Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Ninja Steel or Megaforce.

It was strange how love and hate could co-exist. For instance, Gia had both loved and hated her time as a Ranger. She loved and hated her partner Jordan. She loved and hated her job.

She really did love her job. She had long since accepted the fact that there would be bad people in the world. Despite everything, there would always be someone who wanted to hurt someone else. There would always be someone who wanted to play with the rules for personal gain. There was always someone who didn't care about the rules. Hell, Gia was one to play with, or even outright ignore the rules. She could understand the compulsion.

Power was a tricky state and emotion. Being a Power Ranger herself, Gia had felt the pull that it had. She had people's lives in her hands, and there was nothing that could stop her from doing whatever she wanted with it.

Power, though tricky, wasn't dangerous on its own. On its own, power was just strength. When coupled with intention, that's when power could reveal its true force.

Gia still had power. As a Silver Guardian, she had the power to control many cities, including, but not limited to Angel Cove, Harwood County, Amber Beach, and Summer Cove. She had the power to influence the lives of anyone living within those city limits, as well as anyone who had a relationship to those cities. Often, Gia was in awe with just how far spread her power really was. Fortunately, her intentions were good, which meant her power was good. She wanted to help and protect people. She wanted to use her powers to make sure people felt happy, safe and free. Her power was used to make people's days just a little bit better.

Gia loved her job, but she also hated it. She hated that she wasn't the only one with power. She hated that there were people out there who were just as powerful than her. It wasn't that she felt threatened by their power. No; she could match their power easily. Between the resources of being a Silver Guardian, and the power that came with being a Power Ranger, there were few people whose power posed a real threat to her.

It was their intention that threatened Gia. Their intention to use their powers for personal gain that really made Gia's blood boil.

Power alone was neither good or bad. Power gained its force, its influence, from intent.

And right now, the intention was to hurt. Gia needed to stop that hurt. Unfortunately, it hurt her too.

Since the article condemning the LGBT community had come out, many people felt validated in their belief that the existence of these people was a problem. While many people were just being vocal, and there was nothing against the law regarding speech, some were taking it even further. Gia and Jordan already had to handle Sarah's case, where she had been attacked in the street simply for being bisexual. They hoped that would be the start and the end of it. Unfortunately, many people were unhappy, and they felt they had been silenced for too long.

Gia did not understand it. It wasn't a feeling she was used to, but she was completely dumbfounded by their belief. Her younger brother and sister were being raised by her two mothers, and they were turning into extraordinary people. They were sharing a similar upbringing to her own, having grown up with a mother and a father. It was almost like the sex of their parents didn't matter as much as the love, the care, and the attention they received.

Her two mothers would also regularly babysit and care for her daughter and nephew. They would always come home smiling, happy, and healthy. They were safe, and they could express, in their own way, how they had the best grandmothers in the world. They were just as happy and just as comfortable in their grandmothers' home as they were with Jake's mom and dad. Again, it was as if the sex of their grandparents didn't matter as much to them as the love, the care, the attention, and the fun they had being with their grandparents.

Clearly, the argument that same-sex relationships was harmful to young children was wrong. Plain and simple.

As for how anyone could possibly explain a same-sex relationship to a young child who witness two people of the same sex holding hands, kissing, or being overly affectionate… Gia really hadn't had to explain it yet. Dylan was still too young to understand marriage at all, Joe and Ciara had only ever known their grandmothers as a couple and Ryan seemed to instinctively understand that her mothers loved each other and wanted to be together. She had asked once what happened to her father, but never why she had two mothers instead of only one.

It didn't hurt the children. It wasn't hurting anyone. Her mothers had never caused harm to anyone because they were in a relationship. So this violence was unnecessary.

Unfortunately, the reporter who had written the article had given power to a group of people who had the wrong intentions, and now it was up to Gia, Jordan, and their team at the Silver Guardians to once again use their powers to help.

Gia had explained this to Jake over a video chat. He was away for work. Playing for the national team kept him quite busy during the summer months and required that he travel to play in games. It made life a little difficult for the young couple, especially for Ciara who couldn't understand why her dad wasn't home all the time, but Jake was living his dream. He was so happy, and Gia couldn't take that away from him. Not to mention, the career of an athlete never lasted long. Jake had only a few good years ahead of him, then he would be able to retire and settle down at home. He would be in Ciara's life all the time then. In the meantime, he always made the best of the time he had with her during the off season, and Gia was sure to travel to visit him as often as she could so the family would have time together at least every couple of weeks.

He told her to keep her chin up, and to keep fighting for the cause she believed in. Good did have a funny way of always beating out the bad, if it was willing to fight. If she took the lead, people would follow. She knew Jake was right, and then let him chat with Ciara for a bit before the call had to end. Jake had been called to practice.

The evening finished off with Ciara, Joe and Tiger playing together in the backyard while Gia watched from the patio. She watched her daughter giggle and smile as she played with her cousin and the large cat, and continued to think about the journalist who wrote the article; how he had abandoned his daughter over something so insignificant as her being a lesbian.

Gia tried to imagine herself in his shoes. One thing she had learned in her years as a Silver Guardian was that the bad guys didn't believe they were bad. Their actions were justified in their mind, in some twisted way. If Gia knew how to understand them, she could connect with them and get what she wanted. She tried with the journalist, and with every other parent who had ever tossed their kids out on the streets.

She didn't understand. There was no way that she could put it where it would make sense to her. There was nothing she wouldn't do for her daughter. There was nothing about parenting that was too hard or not worth it. And there was nothing, absolutely nothing, that Ciara could do, and there was no one Ciara could become that would force Gia to turn her back on her daughter. She would always be there for Ciara. She would always be the one person Ciara could depend on with anything.

Hell, Ciara could transition into a man and want to call herself Cliff and Gia would accept it. It would be hard, mostly because of the name, but Gia would welcome her son Cliff into her life. Adapting to that name being back into her life would be nowhere near as hard as losing her child.

As Tiger came over to rest from playing with the toddlers, Gia looked to the cat and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't get it," she said. "I don't get why people have so much hate. Do you?"

Tiger shook her head and was about to settle next to Gia when her ears twitched and her attention turned to the fence. Harwood County had suffered from being destroyed when the Armada attacked, and as a result, it was still being rebuilt now. The city, which was more of a town at this point, was quiet, and Gia didn't have neighbours except Jordan and Emma, who shared their backyard.

There was no walking trail along the backyard, and no road. There was no reason for anyone to be on the other side of the fence. But when Tiger lunged with a loud roar, Gia knew something was up.

And then she heard the cry – words she dared not repeat even in her thoughts. Words she wished her daughter and nephew would never have to hear.

Words that confirmed that what followed next was an attack. It was intentional, it was malicious, and it was hate.

Pure, unimaginable, unforgivable hate.

Something flew over the fence as the words were uttered and it landed in the backyard. Gia had no idea what it was except that it was in a water bottle, but it terrified her more that anything. She gave Tiger full freedom to chase after the one responsible for it while she tried to get the kids away.

Suddenly, the water bottle burst.

Nothing would hurt Gia more than losing her child.