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Stomping her foot on the ground, Emily shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. She was not happy. Only a couple of days after getting to the hospital, her sister had been discharged. Serena's breathing had improved, her coughing was almost completely calmed and she had no virus or infection that could be found so the doctors had no reason to keep her. There was nothing they could do for her and they had needed her bed.

Emily was more than happy that her sister was home, and when Jayden suggested she stay with the Rangers for a few weeks Emily's happiness skyrocketed. She knew the only reason her sister was staying at the Shiba House was because Jayden and everyone else was worried about Dayu or Dekker returning, and Serena wouldn't have been safe on her own at the Tengen Gate.

But the weeks had gone by and there had been no sign of Dayu or Dekker. Occasionally there had been a few scared. The Gap Sensors had been tweaked to pick up on the smallest trace of Nighlok life and so anytime they went off the Rangers were scared it was Dayu or Dekker. Thankfully, they were only regular, non-Serena-threatening Nighlok.

Hoping this meant Dekker had moved on and that Dayu was no longer interested in Serena now that she was no longer dating Dekker, many of the Rangers felt Serena was ready to go home. They had her flight scheduled for the morning and the other Guardians at the Tengen Gate were expecting Serena. Serena just wished she was feeling a little less like she was going to throw up. There was no way she was getting sick on an airplane.

"No," Emily stomped her foot again. She didn't want Serena to head home. Every time Serena went home she always came back in trouble. In some ways, things were better when Serena was ill. At least she had been kept safe and if she died, it would have been peaceful.

"Emy…"

"No, no, no," Emily shook her head. "Not happening!"

"She's got to go," Kevin said as gently as he could, "The Tengen Gate…"

"Is safe enough! You said so yourself, Serena," Emily turned to her sister. "You said the guardians could handle your absence. If they can do it for a few weeks, they're more than ready to handle guardian it from here on out."

"But Daisuke…"

"I don't care," Emily shouted. She looked around the room and saw her friends' expressions weren't changing. Her little body shook with rage, "Fine! Die! See if I care! If you leave I'm never, ever, ever helping you again!"

"Emy…"

"No! Go away! I hate you!"

Dead silence. Emily hurried out of the room in tears. She didn't want to be near her team or her sister at this point. In the hallway, she ran into Mentor Ji. She had no idea where he had come from or when he got home, but right now he was the only one who hadn't insisted they send her sister back to Japan to be Dayu's target once again. She ran into his arms and he held her tight.

Back in the common room, the Rangers were still completely silent. They knew Emily wasn't going to like the idea that her sister would be leaving, but they hadn't expected her to hate the idea this much. Not enough to turn away from her sister. Serena had the biggest shock of all. Her sister said she hated her. Deep down, she knew it wasn't true. If Emily had hated her she wouldn't have been angry enough to say it, but it still hurt. Emily had never said she hated her before.

"Serena, you have to go," Jayden whispered and he hoped Emily's words hadn't gotten Serena to change her mind.

"My flight doesn't leave until the morning," Serena shook her head and stepped forward to go after her sister.

"She's not going to change her mind," Mike said. "She'll hate you more if you try and talk to her. And if you don't, she'll hate you more for leaving without trying."

Serena stopped and sighed loudly. She turned back to the red Ranger, "Jay, do I have to go?"

"The Tengen Gate…"

"Emily made a good point," Mia said. "The other guardians seemed to be able to manage on their own when Serena's gone. Maybe…"

"No," Jayden shook his head, "Serena, you're the Elder Guardian."

"Elder?" Serena frowned at Jayden. She hated that title. She may have been the oldest of the Samurai, but she was not old. In fact, at the Tengen Gate, she was the youngest Guardian, forcing everyone to drop the Elder part of her title. She glared at the red Ranger, "Say that again and I'll send you in several boxes to Japan."

"Sorry," Jayden quickly realised his mistake, "but you know what I mean. No one can guard the Gate…"

"I've trained those other guardians pretty well, actually," Serena said. "The day before Dayu started stalking me they actually managed to kick my ass during our training session, and I had Dekker on my team! If they can defeat a supposed-to-be-Samurai-Ranger and the scariest Nighlok I've ever encountered, they can handle a few people snooping around the forest."

"But the Nighlok…"

"Only ever attacked the Tengen Gate when you were there," Serena shrugged. She looked over her shoulder and out of the room where her sister had run, "Look, I get that the fate of the world is kind of important to, well, everyone, but I don't see the point in keeping the secrets safe when they've cost me my sister."

"At least Emily would still be alive and safe," Jayden said. "If Master Xandred, or any of the Nighlok, get their hands on those secrets they could use them to kill all of us, Emily included. If the Earth floods, it won't matter how Emily feels about you."

"I just… I don't see why I have to go back," Serena said. "Not permanently, at least. The secrets are safe. Master Xandred's more concerned about you then about a bunch of scrolls and old weapons. In fact, most of the secrets there, if used by anyone, would be used against Master X. There are only a few that could harm the Samurai, and those are sealed away so securely even I couldn't break into them."

"Are you sure?" Kevin asked.

"Nothing happens at that Gate," Serena sighed loudly. "I had a lot of time to read and ex…"

Serena gagged and her hand flew to her mouth. She had been feeling a little nauseous for a couple of days, but thought it was just her nerves telling her that flying over the ocean in a large metal cage was a bad idea. She wasn't the best of flyers.

"Are you okay?" Antonio asked when Serena stopped mid-sentence and looked like she was going to throw up. Serena shook her head and raced out of the room. Mia got up after her.

The boys exchanged worried looks before Mike clapped his hands together and smiled.

"Well, problem solved," he said. "Serena can stay a little longer. We can't stick her on an airplane when she's throwing up."

Mentor Ji walked into the room at the moment with a still upset Emily. The boys' jaws all dropped when they saw their Mentor. He hadn't been around in weeks.

"Dude," Mike breathed as Mentor sat Emily down on her stool. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I apologize for my disappearance," Mentor said. "Unfortunately, after the mishap with the Stones I had a lot to think about."

"The Stones?" Antonio frowned and his muscles tensed up. He hated the Stones.

"I made a terrible choice," Mentor nodded. "I asked Jayden to go behind all your backs and continue programming the Black Box. My intention was not to hurt, but it seems I was mistaken."

"Wait," Kevin looked at his mentor, "you were the one who lied to us?"

"This was my mistake," Jayden said, coming to Mentor Ji's defence. "It was Mentor's plan, but as leader it's my responsibility to…"

"I don't care," Kevin shook his head, "Neither of you should be plotting to kill us!"

Mentor Ji lowered his head. He placed his hands on Emily's shoulders and took a deep breathe, "It is for that reason that I will no longer be the mentor for the Samurai Rangers."

All eyes widened as everyone in the room turned to Mentor Ji, "What?"

"Mentor," Jayden said, "it was a mistake. You didn't think it would hurt the Rangers. I'm the one who made the bad call. I'm the leader."

"I asked you to lie to the Rangers," Mentor shook his head. "I asked you to manipulate their trust. Until you all feel safe in my hands, and until I can forgive myself for making such a terrible mistake, I will not be asking any of you to trust me and my decisions."

"Okay, no, slow down," Kevin blinked rapidly, trying to sort this problem out, "This is a big issue, Mentor, but you… even if we don't want to trust you, you still know the most about…"

"Jayden had a deep understanding of symbol power," Mentor interrupted. "He will be able to help you there. Mia has read almost all the books of the Samurai History. Kevin, you've always been able to keep the team on top of their training, and Mike will no doubt remind you all to take breaks and relax. Antonio has shown he will keep going, no matter what, and I'm sure he will be able to remind you all why you're fighting. Emily will keep you from tearing each other apart."

"Are you actually quitting?" Mike asked.

Mentor squeezed Emily's shoulders gently as he nodded to Mike, "I hope this will only temporary. Until then, I trust you will be able to take care of yourselves."

"But, what if…"

"I won't, however, leave you all without someone in charge. Someone who will make the ultimate decisions in case none of you can agree," Mentor looked down at Emily, "Your sister will be asked to stay, at least for a little while longer. As Guardian of the Tengen Gate it is her responsibility to ensure that the secrets of the Samurai are safe. If the Samurai fail in battle, the secrets are worthless. There is no point in guarding worthless secrets."

Emily's eyes widened in pure happiness as she turned around and jumped up into Mentor's arms. Kevin, Jayden, Mike and Antonio looked around at each other.

"Problem solved?" Kevin asked and they all shrugged their shoulders.