"Weeks passed since Tommy and Kimberly were sent back in time since 1880. Over the last couple of months, a lot of things happened. Billy learned that he was on track for early graduation. All the rangers had to deal with Zedd's Hate Master, which turned all of them against each other, expect for Aisha. Aisha had a locket that her grandma gave her, and it protected her from the spell. So, she ended up having to break the spell to free the rangers. Tommy had secretly gone out and bought a ring to give to Kimberly at Christmas.
Recently, Kimberly met a famous gymnastics coach, named Gunther Schmidt. He was from Florida and offered to train her for the Pan Global Games in her spare time. She recently competed in some gymnastics match and won. At her party, Gunther Schmidt came and asked her to consider moving to Florida to train for the Pan Global Games full time. Kimberly was in a tight spot because she had to make a difficult decision to make. As a child it was always her dream to compete in the Pan Global Games, but she also felt obligated to the team and there was another reason she didn't want to go to Florida.
Kimberly stood in shower deep in thought about making her decision about going to Florida. She had to let Coach Schmidt know her decision that morning. There was knock on the door. "Kimberly, are you okay in there?" Caroline asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Kimberly called back as she got out of the shower. "I'm going to go get ready for school." She slipped on her bath robe and headed back to her room. Kimberly opened her closet and grabbed a pair of dark pink wind pants and a white long sleeve tee shirt with a dark pink V-neck and dark pink stripes going down the sleeves. She quickly got dressed and went down stairs.
"Have you made your decision about if you going to Florida or not?" Caroline asked as Kimberly sat down for breakfast. "Coach Schmidt is going to call in an hour."
"Yes, I have," she nervously replied while she started eating her cereal. "It was a hard decision. But, I think I made the right decision."
Tommy sat in the youth center with his friends. He couldn't help but think about Kimberly. To be truthful, he had been dreading that day all week because that was the day Kimberly had to make her final decision about going to Florida. When she was offered the opportunity to go, it was all Tommy could do to keep from telling her that he loved her and didn't want to go. But, he realized that it wouldn't be fair if he held her back from her athletic dream.
Ernie walked over to the table with an envelope in his hand. "Tommy, you have a letter from Kimberly," Ernie said as he handed Tommy the letter.
Tommy opened the letter and began to read it.
Dear Tommy,
I couldn't tell you this in person, so I thought that I'd write you a letter and tell you. I've made my finally decision. Coach Schmidt said I would make the team and I had a good chance of bringing home a gold medal home. I always dreamed of this opportunity since I was a little girl. But, something happened. Tommy, I'm not going to Florida.
I always thought that if I got this opportunity, I'd just compete in the Pan Global Games. But, I learned that most of the star athletes are asked to go on tour for several months. A lot of the star athletes make gymnastics their career. Coach Schmidt showed me a contract that I had to sign. After I looked at it, I made my decision. Tommy, if I choose to go train in Florida, I had to agree to eat, breath, and live gymnastics. I also had to agree that I will cut of strong contacts from my friends and family, so they don't become a distraction to me. I couldn't agree to do such a thing to my loved ones, especially you.
Yes, gymnastics is important to me and I want it always to be PART of my life. But, not my WHOLE life. I just hope I haven't disappointed you in what I have decided.
I love you,
Kimberly
Tommy laid the letter down. "I'm going to go find Kim," Tommy said as he got up from the table.
Kimberly had been sitting outside the youth center while she heard Tommy read the letter. She wasn't ready to face him yet and she had to find a place where she could have some alone time. A bright idea struck in her mind. The girls' locker room was the perfect place, since Tommy wasn't allowed in there. "Kim, we need to talk," Tommy addressed, when he saw Kimberly jump to her feet.
"Tommy, I know what you're going to say," she quickly said ducking her head and breaking out in a run. "You don't have to tell me."
She allowed the tears to stream down her face as she ran to the locker room. Tommy was disappointed, she knew he was because he had told her when she was first offered a chance to go to Florida, he said he didn't want her to stay behind because of him. He probably stopped at the line where he read that she wasn't going to Florida.
"Kim, please!" Tommy begged as he continued to run after her. "It's not what you think!"
She didn't answer him. She just kept running until she ran into the girls' locker room and the door shut in front of Tommy's face. "I can't believe I'm doing this," Tommy mumbled as he walked into the locker room. He just hoped that there wasn't anyone else in there. Walking in, he saw Kimberly huddled up in the corner full of tears. The bell for first period rang, but he didn't care. He'd just skip class and he took a seat next to her. "Beautiful, I'm begging you! Please, let me talk to you!"
"FINE! I'M LISTENING! JUST TELL ME, YOU'RE DISAPPOINTED WITH ME!"
"No, I'm not," he answered softly.
"Really!?" she gasped looking up into his chocolate eyes. "If you're not, then why did you tell me not give it up just, so I could stay in Angel Grove with you?"
He took her hands in his. "I was planning on going to Florida with you. My parents and your mom gave me permission to marry you. And Zordon told I could go with you. I called Coach Schmidt and asked him if I could come. He told me about the policy that he had. I was told that if I became a distraction to you, I'd have to leave even if I was married to you. I told him the policy was stupid and he hung up on me."
"Wow, that's a lot to take in. Did you still want me to go to Florida after you talked to him? Her eyes were pleading for an honest answer. "You can tell me."
"No, I didn't," he confessed gathering her in arms. "For the last few days, it was all I could do to keep from telling you that I didn't want you to go. But, if you still wanted to go I didn't to hold you back. When did you make the decision?"
"I had until today to decide. I decided earlier in the week not to go-"
"-why, didn't you tell me then?" he asked. Tommy had to look away from her as he tried to hold back his tears. "You know you could've told me."
"I didn't know how to tell you," she sobbed in his shoulder. "I came close several times, but I was scared about how you react. So, I did the only thing I could think of. I wrote you the letter and I held on to it all week. I gave it Ernie and told him to give it to you. I'm sorry I waited this long-"
"-Kim, I understand," he assured her considering her doe eyes. Water was now dripping from his eyes. "I would have probably done the same if I was in that position."
"You would've?" she asked as she wiped the tears running down his cheeks. "Why?"
"Same reason as you," he whispered cupping her face and pressing his soft lips against hers. They kissed until they had to break about for air. "Let's say you and I get out of here and head to our next class."
A few days later, Tommy's parents got word from their boss that they had to go to Los Angles for training and they couldn't go to Florida. Other members of the family couldn't make the trip because of snow or work obligations, so the trip was canceled. At school, the junior class was helping with a Christmas pageant with students from Angel Grove Elementary. Kimberly was playing her guitar and Adam was playing the piano. Aisha was leading with the music since her cousin Becky was in the pageant. "So, have any plans for the holidays?" Billy asked while he was helping Rocky and Tommy decorate for the play. "I'm going to New York with my parents to visit family.
"No, my family is staying home," Rocky said while he put Christmas lights on the tree. "But, we've got family coming in."
"My family and I were going to Florida and spend Christmas on the beach," Tommy said in a disappointed tone. "We had invited Kimberly and Caroline to come with us. I was going to ask Kim to marry me out on the Miami beach. But, the trip got canceled."
A bright idea popped in Billy's mind. "Tommy, is she still spending Christmas with you?" Billy asked.
"Caroline and Kimberly have been spending Christmas eve and Christmas with us for years," Tommy replied while he plugged the Christmas lights in. Bright red lights came on and made the tree light up. "This year, Kim's mom is hosting a Christmas party for the fashion company that she works for. And my family was invited."
"Why don't you give her the ring at the party?" Billy suggested.
Christmas Eve
Bright light was glowing from the red and green candles sitting on the table, almost resembling floating orbs in the dark room. Multi-color Christmas lights were draped around the tree. Beautiful glistening ornaments were hanging from the tree branches. Lights were shining from the Christmas tree. There wasn't an empty seat left at the tables in large room. People were swarmed around the tables eating baked Christmas good. A long line of children started at the back of the room waiting to see Santa Claus. Some people were sitting at a table making hand-crafted greeting cards. Children sat at tables eats cookies and drinking hot chocolate. Laughter of the adults could be over heard all over the room.
In another room there was music playing and no one could see the dance floor. It was bumper to bumper with couples dancing to all 1990's music. The girls' and women's' skirts swam around their feet and their tops jingled gently with each slight movement.
"It's seems like it was only yesterday since we laid them down in the crib together to take naps," Jan reminded James as she watches her son and his girlfriend on the dance floor. "In just two months they'll be 18. I never thought time could go by this fast."
"I know what you mean," Caroline added while she watches Kimberly rest her head on Tommy's chest for the slow dancing. "I'm glad that they've gotten to grow up together just like we did."
"He loves your daughter so much," James smiled as he wrapped his arms around Jan. "I remember he used to watch her from afar when she started dating. It took him a long time to finally ask her out."
"James, you were the same way with me," Jan reminded him as he began to blush.
Tommy laid his head down on Kimberly's as he was enjoying the moment. Yet, he was nervous because he was going to pop the question that would determine their future. "Tommy," she purred. "You've been quietly for the last hour and during dinner your hands were shaking. Is there something going on?"
"Kim, this is so hard for me. There's so much I want to say. But, I don't know where to begin," he started when she took his hand and lead him off the dance floor. "Kimberly, how do you feel about me?"
"There's so much I want to say to you. I've only loved two men in my life. One of them was my father and the other one is you. You've always been my best friend. You helped me through my parents' nasty divorce and I really wanted to date you. But, I was afraid to ask you. I tried to date a few others, but they didn't work out because I have been in love with you."
Tommy smiled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the pink box. "Kim, there's so much I want to say to you too," he began. He couldn't find the words to say. So, he did the only thing he could think of. He placed the box in her hand. "Merry Christmas, Beautiful."
"So, that's why you've been so secretive!" Kimberly grinned when she saw him pull a pink velvet box. Tears starts to stream down Kimberly's face when she saw a ring. Around the band were sparkly white gems. In the center there all the pink gems were cut in the shape a petal to form a daisy. "Oh, Tommy! It's beautiful!"
"Kimberly, will you-"
"A thousand times yes!" Kimberly cried before he could finish. Tommy slide the ring on her finger. He cupped her face and they started kissing each other for several minutes. When they finally, pulled apart Kimberly smiled while looking at the ring. "Tommy, this must have cost you a fortune."
"You were worth every penny?" he beamed pulling her into a big hug.
Things are only beginning to get good. Next up is going to deal with getting the zeo crystal.