Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers: (Super) Samurai. This is purely fan-made.

Though the weather didn't seem to agree, summer was slowly starting to wind down. There was still a month left before the official end of season, but schools were starting up, and that feeling of summer bliss was dying down.

But like Mike, it wasn't dead yet. Students were back in school, but there was one more festival before they considered the summer was over.

"I can't believe mom and dad are missing this," Serena announced as she stood in the bathroom with the girls to get ready. Living out in the country, there wasn't much to do or see. There weren't big malls, there were no great sights for tourists, and there were no amusement parks. All the time, it was the same old sights, the same old routine, and even the same old people. Tourists were rare, as the closest hotels, or even bed and breakfast was miles and miles away. Possibly in Panorama City.

But the residents did have one thing they could brag about: the summer festival. Every year, rain or shine, everyone in town and on the farms, would take a weekend off (or do the bare minimum if necessary) to attend the summer festival. It was a three day event, spanning from Friday night to Sunday evening, and everyone was sure to attend at least one day. Many attended all three.

After losing their homes, their lives, and being torn apart and beaten down, the Rangers were more than happy to attend the festival. They were promised sweet treats and fun games. Basically, they were ready for an amazing day. All they had to do was get ready for it.

"Mom and dad haven't missed the summer festival since before I was born," Emily explained to Mia.

"Long before you were born," Serena smirked. "Dad's mom used to take him every year until he got married, then mom and dad went together. Dad actually proposed to mom the Sunday night during the fireworks. I've been to every festival from the day I was born, until the year I was so sick, I couldn't get to the bathroom by myself."

"The following years were depressing," Emily said, "but mom and dad still took me to the festival and we had an awesome time."

"While I stayed home with dad's parents and listened to them tell stories of what the farm looked like back in the day," Serena muttered. "When the other side of your family has generations and generations of Samurai history to tell… making your own manure just isn't that exciting."

"There is nothing exciting about manure," Mia rolled her eyes. She fixed up Emily's hair and gave her a kiss on the forehead, "There you go. You're all done."

"Thank you!" Emily chirped happily and rushed out of the bathroom, excited to get back to Mike. Since he had been returned to her, she could barely leave his side for five minutes.

When Emily was gone, Serena turned to Mia with a teasing smirk. The pink Ranger tried to ignore the look, but with the mirror reflecting the stare, it was hard.

"What?"

"Normally I'm the one smothering her with love and affection, and you're the one telling me to let her go. What's up, Mama Pink?"

"Nothing," Mia shook her head, "It's just cute how she's all excited."

"So? She's Emily. She's always cute and almost always excited about something," Serena shrugged, "It's her default."

"Well, I'm just glad to see her so happy again."

"So am I," Serena nodded, "but her face isn't covered in my DNA."

"Well, you are sisters…"

"Yeah, sisters, not twins," Serena chuckled. "Seriously, what's going on?"

Mia twirled her hair around the curling iron and shrugged, "Nothing. She just did a big thing for me the other day and I'm trying to let her know I appreciate it."

"If you appreciate it anymore, you're going to swallow her face," Serena took the curling iron from Mia to help her. Mia's hair was so long, that when she wanted to have it done up nicely, she needed an extra set of hands. "That's the person Emily is. You should know that by now. Hell, from day one you should have known that. She took my place as the yellow Ranger. The day she walked out that door, I seriously thought I was never going to see her again."

"Yeah, but that's different. At least, it feels different. She took your place as a Power Ranger. It's a risky job, but she's got a lot going from her. From square one, I don't think anyone was going to let anything happen to her. She gave up the love of her life so I could have mine. How would you feel if she did that for you? Just so you and James could live a normal, happy life together, Emily sacrificed everything that made her happy."

"It would tear me to pieces," Serena nodded. "But everything worked out, okay? That move she made, though stupid, saved both Mike's and Kevin's lives. She's happy, you should be happy too. And stop drooling on my sister. I don't appreciate it. It's bad enough I've got to share that face with Mike. I'm not splitting it into three."

"You and Mike split Emily's face?"

"We try to," Serena nodded, "Emily's a sneaky bugger, though. I think she figured us out. She'll turn the other cheek right at the last minute."

"Why won't you two just call a truce?" Mia laughed.

"Because I never give up," Serena smiled and then finished up with Mia's hair.

-Samurai-

In the master bedroom, the boys were getting ready for their day at the festival, but they weren't quite sure what to wear. Serena and Emily insisted they kept it simple, but all three of the girls had been in the bathroom getting ready for hours.

"They're a bunch of farmers, right?" Mike pulled out one of his nicer shirt, but still a casual wear, "Think this will do?"

"The problem isn't so much what we wear," Ji pulled on a pair of jeans and winced at the fabric. It wasn't often he wore something that wasn't a kimono. Wearing real pants was something he always had to get used to. Especially jeans. "It's how we wear it. This town hasn't had visitors in years. Unless we blend in, we're really, really going to stand out."

"In other words, take off the scarf," Jayden pulled the scarf away from Antonio's neck, "Does this thing ever get washed, anyways?"

"Weekly," Antonio took the scarf back and wrapped it around his neck, "I don't care if I stand out. I'm going to have fun."

"Besides," Mike chuckles, "The scarf hides the hickey."

Jayden and Antonio both blushed as Antonio made sure to cover his neck with the scarf. Ji pretended like he hadn't heard a word. While he was comfortable with the relationship between Jayden and Antonio, Jayden was still his son. Any hickeys, given or received, were uncomfortable to learn about – it didn't matter who they came from.

"So, while Mike was dead and I was dying, you two were sucking face?"

"We were cheering each other up," Antonio insisted.

"By bursting tiny veins in each other's neck?" Kevin laughed and turned to Mike, "Next time something happens to them, we should see if Mia and Emily are up for a little make-out session."

"Jayden doesn't have any bite marks," Mike was doing his best to get a look at Jayden's neck, "You know, I always thought Antonio wore the pants."

"Really? Because with Jayden as leader, I kinda figured he would take control…"

"Guys, seriously?" Jayden was as red as his shirt, "Can we not do this… ever?"

"Nothing wrong with letting someone else take control from time to time," Mike shrugged his shoulders and smirked playfully, "You wouldn't believe what Emily…"

"Yeah. Conversation over," Kevin covered Mike's mouth with his hand. The green Ranger quickly pulled away and swatted Kevin's hand back.

"Dude, don't do that. I just suffocated to death."

"No death talk on festival day," James said as he came back into the room with a freshly diapered Terran, "Today is a day for fun and enjoyment."

"Much like last night for Jayden and Antonio," Kevin smirked their way, "And the night before, and the night before…"

"There's only one hickey!" Antonio tightened the scarf a little more, "One hickey, one night."

"I've been alive about a week," Mike said, "If there was a cheer up hickey, it faded and was recently replaced."

"What hickey?" James asked and looked to Jayden and Antonio, "Who has a hickey?"

"No one," Ji got up, adjusted his pants and smiled at the boys, "I think we all look presentable for the festival. James, did you hear if the girls were ready?"

"Knowing girls, they'll still be in there all day," James shook his head, "We've got plenty of time to relax before the chaos."

"The bright side to being gay," Antonio smirked, "not waiting hours for your girlfriend to finish up in the bathroom."

There was a knock on the door, "Are you guys decent?"

"Come in, Em," Mike called her and the door opened. His jaw hit the floor with a bang the moment she walked in. She wasn't wearing anything fancy, and she didn't look like she was ready to go to the ball to dance with her prince charming (because that was Mia's fairy tale), but she did look gorgeous. He was amazed at what a simple summer dress, curls, and a big, bright smile could do. "Wow, Em."

Emily blushed, "It's nothing special, and Mia and Serena used a lot of make-up to cover up…"

"It's all special," Mike pulled her in for a kiss.

Antonio chuckled and gave Jayden a little nudge, "Looks like someone's trying to join the hickey club."

Jayden simply pouted, "You never call me special."

"Aw, because you're always special," Antonio leaned in for a kiss. Jayden pulled away.

"Wouldn't that not make me special?"

"What would you rather be? Always special, or only sometimes special and mostly just ordinary?"

"Always special," Jayden finally leaned in for the kiss.

Kevin saw this and looked down at his watch. He tapped his foot impatiently, "How much time does it take Mia and Serena to get ready?"

"They're almost done," Emily promised him before someone grabbed her legs. She looked down and saw Terran burying his face between her legs. She chuckled and lifted him up, and then smiled brightly at his costume, "Aw, look at my little cowboy."

"We thought it was appropriate," James smiled. He tipped Terran's little cowboy hat forward, "Howdy, Auntie Emy."

Emily cuddled her nephew, "I need to take a picture of this," she set Terran down on his feet and held his hands. He had a little trouble walking in boots, as he was still getting used to walking in general, but with his aunt's help he made it down the hallway and into their bedroom for pictures.

Serena and Mia were finally done and walked out of the bathroom to see Emily and the little cowboy. Mia cooed and followed Emily to the bedroom to help with pictures and Serena just laughed. She went to join James and the boys.

"I knew, as soon as you saw the costume, you would find an excuse to dress him up," she rolled her eyes.

"Hey, my boy's freaking adorable," James said proudly, "He's going to be a heartbreaker when he gets older."

"Unlike his daddy," Serena teased.

James wrapped his arms around her, "I'm not a heartbreaker? So Emily's threats about breaking my neck if I break your heart again were all lies? You're lucky to have me."

Antonio hugged Jayden close, "Feeling a little more special now?"

"Yep."

Serena rolled her eyes and laughed, "I'm lucky? As soon as we get to the festival and people see me alive and well, boys are going to be lining up just for the chance to look at me."

"All five boys in your age group in this town."

"A hundred percent is a hundred percent," Serena shrugged, "I totally win."

"With heads that big, neither of you are leaving the room," Kevin laughed, "We were supposed to leave half-an-hour ago. Let's move it!"

"Have you ever been late for anything, Kevin?" Mike teased him, "Dude, it's a tree day event. You'll have plenty of time to… do whatever it is you consider fun."

"Ha-ha," Kevin rolled his eyes. He couldn't do much more. Though Mike insisted there was no debt between them, Kevin still felt he owed the green Ranger a lot, and part of paying that back (though he never would) was letting the green Ranger get away with taunts and teases. "Mia, Emily! The cowboy's cute, but we're going to the festival whether you're in the car or not."

"Aw," Serena reached over and pinched Kevin's cheeks, "You think we're taking the car."

"We're not taking the car?" Jayden asked and the boys all traded curious looks.

Serena nodded, "It's tradition. No motor vehicles allowed on or near festival grounds."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Ruins the atmosphere, I guess. Besides, the town is so crowded, there's usually nowhere to park."

"So how are we getting there?" Mike asked.

Serena opened the front door and led the Samurai (Mia, Emily, and Terran included) out to the barn. As she walked over to the horses' stalls, Emily walked to the big, mystery door no one had opened since arriving. Emily pulled the door open wide and then smiled brightly.

"Your chariot awaits."

Mia's eyes were as wide as anyone had ever seen them, "It's like a fairy tale!"

Emily looked back at the horse cart and shrugged, "It's not fancy, but it'll get us all there and back. And it won't turn into a pumpkin at midnight."

"And what they failed to mention in Cinderella is that horses aren't clean and proper," Serena said as she brought over a couple of horses, "Emily, promise you cleaned these guys up this morning?"

"Uh…" Emily looked to Mike worriedly as Serena got the horses ready to be hooked onto the cart. She had forgotten all about grooming the horses, and instead spent the morning fooling around with Mike, "Yeah, of course I did. You know horses, though. If there's a mess, they'll roll around in it."

"Sure," Serena shook her head, "Get the brush and clean them off a bit while I do this."

"Do I have to?"

"Not if you did it this morning."

"I… uh… hey Mia, do you really want to feel like Cinderella? In the first part of that story, doesn't she…?"

"I'm good with the second half," Mia chuckled, "but nice try."

Emily let out a heavy sigh as she started to walk back to the tool shed, "Oh, alright… I guess that's fair. I did get a little distracted this morning with Mike. We should have just stuck to our chores instead of wondering off and having a little fun, because, you know, it's not like Mike died or anything just so you and Kevin could…"

"I'll go find the brush," Mia groaned.

"I'll help," Kevin sighed and walked with her.

Serena chuckled and looked over at her sister as she got the first horse attached to the cart, "How long are you going to guilt trip them for?"

"I don't know, why?"

"I've always wanted their room," Serena smirked, "It's bigger, and it has its own bathroom. When we move back into the Shiba House, it would be nice to…"

"On it," Emily smirked and skipped off after Mia and Kevin.

James shook his head. Serena saw him, "Hey, we still have to discuss our living arrangements for after this. Wouldn't it be nice to have more room and our own bathroom?"

"We'll talk," James promised her. "Need any help?"

"Now you offer?" Serena got the second horse ready to go, "Just get in."