Kevin and Jayden got back into the Living Room. Kevin seemed to be a lot happier than when he had left the room. Jayden had gone to talk with him, apologise to him for all the lies and the deceit. While the others hadn't been happy about it at first, they were generally more concerned with how it affected the team as a whole than with the secret in and of itself. Kevin had taken it more to heart, as a personal insult, than the others.

As they sat down, Jayden made sure he sat by his sister. She smiled a little nervously, but seemed to take a measure of comfort as he rested a hand on her arm. Although they didn't really know each other all that well, having only just been reunited after being separated for fifteen years, they both still felt something of a connection. The details were always the most difficult, actually talking, figuring out where they stood in each others' lives...these were things they hadn't yet figured out, but they still felt the same bond they'd had as kids. She could guess that Kevin had probably said something to Jayden about what had happened to her.

As Ji came back in, he looked around the room.

"Dinner should be here in about half an hour." He informed them. Lauren took a deep breath as he said this, trying to prepare herself. "In the meantime, I suppose it would be a good time for a team meeting."

"Alright, I just wanted to clear up some things." Jayden announced, unintentionally interrupting Lauren. "As you know, I've agreed to come back. I've agreed to stay and rejoin the team."

Mike smiled hearing this.

"I thought you might like to hear that." Jayden announced. "However, my reason for leaving is still valid."

"Now that Serrator, Dekker and Dayu are all gone, only Xandred and Octoroo are left." Ji reminded them. "While that means less power at their disposal..."

"And it's not like Xandred was exactly short of power." Mike grumbled. "I still get sore just thinking about the last time."

"Exactly." Jayden agreed. "Unfortunately, that also means that he no longer has any distractions from his main objective."

"His main objective?" Emily asked. "You mean us don't you?"

"Which is why now, more than ever we need to be certain about one course of action. We can't have any distractions ourselves." Jayden told them. "I just wanted to make it clear that while I'm back, while I'm going to fight on the team...Lauren's still the leader."

Lauren looked to him, and he smiled back, squeezing her am gently.

"Lauren's still the one with the Sealing Symbol." Jayden reminded them. "From what I've heard, there was a little bit of a rocky start, but she's been a good leader in my absence. It was always her place to be the leader. So, I'm stepping down for her. Lauren's taking the lead from here on out. Do we all agree?"

Lauren looked around the room. Mia, Emily, Ji and Kevin all nodded in agreement. That only left Antonio and Mike to answer. Jayden looked to Antonio.

"Well, whichever way we go the leader's in red right?" Antonio asked in response. "I'm a little biased on which way I'd have preferred this to go, but if Jayden trusts you, then I will too."

"Thanks Antonio." Jayden stated. He then looked to Mike. "Well Mike, that just leaves you."

Mike seemed a little uneasy. Lauren was worried about him; he was always the hardest to win over. Of all the others, she could see that Mike admired Jayden the most. Emily had explained how Mike had looked up to Jayden the most when he arrived at the house. Coming in, feeling like he knew everything, and being a little cocky about his duties, it was seeing the difference between where he was in his training, and where Jayden and Kevin were that lit a fire under him. He had longed to match Jayden, to make him proud.

When Jayden had left, Mike had taken it personally, and blamed Lauren for his decision. He had blamed Lauren for Jayden's decision to leave, and he had been very vocal about the point. He had accepted her as a substitute, but she always got the impression that he was still hopeful that Jayden's return would mean a return to the way things were.

Mike looked to Jayden, and then to Lauren.

"You've done a good job." He told her. "I guess I'm in."

"Now that's settled, I guess it's time to turn the floor over to our leader." Jayden stated as he looked to Lauren. "The team's yours. You know they're a good team, and I'm looking forward to joining it."

Lauren shifted a little in her seat, pulling her arm away from Jayden a little. She looked around the room at the other Samurai, and she knew that the time was now. He team had given her their trust, now she owed them. Looking to Kevin, she just nodded.

"I really appreciate what you've all done tonight." She stated, standing up. "You've all shown a lot of faith in me, and a lot of trust. However, it's been pointed out to me that if I'm going to expect that of you, then perhaps I need to offer you something a little more than my word."

She started to pace, shifting a little nervously as she tried to think of where to begin.

"You already know what happened on the night of the last battle." She told them. "I was taken from the Shiba House, and from there, I was taken underground. For my whole life, I was taken to different safe houses, given different attendants and sensei all over the world, all tasked with only one thing."

"To prepare you for the day you would seal Xandred away." Mia answered. Lauren just nodded.

"I was never anywhere longer than three months." She explained. "It was decided that it would only put people in danger, put me at risk of being discovered if I was allowed to put down any roots. So, once I had learned what I could in one household, I was packed up and shipped off to the next."

"That...that sounds really lonely." Emily said sympathetically. Before the Shiba House, she had only ever lived on the farm. She knew every inch of her parents' land. She knew everyone in her home town, even the other kids, most of whom she wished she hadn't known. She had always had Serena and her parents. No matter how tough life got, whenever she'd had a rough day at school, whenever she had been hurt or upset, she always had that to rely on. From the sounds of it, that was something Lauren never had.

"It was just something I was used to." She stated. "There were a few times that I was moved in the middle of the night, or without any notice. They kept me moving just to reduce the chances that I would be found. Everyone was always so paranoid that I'd be found. That was until my last place."

She fell a little quieter as she tried to compose her thoughts.

"It was a little farm. It wasn't much, but it was really peaceful." She told them. "It was run by a really nice family. They had a daughter, Esther. She was a really cute kid. She was about the same age I was when I left home. She was so fascinated by having another person in the house, she kept following me around everywhere, begging me to play with her or watch TV with her. It drove me nuts for a while, but eventually I started to really like being there. I had something other than just training."

"So what happened?" Mike asked her. She just sighed.

"They got a warning that they thought some Nighlock were in the area." She informed them. "I was advised to go, but I ended up staying. I couldn't bear to leave them until I knew they'd be safe. I'd always been told that the constant moving was only a precaution, that no one knew where I was, so I refused to go."

She then started to shed a few tears as she thought about that night.

"A couple of nights later, the farm was overrun with Moogers." She recalled. "I was told to go, to run and go into hiding, but when I heard Esther screaming, I couldn't leave them. So, I went back and I fought them as long as I could."

"I tried, I really tried to save them, but I didn't have a Samuraizer, or any weapons." She sniffed as she looked around the others. "Eventually, they managed to overpower me. They killed everyone, and they burned down the farm, but not before they dragged me away."

"You were kidnapped?" Jayden asked her.

"They dragged me into a Gap." She explained to her brother. "It was only when they got me through the Gap that I realised they had taken me into the Dark Zone."

"The Dark Zone?" Jayden gasped. "You were...you were really there?"

"I thought humans couldn't live in the Netherworld." Mike responded.

"Normally they can't, but the Forge Master really wanted me there." Lauren answered. "He locked me in special chains that allowed me to live in the Dark Zone. He kept me chained, locked up like an animal, all so he could use my symbol power to fuel his furnace and create his weapons."

She pulled off her jersey, exposing her upper body. Antonio, Benda, Ji and Kevin had all already seen the true extent of her scarring. Burn scars covered most of her upper body and torso. A few in perfectly straight lines, like irons or tools indicated that the burns were not accidental. They were deliberate torture. The Rangers looked decidedly ill seeing how horrendously she had been mistreated.

"I was there for a year and a half, being tortured every day, forced to make his furnace burn." She told them. "I was even forced to help re-forge Urumasa. That was when I escaped. He tried to attack whoever took Urumasa to be re-forged. Then there was an explosion. My chains fell free, and I knew I might not get another chance, so I ran. I hitched a ride back through the Gap with the other Nighlock...I ended up waking up in a hospital in New Zealand."

She pulled back on her jersey, straightening herself out.

"No one knows more about the cruelty of the Nighlock than I do." She put down flatly. "It's vital that we seal them all away for good. If we can't manage this, then no one will. The world, the whole of humanity is relying on us. We can't fail."

Just then, they heard a knock at the door. Ji got up, heading for the door.

"That will be dinner." He said quietly to the others. "Would you all help me prepare the kitchen?"

They all filed out of the room, passing Lauren. Emily put a hand on her shoulder, looking to her sympathetically, before heading out with the others. Only Jayden remained behind. She turned and looked to her brother.

"Jayden, I..."

He just grabbed his sister, pulling her in and hugging her tightly. Lauren was more than a little stunned, but eventually, tentatively, she wrapped her arms around him, holding him warmly.

"Lauren, I had no idea." He stated.

"I don't want you to think of me as weak." She told him as they parted. "I've used what happened to me as my motivation to get here for six months. I've dreamt of the day that I'd end the threat of the Nighlock for good. To make sure that nothing like this can ever happen to anyone ever again."

"I'm just sorry that no one was there for you when you needed it." Jayden told her. He smiled at her as she looked at him. "I promise you, I'll always be here for you. You'll never have to face odds like that alone again."

With that' Lauren pulled into him, burying her face in his chest as she hugged him tightly. The others now knew the truth about what had happened to her, and they were still willing to follow her. More than that, she had her brother back, and he had sworn to be by her side throughout the coming war. She was no longer alone.