For Troy, the school day started off like any other. He got off the bus and walked straight to his locker. He put his bag in his locker and took out a couple of his books. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder and jumped.

He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before. He had dreamt of Serena and had gotten the impression that his dreams were trying to tell him she was the white Samurai Ranger who had defended Panorama City and who had helped Jake and Noah when they had been two against the latest monster. There was nothing to prove Serena wasn't a Ranger, but no way to prove, with complete certainty that she was. However, he was up all night tossing and turning and wondering. His reflexes were a little slow and his senses weren't as sharp. He felt the tap and jumped.

"Whoa, hey, calm down," Serena chuckled and then pointed to the red shirt he was wearing. Troy was still supporting Gia, as were most of the student body and all the teachers and staff, by wearing a woman's shirt. For the girls, the theme was yellow. "Love the shirt, just one question."

"Yellow's not my colour," Troy reached down to pick up the books he had dropped when Serena startled him, "I couldn't pull it off."

"Where's Gia? And Emma for that matter," Serena asked. "I told Gia to show up to school today. It would be good for her to see all the yellow and…"

Serena trailed off when she and Troy both heard a faint cry. They looked over and saw two of the older kids standing over a smaller freshman. The younger boy was a bit on the heavier side with glasses that were a little too small for his round face. It was obvious he was still waiting for puberty as he cried out with a high pitched voice. On either side of him, the two older boys were tossing a container of sorts between them, as the younger boy ran back and forth trying to catch it.

"Give it back!" he cried, "Stop it! You're going to hurt it!"

Serena groaned. As if she didn't have enough problems trying to keep an eye on Serena, now it seemed common bullying was starting up in the school. She took a step forward, ready to take a stand, but Troy was just a little faster. Serena stopped to watch.

Just as the boy being picked on was about to start crying from the teasing and the threats to the little bug in his container, Troy walked over and snatched the bug from the skinner of the two bullies. He gave the bug back to the boy and glared at Roy.

"Just because you're bigger, doesn't mean you can pick on him," Troy glared right at Roy with an intense look in his eyes. He wasn't ready to stand down. Roy glared back. He was the tough kid in the school. He wasn't afraid of anything. "No matter how small, everything deserves respect."

"Well, if it isn't the new kid. You know what we call new kids around here? Fresh meat."

Troy didn't say anything. He wouldn't even blink. He continued to stare at Roy as if waiting for something more to come from the slightly taller boy's mouth. When nothing did come, Troy started to walk away.

Suddenly, he bumped into a bigger, taller boy. Roy's sidekick it seemed, from the amused grin on his face. Troy turned around to look at Roy as his body guard blocked the path. Roy stood over him.

"Aw, are you going to cry?"

Not a muscle in Troy's face twitched, "Take a good look. Do you see any tears?"

The standoff was intense, but eventually Roy backed down. By the end of the confrontation, he was the one who looked ready to run home crying. He simply turned to his friend.

"This chump's boring me. Let's go."

As the two bullies walked off, Troy looked to the freshman and gestured to the bug, "What is it?"

"It's a halderman click beetle. It's really rare," the younger boy answered Troy smiled as he got a closer look at the bug and then nodded his head.

"Cool. Get to class. Those guys won't bother either of you again."

"Thanks!" the younger boy smiled and hurried off before there was another incident. Troy turned around and walked back to his locker. Serena waited for him and looked impressed.

"That was really cool what you did for that kid."

"I was picked on when I was younger," Troy shrugged his shoulders. "It's a horrible feeling. I can't just stand around and watch someone else go through with that."

"You were picked on?"

"Why does everyone seem surprised?" Troy closed his locker and turned to Serena. She shook her head.

"Not surprised. I just… never thought about it. How did you make it stop?"

"Eventually I learned martial arts. I stood up for myself, after some help from a really great guy."

"You beat the bullies up?"

"Never," Troy shook his head, "That's not my style. I stopped giving them what they wanted. Roy and all those other bullies are all the same. They want a rise, and an audience. If you show then you won't give into their game, they stop playing."

"You're a good guy, Troy," Serena gave him a pat on the back, "Now, as for my earlier question…?"

"I haven't seen or heard from Gia and Emma since last night," Troy answered. "See if Jordan or Jake know anything."

Serena smacked her forehead, "Baby brain. Thanks, Troy."

-Megaforce-

Camping had never been Gia's idea of fun, but spending time with her best friend always made the camping trips worth the hike and the sleep in the dirt.

Emma had snuck home quickly after the girls left Gia's house and took her tent and camping supplies from the garage. Then, the girls hiked deep into the woods, where they were sure no one would come out to look for them. They set up camp and slept for what little night they had. In the morning, Emma had been up first and so had gone to get some berries for breakfast. She often spent many hours in the forest and would grow hungry. She knew which plants were good for fruits and which were to be avoided. Later in the day, she and Gia would find a place to eat quickly, but going into the city when she was sure her parents were looking everywhere for her was risky.

When Emma got back to the tent, she saw Gia was already up and playing with the stuffed tiger Jake had given her. Emma chuckled as she offered Gia a bowl of berries, "Aw, you're got a sweet spot for the tiger?"

Gia shrugged her shoulders, "It was really sweet of Jake. He's scared of hospitals, you know."

"I could tell," Emma nodded. "Is everything okay?"

"Just… nightmares," Gia sighed. Emma looked to her best friend sadly.

"If you need to, you can call Serena or…"

"And get her stuck in the middle of this?" Gia asked and shook her head, "We're staying off grid for a while, Emma. That means we both need to disappear."

"Not at the expense of your recovery. I know you like to talk to Serena and she's been great for you so far. I'd be fine with a phone call or even on my own…"

Gia scoffed, "The only reason I came out here, aside from not wanting you to leave me, was to keep an eye on you. Anything could happen out in the woods, especially to a Ranger. Do you really think we're splitting up?"

"I can protect myself…"

"Maybe from a bear, but if there's an alien attacking, I don't want you going in by yourself. Let's face it, Em, you're a great Ranger, but you'd still get your ass kicked. And anyways, Serena's not the only person I can talk to."

"If you're not comfortable with me, I don't want to force you," Emma took Gia's hand, "I get it, sometimes we're just too personal."

"No," Gia shook her head, "Never," she flashed Emma a quick smile, "Serena does this thing that really helps. She asks me for a word of the day and… it's going to sound stupid but it really… I don't know. Something about saying the way I feel out loud makes me feel… better."

"We can do that. You know I'm not going to judge you. Whatever you say stays between us."

"I know," Gia smiled. "I've told Serena and James some words already, want to hear them?"

Emma nodded and leaned in a little closer to Gia. The yellow Ranger took a deep breath.

"Stupid, humiliated, and used."

Emma wrapped her arms around Gia, "It makes sense you would feel that way."

"Serena usually just says it's okay."

"And it is," Emma nodded, "It's okay to feel that way. I get why. Although, it makes me really sad to hear that."

"Why?"

"Because none of it is your fault. Maybe you were used, but all the fault, and all the blame falls on Cliff. The problem is with him, not you."

"Admit it, Emma; I must have done something…"

"No!" Emma shook her head side to side, "No. I'm not letting my best friend turn into one of those girls who thinks she deserves nor did something to deserve being treated poorly by an asshole. You're better than that, Gia. I've been trying to tell you that for two years now," Emma moved away from Gia and chuckled slightly, "I guess, if there's anything wrong with you, it's that you don't listen."

"Do you know how much I'm dying to believe you, Emma?" Gia looked down at the tiger in her hands and sighed, "I just… can't. I'd never wish what happened to me on to you, but sometimes I wish you could feel the way I would do so you would know."

"Cliff took something from me too. He took my best friend and buried her somewhere in that shell of yours, and just when I thought she was coming back, he buried her again, this time deeper. You're right there, Gia, but you have no idea how much I miss you."

"I don't even know who I am anymore, Emma," Gia sighed, "Before Cliff, I was just some kid. Now I'm supposed to be thinking about what I want to do after high school. I should have goals and dreams and… you wouldn't get it?"

"I'm worried about after high school too. I'm worried about high school. I don't know about you, but between saving the world and fighting off Cliff, my grades have taken a hit. I might not see the twelfth grade for another couple of years."

"But you know who you are, and you're not… scared," Gia shrugged her shoulders and sighed, "Em, we're out here because you're strong enough to want to move away from your parents."

"Strong enough? Gia, I'm running away. I'm a coward. Besides, I'm scared of leaving you…"

"Because I'm a mess and you need to pick up the pieces…"

"Because I've never been anywhere without you," Emma took Gia's hands and held them softly, "For the past seventeen years I've figured out who I am because I've always had my best friend watching my back. I know you don't always like the things I do or even what I eat, but I'm safe with you. I trust you. You've always been there for me. Like when I scraped my knee learning to ride my bike. Remember, your dad told me to get back up and keep pedalling, but I was too scared. You told me I could do it, gave me your magic pink helmet, and you told your dad that if he let go of my seat before I was ready, you'd beat him up."

Gia chuckled and nodded her head, "You got on and rode like you'd already mastered the bike."

"And you remember when we had that sleepover, and I saw a spider in your room and freaked out? I wanted to kill it, but you caught it in your hands and told me everything you had read about spiders in that insects book you got for Christmas?"

"Spiders are arachnids, I don't get why they were in a book on insects," Gia rolled her eyes.

Emma gave Gia a smile, "You told me they were important. How destroying them would hurt the planet, and hurt us in the end. You told me the spider didn't need to be in the house, but we didn't need to kill him."

"He was cute."

"You also remember years and years ago, when my parents, God knows why, decided to go on a trip to Disney World and left me at home with your parents. You guys were planning a camping trip and let me come along, and while we were out collecting wood for the fire, you pulled me aside and showed a mother deer caring for her fawn. You pulled out the disposable camera your dad gave to you and let me take as many pictures as I wanted."

"You left the flash on," Gia nodded her head, "And fumbled with the camera. Instead of taking a picture of the deer, you took a picture of me, and the flash scared away the deer."

"You let me keep the camera, and we took so many pictures of our camping trip. When I had the pictures developed, I put them in my scrapbook. About a year later, I rediscovered them, and going through the pictures took me back to that trip, where we had so much fun."

"That trip came after the spider thing," Gia rolled her eyes, "So you were already starting to get into all this environment crap. You took about ten pictures of the ants on a log."

"You helped me find my way," Emma looked at Gia with a bright, cheerful smile, "Those things, the bike, the environment, and photography, those were already inside me and you brought them out. I'm going to do the same to you. I know who you are, Gia. I've always known. I'll help you figure it out."

"Then we need to make sure your parents don't take you back," Gia whispered and turned away from Emma to hide the tears in her eyes. She climbed out of the tent, wiped her eyes, then turned and offered her hand to Emma, "But first, let's make sure this nature crap really isn't my thing. We'll go for a walk and while you take pictures of dirt and rocks and stuff, I'll tell you more about… about Cliff."