Tommy looked up at the sound of a car engine. Walking to one of the front windows, he saw Kim getting out of what was obviously a rental car. (The other Rangers still lived in California and would be driving their own vehicles). She was alone. Tommy hadn't expected her to be first, but guessed that the other Rangers wanted to give them some privacy for this conversation. He appreciated the thought.
As she walked up to his door, he noticed that she hadn't changed much on the outside. She was still short, still petite, and still wore pink, in this case a pink blouse over a white skirt. A skirt that left much of her legs bare. At one time, those legs would have distracted him. Now he barely noticed.
She gave him a nervous smile as he let her in. She wasn't looking forward to this conversation either, obviously.
They sat on his couch in painful silence for a minute. Finally, Tommy decided it was up to him to get the ball rolling. "So, let's have it."
Kim actually jumped, as she would not have at a monster attack. "Have what?"
"The reason you decided to rip my heart out and do the Mexican Hat Dance on it!" Damn, he had promised himself that he would't get angry.
Her eyes flashed. "Listen, it wasn't exactly easy for me either, buster!"
"I should hope it wasn't easy! You write a Dear John letter, and then send it to the Youth Center instead of my house so you can humilate me in front of everybody!"
"I didn't expect you to have someone read out loud to you! And I wanted to you be with your friends so they could offer support!"
"Don't expect me to believe you actually cared about my feelings!"
Suddenly the anger drained out of Kimberly's face, and she seemed to shrink in on herself as she started to cry softly. "That was what whole thing was about: feelings."
He couldn't stand to see her cry, even now. He forcibly calmed himself and took her hands in his. "I just don't understand..."
She sniffed. "When we were together, Tommy, I loved you with all my heart and soul. But the key word there is together. I saw you every day, fought evil alongside of you, went on dates with you. Neither of us realized how much my feelings depended on being constantly reinforced. When I moved to Florida, I lost that, and my feelings started to fade. I begin noticing other guys, begin to realize that I found writing weekly letters to you as a chore rather than something to look forward to. I was in denial about that for a long time, which is why my breakup letter was such a change of tone. How could I be in love with you and feel that way? The day before I wrote that letter, I finally realized that I COULDN"T be in love with you and feel that way. What I felt for you was gone, and that HURT. I know it was irrational, but in my pain, I wanted you to hurt too. I told myself that you feelings had probably faded too, so this was the best way out of a dead relationship. Obviously, I was wrong."
Tommy was shocked. He had never dreamed that Kim's feelings for him were never as deep as his for her. Now that he knew that, he knew that their relationship would have fallen apart eventually with or without that letter. And with that thought, the last of the pain dissipated.
He put his arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him. He could finally say the words she needed to hear. "I forgive you."
She looked up at him, and even with her red eyes and tear tracks on her cheeks, her smile was like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. "Thank you."
Suddenly the front door banged open. "Yo, Dr. O.! We're here!" Connor led the DinoThunder Rangers into the room, then stopped short when they saw the scene in front of them. Tommy heard Kira whisper "Way to go, Connor!"
Connor cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Um, did we interrupt you?"
Tommy looked at them, and then at Kim. And smiled. "No, not at all. Guys, this is Kimberly Hart, the first Pink Ranger. Kim, these are ex-DinoThunder Rangers."