A/N: Here you all go! The Sequel to "That's a Promise"!

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers. Mr. Saban does and always will.

Note: Viola! This is where everything takes the big Alternate Universe turn! Enjoy this chapter!

Also, if you have not read That's a Promise, you probably need to do so. You could read this without reading that but it'll be a bit confusing at first.

~PRS~PRS~PRS~PRS~

She wanted to talk to Jayden, but Jii would not let her. But, it was a good thing that Jii was not the Red Ranger. He wasn't their leader. Lauren was.

Leap of Faith

Chapter 2: Runaway

It had been five hours since Jayden left. It was getting dark and cold and Kevin could swear that it was raining.

Mia tried getting Emily to cheer up, but no matter what the older girl tried, she could not do it. Emily was just in too much pain to accept any comforting right now. But would not give up. This was Emily, the one who loved the Red Ranger and their little sister. She would not let her down.

Emily had not stopped crying, nor would she let go of Lauren. It was funny to think that Lauren was practically a stranger to the team, but yet Emily trusted the new older girl completely. Lauren knew the reason for it, but she would not tell anyone else. She respected the young girl's rather strong feelings for her little brother and if Emily didn't want people to know, she would not say anything.

Emily was clinging and crying into Lauren's shoulder, still, because Lauren was the only piece of Jayden she had left. The two were brother and sister, both the Red Ranger, and naturally, both had very similar personality traits, not to mention, both knew how to comfort her very well, even though, again, she barely knew Lauren.

I believe it is safe to say that neither Mike nor Kevin knew what to do about this.

"So…we just leave her like she is?" Mike asked Kevin, worried about Emily and the things she was going through. The two, plus Antonio, were outside of Emily's room, internally fighting with themselves whether or not to go in.

"Of course not," Kevin said. "She needs someone to keep her steady and help her deal with the fact and the pain that Jayden is gone." He didn't like seeing Emily like this.

What Jayden said to the two had taken a toll on Kevin personally as well. It was satisfying to know that Jayden really trusted his two left-sided teammates with his life.

"But what do we do?" Mike asked, panic striking his voice.

"Lauren and Mia are in there talking to her right now," Kevin said. "I think it's safe to say that she's fine for now."

Antonio, who had been watching Emily and her pain from the door, was silent during all of this and had now chosen to speak up, louder than Kevin and Mike, unintentionally gaining the girls' attention as well.

"It's not Lauren and Mia she needs," Antonio said, voice cracking. "It's Jayden. She needs Jayden."

'And so do I,' he thought.

What happened? Jayden was his best friend. They told each other everything. Although, he had accepted Ji's perfect explanation on why Jayden couldn't say anything and the fact that Lauren was the leader now, he had still expected Jayden to stay, at least, even though he couldn't fight as a Ranger now.

I also believe it is safe to say that, evidentially, Emily wasn't the only one hurting from this.

Antonio was too.

'Why, little brother?' Lauren thought to herself, calmly stroking Emily's hair. 'Why did you have to leave your friends like that? Didn't you see that they were hurting? What's wrong with you?'

"We're sorry about this, Lauren," Mike said, interrupting her train of thoughts. "We're dreadfully sorry it's all about Jayden right now. We really do appreciate you here, but…you're just not you're brother."

Lauren nodded, understanding, but also trying to stay strong. Her youngest teammate was hurting, and as the leader, it was her job to make sure that she wasn't. But she was also doing this for her brother.

"Please do all you can help them get over this, Lauren. It won't be easy, especially on Emily." Lauren nodded in confirmation.

"Of course, I'll do anything."

Her brother had made that request. And she would respect it.

The very next morning wasn't better at all. Lauren had given Emily the day off, at least until she felt better enough to come train with the others.

Right, she wasn't in the mood to do anything right but sit there on her bed, staring out into space.

A knock came to her door. "Come in," she said.

Jii opened the door and took a good look at her. Lauren and Mia were right. She looked miserable. She was still in her pajamas and she had tears stains on her cheek, not to mention her hair was a bit disheveled and her eyes were red from crying so hard.

"Why aren't you out training with the others?" he asked, taking great care not to sound angry.

"Lauren gave me the day off. She told me to come to training when I was ready," Emily answered.

"What can we do to make you feel better?" Jii asked.

"Bring Jayden back," Emily said, automatically.

"You know that's not possible, Emily," Jii said. "He left to protect Lauren and you guys."

This only let Emily down even further. She didn't like saying that Jayden left. It only depressed her more.

"Well, can I at least go out and find him?"

"To do what exactly?" Jii was getting somewhat mad. Emily was here in depressed mode and she wanted him to do the impossible to make her feel better.

"Just talk to him," Emily said. "Just talk to him and get some straight answers out of him. When I do that, I'll probably feel a little better, if not mostly or all."

Jii thought about that for a bit, and then said a stern, "No." Emily immediately turned to him, obviously hurt that he had said that, clearly going to ask 'Why not?' "It's too dangerous. A Nighlock could attack you at any moment and we wouldn't know it. And besides, if you find Jayden, the Nighlock could attack him too."

Not wanting to hear her say anything else, he walked out of the room and tried his best to ignore her soft crying.

She may not have gone to train with the others, but she did go to dinner with Mia and Lauren after the two girls had taken a shower. The three were currently in the kitchen, Mia at the stove and Emily and Lauren sitting down.

"You sure you're up to this, Emily?" Mia asked. "My cooking still hasn't been perfected yet."

Emily gave her a small smile and nodded, "Yeah. I'll do anything to make me feel better, even if it means eating what you make, bad or not." Mia gave a short laugh.

"Alright," Mia said. "I'll do my best for you."

Lauren smiled at the exchange between her two other female teammates. Emily was getting better, bit by bit.

"Hey, Emily," she called for Emily's attention, which she quickly got. "I heard that Jii wouldn't let you go out and find Jayden."

Her facial expression changed from slightly happy to no happiness at all. The younger girl shook her head.

"Yeah, I know what that feels like," Lauren said, gently. "When Jayden and I were separated at a young age to start training, numerous times I would ask to go find my brother, but my Mentor always told me 'No'. I was devastated and at times I would even try to sneak out."

"Really?" Mia asked. "You snuck to go find your brother?"

"I tried, but I never succeeded," Lauren said. "My Mentor always caught me and brought me back. I was always under some watchful eye."

Emily didn't know what to say.

"But eventually," Lauren continued, "I told myself that I would stop looking back and just move forward. So I trained to become a master Samurai and eventually be reunited with my brother. And so I did. Look at me now."

"Wow," Mia said, placing three plates at the kitchen table, filled with surprisingly, good-looking food.

Emily finally found her voice. "Are you telling me to just…forget about him?"

Lauren quickly responded, somehow knowing Emily would ask that. "Of course not. I'm telling you to move forward and eventually, one day, you'll see him again. But somehow, knowing you, Emily, you don't let go of things like that so easily."

Both Mia and Emily nodded.

"What are you trying to say then?" Emily asked her leader.

"I'm saying that, tomorrow morning, I will let you find my brother and go talk to him, maybe tie up some loose ends so you can move forward and succeed." Lauren smiled as Emily looked at her hopefully.

"You mean-?" Lauren nodded.

"Tomorrow morning, though, because it's getting dark out and we also have a curfew."

Emily hugged Lauren in utter happiness. "Thank you so much! But won't Mentor be mad?"

"He will, trust me," Lauren said. "But being the Red Ranger has it's perks. Jii's only a mentor, but I'm the leader. He'll have to go through me if he wants to punish you."

Mia smiled as Emily hugged her new leader again. Lauren merely said, "You're right, Mia. Emily does give the best hugs."

Mia nodded, eyes saying 'I told you so', and said, "Let's dig in."

Jii was standing outside, listening to every word the girls said.

That next morning, Emily said thank you to Lauren one last time while the team was training before heading out of the gates.

She ran throughout the streets of Panorama City. She wouldn't stop until she found Jayden.

She started coughing. It sure was cold outside. Sure it was, I mean it was October, almost November. But, she kept running. She would find Jayden no matter what.

Lauren went into the kitchen for a glass of water. As she drank the water, Jii came up behind.

"Lauren, why would you let Emily go like that?" Jii asked her. Lauren turned to him, puzzled. "It's dangerous out there. Emily could be attack."

"We do have the Gap Sensor, Jii, we'll be able to help when the alarm goes off," Lauren pointed out. "Besides, I saw her fight Fiera and those Moogers the other day. She can take care of herself," she finished, taking another sip of water.

"But why would you let her go out when it's dangerous?" Jii asked.

"Because, she's hurting, Jii. And as the Red Ranger, it's my duty to help my teammates and get them back in shape. Emily's not in shape. She hasn't been since Jayden departed, but once she talks to him, she will be," Lauren replied, quietly.

She found him at last. He was standing by the river at the spot where Antonio usually fished at. She was huffing for breath by the time she reached him, heart pounding, chest hurting, and her legs highly demanding a rest.

As if he could sense her presence, he calmly said, "Emily, what are you doing here?"

She smiled, happy she finally found him, and as Lauren said, 'tie up some loose ends'. "Jayden, are you okay?" was the first thing she asked. Fiera's attack was still fresh on her mind and Jayden's arm was giving him trouble while he was recovering at the Shiba House.

She couldn't see anything about him but his backside. He wouldn't turn around to look at her.

She couldn't see it, but he gave off a very small smile. Of course, she would ask that first. "Yes, Em. I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"I was just worried about you, that's all. Is that wrong?" She asked.

"No, it's not," he said. "I was…just curious." He wanted to say 'I was worried about you too.' But he hesitated and decided against it. "What's wrong, Em? What did you come for?"

She gathered up her courage and decided to go all out and say it. "Why did you have to leave, Jayden?" Tears started to pour from her eyes again. 'And why does Mia get all your attention?' she wanted to ask, but just like Jayden, decided not to. She sounded desperate. She was desperate.

"There can only be one Red Ranger, Em," he repeated to her, refusing to turn around and looked at her. He merely stared at the river's water, glittering in the morning sun.

The tears pouring from her eyes also glittered in the morning sun. "But–!"

"Lauren is your leader now. Stay with her, Em." 'Please.'

"It's not the same without you there!" She didn't mean to say it. It just came. She forze when she knew what she had said and started to cry even harder.

"Sure it is," Jayden said. "Just pretend I never existed."

Wait! What? What did he just say?! "How can you say that?!" She shouted. "You made a promise, Jayden, that you always stay by my side! Always!"

This made something in Jayden snap. He did promise her that.

"Em…"

"Don't make promises you don't intend to keep!" She shouted, her heart braking with every word he said.

"Em!" She stopped and looked at him, startled. He was still hurt, arm, chest, everything from Fiera's ferocious attacks. It hurt to shout like that. "Em…I'm sorry…"

Emily didn't know what to say. Again, she thought, 'Saying you're sorry will not solve anything!'

When he didn't hear anything come from her, he started to turn around, incredibly worried. "Em?"

"You made a promise, Jayden…" She half mumbled, her tears pouring freely. "It hurt to see you leave…why can't you see that?" With that, she turned around and ran away.

She thought that talking to Jayden would make her feel better. Oh, she was dead wrong. Her and everyone else…

Emily Shields, Ranger Yellow, was now sitting on a park bench. Tears would not stop flowing. Her legs her pulled up to her chest and her head was on her knees. She was rolled into a tight ball and she would not loosen up.

She felt a small hand on hers and she looked over to her right to see a little girl around the age of six staring up at her, a worried look on her face.

"Are you hurt somewhere?" Emily actually found herself nodding. "Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere," she said. Why was she doing this? Mia was the expert with little kids, not Emily!

But the girl's smile was so cute. "Why are you hurting?"

Emily sniffed and smiled back. "My friend left the other day. I ran into him just now, but he told me to just forget about him. He sounded…so heartless…" Just admitting this brought more tears to her eyes.

"My friend left the other day too," the girl said. "She was moving, but she told me to not worry about her. I think she told me that as to not worry about her, don't you?"

Emily found herself nodding again, but she stopped and thought, 'Ji told me that Jayden left to protect Lauren and the others. So what if Jayden told me to forget about him to protect me too?' Her tears had decreased and she smiled. He did care about her after all. He had always been selfless, always putting others before himself, and always taking hits for others. "You know, I think I feel better now. Thank you…uh…what's your name?"

"Daisy," the girl piped up, in a very cute manner, as Emily finally loosened up her ball she called a body.

"Emily. Thank you, Daisy, for making me feel better," she said. "You know, someday, you will meet your friend again. No doubt about it. Just have faith and keep doing your best. Stay optimistic and you'll see your friend again." Daisy's smile had sailed off the cute charts. 'And if I follow my own advice, I will see Jayden again, too. And on that day, I will tell him the truth. I will say 'I love you'.' She smiled with new determination and took out her flute, brought it up to her lips and started playing.

The other children on the playground gathered around Emily to hear her play, as did the adults.

Little did she know, if fact, she didn't know at all, Jayden had followed her and listened to her play her flute as well. He softly smiled as he saw all kids and even the adults gather around to listen, tears coming to some people's eyes, mostly the mothers.

"This is how the world should be," Jayden muttered, pleased with what Emily was doing. But his happiness was broken as he heard Emily's Samuraizer ring. She stopped playing and picked it up and answered. She nodded and hung up before hearing her tell the people around her that she had to go. She gave the girl he saw her with one last hug before running off.

"Emily, come quick! We need you!" Lauren said. "Vanity Park, where Fiera attacked! There's another Nighlock on the loose!" Emily nodded before hanging up.

Emily raced to Vanity Park as fast as she could. As much as she wanted to stay with Daisy and the other kids, she was a Power Ranger, which meant she had to go save them world…

Perhaps Lauren letting her go find Jayden wasn't so bad after all.

To Be Continued…

~PRS~PRS~PRS~PRS~

A/N: Well? What do you think? Tell me how I did! Review! A preview:

Chapter 3: "The Great Divide"

"Lauren was the more important one. She was their leader! So why was the Nighlock after her, Emily Shields, only?"