"Jayden," Lauren pulled back the sliding door and peeked her head into her brother's room. Her brother. She would never get tired of thinking that. After twelve years of being an only child, at last she had her adorable baby brother back. Even if he wasn't an adorable baby anymore, she would always think of him that way. He was hers in a way no one else would ever have him. They were now each other's only family.

He groaned, trying to sit up, but couldn't find the strength. Those fire flashers had really taken it out of him.

"No, it's okay, lie down." Lauren soothed, stepping in past the threshold. She pulled a chair to his bedside. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Since you came in an hour ago?" He tried to smile. "I'm pretty much the same, thanks."

"I'm sorry, I'm being overprotective, aren't I?" She peeled the washcloth from his forehead and rinsed it in the water on the bedside table. "You understand why though, don't you?" Pressing it to his skin, lovingly, she went on. "I just got you back, Jayden. I don't want to lose you again. My whole life I've prayed for your safety. It didn't ever seem fair. I was guarded like a princess in a tower, and you were forced to fight. I would have traded places with you a million times to know that you were safe from harm, but that was the way it had to be."

"I've never resented it." He said, placing his hand over hers. "It was Dad's plan for us. I trusted him, and I trust you."

"Then why are you leaving me?" She pleaded. "I can't replace you. Not as a Samurai, and not as a friend. If you leave, the team will never forgive me. They'll blame me for letting you go."

"Lauren, you've been training for this your whole life." He said, stoically, ignoring the tears that were welling in her eyes again. "You can… No. You will seal Master Xandred away, and when you do, I'll come back and celebrate with all of you."

"You don't have to go," Lauren insisted. "You can stay here."

"And do what?" Jayden laughed at her innocence. She didn't understand. The Rangers were all too loyal to him. If he stayed at the Shiba House, they were sure to turn to him for leadership, and now that his sister was here and his secret was out, that was no longer his place. He didn't belong among the Samurai.

"You could help Ji. I'm sure that there's a lot you could do…"

"I don't think that's such a great idea, Laurie."

"Laurie?" She looked up suddenly and wiped at her tears. She couldn't help but smile. Childhood seemed like lifetimes ago, but still, she couldn't believe that she'd almost forgotten that name. "Don't you see? This is why you can't go. I've missed this. I've missed you. I just got my brother back, Jayden. Why are you so determined to take him away from me? All we have is each other."

"Lauren." He regretted immediately using that old nickname. It had just slipped out, without thought and the last thing he needed was Lauren getting emotional and attached to him. She had a world to save and she needed to be focused on that. "Listen to me. You are the only family I have—"

"Which is why—"

"Let me finish." Jayden propped himself up on the pillow behind him, so he could look her squarely in the eye. "You are the only family I have, but you aren't the only person I care about, and I shouldn't be the only one you care about. We're talking about the fate of the world. You are the only one who can save everyone and if I stay, I'll just be in the way."

"Stay." She said, quietly. "I need you here. The other Rangers… They seem nice, but… I don't know how to be a leader. I don't know how to be a team player, and I definitely don't know how to make friends. I'm so proud of the person you grew into, Jayden, but I've been waiting my whole life… waiting for you to come along, waiting for Mom to get better, waiting for Dad to come home… All my life, I've been waiting for a real family, and now that I have one… I'm not ready to let you go."

"Suppose, I do stay," He said slowly, weighing his options. "If I stay, and I'm not saying I will, do you promise that it won't effect your training? Do you promise that you won't be distracted?"

"Cross my heart." She answered solemnly.

"Okay."

Lauren paused momentarily, unsure if she'd heard correctly. "Does that mean yes?"

"It means… I'm going to try it out," He replied. "Only for a few days, though, and then I'm going to see where we stand."

"You have no idea how much this means to me, baby brother," She smiled, squeezing his hand. "Thank you. Thank you so, so much. I'm going to go tell Ji and the others! You won't regret this, I promise. We're all going to be so happy together, I just know it." She pushed back in the chair and scurried to the door, pulling it back and stepping out, stopping only to smile at Jayden one last time over her shoulder.

"I want to stay," Jayden sighed to himself. "But I don't know how to do anything… Ji could teach me, I guess, but I'm not exactly sure what he does precisely. I hope it's not anything with computers…"

Letting his head fall back onto the pillows, he rubbed at his face. "It probably has something to do with computers. I can't work a computer… This is a bad idea. No, I can't stay. I'm sorry, Laurie, but I have to go, after all."

END

A.N.: I just have a lot of feelings about the Shiba Sibs. I feel like Lauren has social anxiety and Jayden definitely has lacking technology skills. Originally, I had wanted this to be a story about Jayden failing to be sufficient Ranger Tech and leaving anyway, but it came out this way. Oh well. I'm happy with it :)