Chapter 10: Talking to Family

Double digits guys! Read and review! I'm going to apologize. It's probably going to be a lot of dialogue.

"That has to be fixed," said Jayden determinedly.

"What?" Mike asked.

"You never got to call your parents?" Jayden asked, and they all nodded. "Then after lunch go talk to them. They're probably worried sick about you."

"Really?" Emily asked excitedly. Jayden nodded, and Emily hugged him tightly. Jayden froze in shock for a moment before hugging her back. She let go, and they continued lunch. The others talked excitedly to each other.

After everyone finished lunch, they were allowed to go to their rooms to talk to their parents. Jayden left the Shiba House altogether to go talk to his father.

Line break …

Emily turned on her laptop she rarely used, and she checked her emails. She was surprised to see a million emails from her parents and sister. She opened and read each one. It took her a while. She started to cry, but it wasn't unhappy tears. They were happy tears.

Emily logged onto her Skype and looked to see if anyone was on. Her parents were on, and she went to hit the call button, but she hesitated. She didn't know if they would want to talk to her. Mikialaya made her feel like nobody cared about her, besides her team. She quickly clicked the call button before she chickened out again.

Her mom answered after a few rings, and she said excitedly, "Oh my gosh, Em, you haven't called, and you've been there forever. We thought something happened to you. But no one said… What happened to your eye?" asked Emily's mom.

"I'm so sorry, but everything was awful," said Emily, and she started to cry, "Our leader, Mikialaya was horrible. She would beat us, and she made us call her Mistress and stuff like that, and she said so many mean things, and she barely fed us, and she wouldn't let us call you guys!"

"Oh, Emily," said her mom, "I wish I could hug you." Emily cried for a while. She wiped her eyes, and she smiled.

"But Jayden is here now, and things seem to be getting better. He hasn't beaten us, and he lets us eat good food. He even taught me how to spar," said Emily, " And he doesn't want us calling him Master or anything but Jayden."

"I'm glad. And Jayden will never hurt you," said her mom, "I stayed with him until he was about seven. He is very kind. While he may seem cold, it's only for your protection. You just have to break him out of his shell." Emily giggled. "Does someone have a crush?"

"Maybe," Emily said, and they giggled.

"He'll be good to you," said her mom, "nothing like Justin." Emily flinched and sighed. Justin hadn't been that bad. He was just constantly cheating on her. Eventually she had enough and broke up with him. But there was still some damage.

"Justin is in the past, Mom," Emily whined.

Line break….

"MOM!" Mia shouted as her mom answered the phone.

"Hey, Mia. Have you been busy?" asked her mom, "You haven't answered any of the emails or calls."

"Kind of. Our leader wasn't the nicest. She beat us and treated us horribly, but that's all over now," said Mia.

"Jayden beat you!" her mom said angrily, "Wait, she?"

"It seems Jayden was sent elsewhere while he mastered the symbol power, and his younger sister took care of us for him, but she was abusive," said Mia.

"I remember her. Very rude," said Mia's mom. Mia nodded and then they started talking about how life was now. And if she liked any of the boys. Mia didn't like anyone yet. Mike was her little brother, and Kevin was her older brother. Emily was the baby sister, and she wasn't sure where Jayden fit in, but she didn't like him, and she had a sneaking suspicion that Emily like him.

Line break…..

"Hey, Dad," said Mike, hesitantly. He didn't know why he was scared. He just was. His dad was amazing and kind, but he didn't know how he would react since Mike hadn't contacted him since his arrival.

"Mike, what's wrong?" asked his dad. Mike lost his tough guy image and started to cry. "Come on, kiddo, talk to me."

"She was awful, Dad," said Mike.

"Who?" asked his dad, kindly.

"Mikialaya," Mike answered through his sobs.

"That brat? What happened to Jayden?" asked Mike's father angrily.

"He had to master the sealing symbol, and he couldn't do that here," said Mike, "Do you love me?"

"Of course," said Mike's dad, "Did Mikialaya say I didn't?" Mike nodded. "Mike, son, I do love you."

"I love you too, Dad," said Mike, "I wish you were here."

"I do too, buddy, I do too."

Line break….

Kevin sat in his room for an hour before he got the guts to call his dad. He didn't know if he was busy, but he needed him now. He had to be strong for his team. He had to be the one they could rely on, because they couldn't rely on Mikialaya. And now, Jayden was here, and he didn't know how to react. Jayden seemed nice, but not everything is as it seems.

"Hey, Kevin," said his dad, "I'm glad you called. I was getting worried. You know calling me won't put me in danger, right? Besides I was the blue Samurai ranger once too."

"It's not that. Did you know a Mikialaya?"

"Yes. Why?"

"She had to take Jayden's place, so he could learn the Sealing Symbol. She was…."

"She was?" Kevin's dad encouraged gently.

"She was awful," said Kevin with a sigh, "She abused is horribly. Especially Emily. I took the role of leader, because there was no way we were following her into battle without a backup plan. And now Jayden's here. And I don't know if we can trust him. They all look to me to see if we can. And I just don't know."

"Kevin, wow can trust Jayden. He's the most kind hearted person I've ever met. The only competition would be Emily?" said his dad.

"You promise?"

"I promise. And I am very proud of you, son." Kevin smiles. His father was proud of him. Mikialaya was wrong. Again.

Line break…..…

Jayden had arrived at his destination. He sighed and pushed open the gate. He walked to where his father was. "Hey, Dad. It's been a while. Like years since we last talked. I brought you some flowers from the Shiba House. It's your favorite time of year, and these are your favorite flowers. You were always good with nature. Sometimes I think you might have rivaled Mike's father." Jayden sighed sadly. "A lot is going on. I have mastered the Sealing Symbol to the best of my ability. I'll never be as strong as you. I guess that means we're doomed." He wiped his eyes. "Dad, Mikialaya treated them awfully. She beat them and everything. Now they don't trust me. They're going to be calling me Lord Shiba and I don't want to be Lord Shiba. I want to be Jayden." Jayden started sobbing. "I wish you were here." And Jayden got up and left the cemetery with no answer. Not that he expected one. His father was dead. He would never answer Jayden again. Locked away somewhere else, he could almost believe his father was alive out there somewhere. But he wasn't.

Line break…

Jayden walked into the Shiba House to see that the others were in the living room, talking seriously to each other. Emily noticed him first, and she gave him a little wave and a shy smile. He smiled and waved back, but it felt fake. He hadn't give himself proper time to grieve. The others looked at him and gave him small smiles. That was an improvement.

"Did you get to talk to your father?" Mike asked.

"Yeah. I did," said Jayden, "I'm kind of tired. I'm heading to bed."

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