Chapter 5: Antonio + Mia

The Rebel Rockers had just finished their show for the night. Antonio was putting his guitar away. He does have to admit that he didn't expect going on tour with the Rebel Rockers when he was done with his fishing expedition, but he agreed to it when Terry called. After all, he's not the only Samurai ranger on the tour.

"Hey." Antonio turned around at the sound of Mia's voice. "Any plans for tonight?"

"No," Antonio said. "It's Valentine's Day and I don't have a girlfriend. What about you?"

"Nothing. I'm not seeing anyone either," she responded. "Everyone else in the band is. We're the only ones that don't have plans."

"Well, that doesn't mean that we can't do anything. You know, as friends."

Mia contemplated Antonio's offer for a minute. "I'd like that."

Antonio and Mia left the concert venue. They weren't exactly sure what to do at first but ended up deciding to go get something to eat since they were both hungry. They weren't really sure what restaurants were around since they had never been to that city before and looked up some restaurants. They one that they thought they both might enjoy and went there. When they got there, they went up to the host stand and waited for the hostess to come over. "Hi. Table for two?" she asked.

"Yes," Antonio and Mia said.

"Having a Valentine's Day dinner?" the hostess asked as she was leading them to their table.

"No!" Antonio and Mia protested.

"We're just friends," Antonio said.

"Just two people who don't have dates," Mia continued as the two sat down at their table.

"Ok. I hope you enjoy your meal," the hostess said as she left.

"We probably should've expected someone to ask that," Antonio said.

"Yeah," Mia said. "But there's nothing wrong with hanging out with a friend on Valentine's Day."

"True."

They looked over the menu and the waiter came and took their order. After that, Mia realized something. "Have the two of us ever really hung out without anyone else before?" she asked.

Antonio thought about it for a minute. "I don't think we have."

Mia thought of a topic of conversation for them. "Just wondering, have you ever had a girlfriend? I don't think I've ever seen you going on a date with anyone."

"No," he shrugged nonchalantly. "The place I moved to with my dad when I was a kid was pretty isolated. There weren't that many people there and I wasn't exactly popular."

"Really? I would've thought you would've been one of the most popular people there."

"Not if they think of you as fish boy."

Mia winced. She didn't know that Antonio was pretty much bullied as a kid.

Antonio noticed Mia's reaction. "It's ok. I've gotten over it." He decided to quickly get the attention off of him. "What about you? I know you had that thing with Jayden at one point."

"Yes. I will admit that I did like him, but we only went on one date and then we defeated the Nighlok. Nothing ever really happened between us. I used to get butterflies just thinking about him, but I don't anymore. There's no other guy that I would like to date, but it's like my feelings for Jayden are gone." Mia sighed. "I don't know."

"Maybe there's some other guy you like without realizing that you like them." Antonio thought about what he said. "That made sense, right?"

"It did," Mia reassured him. "I guess it's possible that I like some other guy."

The food came and the two started eating and discussing random topics. Mia realized that she didn't know all that much about Antonio. They hadn't really talked to each other when they were rangers as much as they individually talked to the others. It was different hanging out just the two of them, especially now. They weren't being forced to hang out together because they were trying to defeat the Nighlok. They weren't hanging out together just because they were in the same friend group. They were hanging out together just because they wanted to, and Mia enjoyed it.

After dinner, they decided to walk around and check out the city they were currently in. They normally went sightseeing with the rest of the band after a show or the next day before they had to leave for the city where their next show was in. Both of them loved it when they went sightseeing. They probably enjoyed it more than the rest of the band did. The city they were currently in wasn't known for much. There weren't many places to go sightseeing, so they ended up walking by the docks and continued talking. Eventually, they stopped and looked at the moonlight reflecting off the water.

"It's beautiful," Mia said.

Antonio looked at Mia standing next to him. "Tonight was fun," he said. "We should do this again sometime."

Mia turned towards Antonio. "I agree. It was nice being able to hang out for once without anyone else around."

"Except for all the people who thought we were a couple."

"Well, it is Valentine's Day. They expect two people who are alone together to be dating tonight."

"But we're not."

"Nope. We're just two friends hanging out on Valentine's Day." They both looked back to the water. Mia didn't understand why she felt different all of a sudden. She felt butterflies in her stomach again just like she felt for Jayden a while back, but Jayden wasn't with her. It was just her and Antonio. She couldn't have feelings for Antonio, right? She looked back over to him and saw that he was looking at her. They just stared at each other for a couple of minutes. Neither of them said anything.

They ended up leaning closer to each other and they kissed. When they pulled apart, they were both a little shocked.

They had just kissed. And the kiss was good.

"Remember those butterflies that I used to get for Jayden," Mia said after a minute. Antonio nodded. "They're back, but they're not for him this time."

"What are we now? I'm guessing we're not just friends anymore," Antonio said.

"I'm not sure, but I'm willing to find out if you are." Mia smiled at Antonio which Antonio happily returned. They might not quite know how deep their feelings for each other are yet, but they were both willing to figure it out together. All they knew was that their feelings for each other had changed at some point. They had started falling for each other before they even realized it.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed!