A/N: Here you all go! PRS but Jemily Style and with a major twist!
Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers. Mr. Saban does and always will.
~PRS~PRS~PRS~PRS~
"Mike wanted that Beetle Disk, she could see it in his eyes. But she could also see he was right. No one really knew him that well. In fact, they probably didn't know him at all. They probably weren't even trying."
Top of the World
Chapter 7: Forest for the Trees
April 18, 2012
Shiba House, Meeting Room
On the table, atop of long piece of cloth, lay three disks, one orange, one white, and the last one aqua blue.
"We now have the three disks that can combine to create the Samurai Battlewing," Jii informed the five Rangers sitting in the seats provided, as he showed them a picture of the Battlewing in his book. "We just need three pilots."
"I have decided to keep the Tiger Zord," Jayden said. He picked up the Swordfish Disk.
"We have decided that the Swordfish Zord will go to Kevin," Jii said, as Jayden handed Kevin the disk. "He was the one who caught it, and therefore, he has a special connection with it." Emily smiled, as did Kevin. He definitely deserved to get a new disk. He worked so hard.
Jayden picked up the Beetle disk.
"We have decided that the Beetle Zord," Jii continued, "will go to Mia." Emily couldn't help but feel that Jii had made a terrible mistake.
"Thank you," Mia said, taking the disk from Jayden. "But…why me?"
"We trust your skill and symbol power the most," Jii answered, sounding happy with his choices.
But Emily saw Mike. His face…so angry-looking… She saw him crack his knuckles, and her smile slowly disappeared.
He wanted that Beetle Disk. She could see it in his eyes.
"Thank you," Mia continued, obviously flattered by the votes of confidence not only from Jii, but also Jayden and Kevin.
Emily couldn't stop looking worriedly at Mike.
She had a really bad feeling that he was about to do something really stupid in the near future.
So far, Mike hadn't done anything stupid.
Not yet.
All he had been doing ever since the disk assigning this morning was training. That is, training his butt off, then getting back up, and training some more. This was the constant cycle.
No one really understood why Mike was doing this. Since it was a free day, a completely different thing from a day off, according to Jii, neither one of them, except Mike, had changed into their training uniforms. They all just thought he was training today because they believed that he was finally taking his Samurai lifestyle and training seriously.
No, that was not it, Emily knew.
He training today so he could prove to them that he was just as good as Mia. He wanted that Disk, he thought he deserved that Disk, not Mia. And he wanted to prove it.
They were currently getting lunch right now and Mike had still not taken a single break ever since he started.
"Hey, Jayden?" she asked suddenly.
"Yeah?" he called back from where he was sitting between Kevin and Mia.
"Are you sure you made the right choice with the Beetle Disk? With any of the Disks for that matter?" Emily asked. Jayden saw her expression. What could she be so worried about?
Kevin honestly didn't know what Emily was taking about. Jii said so himself. He, Kevin Hamasaki, had a special connection with the Swordfish Zord, and they all knew that the Tiger Zord belonged to the Shiba Clan. Not to mention, they all had complete faith in Mia that she would, no doubt, be successful with the Beetle Zord.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Kevin heard his leader respond. "Why?" Why, indeed? Did Emily have some resentment to Mia, because she was chosen for the Beetle Disk instead of her?
"Look at Mike," was all they heard Emily say, as the blonde pointed out the kitchen window.
Jayden got up from his seat to look where she was pointing. Kevin, however, rolled his eyes.
"Whatever…" he muttered. Mia slapped his arm. Hard.
"No, it's not whatever," the Pink Ranger retorted harshly, before Kevin could respond with an 'ouch'. "If Emily is worried about something, we should all pay attention to it!"
Watching Mike with observant eyes, Jayden replied, "She's right." This brought Kevin's attention towards him. "From what I learned during the three and a half months that we've been together as a team so far, it's that whenever Emily is worried, it's usually for a good reason."
Emily inwardly smiled, but that feeling was quickly washed away when she snuck yet another look at Mike, still training like there was no tomorrow.
Soon the other two were at the window, as was Jii.
"If he doesn't stop and take a break, he's going to get seriously hurt," Jii stated.
"That's not what I'm worried about," Emily shot back, more aggressively than she had wanted, and this startled the others. They were looking at her, obviously expecting her to say why she was really worried.
She hesitated.
"Never mind," she said, quickly angrily, turning from the window and walking away. "You guys wouldn't understand anyways."
"Tell us, Em," Kevin shot back. "We'll try our best to understand you."
She whirled around to face him. "It's not me you should be worried about understanding," she retorted. "It's Mike! Don't you see?! He's training so hard like this because he wanted that Beetle Disk!"
A heavy silence hung in the air, prompting Emily to look around at the expressions on her friends' and mentor's faces…shocked, fearful…maybe a bit apologetic…
She felt a sudden pang of guilt in her chest and she felt her eyes grow flaming hot with tears threatening to fall. Not to mention that she had just realized that all of this was caused by a simple question. Not just any question. One that had suggested that Emily's trust in Jayden had finally shattered.
"…I'm sorry…I shouldn't have yelled like that…" Her voice wavered. If she didn't pull her act together very soon, she was going to break down and cry, exactly like her breakdown after their fight with Scorponic. She took a deep breath before continuing, softly this time, and gently. "Have any of you ever wondered what if would really be like to carry Mike's burdens instead of your own for once?" Her voice grew softer. "Have any of you ever tried?"
She let that hang in the air as she turned towards the kitchen door.
Unfortunately, the buzz from the Gap Sensor interrupted their thoughts.
The Rangers, Mike included, arrived at the scene to find…rain? The people were soaking wet and very, very sad. Almost as if they had lost all hope.
"What is this?" Jayden couldn't help but ask.
"What's going on?" Mia questioned.
"Yeah, it's like they've all become Kevin," Mike commented, seeming like it was a joke, when, in fact, he was actually very serious.
Kevin caught it, apparently. "What?!"
Jayden split them both up before anything bad could happen. "Guys, stop it. The Nighlock, remember?"
Emily couldn't ignore the sickly feeling in her chest. You know, that feeling that told you that something bad was about to happen? Yeah, that one.
Mike and Kevin turned back towards the Nighlock, where the battle was taking place, despite the fact that neither one of the Rangers and drawn their swords yet.
"Oh, it's you Rangers again…" the Nighlock said, in response to the five Samurai that had appeared. "I suppose we should get down to business, no? I'll start by introducing myself. I am Despairino. Now, getting down to business…these people here are experiencing my rain of sorrow. They have no hope anymore."
'I knew it,' Emily thought.
"Come on!" Jayden's voice cut through everyone's thoughts. "Let's go!" He unsheathed his sword, the other four quickly following his actions.
The next few moments were chaotic after a moment of silence, at least, to Emily. One moment they were all running towards the Despairino and the next Kevin was taking command it seemed.
"Mia, we have to use the new Disks!" Kevin said.
"Right!" Mia replied, holding up the Beetle Disk. Kevin hooked the Swordfish Disk up to his Hydro Bow, but before Mia could hook the Beetle Disk up to her Sky Fan, it got blasted out of her hand. Luckily, Mike was quick enough to catch it before it could drop to the ground and shatter into a million pieces.
The problem was, though…
"Thanks, Mike!" Mia said, running up to him, holding out her hand, waiting for him to give it to her.
But he hooked it up to his Forest Spear instead.
…he didn't give it back to her.
"Mike! What are you doing?!" Kevin exclaimed, grabbing the Green Ranger's wrist, the one that held onto the Forest Spear.
Emily realized with a sudden start that this was the stupid thing that Mike was going to do, the one she had a bad feeling about. It was happening right now.
Mia tried to break up the fight. "Kev, just let him use the Disk just this once. Maybe he holds more power over it than me!"
"No way! Do you even see him, Mia?! He never took his training seriously!"
"So that's what this is all about, huh?!" Mike retorted, his voice hot with anger.
Despairino pouted. "Now this is no fun…I'll come back to fight you," he said, opening the umbrella on his head, "when you're not fighting yourselves." He leapt in the air.
While watching the trio argue, soon to turn into a fist fight, Emily felt, she and Jayden stood there. Emily couldn't shake the worry she felt. A strong, sturdy hand fell on her shoulder.
"Guys, now is not the time for an argument!" Jayden, beside her, yelled. "Get him now!"
As Mia hooked the Turtle Disk up to her Sky Fan instead, Kevin started shooting arrows at Despairino, as the said Nighlock started soaring in the air. Mike went to strike, but it came down to nothing.
It wouldn't work.
Kevin immediately turned to Mike. He didn't need to take his helmet off to show his anger. They could all feel it.
Mia threw a strong wind at Despairino, who recovered quickly.
Emily suddenly started when the Lion Disk was held in front of her. She looked up at Jayden, who nodded.
"Use this, Em," he said. "It's the easiest way for us two to combine our powers." Emily nodded.
"Earth Slicer!" Hooking up the Lion Disk instead of the Ape Disk, Emily concentrated, trying to discover what fire meant to her, not to Jayden, as it was the one way they could use symbol power. Then, she threw her giant shuriken.
Kevin, Mike, and Mia looked up to see Despairino getting hit by a blazing shuriken, Emily's weapon. Why was it blazing? They didn't realize why until Emily caught it.
"Great job, Em," Jayden said, prompting the others to notice that she had used Jayden's Red Lion Disk, and they were sure Emily was smiling underneath her yellow helmet. "Guys, Emily's brought him down! Get him now!" He then shouted at the trio.
But the Beetle Disk still didn't work. Mike didn't understand. As Despairino retreated to the Sanzu River before he dried out completely, Mike couldn't help but wonder why Emily could use Jayden's symbol power over fire all while using her own if he couldn't even control his own symbol power over forest.
As he felt their anger, Kevin's especially, he felt lost, like he was in a void of darkness.
What made Emily so special? Or anyone else for that matter?
She had a feeling something bad would happen, and it did. Mike going rouge in battle was only the tip of the iceberg. Back at the house, Jii was lecturing Mike, like he always did, but this time, Mike didn't listen to all of it. Instead, he got extremely angry, stood up, and through a series of nearly blurry events, Mike had broken Jii's prized bamboo plant. Needless to say, everyone was angry.
Jii was angry, because…well…that was his precious plant! He was currently in his room, trying to find a symbol to fix the pot.
Mia was angry, because Mike was being "immature" again. She was in the kitchen, baking her "prized" cookies for Kevin.
Speaking of Kevin, he was most likely the angriest. Once again, Mike had chosen his own feelings over the team. He was in his room, writing a rant about Mike in his journal (not diary). How did Emily know? Kevin said so himself.
And Jayden…he was outside, training, continuously whacking a dummy, in a way that Emily figured was the release his own anger.
She herself wasn't angry one bit. In fact, she was more on Mike's side than her other friends'. In fear that they would treat her like they did Mike, Emily had not revealed that information yet.
Emily now stood outside, watching her fearless leader fight tactfully, surprisingly, considering how hard he was hitting, the poor dummy. She thought about joining him with his training, but she remembered that he was in a foul temper, so she decided against it.
So she sat down on the cold, stone bench, instead.
Jayden immediately paused when he heard a flute playing. But he didn't hurt around. He didn't need to see who it was to know who was playing. No one else in the Shiba House could play the flute better. In fact, no one else could play the flute at all.
Despite his anger at Mike, he soon forgot it as Emily's beautiful song filled the air. He felt himself relax against his will, a certain feeling of contentment and peacefulness filling his entire body, heart, and soul. Instead of continuing to abuse the poor dummy, he slowly walked over to where she sat and stood beside her, leaning on his kendo stick.
Thought he claimed it was out of respect, he just wanted to listen to the rest of her song. He waited for her to finish before he spoke after a moment of intense silence.
"Em?"
"Yeah?" She quickly replied.
"You had asked earlier if any of us had even considered carrying the burdens Mike bears…" She nodded, trying to see where he was going with this. "To answer your questions, no, I have not. I've just been so worried about worrying about my own burdens, I haven't even thought about what Mike feels."
"That's alright. Everyone has burdens of their own and everyone's is unique," she replied gently.
"It seems to me that you understand everyone in this House, so can you give me some hints or ideas as to what Mike goes through?" Jayden asked, agreeing with her completely.
"Well," Emily started, "I know a lot of things about him by just a simple look in his eyes. Actually, I can do that with just about anyone. But in short, Mike is just an ordinary teenage boy who is heavily misunderstood, feels neglected sometimes, and was forced to watch his normal, powerless friends get injured right before his eyes, yet he trains just as hard as any one else on this team, or at least, he tries to. You see, when you really think about it, Mike only wants to protect his friends, make his father proud, and find favor in his mentor and all his teammates, especially the Red Ranger."
Jayden was silent during and even after as the words Emily spoke aloud sunk in. When reality finally it, it hit him hard. What Emily was telling them was all true. There was more to Mike than meets the eye. And Emily had mentioned something about Mike wanted Jayden to be proud to have him as the Green Ranger.
Emily continued, "My mom once told me that it's not how hard you train or even out of practice for that matter, it's how much emotion and how much passion you put into it. You guys may seem like you're ding the right for Mike by letting him train yours and Kevin's way, but all in all, that doesn't work for him, does it?" Jayden slowly shook his head. "Well, again, my mom said that everyone's learning methods are different, like by sight, hearing, or touching, or even a certain mixture of two or all three of them. You and Jii have all learned of everyone else's style of learning, except Mike's. What makes Mike so different?"
"Try to push a door that's meant to be pulled and it won't open," Jayden muttered, quoting Jii. Emily's sweet smile grew.
Jayden understood now. He understood Mike's burdens. Now that he did, things would get better.
Jayden turned towards the blond and returned her smile. "Thanks, Em. You just helped me in more ways than one."
Emily smiled, both Rangers missing Jii and the other two Rangers off to the side, listening to every word Emily was saying.
The Rangers brought Mike home after he led them to a victory against Despairino. The felt happy and proud of Mike, and they all felt grateful to Emily, who had been the catalyst to them fully understanding Mike.
Mike felt so proud of himself. He had been permanently granted control over the Beetle Disk and his teammates, no, friends, had started to get to know him more.
"Jii," Jayden said, once they were in the living room. The said mentor turned to face all five of them. "Mike has something he'd like to say."
There was a short silence, which was slightly awkward before Mike spoke up, "I'd like to say that I am sorry, Mentor, for not listening to you all the time and for getting mad earlier. Also, I'd like to thank you for teaching me how to control my symbol power." From behind his back, he pulled out a new potted bamboo plant. "This is a token to let you know that I'll be listening to you from now on."
Jii took the plant in both his hands. "Thank you…uh…dude." A gentle laughter from all in the room lifted the heavy suspense by quiet a bit.
"Oh, check this out," Mike said, pulling out his Samuraizer and drawing a symbol, the same symbol as when he broke Jii's first plant. The only difference was that Mike was smiling, a sincere smile.
As the plant grew, Kevin sighed, annoyed. "Not again…"
"Mike, that's enough," Mia said to Mike.
"Huh? Oh, I wasn't going to that," Mike reassured them. "I was going to do this." He motioned the plant to make a fist. Jii copied the movement, successfully doing a fist bump with the plant, which went back to normal afterwards. "See? No harm done."
Smiles all around.
"Oh, I nearly forgot," Mike said suddenly. "Hey, Em…"
"Yeah?" said blonde replied.
"How did you manage to channel Jayden's fire powers with your Earth Slicer?" Kevin and Mia were wondering the same thing.
Emily felt a light blush cross her face, but she answered anyways. "I thought about what fire meant me and how earth and fire work together." That was the shortened version.
What she was really thinking about was what Jayden meant to her and how well they worked together…
And that's why she blushed when Mike asked.
~PRS~PRS~PRS~PRS~
Is it Despairino or Desperaino? I got confused on that part. Forgive me if I got it wrong.
Flaming Shuriken! I absolutely loved that part! Should I use it again?
A/N: Well? What do you think? Tell me how I did! Review! How do you like the Jemily twist I gave it? And sorry for the late update! A preview:
Chapter 8: "Test of the Leader"
"Was this Jayden's secret? If so, his secret wasn't nearly as bad as hers."
You know, I only have seven chapters posted up in this story, not even close to being done, (23 chapters left to go!) and I'm already thinking of a sequel to this. Should I go for it?
