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.
Mia stared at her cell phone nervously for what seemed like an eternity. She had the number on speed-dial, she had done since she was about twelve. Still, it seemed so hard to just press the "call" button and actually connect the call.
It had been almost a year since she had last called her parents, they all knew when she got the call that was what would happen. She would go to the Shiba House, which admittedly was not that far from where she lived before, and would be forbidden from contacting her family, lest undue attention was called to them and they were used against the Rangers, or Nighlock simply went to seek revenge for the things they had done during their tenure as Rangers. Part of the protection of the symbols guarding the Shiba House was a memory charm, that meant while the Nighlock could remember the Ranger's faces while they were active, as soon as the powers were passed on, and they no longer gave off Ranger energy, they simply dropped off their radar.
What made it all the harder was the exact message she was calling to give them, the message that she had found someone she wanted to pledge her life to.
She could already imagine her parents' concerns. Her one and only relationship had been with Aaron, a guy who had gotten her pregnant, only to panic, call her a whore all over town while he denied the baby was his and jump town. It had taken her a long time to get over, not only the fact that the resultant baby had tragically died only three days after he was born, but that the one and only time she had ever trusted someone with her heart, it had been exactly the wrong man.
She finally plucked up the courage to hit the call button, and waited nervously as she heard the ring. She had no idea what to say to her parents. It would literally be the first time she had spoken to them since she had left the Elementary School in the middle of the day to answer the call to arms. So much had happened to her, and she presumed that a lot must have happened to them too, but the fact was she simply didn't know. She hadn't seen them in almost a year, a year that had been incredibly trying and busy.
"Hello?" She heard a female voice answer. It was her mother. She bit her lip and had to force back some tears. Just hearing her voice was enough to get her going. "Hello? Who is this?"
"It's me." She responded in Japanese. While all of the other Noble Families had inter-bred across the centuries, leading to the ethnically diverse group they had now as opposed to their pure-blooded Japanese ancestors, Mia's family was still very much oriental. Her Grandmother had never even learned to speak English, one of the reasons she and her parents had been bilingual all her life. "It's me mother."
"Mia?" She asked, gasping in disbelief. "You know that contact is forbidden! You know you cannot..."
"Please mom, this is important!" Mia interrupted her. "I called to tell you about a man...a man I have come to care for a great deal!"
She could hear a sharp intake of breath on her mother's side. She knew her mother worried about her, and that she only wanted the best for her. She also knew that her mother had drilled into her from the moment she could understand the rules of the Samurai Code. Breaking the tenant against contact like this, she was sure her mother could guess it had to be important.
"Mia, you know that such things are unwise." Her mother began sadly. "Anyone you care for can be used against you..."
"It is one of the other Samurai." Mia told her. She could hear another voice in the background, and was sure her mother was conferring with her father. They never had figured out how to use speaker phone, and from the sounds of things, that hadn't changed. She just shook nervously as she waited for her father to speak, but instead, her mother responded.
"Is it Jayden?" Her mother asked. Jayden was known to all the current Ranger's parents. During their tenure, Jayden had been a child, and stayed in the house with them. He had told all of them a few things about their parents, though not anything that crossed the line, that he knew they would all find fascinating to know. However, for most of them, they had actually left their kids behind with surrogate parents or with their partners when they got the call to action. Most of them had never even met their former team-mate's kids.
"No mom, it isn't Jayden." She sighed, knowing that her mom had taken a genuine shine to the Red Ranger when she was there. The former Pink had been something of a surrogate mom to him during her tenure, something that was good for both Jayden, who had no memory of his real mom, and also Mia's mom, who missed her daughter dreadfully while she was away. She kind of got the impression her mom almost hoped something would happen between them. She just didn't have the heart to tell her about her embarrassing attempt to woo him, much less the fact that when all was said and done, the Red Ranger had turned out to be gay. "It is Kevin"
"Kevin?" Her mother asked. "Is he Rick's boy?"
"Mom, he doesn't call his dad that in front of us." Mia reminded her. Like everyone else, the Rangers never really referred to their parents by name in front of each other, and since none of them had ever met, that meant that calling their parents by name was largely futile. She could hear her mom and dad conferring in the background again, imagining them trying to remember the names their own team mates had mentioned when they talked about their kids.
"Uh...He was the Green Ranger?" Mia's mom quizzed her. Mia almost laughed. Although she loved Mike like a little brother, she had never had any kind of designs on him like that. She shook her head.
"No mom, that's Mike." Mia told her. "He's just a friend. Kevin is the Blue Ranger."
She could hear more conferring in the background, but it seemed from the tone to be somewhat approving. She knew that her mom was good friends with the other Rangers on her team, and had often said they were like family to her during their time together, something she had started to understand during her time at the Shiba House with the others. Kevin had always said that he was a lot like his dad, idolising him as he grew up.
"We appreciate you telling us honey, but that's no reason to..."
"Mom, he asked me to marry him." Mia interrupted her. "I have accepted."
There was a long period of silence on the phone. It seemed like hours, but she knew it was probably only a few minutes, perhaps even only a minute. She could hear a few whispers in the background, and knew her parents were discussing it.
She hated this feeling. Her parents were only looking out for her, especially after what had happened with Aaron. No parent wanted to see their child go through that, not even once. She knew that her parents' worst fear would be to see her go through all that again. Eventually, she heard the phone being picked up.
"Mia honey, are you sure you know what you're doing?" Her father asked her. She could barely contain her tears as she heard his voice. She had no idea what she could say or do if her father didn't approve. Her father had been her rock for most of her life.
He was the one she had gone to in tears when she first found out she was pregnant with Evan. She could remember him holding her comfortingly as she tearfully told him that she had made the biggest mistake of her life. He was the one that comforted her every time she saw someone give her a nasty look or called her an evil-minded name while she carried Evan. He was the one that had taken her to every doctor's appointment throughout the pregnancy, and he was also the one that held her in his arms on the day they had lowered him into his grave.
"I love him daddy." She replied, tears running down her face. "He loves me too. We're part of each other, we know we are."
She took a deep breath, before continuing.
"He's everything to me dad." Mia told him. "Please, try to understand and be happy for us."
There was another long period of silence, this one seeming to last even longer than the first. It was heart wrenching, and the world seemed to stand still as she awaited word from her parents. She knew they had every reason to be concerned about her. Eventually, she heard the phone being picked back up.
"We'll expect to meet Kevin when you come home." Her father told her, causing her face to split into a massive smile that almost split her face in two. They had already resigned themselves to the fact there could be no wedding until their tenure as Rangers was over, but this was the best thing she could hear from her father. "If you have spent all this time with him, and believe him to be worthy of entrusting your heart to, then you have our blessing."
"Thank you daddy, thank you, thank you so much!" She screeched. She just heard a little sound in the background, before her mother came on the line.
"Just don't hesitate to remind him, if he ever breaks your heart, he will have me to deal with." Her mom told her. "If he's anything like his father though, I am sure he's a perfect gentleman."
Just then, Kevin walked back into the room, and she felt her heart beating faster. She just nodded.
"He is perfect." She told her. "I love you both."
"We love you too sweetheart." Her mother replied as she hung up the phone. Mia looked to Kevin, who was smiling.
"Did you just say I was perfect?" He asked her. With the exception of Jayden, who had been raised surrounded by the Samurai legends, Kevin was the most knowledgeable about all the stories, most of which were still written in Japanese. He was fluent, and so he was more than aware of what she had said.
"What else would I call you?" Mia replied as she wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed him softly. "So...what did your dad say?"
"Pretty much what I expected." Kevin replied. "He wishes he could have met you before all this, and that he could be here for this, but he trusts me, and he's happy for me."
"I guess there's only one thing left to do then." Mia commented, extending a hand to him. Kevin smiled as he took her hand in his.
"I've been looking forward to it." He told her, patting his pocket. "This hasn't left my side since we got it."
They came into the main room, finding the Rangers all assembled. Mike and Emily were tormenting Serena with questions about her visit to the hospital, while Antonio and Jayden were busy constructing Alexandra's crib. The baby herself was in her carrier, sleeping soundly.
"So have you made that phone call?" Mike asked. Kevin just nodded.
"Guys, we have an important announcement to make." Mia told them. "We'd have preferred it if Mentor was here, but we're glad all of you are."
Kevin walked around in front of her, pulling the box out of his pocket. Mike coughed, but as he did so, spluttered out the words 'take 2'. Kevin had already proposed to Mia, but it was in the throes of what could only be described as a breakdown when he thought his world was falling apart. Both the pink and blue Rangers ignored him as Kevin got down on one knee.
"Mia, in my whole life, I could never have imagined ever meeting someone as amazing as you, much less falling in love with them." He told her as he opened the box. "Will you please do me the great honour of agreeing to spend the rest of our lives together?"
"I will." She replied, holding out her hand. Kevin took the ring they had picked out together from the box. It was a simple gold band, with two pink stones, surrounded by diamond chips in the shape of an eternity symbol set into it. He slid it onto her ring finger, and kissed her hand softly as the others raced over.
"Congratulations!" Jayden stated, shaking Kevin's hand.
"Thank you." He replied, unable to stop himself grinning inanely at the knowledge that he now no longer had to keep their engagement a secret. Mia was ushered quickly to a corner by Serena and Emily, who were bombarding her with questions as they admired her ring. Mike held up his hand for a high-five, which Kevin was only too happy to give.
"So have you set a date?" He asked.
"We're going to see about it once Xandred's dealt with." He replied honestly. "Once our parents can be there."
"Well you'll have an amazing chef here, more than willing to cater." Antonio offered as he patted Kevin on the back. "Congratulations man!"
Just then, the crib, or at least, what they had finished of the crib, fell apart with a clatter. All the Rangers just looked at it and laughed.
"I guess you're better with tech than woodwork." Mia teased him as she went to the carrier and picked up Alexandra. "We'll take her a little walk to keep her out the way. Maybe then you'll figure it out."
"That would be appreciated." Jayden groaned wearily. "Have fun."
"We will." Kevin replied as he picked up the changing bag. As he got outside, he saw Mia standing by the gate. They hadn't yet had a chance to get a car seat for Alexandra, meaning that they were limited to just walking with her. Kevin though couldn't help smiling at the sight of Mia holding the baby carrier, imagining some day in the future they'd have together.
"Kevin, where do you want to go?" She asked him.
"Anywhere." He replied as he came over, wrapping his one free arm around his fiancée, pulling her in closely and kissing her passionately. "As long as we're together, it really doesn't matter."
Fin.