Legal: I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, characters, places, events etc. Anything not covered by the above rights should be presumed to be purely the creation of the author.

Rating: T – may be some mild adult themes.

Emily arrived in the living room, finding Mike dancing around and couldn't help but chuckle. It had been a couple of days since he had spoken to her in the garden, and she had been thinking about him a lot.

He was in his training uniform, and she was a little surprised he had so much energy given that he was given a 500 push up punishment by Master Ji as a result of being late yet again. She never really understood how he could be late pretty much every day since they all lived on academy grounds, but she couldn't deny she loved to watch him doing punishment drills, especially when he took his top off to do them.

She had long since resigned herself to the fact she was hopelessly crushing on the guy. He was good looking, that had never been lost on her. She had noticed it from the moment they first met, but it went beyond that. He was brave, smart, cool, all the things she wasn't. She had already resigned herself to the fact that her crush was all one-way though.

When she had kissed him, he didn't say a word. Since then, he had never said anything about it. It broke her heart. She hated feeling this way, she knew how he felt, but since then he hadn't even acknowledged what she had done, even to just tell her that it was all in her head and that it wasn't going to happen.

As he did a spin, he stopped as he saw her. She looked amazing to him, but then she always did. Although she always protested otherwise, he had thought of her as beautiful since the moment he met her all those months ago. She was beautiful, but unlike most of the pretty faces he had met in his life, she didn't rely on it, or use it. Indeed, if anything, she constantly turned her back on it and was almost apologetic about it. She never believed what anyone told her whenever they complimented her. In many ways, it was one of the things that drew him to her. She had a quality about her that made him want to take care of her. When he carried her on his back after the battle with Negatron, feeling her head resting on his shoulder just felt right.

"Um...I was just..."

"What are you doing?" She asked him, coming into the room. He gestured to the controller in his right hand.

"I'm playing the Wii." He told her. "Dance Hero."

"There's a game about dancing?" She asked him.

"Yeah, the song comes on and you just follow the directions on the screen." He explained. "Um...do you want to give it a try?"

Emily smiled as she heard this. Although she wanted more, she loved that he wanted to include her in something that meant so much to him. She knew that gaming was a big part of his life, the friends he had defended against the Nighlock were guys he hung out with at the arcade. Most of his stories somehow revolved around games, he even had trophies and medals he'd sometimes tell them about. One of the few possessions he had brought with him that she had seen was a medal he had won at a Street Fighter tournament when he was 12. She came over to him as he picked up another remote, handing it to her.

"So...we just dance?" She asked him.

"I need to start up the song first." He told her, tapping a few controls. He checked the list, and smiled as he found what he considered the song selection, thinking about getting this chance to spend time with her. He knew he had dropped the ball when he hadn't made a move after she kissed him, but he figured he had left it too long now to simply bring it up. It was somewhat of an embarrassing faux pas on his part that he hadn't done anything about it. He was just too caught up in everything. Settling on the song choice "Dragostei Din Tei" by O-zone, he made his way to her side.

"Just watch the screen." He told her. Emily just smiled and nodded in response. As the song started, she turned her attention to the characters on the screen.

She started dancing at the prompts, following the directions as best she could. She had somewhat questionable rhythm, but that didn't bother Mike at all. He couldn't help grinning broadly as he watched her bopping away to the beat enthusiastically. She was beautiful even when she made herself look like a complete dork. She was so down on herself, it was a welcome change to see her simply let go and not care what anyone thought. Neither of them noticed when Jayden arrived.

"What's going on here?" He asked. As Emily turned to face him, startled by his greeting, the remote slipped from her hand. It went straight through the screen, showering the room in sparks and broken glass. She covered her nose and mouth with her hands in shock surveying the scene of destruction.

"We um..." Mike began, putting an arm around her protectively. "I was showing her how to play Wii."

"Maybe we should talk to Master Ji about taking Wii remotes into battle." Jayden chuckled.

"Will you tell him?" Mike asked him.

"Somehow I think he'll notice the fact the TV's gone." Jayden replied sarcastically. "I won't tell him, but at least, you know...clean up a little?"

As he left, Mike wrapped his other arm around Emily, bringing her into a deep hug. He could tell that the accident really upset her. She was always so hard on herself whenever something went wrong like that.

"I should have explained that they have wrist straps." He told her. He held her closely, comforting her in her upset, but enjoying the opportunity to hold her in his arms.

"What'll Master Ji say?" She whimpered. As Mike was about to answer, Master Ji came into the room.

"What happened to the TV?" He asked incredulously, gesturing to the mess. "Flat screen, surround, High Def...I just finished paying for it!"

"Um...I had a little accident." Mike told him. Emily looked up to him, tears already forming as she heard him say that, taking the blame to save her. "Sorry, I'll clean up and..."

"My favourite show is on at 8." Master Ji interrupted him in a sigh, shaking his head. Mike was a terrible liar, and Emily's actions pretty much gave away what had happened, but he found it admirable that Mike would protect one of his team like that. "I expect to watch it."

"I'll get another TV." Mike assured him. "Sorry."

"Just...have this all cleaned up by then." Master Ji told him. Mike just nodded as he turned on his heel and left.

"I broke the TV." Emily told him. "I can't believe you took the hit like that."

"It is partly my fault." He said with a shrug. "I should have told you about the wrist strap."

He leaned in, kissing the top of her head. Emily smiled as she felt him do this, lost in thoughts about him. Although she had once again screwed up and cause mayhem and destruction, feeling Mike's arms around her and being with him made it seem not so bad.

"There's an electrical appliance shop down the street." He told her. "We'll get changed and then head out there."

Emily just nodded and walked away, chewing her nails nervously. Despite the accident, and despite the fact she knew she was going to be out a good couple of hundred dollars by the time she had paid for the new television, she couldn't help smiling. Her heart was beating at a million miles an hour as she thought about Mike.

Watching her go, he smiled as he took off his top and headed for his room to change into his street clothes. He might have dropped the ball when he didn't make a move a couple of days ago, but he was determined not to make the same mistake again if another opportunity presented itself. Emily was unlike anyone he had ever met, and wanted to get closer to her, even if it did mean replacing the occasional broken television.