"I'm sure they'll do everything they can to help from here," Rebecca promised Orion as they got back to the apartment to meet with the other Rangers. "I know it may not feel like it after they refused the space mission, but they do care about you."
"I guess I know that," Orion nodded as they stepped off the elevator. "I'll consider giving it some time though. It's not like I planned on never staying on Earth. I just hoped to get one last goodbye in on Andrasia before I settled."
"Plans have a funny way of not always working out the way you want them too," Rebecca said just as she got to the door. She pulled out a set of keys and right away found the one that fit in the lock.
"How did you do that?" Orion asked her. Looking to the keys, he saw they were all mostly alike. Rebecca held up her set to show him.
"A birthday gift from Emma. She had all my keys engraved with Braille and taught me to identify them," Rebecca smiled. "She saw me struggling with all the different keys I need and came up with the perfect solution. She's really good at stuff like that. Maybe she's done the same for..."
"Surprise!" everyone inside the apartment called out when Rebecca opened the door. She hadn't heard anyone moving around or whispering from the other side, and so didn't expect the loud call out when it happened. She dropped the keys and covered her ears as she pulled away.
Orion was also surprised, but one look around the room told him this was something special, meant for him. There was a rough looking homemade banner hanging from the ceiling with welcome written along. Some trays were set up on the kitchen counter and the coffee table with food, as well as what appeared to be a map of the city. And his friends were all gathered, smiling at him.
"What's all this?" he asked. Rebecca walked in behind him with a pout.
"A lack of forethought for the sensitive of hearing."
"This is your welcome party," Emma explained as she led Orion further into the apartment. "Gia said you did something similar for newcomers on Andrasia."
"We did," Orion nodded and looked around in awe. It didn't look like his celebrations back at home, but he could see what his friends were trying to do. "You mean, you're doing one for me."
"We talked it over," Troy explained, "Space travel really isn't the right decision for any of us right now. But that doesn't mean we don't want to help you find your home."
"We'll do whatever we can, within reason," Gia told the silver Ranger, and pulled him down on the couch. "And in the meantime, we wanted to give you a real welcome to Earth, and Earth life."
"Angel Grove is a pretty big place," Jordan held up the map of the city, "But once you've been around a few times, you start to learn your way. The streets mostly go either North-South or East-West. And we've circled our usual hangouts."
"You're still more than welcome to stay with me," Troy offered and pointed to the red circle on the map. "That's my apartment. It's small, but we can figure something out."
"This one in yellow is this apartment," Gia smirked. Orion looked up to her.
"Yellow? What about Jake and Emma's Ranger colours?"
"Green's already the park, black is depressing, and the pink highlighter just doesn't work," Gia said. "So I win."
"Conveniently," Jordan muttered. Then he pointed to the purple circle. "This is the grocery store. You know, where we buy our food and stuff. They've got pretty much anything you can want there, but if there's something else you're looking for and can't find it, just ask one of us."
"And like I said, green is the parks. There are a few here in Angel Grove," Gia said. "You can do almost anything there."
"Including," Jake held up his soccer ball, "Soccer, or football as you call it, with the city league. It's not as impressive as what I do, but it's still a good way to pass the time and have some fun."
"A soccer league?"
"If you want," Jake said. "Angel Grove's got a lot of other sports you can try out. I just thought, because football and soccer are pretty much the same, you could start there."
"I don't know what to say," Orion looked around the room. Emma took a seat next to him and smiled.
"We're really sorry we can't travel with you to find Andrasia. We want to help, it's just, with all we've got going on in our lives, and it's really not possible to drop it all. But that doesn't mean we don't care about your home. But we are really glad to have you back, especially because that means you'll likely be around for the babies and for the weddings. You've done so much for us, those two events really wouldn't be the same if you weren't there to celebrate with us."
"What she's trying to say..."
"Troy, this is my speech," Emma said. "You've got that dance."
"But..."
"We voted."
Troy crossed his arms over his chest and huffed as he sat back. Emma cleared her throat and continued what she had to say to Orion.
"I've only travelled once," she told him. "After we defeated the Armada, mom and I went on a trip to South America. As amazing as that was I couldn't help but feel a little homesick the entire time. And that was knowing I still have someplace to call home. Losing all of that, especially the way you did, none of us can imagine how that feels. But, we hope, staying here, being with us, will show you that you have a new home. We might not be as great as what you knew back on Andrasia, but we're really going to try and give you everything you need to feel like you belong."
Orion smiled at Emma, took her hands, then looked around to his friends.
"When I lost my home, I thought I lost everything," he said. "I knew defeating the Armada wouldn't bring any of it back. I also didn't know how wrong I was."
He looked back at Emma, and then cast a quick glance Rebecca's way. "None of you are like the family I knew on Andrasia, but that doesn't mean what I have here isn't as great. Landing here on Earth was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. Meeting you guys certainly was. I'm sorry I stormed out before..."
"Orion, you don't have to apologize for that."
"I do," he said. "My planet's gone. I might find it again one day, I may not. But either way, I've got a home right here. I hope you can forgive me for forgetting that earlier."
"Only if you forgive us for not wanting to go to space," Emma said. Jake cut in.
"It's not that we don't want to go," he said. "It's just, with a soccer career and a baby on the way... it's not a good time."
"We can't make up for the family and the home you miss," Emma told Orion with a soft smile, "But we'll try our best to make you miss them just a little less."
"After all, we are a family," Troy said. "Being Rangers unites us all."
Orion smiled, nodded his head, then felt Tiger brush up against him. He looked down at the cat, then pet her on the head.
"You've grown a lot since we last saw each other."
"She and Troy prepared something for you," Gia said. "I think she's ready to show you."
"You've prepared something?" Orion looked to the red Ranger. Troy sighed loudly, but Jake and Jordan pulled him to his feet.
"Troy refused a chant, so we hope a dance will do," Gia said. Tiger hurried over to the red Ranger, then jumped up and placed her front paws on his shoulders. Troy sighed, rolled his eyes, and placed his hands on Tiger's midsection. Then they started to sway.
"Tiger's usually a better dancer than this," Jordan pointed out. "But Troy's a little rough around the edges so..."
"I wanted to do the speech," Troy said. "But someone wouldn't let me."
"Wait, what's happening?" Rebecca asked. Noah put his arm around her.
"Troy and Tiger are slow dancing. And Tiger's leading."
"Seriously?"
"Cat's got some moves," Jordan chuckled.
"I'm not a dancer," Troy reminded them.
"I'll say," Orion smiled.
Jake shook his head and cut in between the cat and the red Ranger, taking over for Troy, "Dude, you've got to put a little more passion into it."
"Don't dance," Gia muttered and turned away as her fiancé got ready to move.
"Ready, Tiger?" Jake asked. "We're going to crank this up."
Tiger got back on all four paws and looked up excitedly to the green Ranger. Jordan put some music on, and together they started to dance.
"Aw, yeah!" Jake said. Gia covered her face in her hands.
"Oh god..."
"Come on, cat, break it down," Jake cheered.
"Break it up," Gia turned away.
"Don't break it up," Rebecca shook her head and made her way over to what was now the dance floor. "I want to get in on this. How often can you dance with a tiger?"
Rebecca started to dance next to her step brother and the cat, "Don't need eyes to follow a beat. Come on, Noah!"
"You know, finding the solution to Gia's heart really can't wait any..." Noah couldn't finish as Gia shoved him into the dance floor. As much as she wanted to stop her fiancé's embarrassing dance moves, she knew Noah was working hard for her and didn't want him to overdo it. An evening of fun to celebrate Orion's return was definitely acceptable. When Noah stumbled onto the dance floor, Rebecca grabbed him and started to dance with him.
"Well, if you can't beat them, join them, right?" Emma suggested to Gia and Jordan. Her fiancé nodded, offered his hand and led her over to the dance floor. Gia shook her head and refused to join until Tiger bit down on the end of her shirt and pulled her in.
"No. Tiger, no."
Tiger wasn't following Gia's orders, and pulled her into the middle to dance with Jake. The green Ranger took his fiancée's hands and started to twirl her around.
"Let loose a little," he told her. "It's good for your heart."
"You're not allowed to dance like this at the wedding," Gia said. Jake shook his head.
"I'll be dancing like this the whole night through," he spun her around once more before the music suddenly stopped. Everyone turned to see Orion by the stereo.
"If this is my party, let me show you how we danced back home," Orion suggested.
"Verbal instructions, please," Rebecca called out. Orion nodded his head.
"Don't worry. I make sure you've all got this down by the end of the night. It's pretty easy, but we move pretty fast, so pay attention."
