A/N: I've been away from my computer for a while, so apologies to anyone whose reviews I haven't replied to. It wasn't anything intentional.
RJ came back into JKP, limping a little as a result of his fight with Dayu. Lily and Mentor Ji were quickly by his side as he made his way inside.
"RJ!" Lily called out as they started to help him over to the couch. "Are you alright?"
"I'll be fine." RJ assured them. "Trust me, I've felt worse."
"So...what happened?" Ji asked him.
"I think it's pretty safe to say your friend Dayu's in town." RJ commented. "If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say that she's here looking for that."
He pointed to the table, where the fragment of Urumasa was sitting, wrapped in cloth. Mentor Ji just sighed regretfully. RJ had gone out into the city in response to an alarm, but now that he knew it was Dayu that had attacked him, he felt more than a little guilty. It was one of his enemies that had hurt him. RJ's Ranger days should have been over with. Sure, occasionally the Jungle Fury team occasionally use their powers to help out the emergency services when they could, but on the whole, they had retired from active duty. It was pretty much Ji's fault that she had shown up in town.
"I am sorry to bring this trouble to your doorstep my friend." He said regretfully. "I would never have wanted you to get hurt."
"It's quite alright." RJ commented. "To be honest though, another complication has shown up."
"What now?" Lily grumbled.
"Theo showed up." RJ told her. "He was the one that did this."
"Theo's back?" Lily asked him. "Why did he attack you?"
"I think I just got in the way." RJ told them both. "Dayu seemed to already be in the middle of a battle when I got there. I think I just got caught in the cross-fire. Unfortunately, she used the distraction to get away."
"I can't believe he's back." Lily breathed as she looked away in shock. "I need to..."
"Lily, I know how badly you feel about what happened to him." RJ said as he put his arm around his girlfriend, holding her to him. "But I really would advice against that. You know the last time we saw him things got a little heated."
"I know that RJ, but I really doubt he would hurt me." Lily stated. "I really think we need to find him. I owe it to him..."
"I just don't want you to risk getting hurt again." RJ interrupted her. He could see that Lily was determined in her assertion that she was going to find him. Although their break up had taken its toll on her, she had been his friend for a number of years before they got together. He knew it was important to her to try and talk to him. "Look, he already attacked me. Maybe rubbing his face in what happened is only going to enflame the situation. I really don't think you should try and talk to him alone."
"Yeah, because talking to him together is really going to appease him." Lily said sarcastically. "If I know Theo, he's probably still looking for Dayu. That means he'll be in town for a while."
She pulled out her cell phone and hit speed dial, getting up and starting to leave the room. RJ looked back to Mentor Ji.
"In the meantime, I think it's best for you to be ready to leave." RJ told him. "I'm calling my friend in the shipping yard to see if he can move up your departure time. I think it's for the best if you leave the country as soon as possible."
"I fear that you may be right." Mentor Ji replied. "I'll be ready to leave as soon as your friend is ready to depart."
Meanwhile, the Samurai Rangers were just going into a store to pick up some supplies for Alexandra. She had been quite literally dumped on the doorstep, with only the clothes she was wearing, and the carrier she was strapped into, meaning they had some things to buy for her. There weren't many stores still open that carried much in the way of what they needed, but they had finally found a department store that was still open.
"Alright, which way to the baby stuff?" Antonio asked. Mia just looked up to the roof, where signs were hanging down, marking each of the aisles.
"Food, diapers and clothes are over there." Mia told them, pointing to one of the aisles. "Furniture is over this way."
"Right, we should only get what we need for a couple of nights. We can shop for more stuff later." He told them. "I figure maybe one pack of diapers, one tin of formula..."
He just saw the way Mia and Serena were looking at him in disbelief.
"What?" He asked.
"You have no idea do you?" Mia asked him.
"Hey, I might have been young, but I still remember how much stuff Emily went through." Serena confirmed. "She might be small, but it'll amaze you how much she'll eat."
"And how many diapers she'll go through." Mia continued. "Not to mention she'll need some outfits, because diapers don't always catch it all..."
"Alright, so we need more stuff than I thought." Jayden sighed. "Tell you what, I'll get the crib and you guys get what you think she'll need."
"Alright, but you'll need to learn this stuff eventually." Mia reminded him. She took the carrier from him, being careful not to wake Alexandra. "OK, she doesn't have an umbilical cord, so that says she's at least two months old, but I wouldn't say as much as six. That'll help us get the right food."
"Alright, we'll meet you at the register." Jayden told them. "Come on Mike, you can come with us."
As they split off, Kevin, Mia, Emily and Serena went to the aisle to look for clothes and food for Alexandra. Kevin couldn't help being impressed with how Mia was coping. He knew that for a long time after Evan had passed, she found it hard to be around kids. It only reminded her what she had lost. However, when Alexandra arrived, Mia was the one who had taken charge, and seemed to be in control of the situation.
"Alright, the formula's here." Mia remarked. "Serena, can you look out some lotion and baby wipes?"
"Sure." Serena answered.
"Emily...?"
"Baby clothes, baby clothes!" She started to chant, rushing down the aisle excitedly. Kevin just laughed, seeing the youngest Ranger's excitement at the situation.
"Well, I guess we know someone's happy." He commented.
"You have to understand, this is pretty exciting for her." Mia reminded him. "This is probably the first time there's been a baby in the family that she was old enough to appreciate."
"You know, you really are amazing." Kevin told her. "I can't wait till we make this official."
"Neither can I." Mia agreed, pulling him in and kissing him softly. "I just wouldn't feel right if we didn't tell our families first."
"Well, I guess we can have our own fun in the meantime." Kevin commented. "You can tell it's really eating Emily up not being able to talk about it."
"Yeah, she is fun to tease." Mia agreed as she piled formula into the shopping cart. "But I think Alexandra's a bigger distraction for her right now."
"I think she'll be a huge distraction for all of us." Kevin commented.
Over in the furniture aisle, Jayden and Antonio were looking at cribs, trying to pick one out. Jayden was looking at the shelf adverts, trying to weigh up his options. He still didn't really know what he was looking for, so he was going by the manufacturer's descriptions, looking for one that had good safety ratings, but that also looked comfortable.
"Jeez, is that a barcode or the price?" Mike remarked. "These things are only made of wood right?"
"I have a feeling a lot of this stuff is going to be expensive." Antonio answered as he gestured to the prams. "Have you seen how much the prams cost?"
"It's just as well the Shiba Clan are footing the bill." Mike said with a little scowl on his face. "I don't know how anyone's expected to afford all this stuff on a normal wage."
"When was the last time you had a job?" Antonio asked him.
"Still, I think it might be a false economy to skimp on the important stuff right now." Jayden said as he looked to another advert. "I mean, she is going to need this stuff for quite a while right?"
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't help noticing you seem to be having some trouble." A young sales assistant said as she interjected herself into the conversation. "I'm Amanda. Would you like a hand?"
"That would be really good." Jayden sighed in relief as she came across. "I was kind of looking at this one..."
"Ah, you're making the usual mistake of thinking that the most expensive one is the best." She interrupted him.
"But it has the best safety rating..."
"That's the manufacturer's advertising." She reminded him. "Do you really think they're going to say it's overpriced?"
"I guess not." He agreed.
"Alright, I don't get many returns with this one." She told him, showing him another crib. "It's a good sturdy construction, and it's really comfortable too. It can also be rocked really easily, kids seem to love it."
"That sounds pretty much perfect." Jayden said with a little smile. "Mike, help me with this box."
"How hard is it to put together?" Mike asked the assistant. "I don't have the best of records with flat pack furniture."
"Mike, I managed to do all of Ji's flat pack furniture." Jayden reminded him. "And I'm sure a crib shouldn't be too much hassle for Antonio."
"Wow, it sounds like you have a pretty full house." Amanda commented.
"Trust me, you have no idea." Jayden remarked as he and Mike hefted the box from the shelf, beginning to make their way towards the register. "The girls should have the stuff by now."
As they left, Amanda just shook her head in disbelief.
"Wow, that is one odd family." She commented. "I thought I'd seen everything in this job."
Back in Ocean Bluff, Lily came back into the room, still talking on the phone.
"Look, thanks for talking to me." She sighed. "I promise we'll try and find him."
As Lily hung up the phone, she looked to RJ sadly.
"According to Luan, Theo never went to Silver Hills." She told him. "He hasn't seen him in months."
RJ knew that couldn't have been an easy conversation for her. While Lily and Luan had been good friends at one time, the fact was that the break up had hurt Theo dreadfully. While Luan didn't really want to choose sides and lose a friend, the fact was when the chips were down, Theo was family. It was only inevitable that he chose Theo over her in the end, just another thing that had hurt about the whole thing.
"So he's been here all along?" RJ asked her. She just nodded her head.
"It seems so." She told him. "I can't believe he never left. I thought he was going home to his family. So he's been somewhere alone all this time?"
"I'm sorry to hear that too." RJ told her. "If we'd known, I'd have tried to make peace with him."
Mentor Ji had just finished gathering up his possessions, and looked to RJ and Lily.
"I'm really sorry that I have to cut my visit so short." He told him. "You don't mind me leaving my bike here do you?"
"We'll give you a ride in the jeep." RJ told him. "My friend secured an earlier cast off time. He'll be leaving the port in an hour."
"We'll go with you as far as the docks." Lily told him. "That would probably be safest."
RJ picked up his keys from the desk, and tossed them to Lily.
"Alright, let's get going." He announced. "The less time we give Dayu to regroup the better."
Back at the Shiba House, Emily was sitting, admiring Alexandra in her carrier while Jayden, Mike and Antonio were busy trying to put together the crib. Mia and Kevin meanwhile were at the computer, researching sited about baby health care to ensure they were all prepared for whatever was to come.
"We're going to have to register her with a paediatrician." Mia told them as she checked out some sites. "Do you think the mom will have gotten all the appropriate shots for her?"
"I can't imagine someone will have gone to all the effort of delivering a baby only to let her get sick." Mike suggested with a shrug. "Hang on, won't the doctor find it strange that we don't have any of her documents?"
"Her birth certificate and health records were in the envelope." Jayden told them as a section of the crib he was trying to assemble put up more resistance than he was expecting. "Damn thing!"
"So much for knowing your way around a flat pack." Mike teased him. Jayden just glared at the Green Ranger, before looking back to the instructions.
"This all looks right." Jayden remarked. "Look, maybe we should let her sleep in the carrier for tonight and start again in the morning when we can use power tools."
"That sounds like an idea to me." Mike sighed.
"Aw...you mean sweet little Alex isn't even going to have a proper crib on her first night?" Emily asked with a little pout. "I feel so bad for her. How do you think she's going to feel...?"
"Emily, she's not even six months old." Antonio reminded her. "She probably won't even remember anything about what happens to her for another few years."
"Auntie Emily just thinks your daddies are being mean." Emily whispered to her. "You just..."
At that, Alexandra started to stir and scream. With the exception of Mia and Serena, the only two that had any experience of being around kids, they all looked astonished at the racket she was making.
"OK, now that's disturbing." Mike remarked, screwing up his face. "What does she want?"
"Um...I think I know." Emily answered as she pinched her nose, recoiling away from the baby a little.
"OK, is that even natural?" Jayden asked as he got closer to the baby, finally appreciating how truly awful the smell was.
"Jayden, you'll hurt her feelings!" Emily chastised him.
"Um...Mia, you know about this stuff..."
"Hey, you're the daddy." Mia told him. "Don't you think you should learn to deal with this kind of thing?"
"Yeah, I mean you are going to have to deal with it a lot." Kevin added. "She is technically your responsibility."
"Please, just..." He looked to Mike.
"Uh, not even a chance dude." Mike told him.
"Emily?"
"Nope." She said with a little smirk, seeing how uncomfortable Jayden was with this situation. "Mia's right, you'll have to learn."
"Serena, please. I'll pay you..."
"Not a chance." She said, shaking her head with a slightly evil smile on her face. "I plan for it to be quite some time before I need to change my kids."
"Come on Jayden, it's time to bond with your daughter." Antonio told him. Jayden just looked around at the others, sighing deeply as he picked up a changing mat and a packet of diapers.
"You guys suck." He grumbled as he took her into another room. "Come on Alex."
