Disclaimer: I don't own them
*Italic indicates thought
Chapter Twenty-Six: Pink and Yellow Lives
A/N: I know, I know, it's been a while for this story. On the plus side though, for all those Emily and Mia fans out there, this cheater is centered aloud them! Enjoy!
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life. It goes on." -Robert Frost
Emily tapped her fingers nervously against the steering wheel as she drove to the DMV.
"Relax," her mom smiled. "You've got nothing to be nervous about. You're a great driver."
"What if I fail? Justin told me that 80% of people fail their license test the first time."
"And I'm sure most of those 80% weren't power rangers. It's going to be fine."
"What if I crash or-"
"Emmy, sweetie, stop. You're going to be fine. Promise."
Emily took a deep breath and nodded. "Ok." She drove into the parking lot and parked.
"Ready?"
Emily nodded. "Let's go."
-Samurai Ranger Life-
Seth smiled as he tasted the sauce in the pan. He nodded to himself. "Needs a hint of basil." He looked in the spice cabinet, examining the extensive spice collection on the racks. He selcted own, then stopped and grabbed another one. He opened it and sniffed the contents. He shook his head and out it back, then selected another one. He sniffed this one as well, then nodded in satisfaction. He went back to the stove and put the two containers down on the counter.
He suddenly grabbed the edge and closed his eyes, groaning in pain. When it finally passed he stood up straight and sighed. Worry tugged at him for what felt like the fiftieth time that day as he looked at his distorted reflection in the pans hanging above him. He shook his head and grabbed the first container of spice. He opened it and grabbed a small pinch, and threw it Inti the sauce. He stirred it in and grabbed the next one with his free hand. He sprinkled some in and stirred vigorously with his other hand. He stopped and dipped hai spoon into it. He sipped the tiniest bit that he pulled out and thought for a minute.
He nodded and smiled to himself. "Perfect." He turned the stove off and picked up the saucepan carefully by its handle. He set it down on a cool burner, then grabbed a pot holder. He squatted down and opened the oven, reaching in and pulling out the main course. He breathed in the deep, sweet aroma of baked haddock. He looked at the fish, cooking in the other sauce he'd made earlier and carefully moved them onto two plates. He shut the oven off and moved to another pan where he had veggies steaming. He took the cover off, grinning at the steam that rose from it. He had sudden flash backs of coking with his dad when he was little. He put an even amount of veggies on two plates on ether side of the fish. He then drizzled the sauce over the fish and vegetables.
Seth smiled warmly to himself and set the plates down on the dining room table just as the doorbell rang. He smiled and whipped his apron off. He threw into the living room and composed himself before opening the door. "Mia," he smiled when he saw her. He hugged her. "Hi."
"Hey." Seth stepped aside and let her in. He shut the door and held out hai hands. "Smells good."
"Just wait until you taste it. May I take your coat?"
"Thank you," Mia smiled as he slipped the pink jacket off her shoulders. He hung it up on a peg and showed her to the dining room. He pulled her chair out as she sat down.
"My family's out right now."
"I see."
Seth nodded. "We have the whole house to ourselves."
"So," Mia looked at the plates of food. "What're we having?"
"I'm take you asked. For your eating enjoyments I have prepared a special baked haddock with steamed veggies and a special sauce."
"Wow. Fancy."
Seth sat down. "Dig in."
Mia picked up her fork and took a bite. "Mmm. It's delicious."
"Think so?"
"Mhm. My friend Antonio thinks its a crime to do anything to fish besides grill it. His fish tacos are one of the best things I've ever tasted."
"One of them?" Seth asked teasingly.
"I'd say this fish deserves a place near the top."
Seth smiled and looked at his plate. His hand shook a little as he started to pick up his food, then he dropped it back onto his plate. He sighed. "God dammit."
"Seth?" Mai asked, putting a hand on his. "Are you ok?"
Seth looked at her, gazing at her dark condensed eyes and her soft black hair. "No. I'm not."
"What'd you mean?"
Seth sighed and squeezed her hand affectionately. "About six months back I started felling kind of...of. I consult concentrate, my memory was bad. One day I spent three hours and wrong around campus before I remembered where my dorm was. I was tired all the time, and no matter how much a slept,no would be falling asleep in class. I almost burned one of the building to the ground. I thought I was loading my mind. And then the headaches started. They were so bad sometimes that I could do nothing but lie in bed and moan. Eventually, I had a seizure. I just...blacked out and nothing... When I woke up I was in the hospital.
"They did some kind of a brain scan on me and they said..." He took a deep breath. "They said I had a brain tumor."
Mia gasped, hands going to her mouth in shock. "No," she whispered, barely audible.
Seth nodded tensely. "Yes. That's why I came back. I've been through more tests...many more tests, and they've discovered that I have brain cancer."
The former pink ranger grabbed his hand. "Oh Seth."
Seth shook his head, beginning to sob. "I'm scared Mia. I tell my family that in fine and that it's ok, but it's not! Everyone's talking about surgery, and chemo, and..." He shook his head. "I'm so scared Mia."
Mia got up and hugged him, sitting in his lap. "It's ok to be scared. God only knows how many times I've been scared to death, wondering what was going to happen day by day."
"I just want to cook. I want to have a family. Did you know I might not be able to have kids after chemo? Cause I didn't before now! I want a life Mia! And to think, this tumor could've been growing inside of me since high school, when I was planning my future. And this group of cells in my brain just went 'what the hell?! Let's make sure that doesn't happen!' "
Mia simply hugged him. "It'll be ok Seth. It'll be ok."
"You don't know that."
"Yes I do." Mia took his face in her hands. "I love you Seth. And I'm not going anywhere. I promise you it'll be ok. I will stay here by you."
Seth kissed her neck, and then her lips. "I love you too Mia."
Mia hugged him and he hugged her back. They forgot about their meal, but they didn't care. They just wanted to hold each other for a few moments. Mia kissed his forehead, then ran her fingers through his hair. "It'll be ok. You'll see."
"I hope so."
Mia smiled and pulled away from him. "Now, let's finish this food before it gets cold. Because if I wasted fish, and said that it was almost as good as Antonio's I'm the same day, he'd have to stop being my friend."
Seth smiled and laughed. "Well, we wouldn't want that."
Mia sat back in her seat and took a bite. "It is really, very good."
"I'm glad," Seth replied. "I'm glad."
-Olympic Force-
Emily tired to calm herself down as she pulled back in the DMV and put the car in park. She shut it off and sat back in her seat. She looked over nervously at her tester. "Well?"
The woman wrote some things down on her clipboard. "Well, you did every well. Congratulations, you pass."
Emily beamed and felt herself finally relax. "That's great."
They got out of the car and the tester shook Emily's hand. "Just take this paper to the man inside."
"Ok." Emily replied smiling. She took the paper and went inside. She saw her mom sitting in a plastic chair reading a magazine. "Mom."
"Oh, hey Hun. How'd you do?"
"I passed!"
"Oh Emmy that's wonderful!" Several people shushed them, but the mother and daughter samurai simply ignored them. "I knew you could do it. I had complete faith in you."
Emily grinned as she pulled away from her mom. "I can't wait to tell Dad and Serena! Oh, and Justin!"
"We'll talk about that third edition later. Right now though, you have to take your first license picture."
Emily could barely contain her excitement. "I actually can't wait!"
-Samurai Ranger Life-
As son as Mia got home she made a beeline for her brother's room. "Terry!" she declared, throwing the door open. "Get up!"
Terry sat up and gave his sister a look. "How is it that out of all the older sisters in the world, I got the one who interrupts my sleep? I start medical school in the fall. I'm gonna have to-"
"Seth has cancer," Mia interrupted, sitting on his bed.
Terry stopped and stared at his sister. "I know."
"You know?!" Mia suddenly remembered the texts she'd found on his phone. "You knew and you'd don't tell me!"
"Mia, I wanted to! Ok, I was going to. But he begged me not to. Honestly, I thought he was cheating on you at first. Come to think of it though, the oncology ward is a strange place to meet a girl." He stopped his ramblings and registered the fact that Mia was sitting on the edge of his bed crying. He sighed and crazed over to her. "Hey, it's going to be ok. I knew his doctor. The man's very good at what he does. Seth will be getting some of the best help in the city. You'll see." Mia simply leaned on him. "You really like this guy, huh?"
Mia nodded. "More than you know."
Seth sighed sadly. He wished he could tell Mia for sure that everything would be ok. That Seth would be ok for sure. But he knew he couldn't do that. Maybe false hope had helped Mia back whens he was a ranger, but this was the real world. And they were talking about an unpredictable disease that killed people everyday. But when he looked down at his older sister, his role model, sobbing in his arms, he knew he couldn't tell her what he really thought. Instead, he hugged her. "He can fight it. Mia. Isn't that what our family does best? Fight? As long as he has you, I know he'll do whatever it takes to fight this."
Mia nodded. "I hope so."
-Samurai Ranger Life-
Emily giggled as Justin wrapped his arms around her. "Justin-"
"What? I'm merely trying to help you relax," Justin objected as he pulled the samurai closer. The two of them now lay on the couch face to face. Justin nuzzled his nose against hers. "Mm...Eskimo kiss."
Emily giggled. "You coming to my celebration dinner?"
"That depends, are you driving?"
"Maybe."
Justin chuckled. "I actually had a question for you."
"Oh?"
"What would you say if I asked you to live with me?"
"What? Oh!" Emily laughed away form him so quickly that she fell off the couch. "What did you just say?"
"I a at you live with me."
"But... Justin...we've barley been going out for a few weeks. I mean-"
"It doesn't have to be romantic. You can even sleep in a different room. Serena's moving into an apartment in the city next week, right?"
"Yes, but-"
"So, do you really just want to be a 19 year-old girl who still lives with her parents?"
Emily felt uncomfortable as those words rang almost verbatim in her head, except in the voice of a familiar green ranger. "I don't know."
"Come on." Justin slipped down next to her so they were face-to-face. "You lived away from home for two years."
"Yeah, for a special private school."
"I know, I know. But that was different. This is...becoming an adult. Moving away for good."
"Come on. You'll pretty much be just down the road. Please?"
Emily looked at him and smiled nervously. "Ok."
"Really?!"
"Yes!" Emily laughed as she hugged him. "I'll move in with you."
"I'm so happy!"
"Let's see if you're saying that when my dad gets his shotgun."
