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

House of Power Rangers

Chapter 30: House of Us

"Hopefully, this time in two days, I'll be able to go grocery shopping without being hounded," Mia sighed. The rangers had practically been held captive at the Shiba house for the past few days. Luckily, where they currently lived wasn't public knowledge but whenever any of them tried to go out, they would be surrounded by people. Everyone just had a lot of questions they wanted answered but the way they were asking was too overwhelming. That was why Mentor had agreed with a popular news agency to arrange for an open panel in the street. The agency had wanted interviews, talk show appearances, a meet and greet and so much more but in all honesty, the rangers just wanted to start experiencing life. What was happening now was crazy! The rangers weren't looking for recognition for what they'd done nor were they looking for fame, but they'd agreed that the best way to get the public off their backs was to give them the answers they were looking for. However, they figured they'd earned themselves a few days to rest especially Nina and of course, those few days were enough for Nina to explain how she was alive so nobody was surprised when they heard her on skype with her Osirian… for the fifth time since that final battle.

"Eddie, I promise you, I'm fine now. Still alive and almost back to normal."

When they'd first gotten back to the house, she was immediately checked by Shaylee but aside from the highly bruised skin, a few minor physical injuries and just generally being drained, she was fine, so she'd gone straight to sleep, exhausted and didn't wake up until late the next day.

"Nina?" Lauren had said, seeing her stirring.

"Hi," she murmured in reply. It wasn't long before the other rangers had rushed in to see her and once she was more awake, she'd explained exactly what had happened between her and Xandred.

"If I'm being honest with you, it was a test of strength."

"What?" Antonio asked. "You're telling me you just had an arm wrestle with Master Xandred, and he just blew up?" Nina rolled her eyes at that.

"Not like that. It was deeper than that," she explained. "Xandred was the king of the Nighlok. He was essentially a source of darkness. He thrived off of death and sorrow. As the chosen one and a power ranger, I'm a source of light, life, joy, goodness and that all that fun stuff. By using the symbols to amplify the life and joy in me I could channel that into Xandred so it would overwhelm him but was he never just going to let me do it. I used symbol power to magnify the death and sorrow in him, so it was practically spilling out of him which weakened the barrier between us."

"Meaning his darkness could've just as easily overwhelmed you," Lauren said, realising where her little sister was going. The youngest ranger nodded.

"Especially, since he took me to the Netherworld."

"He what?" Jayden scowled. When Nina and Xandred had disappeared, the rangers had missed the red flash of the gap, due to them already shielding themselves from the bright light emitting from their teammate. So, after seeing the two reappear it was just a relief.

"Yeah. I think that's why what happened the first time. To the girl from the story. There was a bright light, and neither were ever seen again. I think he took her there and even though she'd managed to destroy him… no human can last in the Netherworld for very long."

"Except you apparently," Emily smiles.

"Actually, for a moment there, I thought I wouldn't," she admitted. "I could feel it and I didn't know how to get back… but then I remembered what we were fighting for. And I couldn't let him think he could win. So, I gave it everything. Literally."

"So, when you said you magnified life…," Shaylee trails off as Nina nods.

"Yeah. I was essentially pouring my life into him but I'm not evil and he couldn't take it, then I heard Deker tell me to free him. So, I did and somehow it blasted us back into our world."

"Deker?" Jayden asked. "Actually, now that you mention him, before he was destroyed, I thought he was talking to himself or hallucinating someone but then I was sure I heard him thank you. You did something that day, didn't you?"

"I freed him from his Nighlok curse," Nina replied. "He was human. His heart was human."

"But when you did that same to Xandred, his heart was Nighlok."

"Completely. So, it took almost every last drop of my humanity… my life to overpower it. If he hadn't already absorbed Dayu's, I'm not sure whether it would've been enough and…"

"Not only would we have lost you but Xandred would've been roaming the streets freely," Antonio sighed but the purple ranger furrowed her brow.

"What? No," which confused the rangers. "I mean, you're right. I probably wouldn't be here but knowing what my odds were did you really think I wouldn't have a backup in case that happened?"

"Nina, what did you do?" Ji asked, just as confused as the others.

"I bound his life to mine," she stated.

"You did what?" Kevin exclaimed.

"It was just a precaution," she told them. "See if I won and he was destroyed, I would hypothetically be fine but if he had won and I… didn't then he was going down with me. Either way, he was going down."

"The 'I win or no one does' tactic," Mike said causing Nina to laugh.

"I'm a blast at games nights," Nina joked.

"Wait, Nina," Shaylee said, her brow furrowed in thought. "You said you drew the freedom symbol and then you were blasted back to our world?" Nina nodded. "Your morpher shouldn't have worked in the Netherworld…"

"I didn't use it," she admitted. "I used my hand."

"You were able to draw a symbol with just your hand?" Emily gasped, and Nina shrugged,

"Yeah."

"In the Netherworld and with the literal life being sucked out of you?" Mike added, eyebrows raised high.

"There was a lot at stake. I had a lot of adrenaline." The rangers were in awe.


When she'd finally been given her laptop, she found she had multiple missed video calls from Eddie and while he was ecstatic to see her alive, he wasn't too thrilled about the whole dying thing. A camera crew had been recorded the battle from a distance and the footage of the fallen purple ranger was exactly what it looked like and while he knew it wasn't true (well, not permanently true) since she'd been up when the mega mode had been defeated, and, oh yeah, he'd technically been the one to save her, it was comforting to hear it from her. He'd been checking in on her twice every day since. Nina was glad to hear he and KT had managed to stop Ammut from rising but the biggest shock had been when they'd turned on the TV the next morning to see their old friend being announced as a power ranger.

Her old email had been flooded although she still hadn't replied to any of them. She hadn't exactly had time to anyways, with all the girls flooding in and out of her room, helping her sort out her outfit for the next day, a decision made by Mia and Shaylee – they'd even managed to get the guys (Ji included) in on it. It was most likely because they needed something to do. Since they couldn't go out and Shaylee had patched everyone up, they didn't really know what to do. The Nighlok were defeated! They were actually gone! They didn't need to train, they didn't have to go out into battle, there weren't any disturbances at the gaps, all they'd been working on their whole lives… they'd done it. Nina had more time to do schoolwork, but the rangers wouldn't let her. She'd more than earned a break and she couldn't continue working while the rest of them celebrated (once she woke up that is).


The next day, the rangers were up at their usual time but this time it wasn't to train, it was to start getting ready. They had a busy day ahead of them; they had their open panel in the street. It was so strange; as soon as it hit 9:30am they were inside a couple of SUVs being driven to the event. The rangers didn't quite get the big deal. They were just going to answer a few questions for… oh. As they got closer to the venue the rangers couldn't believe their eyes. It was a strange comparison, but Nina was pretty sure that there were more people here than the total collective number of moogers they'd ever faced… and they were all here to see them. Exiting the cars had been crazy! They were shielded by security as a group but the people who caught sight of them began screaming! Arriving backstage, the rangers were already in shock at how many people had shown up.

"I mean, I knew we were awesome, but I didn't realise everyone knew," Mike says. "We're usually like a secret type of awesome."

"Guess it's not so secret anymore," Ji shrugs, just as the backstage co-ordinator, Jamie, beckons them forwards.

"Alright guys," she smiles. "It's time to shine. You can probably hear Ian prepping the crowd but it's almost time for you guys to go up. So, he's going to give a slight introduction to each of you before calling out your name which is when you can walk out. You'll be called out in order of your seats."

"You guys, didn't come out here today to listen to me all day so how about we get the team out here?" They hear Ian say though a microphone and the replying applause is thunderous.

"Alright, Shaylee, you're up," Jamie says, as Shaylee walks towards her.

"Okay, first up we have someone who worked behind the scenes but while we didn't see her, you'll soon find out how indisputably essential she is to the team. It's the rangers' assistant mentor, Shaylee Tokuda!" At that the Shaylee begins walking up the stairs onto the stage and the sound of the cheers is crazy.

"Okay next up, we have the guy you need to call if you get lost in the wilderness. It's the green samurai ranger, Mike Fernandez!" Once Mike's goes up and the audience calms down a bit, Ian begins calling up the next ranger. "While this rangers origin story isn't quite as traditional as his teammates, there's no doubt that this guy belongs so give it up for the gold ranger, Antonio Garcia!

"We may not have known about this ranger for quite as long as the others but there is no denying the key part she played in the victory of the rangers ultimate battle. Our female and second red ranger, Lauren Shiba!" Seeing her sister, called up Nina grins, just as she's called forwards by Jamie. She's up next!

"Our next ranger may be the youngest on the team but don't let that fool you into thinking she's any weaker than the others on the team. It's the purple ranger, Nina Shiba!" Nina begins walking up the steps and is in awe at home many she hears, even more so why she sees them. She's sees cameras on her, the live video appearing on the screen. Looking over to see Lauren grinning, Nina can't help but to the same and wave at the crowd as she makes her way over to her seat next to her sister.

"This next ranger is the one we would only catch glimpses of before we met the whole team. It's the male and first red ranger, Jayden Shiba!

"The next lady about to come up is ranger who may not have been training as long as the others but seeing her in battle now, you'd never be able to tell, yellow ranger, Emily Stewart!

"You may be seeing this next ranger is a few years competing in the Olympics and seeing how great a ranger he is, I personally would be afraid to go up against whatever himself into next. It's the blue ranger, Kevin Douglas!

"Our final ranger is someone who while definitely having a maternal gene is clearly not afraid to kick butt if the situation calls for it. Our pink ranger, Mia Watanabe.

"And last but most certainly not least is the man who mentored the red ranger before the whole team, it's Ji Ishikawa." Nina smiles widely as Ji steps up, waving before taking his seat next to Mia.

"This is the team who just saved our world. The Power Ranger Samurai!" At that the crowd erupts in the loudest cheering applause they've done yet. The rangers take the time to really look out into the crowd and see who's there. Strangely enough, they recognise quite a few. People they've rescued, even those two Emily trained in her 'bootcamp'. Evidently, these people recognise them too, a number of them even holding up signs with things like "We 3 the power rangers!", even down to specific colours and names, Ji and Shaylee included.

"Alright, alright," Ian calls to the crowd to get them to settle down. "Before we really get into this, can I just say on behalf of everyone here and everyone watching this, thank you. You risked your lives almost every day to save all of ours and we didn't even know who you were until it was over."

"We appreciate that," Jayden replies, speaking into the microphone on the table in front of him, the other rangers nodding in agreement. "We really do."

"Before we open the panel to the audience questions, we have a few things about the attacks and you guys that I think we would all like to know the answer to."

"Yeah, of course, ask away," Kevin says.

"So, first, what exactly was attacking our world and why?" The rangers look at each other, silently trying to figure out who's going to answer and eventually Mia leans forwards to answer,

"Right, well, in short there is another dimension called the Netherworld where these monsters, called Nighlok, lived. There, there was the Sanzu River, the red waters which began to flood the earth before, and the Nighlok needed those waters to survive since staying in our world for too long meant they would dry out. However, the one most vulnerable to drying out was the Nighlok King, Master Xandred. Most Nighlok could stay in our world for maybe a couple of hours before drying out but Xandred would start drying out immediately and would have to return within less than five minutes. He wanted to invade the human world but in order to do that he would have to raise the Sanzu river high enough to flood the earth to make it hospitable to the Nighlok. The problem was, too much of the Sanzu water is toxic to humans and the only way to make it rise was through human sadness and negative emotions so Xandred sent out other Nighloks, often with special powers, to cause suffering and sadness in order to raise the river."

"Why was the Nighlok king not able to stay in our world for long? What made him more vulnerable than his followers." Ian asks.

"Well, just over a decade ago there was the previous generation of samurai rangers," Lauren explains. "My father, the red ranger had been mastering a sealing symbol to seal away Master Xandred and his Nighlok away forever but Xandred was getting too strong too fast. During their final battle, while he hadn't fully mastered the symbol, he drew it anyways and while it was imperfect, it was powerful enough to weaken Xandred so much that even entering our world would dry him out."

"And these symbols, I think we've seen you draw a few with your morphers before?" Ian asks, slightly impressing the rangers with his knowledge. "How exactly do they work?"

"Well, it takes a lot of hard work and practice to master them," Kevin begins. "They're written in Japanese kanji so every stroke has to be correct and drawn in the correct order so it can be difficult at first. Mike can attest to that."

"Hey man," Mike complains. "They don't need to know about that."

"Hey, it shows growth," Kevin says, in his defence as the crowd laughs at their interaction. "Anyways, once you've got the stroke order down, that becomes the easy part. Drawing symbols for us is sort of like channelling energy from within you and then forcing a physical manifestation. It can be pretty draining so while we could hypothetically teleport everywhere with our symbol power, we don't unless we have to. For example, in battles since we would often need all the power we could get, so we try not to use it unnecessarily but say you have a big walk ahead of you and you want to make a grand entrance, you could conjure up a white horse." Kevin says looking pointedly at Jayden as the rest of the team laugh fondly at the memory.

"That was one time," Jayden chuckles.

"Deker," Nina reminds him.

"Okay, twice," he admits to which the crowd laughs even more. "Wait, do you even know about that?" Nina just grins teasingly as Ian begins to speak again.

"So, you're telling me that if I master these symbols, I could pick up one of your morphers and become a ranger?"

"Not exactly," Ji answers. "See, the rangers have some sort of control over the element. Each of them, well, most of them," Ji corrects, remember the Shiba siblings, "actually about half of them," he re-corrects, remembering Antonio which causes the audience to laugh "have a sole element they have power over and a core energy within them of that element which is passed through their bloodlines. However, without proper training of how to channel that energy from within, it can be difficult to master but the morphers are like a lightning rod, helping the flow of energy with ease. It would be very challenging to learn without that core energy but as Antonio can let you know, not impossible."

"That sounds like it takes a lot of work. It's probably best to leave it for those better suited to the job." Ian says. "I'm not sure whether or not since you've come together, you've paid much attention to the news about you all but there is quite a lot of footage of you guys in battle from a distance."

"Ji and I sometimes watched if we were worried about the rangers or just wanted to see how they were, but they didn't really pay attention to the footage. They usually only checked when we needed to see the numbers of those affected by the attacks," Shaylee explains.

"Well, we put to together a little compilation of your battles, just so we can really see, exactly what you've been up against and protected us from. Why don't we take a look?" And as he finishes speaking, the screens put up around the them and upon poles in the street all switch to the footage. They've partially been avoiding the news because they didn't want to see that final battle again, but they nod as they turn their attention to the screen. They see footage from almost all of their previous battles, some cool, some funny, some brutal. It's interesting seeing how they looked to the public when they were fighting and they had to admit, they're beginning to see why people think they're so cool. However, when it gets to the footage of the final battle and they see Nina on the ground, while they can't hear what they're saying, and they can't clearly see their faces, they know that the scene is exactly what it looks like. Nina… she didn't realise how bad it looked… Jayden… She bites her lip, not realising as she brings her hand up to the scar at the bottom of her hairline until Jayden touches her elbow. Looking over at her brother, she lowers her hand, to her lap as Lauren grabs her other one.

"Are you okay?" he whispers, placing his hand over hers.

Nina nods, "Yeah. Are you?" He gives her a small smile, squeezing her hand, lightly before letting go.

"Yeah." Nina squeezes Lauren's comforting hand too as the video comes to an end. The audience applause as the screen switch back to the panel.

"You guys were amazing out in battles! Of course, you guys have had some close calls and plain good luck but that final battle looked brutal. I understand if you want me to move pass it." Although no one says it, everyone knows that Nina's should be the one to answer.

"No, it's okay. We can answer your questions."

"Right," Ian nods. "So, I take it that big lobster looking mons- Nighlok, was Master Xandred?"

"Yes," Kevin nods. "It was. The Nighlok King."

"How was he in our world for so long? I thought you said he wasn't able to stay for long?"

"For you to really understand it's a bit of a long story but a couple centuries ago, there was a human couple who were newlywed. They just moved into their new home but during the night there was a fire," Nina explained, the story also being new to the others. "The woman, Dahlia, managed to pull out her husband from the burning house but she was too late. She cried out for help in pain and anguish and a Nighlok, Serrator appeared, and if I'm being honest, I'm pretty sure he set the fire. He told her that in exchange for her humanity, he would bring her husband back to life. She was so heartbroken that she accepted the deal. He turned the woman into the Nighlok, Dayu and while he kept his promise and brought her husband back to life, he made him a half-human, half-Nighlok hybrid, Deker." Nina hears the rangers inhale and gasps beside her. It's all beginning to make sense. "The worse part was, he took away his memories so he didn't even remember his wife and all he was left with was the need to be free of his Nighlok half by fighting an opponent his sword deemed worthy and after two hundred years, it finally settled on none other than this red ranger," she explains, patting Jayden's shoulder with just slightly too much aggression. "But long story, short, he was finally set free and faded away but Dayu had just lost the love of her life. She was overwhelmed with sadness and when she released it, it was enough to raise the river high enough for Xandred to enter our world. In her last moments though, Dayu revealed to Master Xandred that while she may look like one of them, her heart was still human. So, he absorbed her and that white patch you saw on his chest, was her humanity, her heart essentially. He was no longer fully Nighlok, so he had didn't have to return to the Sanzu river anymore."

"You know, you could've just said he absorbed a Nighlok's human heart so he didn't have to return to the Netherworld," Mike points out, and Nina leans forwards slightly so she can look him straight in the eyes as she says,

"Shut up." Mike laughs which causes Nina to break her annoyed façade and crack up too. "I wanted to give context. It was a good story." In truth, Nina was trying to delay oncoming question about what had happened to her. She just needed a bit more time to prepare herself.

"It was a good, long story," Ian jokes. "Anyways, moving on, so we saw you guys fight those ugly yellow things,"

"Moogers," Mia corrects.

"Moogers, thank you," Ian nods. "Anyways, you fought them off before going for the big guy. However, I don't think we saw either of the red rangers in that battle. What was going on?"

"I was fighting off some moogers, further up on the cliff," Jayden replies before turning to Lauren.

"I was attempting to draw the sealing symbol," Lauren says. "I'd been learning to master it my whole life and it was finally time for me to seal Xandred away but drawing the symbol took time, so the rangers were holding him off while I drew the symbol… but it didn't work. The symbol would only seal away pure Nighlok but Xandred had just absorbed Dayu's human side he wasn't pure Nighlok anymore, so it didn't work."

"I'm so sorry about that," Ian says, and Lauren nods in appreciation.

"Thank you."

"So Master Xandred went away and you were left without a way to get rid of him," Ian says.

"Not exactly," Nina replies. "We didn't know it yet, but the previous red ranger had a backup plan which he shared with me in a letter."

"Just you?"

"Yeah. I was the only one who could do it after that, but it was dangerous. The others never would've allowed me to do it if I they thought there was another way."

"With all due respect, what was so special about you? Why could it only be you?"

"It's… complicated," Nina says. She doesn't exactly want to announce to the world that she's the chosen one. It caused her enough trouble with just the teachers at her school knowing, she didn't want to imagine what it would be like if the whole world knew.

"That's understandable," Ian nods, realising he should move on. "Well, in the video, after Master Xandred exploded, we see the rangers surrounding you, the red ranger's, holding you… it doesn't look too good. What exactly was happening?"

"I went into that fight, knowing exactly what the consequences could be. I'd accepted that I might not make it back. When I was facing Xandred, in order to beat him, I was essentially pouring my life into him. Which didn't leave me with much in the end. I… it seemed like I wouldn't make it. Xandred came back in the mega mode and the others had to go and fight. There was nothing they could do for me. Xandred's mega mode was coming so they thought had to leave me since I was pretty out of it, but I'm stronger than that," she teases. She didn't think it would do anyone any good to let them know she had in fact, died for a few minutes. Those who needed to know, knew and if they didn't, she'd tell them later.

"She's being modest," Lauren says.

"She essentially kicked Xandred's butt!" Mike exclaims.

"No, I know I won but without Dayu's human side, it might have turned out differently."

"Nina, Dayu's human side or not, I think you could've beat Xandred and he knew it," Ji says.

"Ji's right," Emily nods. "When Nina and Master Xandred disappeared in that video, it was because he took her to the Netherworld. The problem is, our morphers don't work in the Netherworld and even worse, humans can survive there. It takes even short for us to succumb to that place that it did for Xandred to dry out here. That's why he took you to the Netherworld. He was threatened and knew they only way he could even have a shot of beating up was to put you at an unfair disadvantage and the jokes on him because you beat him anyways."

"Nina, you've been holding out on us," Ian says, before Antonio speaks up.

"Oh, and get this! She managed to draw a symbol in the Netherworld, whilst being drained by Xandred, with only her hand. Sure, we can all paint activated symbols but drawing with your hand? That takes crazy power and control."

"Nina, I'm beginning to think you're the strongest of them all."

"She is," Jayden agrees and looking over to her brother, she can see how serious he's being. "She saved us all." And at that the crowd roars.

"Stop! You're making me blush," Nina says, raising her hands to cover her face as she grins. "Besides, we took down Xandred's mega mode as a team."

"Yes, you did," Ian nods. "Even when all that was left was your original megazord, all the other zords you'd gained stripped away, you managed to defeat him as a team in a single strike. You guys truly are amazing!" As the crowd settles again, Ian speaks up again. "Alright, now I don't think you guys really understand how many people are watching. Sure, we have, I don't know, all of California here. But it's not just these people watching. People are livestreaming, not just over the states but across the whole globe; the U.S., the U.K., the Netherlands, Hungary, Belize, Italy, Canada, Sweden, Germany, France, Israel, Ukraine, Honduras, Indonesia, Russia and that's just to name a few. People are awake at ungodly hours just to see this. To see you guys. To know about you. I mean, they could watch the reruns but if this works for you then who am I to judge," Ian shrugs. "Anyways, I don't think it's fair for me to keep asking you questions when I'm sure they've got plenty of question they'd like you ask you so here's what we're gonna do. Starting with you Shaylee, we're going to go down the line and we'd just like to know who you are, a bit about you, how you got caught up in the ranger life and a random fun fact. Sound good?" And the crowd cheers, their answer obvious. "Okay then, I'm gonna stop talking. Shaylee, take it away."

"Alright. Hi guys, so as you probably know by now, my name is Shaylee Tokuda. I'm eighteen and the rangers' assistant mentor as well as the red and purple rangers' cousin. You can probably tell from my accent that I wasn't raised here. I was born in Australia, then moved here when I was four. Then I moved back when I was six or seven."

"You were six," Jayden confirmed at the same time as Nina.

"So, I was six," she laughs. "And it was sad at first, leaving my cousins, but I love Australia and it's my home I got over it soon enough. Anyways, I got caught up in the whole ranger business because of both my parents. Our mothers were sisters, but their mum was older, so she was the one who became the purple ranger, but it was actually my dad whose family had been a help of the rangers. He taught me a lot about Nighlok the rangers might face, giving me journals on them as they were ones the previous rangers had faced, and he also taught me how to deal with injuries that come along with being a ranger. When I came, while they already had Ji, they didn't quite have a doctor and that was where I came in. I wasn't there are the beginning, but I came as the battles started getting worse."

"You forgot your fun fact," Mike tells her.

"Right, um, I hold the record for surfing the highest wave by someone under eighteen in Australia."

"No way!" Mike says, to which she nods. "You've gotta to teach me."

"Before or after you learn how to ride a motorbike?"

"At the same time," he laughs before turning to the crowd. "Alright guys, my name Mike Fernandez – "

"It's actually Michael," Nina points out to which Mike leans forwards, this time to glare at her which just makes her laugh.

"As I was saying, my name's Mike, I'm nineteen and the green power ranger. That makes my element, the forest. I grew up in Florida before being called here. My dad used to be the green ranger in the previous generation but after the final battle, there weren't any more attacks but he knew they were going to start again eventually so once I turned twelve, I began training to become a Samurai ranger. He always made training after school fun, but he never failed to remind me how serious it was to be a samurai ranger. While I wished I could tell my friends because it was so cool, I knew that keeping it from was for their safety when the time came for me to leave. Oh, and I'm a pretty good skateboarder."

"Okay, so I'm Antonio Garcia, I'm twenty years old and I'm the gold power ranger. See, my 'origin' story isn't quite like the others. I met Jayden when we were eight. We became best friends and used to train together in his front yard but when I was eleven my family and I moved but before I moved, Jayden gave me the Octozord and I promised him I'd be back to fight alongside him as a samurai. I continued to train myself, but I only continued seriously once I turned fifteen because it was a fun distraction from school. Since I'm not of samurai descent, I don't have the core energy they have but I do have mad tech skills. I was able to make my own morpher from a trashed cell phone by reverse engineering the octozord so I could channel symbol power and mastering control of light. And my fun fact is that while I may not hold an official record for my fishing skills, not only can I fish like a pro but the culinary skills that come along with my fishing in award-winning."

"He's not wrong," Lauren agrees. "His cooking is amazing."

"Thanks," Antonio grins.

"Anyways, my name's Lauren Shiba, I'm twenty years old and one the red rangers, making my element fire. My parents were the previous red and purple rangers. Neither of them survived their final battle which meant my father's plan had to be put into motion. The Nighlok didn't know they were married, or that they'd even had children so since I was now the head of the Shiba clan, I was sent away that night when I was eight. I had to be kept a secret from the Nighlok so I could have time to fully master the sealing power, so I started training and was raised in a secret location by the samurai elders. My fun fact is that location is so secret I don't even know where it is."

"Hi guys, my name is Nina Shiba, I'm seventeen and the purple ranger so my element is lightning. So, like Lauren said, our parents, the red and purple rangers didn't make it, so our dad's plan was put into motion. Unfortunately, that meant that I had to leave my siblings that night and move in with my grandmother, my mum's mum, before moving to Ohio. I had to change my name to Nina Martin so when the team did unite and I was with my brother again, no one would know we were related because we couldn't risk the Nighlok finding out. She began training then to become the purple samurai as well as home-schooling me. When I was fifteen, I began missing home and my family a lot more so we decided that I could go to a boarding school in England which was amazing. The school was crazy, but I loved it and everyone I met there became my family. I didn't go back this year though because I had to stay here and fight evil a different kind of evil than exams. It just sucked that I couldn't claim my real name even to this team until about a week ago. I guess a fun fact about me is that because my grandmother home-schooled me for a majority of the time, I'm fluent in French."

"Hi, I'm Jayden Shiba, I'm nineteen and the other red ranger therefore my element is fire. So, my sisters already told you what happened with our parents so when the two of them left, I was left at the house with Ji. When Lauren was sent away to learn the sealing power, it was my job to deceive the Nighlok. I had to become the red ranger in her place so they would think I was the head of the Shiba clan, so Nina had to become the purple ranger in mine. Ji raised me and trained me, and home schooled me so I could become the best red ranger I could be. A fun fact about me, is I'm fluent in Japanese."

"Hi everyone, I'm Emily Stewart, I'm eighteen and the yellow ranger, making my element earth. I wasn't originally supposed to be the yellow ranger. My mum was the previous generation yellow ranger and I have an older sister who had been training to become the yellow ranger. but she fell ill so the task of being the yellow ranger fell to me. It was intimidating at first, but I soon became comfortable having a sword in my hand and now I'm pretty good with."

"You're a lot more than pretty good," Jayden points out. "She's like a machine with a sword in her hand." Emily smiles, blushing at his comment.

"Yeah, I kinda am," she giggles. "Anyways, a fun fact about me is that I can play the flute."

"Hey everyone, my name is Kevin Douglas, I'm nineteen and I'm the blue power ranger, so my element is water. My dad was the blue ranger before me, so as his only child he trained me to become a samurai however I still enjoyed swimming competitively. So, I guess that's my fun fact."

"No!" Mike protests. "We already know that. Give us something else." Kevin rolls his eyes at the green ranger's antics but answers nonetheless,

"Okay. I starred as Hercules in my fifth-grade school production."

"We have to see that!" Antonio exclaims.

"No. Not happening, Mia, go ahead," he says, turning to the pink ranger.

"Right, well, I'm Mia Watanabe, I'm nineteen and the pink ranger so my element is wind. My mum was the pink ranger before me so she along with my grandmother trained me to become a ranger since I'm older than my brother. My fun fact is, I want to learn to cook all different kinds of cuisines."

"Maybe don't go crazy at first though," Kevin says, trying not to make it obvious how even the thought of her food is currently making him sick. "Go in baby steps and focus on one thing at a time."

"That's a good idea," she replies before turning to Ji.

"My name is Ji Ishikawa. I'm the rangers' mentor. I was actually the mentor to the generation before these rangers, advising them on what to do and often helping take care of the Shiba children. However, after the final battle, I knew it wasn't yet over and their parents had trusted me to raise and train their son to be the next leader, the red ranger and I must say, I think I did pretty well. My fun fact is that, despite my age, I am not weak."

"If you were in charge of training these rangers, I wouldn't doubt it for a second," Ian nods. "Alright, everyone, now's the time you've been waiting for. The rangers are now going to answer your question and I believe we already have someone in the crowd with the mic, ready to ask a question."

"Yes," a young boy says from the crowd and once the camera's turn to him, showing his face, Nina recognises him and she's sure the others do to. They looked out for him a little while ago when a Nighlok was talking to him. "I don't know if you remember me-"

"We do," Jayden nods.

"Ryan," Mia says, remembering how her and Kevin staked out his house to prevent the Nighlok from coming back.

"Yeah," the boy gasps, shocked.

"I hope you're still playing baseball," Kevin says.

"I am," he grins and it's the clear the people around him are shocked to see the rangers know who he is.

"I believe you have a question for us?" Nina asks.

"Right, yeah! Mike said he was twelve when he started training so I wanted to ask, when did each of you start training to become rangers?"

"I was twelve as well," Kevin says.

"I was thirteen," Mia replies.

"Technically eight, but seriously, fifteen," Antonio admits.

"I had just turned sixteen," Emily says.

"I started when I was eight," Lauren tells him.

"Seven," Jayden says.

"Man, you guys were old. I was five," Nina says.

"Like actually training, training?" Antonio asks.

"Not with the practice sword immediately but as soon as I was with my gran, yeah."

"Nina, you'd been training for ten years when I started," Emily says causing Nina to laugh.

"That's crazy! That was a really good question though. Thank you, Ryan."

"This question is from Tia, in Canada," Ian says, before turning to his screen to see the question. "This one's for Jayden and it's 'What was it like suddenly living with all of these people?'"

"Oh, that's a good one," Nina says, turning to her brother.

"Honestly, it was so strange just because for the past twelve years it had been me and Ji and then suddenly, I'm living with four strangers. And a half if we included my long-lost baby sister," he says placing a hand on Nina's shoulder. "I'll admit, it took me a little while to be open with them, just because I was so used to doing a lot alone, but we got there and now the idea of living without them seems crazy."

The next question comes from a girl, Myra, in the crowd, "What's are some weird, random or embarrassing nicknames you've had in your life?" Mike starts laughing and all of the rangers begin laugh too, already know what he's thinking of, as he leans forwards, pointing to Nina.

"She called me Mikey boy once and it was just so random."

"I still don't know why I did it. I think I was just in a weird mood. I think I should keep calling you that though."

"You really shouldn't."

"Oh, when we were kids, like before we were spilt up, I used to call Jayden, Jay Jay just because I couldn't Jayden."

"Oh yeah!" Lauren exclaims laughing. "What was it? Oh! Jaygen!"

"It's like the easiest name and I just couldn't say it, but I think I still wanted the two syllables, so it was Jay Jay instead of just Jay."

"Little wolf," Jayden says, pointing at Nina with him thumb. "Everyone used to call her that."

"Yeah, or Wolfie because of the purple zord. And sometimes she would actually howl if you asked her to," Lauren laughs.

"No, I didn't." Nina says, disbelievingly. She does not remember doing that.

"Yes, you did," Jayden nods.

"Nina, I think did actually," Emily agrees. "When you were a kid that time, Jayden said something like 'the little wolf can walk' and just did the cutest howl as you toddled over to him."

"What do you mean when she was a kid? I though you didn't meet until you were older," Myra asked.

"About month ago, there was a Nighlok attack but it's power was to de-age one person and it got Nina so she started aging backwards over a couple of days to the point she was like one year old," Emily explains before the next question is asked,

"If you had to pick one, who's the best fighter?"

"Ooh that's hard," Mia says.

"Yeah that's really hard," Antonio agrees.

"I'm gonna have to say it's between my cousins."

"I think it's Nina," Lauren says, shocking to purple ranger.

"Really? I feel like I'm close but it's between you and Jayden."

"No Lauren's right," Jayden says. "Skill wise I'd say we're pretty equal but you're stronger than both of us so if we had to pick a best it would be you."

"So she's your best fighter because she's also the strongest ranger?" Ian asks.

"Absolutely," Ji nods.

"Oh, one hundred percent," Kevin confirms and Nina's awed by the confidence in their voices.

"I'll take it," she shrugs, laughing as Ian asks the next question sent in.

"Living with all these people you must've gotten pretty close and we can all see you guys are really good teammates but are any of you closer than that? Like romantically?" The rangers look around at each other, not knowing who should answer.

"I think I can take this one," Ji says and Nina nods enthusiastically, enjoying how awkward the other rangers are being way too much. "If you exclude myself and Nina, and just look at who everyone is sitting next too, I think you'll find your answer." The following question also comes from online and it's aimed at Nina, "How did you hide who you were for so long? At school and in the team. And was there anyone that just had to share it with?"

"Whoa, that's a lot of questions. Honestly though, at school it was pretty hard because whilst I was pretty real with them with the way I acted, it was just hard knowing that I had to lie to them about who I was and who my parents were especially since I was, - I am so proud of them and what they did. Also because I was home-schooled for so long, I didn't want to start off these new friendships with lies about who I was. In the team though, it was even harder just because Jayden was right there the whole time and at first, I had to act as though he didn't really mean anything to me like that. We had to be really lowkey or be alone if we wanted to be sibling-y or talk about family stuff. Oh, and we had to be careful not to let it slip out if one of us got hurt in battle. And then Shaylee showed up and while we said we were childhood friends I couldn't claim she was my cousin because Antonio already knew her as Jayden's cousin. Then when Lauren came, I thought I'd finally get to tell them to truth but there'd been a change in plans that we didn't know about until that day, well actually, someone," she says looking pointedly at Jayden. "forgot to tell me about it so I didn't know until she'd arrived, and they were emphasising that she was Jayden's sister and I figured that something must've been up, but it was 'dang it. I still can't tell them. I can't act like I know these people.' So, the team really didn't know until the night before that battle against Xandred. As for if there was anyone I just had to tell, yeah there was. But it was literally one person and I had a genuine reason. But now I'm just glad, Nina Martin is officially not me. I mean, I was going by that for so long so if someone does accidently call me that it will probably take me a minute to even realise but my name is Nina Shiba and I'm so glad to finally be going by that."

"For the record, I didn't forget to tell you about Lauren, there was an attack before I could," Jayden points out to which Nina rolls her eyes, smiling anyways as the next question is asked,

"Even though you spent so long apart do you still feel like siblings?"

"Ooh," Nina says, looking between her siblings. "I'm going to say yeah."

"Yeah," Jayden nods.

"It's so crazy because we've been apart for twelve years, but I think it's the fact that in a strange way our experiences were pretty similar that we're still able to work so well."

"Yeah. Like for the most part we were all essentially home schooled and we started training right after that first battle and just knowing that it wasn't forever, we were all coming back together one day really helped."

"Exactly. While we were young when we were separated, we were close. I know twelve years is a long time. We've spent more of our lives separate than together and we've all changed and grown so of course we still have things to learn about each other but there was never a point where I felt like they were total strangers. Slightly unfamiliar, sure but never compete strangers." After answering that question there's another question Ian reads out,

"Lauren, what's one thing you want to do now that you're free?"

"Travel. I've been in that one place for too long, not really having time to have fun so I would like to see what's out there." The next question is from a blonde girl in the crowd who the rangers once again recognise.

"Your name is Amber isn't it?" Nina says, and the girl's jaw drops.

"You remember me?"

"Sure, we do," Antonio nods. "I took you back to your parents. Sorry, you had a question."

"Yeah, it's for you actually. What's your favourite fish to cook?"

"Ooh, right now I'm going to have to say barracuda. My baby barracuda fish kebabs are to die for."

"Nina, I think you're really pretty and really strong so will you marry me?" Is the next question called from the crowd by a boy who's maybe seven as the crowd 'aww's'.

"Aww, I think I'm a bit too old you," she smiles. "But who ends up with you is super lucky! That was such a lovely proposal."

"Shaylee," a man asks, "Do you see yourself ever becoming a doctor?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. Helping the rangers has always been my primary focus so I never explored other options, but I might. I realised, while it is stressful, especially with patients who you have to force to rest, not only was I good at it but also I did kind of enjoy it."

"What's a random thing that you've ran out of or lost or broken that you need to repurchase?" Ian reads out.

"Socks," Mike shrugs. "I've practically lost them all."

"I got a candle for as Christmas gift and I loved it, but it ran out of wax about a week ago," Nina says, a slightly tug on her heart as she thinks about who gave it to her.

"Moisturiser," Mia says.

"I think I need a new pair of goggles," Kevin says.

"Tape," Ji nods, making a mental note.

"Plasters," Lauren says.

"Hair bands," Emily grimaces and all the girls nods at that one. The number of hairbands that are probably underneath the outdoor dojo…

"Bait," Antonio replies.

"Lip balm," Shaylee says.

Ji finally replies with, "Ink."

The question after that comes from someone in the crowd, Jordan, "I know a lot of us have been affected by the Nighlok's power but with you guys being in the crossfire, you must've been affected a few times too. Can you tell us what some of the weirdest Nighlok powers you've being affected by are?"

"You know what," Ji says. "Since they brought up Nina de-aging I've been waiting for this question." The rangers laugh before getting down to business. They bring up when Emily's spirit was taken, Jayden losing his memories, when all the rangers except Emily wanted to do was eat until they exploded, when Nina and Mia turned bad, and a range of other instances. They didn't realise how often they were affected.


The rangers aren't sure how long it's been but looking at where the sun is in the sky, it's been ages and the questions were still coming. They'd been asked about hobbies they plan on picking up with their newfound time, whether Kevin was going back to swimming (he was), what Mia's best meal had been (apparently at some point she had made the rangers lasagne? They had no idea what she was talking about but they nodded along convincingly), whether Mike would visit Australia to surf (he looked at Shaylee when he said he'd have to visit for a bit more than surfing…), how Serena, Emily's sister, was doing (and luckily the answer had been positive. Serena seems to be getting better. While she wasn't quite cured, the treatment was working), how Ji felt when the team first came together to how they are now (while he had hoped, he'd never expected them to work so well together and accomplish so much! He couldn't be prouder.)

"Alright, guys, it's getting late so unfortunately, we are going to have to let the rangers go but we have time for one more question and I think I've found the perfect one to wrap it up. So, rangers, are the attacks over?"

"When Master Xandred took me to the Netherworld, aside the two of us, it was completely empty," Nina says.

"We do believe that we've finally destroyed all the Nighlok," Jayden nods.

"But we will always be ready, just in case," Lauren nods.

"And that is perfect. Before you all leave, I would once again like to say thank you for saving our world."


Walking down the stairs of the stage, Nina sees there are people being held back by metal barriers and Mia points out that they have posters. With the people thrusting their hands out with pens, the rangers feel bad ignoring them, so they begin to sign the posters. Where they got the pictures is beyond them, but they just accept it as they sign them, even taking a few pictures as they continue to walk down, guarded by security. The idea making Nina laugh; they're the power rangers yet they're the ones being guarded and protected, the irony.

As they make their way over to the cars she scans the crowd, but just as she steps inside she sees Big Time Rush talking with one of the officers, clearly trying to get past as what appears to be fans of them too, surround them.

"I'll be right back," she tells Kevin, stepping out of the car and walking over to the officer.

"Nina," The guys sigh as she arrives.

"Hi, excuse me," she says, tapping one of the guards to get their attention. "Could you let these four through please? They actually are my friends," she says and the guard nods, telling her to step back and after a bit of commotion, the four guys are standing before her.

"Nina!" They cheer, group hugging her.

"Hi," she laughs. "What are you guys doing here?"

"So, you expected us to sit back at home once we found out you're a power ranger?" Carlos exclaims.

"Besides," James says, tapping Kendall on the shoulder. "This guy has something to tell you."

"Well, yeah but I don't think here's the right place," he says and it's a fair point. They're practically yelling so they can hear each other. Getting an idea, Nina leans forwards.

"I can get us out of here."

"Really?" Logan asks.

"Yeah, just wait here a moment," she says, walking back to the car. "Hey guys, I'll meet you back home. I've got something to do first."

"Okay, be careful," Jayden nods and Nina shuts the door, making her way back to the four guys.

"Katie and Mrs Knight didn't come right?" She asks.

"No, they should still be back at the Palm Woods," James says. "Why?"

"I just didn't want to leave them behind," she says pulling out her morpher.

"Is that-" Carlos begins and she nods.

"Yup. Symbol power, teleport."


Katie and Mrs Knight were in for a bit of a fright when Nina and the guys suddenly appeared behind them out of nowhere. They were happy to see Nina, of course, they congratulated and thanked her for everything she'd done but it wasn't long before the boys ushered them out of the room, leaving Nina and Kendall alone, in the same positions they were in the last time they spoke, Nina leaning against the island, Kendall on the table.

"Hi," she says.

"You're Nina Shiba. The purple power ranger," he nods.

"I am."

"You know, it actually makes a lot of sense," he says. "The sudden leaves, the cryptic explanations, the 'family tradition'."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be honest with you."

"It's alright. I get it. You were protecting us but that's actually not what I wanted to talk to you about." Nina looks down, already knowing what he wanted to talk about. "That was why you asked me to be with Jo wasn't it."

"Yeah. I'm glad you are though. Honestly I –"

"Nina, I'm not with Jo," he chuckles.

"What? Why not?" She asks, ignoring the leap in her chest as he walked closer to her.

"You were right. I was happy with Jo before she left… but she did leave. And sure, it was hard at first but I got over it and then I met you and I fell for you but then Jo came back and my head was all over the place but not because I thought I wanted to get back with her but because I knew I wanted to be with you. I just didn't want to hurt her. Then you came and told me you did like me, but I should be with her, but I couldn't do that. Not her, not to you and not to myself. Luckily though, Katie was listening. She knew I wanted to be with you, and you did too but something was going on which was what we couldn't figure out. Then we saw the fight and reveal on TV and everything you did make sense and basically what I'm trying to say…," he raises a hand to her cheek as he lowers his head slightly. "Is I really like you Nina and I want you to be my girlfriend." Nina couldn't stop her grin from widening as he spoke.

"That was one hell of a speech."

"What can I say? I'm the speech giver in the group," he replies and as Nina wraps her arms around his neck, he rests his forehead on hers.

"And was there a question in there?" She asks, because technically he hadn't asked her.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" He whispers. She nods gently, whispering,

"Yes," as her eyes flutter shut as he leans forwards capturing her lips, however the moment is ruined by the shutter of a camera and pulling away from each other they turn to swirly slide and the bedroom doors, they see all the others watching, Mrs Knight with a camera in her hand.

"Mum!" Kendall groans as Nina blushes, raising a hand to cover her face for a moment in embarrassment but Mrs Knight just shrugs,

"What? You're gonna look back one day and be like 'Man, I wish I had a picture of the time we first kissed' and I'll be here to provide."

"Wait, you guys were whispering towards the end though, so can you just clarify that you are actually a couple?" Katie says.

"Wait, you were listening the whole time?" Kendall asks.

"And watching," Carlos nods.

"Yeah," Logan says. "We left for like ten seconds and when we creeped back out you guys were in your own little world and didn't notice."

"Now answer the question," James snaps. "Are you guys boyfriend and girlfriend?" Kendall looks back at Nina who smiles at him as he takes her hand.

"Yeah," she nods. "Yeah we are. And, since you are all already here, I should let you guys know something."

"What else could there probably be? You're already a power ranger," Carlos says. "Which if I haven't said is so cool."

"You have," she laughs. "But actually, I'm going back to England for a few months."

"What? Why?" Katie says.

"I'm technically still enrolled at my school and I've been studying here but since the whole ranger thing is done, I can go back in time for my exam and graduate with my friends."

"How long will you be gone?"

"Well, I leave on Friday and results aren't released until mid-August. The fifteenth I think so I won't be back until after then. The twenty-fourth I believe."

"Friday? That's 3rd May. So, I only have you for six more days?" Kendall asks, doing the math.

"Actually, we have that show on Friday and you Gustavo would never let you leave so technically five," Logan points out.

"You know what? That actually works out pretty well," he sighs.

"What do you mean?" She asks.

"Well, our tour was so popular that Griffin got Gustavo to add another two legs to it. One in North and Latin America, the other in Europe and we leave next Wednesday."

"So, when will you be back?"

"Twenty-fourth," he smiles.

"Perfect," Nina replies before laughing. "So, we have five days and then we're not going to see each other for over almost four months? What a great start."

"Hey, we'll make it work. Besides, did you not hear me say Europe? We'll stop by when we're in England but until then, you are going to have the best five days of your life."

"Guys, he's got that look in his eyes again," Carlos mutters and as the others murmur in agreement, Kendall turns to them in confusion.

"Why do you guys keep saying that? I don't have a look."

"Yeah, you do. That's your Nina look," Katie says.

"And that's my cue to leave," Nina chuckles, but as she steps back, Kendall's hand which is still holding hers pulls her back.

"Leave where? We only have five days."

"Exactly. Today's not included. I'll see you tomorrow. My brother will think I've been mobbed if I get back too late."

"I forget you have siblings," he says, shaking his head. "Power ranger siblings."

"Oh, yeah," she nods grinning. "And you don't even know about Eddie."

"Who's Eddie? Is he some sort of super ranger?"

"Worse," she says. "He's my best friend."


Kendall was right. The past five days had probably been the best of her life so far. She'd woken in her own home as Nina Shiba, with her friends, siblings and cousin around. She'd shared the news of her boyfriend with the team as well as Eddie, who she'd finally introduced to the team via skype. While people still approached her if she went out, they weren't exactly hounding her like they had been before. Neither her or Kendall wanted to go public with their relationship just yet, just because the two of them were already so in the media and they didn't want their every move together being watched so they often stayed in and since Nina was now able to use her phone, they'd exchanged numbers so they plan to meet up. She still had work to go over and unfortunately (yet she supposed it was pretty fortunate) her body was used to waking up at ridiculous times in the morning so she would often do a lot then. She'd also continued to train with the others every now and then, genuinely just for fun. However, even with her newfound hours of the day, Friday had approached a lot quicker than she'd thought. So, before she knew it, all the rangers were in the living room, their luggage packed and at their feet.

"Guys, look at this!" Antonio exclaims, holding up a flyer. "I have scored the golden ticket. An around the world fishing expedition. This is the trip of a lifetime! I'm gonna catch fish nobody's ever heard of! And the company's not going to be too bad either," he grins, slinging an arm around Lauren's shoulder.

"Sounds fishy," Mia says. "In a good way."

"How about you, Mia?" Jayden asks.

"I'm going to the culinary academy," she replies, and Mike looks up, whispering,

"Thank you."

"No comments please," Mia tells him, unimpressed, causing the rangers to laugh.

"I didn't say anything!"

"Well, I can take a hint but I'm gonna study hard so when Antonio comes back with his rare and exotic fish, I'll turn it into a gourmet cuisine."

"Kevin," Jayden says turning to the blue rangers. "Are you going back to the swim team?"

"Well, I just caught up with my coach the other day and I just barely have enough time to train for the Olympic qualifying tournament!" He sighs happily. "It's definitely going to be hard work. But I-"

"But if anyone can do it, you can!" Emily exclaims and the others agree.

"And the culinary academy isn't too far from the pool so I can make you some nutritious meal, so you're recharged and ready," Mia smiles.

"Thank you," Kevin replies. "Shaylee, are you going back to Australia?"

"Not yet," she says. "If I'm gonna teach this guy," she says wrapping an arm around Mike as he slings his over her shoulder, "how to surf, we're going to have to start with the baby waves."

"Baby waves?" Mike says causing the rangers to laugh again.

"What about you, Mikey Boy," Nina teases.

"Please, don't start calling me that," he says shaking his head. "but asides from learning how to surf. I'm going back home. I haven't seen my friends in ages."

"How about you Emily?" Shaylee asks.

"Oh, no major plans. I'm just excited I get to go home and take care of my sister. There's no other plan I'd rather be than home with family," she smiles, and Nina looks over to her brother, knocking her shoulder against his arm.

"And what are you doing?" She says, knowingly.

"Well, for the first time in my life, I'm done with my samurai duties," he says. "I figured there's no better place to start something new than on a farm with someone I really care about for a little while," he says as he interlocks his fingers with Emily's.

"And while all of you are out there, living your best lives, I will be returning to school, to do exams," she says, making the rangers laugh.

"Oh please, you're going to England and you get to see all your friends again. You're happy," Lauren says and Nina nods.

"I am happy."

"Well, come on. Mentor's waiting," Jayden says, as everyone picks up their things, heading to the courtyard.

"So, Mentor," Mike says as they make their way down the steps. "What are your plans now that we're done?"

"My place is here. The Shiba house must always be ready for the next Nighlok attack. Even if it never comes," Ji says.

"I still can't believe the three of you are separating again," Shaylee says, indicating to her cousins. "You're finally together without the threat." The Shiba siblings just laugh though.

"It's not forever," Lauren says. "We're a family again. We're going to see each other plenty."

"Exactly," Nina nods. "We'll be right back here in about four months and I'm sure we'll get sick of each other soon enough."

"Well, if there's any trouble," Antonio says, raising his morpher and pointing it at each of them. "You have my number. Rangers together," he cheers, raising the morpher, the other raising theirs too, to meet his.

"Samurai forever," they chant before they begin heading out of the gate. He had already called a taxi for Nina to the airport, so it was waiting outside as they got out. The driver got out to help Nina put her things in the boot before she turned to the team.

"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you to the airport?" Jayden asked, opening the door for her.

"No," she laughs. He had asked four times already. "Seriously, you guys have long journey's ahead of you. Besides, it's easier to be inconspicuous on if I'm on my own."

"Alright," he nods. "Text me when you get there-"

"And when I land and when I meet Eddie, I know," she nods, pulling him into a hug. "I'll see you soon big brother." She pulls away, turning to hug the others. "You too, big sis," she grins. "Emily, take care of my brother."

"I'll try," she laughs.

"Mikey boy," she laughs. "Don't drown."

"You gotta stop that," he says but Nina sees his smile as she pulls away.

"Shay, make sure he doesn't drown."

"I'll see what I can do," her cousin smiles.

"Kev, don't forget to call me every once in a while, when you're not underwater."

"I'm sure I can fit you into my schedule," he grins.

"And you two," she says, pointing to Mia and Antonio, before hugging them too. "would it be too much to ask for a culinary experience with a fish from you," she says to Antonio. "And your new skills?" She says to Mia.

"I'm sure we can manage that," Mia replies.

"Mentor," she says. "Stay out of my room." The man just laughs, hugging the girl.

"Even when it need dusting?"

"Okay, maybe not then." But as she laughs, she feels someone tap her shoulder.

"Uh, Nina," Mike says.

"Yeah?" She asks as she turns around to face him but he's pointing at something… and turning she realises it's actually someone walking over. "Kendall?" She apologises to the driver for making him wait before walking over to meet her boyfriend halfway. On day three, she had quite a bit of shopping at the mall, so he'd offered to walk her back and help her carry her things, so he finally knew where she lived… and met the team. They'd all been pretty protective which was when Nina reminded them that while she may be the youngest, they all knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself. They'd eased up quite a bit after that reminder and had actually grown to like him, even Jayden!

"Hey," he says, hugging her.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" She says, pulling away.

"What? I can't see my girlfriend off before she leaves the country for almost four months?" He asks, and she shakes her head.

"Not when you have a show tonight, no. Does Gustavo know you're here?" She asks, slightly worried. She didn't want him to get in trouble; they'd said goodbye yesterday.

"Gustavo told me to leave," he laughs. "He likes you, which is a sentence I never thought I'd say about anyone."

"Seriously?" She says.

"Yeah," he nods. "You seem to have that effect on people. Even Bitters told me to say bye and I'm pretty sure he was tearing up. Although, I do have to get back soon."

"Well then, I'm glad you came," she smiles, leaning up on her toes to kiss him, temporarily forgetting the team about twenty feet behind her until she hears,

"No, no, no, none of that!" Mike calls and they break apart.

"Leave them alone," she hears Shaylee scold.

"No, he's right," Jayden says.

"Sorry," Kendall says, raising a hand as Nina shakes her head, only slightly embarrassed.

"I'm not gonna miss that," she mutters, half joking.

"Hey, I can't blame them," he says. "They care about you. I would do the same thing to Katie."

"She will hate you for that," she chuckles.

"And as her big brother, that is a sacrifice I will have to make," he shrugs, to which Nina laughs, rolling her eyes.

"These past five days have been pretty amazing."

"Yes, they have," Kendall nods. "And the twenty-fifth August is going to be even better."

"And why's that?"

"Because," he says taking her hand. "We're finally going to go on our first date." She smiles at him shyly before he squeezes her hand. "Come on. Don't want you to miss your flight."


"So, the mystical connection came in handy, after all," Eddie says as she approaches him at Heathrow. The flight was fifteen hours so it would be eleven pm on Friday back home; it was just past seven am on Saturday here.

"I guess it's one of the perks of being the chosen one," she shrugs. "Now, I've been craving Trudy's cooking so do you think we can make it back in time for breakfast?" Eddie grins, wrapping her in a hug which she quickly returns.

Nina Shiba. The American. The old newbie. The leader of Sibuna. The chosen one. The purple power ranger. Nina Shiba was going back. She had to. Pretty soon she had exams.

Chapter thirty. I can't believe it. That's it. We did it. We reached the end of House of Rangers! That's insane! I hope you guys have loved this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it! Thank you to all of you for sticking with me until the end, for reviewing and pm-ing and following and favouriting and just reading this story! Also, all the places I listed who were livestreaming the panel were the locations of everyone who's read this story so far so that was just a little token of appreciation :). I know this chapter is suuuuuper long but I hope you enjoyed the ending. If you would like me to do a flash-forwards/epilogue or even do a touchstone of Ra continuation just let me know and I'll give it a shot but if you happy with this being the end then that's cool too, just let me know what you thought! But for the last time, thanks for reading!