Chapter 3: Kim's 31st Birthday
Rating: PG-13
Notes: The Power Rangers are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Please read Kim and Kira, so you don't get confused. One of my fine reviewers asked for some Tommy and Kim, so here you are!
February 14th, 2005
Kimberly slept peacefully in her and Tommy's bed. She awoke, turned, and found Tommy's side of the bed empty. She wasn't surprised. Since it was a Monday, she knew he'd be at work. Kim, on the other hand, gave everyone at her academy the week off, so she could enjoy her birthday. She was surprised when, a few moments later, Tommy opened the bedroom door, and walked in with a tray with two plates of pancakes & bacon, two glasses of orange juice and a single pink rose in a vase, and said, "Happy Birthday, Beautiful…"
"Thank you," said Kim, a sounding a bit confused, as she sat up in bed, "Why aren't you at school?"
Tommy set the tray down, and sat on the bed, "Kat gave me the day off."
"That was nice of her," she gave him a kiss. Kim then started to eat her breakfast.
As Tommy started to eat he said, "Eat up… I have our whole day planed…"
"Really?"
"Yep… Trust me… this is going to be one of your favorite birthdays."
Kim smiled and soon they finished. As Tommy was getting ready to take the tray downstairs, she asked, "Can I have a hint of what we are going to be doing today?"
"I'll tell you this much," said Tommy, "Dresses, skirts, and high heels would not be appropriate attire for our first stop." Then, he left.
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A short time later, Kim walked outside, and saw Tommy loading a couple of backpacks into the back of the Jeep. She was wearing a pink top, blue jeans, and sneakers, "How is this?"
"Perfect," he said, as he walked up to her and kissed her, "Ready to go?"
"Yeah," she said, as they walked to the Jeep. He opened the door for her, she got in and asked, "So… are you going to tell me where we are going?"
Tommy smiled, "Nope." Then, he closed her door and walked around to the drivers side.
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After a few hours drive, they arrived at a ranch, in the foothills of the Angel Grove Mountains, "Where are we?" asked Kim, as she got out of the Jeep.
"Tommy!" called a voice from the ranch house. Tommy and Kim looked at the house, and saw Tommy's brother, David on the porch.
Tommy smiled and walked over to his brother and gave him a hug, "It's good to see you."
"Same here," said David.
Tommy broke the hug and motioned for Kim to come over, "David, this is my fiancée, Kimberly Hart. Kim, this is my brother, David Trueheart."
"It's nice to meet you, David," said Kim, as she held out her hand.
"Like wise," said David, as he shook it.
Just then, Sam Trueheart, David's father walked on to the porch. Tommy walked up to him and gave him a hug, "It's good to see you, Sam."
"You too, Tommy."
"Sam, this is Kimberly Hart, my fiancée. Kim, this is Sam Trueheart."
"So, this is the crane that brought light back into the heart of this mighty falcon."
Kim was a little stunned by Sam's statement, "Yes…," said Kim, "It's nice to meet you, Sam."
"The pleasure is mine," said Sam, "So, what brings you here?"
"I'm not quite sure… Tommy still hasn't told me."
"You'll see…" said Tommy, "Come with me…" He led her back over to the Jeep, took their backpacks out of the back. Then, he called to David and Sam, "We won't be gone too long."
"Lunch should be ready by the time you get back," said David.
Then, Tommy and Kim headed toward the mountains. As they walked, Kim looked at Tommy and asked, "Tommy? Did you tell Sam about us being Power Rangers?"
"Of course not."
"Then, how did he know about the crane and the falcon?"
Tommy smiled, "Sam's very intuitive about these kind of things. Even though he doesn't know about us being Power Rangers, he can sense our Ninja Animal Spirits."
"But, our Ninja Powers are gone."
"Not totally…"
Just then, they reached the edge of a small cliff, Kim looked out at the trees and mountains and said, "Wow… It's beautiful."
"This is where I come when I need to get away from everything, relax, and think"
Kim looked at him and asked, "Tommy, what did mean when you said that our Ninja Powers weren't gone?"
Tommy looked and saw a large stone, "Come over here and sit down." They sat down, and Tommy continued. "It would be easier for me to show you instead of tell you."
"Okay…"
"Now, I want you to close your eyes and concentrate on that part of your being where your Ninja Powers were…"
Kim shrugged her shoulders slightly, closed her eyes and concentrated. The next thing she knew, she was no longer on the cliff side with Tommy. She wasn't sure where she was. Wherever she was it was black. There was no sky, no horizon, there wasn't anything. Except, for a pink glow in the distance. Not sure what else to do, she walked toward the faint pink light. As she got closer to it, she saw that the pink light was coming from a pink crane, lying on the ground. Kim wasn't unsure if it was dead or sleeping. She knelt by the crane and looked at it, still not sure what to do.
Just then the crane opened its eyes and looked at Kimberly, it stood up, and said, "Hello, Kimberly. It's good to see you again."
Kim was stunned, "How do you know my name?"
The crane chuckled, "I know many things about you, Kimberly… My name is Trah, I'm your Ninja Animal Spirit and Guide."
"But, I gave my Ninja Powers to Kat. Shouldn't you be with her?"
"No. You see, all humans are born with a Ninja Animal Spirit that helps them and guides them in their lives. When Ninjor gave you and the other Power Rangers your Ninja Powers, the powers where based on the Animal Spirits that each of you possessed. You still have your Ninja Powers. But, in order to morph, you would need another source like a gem, crystal or coin to do that. The Power Coins were destroyed. But your Animal Spirit never will, unless, of course, you're destroyed. The only reason Katherine could accept the Pink Power Coin, was that her Animal Spirit is a Crane as well."
"I see… But, how come I couldn't feel your presence?"
"When your Power Coin was stolen and Lord Zedd was draining the power from it, I had to put myself into a deep slumber, in order to protect the both of us from destruction."
"So you've been asleep this whole time?"
"Somewhat… I could still sense what was going on with you and guide you when I thought you needed it. But, I was reawaked when you found the Pink Dino Gem…" Just then, they heard the call of a falcon, "I'm afraid our time together is up, for now."
Kimberly smiled, "It was good to see you again, Trah."
Trah smiled, "It was good to see you as well, Kimberly… And, Happy Birthday…" Then, the crane took off into the sky.
Just then Kimberly opened her eyes, and saw a crane and falcon flying together in the sky, overhead. "Wow…"
"How do you feel?" asked Tommy.
"Wonderful," said Kim, "So that's why you brought me up here today…"
"Yep, well it wasn't all my idea. My Animal Spirit, Revilo, thought it would be a good idea."
Kim smiled and they kissed. As they kissed, they could sense their Animal Spirits together.
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After lunch, with David and Sam, Tommy and Kim headed back to Reefside. "I just remembered something," said Kim, "I have to stop at Kira's, she said she had a birthday present for me."
"You got it…" said Tommy, and a short time they pulled up in front of Kira's house. They headed inside and found the house unusually quiet.
"Where is everybody?" asked Kim.
Tommy looked around, saw a note on the table next to the stairs, and said, "Here's a note…"
Kim looked at the note, and said, "It says they are in the backyard."
They headed to the backyard and as just as she opened the back door, they heard a loud "SURPRISE!"
Kim was absolutely stunned, she looked around and she saw all of her Ranger friends. Jason and his wife Kat, Billy, Zack, Aisha and her husband Rocky, Adam and his wife Tanya, Hayley, Conner, Ethan, Trent, and Kira. But, what made Kim even happier was who was standing on either side of Kira, it was Kim's parents and their spouses.
"Mom! Dad!" said Kimberly, as she headed over to them.
She hugged each of them and Richard Hart said, "Happy Birthday, Pumpkin…"
"Thank you, Daddy," said Kim, "What are you doing here?"
"Are you kidding?" said Caroline Dumas, "We wouldn't miss this for the world."
Tommy walked over to them, and Richard said, "Tommy… It's good to see you."
"Nice to see you too, Mr. Hart," said Tommy, as he shook his hand.
Caroline hugged him and said, "You look good…"
"Thank you, Mrs. Dumas."
"Kimberly tells us you're a high school science teacher now," said Richard.
"Yeah… I was doing some research work with a big corporation. But, I got tired of the rat race, so, I decide to settle down and become a teacher."
"Well, our schools need good teachers…"
"And, Dr. O is one of the best," said Kira.
Kim wrapped her arm around Tommy waist and smiled.
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Later that evening, Tommy was sitting on the back porch watching his fiancée talk to her friends when Richard walked up to him, "May I sit down?" he asked.
"Sure," said Tommy.
Richard sat in the chair next to Tommy, "You know, Tommy… I'm glad that you and my daughter got back together…" Richard looked at his daughter, "I want you to take good care of her…"
Tommy smiled, "You don't have to worry, Mr. Hart… Kim's the most important thing in the world to me… She's in good hands…"
"Good…" Richard, then switched his gaze to Kira and Conner, "Now, what can you tell me about the young man who stole my granddaughter's heart?"
Tommy looked at the former Yellow and Red DinoThunder Rangers and smiled, "Conner is a great guy… Kira picked a good one…"
"Kim says he's a soccer player."
"One of the best at Reefside University."
"Do you know what he plans to do after college?"
"Well, he's getting a degree in business and plans on opening his own soccer camp."
"Sound's like he's got a good head on his shoulders… And, from what I saw… A pretty good Red Ranger…"
Tommy was absolutely floored at what Kim's father said, "Umm… What are you talking about… Conner wasn't the Red Ranger."
Richard smiled, "Tommy, I've know for awhile that you and your friends, including my daughter and now my granddaughter, were Power Rangers."
"But… how?"
"Kim came to see me not long after she and Chris broke up… We were talking… I brought up you and told her that I never understood why she broke it off with you in the first place. In her explanation of why she wrote The Letter, she inadvertently let it slip that all of you were Power Rangers."
"How much did she tell you?"
"A lot… About how they became Rangers and how you became a Ranger… Then, after Mesogog was defeated Kim told me that not only were you two Rangers again, but now my granddaughter and two of her friends were as well…"
"Does anyone else know?"
"No… Kim swore me to secrecy."
"Good…"
Richard looks at Kim and Kira, "You know, when you see the Power Rangers you always wonder, 'Who are they?' 'Where did they come from?' You don't picture them as a bunch of teenagers… No offense…"
"None taken… But, only a few teams have been made of just teenagers…"
"You know the other teams?"
"Oh yeah… I got to meet a bunch of the former Red Rangers on a mission to the moon a few years ago…"
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Later that night, Tommy was in bed, reading, when Kim came out of the bathroom. She was wearing a long, low cut, pink nightgown that reached to her ankles and was supported by two thin pink straps across the shoulders. Tommy set his book on the nightstand and looked at his fiancée and said, "You look fabulous."
"Thank you," said Kim, as she lifted the covers to get into bed. Once she was next to Tommy, she kissed him and said, "This was a little birthday present I bought for myself."
"I love it…" said Tommy as he kissed her.
"So, what were you and Daddy talking about all night?"
Tommy smiled, "We were exchanging 'war' stories…"
"So he told you…"
"Yep… You know, we really should consider telling our parents the truth about our high school years."
"Yeah… Maybe…"
"We'll talk more about that later. Did you have a good birthday?"
Kim snuggled up to Tommy and said, "You were right this was one of my best birthdays ever."
"I'm glad to here it."
"But, there is one more thing that would make this birthday great…"
"And, what would that be?"
Kimberly leaned close to Tommy and kissed him very passionately. Tommy returned the kiss and turned out the lights…
