Legal: I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, characters etc. Anything not covered by these rights should be considered purely the creation of the author.

Rating: T – May be some adult themes.

Jayden was sitting in the yard, gently rocking Alexandra. It had been three days now since she had been quite literally dropped on their doorstep, and while he couldn't deny it was trying, he found that having her around was strangely rewarding despite the effort.

Whenever she wasn't around, he could find himself imagining her little smile, and the way her little hands flailed excitedly when she saw him. It had cost him more than a few bruises in training when he found himself unable to concentrate completely on the task at hand. Most embarrassingly, Mike had only that morning bested him at least three times in a row. Although the Green Ranger had improved greatly in his technique, everyone still knew that should never happen.

He adjusted his position to get his arm into a better position so he could keep rocking her. He was right-handed, and his right arm and shoulder were still injured after his duel with Dekker. However, he was becoming more than a little surprised just how adept he was becoming at using his left arm when he took care of her. He wondered briefly how many of the ancient Samurai were ambidextrous as a result of caring for children, but then he did have to remind himself that being of a noble family, most of his ancestors probably did not care for their own children. They probably had servants to do that for them.

He dialled his phone again, and sighed as he once again got the message indicating that a connection could not be made. Since he had left, he had never managed to contact Ji. He wanted to tell him what had happened, to explain things, and most importantly to ask for advice. While he was not in any measure a baby when Ji took over his care, Ji was pretty much the main father figure in his life. His own father...sadly, he was gone, and all that remained of him were a few patchy memories, and the awesome responsibility of maintaining the Shiba Clan's place in keeping the Nighlock from over-running the earth.

He put down his phone as Antonio arrived, sitting down next to him.

"I take it you're still not getting through?" Antonio asked him. Jayden just shook his head gently. He was grateful for all his friends, Antonio especially. They had all been so great about helping him prepare the house and buying in supplies for Alex, but most of all, Antonio had adjusted to suit the new circumstances. Antonio had been gay a lot longer than Jayden, and without any programme like the one that created Alex, Antonio had come to the conclusion long ago that children simply were not in his future. He had been somewhat reluctant at first, but he had agreed that he would help Jayden to take care of her. It made it all seem more likely that the Red Ranger would be able to cope with a responsibility that he had never prepared for.

"Still no signal." Jayden sighed. Antonio just smiled a little.

"Well, I think I know something that could cheer you up." He told him. "Karaoke at the..."

"Antonio, I just fed her." Jayden groaned. "Besides, I doubt it's the kind of thing I can take her to."

"I wasn't thinking of that." Antonio told him. "Peter comes home tomorrow, and Mike and Emily are at a loose end as well tonight. They said they'd take her if you wanted a little rest."

Jayden just looked to him, a weary look in his eyes. In the short time he had been a father, he had already learned just how little rest one normally got with a baby in the picture.

"I don't know, she felt a little hot earlier." Jayden told him.

"Jay, she always feels hot. She's wrapped in thick wool 24/7." Antonio reminded him. "Even my dad told me he got a break once in a while."

"Antonio, I'm really not in the mood." Jayden told him. "I'm kind of tired."

"And I'm not?" Antonio chuckled. "In case you had forgotten, I'm in the same room as little miss alarm clock too."

"Thanks, but I think I should probably just keep trying for Ji." Jayden told him. "You go though. Have a good time, just..."

"Try not to wake Alex when I come home." He breathed as he got up. "No problem, I think I'll just stay in."

Jayden saw how disappointed Antonio looked as he left. He was sympathetic in some ways; he had never asked for this when he got together with him. They had only just become open with their relationship to the others a short time before Jayden knew anything about Alexandra. They didn't really have the time to enjoy a lot of the aspects of a relationship that Emily and Mike or Mia and Kevin had. They didn't really get to do the whole dating thing, Alexandra had been sprung on them as such a surprise, that they really didn't have much of a relationship before she showed up. He felt badly about that, but the one thing he knew about kids from all Ji had taught him was that once a child was in the picture, they were always the priority.

He tried the number again, but found that it just gave him the same recorded message. He just switched it off and placed it down on the bench as he looked down to Alexandra.

"Sorry, but I guess it'll be a while before you meet Grandpa." He whispered to her softly. He saw that she was just sleeping quietly, somewhat of a mixed blessing as it meant that in a couple of hours, she'd likely be screaming the place down for something or other, but he couldn't help being enthralled by her as he looked at her. "I'm sure he'll love you though."

Meanwhile, Ji was having a decidedly different experience. He was lying in a hammock on board the ship. He checked his phone, finding yet again that he wasn't getting a signal, something which grated on him terribly. Not only did it mean he couldn't call home to the Shiba House to check on his Rangers, it also meant he couldn't call Ocean Bluff to check on RJ and the others. He had felt terrible about running out on the battle and leaving them to face Dayu without him, but the necessity of the mission meant that he had to. He could only hope that no one had suffered too much as a result of his flight. He would never have put another in danger for him if he could help it.

He lay awake, unable to sleep as he pulled out the amulet RJ had given him. It was an artefact the Ancient Masters of Pai Zhua had created centuries ago, that allowed messengers to obfuscate their movements to supernatural surveillance. It worked based on the wearer's animal spirit, and took some power to maintain. While Symbol Power was similar to the animal spirit, it was not exactly the same, so no one was sure how effectively it would work. Ji could feel it drawing off his Symbol Power. Between that and the fact that Dayu hadn't appeared from one of the gaps in his rickety old ship by now, he could only presume that it was working to some extent.

He wished he could contact the Rangers. He had been around since their parents had been active, and so more than them, he appreciated the reasoning behind the rules against contacting friends and family. The thing was though that it had meant a whole different thing to him. Even before his father had passed many years earlier, his only real family were the contacts he had made, the Rangers and his father. All of his family were in the Shiba House. It wasn't as if he was missing out on anything. Now though, he appreciated what the Rangers' parents felt when they were active. Jayden, Kevin, Mia and Serena were all toddlers when they came to the Shiba House at first. Mike was born while his father was away. He saw how terribly they all missed their kids. Now, even though he was an adult, he could feel the absence of Jayden and the others from his life.

He took a deep breath, before the ship suddenly rocked, and he heard some loud noises. He sat up, becoming alert as he tried to figure out what was happening. As he heard more sounds, he quickly realised that it was gunfire.

He grabbed a handle, swinging himself out of his hammock, before pulling on his jacket and his bag. He didn't know what had happened, but if gunfire was involved, he doubted it was good.

He got up onto the deck, and found the rest of the crew running around frantically as ships surrounded them. A few rounds were fired, more as a warning than anything else, but a couple still rebounded off the hull, sending up sparks. He took cover, waiting to see what this was about.

"This is the coast guard. We have reason to believe that you are carrying contraband." The loud-hailer announced from one of the ships. "I repeat, this is the coast guard, cut off your engines and prepare to be boarded!"

Ji had always guessed that the crossing had to be dodgy on some level. He was allowed on board without any questions or credentials in exchange for a cash payment. He figured that it was likely that the crew were smugglers of some description. Had it not been for his desperation to escape the country and make this crossing without going through customs, he would never have agreed to it. He didn't know what the cargo was, he never checked it out. All he knew was that the last thing he needed was to be arrested by the Japanese Navy, never mind the odds that they would simply sink the ship with everyone on board.

He watched in horror as some of the crew started to produce guns. One opened up a crate, pulling out an M60 chain gun. Whatever the crew were carrying, it appeared that they were more willing to fight and go down with the ship than to risk being caught with it. He could afford neither.

He knew that he had a long way to go still, but he figured that he had a much better chance on his own than he did on the rusty old bucket they called a ship. Breaking into a sprint, he ran as fast as he could, body-checking the man carrying the heavy machine gun over the side of the ship. He could hear a number of screams as he did so, likely taking out their best defence against the Navy.

As he tumbled towards the water, he used the man's body to take the worst of the impact from the long fall, disabling him in the process. They sank into the cold water, at which he saw the gun starting to drift down to the ocean floor, meaning it was no longer a danger. Seeing no need to risk the man's life any further, he pulled the cord on his life-jacket, inflating it and causing him to drift to the surface, before beginning to swim away.

He re-surfaced a little way off, just in time to see the ships closing in closely enough to board the smugglers' ship. Satisfying himself that they had enough to cope with dealing with the boarding action, and they didn't realise he had left; he checked his position with the stars, before swimming away. It was a long way to the coast, and once he was there, he still had a long way to go.

Meanwhile, in the Netherworld, Dayu had found somewhere to take refuge. After she had gate crashed the Feast of the Fallen in The Dark Zone, there was now pretty much nowhere there wasn't someone looking for her. Xandred would at best just destroy her if he got his hands on her, but she suspected given his cruelty that her fate would not be so swift. The fallen Nighlocks now knew that she had dared to intrude on their celebration, meaning that the relative peace of The Dark Zone was no longer an option. She had no idea what they planned for her, but again, she doubted it was good.

In the land of the living meanwhile, she still had the Rangers, and apparently they had several allies she was ignorant of. The battle in Ocean Bluff had shown her that there were more Rangers than she was truly aware of. The fact was that she had no allies, no friends she could rely on.

None of that mattered to her though. As she sat, cradling her harmonium, which housed the hilt of the broken Urumasa, she felt comfort in its energy. It still yearned for its master as she did. She was no closer to finding him now than she was before the battle in Ocean Bluff, but again that didn't matter. While she did harbour some feelings of vengeance towards the Yellow Jungle Fury Ranger for preventing her following the fragment of Urumasa, she was willing to give them no further mind. It was only a distraction from her true quest. Once she had the other fragment, and had re-forged Urumasa, it would lead her to the man she loved enough to damn herself for all eternity.

Unfortunately, following that battle, the trail had grown cold. She doubted the other Rangers would be especially co-operative if she asked them where Ji had gone, and she was even more doubtful that she could get that information without a costly conflict. She didn't know what kind of tricks the Rangers' mentor had access to, but so far she had been unable to trace him through the Gaps. She knew that he had to have some kind of sorcery blinding her to his movements, and she had barely any feelings regarding his location. It was like a thick, unyielding fog had descended into the part of her mind that concerned Ji, and blocked any attempt to find him using the conventional methods.

She piled up some branches on the floor, and drew the short-sword from her shamisen, striking a piece of flint to it, creating the spark to light it. It took a while for the flame to reach a respectable level, while she started to chant, preparing herself for the ritual to come.

She placed a dish over the fire, and tossed some herbs into it, allowing them to begin heating as she started to sway in her seated position and chant, concentrating as much on what she knew of Ji as possible. She didn't know much, which only made the ritual harder, but she had no other choice. She needed to know where he had taken the other half of Urumasa if she was going to use it to find her beloved.

Pulling up her left sleeve to the elbow, the fire started to glow more brightly. Taking up the short-sword in her right hand, she drew it across her forearm, from the wrist to the elbow, drawing the dark fluid that passed for blood within her Nighlock form. It started to leak down her arm, across her flesh as she felt the blade bite in. She placed her wrist over the dish, offering her sacrifice to the ritual. Her blood dripped from her wrist, pooling in the dish as the flames flared up, and turned a bright, blazing red.

She continued to chant her incantation as she then took the point of the short-sword, and started to trace symbols on the bowl. Images rushed through her mind. The shadows flickered on the wall, and started to form into murals of varying quality and form, showing images from Ji's mind. The more she knew of him, the more exact the images would have been. Unfortunately, she knew very little of the man. Indeed, very few knew anything of him really, if they did, she could encourage one of them to speak to her and open up these images to more exact readings.

Finally, she saw one that made sense. The detail was not great, but it was so distinctive, that she couldn't help recognise it.

"That's it!" She gasped. She got up, at which the flames started to die down, and she pulled her sleeve back to her wrist, before turning and leaving the cave. It wasn't much, but at least now she had a place to start.

Meanwhile, on the coast of Japan, a border control agent was busy doing his rounds, before taking a quick look around to make sure no one was looking his way. His job was undeniably boring. Indeed, he did the same patrol dozens of times every day, and never once saw a thing. He satisfied himself that his supervisor was busy with some bureaucratic nonsense or other, before ducking behind a crate.

He waited a few seconds, before pulling a Marlboro out of his pocket, and lighting it up for a quick, unsanctioned smoke break to break the tedium. He hated the job, nothing ever happened here. He just needed the money.

He heard a disturbance in the water, and furrowed his brow. Figuring it might just be fish or something, he was about to continue with his smoke break when he heard more of a disturbance. He held the cigarette in his lips as he came across to the edge and looked over.

"Come out where I can see you!" He barked as he reached to his holster, looking over the edge. "I'm armed!"

"That's hardly much of an incentive now is it?" He asked someone ask from behind him. Before he could react, he felt a hard punch in the kidneys, at the same time a hand struck him in the throat, preventing him calling out. Quickly afterwards, he was snatched into a sleeper hold, and dragged backwards behind the crates.

Ji held the man until he was unconscious, before letting him gently to the ground. He checked on him to ensure he was breathing, and laid him in a recovery position just to be sure.

"I am sorry." He commented, before looking to the fence. He could see other patrols, but he waited a few moments for an opportunity, before running for the fence. With a quick motion, he was up the full height, and flicked himself over nimbly in a display that would put men half his age to shame, landing on the other side. He looked around to make sure he was not seen, before starting to walk away, disappearing into the streets.