Tommy was in the weight lifting part of the Juice Bar when the letter came. At first, Adam was reading it, but when he got to a certain part of the letter, the color drained out of his face. In it, Kim was dumping Tommy. Tommy sat up as quickly as if he had been shot out of a cannon.

“Maybe you should read this in private,” Adam suggested as Tommy reached over and took it out of his hands.

Tommy seemed to ignore him, as he finished the letter aloud. “I don’t believe this,” he said. He got up and ran out of the Juice Bar.

“Someone should go after him,” Justin said.

“I’ll go,” Kat volunteered, and she ran after him. He was gone by the time she had gotten outside, but she had a feeling she knew where he went. She made sure no one was watching, and teleported away.

Meanwhile, Tommy was walking along the side of the lake in the park. He was near tears, and remembering all of the good times he had with Kimberly.

“Why?” he said, “Why would she just dump me like that? Doesn’t she still love me?”

“That might not be the reason.” Tommy whirled around, almost striking the person who had spoken. When he saw that it was Kat, he dropped the hand about to hit her and spun back around, towards the lake.

“I just can’t believe it,” he said, “I thought she was happy when she came down for Christmas a few years ago. She was definitely happy on Christmas eve.” He turned red when he realized what he had said. Kat was about to ask what he meant, but saw that he was embarrassed. She let that part of the subject drop, and put a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s all right,” she said, but she knew differently. She knew that Tommy loved Kim, with all of his heart. She knew that, even now, she couldn’t attract his attention the way she wanted to. She and Kim were friends, and she didn’t want to ruin that. With Tommy either. “She might feel that she anchors you down here, and wants you to be happy.”

“I’m at my happiest with her, not without her,” Tommy said, “I always thought she felt the same way about me, but now...”

“I bet she does,” Kat said, “Even now. There has to be a good explanation for this letter.” She picked up the letter in question. “Do you mind?” Tommy shook his head at the largely unspoken question. Kat read over it. “I can almost see her hand shaking as she wrote this. Why don’t you speak to Zordon about this. Maybe, just maybe, he will let you teleport down there and talk to her.”

“You’re right,” Tommy said, “But later. I have a lot to think about. Would you mind?” Kat sighed at the largely unspoken question for his privacy.

“All right,” she said softly, “But if you need anyone, I’ll be here for you. I always will.” ‘In more ways than one, if need be,’ Kat thought.

“Thanks Kat,” Tommy said, “I think I just need to be alone for now.” She sighed again, and teleported home. Tommy sat down and looked across the lake and was lost in the memory of the first time he and Kim had ever kissed. They had been talking about going out a few minutes earlier. They were walking along, hand in hand, when Kim suddenly tripped. With her hand entwined in Tommy’s, she pulled him down on top of her accidentally.

Tommy had landed on top of her, and their mouths were just a small distance from each others.

“Tommy,” she said. That was all she could say, before he gave her a gentle, yet passionate, kiss. She returned it, with interest.

“Wow,” she said, when they had finally broke off for air. “I never knew that you were such a good kisser.

“Nor I you,” Tommy said. He was just about to kiss her again, when a bunch of putties showed up. He and Kim tried to fight them off, but were overwhelmed by the sheer number of the putties. They had both tried to morph, but their morphers were knocked out of their hands before they could finish the familiar ritual.

Kim was getting good at defending herself, thanks to most of the rest of the team, especially Tommy and Jason. But her lack of experience showed, and the putties were able to detain her. Tommy was detained too, just a few feet away.

“Tommy,” she cried.

“Kimberly.” All of a sudden, Goldar appeared.

“Say goodbye to the Green Ranger,” he said, “He’ll never be coming back.” With that, Goldar, Tommy, the putties, and even Tommy’s morpher disappeared. Kim fell to her knees, and started crying uncontrollably. Jason and the others came in a few seconds later, and Trini put an arm around Kim’s shoulders.

“What happened?” Jason asked.

“Tommy and I were walking,” Kim said, “When a big bunch of putties showed up. We tried beating them, but there were too many. Then Goldar showed up, once Tommy and I were incapacitated. Then, everyone else just...” Her little body was racking with sobs and she couldn’t finish. Not that she had to. It was painfully obvious what had happened next. Trini gently hugged Kim to her.

“It’s all right, Kim,” Trini said, “Tommy will be all right. You’ll see.”

“I hope so,” Kim said, “Or, god help me, Rita will pay. I’ll kill her, Goldar, and everyone else up there if anything truly bad happens to Tommy. With my bare hands, if need be.”

Their communicators went off, and they went into action. Just a few hours later, they had gotten Tommy back, but his powers were gone. The Green Ranger powers were given to Jason, to keep them from disappearing forever. The next afternoon, Tommy and Kim were in his basement, practicing.

“All right,” Tommy said, “Now, you have to put your foot out like this.” He gently put her leg out and into position. This proved to be the only way to show Kim the meditation kata, for him to put her hands and feet into the correct position. Tommy was gazing up at her, when she yelped.

“Tommy,” she whispered and looked to his hand. He looked at it, too, and found that he had moved it further up her leg than he had intended. He stood up.

“I’m sorry Kim,” he said. He stared into her eyes, and he couldn’t help himself. He kissed her. The kata was forgotten for the rest of the afternoon.

Tommy was crying. ‘That was the first of two times we had ever made love,’ he thought. All of a sudden, his mind went back to the Christmas party about two years ago. He had just gone to pick Kim up at the airport on Christmas Eve, and was helping her settle into the guest room.

Kim came almost literally out of nowhere with a passionate kiss. “I’ve missed you so much,” she said, “I can’t believe your parents are letting me stay here. They trust us that much?”

“Of course they do,” Tommy said, “I’m an only child, and you’re the closest thing to a daughter they have. They trust us with their lives.”

“Quite literally, when I was a Ranger,” Kim said. She grew silent. “Tommy, about that one day... do you regret it?” She didn’t have to specify which day.

“Not in a million years,” Tommy said, “I just regret that we didn’t do what we did sooner, and that we haven’t since.

Kim went over to the door and closed and locked it. She came back over, and gave Tommy another passionate kiss. “Let’s change that,” she said. They moved over to the bed, and there was no more said for a while.

The tears flowed more freely after that particular memory. “I thought that we were so much in love,” he said, “I guess it isn’t the first time I’ve been wrong about something.” He stood up and gave the scenery one last glance. “It just isn’t the same without Kim here beside me.” Then Kat’s suggestion came to his weary mind. He teleported to the Command Center. Once there, he explained the situation to Zordon, who reluctantly gave him his permission to teleport to Kim. He did.

Once there, he started searching around for her. He found her in a room, rocking back and forth, with a little girl in her arms.

“Kim,” Tommy said timidly.

“Tommy,” Kim said, shocked. She was barely able to put the little girl down before she rushed forward to hug Tommy. He returned the embrace.

“Mommy,” the little girl said, “Who is strange man?”

Kim stepped away from Tommy in order to answer her. Tommy was looking between the two of them, with his mouth wide open. “This is a good friend of mine, sweetie,” she said, “His name is Tommy. Tommy, this is my daughter, Ann.”

“Daughter?” Tommy couldn’t believe it, but the proof was right there, in front of his face. The more he looked at the little girl, the more he saw of Kim in her face. “Kim, can I talk to you, alone?”

“Sure,” Kim said softly, “Come on, sweetheart. Time to get to bed.” She picked up the little girl and sat her down on a little bed in the room. The little girl was so tired, she fell right to sleep. Kim beckoned Tommy into the living room, where they both sat down on the couch. Kim scooted away as far as she could. Tommy stared at her uncomprehendingly. She anticipated his first question. “I had her late in the year after that last Christmas together.”

Tommy nodded. “Then you really did meet someone here?”

“No,” Kim said, to Tommy’s amazement. “And to answer your next question, no, I don’t know who the father is, exactly. With the timing, I was hoping that...”

“That it was me?” Kim nodded, and Tommy felt the color drain out of his face. “Why don’t you know exactly who the father is?” Kim had a hard time looking him in the eyes.

“I was raped not too long after coming back after that Christmas,” Kim said, “But that’s not the weird thing.” Kim finally looked him in the eye. “Tommy, for some reason, Zedd sent putties down, and they beat me, but good. I was so weak afterwards, I couldn’t fight off the rapist that just happened to find me.”

“We need to get some tests done,” Tommy said.

“I would like that,” Kim said, “Do you have a place to stay?”

“No,” Tommy said, “I just teleported here. I didn’t fly, or anything. Didn’t have the time to get reservations.”

“You can stay here,” Kim said. Tommy looked at her skeptically. “I insist.”

“I never could say no to you,” Tommy said, “I guess I have couch duty while I’m staying here.”

“You guess wrong,” Kim said. Tommy looked at her questioningly. She pounced on him, nearly knocking him over. She was kissing him.

“Kim,” Tommy said. As much as he would like to give in, he was still hurting from her letter just a few hours ago. He gently pushed her away.

“Tommy,” Kim said, “I know I tore your heart in that letter, but I had a very, very good reason. I didn’t want you to have to take care of a family, if Ann is yours, while you’re still young. I thought that, if I sent you a letter, you would leave it at that. I’m sorry.” With that said, she went back to kissing him.

“Not tonight,” Tommy said, gently pushing her away again. “I’m still hurting from that letter, and I doubt very much that I’d be a good partner anyway.”

“All right,” Kim said. She sighed. “Come on. Let’s get you some blankets and such. Do you need to call your parents?”

“Yeah, I guess I do,” Tommy said, “Do you mind?” Kim shook her head and went into the hallway, to get his blankets and pillows and to give him some privacy. He called his parents. “Hi mom. Yeah, I know its late, but you’ll never guess where I am. No, not in Kat’s bed. Florida. Don’t ask. Yeah, I came here to see Kim. She sent me a letter, and... No, I’m not kidding. I’m going to have to stay here a few days, and I was wondering if you would know how much genetic testing would cost? What do you mean, what would I need to know for. Mom, Kim had a baby, and we both want to know... Yes, we’ve... All right. Thanks mom. Good night, and I love you.” He hung up the phone a few minutes later.

Kim was in the hallway, looking at him. “Did you have to tell them just about everything?”

“When she gets real demanding, I just can’t refuse her,” Tommy said, “They said that we could use their credit card to pay for the testing.”

“Cool,” Kim said. She held out the blankets. “Well, here you go. There’s a chance to back out now, you know.”

“As tempting as that is, I can’t,” Tommy said, “Do you really blame me otherwise?”

“No, I guess I don’t,” Kim said. Her heart almost literally broke from the look on his face. She gave him a kiss. “Good night, Tommy.”

“Good night, Kim.” Kim went into her room, but stayed awake for a while, too excited from Tommy being in the next room to really fall asleep right away. She finally fell asleep.

The End