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Baby Steps

Troy wasn't exactly surprised when Emma showed up at his lunch spot again the next day. She came back day after day, joined by varying combinations of their fellow Rangers, until it was an everyday occurrence.

The Red Ranger didn't quite know what to make of this. Other people had tried befriending him before but had given up much more easily than Emma. He was just too much of a loner for some people to handle, he supposed. But the Pink Phoenix was apparently determined to find a place for herself in his life and Troy was slowly learning to accept that.

Today she had beaten him to their spot. She was alone. If he was completely honest, he kind of preferred the lunch periods where it was just the two of them.

The others were cool in their own ways, but sometimes all three of them were a little hard to handle. Jake tended to spend all of his time and energy trying to get a date with Gia and consequently the Yellow Ranger spend most of her time turning him down. On the days that Noah turned up, most of the lunch period would involve a spirited debate between the Blue and Pink Rangers over technology versus nature. After awhile, it got tiring to listen to.

But on the days it was just the two of them, Troy found himself enjoying the Phoenix's company. True to her word, Emma did not grill him. There were no questions about his past or why he had come to Harwood County or anything. It wasn't as if these things wouldn't eventually come out, but he wanted to tell her on his own terms. And Emma seemed to know and respect that.

The Pink Ranger smiled at him as he sat down beside her. She offered him her bag of chips and he took a few, noticing that her smile was a little brighter. It was so easy to make Emma happy sometimes, the Dragon thought. There was something do refreshing about that. To Troy, it seemed like Emma always knew exactly what she wanted and he had to admire that.

Another quiet lunch slipped away. Both Rangers started on their biology homework, which was another advantage of hanging out with Emma. Not only did she know a lot about biology already, but she was content to be quiet so that work could actually get done. Whenever their other teammates ate lunch with them, there was no point in attempting to do schoolwork; it was just too noisy.

Towards the end of the lunch break, Emma shut her textbook and moved just outside of the shady area the tree created. The Pink Phoenix leaned back on her palms and closed her eyes. She was clearly trying to soak up whatever was left of the late autumn sunlight while she could.

Then Troy felt his Pink companion's gaze settle on him. He looked up and she smiled again, a little hopefully. "So I was thinking," Emma began. Troy instantly put his guards up. Hearing those words, especially from a girl, was almost never a good sign. He hoped she hadn't changed her mind and decided to start playing 20 Questions with him. As much as he liked Emma, he just wasn't ready to talk about himself yet.

"You were thinking what?" Troy prompted.

She bit her lip nervously. His first thought was that she looked very cute with that expression on her face, but the Red Ranger quickly pushed that aside. "I was wondering if you might want to go on a nature walk with me after school."

That had not been what Troy was expecting to hear. He must have been looking at her blankly, because Emma quickly started talking again. "I just thought maybe you'd want to see some of the things I like about the woods. There's more to them than that training area, you know." She said the last part with a smile.

Truth be told, he had been planning to go train at their makeshift facility anyway. He didn't see the harm in walking through the forest with Emma and allowing her to show him a few flowers.

He ignored the fact that if he said yes, Emma would be sure to smile again. He really liked her smile.

"I was going to the woods anyway, but I wouldn't mind some company," Troy replied. Sure enough, the Pink Ranger beamed at him. Emma's grin was infectious, and the Dragon found himself smiling back at the brunette.

They made arrangements to meet at Emma's locker after their last class let out. It was easy to see that his Phoenix counterpart was excited about their plans. Her enthusiasm was kind of contagious.

0o0o0o0

Troy walked out of his pre-calculus class with a sense of great relief. He hated math of all sorts and having it as his last class of the day seemed like a special kind of torture. And today he was even more distracted than usual by the thought of spending time with Emma outside of school and Ranger duties.

He knew that it was best not to complicate his life any further. Emma was his teammate and that should have been the end of it. But Troy couldn't deny that he definitely had an attraction to the Pink Ranger. From what he had seen, Emma possessed a lot of admirable qualities. And that smile…

If there was one thing he was good at, it was disciplining himself. It was instilled in him from years of martial arts training. Troy knew that if the world was depending on him and the others to save it, he had to put more-than-friendly thoughts about the Phoenix aside.

It was really hard to do that, however, when she kept insisting on spending time with him.

Emma was waiting for him by her locker as planned. Her pink bike helmet was tucked under one arm and her camera was already out. She waved at him as she caught sight of him amid the throng of students.

"Ready to go?" she asked. "I just have to get my bike from the rack." He nodded and Emma set off with the Red Dragon following at her heels.

As she wove through the crowd, Troy spotted Noah and Jake. He saw Jake nudge the other boy when he realized the two Sky Rangers were heading off together. Noah rolled his eyes, but Troy could have sworn that he saw Jake wink at him.

Emma unlocked her bike from the rack and then hung her helmet from one of the handlebars. She hung the camera around her neck with the strap and then put the bike between them, pushing it as they went.

The closer they got to the woods, the chattier she became. Troy learned that Emma had been born and raised in Harwood County and that she was an only child. She had been into BMX since she was seven and photography since she was twelve.

"And how long have you wanted to protect the environment?" Troy found himself asking.

"It was kind of instilled in me at birth," Emma answered with a grin. "My parents are into the environment as well. I've never known anything different."

She looked at him hopefully then, as if she thought he might offer up something about his own home life in return. Troy knew it was only fair, really. And he trusted Emma; he really did. He could take a leap of faith and show her that, right? Telling her something small couldn't hurt.

"I'm from Angel Grove originally. Then we spent a few years in Mariner Bay. Now we're here."

Emma nodded and then asked, "Who's we?"

"Me, my mom, my sister, and my stepdad."

Apparently, this was enough for the Pink Ranger. She didn't say anything else about his revelations. Instead, Emma pointed out a butterfly and then a rare type of flower. Then she put the kickstand on her bike down and started snapping pictures with her camera.

As she did this, Troy found himself admiring Emma's passion yet again. And he really liked that she was sharing these things she so obviously loved with him.

The Red and Pink Rangers continued through the forest. Emma had stopped to examine another flower when Troy heard her gasp softly. She waved him over to her and then pressed a finger to her lips. He went to her side as quietly as possible and then gave her a quizzical look. Emma gestured to a cluster of bushes just off the path.

The Red Ranger looked to the spot she was pointing at. He could see what she was so excited about now. Half concealed in the bushes was a doe and two young deer. "They're fawns," Emma whispered excitedly.

"How can you tell?" he whispered back.

"They still have spots," the Phoenix replied. Emma raised her camera to her face and took a picture. She let out a quiet sigh. The content look on her features said it all.

Both Sky Rangers continued to stand still until the animals wandered away. Emma was still grinning from ear to ear. "That was pretty cool," Troy admitted. He was definitely glad he had agreed to this. Not necessarily because of the deer, but because of the way Emma looked. He wondered idly if she knew how pretty she was and then decided that that probably wasn't the kind of thing Emma concerned herself with.

Emma continued to lead the way through the forest. She wasn't talking as much now. If he had to guess, he would say that she was probably eager to get back to town and develop the pictures.

The more Troy thought about this, the more he realized he wasn't quite ready to part ways with his Pink counterpart yet.

The pair of Rangers had arrived at their training area. Troy set his backpack down and shrugged off his jacket.

Emma hovered by the fringe of trees at the edge of the clearing. She had snapped her helmet on but had yet to actually leave. Troy wondered if she was hesitating because she didn't want to leave him yet, either.

Finally, the brunette girl spoke up. "I guess I should get going," she said. "I want to print the pictures before the photo store closes. I'll see you tomorrow, Troy. Have a good night."

The Pink Ranger carefully stowed her camera in her bag. She mounted her bike and was just starting to ride away when he opened his mouth. Before he even really knew what he was saying, he called out, "Or you could stay and train with me."

Troy watched as Emma skidded to a stop. Then she slowly circled around and rode back towards him. There was a small smile playing on her lips. She put the kickstand down again and unsnapped her helmet.

"I can always print the pictures tomorrow," Emma decided. "Let's train."