A/N: Lately, I've noticed that "Top of the World" has some missing scenes in it, so this story is basically to fill in those gaps. I am also going to add those chapters that I thought would be omitted, including "Trading Places".

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

If you are confused, you might want to go back and read Top of the World first.

~PRS~PRS~PRS~PRS~

"Defeating a Nighlock alone was child's play compared to this. Now, Antonio faces his greatest challenge yet: being accepted into the group. Will Emily keep her promise?"

Top of the World ~ Side Story: Reading between the Lines

Chapter 9.4: Room for One More

June 18, 2012

Shiba House, Meeting Room

Mia glanced up at the clock after setting the jug of strawberry milk on the Gap sensor table. As she stirred the ingredients in her bowl with a wooden spoon, she rolled her eyes and sighed, "Antonio is late."

"Just because he was fast when he beat that Nighlock, Vulpes, doesn't mean he's fast at everything," Kevin cut in, sounded heavily annoyed.

Mike caught the irritation in Kevin's voice, and, not looking up from his handheld video game, called him out on it, "If I recall, Kevin, you were among the many of us in awe by that speed and his technique."

"Because we were being beat up by the Nighlock," Kevin quickly shot back. "We were desperate. But now that we're out of danger, we can focus more on who he really is."

"Did Antonio say anything to you, Emily, when he pulled you off to the side?" Mia asked their youngest member.

"Kidnapped," Mike corrected. It was highly obvious that he held a particular grudge against Antonio for that.

"Let it go, Mike," Emily calmly told him. "Let's see…he did say he was a fisherman."

"Makes sense," Mike replied. "That paper he shot did smell like fish and we did slip on some ice containing fish."

"He also mentioned that he wasn't the 'brightest fish in the sea'," Emily added. "Oh yeah, and he did apologize for shooting that arrow at the House, by the way."

"That still doesn't erase that he did so," Jii pointed out. "Carry on, Emily."

"And he also added that, as his childhood friend, Jayden could vouch for him," Emily snuck a glance over at Jayden, who smiled back at her. "And that's a fact that I know for certain that's true."

"But how do we know we can trust him?" Kevin asked, bringing up an excellent point. "He could be a Nighlock spy."

"I didn't sense any evil intentions in him during our chat at that warehouse Mike found me in," Emily shot him down just as fast as he brought up the idea. "He seemed sincere, and he actually believed what he was saying."

"Yeah, 'he seemed'," Kevin said. "'Seemed' is the keyword here."

"Let it go, Kevin," Mia said, adding honey to her mixture. "Just give him a chance."

"You two really must have missed each other, huh, Jayden?" Emily asked him.

Jayden nodded, a fond smile across his face, as he reminisced upon his past.

"Has he changed at all?" Emily asked him. "Or is he still the same as he was ten years ago?"

Jayden shrugged. "No idea."

"When you talked to him, Emily, did he say he was bringing the Octozord?" Jii asked her.

"I'm…not sure," Emily replied. "Why?"

"Well, before Antonio moved away, Jayden gave it to him when I wasn't looking," Jii replied. "Jayden threatened to quit his Samurai training if I ever tried to get it back."

"Woah," Mike burst out a chuckle. "You gave him a zord? Dude, I never knew you had it in you."

"Truly reckless, Jayden," Kevin added, disapprovingly. "Knowing you."

"I was a little kid then," Jayden replied. "Eight years old. I didn't know any better."

"It must be nice to have a childhood friend like Antonio," Emily cut in, softly. "I only had Momma and Serena."

Mia looked up from her mixture of strawberry milk, honey, chicken, and carrots and sent Emily a sincere smile. "Well, you have us now, Em." This was like a chain. As soon as Mia said this, the other four occupants of the house sent similar smiles the Yellow Samurai's way.

Emily smiled back and nodded.

Her relationship with these guys was special for that very reason. They were her family now, her best friends in the entire world.

She only hoped that she could keep them as her best friends after her secret was revealed.

Her secret was what threatened to tear them apart. Knowing this left Emily's stomach tied up in tight knots, but despite the sickening feeling it caused, she still held onto this hope, however thin or small it was growing to be.

Suddenly the door opened and sneakers lightly screeched across the floor. Antonio Garcia slid into the House, holding a fishing pole and twirling it around like a sword. Emily glanced over at Jayden briefly, and she noticed that he was trying to hold it together. He was trying hard not to laugh.

She wasn't laughing, but she decided to look at this from a different angle. Antonio was not a Nighlock spy, no matter what Kevin said. He was Jayden's childhood friend, and a friend of Jayden's was a friend of hers. She trusted him, and he trusted Antonio, so why shouldn't she?

And she found herself trying not to laugh too.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Antonio spoke up, finally. "I'd like to introduce the Sixth Samurai, the Gold Ranger: me. Antonio Garcia." He spoke his name with a Spanish accent.

"And you thought I was cocky," Mike muttered to Jii. Jii nodded, knowing Mike had a point.

Antonio swung his fishing pole over his shoulder. "Jayden, please, allow me to join you in the fight against the Nighlock." He pulled on his fishing pole, and the other six occupants of the House heard a rip. "Uh-oh…" Antonio muttered, as he turned and gave the others a good view of his boxers.

A mild giggle burst out over the room. It was hard not to laugh. Even Kevin was smiling.

"That's not good," Antonio murmured, and looked up when he heard Mia try to stifle a laugh. "Don't worry. It's happened before. N-Not a lot or anything…"

Silently laughing, his face becoming red, Jayden struggled to speak. "C-Can you guys help him?" He stood up and whispered in Emily's ear the answer to her question earlier. "Nope. He hasn't changed one bit."

Jii followed him outside.

Once the laughter had died down, Antonio was sitting at the head of the table, and the other four Rangers were sitting on the sides. Jii came back in, leaving Jayden outside.

"So, how did you meet Jayden?" Mike asked.

"Well, I met him when I was eight and he was seven," Antonio replied, honestly, looking back upon those memories, remembering everything he could. "Mentor Jii here took him to a local fish market. I was the son of one of the vendors, and I helped my papa in any way I could."

Emily sensed some sadness behind that last sentence, when Antonio brought up his father. Something must have happened to his dad.

"While Jii bought fish from my papa, I interacted with Jayden. He was shy, at first, not really sociable, but those three minutes, we became good friends. I began going over to his house, this House, and we became best friends, even though this annoyed Jii here to hell and back, because I was distracting Jayden from his training." Jii nodded. He knew for a fact that this was true. "However, one year later, my dad had to move because of the business. On our last day together, Jayden handed me the Octozord, told me to keep it, and promised that when I returned, he would make me a Samurai."

A promise?

It was a child's promise, of course, but Emily could tell that this promise still meant the world to Antonio.

Jii turned the silver-colored morpher over in his hands. "How did you come across this?" He motioned to the morpher.

"Well, after I moved, I took to heart what Jayden told me about Samurai, so I began training, day after day after day. One day, about four years ago, I believe, I found this dusty old cell-phone down by a river. It was beat up, and in very bad shape, but I have this thing for tech. I put in back together and got it to work again, and through this, I found that I could communicate to the Octozord through texting. Even though, this phone couldn't text to any more phone numbers, I found that I could understand the Octozord, because I had unknowingly entered his frequency into the hard drive when I was reprogramming it. Later, I remodeled it and reformatted it, and that phone is what you see before you now."

"So you're some kind of techie?" Mike asked.

Antonio nodded. "It wasn't easy, but…I did it. Now, along with allowing me to morph, it can also call your Samuraizers, but I need your frequencies first."

"We'll see," Jii cut in quickly.

"Well," Mike said, "If everyone else is okay with you being our sixth Ranger, I'm cool. And I will let you kidnapping Emily slide. She managed to convince us you weren't entirely at fault."

"Oh, that…" Antonio muttered. "I don't know. I was the one who pulled her to that warehouse. She wasn't at fault at all." Emily smiled at his sincerity.

"Antonio, I was the one who approached you," Emily cut in. "Mike is right. It wasn't entirely your fault."

"You know, it would be great to have you on the team," Mike said, holding his fist out to Antonio.

And Emily knew that Mike was hooked. He only did fist-bumps with people that he genuinely liked and really trusted.

Mia nodded at Mike's reply, enthusiastic. "Yeah, that's two Rangers down, three to go."

"Three down, two to go," Emily corrected. "He had me hooked since before he morphed in front of us."

"Yeah," Mike said, and Antonio met his fist-bump, but it was interrupted by Jii.

"No," Jii said. "This isn't a kid's game, Garcia. For now, I will keep this." And Jii slipped Antonio's morpher into the folds of his robe.

"What?" Antonio was outraged, and he jumped on the table. "That's mine! Give it back!" Kevin, Mike, and Mia jumped out of their seats to stop him, but Emily hesitated. Finally, getting up, she paused, a shadow out of the corner of her eye catching her attention.

She met eye to eye with Jayden. And she could read every emotion he was feeling at that very moment.

And she found that those emotions were very, very familiar. But where had she seen them before?

Luckily, the little brawl was interrupted by the Gap Sensor, and Antonio fell straight to the ground.

Everyone else gathered around the Gap Sensor table. Jayden joined them. "Second Street, Freeway underpass. Let's go."

"Wait, Jayden!" Antonio called out, still on the floor. Jayden did stop, but he did not turn around to face Antonio and take a good look at the tears forming in the sixth Samurai's eyes. No one faced Antonio. They all faced Jayden.

All accept Emily.

"Jayden, please Antonio softly cried out again. "Let me fight with you guys."

Emily heard Jayden take a deep breath before replying, coldly, "Sorry, Antonio, but Jii is right. This isn't a kid's game. People can get hurt. People can die…I'm sorry."

Jayden exited the Shiba House with the other three in tow. Only Emily hesitated to leave Antonio behind.

They met eyes, and Emily felt a striking pain in her heart.

And it lasted long after Antonio broke his gaze.

Emily felt tears in her eyes, threatening to fall, as she reluctantly exited the Shiba House as well.

~P~O~W~E~R~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~T~O~P~O~F~T~H~E~W~O~R~L~D~

Second Street, Freeway Underpass

Jayden watched as Steeleto disappeared in a flash of red. He finally relaxed when the red flash was gone, and the Nighlock with it, and he turned back to his fallen teammates.

Kevin and Mike stood up.

"Are you guys okay?" Jayden asked.

"Yeah, we're fine," Mike replied, as Mia helped Emily to her feet.

"Man, that guy was tough," Mia cut in.

"You know, Antonio is good with swordplay," Emily suggested, and everyone tensed up. "With his speed, we might stand a better chance."

"Think what you want," Jayden replied as the five de-morphed. "I'm not taking back what I said."

Kevin stood beside Jayden and the two walked back to the House.

But Mia and Mike came up to a stand-still, and very hurt Emily.

"I agree with you, Em," Mia spoke to her in a low voice. "Antonio deserves a better chance than this. I hate to say it, but Jii and Jayden were jerks."

"Me too," Mike added. "Antonio has potential, and Jii, Jayden, and Kevin just can't that. We need to get Antonio on the team."

Emily sent the two a little smile. Yes! She had supporters. That was always a good thing. "Yes, we do. But how?"

"Well…" Mike put together his, Mia, and Emily's brains, and they thought hard.

After a while of walking in silence, save the sounds of Kevin chatting with Jayden ahead, Emily snapped her fingers. "I got it. Mia, Mike, gather 'round while I still have it in my head."

~P~O~W~E~R~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~T~O~P~O~F~T~H~E~W~O~R~L~D~

Shiba House, Kitchen

A few hours had passed, and Mike finally got the signal, and the courage, to do his part. Upon entering the kitchen, he saw that Jii and Kevin were the only ones in the room. Good.

Jayden had to be outside.

"Mentor, Kevin," Mike spoke up, and the two turned to him, "I need to talk to you."

"Ask us anything you want," Kevin replied.

"Well…why do you guys hate Antonio?" Just like he knew, and Emily said, they would, Jii and Kevin immediately tensed up. "You guys have to answer," Mike added.

"I knew him when he was younger, Mike," Jii said. "He was loud and obnoxious. He got in the way. He was a distraction for Jayden from his training."

"I get that," Mike said. "Is that why you said 'no'?"

Jii nodded. "Yes. I am afraid that he will still act as a distraction for, not just Jayden, but for all of us from now on."

"Dude, I hate to break it to you," Mike said, Emily's words echoing in his mind, and his lips and voice box now repeating some of those words, "but Antonio is already a distraction, and that's because he's made a big impact on us, and he's not on the team. Face it, we need him. Besides, if we let him on the team, he won't be a distraction for us. He'll be training with us. Come on, you gave me a chance. Why not Antonio?"

Jii said nothing, knowing that those words were true. "Perhaps, you are right, Mike. I should not have been so quick to judge Antonio. It was my mistake for thinking he was still immature."

Mike gave a little smile. One down, one to go.

"But he doesn't have the proper training," Kevin cut in, his voice tone annoyed and heavily tense. "He can't be a true Samurai if he's not trained properly."

Mike knew he was to go on Emily's words, but this one was all him. "That is a load of bull, and we all know it! What about Emily? She wasn't trained properly, yet she's still on the team, as a 'true Samurai'."

"Because we need a Yellow," Kevin replied, his words cold.

"But we still treat her as family!" Mike roared. "You still treat as family, as your own little sister. None of us hold a certain grudge against her because she's not the first born like we are!" While he mentally kicked himself in order to calm down, he remembered what Emily said about Kevin's possible feelings for Antonio. "That aside, Hamasaki, do you hate Antonio because of his lack of skill in your eyes, or because you're afraid that because he's Jayden's childhood friend, he'll replace you as Jayden's second-in-command?"

Kevin did not speak, and Mike knew that he had nailed it. Or rather, Emily had.

"Well, guess what?" Mike's voice was calm, hopefully comforting, "Jayden seems to have a special place in his heart for all of his friends, a place that's all their own. In Jayden's eyes, all of his friends are irreplaceable." Kevin glanced at Mike, with a hurt look in his eyes.

Yep, nailed it perfectly.

"Okay, Kevin? You are never going to be replaced. We all have our own traits and our own talents. Jayden's the leader, Mia is the tough gal, Emily is the heart, I'm the creative one, Antonio will be the techie, Jii is the mentor, and you, Kevin Hamasaki, are the reliable one. You will always be Jayden's second. Always."

Kevin sent him a smile, a sincere one, and Mike knew he had done it.

"So…can you give Antonio another chance?" Mike quietly asked.

"Alright," Kevin added, taking to heart what Mike had just said.

"Yes," Jii replied. "I'll find someone to go get Antonio."

"No need. Emily just volunteered," was Mike's reply. Jii nodded, giving Emily permission to go. "Cool, I'm gonna go and practice my Symbol Power if you need me," Mike said, smiling, exiting the kitchen.

Right outside, Mike gave Emily and Mia the thumbs up. Emily nodded, and she quietly snuck out the back door.

~P~O~W~E~R~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~T~O~P~O~F~T~H~E~W~O~R~L~D~

Waterfront

"Antonio!" Emily called out. She knew she'd find Antonio here, right where they first met. She saw Antonio glance back at her when she called him, but he quickly turned his head back.

She finally got in conversation range with him, and she called his name again, softer this time.

"Antonio, can I talk to you?"

"Sure," but he didn't turn around. "But why didn't you talk to me earlier?"

By the coldness in his voice, she just knew he was talking about when they met eyes earlier, right when she was leaving with the others.

"Listen, Antonio. Jii is right, you know. This isn't some game that kids play. This is serious. Innocent people can get hurt, or worse, killed. The Nighlock are deadly, and they won't hold back. And the Samurai Rangers are their worst enemies. If your guard is down for even a second, they could get to you. I had to go, Antonio, and leave you behind for that very reason. I am the Yellow Samurai Ranger. I have a job to protect the innocent." No reply, but Emily could just tell that Antonio already knew that. "And that's also why Jayden refused to let you on the team."

"What?" There was Antonio's response. He had finally turned around and met Emily's eyes once again. He was demanding an explanation.

"A couple of weeks ago, we had an attack from a tough Nighlock named Robtish," Emily began the explanation Antonio not only wanted, but deserved. "Robtish was deadly, and he was after Jayden. In an attempt to protect an injured Jayden, Kevin and I took one of Robtish's lethal attacks for him. I don't know what happened after that, because Kevin and I both passed out as soon as we collapsed, but another Nighlock, half-human to be honest, appeared and injured Mike and Mia because they were guarding Jayden too. All five of us, injured in just one battle, two of us down for the count within seconds…"

Antonio noticed the tears behind Emily's hazel eyes, and he just knew that her story wasn't over yet.

"And consumed by guilt because of this, Jayden ran away that night, in order to protect us. We didn't see him until late afternoon the next day, and obviously, he accepted the fact that this was a team thing. But, Jayden doesn't want to involve you, Antonio, because he doesn't want to see you get hurt. He really does care about you, and he's only trying to protect you."

"Well, I can take care of myself, and I'm willing to take the risks, but he can't see that," Antonio hung his head.

"Then, make him," Emily cut in, sternly. "Talk to Jayden, and make him see that. Make him understand."

"B-But –!"

"A Samurai never gives up, Antonio," Emily added with a smile. "And I'll be behind you all the way."

Antonio connected eyes with her once more, and he nodded. He broke his gaze this time to gather his fishing equipment together.

While he was doing so, Emily flipped out her Samuraizer. "Mia," she spoke quietly, mentally thanking Antonio that the ruckus he was making was providing strong cover. "Yeah, it's me. Phase 3 is a go."

~P~O~W~E~R~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~T~O~P~O~F~T~H~E~W~O~R~L~D~

Shiba House, Training Yard

Mia closed her Samuraizer, already in her training outfit, ready to do her part. She exited the House, out to the front training yard, where she found Jayden turning Antonio's morpher over and over in his hands.

"It must be hard," Mia spoke up, catching his attention, "being the leader of a team. Wanna spar?"

Jayden nodded once and led her out onto the field, getting two wooden swords from the rack. Handing one over to her, he raised his in a defensive position. She took the one he gave her and did the same.

"You've known Antonio forever," Mia spoke up again. "The idea of him getting hurt must bother."

Somehow, that gave Jayden a sickening feeling in his stomach. "Of course, he's my friend."

He charged, but she blocked his attack. They clashed a couple more times, and he stepped back to avoid her swing at his legs. They eventually pressed their wooden swords against each other's and they glared into each other's eyes.

"Leading us on dangerous missions is hard enough," Mia continued. "But put an old friend like Antonio at risk? That's too much pressure."

She pushed him off and struck him in the back of the knee, giving him no choice but to fall to his knees.

Her sword in his face, she added, "I hit a nail on the head, didn't I?"

He merely shoved her sword out of his face. "I know Emily put you up to this."

Mia dared not to say a thing, mainly because Emily never told her what to do or say when this came up, so she merely raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"I'm not stupid," Jayden continued when he saw her response. "You can't read emotions as well as Emily can. She put you up to this."

Mia was about to reply and ask Jayden to let her little sister figure off easy, but a familiar voice cut her off before she could, "Because I knew you'd listen to her."

The two Rangers turned and came face-to-face with Emily. She and Jayden connected eyes, with Antonio standing beside her. Mia turned her head to see Mike, Kevin, and Jii off to the side.

They had all gathered.

And now that Emily was here, Mia and Mike knew that the Pink Ranger had successfully completed Phase 3. All Emily told her to do was to 'hang on until I get there'.

Emily had predicted every single one of Kevin, Jii, Antonio, and Jayden's responses, both physical and verbal.

"It still didn't work, Suzuki," Mike and Mia tensed up when they heard this. Whenever they heard Jayden use people's surnames, they knew he was angry. And since Jayden had a soft spot for Emily, they knew he was really mad. "I told you. I'm not taking back what I said."

Antonio glanced between Jayden and Emily, back to Jayden, and then back to Emily, slightly worried. This was only turned into a fight.

But Emily stood firm, and she glared back at him. "But you made a promise to him." Jayden instantly froze.

Kevin and Jii were already weary of the situation at hand, but now that Jayden and Emily were seemingly having an argument, a very rare situation, they were on edge. Mia and Mike were the same way. Jayden mad at Emily was never a good sign.

"Jayden, I know of the risks," Antonio cut in, stepping forward, ready to protect Emily from his own childhood friend. The others looked on with mild awe. "I understand that this whole Nighlock thing is real. I've always known that, and I've never wavered from believing that this isn't a game. I know of the risks, Jayden, but I am not afraid. I am willing to help, and I will never give up. And don't you dare be mad at Emily. She only wanted to help."

Jayden broke eye contact and turned it toward the ground. Dammit…

He had let his anger get the best of him again.

Once again, Emily was right.

"Just give him a chance, Jayden," Kevin quietly spoke up. "He may turn out to be a very valued member of the team."

"He has great potential, Jayden," Mia added. "You saw him. He was great, and I know that together, we can unlock all that potential. He could be one of the greatest Samurai to ever walk the planet."

"Well said, pretty lady," Antonio quietly muttered. Mia sent a small smile.

Jayden glanced up, his expression softened greatly. He nodded and retrieved Antonio's morpher from his pocket. "You're right, all of you." He sent an apologetic glance Emily's way. She merely smiled at him, as he held out the morpher towards the sixth Ranger. "Antonio, welcome to the Samurai Rangers."

A big smile broke out across the Latino's face, as he took his morpher from Jayden's hands and the two shared a fist bump.

Mia softly sighed in relief, as she walked over to Emily. "Good job, Em. Your plan worked like a charm."

Emily raised her eyebrows knowingly, her smile never wavering. "I told you it would."

Antonio and the others turned to look at her. "You set this all up for me?" The new Ranger asked.

"Jayden too, but basically, I just gave you the chance I promised," Emily replied.

Antonio returned her smile. "Thank you…"

"Hey, if we're gonna be teammates now, you need to remember that Emily Suzuki always keeps her promises," Mike cut in.

The Gap Sensor went off at that moment. They glanced over at Jii, who raced inside quickly, and a few seconds later, he came back out, saying, "Johnson Construction Site."

Softly smiling, Jayden took a glance at all five of his teammates. "Let's go."

And Jii watched, softly smiling, as Antonio joined them for battle.

~P~O~W~E~R~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~T~O~P~O~F~T~H~E~W~O~R~L~D~

Johnson Construction Site

The others didn't need to worry about Antonio at all. He was holding up just fine on his own. Moogers were all that were coming towards him, and he was slicing them down like they were nothing.

But even though Antonio had his guard up, Steeleto could certainly find all of his weak spots.

So once Emily was done with her group, her Earth Slicer in hand, she raced over to Antonio.

"Hey, Em!" He called out, witnessing her take out a couple in front of him, behind the one he was already slicing down. "You didn't have to come help!"

"Rangers work together!" She called back. "Teamwork is how we win!"

She pushed him behind her as she chopped off three blades heading towards his back. They broke off in a shatter. She blocked and chopped off three more sets of blades before hurling her giant shuriken at the monster.

Antonio witnessed an explosion, small but large enough to engulf a Nighlock. Emily caught her shuriken when it came whirling back, and Antonio couldn't help but be in awe.

Wow…

But, it was never that easy, was it?

Through the fading fire, more blades came her way, and this time, when they hit her Earth Slicer, she was forced to drop it. The blades came back and the force knocked her back.

Antonio, watching this scene carefully, now his eyes filled with shock, was too slow to catch, but he would be ready when she hit the ground.

However, Jayden caught her before she did.

She looked up to see who saved her. "Jayden," she mumbled.

"Thank you, Em," and her eyebrows raised in surprise. "Thank you for everything you've done for Antonio and me, and for bringing us back together. I swear to never doubt you again." He heard her try and stifle a giggle. "Thanks for protecting Antonio there. You did great, but he and I will take it from here. Okay?"

"Okay," she nodded.

He helped her stand up before letting her go and turning toward Antonio.

"You ready, Antonio?" Jayden asked him. Picking up her Earth Slicer, Emily saw Antonio nod, and despite him wearing a helmet, she could see how enthusiastic he was. Underneath her own helmet, she smiled.

The two childhood friends charged.

She never had any friends when she was growing up. With or without thinking about her destiny, she was rather reluctant to make friends.

"That's…a lot…of blades!" Antonio cried out, while the two were smashing Steeleto's blades.

"Keep going! We've got this!" Jayden called back.

Sure, she had her mother and her sister, but sometimes, they just didn't understand. Nonetheless, she has grateful that she had them, but she also missed her father to hell and back. And it didn't help matters when Emily would always force a smile onto her face in order to reassure her mother and sister that things were okay when they really weren't.

Together, Antonio and Jayden fought back against Steeleto. She witnessed two slashes, one red and one gold, strike down the Nighlock.

But these guys were the first ones outside of her own family to ever give a damn about her. They cared, even more so than Serena. While Serena would let things go when Emily refused to talk about her problems, these guys kept pressuring her to confess, and afterward, she was glad she did, because she felt so much better.

"Alright, Antonio! Final strike! Ready?"

"Always, Jay! Always."

Antonio was no different. When Jayden was arguing with her, deep down inside, she was dead scared, even if she didn't show it, and Antonio did not hesitate to stick up for her. He saw what Emily was trying to do the entire time, and not once was he reluctant to point that out.

"Barracuda Blade: Barracuda Bite!"

"Spin Sword: Blazing Strike!"

Who needed friends? She had an entire family: one father (the deceased Thomas Suzuki), one grandfather (Mentor Jii), one mother (Lilia Suzuki), two sisters (Serena and Mia), and three brothers (Jayden, Mike, and Kevin).

And now she had gained a fourth brother.

Jayden and Antonio turned their back to the explosion that engulfed Steeleto, isnglaing the end of his first.

Emily couldn't help but smile and say, "Welcome to the family, Antonio."

~P~O~W~E~R~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~T~O~P~O~F~T~H~E~W~O~R~L~D~

Shiba House, Outdoor Dining Area

It was time for the Welcome to the Team dinner for Antonio. They had ice cream after their victory, as was their new tradition, one they introduced Antonio to.

After Jii poured Emily a glass of milk, she turned to face Jayden, who was gently tugging on her arm, motioning her to come over to the side. She followed his request, as the two heard Mia say, "Wow, this looks like my famous oyster and peanut-butter casserole I make," about Antonio's grilled fish. It turns out their new Ranger was a master of the grill.

Jayden and Emily both grimaced at Mia's comment as he led her a fair distance from the table where the others were, out of hearing range, which Jayden wanted.

"Listen, Emily, I owe you an apology."

"It's alright."

"I yelled at you." And Emily just knew he wasn't letting this go so easily. "I must have hurt your feelings a thousand times over by doing that."

"You did, but it's okay," she replied, calmly.

"No, it's not okay," he quickly, yet gently, shot her down. "I owe you two million apologies."

Fighting with Emily felt even more unpleasant than imagining Antonio getting hurt. He would soon rather ingest Sanzu River water, pure poison that wasted no time in killing its victim, than to even think of harming a hair on Emily's head.

He was surprised when Emily gave him a hug, and even though he felt unworthy of a hug, much less a hug from her, he returned. "I said, it's okay. Everything turned out alright in the end, so put it in the back of your mind."

Even though she couldn't see it, Jayden smiled back at her and did just that.

If Emily said it was okay, then she was right. It was okay.

"Hey, lovebirds!" They heard Mia call out. "Hurry up before we wolf all of this delicious food down!"

They shook their heads at their friends' antics, and gave each other one last glance, before leading each other over to the table.

"Sorry, Antonio," Mike swallowed a bite and continued to speak, "but you're gonna have to learn the rules as you go. That's just the way Jii teaches us."

"Because it's important to learn from your mistakes. Advice can help you, but making mistakes is the best teaching method," Jii advised them all.

"Noted," Antonio said, and Jii knew that he really was wrong to believe that Antonio was still childish. Well, to a certain extent, he still was, because he was naturally hyper, like Mike, and had this all-up-in-your-face energy, but he really could be mature if and when he needed or wanted to. "Fish, Mentor?" he held out a plate to the oldest occupant of the House.

"Of course," Jii said, taking the plate. "Thank you."

"So, I heard you're moving into the Shiba House," Mia brought up.

"Yep," Antonio replied, serving up two more plates for Jayden and Emily. "I really do want to learn how to be a Samurai like you guys, and so to make things easier, I'm going to move in, so you guys don't have to call me all the time when a Nighlock shows up." Jii nodded. This made sense. "Unless, Jayden doesn't want us to be roommates. In that case, I'll sleep on the couch."

"No, no," Jayden cut in as he and Emily sat down at the table. "It's fine with me, Antonio. And, officially, welcome to the team."

"Thank you," the Gold Ranger replied. "And I, uh…would like to say that…um…I'm sorry about my pride. It could have been my downfall. So, I'll start over. I'm the Gold Ranger, Antonio Garcia."

"Welcome to the team! I'm Emily Suzuki, the Yellow Ranger!"

The others, besides Jayden and Antonio, looked at her like she was crazy. Was she really playing along to his game? So enthusiastically?

But the others witness Antonio give Emily a sincere, grateful smile.

"W-Wait," Mike spoke slowly, the others thinking the same thing. "You were serious?"

Antonio glanced down, his happiness seemingly gone now, and he nodded. "Y-Yeah…I'm sorry for not being a strong as you guys, but I really am trying."

He sounded just like Emily.

"Listen, Antonio, don't apologize for not being as tough as we are," Emily spoke up through the silence. "I know that this is probably one of the lessons Jii wants you to learn the hard way, and not everyone believes this is true, but it really is. Even some of these guys here don't believe it deep down." She took a deep breath before continuing. "True strength isn't about how well you swing your sword. It's not about how much of the Samurai Code you know and follow. It's not even about how well you can stand up to insults. True strength lies not in the muscles, but in the heart. True strength is realizing your own flaws, admitting them out loud, and resolving to become a better person."

'I'm sorry about my pride. It could have been my downfall. So, I'll start over.'

"You are strong, Antonio, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise," Emily concluded. Antonio glanced over at Jayden, who nodded, knowing for a fact that her words were true.

As Antonio's naturally hyper smile was back. "Thanks, Emily. You're a true friend." Emily smiled back. "Fish?"

Emily nodded. She was rather hungry. "Please, thank you."

And the rest of the dinner went by without any other interruption.

~PRS~PRS~PRS~PRS~

Note: The ending scene, some of you may notice, is from Top of the World. It's one the memories I wrote in "Stroke of Fate".

A/N: Well? What do you think? Review, please! And now for the next chapter. Check it out:

Chapter 9: 9.5 – The Fish Boy

"Antonio knows that Jayden was a mystery to a lot of people, but to him, Emily was the bigger enigma."