A/N: This is my first Power Rangers: Samurai story. I got the idea for this story from watching a Little House: A New Beginning episode. Also, there are no OCs, at least not ones with any major roles.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Power Rangers, sadly. Mr. Saban owns them, and always will.
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That's A Promise
Chapter One: The Accident
It was just a simple day off at the beach.
The Nighlocks had been very quiet lately, and even though it was suspicious, Ji gave the Rangers the day off.
Besides, it was summer, which meant it was scorching hot. Kevin, usually being the uptight and paranoid one whenever it came to taking a break, suggested the beach, and no matter what someone else had suggested, the beach sounded more interesting.
They were all here now. That's all that mattered.
Mike and Kevin were soon in an all-out water fight. Antonio had dove right in and turned Mike and Kevin's water fight into a free-for-all. It took a while for Jayden to join the boys in the water, but after a couple of minutes of persuading from Ji, he also ran in, his burdening duties as the Red Ranger seemingly forgotten, and acting like the young child he never got to be. It was, he later admitted, fun and thrilling.
Ji was grilling the fish that Antonio had caught that morning right before marching over to the Shiba House to cook them for lunch, or possibly even breakfast. Mia was apparently asleep, tanning. Emily was sitting right beside her, under the shade the umbrella provided, reading a book, occasionally gently touching the necklace around her neck, a present from her sister last Christmas.
It was Emily's first Christmas without Serena, and the Rangers wanted her to feel at home still. And they did.
The four boys carefully observed both girls and after some scheming, all four boys went onto shore toward the girls.
"Hey, ladies!" Mike called out. "Care to join us?"
Mia, who was not asleep at all, and Emily look up from their respective tasks.
"No thanks, Mike," Emily said. "I'm actually really into this book."
"Which book is it?" Antonio asked, curious.
"It's none of your business," Mia said, sticking up for the younger ranger. "Can you tell me, Em?"
"Later," Emily said, sending a smile her way, which Mia returned.
However, Mike would not have it. Neither would any of the other boys. All four got out of the water. Kevin and Mike went (Mike stomped playfully) up to Mia.
"Come on, Princess," Kevin said. "The water's better than the sun."
"So much cooler," Mike added.
Mia was trying her best to keep a straight frown on, but was failing. Soon, her frown was changed into a smile.
"Oh, alright," Mia said, accepting both of their hands, Mike with her right and Kevin with her left. They helped her up to her feet.
Meanwhile, Antonio and Jayden silently marched up to a peaceful, reading Emily. Suddenly, the bookmark that Emily was using was inserted into the open pages of the book and a pair of hands closed the book. Emily looked up to see a smirking Antonio.
"I see," Antonio said, reading the title. Emily inwardly squirmed. "That's a good series. The Chronicles of Narnia is a great pick." Emily breathed a sigh of relief. Antonio set the book down.
"Come on, Em," Antonio said. "The water is great at this time of year." Emily stared at him, a smile becoming slightly obvious on her face. He paused before giving off a "Jayden, help me."
"Leave me out of it, Antonio," Jayden replied quickly. "It's alright, Em. You don't have to if you don't want to." This caused Emily to turn to him with a look of admiration.
Even though she heard it many times, mostly directed at her, she would always be amazed by his gentleness and kindness. That was one of the many things that she liked about him.
Em…that was one of the nicknames that the gang gave her. Her sister called her that too. It reminded her of home every time she heard it, but for some reason, Jayden more so than the others.
Mike heard it. He whirled around to face Jayden. "Traitor!" Kevin laughed out loud, which was an extreme rarity for him. Mia looked very amused. "We all agreed that we would get both of the girls to join us, not just one!" Kevin laughed even louder.
"You put your plan into action before I could agree or disagree," Jayden pointed out.
"Antonio said it for you," Mike said.
"Antonio was only speaking for himself," Jayden fired back, yet gently.
Mia broke it up. "I'll settle this. You wanna come, Em?"
Emily broke her gaze from Jayden, which she thoroughly regretted, and turned it towards Mia. She hesitated. They still didn't know, yet she could not bring herself to tell them. She thought she told Mia, but apparently, she forgot.
It took her a while to figure out what the question was again. "I guess," Emily said, shrugging, after thinking about it for another few seconds.
And so she did. But as the free-for-all water fight ensued again, Jayden soon noticed that Emily was the one standing closest to the shore line.
Emily did allow herself to get splashed a few times, but always got the others back, usually right on target. Mike got her twice, Antonio got her once, and Kevin got her once also. Emily got each Ranger at least three to four times. It made her smile, knowing the fact that she and Mia were the victorious ones.
"Rangers! Lunch time! It smells really good!" Ji called out.
Being the hungry teenagers they were, they all ran to the picnic table and sat down. They each took a bite of the grilled fish and thanked both Antonio and Ji for the wonderful meal.
"Thank you, Antonio, for giving me the recipe," Ji said. "It certainly is delicious."
"Thank you. I do have my golden moments."
Only when Mia brought it up, did the other Rangers notice that someone in their group was missing.
"Hey, where's Emily?" Mia asked.
Jayden immediately set his fork down and looked toward the water.
Mia got up and started calling out, "Emily! Emily? Where are you? Emily!" Mike and Antonio got up and joined her.
Kevin also looked towards the water just as Jayden got up and raced towards the shoreline. Kevin noticed this and followed his leader.
"Jayden…?" Kevin asked, his voice giving away his true emotions. He was worried, possibly at risk of having an anxiety attack.
"Yeah…?" Judging his leader by just the sound of his voice, Kevin realized that Jayden felt as bad as he himself did, if not worse. Kevin looked into Jayden's eyes and saw worry in his eyes too.
"What if she…she drowned…?!" Kevin's face was panic-struck. He hated bringing that possibility up, but they had to find Emily.
"You know I don't like to think like that," Jayden started, and Kevin regretted saying it at all, "but we have to consider every possibility…"
Kevin paused before shouting, "Emily! Answer us!"
Before Kevin could comprehend what Jayden was doing, the Red Ranger had pulled his t-shirt off and dove into the water. "Jayden!" he shouted before he could stop himself. This automatically called the others over to the shoreline.
"What is he…?" Mia sounded that exact same as Kevin did.
"Checking to see if Emily is under water…" Kevin said, body and voice shaking. He shook harder when he saw Mike's reaction to that.
A few seconds later, Jayden broke the surface, an unconscious, maybe dead, Emily in his arms.
"Kevin!" he gasped and Kevin immediately ran to help. "Hold her for a second. Get her on dry land and wrap her up in as many towels as you can. And try to get her to breathe!"
"What about you?!" Kevin asked, taking Emily in his arms.
"Gotta go get something real quick!" Jayden answered before diving back in.
Kevin carried Emily back onto dry land and laid her on the sand and checked her pulse.
"What?!" Mike asked, practically shouted, just as Jayden joined them on the shore, Emily's necklace in his hand.
Kevin panicked. Emily had no pulse, but he breathed into her mouth a few times before compressing her chest for some time. He did this about two more times, before he pulled back as Emily coughed violently. It seemed at first as though she was awake, but she didn't respond to any other the group's verbal calls.
"Don't worry, guys," Antonio reassured them, trying to reassure himself more. "At least she's still breathing. She'll be okay."
Kevin, breathing a huge sigh of relief, nodded in agreement. "Yeah…"
"I can't believe I'm saying this," Mike started, "but I'm glad Kevin knows CPR."
"But I'm not glad that I forgot the most important thing to know about going to the beach with Emily," Mia said, her tone of voice the complete opposite of Kevin, Mike, and Antonio. The boys, and Jii, all looked at her, puzzled.
"What's that, Mia?" Mike asked.
"I can't believe I forgot!" Mia said, grabbing her hair and attempting to pull it out.
Jayden placed a hand on her arm and pulled it away from her head.
"What did you forget, Mia?" he asked her.
Mia took a deep, staggered breath before continuing, "That Emily can't swim. She never learned how."
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A/N: Review! Tell me how I did! Chapter 2 will be up momentarily.
Note: Yes, I am a Jemily shipper. Deal with it! (That does not mean I hate Memily or Jia. I think they're cute couples, but I just think of Mike and Emily more like siblings. Same with Jayden and Mia.) Tell me: Antonio and Mia, or Kevin and Mia?