Brenda and Ji were sitting in the Living Room, waiting for Antonio to announce that the barbecue was ready. Ji was on the phone to someone, speaking in Japanese. She wasn't fluent like he was, only picking up pieces of the conversation, but she was trying hard not to listen. She knew that Lauren's arrival was bound to create its own drama in the group. She had already noticed the Rangers were rather subdued about the whole thing. It was a pretty big bombshell that had been dropped on them, and so far, they hadn't even been able to get even half the questions they had to have off their chest. Lauren had spent her time since arriving in the house with Jayden.

As he hung up, Lauren finally came out of Jayden's room. She took a seat on the chair opposite them and held her head in her hands.

"He's just resting." She told them as she finally looked back up from her hands, taking a deep breath. Her nerves were obvious, even from across the room.

"It has been a long time." Ji commented, looking to her.

"So much has changed around here." She stated, looking around.

"Fifteen years kind of does that." Brenda assured her as Lauren got up, holding herself tightly as she looked around. Much of the Shiba House looked familiar. Not much of the decor had changed since she had left as a child, but as much as she remembered, so little of it felt familiar. It didn't give her the same feeling of home that she remembered. Seeing the large screen TV, she furrowed her brows, before looking back to Ji. "We didn't have a TV."

"Ah, yes, that was my addition to the house." Ji told her. "Well, I got a TV years ago. That one is new. Mike and Emily had to replace it after a mishap with their Wii."

"What's a Wii?" Lauren asked in response. Brenda just looked to Ji.

"She's kidding right?" She asked. Ji just shook his head. He got up, heading over to Lauren.

"I think Mike would be the best one to demonstrate that." Ji told her. "He's the resident videogame enthusiast. The Wii was his addition to the house."

"You let him bring a game to the house?" Lauren asked in response. "But...I thought they would be too busy with their training..."

"Things have changed a little since your parents' day." Ji explained, realising that she had a lot to catch up on. The rest of the team had been in the house, and had seen the changes being made, and gotten to know each other. Not only did Lauren have to come into the team, but she was also going to be expected to take the lead. She was the true head of the Shiba Clan, the true Shogun. If that was to happen, she needed to learn about her team, and they had to learn to trust her and believe in her as a leader. "This time around, the team were considerably younger when they came to the house, so we believed that their time here would be a little easier if they were allowed to bring a couple of reminders of home with them."

"But...games?" She asked him.

"Even your parents played games in their spare time." Ji reminded her. "Don't you remember your father playing board games with the Zords, and the others?"

"Vaguely." Lauren said as she thought about it. She did remember a few nights like that. When their parents were at the house, she knew that they all already had kids. The current team had already been born. The other team members took some comfort from the presence of Lauren and Jayden. It was clear that they all missed their families terribly, and loved including the kids where they could in their down-time.

"The television and games console are not the only additions to the house, or the team." He informed her. "It should be a little while before the barbecue is ready, so perhaps I should catch you up on a few things before you go and introduce yourself to the others properly."

"Um...OK?" She asked. "So, how much has really changed?"

Brenda looked to Ji and got up, heading for the kitchen.

"I'll make you some coffee." She told her. "This could take a while."

Out in the yard, Emily was looking out food for the barbecue, while Mike and Antonio worked on getting the barbecue lit. She laughed a little to see them bickering as they tried to get it prepared for the food. She had no idea what the deal was with guys and barbecues. The guys pretty much had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the kitchen if they were made to take a turn cooking, but as soon as the word barbecue was mentioned, they fought for the position of chef. She figured it had something to do with cooking over flames, but she still didn't really see the difference in the way they did.

Mike came over, sitting down and sulking slightly. Emily just sniggered.

"I take it Antonio got the barbecue lit?" She surmised.

"I swear there's something screwy with that gas tank." Mike muttered, gesturing to where Antonio was doing a little victory dance while he got the grill prepared. He put on an apron, with the message to 'kiss the chef' written across it in large letters. It was just another thing that amused Emily about the guys' obsession with barbecues. They didn't seem to realise how ridiculous they looked in their 'comedy' aprons. "There's no other reason it would take so long..."

"Did you remember to turn on the valve?" Emily asked him.

"Of course I..." Mike started to say, before his words tailed off. "I...I forgot to turn on the valve."

"Well, at least it's better than the time you turned it on too high." Emily teased him, shoving him slightly. "The no-eyebrows look wasn't that attractive."

"Say, you seem kind of upbeat about the whole 'new Ranger' thing." Mike commented, gesturing back to the house. "Can you believe Jayden had an older sister and didn't tell us?"

"Well given what Ji said, it seems like even they didn't know she was still around." Emily reminded him. "I can't imagine what Jayden's feeling right now."

"I imagine he's pretty stoked." Mike answered. "I mean, he's just got his sister back from the dead. Who wouldn't be happy about that? You remember how you felt when Serena was healed."

"Yeah, I remember how I felt. I was over the moon." Emily sighed as she thought about it. "But what about the other stuff?"

"What are you talking, what other stuff?" Mike asked his fiancée. Emily took a deep breath as she prepared to tell him about some of the things that had crossed her mind.

"Well, what about the Sealing Symbol?" She asked him. "Jayden's been practicing that all the time for nearly two years. Now, he finds out in one afternoon, he's been wasting his time all along."

"Well, I don't know about wasting his time." Mike remarked. "Why wouldn't having another person working on the Sealing Symbol...?"

"You don't get it Mike; you're not like Jayden and me. You're a first-born." She told him. "I'm not, I'm the second child. I know that there are some things I'll never be able to do."

"I don't understand." Mike said honestly. "I mean, I've seen you in action with a Samuraizer. You might have taken a while, and your confidence still needs a bit of stroking now and then, but you're easily as powerful as..."

"It's not just about power Mike." She interrupted him. "You really don't read up on your history do you?"

"You know I don't read anything that doesn't have the words 'strategy guide' written on the cover." He chuckled.

"When a Samurai had kids, the first born inherited the family titles, their lands, their fortune...everything." Emily told him. Mike just looked at her in disbelief.

"Even I knew that." Mike sniggered. "It was the one benefit of being an only child, no jealous siblings out to take your inheritance."

"There are certain abilities that are connected to the family titles." Emily informed him. "In the case of the Shiba Clan, it's the Sealing Power."

"And since it's tied to the family title, the title of Shogun..."

"Jayden would only ever be able to do it if Lauren died." Emily concluded. "He didn't know she was alive, so he practiced and practiced, but even if he got the symbol right, exactly right...then he would never be able to conjure it."

"Wow...that...that really kind of sucks." Mike commented. "I used to get frustrated when I couldn't get past part of a video game, but I knew I could do it eventually. To not be able to and not even know it was impossible?"

"There's also another thing." Emily continued. "Lauren's the real Shogun, the real Red Ranger."

"So?" Mike asked her. His eyebrows rose as he caught onto Emily's wavelength. "You don't think...?"

"She's the one that should have been the leader all along." Emily concluded. Mike thought about it for a second, before shaking his head.

"No, I doubt they'd do that." He commented. "We've followed Jayden for all this time. We know him, we trust him."

"Mike..."

"Ji joined the team, and he still stood aside for Jayden as the leader." Mike reminded her. "Sure, we need Lauren's Sealing Power, but that doesn't mean they'd do that."

"Mike..."

"What we've been doing has worked for nearly two years." Mike put down flatly. "Why would they want to change that now?"

"Hey Mike, bring over the burgers!" Antonio called over. Mike just grabbed the first tray of burgers and headed over. Emily just sighed as she looked away.

"I really hope you're right Mike." Emily murmured. "I just have a bad feeling about this."

Back in the Living Room, Lauren just sat with her mouth hanging open as Ji concluded his run-down of the important things that had happened. She started stroking the side of her head as she tried to process it all.

"I think I have a headache." She muttered as she struggled to wrap her brain around everything that had happened in the last two years. It seemed that they hadn't done things the way their parents had, and at times tradition had been outright thrown out the window due to some pretty bizarre circumstances.

"It's been a pretty busy two years." Ji confirmed.

"I'll say." Lauren remarked. "So, Brenda, you're Ji's wife, and you're having his child?"

"Yes, yes I am." She answered. Lauren just shook her head and looked to the floor.

"So much for no contact." She murmured, before looking up, seeing the looks on their faces. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean offence...I..."

"It's quite alright." Ji assured her. "I suppose we have given a lot of flexibility to tradition."

"The others...?"

"I think it is probably best you take the time to get to know them yourself." Ji interrupted her. "I know that it's a daunting task, but you know as well as I do that if you're to lead effectively, they will need to trust you. They'll need to believe in you the way they believe in Jayden."

"I suppose dad did get pretty close to his team." She sighed, getting up from her seat. "I suppose if they're going to place their lives in my hands, I have to do the same."

"Jayden has had the benefit of two years with the team to get his relationship." Ji reminded her. "Have patience and an open mind when you speak to them. You will find that they do not have the same views on things you do, but they are a strong and effective team because of it."

"Well, here goes nothing." Lauren said, taking a deep breath and heading for the door. "Wish me luck."

As she headed out the door, she could smell the meat cooking on the grill. Kevin and Mia had joined the others by now. She saw Mike with a burger, taking a bite that looked like he had to be capable of dislocating his jaw, squirting ketchup out of the bottom, mercifully onto the plate. Antonio saw her and smiled. He wanted to make an impression on Lauren. Being Jayden's sister, he wanted her to like him.

"Hey, Lauren, you're just in time!" He called out, gesturing her over. He flipped a burger off the grill, sliding it onto a bun. "Here, I have a special burger for our newest Ranger!"

Lauren smiled a little, hearing this. She couldn't help noticing that the Rangers were all as cautious around her as she was around them, none of them really knowing how to approach the situation.

"So, what do you like on your burger?" He asked her. "Jalapenos? Cheese? Ketchup?"

"I...I really don't know." Lauren told him as she sat down, placing her morpher on the table next to her. "I've...I've never..."

"Wait, you're kidding right?" Mike mumbled through a mouthful. He gulped it down. "You've never had a burger?"

She just shrugged as Antonio set the burger down in front of her.

"Leave it alone Mike, there's a first time for everything." He answered. "Unless...you're not vegetarian are you?"

"No, most definitely not." Lauren assured him, picking up the burger. Seeing the way Mike had tackled his burger, she just took a bite. Her eyes opened wide as the taste hit her.

"Wow." She mumbled, looking to it. "Where has this been all my life?"

"I've yet to meet anyone that doesn't like Antonio's burgers." Emily told her as she and Mia sat down either side of her.

"It'll be great having another girl on the team." Mia commented. "I mean, the boys do kind of outnumber us here."

"Hey, speaking of which, I have a great idea!" Emily called out. "We should all have a girls' day out! It'll really give us the chance to get to know you. To find out what you're all about!"

Lauren smiled, her mouth still full of burger. She nodded a little, realising that this was probably the best offer she was going to get. The girls comprised just under half the team. While technically only Emily and Mia were on the team, she got the impression that Serena was important in the grand scheme of things.

She noticed Mike picking up her morpher, noticing that it was different. She watched as he took it, flipping it open.

"Don't play with that." Lauren said, reaching for it. Mike pulled it out of reach slightly as he inspected it.

Like the others, he presumed that Lauren had taken Jayden's morpher from him during the battle. However, he hit a switch, at which it folded over and a point came out the end, making it look a little like a paintbrush. He looked to Lauren.

"You...you have your own morpher?" He asked her. "I thought..."

Lauren grabbed the morpher, and with a little more effort than she should have, yanked it from his hand.

"It was my father's. He used it in his final battle." She told them.

"So, both you and Jayden have morphers that work?" Mike asked excitedly. "Guys, we have two Red Rangers!"

"Has that even been done before?" Kevin asked.

"I think there was one time..."

"Rhetorical question Antonio." Mia groaned.

"Where did you get this?" Mike asked her. "I thought..."

"It was taken to the Tengen Gate and kept for posterity." Lauren informed them. "I stopped there on my way here to collect it."

"Wait, if they had the Red Morpher, then maybe they have the others!" Mike called out. "We have two more Rangers waiting right there! Terry and Serena!"

"I'm afraid the other morphers were destroyed in the attack." Lauren said a little dejectedly as she clipped her morpher to the back of her belt. "I brought this because...well...I guess I wanted to finish what dad started with the morpher he used. It just felt right, you know?"

"I guess I can understand that." Mike answered. "Hey Antonio, those hotdogs smell great, how about throwing one this way?"

"Now, how about we talk more about our girls' day out?" Emily asked, bringing the conversation back to something that would hopefully make Lauren a little more comfortable. "We can do it tomorrow!"

From the door, Ji watched them with Brenda as Jayden finally came out of his room. He approached Ji slowly.

"Have the arrangements been made?" Jayden asked him.

"They have. A messenger will bring the keys by tomorrow." Ji told him. "Are you sure?"

"We both know this has to happen." Jayden answered sadly, looking over to where his friends and his sister were getting to know each other.

"But...don't you think this will just make things harder?" Brenda asked him. "Lauren just got here!"

"I don't want to do this either, but we know it has to happen." Jayden answered. He smiled, seeing Lauren laughing with Emily and the others. Judging by Mike's reaction, the joke was at his expense. "Let them enjoy tonight. There's no reason they can't enjoy this while it lasts. They're going to have enough to deal with soon enough."