Hey guys, sorry it took me a while, but I'm back now! As you might recall, we last left off in the middle of an epic sparring battle between the red ranger, and the pink. Now...lets see who might have won!

Troy kept going, but his mind was wandering. From the Armada, to Robo-Knight, and finally, to Emma, where it lingered throughout their match. How was he ever going to protect his team, protect her from the Armada's massive numbers?He just needed to keep going, but concentration was slipping..."What you thinking Troy?" Emma asked in her sweet voice. Then it turned to steel. "You know that whatever you do, you can't protect us all, can you?" He searched his mind for a suitable answer, taking his mind off the training just momentarily.

Emma's question did it. Troy was thinking about their team, that was what had gotten to him. It was his weakness, at least for the moment, but she could tell he was distracted. An opening was clear, so she went for it. "Heya!" Emma cried, as she swung her sword in the weak spot behind his knees, and watched him buckle.

Suddenly, he was on his knees, her sword just inches away from his face. Emma's blow, though it had been light, had de-morphed him, and he froze there, helpless to the blade if she were to be the real enemy, which she was not, would never be. "Hit the nail on the head, didn't I Burrows?" Emma just had to ask.

Gia, Jake and Noah looked to each other in amazement. Emma just beat Troy! Her tactic was flawless, according to Noah. Distracting him with his emotions? Brilliant! Although it wouldn't work on the Armada, since they had no emotions, but her strategy was brilliant still. It also told everyone what Troy had been so distracted about these last few days. Leave it up to Emma to get Troy to bring out his feelings in the most subtle way.

Jake whispered in shock. "Well," he said looking directly at Gia and Noah. "Good thing Emma and Troy are anything but enemies, or Troy better watch his back!" The two of them nodded and proceeded to watch their exchange, and see how Troy would take being beaten.

Troy looked up at Emma, where her blade was inches from his face. Her blow had de-morphed him, so now, if she had truly been the enemy, he would have been helpless. His sword lay a few feet away, its point stuck into the soft dirt.

"Hit the nail on the head, didn't I Burrows?" She asked.

Troy kept his expression unreadable, until she de-morphed herself and reached down to give him a hand, brown hair blowing in the light breeze. Troy was once again reminded of her song she had sung a while ago, the song that had saved him and the others from Dizchord's horrifying music. Then, he allowed himself a slight smile and took her hand gratefully.

"Well played, Emma." He said, as she pulled him up, laughing. Once he was steady, he waited for her to pull her arm off, but she didn't. He looked into her eyes, which were a fierce shade of emerald green, and were staring deep into his. Her face had taken on a serious expression. "Now that I got the general idea of what's on your mind, please Troy. Talk to me. If you just tell what's really going on, I can help."

"We all can," came the strong voice of Gia. Both Troy and Emma turned to face the blond who had gotten out of the bushes. "Gia?" Emma asked, very surprised to see her friend there. "Noah, Jake?" Troy questioned as well, as the two other boys got out and stood facing them. Noah's eyes fell on Emma's arm, which was still on Troy's. She followed his gaze and hastily removed her arm. Troy seemed oblivious to this, as his eyes were on the three-some.

"W-what are you doing here?" Emma asked, still a little embarrassed that Noah had noticed her arm on Troy's. He however, was as unfazed as ever. Gia stepped forwards to reply. She too had noticed Emma's sudden move, but decided that there would always be time to tease her later. "We had gone to Ernie's and met up with Noah there. He had something to show us, but we needed you guys too. So, I got a clue where you two might be from Ernie, and thought we could surprise you, but I think we got the surprise instead." She said, glancing back towards Jake and Noah, all of which had knowing smiles.

"Exactly, how much did you guys see?" Troy asked them, curious to know. Jake came forward and tried to act casual. "Oh, you know...just enough to see you get crushed by Emma!" He ended enthusiastically, but calmed down after Noah's glare. Gia spoke up, her head slightly tilted. "How exactly did you do it though?" Troy moved back to meet Emma's eye. "Yeah Emma," He said. "Were you training lately!" She tried to see if he was mocking her in any way, since she normally would rather spend her time taking pictures in the forest, not training. But his question seemed genuine. She intended to give him an equally genuine answer back.

"Well, I have been training, but this was just a way for me to find out what was going on with Troy. He just seemed so...off lately, and I wanted to help. I had a theory as to what was bothering him, but if I just asked, he would deny it. So I brought it up while sparring. If it distracted him, that meant it was on his mind, and was bothering him. Turns out, my theory was right. Now, since technically I still beat him, he owes me. So, Troy. Just tell us what you've been thinking about. We're a team, remember? We help each other."

Oooh. What do you think Troy has been so worried about lately? Let me know by leaving a review and dont forget to follow, favorite and check out my other stories. Till next week!

Later,

OlympusLeague13