Mentor Ji returned from the Tengen Gate exhausted. It had been a long flight and he had been stuck behind a little girl who wanted to play peek-a-boo the entire trip. At first it had been fun making the girl giggle, but after twenty minutes Mentor had had enough.

He hadn't announced to the Rangers he was coming home. He figured he would announce it to them in person in the morning. Now it was very late and all he wanted to do was head to bed.

He dragged his suit case on the floor behind him and then set it in the common room. He didn't want to scare the Rangers by turning up out of nowhere and figured the suitcase would be enough of a clue that he was home and trying to sleep in after his long flight in the middle of the night.

Just as he was about to leave the common room, he spotted a book in the corner of his eye and wondered why it was off the shelf. His great respect for Samurai history overpowered his tiredness and he grabbed the book to put it away properly. But as he reached for it, he caught the title of the book.

"What to expect when you're expecting?" he furrowed his brow. This didn't belong in his house. No Ranger would be stupid enough to get pregnant. He opened the book and flipped through the pages, hoping this was a gag gift of some sorts between the Rangers. It was then he came across the scan for the ultrasound and he knew this was no joke. He could barely make out the image because it was dark, but his sharp eyes could make out Emily's last name in the corner.

He balled his hands into a fist, crushing the ultrasound in his hands, but then he remembered what he had learned at the Tengen Gate. He was a mentor, but sometimes his team knew better than he did. Before he got angry he was going to confront Mike and Emily about this.

He tip-toed over to their room silently and pressed his ear against the door when he heard murmuring. It was late. They should have been asleep.

Inside the bedroom, Mike and Emily were sitting on Emily's bed with a pregnancy book in their hands. Now that Emily had decided to take a serious role in Serena's pregnancy she wanted to know all she could. Mike had been telling her about the book he had been reading on the partner's role in helping the mother during pregnancy and thought it would be a good start for Emily. They had just reached the chapter that explained what happened to the mother during each stage. Mike had read this chapter on his own, so he was helping Emily understand it.

Emily wrinkled her nose in disgust as Mike reached the ninth month and started reading about the actual birth of the baby and what the mother would be doing and how her partner helped.

"There's no way I'm doing that!"

"You don't have a choice," Mike chuckled.

"What if I don't know what to do?" Emily asked with a frown as she turned to Mike. He wrapped his arm around her and hugged her tight.

"You'll figure it out," he kissed her cheek; "it'll come naturally once it happens. Besides, there are classes you can take that cover everything you'll need to know."

Emily breathed out loudly and leaned her head on Mike's chest, "Babies are hard."

Right outside the room, Mentor Ji had heard enough. He opened the door, startling the two Rangers. He saw them in bed together and quickly pointed to the green Ranger's bed.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping in your own bed, Michael?" he growled. Mike could sense there was a problem and didn't want to anger Ji further. He dropped the book and raced to his own bed.

Mentor stormed over to Emily's bed and ripped the book from her hands as she tried to stuff it under the blankets. He read the cover and glared at Emily.

"I am very, very disappointed in…"

"Dude!"

"… Both of you!" Mentor shouted, turning to look at Mike, as well as Emily. "You have a responsibility to your families as well as the entire planet!"

The other Rangers and Serena rushed in after hearing the screaming and they were surprised to see Mentor Ji was home. They were more surprised he was home angry.

Jayden flipped on the main light in the bedroom so everyone could see each other and all the Rangers noticed the book in Mentor's hands. Serena's hand strayed to her stomach as she gulped. So far she had had it easy with her pregnancy. None of the Rangers had judged her.

"Mentor…" she called, alerting Mentor of her presence. He turned to her and held up the book.

"I assume you do not know about this," he said, thinking this was true because he had found Mike and Emily sharing a bed. If he knew Serena, even a little bit, Mike would be nowhere near her sister if she found out Emily was pregnant.

Serena lowered her head, "I do, Mentor."

"You do?" Mentor was stunned. "And you continue to allow them to share a room?"

"Mentor," Emily called weakly.

"Dude," Mike called, his voice a little stronger, "You've got it all wrong!"

"Do I?" Mentor asked the young couple. "When I find pregnancy books laying around the house and a teenage couple sleeping in bed together, what other explanation could there be?"

While Mentor glared at Mike and Emily, Jayden, Kevin, Mia and Antonio turned to Serena.

"It's for me," Serena whispered just loud enough for Mentor to hear what she was saying. He dropped the book and turned around.

"What was that?"

"The book's for me," Serena said. "Each of the Rangers have a pregnancy book to read so they know what to expect. Emily's not pregnant."

"She…" Mentor looked down at the yellow Ranger then at the book in his hand. If he had learned anything about Serena in his time at the Tengen Gate it was that she had a different style of leadership than he did. He calmed his breath, apologized to Mike and Emily and then smiled at Serena. "I don't know why I never thought of that. Giving them a warning of what might happen if…"

"No, Mentor," Serena shook her head, "You misunderstood. It's not for educational purposes…"

"Antonio and I have a book as well," Jayden said.

Now Mentor was deeply confused, "I'm sorry?"

Serena didn't say anything. She just kept her hand on her stomach. Mentor Ji noticed and the pieces slowly began to fall into place. Mike and Emily reading a pregnancy book, the book in his hand on what to expect for expecting mother, the ultrasound with Emily's last name in the corner…

"You?"

Serena nodded her head slowly, "Eight weeks."

"How?" Mentor frowned. "It's not… is it?"

"It's Dekker's," Serena answered. "I'm positive about that."

"I…" Mentor Ji didn't know what to do anymore. He looked around the room, "Everyone, back to bed."

Mike moved to go back to Emily's bed, hoping to maybe finish off the chapter like they had both wanted, but Mentor held up a hand.

"Don't even…"

"Dude, Emily and I are the only people who have been in a relationship who don't have to worry about mistakes like that," Mike growled. "We'll do what we want."

"Michael…"

"It's fine, Mentor," Serena whispered. "I trust them."

"You aren't exactly the best person to trust."

"We'll talk about this in the morning, okay?" Kevin suggested as he and Mia began to leave the room, hoping the others and Mentor would follow.

Mentor huffed and stormed out of the room. This was not what he wanted to come home to.

-Samurai-

The following morning the room was tense. Mentor Ji couldn't sleep after learning about Serena's pregnancy. Even though she wasn't a Ranger, she was still so involved with the Samurai that he expected her to follow the same rules. Being pregnant with Master Xandred still around posed a huge threat not only to Serena but also to the Rangers, and it was only made worse by the fact that the child belonged to Dekker.

Mentor Ji hadn't disapproved of the relationship between the Serena and Dekker, not after he had seen how much they loved each other, but there was no way this was going to happen. Not under his roof.

He swallowed his bite of toast and looked to Serena, "I assume Dekker will be joining us…"

"No," Serena shook her head. "Dekker and I are done." Serena could see the anger in Mentor's eyes as she said this, so she added: "If you knew what he did to me before I found out I was pregnant, you would approve of the break-up."

"He is the father of your child. He will…"

"Not go anywhere near me, my baby or the Rangers," Serena growled.

"Where will you go?" Mentor asked. "How will you support your child? You have no job, no money, nothing!"

"She has us," Mia spoke up. "She's going to stay with us."

"No she's not," Mentor shook his head. "I'm sorry, Serena, but this is too dangerous. You do not have a home here."

"You can't do that!" Mike roared, jumping up from his seat. "We all agreed to let Serena stay here. She needs all of us…"

"You will return home," Mentor told Serena. "It is safest for you and the Rangers if you are out of sight and out of their way."

"No!" Mike shouted and shook his head. "You can't do that."

"Michael…"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Mike asked with a growl. "First you insist on torturing us with our Stones, then you disappear, then you come back only to leave again. When you finally do come home you assume the pregnancy books are lying all around here because Emily and I are so irresponsible that we get pregnant and now you're kicking Serena out of her home."

"This is no place for a child," Mentor Ji shook his head.

"I was raised here," Jayden pointed out. "If it was good enough for me, it's good enough for Serena and her baby."

"If Master Xandred finds out…"

"He won't," Kevin promised, "and if he does, we'll all fight harder. It's Serena's baby, but we're all in this together."

Mentor looked around the table at his team. They were making a foolish decision. Master Xandred was going to find out and the Rangers, as well as Serena and the baby would be put in so much danger. Much more than they were now. If this baby was part-Nighlok, it would be the first Nighlok to ever possess the strength to create symbol power. It was the perfect hybrid that Master Xandred would surely take advantage of.

But Mentor then remembered the story of the former mentor who failed to listen to his team when they insisted he was wrong. He glanced one more time at the table.

"Why would Serena be safer here?" he asked.

"There's more of us to protect her," Jayden said. "We're not going to let anything happen to her."

"Her mother…"

"Mom's a skilled Samurai, but she's not the yellow Ranger," Emily pulled out her Samuraizer, "I am. Master Xandred would do anything to get his hands on the baby. He'll kill both my parents in seconds."

"You understand the danger you are putting yourselves in?" Mentor asked the table and everyone nodded. He turned to Serena, "You understand the danger you're putting your team in."

"I do what the Rangers want," Serena said. "If they didn't want me here, I would be gone."

"Then it's a good thing the Tengen Gate is safe in the hands of Osamu," Ji smiled. "You are relinquished from your duties as Guardian."

"I… I am?"

"Your sole responsibility was to ensure the safety of the Gate. By training the other guardians and bringing them up to your level, you have guaranteed the Gate would be well protected. You are no longer needed."

"So, Serena can stay?" Emily asked hopefully. Mentor nodded his head.

"Good," Mike crossed his arms, "because I sure as hell liked her as a Mentor better than you. I have to actually do something wrong before she yells at me."

Mentor lowered his head, "My assumptions were quick," he said, "I saw Emily's name on the ultrasound and I jumped to conclusions. It never occurred to me that Serena would be pregnant. I apologize, Mike and Emily."

"Sure, whatever," Mike scoffed. Emily didn't care about Mentor's apology. She smiled brightly at her sister, happy Serena would be staying for a long time.

Her bubble was burst quickly by Mentor's next question: "Have you told your parents, Serena?"

Both Emily's and Serena's eyes widened in panic. Serena looked like she was going to pass out and Emily seemed terrified for her sister.