After finishing with the tree, Kira, Tommy, Conner and Trent made their way down the elevator to the parking complex.
"I can't believe it. We're finally going to meet some of the original Rangers!" Conner beamed as he bounced around with excitement. "Wonder what I'll say to them?"
"Well try and calm down a bit. They're here for a break so they probably won't want to talk shop all…" Tommy suddenly lost his train of thought as they neared the black Jeep he'd left with the guys as a gift when he left Reefside. "CONNER WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO MY CAR!"
Tommy rushed over to the jeep, and inspected a huge white scrape running almost the full length of the vehicle.
"Oh right. What makes you automatically think it's my fault?" Conner complained.
"Because Trent has his own car." Tommy snapped. "And Ethan drives like my Grandmother, and she's been dead 20 years!"
"Hey!" Ethan protested at the slur on his notoriously slow driving.
"He got into a little fight with a Buick." Trent answered.
"It wasn't my fault!" Conner protested.
"Dude, the other guy wasn't even moving." Trent reminded him.
"Great, I give you guys my car and you wreck it inside a couple of months." Tommy just shook his head in disbelief.
"Couple of days actually." Ethan corrected him. "He pranged it the weekend after you left."
"Come on Tommy, it's only a car." Kira interjected. "One that you had no intention of driving again."
"I suppose so." He sighed. "At least no-one got hurt."
"Tori and Blake said they'd meet us at the restaurant." Kira stated, changing the subject. "Where are the rest your friends meeting us?"
"Caeser's" Tommy answered as Kira unlocked her yellow Mustang Convertible. "We're meeting up outside Caeser's."
"Great." Kira replied, starting up the engine and fastening her seatbelt. "Maybe we can get a drink before we head for the restaurant."
"Knowing Jason, he'll probably try to get us to watch the show girls." Tommy groaned.
"I thought you said he was bringing Trini?" Kira quizzed him.
"That won't stop him." Tommy replied, shaking his head.
"Well there'll be none of that when we're…"
"Kira!" Tommy interrupted her, quickly looking round to see if the guys had heard. Fortunately they were already in the Jeep and appeared to be out of earshot.
"Sorry." She whispered, suddenly realising that she'd almost blurted out their secret.
"I'd have thought you'd be used to being discreet by now." Tommy laughed, reaching over and stroking her shoulder.
"Yeah, well not from them." She replied.
The party arrived just by the south entrance to Caeser's Palace a little before dark. Tommy approached Kira to speak with her more directly.
"I just want to warn you Kira. Jason and I…"
"Can get a little immature when you're around each other." She groaned. This was about the 500th time he had warned her. "And competitive, and he knows how to wind you up."
"I knew there was a reason I loved you." Tommy replied with a smile. "I just want you to be prepared. I don't want you to be surprised if anything happens like what happened at his wedding."
As the guys dismounted from the Jeep and made their way over to greet them, Tommy was suddenly distracted by a loud yell, snapping his attention to a tall, muscular dark-haired man rushing at him and launching into a flying kick.
Tommy quickly dodged the assault, responding with an attempt at a roundhouse kick himself. As the attacker threw a low kick, Tommy ducked to block it, at which point Kira vaulted him, kicking the attacker powerfully across the temple.
As she prepared a guard, she was suddenly surprised as Tommy pounced on the attacker, and actually seemed to be checking he was OK.
"Kira it's ok." Tommy rushed out as he checked over the man Kira had spread-eagles over the pavement. "I should have warned you, this is Jason, we always used to do this, it's kind of a running joke.
"We keep telling them not to do this." Adam pitched in as he approached them, visibly laughing out loud. "Hey Kira, good to see you. I see you've been working on that jump kick I showed you."
An attractive Asian woman suddenly rushed to Jason's side, quickly checking his eyes. "Well he's avoided a concussion at least." She groaned. "I told you something like this would happen. Remember how you almost got yourself arrested the last time."
"Sorry Trini." Jason replied, rubbing the side of his head with a pained expression on his face. "You know Tommy and I can't resist a good sparring match."
"Just not in a public street." Trini chastised him. "And preferably with a bit of warning so no one gets the wrong idea."
A tall, well built blonde man in a blue T-shirt approached, also laughing. "Dude, she totally dumped you on your butt." He roared, trying hard to remain upright.
"Only cause I never saw it coming, Rocky." He moaned as Tommy and Adam helped him back to his feet. "Where's Kat?"
"She's already inside." Adam replied. "The bar was busy, so she went in to get us a table."
"Anyway, now that we've all had a good laugh." Jason began, still nursing his head. "Introductions. I'm Jason, and this is Rocky, my wife Trini and Adam."
"This is Ethan, Conner, Trent." Tommy responded, pointing to each of them in turn. "And the one who just put you on the pavement is Kira.
"The new girlfriend we keep hearing so much about?" Jason asked, extending a hand. Kira blushed a little as she accepted the handshake. "She's a keeper man. Anyone who can drop-kick me to the pavement like that's alright by me."
"Thanks. Sorry about the head." Kira replied. "I thought you were really attacking him."
"Hey, get me a beer and we'll call it quits." He laughed.
"Anyone Tommy cares about so much I just know I'm going to like." Trini interjected, hugging Kira. "So adam said you've met before?"
"Uh…yeah…He attended a wedding in New York I was playing at." Kira lied. Adam had warned her he hadn't told his friends about the return gig for Dr Hartford's team. "I recognised him from Tommy's video diary."
"You still keeping that thing up to date?" Rocky asked.
"Yeah. You just never know what's going to happen." He replied. "I mean who'd have thought I'd end up back in the jumpsuit?"
"Yeah, I bet you'll probably end up being the first Ranger to need a zimmer frame in battle." Jason joked.
"While I did enjoy those days, I'm glad they're over." Rocky stated. "At our age we'd probably give ourselves a hernia. Right Adam?"
"Speak for yourself." He shot back. "I'm in great shape."
"Anyway, let's get inside before Kat thinks we've abandoned her." Trini said waving them in the door.
"Tommy!" Kat announced, launching herself into an enthusiastic hug. "It's great to see you. Jason what happened to your face?"
"I had an argument with a pair of ugg boots." He replied with a laugh. Kira blushed a little as she looked down at the offending boots.
"He jumped Tommy again." Trini explained. "And, like we're always telling them, somebody got the wrong impression."
"As if almost being arrested at the High School reunion wasn't embarrassing enough." Kat reprimanded him. "So who is everybody?"
"Well, the one in Red's Conner, the one with the huge grin in blue is Ethan, Trent is the one in white. And this." He gently nudged Kira over towards Kat. "Is Kira."
"The new girlfriend? Oh she is beautiful." Kat hugged Kira and looked into her eyes. "I'd just love to get to know you better."
"So what's everyone doing these days?" Tommy asked, taking a seat as Kira waved over a waiter.
"Kat, Rocky and I opened the gym and dance studio in San Fransisco we were planning." Adam began. "Kat and Rocky got married last year, while my love life is uneventful as usual."
"When Ernie retried from the Youth Centre, Trini and I bought him out." Jason responded as the waiter handed him a cold beer. He held it to his head to reduce the swelling. "And this will be the last Christmas we'll be spending alone."
"You're kidding. That's great news!" Tommy responded.
"I had my first scan last month." Trini informed him, a huge grin on her face.
"So it looks like I owe you $200." Tommy groaned, handing Jason some money. "You WERE the first one to have a Ranger kid."
"What can I say I'm happy." Jason answered him. "Anyway, Zack works out here now in a church just outside of town."
"In a church?" Tommy asked. "I lost touch with him in College, but I thought he got into that music and dance course."
"Well, I won't go into details, cause that's his business to tell you, but he ran into some trouble a few years back." Jason began. "Trini and I helped him straighten himself out, and he decided he wanted to become a minister."
"Well I'm glad it worked out for him." Tommy replied with a sigh. He couldn't help but feel bad that one of his best friends had obviously gone through a rough time.
"Well, we can pick him up on the way to the restaurant." Trini interrupted. "I'm sure he'd love to see you."
"That'd be great." Tommy said, suddenly feeling a bit better about the whole situation.
"Aisha got a job teaching in Boston." Kat informed the group. "She says she loves it there."
"Has anyone heard from Kimberly?" Tommy asked. They sat quietly for a second. Tommy hadn't seen or spoken to Kim since they broke up, and he knew it was an awkward subject that the others never wanted to bring up with him. "It's ok guys, you can talk about it. It was a long time ago."
"Actually we all lost touch with her when she married David and moved to Paris." Trini answered him. "No one's seen or spoken to her for years."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Tommy sighed. "I really hope everything worked out for her."
"And Billy says things are going well with Cestria on Aquitar." Trini told them as the took a sip from a glass of cola. "They can't have kids, but they're planning to adopt."
"Anyway let's hear all about you guys." Kat chipped in. "Conner, Tommy tells us you're a bit of a soccer star."
"Yeah, I got into UCLA on a soccer scholarship." He answered. "I want to end up in a professional team, but I wanted to get some qualifications first, so I'd have something to fall back on."
"Sensible move." Rocky complimented him. "One of the rules in our Gym is that the kids only get allowed to work out if they stay in school."
"I'm working in computers." Ethan informed them. "I'm getting some good money, and some experience. I hope to start my own company in a few years."
"Well no Microsoft-style monopolies." Adam joked.
"Tommy tells us you're releasing your first album soon." Jason addressed Kira.
"It's coming out in time for the 21st." Kira answered him. "I wasn't convinced competing for Christmas sales was such a great idea, but my producer's confident he's doing the right thing."
"She was signed by Barry Goldstein." Tommy interjected.
"That blues guy you used to inflict on us in college?" Jason asked.
"The same one."
After a while, they finished up their drinks, before making their way to the church. As they arrived, Zack casually strolled up to Kira's Mustang and leaned into the car, shaking Tommy's hand warmly.
"Hey there stranger. I heard you were in town." He announced. "What's been happening?"
"I'm teaching now." Tommy answered, gesturing for him to get in. "Jason said you had gone into this line of work."
"Bad times man." Zack informed him, bringing up the subject he knew must be awkward for him. "While I was at college, I started partying a little too hard. Before I knew it, I had a drinking problem and had to drop out."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Tommy replied sympathetically. "Jason said he and Trini helped you out."
"They got me into rehab." He continued his story. "Jason leant me a lot of money for treatment. While I was there I started going to Church." He gestured to his clothing. "When I was clean I went back to college, and changed my major from music and dance to theology. I've been clean and sober now for six years."
"Well I'm glad everything worked out for you." Tommy said sincerely, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry I lost touch."
"Hey that was as much my fault as anyone's." Zack waved off the apology. "I was in a pretty bad way. It was sheer luck that Jason found me."
Arriving at the restaurant, they met Tori and Blake outside, and exchanged introductions before making their way in.
"Oliver, party of 13." Tommy addressed the Maitre d'.
"A private dining room has just cancelled." The maitre d' informed him. "Would you like to upgrade?"
"Sounds good." Tommy answered. With that, the maitre d' showed them through to their dining room.
"The waiter will be through shortly." He announced, before leaving the room.
"Trust me, the steak here is fantastic." Tommy advised them, picking up his menu.
"Little expensive on a teacher's salary isn't it?" Jason inquired, looking at the menu. "You playing blackjack again?"
"Dr. O, you never told us you played blackjack." Ethan yelled. Tommy shot Jason an icy look.
"Back in College, blabbermouth over there and I took a road trip to Vegas." He explained, gesturing in Jason's direction. "I found I was pretty good at it. But I quit while I was ahead."
"So how much ahead were you?" Conner asked. Tearing himself a dinner roll.
"See what you've started?" He moaned. "Let's just say that between my winnings in Vegas and the money I earned from Anton, I never had a mortgage."
"So why'd you never say anything about that?" Trent asked.
"Because telling your students you paid for your house by playing blackjack would make a wonderful impression on the school board now wouldn't it." Tommy put down flatly. "Anyway, order anything you like. Once we're done here, We can go back to the apartment for a bit."
As the evening wore on, Tommy and Kira exchanged a few knowing glances between each other between nostalgic anecdotes of their many adventures. Kira couldn't help reaching into her back pocket and playing with her ring. Tommy had been right. This was fun.
A while later, Kira bumped into Adam in the corridor on her way to the bathroom.
"Hey Adam. Have you done any morphing lately?" She asked.
"So far I've stopped 2 bank robberies, 4 muggings and a shoot out." He answered her. "You?"
"Not much. I usually try not to draw attention to myself. I didn't think it would be wise to turn up in town at the same time as the Yellow Ranger."
"Well you could always try to keep it discreet." He suggested.
"Easy for you to say. Your outfit's black, you can do the whole Batman-skulk-in-the-dark thing." Kira laughed. "It's not exactly easy when you run around in a bright yellow jumpsuit."
"Point taken I suppose." At that, he suddenly noticed something curious. "Kira, when did Tommy propose?"
"Pardon?" She gasped. "I don't know…"
"Vegas is a hot city." He interrupted "You have a tan line on your left hand."
Kira immediately hid her hand.
"Look, I've seen how you guys are with each other." He continued. "You're obviously made for each other. I just don't know why you're hiding it."
"It's just that things are happening so quickly, we didn't think you guys would understand." She responded. "We thought you'd think we're nuts or something."
"Well I can't say it isn't sudden." Adam breathed. "But the only people who can make the decision how strong your relationship is are you and Tommy."
Kira smiled at him. "He proposed on the Strip shortly after we arrived."
"Well, I for one am happy for you." He replied. "I promise I won't say anything. You are keeping my secret after all. But I think you should give the guys a chance."
"For what it's worth, why are you keeping your comeback a secret?" She asked him.
"Did Tommy tell you how much of a hard time we gave him at the reunion?" He laughed. "I didn't want to be known as the next grandpa Ranger. But for what it's worth, I think I look better in black."
"I have to disagree." She laughed. "But then I do have to side with my fiancé."
With that, they both made their way back to the dining room, united in sharing each other's secrets.