Timeline: About six or seven months after C2D.
“Welcome,” the computer said. It paused for a few minutes, and Kim held her breath. “You’ve got mail.” Kim let the breath out with a whoosh. She had been hoping that he had sent her mail.
She clicked on the mail box, and the new mail list came up. She had several emails, but only one caught her attention, from TOEWR22. She clicked on it, and the email came up. “Hey there,” it read, “Long time, no chat. In chat rooms or IMs’, at least. So, what’s up?”
Kim smiled and clicked the reply button. Then, she started typing furiously. “Nothing much happening here,” she typed and read aloud at the same time, “Just the usual. Landlord screaming for his rent, bad building maintenence, etc. I wish I knew a good hitman for the first on that list. Heh heh. What’s up with you?” She clicked the send button.
Tommy’s heart still ached every time he looked at that picture. He still loved her, even though she had dumped him like a bad habit. Another now ex-girlfriend, Kat, had eventually left him, after he refused to open up to her. After Kim had done what she did, Tommy felt like he couldn’t really do that to any woman.
Until now. Tommy had met a really nice girl on the internet, with the screen name PinkPrncss. Tommy logged on and waited, barely patiently, for the slow process to flow through. Finally, he was logged on, and he waited for three special words. “Welcome,” it said. There was a slight pause. “You’ve got mail.”
Tommy clicked the mail box. There were a few letters, but he clicked on the one PinkPrncss had sent him. He laughed when she mentioned about the hitman. He clicked on reply and started typing.
Kim chuckled as she read that. She hit reply. “Yeah, that would be a strange coincidence. Of course, if we were to meet, I doubt we could have gotten along as well as here, on the internet. I’m not too good with real life relationships. Are you?” She looked up at the clock. “Well, I’ve got to be getting to work, but I’ll talk to you soon, all right?” Without waiting for a reply, Kim logged off, grabbed her things, and left.
“I’ll answer that question later, but for now, I’ve got to be getting to work, as well. But I look forward to talking to you again. I look forward to talking to you every day. Hoping that you send me email is the only thing that keeps me online these days. Well, talk to you later.” With that, he sent the email, logged off, and headed out.
The two had been sweethearts, once upon a time. They also used to be Power Rangers, in the city of Angel Grove, California. Tommy had been the White Ranger, hence his screen name, which was his initials and the initials EWR for Ex-White Ranger.
Kim had been the Pink Ranger, which partially credited for her screen name. She put the Princess because that had been one of the pet names Tommy used to call her. She was the one who had ended the original relationship, sending Tommy a letter when she was living in Florida.
And now, in Chicago, Illinios, the romance was rekindling, even though neither had any clue that their online sweetheart was each other. Tommy and Kim didn’t know that they lived in the same city, much less the same apartment building.
But today would see a change of that. Kim had taken a few minutes to talk to a neighbor before heading to the elevator, and she would find that those few minutes would change her life completely. “Hold the door, please,” Tommy called to whoever was in the elevator.
Kim pushed the button to keep the doors opened. ‘Why does that voice sound so familiar?’ she thought. When Tommy appeared in the doorway of the elevator, Kim’s jaw dropped. “Tommy?” she whispered.
Tommy was equally shocked. He hadn’t expected Kim to be there. “Uh hi, Kim,” he mumbled, as he stepped into the elevator. Unexpectedly, Kim threw her arms around his neck.
“It’s good to see you, Tommy,” Kim said, “How have you been?”
Tommy, who had been surprised by her hugging him, fumbled for a response. He also couldn’t get his mind off of Kim’s soft body gently pressed up to his. “Uh, great,” he finally said, “What about you?”
“Great,” Kim said, “Do you live here?”
“Yeah, right down the hall,” Tommy said.
“Me too,” Kim replied, grinning. “We’ve been in the same city, and in the same building, and we didn’t even see each other. Funny, isn’t it?”
“Sure is,” Tommy replied, smiling. Kim’s grin had always been contagious.
“Do you work around here?” Kim asked.
“Yeah, I own a small dojo a couple of blocks away,” Tommy said.
“Which is what you always dreamed of,” Kim replied.
“What about you, Kim?” Tommy asked, “I know you always wanted to open up a gymnastic school.”
“Yeah, I’ve gotten my dream, too,” Kim replied, “I own the one nearby.”
“That’s great,” Tommy said. ‘Oh man, she’s so beautiful,’ he thought, as he gazed down upon his ex-girlfriend. “Kim, would you like to go see a movie or something with me this weekend?”
Kim froze. ‘He’s asking me out, after what I did to him?’ she thought.
Tommy saw Kim go a bit rigid. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, “You have a boyfriend, right? The guy you broke up with me for.”
Kim sighed. “Yeah, I do,” she lied, “Mark lives nearby. He’s the reason I moved here to Chicago.” Kim knew she was lying, but she hoped that Tommy didn’t pick up on it. She used to have a boyfriend, but it turned out that he had was a serial killer that convinced his victims to cut all ties, so that when he killed them, nobody would seem to miss them.
Mark Davidson, her ex-boyfriend and the serial killer in question, used his charm to even put a barrier between Kim and her mom that the Kim had yet to break down. Kim had eventually found him out, and was forced to kill him in self defense.
“What about you, Tommy?” Kim asked, “Do you have a girlfriend?”
“No,” Tommy replied, “Well, kind of. You might say that I have an online girlfriend, but I don’t know anything about her except that she lives somewhere here in Chicago.”
It never even occurred to Kim that TOEWR meant Tommy Oliver Ex-White Ranger. Nor did Tommy make the connection between PinkPrncss and Kim. Neither person’s minds were running on all cylinders.
“Well, I don’t want to make your boyfriend jealous,” Tommy said, “So how about I just drive you to your school?”
“I don’t want to be a bother,” Kim said.
“It’s no bother, Kimberly,” Tommy replied, “I think your school in on the way to the dojo. We’ll take the truck.”
“All right,” Kim agreed, rather reluctantly. As they stepped out of the elevator, Kim eyed Tommy. It had been a good four and a half years since she had seen him, on what had turned out to be Tommy’s first adventure as a Turbo Ranger.
The Turbo Rangers’ villain, Divatox, had kidnapped Kim and Jason in an effort to feed them to a volcano monster named Malligore. She had dropped the two ex-Rangers into the lava, and Malligore had turned them evil. It was only thanks to a Liarian named Lerigot and his wife that the two broke free from Malligore’s control.
‘He’s gotten even more handsome, if that’s possible,’ Kim mused, as she gazed upon the face of the man she still loved. When the elevator made it to the first floor, they stepped out and headed for the entrance heading into the apartment building’s small parking lot. “I really appreciate this, Tommy,” Kim said, “I usually walk to work.”
“It’s no problem, Kim,” Tommy replied, “What are friends for, right?” They went out to his truck, which Kim was surprised to notice was white.
“I seem to remember you having a red jeep after the Muiranthius incident,” Kim noted.
“I did, but I traded it in after Kat, Tanya, Adam, and I passed the torch,” Tommy said, “I’ve always felt closer to my time as the White Ranger anyway. And I just didn’t see any reason to keep the red jeep after my Turbo days were over.”
“Oh,” Kim said, “You know what? I like this truck better than what I remember the jeep to be, too. And you did look better in white than red.”
“Thanks, Kim,” Tommy said. They hopped in and took off. A few minutes later, they were in front of the gymnastics school Kim owned. “Well, I hope to see you later, Kim.”
“Probably will, now that I know you’re in the same building,” Kim replied, “Bye.”
“Bye,” Tommy said. He watched, as Kim climbed out and headed up the steps to the building. “I love you,” he whispered. Tommy then turned and started heading towards his dojo.
“Welcome,” the computer said, “You’ve got mail.”
Tommy clicked on the mail box. When he saw an email from PinkPrncss, he clicked on it immediately.
“Hiya, TOEWR22. That was so sweet, what you said. You know, I’ve got a bit of a problem. Can you help?”
Tommy hit reply and started typing. “I don’t know how much of a help I can be, but I can try. What’s up?” He sent the email.
“Well, I’m in love with this guy that I’ve known for years. We used to go out close to four years ago. We eventually broke up, but I’ve found that I still love him. What do I do?” Kim hit the send button.
“Talk about strange coincidences. I’m in love with a girl I used to go out with. She was what made my last girlfriend leave me. Talk about a small world, huh? Anyway, I say go for it. See if he feels the same. If he does, you’re all set. You have little to lose and everything to gain.” Tommy hit send.
“Tommy!!!” Kim cried, as she ran down the corridor and lunged into Tommy’s arms. Tommy pulled her close, and their lips met with a passionate kiss.
“Kim, I still love you,” Tommy said, once they came up for air. “I’ve always loved you, and always will, heart, body, and soul. I know you have a boyfriend now, but...”
“Tommy, I don’t have a boyfriend,” Kim blurted out, “I don’t know why I lied about that earlier. I love you, and only you. A friend helped me realize that.”
“A friend of mine helped me realize how I feel about you, too,” Tommy said, and then it hit him. “Wait a minute. PinkPrncss?”
“That’s my screen name on AOL,” Kim said.
“Kim, I’m TOEWR22,” Tommy replied.
“No way,” Kim said, “You can’t be him.”
“I am,” Tommy said, “TOEWR stands for Tommy Oliver, Ex-White Ranger, and I put my age in at the end. It just hit me. I’ve been having the oddest feeling that I knew you from somewhere, when we met in that chat room for the first time.”
“I can’t believe this,” Kim said, “It’s funny, too. Until I saw you earlier, I think that I was honestly beginning to fall in love with you under that screen name. And now, you’re the man I love, and the online buddy I was starting to fall in love with... all in one. Come here, you.” She pulled Tommy’s face down using his long hair, and gave him a long, passionate kiss.
The end... for now
Notes from the author: As you can more than likely tell, this was
inspired
by You’ve got mail, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. All I’m going to
say
other than that is expect an eventual sequel. It might not be a direct
sequel, though. I have no idea at this moment.