A/N: An important note, the events of this chapter are all taking place at the SAME TIME as Jayden and Antonio running into Dekker. The duel will not be covered here, I'm waiting on the episode to deal with that. Hope you enjoy it.
Kevin had taken Mia into her room after she came back from the dream world. None of the others knew why, but given how distraught she seemed to be when she woke up, they all figured that she needed some time and some privacy.
While Mike and Emily attended to their "guest", the busker that had been rescued from Dayu, Serena, Peter and Mentor Ji assembled in the Living Room for some privacy to discuss the progress of their mission.
Mentor Ji just paced the room as he rubbed his temples, hearing their tale. He knew that they had been out of contact for a while when Daisuke had contacted him, and he had heard from Hayley about the Interpol raid on the ship. It was only then that Serena was filling him in on everything else. From their abduction, which they now believed to be an arrest, and eventual escape after being interrogated as suspected terrorists. However, it was the last part that was really giving him a headache.
He had always felt terrible about tasking Serena with the quest to find Kasamune. She had only just had her life returned to her, it didn't seem fair to ask her to risk losing a life that had been gifted to her, but it was Daisuke's greater knowledge of the secret Samurai legends that convinced him it needed to be her. Although they had numerous agents at their command that could have been used, Daisuke had insisted only Serena could do it, believing her to be the next Blessed Warrior, the one who would be considered worthy of wielding the magical blade.
He had known that the journey would be long, and had counted on it getting dangerous, especially as they started to find out where some of the suspected swords were being kept, and that Octoroo had also learned of the quest. Now though, they were a step ahead. He had figured after the Kenzo disaster the cowardly Nighlock would be keeping a low profile lest Master Xandred found out about his part in his creation. That had afforded them a window of opportunity to get ahead of him on the quest.
"So, let me get this straight." Mentor Ji sighed as he tried to get his mind around the last little bit of information they had been given. "Kasamune, the sword we've been searching for for months, one of the greatest weapons ever created...was sold on eBay for fifty dollars?"
"We've been searching?" Serena asked, a little exasperated. Although she was grateful for all the help they had given her on the quest, for the most part she had always been on her own in the field. She was the one dodging bullets and blades whenever they got too close to the swords, none of which turned out to be the right one. Peter just nudged her to rein her in. Serena just looked to him, before looking to Mentor Ji. "Yeah, that's what it looks like."
"To anyone but the Blessed Warrior it won't come out of its scabbard. The guy that sold it was probably glad to be rid of it." Peter explained. "They probably thought it was a piece of junk."
When he said it like that, it sounded like a pretty reasonable theory. A Masamune sword would be worth millions of dollars, just one of the reasons they were so hard to track down and attain, since those that owned them could hardly be convinced to just hand them over. However, if someone owned a sword they couldn't even remove from the scabbard, it wasn't really unreasonable to think that they'd presume it was either a fake or broken.
"According to the account, the sword was sold months ago." Serena told him.
"I'm sure by now the new owner will have tried to draw it." Mentor Ji said thoughtfully, playing with his cane as he considered this new information. "Perhaps that can be to our advantage."
"If the new owner thinks he's been ripped off and it's just a piece of junk..."
"Then perhaps we can get it back more easily than we thought." Mentor Ji concluded. "We just offer him a fair price, and he'll probably be glad to be rid of it."
"We have to find him first." Peter told him. Mentor Ji just furrowed his brows.
"I thought you said..."
"We tracked the mailing address to this city." Serena told him. "We swung by there on our way from the airport, but when we got there, the place was empty. One of his neighbours said that he had moved out a while back without leaving a forwarding address."
"So we're back to having no idea where he is!" Mentor Ji said, his frustration becoming evident.
"Fortunately his name isn't exactly common." Peter said, showing him his lap top. Serena smiled a little seeing this. He was no Samurai, no fighter, and there were many times she wondered if he was more of a hindrance than a help, but every time things started to look bleak, he seemed to think of something that just pulled back some hope. She had no idea how he did the things he did with computers, her knowledge of them extended about as far as turning it on and sending an e-mail or IM.
"Wait, the Cell service?" She asked him.
"I managed to track a cell phone contracted to Farquis Bulkmeyer in the city." He told them. "According to his call record, he continued to make and receive calls here even after he moved out of his house."
"That means he's still in the city somewhere." Serena said, throwing an arm around him.
"Alright, so we know that much, but it has been some time since we saw Dekker." Mentor Ji told them. "There is something in the air, I can feel it. Dekker will return and I fear it will be soon. We need that sword!"
"What sword?" They heard a voice from the door ask. They all turned to see Emily walking in, looking around at them.
"Emily..."
"How long have you been...?"
"I just came to ask if you had more soy sauce." She told them. "Did I hear right? You're looking for a sword that can beat Dekker?"
Serena looked to Mentor Ji, before making a judgement call.
"That's right Emily." Serena told her. "That's what I've been doing all these months. I've been trying to find Kasamune."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Emily asked, looking more than a little angry with the way everyone had been so secretive. "If we'd known, we'd have helped!"
"That is exactly why we tried not to involve you." Mentor Ji told her. "If Master Xandred had known what we were doing, he might have tried to get it first. Not to mention that you were needed here, that's why I asked Serena to go."
"Emily, I'm so sorry, I wanted to tell you..."
"You're my sister!" Emily screamed. "If you told me not to say anything do you really think I would have?"
"Hey, what's going on?" Mike asked as he came in to see what all the screaming was about.
"How much did you hear?" Peter asked him.
"Just the last part about Emily screaming at Serena." Mike told them, closing the door. "Unless you want our guest to hear, I suggest you keep it down, now what's this about?"
"They've been looking for some sword they thought could beat Dekker!" Emily told him. "Even my own sister couldn't tell me."
"Emily, I said I'm sorry, I didn't want to keep this from you." Serena assured her. "Please, believe me..."
Mike turned Emily towards him and looked her in the eyes.
"Emily, I don't know what this is about, and I'm not happy about all the secrets." He told her. "But if this could help Jayden, maybe we should listen."
He then turned to them, giving them all a dark look. He wasn't joking when he said he was just as angry as Emily that they had kept secrets from them.
"Alright, so why are you here?" He asked them.
"We tracked the sword, and it turns out it was sold on eBay to a guy that lives here." Peter told them. He could see they were confused by the eBay mention. "It's a long story."
"Fine, so do you know where?" Mike asked shortly. Emily was still sulking a little about the fact her sister hadn't told her about this.
"We checked out the guy's place and apparently he hasn't lived there in a couple of months." Serena sighed. "All we know is he's still in this city somewhere. Who'd have thought it would be so hard to find a guy named Farquis Bulkmeyer?"
Emily and Mike just stared at each other, their mouths open in shock as they heard the name, before turning to them all, looking at them like they were insane.
"Bulk?" They chorused together. Mentor Ji just looked astounded.
"You know him?" Mentor Ji asked. Emily just nodded.
"Yeah, he and his nephew..." She tailed off, remembering about the embarrassing situation involving Spike's Facebook page dedicated to Mia. "He has a clubhouse in the city."
Serena got onto her knees before her sister, taking her hands in her own.
"Emily, I'm really sorry about this." She told her. "I know you're mad at me, but please, this is important. You have to tell me where to find him."
Meanwhile, in her room, Mia was lying on the bed, Kevin holding her softly in his arms. For a long time, they had just been lying in silence, Mia getting the tears out of her system.
As he held her, Kevin felt every breath she made as he held her comfortingly. He was glad to be with her at this time, but he dreaded what she would have to say when she finally did speak. While the other Rangers knew about Mia's pregnancy, he was the only one that knew the details, that she had actually given birth only to lose her son days later.
When he found her in the dream world, holding Evan in her arms, she had been happier than he had ever seen her. Seeing how happy she was, it killed him to know that he had no choice but to convince her that it was a dream and to give him up in order to wake up and return to the real world.
He felt terrible at being the one to try and get her to give him up, to take that dream away from her. Unlike many of the others he and Mike released, she couldn't be reassured by the thought that one day they could attain their dreams for real, in Mia's case that wasn't possible. Evan was gone, and no matter how much she wanted it to be otherwise, that would never change. He felt a bit selfish that he wanted her back. As much as he knew there was a part of Mia that wanted to stay in the one place she could have her son back, there was a part of him that wanted her to stay, even if it meant he lost her.
"He was beautiful, wasn't he?" Mia asked. Kevin just felt his heart breaking as she asked him that.
"Yes, he was." Kevin agreed.
"When he was born, he was so tiny and frail; they needed to put him in an incubator." She recalled, pulling his arms around her. "I was there when..."
He just held her as she took a deep breath.
"I couldn't even hold him. I could only touch him through a little hole in the side of a plastic box." She told him. When he went..."
"Mia, you don't have to." Kevin told her. "If this is too hard..."
"I can't remember how long it was before I could hear a baby cry without bursting into tears." She told him. "Or how long it was before I could bring myself to walk past a play park or a toy store. I kept imagining what he might have been like."
He wished there was something he could say or do that would make it easier for her. He just couldn't think of anything.
"After all the costs and everything, we had no money for college, so I went back to work and training." She told him. "It kept my mind off it for the most part, but...I just always wondered what could have been. I guess a part of me always will."
The others had teased Mia more than a little about her obsession with weddings and romantic comedies and the concept of happy endings. Now though, he wanted nothing more for her than to give her everything and anything he could to help her towards that. He couldn't give her back what she had lost, but he was willing to give anything he could and spend as long as he lived trying.
She turned towards him, looking up to him and pulled him in, kissing him softly.
"Thank you." She whispered as she lay with him. "You have no idea how much this has meant to me. To be able to talk about this."
"You'll always have me." He whispered, holding her head to his chest. "Always."
As Serena, Peter, Mike and Emily went into the city to head to Bulk's clubhouse, Mentor Ji returned to the kitchen, finding to his surprise, the busker was still there, massacring his fifth portion of chicken noodles. He knew that the man was homeless, and so he had offered to get him a meal, and call the local shelter to get him a bed for the night. Unfortunately, as a result of the meeting with Serena and Peter, he had forgotten to make the call. He looked to the clock, and groaned as he realised that it was too late. The shelter generally filled up early, and it was now after six, meaning that it was unlikely he would get a bed.
"I'm sorry; I forgot to call my friend at the shelter." Mentor Ji told the busker regretfully. The man just shrugged as he slurped some more noodles.
"No biggie." He mumbled through his food. "You got me all this awesome food. I can't remember the last time I ate this well."
"Mike does know his way around a wok." Mentor Ji conceded. "I still feel badly though."
"Seriously, don't." The musician replied, finishing his bowl and shoving it aside. "I guess the spot under the overpass should still be good..."
"I have an out building out the back." Mentor Ji told him. "I did promise you a bed."
Mentor Ji wanted to fulfil his promise; it was as much a part of his upbringing as his skill with a sword that he always fulfil his obligations. It was a matter of honour. Of course, he was also appreciative of the fact that this man was still a stranger. If he slept in the dojo, then at least he could lock the doors to the house and prevent the man taking advantage of his generosity while they slept.
"Please, let me get you some blankets and set you up somewhere to sleep." Mentor Ji told him. "I can call the shelter for tomorrow night."
"Dude, that would be amazing!" The musician said, unable to believe his luck. Not only had he been fed, but he was also getting to sleep indoors for the first time in months.
"I'll show you out." Mentor Ji said, gesturing to the door. "Sorry, today has been so hectic, simple courtesy has slipped my mind. I never thought to ask your name."
"Aaron." The musician replied, taking his stuff and following Mentor Ji.
"My name is Ji." Mentor Ji replied. "Come, I'll show you where you can sleep."
