Ernie had just finished putting the last second decorations up for the rangers. He had agreed to close down for the rest of the day and let the rangers take over his store once they came from dinner to eat some dessert. Emma had been nothing but helpful to him, and she wanted to do something nice. Gia had even started taking shifts, and Jake was always here to support the girls or even drive them home.

Noah, Troy, and Gavin came in most days to hang out and were always kind and polite customers. The group was his favorite group of customers, and they never gave him any reason to dislike them. On top of all that, they were the power rangers. Their identities were secret and they never received any credit or thanks for consistently putting their lives on the line everyday. He figured he could close for a couple hours on one night and let them do something special.

Gavin and the rangers all walked in, laughing happily, only to see the Brainfreeze was decorated for a birthday party and otherwise completely empty. Emma gave Ernie a questioning look.

"For everything you guys have done for me in the past, it was the least I could do. Happy birthday, Jake."

He smiled. "Thanks Ernie. This is amazing."

Ernie returned the smile and left to the back.

The rangers settled in and Emma made everyone's orders. She brought everything over and laughed. "On the house."

Noah looked at her. "Are you even allowed to give us stuff on the house?"

"Nope! But I'm sure Ernie wouldn't mind one night. I can always work it off anyways. We all deserve at least one night of fun and freedom."

Gia laughed. "It's alright. He won't be mad. But if he does throw a fit, I'll share the blame."

Troy pulled out a black bag with red wrapping paper. "It's time for gifts! As I am the red ranger, obviously the coolest one, I'll be going first."

The rest of the rangers stuck out their tongues as Jake tore into the gift. "Dude, this is awesome!" He pulled out a video game he had been wanting for months. Troy smiled.

"I know you've been meaning to buy and play it, but life has been crazy these past few months. I thought you'd like it."

Jake smiled and tucked it away. "I'm so playing that when I get home tonight."

Emma and Gavin went next. They really did not have much money to throw around, so the two decided to make it a joint gift. Jake pulled out a photo album and flipped through it. A soft smile came to his face when he saw all the pictures. There were pictures of the team, pictures of him with Gia, and they were all memories he wouldn't ever want to forget.

"Thank you so much. You guys seriously didn't have to do this. I know how long it must have taken."

Gavin put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm definitely not the best with a camera, but I tried to help out with what I could. You've been pretty great with helping Emma out and taking care of me. I could never forget everything you've done for me, and we wanted to do something special."

The pink ranger walked over and gave him a hug. "Yeah, you've really stepped up in a big way. Especially for me the last few months. I wouldn't be where I am right now if it hadn't been for your help. So, thank you."

Noah pulled out his gift next and Jake saw the box was tiny. Extremely curious as to what it was, he ripped through the small wrapping paper and opened the box, pulling out a small watch-like device.

"I know how much you like soccer and staying active, so I made this fitness tracker for you."

Jake had always wanted one, and he eagerly scrambled to get it on. When he tried to run around the store and see what happened, he frowned when all he saw was a little emblem in the center. Nothing had happened.

Noah laughed and motioned for him to come back over. He then pressed on the emblem, and a holograph projection erupted out of the small watch. From there, Jake could see on the screen the amount of calories he burned, steps he had taken, recommend fitness intake, and even a whole diet plan. He saw options to customize the tracker to be daily, weekly, monthly, or record everything. It was the most high-tech thing he had ever seen.

"Noah, is this a freaking holograph? How did you even make this?"

"It's a little project I've been working on for the past eight months." Jake's jaw dropped. "I had a good amount of it figured it out and engineered, but I was having trouble getting the screen to project out of the watch. So I asked for Tensou's help and together, we were able to make all this. But you haven't gotten to the cool part yet."

Jake's mouth continued to hang open. "This isn't the cool part?"

His best friend swiped at the air, which looked ridiculous, but the holographic screen changed. A whole new menu came up. He then reached down into the bag and pulled out a soccer ball. It looked ordinary, but in reality, was far from it.

"I know we're inside, but just give it a light kick."

Jake did as he was told and instantly, stats started showing up on the screen. It showed him how fast he kicked it, how much force he applied, and recommended different angles to hit the ball that would lead to better results. There was even an image with a soccer ball near the bottom of the screen, and when he tapped it, the picture grew into a 3D projection.

He slid the image around and the ball rotated with his finger's movement. There was a slight red circle where he had kicked the ball, and it showed the amount of spin he had put on it, along with different ways he could kick it to optimize the trajectory of the ball.

"Noah... This is wicked. Seriously, I didn't think anything like this could even exist within the next two hundred years! Let alone, be in my hands."

Noah smiled. "I guess you didn't give me enough credit. Anyways, the ball is one I made specifically to help you make the most out of your practice. I rigged it up with sensors, and it's supposed to help you improve your kick. It tells you where you hit the ball, how hard you hit it, and ways you could make your kicks better. Honestly, a lot of the actual soccer stuff kind of went over my head, but I watched a bunch of professionals talking about their practice and tried to model it after what I thought would be most efficient."

Jake ran over and engulfed the blue ranger in a bear hug. "This is actually the coolest thing I've ever seen. I can't believe you spent most of the year working on this! I don't even know what to say. Seriously, I am never taking this thing off."

Noah returned the hug tight. "You've always been there for me. You're the best soccer player in our school and I'm just the nerd but you always stuck by me. We're brothers and I haven't been able to repay you for everything you've done for me. This is the least I could do."

Gia pulled out her little bag. "Alright, looks like we saved the best for last."

Troy smirked. "No offense, Gia. But I don't think anything... ever... will top Noah's gift."

She laughed. "Yeah, you're probably right. I should gone before Noah because now my gift looks lame."

Jake took the bag. "I'm sure I'll love it, Gia."

Inside was a small box. He opened it and gasped.

"Gia! What...?"

She pulled out the necklace. It was a gold chain with black accents on the locket. She opened the locket to show Jake a picture of them on their first date. The yellow ranger then put it around his neck.

"I saw this in a store three months ago when I was out with Emma. I started saving as soon as I could and I was finally able to get it yesterday."

Jake pulled her in for a kiss. "This must have cost a fortune! You shouldn't have... I love it so much. Thank you."

"Well, when I suggested I work to help out Emma, I knew she wouldn't let me give my whole salary to her. So I offered to keep half for myself, and that's where the work went. Don't worry about the cost. It doesn't matter as long as you like it."

Jake smiled and connected his phone to Ernie's speakers. "We're about to party it up." He turned on music and dragged Gia out onto the floor. She refused to dance, because her tough girl image was on the line.

But Jake's dancing was horrible and he looked like a complete and utter fool. The longer she stood there with him, the less she could resist. Finally, she gave in and started dancing with him, as the others piled onto the floor to join them. Even Troy let loose and had fun.

Gavin chose to stay in the booth. He felt close with the team, but not enough to join in on this and make himself look like a fool. Plus, he usually tried to avoid prolonged bouts of physical strain, and dancing as crazily as them would certainly not be encouraged.

He watched on and saw Emma smiling. For the first time since he had shown up, it looked like she was genuinely happy. There was nothing weighing her down, and maybe this was when things were going to start turning around.