The lake brought back so many memories for Tommy and Kimberly. It was the place where they first kissed. On every date, they came down to the lake. It was also place where they came when they needed to have time alone. One of those times was when Kimberly had her power coin stolen and Tommy rescued her from Zedd's dark dimension. And there were also sad memories made at the lake. The first one was when Kimberly's power coin was stolen. And the second one was when Tommy got the breakup letter, and he came there to get away from everyone.
"So, what's on your mind?" Tommy asked as they took a seat on a bench.
"A lot of things," Kimberly answered when Tommy handed her a cup of hot chocolate. "It's a long story?"
"Like what?" Tommy asked when he moved closer to her. "You can take all the time you need."
"You don't even know this," Kimberly started as tears started to run down her face. "I got kicked off the gymnastics team by Coach Schmidt. If it had not happened, I'd be competing in the Pan Global Games this week."
"What happened?" Tommy replied.
"Training was getting more intense every day," Kimberly started as she took a sip of her hot chocolate. " I was training on the uneven bars, and I missed grabbing one. I landed on my wrist. My roommate Shawna Hilton took me to the doctor to get an x-Ray. I learned that I broke my wrist. Coach Schmidt came by to see how I was doing."
"What happened?" Tommy questioned.
"Coach Schmidt told me that I was a disgrace if I stopped training to let my wrist heal. He said I needed to practice no matter what," Kimberly continued as she laid her head on Tommy's shoulder. "He gave me a week to decide what I was going to do. During that week, a new girl named Shelly came. She was so much better than me. She was faster and had the prefect body. Coach Schmidt told me to watch Shelly during practice. I had to sit there and watch her for hours during that whole week. During that time, all I could think about was you and you were all I talked about. I wanted to leave practice five minutes early so I could call you. But Coach Schmidt told me that you probably moved on and wouldn't want to talk to me."
"That must have been the time that he wrote that break up letter!" Tommy gasped as he pulled her closer.
"You almost did move on," Kimberly reminded him as she gazed into his chocolate eyes. "If it wasn't for your brother overhearing the villain's talking, you be dating someone else."
"Kim, it didn't happen," Tommy reminded her. "I found out the truth and I went after you."
"Tommy," Kimberly said taking a deep breath. "I haven't been truthful with you about something. You know how you've been asking me if I am going to get into gymnastics again?"
"Yes, what about it?" Tommy questioned taking hold of her hand.
"I can't," Kimberly revealed as a tear ran down her face. "I broke my wrist in two places, and I learned I could never do gymnastics again. Coach Schmidt told me that I was a disgrace, and he should not have waisted any time on me. He said he should have realized it when he was in Angel Grove because I was getting up and leaving every time he turned around. He also said that when I hit my head during training was bad enough. But if it happened during an important competition, it could really influence him. Coach Schmidt also said he was supposed to be the best gymnastics and he didn't want me to ruin his career."
"I wish I could knock some common sense into that peanut size brain of his," Tommy hissed as he hugged her. "You were such a talented gymnast. All he cared about was his fame and being well known. He didn't even care about the well-being of his athletes."
Kimberly got up from the bench and walked over to the lake. "Kimberly are you okay?" Tommy asked as he walked over to her.
"My mom isn't going to be able to make it in for Christmas," Kimberly revealed as she picked up a rock and threw it into the lake. "Pierre has to go on a business trip and she's going with him."
"I know," Tommy replied as he wiped her tears with thumbs. "My mom told me that you were crying last night when you got a phone call from her. Mom told me to not say anything until you were ready to talk about it."
"Thank you," Kimberly said as she hugged him. "I'm glad that I'm getting to spend Christmas with you."
"Me too," Tommy smiled as he hugged her back. "We're going to have a good Christmas. My mom and dad have a lot of stuff planned for Christmas."
Author's note:
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.
In the next chapter a former ranger makes an appearance.
