On the evening of the next night, the samurai Rangers made their final preparations to carry out their plan. As night began to fall, Emily sat out on the porch in a comfortable reclining chair while Mentor Ji and Mia sat nearby her with some instruments. Ji plucked the strings of his shamisen while Mia readied a few chimes along with a small drum. Further out in the yard, Jayden, Kevin, and Mike lay in wait, hiding in the thick bushes and plants of the garden. From their hiding place, the three samurai had a clear view of the pond and the peony plants that Shirou seemed to haunt.
"Remember our plan," Jayden said quietly to his two retainers. "Shirou may not be a Nighlok, but Ayakashi ghosts should still be vulnerable to our kanji magic."
"I just wish he'd show up already." Mike grumbled irritably as he wiped away some sweat from his brow. "It's too damn hot and sticky out here."
Amid the sounds of the crickets and the droning of cicadas, the three young samurai fell silent as they heard music begin to come from the porch of the Shiba House. From her chair, Emily lay back and closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the gentle melody coming from Ji and Mia's instruments. As the two continued to play, Jayden kept his eyes fixed on the pond and held his breath as a wispy form began to take shape. The three Rangers in the bushes watched in awe as the ghost of a young handsome samurai appeared from the peonies and began to walk from the garden toward the porch of the Shiba House. Exchanging a quick nod in the growing darkness, the three Rangers split up and moved silently to follow their mark.
As Ji and Mia finished their first song, they looked up in surprise to see the figure of Prince Shirou approach on the lawn. To their amazement, Shirou disregarded them and focused on Emily, who raised herself to a sitting position to face the spirit. "Shirou, you've returned." she called out weakly.
"Of course." he replied with a sad look. "I couldn't leave. Not now. Not when you are unwell."
"Yes, I am sick because of the flower you gave me." Emily replied evenly. "I need to ask for your help, so that I can get well again."
The young samurai ghost wrinkled his features and shook his head, "No. I can't help you, but that won't matter. Soon, we'll be able to be together in the afterlife."
"Shirou, please!" Emily pleaded. "Not like this! My friends are all worried, and I'm afraid. There has to be another way!"
Shirou shook his head again, "I'm sorry, but you shouldn't be afraid. Dayu had told me that as long as you don't tamper with the peony I gave you, your passing should be painless."
Everyone who had been listening to the exchange stopped and gasped in shock. Shirou had been consorting with the Nighlok after all! Letting his emotions get the better of him, Mike sprung from the bushes and tried to throw himself bodily at the apparition. "I've heard enough you Nighlok lover!"
Jayden growled in frustration as their original plan went sideways and he and Kevin burst from the bushes after Mike to try and stop him. Instead of tackling some corporeal form, all three Rangers passed through the ghost and tumbled to the ground interposing themselves between Shirou and the others on the house porch.
Shirou eyed his new opponents warily as the three Rangers quickly rose to their feet and formed up around the Red Ranger, taking ready stances with their samurizers. As they did, Jayden stepped forward, "Prince Shirou, I am Jayden Shiba, head of the Shiba clan and lord of these samurai! You've trespassed on my home and brought harm to one of my vassals. I demand that you lift your curse on Emily and leave this place for good!"
Shirou sighed and sadly reached for his swords. "I'm afraid I can't do that Lord Shiba. If I have to defeat you in combat to prove my love for her, then so be it. There is nothing you can do."
"That's where you're wrong." Jayden answered sternly, "Our love for Emily doesn't have to be proven, and that's why you're going to fail. Rangers?"
In a flash, the three Rangers traced the magic kanji symbols of the word "Bind" with their samurizers and hurled them at the ghost. Shirou roared in fury as the magic symbols halted him and appeared to cause him to phase back into reality somewhat. Taking the momentary opportunity, the Rangers traced their elemental symbols and quickly morphed in a flash of light. As the three drew their spin swords and charged into battle, Shirou broke free of the binding magic and met their attack with his own blades.
From the porch, Mia moved Emily to safety and watched in fear as the once quiet backyard erupted into a fierce battlefield. With unnatural grace, Shirou nimbly dodged and countered the moves of the samurai rangers who attacked in concert with each other. Amid the storm of blades, Shirou parried Jayden's strike and shoved him aside to block the combined blows of Mike and Kevin with one sword. Turning their blades aside with a swift motion, Shirou surprised the two rangers and struck both of them aside with a powerful sweeping blow of his second ghostly sword. Kevin and Mike flew backward to the edge of the porch and demorphed, completely stunned from the incredible power of the surprise attack. As Shirou took a fighting stance, Jayden stood in his way of the porch with a readied sword while Mia hurried to the sides of her fallen friends.
"I've bested your retainers Lord Shiba," the ghost said solemnly, "that only leaves you."
"Then what are you waiting for?" Jayden growled advancing quickly with a raised guard.
From the porch, Emily watched as the Red Ranger clashed with the ghostly prince in a furious melee. Both warriors dodged, parried and countered each other's attacks with lightning speed. Despite Jayden's exceptional swordsmanship, he was still at a disadvantage against Shirou's dual swords and the Red Ranger stumbled backwards as he was suddenly caught by a glancing blow from the prince.
As Jayden did a recovery roll on the ground, he scooped up Kevin's fallen sword in one motion and used it to block Shirou's next decisive attack. To Shirou's surprise, Jayden counterattacked with his own sword and struck a blow to the prince's chest while shifting sideways past his foe's guard. While Jayden's regular sword blow did not harm the prince, it was enough to give him the opening he needed for a finishing strike backed by magic power.
Spinning the disk at the base of his sword, Jayden's blade suddenly became wreathed in a hot blazing fire of samurai magic as he prepared the incantation words. "Shinkenmaru, Kaen no Mai!" (Dance of the Flames) Jayden shouted as he brought his flaming sword around on the surprised prince. In a bright burst of fire, the magic dissipated and Shirou dropped his swords, staggering sideways before collapsing to the ground. As the wounded spirit lay there, the Red Ranger stood over him and put his sword to his defeated foe's neck. "It's over Shirou." Jayden stated.
The defeated prince weakly raised his head and forced a laugh as a deep magical gash at his side leaked away some kind of shimmering energy. "I am a samurai like you Lord Shiba. You know that we'd rather fight to the death than suffer dishonor."
"You already brought dishonor on yourself when you hurt Emily for your own selfish desires. That makes you no better than the Nighlok." Jayden countered, preparing to charge his sword again and finish off the defeated prince.
Just then the Red Ranger felt a gentle hand on his sword arm and turned in surprise to see Emily beside him, urging him to lower his weapon. "Emily! What are you doing?" Jayden frowned in confusion.
The girl stood her ground and shook her head, gently easing his sword away. "Jayden, let me speak to him... please?"
Jayden gave a suspicious look to his fallen opponent before giving Emily a silent nod and stepping aside. As Emily bent down to speak to Shirou, Jayden stood nearby to protect her.
"I'm sorry Emily." Shirou wheezed as the spectral energy from the magical wound Jayden had inflicted continued to leak away, "I was a fool to listen to Dayu, and an even greater one to challenge your lord. I only wanted to try and love you."
"It's not too late for you Shirou," Emily answered sadly, "If you really care about me, please tell us how to undo the magic of the peony."
Shirou sighed, "Very well. The flower will absorb the life of the person receiving the gift when done out of love. If you give the flower back to me, I will be the one to fade and your vital energy should return back to you."
Emily nodded in solemn understanding, "Thank you Shirou. It's only right that I should be the one to end your long suffering."
Ji hurried from the porch and retrieved the flower, returning it to Emily. As the Yellow Ranger reached out and gave it to the prince, his hand became solid for a moment as it touched hers, before it phased back again into spirit form.
"It's done." he told her. "I don't have much time before the peony will absorb my life, but at least you may still live now."
Emily gave a comforting look to the fallen prince, "I'm sorry it had to end this way. I still have a mission to carry out, and a duty to my friends, as well as my lord."
Shirou gave a weak smile and said quietly, "Yes, I can see it for myself... the strong devotion and love you have for Lord Shiba. It's no wonder he fought so fiercely to protect you. He must really care about you."
Emily looked down a moment and gave a small smile as she answered quietly, "Yes, he does."
As the pink peony began to glow brightly, Shirou's spirit grew fainter, but not before he spoke again, "Emily, I ask for one more favor. After I'm gone, please, just keep this flower at your bedside for one more night. Promise me?"
"I promise." she replied with a small nod. As she did, Shirou's form began to glow brightly before completely fading away in a brilliant light. When the light faded, Emily looked down to find the peony in the grass where the prince had been holding it.
Overcome by exhaustion and emotion from the ordeal, Emily took the flower and slumped down tiredly as the Red Ranger knelt down to her side. "You did well Emily... better than I would have handled it. I'm proud of you." Looking over toward the porch, he could see Kevin and Mike starting to regain their senses as Mia and Ji tended to their injuries. Satisfied that his other retainers were safe, Jayden glanced down to find Emily all but passed out from exhaustion.
Without hesitating, the Red Ranger scooped his vassal up and carried her back into the house, and laid her down on her bed. As he demorphed, Jayden took the pink peony from Emily's hand and placed it back in the water glass by her bedside. As the clouds parted outside and gentle moonlight began coming in through the windows, Jayden gave one more silent nod to the flower before leaving the room and closing the door gently behind him.
The next morning, Emily awoke to the bright light of the sun and felt her strength beginning to return. As she looked about, she saw that Mia was gone, most likely already training with the others, then turned to her night stand where she found her pink peony flower. To her surprise, the flower's color had faded and the petals had almost completely shrunk and withered. As she reached to touch it, the flower disintegrated completely, most likely along with any trace of Shirou's spirit that it had absorbed. After taking a moment to remember the redeeming act of the tragic samurai prince, she rose from her bed and headed down the hall, deciding to surprise her friends with her presence.
A few days later, Emily sat on the porch of the Shiba House, playing her flute to the fireflies that danced in the evening air. It was a sweet tune filled with cheerfulness and hope, much like the flute player and her new lease on life. Over the past several days, she had made a seemingly complete and miraculous recovery, and tonight, she wanted to show that she was simply happy to be alive. As she finished her song and took a deep breath of the warm summer air, she was surprised by the sound of gentle clapping coming from behind her.
She turned to see Jayden leaning by the edge of the doorway with a pleased smile on his face. "Jayden!" she exclaimed, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were there."
"That's ok," he answered coming to sit down next to her, "I just didn't want to distract you. Besides, I've been listening for a while and well... it's just good to hear your flute again."
Emily smiled and the two continued to look out toward the gardens where a new sort of peace and calm had fallen over it. "You know," Emily began, "I never really got a chance to thank you for saving me."
"It was nothing," Jayden answered stoically. "I wouldn't be much of a samurai lord if I couldn't protect my own vassal now, would I?"
"True," she agreed, "But it meant even more to me when you said the things you did... as a friend who loved and cared about me."
Jayden cleared his throat and shrugged sheepishly, "Well... just don't go around saying anything to the others. I am your leader after all, and I have an image to keep up."
"Of course." Emily sighed as she playfully rolled her eyes.
After a companionable silence, Jayden spoke again quietly as he glanced up at the Obon lanterns on the porch, "You know Em, fighting Shirou gave me a lot to think about these past couple days."
She turned to look at him as he continued, "It actually kinda scared me when I fought with him. He was a samurai who had been alone and unloved for so long, that when he fought, he did so with such reckless desperation. I've begun to wonder, and fear that I may become like him one day."
Emily paused a moment before shaking her head gently, "No. I know you have a hard time showing it, but you're a samurai who cares deeply for others. What happened to Shirou was sad and unfortunate, but you won't become like him."
"What makes you so certain?" he asked skeptically as he glanced back toward her.
To his surprise, Emily leaned over and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek, "Because you have people that love and care about you too."
With a comforting smile, Emily rose up from her spot and headed back inside leaving the Red Ranger by himself on the porch. As he reached up and touched his cheek where Emily had kissed him, he looked up to the night sky with a peaceful sigh. He knew that the other Rangers had planned to stay up late and play some board games tonight, and he decided that now was probably as good a time as any to join them for once.
As he made his way back inside the house, he saw the others gather around the kitchen table with a stack of game boxes and bowels of snacks while they chattered excitedly. The other Rangers stopped in surprise for a moment as they saw him approach, not sure what to make of the scene. Jayden looked to where Emily sat at the table and saw her smile and give a nod before he cleared his own throat tentatively, "Is there room for one more?"
"Pull up a seat." Mia finally answered with a happy grin as Kevin stepped forward and led Jayden to the table for a summer night full of laughter and games.
A/N:
As always, thanks to everyone for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story. Please feel free to review if you liked it, and if you haven't already done so, please go watch Samurai Sentai Shinkenger for goodness sake! It's an awesome Sentai!