Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Megaforce. This story is fan-made.

Author's Note: This is not where the Megaforce series starts. If you want to read the series without getting lost, I suggest you read my stories in the order they appear:

No To Date Nights - The Party Night - Project Partners - Megaforce: Lives Behind The Masks - Prom Night - A Trip To Remember - First Meetings - Something She Loves – Protective Morans – Samurai In Harwood County – Rainy Days – Luck Had Nothing To Do With It – Ranger Support – Parents and Children – Hero Without The Spandex – Emma's Night – Emma's Mother – Bait And Switch – After Death – A Stormy Day – A Date For Tensou – A Mother's Advice – Mending Fences – Executioner Named Revenge –Those Three Words – On The Fourth Day – Babysitting – Tiger- A Fresh Start – On the Mountains – Looking Ahead – The Rangers' Recovery – Daughter's Nightmare – Megaforce: With Great Power –Cookies – The Babysitters: Jake and Gia – Better Off With The Burrows – A Hard Journey – The Messenger – Megaforce: The Invasion Arrives – Learning To See – Sight Unseen – A Romantic Demise – To Love And To Lose – Distance Travelled – A Love Triangle – (Grr Grr Tiger)

Jake watched them spar, but it didn't look like they were getting much training done. On the deck, Gia and Orion were getting pretty hands on with each other, often grabbing, lifting, touching, or playfully shoving the other whenever the chance arose. Orion even had the guts to peck Gia on the cheek, the neck and the shoulder when she got close and Gia didn't seem to mind. In fact, she seemed to enjoy being close to Orion and having him all over her.

Jake clenched his fists but he wasn't mad at them. He couldn't be mad at them. As far as they were both concerned, this was what he wanted. He had make it very clear he was perfectly fine with the two of them dating. He had told Gia, and even looked her in the eyes when he said it, that she had his blessing to date Orion.

He had given up without realizing what it was he had lost. Gia was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Sure, she had her problems. Jake had to fight hard just to win her over. He hadn't been the alpha male in school, but he had been a jock and could have had several girlfriends in the time it took him to win Gia over. She also left him feeling frustrated many times. After suffering all the abuse at Cliff's hands, Gia's initial idea of romance was a hug. Obviously Jake wanted a lot more from her but she was worth the wait. Eventually, he showed her he could be trusted and that she was safe with him.

She made his fighting, his frustration, everything worth it. The fact that Gia, the most amazing girl he had ever known, chose to love and trust him over everyone else made him feel special. Even on their worst days, Jake always felt like he was on top of the world because he had the love of Gia Moran.

But without even bothering to put up a fight, he had thrown that love away. Probably even stomped on it, given how quickly Gia had turned away from him. He still loved her and missed her dearly and had no one to blame for the break up but him.

He sighed loudly as he watched them cuddle fight. At least they were happy. At least Gia was happy. Right now, that was the only comfort he got.

"Why the long face?" Rebecca asked as she sat down next to him at the table. Jake shrugged his shoulders.

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Know what my face looks like?"

"Dolphin senses," Rebecca chuckled. "Your posture looks like you're slouching. You never really sat up straight, but you look really down."

"I've got to try those dolphin senses one day."

"Don't change the subject," Rebecca shook her head. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Jake said. "I'm fine."

"Jake..."

"I said I'm fine."

"Does it have anything to do with them?" Rebecca asked and pointed in Gia and Orion's direction. "Now, my dolphin senses may be good, but if I didn't know any better, I wouldn't be able to tell if they were fighting or having sex."

"Orion's a good guy," Jake said. "As long as he takes care of Gia, that's all I can ask for."

"I'm sure he will," Rebecca nodded. "Gia really seems to trust him, and we all know how important that is for her. Still, must be hard watching your ex move on."

Jake sighed loudly and rubbed his face in his hands, "Rebecca, can we please... We don't need to talk about this."

"It might be a little hard during the war, but afterwards we can probably hook you up with someone," Rebecca suggested to Jake. "We can find you someone a little less complicated..."

"I don't want someone easy," Jake shook his head.

"Someone a little less... punchy?"

"I don't want a princess."

"Someone brunette?"

"I don't want to date, Rebecca," Jake frowned at her.

"Maybe not now, but..."

"Gia was the girl for me," Jake said. "She's the one and she's the only one. No one compares. No one is going to be able to fill her shoes. It's her and only her."

"We all say that after a break up," Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Believe it or not, even after Alex dumped me and my baby, I still wanted him..."

"This isn't just an after break up feeling," Jake sighed. "She was it, Rebecca. I don't want anyone else."

"Do you want her back?" Rebecca asked. There was a silence. She heard Jake exhale.

"I want her to be happy."

"Do you want her back?" Rebecca asked again.

"If Orion's the guy she wants..."

"Do you want her back?"

Jake sighed loudly, turned to his step sister and nodded his head, "I'd do anything."

"Then why did you give her up?"

"If you had seen the way she looked at me, you'd have understood," Jake said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I turned into the only thing she didn't want me becoming. I don't want to be her next nightmare."

"Isn't that for her to decide?" Rebecca asked Jake with a little tilt of the head. "I mean, if you like her, shouldn't you say something?"

"Look at her, Rebecca," Jake said and pointed to where the two were still training. "She's with Orion now. She's happy. He can take care of her. He can be the perfect guy. As long as she's happy..."

"I never took you for a quitter, Holling," Rebecca shook her head. "But if this is really what you think you want, I hope you're happy with it."

"They're kissing, Rebecca," Jake sighed. "He's got his hands all over her and she doesn't mind it. She's happy. I'm not going to ruin that."

"Okay," Rebecca said as she got up and walked off. Jake sighed again as she left, propped his head up with his hands and continued to watch the yellow and silver Ranger spar. It was then that Tiger approached him, dragging her bottle by the nipple. It seemed she was hungry and with Gia busy training it was up to Jake to feed her.

"Aren't you getting a little big for formula?" he asked her but Tiger put the bottle down at his feet. Jake sighed, picked up her bottle and then started to walk to the kitchen. Gia had planned to feed her venison for dinner so he would put that in her bowl for her. Tiger excitedly followed the green Ranger, occasionally rubbing up against his legs until they were in the kitchen.

On the other side of the deck, Gia watched Jake head off to prepare dinner for her cub and lowered her hands. Orion noticed just in the nick of time and pulled back on his attack, stopping his punch just inches from Gia's head. He frowned when he looked at her but then noticed she was looking to Jake.

"What's up?" he asked her as he realized training was over. Gia shrugged and walked to the bench to grab her bottle.

"It's dinner," she took a sip of water. Orion looked curious.

"We ate."

"Tiger's dinner. She just asked Jake to eat."

"So?" Orion asked but then noticed the way Gia was staring at her bottle. He knew that look and sighed, "You miss him?"

"He gave up," Gia said. "I'm not worth it anymore..."

"It's his loss," Orion put his arm around her and kissed her cheek.

"I can't just turn my feelings off," Gia muttered. She sat down on the bench. "You probably didn't have break ups on Andrasia, did you?"

"We had falling outs," Orion told her. "Those were tough. Is it anything like that?"

"Yeah, actually," Gia nodded. "Just because someone you love and care about hurts you, doesn't mean you stop loving or caring for them. You know?"

"What does that mean for us?" Orion asked her. "I think what we're doing is kind of complicated but..."

Orion sat down next to Gia and took her hand comfortingly. He smiled, "I want you happy. I want us to be good friends. I like what we have but if Jake's the guy for you, I'll step back you know."

"I know, and you've been amazing, Orion..."

"Hey, it's not like I've done it for nothing," Orion shrugged his shoulders. "I really appreciate you letting me be... me. I've missed true Andrasian friendships. It's probably the hardest part about living on Earth."

"I don't know what to do anymore," Gia said. She turned to Orion. "I like you. I really, really like you. But..."

"You're still hung up on Jake?"

"He was special," Gia nodded. "I know all this kissing and cuddling and stuff is normal for you, but it's really intimate for me."

"That's why I'm really appreciative you're letting me do this."

"It's just... it feels wrong that it's not with Jake," Gia looked up at Orion. "Is there any way you understand that?"

"I do."

"But he doesn't want me," Gia shook her head. "And I don't want to pine over some guy I've got no shot with. Especially when there's this really amazing guy waiting for me."

Gia turned to face Orion and looked him in the eyes. "I don't want you to feel like you're the second choice. I don't want you think I'm settling for you just because Jake doesn't want me. Orion, I..."

"We're just friends, Gia," Orion smiled at her. "We have an Andrasian friendship, that's how I see this. Whether it evolves into something more will be determined later."

"Later?"

"I don't want kids yet," Orion said and Gia choked on her water. Orion lightly pat her back as she tried to catch her breath.

"Kids?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," Orion nodded. "It's just... I mean, we don't date on Andrasia so if you and I were to take it a step further on my planet, we would decide to have a baby or two together."

Gia continued to stare at Orion like a deer in the headlights. He chuckled as he realized just how much his comment had freaked her out. He put his arms around her.

"Relax. I understand you have different... parameters. I'm willing to respect that. I'm just letting you know, if you do want Jake, you don't need to sacrifice our friendship. I won't be hurt."

"This is where I'm confused though. I want a guy who doesn't want me back and while I pine over him, I'm letting someone as amazing as you get away from me. I feel like I'm using you."

"Gia, you're not using me," Orion shook his head. "What you consider dating to me is typical friendship. I've kissed and cuddled other men and women the same way I have you and there's been nothing romantic about it. You can let your heart heal, and take as long as you need. If, one day, you set your sights on me, I'll be right here."

"I'm stringing you along?"

"I enjoy this friendship for what it is," Orion nodded. "If down the road, you feel I'm worthy of having a child with, I'm more than happy to take that step. If not, we just continue doing what we're doing."

"Hypothetical question."

"Go for it."

"If Jake and I got back together, we couldn't do this cuddling stuff. I understand on Andrasia it doesn't mean anything more than friendship but Jake... might not. Orion, I don't want you losing that affection. You need it and..."

"Hypothetically, if you and Jake did get back together, I'm sure we could figure out a compromise," Orion said. "I guess, if I'm going to live on Earth, I'll have to learn to live like Earthlings."

"You deserve better," Gia looked in his eyes with a faint smile.

"Don't worry about me," he said. "It's enough to know there's at least one person on this planet who cares about me."

"There's bound to be more than one person," Gia chuckled. "I know the others care about you. It's just not shown Andrasian style. Earth style is a little more, held back."

"Unfortunately."

"But hey, if you ever do decide to date, I'll give you a few pointers on how to pick up a girl the right way," Gia smiled. "Then you'll have someone else out there who will show affection Andrasian style. She just might, you know, expect marriage before a baby."

"Like what Emma and Jordan are doing?"

"Well, they're only engaged right now. They'll be married after they have a wedding."

"A wedding?"

"It's a ceremony where they get all gushy about each other and make promises to stay together forever," Gia nodded. "You're only supposed to have one, but some people have two, three, four..."

"Sounds like a huge commitment."

"We take this romance stuff very seriously," Gia said. "That's why this is complicated."

"It's not complicated for me," Orion said. He kissed her cheek. "You take care of yourself. As long as we're friends, I'm happy with whatever you choose."

"I just... I wish Jake wanted me," Gia sighed. She looked down at her bottle. "That's the part that hurts the most. He doesn't want me anymore."

As Gia said that, their morphers went off. She groaned and Orion chuckled. It was the worst timing for an attack in the city, but at the same time, at least it would be something to take her mind off her more than complicated dating life.

"Looks like we've got trouble."

"Dishes say it's one of Vekar's," Orion bet her.

"I hope it's Vrak," Gia smirked. "I can't wait to see the look on his stupid face when we tell him Cliff's no more."