"Hey," Thomas whispered in Kimberly's ear as he snuck up behind her and she spun around before she let out a laugh of delight. "Sorry I'm late."
"Practice?" Kimberly asked as he nodded before he reached around her to grab the basket she had brought. When she had heard that he had never gone on a picnic- she insisted that they go on one as soon as possible. As soon as possible- happened to be three weeks later, but she figured it was worth the wait. He was worth the wait. "You know…you can drop the gentleman show."
"Not a show. Plus I don't mind," Thomas said as he fell into step with her. She knew where she was going- he was just along for the ride. "How are you?"
"Getting back into shape after an injury is no fun," Kimberly said as she skipped along ahead of him and he bit back a smile. She lived life with a freeness that he had never seen in anyone he knew. His family was so serious and he had had his responsibilities lectured to him for as long as he could remember. While he saw that she was pushed with gymnastics, she just didn't have the same responsibilities on her. She had gotten much more of a normal life than he had and he was jealous of it. "I'm too much."
"What? No," Thomas said as he watched her deflate for a moment but then saw the spark immediately come back. "Kim…who tells you that you're too much?"
"Everyone. My dad. My coaches. My friends," Kimberly said as he shook his head. He then grabbed her hand and started skipping next to her. He was not going to let her feel like that with him, even if it meant that he did silly things with her. "We're that way."
"Lead on," Thomas said as he dropped her hand and she then gave him a look before grabbing his hand and dragging him in the direction she wanted to go. She soon settled in next to him and he smiled as he saw the shaded grove they were headed towards. As glad as he was to be out here with her, he was even happier that she wasn't insisting on sitting in the sun. He'd spent basically all day outside and needed a bit of a break.
"I hope you're hungry. I may have stuffed that thing extra full," Kimberly said as Thomas pulled out the blanket and then laughed as he saw how much food she had fit in the basket. "This is my long day- I'm starving."
"Then let's eat," Thomas said as he spread out the blanket and they both settled on it. "How's school?"
"Not…I don't know. Competition season is starting and I've got papers and…" Kimberly trailed off as she shook her head. "It's a lot and with the National Team…"
"You're that good?" Thomas asked as she gave him a look and then nodded. He made a mental note to see what else he could find out about her gymnastics past through media instead of her. "I'm guessing that most people around here know that."
"Yeah…I mean…do you ever get to watch tv?" Kimberly asked as Thomas shook his head and she stared at him. Her dad was strict with a lot of things, but as long as her grades stayed up, she got plenty of tv time. "Hold on. Like you've never seen 90210? Blossom? The Real World?"
"We don't have a tv in our house. My parents…there's other things…" Thomas trailed off as he looked away from her. He had never felt less like a normal teenager in his life. Normally that didn't bother him, but today he wanted to be normal. Today, he desperately wanted to be able to relate to the girl that was staring up at him with those honey colored eyes.
"We can fix that," Kimberly said as she did a happy food dance as she put together her perfect bite and then handed it over to him. She then made another for herself as she continued to dance around. "If you want."
"I don't know," Thomas whispered as he looked away from her. He hadn't been this nervous in awhile and he wasn't sure what to do with it. Why was he nervous with her? "Maybe?"
"Maybe is good," Kimberly whispered against his ear and he jumped before he caught the grin on her face. She was definitely enjoying messing with him a bit and he had to admit that he enjoyed her joking with him. He didn't dwell on that for too long, because he knew what it meant. He couldn't let himself think of her that way, that wasn't what this assignment was about. "You know Tommy, you're different- but I like it."
"Yeah, well…I like your different too," Thomas said as he put his arm around her and she curled into his side. He leaned back against the tree and felt his eyes getting heavy. He wanted to soak this in, but the comfort he got from her was making it difficult to stay awake.
"You're tired too?" Kimberly whispered as Thomas nodded and she laid against his shoulder. When she didn't push him away, he settled and he let sleep overtake him.
"Uncle Theo…I…can we talk?" Thomas asked as he knocked on his office door and Theo looked up from the paperwork on his desk. It was late on a Friday and while he would normally be gone by now, he had hung around so that none of this work would go home with him for once.
"Yeah, what's up?" Theo asked as Thomas pulled the door closed behind him and he took a seat. Thomas stared at his shoes and Theo tried to be patient, he knew that if Thomas was here that it must be something he couldn't ask Mitchell. Well, there was really nothing that Thomas could discuss with his father without supervision at this point. "T?"
"Will I get to choose who I date? Who I marry?" Thomas asked as Theo neatly stacked the papers and placed them to the side of his desk. This was not the conversation he had expected, but he was glad that Thomas felt comfortable enough to ask him. It was better that Thomas talked about it than pushing it down and trying to be who is father wanted him to be. It was already evident to most of the mentors that Thomas was going to exceed all of their expectations.
"There someone you are interested in?" Theo asked and Thomas nodded. Theo smiled over at him as he shook his head. Thomas had not had a normal childhood by any stretch of the imagination. He was excited that Thomas was getting a bit of that now, but he also understood why Thomas wanted to know what was really possible. He had been let down so many times when he had tried to do normal things. "I know her?"
"Not really," Thomas whispered as Theo stilled for a moment and gave him a hard look. Thomas wouldn't be this nervous if it was another potential ranger, that match had been pounded into his head for years. "If her powers never come in…I just…I want to know…"
"I got Aunt Amy," Theo said as he let out a sigh. If it was the future prophetess he was protecting, that would make things more difficult, especially with Mitch. He had been denied marrying a prophet that he had loved by his father and Theo doubted that Mitch would let Thomas marry a prophetess, unless she was his soulmate. They would be stupid to fight a soulmate connection, but his brother-in-law was nothing if not idiotic. "I don't know what you'll be able to do Thomas. You're a Trueheart- the rules are different for you. But there's no reason to not go for what you want."
"But what if…what if we both think it will work and then Dad…" Thomas trailed off as Theo nodded. Mitchell was most determined to not make Thomas' life happy. "I couldn't do that to her."
"What do you want?" Theo asked as Thomas looked up at him and he waited.
"A chance…with her," Thomas whispered as Theo gave him a small smile and nodded.
"Give it until next school year. Usually prophets are assigned guards about a year before their powers present. If she's still not showing powers at that point…I'll deal with your dad," Theo stated as Thomas looked at him for a moment before he lit up. He might not have children, but of all his nieces and nephews, Thomas was the closest to a son that he had. "So it's going well?"
"Yeah. Oh crap, I promised I'd call her," Thomas said as he spotted the clock on the wall and then jumped up. "Thanks, Uncle Theo!"
"Where's he running off to?" Amelia asked as she jumped out of the way of the door and Theo shook his head. "A girl?"
"Yeah. He likes her enough to ask me if he'd get to choose who he dates," Theo said as Amelia's face fell. They both wanted him to have the freedom to do that, they were confident that he would make a better choice than his parents, but his parents had a bigger trump card than most when it came to dating and marriages. "I know Ames. I want him to have that chance too. He deserves it- with what is coming- he really deserves it."
"He's that good?" Amelia asked and Theo just nodded. He couldn't put into words how good Thomas was. He'd never had a student like Thomas and he was pretty sure he'd never have one like him again.
AN: Thank you to Izzy Evans for many of the 90s culture ideas that have landed in this story! I was at my research limit and you sent me so many ideas that wound up in this story. This is just the first instance, but I just wanted to take an opportunity to thank you for your input.
