Serena finally made it to the highway, a couple of miles from the Kensington Manor. It had been a long and particularly trying mission, which had been capped with the disappointment that it was yet again a dead end. Still, she consoled herself with the fact that at least Michael was safe and the Kensingtons' little hunting parties would be shut down for good. Frederick was dead, killed by the mysterious Kenzo, and she hadn't hung around long enough to find out what happened to Edward, but she suspected his injuries were fatal. She doubted anyone who was still at the manor would be able to get away from there before the cops arrived, and that meant that they would have a lot of difficult questions to answer.
As she got to the road, she saw a man standing, waiting for her by a minibus. She stumbled over to him, leaning over to catch her breath.
"God only knows how that Michael kid does it." She muttered as the driver came over to her, taking her bag. "That run almost finished off what the Kensingtons started."
"Hayley figured you'd appreciate me bringing these." The man announced, showing her a pair of sharp scissors. It was only then that she realised she was still wearing the tracking collar. It seemed a little pointless to run from the cops if they could use the trackers to locate her. "Hold still."
She held her hair clear as the driver carefully slid the blade under the collar and cut through the leather, releasing her from it. Serena took the collar and threw it into the woods, hoping never to see it again. The driver helped her into the minibus, and got in, pulling away from the hard shoulder, back onto the highway.
"So where am I going now?" Serena asked him.
"Well right now, you're coming to the safe-house." He told her. "I doubt you want to go to a hotel looking like that."
Serena caught a look at her appearance in the mirror and realised what he meant. She was covered in mud, scratches and bruises, and still wearing only a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. Her hidden blade was not exactly concealed by the short sleeves. She just nodded her head in agreement.
"I guess not." She conceded. "How far is it?"
"It's only a couple of miles." He assured her. "I'm Keith by the way."
"Serena." She introduced herself wearily. She pulled out her cell phone, switching it on. "Damn it!"
"What is it?" Keith asked.
"I've got a ton of messages from my sister." She told him. "My cell's been off all weekend. She must be wondering where I am."
"Well, I doubt she'll mind waiting a few hours to hear from you." He told her. "By my reckoning, it's about five in the morning over there."
"I guess she's waited this long." Serena replied, leaning against the side of the car. "If you hear snoring, just ignore it."
"I'll wake you when we get there." Keith chuckled as she allowed herself to drift off to sleep.
At the Shiba House, early in the morning, Emily started to slowly stir as she heard some sounds coming from the living room. She rubbed her eyes wearily as she started to get out of the bed. As she did so, she noticed that Mia was already out of the bed.
Checking her clock, she noticed it was 7:00 AM. Mentor Ji had given them all the day off for her graduation party, and so she knew that they weren't at training. Why was Mia already out of bed?
She yawned as she made her way out of the bedroom, heading for the kitchen to make herself some coffee.
"Emily!" Mike called out as he saw her. Emily just looked to him, but was surprised to see all the others there as well, together with Mentor Ji and some people she didn't know. She suddenly became aware of the fact she was still in her pyjamas, and started to draw away. Mike just grabbed her and hugged her tightly. "Sorry, we thought you'd be ready by the time we were finished."
"Finished what?" She asked him. As she looked around him, she now noticed more than a bunch of strangers staring at her in her pyjamas. There were racks of clothing all around the room, carrying suits and dresses in a variety of colours and styles. The strangers were carrying measuring tapes. Jayden and Antonio were already wearing tuxedos, while Mia was being measured up for a dress. Kevin was just in the middle of choosing a bow tie and cummerbund for his suit, while Mentor Ji was patiently waiting his turn. "Mike, what is all this?"
"Well, I got to thinking about what you said when you printed off that diploma." He told her. "You know, how you felt like you were missing out on graduation and prom and everything."
"Yeah?" She asked him, wondering where he was going with this. It was then that he turned her to show her what was hanging on a door a little way from her. Her eyes lit up as she saw a gown and a mortarboard in a hanging bag. She turned to him, immediately forgetting her initial embarrassment.
"Well, I kind of missed out on all that too." He reminded her. "I came here before graduation, and as for prom? Well, I kind of didn't feel like going by myself to be made fun of like the other singletons."
"Mike convinced me that this celebration might be worth a little more effort." Mentor Ji told her as Kevin was finished with his choices, a blue cummerbund and bow tie naturally, and he was being called up to be fitted for his suit.
"I know it's not the same, since your folks and your sister aren't here and all." Mike continued, holding her hands gently in his own. "But I figured, instead of just a party, maybe...we could give you the whole graduation package."
"Mike!" She yelled excitedly, leaping into his arms and kissing him passionately. "I can't believe you did this! You went to so much trouble!"
She turned to the tailors and held up a hand.
"Uh, can I just have a few minutes for a shower?" She asked them. She kissed her boyfriend again, before running into her room to get ready. Mike was smiling from ear to ear at her excitement. When he had suggested to Mentor Ji that they hire outfits to make things a little more like a proper graduation, he had no idea that he would have been able to arrange something like this. It was all so sudden, and while he knew that Mentor Ji had more than a few friends and contacts, he didn't realise that he could arrange a full graduation fitting in the living room of the Shiba House overnight.
As the assistant helping Mia finished helping her choose a dress, Mike was called over to the fitting area for his own fitting.
Meanwhile, in the corner, Jayden was sitting, waiting on the others as Antonio came over, offering him a plate of toast.
"No thanks." Jayden said, holding up a hand.
"You might want to." Antonio suggested as he sat down, taking a sip of some champagne. They had figured that a champagne breakfast was not exactly out of the question for such a special occasion. "I mean, once the party gets underway, we have no idea when we'll stop for..."
Jayden just lifted some toast off the plate, and started to crunch through it, trying as much as possible to ignore Antonio. He hated being this close to him. It just made things harder for him.
"You didn't come to bed last night." Antonio sighed. "You were gone all day yesterday."
"I wasn't aware that it was your job to keep tabs on my whereabouts." Jayden sneered.
"Jayden, have I done something wrong?" Antonio asked him.
"What do you mean?" Jayden asked him.
"You've been pretty...well...you haven't really been yourself for a couple of days." Antonio commented. "I just wanted to know if I'd done anything."
"It's not you Antonio." Jayden responded.
"It's just; all of this seemed to start when we had that sparring match." Antonio recalled. "You just kind of walked off after that. You've been avoiding all of us since then."
"Look, just because we live and train together doesn't mean we have to spend every waking minute together." Jayden replied sarcastically. Just then, Emily came back in, showered, and changed, and bounded over to a free tailor excitedly to be measured up to see what they could find for her. Jayden used this moment of distraction to get up and leave Antonio sitting on his own as he went into the kitchen to fetch himself something more substantial for breakfast.
About an hour later, the Rangers were all assembled in the training yard, on the mat outside. Mentor Ji was standing at the front in a tux, with a long red gown over it. Since he was their Mentor, he was the closest thing they had to a headmaster, and so it seemed only right that he was the one that perform the ceremony.
Sitting on chairs before him, the Rangers were waiting for the start of the ceremony. Mia was wearing a long, pink cocktail dress, while Kevin, Antonio, Jayden and Mike were all wearing tuxedos with appropriately coloured bow ties and cummerbunds. Mike was also wearing a robe, and he had a mortar board in his hands as he waited for Emily to arrive. Eventually, she came out of the house, wearing a beautifully patterned yellow dress under her graduation robes. She placed the mortarboard on her head, and made her way towards Mentor Ji, with a skip in her step. She knew that the official part was over with when her diploma was certified, and that this ceremony strictly speaking meant nothing, but it just felt amazing, like a part of her life was finished, and she was looking forward to the future, one that was just full of possibilities.
As she approached the front, Mike got up, and she saw that he too was wearing a robe. She smiled to see him.
"You look, amazing!" He complimented her.
"You look great too." She returned the compliment. "But...what's with the robe?"
"Well, I missed graduation too." He reminded her. "Mentor Ji suggested that since we're doing this for you, we may as well get another robe."
"Emily, Mike, if you would please." Mentor Ji beckoned them, bringing them to the front of the mat. He looked out over all the assembled Rangers as Emily and Mike stood next to each other. Mike found Emily's hand and held it. "Graduation is a time of commencement, the end of one chapter, and the beginning of a new one."
He looked to Mike and Emily with a warm smile on his face.
"We all know both Mike and Emily. They are fantastic young people, who have amazed us and impressed us more times than any of us can really recall." Mentor Ji continued as the others watched on. "It is for this reason that with the achievements they have earned, I am confident that as they now step forth into adulthood, they will achieve whatever they set their minds to."
"As long as they don't spend all day goofing off playing video games." Kevin shot out. There was a small ripple of laughter from the Rangers at this reference to his initial annoyance about Mike's less than serious attitude. Mentor Ji presented Emily with a scroll, and moved the tassel of her mortar board to the opposite side. He then did the same with Mike.
"You may now go forth, armed with the skills you have learned." Mentor Ji announced. "Follow your dreams, and conquer whatever you wish to do."
The other Rangers cheered and threw confetti over Mike and Emily. Mike grabbed his mortar board and threw it into the air, before encouraging Emily to do the same. The Yellow Ranger grabbed her hat, throwing it in the air, before leaping into Mike's arms, hugging him tightly.
"Thank you Mike." She whispered in his ear. "This was so amazing!"
"It's only just starting." He assured her. He took off his robe, handing it to Mentor Ji. Emily did the same. "We're all headed to lunch at that fancy Italian place in town, and by the time we come back...these guys will be finished."
She turned around in time to see some guys coming in with an entertainment system, and decorations. She just looked at him as her excitement overcame her.
"You're kidding right?" She asked Mike. He shook his head.
"Nope." He said with authority. "Tonight, you're going to prom."
Serena woke up in a bed some time later. Keith had taken her to a place where she could get cleaned up and get some rest. As she woke up, she realised that the adrenaline had finally subsided, and now every of her body ached. She groaned as she sat up on the bed.
"Alright Hayley, what do we have to do now?" She asked. "Maybe you'd like me to take on the entire Chinese Air Force or storm the Pentagon?"
"Actually right now, I'm running up against something of a brick wall." Hayley admitted. "We're having trouble tracking any other Masamune blades."
"Right about now, I'm finding it hard to think that's a bad thing." She grumbled. "So what does that mean?"
"Well, for one thing, it means we have no idea what to ask you to do next." She replied. "So, you have a choice. You can either get a flight home, or you can rest up..."
"The second." She interrupted Hayley. "I feel bad enough without being cooped up on a 16 hour flight."
"Alright, I figured you might want a break." Hayley replied. "Keith and Kat will be fine to put you up for a day or two."
"Wait Kat?" Serena asked. "As in the woman whose name I've been using the last couple of days?"
"Yes, there really is a Kat Hillard." She heard a male voice tell her. "She's an old friend."
"OK, who's this?" Serena asked.
"That's just Tommy." Hayley sighed. "It's alright, you can trust him. He's got history...let's just say he's not a stranger to this kind of thing."
"Fine, whatever, Hi Tommy." She responded wearily. "Seeing as I'm here, I need to call my sister. She's left a couple of dozen messages. I'm guessing it's important."
"Alright, rest up Serena." Hayley answered. "I'll contact you when I know something."
"I can't wait." Serena said sarcastically as Hayley signed off. She pulled out her cell phone, figuring out the time difference to make sure she wouldn't be calling at a bad time and dialled Emily.
"Emily, its Serena!" She said as cheerfully as she could, given how much pain she was in.
"Serena?" Emily asked. "Where have you been? I've been calling!"
"Sorry, I had a lot on this weekend." She replied. Emily didn't know about Serena's quest, and from her understanding, right now, that was the way it was meant to stay for the time being at least. "I got back to you as soon as I could. What's so important?"
Emily had to hush up Mike, who was offering her the bread basket as she was trying to speak with her sister.
"What's all the noise?" Serena asked her. "Where are you?"
"The guys took me to an Italian for lunch." She told her. "Serena, I graduated!"
"Emily that's amazing!" Serena called out; smiling the first genuine smile she had for what felt like months. "Congratulations!"
"I'm in the 95th percentile!" Emily told her excitedly. "The guys threw me an amazing party. They had a ceremony in the yard, and they brought me here, and Mike says when we get back, they're going to be throwing me a prom!"
"Em, that sounds so amazing, I'm really happy for you!" Serena told her. "I'm really sorry; I just wish I could be there. I'll send you something special, it should be there in a couple of days, and I'll come out there as soon as I can, I promise!"
"Thanks Serena." Emily told her. "Mike, I told you, I don't like squid! No offence Antonio."
"It sounds like you're having a great time." Serena said with a huge grin. "Listen, I'll let you get back to it. Congratulations sis, I'm proud of you."
"Thanks." Emily said in response. "I love you."
"I love you too." Serena said as she hung up. Just then, a beautiful blonde woman came into the room, carrying some clothes.
"I thought I heard someone moving." She said in a heavy Australian accent as she laid the clothes down next to her. "Tommy explained everything."
"Thanks." Serena said, taking the clothes. "I'm sorry, I've been using your name all weekend, I feel like I should at least introduce myself. Serena."
"Kat." She replied, shaking her hand. "You already met my room-mate Keith."
She sat on the bed next to Serena, putting an arm around her, before nodding in the direction of the phone.
"I'm guessing that call was important." She surmised.
"My little sister just graduated." Serena replied as a tear started to roll down her face. "Listen to me, 'little sister', she's eighteen and she's just graduated! It's not like she's a kid."
"I guess you wish you could have been there." Kat sighed. "I can't count the number of times I missed out during my time in the Spandex."
"You were a Ranger?" Serena asked her. She just nodded.
"It's how Tommy and I met." She explained.
"I'm not even a Ranger though." Serena commented. "I still don't understand why Mentor Ji had to send me. I mean, he knows all these contacts and things...surely he could have picked anyone."
"In my experience, you don't question these things." Kat told her. "The Morphing Grid has some weird mystical, almost religious element to it. For some reason, things happen, and it's just like...well...I hate to sound clichéd, but it's like...everything happens for a reason."
"Well I'd love to know what that reason is." Serena muttered. "Instead, my sister's graduating, and I'm 18,000 miles away. I can't even send her a card today."
"These things have a habit of revealing themselves when you least expect it." Kat said sagely. "Anyway, I'm putting on some breakfast. Are you hungry?"
"I guess." Serena answered as she got up. "I'll just get changed first."
"It'll just be ten minutes." Kat assured her. "See you downstairs."
As Kat left, and Serena started to get changed, she couldn't help but wonder about what she had said. Everything happened for a reason? Did that mean Mentor Ji had some plan for her all along? If so, what did he know? More importantly, if he did know something she didn't, then why hadn't he told her?