A random one-shot I found in my archives from 2014. Please excuse the hilariously awful storytelling and my apparent distaste for all-things-Kat back then.

Emma knew what day it was. The dreaded day that came once every year. If only her mom were here to celebrate the occasion, but she wasn't. Emma sat up in her bed and buried her face in her hands. It was her mother's birthday.

Ever since Emma's mother died, her birthday wasn't such a happy day. They would go to the cemetery, just her and her dad, and try to recall as many good things as they could about Emma's mom. Unfortunately, it was much harder for Emma than her dad because she was very young when her mother past away. Around 5, to be approximate.

That was when Gia came along. Immediately, they became the best of friends and Gia was always there for the young girl. Balancing bullies and her mom's death, it was too much on Emma. Thankfully, Gia always had a shoulder for her to cry on and tried everything she could on that day each year to cheer up the Pink Ranger.

Realizing it was still early in the morning, Emma tried to fall back asleep. She couldn't. Not on a day like this. She wanted to treasure every moment she could get with her mother, even if she wasn't there. Hopping out of bed, Emma rubbed her face to wake herself up. She slouched forward, which could easily identify her as sad.

Her dad was still in a deep slumber and the whole city was still pretty quiet except for the occasional sound of wind rustling. Emma got ready and headed around town on her bike. Harwood was a peaceful city, without the occasional attacks, but the morning and night were usually were the best times to go around and enjoy the silence.

She was so close to the cemetery that she could figure the letters on the big sign that signaled she was going the right way, not that she wasn't. Emma parked her bike near the front and felt a buzz in her pocket. Startling her, she pulled herself together and took out her phone. It was a text from Gia telling her that she was near the Harwood Fountain at the middle of the park, Emma's favorite spot to relax or think.

Emma smiled and replied then proceeded towards her mother's grave. Taking out a flower from her pocket, Emma placed it in front of the stone and got on her knees. Her mother was the first Pink Ranger, Kimberly, and how much she missed her! Emma cried silently into her hands. Thoughts floated through her mind.

2 years after Kimberly died, Tommy, her father, married her stepmother, Kat. Kat was extremely rude to Emma, acting as if she were a nice mother in front of Tommy. Emma complained about it a few times before to Tommy, but he told her that Kat was an extremely nice person. She loved her dad, but sometimes he could really be a bum.

Emma shot up when she heard footsteps. She looked around and to her left, she saw a figure walk towards her. She squinted and realized it was none other than him. Troy Burrows. Son of Jason and Trini Lee Scott. Troy's mother died too, when he was also young. She made some bad decisions after retiring from being a ranger, and died one day from DUI and crashing. The gang was the kids of past rangers, but had their last names changed to ensure their safety. Emma just stared as he walked up to her.

"W-What are you doing here?" Emma asked, a little shaky from crying.

"Morning jog, why're you sad?"

"I'm not. Just thrifty."

"Your eyes don't agree." Emma's eyes widened and she wiped her tears away. Troy knelt down in front of her and looked at her straight in the eyes.

"Hey, I don't care if you want me to see if you're sad or not. I just want to know, what happened?"

"Today's her birthday," Emma whispered, pointing to her mother's gravestone. Troy looked to his left and saw her mom's name written in big letters. Immediately feeling overwhelmed by sadness and grief, he pulled Emma close to him, engaging in an embrace. Emma couldn't hold it in anymore. She burst into tears and being racked by sobs, put her arms around Troy to return the gesture. He just sat there and rested his head on her shoulder.

After some time, the sun came out, but quickly was covered by gloomy clouds. Emma had to admit, she enjoyed the silence. Short lived, the moment had to be ruined. Their morphers went off and Emma took hers out.

"Rangers," Gosei boomed. "There's an attack at the Harwood Fountain. You must go now."

"That's where Gia is!"

"Well, let's morph." Emma nodded and they took out their morphing cards.

"It's Morphin' Time! Go go Megaforce!" The duo morphed and ran to the scene. Strange, the monster looked like a frog. Emma remembered her mom talking about him. She silently gasped and looked at the other 4 rangers. The monster began.

"Well, well. Power Rangers are still pathetic up to date! This should be easy. Now where's the Pink Ranger?"

"What do you want?" Emma said, mustering up as much courage as she could. She learned from her mother to never trust frogs.

"I want you to fight me. I want to see if you really are as bad as your mother, the original Pinky."

"Don't call her that!" Emma was close to crying now. Of all the days of the year, he had to come on her birthday.

"Aw, it looks like I hit a soft spot! You must be really close to her! Well, too bad! She died!"

"That's enough!" Emma looked to her right and saw her stepmother, Kat, come out of nowhere in her ranger form.

"Kat! What're you doing?!" Emma ran toward her evil stepmother and glared inside her suit.

"I'm here to prove him wrong!"

"Back off Pinky," said the frog. "I'm here to deal with the pathetic teens."

"Don't call my daughter that!"

"I'll never be your daughter!"

"Emma!"

"Now back off, Kat. I have an amphibian to take care of." Emma pushed Kat away and ran towards the monster.

"Loogies! Attack!" Emma had a one on one battle with him, the frog having the upper hand. Emma couldn't fight clearly today. She was too distracted by what Kat did. Troy was watching the whole thing and slashed a loogie before running towards the duo.

"Back off Red! This is between me and Pinky!"

"Don't call her that!"

"Oh, so you have a crush?"

"Enough is enough," Kat boomed and pulled Emma back before she took her spot in fighting the frog. He surely wasn't enjoying it. Troy caught Emma right before she hit the ground and heard her muttering words of anger. She just sat there until Kat destroyed the frog. Noah ran up to Kat.

"Who are you?"

"Yeah," said Jake and Gia at the same time.

"I'm Katherine, Emma's stepmother and a previous pink."

"Yeah, she is. But why would you do that?!" Emma said as she demorphed and everyone saw how upset she was.

"Because I don't want you to get hurt."

"Kat, I'm a ranger. That's the reason I'm even here. Now if you have a problem with that, go talk to my dad."

"Emma! That's enough!"

"You'll never be as good as Kim. You'll never be." Emma said teary-eyed and walked up to Kat until they were inches apart.

"Now back off."

"Why can't you accept that I'm your mother?!"

"Because you're not!"

"Emma, sweetie, I know it's her birthday, and she gone, but I can try to be her."

"But you won't!"

"I know what you mean. She was my best friend and she gave me this." Kat held out her hand to Emma and there was the Pink Power Coin. The others just blurted out "Woah"s and gasped.

"Just leave me alone. This is my fight."

"Emma, I get it. You can hate me all you want. But just accept that I'm in your family."

"What's going on here?" Tommy came in and put his arms on Kat's shoulders as he looked at Emma.

"Kat is fighting my battles."

"Well Emma here is the Pink Ranger. It's her turn to shine, Kat. Let her fight. Besides, it's her mom's birthday. Emma, why don't we go to the cemetery."

"I already did."

"Well did anybody come with you? I'm worried about your safety, kiddo."

"Technically, Troy did." Kat smiled at Troy.

"Well, Troy. You remind me of Jason and Rocky."

"You mean the original Red Rangers?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Thanks Kat!"

"No problem. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do you have a crush on Emma?"

"Kat!" Tommy and Emma screamed at the same time.

"Uh…"

"That's what I thought. Let's go Tommy."

"Stay safe kiddos. And have fun." Tommy and Kimberly walked away, leaving the 5 rangers to mingle among themselves. Gia was the first to break the silence.

"Emma, what happened?"

"Kat's not so good at being a mom," Emma said as she turned around. Noah came in.

"Well, have you tried to get along with her?"

"Yes, but she's not nice to me."

"Oh."

"Well, it's Kim's birthday and I just want to walk around for some time. See you guys." Jake stopped her quickly.

"Wait!"

"What happened?"

"Who's Kim?"

"Well, she's my mom- was my mom, until she died when I was 5. She was the original Pink and I wish I was just like her. She was short, but pretty. Kim and my dad, Tommy, were best friends when they first met and slowly had a liking towards each other. They got married, I was introduced, etcetera."

"Well, we can try to cheer you up."

"Thanks guys, but I think I would like it better if I was alone."

"Emma," Troy said. "We know today's an emotional day for you, but being by yourself will just make it worse. Just let us try to keep her away from your mind."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt."

"Good, now where do you guys wanna go?" All three rangers besides Red and Pink chorused.

"The Mall!"

"Well, then let's go!" They entered the mall on the 3rd floor and Emma walked behind the jubilant trio beside Troy. She looked to her right and her eyes widened.

There she was, a young adult form of the woman who had appeared in her dreams and memories for years, seeming to be Emma's age. The woman waved. Emma waved back.

"I saw her."

"Who?"

"Mom."