The Diary

by Luna23

Snipits of Kimberly's diary about her life as a normal teenager, power ranger, gymnast, adult and more. For every diary entry there are scenes about what the diary entry was about. Yeah, I suck at Please R&R! New Chapter!

16. Last Years Of College

August 15, 1997

Dear Diary,

I'm home now, and Tommy is with me. He surprised me on the plane, and is staying here for a few days. It's not much, but it's something. I think this will really show us if we are ready to start back or not. It's good that we can talk away from the gang. I loved seeing all of them tough! It was a wonderful trip. Renee looked at me in shock when I introduced her to Tommy. Her mouth literally dropped, then she gave me a look that basically said 'what did you do?!' but she didn't press… at least, not yet. I'm just glad he's here. I start practice tomorrow morning, but tonight, I hope I can show him around campus and all.

Anyway, I better finish unpacking, and wait for Tommy to get off the phone with baggage claim.

More later!

Love,

Kimberly

"Kim?" Renee says walking around the apartment looking for her.

"In my room." She calls back.

Renee walks into her room, "So please inform me about what HE is doing here!" She exclaims very interested.

"I guess he wanted to see where I live."

"Kim…" Renee warns, "Spill it. Tell me EXACTLY what happened in the mountains."

"I guess we needed a break."

"Are you two back together?"

"I really don't know yet."

"He's here though."

"Only for a few days. I think we need some time to figure out if we can work out our differences or not."

"So, this will be a long few days eh?"

"Nah, it should be alright." Kim smiles.

"Well, we have practice in an hour."

"I know. Coach is going to kill me! I haven't practiced in a while."

"You and me both." Renee laughs, "He'll punish us."

"I'll be on bars all night… so long that my rips get rips." She says, shuddering in pain. She looks at her hands that had healed from the workout two weeks before.

"Ugh, your hands were a mess the last time you didn't perform up to code on the bars."

"I know, believe me, I know."

"I'll be on beam, so it will be equally as bad."

"I had an excuse though, I was camping. We didn't have a gym a few blocks away."

"That's no excuse. I am sure they had a beach or something around there where you could practice your tumbling and stretch out." Renee says, smiling.

Kimberly shrugs, "What he doesn't know won't hurt ME." She giggles.

"Well, I think we should get a move on it. The last thing we need is to show up late."

Kim sighs, "You're right." She moves from her bedroom to the living room, "Hey, I have to go to practice soon."

Tommy smiles and nods in acknowledgement, "Alright." He says to the person on the phone before thanking them and hanging up.

"Did you get everything figured out?" Kimberly asks.

"Yeah." He smiles, "So can I watch you practice, or is this a closed set?"

"I don't think you want to see me. I haven't practiced in ages."

"I don't care, besides, it's a rare treat to see you on bars and vault."

"Well that's where I'll be all day, if my routines aren't 100 worthy of competing."

"So, can I watch?"
She smiles, "Sure, but I am warning you… it's not going to be pretty."

Tommy rolls his eyes but smiles. She has always been hard on herself during practice, but she always managed to look great, even if she wasn't pleased with the routines.

"I have to get ready." She says, walking into her bedroom, changing into her workout outfit which consists of an ice blue leotard and black shorts. She ties her hair up and out of her face with a pink ponytail holder, "Renee let's go!"

"I'm coming." She says, as they meet in the hallway, "Grab the water bottles ok?"

"Yeah." She says, finishing her braid as she walks to the kitchen.

"Are you coming Tommy?" Renee asks.

"I was planning on it." Tommy smiles.

"Well that's cool. You'll be able to see us both fall on our faces... a lot."

"I doubt it."

Renee laughs, "Just you wait."

"Alright guys, lets go." Kimberly says, grabbing her gym bag.

Tommy walks next to the girls as they make their way down the road to the complex.

As soon as the girls get inside, Coach is all over them, "Did you girls have a nice week off?"

"Yeah. It was awesome." Renee says, sitting her bag down on a bench at the floor level of the complex.

"Practice much?" Kimberly and Renee look at each other nervously, "I'll take that as a no." He sighs. "Get stretched, Kimberly bars, Renee beam." Both girls groan, "Problem?"

"No." They says. He smiles at them as if to say, 'Haha, I win.'

"Who is our spectator?" Schmidt asks.

"That's Tommy. Remember him? You met him a few times when you were scouting me." Kimberly says.

"Ah yes. Well, I'm sure he'll be in for a treat." He says, a bit on the sarcastic side.

Kim sighs again and takes her twenty minutes to stretch, before walking over to the bars. She chalks her hands, and just thinks about the rips that are going to happen during her practice session. There is nothing worse than rips on your hands when you are practicing nonstop. She looks up at Tommy who gives her a confident smile and she mounts. After her first passage she hears, "STOP!"

Kimberly stops and dismounts quickly looking at her coach, "What?"

"Bent feet, legs apart, horrible mount and passage, start it again and concentrate."

Kimberly sighs, it's gonna be a long day. She chalks up her hands and mounts again. "AGAIN KIMBERLY."

Tommy shakes his head at the coach from the stands. It looked good to him, but after years of watching her practice the only event he knew every point deduction to was the beam. Floor came second, followed by both vault and bars. He knew little about the latter two.

That afternoon, once practice was over, Tommy smiled at her, "You looked awesome out there."

"Ugh, it was a horrible practice. I couldn't have done worse." She sighs.

"Well, I don't get a chance to see you on bars and vault that much."

Kimberly smiles, "Yeah, they are definitely not my first and second choice to compete, but I kind of have to. Hopefully you'll get to see my beam and floor routine tomorrow."

"I'm sure I will." He smiles.

"Ugh, I can't wait to get home and take a shower." She says, "I feel so gross."

Tommy laughs, "You don't look that bad."

She smiles, "Always know just what to say eh?"

He shrugs, "I try."

Kimberly and Tommy open the door to her apartment where she immediately jumps into the shower while Tommy sits on the porch. Kimberly quickly gets out and looks through her outfits, choosing a lavender halter top that ties around her neck and a pair of white shorts. Her white sandals match perfectly to the outfit chosen so she grabs them. Her hair, she pulls back into two tight French braids. When she is finally happy with her look she walks out and finds Tommy.

"Hey." She says walking out on the balcony.

"Hey beautiful." He says smiling at her.

"What do you feel like doing tonight?"

"I'm hungry." He says, "So food would be nice."

"Alright." She grins, "I'll take you somewhere that is nice."

"It better have more then a salad."

Kimberly giggles, "I wouldn't do that to you."

That night, they sit under the night sky on the balcony, "So are we going to talk about what happened a year back?" Tommy asks.

"I thought we did talk about it." She says, suddenly feeling very awkward about herself.

"No, we screamed about it." He says, shuddering at the camping trip.

"Ugh…" Kimberly sighs, really not wanting to get back into their fallout.

"Why Kim?"
"I was scared." She says flat out.

"Of what?"

"Losing you to Kat."

"Kat? But why?"

"She was there. She has my powers…"

"Had." Tommy corrects.

"Had. She had MY animal."

"It never worked as well for Katherine."

"Every time I called you, you were with her. We barely talked. I called and then your parents said you were out with Kat, then an obvious pause and then they included and the gang. I missed you and didn't know if you wanted to be with her or not.:

"I guess I took our relationship for granted. It was always there. I never thought I wouldn't have it one day. I never cheated on you Kimberly, and I want you to know that. Kat and I were just friends until a few months after we broke up. I thought I liked her, but she wasn't what I tried to talk myself into. I did try to like her, but she wasn't you. I told myself that I was over you and I was, or at least I thought I was, until I saw you captured by Divatox. I love you Kimberly."

"I just couldn't handle it Tommy. I hated being away from you. I still do. My teammates told me to just do it, and I did. I didn't think it was right to hold you back. Three thousand miles is a long way. It still is."

"Kim, I am not going anywhere. I never was. I am so sorry if I made you feel unwanted, or that I didn't love you anymore, but I do. I don't care about the distance, I never have. We'll make it work. I promise you that Kimberly."

She looks over at him and says, "I can't lose you again. The first time was too much for me to handle."

"You won't, because I can't lose you again."

"I don't know if I can be strong enough to make a long distance relationship work. I wasn't the first time around."

"You don't have to be the strength, because I'll meet you half way. We can make this work Kimberly."

"Promise?"

"Promise." He says, leaning over, kissing her on the cheek.

August 20, 1997

Dear Diary,

Tommy left today and I was a bit leery. I don't know what is going to happen, or if I am going to be strong enough to live without him. It's going to be a while before I see him next, and I know I am going to be busy, but I miss him so much soon. I am really happy that we made up. It was nice to just have him alone for the past few days. He was able to see my practices and we could be with each other like we were back in Angel Grove.

He told me he'll call when he gets home, but I know he will be busy moving into school and all. It was such a great week and a half. I am going to have to take off more to get home. I have a reason now.

Oh well, Practice Time!!!

Gosh I miss him,

Love,

Kimberly

That night Kimberly finishes one of her papers, and sighs. She just feels so overwhelmed. Her professional semester will be starting next year, and then she would have her last year of college. She just keeps pushing herself. She always has done that. Kim was up almost all night finishing up her paper. She has only two hours of sleep before her practice started. Renee was in the same boat as Kim.

"How long did you sleep?" Renee asks her tired roommate, before grabbing herself a fat-free cappuccino.

"Bout two hours. What about you?"

"The same." Renee yawns, "Practice is gonna suck."

"Yes, it is." Kim sighs, and boy were they right.

Kimberly had a hell of a time sticking her landings. Her coach frowns as he watches her botch up her routines.

"Kimberly, Renee, come over here and have a seat." He says, finally sick of seeing their routines. Both girls sit on the mats beneath the beam, "What is going on with you two today? You both look exhausted, not to mention your routines on your best events are nothing to be desired."

"I didn't get much sleep last night coach." Kimberly sighs.

"Me neither." Renee says, "I had a ton of work due today and tomorrow."

"Me too. It was tough getting it all done. I got about two hours of sleep." Kim says, as both girls look at him for sympathy.

"Girls, I don't need either of you injured. If you need more time let me know. We can move practice. Look, I know how important it is for you both to be healthy and safe. Call it a day today, and I'll see you both tomorrow."

"Thanks coach!" Kimberly and Renee say smiling at him.

The girls both walk back to their apartment. "I have a lot of work to get done." Renee complains.

"So do I, " Kim says, "But I should be able to get it all done tonight, and still get a decent nights sleep given the early stop we had at the gym."

"Me too, if I decide to work my ass off."

Kimberly smiles and heads back into her room to type yet another paper. During this time she tries to call Tommy. She hears, "Hey, this is Tommy, you know what to do."

"Hey Tommy, just calling to say hi! I miss you. I have off tonight so I can get some homework finished. Hopefully it won't take all night to do. Call me when you get a chance to. I love you. Bye." She says and hangs up. They were both so busy that anyone who tried to call you were practically guaranteed to get their voicemail. It was sometimes easier for them to talk through instant message or e-mail.

November, 3, 1997

Dear dairy,

God I hurt so bad still. I just had surgery yesterday on my knee. I have never hurt so much in my entire life. They still aren't sure if I will be strong enough to compete this year at Pan Globals! I hate this! Oh well, let me tell you what happened…

"Alright Kimberly, lets see the new tumbling passage." Her coach says.

" Alright." Kim says. She starts at the bottom right side of the mat and completes her passage. "Good, but this time more height."

""You got it." She smiles. She starts on the corner and continues down the mat getting the height necessary to complete her skill, but when she lands something twists wrong. Kimberly gives a lout yelp as her knee could no longer support her weight. Fire shoots up through her knee as tears pour from her eyes, "Oh my god!" She says, grabbing her right knee.

Coach Schmidt runs over to his fallen gymnasts and says, "Let me see your knee." He pulls her hands away from her knee and sees it rapidly filling with fluid.
"God it hurts." She says through tears.

"We need to get you x-rays, come on." He says, "can you walk?"

"I can't even more without pain." Kimberly says.

Cooper, Kimberly's best guy friend down in Florida comes over and picks her up gently. He puts her into the car and they drive to the hospital where she was given a pain pill. They carefully moved her through the x-ray and onto an MRI, showing that her ACL had a big of a tear in it, but it was not completely torn.

"You are going to need surgery right away and extensive therapy to correct this Kimberly." The doctor explains.

"Will I be able to compete?"

"I'm not sure if you will be strong enough by the Pan Globals."

"Not even when they are in May?" Coach Schmidt asks.

"It depends on how she feels. If she has no pain in a few months, she can start back slowly, but she must listen to her body. If she pushes herself too hard she could do permanent damage.

"When is surgery?"

"In about two hours I have an opening.

"Damn." Kim sighs, but she is determined to work through her pain. She was cared about the surgery, and the fact that it may be the end of her career, however, she needed to get over that. She picks up her cell phone and calls her parents, leaving them both messages about what was going on with her, then she calls Tommy, getting the same message that she is use to hearing, "Hey, it's me. I guess you're in class or something, but I messed up my knee today in practice, and I tore my ACL. It's not totally torn but it's enough that I need surgery on it. They are prepping me and getting it done. The doctor didn't have another time to do it and I guess the sooner the better for this. I'm really scared Tommy. The surgery takes a couple hours, but I should be home tomorrow. Call me if you get a chance. I love you." And she hangs up. She never had a serious injury before, well, besides almost breaking her neck a year and a half ago. This just scared her. She could be finished competing at this competitive level. Though she was mostly positive, this was really bringing her down. The nurse brings her in all sorts of forms for her to sign, and was doing so when Cooper and Renee came into the room.

"How ya doing squirt?" Cooper asks his friend.

"Just peachy." She says, sighing, "I am basically signing my life away. My favorite is "incase of accidental death, I Kimberly Anne Heart will not force any legal actions on the hospital."

Renee laughs, "Of course you won't, you're dead… it's your family and friends who will."

Kimberly smiles a bit and continues to sign away her life, "Did you get a hold of anyone at home?" Coop asks.

"My father, and he insists on coming down here asap. I'm ok with that, I'd rather have him here than my mother. He'll be a bit calmer then she would be. I'm sure I'll be getting the phone call from her soon, which won't help my nerves any." Kimberly sighs.

"Did you talk to Tommy?"

"Left him a message about what was going on." She says, "I wish I knew exactly why they are going to operate on me so quickly…."

"That's an easy one." Coach Schmidt says, coming into the room, "They take good care of my gymnasts here. If one gets hurt, they fix them up quickly. Unlike other hospitals, they understand how hard it is to be out of the 'game' so to speak for so long, and they don't want to delay it. Plus, your ACL is nothing to mess with."

Kimberly sighs, and puts down the papers. She was more scared then before. The pain pill was beginning to wear off, which was what the doctors wanted. As soon as she was off the pill they could begin surgery.

"Does it hurt a lot?" Renee asks, innocently.

"I'm still ok right now, if I don't move it. God, I wish I knew where I went wrong, so I could never do it again."
"You just landed wrong." Cooper assures her, "We all have done it, you just did it the best."

"Thanks." She says, smiling a bit.

Two hours later, everyone leaves, and Kimberly is wheeled to surgery, "Have you had surgery before?" The anesthesiologist asks.

"No."

"Well, I'm going to have to give you a sedative, before putting you completely under. This may feel like a bee sting, but only for a moment."

Kimberly takes a deep breath as he sticks the needle into her arm, before putting the IV in. She winces, but the doctor was right, after a moment the pain vanished. She was then laid back and moved to the surgical bed and given a mask.

"Kimberly, I'm Dr. Moore, and I'll be doing your surgery. Count backwards from 100. When you wake up, you'll be done."

"How long is this going to take?" She asks.

"Approximately two hours, but maybe less. You'll be fine." He says, "Count back from 100."

Kimberly does what she is told and the next thing she knew she hears, "Kimberly. Kimberly, wake up. Open your eyes Kimber."

She groans a bit and slowly starts to come around, "Dad?"

"Yeah, hey kiddo, you ok?"

"Did you just get here?" She mumbles.

He smiles as she tries to focus, "About thirty minutes ago. I took the first flight out. You were in a bit longer than expected, so I made it in time."

"How long?"

"Close to three hours. The tear was deeper than expected."

"Will I be ok?"

He smiles, "You'll be fine."

Kimberly nods and closes her eyes again. She later woke up with a fierce pain in her knee. She looked at the clock across the room and sees it read 8:00pm. Her father was sitting next to her with her stepmother.

"Look whose up." Larissa smiles at her. "Are you ok?"

"My knee is killing me." She says, wincing.

"We'll get something for you." Mr. Hart says, as he walks out to find the nurses.

The pain was overwhelming; by the time the nurse came in with the IV bag. She was given morphine and with in minutes, the pain was lifted.

"You don't have to stay all night Dad." Kimberly says, yawning.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Because you need sleep. It's a long trip."

"Don't worry about me Kim."

"Really, it's ok. I want you to go to a hotel. I'll be leaving tomorrow, it won't be too bad."

"Your mother would kill me." He laughs.

"She won't know." Kim says.

"Alright… I'll think about going to a hotel ok?"

"Kay."

"Until then, get some sleep, and if we go, I'll see you tomorrow ok?"

"Ok." She says as the morphine takes over.

All through the night she was woken up with pain. She couldn't move without her knee hurting. If she turned wrong, she was up practically screaming from the pain. She hasn't heard from her mother or Tommy or any of her friends yet, and she knows that won't last. She turned on the TV at 3am and found that there was nothing on. She sighs and the nurse comes in to take her blood pressure and give her another IV.

"Are you in pain?" The nurse asks her.

"I'm alright right now." Kimberly says, sighing.

"You should try to get some sleep."

"I can't… every time I do sleep, I am awake in an hour with pain because I move wrong."

"Unfortunately that's going to happen a lot during the next few weeks." She says to her.

"And then therapy… which will equally stink."

"Ok, well let me know if you need anything." The nurse smiles "Try and get some rest."

"Ok." Kimberly says, turning her attention back to the TV.

The next day she wakes up to her father talking to someone on the phone. It was much later than she expects when she looks at the clock, it says 11:30.

"No, Caroline, she's fine. Honestly. She had a bit of a tear but she's doing fine."

Kimberly listens to her father talk to her mother and fear grips her. They very rarely talk to one another, and she just hopes it continues to stay civilized. "Carrie… she is doing fine. They have her on some pain medicine, and then she'll need to stay her knee completely for the next three weeks… no she'll be on crutches… yes… Caroline listen…" He sighs and listens to his ex vent. He knows it's because their daughter had surgery and he was there, but she wasn't, "I'm going to stay a few days… no Larissa and Mackenzie are both here… yes… Don't go there Caroline. Kimberly and Larissa are fine… anyway, let's get back to the point of this call…. No… No, she won't start therapy till she is completely healed….. Three weeks is the soonest, six weeks is the maximum…. Her therapy will last as long as she needs it…. I don't know if she is out permanently and neither do the doctors…. No… no… we're on a wait and see schedule… Yes, she is aware that she may never compete again, but we aren't thinking about that…. She's sleeping right now, but I'll have her call you when she is up ok? Fine…. Ok… I will Caroline… Right Carrie… bye." He says and finally hangs up the phone. Kimberly could make out pretty much everything they talked about during the conversation.

"Dad?"

"Yeah kid."

"Was that mom?"

"Yeah she's worried about you."

"When can I leave?"
"In about an hour. They need to get the brace on you and get your information together on how to care for your leg. We also need to set up a post-op appointment. Then you're home free… and stuck with me and Larissa and Mac for a few days."

"That's fine." She says… "God this hurts so bad." She groans.

"It's suppose to." He smiles.

"Yeah, thanks dad." Kimberly laughs.

Within the hour I was home at my apartment, feeling pain every time I move my leg just the slightest. This knee brace is really horrible. I can't stand having it on, but it's necessary. It allows no movement really, from my joints until my ACL heals. God this really sucks. I am really glad that my father is here though. It's nice to have family here.

Oh well, I gotta go finish doing a whole lot of nothing. That's all I can do with this damn brace and crutches. God this hurts. Maybe I'll call Tommy back…

Love,

Kimberly

Kimberly hears her phone ring and she picks it up with her normal "Hello." She smiles as she hears her boyfriends voice, "Hey."
"Hey beautiful. How are you?"

"I'm in constant pain…" She whines.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I did my hurtle, completed my rotation, and when I hit the mats my leg just gave out."

"Jeeze Kim."

"I know, but my dads here, and I'm glad because I don't want to do this alone."

"I wish I was there."
"Me too, but don't worry about it… I'll be fine."

"How long are you on crutches for?"
" A bit over a month. I can't put any weight on it for about three weeks, so I'm stuck till I get into therapy… and even then, I'm not sure if I'll still need to keep using them or if I'd be able to put some weight on my ankle."
"Don't push it Kim."

"Believe me, I'm not. The last thing I wanna do is be out of the Globals for sure. At least with my ankle right now there is still a chance that I will be able to compete.

"I wish I was there with you Kim."

"ME too, but don't worry too much about me. You need to stay at school and I get to go back as soon as I'm off the pain meds.

"Don't get hooked on them Kimberly."

"I hate taking meds, so I won't. I just need one sometimes."

"Just checking." Tommy smiles, "Hang on Kimberly." He says. She hears him talking to someone else in the room, "I'll meet you there." He says to the person before turning his attention back to Kim, "Adam says hi."

"You weren't talking to Adam. I know Adam's voice."

Tommy smiles, "He was walking past my room while I was talking to this guy Kevin."

"Oh, well then tell him hi back for me."

"I will. I gotta go, but you take care of yourself Beautiful, and I'll see you soon."

"Alright." She smiles.

"Love you."

"You too." She replies and hangs up the phone. She is still going to be heading home during Thanksgiving. The plane ride was going to be a killer on crutches, but she couldn't stay in her dorm all alone. She has her dad schedule her a flight. He informed the airline that she would be unable to bend her leg and was on crutches. They made the necessary arrangements and on November 22nd she is flying home for a whole week. The doctors cleared her to fly at her follow-up appointment. They told her to stretch it out during the trip and to be extremely careful.

On November 22, 1997 at 7:00 EST Kimberly gets out of the car and so does her driver. "Thanks a lot Cooper." She says as he helps take the baggage to the check-in point.

"Anytime. Be careful Squirt."

"I will. You too. I'll see you when I get back." She says smiling.

"Bye kid." He says hugging her gently.

"Bye." Kim says, and with her carryon bag strapped to her back, she hobbles her way into the terminal. Her knee gets knocked into twice during her time in the airport and each time she sees stars. She kept the Advil in her carryon bag for just this reason. Kimberly takes a seat at the gate, awaiting her flight. She props her leg up. Her knee started throbbing every time she turned. She groans every time the fire shoots up from her knee. She has even taken to sleeping on her back because her knee would kill if she moved at night. She also was more a fan of the couch than the bed because it stopped her from rolling over through the night.

"First call for flight 132 to Los Angeles California." Kimberly stands up and boards the plane hearing, "The flight will take approximately six hours plus an hour layover in Houston, Texas."

"This should be fun." She thinks and after what seems like an hour the plane starts to take off. As the plane climbed altitude she felt pressure in her knee which lasted until the cabin stabilized. She took this time to pop in a few Advil's and wait out the pain. People around her asked what had happened to her knee and she told them, but it got old by the time the fifth person asked. "It's gonna be a long flight." She sighs. She closes her eyes and manages to get almost two hours of sleep before her knee stiffens and she has to stand up.

Around 1:00pm the plane landed in California. She waited till almost everyone on the plane departed and then stood up wincing, and gathered all her belongings. She swings her backpack over her shoulder, leaning on the crutches and hobbles off the plane. Aisha and Kaitlyn were picking her up today. Tommy had his last class of the week, so he couldn't get her. He told her that he'd meet her at Aisha's house later on tonight.

As soon as Kimberly steps off the plane she hears, "Kim!" It was Aisha. Kimberly smiles brightly and makes her way over to her two friends.

"Hey girls!" She says, hugging them.

"You look a sight!" Kaitlyn grins, taking Kimberly's backpack from her.

"Thanks Kate, I appreciate that." She groans.

"We missed you Kimberly." Kaitlyn smiles.

"I miss you too."

"Let's go get your bags." Aisha smiles as they make their way over to baggage claim.

"How's the knee feeling?"

"Eh, it's getting better slowly. If I move my knee it really hurts still, however, if I keep it still for a while it hurts… it's a loose/loose situation."

"When do you start PT?"

"When I get back. I don't know how long it will actually take though. It's kind of scary to think that I may not be able to compete in Pan Globals this year."

"Take one day at a time Kim. Whatever happens happens." Kaitlyn says.

"Always the optimist." Aisha smiles.

Kaitlyn shrugs, "I try."

The girls walk out of the airport and to her car. Aisha and Kaitlyn helped Kimberly play catch-up with what she wasn't here for. They were truly great friends and were saying how they would be moving into a house next semester, and how everything was going so great at UCLA. Kimberly couldn't help but feel left out again. Everything was changing and it was without her. Even her oldest best friend seemed to be pulling away from her and towards the others. "It's only natural though, because Kaitlyn was around the group 24/7. Hell, she's dating one of our best friends, so of course they are going to really hit it off. Kate is a great person." Kimberly tells herself, smiling as best she could while the others talked, "Don't do this again. You pushed Tommy and the others away the last time you felt like this. Just burry it. Change happens. Change is good. Just don't do this again."

November 23, 1997

Dear Diary,

I got home yesterday, and I am thrilled to be here. I saw Tommy late last night, and will be staying with his family for a day or two during my week long stay here.

While I am thrilled to be home, I hate it at the same time. Every time I see them and come back I feel so out of the loop. It is still really hard for me because I keep looking back to when we were in high school. I still remember being inseparable with them, and now I am separated, by 3000 miles. It's hard to come home and see everything changing without me. Is that selfish? I'm not sure. I love the fact that Aisha and Kaitlyn try and catch me up, but there are still things there that I don't get, and it's because they happened while I was gone. Hell, I've been gone for almost three years, I should be use to this by now, but I can't and I don't think I'll ever totally be ok with the distance between he group and I. It's really hard. I am really getting tired of it, but I just have to stick it out for another couple years and everything will go back to the way it was… or will it? Can I just go back to the way it was? Can I just forget about the five total years away from everyone? I don't know… I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Anyway… Everyone and every thing is great here. I'm gonna head over to Trini's and hang out with her for a few hours. We haven't done stuff, just the two of us in a long time. Maybe I should talk to her about this whole feeling left out thing. I remember a few years she had this when they were at the Peace Conference. She's always had good advice to give me…

Oh well, I'm gonna head to bed. I'm exhausted.

Love,

Kimberly

Kimberly and Trini were sitting at the Kwan's house talking and figuring out what they were going to do that day.

"I'm glad we're home together this time." Trini smiles.

"Me too Trin. I really missed you guys." Kimberly says, smiling.

Trini catches a hint of nervousness in her voice, "Kim, what's wrong."

"Nothing."

"Kimberly…"

Kim sighs, "It's just… I am starting to feel with Kaitlyn the same thing you felt with Aisha, only, Kaitlyn and I were best friends and Aisha and I were best friends, then I was kind of bumped out of the whole friend circle."

"It's hard isn't it? Coming home and seeing change without being a part of it. Did they try and catch you up?"
"Yes, and it helped, but I still don't have the little stories that we all had before."

Trini smiles, "I know how you feel… I really do. Change is happening all around… I mean, you've changed a lot. I've changed, and Kim, it's not that big of a deal. College is only so long, just like the Peace Conference, and then you come home and pick up exactly where we left off. It all works out Kimberly. Don't do what I did."

"Alright."

"Not as much has changed as you think. It messes with your mind, being away so long."

"I just want to be around more again, and it kills me that I can't."

"Do you not like gymnastics like you use to?"

"You know, I thought about that. I felt as if I wasn't happy when I was doing it, but tearing my ACL really made me realize how much I do love gymnastics. I was so scared that I would never be able to compete again. It is my life. I don't know what I'll do when I retire from it. I am just not ready to do so yet."

"And you don't have to… and after you retire you'll end up coaching it." Trini jokes.

"Yeah, probably." Kimberly laughs.
"No probably about it, you'll be an elementary teacher by day and coach by night. You're too good and love it too much to give it up completely."

"Yeah… you're right." Kim giggles.

"So, how is your knee doing, really?"

"God, it totally sucks. I can't sleep on my stomach because it puts strain on my knee, but when I sleep I always somehow manage to pull my knee the wrong way and wake up in horrible pain."

Trini sighs, "That stinks. How did you do it?"
"I don't know. I just landed wrong."

"All this for landing wrong."

"Yeah. I've landed wrong so many times. I guess I was lucky the other times though."

Trini nods, "Yeah you were. Are you staying with Aisha or are you going to stay with Tommy?"

"I'm at Aisha's now, but I'm gonna stay with the Oliver's the last couple days I'm here. We really haven't seen much of each other since I've gotten home."
"The whole two days?"
Kimberly laughs, "I know it doesn't seem that long, but come on, you know how the whole long distance relationship works. I mean, Adam isn't exactly close by."

Trini smiles, "I know… believe me I know."

Kimberly smiles, "So how are you two doing?"

"Really well. I miss him a lot when I'm at school, but it's only a couple more years."

"Does he visit you?"

"He's been down a few times, and I've been up, but it's not nearly as much as I would like."
"Did your parents meet Adam?"
"Yeah, and they really like him. I was nervous…"
"Why? Everyone who meets Adam likes him. Adam is probably the most likeable person there is." Kim laughs.

Trini smiles, "Yeah, I know. I missed this Kim, us talking."

"Me too Trini. We'll have to do it more when I come home."

"Or we'll just have to visit each other more."

"Or both." Kimberly grins.

"That sounds even better. Come on, let's go get some lunch."

"Kay." Kim says as she grabs her crutches and walks out the door with Trini.

Kimberly's cell phone rings while they were sitting down in the pizza shop at the mall. She smiles when she sees the number and picks up, "Hey… I'm good how are you? No, Trini and I are grabbing a bite to eat. Tonight's fine." She says to the person on the phone, "Tommy says Hi."

"Hi" Trini says back.

"Anyway, yeah, I'll meet you tonight. Love you too! Bye." She says hanging up the phone.

"What are you two doing tonight?"

"I'm gonna just head over to his house. I have only seen him once in the two days I've been home, which is weird."

"Yeah that is for you two." Trini laughs.

The two girls spend the rest of the afternoon together and at six, they head back home and Kimberly heads to the Oliver's.

"I missed you… a lot." Kimberly says, hugging her boyfriend.

"I missed you too. I really hate how we haven't had much time together."
Kimberly nods, "Yeah, but when I'm only home for a few days, you have to share me." She smiles.

"I don't wanna." He replies, kissing the top of her head.

Kimberly sighs, "We really do need to spend more time together… especially since I leave in a few days. I just wish I could do more with my knee… but… oh well."

"So, we'll stay in… watch a movie, just the two of us. How's that sound."

"Wonderful… absolutely wonderful." She smiles. They head into the den and watch a movie, just spending time with each other. It was the only full night they had away from everyone and they loved it.

January 21, 1998

Dear Diary,

Well, these damn therapy sessions are driving me absolutely crazy! I am so sick and tired of taking this slow, I just want my knee to be 100 better now! I hate sitting on the sidelines watching my team practice, while I am stuck helping coach. I wanna be out there! Cooper hurt his shoulder last week and is out till it heals properly, so at least I'm not the only one suffering, but still. I'm ready… no I'm more then ready. Yesterday I moved into a regular brace. It is just a stretchy brace, but it supports just the same. I have another week of therapy and then I'm done. I'm also heading up to UCLA for week to see the gang. I am really looking forward to seeing Tommy and the rest. It's gonna be a blast, especially now that I'm off crutches. Oh well… I gotta finish this paper.

Love,

Kimberly

July 6, 1998

Dear Diary,

This summer has been hell. I mean, I have not gotten home at all to see my friends, my dad, or out to Paris to see my mom. I have done nothing but eat, sleep, and drink gymnastics. I'm burning out. Renee and Cooper are feeling the same way. We've done nothing but gymnastics for the past few years of our lives. This getting tough, and putting our bodies through hell. I don't even have time to write any more! I mean, I am always at the gym! This is probably going to be my last year in the Pan Globals. And I am actually happy about it. It's time for the spots to go to someone else.

Anyway, back to the gym,

Love,

Kimberly

P.S. I just realized something as I look back on all my other entries. How I signed my name to you was different. When I wasn't with Tommy it was Kim… with Tommy it has always been Kimberly. Maybe it was because I was trying to shut out everything that was familiar with my friends back home, maybe I am just reading into this too much. Gotta go!

February 18, 1999

Dear Diary,

Ugh, this has been the day from hell. I got to UCLA yesterday afternoon. Jason and Tommy picked me up because their classes were done for the day. Well, today, Kat and Jason got into this ENORMOUS fight after they saw Emily… this old girlfriend. Apparently she is going to college with the gang. Apparently Jason and Emily have been catching up a bit, and Katherine got wind of this… it was not a good thing….

Kimberly was up in Aisha's room, using the computer while Tommy was at a class. It was his last one before the weekend, which Kimberly was thrilled about. Suddenly Katherine comes flying into Aisha's room, "Thank GOD you are here." She says, looking like she was either about to hit someone or break down in tears.

"Kat, what's wrong?"

"It's over with us, I am so sick and tired of him right now."

"Him who?"

"Jason! I can't believe him Kim."
"What did he do? What happened?"

"Emily is what happened. The moment we ran into her! I can't believe it!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kimberly asks as Kat fumes.

Kat paces around the room, "Well, Jason and I have been together for almost two years… soon after Emily broke up with him! I never really liked the girl, but hey, I was nice to her." Kat says, finally sitting down on the bed.

"Ok, and?"
"Well, he met up with her, and they were talking and all sweet to each other. After the way Emily treated him towards the end, how the hell could he be nice to her! So then, he tells me that he was going to the library to study, so Aisha and I headed out to get some breakfast and he and that… BITCH was sitting in the coffee lounge, drinking and laughing! How the hell could he do that Kimberly?!"

"I can say that lying to you was completely un-cool, but… maybe he needed closure with her…"

"No! That is SO not the point! The point is he lied to me about where he was going and instead met that girl! How dare he."
"What did you do when you saw him."

"Confronted him!"

"And???"
"Freaked out at him… I totally blew up at him. He deserved it!"

"Yeah? What did you say?"
"I told him how dare he lie to me and go behind my back. How dare he not trust me enough to say that he wanted to go back and talk to the tramp who broke his heart…"

"Harsh Kat."

"What?! Are you on his side?!"
"No, but I know how it feels to be on both sides… and that was a bit harsh…"

"How would YOU feel if Tommy went behind your back and saw an ex-girlfriend. He lies to you and says that he's going to the library when he really was going to have coffee with that girl?"
"I'd be pissed off and in the same position as you, but I'm not, and I can see both sides. Let me go talk to him."

"Good you talk, because I'm finished with him. Emily can have him."

"Let me go yell at him a bit ok?"
"Ok." Kat says, wiping angry tears away from her eyes.

Kim goes out into the hall and runs into a pretty girl, "Hi Kimberly."

Kim sighs, "Hi Emily." Kim and Emily have only met a couple times, and Kimberly was never fond of her, but she respected her because it was who Jason chose.
"How are you?"

Kim sighs, "I'm alright… you?"
"Great! I'm heading down to talk to Jason. He and Katherine had a huge fight… and I wanna make sure he's ok."

"Well, I'm heading down there now… and I'd kind of like to talk to him alone…" Kim says.

"No, I think I should…"

"He's my brother… I'm gonna talk to him." Kim says, "And just a word to the wise, stay away from Jason. You hurt him once, and Kat is the BEST thing that has happened to him. Stay the hell away from him." Kim says and she walks down to her boyfriend and best friend's room. "Jason?"

"Leave me alone Kim."

"Not a chance. What the hell is wrong with you! You're lying to Kat to go with the girl who broke your heart?! Dammit Jason. Are you nuts?!"

"You don't understand…."

"I don't understand? Jesus Jason, I broke up with Tommy and it killed the both of us. We got back together, but we didn't hurt anyone. You and Kat were already together! Jason, why the hell did you lie to Kat?"

"Do you honestly think she would have understood?! Look at what she is doing now?!"
"YOU LIED TO HER! God Jason, why the hell can't you see that?! You lied right to her! How did you think she would take it? Well?! Just say, 'Sure Jason, I'm thrilled that the ex-love of your life comes back into the picture and you have a secretive meeting with her! Go for it! Go behind my back!'"

"ENOUGH KIMBERLY! ENOUGH! Don't you think I know that I screwed up big time! God, how the hell did you feel when Tommy came back into your life! I thought you'd be the one person to understand this! I loved Emily… and I love Kat now. I just needed to talk to her. I haven't talked to her since called me on the phone those years ago and dumped me! I had to see Kimberly, and if Katherine doesn't understand it, fuck it."

"I don't understand why you are so PIG HEADED! Go up and talk to her! She is the best thing that has happened to you in ages Jason and you are throwing it away for this tramp!"

"She is NOT a tramp Kimberly!"
"Who the hell are you defending?! The girl that you have loved for two years, and still do or the one who broke up with you! Get your priorities straight Jason, before it's too late. Go talk to her!"

"I…"

"You what? Are you getting back with Emily?!"

"I don't know…"

"Jesus Jason…. Don't do this. Don't you dare do this to Katherine."

"I just started talking to Emily again…"

"Unbelievable Jason Lee… fucking unbelievable."

"Kimberly… I don't know what I'm going to do, but I need to find out. I need to find out if Emily and I were meant to be together or not… I mean, I love Kat…"

"Obviously you don't."

"How could you say that!"
"Because you are thinking about dating another girl!"

"You're one to talk Kimberly Anne. You dumped Tommy in a LETTER!Then you dated several other people after him!"
"Yeah, I did. I made the mistake, but I NEVER dated a guy until AFTER I broke up with Tommy, and I was lucky, we are back together. I never felt the same connection with any of the other guys as I do with Tommy, and I can guarantee you this… Katherine isn't as forgiving as Tommy. You say goodbye to her, you lost out on everything good you ever had in a relationship. Let me tell you a little secret. We all HATED Emily. WE all were THRILLED when she broke up with you. Trini and I practically jumped for joy! I ran into her a few minutes ago, and saw exactly what I saw of her two and a half years ago."

"Kim… I just need to know."

"Kat isn't going to wait around for you to know." Kim says, turning around and walking out the door, back up to Aisha's room where Kat, Aisha, and Kaitlyn were sitting talking about what Jason did today.

"What did he say?" Kat says.

Kim looks at Kat, "You want the truth?"

"Yeah."

"He says that he needs to know."

"Know what?"
"About him and Emily. If he doesn't talk to her then he won't ever know if they were right for each other."

"So basically, the two years we spent together means nothing to him. She comes back and he wonders if I'm right for him or if that tramp is right for him. I'm dirt."

"No. It's just something guys do." Aisha says, "I'm sure that if Lourdes came back suddenly into Rocky's life, no matter how much he hurt her, he'd have second thoughts."

"Thanks Aisha… I needed to hear that." Kaitlyn groans.

"It's what guys do when it comes to their first love. They look, think they will touch, realize what assholes they are and come back."

"So I mean nothing to him." Kat says, frowning.

"Katherine…"
"Don't." She says, her eyes downcast.

"Just… talk to him."

"No, I'm done talking to him, he can come talk to me… if I mean anything to him."

Kimberly wraps her hand around Kat's shoulder and says, "Just let him go for now."

"I don't want to." Kat says, looking over at her. "I shouldn't have to."

"I know…" Kimberly sighs, "Believe me I know."

A few minutes later, "Kim, Tommy says he's back in his room." Aisha says after reading his instant message.

"Is Jason there?"
"Let me ask…" Aisha says, "No."
"Alright, I'll see you guys in a bit for dinner k?"

"Yup, we'll be down in an hour."

"Alright." Kim smiles, and heads downstairs. She walks into the guys room, "Hey."
"Hey beautiful." He smiles, walking over to her, kissing her.

"Did you hear what Jason did?"

"Um I know a bit… he lied to Kat and went to see Emily."

"Yeah…"

"Not the brightest guy is he?"
"No, he's a freaking idiot." Kim groans, "I can't believe him."

"Kim…"
"I know, I know, he's my best friend and Emily was the first person he TRULY loved… but then again, Katherine's my friend too… ugh."

"I guess we now know how our break-up affected everyone."

"Ugh… I really wanna know what the hell he is thinking… I mean you didn't like her did you?"

"Emily? She was alright. I didn't really care who he dates. Girls are more into that then us."

"Ugh, I'll have to talk to him again soon."

"Stay out of it Kimberly."

"I will…"

He smiles, "No you won't."

Kimberly smiles at him and sits on his lap, "You know me too well."

He kisses her cheek and smiles, "I'm glad you're here for a few days!"

"Me too." She says.

"You staying down here tonight?"

"If the girls will let me." She laughs.

"I'm sure they will understand." He smiles.

Kimberly smiles, "You don't know them very well do you?"

Tommy smiles, "I know them too well. What are we doing for dinner? Do you wanna go out?"

"Actually…"

"They are all coming here aren't they?"
"Yeah and then we're heading out to get some food… but tomorrow night we could."

"It's a date." He smiles.

Jason comes in 10 minutes before the others were coming, "Hey."

"Hey." Tommy says.

"Hey." Kimberly replies.

"What's going on for tonight?"
"We're all getting dinner."

"All as in… all?"

"If you are referring to Katherine, yes, she'll be going." Kimberly says.

"Ok."
"Are you still coming?" Tommy asks.
"Yeah."

"Why? Aren't you going out with Emily?" Kim says.

Jason looks at Kimberly, "I thought you would be the one person who understood."
Kimberly looks at him, "I do… but I don't understand why you lied to Kat about meeting up with her Jase."

"I don't either." He sighs.

"She would have understood bro." Tommy says, "She would have been mad as hell, but she would have understood."

"No she wouldn't because I don't." Jason sighs.

During dinner they were all talking like old times, except for the fact that Jason and Katherine sat on the same side of the table, at the opposite ends. They talk as if nothing happened, however, Jason and Kat were both unusually quiet.

"How about we go shopping after dinner?" Aisha suggests.

"Do you know the look Trini would be giving you if she were here?" Adam says.

"She'd be ok with it." Kim explains, "She has gone a countless number of times with me."
"You'd still get a look." He smiles.

"I'm up for shopping." Kaitlyn smiles, "I haven't gone in a couple weeks."
"And that is a record for you." Rocky smiles, getting slapped on the arm. "Hey!" He laughs.

"I'm in" Kat says, "When?"

"As soon as dinner's over." Aisha says.

"Sounds like a plan." Kim smiles, "What about you boys? Wanna come?"
"No way." Rocky says, "I know what happens on these trips. We get stuck carrying all your shit you buy."
"I'm pretty broke… I doubt I will be buying much." Aisha smiles, looking at Zack.

"No way woman, don't go looking at me." He smiles. "You'll eventually find something you like and then 'Hey babe, can you please carry this for me'."

"Yeah, you're right." Aisha grins.

"Well, let's finish up and then we can head to the mall." Kim grins.

They all eat and when they say their goodbyes, Kat walks over to Jason, "Now, we'll be gone for a few hours ok? During that time feel free to go and see Emily as often as you want. I don't want to stand in your way of true love."
"Kat…" Jason whispers to her.

"No." She says, and walks away from him. Rocky claps a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go girls."
The girls all head in their own directions, Kimberly stops and turns to Jason, walking back up besides him, standing on her tiptoes, "You are the only one who can fix this." She whispers, "I'd do it soon though. Either way, do it soon."

Jason sighs, "Talk to her…"

"I wouldn't know what to tell her, because you don't know yet. Talk to Emily… figure out what the hell you want, and then come back to Katherine, because she'll be there for you. Ok?" She says, as he nods, "We'll see you guys in a bit." She gives Tommy a quick kiss and catches up with the girls.

"What did you say to him?" Aisha asks quietly.

"I told him to talk to Katherine. Figure out what he wants, after talking to Emily and then talk to her."

"I hope they don't break up."
"I don't think they will." Kim replies, "Jason is just… he loved Emily and he didn't have a chance to find closure with her."
"Kind of like Tommy and you?"
"No, we just figured the relationship would always be there, well he did… and I didn't try and talk to him so yeah, it just was easier to quit, I guess."

They all pile into Katherine's car, which could hold the girls easily. They drive the distance to the Mall and do what they do best, spend money that they don't have.

"You know, I think getting a credit card was a bad thing." Kaitlyn says as she pulls three bags out of the car.

"I totally agree." Kimberly smiles. "But, it was so worth it."

"Hey, you needed a dress for your banquet, we didn't."

Kimberly laughs, "It was sympathy buying. You felt obligated to make me not the only one to buy things, and I appreciate that ladies, I really do."

The girls laugh and head into the resident building. Katherine stops dead in her tracks as she sees who is standing outside, "I don't believe him." Kat says, scowling.

"Kat, don't do this." Kaitlyn says.

"No, this is bull shit. I'm not dealing with this anymore! I can't."

"Don't jump to conclusions Kat." Kim says.

"What conclusion should I jump to Kimberly? That my boyfriend is just hanging out with his ex girlfriend all the damn time now? That any time I leave the school he will be with her? I was gone for hours! I can't trust him anymore." She says, handing her bags to Kimberly as she storms up to the pair, "You know what Jason, you can have her, because we are completely over."

"Kat!" He says, looking a bit shocked.

"Yeah, shocked that I came here so soon? Shocked that we only spent a few hours at the mall? Well I'm sorry that you couldn't have more time tonight with her, but you know what? It's over Jason, you and I we are threw. You can have Emily and I hope that you two are very happy."

"Kat…" Emily says, looking at her.

"No. I don't want to hear it, ESPEICALLY from you." Katherine says to her, walking into the building.

Kimberly sighs and heads up the ramp, "Kimberly." Jason says, as he dismisses Emily with a quick goodbye.

"I'll be up." She says to the girls. "So?"

"She drives me up a wall." Jason says, "I don't know why I ever liked her…"

"Clarify please."

"Emily. I was talking to her today about how great Katherine is for me, and we grabbed coffee so I could tell her that nothing was going to ever happen again with us, that I loved Katherine too much. She understood it, told me how happy she was for me, and how she should have never dumped me in the first place. Then Kat walked up, and I may have finally lost her for good."

Kimberly sighs, "You know her better than I do Jason."

"That's not true."
"Sure it is. I mean Kat is one of my best friends, but I am in Florida. You are home. I see Kat a few times out of the year. That's how our friendship has been since she came to Angel Grove. Do you think she'll forgive you?"
"I don't know."
"You need to talk to her. Tell her exactly what you told me. Explain to her what you were doing and I'm sure she'll understand."

"I hope so." He sighs, as they head inside. Kimberly makes her way up to Katherine and Tanya's room.

"Here Kat, you forgot to take your bags." Kim says, as she walks into the girls room.

"Thanks Kimberly." She says, turning towards the door and seeing Jason there, "I thought I dumped you."
"I need to talk to you."
"I don't want you to come and talk to me, it's a bit too late for that one Jason Lee."

"Kat… just hear me out."

"Come on Tanya." Kimberly says, "Let's go see what Aisha and Kaitlyn are up to."

"Girl, you read my mind." She says smiling as the two head out of the room. As they walk down the hall they hear a lot of yelling, mostly from Katherine, but Jason was starting, "How long do we give them?" Tanya asks.

"I don't know, but I'm sure they will come to their senses soon enough."

They head into the girls room and talk until Kat comes in without Jason.

"Everything ok?" Kimberly asks.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"You two good?" Tanya asks.

"He still has a lot of making up to do, but we're together if that's what you are asking."

"Good." Kim smiles.

May 21, 1999

Dear Diary,

Today I got the offer of a life time. I was ask to come aboard Team USA for the Olympics! I couldn't believe it! I was so thrilled about it that I could barely breath! However, for some reason I asked them if I could have time to think about it. I have to talk to my family and friends about it. This is a HUGE decision, however it is interfering with me graduating on time. I am not too fond that I will have to wait another year after the games to graduate. Gymnastics will take over my life 100 of the time, preparing in the short time that I have till the games.

God, I just don't know if I want to do this or not. What do I do?

I've got a lot of thinking to do.

Love,

Kimberly

Kimberly picks up her phone and presses speed dial 1 hearing the very familiar "Hello?"

"Hey."

"Hey beautiful, what's up?" Tommy asks with a smile on his face. He was at lunch with a group of his paleontology classmates.

"Not much. Do you have a minute to talk?"
"Yeah, I'm just eating lunch with a few people from my lecture. What's up?"

"I just got the offer of a life time."

"I thought you already got that chance four years ago with the Pan Globals."

"Well this is bigger."

"Bigger? How?"

"I got asked to be a part of Team USA."

"Wow! Kim that's AWESOME!"

"Yeah, it really is."

"The Olympics, I mean that's your dream!"

"Yeah, it is."

"So why don't you sound happier about it?"

"I don't know."

"Do you want to go?"

"I don't know."

"Ok…"
"I mean, on one hand this would be the greatest experience of my life. On the other hand, I will be out of college for my three semesters, not graduating on time, and I'll miss out on everything with my family and friends. I'll be doing gymnastics 24/7, which I am doing for the most part, but this will be final. There will be no time for me to do anything else that I want to do."

"So do you want to go or not?"

"I don't know."

"How long do you have to think about it?"

"Two days."

"Doesn't give you much time."

"I know."

"This is a decision you have to make on your own. I can't tell you yes or no."

"I just don't know if I want to do this all the time Tommy. I mean I am so excited to be graduating college, and I can't wait to get into student teaching. I wasn't even doing Pan Globals next year because of my student teaching. I mean, we are all graduating next year."

Tommy smiles, "Look, what ever decision you make, I'll stand by you. If you want to go onto the Olympics, go for it, if you don't, then tell them no and just do it through the University of Miami. I can kind of tell that you don't want to do this the rest of your life, at least the competing part."

"I'm just getting so tired of being away from everyone. I'm ready to stop I think."

"Sounds like you made your decision Kimberly. I mean just being asked is an enormous accomplishment. I just don't want you regretting missing out on the Olympics."

"I don't think I will."
He smiles, "Well, make your decision and then let me know how it went."

"Alright." She smiles, "Thanks Tommy."

"No problem. I gotta finish eating so I can make it on time to my lecture." He says, hearing his friends snicker, "Shut up." He tells them playfully.

One of his college classmates Hayley smiles, "The moment you actually show up on time somewhere I'll be shocked."

"Sounds like she knows you a bit too well Tommy."

"Yeah." He says to Kim, "I'll talk to you soon though ok?"

"Yeah."

"Love you."

"You too, bye."
"Bye." He says and they hang up.

Kimberly heads to the gymnastics complex to talk to Coach Schmidt about the recent offer. He was busy working with one of the newer girls on the team, "Hey Coach?"

"Hello Kimberly, how are you today?"

"I'm fine, how are you?"

"Wonderful. Courtney come over here and work with Callie." He calls to his assistant coach. "What can I do for you Kim?"

"I need to talk to you about the Olympics."

"Come into my office." He says, smiling at her. They walk the length of the complex and go into his spacious office. In there she sees many different pictures and newspaper articles of her years as a gymnast with herself, Renee and Cooper headlining. They were truly the best and all decided that last Pan Globals would be the end of the trio. "I heard you got the offer and I am extremely happy for you. You deserve it."

"Yeah, but…"

"But?"

"This decision feels like me coming to Florida for Pan Globals all over again. Coach, I don't know if I want to go to the Olympics. I mean, I want to finish college on time and graduate. Gymnastics isn't going to be with me the entire rest of my life. I want to eventually part time coach. I just don't know if I…"

"Kimberly, this is a HUGE decision because it will cut out all of your personal time and your educational time. Pan Globals just made you move, this is your life. If you don't want to make it your life for the next year then you tell them no. It's a privilege to be asked for such a competition, but you have to want it. Do you want it?"

"I thought I did."

"But now you've changed your mind?"

"Yes. I don't want to have it as my life anymore. I was so excited to be almost finishing college, and to be on my own. I just don't want to regret this opportunity for the rest of my life."

"You are wise beyond your years Kimberly." Coach Schmidt says, repeating her old mentors words, "And you have a lot of heart. I had three amazing gymnasts this year who lead the team, who were the soul of the team, and they are all retiring this year. Those three were asked to go to the Olympics and for the first time ever, I have had all three say no. That's not a bad thing, it's just setting your priorities. Right now gymnastics is no longer your top priority. You have your education to think about as well as your life after college. I respect that. I think you will regret more not finishing college on time, rather than not going to the Olympics. This is a decision only you can make Kimberly, and I feel that you already have. Go with your gut feeling, follow your heart."

Kimberly smiles, "Thanks Coach." She says as she stands up.

"Should I tell the coaches that they will not be seeing Kimberly Hart there?"

Kimberly nods, "Yeah, and thank them for the opportunity, but my life is heading in a different direction right now, and I'm pretty happy with where it is going."

Coach smiles, "Come on down and practice later on tonight. Renee is coming as well to prepare for your next competition at JMU."

"You got it." Kim smiles and heads out of the complex back to her apartment.

"Kim?" Renee calls as their door opens.

"Yeah."

"What did you decide?"

"That I'm not going. I hear you decided the same."

"Yeah. I'm done. Not with the college team, and maybe coaching, but I'm done the world training."

"Me too." Kim sighs, "If they had asked me two years ago I'd so have done it, but not now."

"Agreed. Come on, let's go out and get some pizza." Renee smiles.

"Awesome." She says.

May 21, 1999

Dear Diary,

I decided not to go onto the Olympics. My life is finally falling into place and my education is far more important than the Olympics. I went to talk to Coach earlier today and he basically told me that he figured I wouldn't be moving on. I am just ready to stop making gymnastics my number one priority. I have been doing that for years and now it's time to make me my number one priority. I am actually relieved and so are Renee and Cooper. We were talking about our decision and we were all just so happy. I can't wait to finish up college and move back to Angel Grove. I miss everyone so much it hurts!

Anyway, it's time for me to finish up my lesson plans.

Love,

Kimberly

June 14, 2000

Dear Diary,

Well, we are all graduated! I can't believe that college is over. It is such a relief and seemed like so long ago. It seems that I have been gone for ages. My father, Larissa, and Mackenzie are all coming down to go to Disney World for a few days. The guys all decided that would be fun as well so I'm meeting up with them in Orlando and we're going to spend a week together.

This is Mackenzie's first trip so I have to make an effort to spend a bit of time with them. She's six now. I can't believe it!

I already shipped my old apartment back to my new house right outside of Angel Grove. It's gonna be awesome because all the girls are living there. We're gonna have a blast. The guys are living a few minutes away. The houses are really nice. We have Myself, Kaitlyn, Aisha, and Kat living in the one. Tanya and Trini decided to get their own apartments closer to where they are going to be working. Tommy, Jason, Rocky, Zack, and Adam are living in the other house. They are busy talking about the gym that they are dying to open, well with the exception of Zack. He will help out but he doesn't want to really be an owner. He's too busy with his job to do that. He got hired as a DJ and is absolutely loving it. I have several interviews when I get home for elementary education positions which I am also thrilled about. Trini is still in college, but becoming a doctor takes ages.

Anyway, back to Florida, we are all staying in the park. My father, step-mom, and sister are all staying a couple floors under us. It makes it easier this way so I can spend time with everyone.

Anyway, I gotta go, my flight leaves in an hour.

Love,

Kimberly

Renee and Kimberly head to the airport for the last time together, "I'm really gonna miss you Kim."

"I'm gonna miss you too Renee." Kimberly says hugging her partner, roommate, and best friend from college. Cooper was hard enough to say goodbye to and now she has to say it to Renee, "But we'll keep in touch right? E-mails, phone calls, and of course the occasional visit."

"Yeah. We'll keep in touch."

"What am I going to do without you." Kim smiles.

"What are we going to do without each other, and gymnastics every day. We've been through a lot together Kim, and I'm gonna miss it."

"We'll get together, soon, I promise."

"Yeah we will." Renee says, hugging her roommate, "Have fun in Orlando."

"Safe flight home."

Kimberly and Renee hug again and part ways. She was meeting her father and sister in two hours at the Orlando Airport baggage claim. She puts on her headphones and takes out a book for the short flight to Orlando. When she lands she grabs her luggage and heads over to her families gate. She sits and waits for another hour until she sees the passengers get off the plane.

"Kimberly!" She hears an excited voice and turns to the sound. Her little sister runs full force at her and she picks her up in a hug.

"Hey girl. Look how big you've gotten! I can't believe it!" She smiles. Mackenzie looks a lot like Kimberly when she was that age, but the only difference is that her coloring and hair color was lighter than her big sisters.

"I missed you."

Kimberly smiles, putting her sister down, "I missed you too Mackenzie."

Kimberly takes her hand and they head over to her father and stepmother, "Hi Dad, hi Larissa." She says hugging them both.

"Hi Kimberly." Her father says smiling. "You look good."

"Thanks." She smiles, "You do too."

"Thanks." He says sarcastically, "Are all your things moved back to Angel Grove?"
"Yeah, I shipped them back last week with the help from you and mom. Thanks for that."

"No problem. Is it at the apartment?"

"Yeah, the movers went into our house and I told Aisha where I wanted everything in my room when we first saw the house so she had them put everything where I asked. We had the house all set up in our minds; it was just a matter of getting all of our things together."

"Well I can't wait to see it."

Kim smiles, "It's not much, but it doesn't' cost us much either which is awesome."

"Any bites on jobs?" He says as they walk through the airport, hopping on the shuttle and then walk to baggage claim.

"Actually yeah, a few. I've got this one school in Reefside who wants me, but I don't think I'm gonna move that far out. Stone Canyon is another one I have an interview with, and Angel Grove. I kind of want to stay in Angel Grove though. The guys are opening a studio. They are seeing how much it would cost to open up and they want me to coach a few days a week, which I am thrilled about."
"Sounds like you're gonna be fairly busy there Kimber."
"Yeah. It's kind of scary, but yeah."

They get to the hotel and Kimberly calls Tommy to let him know that she got there ok, of course it was his voice mail, "Hey Tommy, it's me. I'm just calling to let you know I am in ok. I can't wait to see you in a few days! I miss you! Tell everyone I said hi! Love you."

"Am I gonna see Tommy, Kim?" Mackenzie says.

"Yeah, you'll see him in a couple days." Kimberly smiles. The two of them really hit it off when they went to see her in the hospital. After that, Mackenzie always asked about Tommy. He was like her big brother, and she loved every minute of it.

"Good I miss him."

Kimberly laughs, "Bet I miss him more."

"Nope!"

"What do you mean nope?"
"You see him more than I do." Mackenzie smiles.

"Well, we'll just have to fix that then kiddo." Kimberly smiles.

"Alright girls, we're gonna be heading out in a few minutes." Mr. Hart smiles at his girls.
"Alright, I just need to get changed." Kimberly says to him as she looks through her bags to see what she was going to wear. She pulls out a blue spaghetti strap shirt and a pair of denim shorts, changes, pulls on sneakers and they head out the door.

June 16, 2000

Dear Diary,

It's our first day down in Florida with my family. Mackenzie is absolutely LOVING Disney World. It's so neat to see her for her first time there. I think tomorrow morning we'll get up early, just the two of us and head out before Dad and Larissa are up. I need some quality time with that kid. She is getting so big and I keep missing out on it, having her so far in Boston.

Tommy and everyone will be here in two days and then I will be staying with them. Four days with my family is long enough. They will be here a couple days longer, but I'll have to split up my time between them and the gang. Mackenzie will come with me for a bit with Tommy and them, but she will be bored after a while.

Anyway, I'm off to Epcot!

Love,

Kim

Kimberly hears her cell phone vibrating next to her on the coffee table. She was thankful that her father got a room with a hide a bed in the living quarters. She groans and sees the sun shining in through the curtains. She smiles as she sees the name, "Hey."

"Hey beautiful."

"What are you doing calling me so early?"

"I had to get up so I can get a move on to the airport. You going to meet us there?"

"If I can. My dad is really into going out to Dinner in Epcot so it all depends on what time you guys get here. When is your flight leaving?"

"Six."

"So you'll get here around 6:00pm then."

"That's fast math." He smiles, "You sound tired."

"I don't know why, some jerk woke me up at 7:30 in the morning."
"Oh I'm a jerk now huh?"
"Nah, I'll forgive you. I think I'll get a shower really quick and get Mackenzie up so we can do something, just the two of us."

"Is she loving it?"
"Yeah she is. She can't wait to see you though."

"I miss that kid."

"So do I." She smiles.

"Alright beautiful well, I better let you go. Rocky told me that if I'm late picking him up, he's gonna kill me."

"So let me guess, you're making it a point to get there early so shock can kill him?"

"Yeah." He laughs, "I love you and I'll see you tonight."
"Love you too." She says, "Bye."

"Bye." He says and they hang up.

Kimberly gets up and quickly gets a shower and does her hair. She then gets dressed and wakes up Mackenzie, "Hey Mac, wake up." She says, getting a groan from her little sister, "Wake up Mackenzie come on."

"Hi." She says, getting shushed by her big sister.

"Hi, do you wanna go to the park, just the two of us?"

"Yeah!"

"Ok, well we gotta get dressed and stay quiet otherwise dad and your mom will wake up and want to go."

"Can we leave them a note?"

"Yeah, I already have one written out." She smiles.

"Ok."

"What are you going to wear?" Kim asks her. Mackenzie pulls out a lavender shirt that looks similar to Kim's. "Good choice, now we can be twins." She smiles.

"No we can't, you are way too old."

"Hey! I'm not THAT old."

"You're older than me."

"Touché." Kimberly says as the two of them head out of the hotel and to the busses. "Alright, where are we going?"

"Um, back to the Magic Kingdom."
"Sounds like a plan Kenz." Kim smiles. The two of them head off.

"Kimberly?"

"Yeah?" Kim replies as they walk down main street.

"Do you love Tommy?"
"I do very much." She smiles.

"Are you going to get married to him?"

"Some day, I hope. Why?"
"Because if you get married to him, then he's my brother, right?"

"Brother-in-law."

"What's that?"

"He's married to me, and you are my sister. It's an in-law."

"Oh. But he'll still be my brother right?"

"Yes."

"Good." She smiles.

"What brought this on?" Kim asks.

"I just like Tommy and want him to be my brother."

Kim laughs, "Well it won't be anytime soon that's for sure."

"Will I be in your wedding?"

"Of course you will, but that won't be for quite a bit of time kiddo."
"Why?"
"You need to be engaged first, then plan the wedding, and then have the wedding."

"Can you have a kid?"

"I'm going to one day, but not for a while. That happens after the wedding."

"Oh."

"So what is up with all the questions? Since when did you start getting into weddings?"
"Since Aunt Marissa got married."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

"It was way cool." She smiles.

"I bet. Don't worry about Tommy and I getting married any time soon though ok?"

She sighs, "Ok."

"Come on, let's go ride some rides."

That night, Kimberly and her family meet up at Epcot to grab dinner in 'Japan'.

"What time is everyone's flight getting in?" Mr. Hart asks.

"I don't know. Aisha called me a while ago and said that they were going to be a bit late. The flight was delayed about an hour, so I'm guessing somewhere around seven they will be at the hotel. Who knows though? Tommy said this morning that their flight was at six, and it takes about six hours to get here, so that makes it four that they'd get here. Who knows though with the delay? I haven't heard anything since lunch from them. They said they'd call when they landed, so I'm waiting."

Larissa smiles, "Are you staying with them?"

"Yes, once they get here, I'll crash in their room. I am rooming with Kaitlyn and Aisha."

"Sounds like fun."

"Won't you come see me anymore?" Mackenzie asks her big sister.

"Of course I am. We're gonna go to breakfast tomorrow and hang out a bit, but I need to share my time with my friends too."

"Oh." Mackenzie says.

"Hey, I don't wanna see that frown. We spent four whole days together." Kim smiles, "And you're only here two more days, so you'll have to share me."

"You get to stay longer."

"You never did like sharing Kimberly." Larissa smiles.

"Nope, she's my sister." Mackenzie smiles and finishes eating.

6:00 they head out of the Countries. Kim and Mackenzie are busy looking at the little shops around the lagoon.

"Well if it isn't Kimberly Hart, Pan Globals finest." She hears, and turns around. She smiles and hugs Tommy tightly, giving him a quick kiss.

"How are you?"
"Great you?"

"Great. I didn't expect you yet." She beams.

"The others are on their way. Aisha told me what time you guys were eating and I took a chance that I'd find you."

"I'm glad you did." She says hugging him again.

"What's up little Mac?" Tommy says, as the six year old throws herself at him. He picks her up and hugs her, "How ya been girl?"
"Good!" Mackenzie smiles.

"Good." Tommy smiles, "Am I allowed to take your sister from you yet?"

"Nope." She smiles.

"When can I?"

"Tonight!" She says, excitedly. "Kimberly and I need to spend time together still."

"Is that a fact?"

"Yup!" She giggles.

"I told her that I wouldn't go till around seven." Kimberly shrugs, "We still have an hour."

"No problem." He smiles, putting Mackenzie down and kissing Kimberly, "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too." Kim sighs, as he hugs her.

"Well, look what we have here." Mr. Hart smiles as he comes upon the trio.

"Hi Mr. Hart." Tommy says, extending his hand.

"Hi Tommy, how have you been?" Mr. Hart asks, shaking his hand.

"Well, how about you?"

"Great." He smiles.

"Hi Larissa." Tommy smiles, shaking her hand as well. The last time they were together she told him to call her by her first name instead of Mrs. Hart. She knows that it bothered Kimberly still, so she didn't mind.

"It's nice to see you again Tommy."

"You too."

"Are you taking my oldest away?"

"Not yet. She promised Mackenzie she'd hang with her till sevenish. So I figured when the others come back, then we'll head out."

"Sounds like a plan." Mr. Hart smiles.

They walk around the lagoon when Kimberly's cell phone goes off. She answers and it was Rocky. HE told her to meet them in England.

"What was Rocky, they are all in England." She smiles.

"Ok cool."

"Well I'm gonna get going ok?" She smiles.

"Sure hun. Have fun." Larissa smiles.

"Thanks. I'll see you guys tonight. I'll grab my things."

"You bet." Mr. Hart smiles.

"Ken, give her one of the keys so she can just go in and get the things."

"Good idea Larissa." He says, handing over one of the key cards.

"Bye Mackenzie." Kim says, hugging her, "Hey what's up?"

"I don't' want you to go."

"I'll see you tonight and then tomorrow morning for breakfast." Kim smiles.

"Ok." She sighs.

"How about this." Tommy smiles, "Tomorrow you can come around with us."

"Really?!" Mackenzie perks up.

"Really." Kim smiles, "Is that ok Dad?"

"Are you sure you want her tagging along?"

"It's not a problem Mr. Hart." Tommy says smiling.

"Alright." He smiles.

"So I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast?" Kim says to her kid sister.

"Yup!" She smiles, hugging Kimberly.

"Gotta go. Bye." Kim says as Tommy and her walk to meet up with their friends.

Tommy takes Kimberly's hand, "Where are they?" She asks as they scan over the countries.

"Rocky said something about needing a beer, so maybe they around the pub."

"I could use a drink too." Kim laughs. They walk through England and find them sitting around with drinks, "Hey guys!"

"Kim!" Aisha smiles, hugging her, "How are you?"

"Awesome, how are you?"

"Great!"

She hugs all the girls and guys, before sitting down, "What are we drinking?"

"Ale." Rocky smiles, "Try it."

"Is it any good?"

"It's beer." Adam shrugs.

"It's good." Kat smiles, "And I don't like beer." She says.

Kimberly grabs at Jason's and takes a sip, "It's good, I just don't think I'm in the mood to drink a whole one."

"We'll split one then, how about that?" Tommy says.

"Alright."

Kimberly sits next to Trini, "I'm glad you could come."

"Me too. It was iffy for a while there. I'm just glad that this was my week off. Four years down, four more to go." She sighs.

"Are you liking it?" Kim asks.

"Yeah, well it's a lot of work, but I can't wait till I am finally done and able to actually practice medicine."

"Here Kim." Tommy says, handing her the drink. She takes a sip and passes it back to him.

"How's your sister Kim?" Kaitlyn asks.

"Good. She's gonna tag along with me tomorrow, so if you guys wanna come with us you can see her."

"I don't care who we go around with as long as it is sunny and warm." Kat smiles.

"Should be nice all week." Tanya says.

"Good." Aisha replies.

"What I have to do is jump the monorail to the hotel and grab my things before coming back to our hotel. God this is nuts." Kim laughs.

"Well, I'm glad you are staying with us." Aisha smiles.

"Yeah, and now that we are all 21, good times will be had at Pleasure Island." Zack smiles.

"Hell yeah." Rocky says, nodding in agreement.

The girls roll their eyes and continue on their own conversation.

Around 8:00, Kimberly heads back to her father's hotel with Tommy and they grab her suitcase and head to the other hotel. They walk up to the Aisha and Kaitlyn's room, dropping her things off. It didn't take too long to accomplish, "Do you wanna go back to the park and watch the fireworks?" Tommy asks.

"Sure." Kim smiles. The others were somewhere around the park, and they were going to meet back at the hotel room for a night by the pool. "We better go if we are going to catch it." She smiles.
"They don't start till 8:30, I think."

"Still. It gets nuts out there. I saw them last night." Kimberly smiles.

"Alright, well lets hop the monorail and head out." Tommy says, as they head out the door.

Tommy and Kimberly walk up towards the castle to see the fireworks, when he suddenly stops.

"You coming?" Kimberly asks.

He smiles, "Yeah."

"Come one then." She says.

Tommy stands next to her and takes her hands in his, only releasing them to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear that escaped from its clip, "I love you."
"I love you too."

"Kim, we've been together for a long time now, and I have never loved anyone more than I do you. I have never stopped loving you and I never can. We've been through so much in the past few years."

"What's going on?" Kimberly asks, smiling as she watches him get a bit nervous over their conversation.

"It's just that, I wanna spend the rest of my life with you."
Her eyes get a bit wide as the conversation starts to make sense, "Oh my gosh!" She says as he gets down on one knee.

"Will you marry me?" He asks, pulling out an amazing ring, a one karat tear drop shaped diamond with two smaller half karat diamonds on either side, hugging a white gold band.

"Yes." She smiles, tears filling her eyes as he puts the ring on her left hand, "Oh my god yes." She says as he stands up hugging her. He places a simple yet passionate kiss on her lips.

"It's a good thing you didn't say no." He laughs.

"Never in a million years would I ever say no." She says, smiling, "God, I love you so much."

"I love you too beautiful." He says, wiping away a tear that fell from her eyes.

"I can't believe you." She says.

"Surprised?"

"Um yeah, totally." She says, "I never expected it here."

Tommy smiles, "Figured it was a pretty good place to do it. I asked your father a month ago when we went out to Boston to see him. I just didn't know when I was gonna do it."

"It's perfect. A total fairytale, from my white knight." She exclaims, the smile never leaving her lips, as she wraps her arms around his neck.

"Who rides a white tiger." He winks, kissing her softly.

"The ring is absolutely gorgeous." She says, "Did you pick it out?"
"I had backup."
"Who?"

"Aisha saw it first, it was one of two, followed by Jason and Kat. The others really didn't get a chance because I decided on it pretty much right away."

"And Aisha kept a secret from me for months?"

"Yeah, because she didn't know when I was going to propose. She didn't want to ruin it." He laughs.

"This was perfect." She smiles, "Absolutely perfect."

"You're my everything Kimberly, and I don't ever want to lose you."

"You won't." She says.

"I love you."
"I love you too." She says, kissing him again, "I guess we should go watch the fireworks." She laughs.

"Let's go." He says, taking his fiancée's hand walking through the castle to where the fireworks were being set off.

Kimberly and Tommy find a spot and he stands behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist as she leans into him. He places his chin on her shoulder and kisses her cheek softly as they watch the fireworks display.

Kimberly and Tommy head back to the hotel after the show. The decide to ask everyone if they wanted to go to the pool. As soon as Kimberly walked into her room, Aisha saw the ring, "HE did it!" She smiles, jumping up and running over to her best friend, "Congratulations!"

Kimberly smiles, hugging her, "Yeah he did."

"It's about time! He's had that ring for about four months! He drove me crazy picking one out, Jason too!"

"Aisha, I can't believe it! I mean, I am so excited that I can barely breathe! I knew we'd eventually be engaged, but I didn't think this soon out of college."

"I think that was the point of him doing it Kim, to surprise you." Aisha grins, "So, what are we doing tonight?"
"Swimming. You up for it?"

"Hell yeah. Let me just get changed." Aisha says.

June 18, 2000

Dear Diary,

Well, right now I am waiting for Aisha to change into her bathing suit so we can go swimming. I have some HUGE news!!! Tommy and I are engaged. Can you believe that? I am so excited! He asked me tonight by the castle. A total fairytale! I haven't told everyone, but I'm sure Tommy has. The ring is amazing. It is a tear drop diamond in the middle with two smaller round ones on the side. I am just soooo surprised!

Anyway, Aisha's out. It's swim time!

Until later!

The Future and Official,

Kimberly Oliver