Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, House of Anubis or Big Time Rush

House of Power Rangers

Chapter 21: House of Before

The past few weeks have been busy at the Shiba house. So much has happened! First, they came into possession of the Bullzord (after one of the guardian family members brought it over) but that was such destructive day! There was so much clearing up to do afterwards! Then about a week after that the rangers discovered that it wasn't just Emily who had a sibling. It turned out that Mia actually had a younger brother, Terry! He was wanted Mia to sing with him and his band (which ended featuring Antonio for a night). It was amazing hearing Mia sing though; the rangers didn't realise how talented she was. If she could cook as well as she sang… As much fun as it had been that night though, Nina had to admit that a small part of what had made that night so good was that a certain boy band had ended up performing there after Terry's band as a mystery band. Nina was just as shocked to see them on stage as they were to see her in the crowd. After the show though, they came down and after finding Camille in the crowd, Nina had introduced them to her teammates. She had no idea Mike was such a fan but it sure was funny finding out. Unfortunately, though, Nina was beginning to get very drained. Who knew fighting Nighlok who won't let up, a couple of fast approaching coursework deadlines, helping out lost blue ranger and training would do that to a person?

"No!" Nina exclaimed as the gap sensor went off.

"Nina," Mia says from the door. "Your essay is amazing! Stop worrying and just hand it in. But not now because we have to go come on!"

The Nighlok they were fighting was called Bowser. It pink with yellow and green splotches all over its pudgy body. Of course, once the rangers showed their faces it called forth some moogers, but Nina was able to make a direct path to the Nighlok as her teammates took them on.

"I am sick and tired of you and your friends ruining my day," Nina growls.

"I could say the same thing," Bowser replies as Nina hits him with her lightning mace, sending him flying back. "Ugh, you know what? I'd be careful if I were you. I only have one dose of this, so I was gonna use it on the red ranger, but I think you'll work just as well." The Nighlok reaches into its pouch, before pulling out its closed fist, only opening it to blow a purple glittery dust on the purple ranger.

"What?" Nina says, confused as her view is temporarily obstructed.

"Anyways, that's it from me today. I need a soak. I suggest you take one too and just relax," Bowser grins. "See you later, kid!"

"I don't think so!" Antonio says, running over and hitting the Nighlok with his spin sword.

"What?" Bowser exclaims, startled. Soon enough, all the rangers are able to come over and help take down the Nighlok.

"Nina!" Kevin calls, once the mega Bowser is defeated. "Are you alright? What was that sparkly stuff the Nighlok blow on you?"

"I'm… fine. I'm really fine actually. I have no idea. But nothing happened."

"Are you sure?" Mia asks, as Nina drops her morph.

"Yeah," the purple ranger nods. "I'm okay."


Back at the Shiba house, the rangers were still slightly confused. They'd collectively been keeping an eye on Nina. Neither Shaylee nor Ji had heard of a Nighlok like this as of late so they would have to delve into older journals to see if they could find anything but it just didn't seem like there was anything to find. Nina seemed okay and since the Nighlok was destroyed they were hoping that whatever was supposed to happen, wouldn't. They just didn't understand what the Nighlok was expecting to happen. Although, one thing Emily did notice was,

"Nina, did you cut your hair?"

"No… not recently. Why?" The purple ranger asks, lifting her some strands of her hair. It looked the same to her.

"I don't know. I thought it looked shorter a minute," Emily tells her. Over the past month, Nina had been able to wash her hair frequently enough to practically get all the purple highlights out. Maybe she got it cut then… but how did she not notice until now?

"Oh-"

"Knock, knock," Mia says, poking her head in the room. "I just finished up. Dinner's ready."

"Yay! I'm starving," Nina grins getting up, pulling a reluctant Emily off the couch too. Entering the kitchen they see the boys are already there, it's just Shaylee and Ji missing. Mia has already dished out the plates so Emily and Nina just sit down in front of one.

"You guys feel free to dig in," Mia smiles as Nina picks up her fork. "I'm going to get the others." As Mia leaves the room, Nina puts the food filled fork in her mouth before contorting her face grabbing a napkin and spitting it out.

"What is that?" she exclaims, disgusted.

"That's her lasagne," Kevin says. "Why did you eat it?"

"Because I thought it was edible!"

"But Mia made it," Mike says as she walks back in, so he continues. "Which is how you know it was made with love."

"Thanks Mike," she grins as Nina rinses her mouth with water.


"Amber! Amber!" Emily hears Nina call from her room.

"Nina?" Emily asks, entering the room.

"Yes! Amber! Could you bring in a towel please? I think I left it on my bed." Emily just looks around before spotting the towel.

"um, sure," she replies, entering the bathroom and putting it on the heater before walking back out. "Nina, you're towel's here."

"Thanks!" Emily hears the water turn off. "And were you just doing an American accent because that was actually pretty good."

"What?"

"Never mind. Anyways, could you text the rest of Sibuna to tell them we should meet here tomorrow morning before breakfast. I think I know how to get rid of Eddie's backups."

"Uh, sure. I'm gonna go now." Rushing to the living room, Emily finds that most of the team are already there. Quickly, telling them to "wait there", she goes and finds Jayden and Shaylee to join the others.

"You guys, something's wrong with Nina," she tells them.

"Wait you figured it out? What is it?" Shaylee asks.

"I'm not 100% sure but I was walking past her room when she was showering and she started calling out to Amber and she thought I was her but putting on a American accent and she asked me to text something or a group called Sibuna and something about Eddie."

"Amber and Eddie? As in her old roommate Amber and best friend Eddie?" Jayden questions to which Emily shrugs.

"I think so."

"Actually, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure she forgot my name earlier as well," Mike says but before anyone can say anything else, Nina is standing at the threshold.

"Who are you guys? And why am I here? Do you work for Rufus?"

"Nina, calm down," Jayden says stepping forward, grabbing her attention, her eyes widening. "We don't work for anyone."

"Who are you?" She says quietly, stepping back slightly.

"My name is Jayden Shiba and-"

"Shiba? As in the red ranger?" she questions. Okay so she remembers that. That's good.

"Yes exactly. These are the other rangers, Kevin, Emily, Mia, Mike and Antonio," Jayden says pointing at each of them in turn. "That's Mentor Ji and you probably recognise my cousin Shaylee since you were friends when you were kids."

"Of course," Nina smiles cautiously as Shaylee comes over to her and hugs her which she reciprocates. When she pulls away, she look around curiously. "Okay, I guess this makes some sort of sense but I don't understand how I got here."

"Speaking of that, Nina what can you tell us about yourself," Mentor asks.

"Um, well, my name is Nina Martin," she begins. "I was raised in Ohio by my gran, I'm sixteen and I'm training to become the purple power ranger but considering I found this," she says, pulling out her samuraizer, "on my dresser I'm assuming I already am."

"Nina," Jayden says.

"Yeah?"

"You're seventeen." For a moment, she doesn't say anything, her mouth just drops.

"What's happening to me?"

"Nina, I fear that your memory is regressing," Mentor tells her.

"Awesome," she says flatly.

"This is probably seriously freaking you out so why don't you go to bed and we'll whip up a cure for you?" Shaylee suggests.

"Yeah, sure. I think I'm gonna do that. Uh, goodnight," Nina says as she walks back to her room with Shaylee.


"Gran! Gran! Where are you?" Nina yells walks walking around the house. She's not quite sure what time it is but the sun's up and this isn't the room that she fell asleep in last night. "Gran! Gr- whoa!" She yells as she's almost knocked over by colliding into someone, but she finds her balance, quickly getting into a defensive position.

"What did you do with my gran?"

"What? Who's your gran? Who are – wait a minute!" Mike exclaims. "Nina!"

"How do you know my name? Who are you?"

"Err, hold on. Shaylee! Shaylee! Shaylee, where are you?" Mike yells, causing Nina to cover her ears.

"Argh, stop yelling," Nina groans.

"Sorry," Mike apologises.

"Mike, what do you want? Why are you – whoa. Kid!"

"No, not just kid. Nina!" Mike says.

"Nina?" Shaylee gasps, bending down slightly to look at her face. "Oh my gosh it is Nina!"

"Yes, it is," Nina nods. "And I'm not a kid. I'm twelve."

"You're twelve?" A new voice behind Nina says. Turning around she sees Jayden.

"Yeah. Who are you?" She says suspiciously.

"We'll talk about that later but for now, Nina I need you to come with me," Shaylee says.

"Where?"

"To the hospital room. Oh, and Nina, I promise, your gran is okay," she says.


"Okay, so it turns out we were slightly wrong," Shaylee shares with the team, once she leaves Nina in the hospital room. "Nina's memory isn't just fading. She's aging backwards. Which explains why the cure we gave Jayden last time didn't work immediately."

"Is she okay?" Jayden asks.

"Well, she's slightly confused as to how she's here instead of Ohio naturally but apart from that her vitals are fine but her cells are literally getting newer instead of aging."

"That doesn't sound very good," Nina says, standing by the door.

"Nina! I told you to wait in the infirmary," Shaylee tells her.

"I know and I'm sorry but I don't need to be there. I feel fine. I mean aside from the whole aging backwards thing but still. I want to spar."

"What?" Mia asks.

"I want to spar. If you guys really are the power rangers, it will be a fun challenge! I never get to spar with people," she exclaims.

"Um, okay then, I guess you can-" Jayden begins but Nina interrupts.

"Wait, you're the red ranger, right? Jayden?" He looks down at her nodding and she smiles. "Shaylee told me about all of you. I want to spar against you." Jayden raises his eyebrows, looking between her and the others who just smile, intrigued.

"Me?"

"Yeah," she grins. "I want to see if I can beat you."


After tying and rolling up Nina's training uniform in the correct places so it stays up, Nina went with Emily and Mia to meet Jayden outside. He's already waiting on the mats when they get there, two wooden swords in his hands. He begins walking towards the mini purple ranger as she walks towards him.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Mia asks, as Jayden hands the mini ranger a sword.

"Of course! I've been training really hard! I want to see if it's paying off," she replies to which Jayden smiles.

"I guess we'll see," Nina replies, smiling as she gets into position.

"Are you going easy on me?" Nina pants after she manages to hit Jayden once again.

"Of course not," Jayden smirks barely even breathing heavier than normal.

"Good," she smiles innocently before raising her sword again.


They spent over an hour and a half sparring before Kevin realised how long they'd been out there and went to check on the two who came inside to shower soon after. Jayden, who finished before the purple ranger (who'd promised to join them in the living room once she'd finish) was sitting in the living room, telling team about their sparring battle.

"Guys, it's crazy but she was crazy talented back then. I mean of course, her technique could use a little work, but she'd clearly been training hard. She actually got in some good hits."

"You mean, a twelve-year-old managed to get a hit on the red ranger?" Emily teases, to which Jayden rolls his eyes.

"I was going easy on her."

"Maybe but I'm pretty sure I caught you actually trying a few times," she tells him to which he just laughs, shaking his head.

"Jayden," Shaylee calls, appearing in the doorway. "I need your help."

"Are you okay?" Mike asks, turning around concerned.

"Yeah, I'm alright," she smiles before walking out as Jayden reaches her. Walking down the hallway, Jayden turns to his cousin.

"You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she nods. "I just wanted to tell you before the rest of team because I don't know what to do now."

"Tell me what?" He asks, now apprehensive.

"Well, it's more of a showing thing. I went into my room a few minutes ago to check on Nina," she says as she pushes the door open to her room. "And I found her like this." Shutting the door behind him, Jayden walks towards Nina's bed, eyes widening as he rushes forwards seeing her new state. Lying asleep on top of the duvet, wearing a hoodie that's already oversized on regular Nina, is an even smaller Nina, her feet just sticking out. Crouching down, Jayden guesses she's about six.

"What-? She was twelve for over two hours! How did this happen?" Jayden whispers.

"I have no idea! But Jayden, I'm pretty sure she's younger than when I first found her," His cousin whispers back him, as her phone rings. "Watch her. It's Ji, I'll be back in a second." Jayden nods, running a hand through his hair as Shaylee steps outside. Going over to sit on the edge of the bed, Jayden places a hand on the sleeping girl's shoulder, shaking her to wake her up.

"Nina," he says gently. Who knows what she knows at this age? Besides, it's not like she's gonna recognise anyone. He doesn't want to scare her too much. "Nina, you have to wake up."

"No daddy," she whispers, not opening her eyes. Jayden glances up as the door opens again, Shaylee re-entering the room. The afraid look in the assistant mentor's eyes is made worse when she sees the same look on the red rangers face. "We have to wake her up."

"I know," Shaylee replies. "I'll wake her up, you go and get one of the others. Mike."

"Mike?" Jayden asks raising an eyebrow. "Just a random name off the top of your head, huh?"

"Yes, actually and do you really want to play that game? Because I know-"

"Now's really not the time, Shay," Jayden tells her, leaving the room, smiling slightly.


After grabbing Mike, Jayden went back to the other rangers to explain the situation and what they'd discovered.

"She thinks her parents are alive? How are we gonna deal with that? How old does that make her?"

"We're not sure but at most she's five then," Jayden replies to Mia's question.

"What are we gonna tell her if she asks?" Jayden purses his lips, clearly not having an answer.

"We could just tell her that her mum had important ranger business to do and her dad had to visit her gran so they left her with us, so she'd be safe," Antonio suggests.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Jayden agrees.

"Okay cool, but how about our slightly, bigger problem? How do we stop her from de-aging?" Emily asks.

"She's right. We know that when she's relaxed, especially asleep, she de-ages faster but first, considering how young she is she's gonna get tired eventually. Also, we don't know how to get her back to her age," Kevin says before Mia places her hand over his.

"Kevin, calm down. We'll figure this out."

"Yeah, um, Shaylee spoke with Ji earlier and he thinks he's found something that can help her. It'll pause her de-aging process, but actually bringing her back… we're not sure yet."

"Uh, guys," Mike says, entering the room. "What do five year olds like to do? Mini Nina's a little freaked out and we don't know what to do to entertain her."

"Drawing. Or painting. Nina told me she used to love it when she was younger," Jayden replies as Mike.

"Oh yeah! Yeah! Wait, do we have any of that stuff?"

"Check Nina's pencil case on her desk. I'll get some paper from the printer," Mia tells him, getting up.


So Nina didn't have many options of colouring pencils and if - when they got Nina back they knew she wouldn't be happy if they had used her highlighters for colouring in, which was how Jayden found himself in the shopping mall, looking for a stationary store. He wasn't sure what the girl would want so he got a pack of colouring pencils, pens and even paint. Nina was supposed to go with him but considering she didn't have any proper clothes, let alone shoes, they had to change plans. The young ranger appreciated it though, even inviting him to draw something too before they had to come in to eat. Thankfully Antonio had cooked, claiming to have knowledge on cooking for kids (although he just put fish fingers and chips in the oven).

"So Nina, how's your day been?" Emily asked as they ate.

"It's been good. I was a bit scared at first because you're all new but you're really nice so I'm not scared now."

"That's really good to hear." Nina smiles, shoving another fish finger into her mouth, making to another rangers laugh.

"Oh after, dinner can I show you my drawings?"

"Yeah, of course! We'd love to see them," Mike grins.

"And then after that can we watch a movie?"

"You know what? I think I have a few DVDs from when I was younger stored somewhere. I'll see if I can find them in a moment."


The rangers soon found out that mini Nina was no Picasso. Her art was… colourful. She'd painted some purple trees and she'd drawn the team as humans but in their respective ranger colours (which gave the rangers a little bit of hope that Nina may still have her seventeen-year-old knowledge). She was so happy when showing the team though that they couldn't help but smile. However, once they put on the film and turned down the lights, the team didn't pay close attention to the shrinking purple ranger until they heard the door open.

"Rangers, where's Nina?" Ji asked, entering the room, turning on a light as he did.

"She's here," Kevin replies, turning to the little girl sitting next to him before gasping. "Oh no!" It wasn't little girl Nina sitting next to him anymore. It was baby Nina!

"Nina!" Jayden gasped, as Shaylee went over to their Mentor. Jayden picked up the sleeping infant, before joining the two although Shaylee rushes off before he can reach the two.

"I found the root to stop the process but she's younger than I thought. Shaylee's gone to extract the juice."

"Bring her here," she calls from the infirmary. Jayden runs over, with Nina in his arms, the girl waking up as he reaches the room. Shaylee quickly brings over syringe filled with a luminous yellow-green solution as Jayden lowers the girl onto the bed. The assistant mentor squirts the solution into the baby's mouth. The baby Nina, opens and shuts her mouth a couple of times her face screwing up each time before she bursts into tears. Shaylee picks up the girl and Jayden takes away the syringe.

"I know. I know it's disgusting but we had to give it to you, I'm sorry," Shaylee coos, rocking and bouncing the girl.


"Guys, how is she still crying? Isn't she tired by now?" Kevin groans. Nina had started crying again about twenty minutes after they'd calmed her down from drinking the solution but that was over half an hour ago. Jayden had managed to use some symbol power to transform her clothes to fit her baby self. He'd also managed to find a few baby things from his childhood in storage. However, he had left to go buy a pack of nappies, he should be back anytime now.

"Let me try," Emily says, as Kevin eagerly hands her the baby ranger. This was the sixth rotation of the girl. Shaylee, Mia, Mentor Ji, Mike, Antonio and Kevin had all tried to stop the girl from crying. They just didn't know what was wrong with her. They didn't know what she wanted. She refused to eat, she wouldn't sleep, she didn't have a nappy to be changed but even then, she hadn't wet herself since aside from tears.

"Hey, I bought the diapers," Jayden says, entering the living room. "She's still crying?"

"Great, I'll take these," Emily says, holding the crying girl on her hip, taking the pack from the red ranger before walking out.

"She hasn't stopped. We don't know what's wrong," Shaylee sighs.

"Uh, maybe I still have some toys from when I was younger stored away," Jayden suggests.

"Oh yeah, I'll help you look."


"Hey, I think I have a couple of things that might stop the little wolf from howling," Jayden says entering Nina's room where Emily is sitting on the floor with the squirming girl.

"Please! I'll try anything to stop it," Emily sighs as Jayden joins her on the rug, before presenting the stuffed lion said ranger got him for Christmas.

"Hey Nina," Jayden coos, waving the toy. "Nina." The infant doesn't stop crying, until she feels the toy in her hand. At first, she just keeps spluttering, clutching the toy in her tiny hands. She stops momentarily, looking at the toy as Jayden lets go but then she throws it across the room and starts crying again.

"No, no Nina, don't cry again," Emily pleads but Jayden goes and picks up the misplaced toy, before presenting a new one; a stuffed bunny.

"Okay, maybe we'll have better luck with this one," Jayden says. "Okay Nina, what about this one," He wiggles the toy as it gets closer to her. "It has big, fluffy ears, and really soft paws," he rubs one of its paws on her hands to get her attention. "And it's got a big, orange carrot of its own." Nina suddenly stops crying, reaching out for the toy. Jayden hands it to her but as she brings it closer, she puts the carrot in her mouth, biting it with her little baby teeth.

"Is she hungry?" Emily asks. "She refused to eat earlier."

"What did you give her?" Jayden asks as Emily puts Nina on the ground in front of her. Her hair was a much lighter at this age.

"Uh, I'm not sure. We had limited options, so I think Mentor tried giving her some boiled broccoli."

Jayden laughs, "I'm not sure if Nina even likes broccoli as a seventeen-year-old." His laughter is cut short but a certain stuffed bunny, hitting him on the forehead. However, he can't help but smile as a cheeky laugh sounds throughout the room, coming from none other than the baby purple ranger.

"She's laughing," Emily grins as Jayden reaches forwards and tickles the little girl's stomach making her laugh even more. Her laughter is just so full of life, happy and carefree. Emily can't help but notice the look it brings to Jayden's face.

"Because she thinks it's funny to hit her team leader." Handing her back the toy, Jayden gets up as she start biting the stuffed carrot as well.

"She's able to sit up and support herself pretty well and she already has her teeth so I'm gonna assume she's over one. I'll boil her some pasta-" baby Nina (and Emily) laugh again as she throws the bunny at him again before grabbing the lion too. "And I guess I'll boil some carrots too." As Jayden begins to walk out the room, Nina begins pushing her self up off the floor.

"Uh, Jayden," Emily calls.

"Yeah – oh," he says, turning around to see the incoming child. "So the little wolf can walk," he says, as the girl attempts to howl before she grins up as him holding out the bunny for him to take as she approaches.

"I think she wants to go with you," Emily smiles, standing up. Jayden meets to little girl halfway, taking the bunny before taking the outstretched hand. It's so small!

"Mama," Baby Nina says, turning back to Emily, who's eyes widen slightly as she glances up at Jayden. "Come." Nina beckons her with her floppy hand and the yellow rangers' approaches. Nina takes her hand too before she begins taking steps towards the door bouncing slightly.


It doesn't take too long for Nina's food to be ready. They just over boiled everything so it was soft enough for her to eat. Such as they carrot she's smushing on her face. As the infant watched to food being prepared she became a lot happier, the other rangers joining the red and yellow to see the happier girl. Seeing everyone at first, had scared her slightly and she leaned further into Emily at first but as Jayden and Emily began speaking to her more, the more engaged she got with everyone else so now she was freely speaking gibberish to all the rangers around her. They were able to somewhat follow what she was saying but a lot of the time they just nodded along, smiled and reacted accordingly as she spoke. However, a couple of hours later, Jayden is tucking Nina into her bed. Shaylee was going to try and make sure she didn't fall off during the night but just in case, they put a couple of thick blankets on the floor around her bed to cushion her fall if she did fall.


"Guys, I think I figured out how to get Nina back to normal," Shaylee exclaims running into the courtyard. Despite having a child to take care of the rangers still had to train. Nina had originally tried joining them, copying Mia as she began to get into position. Mentor had had to take her away and although she had whined at first, he managed to distract her by letting her paint.

"What?" Jayden asked, stopping Mike's swinging sword as he turns to Shaylee. "How?"

"Long story short, I did some tests from her hair and I found some markers on her DNA that weren't there before and they…" she trails off, looking at the rangers urgent faces'. She holds up a beaker containing an orange liquid. "She needs to ingest this… although this is it seriously gross so it might actually be easier for her to have it injected."

"Can you do it now?" Mia asks. Shaylee nods,

"Yeah, and I think I should." Mentor Ji got up with Nina and followed Shaylee and the rangers into the infirmary. As Shaylee sets up, grabbing a syringe Jayden walks over to his cousin.

"Hey, are you sure this is going to work? It's not going to hurt her right?"

"Jayden," Shaylee sighs. "I don't know. This is unchartered territory even for the previous rangers. I… I'm only 60% sure this will work."

"I don't like those odds Shay," Jayden mutters, knowing there's not much else she can do.

"I've tested, retested, tested my retests then retested them. This is the best I can do, Jayden," she replies, exasperated. "I need you to trust me."

"Of course, I trust you Shaylee. I'm sorry. I'm just worried," Jayden sighs.

"Me too," Kevin says, behind Jayden, baby Nina on his hip. "Like what if it causes her to start de-aging again? She already a baby? And if it doesn't stop at new born then she'll-"

"Kevin!" Emily snaps, effectively cutting him off as Nina begins whimpering and reaching for Jayden who takes her from Kevin. While the rangers had come to realise that to the girl any male was 'dada' and any female was 'mama', she had noticeably become more attached to Jayden, Emily and Mike, usually seeking one of them out when she was upset. "You are not helping. Of course, Shaylee's done everything she can and she hasn't let us down before. We have to trust her." Emily's gaze lands on Shaylee and she smile slightly. "Even, if she doesn't completely trust herself."

"You're right," Kevin nods, turning to Shaylee. "I'm sorry. I know you've got this." Shaylee nods, suddenly more reassured.

"Thank you, Emily," she says, before collecting the vial from Mia, and filling the syringe with the orange solution before gently taking one of Nina's arms, the girl's head laid on Jayden's shoulder. "Okay, Nina. This might hurt just a bit." However, almost as soon as the needle pierces her skin, Nina's hand snaps back up, eyes wide and watering but once the syringe in empty and Shaylee pulls it out, her eyes roll back and shut as her head falls back onto Jayden's shoulder, the rangers gasping.

"Shaylee," Jayden whispers, as the assistant mentor's eyes widen. She reaches for the girl and puts her on the bed before connecting her to some equipment and soon enough, her heartbeat can be heard around the room.

"She's okay," Shaylee sighs.

"Is it working?" Mike asks.

"I'm not sure… I think – I think we just have to wait."

"I'll go grab her some of her regular clothes," Mia says after a few minutes, standing up, just as the gap sensor begins ringing. All the rangers look at Jayden, no one moving yet.

"Guys," Jayden says, standing up. "We're all worried about Nina… but there's nothing we can do here. What we can do, is out there. It's our responsibility to defeat the Nighlok. We have to go." Once the rangers nod, Jayden's first to leave the room, shortly followed by the others.


It's a couple hours before the rangers get back but when they do, there is a half pleasant surprise. Nina, while still unconscious, was in her 17-year-old body again. Shaylee must've dressed her up when they were gone.

"Why isn't she waking up?" Mia asks.

"I'm not sure. She's been normal and steady for almost an hour now. I don't know what's taking so long. Everything's saying she should be awake now."

"Then why isn't she-"

"No!" Nina screams, her body snapping up into an upright position. "Stop! You're gonna kill them!"

"Nina!" Jayden says, grabbing her flailing arms. "It's okay!"

"No!"

"Nina!" He yells, grabbing the sides of her face, and turning her to him but her eye are wild and unfocused. "Look at me. It's not real. You're okay."

"Jayden," she breathes, her hands coming up to his forearms, her eyes finally seeing him.

"Yeah," he nods and she does so too, breathing shakily, before throwing her arms around his neck, still shaken. Jayden's arms quickly wrap around waist, his right hand rubbing up and down her back.

"Are you okay?" She whispers, tearily, her voice trembling. "Is everyone okay?"

"I'm okay. We're all okay, Nina," he replies, soothingly. She sounds so scared. He hates it. As the rangers, mentor and Shaylee watch the scene before them, their hearts break; from what they've all seen of her, it takes a lot to properly wipe the smile off the purple ranger's face but to see her this distraught? It's awful. As much as they want to comfort her, they don't want to overwhelm her because although, they know she's not, she seems very fragile at the moment and it's times like these that remind them that she – even though not by much – is the youngest of them all. "Are you?" Nina nods, fiercely.

"Yeah. I'm okay." Although, it's clear she wants to sound strong, her actions say otherwise as she hugs him tighter. "I'm okay."


Soon after, Nina lets Jayden go and settles down a bit she decides to have a shower before they catch her up on what happened since she doesn't really remember much. However, once she comes out of the shower, she's still pretty rattled and knows exactly who she wants to speak. As she opens her laptop to call her Osirian, she realises the date. March 13th?! She missed two days? Try as she may, the last thing she can remember, is fighting a Nighlok, (Bowser?) but it was definitely on the 11th because that same morning she had been waiting for the 13th because… she has to leave right now!


"Hey, you made it!" Logan says, first noticing as Nina approaches the group. It had taken a bit of time to convince the team, namely Shaylee and Mike that she would be fine and not too long. Strangely enough, it was Jayden who assured the others she would be fine, despite her not saying where she was going.

"Yeah, of course. I said I'd be here," she smiles, giving him a hug as the rest of the band comes over.

"Cutting it a bit close, aren't we?" he teases, as she hugs the others, rolling her eyes. Considering, she herself doesn't really know why that it, it's not like she can really tell them what happened even if she wanted to.

"I didn't say I'd be prompt," she replies grinning cheekily, although she must admit her smile wasn't quite as wide as usual. Logan just chuckles before grabbing, James and Carlos.

"The three of us have something to do on the bus," James says.

"No, we don't," Carlos says, confused before gasping. "Oh yeah we do! But Kendall doesn't have to help so you should talk with him." Nina just chuckles as they run off, Kendall looking at their retreating forms before turning back to her.

"Sorry about them," he says. "They like to be annoying."

"It's cool," she smiles.

"Are you okay, though?" He asks, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm – I'm fine," she replies but he's not convinced.

"Are you sure? You seem kinda… I don't know. Rattled?"

"I-" She begins, shocked he noticed. If she's still not hiding it, she knows it's bad. She definitely gonna try and Skype Eddie but if not she's email him. Hopefully, he'll get back to her quickly. "It's just the past couple of days have been kinda hectic and I just feel like I've… lost time? It sounds ridiculous but I feel like something bad is gonna happen and – I don't know why I'm telling you all this. This is so depressing," she chuckles nervously.

"Hey, I can tell this is seriously bothering you. If cryptically telling me what's up helps then I'm happy to listen," Kendall tells her, earnestly.

"Thank you," she smiles. "But no. This is the last time I'm gonna see you for a while. I don't want your lasting memory of me to be all sad."

"It's only a month," Kendall points out, but when Nina looks down and doesn't answer he sighs. "And then you say you're not coming back, right?"

"I should say that," Nina says, quietly, not looking up at him. "I really should say that… but I really don't want to."

"You don't?" He says, tilting her chin up with his finger, so she's looking into his eyes. She softly shakes her head.

"No."

"Good," Kendall says, leaning in. "I don't want you to either," he whispers and Nina, despite herself, tilts her head up as he eyes flutter shut but just as she feels his breath, just as he's lips are mere millimetres away from hers, the tour bus horn sounds loud, shocking both of them apart, eyes flying open as they hear Carlos' voice.

"Sorry everyone! I slipped!" Kendall chuckles, pinching the bridge of his nose as Nina laughs, running a hand through her hair.

"Kendall, hurry up! The other dogs said you were – oh it's you!" Gustavo says, sticking his head out of the window. "You're the one that made the mac and cheese right? Nina, was it?"

"Yeah," she nods.

"You know what? It's actually good to see you. The dogs work better when –"

"Gustavo, I'm coming !" Kendall interrupts.

"Yeah, just hurry up before we drive off without you."

"I think you have to go," she laughs as Gustavo head disappears again.

"Yeah," he nods. "Thank you for coming, Nina."

"Of course," she replies.

"I'll see you once we get back?" He asks.

"Eventually, yeah," she nods, stepping forwards to give him a hug. Once the tour bus drives off though, she sighs before making her way back to her worried teammates. But first things first; Eddie.

Ooh chapter twenty-one! What on earth was Nina experiencing when she woke up? Was that a Nighlok thing? A ranger thing? A chosen one thing? …or maybe it was just a Nina thing? Also, you guys have officially caught up to where I am. You'll still get your chapter on Friday don't worry but I have to admit I might take a break next week and not release any more chapters while I write but we'll see. I'll confirm that on Friday but just know that if I do, it'll only be for the week because I really don't like unfinished stories. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for reading