The five Rangers decided to have an evening out. After spending the day with the girls, Jayden had volunteered to treat all of his friends to a fun dinner away from the academy. They spent all their time inside the four walls, and it was nice to see his team open up. It also allowed him to get to know them on a more personal level. He was starting to see beyond the Ranger suits and the Symbol power. He had never had a family before outside of Mentor Ji, but with the Rangers, he felt like he belonged; like he was something more than just a Ranger.

Mike and Kevin had made up, having rediscovered that their differences were complimentary. They were reminded that they were best friends, and whatever had caused a rift wasn't worth losing their friendship. They met up with Emily, Jayden and Mia at the restaurant and quickly took a seat beside the girls they liked. At least, that's how Kevin saw it. He didn't miss Mike and Kevin making a beeline for the chairs beside Emily and Mia respectively, and he also didn't miss the way Emily and Mia's faces lit up when the boys joined.

Jayden was going to have to figure something out. He wanted to help his friends with their relationship woes. He didn't really understand what the problem was with fifth wheels. He wasn't looking for a relationship and as long as love didn't get in the way of duty, he had no reason to ban relationships amongst Ranger team-mates.

"Next time we go out," Mike said as he glanced at the menu, "I vote we make it a day trip. I hear there's this sweet pizza parlour down in Ocean Bluff."

"It's not like we can leave the city while it's being attacked by demons," Kevin shook his head as he argued Mike's idea for dinner. "Maybe once we've defeated Master Xandred we can celebrate down there."

"I think Kevin's right," Mia nodded her head, "The city's being attacked almost every day. If we leave, we're leaving this place wide open."

"Can we at least see if they deliver?" Mike asked. "I doubt this place is going to put bananas on my pizza."

"Bananas?" Emily frowned and turned to Mike, "Why do you want bananas on pizza?"

"Better question: who thought of putting bananas on pizza?" Kevin asked. Mike shrugged his shoulders.

"If we go to the parlour, we can ask," he chuckled. "Do you guys know what you want?"

"I figured we would get two pizzas and split them," Jayden said, "Emily and Mia have agreed to share half a pizza and I'll take the other half. That leaves you and Kevin to share a pizza."

"Extra ham on my half," Kevin smirked as he put the menu down. "I don't know about you, Mike, but I'm craving ham. Mentor's not a big fan of it, is he?"

"Not particularly," Jayden nodded.

The waiter arrived to take the order and the food was out shortly after. When it was time to pay the bill, Jayden put down the rest of the money in his wallet. It was money well spent.

The Ranger left the restaurant as the sun began to set. The weather was nice; too nice to head straight home.

"A walk by the river," Emily suggested, "the birds chirping and the sunset over the water remind me of home. Please!"

"You're full of ideas, aren't you?" Kevin laughed as the others agreed. Emily nodded her head.

"I grew up on a farm. If you didn't have ideas, you were bored."

Kevin chuckled and shook his head as he and the others walked through the park and down to the river. Once they were there, they went their separate ways. Jayden stood along the river but he had his back turned to the water. He enjoyed watching his team socialise, as creepy as that sounded.

Mia and Kevin went off together when they spotted a flock of ducks sitting by the water. Mia had taken some leftovers from the restaurant and decided to feed her pizza crusts to the ducks. The ducks were happy to see Kevin and Mia with food and seemingly welcomed them into their flock, so long as they continued to feed them pizza crusts.

"Small chunks, Kevin," Mia laughed when she saw one of the ducks was having a hard time with the piece Kevin had thrown. Kevin shrugged his shoulders and tried to rip off a smaller piece. He showed it to Mia and waited for her permission to throw. Mia nodded her head and Kevin tossed the piece. He hit the duck in the face. Startled, the duck quacked loudly, spread its wing and began to shake. Mia jumped slightly and when she landed, she found herself wrapped in Kevin's arms. A light breeze blew and both Kevin and Mia could feel the temperature beginning to drop as the sun set slowly on the other side of the river. Kevin held Mia in his arms, keeping both of them warm. In his hands, he held the container of leftover pizza up so Mia could toss the rest of the pieces. Both were completely unaware that the crust was gone and they were starting to feed the ducks actual pizza. They were too lost in each other.

"Hopefully there's nothing on pizza that can kill ducks," Mike chuckled as he watched Kevin and Mia from under a tree. He hoped that one day that could be him and Emily, but with Kevin playing big brother and Mia on his team, there were going to be a few challenges before he could even think about him and Emily. He nudged the spot beside him, hoping to get a response from Emily, but he only hit air. He furrowed his brow as he turned to where he thought Emily was standing.

"What the…?" he asked himself as he spun around. Emily was nowhere in sight.

"Up here, silly."

He heard Emily's voice from above and looked up in the tree. Sure enough, he spotted Emily sitting up as high as the tree would allow her to go. He was still confused, though. The lowest branch was high up, even for him. There was no way Emily could have gotten up there that easily.

"You're going to get hurt," he called to her. Emily shook her head.

"You weren't listening at dinner, were you?" she laughed. "Remember, I told you I climbed trees a lot as a kid. How else was I supposed to get away from the angry rooster?"

Mike nodded his head. Somehow he had missed that story. Actually, he knew he had missed that story. He could never really hear Emily when she spoke. He was too busy studying her. The way she moved, the way her eyes shone in the light or lit up a dark room. He was too mesmerized by her beauty to pay attention. There was only so much he could do when she was occupying his thoughts.

"I take it roosters don't climb?"

"It's not one of their many skills," Emily laughed. "So tree-boy, are you going to come up here?"

Mike shook his head, "I love trees as much as the next guy, but I'm good keeping both feet on the ground."

"Do you know how ironic you're making this?" Emily asked. "Come on, if the earth kid can climb a tree, surely you can."

"How did you even reach the first branch?" Mike asked as he lifted his arm up and the tip of his fingers touched the lowest branch.

"I jumped and pulled myself up."

"Well, here goes nothing," Mike sighed as he too jumped.

Jayden, who was still watching from the river, chuckled and shook his head. Someone was going to fall out of the tree and get hurt. He hoped, if he was right, that it was Emily. At least there was a chance Mike would catch her before she hit the ground. He feared that if Mike fell, he might take Emily with him.

And Emily seemed to be more durable. Mike was always complaining about bumps and bruises after training, whereas Emily always somehow ignored the pain. Jayden assumed it was due to her clumsy past. She must have gotten used to the pain from bruises and bumps, and as a result, was immune to them.

He turned his gaze back to Kevin and Mia. At this point, it almost seemed like the pink and blue couple were trying to reason with the ducks. Jayden could only assume that the pizza was all gone, and the ducks were still hungry.

"Empty," Kevin said, trying to make the word as clear as possible, as if the ducks would suddenly understand the English language. He showed them the empty Styrofoam box, "It's all gone. Fly away."

"You do realise you probably won't get anywhere with them, right?" Mia chuckled as she looked up at Kevin. He shrugged his shoulders.

"It's worth a shot."

"How about we just walk away?" Mia asked. Kevin sighed as he let go of Mia. He didn't want to. He would rather argue with the ducks if it meant he could hold her all night.

Mia didn't want to let go either. Bravely, she touched hands with Kevin and quickly their fingers were intertwined. They walked to the grass and took a seat. A few ducks followed, but many got the idea. The food was gone, the humans were now useless.

Back by the river, Jayden watched with a smirk as an idea came to mind. He looked around to make sure no one could see him before he pulled out his samuraizer and traced a symbol in the air. As he spun it, a pink flower started to grow beside Mia. Kevin spotted it and looked over at Jayden. The Red Ranger nodded and turned back to Mike and Emily to give the blue Ranger some privacy.

Kevin picked the flower and showed it to Mia, "Look."

"It's beautiful," Mia nodded. Kevin shrugged.

"I've seen better," he let go of her hand and placed the flower in her hair. He smiled, "There, now it's beautiful."

"What does this mean, Kevin?" Mia asked with a slight frown. The atmosphere was definitely romantic. The river, the sunset, the flower, it could all give a girl a few ideas. She didn't want to misinterpret the situation.

"I guess we're just getting caught up," Kevin said. He pulled away from her nervously and started picking at the grass.

"Well… maybe we can try this again in a less romantic setting?" Mia suggested. "And… you know… see if we come up with the same results?"

"Are you asking me out?" Kevin asked.

Mia shook her head, "Uh…"

"Why don't you ask him out?"

"Have you ever had a boyfriend? Girls don't ask guys on dates… not when they aren't sure. I mean… what if he says no?"

"Why would he say no?"

Maybe Emily was right. Mia took a deep breath and changed her shake to a nod.

"Yeah… I think I am."

"Sweet," Kevin smiled, "I accept."

"You… you do?"

"Of course," Kevin nodded, "I like you, Mia. I like you a lot."

"I like you too."

Up in the tree, Mike stuck out his tongue.

"I'm all for romance, but can't they find somewhere a little more private to… you know?"

"I think it's sweet," Emily smiled. She was one branch higher than Mike, who had managed to climb up rather quickly. It wasn't a surprise to anyone. Mike was the forest Samurai. It was only natural his talents including tree-climbing. Amongst other things of course. It was too bad he was always comparing himself to Jayden or Kevin.

But Emily liked that about Mike. Not that he was always comparing himself to other people, but that he wasn't overconfident in his abilities and he knew he had a lot to work on. She could relate to him a lot easier than she could to Jayden or Kevin, or even Mia. They knew what they were doing and where they were going in their training. They didn't understand what it was like to watch someone who was so much better than you.

Mike did. Mike understood her more than anyone else. He didn't even have to try and he could read her like a book. Even when she closed herself off, Mike still broke through. She was happy about it too. It meant there was always someone she could count on.

"Okay, maybe if you're a girl, romance in public is sweet, but… I'm just not digging it," Mike shook his head.

"Mia's liked Kevin for a while now," Emily said. "It's nice to see some people getting their happy ending."

"I'll be happy if it ends there. I do not want to share a room with a love-sick Kevin. Food-sick Kevin was annoying enough."

"Speaking of Kevin… why was he mad at you? Did you ever find out?"

"Uh… he didn't like me taking the beetle from Mia," he pointed to Kevin and Mia, "You can probably see why he was so protective."

"That's it?" Emily asked. "You stole her toy so Kevin beats you up? Isn't that a little childish?"

"Well… um… there was more."

"Like?" Emily frowned. What else could have been bothering Kevin so much. Mike had his flaws, sure, but Emily didn't see any that were worth arguing over. Of course, she didn't see very many flaws in Mike.

"Different training styles… life styles… you know… silly stuff like that. I guess we're just been around each other for too long."

"I guess so," Emily nodded her head, "Does that mean Mia and I are due for a fight?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow she's mad at you for something you did in your sleep," Mike laughed. "You girls are always pissed for silly reasons."

Emily frowned and gently pushed Mike. He laughed again and got back at her by pushing her back. Emily grabbed onto a branch to keep her balance, but the branch didn't like the extra weight and snapped. Suddenly, Emily could feel herself falling from the tree.

"Oh shit!" Mike cried.

Jayden winced. He had seen this coming. He was too far to run and catch Emily, so all he could do was watch. He didn't feel like watching the youngest samurai hit the ground, though, so he closed his eyes, hoping it wouldn't happen.

He heard a scream and then a laugh. He opened one eye and looked at the tree. There, wrapped in an overgrown leaf, was Emily. At the top of the tree, Mike was looking down at her, with his samuraizer in his hand.

"Sorry Em!" he called down to her. "That was my bad!"

"Emily!" Mia cried as both she and Kevin rushed over to the tree. Mia uncurled the leaf from around Emily while Kevin lifted her out and placed her back on solid ground.

"That'll teach the earth samurai to keep her feet on the ground," he chuckled. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Emily smiled. She looked at Mike as he hopped out of the tree, "It was actually kind of fun. I've never been swallowed by a leaf before."

Jayden joined the group, "After that scare, how about we head home?" he asked. "The sun's set, and I don't really feel like getting bit by all the bugs that come out at this time of night."

"Deal," the others nodded.

Mike returned the leaf back to normal size before he and the others headed off. Jayden stayed at the back of the pack and waited a few steps before grabbing Kevin's arm.

"So?" he asked.

Kevin could only guess his leader was asking about his time with Mia. He smiled.

"She asked me out."

"She did?" Jayden laughed. "You know, that flower was supposed to push you into asking her out."

"I kind of choked," Kevin scratched the back of his neck, "Uh… are you okay with this? I mean… Rangers dating and all… it's kind of…"

"I can't help the way you feel," Jayden shrugged, "Just remember we have a planet to defend. Nothing is more important."

"Got it," Kevin nodded.