Gia heard giggling from the living room and couldn't stop herself from smiling, glad to hear Emma so happy.

After finding her hurt in the forest, she had taken Emma home. Fortunately, there was no need to explain Emma's injuries to her parents because they were still away, which meant Gia and Emma had Emma's house to themselves. Gia had to explain a little bit to her parents because she hadn't gone home in days and they were worried about her, but she insisted she was keeping Emma company while she was sick with the flu.

She had been promised a movie night with her best friend, but just before the movie started Jordan had stopped by. Emma had forgotten they had a date night planned, but had been willing to reschedule so as not to ruin her movie night with Gia.

Gia insisted Jordan come in. She had had hundreds, if not thousands of movie nights with Emma, and surely there were thousands more in their future. She could sacrifice one. And hearing Emma laughing with Jordan about the movie and about the stories they shared was well worth it.

Even if Gia did have to remind Emma to take it easy with her ribs. She wrapped a bag of ice in a tea towel and brought it to the living room. She gave it to Emma with a roll of her eyes.

"You'll heal faster if you stop laughing like a hyena. I've seen this movie and it's not that funny."

"Sorry," Emma chuckled as she exchanged loving looks with Jordan, "He was just telling me about that time he..."

"Spoiler alert," Gia shook her head. "If Jordan's staying long term, I want to hear his stories for myself. Do you guys need more popcorn?"

She picked up the bowl without waiting for an answer and walked back to the kitchen, letting the couple resume their movie night privately.

Emma gently placed the pack of ice down on her ribs, hissing slightly, and then hissed from hissing. Breathing wasn't easy with a cracked rib. Jordan looked to her sympathetically and then tried to help with the ice.

"So, how did this happen again?" he asked.

"Biking accident," Emma lied again. She couldn't tell the truth and she couldn't share her initial lie with Jordan. As sweet as he was, and even though he knew to stay out of the Rangers' way, he didn't need to know Emma's secret.

He also didn't need to know she had run into Cliff. That was a secret for herself, and if she told Jordan, it would only lead to more questions. No one needed to know about Cliff or that he was in town.

"BMX. Pretty cool," Jordan said with a nod. Emma agreed but pointed to her ribs at the same time.

"Until you run into a root and get thrown from your bike."

"Well, yeah," Jordan chuckled. He placed his hand down on Emma's legs, which lay across his lap. She was more comfortable lying down on the couch than sitting up, especially when it came to keeping her ice-pack in place, and so the only place Jordan had to sit if he wanted to be near her was under her legs. He gave her a little smile, "I'm glad you're okay, though. It could have been worst, right?"

"Yeah," Emma sighed just as Gia walked into the room with a fresh bowl of popcorn, "I could have run into something a lot worse."

"Than a tree?" Gia knew Emma's cover story so she played along. Emma shook her head.

"Root."

"It's part of a tree. I'm going to go upstairs for a bit. Do you need anything? A blanket or…"

"We're fine, Gia." Emma chuckled and tossed one of the pillows for the couch at her best friend, "Leave us alone already."

"Alright. Just call if you need anything."

Gia grabbed the leftover pizza from the couple and took the box upstairs. She would have a night to herself until Jordan went home and decided to make the most of it. She fell into Emma's bed, grabbed her bag, pulled out her notes, and got a head start on the readings for next week's classes. She liked to stay ahead and found it easier to figure out the lesson when she already knew what her teachers were trying to tell her.

And it was always fun to watch them stutter and stumble when she brought up a point that hadn't yet been discussed. Getting the teacher stumped was a great way to pass time in class. If not, the day took forever to pass.

She wasn't sure how long she had been reading and taking notes but she heard the door closing and thought it was Jordan leaving. She put away her notes, got out of Emma's bed and walked to the hallway. Emma was making her way up.

"He's gone?"

"He's going to church with his mom tomorrow morning," Emma nodded her head and smiled, "He looks forward to it. Is a good little catholic boy holy enough for you?"

"Anyone who believes in abstinence until marriage is fine in my books," Gia chuckled. She walked with Emma back to the bedroom and then had to help her get into her pyjamas. Once they were changed, Gia went back to bed but Emma decided to sit at her desk and turn on her laptop. Gia rolled over and looked to see what the pink Ranger was doing.

"Flowers?" Gia asked. She was too far to read the small writing on the screen, but could see a picture of a flower. Emma nodded her head.

"Magnus Bloomus Annulus. It's a super rare flower."

"And?"

"This is a picture from a hundred years ago."

"Explains the black and white."

"These flowers only bloom once a year and they're usually never spotted. No one knows exactly why they bloom."

"That is pretty cool. So is it in bloom today?"

"Tomorrow, I think," Emma turned around in her and sighed, "If I've done my math right."

"What do you mean?"

"No one knows exactly when it blooms, but it is around this time of year. I've gone a few times to check it already, and last year I was a day late. I was sure I was going to catch it this year."

"So why can't you?"

"Would you recommend biking with a cracked rib?" Emma sighed and closed her laptop, "It's fine. I guess I can catch it next year… if it's still there."

"Does it have legs too?"

"It's delicate," Emma explained, "and Earth's only getting more and more polluted. Plus, those aliens we fight on a daily basis, they don't look very green to me."

She got into bed and held the ice-pack to her chest. She lay down beside Gia and turned off the light."

"We can walk to it…"

"It's too far, and too much of a hike for my ribs," Emma shook her head. She turned her head and smiled at Gia, "Don't worry about it. It's just a flower. I'm sure I'll see many more amazing things."

"Yeah," Gia nodded. The room fell silent and Emma closed her eyes to sleep. Gia pretended until she heard Emma's breathing even out. First, she took the cold ice-pack away from her best friend, not wanting her to freeze or have the ice melt and wet the bed. Then she took Emma's laptop and walked out into the hall. She sat down against the wall and turned on the laptop. When it asked for a password, she entered it without hesitation. She knew it well. It was her birthday. Her own password was Emma's birthday. The girls had done it that way so they could share everything without sharing it with the world.

She found the page explaining the flower and sighed. Gia knew how much Emma loved nature, and discovering the mysteries of the Earth had been her passion for longer than she could remember. Getting the chance to find an extremely rare flower that only bloomed once a year in full bloom was a dream come true.

Gia just had to figure out how to make it come true. She had no doubt that finding the fragile, elusive flower was quite the hike and it would be too much of a pain in Emma's ribs to make the travel on foot or on her bike. But there had to be another way.

A smirk appeared on her lips when an idea popped into her head.

-Megaforce-

Emma woke up when something hit the bed, shaking her from her sleep. She rubbed her eyes and groggily looked up to Gia's smiling face.

"Oh no…"

Gia pointed to the bag she had dropped on the bed, "I've got snacks, lots of water, and a cooler with so many ice-packs we could keep a penguin cool. We're going hiking."

"Gia…"

"You can walk fine with a crack rib. I Googled it."

"Yeah, but it hurts…"

"But in twenty years, your rib isn't going to hurt, and you'll have missed out on… Mega Bloominus Annuola?"

"Magus Bloomus Annulus."

"Yeah, that. C'mon, I'm taking you hiking. If we leave now, we should be there by this afternoon, with breaks."

"Gia…"

"And I'll drive to the forest so there's less of a walk," Gia jiggled the car keys over Emma's head, "C'mon. I don't want you to have to miss out because some stupid Loogie decided to mess with you. Get up, we're going to see that… special flower."

Very carefully, but somewhat forcefully, she pulled her best friend out of bed. Emma groaned in protest but once she was up, she figured there was no going back into her warm and comfortable bed.

"Just let me get breakfast…"

"Packed it," Gia tapped the big, heavy bag before putting it on her back, "All you need to do is get dressed. And I saved you some trouble by laying out your clothes for you."

"Are you my mother?"

"I might as well be," Gia chuckled. "Now, need help?"

"You picked out my clothes, I think I can… ow… okay, yeah, maybe a little help."

As Gia came over to help her change, Emma looked to her best friend with a wide smile.

"You're really going to help me walk all the way out to the woods, like, further than I've taken you before, just for a flower?"

"I packed your camera too," Gia nodded her head, "We'll take pictures of it so you can prove you've seen it. If we get a picture of you and the flower and send it to the newspaper, they might print it. That'll help your college resume, right?"

"Uh, only by a lot," Emma nodded her head and then hugged her friend, "You're the best."

"The best for the best," Gia said. When Emma was dressed they walked to the door and started on their mini adventure.