A Morphin Legacy

Chapter 4

Dinner and Confessions

…

Kim checked her reflection in the floor length mirror for what felt like the hundredth time, smoothing imaginary wrinkles from the mauve colored cocktail dress. Her black sling back, peep toe pumps gave her a nice height boost and beautifully accentuated her toned legs. Her hair was down in loose waves that fell to the middle of her back like flowing caramel.

She fought the urge to bite her lip, not wanting to reapply her lipstick again. She was nervous to say the least. She was supposed to be meeting Tommy at a quaint little bistro downtown in 15 minutes.

Tommy. The man who would always hold her heart. She almost backed out at least a dozen times in the past few days, but a stern phone call from Jason kept her from giving in. Jason had never agreed with Kimberly's decision to end things with Tommy, firmly believing that Tommy needed to know the truth and make his own decision. But Kim was stubborn. More than that… she was scared. Her believing Tommy was better off without her was one thing. Hearing that Tommy believed so himself, having him reject her because of the limited future they would have if he chose her, was something entirely different. Something Kimberly wasn't sure she could handle.

But she wouldn't lie to him. If he asked her about the letter, she would tell him the truth. If he didn't bring it up, then neither would she.

Sighing, Kim picked up her purse and headed out the door, praying she wouldn't be crying herself to sleep tonight.

…..

Tommy shifted his gaze from his watch to the door and back again. He'd arrived at the bistro early, knowing he'd never live it down if he was late. But now it looked like Kim would be, if she even showed up at all. He'd known it was a risky move, asking her to meet like this after not seeing her for 2 years, but what else could he have done? After the year he'd had and his recent conversation with Jason, he wasn't content to just push his feelings aside any longer. They'd wasted too much time as it was, and he had to know if there was still anything between them. He had to know why it all fell apart all those years ago.

So caught up in the whirlwind of questions running through his mind, he almost missed her entrance. Almost.

Tommy stood abruptly, spotting Kimberly by the door to the restaurant and promptly forgot how to breathe as she saw him and a warm smile lit her face. She was beautiful. She always had been to him, but now she was even more so if that was possible. The years had certainly been kind to Kimberly Hart. She was still short and petite as she had always been but gone was the girl he'd fallen in love with at age 15 and in her place was a stunning goddess of a woman. Her body was still that of a gymnast, but she'd filled out more in all the places that made Tommy's knees weak. Suddenly she was in front of him and Tommy realized he'd been staring like an idiot and blushed, grinning sheepishly.

"Tommy, hi." Kim said as she reached the table, a light blush of her own coloring her cheeks at his obvious admiration.

"Kim." Tommy said softly, and surprised them both by pulling his former girlfriend into a hug. "It's really good to see you."

"You too." Kim said honestly, not the least bit surprised at how affected she was by his presence. Some things never changed.

Tommy broke away and pulled a chair out from the table for Kim. "Here."

"Thanks." Kim smiled, he was always the gentleman.

Tommy took his seat across from her, folding his hands a bit nervously. "So, how have you been?"

"Um, good. I've been good. The school is doing really well. 2 of the girls just qualified for Nationals, and really boosted registration. The owners are thinking of expanding. There's already another school in LA, they're thinking somewhere a little smaller this time. Maybe Mariner Bay."

"Mariner Bay is nice. That's where LightSpeed was based." Tommy told her.

"I know. I've been there once or twice. Carter is a friend."

Tommy blinked in surprise, eyes narrowing slightly. Just what kind of friends had she been with Carter Grayson?

As if reading his thoughts, Kim smiled gently. "His wife Dana is really sweet. I like her."

Tommy nodded, slightly relieved. "Yeah she is. They're good people."

"Anyway, enough about me. What's new with you? Jason told me about that whole exploding Island things a couple years ago." Kim said after they placed their orders.

"Yeah, that was a mess. One that only recently got resolved." At Kim's confused look he continued. "It was one of those situations not unlike what we used to deal with. And well…uh…I sorta picked up another color along the way." He said pointedly.

Kim eyes widened as she got his meaning. "What? You mean the team in Reefside…"

Tommy nodded. "I'd love to give you the details, but we should probably discuss that somewhere a little more private."

Kimberly nodded, though the thought of being anywhere that could be considered private with Tommy made her stomach flip flop.

Their food arrived and the evening went by smoothly, the pair discussing lighter topics and chatting like old friends, though the underlying tension was palpable. Kim could tell Tommy wanted to ask her something but kept skirting around the issue, which was fine with her because she had a pretty good idea what he wanted to talk about and it was something she desperately wanted to avoid. Alas, her luck didn't last.

"Kim, can we go somewhere and talk?"

She swallowed thickly. "Sure Tommy. My apartment's not too far from here, if you want." She heard herself say. Truth be told, she was terrified, but Jason was right. Tommy deserved the truth if he wanted it.

Tommy nodded. "Yeah, that'd be good."

Despite Kim's protests, Tommy paid the bill and they left the restaurant and headed to Kim's home.

….

Tommy sat on the couch in Kimberly's spotless apartment, at bit surprised at the décor. It was nice of course, and the apartment was obviously expensive, but it just didn't seem like Kim. It lacked much of the warm homey feeling he would have expected from the original Pink Ranger's living space.

Kim appeared at his side a moment later and he accepted the glass of wine she handed him. "So, tell me about this new Ranger team."

"Uh well, while on the island I found the Dino Gems. I recognized them as a pretty strong power source almost immediately, but apparently I wasn't the only one. A creature named Mesogog was after them so he could complete his plans to return the world to the days of the dinosaurs. Some of my students accidently found and bonded to the gems. I anticipated something like that happening so with some help from Haley, I made the Dino Thunder Rangers."

Kim blinked in surprise. "H-Haley knows about the Rangers?"

Tommy ducked his head a bit, a little embarrassed. "Yeah. She found out about my history by accident. Apparently, I'm not as covert as I thought. But it worked out. Without Billy around, there was no way I would have been able to pull off creating a Ranger team without Haley's help."

Kimberly shoved down the jealously rising up in her stomach. Tommy wasn't hers anymore. If he was happy with Haley, then good for him. Maybe if she said it enough, she'd start to believe it. "Oh. Well that's, um… that's good. Are you two…?"

"Uh no. No, Haley and I have never been more than friends." Tommy rubbed the back of his neck nervously. This was the opening he'd been looking for. "What about you? Jason mentioned there was someone not too long ago."

Kim shook her head and sighed. Of course Jason would have told Tommy about the epic failure that was her love life. "There was, but it's over. It was for the best all around. We wanted different things."

Tommy raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem too upset about it."

"That's because I'm not." Kim said simply.

"Kim… can I ask you something?"

Kim took a long sip from her wine. "Technically, you just did. But sure, go ahead."

"What happened between us? I mean, I know it's been a long time, and maybe it doesn't matter anymore but… I always wondered. I loved you. I know the distance was hard but… I thought we were happy, Kim. I guess I just never understood what went wrong." Tommy looked down at his hands, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "What I did to make you fall for someone else."

It was the whispered words that finally broke Kimberly's long held resolve. When she'd written the infamous letter, she was young and naïve, thinking that with time their pain would fade and Tommy would fall for Katherine's advances and forget about her and the future they could no longer have together. But looking at the man her love had become, she knew she'd been wrong. He hadn't forgotten her, and instead of making things easier for him as she intended, by keeping silent she'd instead robbed him of his peace.

"Tommy, I'm sorry. I… god I screwed everything up."

"No, Kim. You can't help who you fall in love with. I just-"

"No! You don't understand." Kim stood and walked over to the window, unable to look at Tommy, knowing what she had to tell him would hurt them both deeply. "I lied to you, Tommy. There was no one else. There wasn't anyone else for years."

Tommy stood too, staring at Kimberly's back in shock. "What?"

"I… I loved you. More than I have ever loved anything in this life. But you were better off without me."

"What would you think that?! Do you have any idea what losing you did to me, Kim? Did you even care?!" Tommy demanded, ever ounce of his hard won discipline was all that kept him from grabbing her and forcing her to look at him.

"Of course I did." Kim whispered, her voice thick with tears.

"Then why?!"

"Because, Tommy… I had cancer." A sharp intake of breath was her only response and she finally turned to look at him.

His hands shook and his face was ashen. Tommy opened his mouth to speak but no sound would come out.

"I-I had cancer. Cervical cancer. They caught it early but… I had to have surgery." Kim explained quietly, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Tommy took a shaky step towards her, his eyes pained and glossy with unshed tears. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because the world needed you."

"And you didn't?"

Kim shook her head. "I always needed you. More than anything. But I would have been a distraction. If you were worried about me, you or someone else could have gotten hurt."

Tommy closed the distance between them but didn't touch her. Not yet. "Yeah, Kim, I would have been worried, I would have been distracted, but I would have walked away. I would have gladly handed over my morpher so I could be there for you. Don't you know that?"

Kim shook her head again. "I could never have asked that of you."

"You wouldn't have had to. You were my everything, Kimberly. I would have done anything for you."

"I know. It's because I loved you so much that I let you go, Tommy. We made so many plans, had so many dreams… dreams that I couldn't have anymore. I didn't want to take them away from you too." Kim said brokenly, wanting more than anything to be in his arms, but didn't dare.

"What are you talking about?"

"The surgery… Tommy, I-I can't have children. Not ever. And I know how much having a family meant to you and I doubt that's changed. My dreams were crushed but that didn't mean you had to give up yours too. So, I let you go. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but I did it… for you."

Tommy stood in stunned silence, staring into the tear stained face of the only woman he ever truly loved. For years he wondered what tore them apart, yearned for answers. Whatever he'd expected her to say, this wasn't it. Kimberly Hart, his Beautiful, his everything, had cancer and fought it alone so he could continue to protect the world. She suffered in silence and broke both their hearts because she believed she could no longer be what he wanted.

Tommy pulled Kimberly into his arms, crushing her to his chest. "I love you." He whispered into her hair. "I love you so much, Kim. I never stopped."

Kim sobbed brokenly against his chest as he lovingly stroked her hair. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

Tommy picked her up and moved back to the sofa, settling Kim in his lap. He wiped her tears away with the pads of his thumbs. "It's okay, Kim. I understand. And I forgive you. But you should have told me the truth from the beginning. Then I could have told you that it didn't matter. That all that mattered to me was that we were together. And I still mean that, Kim. I love you. I have always loved you. Yeah, I want a family, but if I can't have that with you then I don't want it. You're the only one I could ever imagine spending the rest of my life with. I still want to be with you… do you?"

Kimberly stared into the soulful eyes of the only man she'd ever loved, slightly red from the tears he'd shed. "It's all I've ever wanted."

"Me too." He whispered and he leaned down, capturing her lips in a tender kiss and for the first time in nearly a decade, he felt like he was home.

…

AN: Hope you all had a great Christmas or whatever you celebrate. Thanks for all the reviews. They keep me going. And let me tell you, it's a struggle. Is anyone else just plain heartbroken over the state of our beloved Tomberly? I'm just crushed, it's like Saban doesn't care! Anyway, that's why we have fanfiction, right?