A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates folks, I've been seriously bummed out by the lack of episodes, and there have been a lot of things going on. Still, if the rumours are true, then the season is back this weekend (YAY!)
Just a one-shot to pass the time, hope you all like it.
Legal: I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, characters, places etc. Anything else is to be presumed to be the creation of the author.
Rating: T – May be some adult themes.
The Rangers loved having Serena in the house. She wasn't really a den mother or anything, technically Jayden, Mia and Kevin were a couple of weeks older than her, and Antonio wasn't any more than a month behind her, but she had a quality about her that just seemed to scream "fun aunt".
She had a certain maturity about her that seemed to place her, even above those that were actually older than her. She never really asked for that, she was only old enough to vote and drink by a year or so, but there was a certain perspective that came with facing her own mortality, not simply saying that she accepted it as an inevitability, but genuinely knowing, getting so low that she could actually feel it, that created a whole different perspective on life.
As she cooked up some dinner, Serena smiled while the others cleaned up. She genuinely enjoyed every experience in life now, no matter what. Since she had been returned miraculously to full health by the Swordfish Zord, everything had a whole different meaning for her. From the enthusiastic hug her sister had half-killed her with upon seeing her again, through the fun but bruising game of capture-the-flag game that she had convinced them to have, right down to the simple joy of the smell of frying sausages.
She knew she wouldn't be able to stay long, perhaps only another day or two, but she needed this, and she had a distinct feeling that things were not especially well at the Shiba House either. Another thing that came out of her experience, being within hours of her own death, was that she had a whole new understanding of the subtle nuances of the way people acted when something was wrong. It was palpable around the Shiba House, and she couldn't help but wonder what exactly had gone down that left things so tense that even a game of capture the flag that they had all clearly loved, had an undertone of awkwardness.
She winced slightly as a pair of arms wrapped around her slightly. She had been able to keep the worst of her injuries from her little sister, knowing she would only worry and ask questions she couldn't answer right now. She had seen some cuts and bruises, which Serena had explained away as a riding accident, but that was only going to fly so long.
"You know, I love you too, but I do need to breathe." Serena gasped jokingly, causing Emily to back off a little.
"Sorry, I just really love having you here." Emily told her. "I can't believe Mentor Ji's letting you stay here."
Serena just smiled and nodded. Mentor Ji kind of owed her anyway, something she was cashing in.
"What can I say? He's clearly got good taste." Serena told her. Emily's nose wrinkled.
"Ew, I totally just got a bad mental image there." She replied. Serena just stroked her chin thoughtfully.
"You know, he does have a certain quality..."
"Stop..."
"And he is kind of good-looking for his age..."
"Serena, please stop..."
"And he keeps in shape, not to mention he owns his own house." She continued. "Maybe I should..."
"LALALALALALALALALALALA!" Emily started singing as she covered her ears. Serena loved it when she could make her feel awkward like that. She grabbed her wrists, forcing Emily's hands off her ears.
"Sorry Em, I couldn't resist." She chuckled, holding her tightly. "You know I'm not into older men."
"I think the guy that handed out the bibles at our church group would disagree." Emily sniggered. Serena just sighed and stroked the bridge of her nose.
"You're still reminding me of that?" Serena moaned. "Come on, everyone's allowed one embarrassing crush..."
"You got plastered at the Jenny Fisher's party and planted one on him in front of everybody." Emily continued.
"Uh, yeah, I kind of remember people telling me about that." Serena said, nodding. "We're not all lucky enough to find a saccharine-sweet guy like Mike the first time around."
"He really is amazing." Emily agreed. "Did I show you the pictures from my graduation?"
"Yeah, twice." Serena teased her. "You also told me how amazing your 'prom' was, and how you and he talked for hours..."
"Can you blame me?" Emily asked her, giving her a little smile. "I never thought I'd get this kind of attention. All the guys back home either shoved me into lockers, or they got close to me only to ask if I could talk to you for them."
"Well Mike seems like a good enough guy." Serena assured her. "He's maybe not my type, but he seems like he has his priorities straight."
"His priorities?" Emily asked. Serena just nodded.
"He's already marched into Hell once for you." Serena reminded her, hugging her sister tightly. "Any guy willing to do that for you is alright by me."
"Thanks Serena." Emily replied, parting from her. "It's really important to me that you're cool with him. I could deal with it if mom and dad didn't like him, but I don't know what I'd have done if you didn't..."
"Hey, I didn't say I was entirely cool with the idea he's making the moves on my baby sister." Serena clarified. "I mean, I'm supposed to have the hot boyfriend first to make you super jealous..."
She saw Jayden walking past, and sighed.
"Um...by any chance do you know if Jayden's still available?" Serena asked her.
"I don't think anyone knows what's going on in that head." Emily muttered, leaning on the counter. "Jayden's been really out of sorts for ages now."
"Really?" Serena asked. "Has anyone talked to him?"
"You really don't know Jayden do you?" Emily snorted. "No one talks to him. Not even Antonio anymore."
"Wait, I thought they were really tight." Serena commented.
"They were." Emily commented. "Up until Jayden sucker-punched Antonio and put him on his ass."
"Wait, back up five pages...Jayden hit him?" Serena asked her. "I noticed the black eye, but...you're saying Jayden did that? Why the hell did he do that?"
"Your guess is as good as ours." Emily said with a shrug. Serena could see that her sister was deeply upset by the way things were in the house, but she was trying to be strong, especially in front of Serena about it all. "He won't say anything. He just apologised and stood down as leader of the team. He put Kevin in charge."
"Well at least you know you're all going to be well drilled." Serena chuckled. "How Mia puts up with him, never mind loves him I'll never know."
"That's just mean!" Emily chastised her sister, smacking her in the chest. Serena just held up her hands defensively.
"Whoa, alright, I didn't mean anything by it." Serena assured her. "Jeez, everyone's so on-edge here."
"Sorry, but I really like Mia." Emily sighed. "She was doing so well since she and Kevin got together."
"But?" Serena asked, sensing there was something else Emily had to say. Emily both loved and hated the way her sister could see through her like that. Right throughout her life, Serena had been there for her. The first time a kid was mean to her, she ended up taking a bad fall in softball practice. The first time a guy ripped on Emily for liking her and humiliated her, he 'mysteriously' ended up taking a head-first dive down a flight of stairs. Serena always seemed to know when her little sister was hurting.
"It's just..." Emily tried to find it hard to find the words to say what she wanted to. "It's just that, now I kind of feel like I'm getting in the way."
"Um...alright, can you clarify that for me a little?" Serena asked her.
"Mia and I share a room." Emily reminded her. "They're both getting really close, pretty touchy-feely, you know, like mom and dad after a few too many..."
"Right, I think I get the idea." Serena halted her, holding up a hand.
"It's just; at times I think that maybe I'm in the way." Emily admitted. "You know, like if they had a room to themselves..."
"OK, something tells me that's a conversation you're really going to have with Mia." Serena told her honestly. "I mean, no offence, but if she wants you to clear off for a couple of hours, then I doubt she'll have any problem just saying it."
"I guess it would be nice to know where we all stand." Emily replied.
"Hey, what are big sisters for?" Serena asked her, looking into her eyes. "Go and talk to her. I'm sure Mia will appreciate it if you're just honest about it."
Emily just went off in search of the Pink Ranger, leaving Serena alone in the kitchen. Jayden came in, reaching over her shoulder and picking up a pepper from the pan, shaking it as he did so.
"Ow, damn, ow!" He muttered as he popped it into his mouth. Serena just turned and looked into his face with a little smile.
"I didn't take you for a wimp." She commented. "Or, of course, a dumbass, you do know that things that come out of a frying pan are hot right?"
"I guess." Jayden commented, looking at her a little suspiciously. "Serena..."
"My sister tells me that you're responsible for that shiner Antonio's wearing." She interrupted him abruptly. "Of course, it makes a lot of sense. I have seen Antonio sparring; I don't think there are many people that would get close enough to do that to him."
"Do we really have to do this?" Jayden asked her pleadingly. "I've already told the guys, I'll explain it once I get everything straight in my own head."
"Well since my baby sister's on the team and her life could depend on you, then no. That isn't good enough." Serena told him sharply. She sighed and turned down the plate on the stove.
"Mike, the fajitas will be ready in five minutes!" She yelled through. "Jayden and I are going out."
"We are?" Jayden asked her.
"Well, I could always drag you if that's what you'd prefer." Serena told him. He just grabbed a jersey and followed her as they left.
It was decidedly uncomfortable as they walked. Jayden knew that Serena liked him; she had been anything but subtle about the fact when they had met before. Right now, he was just coming to terms with the truth himself, the last thing he needed was this. Serena just gestured to a table at a cafe, and they sat down. She gestured over a waiter.
"Two bowls of soup and two milkshakes." She told him, before turning back to Jayden. "Alright, what happened?"
"We had a fight." Jayden told her.
"Yeah, I got that part." Serena said, rolling her eyes in disbelief. "I was hoping for a little more detail."
"Look, Serena..."
"I know we don't know each other that well, but the way Emily talks about you, I feel like I do." She interrupted him. "Please, you can trust me."
"I'm not exactly big on talking about myself." He said with a weak laugh. He noticed that Serena was not sharing the laugh though.
"Any burden is easier if it's shared." Serena told him. "My mom always taught us that."
"I'd love to tell you, but I'm not too sure about it myself right now." Jayden admitted.
"Well, how about we start with what you do know?" Serena asked him. He smiled a little as he looked into her eyes, seeing something in them that Emily had always told him about, the undefined quality that meant she could be trusted.
"I've been...discovering things...about myself." He told her. "It's been kind of difficult."
"I'm not sure I follow." Serena admitted.
"The thing is, I never really thought about it before now." Jayden admitted. "When Mia was chasing me, I just thought I wasn't interested in her."
Serena just listened on as their milkshakes arrived, knowing that Jayden was telling her something important.
"I know you like me, and I never had the guts to just tell you that I didn't feel that way about you." Jayden admitted. "The thing is, I haven't felt that way about anyone. Until...pretty recently."
"Well, being turned down isn't the most flattering of things." Serena admitted. "So who's the lucky lady?"
"That's just it, it isn't a lady." Jayden sighed. "It's taken me a while to figure it out, but the fact is, I'm gay."
Serena just smiled, hearing this.
"Well, I suppose it's a little better it's not just me personally you're rejecting." Serena admitted.
"Having Antonio around has been great, it really has." Jayden told her. "He's brought back so many memories, and the others have said how I've changed, but the thing is, he has brought up something else."
"Emily told me." Serena stated. "I know he's gay."
"I guess it just kind of made me uncomfortable, bringing stuff forward that I wasn't ready to face yet." Jayden admitted shamefully. "I didn't really want to hurt him; I'd never really want to hurt him."
"He is your best friend." Serena stated.
"I doubt that's the case anymore." Jayden sighed as he stirred his milkshake slowly with his straw. "He accepted my apology for the punch, but it's a long way from how it was."
"What about him made you so uncomfortable?" Serena asked him. "I mean, sure he's gay, but he let you know that right from the word go."
"I think that was the main problem." Jayden told her. "He was so open about it, that it just opened me up to a whole lot of things that I hadn't really thought about."
"Are you talking about just your mind?" Serena asked him.
"You're starting to sound like Ji." He chuckled.
"I'm starting to wonder why just getting you thinking about this stuff would make you take a swing for a guy who trusted and admired you so much he clearly didn't even try to defend himself." Serena replied. "Are you sure the only reason you did that was because he made you stop lying to yourself?"
"Emily said you were good, but I never would have thought you were this good." Jayden admitted, before nodding sadly. "Yeah, I haven't just figured out that I'm gay. I've been having...thoughts."
"Well, I guess that makes a lot more sense." Serena replied. "I can't say I'm not disappointed, I mean, you are pretty cute, but if I'm going to lose you to anyone, I guess another guy is better than another girl."
"This isn't funny Serena!" He snapped. "It's tearing me apart! I don't know what to do, what to say! I'm all over the place!"
"Well, at least you realise that." Serena told him, taking his hand softly. "Do you want to know the best thing I've heard in all this?"
He shook his head, but she just placed her other hand on his.
"You stepped down as leader." She told him. "It says a lot about you that you knew this was putting your team in danger and you value their safety over everything else."
"Listen, I will tell the others in time, it's just...not easy." Jayden told her. "Um...I know it's a lot to ask, especially since I know how close you are to Emily..."
"I won't say anything." She assured him. "Just...don't leave it too long. My sister comes first, and if it's a contest between keeping your confidence and Emily's safety, then there isn't really a contest."
"I guess I can live with that." Jayden responded, looking to her. "Thank you Serena."
"Hey, I'm a Samurai too." She told him, kissing him on the cheek. "For what it's worth though, whether it's convenient or not, sometimes the best thing is full disclosure."
"You mean tell the others?" He asked her.
"I mean tell Antonio." She clarified. "I mean, he does have a right to know why you tried to cave his face in."
"I don't know if I can do that." Jayden admitted. "It's been hard enough getting this far."
"You owe it to him." Serena continued. "And you owe it to yourself."
Jayden just leaned in, kissing her cheek, before hugging her tightly. Little did they know that a little way off, someone was watching, someone who was getting an idea. A smile crossed his face as he disappeared into a gap.
Fin.