As Jayden and Emily walk into the reception room, they are greeted with loud yells and claps. They wave sheepishly to the crowd as rose petals float around them. Yellow and red roses litter the floor and get caught in everyone's hair. In a moment they are surrounded by their closest friends.
"Oh my gosh, you're married, you're Mrs. Shiba, this is great! I'm so happy, but I can't believe you got married before me! I mean, I always seemed like the one to get married young-" she gives Kevin a pointed look- "since I am such a romantic, but I can't believe you're married!" Mia exclaims almost in one breath. Emily laughs and winks at her as Kevin looks on confused. Jayden, Mike, and Antonio give each other knowing glances while Kevin is still oblivious.
"Thanks Mia," She responds. Mia pulls her away from Jayden and gives her a hug. Mike and Jayden bump fists.
"Good job man. You did it."
"Yeah, you're married now. So how does it feel?" Kevin asks as they shake hands. Jayden laughs nervously. A mischievous thought enters his head.
"Why? Are you getting any ideas?" He asks playfully.
"What?" Kevin asks, but before he could demand an exclamation, Antonio jumps over.
"Jayden that was fantastico! You totally rocked it!"
"Good job. You made it." Scott slides over, his arms crossed. Jayden nods.
"Yeah and it felt pretty good." Emily walks over to them, gently disentangling herself from Mia, Serena, Summer, and Gemma all at once. She secretly wishes that Abby was there too, or even Lauren, but it was not meant to be.
"Jayden, Mentor said he wanted to propose a toast and I said he could do it now if he wanted and he did, so we have to go sit down and-" Jayden silences her with a kiss.
"Let's go then," He says and leads Emily to the table, but not without shooting Scott a look over his shoulder. Scott shakes his head and goes to sit down.
The tables were all arranged close together. White tablecloths and vases of yellow roses decorated each table. Ten people could be seated at one table. Most of the ranger teams were mixed up; sitting with rangers they might've gone on missions with or wanted to get to know better. Emily, Jayden, Mia, Kevin, and Antonio ended up sitting with Ashley, Andros, Carlos, Sky and Sydney.
"I love your dress!" Sydney tells Emily, admiring it. Emily smiles and thanks her. "I mean, it's no pink, but still. It looks pretty on you." Emily laughs.
"Congratulations!" Ashley squealed to Emily. "Isn't it such a rush? That's how I remember our wedding day-it was all a blur!"
"Yeah, it's all happening pretty fast. I still can hardly believe it," Emily replies, glancing down to her ring. Ashley nods knowingly. Emily likes the bubbly yellow Astor ranger. She seems very optimistic-a trait Emily herself shares.
"I know what you mean. Did it take you a long time to ask, Jayden? I know for Andros at least, he took forever."
"Now now Ashley, you know that's not true. We were made for each other-I just was waiting for the right moment," Andros steps in. Ashley laughs. Now that Emily took a good look at them, she could see how in love they really were. Perhaps even more so then other couples.
"Of course you were."
"That's what they all say," Carlos puts in. He smiles at Andros though to let him know he's just joking. Andros nods coolly but half-smiles back at him. He seems a little like Jayden-stoic and closed-off until a certain yellow ranger gets them to open up.
"Actually, Jayden was pretty quick about proposing. Wouldn't you say so?" Emily turns to look sideways at him. This day still feels like a dream. And right now she never wants to wake up, never wants it to end.
"Yeah, I was…like Andros said, I needed the right moment."
"Well I'm just lucky Sky is so precise about everything that he'll do it at exactly right time. Right Sky?" Sydney says. But Sky's deep in conversation with Antonio and Kevin about something or the other electrical related.
"Sky." Sydney elbows him. He turns quickly around to glare at whoever did that, but seeing it was Sydney, his gaze softens. His tone, however, does not.
"Yes, Syd?" He asks tightly. She smiles sweetly at him.
"I love you Sky," She says innocently. Emily, Mia, Ashley, and Jayden laugh silently. Sky rolls his eyes as Carlos grins at him.
"Love you too. Now if you'll excuse me-" At that moment, Mentor Ji stands up and claps his hands. Everyone stops talking and regards him as he raises his glass.
"I'd like to propose a toast to Jayden and Emily. For a match made in Heaven, right from the start. May they have the best of luck and many years of prosperity and happiness." Everyone raises their glasses also and drinks to Jayden and Emily. Emily looks a little embarrassed, but happy, and even more so when Jayden kisses the top of her head.
"So, Em, I was thinking, since there are so many rangers here, we should talk to each team separately, instead of getting overwhelmed by everyone." Jayden looks down at Emily, slightly wary about discussing his actions with anyone. As much as he loves her, he's more used to doing whatever he wants and not compromising much. Even with working with his team-friends-for a year or so, he was still reluctant to share leadership. But Emily just beams up at him.
"Of course Jayden. That'll be perfect." A wave of relief sweeps through Jayden. He wants her to happy, even if it means that he doesn't get what he wants. Jayden gets up to thanks Mentor Ji.
"Thanks Ji. We're going to need a little luck. Being a ranger, after all, you're never off duty." Everyone laughs, as many of them have helped the teams after them when the villains crossed paths and teamed up.
"We also decided to talk to each team of rangers separately, so as not to get overwhelmed and for everyone to socialize more." Antonio gets up and raises his hand, much to the amusement of the other guests after Jayden's done speaking.
"Well Jayden that's nice. I'm sure all appreciate it, si?" The former rangers all nod and smile, some whispering to each other.
"Anyway, Jayden and Emily, I was wondering if I could say a few words about all this?" He asks, gesturing around. "Please? Besides, I'm sure I'm not the only one. Mia's practically bouncing out of her chair right about now." Everyone glances over at Mia and she blushes a little bit. Kevin takes her hand, partly to restrain and comfort her, and partly because he just wants to.
"Sure Antonio. Why not? Go ahead," Emily reassures him. Jayden smiles slightly at him.
"Don't make any embarrassing comments or I'll have to throw you out myself." Everyone laughs and Carlos leans over and whispers to Andros:
"You almost had to do that to me at your wedding." Andros looks at him, unimpressed, but there's a stirring of amusement in his eyes and his mouth twitches slightly.
"I remember," He says. Ashley grins but shushes them.
"Ah, Jayden and Emily. I've seen them grow closer together through our rough times, even though I came a little while after everyone had already been a team. But when I came back, Jayden was different. He seemed less tense, happier, and made lame jokes a lot more often." Antonio winks as everyone laughs. It was a red ranger thing to make…forced jokes. Jayden shakes his head, exasperated.
"I don't make lame jokes, do I?" He asks Emily. She refuses to look him in the eye.
"Well, not really. I mean, everyone does, but-"
"Emily?" He says, stern but playful. She bites her lip.
"Okay, maybe you do, but I love them," She replies. Jayden leans back in his seat.
"That makes me feel better."
"And I was trying to think of what caused the difference. Was it now that he was a leader? He had more than one friend? Though none like me, of course." He says, winking again. The Samurai rangers groan good-naturally. Always the humorous one, Antonio was making his speech funny yet meaningful.
"I couldn't put my finger on it. And then came the day when Master Xandred broke free from the Nighlock world and Jayden was injured fighting him. Emily was left behind to comfort him and it was there that I could see it. Of course, then they had the whole deal when Jayden left but it was at that moment. Emily had changed him. The once closed-off leader became open again, all because of a little country girl. They are made for each other, so perfectly, like two halves of a heart. The heart Emily healed. I couldn't picture them with anybody else and wish them best of luck." Antonio sits down as the room bursts into applause.
"Wow, thanks Antonio. That means a lot," Emily says, touched by his words.
"No problem chica. But I think Mia wants a turn." He nods his head over at Mia, who is indeed standing up, prepared for her speech.
"Well, how am I gonna live up to that?" She asks the crowd. "No seriously. I'll keep this short, I promise.
"When I first met Jayden, there was so much sadness inside him and so much secrecy, that none of us thought he would ever confide in us or trust us. Emily was this girl from the country, innocent, sweet, and she got Jayden to become our friend. While the rest of us were annoyed by his wall, she was patient and kind. And in turn, Jayden was always looking out for her. They both touched each other's lives in a way no one could've imagined, yet here they are, at the happiest I've ever seen them be. To Emily and Jayden." Mia sits down and everyone claps for her as well. She sneaks a peek at the couple. Kevin puts his arm around her shoulders and whispers in her ear of a job well done.
"Was I really that secretive?" Jayden asks. Emily laughs lightly.
"Only a little. But that's okay. As you heard, I got you to open up, so if you don't like it-"
"No no, I'm glad. Otherwise I wouldn't be married to you," He corrects her.
"Do you want to go?" Emily asks Kevin. He shakes his head.
"No thanks. I'm not good with words that well. And I don't think Mike wants to go either." From the next table, Mike makes a slashing movement across his throat with a horrified expression. The Wild force and Mystic force rangers at his and Kevin's table laugh.
"Guess not." Jayden says. Before anything else can happen, they see Serena get up.
"I'd like to say something, if I may?"
"Of course!" Emily exclaims. "Do you mind Jayden?"
"I wouldn't think of it any other way," he reassures her. Although he wishes Lauren could've been here to say something as well, he still wants to hear what Serena ahs to say. Emily smiles.
"When I had gotten ill and Emily had to take my place, I didn't know how my little sister would handle it. I hoped she'd do well, that she'd do fine, and I was right. She's changed. Before, she had had very little confidence in herself. Now, I see a beautiful young women who grew up so much in a year. And it's all because of the man sitting next to her. He gave her confidence, and she gave him kindness. I've never seen a better pair who has done so much for each other in such a short time." She sits down as the room bursts into applause. Emily blinks back the happy tears that threaten to overflow and smiles.
"Thank you so much Serena." Jayden stands up again. "And now, time to eat everyone. Help yourselves." As everyone gets up, he turns to Emily.
"What can I get for you?"
"One of everything!" She responds happily. He raises his eyebrows.
"Are we celebrating or something?" She snickers, then pulls him over to the tables of food.
"Come on Jayden. Before everything's gone and we'll be forced to eat something of Mia's." She shudders. Luckily, Mia was busy talking to Dana and Kelsey and did not hear the remark.
"Oh, yeah. You know, we should probably tell her she's not very good sometime." Emily shakes her head. Mia had gone to the culinary academy but it wasn't much of an improvement as of now. Of course, she had only gone for a few months so there was still lots of time to brush up on her skills.
"We should, but not today. Today belongs to us."