Kevin felt his lungs grow tight in that familiar way he loved so well. He needed oxygen. He didn't want it because, truth be told, the burning at the base of his throat was a high he wasn't ready to surrender, but he knew he couldn't stay under much longer. With an audible gasp, he thrust his head above the water, inhaling greedily before plunging back below the surface. This was going to be a good lap: he could feel it. Ahead of him was the wall, only a few strokes away, seconds maybe, and Kevin smiled internally, knowing he wouldn't need to breathe between where he was and his finish line. The feet turned to inches, and triumphantly, his fingertips grazed the concrete. Returning to the surface world, Kevin sputtered and pulled his goggles up.

"Time?" His gasping voice echoed off the glass ceiling of the indoor training pool. He didn't look at the only other person in the room, because he knew that his father was right where he'd left him. He was sitting at the other end of the lane, grasping the stopwatch with white knuckles.

"Better."

"Good enough for quarterfinals?"

"Almost."

Almost. That was quickly becoming Kevin's least favorite word. He was behind schedule as it was and he didn't have time for almost. There were only two weeks until quarterfinals, and he wouldn't make it to semis, let alone the Olympics, if he didn't get way beyond almost.

Kevin pulled himself up, out of the pool and stole a glance at his father in the bleachers. He seemed proud of his son, but not for the reasons Kevin wanted.

Being a Samurai had always been his father's dream for him, and swimming was just a training exercise. His father wouldn't ever understand why he'd rather be in a pool than a Megazord, but he'd been supportive over the years, encouraging Kevin to be a better swimmer, so long as the Samurai training didn't suffer.

Now, the proud gleam in his father's eye reminded Kevin that his swimming career was still secondary. That pride was not for his last lap, or his hard work; it was for the battles that Kevin was hoping to put behind him. Ever since the war had ended and he had returned home, his father hadn't stopped looking at him with that paternal satisfaction.

"I think that's enough training for today," His father said, scratching the times on to Kevin's training schedule. "You don't want to overdo it."

"Actually," Kevin said, returning to the diving block. "I think I'm going to get another lap or two in."

"Are you sure? It's getting pretty late. I was thinking the two of us could get dinner and you could finally tell me something about your adventures."

"You go, Dad." Kevin forced a smile. "I'll meet up with you in a little bit."

"Okay," his voice wavered. "Kevin, you know that I'm proud of you, don't you?"

"I know, Dad."

Kevin watched as his father collected his things and headed for the door. He sighed, and stretched his arms back over his head. He had no intention of telling his father about his time at the Shiba House. Life had been simpler before he was called to action, and Kevin just wanted that simplicity back.

With a creak, the door opened again, eliciting a small groan from Kevin.

"Dad, I told you, I'll meet up with you later."

"Kevin?" The female voice registered immediately, and Kevin nearly slipped off the diving block in surprise. He turned and saw her, a subconscious smile spreading across his face.

"Lauren! What are you doing here?"

"Well," She laughed. "That's kind of like a hello, but different." Lauren walked a few paces in, surveying the room with each step, as she made her way over to him. "I hope I'm not intruding. The quarterfinals are soon, right? You must be training hard."

"I can take a break." Kevin climbed off his podium, reached for a towel he'd left on the bleachers, and dried his face. He could hardly wrap his mind around it. Lauren. Here. Now. Why? She took a seat on the bleacher bench beside him and looked up at him expectantly. "Hello." He sat beside her.

"Hello." Lauren smiled.

"I don't want to be rude," Kevin began, "but, really, what are you doing here? I haven't seen or heard from you in what, two months? Where have you been? After the last battle, you just kind of disappeared."

"About that," Her smile faded at the edges as she dropped her gaze. "I've never been very good at goodbyes, but I'm trying to make up for that now, I guess."

Perplexed, Kevin blinked. "Let me get this straight—you came all the way out here, at eight at night, while I'm training, just so that you could leave properly?"

"No!" Lauren answered defensively. Sighing, she corrected herself. "Well, sort of. I wanted to apologize for that, firstly, and secondly… I know that you're working hard to train, and believe me, I understand that, but when I heard you were here, I just had to come and see for myself. I'm going to be in town for a few days, and I was hoping that you and I could catch up."

"Catch up?" His eyebrows rose skeptically. "We never really got started, did we?"

"I know," she stared out to the pool. "We barely know each other, and that's mostly my fault, but do you remember what you said? The night my brother left?"

Kevin thought back to that night. He had been worried sick about Jayden and his friends, but he couldn't bring himself to leave Lauren's side. It was the same old battle he'd been fighting since the day Mentor Ji's arrow had shot through his old life: following the way of the Samurai, or following his heart. As usual, the Samurai way had seemed to be winning, when Lauren came in.

"It's okay, you know," She'd said. An airplane spelling it out for him could have been a subtler sign from the universe, but he'd treated her encouragement like a test. The powers that be were tempting him with the bait that he could have his cake and eat it, too, but he thought he'd known better. He insisted on staying at the Shiba House.

"You said we were friends." Lauren reminded him. "And I guess I just had this dumb idea that we could be, but I—This was a bad idea." She stood up. "I should go." Swiftly, Lauren was on her feet and headed for the door.

"Wait!" He had said they were friends, and she'd never had one before, so part of Kevin felt terrible for having pushed her away. The other part of him was wondering why she was still wasting his time when the big race was only two weeks away. He sighed, as she looked back at him, wide-eyed. "Now's not exactly a great time, but maybe we could… catch up, tomorrow? We could grab a bite to eat or something?"

"Really?" She asked. He nodded with a half smile. "Okay, I'm staying at the Shiba House. Is it okay if we meet there?"

"Definitely."

A.N.: I'd like to think that Lauren and Kevin could be friends. I'm not exactly sure where this is going, but I feel like it might be going somewhere?