Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Megaforce. This story is fan-made.

Author's Note: This is what I like to call a deleted scene. It is not meant to be placed within the continuity of my Megaforce Series. It was written with the intention of being used and then later had to be scrapped.

As any author knows, it isn't always easy coming up with a story plot or chapter that'll be interesting, fun, and exciting to read. While most of my work does get published (usually after being reviewed and reworked as I see fit) not everything gets to see the light of day. For my Megaforce and Samurai series, I have an extra folder of unpublished work that I label my deleted scenes. These deleted scenes are chapters, or sometimes entire stories, that don't get to see the light of day either because they are unfinished, or when reviewing my work, I take my story in a new direction and have to scrap what's being changed, or what I write doesn't fit within the storyline and I stow it away so that, if needed, sections of it can be used at a later date.

Well, a lack of inspiration combined with a minor shoulder injury (which makes it difficult to write) means updates will be slower than normal (as many of you have probably noticed). With episodes coming back on Saturday I hope this won't last too long(and depending on how my shoulder feels), but to pass the time I decided to post something from my deleted scenes that I was very proud of, but couldn't publish.

I hope you enjoy!

It was all for fun and game for Jake as he, the Rangers, and Jordan were at the beach, celebrating Jake's recovery. Jake's father wouldn't be home until the evening, and the next nurse wasn't scheduled to arrive at his house until the morning. As far as everyone else was concerned, Jake was still laid up, which meant he had the whole day with his friends to do whatever he wanted.

He chose a beach day. The others let him decide because they were so grateful he was back to being himself. He wanted the beach because it was a relaxing place to be. Even with a crowd of people, Jake could lean back in the sand, lie in the sun and forget about everything.

He could, but he didn't want to. Emma and Jordan were in the sand making the biggest sand castle Jake had ever seen. They were competing with Noah, who swore he knew the formula for building the tallest and most durable sand castle. Troy, meanwhile, was sitting a little ways up with the towels, just looking over everyone and making sure no one stole their stuff.

Jake was in the water. With the waves, the water reached his stomach. It was a little cold, but it felt nice on this hot day, and he was more than grateful he could swim. The days he had spent trapped inside his body had been the worst of his life. Freedom really was sweet.

"Jake! Stop it!" Gia cried, but there was a trace of laughter. She gently beat her fists into Jake's back. He had taken her from their spot on the beach, threw her over his shoulder, and ran to the water. He wanted to dunk her.

"Gia, it's so warm," he told her and with one hand scooped up some water and splashed it on her back. Gia shrieked.

"JAKE!"

"Why don't you take a dip?"

"Jake! No!" Gia screamed but it was all for nothing. Jake fell in the water and he brought her down with him. When they were under, he let her go. She broke the surface first and wiped the salty water away from her eyes.

"You jerk," she frowned as he came up with a smile. He looked to her teasingly.

"Doesn't it feel good?" he leaned back in the water to float. "A nice, cool dip in the ocean on this hot summer day."

He was splashed in the face with water. He put his feet back on the ground and stood up, clearing the water from his eyes. He then looked over at Gia and saw her smirking. "What?"

"Come here."

"Do I want to?"

Gia nodded her head and held her hand out. Jake took it and moved in closer to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist softly. He saw her leaning in for a kiss and tried to meet her halfway, but the next thing he knew, he was underwater and Gia was pushing down on his shoulders. After a couple of seconds, she let him go and he came back up.

"That's not nice," he sat after spitting some water from his mouth. Gia laughed.

"Aw, does Jake not like it when he's the one getting dunked?"

"No, Jake doesn't like it," Jake shook his head. He tried to pout to earn sympathy from Gia, but she wasn't buying it.

Up on the beach, Emma kept a careful eye on the water. She was focused on her sandcastle and wanted to beat Noah, but she had to keep watch over Jake and Gia.

"Emma, I need more sand over here. Noah's actually killing us!" Jordan called and reached his hand out as far as he could to take the bucket of sand Emma was filling. "Emma! Em, it's full you can't get any more in there."

Emma snapped back to the task at hand and looked down. She had packed the bucket full of sand and had been mindlessly dumping more on top, wasting time. She handed the bucket to Jordan, who flipped it over at the top of the castle and then looked out to the water.

"They're having fun, Emma. Stop worrying."

"I can't help it," Emma said as she watched Jake grab Gia and hold her tight as he taunted her with another forceful dip under the water. "I'm worried he's not going to know when to stop."

"Gia will tell him," Jordan said. "She trusts Jake, you know that. If she didn't like this, she'd have done something about it before she ever got near the water."

"I guess so."

"C'mon, Emma, stop worrying. Jake's a good guy. Besides, we've got a dork to beat. I could really use your help over here."

"You know," Noah stood up and looked over his castle, "I prefer nerd or even geek."

"I prefer winning."

Back in the water, Gia could feel herself being slowly lowered by Jake. She tried to get out of his arms as he held her only inches above the water, but she couldn't.

"Alright, fine," she laughed and averted her gaze away from Jake, "You're…"

She mumbled too softly for Jake to hear. He brought her closer to the water. She could feel it now against her back and shrieked.

"You're the coolest guy in Harwood County!"

"Thank you," Jake smiled and then dropped her. Gia plunged under the water and then came back up. She wiped her hair and the water away from her face and glared at Jake.

"You snake."

"What are you going to do about it?" he asked. Gia lunged once and he jumped but didn't run. She lunged at him again. He jumped again. The third time she lunged, she followed through and went after him, Jake started to run back up the beach to get away.

"Get back here, Holling!" she cried out and then saw him trip in a hole the others had created when they gathered sand for the castles. He fell forward and crashed face first into Noah's castle. It came tumbling down on top of him.

"Jake!" Noah shouted as he brushed some of the sand off his best friend and then pushed him out of the way. He looked down at the lump that was left of his castle, "You ruined it!"

"I'm okay," Jake shook his head to get the sand out of his hair, but because he was wet from his swim, the sand stuck. He got up and tried to brush himself off.

"We win!" Jordan called out happily and jumped to his feet. He threw his hands up in the air, "In your face, nerd!"

"That's not fair," Noah frowned, "Jake fell into my castle!"

"We won!" Jordan called out again. Emma hid her face in her hands.

"I demand a redo."

"We won!"

"Sorry, dude," Jake looked to Noah apologetically and then shrugged, "Next time, I'll land on their castle."

"Please do," Noah huffed and then got to work rebuilding his castle.

"The sand will fall off on its own once you're dry," Troy said as he offered Jake his towel, "You should probably get out of the sun anyways. Before you burn."

"Wouldn't want that," Jake nodded. He wrapped his towel around himself and took a seat beside Troy. He then looked over to Gia and saw she was watching the second sandcastle competition and shivering.

"Gia," he waved her over and opened his towel, inviting her in. Gia came over, but she reached for her own towel instead. Jake let out a playful growl as he grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. He wrapped his arms and his towel around her. "Gotcha."

"I have my own towel," Gia said.

"So? It's warmer like this."

Gia shifted on his lap until she was comfortable. She leaned into him, "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Me too," Jake said as he kissed her. After, she leaned back into him and rested comfortably in his arms while they watched the sandcastle competition. Jake cheered Noah on.

Time flew at the beach. Noah managed to not only rebuild, but improve upon the design for his castle. When the day came to an end, it was Noah's castle that was declared the winner by a 2-0 vote from Jake and Troy.

"Wait, wait, wait," Jordan shook his head, "Jake's biased, so this isn't fair. We need a third vote. Preferably from someone biased in our favour."

"We'd still lose, Jordan," Emma told him.

"Yeah, but we'd get one point. Gia, c'mon, I know you want to…"

"Dude, shh," Jake looked up at Jordan, "She's asleep."

"Asleep?" Emma asked and looked in Jake's arms. Gia was sound asleep comfortably in her boyfriend's arms. "Awww…"

"Shh!" Jake had to say again, this time to Emma, "Don't wake her up."

"Where's my camera?" Emma whispered and started to dig through her bag as quietly as possible. Troy tapped Jake on the back.

"It's quarter-to. Your dad's going to be home soon. You need to get back and get changed."

"Wait, I need a picture," Emma quickly snapped a shot of Gia sleeping and then nodded her head, "Okay, Jake, you can go."

"I don't want to."

"C'mon," Troy chuckled as he pat Jake on the back, "Get up…"

"Move him and I'll kill you," Gia muttered without opening her eyes. Troy backed away. Jake laughed and kissed the side of her head.

"Gia, I've got to go home. I can't let dad get home before me. My recovery is going to be shocking enough without him seeing me walk in."

"I don't care. Figure it out, but don't move."

"Gia…"

"I've got this," Jordan said. "Gia and I have this kind of relationship already."

He picked up a water bottle and poured it over Gia's head. Jake tried not to laugh as he felt Gia's muscles tense.

"Jordan, was that you?" she didn't open her eyes. She didn't have to.

"Jake's got to go."

Gia sighed. She finally opened her eyes and kissed Jake on the lips. She said goodbye to him and let Noah and Troy help him pack up his things so they could take him home. While they did that, she stood up.

"Jordan."

"Gia."

"If you can outrun me, I won't kill you."

"Deal," Jordan nodded his head. "Do I get a head start?"

"Nope."

"So I should run?"

"Oh yeah."

Jordan dropped the empty water bottle and took off running. Gia was right on his heels. Emma sighed loudly and shook her head. She picked up the water bottle.

"Jordan, I don't care if you're dying. There's no need to litter!"

"Sorry, Emma!"