I Lost My Sunshine (On A Cloudy Day)

Summary: AU - Different roles, same bonds. Despite the tangled mess of threads, one color touches them all together: red.
Rating: G for now
Pairings: TBD
Warnings: canon character deaths and non-canon character deaths.

(Notes are at the end of the story)

"Fourteen more than the last group," said Ji, and Lauren held a sigh. She knew her hope for silence on their ride back to the Shiba House wouldn't last, not after another mooger attack. It was the third one this week.

"Fourteen."

"Twenty-three plus fourteen equals thirty-seven moogers in total."

"I know how to add, Mentor." Lauren said, a little exasperated. She fiddled with her - father's - morpher. "I didn't even break a sweat." Though she felt a little tired, and he knew it.

Thankfully, Ji didn't mention anything about her fatigue. "That may be so," he conceded, "But that does not mean you should fight them on your own. Now that they know who you are, you need to-"

"No."

Mentor Ji frowned. "You know they have been waiting for your summon since the last few attacks were on the news."

"No."

"Lauren."

"No." She repeated firmly. Lo-wen, a voice echoed in her head, and she willed herself not to make fists. Ane! "I can handle them."

"One samurai is strong, but a team is unbeatable."

"Then by that logic," said a masked kuroko sitting in the front passenger seat, "a duo should be hard to defeat." She turned her head and removed the black phantom mask that covered the whole top half of her face, smiling brightly at their surprised expressions.

"Serena!"

The Yellow Samurai Ranger bowed her head.

(x)

"You should have called. What if the moogers attacked you?" Lauren frowned, sitting on the new bed and hands busy rolling paired socks. They were in Serena's designated room, its owner organizing her clothes into the closet. Lauren was helping since Serena pulled her into the room. Akuroko could have done the simple task, but Serena shooed them away.

"Fight back, like you did just about an hour ago," Serena replied. She hung another shirt and watched Ape Zord use it as a jungle gym. "That's what we're here for, aren't we? To finish what our parents started."

"You mean my father."

"And my mom, and our teammates' dads and mom." She sat down beside Lauren, plucking the folded roll from her hands and flicking it right into an open drawer. "They came up with it together. Do you remember? We were both there when they announced the plan."

Lauren nodded; of course she remembered. She cried and cried and clung to her father on that day, burying her blotched face and runny nose onto the crook of his neck. Serena was doing the same to her father - except she was begging for him not to leave while her mother remained sitting. Darien couldn't stand the thought of having his wife and daughters fight to their deaths, couldn't understand the burden of their duty, of their honor and promises made generations ago. He left the room for air and came back when the meeting was adjourned. Months after the Final Battle, he packed his belongings and left after ensuring that Aunt Jeanette was okay. In a sense of the word.

The other children were too young to recall the much of what happened. Mike was three and didn't understand what was going on. Kevin and Mia were both four, but Mia was with her grandmother at the time; Uncle Li had been adamant that his baby girl not be there at the meeting. Lauren doubted that Kevin remembered what's been said, but he was too quiet as he sat on his mother's lap while his dad and uncle talked away from the group, voices low and bodies tense.

There was no need for the younger siblings to be there, so Serena's two-years-old little sister, Emily, and Mia's few months old baby brother, Terrence, were with their grandparents.

As the day of the Final Battle drew nearer, the families of the other Rangers moved into hiding. Safe-houses that were only known to the Family Color line. Lauren was the last to leave the Old House.

"Fire can only last as long as the elements supporting it." Her father's muscled arms wrapped around her body, holding her tightly to him. She tried to do the same despite her own short arms.

"Konoha." He pressed a long kiss on her forehead, and she on his cheek. "Stay strong, and never give up."

Bye-bye, Lowen! Bye-bye, papa! I see you later, okay?

Ji whisked her away after that, and she was taken to one of the Shiba family's safe house - the same house that Lauren now calls home, years after it finally sunk in that her old home was gone, burned to the blood-stained ground and serving as a memorial ground for every Panorama citizens that stayed behind to aid the Samurai.

Ape Zord decided to use her leg as its tree, and climbed up on her lap. Lauren patted the yellow head with a finger, conscious of Serena's gaze on her. "Where's Recca?"

"I don't know." Lauren said shortly. Serena's silence prompted her to explain. "Lion Zord is here most of the time, but sometimes he leaves and comes back a day or so later." Ape Zord cocked his head at her stiff tone. His beady orange eyes stared at her before folding close on Lauren's palm, and she curled her fingers around the triangular device, finding an odd comfort from how close it's shape was to her Lion Zord. "Ji and I panicked the first time he did it, but eventually the kuroko found out that he always goes to the same place."

Serena looked bemused; Kiki was with Emily when he wasn't with her. "I didn't know our Zords could do that."

"They don't. He never did. Before. It started six years ago."

"... Lauren-"

She returned Ape Zord to his partner. "Don't, Serena. Please."

The alarm system rang before Serena could respond, and soon they were both sprinting down the stairs and across the long hallway with Lauren leading the way. They headed to the Main room with the fusuma and shoji panels open, widening the room to the rōka where Ji was waiting for them, bow and a quiver of arrows in his hands.

"Panorama Park." His expression sent Lauren's stomach twisting. "It's a Nighlok. Evil spirits that devolved to a grosser being." The explanation was more for Serena's sake, though by the narrowing of her eyes she had already known.

"That's not the only problem." Ji continued. "The number of Moogers that appeared are far too many for the two of you to handle."

"How many?" Lauren asked. Ji shook his head. "You won't be able to handle all those moogers and Nighlok together. Lauren, I know you do not want to, and I understand your reason, but the time has come to assemble the rest of your team."

"Wait, Mentor," Serena began, "let us-" and stopped at Lauren's gesture. The Yellow Ranger frowned. "Lauren?"

"Launch the arrows, Ji," was all she said before turning to head back into the House, "and I'll get the morphers."

Notes:

Ahahahaha... haha... hah... ha... *collapses*

Saban!canon:
PANORAMA CITY = the city where the Rangers live while active

Shinkenger!canon:
KUROKO = aides of the Shiba clan, whether it be in the House (ie. chef, housekeeper) or on the field (ie. crowd control, area perimeter).

Head!canon:
PANORAMA ISLAND = Shinkenger's set in Japan, an archipelago. Samurai's set somewhere on the coast of America. So Panorama Island is an archipelago of five islands set to the north-west of Hawaii. THE GEOGRAPHY IS GIVING ME A HEADACHE.

Terms:
FUSUMA and SHOJI are both sliding doors made from wood and paper. Fusuma is thicker and opaque, meant to serve as a wall divider; shoji paper is thin to let sunlight into the room. So it's outside - shoji - fusuma - Main room.
RōKA is the wooden passageway outside the house; I forgot the actual term so I just used Japan's version ahehehehe~~

And because I like names just a taaaaaaaaaaaaaad too much 8):
DARIEN = Serena+Emily's dad
JEANETTE = Serena+Emily's mom
LI = Mia+Teri's dad
RECCA = Lion Zord; "he"
KIKI = Ape Zord; "he"

Both Zords are actually gender-neutral, but they've been given a gender pronoun. If you feel really bothered by this, I'll switch the pronouns to the neutral "it".

Any mistakes, grammar or spelling, are ALL mine. It's not beta'd, so I'll most likely want to gnaw on this later since I wrote half of this on the verge of passing out. For now it's short, but hopefully it becomes longer as the chapters keep adding.

Feedback would be really appreciated!