kim was sacrificed and turned pure evil. When Kim attacked them, Tommy tried to get to her by taking off her helmet and trying to get her to remember him. He was pleading with his eyes for her to remember and the pain in his eyes when she just laughed in his face was so strong you could hear his heart shattering.
It was soon after they gave up their ranger powers when Kat decided to give up trying to win a place in his heart.
She didn't have to try, she was in his heart as deep as Kim, only differences were slight. So slight he couldn't even remember them now. But the major problem held true he was stuck on Kimberly. He loved Kat but not in the way he loved Kim.
Tommy spent half a year racing and during this time he had time to consider his situation. He had to come with terms with the fact that he was always going to love Kimberly. She was his first love. Yet he knew that he had to be patient and see if there was a way for them to get back together. If that wasn't possible he would have to learn not to compare his next girlfriend with her. Then he had to learn not to compare his next girlfriend with Kat.
So when he figured all this out he went to college and met Hayley. They quickly became could friends. It was obvious to both that they were not interested in each other. Even though Tommy was smart Hayley preferred her men to be able to match her intellectually. Which was a hard task. Tommy amused himself with her love life for a while before he wanted on of his own.
The former leader of the Power Rangers was still a romantic at heart.
Julie Matthews was his first girlfriend during college. Tommy had met her through Hayley and they hit it off right away. Julie was a blond like Kat and was well proportioned liked Kim. Julie had dazzling green eyes and creamy white skin. She was extremely smart and loved to talk about Tommy's life as a race car driver. Julie was his first lover and with her he learned quite a few interesting things about pleasuring a woman. They dated for over a year before they ended their relationship. Julie wanted a commitment and Tommy wasn't ready. He had no problem with committing he just felt he wasn't ready and with some bitter words she broke up with him.
By the time he began to date Melissa Kyle, Tommy realized he had a natural trend of being dumped, so he tried something different. Melissa a black haired goddess, naturally too, Tommy soon found out. She had blue eyes and was fairly tall only an inch shorter than Kat. She was fun loving and loved to flirt.
Tommy and Melissa's relationship was as racy as his race car career. It seemed all they had was hot, wild sex and Tommy loved every moment of it. But there was no strong root for them to grip on and Melissa ended up betraying Tommy. She slept with one of his closest friends at the time and Tommy had caught them in the dojo, that Jason had decided to teach at. Needless to say both former red rangers were furious. So with more bitter words that relationship ended.
Tommy decided to take a break for a while before dating again, but a year later he met Stacy Richardson.
Tommy had settled on a career in paleontology and was on a dig with a friend of his, Terence Smith, Smitty. Smitty introduced Tommy to Stacy. Stacy was also tall. Her hair was golden blonde and her eyes were violet. She was very beautiful and was also very smart. Tommy's relationship was taken slowly and grew over time. Tommy believed that someday they would marry. The different approach to this relationship was that they decided to wait until marriage or engagement to be intimate. But tragedy struck in Stacy's family, her parents died in a car crash and she fell into a catatonic state. This ended their relationship of course. The doctors said she just wasn't going to get any better. Tommy was saddened by this.
It took him a long time to adjust to life without Stacy.
Tommy met Veronica Jackson, on a dig with Dr. Anton Mercer. Veronica was a clumsy African American with straightened dark brown hair and piercing chocolate eyes, much like his own. She was curvy and well endowed. They continued to run into each other at the dig site and at camp. One time they, decided to talk. They found they had a lot in common. They found out they were staying in the same city and pretty much in the same area. They exchanged contact info and agreed to get together one day.
Not even a week after the dig had ended and they were sent home, Tommy got called by Veronica. They decided on lunch and began dating a week later.
Veronica and Tommy's relationship, ended up being the longest Tommy had ever had. He wound up telling her everything and everything means everything. She was surprised to find out he was once a power ranger, but got over it and promised to keep his and his friends' secret. She met all of the former rangers, except for Kim, which she had found quite intriguing. She had noticed how Tommy's eyes would lighten then darken when he spoke of the woman.
One rainy day Tommy purposed to Veronica. She accepted and they quickly made plans. They were going to get married after Tommy returned from the island, but that never was meant to be. Soon after the islands destruction, he returned to their apartment and told her all that occurred. Then he told her they couldn't be together anymore, it was too risky. Veronica understood, this was going to end up being ranger business someday. She respected his decision, because of the stories he shared with her. Kimberly was constantly in danger because of him and he couldn't put her through that.
With a lingering kiss they parted ways, promising to remain friends. And they have through e-mail.
Tommy sighed again and finished his beer before standing up. He stared out over the compound. When he spotted Kimberly he smiled.
There was no use dwelling over things you can't change. The only thing you can do is go for a good future.