Author's Note: This is my first Power Ranger Fanfic. I have been a Power Ranger fan for more than 10 years, and my favorite couple is Tommy/Kim, and always will be. I've been reading a lot of Fanfiction to help me in this process, but all the same, please review and be kind! I have been making power ranger videos for about a year, but I wanted to try my hand at writing. The story will have familiar details, some of which correspond to the actual seasons I refer to. It's set after PRDT. Spoilers for everything abound, but keep in mind that this Fanfic is still completely AU, so forgive me if there's anything amiss. My story, my rules. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. It's all Disney/Saban. Please don't sue me. Thanks.

If You Go Away

Chapter 1

Email

7:30pm

1922 Valencia Drive, Reefside, California

Tommy Oliver's Residence

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. The letter, the letter, that damn letter!" Tommy angrily clicked the email browser shut.

" I am so sick of everyone telling me to what to do." He ripped his glasses off his face and tossed them toward the desk. He had been receiving emails about the infamous 'Dear John' letter for years, mostly from Jason, who had kept in touch with not only Tommy, but Kimberly as well. Lately, however, he had come back into contact with Aisha, and now she was hounding him too.

It wasn't that Tommy didn't want to resolve this overdue issue, but he just . . . didn't want to. "Ha." He laughed to himself. Who was he kidding? Resolving it meant it was behind him. Resolving it meant that he was over it, over her. Still, there were questions he had, he just didn't know if wanted the answers.

He stood up from the chair sitting in front of his desk and made his way downstairs from the study into his kitchen. As he opened the fridge to begin his quest for edible food, his mind started to wander.

We've talked since the letter. Muranthias, and Trini's funeral . . . why isn't that enough? People break up. They break up, and that's what they do. Teenagers break up all the time! I see it happen every day in class. A student who was fine on Friday, will walk into class by Monday, sulking. We were teenagers who dated, then broke up. We saw each other for a few awkward moments as adults. Case closed, right? Sure, Tommy . . . then why can't you stop thinking about her?

The truth was, he hadn't ever gotten over Kimberly Hart. Sure, he knew the rules, first love and all that jazz, but this was different somehow. It was as if they were linked beyond the normal 'first love'. Perhaps it was the time in his life that he had met Kimberly. He was a new student at Angel Grove. He hadn't met many new people, especially girls. Especially friendly, petite, contagiously beautiful girls . . .

"Slow down, Tiger." He said to himself as his thoughts drifted to more intimate thoughts about Kimberly.

Tiger. That was the other thing that he thought perhaps had bonded them beyond normal teenage couples. They had been Power Rangers together. She was with him when he joined the team, lost his Green Ranger powers and had to leave. She was there when Zordon and Alpha had managed to create the White Ranger powers and reunite him with his teammates once again.

And while they had been seeing each other during his Green Ranger days, it wasn't until he resurfaced as the White Ranger, and the new leader, that he and Kimberly truly became official.

That had been his strongest time. He looked his best, felt his best, his powers were stronger than ever and he and Kimberly had been at their happiest. So what happened?

"I am not apologizing again for sending her on that plane." He thought aloud. Jesus. If Jason could see him now, standing in his kitchen, in his boxers, talking to himself.

"He'd never let me live it down." He said. Tommy had finally decided to make himself a sandwich. He grabbed all the necessary items, closed the fridge and crossed over to the counter.

Just then, the phone rang.

And rang.

"I'm coming. I'm coming." Tommy said hurriedly, dashing across the kitchen and into the living room.

"I really should get a cordless phone." He thought to himself as he reached for the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Whom am I speaking with?" A rather nasal voice on the other line asked.

"Whom am I speaking with?" Tommy replied, annoyed. Although the voice on the other end did sound familiar.

"Does a Thomas Oliver reside here?" The voice said rather calmly.

"This is him. Can I ask who is calling?" Tommy asked as he glanced over his shoulder to look at the clock. It was eight in the evening, he couldn't imagine it was a business call, however official the caller sounded.

"I don't know . . . Can you?" The voice dropped five octaves lower at the 'Can you?' part and Tommy heard a loud, bellowing laughter echoing from the receiver.

"Jason! You ass! What the hell was that?" Tommy said through his own laughter.

"I could totally see your face, bro!" Jason choked out between chuckles.

"Ha, ha." Tommy managed to squeak out.

Jason's laughter eventually subsided, "What's up?"

"Jase, you called me, bro. What's going on?"

"You stopped answering my emails, man. I thought something was wrong, thought I'd pester you this way."

"Well, you are the master pest, that's for sure. My inbox is flooded from your emails, man. And now I've got a bunch of emails from Aisha to sort through too." Tommy explained as he looked longingly back into the kitchen where his unfinished sandwich still sat on the counter. His stomach conceded and he took a seat on the couch, next to the table where the phone sat.

"Aisha? How is she?" Jason asked, amused that the feisty, former yellow ranger had begun her own damage control.

" She's fine. Great, actually. She's an animal doctor for the ASPCA in Houston. She's been there for about five months now."

"Wow. That's awesome. I remember her telling me she wanted to do that when we saw each other as Trini's funeral." Jason commented, quieting down as he recounted the last part of his sentence.

"Yeah. What a bizarre way to reconnect with everyone, huh?" Tommy agreed, somewhat solemn.

"Tell me about, bro. What a bizarre thing to have happened." Jason was quiet for a moment. Then began to ease back into his original intentions for calling.

"So, what else do you and Aisha talk about? You said you have a bunch of her emails floating around?" Jason began again, prying a little too hard.

"Ah . . . yes, well, you and Aisha clearly bonded somehow, because you both seem to keep hounding me about the same thing." Tommy answered, knowing exactly what his best friend was implying.

"Can you blame us? We're yours and Kimberly's best friends. We just want to make sure you guys are okay."

"And I appreciate that Jase. I really do. I just think it's water under the bridge at this point. If it wasn't mentioned that last two times we've seen one another, why bring it up now?" Tommy questioned, proud of himself for displaying much more rationality than he normally did whenever this topic was discussed.

"Cause I don't think it's resolved." Jason said, rather stubbornly. You would never think that the focused and courageous original Red Ranger could ever behave like a 5-year-old, but he did. Boy, did he ever.

"Oh, is that right?" Tommy chuckled. Jason hated not getting his way.

"Listen, man. I don't know what kind of trust I'm violating by telling you this, but Kimberly and I still talk quite a bit and I've gone to visit her a couple of times in the last few months and I can tell she's . . . " Jason trailed off, afraid that he might have offered too much.

"She's what, Jase? She's still in love with me?" Tommy laughed out, attempting to sound as cavalier as possible.

Jason paused. Knowing that Tommy's seemingly flippant statement was riddled with more hope than he'd ever let on.

"She's not happy. I know that much. I've tried to talk to her about you but she gets really quiet when I do. But she's not mad, Tommy."

"Why would she be mad? Why should she be mad? Why should she be mad? If there's anyone who should be, it's me, right? She broke up with me. Not that it even matters anymore. Jase, look, it was a long time ago. And like I said, if we had nothing to say about it when we saw each other last, why would we now?" Tommy poured out.

"Well, you were with Kat after Muranthias and then at Trini's funeral it wasn't really appropriate, so those really aren't the best examples. You guys need a chance to really reunite and just talk. Clear the air." Jason said hopefully.

"You know, it's against my better judgement, cause I really don't think this is even an issue anymore, but why not? She's still a friend, right? An old friend, that I haven't seen in awhile. An old friend that I should reconnect with, like I did with Aisha. Two friends, reconnecting." Tommy rambled on, getting more nervous by the second thinking about seeing Kimberly again.

"Two old friends. You just keep telling yourself that." Jason said, smiling to himself, knowing how nervous Tommy was becoming already.

Tommy managed a small laugh. Jason knew him too well. He knew that seeing Kimberly would stir up everything Tommy had tried to forget and disregard as simply a 'failed teenage romance'.

Jason continued, "All right bro, I'll call you in a couple of days and let you know what the plan is."

Tommy nodded as he answered his friend."Right on, Jase. Maybe we can catch up on your love life next time we talk." And with that, Tommy hung up the phone. He finally made his way back to the kitchen to clean up his unfinished dinner. He wrapped the sandwich in some aluminum foil before retreating back upstairs to his study. He wasn't as hungry as he had been before his conversation with Jason. He couldn't explain why, and although it would be a few days before he knew anything, he was already becoming nervous. Seeing Kimberly again was something he had simultaneously looked forward to and dreaded. It didn't seem necessary and yet, all the questions he had ever since their break up seemed to plague him every day. A difficult thing, considering the turn his life had taken after college.

Tommy graduated from high school and went immediately up north to race for his Uncle's race car team. It was a fun gig, for a while. But he got tired of it, and surprisingly, he missed school. He missed the camaraderie he had obtained during his high school years. Of course, his duties as a power ranger weren't quite over yet. He had been sent on one final mission. That's when he received his Turbo powers alongside Adam, Rocky, Tanya, Justin and Kat.

He and Kat were officially dating by then, and he knew that she would be leaving for a professional dance company back in Australia when their final mission ended. He knew that their inevitable, if not amicable breakup was fast approaching, what with all of them ready to return to their normal lives, and he figured that returning to school would be the greatest distraction. Of course, the last thing he expected, occurred. The space pirate, Divatox, the Turbo ranger's newest villain, had kidnapped Jason and Kimberly. Sacrificing them to Maligore, her soon to be husband, and casting an evil spell onto them both.

Tommy could still remember their faces. Jason's was blood thirsty and competitive. A side of Jason that Tommy supposed he possessed somewhere inside of himself, but that he denied, knowing the negative consequences of acting with those intentions. Kimberly's face, was just mean. She had a devil-may-care glint in her eyes and she targeted Tommy and more specifically, Kat.

Tommy shuddered to think that the same qualities he believed to be buried deep inside Jason, were with Kimberly too.

"Well, perhaps not as deep as I thought." Tommy scoffed to himself, then immediately smacked his forehead.

"Okay Tommy, that was unfair. After all, she did end up helping you save Jason." He quickly reminded himself.

Which was true. When Kimberly had been released from the spell, Tommy was barely holding Jason inches above the fiery sacrificial pit of Maligore's. Kimberly ran to him in seconds, I'm with you, she had said.

After Maligore had been destroyed and Divatox was sent packing, Jason joined the rest of the guys to compete in the Karate tournament that they had been practicing for before the attack. Kimberly was there in the stands when they won. But Tommy hadn't spoken to her much. He had immediately raced over to Kat for a congratulatory hug. He remembered feeling a twinge of jealousy, even as he rested in Kat's arms, as he watched Jason and Kimberly embrace each other. He knew it was platonic, and even familial, but he still couldn't help himself. Kat must have noticed, because she quickly released Tommy from her grasp and planted a kiss on his forehead before asking him to share a walk with her along the beach. Which they did. It was the last time he and Kat would walk along the beach like that, hand in hand. Much like he and Kimberly had, right after she lost her powers.

Kat let him down gently. Tommy laughed at the thought.

"Let me down gently! Wow. It was overdue. She was so sweet about the whole thing." He said as he continued to recall his break up conversation with Katherine.

Katherine had simply told him that it was for the best, and that she knew it wasn't meant to be. But she was content with what they had. Even if it would never be what Tommy had with Kim. Tommy thanked Katherine for her compassion, but apologized all the same. He knew what Katherine had confessed was true, but it didn't make it any easier. He had tried to love Katherine the way that he had loved Kimberly, but she was right, it just wasn't meant to be.

After Kat, he and the other rangers, minus Justin, passed on their Turbo powers, Tommy went off to college. He kept in touch with everyone, even Katherine for a while. But the only person he remained in contact with, was Jason. That is, until a few months ago, when he started receiving all those emails from Aisha.

College was everything he had hoped it would be, and then some. Tommy met new friends, went to parties, even went on a few dates. It wasn't until his junior year of college, that his life really started to take shape.

Tommy had been in a biology class with a young woman named, Haley Miller. She was an exchange student from New Zealand with long, wavy, auburn hair. She was intense, intelligent and feisty as all hell. Way out of Tommy's league. But when they got paired up as lab partners, they realized that they actually had quite a bit in common. Haley seemed to share Tommy's wry sense of humor, and they both despised their professor. Haley quickly became one of Tommy's closest friends. She had even managed to get Tommy interested in Paleontology. A science he was never captivated with before, and certainly would have never been had the young lady not been so convincing.

They had been studying over at his apartment one evening, the first time Haley had ever been to Tommy's place, and she noticed all the dinosaur and ancient, mythological creature paraphernalia he seemed to have around his space.

Little did she know, it was all of his old power ranger memorabilia that he had kept for old times sake. But she took it as a fascination with relics of the ages, and convinced him to look into archaeology and palenotology.

So he did. And the next thing he knew, he was in graduate school, studying under a world renowned scientist named, Anton Mercer. Tommy was a quick learner, and his interest, despite it having been provoked by merely trying to impress Haley, was growing. He became one of Dr. Mercer's top students. An achievement that eventually led him to being chosen by Anton himself, to accompany him on a very prestigious dig after graduation.

Dr. Mercer was a genius, if not a bit eccentric. His whole life's work was dedicated to this one archaeological dig. He had been preparing a revolution, so to speak. A new species that combined what was essentially dinosaur DNA with computerized technology. Machines. It was a brilliant idea, at least, that's what Tommy thought when he had first begun helping Anton develop it. Then something went wrong. Something went horribly wrong. The island was destroyed. There was an unforseen fault in the technician's equipment, and the lab and it's subsequent technology blew up. Tommy, miraculously escaped. Dr. Mercer, or so he thought, was not so lucky. Everything they had worked on together for the last three years had been completely decimated.

It wasn't until he returned home, safely, that he realized what he still had in his possession. Three seemingly innocent jewels. Gems. One red, one blue, and one yellow. He hadn't given the rocks much thought when Anton had first placed them in his keeping, thinking they were perhaps merely trinkets. Tokens of remembrance on his first official dig. Boy was he wrong! Had it not been for the eerie glow emanating from the gems and the surreal yet familiar pulses of energy they possessed when held, he would have left them alone. But there was definitely something about these rocks. He could only think of one person who could help him. Haley Miller.

Haley Miller was among other things, a rocket scientist. Literally. Biochemistry, Computer Science, and Engineering were among the myriad of degrees that the 30-year-old woman held under her belt. What she was doing running a coffee shop, Tommy never understood, but she seemed content, so he never bothered her about it. Besides, she had been the one, and only person, he had ever confessed his Power Ranger identity to. He had no choice. When the gems were discovered to contain some hidden energy source, Tommy knew exactly what it meant. Granted, at the time it had only been an inkling, but he had served far too many terms as a ranger, and had held far too many of his own different powers to not know what this 'hidden energy source' could mean.

Tommy knew it would only be a matter of time before the gems would need a receptacle. A place to harness their energies. A person. He and Haley developed their own command center, a laboratory of sorts where they could study and examine the gems themselves, if there were possibly any others, and any other general findings. The bizarre and potentially dangerous aspect of these rocks, was that they seemed to have a specific receptacle in mind. When Haley had held them, they had no effect. No eerie glow, no pulsing energy. When Tommy had held them, a faint glow occurred and a low, murmuring pulse of energy could be felt. But nothing happened. No change in him had transpired. The powers of these gems weren't bonding with him. He assumed the effects he was feeling were simply peripheral from having once been a receptacle of power himself. They just had to wait, and see.

Between the interim of having developed the command center and what was to occur, Tommy had begun teaching in the small town of Reefside. That's where he bought the house he now lived in, the basement of which, housed the command center that he and Haley finally built.

It had been his first day of school that he had finally met the gems' fateful owners. Three of his own students, in fact. Conner McKnight, Ethan James, and Kira Ford. They would go on to become the red, blue and yellow Dino Thunder Rangers, respectively. Then came the black Dino gem. Which, ironically enough, had bonded with Tommy almost immediately. Wasn't he too old for this shit? Apparently not. Then there was an evil white ranger. A white Dino gem had been discovered by Mesagog, the Dino Thunders equivalent to Lord Zedd. Eventually, the white ranger was returned to the good guy's side, revealing himself to be another of Tommy's students, Trent Fernandez. It was also discovered that Anton Mercer had survived the explosion many years ago, and was Trent's adoptive father. The biggest surprise of them all was that Anton Mercer, had been Mesagog. Or rather, Mesagog was trapped inside Anton Mercer. The rest of course, is history, and as the Power Ranger always seemed to do, they defeated Mesagog, after successfully separating Dr. Mercer from his diabolical alter-ego, and the gems were rendered powerless. All those years of study, and those gems that had once contained a power Tommy had not seen since his own power coin, were sucked dry, leaving them, fortunately, useless.

Which brought him all the way back to his present moment. Sitting in his study, at 10 o'clock in the evening, stomach growling, but not wanting to eat, having just had a conversation with his best friend Jason, about potentially seeing Kimberly, the love of his life.

"Ex-love." He grumbled aloud. His mouth slightly dry from having been sitting there recalling the last 10 years of his life without a single utterance.

YOU'VE GOT MAIL! The email browser popped up, revealing a new message that had just been delivered to him.

Tommy chuckled softly, "Aisha Campbell, what the hell do you want now?" He said to his computer screen as he clicked the message screen to open the new email.

"It's from Jason!" Tommy said, surprised. Hadn't he just talked to Jason an hour ago? What could he possibly have to tell him that he couldn't have said then?

Tommy scrolled down to read the memo.

Hey Bro,

Sorry I didn't call you about this, in a hurry. Talked to Kim. She's game. Picking her up tonight. Back in Angel Grove. Long story, she'll explain. We'll be in Reefside in the afternoon. I'll call you before we get there. Be prepared. Shave, look nice. I know you will. Night, bro.

Jase.

Tommy's jaw dropped."WHAT?" That was fast. Jason said he'd call me in a couple of days! DAYS! Not hours!

"Shit!" Tommy said to himself. He had to get ready. He had to prepare himself. He had to clean the house. He had to look presentable. He wasn't ready for this so soon. Tommy begrudgingly shut off his computer and decided to head to bed. He had a lot to think about tonight. And a lot of preparing to do in the morning. Damn it, Jason. Damn it, all!

AN: I don't know Haley's last name, so I made one up. Sorry for all the exposition, but I thought it was appropriate for the story. The drama won't really begin until Kim arrives, anyway. Please R&R! Thanks!