Second Chances

Tommy Oliver was unsure of what to do concerning his longtime friend and former flame Kimberly Scott. She had leaned on him in the three months since Jason's death, often crying on his shoulder, and then she had basically admitted that she thought she had feelings for him. She had said that she wanted to be with him again, but had asked for more time.

This was understandable. It hadn't been long since the original red ranger had died, and Tommy knew that Kim was still hurting for Jason. But in the mean time, she was still living in his house and acting as if she were his wife. Kim kept the place neat and tidy and cooked most of the meals. And Tommy knew that she was trying to repay him for being her rock to lean on, but Kim was going above and beyond. He felt a little guilty watching as she ran around like a chicken with its head cut off.

Kim had thrown herself into preparing the Reefside Youth Center. As Tommy had noted earlier, the gymnastics studio came together flawlessly, and Kim announced it ready for business. She'd even arranged for Kira to play at the grand opening. And Tommy just liked seeing her happy again.

--

Conner had luck with his project as well. He'd managed to secure the soccer field at Reefside Elementary School from three-thirty to five-thirty every weekday afternoon, and thanks to Kira's more than generous donation to his cause, Conner had purchased top of the line equipment. He was quite proud of what he'd managed to achieve.

Twenty-two children, some boys and some girls, showed up on the first day. Conner was pleased to see that all of them were enthusiastic and willing to learn, and there was some genuine talent among the numbers.

"All right guys, head in!" yelled the former red ranger at twenty past five. "You were all great today, and I'll see you tomorrow at the same time."

He watched with a smile on his face as his new team headed off of the field, their faces bright and excited. He felt good about himself that with just one practice he'd already managed to teach them something, and keep them out of trouble simultaneously.

"You make a good coach, Conner," Kira said softly from behind him. "You were great with them. You're a complete natural."

Conner blinked; he hadn't been expecting Kira to show up. He kept his back towards her; he didn't want to make eye contact, certain that the second he did that all of the self control he was exerting at the moment would vanish. "Thanks, Kira," he mumbled, still keeping his gaze on the figures of the retreating children on the opposite end of the soccer field.

The former yellow ranger heaved an enormous sigh. "Look at me, Conner. It's not going to kill you. If you just want to be friends, I'm fine with it." Kira was spitting out a blatant lie by saying she was agreeing to staying friends, but anything was better than having Conner refuse to look at her,

"You're not fine with it Kira. I'm not fine with it either," replied Conner as he began gathering up the soccer balls and returning them to their bag. "But this is how it has to be. I want you to have everything you've ever wanted, and I hate to be the responsible one for once, but you and I both know that I can't give it to you."

"It's not that you can't Conner, it's that you won't. I don't know why you're so afriad of letting yourself love me, but if you ever figure it out let me know."

He hated himself for making her angry with him even more so than she already was. He hated himself for hurting her, but the red ranger had really taken Trent's words to heart. Kira was special…and what was he? No one important.

"You're being ridiculous, Conner," Kira said, guessing his thoughts. "You're one of the best people I know, and it's not like you to be so down on yourself. I'll see you at Kim's place on Saturday."

Only when Conner was certain that Kira was gone did he dare to turn around and look at her. He let a sigh escape from his lips and wondered if it was even worth fighting anymore.

--

Kimberly Scott was confused. Make that extremely confused. She honestly didn't know what she was supposed to do concerning the whole mess with Tommy and her resurfacing feelings for him. Even at thirty-three men were still mysteries.

If only she hadn't kept all of those old photographs of her and Tommy. She and Jason would never have had that fight, and Jason would still be alive today.

But that wasn't fair either. As she'd told Tommy, he was her first everything. Of course she was always going to love him, and Jason should have understood that. He should have. But he hadn't, and he'd been the one to storm off. It wasn't her fault, though of course she told herself that it was.

And Tommy. Her sweet, caring Tommy who Kim now knew was still in love with her. What was she supposed to do about that? Her deceased husband's best friend who happened to be her ex-boyfriend, and they still had feelings for each other. What an unbelievable sticky situation.

The good thing about Tommy (Or one of them, anyway) was that once she'd asked him not to ask anything of her that she wasn't ready for, he'd immediately backed away from the predicament they were in. Once he'd gotten his answer of her still being in love with him, he'd kindly dropped the subject-for now. Kim knew that eventually she'd have to sit down with him and discuss their now complicated relationship. In the mean time, though, he continued acting very fatherly with her children, particularly Macy.

Yes, the three year old girl was very taken with her Uncle Tommy, and she loved the attention he gave to her. It was, Kimberly suspected, almost as good as having her daddy back, at least in Macy's eyes.

Now it was Friday night, and the grand opening of the Reefside Youth Center was set for the next morning at ten o'clock. Kim knew she wasn't going to get much sleep, if any at all, due to nerves. But she was confident that her gymnastics studio was going to be a success, and so she didn't fret.

--

The place was full, Ethan James was pleased to see as he arrived at the Reefside Youth Center around noon the next say. He took a seat at the juice bar along one wall, and saw that Conner was on duty. "Hey," greeted the former blue ranger. "What are you doing working here?"

"Dr. O dragged me in with his whole 'ranger pride' line. You know, that we're really here to help each other out and once a ranger always a ranger thing. And it's not that bad actually. It's all free today in honor of the first day of opening, so help yourself." Conner pushed a cup across the counter towards Ethan.

"Cool," said Ethan, and he took a sip of the strawberry smoothie. "Have you seen Kira yet? She told me she was going on at one."

"She's over there," said Conner, pointing over to the corner opposite them. "She's setting up. Kim gave very strict orders that on fans are allowed to bother her, but I think all those kids are having too much fun to even care about Kira."

"Are you planning on talking to her while she's here?" asked Ethan. "I mean, you two are perfect for each other. I can't believe you would let her get away for the second time."

"I already told you, Ethan, just like I told Hayley, Kim, Dr. O and Kira herself: I don't think I'm right for Kira. In fact, I know I'm not. She's better off."

"If you say so," mumbled Ethan, but he didn't look entirely convinced. He fell silent, drinking his smoothie and glancing from Conner to Kira with a thoughtful expression on his face. Then his attention wandered over to where Kimberly was giving a couple of kids some tumbling lesions. "Doesn't she look happy," commented the blue ranger. "What's the news with her and Dr. O?"

Conner shrugged. "I don't know. I've been so caught up with this whole drama with Kira that I haven't done anything in the matchmaker department either. And maybe Kira was right. Maybe we shouldn't interfere with Kim and Dr. O. It's not really any of our business." The red ranger slurped at his own smoothie, his brown gaze on Kira, who was doing a sound check. She caught his eye and sent him a tiny smile in spite of everything.

"Get back to work, Conner," Kira said into the microphone, earning her a small grin in return.

"Hey, where's Dr. O, anyway? Shouldn't he be here?" asked Ethan.

"He's doing a martial arts demo in the other room," Conner answered, determinedly not looking at the yellow ranger who was now tuning her guitar.

"All right," said Kim, taking the mic from its stand. "Put your hands together for Kira Ford." The audience did as they were told.

Kira smiled broadly at the people in the audience and began strumming the chords to "Freak You Out" and was rather pleased to head them singing along. "This last song is dedicated to someone who is very special to me, even if he's being stubborn about our relationship."

Conner froze; he knew she was referring to him. He listened intently as Kira sang her song, and then he knew exactly what he had to do. He had to make things right, never mind what he thought about deserving her or not.

"Thank you," Kira said softly into the mic as the crowd burst into applause. She took her guitar and got off of the stool she'd been sitting on. The yellow ranger started towards the exit, but Conner dashed from behind the juice bar and pulled her back into his arms. He spun her around so that she was facing him and a second before he kissed her he heard her guitar drop to the ground.

She broke their second kiss, her mouth turned into a tiny smirk. "Get my message?"

Conner had the decency to look sheepish. "I'm sorry. I was stupid. Like the song said, get it before it's gone, because if you don't you'll regret it for the rest of your life. And Kira, I don't want to live without you."

"Aw," cooed Ethan sarcastically.

"Shut up," said the red and yellow rangers together. "I think I'll stick around until closing time," Kira added, looking at Kim.

"No, Conner, you go. Be with your girl. God knows we've all waited long enough," joked Kimberly. The grin on Conner's face was thanks enough for the original pink ranger.

--

Tommy and Kim closed up at seven that evening. "It's good for them, that he finally figured out he needed to be with her," said Tommy quietly.

"Tommy…I know what you're getting at. And I have to say…well…just let me show you."

And Kim hugged him to her tightly, squeezing him the way she had when they were still together. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a very brief kiss. "Jason would want us to be happy, and if we find it with each other, then that's where we have to take it. I need us to go slowly at first, Tommy, but I'm sure we'll manage."

--

Tommy poked his head into Kim's bridal room.

"Tommy!" she squealed. "You know you're not supposed to see me before the wedding ceremony!"

"Sorry beautiful. I couldn't help myself." He grinned at his bride-to-be. "You look just as gorgeous as the day we met," he told her sweetly.

"Thank you," replied Kim. "Now get out there. I'm coming, I promise you that I am."

And Tommy headed out again, appearing in the back of the church right as the traditional wedding march started. He looked around at his guests, smiling in particular at the younger couple seated in the front row. The chocolate haired soccer player was fussing over the bundle in his wife's arms, tickling their six month old son.

And Tommy took his place at the alter, reflecting on how life always gave you a second chance to make things right.