Emily searched the map endlessly for any signs of her sister. There was no possible way a human being could just disappear without a trace. Something had happened; she just needed to find out what.

By now, everyone was home. Jayden, Mike, and Kevin were back from looking around the city and they had no news about Serena. No one had seen her anywhere, not that anyone had been paying attention to her. They had no reason to. To the city, she was just another person.

Ji was still in his room. The city was full of cameras, mostly for security. He had a few friends who looked them over just to be sure the Rangers' identities didn't go public. Everyone was hoping that some camera somewhere had seen Serena.

Suddenly, Emily beat her fists into the table and stormed off down the hall. Storm followed her, whining the entire way. She knew Emily was upset and wanted to be of comfort. Mike watched Emily leave with a sigh. He wanted to help, but there was nothing he could do. Defeated, he removed his Pooh-Bear hat. He was sure Mia and Kevin wouldn't care if he took the costume off. Now was not the time to mess around.

"I'll go see if she's okay," Mia whispered, knowing her going to talk with Emily could go one of two ways. Either Emily would throw herself into Mia's arms, taking the pink Ranger in as a surrogate sister while they searched for Serena, or Emily would push Mia away, using the pink Ranger to get out all her frustrations at being unable to find Serena. Mia braced herself for either.

She knocked on the door to Serena's bedroom. Based on the whining from the dog and the sobbing that she could hear from inside the room, she had assumed Emily went to hide in there. She knocked and opened the door slowly, slipping inside. Without a word she sat down beside Emily, who was crying into Serena's pillow.

"We're looking for her," Mia whispered softly, "and she's looking for us. We'll meet halfway, Emy, I swear."

"What if she's hurt?" Emily asked, "Or if she's already dead? I hate being on this side! I hate it!"

"It's hard," Mia nodded her head. She had been on this side quite a few times – it was the side with the most to worry about. They had no idea where Serena was, what state she was in, and whether or not they would ever see her again. On the other side, Serena's side this time, Serena knew whether she was alive or dead and she knew her friends were looking for her. She still had her worries, but she had some hope.

Mia lay down beside Emily and hugged her tight. It hurt her sunburn, but her fears for Serena hurt a lot more, "We'll get through it by staying strong. You need to do that for Serena. You're no good to her, or us, if you spend all this time wishing it didn't happen."

Emily nodded her head and nestled closer into Mia. She needed to be strong, but she couldn't keep everything bottled up.

-Samurai-

Serena couldn't see outside. She had no idea what time it was and if it was night, but she was tired and decided to get some rest. If she was going to be sparring with Dekker and Dayu, she was going to need some sleep. Wishing she had been given a pillow or blanket or something more than picture frames and a flashlight for comfort, she lay down on the cold concrete and closed her eyes. She didn't bother turning off the flashlight. When the door was closed, it was her only source of light and she didn't want to lose that.

She closed her eyes for what felt like a minute before she was shaken from her sleep. Something was dropped in front of her face and she opened her eyes to see it was a bowl. Suddenly realizing just how hungry she was, she dove in.

"Dayu doesn't want me alone with you," Dekker said. Serena looked at him. She hadn't even noticed he had been the one to give her food. All she had seen was the bowl. She didn't even know what she was eating.

"Then why are you here?"

Dekker looked over his shoulder. Serena could tell Dayu had no idea he had brought her food. She hoped so for two reasons. It meant she was getting in Dekker's head and it meant there was more food on the way. Dayu wouldn't let her starve to death.

"You know something," Dekker said, "You know about my life, the life I've forgotten. Why have you not said anything before?"

"Maybe because you've been too busy being an asshole."

"I saved you from Dayu. We could have talked then."

Serena shook her head, "There's a reason I didn't want to share things with you, Dekker. It's because I can't trust you. You were aligned with us, but you've also hurt us. You made bad decisions. Like the one you're making now."

"Does it matter how Serrator is defeated?" Dekker asked. "By the time we're done with you…"

"Yeah, I'll be strong enough to kill Serrator. Thanks, Dekker, maybe your heart's in the right place… but it's… it's really not. I'm here because you and Dayu want to turn me into you. Maybe you don't want the whole half-Nighlok thing for me, maybe you do. But I know how this game is played. You're only going to let me out when you trust I'll do everything you ask of me. When you've brainwashed me. I want Serrator dead just as badly as you do, but I don't want to lose myself or my family on the way. I don't want to be like you, Dekker."

Dekker snatched the bowl from Serena's hand, "Live or die, Serena. There is no other choice. Serrator needs to be stopped."

"Live," Serena said, "Of course, live, but only if I'm free to be myself with the people I love. If you're going to turn me into a Dayu/Dekker hybrid, then I would rather die."

"Your family means a lot to you," Dekker said with a slight growl in his voice, "but you forget, I don't know my family. They were taken from me. Everything I ever knew, everyone I loved was taken from me."

"Or they were pushed away. Either way, acting like an ass won't bring them back. Kidnapping me won't bring them back. Killing Serrator won't bring them back. Good things happen to good people."

"Do you believe that?" Dekker asked. He got up and started for the door. "From what I've seen, you Rangers are living a pretty miserable life."

Serena looked to the floor. There was a lot of hurt that came with the Samurai life. Then she shook her head. A lot of good had come from being a Samurai as well.

"I still have a family, though. Somewhere out there is a home full of people who would do anything for me. Do you have that, Dekker? Do you have a place to call home?"

"Tomorrow, we work on defensive strategies," Dekker told her, pulling the door open. "For your sake, I hope we won't be starting from square one. Serrator won't go easy on you. Neither will I."

As the door slammed shut, Serena gulped. She knew she was in for pain, but she also knew she was bothering Dekker. If something she said bothered him, it meant he cared. On some level, he was listening to her.

Author's Note: Okay, so with the new format of the site, anonymous reviews have once again been allowed for all stories, mine included. So, to all guest reviewers, here's a message from me about abusing the anonymity of guest reviews. This has been a problem for me in the past, and I intend to keep it as a problem of the past. Doing so is quite effortless. I simply log into my account and decline flames. Don't think you'll be keeping me up late at night, making me feel bad, or making me feel like my work is worthless. If I believed it was worthless, I wouldn't be posting it.

Fanfiction is a site where authors can post their work to get feedback, not to be humiliated. Praising the work, or offering some helpful pointers are the intent for the review box, not flaming a story or making impolite demands. If you don't like something and can't be respectful of my work, then get out. There's a shiny back button at the top of the page and there are millions of other stories you can be reading. Surely there is one out there you will enjoy. Go read it.