Power Rangers 1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"C'mon Trisha-one more time!" Kimberly Hart cupped her hands around her mouth as she called to the young gymnast near the uneven bars.

The girl groaned, but obeyed her coach and jumped up to grab the high bar. Swinging in a circle around the bar, she released at the perfect time and did a double back flip dismount, landing squarely on her feet before throwing her arms in the air. The girl jumped in the air and pumped her fist. "Finally!"

"Atta girl. You'll have that dismount ready for the state meet in no time." Kimberly turned to the rest of her competitive team. "Hit the locker room, girls. Your parents will be here soon." The athletes, mostly young teenagers, did as they were told, giving Kimberly a moment to reflect on the practice.

Trisha was good, but one gymnast had stood out in particular. Casey Trueheart had joined the team only three weeks earlier, but she was already on her way to quickly becoming a standout. The girl had moved to Reefside that year to live with her uncle, who was a local high school teacher, mainly because of the opportunity to train with Pan Global Games triple gold medalist Kimberly Hart. Kim was flattered, of course, but she hadn't realized that the fame of her small gym had grown so quickly.

She'd opened the gym only two years earlier after working under her mentor and former coach Gunter Schmidt for four years after finishing college. The first six months had been a struggle financially, but now the number of students was steadily increasing to the point that Kimberly didn't worry about having the lights turned off toward the end of the month.

Kim wandered toward the lobby of the gym. Normally, her office manager kept track of the girls as they departed with their parents, but a sick child meant Kim was the only adult in the building. Her gym had attracted a fair amount of attention after Casey's success at the regional meet two weeks earlier, and she wanted to make sure nothing happened to one of her girls. The instinct to protect others was one of several things Kim had never gotten over from her Power Ranger days. As for the others, she didn't care to think about them just now.

Then minutes had passed and no girls had emerged from the locker room. Kim was on the verge of opening the door to encourage them to get a move on when the first parent arrived. She had to bite back a grimace when she saw that it was Trisha's mother. The woman was the gymnastics equivalent to a stage mother and a new girl on the team who was supplanting Trisha's role as the top athlete in the gym had not gone over well. Kimberly hadn't announced the lineups for the state meet yet, but she knew the older woman would not be happy when she learned that her daughter would not be going last on three of the four events has she had the previous season.

Steeling herself, Kim prepared for a litany of Trisha's accomplishments. Instead, the gymnast's mother surprised the young coach. "Have you see Casey Trueheart's uncle? Whew." She dramatically wiped her brow.

"Sorry, can't say that I have-I'm usually cleaning up the gym when he gets here," Kim admitted.

"Oh, honey, you've got to stay out here this afternoon and get a look at him. I think he's about your age, and he's quite easy on the eyes, if you know what I mean."

Before Kim could protest, the girls emerged from the locker room en masse, chattering fifteen to the dozen in a register so high the coach was tempted to cover her ears. More parents were arriving by this point, and Kim was able to gracefully extract herself from the company of Trisha's mother as she made sure the girls claimed backpacks and jackets before bidding them farewell.

Another parent had a question regarding an injury that took a bit of discussion to answer, so it was several minutes before Kimberly realized that Casey was still seated on the bench, craning her neck toward the door.

"Your uncle not here yet, kiddo?" Kim reached over to ruffle the girl's black ponytail.

Casey hesitated. "Sometimes he forgets things."

If Trisha's mother hadn't mentioned that the uncle in question was a young man, Kim would have thought Casey's uncle was possibly going senile. How could he forget to pick up a young girl who depended on him? "We'll give him five more minutes, and then we'll give his cell phone a call," she assured the gymnast.

"No need for that-I'm here. Casey, sorry I'm-Kimberly.

Kim's head jerked up._ "No. No, this is not possible."_ "Tommy?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

Unlike Kimberly, Tommy was at least somewhat prepared for the moment. He'd known that Kimberly lived in town since the day his brother David had approached him with the request that Casey move to Reefside to train with the former champion gymnast. So far, he'd avoided Kimberly in the three weeks Casey had spent at the gym, but he'd known his luck couldn't last forever.

"You're Casey's uncle?" Kim asked him in disbelief.

"You two know each other?" Casey was as surprised as her coach.

"Yes and yes," Tommy replied. "Casey is David's daughter, and Kim and I went to high school together in Angel Grove."

Suddenly, Kimberly chuckled. "I should have guessed. Last name Trueheart and an uncle who's forgetful? Who else could it be?"

"I'll have you know, Kimberly Hart," Tommy began defensively, "that I did not forget. I had to supervise some students in detention and wait until their parents arrived to pick them up."

"Students? You're a teacher?"

Tommy nodded. "I got my PhD in paleontology. This is my third year at Reefside High." _And hopefully a less eventful one than the past two._ Now that the Dino gems and Mesagog had been destroyed, Tommy was hoping he could finally live a normal, boring, monster-free life.

The look Kimberly was giving him told Tommy that wasn't likely. _Like she has a right to be mad! She's the one who sent the letter. _Tommy turned to his niece. "Casey, we should get going if we want dinner before midnight, and I'm sure you have some homework to do."

"I forgot my bag in the locker room!" the girl exclaimed. Tommy shook his head as Casey ran back toward the locker room door.

"Well, she does come by it honestly," Kim commented, rolling her eyes. "I can't remember the number of times we had to go back to the high school or the juice bar because you left your backpack somewhere."

"Well, it's not like I didn't have other things on my mind," Tommy defended. He could hardly believe it. It was over ten years since he'd last seen Kim in a normal, non-life-threatening situation, and here she was, harassing him about his forgetfulness just as she always had.

Kim's expression turned serious. "Yeah, we did have a lot going on back in the day." Both the adults were silent for a moment, lost in their own recollections, until Casey bounded out of the locker room, the forgotten bag in tow.

Tommy pushed away from the wall he had leaned on while waiting for his niece. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Kim—I'm sure you have plans for the evening. Let's go, Casey." He gestured toward the front door of the gymn and waited for the girl to precede him.

"Bye, Coach Hart." Casey gave Kimberly a little wave before heading out to the parking lot to her uncle's car.

Tommy turned to his former girlfriend for a moment. He'd known this moment was coming for over a month, but nothing had prepared for having Kimberly Hart stand before him, looking every bit as good as she had as a teenager.

"Was there something you needed, Tommy?" she asked innocently.

"Something I needed? From you?" Tommy laughed bitterly, recognizing the anger and resentment rising up in him. Kimberly looked stunned at the outburst, but Tommy continued, "Kim, when I needed something from you ten years ago, it nearly destroyed me. That's a mistake I'll never make again."

Without waiting for a response, Tommy spun on his heel and rushed through the door. _Why do I let her get to me that way after all these years?_

Casey looked at her uncle curiously, but thought better of asking. _She probably thinks I'll bite her head off._ Tommy had largely outgrown his teenage moodiness, but having Kimberly in front of him, looking so young and carefree after everything she had done, had taken him back to high school—maturity and all.

"What do you want for dinner tonight?" he asked, his voice laced with false cheer.

Casey gave him a dubious look. "You're cooking?"

_Burn one grilled cheese, and suddenly I can't cook? _"That appears to be the case, unless you're volunteering.

"Won't we be late to the Cyber Space?"

Tommy clapped his hand to his forehead. He'd nearly forgotten that they were due at Haley's Cyber Space within the hour. Kira Ford was back in town for a few days before the start of her first headlining tour, and she was playing a few songs at her old hangout. "Well, that settles it—how does dinner at Haley's sound?"

Casey nodded her assent as Tommy turned his Jeep toward the cafe owned by his best fiend from college. Haley Ziktor had nearly saved his life when he'd arrived at MIT, only weeks after injuries had ended his racing career—and his relationship with Kat. Tommy had been determined to recuperate and return to the racetrack—and drink himself into oblivion during the interim. Haley had gotten him to quit drinking long enough to go to class and stay off academic probation. He and the redheaded technical whiz had been inseparable ever since.

Haley had been the first person Tommy had contacted after the explosion on Anton Mercer's island—even before Jason and Adam. She'd scolded him, picked him up at the airport, and taken him to her apartment to supervise while he'd gotten very, very drunk—then held back his hair while he'd been sick the next morning. That afternoon, she'd watched, wide-eyed as he'd shaved his head. Even then, she hadn't asked questions—it had never been her way, which made her a hit with the teenagers she employed. Tommy smiled fondly as he remembered watching Trent scramble around the Cyber Space, bussing tables while gawking at Kira. The relationship that had been sparked by a teenage crush had ended a year ago when Trent left for a New York art school and Kira for a Los Angeles recording studio, but they had remained friends.

"Uncle Tommy?" Casey's voice broke back into Tommy's consciousness. "Are you going to get out of the car?" Muscle memory had led Tommy to steer his Jeep to the Cyber Space and into a parking spot. How long he'd been sitting behind the wheel, starting obliviously, he wasn't certain, but it had been long enough to prompt a look of bemused concern on his niece's face.

"Sure am, Case—let's go see if Haley can rustle up some smoothies." He reached over to ruffle her hair, causing a squawk of indignation as she ducked away from him and out of the car toward the promised smoothie. _Some things never change—gymnasts and strawberry smoothies are still a good combination_


End file.

Power Rangers, Romance