Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Megaforce. This story is fan-made.
Author's Note: This is not where the Megaforce series starts. If you want to read the series without getting lost, I suggest you read my stories in the order they appear:
No To Date Nights
The Party Night
Project Partners
Megaforce: Lives Behind The Masks
Prom Night
A Trip To Remember
"What are you doing?"
Four year old Jake caught the soccer ball in his hands and turned to the voice that spoke to him. He saw a boy with a sweater vest and glasses watching him with a confused look on his face.
"I'm playing," Jake said. The boy frowned.
"Looks painful. You're going to get brain damage."
"No way. Not if you do it right," Jake explained and he held out the ball, "Here, you try. The trick is you have to use your head."
"Use my head?"
"That's why it's called a header," Jake nodded. He threw the ball up in the air, and when it came down he hit it with the top of his forehead. The ball bounced up, and then it came back down. Jake caught it and held it out to the boy, "Your turn."
"I can't," the boys shook his head. "I have asthma, and my mommy says I can't play sports."
"I don't know what that is," Jake said, "but it sounds stupid. You can't play sports. What do you do instead?"
"I build stuff!" the boy smiled. He took his bag off and put it on the ground. He started to dig through it, "Look, I used all my Lego to make a robot. One day, I'm going to make a real robot."
"That's pretty cool," Jake said as he took the toy and examined it, "but I like soccer better."
"I can't play," the boy sighed. He reached into his bag again and pulled out a device Jake had never seen before, "If I run around too much, I can't breathe and I need my inhaler."
"In… what?"
"It helps me breath."
"How?"
"I don't know," the boy shrugged his shoulders. "Can I watch you play?"
"That'll be boring," Jake shook his head. "I like you. Let's play together."
"Play what?"
Jake pointed to the play structure not too far from the field, "Can you play on that with your ass-man?"
"Asthma," the boy corrected Jake and then he nodded his head, "Only if I don't run around too much."
"Do you know how to play pirate ship?"
"Yeah!"
"I call captain!" Jake raised his hand in the air. Then he saw the disappointed look on the boy's face. He smiled and wrapped his arm around the boy, "You can be my first mate. That's the captain's best friend."
"Really?"
"Yeah!" Jake held up his soccer ball, "This could be our buried treasure. I'll put it in the sand, and then we'll pretend to look for it, okay?"
"Yeah!" the boy cried excitedly and then started to run to the play structure. Jake went after him.
"Wait! I thought your ass-man said you can't run!"
"Not for a long time," the boy reached the playground and started to climb up, "I win."
"I'm still captain," Jake said as joined the boy at the top, "Okay, are we ready? Let's set sail!"
-Megaforce-
"Pirates?" Gia asked with a little chuckle, ending Jake's story. "You and Noah became friends because you both liked pirates?"
"Pirates are cool!"
"When you're four."
"We were four," Jake crossed his arms and pouted, before he leaned into the table, "Alright, so that was mine and Noah's story. How did you and Emma meet?"
"Her mother gave birth to her, and I was there."
"Right there?" Jake stuck out his tongue in disgust. Gia rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"No, you idiot. Emma's grandparents were out of town, and her mom gave birth a little early, so they couldn't make it. Being best friends, her mom asked my mom to be in the room with her for support. A couple hours after Emma was born, dad brought me in to meet her. I honestly don't remember it, though. Dad just talks a lot about the first time he saw me and Emma together."
"What's your earliest memory?" Jake decided to ask, figuring that was a better question. He and Noah had met when they were younger, so he had a story to tell. However, because Gia's and Emma's parents had been friends before the girls were born, they had always known each other.
Gia had to think about it.
-Megaforce-
"What are you doing?" young Emma cried as she saw some boys stomping on an anthill and calling out to the other how many they were killing. It seemed to be a contest – who could kill the most ants before they all disappeared. Emma didn't like the game, and pushed the boys away from the anthill, "You're hurting them!"
"They're just ants."
"They're important!" Emma cried, and pushed the boys away again when they tried to get close to the flatten anthill. "No, stop!"
"Ants are stupid!"
"They aren't stupid! Ants dig holes in the ground and they let the Earth breathe! If the Earth can't breathe then the plants can't grow, and if the plants can't grow…"
"Loser," one of the boys pushed Emma into the anthill, and then the two boys laughed when the ants started to crawl onto Emma's legs.
"You've got ants in your pants!" they laughed. Emma got to her feet and tried to shake off the ants gently, but there were so many on her legs already she couldn't get them off. She tried to use her hands to brush them off, but accidentally squished a few. Seeing the dead ants on her hands made her eyes water.
"You're a stupid loser baby," the boys teased her. Emma looked up. Her lower lip quivered. She didn't want to cry in front of the boys, scared they would call her more mean names and push her around.
Suddenly, a black and yellow blur ran past her and into the boys. With two swift head butts, both the boys were on the ground and gasping for air as they clutched their stomachs.
"That's for the ants and my friend," Gia stood over the boys and crossed her arms over her chest, "What do you say?"
The boys got up and tried to run off, but Gia grabbed their shirts, "What do you say?" she repeated a little louder. "I'm not afraid to hit you again."
"Sorry," the boys lowered their heads in shame. Gia let go of their shirts and gave them each a pat on the head.
"Good, now make a new hill for the ants, and never, ever ruin their home again, got it?"
The boys, with tears in their eyes, nodded their heads. The dropped to their knees and started to pile the dirt up. Gia took Emma's hand and pulled her away from the boys. They sat in the grass, and with Gia's help, Emma managed to remove the rest of the ants from her body. Some had managed to climb as high as her head, and got caught in her hair. Not all lives were spared, but Gia was as gentle as she could as she removed the tiny bugs.
"Boys are stupid," she told Emma. She gave her best friend a hug, "Let's go tell daddy what happened."
-Megaforce-
"That's your earliest memory?" Jake asked, "You beating up a couple of boys?"
"I gave them one head butt," Gia rolled her eyes. "Is it my fault they were wimps?"
"How old were you?"
"Three, maybe four," Gia said.
"And Emma knew that much about ants already?"
"Emma was born preaching about animal rights and environmental threats," Gia rolled her eyes. "It took her a year to learn to tie her shoes, but five minutes to learn the oxygen cycle. Fun fact: that was the same year."
"Really?"
"She's special, alright," Gia rolled her eyes and then smiled. The waiter finally arrived to the table.
"Sorry, we're a little backed up today. I hope I didn't keep you both waiting too long," he apologized as he pulled out his pen and paper, "So, can I get you both started with some drinks?"
"Just some water," Jake said and then waved the waiter in closer, "By the way, at the end of the meal, she's going to insist on paying. Whatever you do, don't give her the cheque. If I'm paying, I'll double your tip."
The waiter nodded his head before he left to get the couple their drinks. Jake smiled proudly. Gia frowned and sighed.
"Jake…"
"I insist."
"Cliff always used to pay. I don't want…"
"He got something right, then," Jake smiled. He reached across the table and took Gia's hand, "Alright, new topic, first day of school."