Mike/Emily
"Paper Hearts"
He hates being sick.
Not only is he confined to his bed, but it makes his body all weak and sore, and how is he supposed to catch up to Jayden if he isn't allowed to train?
The screen slides open and he assumes that it's just Mentor Ji checking up on him since the others were due for their scheduled sword training right about now. That's why he arches an eyebrow in surprise as he sees her bouncy curls and bright face staring back at him, holding a tray in her arms.
"Hi Mike!" she greets. "How are you feeling?"
"Mad, because I'm stuck in here while you guys are out there," he admits. He doesn't care if he sounds whiney. This is Emily and she can tell these things anyway, so why hide it?
"I hate seeing you like this," she pouts. However, her mood shifts in that same second. "But don't worry! I'm going to try and help. I already talked to Mentor about it and he said as long as we make up the lost hours when you're feeling better, he didn't mind a bit!"
"Em, that isn't necessary."
"Nonsense!" she exclaims as she sits down beside his bed and sets down the tray.
He sees she has a metal basin filled with water and ice with a small towel soaking in it, a hot bowl of soup, and a stack of colorful square paper on her tray.
"I brought all of this to help." She takes the towel out of the basin and wrings it before folding it up into a rectangular strip. "My sister always did this kind of stuff to help me whenever I got sick and it always made the cold go away quickly!" She puts the towel on his forehead and smiles at the way he shivers a little, sighing at the cold.
"That feels amazing."
She nods in agreement. "And I made you soup! You can eat it once it cools down. That always makes me feel better."
"You thought of everything, Em." His eyes land on the third item on the tray and he arches an eyebrow at her. "What's with the paper?"
She looks at the stack as if suddenly remembering it was there, and her face lights up. "Oh!" she exclaims, pulling the top piece and beginning to fold. "I thought I'd keep you company for the rest of the day, and to pass the time, I'm going to make you origami. I can even teach you some, if you're up to it!"
He sort of just stares at her for a minute as she continues folding.
When she makes the last crease, she smiles in satisfaction and holds the yellow origami heart for him.
"From my heart to yours!" she exclaims giddily, and when he takes it from her, she takes a new piece of paper and gets to work on another.
He smiles at her and thinks it's cute (not that he'll ever admit it) how she gets this little dimple between her eyebrows when she is hard at work trying to help someone.
"Hey Emily?"
"Hmm?"
"Thanks for this."
She pauses and looks at him, their eyes lingering.
He swears her entire face is practically glowing as she smiles widely and sings, "You're welcome!"
They spend the rest of the afternoon laughing and exchanging stories as she folds different animals and stars and various other objects. Once he has drained his soup, she tries to teach him but he can only really get a few decent ones. It surprises the both of them when Mentor interrupts and says it's only minutes to curfew because the time seemed to have flown by.
She plants a kiss "for good health" upon his forehead and gathers her tray, leaving her army of origami lined up in the corner and bidding him goodnight before leaving.
When he is awake the next morning, he feels entirely reenergized.
"Glad to see you're feeling better. And you're up early today," Jayden greets him in the hallway. "Would you like to join me for training?"
He flashes his patented competitive smile. "You bet!" And he follows the red ranger down the hallway to get changed.
But not without slipping into the room of the peacefully sleeping yellow ranger and leaves a green origami heart onto the pillow beside her.
"Thanks, Em."
It just needed to be written!
(This was taken from "You Saw Me Start to Believe" because I disassembled the drabbles there and turned them into their own posts.)