15. Kevin's Dream
"You've been AWOL lately," Jayden said as he stood next to Emily. They were watching the others train.
"Yeah, well I have things to keep me busy," she answered, moving to a dummy.
"What have you been doing?" he asked, watching the other rangers train.
"Nothing," she muttered, picking up her kantana and started swiping at the dummy.
Jayden knew she wasn't going to say anything so her went to watch his other teammates.
He watched as Kevin walked to the other two and offered to talk to them if they ever needed it.
"What's wrong with Kevin?" Mike asked, as he walked to his leader. "Why is he worried about everyone?"
"I don't know," Jayden answered, looking at his weakest link, not that he would tell the green ranger.
"Be grateful someone worries," Emily added, glaring at the boy. She gripped the sword tightly, causing her hand to pale.
"What is your problem?" Mike asked, glaring at the younger ranger.
"You," she shot back, glaring back.
"Why? What did I do?" he demanded, his hands into fists.
"You don't take this seriously. This is just a game to you. If someone gets hurt because you are careless, I will make sure you wish you were never born," Emily threatened, her small frame shaking with anger.
Jayden noticed her eyes got darker, and she was ready to strike him.
She stormed off, as the others watched her.
-Dark Secrets-
Kevin walked into the common room as Mentor Ji and Mia carried some plates. He rushed over to them and took it from them. Just as he set the plates down, the Gap Sensor went off.
The rangers rushed to the park, where they saw a monster talking to a child. Jayden attacked first, followed by Kevin and Mike. Mia rushed to the boy and knelt down in front of him. The kid ran away and the rangers attacked the nighlok.
The nighlok was beating everyone, and knocked Emily down before leaving. Jayden helped her up as they watched him leave.
"I'm worried about the kid," Mia said, causing the other rangers to look at her.
"Let's split up to look for him," Jayden told his team, as the others run to different directions.
-Dark Secrets-
Mia and Kevin found the kid.
"Hey, my name is Mia, and this is my friend Kevin. Can we talk to you for a minute?" she asked the small boy.
"We saw you talking to the monster, and we wanted to see if you would tell us what you were talking about," Kevin told him.
"He- uh, he just told me this joke to make me laugh," the boy stuttered as he looked at the ground.
"We just want to help you. You can tell us," Mia told him as she bent down to get to his size.
The boy glared at her. "We didn't talk about anything, now leave me alone." He walked away. Mia and Kevin watched him walk away. They called out to him, but he got on his bike and rode away.
"He knows something," Mia said, watching the kid's figure.
"We should follow him," Kevin added; as they walked towards the direction the boy went. They saw the kid walk into his house.
Kevin started telling Mia of his dreams, his swimming meet, how he was.
"I miss it, a little. Swimming is a part of me, something I did when I wasn't training," Kevin told her, looking at her.
"I understand, you were training for the Olympics since you could swim. It was your dream," Mia told him, "You can never forget your dreams."
-Dark Secrets-
Emily, Jayden, and Mike were watching Mia cook. Mike and Jayden were watching closely, while Emily leaned on the wall behind them.
"What does she think she is doing?" Jayden asked, looking up at Mike, smiling. He was happy some of his teammates were getting along.
"She's cooking Kevin dinner because they are staying near the kid's house in case the nighlok comes back," Mike told him.
"What are were doing here anyways?" Emily asked, but was ignore.
"But doesn't Ji do the cooking?" Jayden asked, frowning.
"Mia wants to cheer the sad Kevin by cooking him a little something," Mike said. He looked closer. "I don't think burnt chicken will cheer him up."
They watched Mia use her Spin Sword to cut some of the food. Jayden looked at the spot Emily was, to see her spot vacant.
-Dark Secrets-
Kevin was doing pushups when Mia walked up to him with a plate of food.
"Any news?" Mia asked, as she got closer.
"No, nothing," he answered as he got off the ground and walked to a bench.
"I made you dinner," she said, giving him a plate.
"You made this just for me?" Kevin asked in shock. No one except his parents made him dinner. He was smiling as he opened the cover, only to frown at the disgusting food. He almost lost everything he had in his stomach just by looking at the chicken, or what looked like chicken. He ate one, but once Mia looked away, he started throwing the chicken on the ground behind him.
-Dark Secrets-
Jayden walked into the girl's room. He saw Emily on her bed reading a book.
"Hey, why didn't you eat dinner with Mike, Ji, and me?" he asked her, as he sat down next to her.
"I didn't want to," Emily said, not looking at him.
"Em, you have to. We are a team, and you are a part of it," Jayden told her. He decided to lie down next to her. He closed his eyes.
She didn't answer him, soon he fell asleep.
-Dark Secrets-
Kevin woke up with Mia's head on his shoulder. He heard a door close. He saw the kid leave his house. He woke Mia up and they followed him. They watched the kid throw his things away. They saw him shout things into the sky, probably to the nighlok.
"Hey, don't you have a game to go to today?" Mia asked the kid as they walked closer to them.
"I quit," he told them, glaring.
"Why?" Kevin asked him.
He just ran away from them. Mia and Kevin decided to follow him. Just then a nighlok appeared.
The nighlok told the two his plan, causing the kid to tell a promise. They told the kid to leave before morphing. The other three rangers appeared, and they fought the nighlok. The monster had nothing on them, and they won.
Later, the five rangers were at the baseball game. Jayden drew a symbol, so the kid's father would appear in front of him.
Emily frowned as she watched the interaction. She wished she could see her mother. Other than pictures, she had never seen her. She was a baby when she last heard her voice. She was jealous that Jayden got to spend more time with his father and her mother. She stood up and walked away, no longer having the ability to see them. She wished she could meet her birth father, where ever he was.
Jayden watched her walk away, wishing she would get better.
Next Chapter: First Break
The rangers get their first day off as a team. Can they get Emily to open up without Jayden around? Or is she going further into her shell?