I profoundly apologize to everyone who's been waiting for an update to this story. The Muse got distracted, real life kicked in, and I've been having great difficulty writing this particular scene (which in my mind had to be dealt with before I could move forward.) Many thanks to Ryn, Akume and Kaiya for kicking my butt and getting me back in gear. Also, Wormhole was on the ABC Family this morning, and I'd never seen it before - I took it as a sign. :-)

Saturday dawned clear and sunny. The impossibly blue skies above Reefside were dotted with marshmallow puffed clouds. The clouds were scattered and did not herald a storm, due largely to the influence of Sensei Omino. Thanks to the efforts of Kim, Tommy's house was spotless and ready for company. And thanks to Haley and Rocky, there was enough food in the newly restocked pantry to feed and army.

Tommy wandered around his house feeling something he couldn't quite put his finger on – something was off, but not necessarily in a bad way. The house was cleaner than he was used to thanks to Kim's maniacal cleaning tear; but that wasn't it. In spite of the cleanliness, the house still had a welcome, lived in feel. Tommy wandered into the living room and dropped down onto the large couch. He placed his bare feet on the coffee table and looked around.

The voices of Rocky, Adam and Aisha drifted to him from the kitchen. They were not speaking loudly enough for him to make out what they were saying, but the sound of them was comforting. Bumps and clanks from upstairs were an indication of Kim's last minute fight with the vacuum cleaner; it made Tommy smile. Poor vacuum cleaner…never had a chance. Footfalls from the lab, or "Command Center" as Jason insisted on calling it, indicated Jason's return to the kitchen. The warm welcome from the Ninjetti gathered there finally allowed Tommy to pinpoint what was bothering him.

His house was full of sound and life. It was warm and welcoming. This was the first time, in all the time he'd lived in Reefside that his house felt like a home – that any place he'd lived in as an adult felt like a home; and he knew he didn't want it to go back to the way it had been. Tommy never had a problem with the Dino Rangers being in the lab, but none of the teens had ever felt really comfortable in the house. Going "upstairs" brought them into a different part of Tommy's life; a part he'd been unwilling to share. On the surface, he was unwilling to cross the student/teacher boundary, but in reality it scared him to move into the realm of "friend".

But, with the invasion of all the Rangers, all sorts of boundaries had been changed. Rocky, Aisha and Adam seemed just as home here as they'd ever been anywhere, and that attitude had infected all of the others. Over the course of the week Tommy's house had become a home base of sorts. The Wind Ninjas were constantly in and out when they weren't at Kira's house. Dustin brought another plant almost every day in spite of Tommy's insistence that he'd never been able to keep a plant alive. Dustin seemed confident that these plants would thrive. Even Kira and Ethan had taken to dropping in to visit or help out; it was different, but it was very, very good.

Footfalls and more clanging brought Tommy's attention to the figure descending the stairs. Kim had pulled her hair into pigtails and covered her head with a pink bandana. She'd thrown on a pair of faded blue overall shorts over a pink t-shirt. Tommy's heart gave a little lurch; it seemed to him that Kim hadn't changed at all since the time she'd left for Florida. As if she knew he was thinking about her, Kim looked up and caught Tommy's eye. She smiled, and then turned her attention back to the vacuum cleaner.

But things have changed. Tommy pondered. Maybe now it's time to stop waiting for things to get better on their own and make a change for the better. Tommy got to his feet and crossed the room to where Kim was struggling to get the vacuum and all of it's components into the hall closet. "Hey, Kim…let me give you a hand with that."

Kim shifted slightly to her right allowing Tommy to move in on the left. Tommy held the vacuum apparatus away from the machine enabling Kim to wind the cord to her satisfaction. Together they fit the hose and all its appliances back into place; for a moment Tommy was strongly reminded of their old friend Alpha 5. The thought made him smile.

Kim caught his expression and smiled in return. "What is it?"

"Just thinking about old friends…" Tommy replied. Tommy had truly been thinking about Alpha 5, but what popped out of his mouth could be taken on so many different levels. He sort of startled himself and looked away. Kim blinked and looked a little stunned. Suddenly there didn't seem to be enough air in the room; the tension between them ratcheted up to nearly unbearable levels. It got very quiet in the kitchen; it might have been a natural lull in the conversation, but it didn't strike Tommy that way. And though Tommy couldn't see the Ninjetti from where he was standing, he could see Jason very obviously standing at the sink trying listen, while appearing not to listen, to what he and Kim had to say.

Though his gut was twisted with anxiety, Tommy knew the moment had finally come. He and Kim had managed to politely side-step each other since he'd returned home; it wasn't difficult since he'd spent most of his time sleeping. But he didn't want to be polite anymore, he wanted to be honest. Soon the house would be overrun with people and there would be no time to talk with Kim face to face. She was leaving on the next day, and Tommy was determined to clear the air before she had to go.

Kim, for her part, seemed to be hovering on the same edge as Tommy. Though there was anxiety written across her features, she balanced on her toes waiting to see what Tommy had to say next.

"Kim…can we talk?" Tommy gestured to the front door rather than toward the living room. Sitting out on the porch would give them a little bit of distance from the group gathered in the kitchen. Kim nodded and smiled hesitantly. She moved first toward the door and Tommy snuck a glance at Jason; the former Red Ranger looked up from the dish he was "washing" and nodded in approval. With more confidence, Tommy followed Kim.

Before this week, Tommy had used his porch infrequently. But with so many people visiting, the furniture had been dusted and the porch given a quick scrub down; the old-fashioned wrap around porch had quickly become one of the most popular spots in the house to hang out. A free standing and sturdy oak swing sat just to the right of the front door. On the longer stretch of the porch in front of the windows sat a collection of wicker furniture – a lounge chair, a love seat and two chairs. Kim hovered expectantly before the love seat; Tommy halted his motion at the nearest chair. Now that they had arrived, neither knew what to do.

Kim sat first, perched on the edge of the loveseat. There was enough room for Tommy to sit with her, but he chose to sit in the chair instead. He too perched on the edge of the chair. Neither one of them was comfortable.

Tommy figured that since he was the one who'd invited Kim outside for a talk that he should be the one to start, but he was at a total loss for what he wanted to say. No, that wasn't true; he did know what he wanted to say, but the fear of sounding like an idiot or saying something wrong made him hesitate. There was too much between them, and it had been a chasm he'd been unable to leap for so long, he just didn't know where to start. So Kim, who had always been better at finding a way to express herself, was the one to begin.

Looking at her hands folded tightly on her knees, Kim stated softly, "I'm really glad Kanoi called us all together. Being together like this has been…great." She gave a soft sigh and continued in an even softer voice. "I've missed you."

It was clear that Kim was speaking about the team, but it was so easy to read what was unsaid as well. Tommy nodded; it was hard for him to express how he felt about having everyone around for the week. But if he was going to make some changes, this was where he needed to start. He could no longer rely on Kim's uncanny ability to understand what was in his heart – he needed to start saying what he felt.

"I've missed you too, Kim." He responded. Then he leaned forward and waited until he caught her eye. "I've missed you." There was no mistaking that Tommy wasn't talking about the team.

Kim's eyes filled with unshed tears and she swallowed hard. "I've missed you too, Tommy."

For a moment there was silence; they were on the brink. If they stopped now they could patch the rift between them, but neither wanted a band-aid for this problem. They were going to have to dig deep and open up some very old wounds. It was going to hurt, but neither was willing to back away now.

Kim cut right to the chase. "I'm so sorry I sent you that letter." The bluntness of the statement and the agony on Kim's face literally took Tommy's breath away. He couldn't respond, and now that she had started, Kim let everything pour out.

"I was so stupid…trying so hard to fit in, trying to live a "normal" life. I thought if I could just have what everyone else had, live the way everyone else did, that would make things better. I wanted a boyfriend who wasn't running headlong into danger every day. Someone who I didn't have to worry about being injured, or worse, because he had to save the world. I wanted someone to worry about whether I wanted Italian or Chinese for dinner, not someone who had to worry if I was kidnapped or under a spell. I just wanted a new life…and I couldn't have that, if I tried to hold on to the old one."

Tears freely streamed down Kim's face as she continued to speak. "I thought if I cut myself off…If I made a "clean" break…" A harsh self-recriminating laugh barked out if Kim's throat. "But it was all wrong…I don't know how I thought I could ever do my best without my friends to help me…my real friends; my true friends." Kim's anguished gaze caught and held Tommy's. "But it was too late; I had done so much damage. Then Billy encouraged you to get together with Kat and I…I just flipped. I was mad at all the wrong people, Tommy. I blamed you and Billy for things that were my fault, and then it was too late to go back…"

Kim released her hands and laid them open on her lap looking imploringly at Tommy. "I'm so sorry."

Tommy could no longer hold himself where he was. In one fluid motion he moved from the chair to the love seat and gathered Kim's hands into his own. Now it was Kim's turn to be startled; Tommy's sudden shift had taken her aback. But Tommy, now physically connected to Kim, was ready to speak. "I'm sorry too."

Tommy shifted so his body was angled more toward Kim's and they were sitting knee to knee. "When you sent me that letter…I was devastated. I never thought…I just wasn't prepared…" Tommy swallowed hard. "It felt like everything was falling apart. Then there were so many changes in the team…I was so angry, and it was just easier to let you be the place where all my anger lived. That Christmas you came home…" Tommy shook his head unable to verbalize clearly. He and Kim had run into each other at a friend's party; it had been a very ugly scene, mostly of his making.

Tommy took a deep breath. "After that I just figured it would be best to pull away from everything that reminded me of you. Once TJ took over the team I was able to focus on school. That's what I did, focused on school and work. That's what I've been doing all this time. And aside from Haley, I've never had another group of friends like the ones I had when the team was together."

Kim squeezed Tommy's hands and through their connection he could feel her understanding, regret, and surprisingly, rising hope. He was surprised to notice that feeling of hope welling inside him as well. He blinked back tears as he looked at the petite woman seated beside him.

"Tommy," Kim began, "I know we can never go back to what we had. Too much time has passed, too many things have changed. And really, I wouldn't want to go back to being that high school girl, she's not who I am anymore. But…that's not to say we can't start over. More than anything else, I miss you as my friend."

"I've missed you too, friend."

Then scooting closer to sit side by side, Tommy pulled Kim into a fierce embrace. She held him just as tightly in return. Tears salted Tommy's shirt just as they salted Kim's hair. And when they pulled apart, they didn't pull away. Instead, Kim resettled herself inside the circle of Tommy's arm and tipped her head back to see his face. She casually put her feet up on the small wicker table before them and said, "So…a Paleontologist? Where'd that come from?" Tommy chuckled and settled back more comfortably in the loveseat, and began to explain.

An unnoticed group of observers had gathered in the doorway. Aisha's tear streaked face was pressed into Rocky's chest; their arms tightly wrapped around each other. Rocky and Adam wore identical grins. Jason, while grinning, was more satisfied than happy. As they turned to make their way back to the kitchen Rocky was heard to grumble, "It's about damn time."

TBC