Tommy excused himself from his living room to answer the knock on the door. Kim had taken a real shine his latest team, and they to her. Kira in particular was thrilled to finally be around another female Ranger.

He had a feeling the guys' eagerness, however, had something to do with that short skirt, in addition to her Ranger status.

Tommy opened his door and blinked in surprise at the multi-colored gaggle of ex-Rangers standing before him. Doing a quick head count, he realized only Kat and Justin were missing. He couldn't help feeling disappointed that the OTHER Pink Ranger wasn't there, but he was happy to see his friends nonetheless.

Jason, who stood at the head of the throng, smirked at him. "Well, the house is still standing," he said sarcastically. "I guess you and Kim worked things out."

Tommy merely smirked back. "And I guess all of you were too chicken to want to be anywhere in the vicinity while we did." He laughed at the multiple blushing faces, and pulled his oldest and best friend into a fierce hug.

After pounding each other on the back a few times, Jason pulled back. "So, you're ok, bro?"

Tommy smiled. "WE'RE ok." And that was all that needed to be said.

(SCENE CHANGE)

Two hours later, the party was in full swing. Tommy had taken care of the "food problem" by ordering enough take-out pizza to feed a small country. While this might seem extreme, remember that both Connor AND Rocky were there.

The DinoThunders had been a bit shy about being around so many famous Rangers, but the older heroes' attitude of "Once you're a Ranger, you're family" soon brought them out of their shells. Tommy himself was in a deep conversation about the pressures and perils of Ranger leadership with Jason and Connor. Trini and Tanya were regaling Kira with tales of their own male teammates "moments of stupidity", many of which seem to feature Rocky, who was valiantly trying to defend himself. He was handicapped by the fact that he was laughing as hard as they were. Billy, Haley, and Ethan had immediately entered into a science-based discussion that one would normally need multiple Phds. to understand.

Then the front door opened, and a tall blond beauty walked nervously into the room. Tommy was rendered speechless (and Connor started drooling).

The conversation slowly died down as the ex-Rangers noticed the newcomer. All eyes swung to Tommy, who had stood up and was swallowing nervously.

Tommy had, to his credit, come up with logical, well-reasoned arguments to convince Katherine to give their relationship another shot. He had come with counter-arguments for any objections she might make, and was armed with the sincerity of his love for her.

But they all went straight out the window when he looked into her crystal-clear blue eyes.

Slowly, as though he was in a trance, he walked towards her, even as she moved towards him. They stopped about a foot apart, each lost in each other's face. Kat smiled. "Tommy," she said softly.

"Kat." Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, their hands came together, they leaned towards each other, their eyes closed, and they kissed tenderly.

As if the last seven years apart had never happened. And in the end, it didn't matter.

The kiss continued until they heard Aisha exclaim, "Damn! I wanted to see him beg!"

The two lovers broke apart and blushed deeply as they felt all the eyes that were upon them. Then they looked at each other again and started laughing along with everyone else.

All was right in Tommy Oliver and Katherine Hillard's lives.

For now...

Author's Note: I apologize for those readers who, like Aisha, wanted more melodrama in the Tommy/Kat reunion. But we just had that with Kim, and I wanted to inject some fluff into this story for a moment. Believe me, the Rangers are going to need all the happy memories they can get by the time I'm through with them! *Evil laughter*

NEXT CHAPTER: The party's going great when Justin arrives...and turns some female heads. But when Tommy reveals his invitation of the Astro Rangers, the jovial mood comes to a screeching halt. And even as anger erupts, a dark force is closing in on Earth...