It had taken a while until the process of recovery happened, but at least it was happening. Emma was finally starting to move on. The pain of her past was finally starting to fade away, and she was starting to become more like her old self. Though she was still far from it, it was progress. She was able to open up to Gia a bit more, and even expressed some of her fears to Gia's parents.

Now, Emma had to face one of the hardest things to say. She planned on talking to Troy and the others about what had happened to her. They didn't need to know everything, but they had a right to know something. After all, they were there for Emma during the whole time. Gia was right; it was time for her to be able to trust them all completely. They were a team, and a team needs to be able to trust one another. This was a start.

Troy noticed the nervous look on Emma's face and gave her a soft smile. "Take your time, it's really no rush."

The five rangers were all gathered at Ernie's BrainFreeze. They all had heard that Emma was ready to talk to them, so they all met up as soon as possible. Gia was sitting next to Emma on one side of the booth while the boys managed to squeeze in on the other side

"I'm sorry." Emma looked down at her hands.

"For what?" Noah asked.

"You shouldn't have been caught up in all of that. You guys didn't deserve it."

"Oh, and if we're apologizing, I'd like to say that I'm sorry for the way I acted." Gia added apologetically.

"You were just trying to be a good friend. You knew Mr. Goodall for years; I don't blame you for the way you acted." Troy replied.

"And Emma," said Jake. "You don't have to apologize for all of this. We were happy to help a friend in need." Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement.

"Yeah, we already know the gist of what happened. You don't have to explain any further." Noah pointed out.

"How about we all go to the beach? I don't know about you, but it's freaking hot right now." Jake complained while fanning himself.

"That sounds like a great idea. We can get a chance to wind down and relax after everything that's happened." Troy looked to Emma. "You can get your mind off of your whole father thing too."

"I don't know." Emma said hesitantly.

"It'll be fun, I promise."

Emma looked at everyone. "You're all really okay with his?"

"Of course." They all said in unison.

"To the beach!" Jake yelled as he stood up, eager to run out the door. This earned him a few weird looks from the other customers in the store.

"Oh Jake." Gia shook her head in disappointment.

-Team bonding-

It took the rangers a couple of hours to finally pack and get ready, but now they were finally at Harwood's refreshing beach. It was a nice, clear ocean with a few rocky areas, but all in all, it was beautiful. The sand was a soft golden brown along with a few spots perfect for sand castle building.

The rangers agreed that they would take turns watching everyone's stuff on the shore while the others could do whatever they wanted. The first shift belonged to Noah, then to the next volunteer. This way, everyone's things would be safe, and they would all get a chance to have fun.

"What are we waiting for? There's a whole ocean in front of us!" Jake yelled in excitement as she rushed to the waters.

"I'll go keep an eye on that idiot." Gia rolled her eyes and followed Jake.

Troy faced Emma. "How about you? What do you wanna do?"

"I think I'll just go accompany Noah." Emma turned around and started to walk off to Noah's direction

Troy grabbed Emma's wrist gently. "We're supposed to be having fun."

"I'll go have fun watching the stuff then."

"I'll go with you."

Troy couldn't see it, but Emma's lips started to curl into a smile. Troy had always been so sweet to her even though he didn't know how for a long time. All the other guys were nice to her, but there was just something different about Troy.

"You coming?" Emma's thought were interrupted when Troy called out to her.

"Yeah!" Emma jogged to Troy.

Meanwhile, Jake and Gia were having a splash in the water. Even though it was just the two of them, it seemed like were really enjoying themselves. The water was perfect. It wasn't freezing cold, but at the same time, it wasn't scorching hot either. It was just what they needed for a hot day like theirs.

"JAKE!" Gia screamed as Jake picked her up.

"I think the fishes want you to pay them a visit. I heard that they missed you." Jake smirked.

"No! No! No!" Gia was lightly punching Jake, but to no avail, Jake dunked her head under the water, and then dropped her completely.

Jake was laughing his butt off until he realized that Gia wasn't coming back up for air. He looked around, but didn't see Gia at all for at least three straight minutes.

"Gia!" Jake yelled.

Panic overwhelmed Jake as he splashed everywhere, searching for Gia. Suddenly, he was pulled down in the water himself.

Jake and Gia both got up at the same time, except Gia was the one laughing.

"Gotcha!" Gia chuckled.

"How did you…."

"I used to swim when I was younger. I can hold my breath underwater for at least 5 straight minutes without any problems."

"Why you little…" But Jake was interrupted when a giant splash hit his face.

"Wow Jake," Gia laughed. "You picked a really good place this time. I'm having a blast."

"I should've picked a waterproof place." Jake pouted, but then smiled once he saw Gia's happy face.

Back on the shore, Troy and Emma were making a sandcastle together near all of the ranger's stuff. Noah was relieved of his security duty and went to join Jake and Gia in the water.

"Hey Troy, can I ask you something?"

Troy momentarily stopped his sandcastle building and met Emma's gaze. "What's up?"

"I heard from Gia that you were the first one to find out about my dad. How'd that happen?"

"Well, we were both worried for you. I just didn't know your dad well enough to have the same trust Gia did. That's pretty much why I was suspicious."

"The others didn't pursue as much as you and I don't blame them. But you… why did you keep going?"

"Because I really care about you." Troy admitted.

"I'm guessing you care about me than more than just a friend?"

"Yeah." Troy said honestly while looking down.

"Troy.." Emma grabbed his hand. "I really appreciate everything you've done, and I really care for you too…" Troy lifted his head with some hope in his eyes.

"But I'm not ready yet. It wouldn't be fair for you or me if we started any other relationship besides our friendship. I'm still getting over you know what, and I want to start things off slowly. Please don't be mad."

Emma's words struck Troy in the heart, but he couldn't be upset. Emma had a valid point, and it's not like she didn't like him back. Heck, she even admitted that she had feelings for him too.

"I'm not mad." Troy spoke softly. "I'm happy you were honest. It's not like we can't be friends. We can start things off slowly like you said until we get to know each other more. I promise that I'll try not cross any boundaries and to treat you just as a friend."

Emma smiled brightly when she heard those words. "Thank you." Emma gave Troy a hug before going back to her sandcastle.

Troy suddenly came up with an idea and knocked over their sandcastle.

"Hey!" Emma pouted teasingly.

"How about we make this a little more fun? Best sandcastle has to buy smoothies for everyone later."

"You're on!" Emma gave a playful smirk and began to work on her masterpiece.

After thirty minutes of building, Troy and Emma looked at each other's sandcastle. Troy's eyes widened at Emma's artistic skills and immediately knew who was going to win..unless…

"Whoops." Troy accidentally stepped on Emma's castle.

"Hey! You cheated!"

"No one said that we couldn't touch each other's sandcastle." Emma punched Troy on the arm lightly.

"Hey cheater, how about you turn around." Emma said as she started giggle.

Troy turned around just in time to see Noah and Gia chasing Jake on the beach. Before anyone could do anything, Jake stepped all over Troy's sandcastle.

"Aw man." Troy complained.

"Cheaters get what they deserved." Emma laughed. "I say Jake has to pay for our next smoothie trip."

"I agree." Gia responded as she tackled Jake to the ground. "This punk dunked both me and Noah and then ran away."

"It's so worth it though! You should've seen the look on their faces." Jake said as he was pinned on the ground.

"Is it worth it now?" Gia shoved Jake's face into the ground, earning him a mouthful of sand.

Emma leaned in close to Troy. "What're we going to do with those two?"

Gia turned and looked at Emma and Troy. She saw the old Emma making a comeback and smiled. Then, she turned back to Jake and pushed his head into the ground again.

"Eat sand you dirt bag!"

"Remind me to never get Gia angry unless we want a hulk." Troy whispered back.

"Do you want a mouthful of sand too Troy?" Gia glared at Troy.

"Sorry."