-1Okay, I found this one tonight, too. So I'll just post it now, and again I ask, please review. Please, pretty please with a little white ranger on top?

Tommy sat down his most recent letters on the coffee table after he had read them. Connor, Kira, Trent, and Ethan sat in his living room. For three months he had been leading the DinoThunder Rangers into battles, and for three months the teenagers had deemed his home the hangout spot other than Haley's.

" So, Dr. O, do you have any big summer plans?"

" As a matter of fact, a good friend of mine will be coming in to stay the summer."

" Ooh!" Kira perked up. " A good friend from The Video?"

" Yes, Kira. Kim Hart, the pink ranger."

" Oh, the dark haired one, the gymnast?" Connor smiled brightly.

" Connor," Kira warned, leaning back against the sofa.

" Were you attempting to hit on Kim?" Tommy laughed.

" What's so funny? She might like a younger man."

" This," Tommy handed Connor a current picture of Kim " is Kim. And this is her son, Tristan."

" Oh, wow. He's so cute." Kira awed over the picture. Ethan sat up Tommy's laptop on the coffee table.

" Hey, Dr. O, when was the last time you checked your e-mail?"

" Yesterday, why?"

" Because you have an emergency message."

" Oh, no, last time I had one of those…" Tommy sat at the computer and opened his message. Rather than an alarming message of world peril, though, he found something much more interesting. Kim had written him to tell that she would be in town much sooner than expected. In fact, she was waiting at the airport right then.

" So? Is everything all right?" Trent asked, leaning forward from his seat next to Kira.

" Yeah, it's great. Say, do you guys want to take a trip to the airport? I'd really rather have Tristan ride in your car, Connor. The last thing he needs is my Jeep."

" Kid's not used to eighty five degree weather?"

" Funny. Are you in?" The group all nodded. Ethan and Connor jumped in Connor's sports car, and Kira and Trent climbed into Tommy's Jeep.

" So, Dr. O. This Kim girl, she's your…"

" My ex-girlfriend. We were together for about three years. During high school. We haven't dated in ten years."

" Ten years? Hold on, is Tristan your son?" Kira seemed shocked.

" Whoa! I never knew, Dr. Oliver."

" No, Tris isn't my son. Sort of step-son, I guess, but not my son." Kira smiled and leaned her head back against her seat.

" This is unbelievably romantic. And, sadly enough, I find that sweet."

" Wow, Kira has found her romantic side," Trent teased her. She shoved him back a little. Tommy pulled into the airport, and the teens hopped out of the vehicle. Kira giggled as he nervously adjusted his black button-down shirt. He dusted off his khaki slacks, and fidgeted with his glasses.

" Don't forget the hair," Connor kidded. Tommy checked his hair anyway.

" And this girl's your ex?" Ethan asked. Tommy smiled as he shrugged. He led the group into the terminal.

There were more people than he was used to seeing in the Reefside Airport, and most from flights in the state. He headed toward the terminal he knew would be the long-distance flights, and he saw the passengers had just unloaded. Tommy searched for the trademark caramel colored hair. He saw then his petite Kim and her son Tristan. He really had grown. He stood four and half feet tall, really close to his mother's height, and his hair had been cut neatly short. He held in his hand a backpack, and a larger bag over his shoulders. Kim held her three bags next to her as she read the brochure she had probably picked out from the counter. Tommy walked up behind her.

" Hello, Beautiful," he whispered over her shoulder. Kim jumped a foot in the air. She squealed happily and threw her arms around him. He lifted her into the air and hugged her tightly. As he sat her down, Tristan had maneuvered his way in front of Tommy.

" Hey, Tommy."

" Hey, Tris, wow, you've gotten big. Come here!" Tommy hugged Tristan tightly against him.

" Dr. Thomas Oliver, you did not tell me about this," Kim chided playfully, motioning at his now spiky hair.

" Surprise, do you hate it?"

" No! I mean, it's a big change, but it looks good."

" Well, Kim, I'd like you to meet some of my students: Connor, Kira, Ethan, and Trent."
" Nice to meet all of you," Kim smiled. Although she found it a little odd that high school students would be spending free time with their teacher, she rationalized it to be some extra credit work.

" Dr. O's told us a lot about you, he seemed really excited to hear you were coming," Kira said, smiling at the little boy. Kim smiled gratefully at the yellow-clad girl. She remembered what it was like when she was a teenager hanging out with the guys, and she felt a familiar camaraderie with the girl. Then Kim looked closely at the four teens. Red, yellow, blue, and white? And Tommy in black? Oh no.

" Tommy…no, no, no…" Kim warned. She looked at him with a knowing glare. It was a look she would probably use on Tristan when he brought home what she could only describe as 'eww.'

" What?" Tommy questioned. It had been a long time since he had seen Kim, and he wasn't well-versed in her new looks. He was truly stumped as to her thoughts.

" You, Thomas Oliver, know very well what I'm thinking." He squinted at her curiously and led her to the car. Tommy practically had to beg Tristan to ride in Connor's car, but when the young boy saw it, he jumped at the chance. Kira, Ethan, and Trent also rode, so that Kim and Tommy could talk in his vehicle.

" So? Are you enjoying Reefside so far?"

" Tommy, I've only seen the airport."

" Yes, well, I'll change that. You have to go to the mall, of course. You'll love my house, I hope. And this café in town is where everyone hangs out. My friend, Haley, you remember me telling you about her? She runs it," Tommy explained.

" Your house? You told me you'd tell me about it?"
" Yeah, it's a cabin. One master bedroom and master bath, one guest with a bath. And a half bath next to the den. And another guest room next to that. I have a kitchen and dining area that's really open, and a study loft over the master bedroom and living area. The stairs come down…"

" You could have included pictures of the inside, you know. Wow, I didn't know you loved interior design so much," Kim kidded.

" When I read about this place, it was so perfect I memorized it."

" Yeah, well, that still doesn't explain why you, a guy who loves the city, moved literally into the middle of nowhere," Kim edged.

" I enjoy privacy," Tommy replied nonchalantly. Kim raised her eyebrows. Tommy caught her glance and smiled.

" Your gonna have to tell me eventually, before I stumble upon you or the kids morphing."

" What?" Tommy veered on the road slightly.

" You couldn't give it up, Thomas. I knew it. Once the leader, always the leader, huh?"

" Black Ranger, actually."

" I couldn't guess."

" New color, new assignment."

" New assignment?"

" Kinda playing Zordon now," he responded guiltily. Kim sat her head back against the seat and looked sideways at him.

" Things can change so much, but stay so similar, huh?"

" Yeah, I guess so," he replied, turning the Jeep off the main road onto a dirt road that delved deeply into the wooded area outside Reefside. Connor's red sports car turned behind him, and they cruised down the road. When they finally ended at the house, Kim gasped.

" Wow," she breathed. " It's so gorgeous. When you were…I didn't think. Wow."

" I know." He hopped out and grabbed the bags from the back. He opened her door for her just as she was about to.

" Always a gentleman, huh?"

" Old habits," he responded. She hopped out of the jeep, and Tristan crashed into her.

" Mommy! It's so great! Kira was telling me all about this place! I wanna stay forever!"

" I'm not arguing," Tommy half-joked. Kim couldn't hide her shock, though, when she looked at him. Tommy picked Tristan up and sat him on his shoulders. He also put Kim's bag on his shoulder, and pulled the wheeled duffle behind him. Kim grabbed two other bags, while the teens gathered the rest of the luggage. They made their way inside the house.

Tommy had given a tour of the house to his guests, and Tristan had promptly crashed in the small twin bed Tommy had bought, unbeknownst to Kim, just recently to put in one of the spare rooms he fit as a guest room. The room adjacent to the master suite by a small door was another guest room, which he sat Kim's luggage in. He and Kim now sat in the kitchen, drinking coffee to help remove the edge of weariness.

He laughed for the millionth time as he noticed Kim's stare had returned to his hair. " Do you really like it?"

" Yeah," she responded, reaching up and stroking the spikes. It was attractive, maybe not as luxurious as his shoulder-length 'do, but it definitely looked good. He smiled at her in the same mischievous grin he had in high school.

" So, what do you wanna see first?" He asked, rising from the island to head into the cozy den. Kim followed, and they rested on the plush couch. Tommy leaned back into the corner and she pulled her feet up under her to face him.

" Well, I sort of wanted to just relax for a little while," she confided, leaning toward him slightly. " And get welcomed back."

" Oh?" He flirted. Kim raised her eyebrows. " In that case, welcome home, Beautiful." He leaned back, grinning wickedly.

" Oh, I have not e-mailed back and forth for five years for that." In response he pulled her against him and kissed her with the built-up passion he had inside.

" Is that what you've waited five years for?" Tommy asked.

" Well, it's a start," she confided. She leaned against the sofa back.

" You wanna see the Headquarters?" Tommy questioned.

" Really?"

" Yeah," Tommy responded. He had so many questions he never had the courage to ask, and he didn't want little ears to hear them. Tommy led her into the new Power Chamber, showing her all the gear, and finally sat down at the desk. She joined him.

" You have a look," she chided.

" Hmm? What look?"

" The look you get when you wanna ask something. The look you had when you asked me to the dance."

" Kim, I still have doubts."

" About us? I thought we'd waited long enough, Tommy, but if you're not ready to get back into a relationship, then I'll-"

" No," he interrupted. " I've never been more sure about anything else. As far as being with you, it's been far too long. But, it's Tris,"

" What?"

" Zordon left notes. Kim, for Tris to have the power he does, he'd have to have two Rangers' genetics. He has to be my son," Tommy pressed.

" I hoped, Tommy, but,"

" It was just after Christmas. When I came to see you and we kind of had that fight because I had to leave so soon? And you were feeling lonely, and confused. You felt we were over, because of Kat. And so you and this guy get together, and you automatically assume. Kim, unless there's something you didn't know about this guy, I'm Tris's father."

" I wanna believe that. And, in every aspect you are, but the time."

" It works, Kim."

" Tommy, whether or not the genes are yours, you've always been his father," she whispered, near tears. She paused for several moments, then continued, sighing.

" I never told you about school. It was the day where all the kids, you know, they bring their dads to school? And, Tris, he didn't have that, so he, he brought a picture. Of you. And he said his daddy was in school to be a doctor, that he was a hero. He said his daddy saved the world on a daily basis. I've never been more proud of him,"

" Let me be here. I've missed too much. We can train him, Kim. He can go to school here, and learn his destiny. We can be a family. Maybe not the most conventional, but a family nonetheless."

" It's not a decision to be made lightly, Tommy. Why don't we see if you can live with us first. This week is going to be interesting,"

" Kimberly, if I can deal with you for three years, I can handle anything," Tommy joked and she slapped him playfully.

" Why don't we go upstairs again. I'm getting some serious déjà vu while we're here."

" Yeah. Um, so…what do you think?"

" About? This place?"

" You'll have to see more, and, of course I'll take you to the best places."

" It's a big decision. Moving here. Taking Tris out of school. But he does love it here. Let me think about it."

" I will. Well, no more tour, I suppose," he said as they walked back into the living room. She stood by the stereo looking around the room. He reached down to a CD case that Kira had given him. She'd put together a collection of music to make him "cooler" she'd said. He found one in particular that she'd given him.

" What's on your mind?" Kim asked as Tommy put the CD in and shifted it to the right track.

" Dance with me?"