Emma was on her couch, resting up after the last battle. Beezara had done a number on her and the other Rangers, but her ribs had taken the biggest hit. Not only had they been irritated by Emma's need to fight in battle, but they had been stomped on and constricted tightly. She had followed Gia's orders and had a doctor look at her ribs and determined that four of them were cracked. Her recovery time was looking to be close to six weeks, but Emma knew it could take longer. Cracks ribs, while painful, wouldn't keep her from being a Ranger and helping her friends defeat evil. She couldn't sit on the sidelines as they risked their lives.

"Where are the plates?" Jake called as he and the boys rummaged through the kitchen for something to eat. Emma groaned loudly. She wasn't used to having guests over who had no idea where everything was. She usually only let Gia into her home, and Gia had been over so many times, Emma sometimes asked her where she could find various things that had been left lying around.

"By the stove, to the right," Emma called out. Troy stepped into the living room with a glass of water and painkillers in his hand. They were for Emma.

"Doctor said these would help."

"Thanks."

Troy sat down as Emma swallowed the pills. He looked around the house, "So, your parents aren't home, huh?"

"They rarely are," Emma answered as she finished her glass of water. "Dad's got a busy job and mom says she doesn't like feeling cramped. I've got the place to myself most days."

"It must get lonely."

"Gia's here all the time," Emma shook her head, "Speaking of…"

"Nothing from her yet," Troy answered before Emma could ask. "She'll be here soon, I'm sure. She promised she would be."

"Yeah, I know… I just…"

"You can't always be joined at the hip, you know. I'm sure even best friends like you need space from each other once in a while."

Troy joked, but Emma wasn't kidding around. Though they had been fighting and it had distracted them, Emma still remembered where her original rib injury had come from. Cliff was in town and he was looking for Gia. Harwood was a big enough city, so chances were slim they would walk right into each other, but Emma couldn't keep herself from worrying, especially considering Gia was alone and had been for a while.

Troy spotted her serious expression and stopped kidding around. He took her hand gently, "You're really worried about her, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I… look, it's nothing…" Emma tried to brush it off, knowing Gia wouldn't want Emma to talk about her problems with Troy, especially when she had no idea there was a problem.

Troy gave Emma a little smile, "If you're sure. While we wait, the guys and I were thinking of watching a movie…"

"Yeah, sure," Emma nodded and pointed to the storage unit beneath the TV, "My dad's got a bunch you might like. Pick any one. I've seen them all."

Troy nodded and went to choose a movie just as Jake and Noah walked in with chips and popcorn. Emma knew what this meant. They were going to have a movie night.

Troy picked a movie everyone agreed with and popped it into the DVD player. He sat with Emma on the couch while Jake and Noah shared the loveseat.

Emma couldn't remember watching much of the movie. The pill Troy had given must have been stronger than what Gia normally gave her. She had fallen asleep and slept through the night. She looked up, seeing the sun peeking in through the windows and the boys had made their beds either on the loveseat, the recliner, or the floor.

But Gia wasn't home. She had promised to come home. Emma's heart started to race as she worried. She sat up and reached for her phone on the coffee table. Her heart stopped when she saw she had several missed calls.

She jumped to her feet, letting the thawed pack of ice fall to the floor and she realized she was wet. No one had taken the ice away from her once she had fallen asleep. She ran for the door, clutching her ribs tightly. Just as she was about to open it, it opened itself and almost hit her in the face. Emma stumbled backwards to get out of its way, and then jumped forwards into Gia's arms.

"You're okay!" she pulled away and looked to her best friend, "You are okay, right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

"It's just us, Gia. The guys are asleep. If something happened…"

"Nothing happened. What's wrong with you?" Gia chuckled and then hugged her friend comfortingly, "Didn't you get my message?"

"Your message?"

"You weren't answering your phone so I called Jake and he promised me he would…" Gia sighed when she saw Emma had no idea what she was talking about. "I was on my way over when I ran into my parents. They forced me to go home so I spent the night there. I tried to call you, but you didn't answer, so I called Jake and he said he would pass on the message. I guess he didn't."

"I've been sleeping," Emma said. Gia chuckled before she placed a package covered in wrapping paper in Emma's hands.

"Sorry I turned into a bit of a bitch yesterday. I don't know what came over me."

"It's fine. The same thing happened to me. I didn't mean all those mean things I said. It must have been the monster."

"Still, I felt really bad," Gia said, "So… here's a present. I hope you like it."

"I'm sure I will," Emma led the way back in the living room and took a seat on the couch. Gia turned on the light and woke up the boys. They groggily sat up, rubbing their eyes with their fists.

"What time is it?"

"Six. We've got a couple of hours before school starts… some of you might want to shower," Gia pinched her nose and pointed a look at Jake. He lifted his arms to smell.

"I've been fighting monsters."

"Your excuses don't make you stink less. Any of you. I'll make breakfast while you three wash up."

The boys lazily got to their feet and had a slow race up the stairs to find a shower while Gia walked to the kitchen.

Emma unwrapped her present and opened the box. At first, she was a little disappointed to see it was just the day's newspaper and she wondered what Gia was thinking. Then she recognized the picture on the front cover. She held the paper and walked to the kitchen. Gia was trying to come up with something to feed the rest of the Rangers.

"I seriously need to start getting you back on real bacon," Gia stared at the fake meat Emma kept in the fridge, "This just… isn't natural."

"You put our picture in the newspaper," Emma set the paper on the counter and sat on the bar stool. Gia turned around and nodded her head.

"All your pictures were amazing, as always. This one was the best of you. I gave it to the paper and they published it and your story. Now you've got something to put on your resume."

"But the picture has you in it," Emma pointed to Gia in the picture, "I thought you didn't want…"

"I'm feeling much better, Emma… and if yesterday showed me anything, it's that we've always got each other's backs. Guys can drool all they want. I'm going to try to not let that bother me as much."

"Maybe I'll see your smile bloom more often," Emma said with a smirk and then looked down at the picture again, "This one was my favourite picture, too."

"I know you well."

"I love pictures of you smiling," Emma nodded. "They remind me of when we were little. When we used to always have fun."

"We do always have fun."

"I just… I mean before… you know…. Everything was easier before he hurt you."

"Sorry about that…"

"You have nothing to apologize for."

"Yeah. I let him change me," Gia said. She set a plate down in front of Emma and smiled brightly, "I don't want to live in fear of every guy anymore."

"You don't have to."

"I know. I was thinking… baby steps."

"What does that mean?"

"We do movie nights with the guys. That way, we don't always have to hide away from other people to hang out together. It should take a little pressure off you. Especially now that you and Jordan seem to be really hitting it off. If I can trust the guys everything will feel a little easier again."

"Sounds good," Emma smiled. Gia sat down next to her with her plate and were soon joined by Jake. He grabbed one of the plates from the counter and sat next to Gia.

At first there was nothing strange. He was wearing the same clothes as the day before because he didn't have a change, but fortunately they didn't smell too bad. Especially with the new scent he had picked up in the shower. Gia looked to Emma. Even a couple seats down, the pink Ranger could smell it too.

Gia leaned in for the sniff, earning herself a very confused look from Jake.

"You smell like strawberries. You used Emma's shampoo, didn't you?"

"There was nothing else!"

"My dad's got his own shampoo. You didn't see any?"

"You showered in Emma's bathroom, didn't you?" Gia chuckled and ruffled Jake's hair. "Did you shave your legs too."

"Ew," Emma stuck out her tongue at the thought of Jake using her razor. Jake glared at Gia.

"No," he shoved a strip of bacon in his mouth and chewed on it. His expression soured slightly with every bite before he spit it out, "That's not bacon."

"I'm going grocery shopping after school," Gia said and turned to Emma, "If your house is going to be the Ranger home, we need real bacon."

"Seconded," Jake lifted his hand. With his other hand, he jabbed the breakfast sausage with his fork and stuffed it all in his mouth. He then spit it out like he did the bacon, "Nothing on this plate is real!"

"Welcome to my life," Gia sighed.

Emma rolled her eyes, "When you guys die early, I won't be crying, I'll be laughing."