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

House of Power Rangers

Chapter 27: House of Honesty

It's only been a couple of days since Jayden returned but while they had a little time for a bit of celebration, that did not mean the Nighlok had let up at all. There had been a new one for the past three days and early this morning had been no difference.

"Man, couldn't this Nighlok have chosen a later time in the day to show up. The sun is literally just rising," Mike yawned.

"I mean, it seems to be the most effective way to get you up in the mornings so I'm not too mad about the time" Nina jokes, clearing a path of moogers before making her way to the Nighlok, Goopertin.

"Ugh, this Nighlok is so slimy!" Nina exclaims as she attacks him with her sword.

"I'm actually just very moisturised," Goopertin corrects as the other rangers, stand before him, the moogers defeated. "This protective layer means I can last longer than the average Nighlok before drying up. Although, you guys seem a bit dry to me." And just like that the Nighlok seems to projectile vomit a clear slime on Nina and Jayden, who violently flinch back and out of the way.

"Eww!" Nina cries.

"That's disgusting!" Jayden yells.

"What's wrong with you?" Mia says, all the rangers disgusted.

"Oh, I can assure you, it's not me something's the matter with," the Nighlok grins. This must've been what happened to all the people who looked wet when the rangers had arrived. "Anyways, I manage to do that to a pretty wide ranger of people. Do you see what I did there?" The Nighlok cackles but the rangers are too disgusted to find it even remotely funny. "Ugh, you guys are boring! I'm going back to the Sanzu river where my humour is appreciated. Try not to get too emotional," The Nighlok says, disappearing through a gap.

"I need to go shower," Nina sighs, Jayden nodding in agreement as they begin heading back to the house.


Even after dropping their morph, Nina and Jayden were still soaked in that Nighlok's slime so the shower was straight where they headed. Nina spent a good twenty-five minutes in that shower, trying to get that slime out of her hair and off of… well everywhere. It was disgusting but by the time she entered the living room, her hair still wet, she found everyone already grouped together in there.

"You took your time," Jayden says as she enters but while she thinks he is half teasing, it still kind of annoys her.

"I have more hair than you," she points out, sitting down next to Kevin.

"Right, well, I did some research and figured out what that Nighlok does," Shaylee says, flipping to a bookmarked page in one of the old Nighlok archives. "By covering you in his slime Goopertin, can essentially force any strong emotions, especially ones that will cause problems, to arise in a person causing them to do or say things that wouldn't usually and/or don't mean."

"What do you mean?" Mia asks.

"Um, say for example, if Nina got a job promotion and Jayden wanted it, while usually he would be happy for her, any bitterness he feels would be amplified while any happiness or pride Nina feels would be just because it will upset Jayden more."

"Okay, yeah I can feel it a bit actually," Jayden admits.

"Really?" Nina asks. "I think I'm actually alright at the moment."

"Please," Jayden scoffs, "If I'm feeling it, you definitely are too." Nina just gives him a dirty look,

"Or maybe you're just – oh okay, yeah I see what you mean," Nina says wide eyed as she realises what she was about to say.

"Yeah," Shaylee says, slightly on edge now. "It's takes a couple of hours for it to reach its worst, so we've just got to be careful or try to defeat the Nighlok before then."

"Right, that's a lot easier said than done," Lauren sighs. "But until then, Jayden, Nina, try not to offend anyone."

"Yeah, I'm not the one you have to tell twice," Nina says, before raising a hand to her mouth. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Jayden says. "If you didn't say it, I probably would've."


The past hour hadn't been Nina or Jayden's greatest. The strangest thing was though, they seemed to annoy each other so much more than the others did. For example, when Jayden had almost bumped into Nina, she started having a go at him for getting in her while naturally got him riled up too however when Mike had actually bumped into her, she was able to simply brush it off. And when Nina had been tapping her fingers on the table, he had practically yelled at her to stop but when Mia had done the same thing later, nothing. They didn't know what it was, but they just seemed to be annoying each other the most which was so strange considering how well they usually got on. It only got worse when the gap sensor rang though.

"There's disturbance at park avenue," Nina says, reading the map.

"Yeah, we can see," Jayden replies.

"I'm just-" Nina starts but Lauren interrupts.

"You guys can do this later. We have to go check this out."


Arriving at the location, the rangers see that it is luckily just moogers. However, the group dynamic was very out of balance though due to Nina and Jayden.

"Nina, Jayden, focus," Lauren says.

"Well, if Nina could handle her own moogers, we wouldn't have a problem," Jayden replies but Nina just scoffs,

"Are you kidding? I've practically dealt with double the amount you have so forgive me for making you do your job!"

"You're doing my job?!" Jayden exclaims, slashing a group of moogers out of the way so he's facing Nina.

"Yeah," she shrugs, destroying the moogers, immediately around her. "And I love to break it to you but I'm clearly better at it too."

"You're better at it me than this?"

"You guys," Kevin says but they ignore him, caught up in their argument.

"Yeah, I am."

"I'm older than you and I've been doing this longer than you."

"Which makes it so much more satisfying for me and for the record, we've been doing this just as long as each other!"

"Yet I've –"

"Both of you stop!" Lauren yells and the bickering rangers turn to face their leader and looking around, they see the moogers around them are all gone. "Do you realise we were just in the middle of a battle? You can explain yourselves once we get back to the house. Let's go."


The walk home was uncomfortable. Jayden and Nina actively avoided even looking at each other and scowled if they caught the other's gaze. The other rangers didn't even want to speak because that battle had just been awful so once they arrived back, the rangers dispersed except for Lauren, Jayden, Nina and Ji.

"Okay, I get that you guys are being affected by this Nighlok, but do you have any idea how lucky you are that it was just moogers and the area was relatively clear? You guys stopped to argue in the middle of the battle, paying no attention to your surroundings," Lauren scolds. "We had to look out for you guys. Those moogers weren't going to stop just because you're distracted. They used that to their advantage and tried to attack the two of you and they would've if the rest of us weren't paying attention. The two hours isn't quite up so you guys will still get worse and because of that, the two of you are benched."

"What?" The two of them exclaim.

"But-" Nina begins but Lauren raises a hand.

"I'm not changing my mind. Neither of you are coming until that Nighlok is dealt with," Lauren says, walking out.

"This is because-" Jayden begins, turning to Nina but Ji speaks up,

"Both of you stop it right now!" He yells. It's so foreign to here Ji yell in anger, so it takes them both by surprise. "I know it's not intentional, but your constant fighting is affecting your teamwork. I need you guys to try and sort this out."

"Fine," Jayden says, turning to Nina. "Let's be productive. Want to spar?"

"Sure," Nina shrugs. "It'll be fun."

"Be careful," Ji warns.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine," Jayden smirks to which Nina scoffs.

"Oh, you think?" Ji just sighs as the rangers leave to change, still bickering.


Outside, neither of the rangers were holding back as they fought. The other rangers had taken turns watching the duo, just to ensure they didn't actually hurt each other, especially considering they were actually using their spin swords when they first came out before Lauren forced them to use practice swords. Unfortunately, when the gap sensor rang, it was a reminder to both rangers that they were benched as the team ran out, leaving Shaylee to babysit the two. Knocking down Jayden, Nina smiled, before walking away.

"Where are you going?" Jayden asks, jumping up.

"Well as fun as this was," Nina says, not turning around. "I have to go do some work."

"Sure," Jayden nods. "Go have fun. Do your work so you can go graduate with your fancy little British friends." Nina stops in her tracks, turning around, an eyebrow raised.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," he shrugs. "I'm just saying that you can go. There are other members of this team that are actually quite committed and focused on taking down the Nighlok and trapping Master Xandred. But it's fine, you go do your work." Nina mouth drops open.

"Okay, Jayden that's –" Shaylee begins as Nina laughs disbelievingly but Ji places a hand on her shoulder, shocking the assistant mentor. She didn't even realise he was there.

"No, no. I think we should let them do this."

"You think that I'm not committed?" Nina asks. "I work just as hard as anyone else on this team as well as keeping on top of my schoolwork! It is not my fault that I got sent to a school."

"Yeah, well not all of us got the experiences you did!" Jayden yells back. "I have been in this house my whole life! Before you guys came Antonio was my only friend. I didn't get to go to a school, I didn't get to have any of the experiences you had! I had to stay here! Miss out on everything! Training all this time so I could be strong enough to lead all of you until Lauren could master the sealing symbol!"

"Seriously? You're mad at me because I got to do things you didn't? Because you were still home-schooled while I was sent to school and got to make friends? That is not my fault Jayden! Shaylee's still your cousin, Lauren's still your sister and you're still Jayden Shiba!" Nina yells, walking closer to him. "Everyone you've ever met knew they were meeting Jayden Shiba. I've had to pretend to be Nina Martin, someone I'm not, for practically my whole life!" She raises her sword to hit him as she begins to speak but her sword just hits his as he blocks the hit. "You got raised in our house," Block. "You got to keep your name," Block. "you," block, "got," block "to," block "stay," block "you!" Nina huffs as she catches her breath. "I had to change my name, so no one could link us together. I had to move out of the state, just to be sure our paths didn't cross. So, I wouldn't be able to come back here even if I tried because the last time, I was here I was five years old! I almost completely forgot what this place looked like and this is supposed to be home!" She inhales deeply, realising how loud her voice must be. "Gran sent me to that boarding school so I could make friends. Find another family… because I tried to start finding my way back here. And you know what, they did become part of my family. Then I had to leave them to come here without any explanation which I don't regret but it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do." Nina knows she's almost on the brink of tears, but she can't stop the words flowing out of her mouth as she tries to blink them back. "But I did it, and I'm here. And I wake up earlier than everyone else so I can stay on top of all my work so I can graduate. That's if we even beat Master Xandred on time. Then I also train with the rest of you all day, I help cook, buy groceries then I stay up half the night, going to bed later than you all just so I can do more work and I repeat that cycle almost everyday so don't you dare tell I'm not committed!" Nina snarls, throwing her sword to the ground as she storms into the house, ignoring Shaylee and Ji almost bumping into the rangers, who must've just returned from battle.

"Hey-" Mia says but seeing how red in the face the purple ranger is as she tries to shove past them Mike takes a few steps back, grabbing her arm. "Whoa, hey, hey, what's wrong? What happened?"

"Jayden – I just – I can't – ugh!" She groans, throwing her hands up to her face, before pushing them through her face. She's so frustrated, she can't even talk.

"You know what?" he says. "I think I want a pack of gummy bears and you seem like you could use a walk. How about we go 3rd street promenade?" Nina sighs, holding her head in her hands.

"Yeah, sure, okay. I need to shower and change really quick though."


While the shower had helped calm Nina down quite a bit, as soon as Mike asked her how she was, she just went off. Of course, she couldn't tell him everything that was said but even just repeating that Jayden thought she was committed just sent her off on a new tangent.

"So, what I'm getting from this is that if I bet Kevin that you can take down Jayden, I could make a lot of money?" Mike says, once she finishes speaking. She turns to him, her brow furrowed.

"That really wasn't the focal point of my rant."

"Yeah, I know. I was going to get to that but since you want to jump right into it… did you seriously throw one of the training swords on the ground?" Nina glares at him for a second but then cracks a smile despite herself.

"Mike."

"Those things need to be handled with care," he continues as she pushes him, laughing slightly.

"Shut up."

"Oh, I've been meaning to say. You're so lucky I got you out of there before Mia decided to cook."

"You're telling me! I have some seriously strong emotions about that stuff called food and I don't want to… oh no." Nina mutters, turning around but Mike takes her elbow, spinning her back around.

"What's wrong?" He asks, not seeing anything out of the ordinary.

"Kendall's right there and I can't talk to him right now," Nina explains, jutting her head in said boy's direction and looking up, Mike notices the familiar face.

"Oh, the guy that got you the candle? Why not? What did he do?" He asks.

"Nothing. I can't talk to him because of me."

"Why? What did you do?" Nina rolls her eyes at this.

"Nothing. I just can't stop running my mouth and if I see him, I know I'm going to tell him how I feel."

"And how do you feel?" The green ranger asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I like him, Mike but I can't tell him that and considering the fact I didn't mean to tell you that I'm scared of what else I might say if I actually talk to him."

"Well, it's obvious he likes you so if you're worried-"

"Mike that is not the! - Wait, how can you tell he likes me?"

"Nina?" A voice that isn't Mike's says and turning to her right she sees that of course, it's Kendall. "Kendall! Hi!" She smiles.

"Isn't he one of the guys in big time rush?" Mike asks, taking a closer look at the guy before him.

"Oh right, yeah he is. Mike this is Kendall, Kendall, Mike," Nina introduces.

"Hi, nice to meet you," Kendall says.

"Yeah, you too dude, Nina's told-"

"Mike!" She snaps to which he laughs.

"Nothing. She's told us nothing about you. I only recognise you from the wall of poster in her room." "What! No! That is not true!" Nina says, turning to Mike horrified before facing Kendall. "I do not have posters of you in my room."

"I mean I know we're-" Kendall begins but Nina interrupts, blushing,

"Stop! I don't!"

"We're just messing with you Neens. Anyways, I'll leave you guys to talk, I want to go into the arcade," Mike says, and Nina turns to him, confused. She just told him she can't talk to this guy.

"Wait, Mike don't we-" She begins but Mike just brushes it off.

"Don't worry about it. Just meet me there when you're done. It was great meeting you dude."

"Yeah, you too!" Kendall says, fist bumping Mike before he walks away. "Do you actually need to go? It's cool if you do."

"No, no. Don't worry. He'll be mad if I don't let him play at least three games anyways. But forget about him, how are you? How was the tour?" She asks as they begin walking.

"It was amazing! I love travelling the country and it's always great performing with the boys and meeting the fans."

"I'm so glad you fun. What are you doing here though? Don't you have assistants at your beck and call at this point?"

Kendall laughs, "Yeah, because Gustavo would let us have assistants. Anyways, I'm getting supplies."

"Supplies?"

"Me and the guys plan on going camping soon."

"Sounds fun."

"How have you been anyways? I haven't seen you in a little while."

"I know. I've been alright though. Busy but good. I've been wanting to come over. I really wanted to see you." She widens her eyes as she realises what she just said when he looks over at her kind of smiling. "All of you. Katie and I haven't spoken in weeks."

"I wanted to see you too Nina," he says but Nina stops in her tracks.

"I have to go."

"Right now?"

"Not really but yes. I'll see you later," she says walking back to the arcade.


"So, how'd it go?" Mike asks when she finds him.

"Mike, don't make me hate you."

"Did you tell him you like him?"

"Sort of. Not exactly but I think you were right. I think he does like me," she sighs, taking a seat in the game next to him.

"Okay, I don't know if it's a girl thing but when the guy you like likes you back isn't that a good thing?"

"Usually yes but this isn't a girl thing. This is a being a power ranger who likes an unaware, popular civilian thing."

"You don't want him to like you because you're a power ranger?"

"No, I do want him to like me but now I've kind of told him I like him and I'm worried that I have a chance." Mike just tilts his head, looking at her through squinted eyes,

"Nina, none of what you said is usual girl behaviour."

"Well, I'm not exactly a usual girl, now am I?"


Meanwhile, back at the house after stormed out, Jayden came back in soon after heading straight to his room to shower. His confrontation with Nina had really got him riled up so he took his time in there, not really wanting to run into her again anytime soon. Soon afterwards though he heard pots and pans in the kitchen. Fearing that Mia was about to cook, he stepped out to intervene, not wanting to offend the pink ranger with what he made but he instead found the yellow ranger.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Oh, hi!" Emily says, jumping slightly at the unexpected guest. "I was just going to make chicken pot pie. My mum sent me the recipe and Mia wanted to try to make it, so I had to make it seem like I really wanted to make it so here I am."

"Good call. How can I help?" Jayden asks.

"Are you sure you're not busy?" Emily says but Jayden shakes his head.

"No, you sacrificed your time to save all of us. It's only fair not to leave you on your own." Emily smiles turning to fridge before holding out the bag of carrots to Jayden.

"Could you dice these please?"


Cooking with Emily had been a lot more fun than Jayden had expected. They'd just been talking about everything and anything as they cut, rolled and washed. The topic of conversation had started off light as they prepped the food, such as how their days had been, the weather; then it got funny with stories from childhood as they put the ingredients together and built the pie; and then once they put the pie in the oven and were really able to talk, the conversation got heavier, from the previous generation's final battle to how Emily had ended things with Mike.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I mean we're still good friends of course, but it just didn't feel right to lead him on because I started to realise, I had feelings for someone else."

"Emily, look, I really like you," Jayden suddenly blurts. "And I've been wanting to tell you for a while but I figured that I should wait until we finished this whole thing with Xandred but now I have this thing and it's making me say everything and-" she brings her hands up to his neck, pulling him down as she kisses him.

"I really like you, Jayden," she smiles as she pulls away slightly and Jayden can't help but smile at that. However, as they're about to kiss again they hear the timer for the oven go off. "I'll get it." She blushes.


Nina knows she's being slightly immature, but she can't help avoiding Jayden, and besides, this is something she actually has to do anyways. Nina keeps reminding herself of that on her way to the Palm Woods. As she was walking back to the Shiba house with Mike, he got a call on his samuraizer that Goopertin had returned, however since Nina had been benched she wasn't allowed to help the rangers in battle… but that didn't mean she couldn't help any civilians get away. It wasn't her fault the Nighlok attacked near where she was. However, while she wasn't fighting at the time once she got the civilians to safety, she felt as soon as the rangers had defeated the Nighlok, at least in his regular form and by the time it was time to fight the mega mode, she was able to rush back over to help. While it was great to finally be back into control of her mouth, she could also remember everything she had said to Jayden and Kendall so she figured she might as well deal with the latter first (only partially because she wasn't ready to deal with the former yet) and once she told Mike where she was going she was on her way.

Arriving at the palm woods, Nina headed straight to the front desk, waving at a few people as she walked through. She should not be here so regularly that people recognise her enough to wave. Internally sighing, she rang the bell at the desk and Mr Bitters popped out of a back room.

"Nina! The only person who doesn't have to pay me to be nice," he says. "How can I help you? The hockey heads?"

"Of course," Nina nods. She has no idea what she did to get the man literally called 'Bitter' to like her, but she was just going accept it.

"You're lucky. They just got back from their tour few days ago but let me tell you something," he beckons her closer, putting a hand to the side of his mouth as he whispers. "Kendall's ex-girlfriend, Jo, is back."

"Oh," Nina says, slightly taken aback.

"So, you better make your move fast."

"What makes you think I want to make a move?"

"Girl, I have eyes and I've seen the way yours look at him," he replies sassily, causing Nina to raise her eyebrows. "And while Kendall and Jo were pretty happy together before she left and his head is a little frazzled, given how he looks at you too I'd say you have a pretty good shot."

Nina scoffs, smiling nonetheless as she backs away, "I'm going now."

"It's because you know I'm right."

"It's because I'm on a tight schedule."

"Sure," he nods. "Just don't forget to invite me to the wedding."

"Ha, ha." Nina replies, turning around, walking towards the open lift. As the doors begin to close, she hears someone ask her to hold the doors, so she puts out her hand to block doors and as it reopens, she sees a pretty blonde girl entering.

"Thank you," she smiles. "Most people would've gone anyways."

"I hate it when people do that to me," Nina replies.

"By the way, what did you do to Bitters?" She asks.

"What do you mean?"

"I have never seen him be that genuinely nice to anyone. If I'm gonna be living here again you have to tell me your secret. Wait, you didn't drug him, did you?"

Nina laughs, "No. I have no idea. I mean I gave him a cupcake the first time we met. And I got him a gift at Christmas. Oh and I - see now that I'm saying it all out loud, I get it. I would like me too."

The girl laughs, "Yeah, I get that. I got no cupcake or Christmas gift, but I like you already. I'm Jo, by the way." Kendall's ex! Nina shouts internally.

"Nina," she smiles, stepping out of the lift. "This is me."

"Right, well hopefully I'll see you around," Jo calls as Nina waves, the door closing which separates them, Nina turning around, walking down the hall until she reaches apartment 2J. Taking a deep breath, she raises her fist, knocking as she exhales of course, the one who opens it is the person she doesn't want to but came to see.

"Nina, hey," Kendall smiles.

"Hey," she replies. "Can we talk?"

"Yeah, of course," he says, stepping back to let her in. "All the guys are out, and my mom forced Katie to go with her to this mother-daughter thing. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she says, leaning on the kitchen island. "Are you?" He takes a seat on the table, opposite her.

"Mostly, yeah? I mean Gustavo's always a headache and a turn of events has made things slightly more complicated for me but I'm not going to bore you with all that."

"Turn of events like Jo coming back?" Nina asks, and Kendall's eyebrows shoot right up.

"Uh… yeah. A bit, yeah."

"I just spoke to her actually. I met her in the lift, but she seems great," Nina says.

"She is," Kendall nods and she hesitates before asking, shyly,

"Do you mind answering why you guys broke up in the first place?"

"Oh right, well, just over a year ago, she got a three-year film contract, but it was in New Zealand. It was a great deal but she wasn't going to leave because of me so I convinced her to take the contract but since we weren't going to be able to see each other for three years, we broke up… and then, a few months later, a superhero saved my sister's life. Then I met her and while she lacked the cape and super suit," Nina rolls her eyes at this. It was only half true. "I realised she's actually still pretty amazing and as elusive as she is, I started having feelings for her and I think she has them for me too."

"Well, you're not wrong," Nina says, not looking straight at him. "I do have feelings for you, but I think you should be with Jo."

"What? Why?"

"Because," she sighs, running a hand through her hair. "Regardless, of how much I like you and really, really do, my life is so complicated, and I can't even tell you about any of it. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be doing this but I don't want to have to lie and keep things from you."

"Nina –"he says standing up, but she shakes her head, walking over to him.

"You were happy with Jo. Be with Jo," she says, standing on her tip toes to kiss his cheek but as she steps back her grabs her hand but before he can say anything she speaks up. "Tell the others I'm sorry I missed them, but I won't be back for a little while." She pulls her hand out of his, letting herself out... she meant it this time. Until this fight with the Nighlok is done, she won't come back.


Entering the house, Nina knows she should find Jayden, they need to talk. However, she wasn't quite expecting to find him kissing the yellow ranger. Quickly, stepping out of the room to give them some privacy, it's Nina's intention to walk away.

"What?" She hears Jayden ask.

"Did you mean all those things you said about Nina?" Emily asks and Nina can't help but freeze and back up at the mention of her name. He must've told her generally what went down between the two of them. It's silent for a moment before Jayden speaks up again.

"Some of it. Some was just anger."

"I really think you guys should talk."

"Yeah," Nina says standing at the door, making her presence known. "I think so too."


Strangely enough, the two decide to go back to the location of where their fight had occurred; the outdoor dojo. They were just sitting on the bench though, neither saying anything until Jayden speaks up.

"Mike told me where you went. How did it go?"

"Considering we weren't actually together, it was actually a lot harder than I thought," she laughs, sadly. "But I had to do what had to be done. I shouldn't have gotten caught up in the first place."

"I'm sorry," he says but she shrugs. "It's not your fault. Anyways, I see you finally told Emily," she teases.

"If one good thing came from that Nighlok's jinx it was that." The reminder of the jinx causes them both to fall into silence.

"I'm so sorry," Jayden says.

"I'm sorry too."

"I'm not going to lie to you, some of what I said, I did mean but there were just things I said in anger that I really didn't mean."

"Yeah, me too," she nods. "Honestly, I didn't even realise I was angry at you because most of the time I'm just happy we're back together. Now that I've actually said it though, I guess I genuinely was upset and jealous. You didn't deserve that though. My taking it all out on you. It wasn't your fault."

"It wasn't yours either. It had to happen."

Nina hesitates before asking, "...when you said I wasn't committed? Was that you or just anger?

"That, Nina, was pure anger and jealousy," Jayden says firmly, looking at her straight in the eyes. "I know how committed you are to this team. I know you wake up earlier than us most of the time so you can study and still get to training on time. I see you help the others. Work harder to earn days off. You go way out of your way to help strangers, take Katie for example. You don't tell people the secret, no matter how close you are. You've pretended to be someone you're not for years, went to school, made friends, I know you loved and wanted to tell them the truth but left them as soon as you knew you were needed. You're probably the most committed person on this team Nina. We all know it. I was just angry and jealous and said whatever nonsense came to mind."

"We started so young," Nina whispers. "Lauren was eight when she was essentially wiped off of the face of the earth to learn the sealing power. You were seven when you had to start training protect this whole city, away from everyone. And I was five when I was taken away from everything and everyone, I know myself included. We were we were separated, probably when we needed each other the most. But we knew the fate of the world rested on us. We barely got our childhood. None of us got normal."

"I can't imagine how hard it must have been to leave that school. Just when things were starting to feel normal." Nina laughs at that.

"That school was a lot of things but normal was not one of them. But, yeah, it was one of those things that's practice doesn't always make easier."

"What do you mean?"

"It was the second time I had to leave my family. It's certainly in the top five hardest things I've ever had to do."

"Top five, huh? I bet not recording my bedtime song for you is number one," Jayden teases.

"Actually," Nina laughs. "I'd say that's number five."

"And the other four?"

"Well, I supposed number four would be having to keep secrets and lie to everyone I care about."

"Everyone?" He questions and she nods.

"Everyone." Maybe except Eddie but she can't tell Jayden that which only proves her point.

"Nina if you're talking about Kendall, I knew about that long before today."

"I don't - wait what?" She asks. She hadn't been that obvious, had she?

"I knew you were still seeing him and his friends and family. You weren't exactly subtle about it. Besides, I saw the look in your eyes whenever you lit that candle."

"I didn't have a look in my eyes."

"Yes, you did. You have the look now; you're thinking about him!"

"No, I don't! Jayden!" Nina exclaims, blushing as she pushes him for laughing. Once he calms down, she asks, "Why did you let me keep going?"

He shrugs, "I don't know, I mean, a large part of me wanted to tell you to stop as your leader and as your big brother but at the same time… you're my little sister and I saw how happy it made you to see them and you've been through a lot… I couldn't take another person away from you."

Nina gives a small smile, looking down. "Number three," she continues. "Is leaving that school. Like I said before, it was crazy, but I loved it." Jayden just nods. "Number two is becoming Nina Martin. It's been almost thirteen years since I've had to start going by that. That's more than two-thirds of my life but even now I still can't fully accept that as me. And I hate that almost everyone still thinks that it is. Even here. They deserve to know who they're really fighting with."

"They do know," Jayden says but she shakes her head.

"No, they don't. Not yet. Anyways, the number one, hardest thing I've ever had to do was leaving here. Leaving you and Lauren. I've said to myself that if I could change one thing by going back in time it would be that night. I know it's selfish, but I don't think I could do it again."

"I don't think I could've done it," Jayden admits. "But you? You're so much stronger than you think. You would do it. Again, and again. Because you know you'd have to."

"I'm sorry I didn't get to be an annoying little sister," she says after a moment.

Jayden shrugs, "It's okay. You're making up for it now," Nina shoves him again. "Sorry, I didn't get to be an overprotective older brother."

"It's okay," she shrugs. "You're making up for it now."

Chapter twenty-seven. Plot. Twist. Maybe? Hopefully! Nina's father is the old red ranger… who's also Lauren and Jayden's father as well as Shaylee's uncle. Yup. That's right. Jayden and Lauren are her older siblings and Shaylee is her cousin! I was gonna have Lauren and Shaylee in the conversation at the end too, but I felt like it worked better with just Nina and Jayden. I felt like I'd made it kind of obvious but then when Lauren arrived and didn't seem to particularly recognise Nina I'd made it seem like they weren't related so when you got to this chapter you'd be all like whoooaa! If that crazy tactic worked let me know! Hmm, when are the other rangers going to find out though? Guess, you'll have to read to find out, although your options really are just next chapter, the next one after that or the one after that! Anyways, I've said too much, so I'll see you on Friday and thanks for reading