Part 5

Tommy and Kimberly were inseparable in the days to follow. Whenever they left the hotel room, they were arm in arm - or hand in hand - and visiting the sights. They did the honeymoon thing, taking a tour designed for just such occasions, visited all of the landmarks and locations Pierre suggested - took a million photographs... and brushed lips in several. They laughed, played, wined and dined and forgot - for a while - that this wasn't the real thing.

During the day they were the perfect honeymooning couple, often stopping by to visit her mother and Pierre and just as often being shooed out and told to enjoy themselves and one another.

Kimberly revealed she still had a childish side by talking him into paintball - a sport she was crazy good at and proved it by completely annihilating him time and time again. He showed her his romantic side by taking her to the most couple-oriented places he could find. They visited every expensive shop Kimberly eyed, every art gallery and museum they could find and tried a variety of different foods and drinks. Pierre and Caroline wanted to see pictures of everywhere they went, so Tommy invested in a digital camera and laptop, along with memory cards, to facilitate it.

Among the chores they set themselves were finding a post office and mailing the wedding picture post cards they'd had made. One went to each of the original Rangers - Jason, Trini, Billy & Zack - along with the others they'd served in the subsequent years. The Dino Rangers each got one - but only one for Kira and Trent as the two had moved in together the previous winter. Haley received a copy, as did Kimberly's father and brother - and Tommy called his parents to give them a head's up.

His mother had been quiet, his father amused and then they'd both - in stereo - demanded a copy of their own. Consummated or not, Tommy had married the girl he'd once sworn to and they expected to have proof even if it didn't last. Neither of them could believe he was seriously considering an annulment when they returned to America and each took their turns trying to talk him out of waiting that long.

Tommy had then let each of them speak with Kimberly and it had given them another topic of discussion. His parents hadn't held back with her - they never had and probably never would - demanding to know what she'd do if things developed further than either of them expected. Neither Tommy nor Kimberly had an answer beyond taking each day as it came. It wasn't what the Olivers wanted to hear, but it was the only answer they had and the one they stuck with.

But the nights...

Tommy retired to the couch after a drink and a short conversation with his wife of name only and Kimberly retired behind the closed bedroom door - and there was a silent invite the way she purposefully didn't lock it. But it wasn't just that, and Tommy knew it. It was because she trusted him - he held no illusions about that - but as the days passed, Kimberly took longer to retire and, after the first week of their marriage - just days before their return to Florida - she stopped closing the door to the bedroom.

A silent invitation was unmistakable in her gaze. It was in the way she watched him, the way she 'accidentally' brushed against him; in the way she'd taken to wearing less and less to bed. In how she'd stop at the door to the bedroom every night and look back at him, as if struggling with some relevant point before inevitably retiring in silence.

The desire that simmered between he and Kimberly was continuing to grow and evolve through their time in France into a force that had him wishing for the un-tucked shirts of his youth. Yet it was more than that. The more time they spent together, the more his role of trophy husband chaffed and the more he began thinking - really thinking - about how to go about turning this farce into reality.

Mornings were the hardest and Tommy was finding it more and more difficult to resist her allure. The kisses they shared to showcase the affection while around her mother were becoming more heated, lingering longer - and drawing knowing looks from Caroline and Pierre. Courtesy of her mother, they were treated to a night at the Opera two nights before they were to leave - private booth and all.

They'd returned to their hotel only to be stopped at the desk. The clerk handed over a large stack of messages, looking a little frazzled. Tommy pocketed half of them and allowed Kimberly to watch his steps as he began going through the rest. It was immediately obvious who they were from.

"I don't think Jason liked missing out on the wedding."

"Oh?"

Tommy held up one of the notes and passed it to her as they stepped into the elevator. Kimberly burst out laughing. "He thinks this is a joke?"

"It's not you he's threatening to beat all the colors of the rainbow."

"No, just one," she returned cheekily. "But then, I didn't give him an option to pick from by being finicky about my colors."

"Hey! I was perfectly happy being green."

"Evil green or good green?"

"The one brought me your friendship; what do you think?" He looked back to the messages. "This one's for you."

"Trini?"

"Kat."

Kimberly accepted it and curiously read the clerk's neatly scribed message. Her smiled faded a little. "Katherine never did like thinking she was taking my place in every way did she?"

"Would you have? For such a tiny person, you had huge shoes to fill."

"You didn't have to date her Tommy. You didn't have to ask her out."

There was something in Kimberly's tone that had alarm bells sounding in the back of his brain. Looking down at his wife, he noted the tension in her frame - and drew the right conclusion. "Were you jealous, Kim?"

"No!" Her head snapped up, but her cheeks flushed with color and it was immediately apparent she was lying. Amending her vehement statement, Kimberly tried to shrug it away. "Not exactly. I let you go, I know that and if I was right to do it or not isn't the point. She had you, Tommy. She was where I wanted to be, doing what I wanted to be doing."

The elevator doors opened on their floor and Tommy pulled her into the hallway. Silence stretched between them as he opened the door before stepping inside. The mood wasn't charged as it had been, nor was it strained. The time for this talk had come and Tommy wasn't quite sure where it was headed.

"Answer me something," he prodded, steering her towards the couch. They had a few hours yet before the Opera and plenty of time to get ready. "In light of the letters you sent me, both at the time and recently, there's something I don't understand."

Kimberly settled onto the couch - it was practically a ritual now. They spent the day together and talked when they got back to the hotel, seated like peas in a pod on opposite ends of the couch. Tommy, she'd learned, knew how to give a killer foot rub. "And what's that?"

Tommy collected a couple of waters from the fridge and handed one to her as he settled in his 'usual' spot opposite her. "Why, if you didn't want to leave, did you?"

"I was wondering when you'd ask."

Her soft reply did nothing to answer his question, but he didn't pry. Instead he waited. Kimberly carefully unscrewed the cap on the bottle and took a sip, her eyes distant - probably looking back to the time when she'd first arrived in Florida. Finally, just when he was starting to think she wasn't going to answer him, she sighed and refocused her gaze on his. There was regret in hers, and an echo of pain he'd felt once upon a time - a pain he was anticipating once more when they finally parted ways again.

"I was confused," Kimberly admitted frankly. "I was at that point in life where there was a cross road and I had to choose. I could stay in Angel Grove with you and continue being a Power Ranger, or I could take a chance on a dream I'd had since I was a girl. I didn't realize when I naively deiced to go just what I had chosen."

"The academy, as I told you then, wasn't all smiles and sugar - eating disorders are common in gymnastics at the professional level and that's where I was training to be. My time as a Ranger and everyone's support was what kept me strong and gave me the ability to ignore the comments about the 'fat' gymnast. When Pan Globals came around and Coach Schmidt put me at the top of the list for the team, it shut a lot of people up - winning that first Gold shut up the rest. Making the choice - gymnastics over you - wasn't something I did consciously until I went back to Florida after Christmas."

"Just what every guy likes to hear; dumped for a sport."

"Better than dumped for a guy?"

Tommy shrugged. "You're right, you know; I would have waited for you if you'd told me you needed to focus on your gymnastics and I would have come after you if you'd simply told me that the distance between us was too much. At the time I think I would have taken it better if you'd just told me the truth - but I understand why you didn't."

"If I'd known that was the choice I would eventually face, Tommy, I don't think I would have been able to get back on the plane. Medals and career aside, if you'd been there beside me - where I'd wanted you - there wouldn't have been a contest."

"That's good for my ego if nothing else." He smiled, reaching out to link his fingers through hers - it was a common enough posture between them now. "I know you focused on your gymnastics, Kim, but you've never said if you saw anyone seriously once you'd had a chance to come down from fame."

"Seriously?" Her lips twisted. "A public figure learns early on who their friends are. Once I was catapulted into the spotlight any hope for a normal relationship went out the window. I learned pretty quickly that guys were more interested in being seen with me than in me."

"And recently?"

"No one. With the school and everything I always figured I had plenty of time once things got comfortable. I'm still relatively young, being a couple years shy of thirty - I didn't think there was any rush. It's one of the reasons this scheme will work."

He didn't even want to think about what that last comment meant. "No rush until now, you mean."

Nodding, Kimberly took another sip of her drink. "Looking back on it, my career has been rewarding, but I think if I did it all over again, I'd tell Coach Schmidt I couldn't go to Florida."

"Couldn't or wouldn't?"

"Is there a difference?"

"One is a choice."

"Then I would choose to stay behind in Angel Grove."

Tommy shook his head. "No you wouldn't have. If you'd stayed you would have regretted not going and eventually resented me for being the one to keep you there."

"Never." Twisting the bottle of water between her fingers, Kimberly regarded him with solemn honesty. "It would have been better to stay in Angel Grove and continue being a Power Ranger and not hurt you the way I did than chase a pipe dream."

"Accomplishing what you have isn't a pipe dream."

"It is when that's all you can see in your future. I'd rather be happy than successful, Tommy - wouldn't you?"

"Being happy is a choice and not one you can base on someone else."

"Sounds like that's something you learned the hard way."

"It is." He smiled faintly and tipped the bottle back briefly. "Following your dreams is a part of that. If you hadn't, there was no guarantee as to what would have happened if you'd stayed. We could have broken up anyway; the Rangers could have been defeated; the Zeo powers may never have been attuned to you; you might have decided after the fact you wanted to go to Florida after all and had it cause a rift. We'll never know what could have or would have happened if you'd stayed Kim; we can only know what did happen."

"I made a mess of things - that's what happened."

"And somehow I put a ring one your finger and we ended up together again anyway."

"Life's funny that way, huh?" Kimberly sighed. "You asked why I left when I didn't want to the answer was simple. I did want to go - but only if you didn't want me to stay."

"Didn't want..." staring at her for a moment, Tommy couldn't help but gawk. Was she nuts? "How could you ever think - even for a second - that I didn't want you to stay? You know what I went through when I heard you were going to be moving to France with your mother. You knew I would support you no matter what choice you made - I told you so."

"I still wanted you to ask me to stay."

"You knew I wouldn't."

"I knew." Kimberly reclaimed her hand and drew her knees up to her chest, dangling her wrists across the tops. "I guess a part of me was hoping you'd understand what I wanted without having to ask for it. Childish as it was, I cried all the way out to Miami when you didn't."

Placing his bottle of water on the nearby table, Tommy eased forward, reading a conflict within her gaze he didn't quite understand. "When I didn't what, Kim? If you knew I wouldn't ask you to stay, what were you hoping for?"

Her gaze never wavered but the atmosphere between them changed. The tip of her tongue darted out to moisten her lips and his gaze dropped to it. Charged with electricity, the air practically crackled. Without consciously thinking about it, he reached out to take her bottle of water and place it aside. Somewhere in the middle of it all, Tommy had shifted from his seat across the couch to practically sitting on her toes. His hands returned to hers, the roughened skin of his finger tips caressing the smooth skin from her finger nails to her wrists.

"What were you hoping for, Beautiful?"

She swallowed hard, her eyes wide and her lips moved but no sound came out. His gaze having caught hers, Tommy reached beyond her hands with one of his own, acutely conscious of the fact every movement with her felt as natural as breathing. The slide of her skin under his finger tips could be felt in every nerve ending as he slowly, gently cupped her face, brushing his thumb over her cheek.

"What did you want me to say?"

"I..."

Her legs slid over his thighs and she seemed drawn by the hand that held her cheek. She moved with it, the connection between them going beyond words, beyond the physical into something neither of them understood. Something primal and powerful; something that had always drawn them together... something that had been dormant for a long, long time. Too long.

"Tommy..."

Her eyes dropped to his lips and then moved back to his - and it was the only signal he was given. Despite it, he met her half way, their lips meeting with a desire and passion that had been growing steadily between them since that kiss before the minister. They'd been married for just over a week, shared countless little kisses, lingering over them as a part of their deception.

But that deception had no power between them now. This kiss had nothing to do with the show they put on for her mother. It was man and woman; Tommy and Kimberly - Pink and White. A union of souls, hearts and bodies that had been too long denied.

Raw need spiraled between them, years of pent up emotion charged by their discussion and brought to the surface - her long suppressed desire and his suspicion as to what it was - as Tommy pulled her onto his lap. Kimberly didn't fight him as she twisted and then was upended as he eased her back to the couch, his mouth delving into hers with a hunger she matched, her fingers digging almost painfully into his scalp.

The Opera forgotten, they gave in to the fires that had been threatening to consume them for days.

Memory warred with reality as Tommy kissed her, struggling to get a gasp on the present - but the feel of her beneath him was too much. He was no longer the same innocent teenager, terrified of hurting her and Kimberly was no longer the young teenager who had to answer to her mother. They were both adults, being swept into a moment they both craved, aware of where they were headed.

And it was a path neither was inclined to leave.

One kiss blurred into another, and then another until his shirt lost somewhere in the melee of grasping hands and arching bodies. It was the feel of her fingers on his skin, slightly hesitant, that was his undoing and Tommy tore his lips from hers. Kimberly moaned in protest, her knees hooked possessively around his hips as he tried to draw away.

"Kim."

Her eyes fluttered open at the horse appellation, brandy brown now nearly black. "I'm burning up, Tommy," her words were husky, having an instant effect on him and his arms tightened around her back, drawing her forward. "Burn with me."

"Not here, Beautiful."

"Here. I need you."

Her ankles locked behind his back, her hands wrapping around his neck as her lips found his again. Pulling away once more, Tommy rolled backwards - except Kimberly went with him, using the sudden change of position to kiss him better, pressing down across his lap as she did. Pinning him to the couch, Kimberly ravished his mouth, her hands working between them to free the fastenings on his trousers.

The long skirt she'd been wearing was hiked up about her thighs and a twist and wiggle, with a shift of one of the hands between them, had it free and about her waist. The merry-go-round they'd been riding since her recent letter ground to a halt and exploded into the sensations of skin on skin. Tommy's hands slid up her shirt, helping hold her in place as his fingers dug into her back, their lips never leaving one another as they danced together hungrily.

Her hands hesitated for a fraction of a second as she freed him from his trousers, a hiss of relief passing from his lips to hers. A whimper escaped her, born of blatant need, as she let Tommy carry her weight and used her hands to guide their bodies together. Pushing the scrap of fabric between them aside, they shared a gasp as he began to enter her for the first time.

Their eyes flew open almost simultaneously as they stared at one another, reeling from the feel of it, trembling from the power behind the emotional drive that held them in thrall. Just barely within her, Tommy stared into Kimberly's eyes, watched those magnificent orbs close, and didn't miss the slight tensing of her muscles as she drove herself downward.

Her body welcomed him with only the slightest hesitation, slightest reservation, and Kimberly paused for a series of heartbeats in which the truth assaulted him, but her lips remained firmly against his, her tongue sliding almost rhythmically against his in an echo of what they'd begun. His hands tightened on her, but it was at that moment she began to move and - even if he'd been inclined to stop - the point of no return had long since passed.

Surrender was the only option left.

----------

"You should have told me."

"I did."

"With everything that's happened, random, obscure comments don't count."

"I thought you science types were supposed to be big on details."

"Kim..."

Propping her head up on her hand, she looked at him with a grin on her lips. A very satisfied, if slightly tired, grin on her lips. "I already said I was sorry, what more do you want?"

That was a loaded question and Tommy glanced at her with a slightly wicked expression to tell her just that - except her eyes were already gleaming with firsthand knowledge. Knowledge she hadn't had until he'd given it to her. Again and again and again.

Her eyes practically sparkled. "Again?"

Tommy laughed softly, rolling to catch her and pin her to the bed. "You're insatiable."

"Mmm," her smile turned coy. "Only because you rise to the challenge. I thought you said I'd be sore this morning."

"Aren't you?"

"No."

"You will be when you try to stand."

He brushed a kiss across the tip of her nose, unwilling to let reality intrude on them just yet. Sometime in the middle of that night they'd moved from the couch - where Kimberly had ridden him in such a fashion he'd doubted the evidence of his senses - to the bedroom. Once there, and beyond the first physical joining, he'd loved her with an intensity and abandon that had surprised them both.

"It was worth it." Kimberly wound her hands around his neck. "Don't you think?"

He wouldn't have argued even if he'd been inclined to. Instead he kissed her - properly this time - but kept it brief. Much as they wanted to, they couldn't spend all day in bed. "Care to join me in the shower?"

"Will you wash my back?"

"If you'll do mine."

"Deal."

----------

Their night together signaled a shift in their relationship.

While no "I love yous' were spoken, there was a certain change in the affection Kimberly sent his way. She touched him more, finding excuses to just like she had in high school. Even when they were pretending for her mother, Kimberly was more relaxed, more openly affectionate - not that she hadn't been before, but now there was an ease to her movements that she'd been lacking before.

Tommy saw Caroline and Pierre exchange more than one tolerant smile because of Kimberly's seemingly unconscious actions in the last couple of days before their departure. Caroline looked no better - and no worse - than she had when they'd first arrived, but she looked happier and Tommy suspected their 'wonderful' news had added some time to that she had left.

But it was what would happen when they returned to America that worried him.

A short conversation with Kimberly had revealed that yes, he was correct in the knowledge that he was her first; no she didn't want him to sleep on the couch anymore while they were in France and yes, she was protected. He didn't ask further and she didn't elaborate - it was simply how things were.

It did, however, create a complication for their annulment and it wasn't something either of them was willing to speak of yet. Especially not in the face of their new physical relationship; a relationship that continued beyond that first night almost to the exclusion of almost all else.

Their last days were spent mostly with Caroline, much to her mother's dismayed pleasure. She was insisting they should enjoy the last days of their honeymoon, but Kimberly had remained firm in the face of that insistence. She'd come to spend time with her mother - time she might not get again - and intended to do just that.

Through visiting hours, Tommy and Kimberly sat with Caroline and spelled Pierre to get some much needed real food. Before and after hours, they went for walks, ducked into the convenient doorways to neck, acting like the teenagers they'd once been. They'd gotten carried away in a secluded park by the river and nearly caught by patrolmen. That encounter had resulted in her being pinned to a tree in a dark corner and ravished - a memory he could see lurking in the depths of her eyes at the oddest of moments.

There was something to be said for the flexibility of a gymnast.

The day of their departure, Kimberly visited her mother on her own, leaving Tommy to pack without her. She'd seen his packing job and, shock of shocks, trusted him to pack her things. Instead, he sorted them. They'd done their laundry the night before - sent it down to be done in reality - and it had come back clean and folded. It made packing easy.

Using the time, Tommy sorted the laundry as he tried to sort his thoughts; he'd never known he could feel so guilty for feeling so good.

Kimberly had asked him to come with her to France to help her make one of her mother's dreams come true. He'd agreed; he'd never have been able to tell her no, even if she'd called just days after sending her letter. But that wasn't the part that had him feeling guilty - no, he felt guilty because he felt he'd taken advantage of her. Of Kimberly; the girl he'd sworn never to do that to. To make matters worse, he was feeling like he was still taking advantage of her by neglecting to protest their physical relationship.

Yet, why should he? He'd done nothing wrong; they were legally married, both adults and he couldn't say she'd been coerced - unless it was by mutual need. She'd been the one to initiate their play; she'd been the one to continue it - and Kimberly had always been a fast learner. It hadn't taken long for her to discern where he liked to be touched, tasted or kissed - in all fairness he hadn't taken long learning her either, but the learning had been part memory and mostly fun.

Guilt had no place in his current feelings, and yet it was there, eating away at him. No matter how he justified his actions - or hers - he wasn't the one losing a parent and he should have put a stop to it. But he was only human and it would have taken a stronger man than he to refuse the fantasy of his youth; the fantasy that had evolved into the reality of his present.

Leaving their luggage, Tommy paced through the suite like a restless jungle cat searching for something he couldn't name.

Being with Kimberly had him tied up in knots. His presence helped her, soothed her - she leaned on him and he stood strong for her. He was the shoulder she could cry on who would never judge and the pillar of strength she could use to keep herself upright.

Her presence to him, on the other hand, was anything but soothing. She was like a static charge that had built up and was looking for an opportunity to zap him. He was stung every time they touched, every time they kissed - and he hadn't a clue what to do about it. If nothing else, the last three weeks alone with her had taught him things about himself he'd never known.

He'd never known he could respond to her so ardently, so unreservedly. He'd never known how fiercely he'd wanted to be her first - or how honored he'd feel to be just that. He'd never known how much he still craved her touch, or how much he'd missed seeing her look at him the way she'd once done - and was starting to again. He'd never known how possessive he could feel, how protective, now that she had the legal protection of his name.

And he'd never known he was still in love with her after all this time.

It only reminded him of their wedding night and the knowledge that letting her go was going to bear almost as hard as it had been before. Now, with everything they'd shared since, it would be near impossible.

They'd talked about what they'd do when they returned to the States. He hadn't lied to her; he'd promised to be there for her and he would be. In France or back home, he would be whatever she needed him to be and he would do as she asked - except this time he knew to fight for what he wanted. Kimberly was worth fighting for and when the plane landed in Miami, he wasn't going to simply up and leave, to disappear.

No, he would be with her - she'd agreed to let him live with her if he chose to stay - and he would do everything in his power to convince her that what they had wasn't the sham it had started out as. Whatever their intentions when they'd begun this charade, things had changed in the last three weeks; they'd become friends again before leaving for France only to become more than friends - and not just in the eyes of the law - while abroad.

Things had progressed so quickly, it was as if they'd ceased to exist in reality. Kimberly had thrown herself into their deception completely, gracing him with a gift he'd never expected to receive without so much as a second thought. She was acting more and more like the girl he remembered, but with a maturity and decisiveness that had been lacking in their teenage years. She'd never been flighty, but she'd also never been as driven as she was now.

Her enthusiasm, he suspected, was something that tied directly back to her passion for her life's path - another tell tale sign that she'd made the right choice back in high school. Not necessarily the right choice for them - Tommy knew if they'd lasted together as seniors, she'd have been his wife a long time ago - but the right choice for her.

Kimberly had needed to get out of Angel Grove to grow into the woman she'd become. And that woman was currently doing what women had been doing for hundreds of years - wrapping him around her little finger. If she knew it or not, Kimberly had caught him again and this time he wouldn't leave so easily.

Tommy would bide his time, he'd pick his moment, and when he felt she was ready, he would tell her how he felt; and this time he wouldn't let it end because of a letter.

"Tommy?"

"In here." He'd wandered back into the bedroom during his musings and begun packing his suitcase without thinking about it; fortunately it lent credence to his decision to stay behind. If she'd come back to find him brooding, there'd have been questions.

Kimberly appeared in the doorway, her expression and demeanor stricken. He dropped what he'd been lifting and moved to her side, pulling her into his arms without questions. Kimberly wrapped him in a bruising hug, her face buried in his chest. She didn't sob, didn't bawl, but more quiet tears of deep pain slid down her cheeks to soak his shirt.

"I'm never going to see her again, am I?"

He should have expected this, but somehow he hadn't. Stroking her hair and holding her protectively, he gave his answer some thought - and surprised them both. "Do you want to, Kim? Wouldn't you rather remember her as you saw her on this trip rather than as how she'll become over the next months?"

"I would," she confessed. "But she's my mother, Tommy. I want to be there for her when... when... I don't want her to die with just Pierre here."

"Then you'll be here."

"I can't afford-"

"I can."

"I couldn't ask-"

"You're not." Dipping his head, he brushed a kiss across the crown of her head. It was at time like this he realized just how tony she really was. Usually her vibrant personality made her seem so much larger - except at times like these. "I'm offering. I'll be here for you as long as you need me - remember?"

"We leave tonight," she protested tearfully. "You'll go back to your job and I'll go back to mine and you won't be... you'll say good bye."

"I already told you I'll stay on the east coast until the new school year starts. I get paid no matter what part of the planet I'm on."

Lifting her head, she searched his face for something he didn't dare yet confess to. In her state of mind, Kimberly could do a lot of damage to his heart if she knew she had it. Tommy smiled, brushing her hair back from her face and gently wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"I'm not going anywhere except home with you for a while yet - and when I do go back to Reef Side, I'd like you to come with me for a couple of weeks."

"But... the school... my clients... I couldn't... I... "

"Kim."

She snapped her lips closed and stared at him, faint color rising in her pale cheeks as she realized he'd caught her. Tommy knew she hadn't given her obligations back home any thought since she'd started this trip - and he hadn't let her pay for anything so she wasn't hurting for cash if she wanted to do something when she got back home. He lifted both hands to cup her face to ensure she couldn't look away.

"I meant what I said about you needing a real vacation. With Mesagog is gone, visiting me isn't the hazardous proposition it used to be."

"What would people think?"

He stared at her. Lifting his hand from her cheek and into her line of vision he tapped the wedding band she'd placed there, arching his eyebrows in silent question. She bit her lip and found a smile for him. "Nothing, right? And I'm sure your colleagues would want to meet your new wife."

"I was thinking you could meet the Dino Rangers; they're still around town and it would give Kira another ex-female Ranger to talk to."

"I doubt she'd-"

"Kim, just say yes. We're going back to reality tomorrow. You start work again in two days and..."

"And?"

"I'm not ready to let you go just yet." It was as close as he'd come to telling her the truth until she was ready. "I never dreamed our little charade would lead to this."

"Me either." Kimberly took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay, I'll do it. You stay with me and brave the East Coast ex-Rangers as they descend upon us for an explanation and play kept man, and then I'll come with you to brave the West Coast ex-Rangers and play kept woman. Fair?"

"More than. We'd better finish packing or we won't make our flight."

She began to step away and then hesitated. "Tommy?"

"Yeah?"

"When mom... when..."

"When it happens, we'll make sure you're here."

"Will you be with me?"

"If you want me to be."

"I do... I will."

"Then I'll be here. As long as it takes, as long as you need, I'm here for you Kimberly."

"You're one of a kind, Tommy Oliver." Hugging him again, this time it was as a silent thank you.

"And until you say otherwise, I'm yours."

Lifting her head she stared cheekily up at him, sparkle returning slowly to her eyes, only the uncertainty in their depths lending her words any serious connotation. "Does forever work for you?"

Knowing she wasn't ready to hear a serious answer he winked at her and set her away, turning back to his suitcases despite everything that was screaming at him to agree with her. Instead he answered her with a slight tease of his own. "Let's see how the next couple of months go, and then we'll talk about forever if you're still interested, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan."

It was the last serious conversation they would have until their return to America.