Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Ninja Steel.

Kelly was out of the hospital. It was a moment to celebrate. Her leg was doing well, and since the swelling had gone down and the area was healing, the doctors were able to release her. She would have to stay off her foot until it was better, but at least she could leave her hospital room now and be with her friends.

Since Kelly didn't want to be trapped inside on her first day of freedom, Hayley had suggested the Rangers go for a picnic. Preston said he had a better idea, but he wouldn't say what. So it was up to the Rangers to follow him blindly out just beyond the city. Fortunately, Kelly was able to sit on Sarah's hoverboard to take her to Preston's location, otherwise she knew she never would have made it.

Eventually, a big tree came into sight, but Kelly, Sarah, Levi and Brody noticed there seemed to be something covering the tree. When they got a little closer, they noticed it was ribbons.

"The ribbon tree!" Hayley smiled and gave Calvin's hand a little squeeze. "Preston, you're a genius."

"I just thought we've been through a lot since becoming Rangers. It wasn't always easy, or fun, but now that we're all here, together, we should do something special."

"What's the ribbon tree?" Kelly asked.

"I remember hearing about this when I was little," Brody said. "You put a ribbon on this tree to mark something special that happens to you in your life. You know, family, friends, milestones. Right?"

He looked to Preston, Hayley and Calvin for confirmation. He had been away from Earth a while and though he still remembered quite a bit from when he was young, there were pieces that were a little fuzzy.

"Calvin and I put a ribbon on our first anniversary," Hayley said with a nod.

Preston pulled out a long ribbon, "I thought we could put a Ranger Ribbon on here," he said. "You know, to mark everything that's happened, and everything we still need to do."

"That's a great idea," Levi agreed. "And hey, all our names are on here."

"Brody, Preston, Calvin, Hayley, Sarah, Levi and Kelly," Preston said and looked to Kelly with a smile. Kelly smiled back, touched she had been included. She wasn't a Ranger, she didn't fight in battles, so it would have made sense if Preston had kept her out, especially since he had called it a Ranger Ribbon. But she was now living with Hayley, she knew their secret, and it was her intention to help out as much as possible. She also knew she was willing to do whatever it took to keep the Rangers safe. She couldn't imagine anything happening to Sarah, and she knew how much Sarah also cared for her friends.

Preston placed the ribbon on the tree and made sure it was on there tight. There were so many ribbons that filled the tree and overtime, some had become loose. Preston didn't want to see his Ranger Ribbon fly away.

"Alright, who's hungry?" Calvin asked as he set down the backpack he had been tasked with carrying. The Rangers were still ready to do their picnic and after their long walk up to the tree, Calvin was starving. He was sure the same could be said for the others.

As he and the Rangers unpacked their picnic, Sarah helped Kelly down from the hoverboard, careful not to move her leg around too much. Then she unpacked the pillows she had brought in her own bag and placed them under Kelly's leg to keep it levitated. Kelly watched her girlfriend but noticed that there seemed to be a sadness about her.

Sarah had taken some hard hits lately, and while the pink Ranger liked to think she wasn't easily shaken, it was perfectly understandable, and even expected, for her to waver a little bit. Especially now. It wasn't long ago since she had seen a friend die. Kelly's father's article had stirred up a lot of trouble, and the climax came when a stranger bombed the Silver Guardian's backyard, threatening their children. When Sarah heard this, she wanted to help. Unfortunately, this was a much bigger issue that anyone guessed, and Sarah only realized it when it was too late. The stranger had another bomb, and he used it to attack the Guardians themselves as they arrested Kelly's father. The bomb severely injured Gia, and killed both Kelly's father and Jordan.

Kelly knew Sarah had been by to visit Emma after Jordan's death, and the pink Ranger had also gone to his funeral with the others out of respect. Outside of that, she didn't speak about what happened. As Sarah finished tending to Kelly's leg, Kelly reached her hand out and gently touched her girlfriend's arm.

"You can talk about it with me," she said. She wasn't sure why Sarah wouldn't open up about it, but she thought maybe it had something to do with her father. While Kelly was upset her father was dead, she had reasoned with herself that it was for the best. He had written a scathing article condemning her simply for being herself. There was no relationship there anymore. Now, Kelly wouldn't have to worry about trying.

"I'm fine," Sarah assured her, so Kelly let it go for now and hoped the picnic would be enough to cheer her up.

Calvin and Hayley had packed a ton of food for the Rangers to enjoy. There were sandwiches, chips, drinks, crackers and cheese. Everything the Rangers needed for a day by the Ribbon Tree. They were halfway through their meal though when Levi noticed there seemed to be some construction trucks pulling up the hill where the tree sat. When he pointed them out, the Rangers got to their feet.

"What's going on?" Levi asked as the foreman approached the tree. His workers were behind him with a couple of saw.

"We're taking this tree down," the foreman said. "Pack up your picnic and say your goodbyes. Soon, this will be a condo."

"But we just put a ribbon on this tree," Hayley argued.

"Not my problem," the foreman shook his head and turned to his crew, "Alright boys…"

"What about all the other ribbons here?" Brody asked and gestured to the tree. The large trunk was barely visible through all the brightly coloured ribbons. There had to be hundreds, if not thousands. "What about all these other people?"

"Again, not my problem. Look, kids, I get paid by the hour, so I can argue back and forth with you all day, but I do want to get home in time and I do want to get paid. That's only going to happen if you let me do my job."

"You can't take this tree down," Sarah shook her head.

"What on earth is the hold up?" another man cried out as he made his way through the workers to the front. He spotted the Rangers standing before the tree and then he spotted the blue Ranger. "Preston?"

"Uh… hi father," Preston said and scratched the back of his neck nervously. This was an awkward encounter for him. Preston had found out weeks before that his mother didn't want him hanging out with Sarah because she was sure Sarah had turned him gay. His mother couldn't accept that and had uttered some unforgivable things as she tried to speak with her son. When Preston found out that his mother had also stolen Sarah's hoverboard, taking advantage of Sarah being shaken up from an attack and forgetting it once the Guardians picked her up.

Preston was now planning to move out of his parents' home. He couldn't live with a mother like that. His father had kept his mouth shut on the matter until now, but his silence told Preston everything he needed to know.

Preston never told his friends about what happened. Only Brody knew there was trouble at home, and that was because Preston was staying with him in his old home. Since Kelly had been kicked out of her house, Preston didn't think it was appropriate to then share that he had decided to walk away from his parents.

"And where the hell have you been?" his father asked. While their home was big, Preston's absence had been very noticed. "Your mother's been worried sick about you."

"I've been with my friends," Preston said.

"These friends?" he asked and looked to the Rangers, who were standing in front of the tree defiantly – as if purposely trying to give him a hard time.

"Yes. These friends," he nodded.

"And you're the reason my workers haven't started taking down this tree?"

"Father…"

"I don't want to hear it, Preston," his father stated sternly and shook his head. "I have a business to run and this tree needs to come down."

"But…"

"In the car. We will discuss this at home."

"Father, I don't want to…"

"In the car!" his father barked and Preston lowered his head. He whispered goodbye to his friends and made his way down to the car.

"You can't talk to him like that," Sarah shook her head as she glared at Preston's dad. He stood over her and glared back, and while he wasn't tall, he still had a few inches over Sarah.

"You have caused enough trouble."

The pink Ranger knew she had nothing to be intimidated by. She was easily stronger, and had easily taken on threats that were a lot more menacing. Still, she didn't like that Preston's dad was trying to intimidate her and trying to use his power to make her feel weak.

So she took a step back. Preston's father smiled when she did, but Sarah wasn't done yet. She walked around to the back of the tree and pulled herself up. Scaling the side, she made her way to where the lowest branches intertwined, creating the perfect place to sit. Hayley looked to Calvin, and then they took followed Sarah up the tree.

"You can't treat Preston like that," Sarah called down. "And you are not taking down this tree."

Mr. Tien turned to his crew, "I don't care what you have to do, just get them down from that damn tree!"

"All six of them, sir?" the foreman asked and when Mr. Tien turned around, he saw Brody and Levi were climbing the tree and Kelly was on Sarah's hoverboard and being lifted to the top.

"All six of them," he nodded and then stormed off to his car. The Rangers watched him go with a wave and then settled into the tree.

"Aw man," Calvin said and looked down, where some of the workers were finishing off what was left of their picnic while their foreman tried to decide what to do. "I'm still hungry."

"I think you had more than enough," Hayley teased him.

"First day out of the hospital with a busted leg and I climb a tree," Kelly chuckled. "I think my doctor might freak."

"How long exactly are we going to stay up here?" Levi asked.

Brody looked to Sarah, who had her arms crossed and seemed to be fuming, "Until they change their minds, I guess."