With the team working together, the Nighlok was defeated. There had been one more mishap with assembling them Megazord (apparently the Zords were not supposed to be stacked one on top of the other), but aside from that, when the Rangers worked as a team and supported each other, the Nighlok were no problem.

The Nighlok was gone, but the Rangers were still at the scene of the battle. They had powered down and were tending to their injuries, certain that it would be a while before anyone in the city felt safe to dig through all the rubble and begin cleaning the street.

Jayden walked up to this team. He had been fighting the Nighlok for so long he was used to the pain after the battles. No matter how much of a beating he took, he could always bounce back quickly. Mia, Kevin, Mike, and Emily were on the ground, exhausted, so he glared down at them.

"We need to talk about what happened," he said. "I'm the red Ranger. I'm the leader. When I tell you guys to stand up, you stand up."

"Dude, I'm not listening to a word you say when you're being such a douche," Mike shook his head and got to his feet. He hated being spoken down to. He hated when people thought he wasn't doing his best and putting all his effort into a job, especially when he was.

Kevin was up on his feet as well, standing behind Mike. He hated going against his Samurai leader, but he felt he had to. Mia was on the ground with Emily, double and even triple-checking all her injuries.

"You were great today," Mia assured her as the boys yelled at each other. "I'm really impressed."

Emily looked at Mia and then up at the boys who were now defending her against Jayden, all while never telling Jayden her secret. Even Mia looked like she wasn't about to spill the beans on Serena's illness, and unless they were lying, she hadn't even told the boys she knew when they found the note. She had been faithful to Emily.

"You're not getting Serena!" Mike shouted to Jayden while Kevin had to hold him back. "Emily's our yellow Ranger and she's amazing. We're lucky to have her."

A smile appeared on Emily's lips as Mike said this and she looked at Mia. The pink Ranger nodded her head.

"Your sister would be proud," she reached out to help Emily up to her feet, "C'mon, Emy, I'll…"

Mia was taken by surprise when Emily didn't just accept the help, but threw herself into her arms. Emily hugged the pink Ranger tightly, whispering an apology for getting angry. Mia hugged her back and shook her head.

"You don't have to apologize," she chuckled. "We're the ones who should apologize."

Mike, Jayden and Kevin looked down as Emily hugged Mia. Mike and Kevin smiled to each other, taking this as a sign that things were slowly coming together again, but Jayden was unmoved. He stepped forward and looked down at Emily.

"I want answers," he demanded as the girls pulled away from each other. Emily looked up.

"About Serena?"

"Why you and not her?" Jayden asked. "Unless I'm wrong, she's a more experienced Samurai than you are. That's what we need on this team."

"I can fight," Emily lowered her voice and looked down. "Serena's really, really good, and she would be here if she could, but…"

"Why isn't she here?"

"She's sick," Emily whispered.

"The common cold is not a good enough reason to skip out on your responsibilities."

"She's been sick for almost eight years now," Emily explained. She didn't see it because she was looking at the dirt, but Jayden's stance relaxed and his expression softened.

"It's bad, then?"

Emily nodded her head but didn't say anything. She had already talked about this way too much in the day. She just wanted to go home and forget about everything.

Jayden looked around at the others, "You knew?"

"She told us," Kevin nodded his head.

"And before you say anything about it," Mike glared at Jayden, "Emily's going to be just as good, if not better than Serena, I know it. We just have to help each other out."

He reached down and with Mia's help he got Emily up to her feet.

To say Jayden felt like the dirt under his feet would be an understatement. All this time he had gone on and on, sometimes even to the others, about how he was waiting for Serena to turn up and that Emily's arrival was just some joke, when in reality, it was anything but. Judging by Emily's tone, Jayden could assume that Serena's illness was really, really bad, and it was enough for the Earth Samurai family to send a sixteen year old girl into battle in her place. Jayden didn't like the idea, but he realised in this moment that it didn't matter whether he liked it or not. It was a reality that one of his teammates was dealing with. She had so much to worry about, it was no wonder she couldn't focus.

And then she made him feel worse when she looked him in the eye and apologized to him.

"I'm sorry, Jayden. I know I let you down. I'll do better next time, I promise."

Jayden shook his head, "You did fine, kid. You did the best you could, that's all I should be asking for."

"But…"

"Emily, you guys have given up everything for me already. I've been tough on you but that's because I don't want to see you or anyone else in this city, getting hurt. These Nighloks are serious. They are going to do everything they can to kill you and before you decide to do this, you need to realise that you might not come out of this alive. The Nighlok could kill you, and if you're not careful they could go after your family and hurt or even kill them."

"I know," Emily nodded. "Serena told me all that already. I'm ready for this, Jayden."

"We all are, dude," Mike added.

"This could take years," Jayden told his team. "You might not see your family for years."

Emily looked down sadly, "I know."

Kevin smiled at Emily, "Hey, don't worry about her," he said, "We're going to defeat these Nighlok and you'll be back home before you know it. And if Serena's half the fighter you are, she's going to be right there waiting for you."

Sirens began to blare in the background and the Rangers took this as a sign that people were going to start investigating the attack and they needed to scram.

"Mentor will look at all of you when we get home," Jayden promised. "You'll feel good as new again."

-Samurai-

"I think the bruises hurt more than actually being punched," Mike commented, sitting on his stool with an ice pack over his shoulder and a few bandages covering his cuts and scrapes from the battle. He looked no different from the other Rangers, who were all a bit roughed up from their mission, but instead of letting his body recover he continued to poke the giant bruise that had been left on his arm.

"It hurts a lot less when you stop touching it," Kevin rolled his eyes and ripped Mike's hand away, stopping the green Ranger from poking. Mike pulled his arm back and glared.

"My arm, I'll do what I want."

"You should let it heal on its own," Kevin insisted, taking Mike's hand again. The boys tugged and pulled, fighting for no obvious reason except that they seemed to want to fight. Mia turned her gaze to Emily and rolled her eyes.

"You are so my favourite," she said. Emily smiled softly and looked to her hands, which were resting in her lap.

Jayden and Mentor walked into the room after stepping out for a private conversation. They took their seats and Mentor looked around at the team.

"A lot has happened," he said, "but before we discuss that, I will ask again: are you okay?"

"Dude, I'll poke it if I want to poke it," Mike snapped at Kevin before the room filled with silence. The two arguing boys noticed the stares from the others in the room and kept their hands to themselves.

"Sorry," they apologized.

"We're fine, Mentor," Mia assured the older man. He nodded his head.

"Good. Now, I thought it would be best if we got to know each other properly. We well tell each other everything we want to be made public. The rest will be revealed as friendships grow. Is that a deal?"

"Deal," the team all agreed.

"Good. I'll start. I was the Samurai Mentor to your parents' team, which means this isn't my first time fighting the Nighlok. I know what I am doing and I ask that you trust my decisions, but I also ask that you do think for yourselves. Your lives are the ones that are in the most danger, and I will never ask you to do anything you don't feel comfortable doing."

"Nothing personal?" Mike asked. "No deep dark secret? You didn't rob a convenience store when you were twelve?"

"I have raised Jayden since he was a boy, training him to be the red Ranger. I have not had much time for felonies, Mike."

"Surely you had a childhood," Mike rolled his eyes. "Look, all you guys need to know about me is that I am who I am and no one, not even Mr. Samurai in Blue over there, is going to get me to change."

"In other words, you're going to stay up late playing video game, you'll oversleep and miss training, and you'll eat us out of house and home before the end of the week?" Kevin asked.

Mike nodded his head, "I'm a teenage boy," he looked around the room at the other boys, "Apparently, I'm the only normal one here. Seriously, did any of you have a childhood?"

"I guess I had a little more freedom growing up," Mia said. "I went to school, did my homework, played with friends; all that fun stuff that comes with being a kid, as well as my Samurai training."

"See, this is why she doesn't piss me off," Mike flicked his thumb at Mia as he spoke to Kevin, "She knows it's not all about work, work, work."

"Balance is key," Mentor cut in.

"My grandmother taught me that early on," Mia nodded. She looked around the room, "she, uh… had a big part in my training. She was the pink Ranger before my mother."

"I'm completed dedicated to being a Samurai," Kevin held his head high, "but if I weren't here, I would be in the Olympics. Whenever I wasn't training to be a Samurai, I was swimming."

"So still training?" Mike asked. "When aren't you training?"

"Never," Kevin looked to Mike seriously. The green Ranger had a slightly freaked out look on his face before he turned and looked to Emily.

"I've heard him talk in his sleep a few times," he whispered to the pink Ranger, "he dreams about training too."

Emily giggled and looked at Kevin. The blue Ranger rolled his eyes.

"It seems to be working, though," he said, "Who's better than whom with a sword?"

"Who kicked your ass this morning in hand to hand combat?" Mike reminded.

Jayden, ignoring the two boys, looked over at Emily. He still felt terrible for the way he treated her. He knew he had been cold and harsh, but he hadn't meant to be. He just couldn't imagine himself asking a child to help him fight his battles. He didn't even want to ask Kevin, Mike or Mia to fight alongside him. He couldn't risk anyone getting hurt. All it took was one; simple mistake and they could all be dead before they reached their mid-twenties, or even their twenties.

"For what it's worth, Emily," he said, "you do make a great yellow Ranger. I'm sorry I didn't see it before."

"It's okay," Emily played with her hands, "I know you were expecting Serena. It must have been a disappointment. It's not your fault."

"It's not that it was a disappointment," Jayden shook his head, "It was a surprise, that's all. I should have adapted faster. I'm really sorry for the things I said and the way I treated you. It really wasn't right."

Jayden turned to the others, "Look, it's like what Mentor said: I've been doing this for a while, so I know what I'm doing. I need you guys to trust me, even when things seem confusing, but you can't be afraid to question any decision that I make that leaves you feeling scared, threatened or uncomfortable. I would never ask you to do anything that I wouldn't do myself and I would never put you in a situation where you don't feel safe."

"We're a team," Mia smiled, "if we work together, the Nighlok can't stop us."

The Rangers exchanged looks and smiles and with that the meeting was ended. Mentor got up and walked out to his room to work. Jayden left for the dojo to train and Mia and Kevin went to the kitchen where Mia promised she would show Kevin how to make the delicious cookies her grandmother would always make with her after a long training session.

Mike looked across the room at Emily. He could feel his handheld video game in his pocket and part of him wanted to play given he had a little free time. The other part of him wanted to be with Emily.

"You know, what you're doing for your sister, it's pretty cool," he smiled to her. "I mean, the fact that she's sick really, really sucks, but you're amazing for this."

"It's nothing," Emily shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not really good at anything else. I didn't do well in school and I didn't join clubs or play sports. Being a Samurai and playing the flute are the only two things I'm good at."

"I seriously doubt that," Mike shook his head. "You're amazing, Em."

Emily blushed and had to look away, hoping he wouldn't notice, "You're pretty amazing yourself. You don't train as much as Kevin, Mia or Jayden and you're still really good."

"Thanks…"

"And, you're good with video games," Emily pointed to his pocket and Mike noticed his game was sticking out. He grabbed it and held it out for her.

"Do you want to play?" he asked her, "Or, better yet, I can set up my game console to the TV and we can both play."

"You'll have to teach me."

"Of course," Mike nodded. "Why don't you come help me find it?"

"Do you have something other than killing games?" Emily hopped out of her seat and bounced down the hallway as she followed Mike to his room.

"I'll find something a little more your style," Mike promised with a laugh. "Less blood and more…"

"Cute?"

"I don't think I have cute. I have Mario."

"Who?"

Mike turned around and stared at the young Samurai, "You don't know Mario?" Emily shook her head. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to his room, "You've been missing out!"

-Samurai-

Later that night, Jayden was getting himself ready for bed when he heard a knock on his door. Mentor Ji walked in without waiting for permission. Jayden sighed and turned to the older man.

"I'm guessing you have something to say."

"You know now," Mentor nodded. "You understand why Serena couldn't come."

"Yeah, Mentor, I get it," Jayden pulled down the blankets on his bed and then stopped and turned to Mentor, "You knew, didn't you?"

"Emily told me," Mentor said. "And if you had given her the chance, I'm sure she would have told you."

Mentor walked over to Jayden's desk and pulled out the chair. He sat down and looked to his red Ranger.

"This is a lot of pressure on you," he said. "I understand the stress you are under. But what you did in battle today… that's unacceptable."

"I know, Mentor."

"You did not want a team. You do not want anyone putting themselves in danger, but you need them. You need them more than they need you. I never want you to leave one of your teammates behind."

"It was stupid, I know."

"It was careless, and if your father were here he would have been so disappointed in the way you led your team today."

Jayden lowered his head, tears stung at his eyes. Mentor was being harsh and rather cruel, but Jayden knew he was right and he knew he deserved this. He was ashamed by what he had done. He never should have doubted his team, especially not in the middle of a battle.

"I understand if it takes time for you to get used to the idea of asking four other people to put themselves in danger for you. I understand if you find it difficult to build a relationship with them because you are scared to lose more people you care for. But a relationship will form in time, you cannot stop it. It's up to you to decide whether or not that relationship is a good one."

"If they knew…"

"When the time is right, Jayden," Mentor shook his head. "For now, you must make the effort to bond with them. There is nothing stronger than a team united."

Jayden nodded slowly and looked to the ground, "They were all pretty strong when they stuck up for Emily. If they had used that energy against the Nighlok instead of me, we would have won a lot faster; there would have been less destruction…"

"As leader, it is crucial that you understand your team. You must know their strengths, their weaknesses and you must have their complete trust. How do you expect to do that if you don't interact with them in the slightest? Today was just a taste of what could happen if you don't smarten up. Next time, Emily might not stand up for you. She might not convince the others that they need to fight."

"If she hadn't of today I could have lost," Jayden sighed. "That Nighlok was tough, you were right about needing a team."

"You cannot do it alone."

"I want to be a good leader," Jayden looked up at Mentor, "I want to do well. I want to lead this team to victory, destroy Master Xandred for good and I want to make my father proud."

"Train with them tomorrow morning," Mentor got up from the chair and started making his way out. "Get involved in their lives."

Jayden nodded his head, "Thanks, Ji. I'll do my best."

The End.