Disclaimer: Power Rangers Zeo belongs to Saban. “He Would Be Sixteen” is by Michelle Wright from her album Now And Then.

Author’s Note: This story takes place during “There’s No Business Like Snow Business Part I”, immediately after Tommy received the letter. Julia proofed this, so thanks to her. :) Umm... I think that’s about it. :)

Even as she wrote the note, she prayed she was doing the right thing. Her hand trembled as she moved the pen across the paper. Please Tommy, she thought, understand that I have my reasons. I’m trying to do what’s best for everyone involved, the three of us.

Tommy stopped with the weight in mid-air, when he heard the words Adam said. He was reading a letter from Kimberly out loud for him, “ ‘Tommy, I’ve met someone else.’ ” Adam paused in his reading, casting his eyes away.

“What? That can’t be right.” Kat said bewildered, as the Rangers exchanged confused looks.

“Tommy, maybe you should finish this another time.” Adam said, trying to let Tommy have his privacy.

“No,... let me see...” Tommy took the letter, scanning its contents. He continued what Adam had started, reading it aloud. Since they had heard that much, everyone might as well hear the rest now instead of asking him about it later. The letter was simple and to the point. Kimberly was dumping him, she had met someone else and was leaving him behind. Something he was scared to realize that he could never do. The last line was like a knife in his heart, ‘I will always care about you Tommy. Please forgive me, Kimberly.’

“You alright man? Hmmph?” Billy brought him out of his thoughts with a gentle question and hand on his shoulder.

“Huh? Yeah, I uh, umm,... I have to go. I’ll uh,... I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

He left the Youth Center quickly, fearing the tears that threatened to fall. He wanted to be alone, away from the looks of pity on his friends’ faces. He walked aimlessly, without plan or direction, lost in his pain. When he finally looked up, he was not surprised to see where his wanderings had led him, to the beach. It was a place that would forever be associated with Kimberly in his mind. He had walked on this beach with her. He had swum in these waters with her. He had lain here under the stars with her. They had done so many things on these shores. This was where he had asked her out for the first time. This is where they walked, discussing the future after her power coin had been stolen. And when he had lost his powers for the first time, this is where he came to find his peace, and she had come to comfort him. Now he had come there again to find peace. But she was no longer there to comfort him. She was the reason he needed the comfort.

All he found were memories. Memories of a time that minutes ago had seemed like only yesterday. Now, they seemed too distant, far removed from this time. Something that should best be forgotten, but threatened to linger and never heal.

He just could not understand what could have gone wrong. She had never mentioned anything to him in any of her letters. Every time he spoke to her, she had continued to express her love for him, and he expressed his for her. Why, only two months ago he had gone to visit her. He had been saving all his money since the day she left so he could make the trip. He had given extra karate lessons and had done any odd job that Ernie could throw at him. Ernie was only too glad to help with the cause. As the school holiday rolled around, it looked as if he still was going to be short of the needed cash for the flight to Florida. That was when his parents surprised him. They knew what being with Kimberly meant to him, and they hated to see their son in so much pain. So one night when he returned home from closing the Juice Bar for Ernie, they were waiting up for him. They said they had a surprise. Then they gave him the rest of the money he needed. They told him that they loved him and trusted him. And that when two people love each other as much as he and Kimberly did, they should never be apart.

That week had been one of the happiest times of their lives. Two lovers had been reunited, proving that the distant between them could never, would never keep them apart. And now, she had found someone else? In the letter she made it sound as if she had loved this man for a long time, and only now could she bring herself to tell Tommy about him. But when he had been there, she hadn’t even looked at any other man. And as close and as physical as they had been that week, no boyfriend would have stood by and watched. They had even almost been caught once. And Tommy was sure that Kimberly’s roommate, Cindy, had told everyone. There was no way that she could have been seeing someone else. Kimberly wasn’t the type of person to be so cruel to people. If she had had another boyfriend, she wouldn’t have invited Tommy down to see her, and they wouldn’t have done what they had. No, something had to be wrong, he was sure of it. Things just didn’t add up, and he had to know why.

Kimberly lay on her bed, hugging a stuffed green dragon to her. She wondered how she would make it through it all, especially alone. She didn’t have to be alone, she knew that, but she had purposely cut herself off from the one person she ever loved. And now she felt so alone.

Every day she asked herself if she had done the right thing sending that letter. And as sure as she had been at the time, now every day her fear grew, as did her doubt. She thought, well, they’ll grow right along with you then, won’t they? She placed her hands on her already hard stomach. She was still having trouble believing she was pregnant. But she was very late and the tests didn’t lie. The time added up perfectly to when Tommy had been visiting.

She had called her mother in France immediately, and she and her step-father were going to move to Florida to be near her and help her the next few months. Her mother didn’t know that she had broken up with Tommy. She only knew that Kimberly was afraid to tell him. She told her daughter that the father had a right to know. But she also said that it was her choice and she would support her whatever she did.

But Kim just couldn’t tell him. She had made up a fake boyfriend and had dumped him cruelly in a letter. She truly believed she was doing the right thing for everyone, including Tommy. As it was she was going to have to quit the gymnastics team. By the time the Pan Globals got there she would be eight months pregnant, and there would be no way she could compete. If she told Tommy she was pregnant, she knew that he would stand by her. But she also knew that he would blame himself. He would place all the blame on his shoulders, believing he had ruined her life because he had stolen her dreams when they had been so close to realization. She would never be able to make him see that it had been a mutual act. It takes two to tango after all.

That part she still didn’t understand. At the time, she was sure that they had been careful and had used protection every time. Now as she looked back she began to doubt, wondering that if in one spontaneous moment they had forgotten. A lot had happened during that wonderful week. She reminded herself of what she had learned in Health class. No method of birth control is 100% except abstinence. They certainly hadn’t gone that route, she thought, almost smiling through her tears.

Her roommate Cindy entered the room then, and saw Kimberly moping again on her bed. Cindy had disagreed totally with Kim’s decision to not tell Tommy and to break up with him. And she had voiced her opinion loudly. But she was trying to help however she could because Kim still had a tough situation to face. She still had to tell Coach Schmidt and quit the team. That wouldn’t be a pleasant conversation. Coach Schmidt would be disappointed, but he would understand her decision.

Cindy did agree with one of Kim’s decisions completely. She was going to have the baby. She had said that she couldn’t, just for convenience’s sake, take the life of something that had been created out of so much love. The point where they differed was what to do after the baby was born. Kim was going to give the baby up for adoption, something Cindy couldn’t do. She had asked Kim how she could live never seeing her child again. Kim said only that she was too young and she couldn’t do it alone. That brought them back to telling Tommy, an argument that they couldn’t agree on.

Cindy went and turned on the radio. Anything to break the depressing silence, she thought. She walked over to Kim and sat down on the bed beside her. She had to try and reach her somehow. “Come on Kim! Get up and do something! Call him already!! You know that’s what you want to do.” Kim looked as if she wasn’t going to listen. “Come on, everything will be okay. Just call.” She said this more gently, but got the same silence in response. Cindy sighed, getting up to leave. I’ll try again later, she thought, Kim’s not going to listen right now. As the door closed, Kim hugged the dragon even tighter. I’m sorry Tommy, she thought, I love you but I’m sorry.

“Zordon, I know it’s against your rules, but... I need to go to Florida. I need to talk to Kimberly.”

“Tommy, I know that you are hurting, but going there will not solve anything. And you are correct, it is against the code of the Rangers to use the powers for personal gain.”

Tommy had gone to the Power Chamber to talk to Zordon. He had hoped that there was some way, any way, he could persuade Zordon to let him teleport to Florida. He had hoped that it would be a private conversation, but that was impossible. Billy and Adam were there to repair one of the consoles. It broke down periodically and had chosen that day to throw a fit. When Tommy had teleported in he had seen them there, but he could not wait. He needed to see Kimberly as soon as he could. He knew something was wrong, and in the time that it had taken the letter to travel cross country, it may already have been too late.

“But Zordon, I won’t be gaining anything,” if anything, I’m losing, he thought, “except maybe some piece of mind. Something isn’t right. Things just don’t make sense. And I can’t ask my parents for the money to fly there, they gave me what they could when I went to see her two months ago. This is my only way to see her. Kimberly...” his voice trailed off as he tried to put his disturbing feelings and troubling instincts into words, “Kimberly wouldn’t act like this. If something’s wrong I need to know. I have to help her. I owe her more than I could ever give.”

“Tommy, I know that this is hard for you, but you need to let her go.” Billy spoke, never looking up from his work. He didn’t want to be cruel, Tommy had just gotten the letter a few hours ago for God’s sake. But Tommy sounded as if he was in denial, and he didn’t want him to run off and embarrass himself in front of Kimberly and whomever she had found.

Tommy didn’t understand why Billy was butting in, but he needed help to convince Zordon not someone working against him. “It’s not about that, Billy. I know Kimberly. You know Kimberly. And you know she wouldn’t write something like this. Maybe this is a trap. Maybe she’s in trouble. But somebody’s lying, I know it. I can’t stand by and let anything happen to her when I could have helped.”

“But she says she found someone else,” Billy answered. “She’s just trying to let you down easy.”

“Do you think this is easy? Come on Billy, you know as well as I that this is one of the most insensitive ways to dump somebody. If she sent this letter, instead of calling or telling me in person, that must mean there is some reason she can’t face me. If this letter is true, then how come none of this came out when she invited me down there? For that matter, why did she even invite me down if she already had somebody else? I need to see her, I need to know if these are her words.” His voice suddenly became very quiet and small, “And if these are her words, then I... I need to say good-bye. And... I... I can’t do it like this...,” he spoke the last sentence in almost a whisper, staring at Kimberly’s letter. He laid it down on the console, unable to take his eyes off what may have been the last message he would ever see from the only woman he would ever love.

“Tommy...,” Billy began again, only to be interrupted by a quiet voice, barely talking any louder than Tommy’s whisper.

“I think we should let him go.”

Tommy looked up from the letter expectantly, Billy looked over in surprise. Adam had come out from under the far side of the console where he had been working. He was wiping the grease off of his hands on an old rag. He had spoken, but stayed silent now, which was usual for him. But the two other boys were anxious for an explanation of his statement.

“Adam?” Billy asked curiously, “what do you mean?”

Adam looked up, seeming to be surprised that he hadn’t been understood. He spoke louder now, just enough to be heard clearly. “Just what I said. I think we should let him go. I admit it, and you should too, that we can all see that this does not sound at all like something Kimberly would say. If she is in trouble and he does nothing, he will never forgive himself. If she isn’t in trouble, then he’s settled his fears. If he never finds out, then the doubt and fears will eat at him until something explodes. He would always wonder if it was something he said, or something he did. He would doubt his every action, and that would be detrimental to the team. How would we be able to function with a leader who is afraid of his every action because of the possible reaction? Isn’t that one of the things that we have had to learn to do as rangers Billy? Learn to face our fears?” By then Adam had walked around the console and had picked up the letter. He looked at it, refolded it, and placed it carefully in Tommy’s hands. “I would ask for the same thing is his place. Sometimes you have to question. Sometimes you just have to know the truth.” He said it with a smile, meeting Tommy’s eyes briefly.

They had all been shocked at the length of Adam’s statement. He was quiet and introspective and rarely spoke at such great length unless he felt very strongly on a subject. And obviously, on this one he did. Tommy didn’t know where all this had suddenly come from, but he was glad it had. He was thankful to have a supporter, someone who believed him, someone who at least understood him. Adam had been very clever about what he said too, and Tommy had noticed. He had made the situation also about the Rangers and not just about Tommy’s feelings. If Zordon thought the team would suffer, he might relent. ‘Thank you,’ he mouthed to Adam, taking the note back and holding it to him. Billy only shook his head. If it was going to bother Tommy that much, maybe he should go. Billy just didn’t want to see Tommy get hurt any worse than he already was.

“Rangers...” Zordon, who had been suspiciously silent all this time, chose that moment to speak. “I have made a decision. I have to agree that this does not sound like the Kimberly we all know. So for the physical and mental well being of former, and present” he nodded at Tommy, “Rangers, I will allow Tommy to use the teleportation system this once. Do not take this lightly, as this is not a power to be abused.”

“I won’t Zordon. I’ll contact you as soon as I know something. I can never thank you enough. Good-bye.” Tommy disappeared in a stream of brilliant red.

Cindy may have turned the radio on because she thought the silence was depressing, but the music wasn’t helping anything. She had left it on the local country station and every sad song that played made Kimberly feel even worse. It was the late night call-in request hour and the ‘I got my heart broke’ songs were playing non-stop. Kim tried to tune them out, but the songs kept filtering through, making her believe that there were a lot of broken-hearted people in town. Someone called for a song she didn’t know, by singer she had never heard of. Its eerie melody began to play, filling the room.

Kim again tried to tune the song out, but this one captured her attention. That was her and Tommy! He was the star quarterback for Angel Grove’s football team, and she had been the unanimous choice as homecoming queen. These words made her think of the future. Years from now, would she look back on this decision as the turning point in her life? This decision would cost her the man she loved and her child. Then the chorus of the song made it seem all too real.

That chorus brought the song into startling reality. What were the odds that a song like this would play now? It was right though, what else could she do? She didn’t want to give up their child, but she didn’t think she could raise it on her own. The song continued to play, showing Kimberly a glimpse of a future she didn’t particularly like.

Suddenly Kimberly began crying in earnest. She had told herself that she could do it. She could give the child up and she could move on. But Cindy had been right. She had only been fooling herself. How could she give up a child that was part of her, a part of Tommy? Every day of her life she would question herself. She would wonder where their child was and what their child was doing. Did he grow up like Tommy, or did she grow up like her? And would their child ever find out about her?

All her doubts and fears came rushing back to her. She wanted to keep the child, she knew that she did. And she could, but she just didn’t think that she could raise it alone. She believed that it was too late. She had driven Tommy away. She had dumped him heartlessly because she thought she was saving him. But if he ever found out what she had done, he might hate her for not telling him. Tommy would probably never have anything to do with her again. She didn’t know what to do. She wished she hadn’t mailed the letter. But it was just too late; too late for changing her mind.

Her head hurt from crying so much, as did her eyes. The darkened room helped a little. But the dim lighting made the sudden luminous red flash of teleportation that much brighter, and more painful. Her eyes blinded by tears, Kimberly was shocked by the sudden flash. And dumbfounded when she saw who now stood in her room.

“T... Tommy?” she asked questioningly, sitting up quickly.

“Right here Kimmie.” Tommy had teleported onto Cindy’s side of the room where the only light, a small desk lamp, shown. He couldn’t see Kimberly, but he knew she was there. He just hoped no one else was. He realized that he should have had Zordon scan to see if she was alone, but in his rush he hadn’t been thinking. “I’m sorry Kim. I had to see you.” He crossed the room to the light switch and turned on the overhead lights. He stopped short when he saw her tear-streaked face. “Kimberly, what’s wrong?”

She ran to him, putting her arms around him and just cried. He was there! He was really there! He didn’t seem mad either. He had even called her by one of the pet names he had for her. Only Tommy called her Kimmie or Beautiful. It looked like she was being given another chance. But could she tell him the truth? Was he willing to listen?

Kimberly was in his arms again and Tommy was thrilled. But her mood and her reaction to seeing him just proved to him that he had been right. Something was wrong. “Kimberly, what’s wrong?” he repeated.

Quickly she pushed herself away from him, wiping her face. But it did no good. She could not hide her red, blotchy face, or dark-circled eyes. Little sleep and too much crying had made her face very readable. So she turned away, facing the wall and trying hard not to let her voice crack. “Nothing’s wrong Tommy. Everything’s fine here.” She lied and she wasn’t sure why she did it. She had wanted another chance to tell Tommy the truth and now she had it. But she was throwing it away and she wasn’t sure why.

“Kimmie you can’t lie to me. You never could.” Tommy told her matter-of-factly. Something had upset her, and he hated what he was about to ask. “Did this other guy do this to you?” Tommy asked, dreading the answer but anger flashing in his eyes. If someone had hurt his Kimberly, he’d make them pay. Some part of his mind answered back, but she’s now ‘your Kimberly’ anymore. He tried to ignore it, without much success.

Kim looked at him and saw his anger. He’d protect me no matter what I did, she thought. “No Tommy, really. No one did anything. Everyone here is great.” She knew she had to calm him down before he went storming off to find this fictitious boyfriend. Then she would have to try to explain how Tommy had gotten inside the dorms without anyone seeing him. He still looked doubtful so she took his hands in hers. “I’m serious. This isn’t about them.” That was when Cindy entered.

She was prone to opening doors without knocking, and did so then. She had been doing laundry and was carrying a couple of baskets. She opened the door, kicked one basket into the room and went out to the hallway for two smaller ones. All the while she spoke in an endless monologue that she thought was being heard by only Kim.

“Alright. The laundry’s done, almost anyway. And your mom is on the phone downstairs. She wants to talk to you about finding a doctor here and looking for an apartment. She said they should be ready to move here by the end of the week. Now if only you’d call Tommy, things would... be... great...” Her voice trailed off as she finally looked up when she went to close the door. “Oh, hey,... Hiya Tommy.”

There standing before her was Tommy and Kimberly holding hands and staring at her. Tommy was looking confused, Kimberly looking shocked. Cindy was so embarrassed, she had to get out of there. She also wanted to give them time alone. “Look, I’m gonna go. Got another load in the dryer.” She paused to give Kimberly a big smile, “I’m glad you decide to tell him. I’ll tell your mom you’ll call her back.” She hurried out the door, offering a parting shot as she closed it, “You two have a lot to talk about.”

Tommy stared at the closed door, trying to understand what had just happened. Kimberly was dumbstruck. She didn’t know what to say or do, so she tried to walk away from Tommy to gather her thoughts. Tommy wasn’t going to let go though. He held on to her hands in a gentle way, asking her with his hands instead of words, to stay.

“Kimmie, what was she talking about?”

“What do you mean?” she tried to cover.

“You know what I mean. Why are you getting an apartment and leaving the dorms? Are you leaving the Pan Globals? And why are your mother and step-father moving back from France? If you are leaving the Pan Globals, why are you going to live here and not Angel Grove? And who needs to find a doctor? Are you sick? And what is it that Cindy’s so glad that you decided to tell me?” Tommy paused, trying to see if he had asked all the questions in his head. He had, so he released her hands and waited for her answers.

She didn’t move right away, preferring to stay near him. Even under his scrutinizing gaze she felt safer there than anywhere else. She finally looked up, “Which question do you want me to answer first?” she asked, laughing nervously.

“Which ever you want.” he responded. She finally turned away, walking over to her bed to sit down, staring at the floor.

“First off, my mother and step-father are moving here to be near me, because I’m leaving the Pan Globals...” Tommy interrupted her before she got any further.

“But why? It was always your dream to compete on this level.”

“Well, pretty soon I won’t be physically able to compete anymore. At least not for a while anyway.”

“What? Are you sick?” Tommy, who had been standing close beside her anyway, rushed to her side, sitting on the bed. He tried to get her to look at him, but she still couldn’t face him. “Why don’t you move back to Angel Grove then and be around your friends that love you? If you’re leaving the Pan Globals, what do you have to keep you here? Oh...” Even as he said it, the memory of why he had come there came back to him. It hurt him to say it, but he continued, “I guess you wanted to stay with him.” He started to get up and move away. His proximity to Kimberly, now someone else’s girl, had become all too apparent to him, and too painful.

Tommy stood up, but before he could move away Kimberly caught his hand in hers. He closed his eyes, praying she wouldn’t start spouting platitudes about ‘still being friends’ and such, or he just might break down right there. Please Kimberly, he thought, let me go so I can try to let you go. He finally looked back at her with pleading eyes. He stopped when he saw she was crying again. “Tommy, there isn’t anyone else. There never was.”

He continued to stare at her, disbelieving. His mind wanted to believe what his ears had just told him she had said, but that was too much to hope for. She made note of his silence and continued on in a rush, trying to finish before she lost her nerve. “I made him up and I was going to stay here in Florida because I didn’t want you to know. I didn’t know how to tell you the truth. That I’m pregnant.” She finished quickly, staring at the floor. When his silence continued she looked up, afraid of what his face held. But she had to know.

Tommy didn’t seem upset, a little shocked, but not upset. He looked... curious. “What are you going to do?” he asked, anxiously waiting for her response.

“I’m going to have it of course. I was going to give it up for adoption though. But I really don’t want to Tommy. I want to keep our child...” I just can’t by myself, she finished to herself.

Tommy sat down again, hugging her quickly, “Kimmie, you know I would never leave you. I love you more than life itself. You should know that you don’t need to be afraid to talk to me and you don’t have to lie to me. I love you Kimmie. I’d die for you and I’m not going to leave you, now or ever.” Tommy said all of this is an excited hurry. “We always talked about having a family. It just happened a little earlier than planned Kim. You can always go back to competing. You’ll miss the Pan Globals, but you can just go for the Olympics in two more years. I’ll stand by you and help you however I can. I’ll even quit the Rangers and move here to be with you.”

“No Tommy, I can’t ask you to do that.” Kimberly finally found her voice. “Being a Ranger means everything to you. It’s who you are.”

“It doesn’t mean more to me than you.”

Kimberly started laughing, “Tommy, stop. I’ll move back to Angel Grove. Now that you know, there’s no reason for me to stay here. I’d rather be at home, with my friends, and with you...” she said shyly looking away.

“Well, we had planned on after college, but there’s something else we always talked about...” Kimberly felt Tommy shift his weight and stand. She didn’t look up, but she could see him anyway. Suddenly she realized he was in front of her down on one knee.

“Tommy? What are you doing?” she asked shocked. “Get up.”

Tommy grinned sheepishly. “Come on Kimmie. Let me do this right.” He paused, looking deep into her eyes, “Kimberly, I have loved you from the moment I saw you. In everything we’ve been through together that has never changed. I’d do anything for you and I will love you till the day I die. I would be honored if you would be my wife. Please, Kimberly Hart, will you marry me?”

Kimberly began crying again, this time with joy. She couldn’t speak, but she nodded her head quickly and pulled him into a fierce hug, never wanting to let him go. “It’s okay Beautiful. I’m here now. I’ll never leave you again and nothing will ever hurt you.” Tommy promised.

“I love you Tommy,” she whispered.

“I love you too.”

She pulled back a little to look at his calm, brown eyes. Things would be okay, she knew that now. She wouldn’t have to wonder how their child turned out, because they would be seeing it, first-hand, together. She smiled and was thankful that the song had played when it did, right before Tommy’s arrival. It had helped her to change her mind about telling Tommy. Just like Cindy’s sudden words had. For a split second Kim wondered just how much Cindy had had to do with all of this. She wouldn’t have put it past her friend to have called the radio station and requested that specific song. It had been the all request hour, and Cindy wasn’t above using dirty tricks.

“Have you told Coach Schmidt?” Tommy asked, breaking though her suspicious thoughts.

“No, not yet.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“That would be great. Come on.” she said, standing up and wiping her face. He stood and put his arm protectively around her shoulders. “After we break it to him, you can teleport me home and we can bring the happy news to Angel Grove.”

“I wonder how Zordon will like a little ranger running around the Power Chamber.” Tommy joked.

“Oh, he’ll be fine with it. After all, Alpha will make a great baby-sitter.”

Tommy smiled down at her. They walked out of her room and down the hallway. It was only the beginning of their lives together.