Notes: Written for Queer_Fest 2013.

The first time Emma brings it up, Gia is laying on Emma's bed, pants undone, shirt off, hair mussed, reading a magazine.

It's a regular Friday night, the two of them together, fooling around and keeping each other company, arguing over pizza toppings and romantic comedies to watch. Emma is sitting at the end of the bed, playing with a bracelet on her arm-one with a suspicious amount of ranger colors-when she looks over as Gia casually and says, "When are we going to come out to the other rangers?"

Gia looks up from her article about endangered animals and breeding programs with raised eyebrows. "I dunno," she says, flipping the page, "When do you feel like being shamed and ridiculed because we're lesbians?"

"Gia," Emma scolds, and she crawls across the bed in her lacey pink coverall, coming to rest her head against Gia's shoulder and look up at her pleadingly. "Don't be so negative about it."

Gia rolls her eyes, ignored Emma's coddling and keeps staring at the picture of the endangered white rhino. "How am I not supposed to be negative about something that could potentially cost us our friends and teammates?"

Emma goes quiet, and Gia goes back to reading the article. Emma appears to be at least casually examining it until she says quietly, "What's the worst that could happen? Realistically."

Gia sighs in frustration and closes the magazine, slamming it down on the floor beside the bed. "Let's see, how about Jake? How about the inevitable 'well that's cool there's more lady for me now' comment that's bound to come out of his mouth? How about the fact that men are inherently threatened by women they can't sleep with? How about the fact that we don't know anything about our team or their politics? We're friends, in so much as you can be with people you hardly know and have to work with, but I don't trust them."

Emma bites her lip. "I hadn't thought about Jake," she admits, shrugging. "But you really don't trust them?"

Gia crosses her arms. "With us? With our future? Absolutely not." And Gia goes to pick up her magazine and shift slightly away from her girlfriend. "Trust has to be earned."

Emma doesn't touch the subject again for a whole week. She can see how much it got to Gia, and she doesn't like Gia to be upset. And the more she thinks about it, the more she realizes how justified Gia's fears are.

Outside their families, no one in Angel Grove knows about them. They've been best friends since they were kids, and when Emma's adoptive father caught them kissing in 7th grade, he had sat them both down and explained to them what it meant, what it might mean for them, and to be careful. Their parents had been okay with it, in the end, after a little bit of persuading. There was a time where Emma really thought that Gia's mom thought it was a phase Gia would grow out of, but that day passed too.

They had gotten lucky in that respect, she knew. Their families had been supportive, and well informed, and incredibly loving. Other people… well, other people weren't always that way about these things. And what business was it of everyone else's what they were to each other?

Except now that they are rangers, now that they're a part of a team, she can't help but feel like they're hiding something from their teammates. It feels like their business, too, and she can't help the nagging feeling she has that they deserve to know, to be trusted, to be made extended family.

She thinks about it all week, but she decides not to bring it up again anytime soon.

Only that night, when Gia is carefully painting Emma's toenails a violent shade a hot pink, she sits back with a contemplative face and says, "I'm protective of who I am, of us, and I don't make it easy for people to know me. It's not something I consider to be a flaw, but… sometimes I get the feeling that the other rangers need to know who I am so that we can work together. It's weird."

Emma chews her lips, blows on her toenails so that they'll dry. "Have you changed your mind about telling them?"

Gia groans and flops herself backwards on the bed. "I don't know! I keep thinking about all the awful things that could happen. What if they don't want us to be rangers with them anymore? Can they vote us off the island?"

Emma laughs. "I doubt it," she says, "I think that would be up to Gosei."

And then a thought occurs to Emma, and she can tell from the way Gia lifts her head that Gia has just had the same thought.

"Gosei," Emma says, feeling her stomach knot. "What if Gosei wouldn't approve?"

"He chose us to be rangers because he believes we exemplify goodness in the human race," Gia says, but she looks annoyed. "That doesn't change because we're gay."

Emma stares at her pink toes. "It does for some people."

They're holding each other on the bed, Gia with her arm wrapped around Emma's shoulder, Emma snuggled up into Gia's shoulder. It's late, and Emma is dosing. Their movie finished a few minutes ago, and now the DVD is looping on the title screen, the quite music replaying over and over in the background while Gia thinks.

She strokes Emma's hair, feels Emma's breathing against her chest, presses her cheek to Emma's head.

She can't help it. She's still dwelling on the idea of coming out to their teammates and mentor. She's gone over everything that could happen in her mind; Jake making a comment about lesbians, Troy turning out to be a republican who wants to "protect marriage", all of the guys showing outright disgust, Gosei taking away their morphers… the images of being followed down a dark street and attacked have even crossed her mind. The misguided idea that she or Emma need to be "fixed", with physical force or other kinds of force.

It isn't that she thinks it's likely, exactly. It's just that she knows the stories, she's heard the cautionary tales. And she's proud of who she is. She is a woman who is madly in love with her beautiful and amazing girlfriend, she's a power ranger, she's a strong person with lots of character and moral fiber.

But none of that seems to deter the knot in her stomach that forms when she thinks of the possible looks of disgust on the faces of… of her friends. On the faces of people she's come to respect and enjoy the company of. On the faces of people who could hurt her or she woman she loves.

Emma stirs, and Gia looks down at her. "You okay?" Emma wonders.

Gia makes a small hum of acknowledgment. "Why?"

Emma taps the place just about Gia's breast rapidly, and says "Heartbeat."

Gia takes a deep breath. "Didn't mean to wake you."

"What's got you so upset?" Emma wonders, and she brings a hand up to rub at her eyes before readjusting to look more easily at Gia's face.

It's a long moment before Gia answers. "I think we should tell them, the other rangers, about us."

"Yeah?" Emma asks, sounding a little surprised.

"I don't want to, exactly… but I don't think I'll be able to just not ever tell them. I don't think that's going to work," Gia admits, knowing that she won't be able to drop the subject until it's out in the open.

"Best case scenario," Emma says hopefully.

"Best case scenario," Gia considers. "They're all fine with it, and they've known all along and it doesn't change our friendships."

"Best case scenario," Emma repeats, "That's what we'll hope for. And," she says, hugging tightly to Gia, "We're also prepared for the worst."

The next Friday, they invite the guys over to Gia's house for pizza and a slasher movie marathon. Noah complains endlessly about being forced to watch horror movies, and Jake eats too much pizza, and Troy is his usually quite polite self.

Emma can't help but be nervous. They've invited the guys into their ritual; Friday nights had always been their private time together. But they're letting their friends in on their secret, and it seems appropriate.

"Is this what you guys do every weekend without us?" Jake wants to know, popping the cap on his soda can and leaning back on the large recliner.

"Sort of," Emma answers, and she looks over at Gia.

Gia shrugs. "There's usually a lot more kissing involved," Gia admits casually, and Emma takes a large drink of her juice.

Noah has stopped eating popcorn with a handful halfway to his mouth, and Troy is continuing to watch the movie as though nothing has happened. Jake sits back up from the recliner.

"Kissing?" He wonders, eyebrows furrowing. "Kissing who?"

Troy's eyes never leave the screen as he says, "Each other, obviously."

Emma laughs a nervous laugh, looks over at Gia who mouths 'obviously' back at her in an amused way.

"Oh," Jake says, and he sounds confused. Then another "Oh," that sounds incredibly upbeat.

Any comment Jake might make is quickly beaten down by both Noah and Troy who intone in unison, "Jake."

"Oh," Jake says again, and this time his voice sounds disappointed. He gives a quick glance between Emma and Gia and then one final "Oh, okay."

Gia grins over at her, and Emma grins back. And just like that, they're out.

"Don't go spreading it around or anything," Gia warns to guys, and she comes over to sit next to Emma on the floor cushions. "It's not exactly common knowledge and we'd like it to stay that way."

"So why did you tell us?" Noah wonders, passing them the popcorn, the most obvious sign of acceptance he can give to show he isn't weirded out.

Gia looks quickly over at Emma, and Emma nods. "Because we trust you," Gia says.

"With our lives," Emma adds, grabbing Gia's hand.

"Really?" Jake wonders from over in the recliner. Emma and Gia both nods, and then Jake nods too.

He reaches over to grab some popcorn, and then with a smile says, "That's cool."

Troy actually does look away from the movie this time when he says, "I'm glad you told us. I know how much it means."

And Emma gets the feeling that he really does, somehow, that they all do, and suddenly all her worries have completely faded away, and she feels silly for ever having worried about telling them in the first place.

And she wonders if it's something about the power, something about being rangers together, that makes it easier to accept and trust each other. She wonders if something about saving the world together means that they protect each other, too, no matter what, and she imagines that other teams of rangers have gotten through much more trying things than this.

Emma leans her head happily over on Gia's shoulder, and she doesn't worry anymore.