p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""When you spend a lot of your life fighting evil, you have to come to terms with the fact that you might not always come out unscathed. You learn to acknowledge that there might even be times you might not make it out alive or that friends of yours might not make it out. No matter how hard you work, at some point, someone is going to get hurt. That knowledge, though, does not make it any easier when it actually happens, when death comes for you or for one of your own." Jason paused and looked down at the people seated below, his eyes carefully avoiding, for now, the wooden casket lying at the front of the podium. He took a deep breath, knowing that he had to be strong for his sister, sitting there with tears streaming down her class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""The worst battles, though, are the ones that you can't see. Those are the ones that all of us fight every day, but also the ones others know nothing about. Those are the ones that impact us the most, though. We can get help for the visible battles; people will fall over themselves to help us if they see the signs, even if we don't need it. But the mental battles? When you are fighting yourself? Those are the hardest ones to fight. No one knows you better than yourself; no one can hurt you worse than you hurt yourself." He swallowed hard, blinking rapidly to keep back the tears that wanted to spill down his own class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""My brother lost that fight. He lost the battle I didn't know he was fighting, the one I couldn't help him win because I couldn't see that he was fighting it. But we cannot let that define him. One moment of his life does not sum the entirety of it." He looked around the full hall, seeing many faces he knew and so many more that he did not. At the back of the room was a large knot of people he knew only superficially, but the ties and scarves gave away their identity, and he nodded his head toward them in class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""My brother was the fiercest of competitors. He never liked to lose, and he did everything he could to be the best. We never did work out which of us was the better. I'm pretty sure that it was him, but I would never have told him." Jason threw out a wink here, and the low rumble of laughter was gratifying. "He was also wicked smart, not that I ever told him that either." Jason shrugged here. "He had a Ph.D so I'm hoping he figured that part out himself and didn't need me to point it out." He paused for a long moment. "Maybe I should have told him then." His grin invited another ripple of class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""The thing in his life he was most proud of though was his family. Anyone who has ever seen him with Kim or their kids cannot help but know how much he loved them, how much he lived for them. Many of you know that I have known Tommy since high school, so most of you probably know that I've been there for every step of Tommy and Kim's relationship. Every long, slow step of it." The ripple of laughter this time was softer but somehow more class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""Every single one of the most happy days in his life involved that woman and their kids. The day they got married I thought I was going to have to call an ambulance for him, he stopped breathing when he saw his Kim walking down that aisle. And then when the boys were born? I was glad we were already in a hospital in case he passed out." Jason shook his head. "If you didn't see it you might not fully understand it, but my brother lived every day for his family. And if you were lucky enough to be one of his close friends he loved you like family too." Jason looked around again, seeing some people starting to wipe at tears in their class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""Those of us he loved? We are the lucky ones for we had the love of one of the most incredible men to have walked this earth. Someone who was willing to give 110% for a friend and even more for his family. Someone who gave far more of his life than most people will ever know to making sure that everyone had the best life possible." He stopped and took a moment to clear his throat. "I can't believe now that he is gone, that we have lost that light." Jason's head bowed and he stared at the casket before him, draped in a white cloth topped with a bouquet of red roses. The silence was just starting to get uncomfortable when he looked back up. "Now, it is up to us. Now we have to carry on his legacy and show the world that he may be physically gone but all of the things that he taught us are still a part of who we are. We cannot change that. We will always love hard, just as he did, and we will fight the good fight to make sure that evil does not prevail, just as he did. We will show the world that his life was not in vain and that he made the impact on this world that he always wanted to make. This illness did not define him, and it did not defeat him."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Jason stepped down from the podium, exhaustion lining his face as he stepped away. He stopped next to the casket and laid on hand on it, bowing his head again. "May the Power Protect You, brother," he whispered before moving to take his seat next to Hayley in the row behind Kim and the kids. She gripped his hand tightly, wordlessly offering the support that she knew he needed in that moment. Her thumb brushed along the back of his hand in repetitive, soothing motions as the service continued to move forward with Father McCallen stepping forward to begin the next set of prayers. The service itself was nearly as soothing as the feeling of Hayley's hand in his and Jason found himself taking as deep a breath as he had since he had learned the news that Tommy was class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino; min-height: 18px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"The service had ended eventually, as they all must, and then continued at the graveside. Kim had stood stoically next to the open ground with her children flanking her. They had made quite the striking picture of bleak grief. Kims long blonde hair, starting to be liberally streaked with grey was pulled back in a sleek chignon, a black fascinator with a veil perched on her head, the small half veil serving to help hide her grief. Her stark black dress, jacket and heels were broken only by a strand of pearls that Tommy had given her on Taylor's wedding day and the matching bracelet and earrings he had given her on Amanda's wedding day. Their boys stood to either side of her. Both of them tall and rangy like their father. Adrian was the spitting image of his father while JT looked more like handsome mix of the two. His face was more like Kims but his whiskey eyes were Tommy's all the way through, as was his messy long hair. They wore matching black suits and ties with shirts of deep grey and long wool coats overtop. To either side of them were the twins, flanked on their other sides by their husbands. Both girls wore black dresses with black coats and hats, each with a small green pin in the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Fr. McCallen officiated the short graveside service and watched from the other side of the grave as Adrian and JT supported their mother through her grief. As the coffin was lowered into the ground, her knees seemed to give out as well and Adrian was soon supporting her weight against himself, his brother lending a helping hand and both of their sisters reaching out to grip her hands. His sharp eyes missed none of it, and he found himself regretting this service more than any other he had done recently. He still remembered their wedding with fondness, it was one of his favorites he had ever officiated, and he had never thought he would be burying one of them. He would have sworn their love would carry them through class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"As the crowd started to disperse, the knot of rangers seemed to grow larger. They stood respectfully to the side, all but the originals and the Dino Thunder rangers. Those Rangers were family, and they gathered around Kim and the kids as such, taking their time for these final goodbyes. Even those to must come to an end, though, and the waiting crowd of Rangers was happy to absorb the smaller knot into their body. They buffered their grieving members from the rest of the people who had attended the funeral and escorted them back to the cars to ride back to the house in the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino; min-height: 18px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Kim looked up at the house as they pulled up and had to take a deep, shaky breath. "You can do this," she whispered to herself. "Better now than when I'm alone."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Adrian looked over and her and then put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay, mom? Do you need a few minutes or can I get you something before you go inside? Or would you rather just go back to Amanda's?"/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Kim shook her head. "I'll be okay. I just need a minute." She looked over at him. "We need to move back in here. We can't live with your sister forever. It's not going to be easy; I know that. I have so many memories of your father here; he'll be around every corner for a long time. But it will help, I think. Not being away from those memories should help me to come to terms with them. I hope anyway."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Adrian nodded. "Understood, mom." He looked at the house himself and took a deep swallow, trying to reign in his own raging emotions. "We are gonna get through this together. All of us. I'll take a semester off, so you don't have to be alone."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""You absolutely will not," Kim's head whipped around to stare at him. "You are not putting your education on hold for me. If you need the time for yourself, that is okay, but I will be okay. You don't have to take off for me. JT is still home, and Amanda is just down the road. Taylor isn't far either, and I've got Tommy and Hayley here in town, plus so many others. I don't want you to think you have to give up your life for me. I'll be okay, I promise you." Her eyes took in the fear on his face, and her own softened. "Baby boy, I promise you will not lose me too, not yet. If I start to feel the demons eating at my brain, I will remember this, and I will get the help I need to beat them. I won't let this illness take both of your parents from you like that."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Tears welled up in Adrian's eyes as he looked away from her. "I never would have thought Dad would let it take him either. He's always been one of the strongest men I know."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Taking his hands into her own, Kim took a few moments to put her thoughts together. "He is, was. Your father was so strong, baby, but sometimes our brains are worse. And you can't think of it like he let it take him. Really, at the end of it, he probably felt like he had no choice. It didn't seem to him like he was letting him take it; he probably thought he was finally defeating it by giving in that way. He would never have given in to something that would take him from you without very good reason, even if we don't understand that reason. You were his pride and joy, his firstborn son who looked so very much like him. He never played favorites, or at least he tried hard not to. But at the same time, he loved all of you very deeply."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""I know, mom. It's just …. Mom, I'm scared. I can't lose you too. I think that … I think I need to take time. For me. For my heart to acknowledge that you aren't also going to leave me, for it to be on the same page as my brain."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Kim wrapped her arm around him and tugged him as close as the seats allowed. "Ade, honey, you take all the time you need. This isn't going to be something any of us overcome anytime soon. And as long as you are taking the time for yourself, then if you need to take a semester off, you have my full support." Adrian just nodded as he buried his head into her shoulder for a long moment, shaking a bit as tears soaked through her dress. Kim just held him and let him cry for as long as he needed./p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino; min-height: 18px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Eventually, Kim and Adrian made their way inside the house to join the rest of the people who had gathered. JT had plastered himself to Kim's side the moment she made it into the house, and she was more than willing to let her youngest son stay so close. The girls were working the room with the support of their husbands, and Adrian was doing his best on his own after washing off his face, but her youngest felt the need for additional support, and she intended to give it to class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"As they worked their way through the room, with Kim speaking to everyone who had come and doing her best to keep herself together so her kids could have their time to reminisce with the people who knew their father best instead of having to tend her, she was reminded how many people Tommy had impacted. There were former students, former coworkers, and so many more people milling around the house, and not one of them had anything negative to say. The words she heard more than anything else were: "he changed my life," and she couldn't help but agree with class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Slowly the room filtered out, and eventually, the only people left were those who had been Rangers at some point in their life or who had been involved with any one of the teams in any way, such as Hayley. That was the point when she finally felt free to let go of the impassive face she had been wearing all day. Sagging into the couch, she looked up at her friends, at her second family, and they could not help but see the grief on her face, starkly carved class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""Why?" She asked, looking up at them. "Why did this happen? And how are we going to move on from here? It feels so impossible at this moment. There is no moment in which I thought that any of this would end this way. I don't know how I missed that he was so far gone that he felt this was the only way to free himself."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""You can't blame yourself," Ashley sat next to her and took her hand into her own. "What we do, what we've seen, its hard to get past." She looked down at her own lap and then over to Kim. "I can't say I haven't had these thoughts myself. And," she took a deep breath, "I may have actually tried to do so something about it. Twice." Everyone but the other Space Rangers inhaled sharply, but otherwise, the room was silent. "I would honestly be surprised if you didn't find others who haven't felt the same. I think it is just that Tommy is the only one who succeeded, maybe the only one strong enough to actually go through with it."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Andros stepped behind the couch to lay his hands on Ashley's shoulders. "We have seen this a lot on KO-35. I think maybe you Earth rangers have been lucky so far and have maybe been stronger so far. But it is not uncommon, unfortunately, on KO-35 for those who served in the Ranger Corps to take their own lives."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""Terra Venture has had this happen as well," Leo said quietly from the corner he was leaning class="Apple-converted-space" /span"And I know of it happening on other worlds too. That this is the first time here on Earth is a blessing for your teams. And a tragedy when we look at who it was." He shook his head. "I have known far too many who have given into these demons. And I am truly sorry that it has happened here and that it has happened to Tommy. He was a legend, and every time I fought with him, I learned something new. He had so much knowledge to share in techniques, in leadership, and just being around him was inspiring."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Kim looked over at Leo with a trembling smile. "He loved every time he got to go back out in the field. I don't think he ever regretted agreeing to mostly hang up his morphemes, but at the same time, when he got to go out there? He was alive in a way that he wasn't always the rest of the time. He always came back with a new sense of life, and it was hard not to be jealous." All of the other non-Red Rangers in the room nodded; they had all experienced this as well since somehow the missions only ever seemed to have involved Red class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Jason snorted from where he was seated with Hayley curled up in his lap. "That man had no sense of self-preservation. But he was one hell of a Ranger. And an even better brother. I could not have asked for a better one." He nodded to Kim. "From what I saw, he was an incredible husband, and I know damn well he was a fantastic father. His family meant more to him than anything, which is why," he sent a fond smile to Kim, "he said no to more missions than I think you know about."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Andrés nodded in response to Kim's incredulous look. "Several times he told me he could not go anywhere because of an event here in town, in this family. If there was someone else who could go, then he sent them instead. He let the kids, as he called them, get their turn to shine while we," Andrés gestured to the older rangers in the room, "were still young enough to save them."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Kim chuckled a bit at that. When she was given curious looks, she elaborated. "That was one of the arguments I used when I was trying to tell him he needed to slow down a little bit. We may have had to learn on our feet, with no safety net or anything, but we don't have to let the other Rangers here on Earth do the same." The rest of the group nodded their agreement, and with that, the gathering started sharing their favorite Ranger memories of Tommy and then in general, as often happens. Slowly even the other Rangers drifted away until it was just the originals, along with their Zeo and Turbo counterparts, the Dino Thunder team, and the Elemental team that Amanda had been a part class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"This much more personal group, the teams who had directly served with and under Tommy, sat together for quite some time. They weren't ready to part yet because to do so seemed to make it even more real that he really was gone. Just as they had for Trini after her accident, they sat together, even in silence, holding onto the bonds that they had forged countless times together through countless battles and meals, and other adventures. They were a unit, one cohesive whole, even if they didn't get to see each other often anymore./p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"The sun was starting to come up before they finally broke up before they slowly started to filter out of the house and back to their own homes. They had seen each other through the darkest part of the night, and in the dawn of the new day, they knew that they would somehow find the strength to continue to keep moving. If they all left with a deeper resolve to check in on each other more often, none of them said anything. Their leave-takings were largely in silence. Gripped hands, hugs, and a few nods, but very few words were class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino; min-height: 18px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"As it ever does, it took time for Kim, the kids, the former Rangers, and countless others to really come to terms with the fact that Tommy was gone. They all had their moments of wanting to call, of wanting to speak with him for his advice or even just his willing ear. Adrian did end up taking one semester off of school to come to full terms with the loss of his father in such a tragic way. Together he and Kim were able to keep JT together enough to keep him from needing to repeat his senior year of high school, though he didn't enjoy it the same way he might have otherwise. One of the hardest moments, Kim reflected, since they had lost Tommy was when Taylor and also Amanda had announced that they were expecting their first class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Taylor and Preston had had the family over for dinner. They had invited Jason and Hayley as well, and it was a merry group who had gathered together, one of the first times they had all done so since the funeral. After dinner, Preston had gotten everyone's attention, and then he and Taylor had given them the news that she was pregnant with their first child. Sheer joy had lit Kim's face, excitement for Jason, Adrian, and JT, but Amanda's face had been the funniest as her jaw dropped in class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""Seriously?" She had asked, "Like this is legit? You are gonna have a baby?" Taylor nodded; she could tell her sister wasn't mad but more in shock, understandable since she wasn't sure that she had ever told Amanda that they were actually actively trying now. Taylor was, though, a bit surprised when Amanda started to class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"It took a few mixtures for Amanda to calm down, but when she did, she looked over at Taylor with a huge smile. "We really like to do things together," was all she class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"It took Taylor a second for what her sister had to sink in, and then she squealed and ran around the table, where Amanda jumped from her seat for the two of them to hug and sway while squealing. It took a few extra moments for the rest of the table to realize what had just happened, but when they did, there were congratulations being flung all over the place. Kim was wiping happy tears from her eyes as she wrapped her two girls into a hug. They pulled her into their sister's sandwich, and for just a brief moment, it was like it had been all those years before, the three of them against the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Then, the moment was gone, and they were all wrapped in a series of hugs. The joy was flowing around the table, and Kim found herself rejoicing in it. There would be time enough later to mourn that Tommy wouldn't see his grandchildren, now was the time to celebrate that they were coming. Inexorably time marches on, and we move beyond the loss we've experienced, gone but never quite forgotten. /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"A.N. I know I haven't posted anything here in a really long time. Life got in the way, and I haven't been writing as much fanfiction. But, I needed a way to say goodbye to Tommy Oliver, to Jason David Frank and I thought this would be a nice way to do it. /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"RIP JDF. May the Power Protect You/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""The worst battles, though, are the ones that you can't see. Those are the ones that all of us fight every day, but also the ones others know nothing about. Those are the ones that impact us the most, though. We can get help for the visible battles; people will fall over themselves to help us if they see the signs, even if we don't need it. But the mental battles? When you are fighting yourself? Those are the hardest ones to fight. No one knows you better than yourself; no one can hurt you worse than you hurt yourself." He swallowed hard, blinking rapidly to keep back the tears that wanted to spill down his own class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""My brother lost that fight. He lost the battle I didn't know he was fighting, the one I couldn't help him win because I couldn't see that he was fighting it. But we cannot let that define him. One moment of his life does not sum the entirety of it." He looked around the full hall, seeing many faces he knew and so many more that he did not. At the back of the room was a large knot of people he knew only superficially, but the ties and scarves gave away their identity, and he nodded his head toward them in class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""My brother was the fiercest of competitors. He never liked to lose, and he did everything he could to be the best. We never did work out which of us was the better. I'm pretty sure that it was him, but I would never have told him." Jason threw out a wink here, and the low rumble of laughter was gratifying. "He was also wicked smart, not that I ever told him that either." Jason shrugged here. "He had a Ph.D so I'm hoping he figured that part out himself and didn't need me to point it out." He paused for a long moment. "Maybe I should have told him then." His grin invited another ripple of class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""The thing in his life he was most proud of though was his family. Anyone who has ever seen him with Kim or their kids cannot help but know how much he loved them, how much he lived for them. Many of you know that I have known Tommy since high school, so most of you probably know that I've been there for every step of Tommy and Kim's relationship. Every long, slow step of it." The ripple of laughter this time was softer but somehow more class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""Every single one of the most happy days in his life involved that woman and their kids. The day they got married I thought I was going to have to call an ambulance for him, he stopped breathing when he saw his Kim walking down that aisle. And then when the boys were born? I was glad we were already in a hospital in case he passed out." Jason shook his head. "If you didn't see it you might not fully understand it, but my brother lived every day for his family. And if you were lucky enough to be one of his close friends he loved you like family too." Jason looked around again, seeing some people starting to wipe at tears in their class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""Those of us he loved? We are the lucky ones for we had the love of one of the most incredible men to have walked this earth. Someone who was willing to give 110% for a friend and even more for his family. Someone who gave far more of his life than most people will ever know to making sure that everyone had the best life possible." He stopped and took a moment to clear his throat. "I can't believe now that he is gone, that we have lost that light." Jason's head bowed and he stared at the casket before him, draped in a white cloth topped with a bouquet of red roses. The silence was just starting to get uncomfortable when he looked back up. "Now, it is up to us. Now we have to carry on his legacy and show the world that he may be physically gone but all of the things that he taught us are still a part of who we are. We cannot change that. We will always love hard, just as he did, and we will fight the good fight to make sure that evil does not prevail, just as he did. We will show the world that his life was not in vain and that he made the impact on this world that he always wanted to make. This illness did not define him, and it did not defeat him."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Jason stepped down from the podium, exhaustion lining his face as he stepped away. He stopped next to the casket and laid on hand on it, bowing his head again. "May the Power Protect You, brother," he whispered before moving to take his seat next to Hayley in the row behind Kim and the kids. She gripped his hand tightly, wordlessly offering the support that she knew he needed in that moment. Her thumb brushed along the back of his hand in repetitive, soothing motions as the service continued to move forward with Father McCallen stepping forward to begin the next set of prayers. The service itself was nearly as soothing as the feeling of Hayley's hand in his and Jason found himself taking as deep a breath as he had since he had learned the news that Tommy was class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino; min-height: 18px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"The service had ended eventually, as they all must, and then continued at the graveside. Kim had stood stoically next to the open ground with her children flanking her. They had made quite the striking picture of bleak grief. Kims long blonde hair, starting to be liberally streaked with grey was pulled back in a sleek chignon, a black fascinator with a veil perched on her head, the small half veil serving to help hide her grief. Her stark black dress, jacket and heels were broken only by a strand of pearls that Tommy had given her on Taylor's wedding day and the matching bracelet and earrings he had given her on Amanda's wedding day. Their boys stood to either side of her. Both of them tall and rangy like their father. Adrian was the spitting image of his father while JT looked more like handsome mix of the two. His face was more like Kims but his whiskey eyes were Tommy's all the way through, as was his messy long hair. They wore matching black suits and ties with shirts of deep grey and long wool coats overtop. To either side of them were the twins, flanked on their other sides by their husbands. Both girls wore black dresses with black coats and hats, each with a small green pin in the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Fr. McCallen officiated the short graveside service and watched from the other side of the grave as Adrian and JT supported their mother through her grief. As the coffin was lowered into the ground, her knees seemed to give out as well and Adrian was soon supporting her weight against himself, his brother lending a helping hand and both of their sisters reaching out to grip her hands. His sharp eyes missed none of it, and he found himself regretting this service more than any other he had done recently. He still remembered their wedding with fondness, it was one of his favorites he had ever officiated, and he had never thought he would be burying one of them. He would have sworn their love would carry them through class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"As the crowd started to disperse, the knot of rangers seemed to grow larger. They stood respectfully to the side, all but the originals and the Dino Thunder rangers. Those Rangers were family, and they gathered around Kim and the kids as such, taking their time for these final goodbyes. Even those to must come to an end, though, and the waiting crowd of Rangers was happy to absorb the smaller knot into their body. They buffered their grieving members from the rest of the people who had attended the funeral and escorted them back to the cars to ride back to the house in the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino; min-height: 18px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Kim looked up at the house as they pulled up and had to take a deep, shaky breath. "You can do this," she whispered to herself. "Better now than when I'm alone."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Adrian looked over and her and then put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay, mom? Do you need a few minutes or can I get you something before you go inside? Or would you rather just go back to Amanda's?"/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Kim shook her head. "I'll be okay. I just need a minute." She looked over at him. "We need to move back in here. We can't live with your sister forever. It's not going to be easy; I know that. I have so many memories of your father here; he'll be around every corner for a long time. But it will help, I think. Not being away from those memories should help me to come to terms with them. I hope anyway."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Adrian nodded. "Understood, mom." He looked at the house himself and took a deep swallow, trying to reign in his own raging emotions. "We are gonna get through this together. All of us. I'll take a semester off, so you don't have to be alone."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""You absolutely will not," Kim's head whipped around to stare at him. "You are not putting your education on hold for me. If you need the time for yourself, that is okay, but I will be okay. You don't have to take off for me. JT is still home, and Amanda is just down the road. Taylor isn't far either, and I've got Tommy and Hayley here in town, plus so many others. I don't want you to think you have to give up your life for me. I'll be okay, I promise you." Her eyes took in the fear on his face, and her own softened. "Baby boy, I promise you will not lose me too, not yet. If I start to feel the demons eating at my brain, I will remember this, and I will get the help I need to beat them. I won't let this illness take both of your parents from you like that."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Tears welled up in Adrian's eyes as he looked away from her. "I never would have thought Dad would let it take him either. He's always been one of the strongest men I know."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Taking his hands into her own, Kim took a few moments to put her thoughts together. "He is, was. Your father was so strong, baby, but sometimes our brains are worse. And you can't think of it like he let it take him. Really, at the end of it, he probably felt like he had no choice. It didn't seem to him like he was letting him take it; he probably thought he was finally defeating it by giving in that way. He would never have given in to something that would take him from you without very good reason, even if we don't understand that reason. You were his pride and joy, his firstborn son who looked so very much like him. He never played favorites, or at least he tried hard not to. But at the same time, he loved all of you very deeply."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""I know, mom. It's just …. Mom, I'm scared. I can't lose you too. I think that … I think I need to take time. For me. For my heart to acknowledge that you aren't also going to leave me, for it to be on the same page as my brain."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Kim wrapped her arm around him and tugged him as close as the seats allowed. "Ade, honey, you take all the time you need. This isn't going to be something any of us overcome anytime soon. And as long as you are taking the time for yourself, then if you need to take a semester off, you have my full support." Adrian just nodded as he buried his head into her shoulder for a long moment, shaking a bit as tears soaked through her dress. Kim just held him and let him cry for as long as he needed./p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino; min-height: 18px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Eventually, Kim and Adrian made their way inside the house to join the rest of the people who had gathered. JT had plastered himself to Kim's side the moment she made it into the house, and she was more than willing to let her youngest son stay so close. The girls were working the room with the support of their husbands, and Adrian was doing his best on his own after washing off his face, but her youngest felt the need for additional support, and she intended to give it to class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"As they worked their way through the room, with Kim speaking to everyone who had come and doing her best to keep herself together so her kids could have their time to reminisce with the people who knew their father best instead of having to tend her, she was reminded how many people Tommy had impacted. There were former students, former coworkers, and so many more people milling around the house, and not one of them had anything negative to say. The words she heard more than anything else were: "he changed my life," and she couldn't help but agree with class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Slowly the room filtered out, and eventually, the only people left were those who had been Rangers at some point in their life or who had been involved with any one of the teams in any way, such as Hayley. That was the point when she finally felt free to let go of the impassive face she had been wearing all day. Sagging into the couch, she looked up at her friends, at her second family, and they could not help but see the grief on her face, starkly carved class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""Why?" She asked, looking up at them. "Why did this happen? And how are we going to move on from here? It feels so impossible at this moment. There is no moment in which I thought that any of this would end this way. I don't know how I missed that he was so far gone that he felt this was the only way to free himself."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""You can't blame yourself," Ashley sat next to her and took her hand into her own. "What we do, what we've seen, its hard to get past." She looked down at her own lap and then over to Kim. "I can't say I haven't had these thoughts myself. And," she took a deep breath, "I may have actually tried to do so something about it. Twice." Everyone but the other Space Rangers inhaled sharply, but otherwise, the room was silent. "I would honestly be surprised if you didn't find others who haven't felt the same. I think it is just that Tommy is the only one who succeeded, maybe the only one strong enough to actually go through with it."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Andros stepped behind the couch to lay his hands on Ashley's shoulders. "We have seen this a lot on KO-35. I think maybe you Earth rangers have been lucky so far and have maybe been stronger so far. But it is not uncommon, unfortunately, on KO-35 for those who served in the Ranger Corps to take their own lives."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""Terra Venture has had this happen as well," Leo said quietly from the corner he was leaning class="Apple-converted-space" /span"And I know of it happening on other worlds too. That this is the first time here on Earth is a blessing for your teams. And a tragedy when we look at who it was." He shook his head. "I have known far too many who have given into these demons. And I am truly sorry that it has happened here and that it has happened to Tommy. He was a legend, and every time I fought with him, I learned something new. He had so much knowledge to share in techniques, in leadership, and just being around him was inspiring."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Kim looked over at Leo with a trembling smile. "He loved every time he got to go back out in the field. I don't think he ever regretted agreeing to mostly hang up his morphemes, but at the same time, when he got to go out there? He was alive in a way that he wasn't always the rest of the time. He always came back with a new sense of life, and it was hard not to be jealous." All of the other non-Red Rangers in the room nodded; they had all experienced this as well since somehow the missions only ever seemed to have involved Red class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Jason snorted from where he was seated with Hayley curled up in his lap. "That man had no sense of self-preservation. But he was one hell of a Ranger. And an even better brother. I could not have asked for a better one." He nodded to Kim. "From what I saw, he was an incredible husband, and I know damn well he was a fantastic father. His family meant more to him than anything, which is why," he sent a fond smile to Kim, "he said no to more missions than I think you know about."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Andrés nodded in response to Kim's incredulous look. "Several times he told me he could not go anywhere because of an event here in town, in this family. If there was someone else who could go, then he sent them instead. He let the kids, as he called them, get their turn to shine while we," Andrés gestured to the older rangers in the room, "were still young enough to save them."/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Kim chuckled a bit at that. When she was given curious looks, she elaborated. "That was one of the arguments I used when I was trying to tell him he needed to slow down a little bit. We may have had to learn on our feet, with no safety net or anything, but we don't have to let the other Rangers here on Earth do the same." The rest of the group nodded their agreement, and with that, the gathering started sharing their favorite Ranger memories of Tommy and then in general, as often happens. Slowly even the other Rangers drifted away until it was just the originals, along with their Zeo and Turbo counterparts, the Dino Thunder team, and the Elemental team that Amanda had been a part class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"This much more personal group, the teams who had directly served with and under Tommy, sat together for quite some time. They weren't ready to part yet because to do so seemed to make it even more real that he really was gone. Just as they had for Trini after her accident, they sat together, even in silence, holding onto the bonds that they had forged countless times together through countless battles and meals, and other adventures. They were a unit, one cohesive whole, even if they didn't get to see each other often anymore./p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"The sun was starting to come up before they finally broke up before they slowly started to filter out of the house and back to their own homes. They had seen each other through the darkest part of the night, and in the dawn of the new day, they knew that they would somehow find the strength to continue to keep moving. If they all left with a deeper resolve to check in on each other more often, none of them said anything. Their leave-takings were largely in silence. Gripped hands, hugs, and a few nods, but very few words were class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino; min-height: 18px;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"As it ever does, it took time for Kim, the kids, the former Rangers, and countless others to really come to terms with the fact that Tommy was gone. They all had their moments of wanting to call, of wanting to speak with him for his advice or even just his willing ear. Adrian did end up taking one semester off of school to come to full terms with the loss of his father in such a tragic way. Together he and Kim were able to keep JT together enough to keep him from needing to repeat his senior year of high school, though he didn't enjoy it the same way he might have otherwise. One of the hardest moments, Kim reflected, since they had lost Tommy was when Taylor and also Amanda had announced that they were expecting their first class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Taylor and Preston had had the family over for dinner. They had invited Jason and Hayley as well, and it was a merry group who had gathered together, one of the first times they had all done so since the funeral. After dinner, Preston had gotten everyone's attention, and then he and Taylor had given them the news that she was pregnant with their first child. Sheer joy had lit Kim's face, excitement for Jason, Adrian, and JT, but Amanda's face had been the funniest as her jaw dropped in class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""Seriously?" She had asked, "Like this is legit? You are gonna have a baby?" Taylor nodded; she could tell her sister wasn't mad but more in shock, understandable since she wasn't sure that she had ever told Amanda that they were actually actively trying now. Taylor was, though, a bit surprised when Amanda started to class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"It took a few mixtures for Amanda to calm down, but when she did, she looked over at Taylor with a huge smile. "We really like to do things together," was all she class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"It took Taylor a second for what her sister had to sink in, and then she squealed and ran around the table, where Amanda jumped from her seat for the two of them to hug and sway while squealing. It took a few extra moments for the rest of the table to realize what had just happened, but when they did, there were congratulations being flung all over the place. Kim was wiping happy tears from her eyes as she wrapped her two girls into a hug. They pulled her into their sister's sandwich, and for just a brief moment, it was like it had been all those years before, the three of them against the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"Then, the moment was gone, and they were all wrapped in a series of hugs. The joy was flowing around the table, and Kim found herself rejoicing in it. There would be time enough later to mourn that Tommy wouldn't see his grandchildren, now was the time to celebrate that they were coming. Inexorably time marches on, and we move beyond the loss we've experienced, gone but never quite forgotten. /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"A.N. I know I haven't posted anything here in a really long time. Life got in the way, and I haven't been writing as much fanfiction. But, I needed a way to say goodbye to Tommy Oliver, to Jason David Frank and I thought this would be a nice way to do it. /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;"RIP JDF. May the Power Protect You/p