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"I'll be home for Christmas;
You can count on me.
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love-light gleams.
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams."
Carolyn Hilary Oliver was humming the nearly 100-year-old song softly to herself as she put the finishing touches on the large, festively-decorated dining table. For once, truly everybody in the family would be home—and was coming to her house this Christmas Eve.
Well ... not quite everybody. The surviving grandparents would come on Christmas Day, for a more quiet gathering, and of course two places would remain empty that hadn't been filled in ages—Jason and Kimberly's, her father and mother-in-law respectively. Quickly the pretty brunette dabbed at her eyes; even after so long, she still missed both. But at least Mama Kat and Uncle Tommy would be there; as usual, they were visiting the cemetery first.
Meanwhile, the Oliver and Scott children plus their respective spouses were busily preparing food, stacking presents under the tree and generally making themselves useful. The next generation was out carolling in the neighbourhood, but were expected back any minute now. Lynne smiled to herself as she surveyed her handiwork.
"Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree."
"Only two out of three, love," her husband Jason David teased as he passed her with the bowl of eggnog—alcohol-free, so that the children could try it, too. There was another, proper adults-only batch in the kitchen pantry for later. "No snow in Angel Grove."
"That's enough for me," Lynne laughed. "I'm just glad everybody could make it here tonight. I only hope it won't be too much for Ricky," she worried. "He's awfully small for such a big party." Her youngest son, an unexpected but much-loved late addition to the household, slept upstairs in his cot, all of three months old.
"He'll be fine," Jay assured her, stealing a quick kiss. And not a sprig of mistletoe in sight.
"You hope."
"Well ... yeah," he grinned sheepishly. "Any sign of the brood yet?"
"No. Nor of Mom and Uncle Tommy. Do you think they're alright?"
"Positive. Dad is still a pretty good fighter for his age, and Aunt Kat will make sure they're on time."
The family relations were a bit complicated—rather inevitable, when one's nominal aunt (or uncle) also happened to become one's mother (or father) -in-law. For simplicity's sake, they had stuck to the familiar form of address when they got married.
"I'm just glad that Mom has managed to cheer your Dad up again lately." Lynne commented. "I was really worried about him last year, he was so depressed."
"Yeah—they've been good for each other, haven't they? Going out to dinner, doing stuff together... if they weren't our parents, I'd say it was almost like they were dating or something," he teased.
"As if! You know very well that neither would even look at someone else, they loved Dad and Aunt Kim so," his loving wife scoffed.
Just then, a car stopped in front of the house, and childish shouts of "Grandma! Grampa!" could be heard, along with a rush of thundering feet.
"They're here," Katrina Michelle DeSantos called from the front parlor; she didn't wait for her brother Jay but simply threw the door open wide.
"Merry Christmas, Dad! You too, Aunt Kat!"
"Merry Christmas, Trini." Setting a large box unobtrusively down near the hallway table, Tommy smiled at his daughter. She was just as enthusiastic about the holiday as Kim ever was ... looked a lot like her, too, even if she was about three inches taller than his beloved wife had been. He swallowed the lump of pain that threatened to lodge in his throat. Three years since she had died, and he still missed her.
A soft hand on his arm drew him out of his momentary funk. He glanced up to meet compassionate blue eyes framed by silvery-grey locks. "It's okay, Tommy," Kat murmured. "I miss Jason, too."
He patted her hand. "I know. Thanks for understanding, Kat."
"You were there for me when he died; how can I do anything but return the favor?" she murmured back, then let herself be drawn inside by the children—his and her grandchildren, and in the case of Scott, Lynne and Jay's firstborn, both. Inside, the rest of their offspring were waiting—Oliver William Scott and his wife Jasmine, daughter of Adam and Tanya Park. Jared Taylor Scott and his lively redheaded wife Rachel, daughter of Will Cranston and Consuelo DeSantos, Rocky's youngest sister. Trini and her husband Ramon DeSantos, making Rachel her sister-in-law twice over. Among them, a total of seven grandkids so far, with the youngest being Ricky—Richard Adam Oliver.
"No, don't look in there yet, kids," Kat gently removed curious hands from the box and shopping bags she and Tommy had brought. "Yes, there're presents inside, but you know Santa won't allow us to open them until after dinner."
A chorus of disappointed "Awwwwwws" answered her, but she remained adamant, giving them a slightly stern, patently discouraging look. It proved enough. There were a few long faces, though, as the inquisitive bunch reluctantly obeyed.
"Why don't you go help your moms?" Kat suggested. "The sooner dinner's ready, the sooner you'll get to know what Santa has left at grandpa's and my house..."
"Awright! Come on, guys!" Scott led the rush towards the kitchen, followed by amused glances from the adults.
"How do you do that?" Oliver asked as he helped Kat out of her fleecy dove-grey coat. "They never listen to me that well."
His mother smiled serenely, smoothing down her hair in front of the mirror.
"Practice, dear. Practice."
"I knew you'd say that," her oldest son grumbled good-naturedly. "You've been saying it for as long as I can remember."
"And you still don't remember?" Kat said archly. "Then I guess I'll go on repeating myself for a while yet..."
"Give it up, Bro," Jay laughed at his best friend. "You know you can't win against Aunt Kat!"
Tommy straightened the collar of his pullover shirt and cast her a wry glance as the rest of their offspring grinned at Oliver. "You're really enjoying your role as family matriarch, aren't you?"
"But of course," Kat replied, a twinkle in her eyes. "One of the few advantages of reaching a higher age than others in the family."
"Oh? So have I; what does that make me?"
She took his arm, preparatory to walking into the living room. Her wedding band glinted golden in the lamplight, and Kat smiled to herself, thinking of a jeweller's box tucked away in her handbag. She'd show the contents later, after they'd broken the news to their children and when the grandchildren would be occupied with their presents.
"Old?" she said, tongue in cheek
General laughter drowned out Tommy's mock-enraged sputter.
~*~
Dinner was a huge success with everyone, and the four young women beamed proudly at the compliments being generously showered on them by their husbands and parents. Lynne was still recovering from her son's birth, so food preparation had been a joint effort by all of them. The children had torn through the wrappings of their presents, handed out gifts to their elders, and were now happily ensconced in Scott's room, reading, playing, and whatnot while the young men took care of cleanup.
With a satisfied sigh, Kat leaned back in her armchair. "This is nice," she commented, accepting a cup of coffee from Jasmine with a nod of thanks. "Being able to sit like this, not having to freeze leftovers, load the dishwasher... never mind all the cooking! Not that I'm complaining, I loved doing it for you kids, but Christmas always was a very busy time for me."
"You usually were running around like a headless chicken, too, because of the recitals you used to put up the day before Christmas with your ballet classes," Tommy reminded her somewhat ungallantly. He was slightly put out because his son, son-in-law and Kat's boys had firmly locked him out of the kitchen as well. 'Go and entertain the ladies, Dad,' Jay had told him in no uncertain terms. 'We'll manage.' Just because last year he'd broken two plates of Lynne's favourite china set... he'd replaced them right after New Year's, too! What did it matter if the colour of the glaze didn't match 100%?
"Dad!" Trini protested. "You can't say that to Aunt Kat!"
"It's not very nice," Jasmine agreed, her almond-shaped eyes laughing. With her café-au-lait skin and delicate Asian features, she was like an exotic flower in the group of lovely young women surrounding him.
"Typical for the men in this family, I'd say," redheaded Rachel huffed, exaggerating only slightly. "Tell me, Aunt Kat—did Jared learn his lack of tact from the guys, from Uncle Tommy here, or did they all rub off of each other?"
Lynne grinned and winked at her mother. "Oh, definitely the latter, I'd say. After all, Uncle Tommy is still one of the boys at heart, isn't he?"
Kat's lips twitched with barely-hidden amusement. She loved the easy banter, so full of affection, that her and Tommy's family shared. "No comment," she said.
"Aw Mom, that's a copout!"
"No copout, Sweetie. Just bearing in mind that Tommy is providing my ride home."
"Sassy and materialistic. A fine mother you've raised, Lynne," Tommy mock-grumbled, causing the next round of laughter. To tell the truth, he was beginning to rather enjoy being surrounded by five beautiful women, being waited on with fresh coffee and sitting on a comfortable couch. *Much better than drying dishes after all,* he admitted silently to himself.
By and by, the young men finished in the kitchen and drifted back, bearing plates with cookies and a cake Kat had provided over her daughter's protest—but the nut roll was an old family recipe that had emigrated with her family from England to Australia and then to the USA; she was not giving up on that tradition until she had to.
"Ah, this is the life," Jay moaned contentedly, stretching out his long legs as he half-leaned, half-sat in the same chair as his wife. "Good food, work all done, great company... what more can a guy want?" He beamed impartially at his family.
"More coffee?" Ramon asked dryly, refilling his brother-in-law's cup. "You guzzle that stuff like Oliver's car does oil!"
"Not anymore," the oldest Scott said complacently. "I had the oil pump fixed last week."
"Can't we try that with Jay?" Jared inquired slyly. "I'll gladly chip in!"
"Me, too," Ramon added.
Oliver grinned. "Somehow I doubt that Jay's bottomless pit can be fixed for only $68,79."
Kat's silvery laughter rang over the others'. "You know, Ramon and Rachel, that's what we used to call Rocky," she reminisced fondly. "That boy could eat like nobody else when we were still in high school!"
"Yes, as if food was in danger of going out of fashion the next day," Tommy added with a grin. "We used to tease him a lot about that."
"Really? I'll have to ask Tio Rocky about some of your youthful misdemeanours one of these days," Rachel mused. "Dad never tells me anything; he just smiles to himself in a way that I just know he's thinking of some really juicy stuff, but he just won't talk!"
"Billy always knew how to keep his mouth shut," Tommy murmured to Kat under his breath. She nodded, put on her most angelic expression and met her offspring's enquiring looks blandly.
"Indeed. Besides, who says there is anything to tell about us at all?"
"There must be!" Oliver insisted. "I just can't believe that a group of friends that included Uncle Rocky, Uncle Zack and Aunt Aisha does not have some pretty good things to pass on!"
Trini spoke up without thinking. "If Mom were still here, this is where she'd get out her photo albums for some show-and-tell," she recalled. "I used to love that part of Christmas—almost as much as my presents!" Too late, she remembered why and when that tradition had been discontinued—three years ago, after Kimberly's death. Tommy just hadn't been able to face it without breaking down.
She raised stricken eyes to her father. "Dad, I'm so sorry," she stammered. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I..."
Tommy's laughter had faded at the reminder of what he'd lost, but this time, he recovered quickly. Reaching out, he patted Trini's knee. "It's alright, baby," he murmured. "It still hurts, yes, but I don't mind. Much, anyway." He drew a deep breath, glancing surreptitiously at Katherine, who gave him an encouraging nod. "As a matter of fact, I've been thinking about that as well recently, and... well, if you kids don't mind, we can resurrect that tradition today and go through the albums together. I've brought a few," he added almost diffidently.
There was a moment of general silence, then Jay looked fully at his father. "I'd like that a lot, Dad," he said quietly. "Like Trini said, it was one of the best things about Christmas."
"Tell me where you left the albums, and I'll get them," Oliver offered. He usually wasn't particularly keen on taking a walk down memory lane, preferring to live in the present rather than in the past, but he'd loved Aunt Kim, too, and if it would help Uncle Tommy cope with his loss, he wasn't going to argue. Besides, his own mother liked looking at old pictures as well.
"They're in the trunk of my car." Tommy tossed his keys to Oliver, who caught them deftly.
"Right." Quickly, he went to fetch the mementoes.
"When did Aunt Kim start this tradition, anyway?" Ramon wanted to know.
"I think that was my doing," Kat interjected. "Kim always was the one of us who loved to collect pictures, but when I gave her her first scrapbook with childhood pictures, the habit really took off. That was the year Jason died—that Christmas when you two fell in love," she added with a wink at Lynne and Jay.
"How do you know that?" Lynne gasped, her blue eyes wide.
"Because I saw you two kissing out on the porch."
"Oh." Even twenty years after the fact, the realization that her mother had caught them smooching had the power to make Lynne blush. Jay just looked sheepish.
"Oops."
Thankfully, he was spared from more than a few snickers and rolled eyes by Oliver's return with an armload of cloth-bound albums.
"Here we are," he said with a satisfied grin. "I even managed not to sneak a peek."
"You wouldn't have known where to start, anyway," Tommy commented, quickly sorting the volumes into chronological order. He stacked them beside his seat, started to reach for the first, then hesitated. He looked up and across at Kat, who sat in the armchair next to him. She met his questioning glance serenely and nodded, laying her hand in his. He squeezed the slender fingers gratefully.
Tommy swallowed, inhaled deeply, then let his eyes sweep the room. He looked especially intensely at Jay, Trini, Oliver, Lynne and Jared.
"Before we begin," he started, "there's something we have to tell you."
"What is it, Dad?" Trini asked, still a bit fearful her innocent recollection had hurt her father's feelings.
"And who's we?" Oliver wanted to know, raising an eyebrow at the two slightly wrinkled hands resting entwined on the couch's armrest.
"'We' is Tommy and I, hon," Katherine said calmly, her voice shaking slightly despite her best efforts at control.
"As in, the two of you together?" Jared blurted, seeing the same thing his older brother did and drawing the right conclusion with astonishing speed.
Lynne gasped as both Tommy and Kat nodded solemnly. It was only her father-in-law who answered, though.
"Yes. Kat has agreed to become my wife."
There was a moment of stunned silence, broken by a flabbergasted Jay. "You're getting MARRIED?!?!?"
"Yes," Kat confirmed, her crystalline eyes shining with affection as she glanced at Tommy. "I hope you kids don't mind too much..."
"Mind? I think it's wonderful," Jasmine gushed, surging towards her mother-in-law. "Oh, I'm so happy for you! Congratulations!"
Ramon and Rachel chimed in, adding their best wishes along with heartfelt hugs while the Scott and Oliver children just sat there, stunned and wide-eyed. This was something they hadn't expected. Not that they objected to their parents' choice of mates, but .. it was pretty sudden nonetheless, and would take time to get used to. Characteristically, Jay and Oliver recovered their wits first—and nearly simultaneously—when Kat's anxious blue eyes swivelled towards them over the dark heads of her children's spouses.
"I... I think that... that's great," Jay murmured. "Unexpected, but... great."
Oliver nodded firmly. He, of all his siblings, maybe knew best how hard his mother had been hit by Jason's untimely early death. He'd been the oldest, and while his sister had shared more of Kat's emotions than himself, he'd helped carry the family burden from that day onward. "Yeah. Terrific, in fact. I'm very glad for you guys," he declared staunchly.
"Thank you all," Kat whispered, feeling a little weepy. "We were a little concerned about how you'd react."
"You didn't think we'd yell and scream in protest, did you, Mom?" Jared queried, feeling his surprise slowly give way to a whole welter of emotions—wonder, gladness, and even a touch of relief. He'd been the last to move out of his childhood home, first for college, then quite a distance away when his career as a champion figure skater took him from California to Colorado, to the USFSA's national headquarters. Having followed in his mother's and Kimberly's footsteps, he'd been a Pan Global, even Olympic contender, won several medals and was doing quite well now as a choreographer and talent scout as well as performing on the pro circuit.
"Well... yes," Kat admitted, an embarrassed blush staining her cheeks. "I wasn't sure you'd understand our decision."
"Mom, anything that makes you happy is making us happy, too," Oliver said warmly, giving her a hug. "To tell the truth, we were worried a bit about you staying all alone in the house. Now that you're going to be with Uncle Tommy, we know you'll be taken care of."
That bit of filial overprotectiveness helped Kat regain her equilibrium.
"Thanks a lot, Oliver. For your information, I can take care of myself—have done so for almost two decades—quite well," she said, a touch of exasperation in her voice. "And the three of you, I might add! I'm not marrying Tommy because I'm some kind of damsel in distress, or a helpless little old lady!"
Jasmine whapped her husband on the arm, shaking her head. "Don't mind him, Kat; we know you're not."
"Why do you want to marry, Dad?" Jay asked, still somewhat dazed by the news. "I mean, Mom's been gone only three years..."
"Three very long, very lonely years, son," Tommy murmured. "With you guys having your own lives, I was feeling kinda lost, as you know. Kat has helped me so much to get my life back on track... she's truly a wonderful person, always has been." He sent her a fond smile. "Can you blame me for wanting to hold on to her?"
"Not at all," Trini declared firmly. "I'm with Oliver on this—if it makes you guys happy, I'm all for it. Let's face it, much as we might wish otherwise, Mom and Uncle Jason are not coming back, ever, and it's your life to live. And if I have to have a stepmother at all, I can think of no-one I'd rather have than Aunt Kat!"
"Oh good grief, yes," Jay exclaimed. "You'll not only be my mother-in-law, but my stepmother as well! And Dad'll be the same for Lynne... honey, we're being smothered in double-duty parents!"
"Is that like double Oreos?" Ramon snickered irrepressibly, liking the thought. He'd heard some stories from his father, about how Kat and Tommy used to date each other before both marrying someone else... suddenly, he eyed the stack of photo albums with new, eager eyes. If the few times he'd experienced the tradition while Kim was still alive were any indication, there were bound to be some good stories hidden in their pages.
"Is food all you can think about?" Rachel groaned, shooting her cousin a baleful glare. "After the huge dinner you just had, too! Here, have a cookie!" She shoved a brownie into his hand, and rolled her eyes when Ramon unrepentantly bit into it.
"Well, maybe we should all be thinking not about food, but about drink," Lynne suggested, smiling at her mother. "Jay, I have some champagne on ice; will you get it? I think this calls for a toast." Her voice was a trifle unsteady, but the announcement had come as something of a shock, after all.
"Right! Come on, guys!"
Within minutes, crystal flutes were filled with the sparkling wine.
"To the happy couple!"
Glasses clinked together, and more hugs and congratulations were exchanged when Tommy ceremoniously placed the ring Kat had carried in her purse on her finger. It was a narrow platinum band with a single diamond set in a triangular protrusion; it fit perfectly over the gold wedding band Jason had given her so long ago.
"Not a replacement, but an addition," he explained softly, kissing Kat's hand.
"That's how I feel, too," she replied with a smile. "Thank you."
At last, everybody resumed their seats again, and Jared spoke up with a comical waggle of his eyebrows.
"Before the girls get lost in wedding plans and stuff, can we please look at the pictures?" he wheedled. "After all, that's what we were going to do, right, before we got that bombshell dropped on us?"
Four pairs of eyes zeroed in on him in various stages of outrage. "Jared, if I didn't need a footstool to reach that high, I'd pull your ears," his older sister chided.
"I can throw him out of the chair to the ground, if you want," Rachel offered sweetly. She'd been an instructor at the Red Dragon dojo during her college days and perfectly capable of doing so.
"Yeah, and I'll sit on him so he can't escape," Jasmine said, a challenging glint in her eyes that was very reminiscent of Tanya at her best.
Lynne grinned. "I'll help, too."
Jared pretended to flinch away and cowered in his chair. "Help, guys!"
"Not on your life, kiddo," his older brother flatly refused, lips quivering with mirth. "My wife wants a shot at you, she's my guest!"
"Yeah. You want to live dangerously, leave us out of it. We're way smarter than that!" Ramon nodded sagely, to his wife's derisive hoot.
"Looks as if you're on your own. Tough luck," Jay commiserated with false piety. "He's all yours, ladies!"
Jared sputtered in mock outrage, at the same time scooting back rapidly, out of harm's reach... only to bump into the dining table. His blue eyes grew faintly alarmed as the girls converged on him, retribution clearly on their minds. "Mom! HELP!"
~*~
Kat and Tommy listened to their children's bickering with secret amusement and long-suffering expressions. He couldn't suppress a chuckle. "Now that sounds familiar."
"Yes," Kat said dryly. "We've only been hearing it for the last thirty-plus years or so. Will it ever stop?"
"Probably not," Tommy murmured, then raised his voice in a tone he usually reserved for the dojo—one Kat had heard more than once on the battlefield in her youth. It demanded instant obedience.
"That's enough, kids."
"Uh-oh. The Master's Voice has spoken," Oliver muttered to his best friend as they all went docilely back to their seats. Jay only grinned. When everybody had settled down again, Tommy cleared his throat, smiled briefly to show he wasn't angry, then reached for the first album. Opening it on the front page, he looked at the pictures pasted there. A reminiscent smile played around his mouth—it was a collage showing him with Kimberly before their break-up, then with Kat at the Prom shortly before she went to London, Jason and Emily at the Beach Club, Kat and Jason sharing a soft drink at a family cook-out, he and Kim again after their reunion, and lastly all four of them together, both women proudly displaying their engagement rings for the camera.
"Oh my. There you have our relationship history in a nutshell," Kat chuckled, tapping a finger on the picture of herself and Jason. Even on the glossy cardboard, it was obvious that they had been lost in each other. "I hadn't even noticed someone was taking pictures!"
"What do you mean, Mom?" Lynne asked, intrigued. "This is your Prom, right? Why were you dancing with Uncle Tommy? Wasn't Aunt Kim there? Or did she take the picture?"
Her mother smiled.
"Yes, because he was my date, no, and no," she answered all questions succinctly and in order.
"Uncle Tommy was your date for Prom?" Rachel wanted to know. "Why not Kim? I thought they'd been dating since sophomore year..."
Tommy sighed, able now to laugh at the memory.
"We were... only... you know that Kimberly went to Florida, to train for the Pan Global Games, at the beginning of senior year, right?" He waited for her nod, then continued. "Well... while she was there, something happened that made her break up with me..."
"... and while trying to help Tommy through that, he and I became closer," Kat finished for him, summarizing those awkward, uncertain months when their relationship first blossomed. "By the time Jason had returned from Geneva, Tommy and I were a couple. Well, he asked me out on our first date shortly after," she amended.
"What happened to split you guys up?" Oliver asked, noting how happy they looked in the pictures. "Was it Dad coming home?"
"No, it was something that happened over time," Kat murmured, with a touch of sadness. She didn’t regret how things had turned out after all, but still ....
"So when did you realize that things weren’t going to work out between you and Uncle Tommy?" Jared wondered.
"When did I realize that things weren’t going to work out for Tommy and I?" Kat reiterated thoughtfully. "With the benefit of hindsight, I would have to say right around graduation."
"But you guys went to the prom together!" Lynne protested.
"And Mom told me once that you and Dad didn’t officially split up until the Summer of 2000," Trini interjected. She and Kim had discussed the difficult path her and Tommy’s relationship had taken once upon a time when Trini had experienced a rough patch with Ramon.
"That’s right, but that was because we were too stubborn to let go," Kat continued.
"At the time, I just couldn’t lose my relationship with Kat. I was still hurting from Kim breaking up with me, and I didn’t want to fail at love again," Tommy explained his motives.
"And I had wanted a relationship with Tommy for the longest time," Kat revealed. "I’d had a crush on him since I’d first met him—but this was before I ever laid eyes on your father."
"What happened, Mom?" Lynne asked.
"You guys studied the Power Rangers in school, right?" Kat asked, testing the waters.
"Yeah, we had a semester of local history in Mr. Washington’s class," Jared spoke up.
"You know, then, that about the time Tommy and I finished high school that the Turbo Rangers had just replaced the Zeo Rangers."
"Their nemesis was a space pirate named Divatox," Jay supplied helpfully.
"She made her début in Angel Grove by kidnapping some civilians," Oliver added.
Kat and Tommy traded secret smiles. How much of their boys’ knowledge had come from the classroom and how much had come from the Command Center archives?
"The first two taken were not-quite friends of ours: Bulk and Skull—you guys know them better as Mr. Bulkmeier and Mr. Lovich," Tommy said.
For those who had known them as teens, Bulk and Skull's success in their adult lives was quite surprising—especially to the twosome. Ever since Bulk—and his wife Tammy—started managing his café and the pool, he'd become very much a fixture with the youth of Angel Grove. The Oliver, Scott and DeSantos children hung out at his place as much as their parents had hung out at Ernie's.
As for Skull ... his was probably the most unlikely success story of all. After graduating from High School, he'd tried his hand at a variety of jobs, finding contentment in none, until quite by chance he was 'discovered' as a musician. At Kat and Jason's wedding, no less. Now the former shiftless punk Eugene Skullovich was a respected pianist, going by Gene Lovich, and very much a local celebrity.
"No way!" Ramon gasped.
"Divatox’s next two victims were Kim and Jason," Kat murmured. She and Tommy were following the script that they had given out to their parents at the time.
"You guys never told us that before!" Trini yelped.
"It’s ... kind of hard to talk about," Tommy replied evasively.
"The Rangers had to tell us ... It was horrible. It was like someone had torn open a hole in all our souls—but most especially Tommy’s," Kat went on.
"Why Dad’s more so than anyone else’s?"
"Because his best friend and the woman he still loved were in danger and there was nothing he could do to help them."
"You knew Tommy was still in love with Kimberly even then?" Rachel asked.
"I’d thought he’d put her ghost behind us—so had he," Kat said gently, "But when we got the news ... the look on Tommy’s face ... Anger. Fear. Determination—I saw all that play across his face when he first heard Jason’s name mentioned, but I saw them again when he learned about Kimberly, only there was something more ... I’m not sure how to describe it. Grief, maybe? A sense that his world had been violated and all but destroyed? All I know was that knowing Kim in trouble had shaken him to his core. And what’s more, he didn’t even realize it—at least, not consciously."
"I didn’t know you could read all that in me," Tommy murmured, feeling a tad guilty for what he’d once put Kat through.
"You never could disguise your feelings when it came to Kimberly," Kat said kindly. Resuming the tale, she continued with, "Even worse than knowing they’d been kidnapped was seeing what had been done to them. Divatox and Maligore sent them after us—after they’d been put under a spell, turning them evil."
"One of the hardest things I’d ever done was face Jason that day. His eyes glowed red, and the hate filling him ..." Tommy shuddered at the memory. "I wanted to break the spell on him so badly ..."
"I know," Kat murmured comfortingly, patting his hand. "When Kim came after me ..."
"But what could you guys have done? You didn’t have super powers or anything like that," Ramon interjected.
"We had to let the Power Rangers take care of them, but it wasn’t easy," Tommy concluded.
"Why did Aunt Kim and Uncle Jason hate you guys so much?" Jasmine wondered.
"The spell magnified little resentments, disappointments, insecurities—blowing them out of proportion," Tommy explained. "After the spell had been broken, Jase and I talked things out and dealt with the root of the problem."
"Kim and I did something similar, but there was something else that I’d discovered while Kim was under Maligore’s spell: she still loved Tommy ..."
~*~
Adam, Jason and Tommy had won the tournament, helping out the children’s shelter with the prize money. They’d quickly disappeared into the locker room to get cleaned up before heading to the victory celebration. Tanya was staying with Justin, but Kat had followed Kim into the powder room. They touched up their make-up in awkward silence.
Finally, Kat could take it no longer.
"Kimberly, we need to talk," she ventured at last. Kim had barely said two words to either her or Tommy since leaving Muranthias.
"I know ... I’m just not sure I’m ready to," Kim answered with a heavy sigh.
"Please, Kim. I need to know—what made you hate me so?" Kat implored. "When you came at me, it seemed too personal somehow. No one’s ever fought me harder." She steeled herself to ask the all-important question, "Was it because of my relationship with Tommy?"
Was she really wanting to hear the words? Not really, but she had to know.
"Mostly, it was resentment that you’ve taken over all the things I ever cared for: my friends, my Powers and place on the team, and yes, Tommy. I felt like if you hadn’t come along, my life wouldn’t have been turned topsy-turvy."
"That’s pretty harsh," Kat murmured, stunned by the magnitude of Kim’s ill feeling. "You know I never meant to ..."
"I know you didn’t do any of that on purpose, and when I’m in my right mind, I know you’re not to blame." The brunette offered her a weak smile. "I know it’s unworthy of me to think that of you; after all, you’re as much my friend as any of the others."
"Well, that spell did stir up some serious issues between Tommy and Jason, and look how close they are," Kat had to concede. She finally felt brave enough to ask a question she’d wanted answered for months. "Did you really find someone new in Florida, or was that letter a lie?"
For a moment, Kim was too astonished to speak. When she could finally muster the words, she asked, "How did you know?"
Kat’s small smile was wistful. "I trained for the Pan Globals, too; remember? I know how grueling the schedule can be. You have virtually no life outside the pool—er, gym. It’s difficult enough to maintain existing relationships, let alone create a new one."
The brunette hung her head but not before Kat detected a glimmer of tears.
"I didn’t want to let him go; I had to," Kim admitted at last.
"Pressure from the coaches?"
"Something like that."
"I’m sorry, Kim, truly."
Really, Kat didn’t know what to say. At the moment, she was gripped by the fear that once Kim talked to Tommy, it would all be over for her and her long-haired boyfriend.
Things had been going so well, too, before Divatox showed up!
"Kat, Tommy can’t know any of this. Please don’t say anything," Kim requested, as if she’d known what was going through her friend’s mind.
"W-Why not?" Kat stammered in disbelief.
"I hurt Tommy," the gymnast began her explanation, finally looking up, and it became apparent just how much she’d hurt herself as well. "He didn’t deserve what I did to him, and I can’t make it right for him—if he even wants me to make it right. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hated me."
"Trust me, Kim; he doesn’t hate you."
It was unnerving to see how much relief her words brought Kim.
"I saw how Tommy hugged you after the match," Kim rushed on, "I saw how his eyes shone and the way he smiled at you. You’ve made him happy, Kat. I want him to be happy, and he is now—with you ..."
~*~
"I remember wondering what she saw that I couldn’t," Kat went on, glancing down at her tightly interlaced fingers. "Had I read Tommy wrong? Or did Kim think Tommy was happy with me because she needed to believe it to ease her guilt?
"I did take heart from her words and waited hopefully for things to get better for me and Tommy, but how could they when he was hardly ever around? It was shortly after that tournament that Tommy started driving for his uncle. It seemed like he was always at the track" Kat let out a slow breath. Even though things had ultimately turned out for the best, it was still hard to recall those days when her heart hurt so much.
"I never meant to hurt you," Tommy murmured; it was difficult to hear just how much he had taken Kat for granted.
"I know. And to be fair, you did try ... It was just that there were times when I wished you could have been there and you couldn’t."
"When ...?" Trini asked puzzledly. Considering that her father had always been so attentive of her mother, she was having a hard time believing he could ever have been so oblivious.
"The big one was when I auditioned for the Royal Academy. I wanted Tommy beside me so badly, but he couldn’t make it. At least Tanya was there for me ....
"Then there was the camping trip we’d planned. I’d hoped that we’d be able to recapture some of the spark in our relationship. But it never happened, thanks to Divatox intruding on our lives once again."
"You really can’t blame Tommy for that," Ramon spoke up.
"I don’t, but back then it kind of hurt. After all, I had a big decision to make. I had wanted to be a ballerina ever since I could walk—even more than I wanted to be a diver—and the Royal Academy is one of the most prestigious schools in the world. However, both Kim and Tanya had faced similar decisions: staying with the people they loved or chasing their dreams. Tanya deferred her dream. Kim went after hers—but at a cost. What would I do?"
"Ultimately, you decided to go," Rachel summarized.
"Yes, and when I had to leave for London, it was one of the scariest things I’d ever done. I’m so glad everyone was there to see me off at the gate. Mum, Dad, Tommy, Jason ..."
~* ~
"British Airways flight 112 to London now boarding first class passengers at gate B-2...."
"Oh gosh, Kat, it’s time!" Tanya gasped as she threw her arms around her best friend.
"I’m going to miss you all so much," Kat said, smiling bravely and fighting back tears. Good-byes were always so difficult. She was grateful her parents allowed her these last moments with her friends—the best friends anyone could have wished for.
Everyone had a parting hug and words of encouragement, until only Tommy was left. She hugged him fiercely, trying not to remember the angry words they had spoken the previous evening on what would be their last date until Christmas.
Tommy had been unusually quiet, almost withdrawn, throughout the night. As she chatted away about what it might be like in London, she noticed that he didn’t seem to share her excitement. This puzzled her; after all, Tommy had been as happy as any of her friends that she had won her scholarship. He’d offered her advice about making her choice, and he seemed to genuinely support her decision to go, but now ...
"Tommy, what’s wrong?" she asked, holding his hands, her blue eyes imploring him not to put her off.
"I don’t know ..." he began with a tell-tale rub of the back of his neck. "It’s just that—you’re leaving me just like Kim did."
Kat felt as if she’d been doused by a bucket of ice water. Her back went rigid and she spoke before really thinking, "I thought you’d stopped comparing me to Kim a long time ago."
"I didn’t mean it like that!" he protested, feeling as if he’d been slapped. "It’s just that you’re leaving me to chase a dream. I’m just afraid of losing you, too."
Kat truly felt horrible about lashing out at him like that. She hadn’t meant to, but she’d already confronted her insecurities about the similarities in their situations.
"I’m sorry, Tommy; I didn’t mean to overreact," she apologized. "I don’t want to lose you either, but I have to go. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If I don’t go, I’ll always wonder ‘what if’, like with missing the Pan Globals. What ifs leave you very empty inside."
She knew that he understood on some level, but from his expression she could almost read his thoughts: "That’s what Kim said, and look what happened."
"Tommy, I’m not leaving you. This is no different than going away to college."
"I know," he admitted defeatedly, "but ..."
"Our relationship doesn’t have to suffer—not if we both work at it."
Tommy winced, and she realized he had taken her words of encouragement as a rebuke for his perceived failure to do so—but with Kim or with her, she wasn’t certain.
Suddenly, a burst of inspiration hit, and her face brightened. "Why don’t you come with me!"
"To London?"
"Why not? It’d be perfect. We’d still be together ... I wouldn’t have to be alone in a strange country ..." Kat gushed, her idea gaining momentum the more advantages she enumerated. "It could work; I imagine there are dojos in London that could use an instructor of your caliber. We could share a flat—my scholarship only covers my tuition and school expenses, but my folks are giving me a stipend for living expenses. I know you couldn’t come right now—you’d need a passport and so forth, but maybe in a month or so ..."
"It sounds great, Kat, but you know I can’t," he declined.
"Why not? You’ve finished high school. We’re no longer Rangers. I’m sure your parents would agree; it would be a wonderful opportunity for you ..."
"I have other obligations. To Uncle John and his racing team. To my students at the Youth Center—I’m still teaching there when I can. To Jason and Rocky—we’re talking about opening a dojo once we get the money ..."
And they left it at that.
"Good luck, Kat," Tommy said, his voice thick with emotion, as he released her but not before giving her a peck on the cheek.
"You could change your mind," she said softly, a hopeful smile reflected in her eyes.
Tommy shook his head sadly. "This is your dream, Kat. Your choice ..."
"... and you have your dream. Your choice ..."
And with that, she took her place in line to board the plane.
~*~
"Wow," was all Jasmine could say at the conclusion of Kat’s tale. "Those were some pretty tough decisions to make—especially at eighteen."
"Your parents faced similar choices," Kat reminded her. "Your mother deferred her music career until she finished high school ..."
"Adam had an opportunity to work as a stuntman," Tommy added, "but he chose to follow Tanya to New York. He followed his heart ..."
"... without regret," Jasmine finished for him. "He earned his degree in creative writing and journalism."
"Dad always said Uncle Adam’s first love was writing," Ramon spoke up.
"I think you guys did follow your hearts and not just your dreams," Trini commented. "Your hearts just didn’t lead to one another back then."
"I never thought of it that way," Kat mused.
"It’s too bad we didn’t know that then; it would have made things a lot easier on all four of us," Tommy said.
~*~
A thoughtful silence settled over the family, then Tommy shook himself once and picked up the scrapbook again.
"Weren't we going to look at some pictures?" he asked with slightly forced cheerfulness.
"Sure, Dad," his son said amiably, although he would have preferred listening to more tales of his parents' past. Even if he would've rather died than admit to something so sentimental. "What's next?"
"I don't rightly know," Tommy admitted with a sheepish grin. "It's been ages since I looked at these last... I kind of lost track of what's in where." The rest of the Prom pictures were quickly explained, familiar faces pointed out.
Next came a photograph of Justin on his birthday, proudly displaying his new bicycle.
"Who's that? He looks sort of familiar," Rachel wondered. Kat grinned.
"You don't recognize him? That's Justin Stewart."
"Of course," Rachel exclaimed. "It was kinda hard to tell under that mop of hair, but now I can see it... but what is a boyhood picture of Dad's chief researcher doing in one of your scrapbooks?"
"He started attending Angel Grove High the year we graduated," Tommy explained. "And since Kat was working there as a teacher's assistant for a while, we got to know him. As a matter of fact, Kat and Tanya both used to mother him a little."
"Which Justin very much resented," Kat murmured. "If I remember correctly, you and Rocky were his heroes." Changing the subject adroitly, she pointed to the next page. "Oh look, there's Adam!"
The picture in question showed the former Green Turbo Ranger in his stunt show costume, and it evoked a few titters from everybody. "No wonder your Dad hates cameras," Oliver grinned at his wife, then his eyes lit upon a still photo from the music video Adam and Rocky had filmed of Tanya.
"Hey, here's your Mom, too!"
"Oh yuck, look at Mom's clothes," Jasmine groaned in fascinated horror. "Yellow shirt, bright orange skirt and blue tights?!? What was she thinking?"
"At the time, she looked very fashionable and, um, snazzy," Kat defended her friend, even though she remembered having been rather dubious about Tanya's outfit as well. "It looked good on film, anyway."
Her daughter-in-law gave her a very skeptical look. "If you say so," she murmured, keeping all other comments to herself.
Next came a candid shot of Kat in the classroom, looking very teacher-like as she wrote something on the blackboard; Jason on campus of AGU; Rocky in front of the first small dojo he'd opened right after graduation; another picture of Tanya at the radio station behind a huge sound-mixing arrangement; Tommy in racing overalls leaning against his car, helmet tucked into the crook of his elbow... it was a veritable catalogue of the friends' activities that summer. It ended with a group shot of the one-time Turbo Rangers in front of the Youth Center, with a put-upon looking Jerome Stone sweeping the steps in the background.
"That was taken the last time we were all hanging out together," Tommy explained. "The next day, Kat and I had our last date... but you just heard about that. From here on out, everybody went their separate ways—for a while, at least."
"Where was this taken?" Jared wondered, finding an unusual shot of a monument surrounded by stairs and fountains. A statue of a soldier was visible, though the writing on the limestone wall was illegible in the photo. In the background loomed tall buildings, giving the impression that the construct was in the midst of a city.
"That’s the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis, Indiana," Tommy explained. "Uncle John and I did a little sightseeing there when we went to the Brickyard 400 for the first time in August 1999."
"That’s a two-year gap in pictures, Dad," Trini observed, noting the absence of the types of photos they’d been treated to thus far. Where were the family shots? The friends?
"I know. Neither your mom nor I took many for a while. The gang was pretty dispersed at that time, and she and I were on the road a lot, so there was no reason for snapping anything other than touristy-type pics. The family stuff Kim organized in separate, event-specific books which I didn’t bring."
"Touristy-type is right," Rachel observed. "We’ve glaringly similar pictures labeled Dayton, Lowes, et cetera ... Thus far, all your photographs of the various cities you raced in have been of the tracks themselves. Rarely do you have any photographic remembrances of the cities themselves. Why this particular one?"
"My father collected photos of the various war memorials around the country," Tommy replied. "Originally, I had taken this for him." He paused, unsure how to continue and glanced at Kat. This photo was connected to some great memories for him and Kim, but not so great for him and Kat.
Kat observed his indecision and decided to help him out. Actually, it was a touching gesture. Tommy had his own romantic streak; it had been one of the things that had impressed her when she first saw him and Kimberly together.
"The monument had added significance for Tommy because it was the place where he met up with Kimberly again for the first time in two years ..." she revealed.
"... and though I didn’t realize it at the time, it was the place where Kim and I started on the path to getting back together ...."
~*~
"There," Tommy declared as he snapped the picture of the memorial at the heart of the Circle City.
"That’ll make a nice addition to your father’s collection," his Uncle John remarked.
"I’m just surprised that, with all his traveling, Dad hasn’t been here before," Tommy said.
"It’s my first trip to Indy as well," John Rush reminded his nephew and back-up driver.
"You mean you never came to see the Indy 500?" Tommy asked. He was enjoying their day off. They didn’t usually have a lot of time to sight-see when they had a car in a race, but his dad’s request must have given John a justifiable excuse to take it easy for a couple of hours.
And it was a perfect day for kicking back. For early August, the temperature was hot but not sweltering. There was a slight breeze, and there was nary a cloud in the clear blue sky.
"I always wanted to," John continued, calling back Tommy’s wayward thoughts, "but I was usually at some other race ... Well, hello, is that a familiar face I see?"
"Huh? Who? Where?" Tommy sputtered, looking about.
"Over there on the right, sitting on the edge of the fountain," John pointed out. "Isn’t that the gal you dated when you first moved to Angel Grove—Kimberly, wasn’t it?"
Tommy’s head snapped around sharply, and his eyes followed the line of his uncle’s outstretched arm. Sitting on the edge of the fountain’s retaining wall was a petite brunette with caramel-colored hair. Her face was tilted skyward, her eyes closed. She looked for all the world as if she was drinking in the delicious sunlight. A smile of pure enjoyment lit her face ... and Tommy felt as if someone had kicked him in the chest, forcing the air from his lungs.
He’d know that smile anywhere, and it was very disconcerting to realize that it still had the power to affect him so.
She was as beautiful as ever and looked happier than when he had seen her last. Of course, at the time she’d been Divatox’s prisoner and then unwitting puppet, but even after the spell had been broken and she and Jason were home safe, there had still been shadows in her eyes—shadows of unhappiness. She had barely spoken to him that entire weekend. The avoidance had hurt; it was as if her heart had so totally changed towards him that she couldn’t stand the sight of him.
After she had returned to Florida, he'd asked Jason about her behavior. His best friend’s words offered little comfort. "I don’t know what’s wrong, but something’s bothering Kim big time. Something’s hurt her bad ..."
Rather uncharitably, he’d mused that her new boyfriend must have dumped her.
Regardless of whatever had caused her pain then, she was happy now.
"Howdy, Stranger," Tommy’s uncle called out before Tommy could decide if he even wanted to say ‘hi’ or not.
"Ohmigod! Tommy! Mr. Rush! Is that really you?" Her face glowed with the pleasure of seeing two familiar faces, her smile positively brilliant.
Even from a distance, Tommy felt that grin make his knees buckle.
Kim jumped up and raced over to where they stood. Tommy found himself grinning as she moved with all the exuberance of old. She hurried up to him and flung her arms around him in a joyous hug. She was obviously pleased to see him.
He hugged her back, a rush of memories overwhelming his senses at the feel of her in his arms again. Nothing had felt so wonderful in a long, long time.
"What are you doing here?" they blurted out simultaneously. Then they both burst into easy laughter.
"You first," she said.
"Uncle John and I here to race in the Brickyard," he answered. "And you?"
"An exhibition at the Convention Center," she replied breathlessly. "How long are you in town?"
"We’re here through the weekend. You?"
"I fly out tonight," she answered, her smile dimming somewhat. "I wish I had more time so we could do some catching up."
"Do you have time now?"
Had he sounded too eager or merely polite—or somewhere in between?
"Darn it, no. In fact, I really have to be returning to the Convention Center now," she answered, pouting as he remembered oh-so-well.
"Gosh, it was so good to see you , Tommy," she murmured. For a moment, she looked uncertain, then her expression seemed to say ‘what the hey," and she hugged him again. "‘Bye, Tommy."
"‘Bye, Kim."
~*~
"... and don’t think my reaction to how good it felt to hold Kim again didn’t bother me afterwards," Tommy hastened to say before any of the kids could pounce on that point. "It did. After all, Kat and I were still a couple even though we’d drifted apart."
"But you guys barely spoke; how did your meeting set you back on the road to getting together?" Jasmine asked.
"When we walked away from each other that day, I knew Kim and I were still friends," he said. "That was something I hadn’t been too sure about before."
"So when did you find out the reason Aunt Kim broke up with you?" Ramon questioned.
"It was another chance meeting that year. It was near Christmas ...."
~*~
It was funny how things had a way of working out, Tommy mused as he passed through the familiar doorway of the Youth Center. Ownership had changed hands several times since he’d spent his high school afternoons here, but now Ernie was back in charge.
"I missed the kids," the portly proprietor would answer whenever asked why he’d come back.
Tommy had missed this place since he had graduated. It had been such a huge part of his life in Angel Grove; he had been sorry to see the changes.
I’ve spent some of the best times of my life here, he sighed, indulging in happy memories. Now he was back to help out with the annual holiday program for the children’s home. He never could tell Ernie no—none of them could, and since Justin had been a resident of Little Angels, Tommy had a soft spot for the shelter.
He was about to head to the back office to see what the big-hearted owner wanted him to do when he spotted her.
Kimberly was wandering aimlessly about the facility, looking for all the world like she was taking the same trip down memory lane that he had. Her eyes were misty and her smile wistful. She was over by the gymnastics equipment, lightly running her hand over the old balance beam.
"Hi, Kim," he called out before he lost his nerve. There was still so much unresolved between the two of them, but while he wasn’t sure he was ready for that particular conversation, he knew that seeing her twice in less than six months after not seeing her for over two years had to mean something.
Kim turned, the familiar voice cutting straight to her heart. It was Tommy standing in the doorway and, of all things, waving to get her attention.
She’d been shaken by their August meeting. She hadn’t meant to be so—enthusiastic in greeting him. She hadn’t meant to let her heart lead her .... She’d just been so surprised and pleased ....
What he must have thought of me! Acting like a lovesick teenager when he still has a girlfriend!
Still, nothing had felt so right as being held in his arms for the first time in three years.
"Tommy!"
This time, she didn’t run and hug him; she seemed more reserved, but when she stood in front of him, she rose up on her tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek.
"Mistletoe," she said, a slightly embarrassed flush staining her cheeks as she pointed to something above Tommy’s head. She knew she probably shouldn’t have, but she couldn’t resist.
He raised his eyes and noted the sprig of greenery directly over his head.
"Merry Christmas," he murmured, returning the favor, just barely cutting off his old nickname for her.
"I’m so glad to see you," she responded, doing her best not to be bouncing with joy at seeing him again.
"Same here; we really didn’t get a chance to catch up in Indianapolis."
"I know. I couldn’t believe you’ve become a race car driver," she remarked as they moved out of the doorway. Instinctively, they drifted over to what had once been the gang’s table.
"No more surprised than me," he agreed. "I thought all I ever wanted to do was open my own dojo."
"And you don’t any more?"
To Tommy, it sounded as if she was disappointed or something.
"I still want to—more than anything," he assured her, "but Uncle John needed help, and it turns out I’m really good at driving ...."
"After some of the machines you piloted, you should be," Kim interjected with a knowing smile.
Tommy couldn’t argue with that. "If Uncle John only knew where I honed my ‘exceptional reflexes’... I figure I’ll do this for a while; the money’s pretty good. Since I’m on the road so much, I’m still living at home—so I don’t have a lot of expenses. I’m saving all I can for my dojo and for classes at the business college."
"It sounds like you have things all planned out," Kim noted, wishing her own future was so certain.
Well, not quite, he observed privately; he wasn’t quite sure how Kat figured into these plans. "What about you? Back in Indy, you said you were there for some sort of competition—or exhibition. Are you still competing?"
"No, I’m too old to be really competitive any more," she laughed, but the humor faded, leaving behind a shadow of pain. It still hurt, even after all this time. "Actually, I had to retire not long after the Pan Globals."
"Had to ... Kim, what happened?" Tommy asked, unnerved by what he saw in her eyes. It was the same shadow he’d noticed at the karate tournament so long ago.
"I fell off the beam again, only this time my head injury was more severe," she sighed softly, fighting to keep the hurt and disappointment out of her voice.
With someone who hadn’t known her as well as Tommy, she might have been successful, but he knew. He could practically feel her pain.
"The doctor pretty much told me that he wanted me to stop gymnastics after that. Another fall might cause permanent damage. It was a risk I didn’t want to take."
"I’m sorry, Kim," Tommy murmured, reaching out his hand to cover hers. Her fists were so tightly clenched that her knuckles were white. He knew he’d be devastated if he could never do martial arts ever again; he could only imagine what Kim was going through. He gave her hand a supportive squeeze.
Kim gave him a tearful smile. It felt so good to tell someone at last. If only she could have confided in him at the time ....
"Now, I’m glad to be away from the grind of competition, but back then .... I’d done so well at the Pan Globals, Coach thought I had a shot at the Olympics."
It was obvious to Tommy that giving up her dream still hurt.
"After I ‘retired’, I came home to recuperate and figure out what I wanted to do. That’s what I was doing in Angel Grove when Divatox nabbed me and Jason."
She paused to take a sip of her drink, but she stopped in mid-motion. She hadn’t ordered a smoothie. Neither had Tommy, but there was one in front of him, too. As one, the pair looked to the counter. Ernie flashed them a smile and a salute.
Good ol’ Ernie!
"Anyway ...." Kim continued, taking a deep breath, "when I went back to Florida—mainly to collect my stuff—I still hadn’t come to a decision. I really didn’t want to stay in Florida. I sort of wanted to come back to Angel Grove and go to college, but I couldn’t—not then at any rate."
Coming back would have been like admitting failure to her family ... her friends .... And she had honestly felt there was nothing for her to come back to. What sort of welcome would her friends have given her after what she’d done to Tommy?"
"Mom was wanting me to come live with her in Paris, but I really didn’t want to do that either. I hadn’t wanted to go to Paris in the first place, and if it hadn’t been for Paris ...."
Even now, the thought of Paris could bring her to the point of tears.
Tommy had come to hate Paris, too; for the longest time, he’d viewed that as the beginning of the end of his relationship with Kim.
"Coach, however, made me an offer," she went on with her tale. "He said I had a good eye for gymnastic talent, so he asked me to be his scout and travel around visiting gymnastic clubs and high school meets—like he’d been doing when he ‘discovered’ me—so that he could spend more time in the gym with the athletes. Since I had no other options at the time and I wouldn’t just be cooped up in the gym, it seemed like an okay solution ...."
"But now ...?" Tommy prompted, noting the weighty sigh.
"I’m tired of being on the road all the time ...." she said.
He could relate to that!
"... and I really have nothing in Florida. I almost have enough saved to rent an apartment here ... maybe even start school. I’d have a bit of a cushion while I looked for a job. It’d be rough going to school and working full time, but I think I could handle it."
"Is that what brings you back home now? Apartment and job hunting?" he wondered.
"Sort of. The Stone Canyon Gymnastic Club asked if I’d be a guest at their holiday meet, and I thought I’d visit Kenny before going to visit Mom."
Tommy had forgotten her brother still lived in Angel Grove.
"What about you?" Kim asked him, glad to know that they could still talk... that they were still friends.
"I’m off until the seasons starts. Practices begin the end of January, the races in February."
"Isn’t the Daytona 500 the first big race of the season?"
Tommy was startled by her obvious knowledge.
"You can’t live in Florida without hearing about it ad nauseam," she answered his unspoken question with a small laugh, though she wondered that it would surprise him that she knew anything about racing. Upon learning of his new career, she’d done her best to keep tabs on him. It was the sort of thing a friend would do.
"It is," he confirmed.
"Do you think you’ll ever drive in a race that big—you are in NASCAR, right?"
"Right." He found himself impressed that she even knew that there was more than one racing league. But to answer her questions, "I hope to, someday, but first I need to get some smaller races under my belt."
A lull hit their conversation as they wrapped up current events. After several minutes of idly sipping their drinks, Kim steeled herself to broach a topic she really didn’t want to touch, but had to. She had to let him go and hearing about him and his girlfriend would be the best way to do it. She ventured, "So, how’s Kat?"
"Kat?" Tommy gulped, taken aback by the unexpected question.
"You know, your girlfriend," Kim said with a teasing laugh.
"Oh," he mumbled, feeling like five kinds of a fool. Really, there was no reason for him to be so flustered; it’s not like he’d done anything wrong or had anything to hide. "I didn’t realize you knew I was dating Kat."
"I figured it out when I saw you guys last," Kim revealed. "That hug she gave you after the tournament was a pretty good indication, plus the way you danced with her at the victory celebration clued me in, too." She paused thoughtfully. "I’m not surprised you guys wound up together. I kind of thought Kat might’ve had a crush on you when I left Angel Grove."
"Ah," he grunted noncommittally.
"So, where is Kat? What’s she up to these days?" Kim prompted.
"She’s in London."
"London? England?" Kim gasped. When had that happened?
"I guess you hadn’t heard. She auditioned for and was accepted to a ballet academy in London. She started there the fall after we graduated," he elaborated.
"Wow! That is so awesome!" Kim bubbled excitedly. The glow faded from her enthusiasm as she regarded Tommy’s unhappy expression. "I bet it’s been tough for you guys; she’s even farther away than I was."
That was putting it mildly.
"We write and call ...." he began hesitantly, not sure if he should talk to Kim—of all people—about this.
"I bet your mom just loves the phone bill," Kim chuckled, but Tommy didn’t respond to her attempt at levity. He seemed troubled. "When was the last time you saw Kat?"
"Late August," he said. "She got home in July, but I was on the road with Uncle John. I didn’t get to see her until just before she left to go back to the academy."
"Oh, that had to suck," Kim commiserated, "but she’ll be home for Christmas, won’t she?"
"She’s due home any day now." If she wasn’t already home. He mentally kicked himself; he should have known when she was coming in.
His lack of enthusiasm was apparent.
"Tommy, what’s wrong?" Kim asked, fixing him with her best I-will-not-be-put-off glare. She couldn’t stand for Tommy to be miserable.
He squirmed in his seat, rubbed the back of his neck, took a deep breath, and asked, "What do you think of me and Kat as a couple?"
In a way, it felt kind of weird asking his ex-girlfriend about his current one, but Kim was still a friend, and he’d always been able to talk to her about things he couldn’t tell anyone else—even Jason.
"I think you guys are wonderful for each other," she said with all honesty—an honesty that hurt. When things first went to Hell, she’d hoped he’d find a nice girl like Kat to take away the pain she’d caused him. She’d known how much he’d loved her; she’d known exactly what her letter would have done to him.
"The two of you look absolutely gorgeous together. Kat is so warm and caring .... She’ll love you the way you deserve to be loved, and you know how to treat a girl right—make her feel special. A girl couldn’t ask for a better man than you."
Tommy wondered if she had any idea of the irony of her words.
"Why do you ask? Are you having doubts or something?" she questioned gently, hoping they weren’t having trouble.
There was nothing in her tone or expression to give him any indication that her interest was more than genuine concern.
"I don’t know ... sometimes, I just feel like Kat and I are from two different worlds," he sighed with frustration, not sure how to explain himself.
"How so?"
"It’s just that she’s into things like ballet and museums and artsy-type stuff, and I like karate movies and race cars and spending time at my uncle’s cabin."
"Kat does enjoy some sports; after all, she was a Pan Global hopeful in diving," Kim reminded him, trying to find words of encouragement, "and you have a romantic streak a mile wide—a nice dinner for two, a walk in the park, nothing really fancy, just nice and quiet, flowers for no apparent reason ...."
Memories of which she still treasured.
"Well ... she and I kind of had a fight before she left for London. We both said things ...." Tommy breathed out a heavy sigh.
Tommy replayed her last words to him before she headed for the boarding gate: "Is this how you said good-bye to Kimberly when she went to Florida? Are we supposed to choose between you—our hearts—and our dreams? How can you ask that of us? What about you? Didn’t you choose between your heart and your dreams? If Kim meant so bloody much to you, why didn’t you follow her to Florida? If I mean so much to you, why don’t you come with me to London? But, no, you have your duty. Back then, it was to the Rangers. Now, it’s to your uncle. It looks like even you chose something else over your heart."
"She said that I didn’t put her first enough ... that duty came before anything with me. She wanted me to come to London with her, but I couldn’t. I had already agreed to extend my contract with Uncle John ...."
"Honor and duty are an integral part of who you are, Tommy," Kim said gently. "You wouldn’t be you without them. You just need to learn how to juggle a relationship along with them. Sometimes, it’s hard to take a back seat to your sense of responsibility, but a girl can’t have you without your sense of duty.
"That’s why I never asked you to come to Florida with me," she confessed to something she’d sworn she’d never tell him—mainly because it wouldn’t change a thing. "I couldn’t make you choose between me and your duty as a Ranger. Because I knew which one you would choose, and I didn’t want to be disappointed."
"You wanted me to go with you?" he gaped, totally taken by surprise. After her letter, he hadn’t expected to find out she cared so much.
"Only as desperately as I wanted you to ask me to stay."
"I never had any idea ...." he fumbled. At the time, he had wanted to ask Kim to stay, but in the end he knew he couldn’t ask her to give up a lifelong dream.
"I know."
"Kim, what when wrong between us?" Tommy implored. He had to know why their relationship failed. Maybe if he understood that, he could fix whatever was wrong between him and Kat now.
"Nothing went wrong between us," she answered quietly.
"What do you mean, nothing? What about that other guy?"
"There was no other guy," she admitted, unable to meet his eyes. She had to look anywhere but at him with his soul-window eyes.
He gaped at her in astonishment. "Then why did you send me that letter?"
Why did you break my heart? he wanted to shout.
"I didn’t want to, Tommy; I had to."
"Had to?" His tone was incredulous, disbelieving.
"Yes, and I couldn’t even tell you the truth about it." Before he could say anything more, she pressed her fingers to his lips to silence him. "Please, this is going to be hard for me to explain, so just listen, okay?"
She fixed him with her most compelling gaze. What he read therein made him nod in acquiescence.
"Your uncle has corporate sponsors for his team, doesn’t he?"
"Yes."
"And do those sponsors ever make unreasonable demands?"
"They try, but Aunt Jess keeps them in line for Uncle John. She’s a sharp manager," Tommy answered with a wry smile. Aunt Jessica was always ragging on about the ‘pushy’ sponsors.
"Coach Schmidt had a sponsor for his gym—a private one, not corporate," Kim began. "Her name was Regina Carstairs—a bitter, eccentric old lady with more money than she knew what to do with. According to the other athletes, Miss Carstairs had wanted to be a gymnast once—until she found out she’d actually have to work to earn her way, that daddy’s money couldn’t buy her a gold medal.
"She always supported gymnastic clubs in the area. She gave Coach whatever he needed—be it uniforms, equipment or even money for a new facility. She even had the dormitory for the athletes built. The only conditions she ever put on her funding were that the athletes—meaning the female athletes—abide by her code of conduct, even if they didn’t live in the dorm. She had very definite ideas about how young ladies should behave—she’d been educated in a very old-fashioned private girls’ school."
"Sounds strict," Tommy murmured.
"You have no idea!" Kim groaned. "She’s worse than my mom."
"Why did Coach let her do that?"
"He figured it was a small price to pay for guaranteed money, and it helped keep the athletes disciplined," she said with a shrug.
"Why only the girls?"
"Because some of the male athletes were married." Actually, the old double standard was probably more like it.
"I take it one of the rules was no boyfriends," he realized.
"Uh huh, but I didn’t figure there’d be any problem. It wasn’t like I was going to be seeing you and going on dates while training. I pretty much decided that I wasn’t going to let some sour old biddy meddle in my love life. Heck, I wouldn’t even let my own mother meddle in my love life. Besides, how was she going to know?
"By monitoring my mail and phone calls is how. She pressured my roommate into snitching on me." Thinking about it still made Kim furious. To know that a trusted friend had betrayed her ...
"Miss Carstairs finally called me into her office to ‘discuss’ the matter. Ha! She didn’t discuss; she ordered me to dump you," she spat out, her anger bubbling over. "I wasn’t about to let her tell me what to do; it was none of her business anyway. Our relationship wasn’t a distraction; it was my anchor, my strength, my inspiration. I wasn’t going to throw it all away for some dumb medal. I told her if she couldn’t accept that, she could ask me to leave. I wouldn’t quit otherwise."
"Would you really have given it all up?" Tommy asked in a choked whisper, stunned by the implication that she would have given up her dream for him.
"Tommy, as much as I wanted to try for the Pan Globals, you meant more to me than anything else. I was dead serious," Kim assured him, "and Carstairs knew it. She also knew that if she dismissed me, Coach would want to know why, and she wanted to keep him out of this. At the time, she said nothing and sent me back to the dorm. However, afterwards, I started noticing that some of the assistant coaches were a lot tougher on me. The house mother at the dorm watched me like a hawk. It was like everyone but Coach was going out of their way to make my life a living hell.
"If she thought she could manipulate me that way, she was in for a surprise. I’d sacrificed too much to be there, and I wasn’t going to let some frustrated witch take my dream away from me. I was all set to tough it out ... to match wills with her. Then, she started playing dirty.
"I overheard Coach one day talking with one of the assistants about how Miss Carstairs had denied a request for new warm-ups for the team. She’d never ever denied the team anything. Over the next couple of weeks, she turned down other requests. There was rumbling among the gymnasts that Carstairs didn’t like one of the gymnasts and that’s why she was being so tight-fisted.
"That’s when she called me into her office again. She told me that we were going to do things her way or else. No snippy teenager was going to tell her what to do. She said that unless I toed the line—dumped my boyfriend and behaved like a good girl, in other words kissing her ass—she was going to cut all the funding for the club."
"But that—that’s blackmail!" he stammered, appalled.
"Uh huh."
"What did Coach say? Did she honestly think she was going to get away with it?"
"I didn’t tell Coach, Tommy," Kim sighed sadly, her fury giving way to resignation. "I couldn’t. If I had, she’d have just denied it. I already knew she had the bulk of the staff under her thumb, so who would have believed me over her? I knew it wasn’t right, but I had no one else to turn to. I thought about filing a complaint with the gymnastics federation, but I knew if I tried, she wouldn’t punish me, she’d punish the whole team."
She clutched his sleeve, imploring him to understand what she was about to tell him.
"Tommy, if she’d just been retaliating against me, I would have fought her, but all those other girls and Coach ... could I be responsible for destroying their dreams?"
"Coach could have found other sponsors," Tommy said, searching for any way for Kim not to have made the choice she had.
"In time for the Pan Globals?" Kim just shook her head. "In the end, I chose duty over my heart. Even worse than having to sacrifice our relationship was having to lie to you about it. The old bitch wanted to see the letter I was sending you; she didn’t want the truth to get back to the federation. I had to come up with something believable, something she wouldn’t censor and something I knew you wouldn’t raise a fuss over. I couldn’t have you coming there or even calling to ask me questions; I knew that, no matter what, you’d want me to be happy, even if it was with someone other than you. That letter had to be my last contact with you. And it damn near destroyed me."
"I just don’t understand why," Tommy muttered helplessly. "Why did she have to be so vindictive? Why couldn’t she have left you alone?"
"I don’t know, really. I guess no one has ever told her ‘no’ before; she was used to getting her way. I have found out that she’d bullied other girls during her tenure as sponsor, and you can bet that once I no longer work for Coach, the gymnastics federation is going to get a very long, very detailed letter about her doings.
"Tommy, I’m sorry I had to do that to you—to us—but what else could I do? For the longest time, my only consolation was knowing that had you been in my shoes, you’d have done the same thing ...."
~*~
"And she was right; I would have done the same thing," Tommy told his audience.
"But ... but ..." Lynne sputtered, outraged by what her aunt and uncle had been forced to endure because of someone’s selfish whim.
"That’s so unfair!" Jasmine exclaimed.
"It was, but what else could Kim have done?" Kat interjected.
"She should have reported that witch!" Jared said hotly, knowing how he would feel if something like that had cropped up in the USFSA.
"Kim was a fighter, but she was also intelligent enough to know when fighting was futile," Kat soothed her son.
"Did that Carstairs woman ever get reported?" Jay asked.
"No. She died before Kim finished working for Coach," Tommy said. "In fact, in her will, she left a sizeable bequest to the facility, provided Coach retained the dorm. Kim did leave a detailed report with Coach Schmidt, though. We never knew what he did with it."
"Still, to choose strangers over her boyfriend ..." Ramon muttered.
"She couldn’t have lived with the guilt of being responsible for destroying the dreams of so many people," Tommy sighed.
"‘The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few’," Rachel murmured softly, quoting from her favorite Star Trek movie.
"Exactly," Tommy confirmed. "I remember being amazed at how well she seemed to know me and how little I knew her. She knew I’d have done the same thing in her shoes. She knew that her happiness meant more to me than anything else. And I believed she cared so little about me that she went and found herself another boyfriend ..."
"That was rather thick-headed of you," Kat teased him gently, knowing she could get away with it. "It was glaringly obvious to the rest of us just how much she loved you. That’s why her letter was so odd."
"I’m just glad things eventually worked out for us," was all Tommy could say.
"But you and Mom still didn’t get back together right away," Jay pointed out; there had to be more to the story.
"No, we didn’t."
"How come you didn’t just dump Mom?" Oliver asked indelicately, and was rewarded with several dire glares from the females in the room. "I mean, you were already having doubts then, right?"
"I could never have hurt your mother the way I’d been hurt," Tommy replied. "I may have had doubts, but I still wanted things to work out for the two of us at that point."
"And even if he’d been so inclined, Kim wouldn’t have let him," Kat elaborated. "She never wanted to come between us. Just like with the gymnasts, she couldn’t have borne being the reason Tommy and I broke up."
"We just had to let things run their course," Tommy concluded.
"Mom was a firm believer in true love and happily ever after," Trini spoke up. "She once told me that one of the reasons she stayed away from Angel Grove—from you—for so long was because she couldn’t stop hoping ... She truly believed that you two belonged together and that someday you would be."
"Your mother was a very wise woman."