Living with Vrak wasn't all bad. At least she got her own bed.

Vanessa was still sore from Vrak's latest punishment. After he had suggested making her his empress once he ruled the world, Vanessa had burned him. She didn't regret her actions. She'd do it again if he suggested something so ridiculous. She just wished the pain would go away. She wanted someone to know she was missing and find her.

She was sure that, by now, Claire knew something had happened. She had been due home over a day ago, and Claire was one to worry. But in her last message to her girlfriend, she had told her she had already left the Rangers. They had dropped her off safely just outside the city which meant anything could have happened to her. Vanessa didn't want her to run to the Rangers and worry them, but at the same time, the Rangers were exactly who she needed. And she needed them to worry about her.

But for now, she was on her own and she had to do her best to stay alive. While it was miserable living with Vrak, she didn't want Gia to suffer the pain of losing both her parents. She wanted to be strong so that when Gia did come for her, she wouldn't have to worry.

Vanessa rolled over in her bed and sighed loudly as she reached for the only thing Vrak had let her keep. It was the body of the tiger toy she carried with her, the toy she bought after leaving Gia as a way to keep her daughter close. Vrak had decapitated the toy to scare Vanessa, and had only let her keep the body as a reminder of what he was excited to do to Gia if she didn't reconsider his offer. Vanessa did have the chance to spare her daughter's life at no real cost to herself. Vrak, either way, would hold her as his prisoner for as long as he could. However, she knew not to trust him and hoped that, by refusing his so called generosity, she was getting under his skin. She hoped she could prove Morans weren't easily broken.

So she hugged the tiger body close to her heart and tried to imagine herself in a better place. She tried to imagine what the world would be like once the war was over, and how it would feel to be home with Claire and have both her girls safe and sound.

That day would come. She couldn't stop believing that.

Suddenly, the door to her room opened. Vanessa jumped as Vrak walked in. He grabbed her.

"You'll stay with me," he told her as he dragged her out of bed. Vanessa pulled away from him.

"Vrak, we're hundreds of feet below water. I'm powerless. I couldn't go anywhere if I tried. Please, just let me sleep alone."

"I'm not worried you'll escape," Vrak said. "I'm lonely. It's been a while since I've had company as beautiful as you."

"No!" Vanessa screamed and stepped further away from him. Vrak grabbed her arm and smirked. He loved toying with her only because he knew how it would hurt the yellow Ranger when it inevitably got back to her. He knew it would set her off and she would make mistakes trying to avenge not only her father, but now her mother's honour. He reached out, grabbed Vanessa's arm and again started to pull her towards his room.

Vanessa didn't give up the fight. She pulled away from him and when he refused to let go she bit down on his hand. Vrak howled. He had no armour there. It was all flesh. Angered she had defied him yet again; he spun around and smacked her hard across the face. She dropped, smashed her head against the corner of the bed. It immediately started to bleed. Vrak knew he had gone far enough. Not to mention, Vanessa's bite had been pretty nasty.

"I assure you," he warned her as he knelt down before her, "If you prove you're more trouble than your worth, I will have no problem disposing of you as I see fit, and replacing you with another. Your little girlfriend, perhaps. Or if I'm feeling really adventurous, one of your precious Rangers."

"I'll never let you hurt them," Vanessa growled. "They'll find me, and as soon as Gia finds out what you've done..."

"I look forward to that day," Vrak smirked. He kissed Vanessa's check and then walked out of her room. She cried out angrily, reached for the fallen pillow by her bed and tossed it at the door before she curled up into a ball on the floor. She wanted help. She needed help.

Now.

-Megaforce-

Jake was up early the next morning not because he had anything to do. He was just so uncomfortable in his body. It had been almost a day since a monster had swapped him and Emma and he was desperate to be back where he belonged. It wasn't that he didn't like Emma, or that there was anything wrong with her; he just preferred his own body. It felt weird being a man trapped inside a woman's body.

Emma seemed to have the same problem. She was up not long after Jake and seemed all around uncomfortable and even a little embarrassed. Jake looked to her.

"What's up?"

"Does it do that every morning?" she whispered even though no one else was awake. Jake frowned.

"What?"

"You know," Emma whispered and pointed to her pants. Jake noticed she was a little hunched over and had her hands in her pocket. He chuckled.

"Oh. Yep. Most mornings. Just be glad you woke up before the others."

Emma shuttered as she took a seat at the table with Jake. She turned to him, "Did Gia tell you about the date?"

"She shares a lot," Jake nodded his head. "Like... everything. I know exactly what happened."

"Yeah, that's what we do," Emma chuckled. "I know more than you think."

"That's embarrassing," Jake said. "Do all girls share that much?"

"We don't hold back," Emma said. "If it makes you feel any better, she knows just as much about Jordan. It's nothing personal."

Emma then turned to Jake, "By the way, I hope I didn't cross any lines."

"Em, it's fine. I trust you. Besides, I don't think there are any lines established for this," Jake said and pointed between them. "You kiss her goodnight?"

"Yes."

"She's a good kisser, huh?"

"Really good," Emma nodded her head and turned to Jake curiously. "Where did she learn to do that thing with her tongue?"

"Dude, I don't know, and I don't care," Jake chuckled. "I think it's something she picked up from Cliff but I'm not going to bring it up."

"Smart," Emma said. "It's something I might teach Jordan. Although, speaking of Jordan, I've got to tell him about this."

"What?"

"It's hard enough sneaking around Gia," Emma said. "I can't keep this from Jordan forever. He's got to know that at one point, I kissed someone else."

"Can it be after Gia finds out the truth? I don't want him to start blabbing about this before the big day," Jake suddenly sat up straight, "Oh, by the way, butterflies!"

"Where?" Emma looked around. Jake chuckled and shook his head.

"Not here. For the proposal. Before we went to bed, Gia was telling me all about her trip with Orion to the Butterfly Conservation. She says it felt so peaceful there and she was hoping that me going with you would get me thinking about taking her there."

"If she wanted to visit the Butterfly Conservation, all she had to do was ask me," Emma said. "I'd take her any time."

"I want to propose there," Jake said. "It'd be the perfect spot. And you could find somewhere to hide out and take pictures. It would mean the world to her if she had a nice shot of the moment."

"You got all that out of her?"

"She shares a lot with you," Jake nodded. "I also know she likes that shirt you wore on our date. Please tell me that chocolate stain will come out. It'll really impress her if I wear it. Oh, and I'll need roses. The yellow ones aren't romantic, but they're her favourite. Apparently, if I ever brought her yellow roses, she'd fall in love with me all over again."

"Why yellow? Well, I mean, she likes yellow, but for roses, isn't red..."

"She likes yellow," Jake shook his head. "Emma, how amazing would it be if I got this right? If I made her dream date come true and proposed to her all at once?"

"You might just kill her," Emma smiled. She turned to Jake, "Thank you."

"For killing your best friend?"

"For remembering all this. For caring enough about her to want to make her feel special," Emma said. She looked down at her hands, "For Gia's birthday, Cliff... had his way with her."

"Yeah, I know," Jake sighed. Emma shook her head.

"Jake, he didn't take her to dinner. He didn't buy her flowers or a card, or even a gift. Gia still believed in him at that time. When he invited her to his place, she thought he was preparing something special. She thought he was actually going to make her feel like he cared about her and he would be different. Instead, he just had his way with her and then kicked her out before his parents got home. She spent the night in the street because she was too ashamed to go home."

"She never told me that," Jake frowned. Emma nodded sadly.

"I found her the next morning on my way to Ernie's. She slept in an alleyway. Some homeless guy took her money, her shoes, her jacket."

"Her birthday's in February. Didn't she...?"

"She was pretty cold," Emma nodded. "I brought her home. My parents weren't there. I let her warm up. I didn't say anything but I was kind of hoping for her next birthday, someone would be nice enough to at least buy her a card."

"She deserves more than a card," Jake said. Emma smiled at him.

"Thank you."

"I'm going to make this special," Jake said. "I want her to know just how much I love her."

"She loves you too, Jake," Emma said. "I know she might not say it much. But last night, when we were on our date, the way she would look at you..."

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Jake smiled. "Do you remember, when this Ranger thing first started, she wanted nothing to do with me? Now she's... I mean something to her. I'm special. A girl like Gia thinks I'm special."

"You are," Emma said. She turned to Jake, "Don't screw this proposal up. I'm not saying that as her best friend. I'm saying that for you. You deserve to have this go well."

"Thanks, Em."

Suddenly, their morphers went off. Both breathed a sigh of relief as they jumped out of their seats. The other Rangers hurried out of the bedrooms to see what was going on.

"Looks like we're in for an early start," Gia muttered. "Tensou, any idea what this guy can do?"

"Not yet. I'll let you know as soon as I do."

"Alright. Come on, guys. Let's be careful. We don't want to start our day with any weird spells or problems."

Jake and Emma looked to each other and couldn't help but chuckle. The monster was the one that had swapped their bodies, but their friends didn't know that, and they intended on keeping it that way.