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Mike couldn't believe what he was about to say.

"Guys, can you keep it down?"

Jayden, Mia, Kevin and Antonio were just enjoying themselves now that Urumasa was safe in their hands. They had pulled out a board game to play with their folding Zords. It served two purposes: the first was getting all the Zords to get a little bonding time with each other and the second was just having fun. Now that Antonio was stuck on the final programming of the box, he needed all the symbol powers to work together, and he needed all the folding Zords to work together. What better way to get everyone to bond than by having fun.

The Rangers were making quite a bit of noise, though. With all the laughter, playful name-calling, teasing and cheering, Mike could barely hear himself think when he stood in the common room, and the noise was loud enough to reach his and Emily's room. He didn't mind it at all. He was busy playing video games in the dojo, but he knew Emily wasn't feeling well and she needed to rest.

"Sorry," Antonio laughed. He gave Mike an apologetic look. "It's easy to get a little carried away."

"I know," Mike nodded. He had played the game before, "but Em's still got that headache and…"

"Still?" Mia frowned. "It's been two days. Are you sure it's nothing serious?"

"She says it's not," Mike shrugged. He took a seat with the other Rangers, "She probably just got a cold or something from being in the water. She hasn't been feeling right since."

"Maybe, but…" Mia stopped when she felt her phone vibrating and she excused herself. Not many people knew her number now that she was a Ranger: only the Rangers, her grandmother, and Serena. Usually, the only time her phone rang was when Serena called to check up on the Rangers, but that still wasn't very often. Emily was always Serena's first choice to call.

Mia checked the number before answering her phone with a smile, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Why isn't Emily answering her phone?" Serena asked. "She always answers on the second ring. I've called her three times now."

"Uh," Mia starting making her way over to Mike and Emily's room, "she might be sleeping. She hasn't been feeling well."

"What kind of not well?"

Mia knocked on Emily's door, "Just headaches, trouble sleeping. People get sick from time to time, no need to worry."

"Mia…"

"I'm checking up on her now," Mia assured Serena as she tip-toed over to Emily's bed as the yellow Ranger slept. She placed a hand on Emily's forehead to feel whether Emily was warm or not. To her relief Emily felt normal. "She's fine, Serena."

"Are you sure?"

"We've been having a bit of a rough time lately," Mia said. She wanted to comfort Serena and let her know that Emily was probably just resting after her underwater adventure, but at the same time she didn't want to tell Serena about Urumasa. The sword was safe, but Mia didn't want Serena feeling guilty for throwing it into the ocean for the Rangers to retrieve. The older Samurai had enough on her plate guarding the Tengen Gate. "You know what the Nighlok are like. A little more rest and she'll be fine. I'll have her call you soon."

"Please do," Serena said before hanging up the phone. Mia did the same and glanced one last time at Emily before quietly leaving the room.

Emily slept, seemingly peacefully, for a few moments after Mia left until suddenly she jumped up in bed, breathing heavily. She grabbed her head as Urumasa's voice echoed in her mind.

"I won't do it," she whispered. Her eyes filled with tears as she tried to block out the pain. Urumasa was loud and demanding, but Emily would never give in. Nothing would ever convince her to harm her friends. No matter how much it hurt, she wouldn't give into the sword. "Leave me alone…"

"Okay, but I just thought you would like some soup."

Emily looked at the door when she heard Mike's voice. She wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded as he brought the tray over to her bed. He set it down in front of her and took a seat at the foot of her bed. He saw the tears and frowned, "That headache's pretty bad, huh?"

"Yeah… my head."

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the doctor or something?" Mike asked. He pointed to the painkillers he had placed on her night table for her, "Maybe we can get you something a little stronger. These don't seem to be working."

"It's fine, I don't need to see a doctor…"

"But your head…"

"I'm fine."

"Em, you don't need to suffer…"

"I'm fine!" Emily shouted as she reached out and shoved Mike right off the bed. He landed on the ground with a thud and looked up at Emily with a mixture of confusion and horror. She wasn't one to lash out in violence, no matter how much pain she was in or how frustrated she was.

Emily was equally horrified. Her hands flew to her mouth and she began to tremble. Mike slowly started to push himself to his feet so he could get back on the bed and comfort Emily, but she didn't want him near her.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered as she bolted from her bed, spilling the soup everywhere on the blankets. Mike called her name, but she didn't stop running.

"That wasn't so hard," the voice in her head said, "I bet that felt good. I can make you even stronger. Just do as I say."

Emily bumped into Jayden in the hallway and he grabbed her arms to steady her before she fell over. He looked down at her with a smile.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"He's right there! Get him!"

"No!" Emily shouted. Jayden furrowed his brow.

"Uh, Emily…"

Emily squirmed and pulled away from Jayden. She needed to get away from him before she hurt him like she hurt Mike. With Jayden, Urumasa wasn't going to stop at a simple push.

She slipped past Jayden and ran outside. She didn't want her friends to find her. She didn't want to hurt them. She found her underground fort from a long time ago and jumped down the hole. She placed her hand on the wall, following it as she walked further into her cave and the light faded. When she was far enough in the dark she sunk to the ground, curled up into a ball and cried.

-Samurai-

Mike watched Emily leave with a heavy heart. He wanted to go after her, like always, but decided he would give her a little time to calm down. He lifted the overturned bowl of soup from her bed and placed it back on the tray. He knew the soup would leave a stain if he didn't wash it quickly. He set the tray aside and started collecting her blanket.

Jayden knocked on the door and saw Mike grabbing Emily's blankets. He frowned slightly, wondering what was going on.

"Do you know what's up with Em?" he asked Mike. "I just ran into her in the hallway. She seemed upset."

"I don't know," Mike shrugged his shoulders. "She snapped for a moment with me. Maybe her head hurts more than she's letting on."

"Do you know if she hit it?" Jayden asked. Mike shook his head.

"I asked her when it first started hurting. She said no.

"You believed her?"

"It's Emily," Mike answered. "If she told me the sky was purple I would believe her. Why would she lie?"

"She isn't a very good liar," Jayden nodded. "I guess there would be a mark or a bump anyways."

"I get pretty crabby when I feel like shit," Mike said. "Hopefully that's all it is."

"You say that like there could be something else going on," Jayden pointed out, giving Mike a knowing look. The green Ranger shrugged.

"Emily's a horrible liar, but she's really good at bottling everything up," he answered. "I'll talk to her when she calms down. I'll see if I can get her to tell me what's up."

"And if you can't?"

"I'll send in Mia," Mike chuckled. He looked down at the blanket in his hands, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have laundry to do."