It was still early in the morning, but Mia couldn't fall back to sleep. Her mind was too preoccupied with her current situation. Her leader was missing, her boyfriend and one of her best friends were still laid up in bed, severely injured after their last battle, and her "little sister" was determined to fight alongside her, even though she wasn't ready. It was a lot for Mia to handle.

She headed to the common room, hoping Kevin would be awake at this hour. She wouldn't wake him if he was sleeping, but she really needed someone to talk to. She tip-toed to the side of his bed and quickly checked if his eyes were open or not.

A loud snore filled the room and Mia looked over to Mike's bed. Only the green Ranger could make such a sound. However, tonight she was thankful for it because it woke Kevin up.

"Mike, I'm going to suffocate you with a pillow one of these nights," Kevin muttered before he rolled over and saw Mia at his bedside. He smiled and reached out his good arm to take her hand. The other was still wrapped up from when he had broken it trying to defend Jayden.

"What time is it?" he whispered to her. Mia shook her head.

"I'm not sure. Early morning, but I couldn't sleep."

"Are you okay?" Kevin asked with concern, "You took a good hit with that Dekker guy that wanted Jayden."

Mia rubbed her chest and nodded her head, "Yeah, I'm fine. That's the least of my worries. How are you?"

Another one of Mike's loud snores erupted from his mouth. To Mia and Kevin, it almost sounded like he had swallowed a trumpet and was attempting to play with his throat.

"Aside from Snores-A-Lot over there, I'm feeling better."

"At least he's getting a good night's sleep," Mia chuckled. She saw Kevin tap the side of his bed and sat down on the empty space next to him. He pushed himself up, ignoring his body's screams as he did, and allowed Mia to rest her head on his chest as he wrapped one arm around her.

"Are you worried?" he asked. Mia looked up at him with the intention of lying. She didn't want him to worry, not when he was in this state. But when she saw how much he cared she couldn't do anything but tell him the truth.

"You and Mike are hurt, and we don't know where Jayden went," she nodded. "What if a Nighlok does come? I know they're all going after Jayden, but you two have pretty much shown that to get to him, they've got to go through us."

"We didn't exactly put up much of a fight," Kevin chuckled only to make her feel better. "Look, Jayden… wherever he is, he can take care of himself. I'm sure if he needs help, he'll come back. And same for us. I doubt he would let us get hurt. He fought for us in that battle… he'll do it again."

"It just doesn't make sense," Mia sighed. "You know… after punishing Mike for running off when things were tough, he turns around and does exactly that. I trust him as a leader, and I always will, but unless he's got a very good reason, we'll all start to question him."

"Maybe he's just scared," Kevin shrugged. "Knowing all the evil on the planet is coming after you has to give even Jayden a bit of a fright. He'll be home, I promise, Mia."

Mia smiled and looked up at her boyfriend. He always knew how to make her feel better. Kevin leaned his head down and kissed her.

"I know you and Em need to be on top of your game right now, but rest up, okay?" Kevin told her. "You can't tire yourselves out before the battle begins."

"I'm getting her out of here this afternoon after we train some more," Mia nodded, "if you're okay with that. I trust Mentor will take good care of you for a few hours."

"Go have fun," Kevin smirked and he kissed her again, "If you stop by that bakery though, can you pick me up something? I don't know what kind of painkiller's I'm on, but I'm craving sweets."

"I'll see what I can do," Mia smiled.

-Samurai-

Just as she promised, after training Mia took Emily out of the house for the afternoon. Unlike herself, she didn't want the yellow Ranger to worry about the possibility of fighting without any of the guys and thought that a girl's day would be exactly what Emily needed.

They had gone to the park to throw around a Frisbee. Mia was careful with her tosses, though, because Emily's knee was still healing up. She also didn't want the Ranger klutz to jump for the disk and land in a bush like the last time the Rangers all went to the park to play Frisbee. While at the park, the two girls had run into the young boy and his uncle, the same due they met at the ice-cream truck. The girls shared a laugh as Spike, the young boy, drooled over Mia. It was tragically hilarious to break the news to Spike that his love was unrequited as Mia already had a boyfriend. She tried to break it gently by telling Spike he was a great kid afterwards, but as it turned out, Spike had been too lost in his own daydream and he was pulled away by his uncle after Emily threw the Frisbee and it accidentally hit the older man in the head. The big man, Uncle Bulk, didn't seem to like staying in places where he was hit in the head or spilt on and dragged his nephew away before anyone else had a chance to hit him.

After the park, Mia and Emily took the bus down to the bakery. Mia had promised Kevin a cupcake, and now that the thought had been on her mind for half the day, she was starting to crave one as well. She didn't need to tell Emily twice, though. She could see the look in the young girl's eyes as they sat in the bus. Emily was glaring out the front window and Mia knew that, given the chance, Emily would take over the wheel and speed down to the bakery.

When they reached their stop the two girls hurried out. Mia had never seen Emily limp so quickly, but there was no standing between the kid and her sweets. Mia couldn't blame her, though. After everything they were still going through, a cupcake was only felt like the beginning of the world's way of making things right with the Rangers.

They grabbed a dozen of the little treats. Hoping there would be enough inside for everyone back home. Emily had even forced Mia into buying a cupcake for Jayden. The yellow Ranger was still holding onto hope that he would be back soon.

As they sat outside enjoying their cupcakes, a girl, about Emily's age, inched in closer to them. She pulled her sunglasses down and leaned in closer before gasping.

"Emily?"

Eyes wide, Emily turned. She knew that voice. It was the voice that haunted her since she was a child. Every chapter in her childhood that ended with tears always started with that voice.

"Abby…" Emily looked at the girl and put her cupcake down. She wasn't hungry anymore. Abby smiled, as if happy Emily recognised her and leaned in for a hug. Emily shook her head and pulled away, but slipped off her chair in her attempt to avoid Abby's hold of death, as she used to call it.

"Oh look, silly Emily fell down again. I see you're still the same old kid you were back home. And all those cuts on your face… remember, I told you, its one foot at a time when you walk and stay away from pointy objects. They hurt."

Mia knelt down next to Emily to help the girl to her feet. As she did, she whispered, "Old friend of yours?"

"Define friend," Emily whispered back. She stood up and looked at Abby, "I… what are you…"

"Do you really think I was going to stay in Manure County?" Abby scoffed. "Please, that place smelt of pigs and old farmer's feet!"

"There were farms," Emily growled, trying to defend her hometown. Abby had never liked living in the country. Even in kindergarten she had been a city-girl, and she had never even ventured too far from her land or the school. By second-grade, she began to refer to home only as Manure County to emphasize her disdain.

"Whatever. I begged my parents to let me live with my Uncle, and here I am! Finally, I can live among society and not with those barbarians… oh, no offense, Emily."

Mia leaned in over Emily's shoulder, "And I thought Master Xandred sounded evil."

"So what brings you out here, cowgirl?" Abby asked Emily. "Tired of being a loser at home, so you figured you would come up here?"

"No," Emily shook her head, "Actually, I… OW!"

Emily turned to Mia after being pinched and shot the older girl a look. Mia shook her head.

"You can't tell her."

"Tell me what?" Abby asked. She looked at Mia, "Who are you?"

Mia grabbed the box of cupcakes and tugged on Emily's arm, "It doesn't matter. C'mon, Emy, maybe we should head home."

"Oh, so soon?" Abby sighed. "Well, maybe another time Emily! I can't wait to catch up. It'll be a blast!"

Mia pulled Emily along until they were standing by the side of the street, far away from the bakery and Abby. The entire time they walked, Mia heard Emily muttering threats and insults.

"Remember what your sister said," Mia reminded Emily as they waited for the bus, "Just pretend like Abby didn't say anything at all."

"I'm working on it, but Abby…" Emily turned to the bakery, where Abby had gone inside. She clenched her fists, "I've never really been able to ignore Abby. Those other kids were mean, but Abby… Abby was Satan. Satan wasn't the red little devil everything thinks he is; he's a brunette bitch with designer shoes and Berry Berry Lip-Gloss."

"I take it Abby was the queen bee?" Mia asked and Emily nodded her head. She knew about Emily's past. How the yellow Ranger had been bullied in school. After meeting Abby and watching how Emily's mood when from cheery to irritable in seconds flat, it didn't take a genius to figure out Abby wasn't like the other kids.

"She was the one leading the charge," Emily sighed. She took a seat on the bench and Mia followed, sitting next to her. "I don't know what I ever did to her, you know. I mean, all I can remember doing was breaking a crayon in kindergarten… it was the pink one… sorry…"

"Don't worry about it," Mia chuckled.

"Abby always coloured with the pink crayon. I think it was her favourite one. When I broke it, the teacher threw it out. It was getting small anyways, and even our little fingers wouldn't be able to hold it anymore. It took months before the school bought more crayons. In that time, Abby started calling me a klutz and she would point out every time I fell."

"What a mean four year old," Mia frowned.

"I guess," Emily nodded. "After a few days of making fun of me, the other kids would start to laugh and it turned into a game. Who could push Emily into the sand and make her cry first? Who could find the best hiding spot for the toys she brought to show and tell? They never stopped laughing."

"What did the teacher do?"

"She tried to stop it, but that only made things worse. Abby and the other kids would get in trouble and then they would be mad at me. It was an endless cycle, really."

"So, ever since the kids started pushing you down and calling you a klutz, you've started acting like one?" Mia asked. Emily shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know… I guess. I mean, I was always falling and every day people were laughing."

"But kids fall all the time," Mia said. "We're all a little accident prone. Kevin lost his pants training once. I doubt he did that on purpose. Mike jabbed his finger with his fork the other night at dinner. Jayden stumbled a few weeks ago, and there wasn't anything around that would cause him to trip."

Mia wrapped her arm around Emily, "And… you know how I used to cook?"

"Yeah?"

"I burnt myself all the time! I still have some scars. It happens to the best of us."

"But it mostly happens to me," Emily looked down at her knee and the other cuts and bruises along her legs. Suddenly, she felt Mia taking her hand.

"Have you ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?" she asked and Emily shook her head. "Well, it believes something's going to happen, and then doing things for it to be true. Like believing you're a klutz and therefore you begin to act like one. It's all in your head, Em, trust me."

Emily seemed to cheer up a bit, but Mia could tell her encounter with her old nemesis was still bothering her. She opened the box of cupcakes and offered one to Emily.

"You know how I dream of the perfect wedding, right?" she started up a new topic. The bus wasn't scheduled to arrive for another few minutes anyways, so they had a lot of time. Emily nodded.

"You told me about it after you saved those brides," she said.

"People used to laugh at me for that… sometimes," Mia said. "Or, they used to moan and groan any time I would bring it up. Even my friends. I was never picked on, because of it, but nobody ever wanted to listen. Meanwhile, they all talked about their dreams. No one found mine interesting."

"But every girl dreams of her perfect wedding," Emily frowned. "I've thought about mine. How could everyone make fun of you for that?"

"There's always something that makes us different, I guess," Mia shrugged her shoulders. "We've just got to find people who will accept that and who will like us for who we are."

"So, you don't care that I'm a klutz?"

"It definitely keeps things interesting around the Shiba house," Mia chuckled. "I didn't want to laugh that time you fell and spilled the peas everywhere, but it was pretty funny."

"I guess so," Emily let out a soft chuckle. "And you can talk to me about your dream wedding anytime! I promise I'll listen!"

"I know you will," Mia nodded. She looked around the corner and then checked her watch. Buses had a habit of being late, but they were never this late.

"Maybe we're better off walking home?" Emily suggested. She too must have realised they had been waiting a long time.

"I guess so," Mia nodded as she got to her feet. She looked down the street once more. Maybe the bus was on its way, "I wonder why the bus is so late?"

"Traffic?" Emily shrugged as she turned to head home.

"Moogers," she heard Mia reply. Emily frowned.

"Moogers don't take the bus."

Mia grabbed Emily's arm. She turned her around and pointed down the street where Moogers were running around and causing terror.

"Oh, that's what you meant," Emily said as she pulled out her Samuraizer, ready for her first battle back. Mia did the same, but before morphing, she thought she would check with Mentor on the location of any Nighlok.

"Mentor, there's a Mooger invasion just outside the bakery. Any signs of a Nighlok in the area?"

Mentor was slow to reply, but when he did it baffled Mia and Emily. He told them the map wasn't picking up any Mooger or Nighlok activity and the gap sensor hadn't gone off. Mia rubbed her eyes, thinking maybe she was seeing things.

But when she opened her eyes again the Moogers were still there.

"Mentor, there are definitely Moogers."

"You might want to have a look at that gap sensor," Emily threw in before she looked at Mia, "While he does that…"

Mia nodded and both she and Emily held up their morphers.

"Go, go samurai!"