Mia went straight to her bedroom. She stopped in front of her mirror to see the effect of Jayden on her. Her cheeks were still a light shade of pink. It was a miracle how fast she marched home. The others were not able to catch up with her, which was a good thing because she was too embarrassed to face anyone. Not even Emily. Emily! Mia ran out of her room to check on her best friend.

She slid the door gently and peeked inside. No Emily on the bed. The covers were already neatly folded. She popped her head in, "Emily?"

"Mia!"

Mia was startled and accidentally bumped her head on the edge of the wooden door, "Ow!"

"Oh no, I'm so sorry, Mia!" Emily looked worried then opened the door wide for the Pink Samurai Ranger.

Once Mia was in, Emily touched her friend's shoulder, "Are you okay? I didn't mean to. I was just so happy to see you."

Mia snapped out of the pain. In a way she was thankful because it felt like she landed on earth with a thud coming from cloud nine. "I'm fine, Emily. How about you, are you feeling better now?" she held her friend's hands, which were thankfully warm compared to earlier.

Emily nodded in delight. "Thank you for taking care of me and not giving up," she hugged her bestfriend.

"Actually, thank Antonio for fixing the Claw Zord or else we would have gone to the Netherworld and became nighloks," Mia sniggered while accepting Emily's embrace.

"Become nighloks?!"

Mia looked flustered. I shouldn't have said anything yet. The last thing she wanted to do was to upset Emily, but she knew just how to dodge her questions, "Ask Mike later. It was his idea."

"Mike? But…why?"

A wide smile formed on Mia's face. She pulled Emily's hand and both girls sat on the bed. "Because he cares a lot about you. He seldom left your side," she said with a knowing look.

"Really?" Emily started to look her cheery self again.

The thought of Emily and Mike suddenly gave way to Mia's own situation as she remembered how Jayden embraced her earlier. Emily noticed her friend was staring off into space and there were only a few things that could do that to her - one of those was the Red Samurai Ranger.

"Earth to Mia, Earth to Mia! Looks like I'm not the only one in dream world," Emily waved her hand in front of Mia's face, which stirred her out of her trance.

The dark haired beauty sighed. She couldn't keep it to herself anymore. The longer she kept it, the more it felt like she was just going to explode. "After the guys defeated Splitface, I was so ecstatic I wasn't thinking straight. When I saw the guys I just felt the urge to hug someone and guess –"

"Jayden! You. Hugged. Jayden," Emily's petite frame couldn't handle this and Mia swore her friend's eyeballs threatened to leave their sockets.

"How do you know it was Jayden?" Mia asked in disbelief. Was she really that transparent? She cursed inwardly.

"Mia, am I not your bestfriend? I think I've known since you saw him on his white horse. There was just...a spark? A connection? And then there were these little things that you both do while the other's not looking. Much like how you probably knew how I felt about Mike from the start," Emily gave her assessment in a matter-of-fact way.

Before Mia could react, they heard a soft knock on the door and Mentor Ji spoke from the other side, "I know you're in there, Mia. I think it's best if you let Emily rest some more."

"I'm okay, Mentor Ji! Mia's just filling me in on what happened."

Mentor Ji opened the door and sighed, "There's plenty of time for that later. Right now, I don't want you to stress yourself out. Mia, please join Kevin and Mike outside to debrief me."

Mia immediately understood. They had a surprise party to finish. "Catch up with you later. I'm so glad you're back!" she clasped Emily's hands and left with Mentor Ji.

Inside the training room…

Antonio released the cake from the box and placed it on one of the tables while Kevin and Mike finished decorating. The other party favors were already complete. Mia and Mentor Ji scanned the room and approved. "Emily will love it!" she sauntered inside and almost laughed out loud when she saw the birthday placards Mike and Kevin did. Jayden's story came to mind and she muffled her giggles with her hand.

Wait a minute, where's Jayden? As if he read her mind, Jayden appeared by the doorway with his gift crudely wrapped in yellow Japanese paper. He took it to where the rest of the presents were before joining the boys' huddle.

Mia was slightly disappointed. He didn't even look my way. She started to mentally beat herself up about it. She only halted when Mentor Ji approached her and told her that it was time to fetch Emily.

Scene from the ep: Emily blew the candles on her cake. Mia served slices for each one.

Mia forgot about her boy issues for a while even if Jayden was just inches away from her. This was Emily's moment and everyone was in a good mood. Kevin and Antonio took turns recalling the events of the day and when they reached the part where Mike almost led the team to the Netherworld, Emily and Mentor Ji both shook their heads at his impulsiveness – although deep inside, Emily was grateful and thought that it was really sweet.

When they were done with the story, Jayden remembered Mike and Kevin's birthday artwork and decided to lighten the mood, "Hey Emily, Mike and Kevin did those boards for you. What do you think?"

Mia chuckled, which didn't escape Jayden's ears. He looked at her sideways with a playful grin. She remembers. Kevin and Mike scowled at each other. Antonio and Mentor Ji examined their work and offered their unsolicited critique to annoy the two. Emily didn't want to offend them so she shot up from her seat and decided that both were amazing, which ended in high fives and laughter and more funny antics.

Then it was time to call it a night. They divided the work amongst themselves excluding Emily since she was the celebrant and just decided to open her presents in her room. It was a small pile but Mike still volunteered to help her. Mentor Ji and Kevin were in charge of the tables and chairs. Antonio went to get a garbage bag for the trash. When Mike got back, he already had the broom for the floor.

"Looks like we're stuck with the dishes. Mia, just wait for me in the kitchen," Jayden instructed but saw a sliver of defiance from Mia who wanted to help.

"No objections," Jayden silenced her with one eyebrow raised and pointed towards the direction of the kitchen.

Mia stared at him in confusion but not trusting her mouth she followed the leader and trudged out of the room. What just happened? She had a face palm moment.

Note: Finally done with this chapter. We went through so much. Sorry guys I've been very distracted with job requirements lately and contemplating about my career path blah blah. With that said, I need to finish the story ASAP as in before Friday. I also have an idea for another story post-Ranger life. Crossing my fingers that my new job isn't going to suck out my writing. Thanks for reading! =)