Rated M for everything. Disclaimer. I do not own Power Rangers.

Please read and review.

-x-

CHAPTER TWO

Keep 'em Coming

Tommy's House

Wednesday, June 6th, 7:06pm

Reefside, CA

2010

Kimberly looked at him through the mirror.

He was staring back intently as she applied her mascara. She'd tried to hold him off when she'd come out of the shower, narrowly avoiding a horribly awkward situation as he ran into her room while she was only wearing a towel.

But fortunately, Grandma Oliver had arrived by then, and Miles had gotten distracted by the older woman's presence long enough for Kim to get dressed.

But that was short lived. After a minute of open-mouthed smooches and suffocating hugs from his grandmother, Miles had taken off once more, running around the house in dizzying laps and opening every door he could find. He'd only settled down once more when Kim had allowed him access into her room again to watch her apply her makeup. He sat on the bench, his head inclined as Kim's mouth parted while she ran the wand up and through her lashes.

She smiled when she saw him mimic her face, his trusty companion Monsto seated on the bench beside him.

She switched to the other eye. "Is a Monsto a boy?" Kim asked.

Miles shook his head. "Oh, Monsto's a girl?" Miles shook his head again.

"Oh," Kim laughed. "How progressive of them."

Miles giggled. Kim smiled. Certain he was reacting more to her own laughter than her comment.

"What's at on your face?" He pointed to her.

She held up the wand. "This? This is called mascara."

"Mascra," he repeated. Kim nodded.

"It goes on your eyelashes and makes them all long and pretty."

"Mascra," Miles tested out the word. Kim replaced the wand inside the tube and spun around to face him.

"You don't need it cause you have already have long and pretty eyelashes," she said.

Miles stared up at her as she grabbed her bag and set in her lap. She took a seat on the other side of him, careful not to displace Monsto.

"You have eyelashes like your daddy," Kim mused, digging through her small pouch of jewelry.

She let Miles paw at the items in her bag while she searched what she was looking for.

"What's for?" He held up one silver hoop.

"That goes in your ear," she explained, gently tugging on one of his own. Miles grabbed her ear in return.

She motioned to the earring. "What do you think? Should I wear these?"

He prodded her ear. "Is hole for that?" He asked.

"Do you wanna see?" She asked. He nodded. Kim took up the hoop and slipped the post through her piercing, securing the back.

Miles went to grab the hoop. Kim winced as she stilled his hands. "Ooh, be careful, honey. That can hurt, okay?"

Miles snapped his hand back. "I can wear too?"

Kim smiled. "Well, you could. Some earrings you can wear even if you don't have them pierced like me. But I don't have any of those. And you don't have yours pierced."

Kim held up the other hoop. "Do you wanna help me put this one on?"

Miles nodded. Kim set the bag aside as Miles held the hoop. Kim helped him to sit in her lap as she moved her hair out of the way to expose her bare ear.

"Okay, do you see that tiny little hole?" She demonstrated how to poke the post into her ear.

He took the earring back and tried it himself. She flinched when he accidentally stabbed her. He stuck his tongue out, a move she'd quickly come to recognize, determined to get the earring on as she'd shown him.

He got it, smiling as Kim cheered. But he'd not remembered to secure the back and the hoop came tumbling out into Kim's lap. Miles looked confused. Kim showed him what had gone wrong. She pried him off her lap and reinserted the hoop into her ear and closed the clasp.

"Your daddy had his ears pierced when he was little, did you know that?"

Miles blinked back at her. She smiled and reached out to brush a tendril off his face. The boy's dark brown curly hair leveled at his chin. It was a bit of a mess currently, but she thought him precious with his full head of hair.

He looked so much like Tommy it was eerie. True, she hadn't known Heather well enough to know if what she saw reflected in the boy was more like her but, just from a general glance, the boy was a spitting image of his father.

"Something smells good," Tommy shut the door to his bedroom and wandered into the kitchen.

He hovered over his mom's shoulder. "Damn, maybe we should just eat here."

"Too bad, I only made enough for me and Miles." She waved him away.

He checked his reflection in the wall oven door. He futzed with his hair, raking his fingers through the spikes he'd tried to set with gel earlier.

He backed up and presented himself. "Do I look okay?"

She eyed him carefully. "Sure."

He frowned. "Thanks, mom."

She laughed and tapped the spoon against the rim of the pot she'd been stirring, knocking off the excess sauce and setting the spoon to rest on a towel by the stove.

"You always look handsome," she chided, "Don't be a ninny."

He rolled his eyes.

She sat at the table. "Is there something you need to tell me?" She wondered.

"What are you talk—no," he scoffed, "What do you mean?"

Patty nudged her head towards the arch. "You said you and Kim hadn't talked in years."

"We haven't, so what?"

She snickered at her son's obtuseness. "It was nice to see her again this evening."

Tommy nodded.

"So you two are going to Borde del Mundo, huh? That's a nice place."

Tommy shrugged. "It's okay, I guess."

Patty studied him for a moment. Leaning up against the kitchen sink, arms folded over his chest. Trying his best to appear aloof. She didn't know why he bothered.

"Miles seems to like her," Patty said.

Tommy smiled almost reflexively at the thought. Patty smirked.

"I suppose she is rather nice to look at, isn't she?" Patty said.

Tommy shot his mom a look. She laughed at the apprehended expression he wore.

"Oh, you are just too easy my dear." Patty stood and crossed over to him. He grimaced as she smoothed out his black dress shirt.

"Please don't lick your hands and touch my hair."

She gave him a playful smack. "When did you get so fussy?" she mumbled, straightening his collar.

"Roll up your sleeves and lose another button up top."

He scowled behind her back as she returned to her cooking. He grumbled as he undid the second button along the neck and started to release the cuffs, tucking and folding the fabric until it reached his elbow.

"Better?"

She glanced over her shoulder. "Much."

He shook his head in mild annoyance as Kim entered carrying Miles.

Patty gave her a smile. "Hello again Kimberly."

"Hi," Kim said, setting Miles down. "Sorry to keep you waiting, we had a slight Monsto fiasco."

Tommy's brow rose. "Uh oh." He spun around to see Miles climbing up into a kitchen chair. "What happened with Monsto?"

"Well, it seems that Monsto was super curious about all of Kimbree's makeup."

Tommy snorted as Kim scrunched up her nose. "I hope Monsto is machine washable."

He smiled, stepping back to actually notice her. "You look great."

She blushed and bit her lip. "Thanks. So do you."

He gave her a bashful grin.

Patty eyed the two from her spot at the stove as she shoveled a scoop of pasta onto a plate.

Tommy cleared his throat and turned back to his son. "Well, we should probably get going."

He placed a kiss atop the boy's head and ruffled his hair. "We'll be back in a bit, bud. Be good for Gamma, okay?"

Miles nodded distractedly as Patty set the plate of pasta in front of the boy as she reached up to kiss her son on the cheek.

"Thanks again, mom. We won't be out too late."

Patty shushed him. "Take your time. I'll be here."

He nodded and waved goodbye to Miles again. The boy ignored him, busily chewing his pasta.

"Bye Miles," Kim offered. Miles held up his hand in a feeble sort of wave, still engrossed in his food.

Tommy rolled his eyes and laughed as he turned to guide Kim out the door.

"Bye Mrs. Oliver, it was good to see you again."

"You too Hon, I'm sure we'll see each other again soon."

Kim smiled and spun back towards the door as Tommy led them out.

Patty sighed as she watched them go. "I think you're daddy's in trouble…" chuckling as she turned back to dish her own plate of pasta.

Miles grunted and smashed his hands into his food. "Shouble, shouble!"

-x-

Borde del Mundo

Wednesday, June 13th, 9:14pm

Reefside, CA

2010

Tommy sighed. "We spent Thanksgiving that year with Jason and Trini. Howie and Vanessa had just been born, so they couldn't travel just yet. We got to Christmas and neither of us could agree on whose family we'd be going to see. I tried to explain that my dad had been in and out of the hospital a lot recently and it was really important for me to see him. Heather said her mom deserved to see her grandchild—I tried to argue the same—but we couldn't agree on anything so— in the end, she took Miles to see her mom and I went and saw my folks alone. She came back two weeks later and asked for a divorce."

Kim gave a sympathetic groan. "Wow. I'm so sorry."

He shrugged. "Yeah, well, it had been a long time coming. We filed pretty quickly. Met with a mediator before we got any lawyers involved. And I didn't contest the divorce, so— all in all, it was fairly painless. The hardest part was the custody hearings."

Kim shook her head. "I can't imagine having to negotiate something like that."

"Miles was barely three. So naturally Heather fought like hell to use that in her favor. Saying she was the mother, she shouldn't be separated from him. I had leverage, I guess. I could have told them about how she reacted to even being pregnant, but that felt cruel somehow. She'd changed after—I don't mean to give the wrong impression. She's not a bad mother, whatever she felt about the whole thing before Miles was born. Doesn't really matter now. She's been great with him these past few years. It's me she's shitty with. Not that it's not entirely unwarranted I suppose…anyway, it all worked out in the end, right? Joint custody and all that."

"I can't believe you have a son…." She shook her head at the glory of it all.

He smiled ruefully. "I know…." He smirked. "So, your turn."

She snorted. "Oh, you don't wanna hear about my stupid life after everything you've been through."

He smiled. "Try me. " He tilted his head expectantly, waiting for her to answer.

"Well, where to start?"

He snickered. "How about the beginning?"

She bit her lip. "Well, obviously I won at the Pan Globals."

She smiled bashfully. "It was such an out of body experience. I mean, I had been in Florida training with Coach Schmidt for less than six months…"

Tommy smiled, he remembered watching her on TV. He'd called her to congratulate her, told her he loved her and how proud of her he was.

That had been a month before he'd gotten her letter.

"But I barely had anytime to celebrate, we moved straight into the Olympic Trials. Mark and I were both being fast tracked for places on the USA teams. We were both pretty high ranking and it was a big deal to have two 17 year-olds get as far as we did. Especially me—most female gymnasts have aged out by the time their 20—so, we were together at all these press junkets, and interviews, and of course we had trained together since day one…"

Tommy watched her as she spoke. She hoped Tommy wouldn't press her for more details, letting all the things she didn't say fill in the blanks.

"And I don't know if it was the sudden realization that I wouldn't be graduating with all my friends, or the reality of having given up my powers or maybe just—missing…home…"

Kim stumbled at the last word and shot him a quick look. He was still listening but his expression was stoic. She cleared her throat.

"Anyway, I told Mark that I was thinking of quitting. He told me it was ridiculous to give up my spot and the chance to go to the Olympics. But then I told him I didn't know if I even wanted to stay in Florida anymore. He told me I didn't care enough about him, which led to a huge fight and us almost breaking up."

There. There was as much absolute confirmation as she could muster, in case Tommy was still waiting for her to admit that she and Mark had actually dated, of if he'd somehow inexplicably missed it. She doubted it would be the latter.

"I was just really overwhelmed by everything. Mark assured me that all the nostalgia I was feeling was normal. And I realized that even if I came back home, I wouldn't have much to come home to, so…"

She spared him a sad smile. He swallowed a lump in his throat. They were both so sure they'd moved on from their break up. It had been over ten years. But something about dredging it all back up, hearing the bits and pieces you'd always wondered about, it made them both a bit contemplative, and maybe even a bit sad all over again.

"So I stayed in Florida, sort of begrudgingly, and took a job as an assistant coach. It paid well, and I still got to do gymnastics without the pressure of competing. Mark and I didn't see each other as much now that he was training all the time…but he was like, on his best behavior after the almost break up…"

Tommy snickered. He didn't know Mark, never met him, blessedly. But he understood the best behavior thing. He'd played that card a few times after some fairly tenuous fights with past girlfriends.

Tommy nodded for her to continue.

"But things were never quite the same. By the fall, I had all but made up my mind that I wanted to leave. I was antsy, and restless. I hated that I still had classes on top of everything else. Things with Mark got strained. He asked me to meet his parents. I was totally freaked out. It was way too soon for that and we weren't getting along at all. But I had no other plans at that point. And then Jason called. He was going back to Switzerland for winter break to see Trini and Zack and he said I should go with him."

Tommy chuckled at that. He knew a part of that phone call had been at his own behest. Other than Jason, no one on the current team had talked to Kim much since she and Tommy had broken up. A sign of solidarity, he supposed. But he'd wanted a way to check in on her without doing it himself. He'd wanted to, but his pride wouldn't let him.

Tommy also knew, that Jason had just lost the Gold Ranger powers, broken up with Emily, and was set to graduate early thanks to his work at the Peace Conference. He'd already moved out of his parents' house. Rented a townhouse in Reefside, get away for a while. Tommy knew better than most the desire to be alone after losing your powers. And so Jason's future was a bit up in the air. Inviting Kim to Europe had served many purposes.

Kim smiled. "It was all I could do to not just take off right then. I would have gladly waited on the stoop of the Scott's house until it was time to leave. No one would even have to worry about me. I'd just hang out in the mean time, and sleep in my suitcase, like a little Disney mouse."

Tommy started laughing at the sheer glee on her face. It was electric, to see her smile like that again. The cute face she made when she'd described herself as a mouse, the way she bit her lip for fear he might find her silly.

He licked his lips and ducked his head, suddenly fascinated by the mosaic table.

"Jason flew out to Florida first. He met Mark. And that went about as well as I expected it to." She rolled her eyes.

Tommy snickered, daring to look back up at her. "Jason doesn't like him?"

Kim eyed him carefully. She caught his phrasing. She didn't correct him. He'd find out Mark was in the past tense soon enough.

She chose a signature phrase. "Like, duh."

They both laughed. Kim elaborated.

"Jase has always been super protective of me, and you're his best friend—and Mark, like a dummy, thought there was something going on with me and Jason and I just—did I mentioned how excited I was to get out of Florida?"

Tommy smirked. "Mark's not the first guy to think that you and Jase were dating."

Kim dismissed him with a wave. "Yeah, yeah. But like, eww, gross."

He chuckled. Kim laughed at her antics and shook her head wistfully.

"That trip was absolutely everything I needed it to be. A total escape from all my dumb choices up to that point, and with three of my best friends."

She got a bit emotional as she described her memory. Tommy propped his head against his hand and listened.

"I thought I might break Trini I hugged her so hard. Zack took us dancing. I told everyone what I'd been up to. Jason filled us in on how everyone back home was—and then of course, Trini and Jason got together, like, finally."

Tommy nodded. "Yeah…he'd been planning that for a moment."

"Those two crazy kids…" She sighed wistfully. "I didn't want it to end. I had missed this. I missed my friends. So, Jason and I flew back, made plans for spring break and then I broke up with Mark, for real."

Tommy looked at her in surprise. "Really?" he snickered. "You know, if you were trying to convince him that you and Jason weren't dating, breaking up with him right after coming back from Europe with the guy was probably not the way to do it."

Kim grimaced. "True. And I probably would have waited if I had known how Mark would react."

Tommy frowned at that. Kim dropped her head. If she thought it was hard telling Tommy about dating Mark, she didn't know if she was entirely ready to tell him about their breakup.

"It turns out, Mark's a really angry, possessive guy. I don't think he actually thought something was going on with me and Jase, but—he had an epiphany or something, cause he flipped out when I told him it was over."

Tommy's jaw ticked. He had a terrible feeling he already knew where her story was headed.

She steadied herself. This was undoubtedly one of the hardest things she'd ever done. And that included saving the world at fifteen years old.

"He...hit me."

She knew without focusing on him that Tommy was seething across the table. God help her if she started crying. Actually, God help Mark.

It might have been 12 years since they'd dated, and their friendship into adulthood might have been spotty up to this point, but she knew as well he did that they still cared about each other.

She reached for her drink and took a huge sip, more for the distraction than even the alcohol. Though that helped too.

She set the glass back on the table and spared a look to Tommy. As suspected, he was staring back at her intently. His nostrils slightly flared and his mouth pulled into a hard, thin line.

"He, uh—" Kim started again. Her hand unconsciously flew up to her temple, thinking about where Mark had struck her hardest.

The impact had left her face red and swollen before a huge bruise appeared. She looked like she got hit in the face. There was absolutely no other way to account for her appearance. She wasn't competing anymore, she couldn't use falling off an apparatus as a reason. And because of their high profile status within the program, everyone knew they were dating. Mark would undoubtedly be accused. Kimberly's reputation might suffer, but his entire career would be over.

"All I'd wanted was to be done with him," Kim explained. "I'd settle for covering his ass if it meant he would stay away from me for good."

Tommy still said nothing. She didn't know in this moment if she was more grateful or worried over his silence. She went on regardless.

"So we said I had been assaulted by some random guy," she scoffed. "Mark played the part of the concerned boyfriend when we went public with our excuse. It was actually kind of easy after that. If people wondered why they never saw us together anymore we'd just spin something about me having flashbacks to the attack or feeling vulnerable and distant—which I suppose wasn't entirely untrue, so…"

Kim bypassed the need to look back up at Tommy at this point. She knew what he was thinking. But she supposed there was also a bit of fear that she'd find judgment in his eyes. Or shoot her now, pity.

"I debated for months whether or not to tell anyone the truth. But Mark had kept his word and stayed away from me and by then my bruise had healed so it didn't seem as necessary, I guess? I don't know. Maybe I was just ready to forget about it."

She rubbed a hand to her temple once more and sighed.

"Anyway, Jason got in touch with me again before spring break. He knew I'd say yes to just about anything if it meant I could leave Florida so, I flew back to California. Ironic, isn't it? I flew away from Florida for spring break?"

She managed a small nervous laugh chuckle. "And then one fateful day, Jason and I decided to go scuba diving…"

Tommy nodded in understanding. "Muiranthias…"

Kim's head shot up. It was the first he'd spoken since she'd started the whole Mark saga.

She willed herself to keep looking at him. Mercifully, she didn't find a trace of pity in his expression. Though there was perhaps a bit of judgment. And maybe some anger too. Though now that Muiranthias had been mentioned, it was hard to know if his steely expression was from that particular disaster, or if he was still coming off of hearing about Mark.

Despite his inscrutable look, Kim felt better having finally told the one other person she was most afraid of telling about that dark spot in her life.

Jason, of course, had been the other. Of which she'd told him while being held hostage by Divatox. She supposed that was an unfair way to confess something so profound, but they were trapped on a potentially alien planet with no certainty of surviving. At least this way, there was some assurance that Jason couldn't immediately hunt Mark down and kill him.

But they did survive. And Jason was always in big-brother mode on a good day.

After hearing her story, he'd gone into hyper-drive. His increased dotage and attention to her in the aftermath had resulted in one of the most awkward rescues she'd ever been a part of. Normally everyone's just grateful to be alive, with previous slights or squabbles promptly eschewed in favor of hugs and kisses.

Well, there had been a few hugs. Adam and Rocky had been insanely happy to see her and Jason both.

Tanya, who really only knew Jason, and Kat, though there were no hugs, had at least been glad their friends were okay.

Neither she nor Jason knew Justin, and the young boy had seemed more excited to be a Power Ranger before anything else.

But Tommy had barely disguised his contempt. If he'd ever been glad his friends hadn't actually, ya know, died, he didn't show it.

Not even the brief moment of them saving Jason together was enough to dispel the ungracious behavior he'd shown once they'd all returned to the Command Center.

But now, watching him stare at her as she regaled him with her tragic backstory, she hoped it put some things into perspective, and maybe even offer some closure. Either way, she was thankful to have unburdened herself a bit.

Kim gave him a small smile and his face softened.

"When Jason and I got back home, he announced he was going back to Europe for the summer. He tried to get me to stay in California and graduate with the rest of you guys. It was definitely tempting, but by then we only had like, two months left. But I made him a promise that if he helped me move back to Angel Grove before he took off for Switzerland, I'd help him propose to Trini."

Tommy gave a short chuckle at that. "That sounds like a deal you'd make."

She flashed him a real smile this time. There was more he wanted to say about the Mark situation, she could tell. More questions he wanted to ask. But she was grateful he'd set them aside for the time being and decided to rejoin her in easier topics.

"I graduated in absentia from Angel Grove, just transferred the credits from Miami High. And true to his word, Jason was on a plane the day after graduation. I didn't have much with me, but enough that I didn't want to ship it home and have to wait for it. So we rented a truck, loaded it up, and drove back to California. He let me stay at the townhouse while I looked into applying for college."

"What happened to helping him with his big romantic proposal?"

She smirked. "That's where the townhouse comes in."

Despite Jason's impetuous notion of jetting off to Europe and sweeping Trini off her feet, money was a bit tight. He'd known for some time how he'd felt about the raven-haired beauty, but he doubted very much she'd be willing to just drop everything she'd built for herself in Switzerland on the promise of love in a two-bedroom rental. So Jason had been saving up, little by little. He'd received a stipend from his ambassadorship. He also finally confessed his plan to his parents, who were more than happy to help.

Kim had no such worries for money, she was thankful to say. Her win at Pan Globals had come with quite a hefty payout. So she offered to pay the rent on the townhouse while she stayed there. Jason refused at first. Taking his friend's money almost unthinkable. It'd been hard enough to accept his parents' help. But he eventually caved. He'd need all the financial support he could get. He didn't know how long he'd have to stay in Switzerland to convince Trini to marry him, and he'd be damned if he would return to the States without her his fiancée.

"Since I had applied late to AGU, I'd have to wait to hear if I'd been accepted. So I was kind of floundering in California for a while before deciding that I hadn't seen my mother in forever. And if I had to wait on college, I might as well do it in France."

Tommy nodded sagely. His own life the summer after high school had also been in flux. His team had just passed their powers to a whole new Ranger crew, and he'd felt an inescapable need at the time to do something reckless and completely his own. The pressure from his parents to go to college warred with his newfound love of stock car racing.

And of course, his relationship with Katherine was ending before it had ever really begun. They'd only officially started dating a few months after Kim's letter.

He supposed the swiftness of dating Kat should have taken the sting out of how quickly Kim appeared to move on. But he felt more justified. He and Kat had known each other for nearly two years. And had clearly liked one another in that time, and they'd waited until the last minute to declare themselves official.

Nevertheless, Kat had been accepted to the Royal Dance Academy in London.

And what the hell was he supposed to do in London? He tried to get her to stay. But like Kim and the Pan Globals before her, studying at a prestigious dance company was Kat's dream. And he'd be damned if he'd be responsible for taking that away from someone.

So they parted ways. It was fairly amicable. Not necessarily inevitable but mutual all the same.

Kim smirked. "I ran into Kat in London."

He snickered. "Your ran into her? What, with your car?"

Kim snorted.

He eyed her suspiciously. "I thought you went back to France to visit your mom."

"I did, for a bit. And then I decided to just skip around. Maybe do some shopping…"

He rolled his eyes. "Some things never change…"

She laughed. "Kat and I had a weird but necessary chat."

He scowled. "About me?"

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. "No, about the other guy we both dated…."

He snickered. "What did she say?"

"Well, I don't want to tell any tales outside of school but, let's just say it helped me make peace with our breakup."

He gave an undignified snort. She shrugged.

"So, before I wore out my welcome, I headed back to France, stayed until my visa ran out, and came back to the States with Zack. I had gotten in to AGU, but not until the following semester. Zack headed to LA, and that's when Aisha came back from Africa. She was also going to AGU so Jason agreed to let her rent the other bedroom in the townhouse with me while he and Trini stayed in Switzerland."

"How long were you in France for?"

"Five months total, including that first trip to London."

"Did you stay with your mom and Pierre the whole time?"

Kim blushed. "Umm, technically."

He shook his head. As if he was an idiot to think Kim would have stayed single for very long. "You met someone."

She dismissed him with an airy wave. "Saying it like that makes it sound much more significant than it actually was…"

He blinked. "Oh. This wasn't like, a serious thing?"

There she went, with the lip, and the biting of…

"No. Not really. I mean, it was plenty real, we genuinely liked each other, we just—I think we both knew it was only for as long as I was in Paris."

He smirked. "Look at you, having a meaningless, torrid affair. I'm actually kind of impressed."

"I never said it was meaningless," she winked, "Just short and sweet."

He laughed. She shot him an impish grin.

"So, very, very, sweet."

He tossed his napkin at her. "Okay, okay. My goodwill toward hearing about you with other men only extends so far, so let's don't push it."

She smiled. "You've lasted this long in our conversation…"

He gave an exaggerated eye roll and groaned, "Oh God, there's more?"

She tossed the napkin back at him. "We haven't talked like this in over a decade, what did you expect?"

He caught the napkin and laughed adoringly. "I already knew some of this stuff, ya know…"

She rolled her eyes. "Well then, either shut up and hear it again or tell me to skip those parts."

He kept laughing as she groaned and tried to flag down their waitress. Every so often glancing back at him with utter annoyance.

The waitress arrived. Tommy paused his giggling to acknowledge Kim's question regarding refills on drinks and complimentary chips. Keep 'em coming was his answer.

The waitress smiled and left them alone once more in their corner booth. Kim briefly considered if someone had known they'd need their own private island when they'd sat them here two hours ago.

Had it really been that long already? Had it only been that long?

She stole a glance at Tommy. He'd stopped laughing, but he was still smiling.

"Keep 'em coming?" She shook her head as she admonished his response to the waitress.

He gave her an innocent look. "Well, at the rate you've been going…"

She shot him another dirty look. "Jerk."

He laughed. "Oh, you love it."

Her face dropped nearly imperceptibly. He caught it. She fixed him a challenging stare.

He suddenly wondered if he'd overshot the more familiar tone their conversation had taken.

And then it was gone. Kim cleared her throat.

"So, went to college, blah blah blah…graduated from AGU, and then I saw you at Adam and Tanya's wedding."

He felt bad for possibly bungling the direction of their reunion with his slightly flirty comment. He tried to backtrack.

"Right. You said you got a…biology degree?" He couldn't remember. Damn his memory.

She smirked. "Botany." Charmed at his lame effort to disguise his infamously bad memory.

He laughed and scratched his head. "Botany! Right. Geez, I'm sorry. I was listening to you that day, I promise."

She laughed. "It's okay. No one was more surprised than me. I thought I'd go to school for music or art, maybe even go back to France and pray that Pierre would show a little nepotism and hire me..."

He laughed, internally sighing in relief that their talk had seemed to correct itself.

She shrugged. "I only got interested in it after I'd taken a few core science credits. But once I declared my major I did actually have to take a few biology classes, so your guess wasn't completely off."

He shook his head. "Who would have thought we'd both end up getting Science degrees?"

She cackled. "Right?"

He frowned. "Err, well, sort of, right? I guess Paleontology is technically a mix of a bunch of subjects. You're actually more a real scientist than I am."

She smirked. "Hardly. You got your fancy graduate degree. I'm lucky I finished by Bachelor's."

The waitress returned with a full tray of new drinks and a fresh basket of chips, salsa and guacamole.

They thanked her, toasted to their refills and tucked into the salty appetizer.

Kim finished chewing, licked a wayward blob of guacamole off her finger and swallowed as she wiped her hands with her napkin.

"So, in the interest of not boring you, where did we stop at Adam and Tanya's wedding? Did I already tell you about the landscaping company?"

He let her jab slide. "I think so. You said something about a garden? Working in a garden? Am I close?"

"Ah! Yes, okay. Right," She laughed, nodding as she found her place again.

"The landscaping job got me noticed by the Angel Grove Botanical Gardens and so I went to work there."

"Of course. That's perfect for you."

She blushed. "Thanks."

He recalled the Botanical Gardens fondly. He and Kim had gone there on a bunch of dates back in high school. He couldn't care less about all the rare or exotic species of plants and flowers they boasted. Unless they'd existed in prehistoric times and might somehow have affected an animal prior to their bones being interred a million years later.

But back then, he knew Kim had loved it, and if it had made her happy, he wouldn't deny her a thing. Plus, the whole property wasn't just relegated to the Gardens. The estate had also included a greenhouse, a butterfly sanctuary, fountains and play area for kids, a gift shop and a restaurant. It was actually kind of awesome, now that he started to recall it. He wondered if all those attractions still existed. Maybe he could take Miles. He made a mental note to ask her about it later.

She bit her lip. "Well, umm, yeah…"

She'd held off this part of the story for as long as she could, she supposed. This whole conversation had even occurred because she'd told him she'd explain why she'd been deliberately avoiding the gang's summer get-togethers for so long.

If he thought everything else was part of the reason, he was sorely mistaken. What's the line? What's past is prologue?

"That's where I met Erik." she said eyeing him carefully.

His eye twitched almost imperceptibly. Almost.

Kim exhaled slowly to steady her nerves. It wasn't like she had anything to atone for. She and Tommy had long since moved on. But she wasn't so naïve to think that their relationship back in high school was just another teenage fling. Despite only being teenagers when they dated, they'd discussed and mused on the possibility of marriage many times in the years together. Such was the intensity of their relationship at one time. But of course, their consequential break up had obviously dashed those fantasies. And in the three relationships since then, only one had Kim allowed herself to contemplate a future with as completely as she had with Tommy.

So what she was about to divulge might hit a bit too close to home.

"I think you had just gotten some internship somewhere?" she asked. "I mean, that's why you weren't at Rocky and Aisha's wedding, right?"

His brow rose in recognition. It also firmly dated the time period in which she spoke of. Rocky and Aisha had gotten married just before he'd gotten his teaching job, which was right before he'd started dating Heather.

She nodded, not entirely bothering to wait for his confirmation. She'd been stalling with her question anyway.

"Yeah, so, Erik is a Conservation Horticulturist. Ya know, someone responsible for protecting and preserv—doesn't matter." Kim snickered.

She shook her head, trying to get to the point.

"Anyway, umm, we worked together for a few months before he asked me out, and then we had been dating for about a year or so when Trini asked me to be her maid of honor…"

He watched her carefully. This is was different then when she'd started talking about Mark. True, she was batting even with the amount of intimate details she shared. Careful to only give away enough to have the story make sense. He supposed he should be grateful for that.

She was nervous, as before. But there was something different in the way she stumbled now.

"Anyway, umm, I remember I saw you at the wedding, obviously, and you introduced me to your very pregnant wife…"

Tommy blanched a bit. He hadn't considered just how awkward that meeting would be. There was a small part of him that had been cruelly excited to show off his spouse about to have his child.

But if he'd been trying to lord anything over Kim, that plan had been summarily squashed when he'd seen her at the rehearsal dinner, very much alone, and still looking way too good. Despite what he wanted it to look like, his life was complete shit.

Heather was miserable while pregnant, Tommy's proposal to Heather and their subsequent nuptials, only a temporary balm for their problems. They fought constantly, his guilt and her resentment coalescing at every turn.

Heather's jealously was notorious amongst their friends, who'd by then gotten to know the woman for the past year and a half. The gang had also bore witness to a bevy of arguments between the couple. And of course, there was the whole circumstance surrounding the unplanned pregnancy.

So when he'd introduced Kim to Heather, it had been done so reluctantly. He was nervous, apologetic. Embarrassed, even.

If Kim had known what he was feeling back then, she mercifully didn't show it. And Heather had not been particularly gracious upon meeting Kim, forcing them to leave the reception quite early.

Other than the necessary interactions of their duties as Maid of Honor and Best Man, neither Kim nor Tommy talked much after that.

That was the last time he'd seen her in nearly three years.

"You know, I asked Erik not to go, cause I thought it might be awkward. But then when I saw you it was so awkward, my brain like, ouroborosed itself and I thought—why didn't I insist he come with me?"

Tommy shook his head. "I'm so sorry that things got so weird—"

Kim took a long sip on her margarita. Brain freeze.

She winced as she set the glass back down, her hand flying up to pinch the bridge of her nose.

Tommy took a small sip of his own, fighting the urge to laugh despite the slightly tense turn their conversation had taken once again.

The throbbing subsided and Kim returned to normal. "I called him when I got back home. Told him how it all went. We commiserated. And then..."

She drew in a sharp breath. Tommy inclined his head as he hung on.

"He asked me to marry him."

His brow rose in surprise. "Really?"

She nodded but did not elaborate. That made him more nervous than he wanted to explore right now.

He coughed. "So—what did you say—?"

"I said yes."

If he'd been holding his glass right then, it's surely be shattered.

He squared his jaw and inwardly scolded himself for even deigning to look disappointed.

His gaze landed on her left hand in that moment. He'd be a liar if he'd said he hadn't already checked. He'd mused on the lack of adornment before. Now, it just confused him.

"So are—are you married now?" He let out an ungraceful sort of half laugh.

"I thought you said—you told Heather you'd nev—" He ran a shaky hand across his brow.

"I'm—I'm sorry but, uh—you—you're not wearing a ring."

He tried to laugh to keep his tone neutral. But he feared his bitterness was being broadcast on a jumbotron.

She gave him a sad smile. "I took it off. Err, well—I'm not wearing it anymore."

He frowned. "Okay…"

"I was really rattled by seeing you at Jase and Trini's wedding. When Erik proposed I didn't even hesitate. I was 28 years old, never married, no kids and the maid of honor at another friend's wedding. And here was this really amazing guy that I was totally falling for, asking me to marry him. I mean—I had to have been a complete idiot to say no. It was everything I'd ever wanted."

He tried to smile in a show of gracious congratulations. It came off more as a wild-eyed stink face.

"This is why you haven't been back here for the summers?"

He was surprised he could formulate a reasonable sentence right now. Talk about rattled…

"Yes," she answered simply. "I didn't want it to be weird. Erik totally understood. And I wasn't really ready to share him with our friends just yet. I mean, Trini and Aisha know about most of it, and Zack maybe a little, but—the other guys would just pester me."

He wondered if he was included in that group.

"So what changed? Why now? And why did you come alone?"

She ducked her head. He slumped a bit in his seat. He hadn't meant to bark out his questions. He'd become accustomed to it again when he started teaching high school.

She slowly returned to look at him. He smiled sheepishly.

"I came this year because I needed to work through some things. I— I told Erik I needed to come up here alone and figure stuff out. I didn't tell him why at first but—well, he seemed to understand what I was trying to say and he, we—we're holding off the engagement…we sort of broke up, ceremonially…"

Tommy scowled. "What does that mean?"

She snickered. "It basically means that I'm single until further notice."

Tommy surprisingly found nothing amusing about this.

"And he was okay with this? He just…let you go?"

Kim shrugged. "He said he'd rather wait for me to be sure he's who I wanted, then to rush into something I'm not certain of…"

Tommy's face fell. Tinges of his own failed marriage flashed before his eyes. He suddenly envied Kim and Erik's relationship, and not for the obvious reasons.

"Wow. That's—incredibly cool and like, mature of both you."

Kim smiled at him. "That's all Erik, really. He's like that. Incredibly cool and mature. He's very levelheaded and conscientious…and observant."

Tommy snickered. "Jesus, if you won't marry him, I will."

Kim snorted into laughter. Tommy smiled, pleased that it seemed they wouldn't be walking away from this evening with some weird gulf between them.

All things considered, he'd missed Kim. Tremendously. They'd been friends before they had dated, and even when they'd become a couple, their friendship had only gotten stronger. He supposed being part of a team whose mission it was to save the world contributed to some of that. They had relied on one another for so much more than just affection or sex. Being able to listen, trust and believe in one another was literally a matter of life and death.

He supposed their tenure as teammates while dating also explained the intensity of their relationship. They'd cheated death so many times, a fact that had begun to take its toll on them right around the time he'd lost his Green Ranger Powers for good.

They'd slept together the evening he'd come back as the White Ranger. He couldn't quite bring himself to say made love, it was just so sappy. Though that's certainly what it had been. It had absolutely been love. He'd wanted her since the moment they'd first met. Nerves, propriety and perhaps a bit of awe had always kept him fairly modest in the beginning. But Kim was good at assuaging his fears and doubts. A couple chaste kisses here and there, lots of hand holding, subtle touches and hugs that lingered on longer every time.

When he'd first come back after break their freshmen year, after having lost his powers to Rita's green candle, he was crestfallen. Yes, about his powers, but more that Kimberly's interest in him might have waned now that he was no longer a part of the team. As if that's why she liked him. He needn't have worried so much. There was little time in the immediate crisis that had occurred during Parent's Day, and even less time afterward. But when she'd introduced him to her parents, he'd felt a surge of confidence. And when she'd introduced him as her boyfriend? Well, that settled it.

His previous aversion to gross public displays of affections started to ebb, his former shyness gave way to bolder moves. The kisses were no longer so chaste. The kisses, in fact, never stayed just kisses anymore. Curious hands and lips became desperate to know more. Making out with Kim after a stressful battle had almost made his weakening powers worth it. She'd wanted to protect him as much as love him, and he cherished her for that. Never in his life did he imagine he'd be so lucky as to find someone beyond his family for whom he'd literally risked his own life to protect. Of course, he'd risk his life for all of his friends and teammates.

But he wasn't in love with all of them.

So when he'd nearly died in a last ditch effort to save his Green Ranger powers, and when he'd failed…it was all just too much. He'd taken off to his Uncle's Cabin without a word. They'd just started their sophomore year, and he knew when he returned to school he'd catch an earful from everybody for turning tail.

In an ironic bit of foreshadowing, he'd written Kim a letter to tell her how sorry he was for running away. He'd been scared. Less about their relationship this time, but that still played a part. He told her loved her, and that he hoped she understood why he left.

He'd only spent a month at the Cabin before coming to his senses. He'd let Kim know he was coming back. She'd been ecstatic. That made him hopeful. But then he'd been teleported into the secret Power Chamber by Zordon and Alpha, who had offered him a very risky proposition. He could very easily die right there on the table as they tried to imbue him with new powers. He didn't care. He agreed to do it.

He might not have been so flip if he had known what a Power transfusion actually entailed. He woke up in complete darkness. He thought he might have actually died. It was then he realized he was inside something. Or rather, his head was. He'd nearly cried as he reached up to the sides of his head and unclasped his helmet. It had worked.

Tommy could still remember his friends' faces upon seeing him as the White Ranger. It felt good. What felt even better however, was of course, seeing Kim.

She'd fainted, as she was wont to do. A small part of him sort of relished that he had that effect on her. He'd roused her from the floor of the command center, and it had taken all his strength to not ravage her right there, so happy he was to have her back in his arms.

The two of them had driven back up to his Uncle's cabin that night, after the whole gang had gotten their celebrations in. He relived the whole process over again as he indulged Kim's fervent questions.

His life had been threatened with the green candle. He'd narrowly escaped Goldar and Zedd before they drained him of his powers. And today he could have died trying to gain new ones. And that wasn't even the half of it. They were barely 16, all of them.

A desperate hug turned into a desperate kiss. Which in turn became exploring each other in all the ways they'd always wanted to, lest they died before they'd had the chance to fully express how much they meant to one another.

Either the threat was very real, or they were using it as an excuse to justify their lust. After that day, it barely mattered. He almost dared Zedd or Rita to try anything now. He felt nigh unstoppable.

Her voice brought him back to the present. "What are you thinking about?"

Tommy looked up to see Kim smiling at him. The Kim of now. The Kim who apparently had lived five more lifetimes since she'd left him. Though he supposed that part applied to most of them at this point. This Kim, was a celebrated and medal awarded gymnast, who'd escaped a toxic relationship, who'd spent a well-deserved holiday in Paris, who'd found her passion in college and gotten her degree, all the while still keeping a close knit circle of friends. This Kim, had nearly gotten engaged, or did in fact. He was still a bit unclear on that.

This Kim, looked very much like the other, younger version. Except now she had stories. Stories she could share. Stories that didn't involve a giant Pineapple monster. And he found himself even more intrigued by her than he'd ever been.

He smiled back at her.

"I'm just really glad you decided to come back."

Kim bit her lip. "Me too."

-x-