Everything Must Change
By Cassidy Harris

Rocky DeSantos looked at the shocked expressions on his friend's faces. He knew that his news would surprise them, just like it surprised his parents, but they had listened and agreed that it was better for him to do this, he just hoped his friends felt the same way.

"You're moving to Florida?" Adam asked with a shocked expression.

"Is it because of me?" Justin asks quietly.

"Why?" Kat, Tanya and Tommy shouted. "If you guys would give me a minute to explain I will" Rocky said smiling and shaking his head.

He looks directly at Justin, "It has nothing to do with you Justin, I think you are a great ranger looking at the rest of them I just need to get away for a while. I was talking to Kim a couple of days ago __Rocky looks over at Tommy and notices that he still flinches at the sound of her name__ and she mentioned that I should come down for a while, that the sun and relaxation will help me heal quicker. I'm not moving down there, I'm just staying a while. Jason is there living with Kim, taking some college courses and teaching at a local dojo and he said they could always use a third roommate and the dojo could use an extra teacher. I just thought that when my back gets completely healed I can teach and maybe take some courses."

"With you and Jason has roommates, won't Kim's new boyfriend get upset?" Tommy asks before he could stop himself

"I'm sure that if there was a new boyfriend he would mind, but since there is not, then Jason and I have nothing to be worry about" Rocky stated.

"WHAT?" Tommy shouted. "But, but in the letter she said......."

"Tommy I really think that you need to talk to Kim about this. Jason and I asked her about it when they came to visit me in the hospital and she told us the truth. Have you ever asked her about he letter?"

"No" Tommy said has he looked down at the table

"Well maybe you should" quickly adding as he glanced at Kat "that is if you still want to know now after all this time."

Adam shakes his head, not listening to the conversation Tommy and Rocky were involved in. __This has to be a dream, first Ashia left for Africa and now Rocky was leaving__ He looks at Rocky and knows that there is something he's not telling them.

Finally Adam speaks up, "Rocky why?"

"Why did Kim send the letter?"

"What?" Adam asks baffled. "No, I mean why are you leaving. I know you and there's something that you aren't telling us"

Rocky sighed __I should have known Adam would pick up on it__

"All right fine there is another reason I want to get away."

"What?" Tommy asks curiously trying not to show how unnerved he was by the previous conversation about Kim.

"Because I can't stand seeing you guys called off to action and me being left here all right!" Rocky shouts.

Quickly he responds "I know it's not your fault that I got hurt and I can't be a ranger anymore but it still hurts seeing you guys go off and I'm left standing here. I now know what Billy must have felt like even if it was his decision to give his spot up." Rocky looks over at Tanya and then to the rest "I'm not trying to make you guys feel guilty it's just that you have no idea how this feels. Kim and Jason do. Which is the other good reason for me to go. They know how I feel, they went through it. I need to talk to someone about these feelings and they will understand."

All five sit stunned. Knowing that Rocky was right and that there was nothing they could do to stop him from going.

Breaking the silence Tommy speaks up. "I'm going to miss you man, we're going to miss you but I know where your coming from. I felt the same way when I lost my green powers. Kim and Jason helped me so I know they can help you now. Just don' t be a stranger."

Suddenly Tanya whispers something to Kat and they burst out laughing.

"What?" all the guys ask wondering what was going on.

Still laughing Tanya says, "I was just wondering if Kim and Jason have a big enough fridge to hold all the food they'll need to by to feed Rocky"

"Oh shut up." Rocky tells her as everyone else breaks out in laughter himself included.

**2 days later**

After a tearful good bye at home Rocky was sitting at the airport waiting to hear the announcement to board the plane. He had talked his parents into saying goodbye at home because he didn't want his mom to cause a scene in public which is exactly what she would have done. He hadn't realized that saying goodbye to his family and friends would be so hard, even if it wasn't forever.

Hearing the announcement he gets up and starts walking to the terminal. He almost reached it when he hears his name and turns around to find Adam, Tommy, Kat, Tanya and Justin running towards him.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"You didn't actually think that we wouldn't see you off did you" Tanya asks as she walks up to him and gives him a hug.

Rocky looks at them and smiles "I'm really going to miss you guys."

"We'll miss you to" Kat says with her eyes misting up as she hugs him next.

Justin steps up next "I hope I don't let you down"

Rocky leans over and pats him on the back "I KNOW you won't. I'm proud of you, remember that."

Tommy's next and steps up in front of him "It won't be the same here without you. Don't forget we care and we'll be there for you when you need us."

"You remember the same," Rocky says with tears in his eyes.

Stepping out of the hug Tommy gave him Rocky whispers "If you still care, ask her! You know Kim will tell you the truth." Turning around and leaving Tommy deep in thought he walks up to Adam.

Knowing what Adam is feeling, Rocky smiles weekly "At least I'm not going to a different country."

Adam smiles, realizing what Rocky is trying to do. "Yeah I know. But if you don't write at least once a week and phone at least once every couple of weeks I'm going to teleport down there and kick your sorry but back here."

"You know I will, and you guys can always come down to visit. There's a lot of room and I'm sure Kim and Jason would love if."

"Maybe" Kat states with a small smile looking over at Tommy

Hearing the last boarding call, he gives Adam a hug and looks over at Tanya "Take care of him for me will you"

"I will don't worry about him or us. Get better and have fun" Tanya says as she walks over to her boyfriend's side and gives his hand a squeeze. With one last smile to everyone, Rocky walks away boarding the plane wondering what was gong to happen now.

Watching the plane fly away until it was out of site, five of his friends were all wondering the same thing!

Jason Lee Scott at in his apartment that he shared with Kimberly Hart, one of his oldest and closest friends, deep in thought waiting for her to get home. Months ago he had given the gold powers back to Trey and found himself a former ranger once again.

Thinking back it seemed like yesterday that Zordon had chosen Kim, Zach, Billy, Trini, him and later Tommy to become power rangers. The bond of friendship they had would be stronger because of the secret they held, one that would always tie them together. Now the only one still active was Tommy, all the originals and a few of the replacements had since moved on with their lives.

After Muranthias, Kim had talked Jason into coming back to Florida with her, telling him that he needed to rest from of giving Trey back the powers and from the ordeal they suffered in Muranthias. Soon the old friends found that they missed the tight friendship they had and Jason had decided to stay. While they both decide to take some college course, Kim spent most of her time pursuing her dream of a gold metal and Jason started teaching at a local dojo hoping that one day he would open his own school.

The memories fade has Jason suddenly hears a key in the door. Looking up he glances at the clock and starts to shake his head.

As Kim walks into the apartment she looks over at Jason. "God, Jason I'm sorry I'm late. Coach had me do my beam routine until he thought it was good. Then I couldn't get my locker open, on the way home the stupid car ran out of gas and..........." Realizing that he's smiling Kim asks "What?"

"Well, we all new that since you went out with Tommy for a long time that some where down the road you'd pick up some of his traits. But, Kim, did you have to pick up his worst."

"Oh shut up Jas." Kim tells him laughing as she throws a pillow at him. "Just give me 15 minutes to get ready and we'll be on our way. What time does his plane get in?"

"Oh about 10 minutes ago"

"WHAT?" Kim shouts.

"Just joking" Jason says still laughing "Rocky's plane doesn't land for another 55 minutes. You have time. "

.20 minutes later, Jason and Kim are on their way to the airport. Jason quickly glances over at Kim who's been unusually quiet and looks like she has something on her mind.

"What's up Kim?" he asks.

"I'm just thinking about the conversation I had with Rocky last night"

"What?" Jason asks curiously.

Kim starts to explain how Tommy asked about Kim's boyfriend when he found out Rocky was moving in with her and Jason.

"So Tommy knows" Jason stated.

"Well, no, I mean Tommy knows that I don't have a boyfriend but Rocky didn't give him any of the details about the letter or why I sent it. He told him that if he wanted the answers to ask me himself."

"How do you feel about that, I know that you still love him" Jason states quietly.

"I'll always love him. And I've regretted sending that stupid letter, you know that. But at the time, I thought I was doing the right thing by letting him go." Kim sighs... "If he phones and wants to know then I'll tell him the truth, but I don't think he will. You saw how happy he was Kat when we were there."

"Yeah, and I also remember the look on his face when we were lowered into the fire. He still loves you."

Having said that Jason leans over and puts on the radio leaving Kim to think.

30 minutes later Jason pulls into the parking lot at the airport. As they walk into the airport Jason looks up at the monitor to find out what terminal Rocky's flight is arriving.

"His plane just landed come on" Jason says has he leads the way with Kim following.

Soon they're standing at the terminal with all the other people waiting for their friends and family to get off the plane. Within 5 minutes Jason spots their friend and new roommate Rocky DeSantos coming through the gates. As soon as Kim spy's him she runs and gives him a huge hug.

"I'm so glad you're here. I missed you." Kim says as she embraces him again.

Jason walks over and pats him on the shoulder "So am I man. It's going to be great to be backed up by another guy at home."

Rocky laughs as Kim smacks Jason on the arm "Jason."

"What?" Jason asks. "No seriously though I mean it Rocky, we're glad that you came down here."

Rocky glances over his two friends, "So am I guys, so am I." With that said, they get the luggage and headed home.

Later that night after Rocky was all settled in the three friends sat in the living room talking about the past couple of weeks.

"How are you feeling" Kim asks with a concerned voice.

"Great" Rocky responds "They physical therapy really helped me. Soon I'll be back to my usual self. Well almost" he adds quietly.

"It gets easier Rock" Jason tells him "I mean you'll always miss the way it felt when you were a power ranger. It's like there is always a dull ache inside you. Just this afternoon before Kim got home I sat here thinking about when we first got the powers and when Trey gave me his. You realize that you have to move on, but you never forget. I can also understand how you made the decision to move down here. I mean, after I gave Trey his powers back, it killed me to watch you guys go off fighting while I was left sitting in the juice bar."

"Yeah, that really got to me." Rocky says as he looks over at Kim "How did you feel Kim."

"Well, basically the same as Jason only it hit me later. When I first gave up my powers to Kat I really didn't think about it. I was so busy moving and training was hard the first couple of weeks that it really didn't sink in that I wasn't a ranger anymore. It hit me when I was here about a month. There was a story on the TV about angel grove and how the rangers saved the day again and they flashed the pink ranger on the screen. Suddenly I realized that it wasn't me, boy I must have cried all night." Kim's voice gets soft as she remembers. "I started wondering if moving here was all worth it. Was a gold metal worth giving up my power and leaving my friends but the next day Trini phoned me and she really helped me see that we couldn't be rangers forever and that at some point we had to move on and go after our own dreams." Kim looks over at Jason and adds smiling "Of course it really helped when Jason decided to stay here."

Reaching over and giving Rocky a hug she adds "We'll help you through it."

"Kim's right Rocky. Coming here was the best thing I could do. I'm sure you'll feel the same way."

"Thanks guys" Rocky says, "Tommy said that if anyone could help me it would be you two."

"He said that" Kim asks looking down at her hands while trying to analyze the emotions she felt when hearing his name.

"Yeah he did."

Sensing how Kim was feeling Jason and Rocky decided to change the subject

"So, who's heard from the others?" Jason asks.

"Yeah, have you guys heard from Trini, Zach or Billy?" Rocky also asks.

Kim looks up and smiles. You guys are the best. Well...................."

About 5 hours later Rocky finally falls into his bed. They had stayed up eating pizza and talking about their friends, Florida and college. Kim had gone to bed a couple of hours before them because of her practice schedule. After she went to sleep he and Jason had a great talk about everything from losing the power to someday opening a school together. One subject they also touched on was Tommy and Kim. Both Jason and himself believed those two still loved each other and had decided that after everything was settled, they would invited everybody down. Slowly he drifts off to sleep feeling emotions he hasn't felt in a month. **Contentment and Happiness**

Tommy Oliver found himself standing at the duck pond in the park trying to handle the range of emotions he was feeling towards Kimberly Hart, the former pink ranger. He came here after she sent that letter. Lately he found himself here ever since he found out from Rocky that Kim didn't have a boyfriend and had lied in the letter. He sat down as he remembered the conversation with Rocky.

*** "With you and Jason as roommates, won't Kim's new boyfriend get upset?" Tommy asks before he could stop himself.

"I'm sure that if there was a new boyfriend he would mind, but since there is not, then Jason and I have nothing to be worry about" Rocky stated.

"WHAT?" Tommy shouted. "But, but in the letter she said...."

"Tommy I really think that you need to talk to Kim about this. Jason and I asked her about it when they came to visit me in the hospital and she told us the truth. Have you ever asked her about the letter?" "No" Tommy said as he looked down at the table "Well maybe you should" Rocky quickly added as he glanced at Kat "that is if you still want to know after all this time." *** Shaking his head, he came back to the present. He still couldn't believe that Kim lied in order to break up with him. In the past week he had picked up the phone to call her about two dozen times but quickly hung up not knowing what to say. Sitting here, he thought of Kim. This was their place. After he had lost his green powers, she had found him here and they had shared their first kiss. After that, it became a special place to both of them. A place he had never taken Kat since they started dating. That was something else he would have to face soon. Since last week, he had been avoiding Kat as much as he could so he could try to figure out what he was feeling. He knew how she felt towards him and yes he cared for her, but did he love her? The only thing he knew for sure was that when Kim & Jason were taken to the Island of Muranthias he felt powerless, and when he saw them, especially Kim, lowered into the fire he wanted to die. All the old feelings he felt for her returned in a blink of an eye.

After they had gotten back, he had stayed away from her, spending as much time as he could with Kat. Hoping that if he avoided Kim, all feelings he had for her would go away. When Kim & Jason left for Florida part of him was glad he wouldn't have to see her and hoped that he and Kat could pick up to where they were before. Only that wasn't the case. Everytime he took Kat out on a date, he thought of Kim. He knew Kat noticed up on his distance towards her, but he just couldn't explain it. Shortly after those disastrous dates, Rocky announced he was moving down to live with Kim & Jason and then learnt the truth.

"WHY KIM? WHY DID YOU HAVE TO LEAVE? WHY DID YOU BREAK MY HEART?" Tommy shouted at the world.

"You could always ask her." A voice says as startled Tommy turns around to see who heard his outburst.

Completely ignoring what Adam had just said Tommy asks, "Do you want to hear something funny?"

"What?" Adam asks as he sits down next to him.

"Ever since I found out that Kim never had another boyfriend, I've actually felt guilty for going out with Kat: like I was cheating. Can you imagine that! Even though I did nothing wrong, I feel like I did. It just doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe it would if you ask her why." Adam repeats again.

"It's not that simple Adam" Tommy answers.

"Yes it is. It's what comes after that's not so simple. You need to have all the facts so you can put the past behind you and concentrate on your future. Don't you think it's about time" he asked.

Tommy looked over at his friend and knew he was right. He needed to settle things with Kim and Kat. Standing up he asks Adam "Are you going to the Youth Center?"

"Yeah, I'm meeting everyone there. Come on."

As the two walked, they change the subject and talk about what they think Divatox is going to pull next. Walking into the Center, they find Justin, Tanya and Kat waiting for them at the usual table.

"Hey guys", Tommy says.

"Great timing you two." Tanya states smiling, "The shakes we ordered should be ready soon."

The moment Tommy and Adam sit down Lt. Stone walks over with their order.

While the others are talking to Lt. Stone, Tommy leans over to Kat and whispers, "Do you think we can meet and talk later?"

Kat looks up at him and gives him a weak smile, "Ok, how about when we finish here? We could head to the park?"

Tommy nods in agreement feeling better. Hearing Rocky's name he turns to Lt. Stone "What?'

"I was just asking Adam if he's heard from Rocky since he moved down with Kimberly and Jason."

"Actually he called me last night. He wanted me to tell you, Lt. Stone, that he misses you. Apparently no one down there can make burgers and shakes the way you do."

Lt. Stone breaks out into laughter with the rest of them.

"Sounds like he's getting better. Give him my best when you talk to him again" Lt. Stone says before he leaves.

Adam turns to the gang "He's having a great time down there. His back is getting stronger everyday and a couple of days ago he started working out a bit with Jason."

"That's great." Kat says with a huge grin.

"What else did he say?" Tanya asks her boyfriend.

"Well, he misses us and he wants all of us to come down for a week sometime soon."

"REALLY" all four respond.

"Yeah. I really think we should go. We didn't see Kim and Jason a lot when they were here last and I really miss Rock" Adam says quietly.

"I know you do" Tanya tells her boyfriend as she leans over and gives him a quick hug. "And if you're going then you can count me in as well."

"Me too. I've never been to Florida before and I want to see Disneyworld."

Kat laughs "Well, I can't miss that. It would be great to see them again. I'll go." Looking over at Tommy who had remained quiet the whole time she asks, "Are you going to come Tommy?

Tommy looks up at her and then over to Adam. "You guys know you can count me in. I never did get to spend much time with Jay the last time and it would be good to see Rock again."

"And Kim" Kat adds softly.

"Yeah and Kim" Tommy repeats in the same soft voice.

"Great." Adam states as he stands up "I'm heading home now so I'll call him when I get there and let him know our plans."

"Speaking of leaving." Justin says as he stands up "Tanya and I promised to help Alpha with some scans so we better be leaving."

After the three had left, Tommy and Kat slowly walk to the park talking small talk and each wondering if they can really tell the other how they feel. Knowing that most of the time the truth hurts.