Author Note: Sorry it took so long to update. If there is anything I need to work on, please let me know, and I'll gladly go back and edit it.

Enjoy!

Samantha's Point of View

I shot up like a bullet after nearly dying of cardiac arrest (figuratively, of course) and glared at the perpetrator. It was my younger brother, Collin Austin. He had his prized trumpet in one hand and was laughing as hard as he could.

"It's not funny!" I complained as I swung myself out of bed. My brother ducked out of the room before I could punch him in the face, which he knew I was both willing and able to do.

After making myself look somewhat decent by brushing my hair and washing my face, I ran downstairs where my mom was making waffles. Of course, I thought. It's her day off from work.

"Waffles are ready!" my mom said as I forced my feet into socks and tennis shoes as fast as humanly possible. I, however, didn't have much of an appetite and replied, "I have to go, Mom. Prim needs me over at her place as soon as possible."

That last part was a lie, but I seriously wanted to get out of that house as soon as possible. I didn't need her hanging over me all day.

I made sure my cell phone, Mobirate, and Ranger Key were in their respective pockets before hurrying out the back door.

Prim met me about halfway between my house and hers. "Hey, Sam."

I was still recovering from Collin blasting me awake, but I managed a rather normal, "Hey, Prim!"

"How'd you sleep? Did you see Hakase?" She said the last part in a teasing tone, and I had to roll my eyes.

However, the truth was probably extremely obvious, so I said it anyway. "I couldn't get to sleep, so I went to do target practice. Hakase found me there. Did Marvelous take you home last night?"

Now it was her turn to blush. "Yes," she said.

I smirked a little at her. "How was it?" I knew very well that she, unlike me, wasn't afraid of falling in love and that she might be falling in love again.

"It was fine." She seemed to blush even redder than she was before. "How was Hakase?"

I responded, "He was fine." I was still fighting the beginning of the undeniable crush I had on him, and I was determined to win the fight even though I had the feeling that wasn't going to end anytime soon.

The look on her face changed from a smirk to a look of concern. "Hey, let's go visit them."

I didn't know what to think about that. I asked, "Are you sure about that?" She didn't need to answer; her expression was an answer. "Yes, you're sure."

Prim nodded and led me to their ship...which looked so familiar that I completely froze for a microsecond.

It was AkaRed's ship.

My older sister figure seemed so intent on whatever she was thinking about doing that she even went up the ropes without going into a panic attack. I was taken by surprised. "How did you just do that?" I asked in shock.

She shrugged and answered, "I just did. Let's go." As we went into the main room, I froze again out of fear. Other than Hakase, there were four other people in the room who I didn't know, and it made me uneasy. Was I supposed to be here? I tried to hide it, but I had a phobia of strangers that was sometimes almost overwhelming. Now was a prime example of that fear.

Prim didn't seem to have a problem with it. She walked right up to Hakase, who was working at the computer, and said, "Hi, Hakase. Where's Marvelous?"

He looked a bit surprised to see us there but replied, "In the crow's nest. Why?" He had a small expression of concern, and I could see between the two of them that they both thought that something was up with Marvelous.

"Just checking." I knew that she wasn't exactly telling the truth as she headed up to the crow's nest.

That left me with no clue what to do.

Prim's Point of View

Sure enough, he was standing there, gazing out at the horizon. His arms were crossed over his chest, and the tight lines along his jaw and the tensity in his shoulders indicated something was weighing heavily on his mind. "Hey Marvey-chan."

"Hey, pipsqueak," he said, not taking his gaze from the horizon.

Rolling my eyes a little at the nickname, I went to stand behind him, folding my arms over my own chest. "So, what's eating at you? And don't you dare say, 'Nothing.'"

He was silent for a minute as if debating on how to put it. In encouragement, I wrapped one arm around his shoulders (tight enough for him not to try and shake me, mind you) and laid my head on his shoulder. He took a deep breath like he just figured out the words. Works every time.

"It's how I promised Basco wouldn't ever hurt you," he admitted. "It bothering me because even if I try to protect you, I'm not always with you."

That made me replace my faint smirk with a smile. "Well, I appreciate that, but I'm a Gokaiger too. I can take care of myself. If Basco tries to hurt me, I'll kick his ass."

That set some but not all of the tensity in his eyes at ease. This guy really cared about those he approves of, apparently. Well, so do I, so in response, I just pressed myself closer to him.

What can I say? I'm a cuddle bug.

"I just don't want you getting hurt." He wrapped his arm around me in response.

"I'm going to have to sometimes, you know. I'm a Gokaiger, and I get into fights with empty rooms. It's nothing new for me." I shrugged but smiled up at him. "Don't worry about me."

He relaxed more as he gave me a legitimate smile by looking down. "I see. So I was right about you being strong."

That made me giggle a little. "I try."

Samantha's Point of View

By this point, I was resisting the urge to try and escape. Prim had gone up to the crow's nest to talk to someone she was trying to kill the day before, and I was in a rather familiar room with four unfamiliar people and one that I'd known for less than 24 hours.

Damn, my life was interesting in more ways than one.

"I wonder what's up with Marvelous," I said a little cautiously to Hakase. "Do you have any idea?" My hope was that having a normal conversation with a somewhat familiar person would calm my nerves slightly.

Besides, I had nothing better to do with my life at that moment.

Hakase turned to face me and replied, "I'd imagine it's Prim. He's rather protective over his friends."

I nodded in understanding. "That sounds like Prim. She's kind of protective of me."

He chuckled a little. "Those two just might get along." I had to smile at that. Remembering their duel from the day before, I admitted, "I know they'll get along. Even if they were fighting to the death yesterday."

That made us both smile at the memory. Hakase filled the silence by saying, "That's what makes them loveable." He paused for about half a second before adding almost tentatively, "Maybe this means we'll get along."

I nodded. "We will. I can tell already." We really did have a lot in common. If I started a list, it would probably at least reach from here to Timbuktu easily.

The two of us held each other's gaze for a couple seconds until the Galleon's alarm went off as well as the one on my Mobirate. I'd almost forgotten what that alarm sounded like, I thought. It's been at least a year.

Despite that realization, I lost no time climbing up to the crow's nest to tell Prim what was going on. She seemed to know already and nodded, signaling she was ready when I was.

For the first time, we joined the other six Gokaigers in battle.