Kevin always hated apologies, especially when he had to give them.
Mike had slept in (even after Kevin had woken him up) and had to skip breakfast so he could make training on time and avoid punishment drills. It was for that reason that he was eating alone now, giving Kevin the perfect opportunity to talk to him and Mia in private. Emily was in her room alone, likely practicing her symbol power on her own, and Jayden was still training in the yard. Mentor was nowhere to be found, but Kevin was sure he was working on something important and wouldn't be bothering the Rangers for another few hours.
"Kevin, what did you want to say?" Mia asked as she was dragged into the kitchen by Kevin.
"I knew it," Mike called, pointing his spoon at Kevin, "You know what happened to Emily's forehead. It was Jayden, wasn't it? You just didn't want to tattle when he was right there."
To say Mike and Mia had been worried when they saw Emily's cut would be an understatement. Mike hadn't stopped asking her who had hurt her all morning, and Mia had insisted she take a look at it and that Emily stay in sight so they could monitor her for signs of a concussion, and both Mia and Mike had been slightly angry with her for not telling them when it happened. They were both very concerned for their youngest teammate and were only trying to keep her safe and do what was best for her.
"That's not it," Kevin shook his head. He knew what had happened but that wasn't important. "Look, guys, I know it's been a bit of a hard ass but…"
"A bit?" Mike said through a mouthful of cereal, "Dude, do you not remember touching my personal stuff and hiding it?"
"Organising," Kevin corrected. "And I know. I'm sorry. I can't say you and I won't continue to fight, Mike, but I'll try and keep my own problems to myself."
"So I can leave my clothes on the floor?"
"Not a chance," Kevin shook his head. The boys glared at each other for a moment and Mia rolled her eyes.
"You were saying, Kevin…"
"Right," Kevin shifted his gaze back to Mia, "Look, I get what you guys were saying earlier… about Emily."
At this moment, Emily began to make her way to the kitchen. She had been hit hard by her own symbol and she was sure her elbow was going to have a nasty bruise on it, especially if she didn't ice it with peas soon. She heard Kevin mentioning her name and realised he, Mia and Mike were talking about her behind her back. She remained out of sight, but stuck near the doorway to the kitchen, eavesdropping on the conversation. If the conversation was centered on her, she had a right to listen.
Kevin continued, unaware that Emily was listening, "We're supposed to leave our lives behind, but that's not always easy and for some of you, that's hard to do. If Emily has a problem that's haunting her, we need to figure it out. We can't just sit on it."
"Wait; is this you saying you've finally left the dark side?" Mike asked Kevin. "You finally understand that human beings have feelings?"
"Yes, Mike," Kevin nodded his head. "Humans have feelings and some pasts can't just be buried and forgotten about. If Emily's in trouble, we need to save her."
In the hallway, Emily looked down at her elbow. She didn't want to be saved, she wanted to help. She wanted to do what Serena would have done. She didn't need her team taking baby steps so she could keep up.
But they were worried about her. They wouldn't have worried about Serena. In fact, Serena would have likely been worrying about them. Emily was impressed with her teammates' skills, but they were all behind compared to Serena. If they had gotten Serena for a yellow Ranger, they would have been forced to improve to catch up to her, something that would have proven to be very useful in the fight against the Nighlok.
But they didn't get Serena, they were stuck with Emily. Little Emily who needed rescuing in her first fight, was injured by her own teammate while training and hurt herself with her symbol power twice, and they had only just started their long battle against the Nighlok.
Emily extended her elbow, testing her range of motion. It was still pretty good, and while it would bruise, it was nothing Emily wasn't used to, but at this rate, it was only a matter of time before something serious happened. She couldn't burden her friends by having them worry about her safety and the safety of the world. Serena would have never let that happen.
"We don't know the full story, yet," Mia reminded the boys. "I mean, she could just be adjusting."
"No," Mike shook his head, "There's something. She… uh…"
"What?" Kevin asked. Mike was going to say something, he could tell, but the green Ranger was hesitating. If he knew something, it was best if he just spilled, "You can say it, Mike. If it helps us help Emily, it's for the best."
"I…"
Mia looked to Mike, then to Kevin and remembered what they had recently learned about Emily. She bit her lip, "Mike, we might already know what you're going to say. Just spill."
"I don't know."
"Mike, we need to know all we can to help Emily," Kevin tried to persuade the green Ranger. "We won't tell her what you say, and we're only doing this to help her. I promise."
Mike took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "She has a sister."
Kevin frowned, "How do you know about that?"
"How do you?" Mike asked.
"I trusted you!" Emily's little voice screamed, startling the three Rangers and they turned around to see her standing in the doorway, visibly upset and her glare pointed straight at Mike.
"Em…"
"And you…" Emily turned to Mia and Kevin, "How did you know?"
"Emy, we just…"
"No… I don't care!" Emily shouted. Tears filled her eyes but she wiped them way while trying to stay strong. Her body trembled from holding in her emotions and she looked like she was about to burst, but she held it all in. "I trusted you!"
"Emily, we're so sorry," Mia reached out to touch Emily's arm but the yellow Ranger pulled away roughly, knocking herself off balance and onto the floor. Mia tried to help her up off the floor, but someone else beat her to it.
Mentor Ji gently lifted Emily back to her feet and brushed her off. He looked her in the eyes, asking her if she was okay. He had heard the screaming from his room and had come to check it out. Emily threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his chest. He hugged her and looked to the other three Rangers.
"What happened?"
"Mentor, we didn't mean to…" Kevin stammered, "We just… we thought, we…"
"Did you tell them?" Emily looked up at Mentor. "Did you tell them I had a sister?"
"Of course not," Mentor shook his head. He glared at the older Rangers and pointed to the common room, "I think it's best if we all sit down and discuss this. Kevin, would you mind bringing Jayden in?"
"I…"
"Let me rephrase that," Mentor said, "Kevin, go get Jayden."
"Yes, Mentor," Kevin bowed his head and hurried off to get his leader. Mentor again asked Emily if she was okay and then led her to the common room.
Mia and Mike exchanged worried looks as they followed. Their intentions were good, but that wasn't what counted right now. They knew they had hurt Emily and this could have sent them back light-years in their mission to help.
When Jayden and Kevin joined them in the common room, Mentor glared at each and every one of them while he stood over Emily, his arms on her shoulder.
"I thought you were all more responsible than this," his tone indicated he was very angry. "I thought your parents raised you better," his gaze switched to Jayden, "I thought I had done a better job."
"Mentor, that's not fair…"
"Silence!" Mentor shouted which silenced Kevin and scared the others into keeping their mouths shut until they were addressed personally. Mentor gently squeezed Emily's shoulders, "What happened?" he asked her softly.
"They know," Emily glared at her team. "I told Mike I had a sister and trusted that he wouldn't tell anyone. I told him because I trusted him and he knew that."
"Emily…"
"No!" Emily shouted to Mike, "You knew I didn't want you telling anyone."
Mike shrank into his seat.
Emily looked up at Mentor, "I don't know how Mia and Kevin found out. I didn't tell them, and if you didn't tell them."
Mentor's eyes fell on Jayden. He was the only other person who knew. On one hand, if Jayden had spilled Emily's secret, it would have meant he was socialising with his team, but on the other hands, it wasn't his place to share that secret.
Jayden shook his head, "I did not say a word, Mentor."
"He didn't," Mia whispered softly. "Kevin and I found out."
"How?" Mentor asked. "How did you magically come across information this personal to Emily?"
"We just…"
When Mentor saw Mia was hesitating to come clean he turned to Kevin, "Well, seeing as you're so passionate about spilling secrets, why don't you tell us what Mia's trying to hide?"
"I…"
"It doesn't feel good when the tables are turned, does it?"
Kevin shook his head, "We're sorry, Emily."
"You shouldn't be," Emily said.
"So… does that mean all is forgiven?"
"THIS IS MY BUSINESS!" Emily shouted. "Mia was right; you don't know the full story! You don't know and now you never will."
"Emily…"
"NO!" Emily screamed to Mia. She leaped off her stool and ran to her bedroom, pushing back the tears. Now more than ever she wanted to cry. She felt so alone. But she remembered the promise she made to herself. She needed to stay strong. Samurai weren't crybabies.
She threw herself onto her bed and hugged her stuffed ape tightly.
"I want to go home," she told the ape.
Back in the common room, Mia, Kevin, and Mike held their heads in shame.
"We weren't…" Mia breathed but knew it wasn't worth it. She had only wanted to help, but she had hurt Emily, point blank.
"Is she going to quit?" Kevin asked Mentor. "I wouldn't blame her if she did."
"I doubt Emily will quit," Mentor shook his head.
"Can't her sister take her place?" Kevin asked. "I mean, she is older and wouldn't…"
"We should have gotten Serena," Jayden said, glaring at Mentor Ji, "I don't know why we ended up with Emily. Serena was supposed to be the yellow Ranger."
"Then why is Emily here?" Mia asked. "If you were expecting Serena, why did Emily show up?"
"I'm still waiting for Serena to tell us this was all a prank," Jayden said.
Mentor pointed to the red Ranger's bedroom, "That is enough, Jayden. Serena is not coming. There is no prank. Emily is your yellow Ranger."
Jayden got up and left the room per Mentor's request. The older man stared at the three remaining Rangers.
"Why did you do this?"
"We were worried," Mike said. "Emily seems to be having a hard time. We just wanted to…"
"You had no idea who she is, where she comes from, or what her upbringing was like. You barely know her and you thought you would make it your business to meddle in hers?"
"We are so sorry, Mentor…"
"Why are you apologizing to me?" Mentor asked Mia. "You have done no wrong to me."
He walked behind Mike and Kevin and placed his hands on their shoulders, "For what it's worth, I understand your intentions. I too worry about Emily. But had you been a little more patient, she would have spoken to you in time."
"Is she okay, Mentor?" Mike looked Mentor directly in the eyes. "I mean, aside from what we've just done. She's so… nervous and shy and withdrawn. She said she was used to pain when I asked about her knee. She wasn't being… you know…?"
"No," Mentor shook his head. "Emily comes from a very loving home."
"Too loving?" Kevin asked and again Mentor shook his head.
"Emily will tell you when and if she feels ready. For now, I suggest you think of ways to apologize. Preferably before a Nighlok attacks."
Kevin nodded his head and got up to leave the room and find somewhere quiet to think. Mike did the same.
Mia looked down the hallway to her bedroom and then to Mentor. He nodded to her and she got up and walked to her room. She knocked on the door, waiting to hear a reply from Emily. None came but Mia still walked in anyways.
She saw the yellow Ranger lying face down on her bed, hugging her ape toy tightly in her arms. Mia sighed loudly and sat down on the side of the bed. She reached out to brush Emily's hair but then decided against it. The yellow Ranger was still angry with her.
"Emy…"
"Don't call me that."
"I'm sorry. I know that doesn't make up for what I did, but I didn't want to hurt you."
"You did."
"I was just worried about you."
"I don't want you to."
"Emy…"
"Don't call me that!"
"You don't ever have to talk to me again, Emily," Mia whispered sadly, lowering her head, "but if there is something bothering you and if you ever need to talk about it, I will listen, and I will do anything I can to help you. I promise."
"How can I trust you?"
"You can't. Maybe you shouldn't."
"Then go away."
"I'm so sorry…"
"Then why did you do it?" Emily sat up and glared at Mia, "You obviously found out intentionally…"
"No, I… well…"
"If you're sorry then you shouldn't have done it and you know it was wrong."
"Emily…"
"I used to think you were just like her," Emily looked down at her bed. "You made me feel safe here, you and Mike. Now you do this…"
"I'm…"
"I thought I was going to get her back," Emily whispered. Mia looked up at Emily, eyes filled with tears as she heard this.
"Get her back?" she asked. "Emy… did she die?"
"Not yet," Emily shook her head. She didn't know why she wanted to tell Mia. She didn't trust her, but it felt right. Now felt like the moment. Maybe it was because Emily wanted Mia to feel just as bad as she did, or maybe it was just because some higher power decided now was right. Either way, Emily was going to let it out to a member of her team.
Besides, it would help her see if she could trust Mia again or not. If the others found out, Emily would know who leaked.
"What… Emy…"
"She's dying," Emily said. "By the time I go home, she might be dead."
Mia gasped; her hand flew to her mouth, "Emily… I…"
"Tell a soul and I'm leaving," Emily glared hatefully at Mia. The pink Ranger responded by launching herself into Emily and wrapping her up tight in her arms.
"Emily, I'm so sorry."
"I'm still mad at you,' Emily said as she wrapped her arms around Mia, accepting the comfort but the rage still burned in her stomach.
"Hate me," Mia nodded. "If it makes it easier, hate me. Emily, I…"
"Just stop talking," Emily closed her eyes. "It's not you I'm hugging."
"I'm so sorry…"
