Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
The house was strangely quiet. Usually when at least three of the Rangers were home there was some noise being made. Either the noise would be coming from Mike's video games, two Rangers chatting, someone training outside or in the dojo, or some kind of accident being made.
But the house was silent. After coming home from a battle against a Nighlok, Antonio was exhausted. No one could blame him. He had finally gotten Mike's symbol programmed into the Black Box, but he had run into another problem. Now that all the symbols were programmed into the Black Box Antonio had to figure out how to get them to work together. He thought the box would do it automatically, but the past red Rangers hadn't been able to program it to do so because he had never been able to get all the symbols into the Box. This task was a lot more draining than the last, as it required total focus and cooperation from all the symbols and the folding Zords. So, when Antonio had to rush into battle after using all his energy trying to program the box again, he had completely drained himself and decided to crash in his bed until winter, or so he said.
Jayden had also gone to his and Antonio's room. Master Xandred's attacks were starting to become a little more frequent, and he wanted to make sure he was ready to lead his team to victory. He was working hard on perfecting the sealing symbol and the only way he could study was in total silence. Thankfully, Antonio didn't snore like Mike.
Mia and Kevin never came home after the battle. They had decided to take the rest of the afternoon off to see a movie together. They hadn't quite decided which movie exactly, but the other Rangers figured Mia would talk Kevin into seeing the newest romantic comedy that had come out. She usually got her way when it came to choosing movies.
Mike and Emily were in the backyard. Emily was on the bench while Mike was rolling around on his skateboard. He hadn't gotten much chance to ride lately and he was taking advantage of the fact that no one else was around to show off his skills to Emily. She did seem rather impressed at first, but now she was starting to look bored.
Mike rolled over to the bench and stopped right in front of her. He kicked his board up and grabbed it before suddenly holding it out for Emily to take.
"Your turn."
Emily looked up, eyes wide. Mike had only ever offered to teach her how to "shred" once, and she had quickly changed the subject. She wasn't as bad as before, but she still considered herself to be clumsy, and putting her on a skateboard was asking for trouble. She shook her head frantically.
"No way! Are you kidding? Someone's going to die if I try."
"Don't be silly," Mike chuckled. He unbuckled his helmet and placed it on her head. "What's the worst that can happen?"
"The board slips out from under me and flies up in the air. You'll try to catch it before it falls and breaks and it'll hit you in the head, rendering you unconscious and you'll die before we can treat you."
Mike frowned. It took him a moment to respond.
"You, uh… you thought that one through."
"There are no such things as accidents," Emily nodded. "Everything can be prevented."
"If I promise not to try and catch the board when it flies up will you try?" Mike asked her. "C'mon, Em, it's fun. You'll love it once you get going."
Emily shook her head again, "No way. If you don't die, I might."
"You'll just be rolling around," Mike laughed. "I won't let you go, I swear. I'm not going to ask you to do anything you're not comfortable doing, okay."
He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. He placed the skateboard on the ground in front of her and motioned for her to put a foot on it. Emily readjusted the helmet so it was secure on her head and fastened the chin strap tightly. She looked at Mike again.
"I don't like this…"
"One foot, Em," Mike smiled, "I won't let you go, I promise."
Emily stuck her tongue out at Mike as she placed one foot on the board and quickly took it off. She looked up at her boyfriend.
"There."
"You can do better than that," he let go of her hand and placed his hands on her hips, "Try both feet."
"No. It will roll out from under me, I know it will."
Mike sighed and placed his feet one either side of the board, just beside the wheels so they couldn't roll. He looked back at Emil with a smile.
"It's solid. Just step up."
"Don't let go."
"I won't," he promised her. Emily gave him one last look before stepping up on the board carefully. Mike never let go of her hips and steadied her as he moved his feet away from the wheels. When Emily was standing on the board without any help, aside from his hands holding her hips, he looked up at her and smiled.
"See," he chuckled, "it isn't so bad, huh? How about we try moving side to side."
"No."
"So negative," Mike laughed again and slowly he began to move her hips for her which caused the skateboard to roll side to side gently. Emily felt the board moving under her feet and she grabbed Mike's arms to steady herself.
"Don't let go!"
"I haven't!" Mike smiled and suddenly he took a step sideways and he pulled Emily with him. Emily felt that she wasn't just rolling from side to side anymore. She was actually moving. She let out a squeak and squeezed Mike's arms.
"Stop!"
"You're doing fine," he looked into her eyes with a big smile. "You're not going to fall, I promise."
"I want to get off."
"Em, you're doing great. You're a natural. Let's just roll to the side of the house and then back. If you still want to get off, I'll let you and we'll never speak of this again."
"I hate you," Emily muttered and Mike chuckled. He walked her across the yard, all the way to the side of the house. Just before she hit the wall he stopped her.
"Reach out and touch it."
"Not letting go," Emily shook her head.
"I've got you. I won't let you roll away or fall," he reassured her again, "Just reach out with one hand, touch the wall, and then we'll roll back and you can get off."
With a shaky hand, Emily reached for the wall and touched it before pulling back quickly and grabbing Mike's arm again. Her quick movements nearly knocked her off balance, but Mike kept his word and never let her fall. After surviving that, Emily felt she could trust him a little more and loosened her grip on his arms slightly. Mike felt her starting to relax and smiled.
"Atta girl," he said. "Ready to head back?"
Emily nodded as Mike slowly rolled her back to the bench. This time she enjoyed the ride. When he stopped her so she could get off, she didn't move. Mike took the hint and smirked.
"More?" he asked.
"A little. Don't let go."
"I won't, but…" Mike pulled his hands away from her hips and took her right hand with his left, while his right held her arm at the elbow. He offered her another grin and pointed to the training dummy, "We're going to around the dummy and come back. Sound good?"
"How do you go around?"
"Just do as I say," Mike told her and he started to roll her towards the dummy. Just as they started to pass it Mike told her to tilt the board slightly to the right and promised her he would catch her if she slipped. Trusting her boyfriend, Emily did as she was told. It wasn't the perfect turn, and Mike had to help her in the end, but Emily made it around the dummy and Mike rolled her right back to the bench, this time taking her a little faster.
When he stopped her at the bench he saw her smiling again. He leaned forward and kissed her.
"That wasn't so scary, huh?"
"Terrifying," Emily answered, "But thanks for making me do it."
"How about you try going straight on your own?" Mike offered just as Emily was about to step off the skateboard. She looked at him, eyes wide.
"By myself?"
"I won't be far, I promise," he kissed her again before letting her go. Emily placed her arm on his shoulder. She wanted to steady herself before going off on her own. She didn't want to lose her balance and fall. When Mike saw she was steady he gently pushed her forward. He couldn't help but smile when he saw her rolling forward. He was a little worried he had pushed her too hard and she would fall off the training mat and onto the grass, but she slowed to a stop just in time. Turning her head to Mike, she had a wide grin on her face.
"I did it!"
"Booya!" Mike cried happily as he pumped his fist in the air and walked over to her. When he was beside her he held out his hand and helped her off the skateboard. Suddenly, just as Emily took her first foot off the skateboard, it slipped out from under her and she slipped with it. The board shot out one way while Emily fell the other. Mike quickly reached out and caught her before she hit the ground.
"I told you!" Emily shrieked as Mike wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back to her feet.
"No one died, Em," Mike chuckled. "I'm alive, aren't I?"
Emily pulled away from him so she could examine him. He was standing right there in front of her. She could hear his voice and she could smell his scent (a mix of aftershave and sweat, the latter a result of him not yet having showered after defeating the Nighlok). Sure enough, he was alive.
But she just had to be sure. She jabbed her finger into his chest.
"Ow," Mike rubbed the spot she poked and looked down at her, "What was that for?"
Emily leaned into him, "Just making sure you weren't dead."
"Why would I die?" Mike laughed. He hugged her tight and kissed the top of her head as she rested it against his chest. "That would mean I would have to leave you."
"You're starting to sound cheesy," Emily giggled and looked up at Mike. He leaned forward to kiss her but she pulled away just before their lips met. She grabbed the skateboard and set it on the ground before taking a seat on the board with her legs crossed and she was facing forward. She looked up at Mike. "This feels safer."
"You look silly," he laughed.
"I like this better," Emily told him. "Lower center of gravity and I'm closer to the ground, my element. Whoever thought of standing up on this stupid plank of wood on wheels was stupid."
She placed her hands on the ground and pushed herself forward. Mike had to laugh, especially when she didn't get very far. He walked up behind her and placed his hands on her back.
"Let me help," he told her just as he gave her a big push. Emily raced across the yard. Again, Mike worried he pushed her a little too hard. Now he was nervous she was going to crash right into the Shiba House. Thankfully for him and Emily, Kevin and Mia stepped out of the house after just getting back from the movies. They heard the house was quiet and wanted to know where everyone was. They were lucky enough to find Emily and Mike outside, and stepped out of the house just in time to nearly be the victims of a skateboard accident.
Mia jumped out of the way before Emily could take her out and Kevin stopped Emily before she ran into him. He knelt down, grabbed her by the arms, and looked her in the eyes as she giggled.
"What are you doing?"
"Mike was teaching me to skateboard," she laughed, tapping the front of the board with her hand. "I don't like his way, so I'm doing it my way."
"Of course you are," Kevin shook his head and turned to Mia. She had recovered from her near-crash and was now chuckling at the scene.
"Someone's going to get hurt," she turned to Mike. "You realise there's a good chance one of you could end up in the ER."
"I wouldn't let that happen," Mike smirked. He walked over to Emily and Kevin and pulled his girlfriend up. "We took it slow, right Em."
"Your way was stupid," Emily stuck her tongue out at him again. "I like my way better."
"Of course you do," Kevin chuckled.
"How about we head inside before someone gets killed?" Mia suggested and she was confused when Mike and Emily started giggling to themselves. She shrugged it off, though and started making her way to the door.
Emily unbuckled the helmet and gave it back to Mike. He took it and was about to set it down on the bench when he heard a scream. Emily had turned around and started to follow Kevin and Mia as they headed inside, but forgot the skateboard was still at her feet. Not only was she startled when her foot hit a surface earlier than expected, but she was also taken by surprise when that surface slipped right out from under her for the second time and she hit the ground hard.
"Emily! Are you okay?" Mia, Kevin and Mike were kneeling by her side in a moment to check up on her.
Emily sat up. She could feel she would have a nice collection of bruises, but aside from that she was fine. She nodded her head.
"Yeah. I guess I should have seen that coming."
"I did warn you," Mia smirked. She pulled her best friend to her feet and checked one more time to make sure Emily was okay. While she did that, Mike took the helmet and placed it back on Emily's head. The yellow Ranger turned to her boyfriend with a glare and a frown. He shrugged in response.
"Old habits die hard, apparently," he laughed. "Maybe this is safer, at least until we find the bubble wrap."
Emily glared at her boyfriend for a moment but Mike never let the smile slip off his face, and soon Emily found herself smiling as well. She pulled the helmet off her head and shoved it into Mike's chest.
"I'm never skateboarding again."
"You loved it," Mike replied with a smirk as he took the helmet and set it aside. Emily shook her head.
"Nope. It's stupid, and anyone who does it is stupid."
"I'm hurt!"
Emily pointed to her butt, "Me too!"
"Know what'll make it feel better?" Mike grinned and stole a kiss from Emily. She smiled back when they pulled apart and then remembered Kevin and Mia were still standing next to her. She turned to the older couple and took Mike's hand.
"Excuse us," she laughed as she pulled him away, "We're going for ice-cream."
Mia and Kevin followed the yellow and green Rangers into the house and saw they were headed for the other door to leave. They couldn't help but tease their younger teammates.
"Don't stay out too late!" Mia called.
"Have her home by ten!" Kevin added. "We have training in the morning!"
"Yeah, yeah," Mike waved the two of them off as he held the door open for Emily, letting her leave the house first.
When they were gone, Mia leaned into Kevin. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. Mia smiled.
"They grow up so fast, huh?"