Major apologies for the belated update.

Christmas was upon the rangers, and they were welcoming the holiday with open arms. Three years before had been the last Christmas they had all spent together, for each year after that, one ranger went home to visit family.

Mike and Emily had went to Emily's house the previous year, and Mike had hinted there that they were planning on engaged, but the only thing holding them was Mike's financial problems concerning how much of a hole in his budget a ring would put. Nevertheless, he cut out 100 dollars from each of his paychecks toward the 2000 ring he was planning on getting. It was a classic diamond ring because he knew Emily wanted nothing else.

Mia, on the other hand, was pressuring her little brother-like figure to do something special on the day that he would propose. Mike thought she was onto something, but he had no idea what to do.

"Merry Christmas!" Emily cheered, and Mia frowned at being awoken with screams.

"Shut up," she groaned, turned her pillow so it covered her face, and tried to fall back asleep.

"Mia, what's wrong? You love Christmas!"

A sneeze answered the yellow ranger's question, followed by another, and a string of sneezes brought the pink ranger out of her rest.

"I'm sick, Em. It's probably the fact that the heater's broken again."

It was now Emily's turn to frown, and she went out to find some cold medicine. Leaving the door open, this gave way for everyone else in the house to hear Mia's sneezes and coughs. At the sound, Mike walked in.

"Hey, Mia. You okay there?"

"Just wonderful, Mike! Everything's- achoo!" Mia sneezed again.

"Aww, feel better. But I have something that might make you happy."

Mia wasn't able to ask what it was, for she sneezed again, fumbling for the tissue box to clear her nose. Her being sick was not a pretty sight, so having Jayden come in with a box wasn't the best thing to see. Eyes widening to the size of saucers, the pink ranger ducked under the covers in an attempt to hide, but her coughs and sneezes following soon after couldn't keep her hidden.

"Mia," Jayden chuckled. "why're you hiding?"

"I look like a mess!" she cried, sniffling and reaching outside of the covers to grab a tissue.

Unable to reach the tissue box and her vision hidden by the covers enveloping her, Jayden took the whole box and placed it in her hand.

"Thanks," she quietly said and was quiet for a few seconds while she fixed herself up. Sitting up and removing the blanket, she rubbed her face to wipe away any leftover signs of sleep.

"Mia, when Mike and Em were here, you didn't hide. Why'd you hide when I came?" Jayden genuinely asked.

Avoiding the topic, Mia shrugged nonchalantly and pointed to the pink box with a red ribbon firmly held in his strong grip.

"What's that?"

Jayden gave it to her, and she carefully took off the ribbon, being sure not to ruin the box. Inside was a pendant, a ruby cut into a diamond shape hanging from the center. It seemed to be a cliché gift, but the sentimental value that held its composition was enough to have tears swell in Mia's eyes.

"It's beautiful. Where were you able to get this?"

"It's actually my mother's. I found it the other week when I couldn't decide what to get you, so I wanted to give you this."

By now, Mia was bawling. It was such a sweet gift, unique compared to the cookbooks Ji gave every year - despite her avoiding the kitchen like the Plague - and the food Mike and Kevin gave. It was a personal token of Jayden's heart, but it confused her how he believed she was worthy of possessing it.

"Wh-why're you giving me this? It's so special, but you could've given me a book or something!"

Jayden's smile fell a bit as he asked, "You don't like it?"

"No, no! I love it so much. It has so much value and story behind it. Of anyone in the world, why do you think I deserve to have it?" She sat up straighter in her bed and clutched the gift close to her heart. "You could give it to your future wife or daughter. Why me?"

Facing away so she couldn't see, Jayden gave a knowing smile.

"I'll never doubt your worth, Mia. Of anyone in this family, you're the most deserving. This is just a way for you to have a part of me with you."

Final tears of thanks and gratitude slipped down her face, and Mia smiled, sniffling.

"It's so unfortunate to be crying right now while I have a cold. Thank you, Jayden. You don't know how much this means to me."

So she didn't have to lean over to hug him, he bent over and wrapped his arms around her, being sure to hold her tightly like he always did. He never wanted to let her go. The fact that she even thought of him being with someone else upset him, and it scared him that he loved her this much.

It seemed to be a passing morning cold as a result of the weather, so by the afternoon, Mia was completely fine. The red pendant hung from her neck like she was showing it off to the world. That she was showing off how much of Jayden's heart she owned. She'd never take that responsibility for granted.

"Em, where's Ji?" Mike asked from the couch, one leg outstretched on the couch and the other barely touching the couch. "I need to give him his present."

"Mike, you know he's gone out to pick up Kevin from swim practice," Emily sighed before resting her head on his chest. He wrapped himself around her to keep her warm and kissed her forehead.

They were perfect together, Earth and Stone. The pink envied their bond, making her feel empty and alone against the glow in their eyes when they looked at each other with utmost love. It made her feel cold against the warmth of their hearts when they held each other. It made her feel sad against their happiness when they were together. She was reaching an age where her father was getting ready to wed her off to someone who would heighten her status as if it wasn't already at the top with his grand business. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Kevin next to her.

"Hey, Mia. What's wrong?"

She smiled and shook her head saying, "It's nothing important. Just thinking of the future."

"Scary, huh? How in two years, these two will most likely be married, I'll probably be in the Olympics. Lauren'll be with Antonio, and you'll have like two kids with Jayden."

Mia choked just as Jayden entered.

"What about Jayden?" he asked.

"Nothing. Kevin's just telling me what life's gonna be like in the future," Mia replied.

Mike cut in, "You forgot the part where he said you'd be with Jayden, remember?"

"Em, you might want to hold onto Mike before I castrate him," Mia groaned, her embarrassment much to Emily's amusement.

"He's not wrong, you know," Emily added.

Mia's face was beet red, and castrating Mike for mentioning it wasn't a too far-off possibility. She cleared her throat before rushing into the other room to avoid having to continue the thoroughly awkward topic.

"That was... erm, interesting, I guess," Jayden said, sitting on a stool while Mia rummaged through the fridge.

Unable to answer him without wanting to hide, she nodded. She took the seat next to him, just letting the silence hanging between them mix in with the hum of the fridge and Mike and Emily's distant banter.

"Anyway, I'm heading to Lauren's tomorrow to visit Antonio for a week. Come with?"

"Wait, really?" Mia grinned at the thought that Jayden would invite only her to visit his sister.

"Yeah, Lauren wants to see you. She says she misses you especially."

Oh, Mia thought. Jayden was only asking her because Lauren told him to.

"Yeah, of course. I miss them both so much."

"Alright, then be ready at 2 in the morning so we can go."

With that, he exited, leaving her holding the pendant to her heart as she drowned in her thoughts and ached that she probably wished for more than he did.