Ji arrived at Brenda's apartment, dressed up in his best suit. He had missed her first appointment with the cosmetic surgeon, and even though he knew she would understand, he was determined to make it up to her.

He knocked on the door, and waited anxiously for her to answer. Eventually, she opened the door, smiling as she saw him.

"Ji..."

"I promised I would be back." He reminded her, making his way in. One of the things that had always troubled him about their relationship was the age difference. He was not in his twilight years by any means, especially since he took good care of himself, but he couldn't deny that there was always the nagging thought in the back of his head, reminding him that strictly speaking, she was young enough to be his daughter. "So, how are you feeling?"

"I guess it'll take a day or two to heal." She told him. "The surgeon told me he wants me to come back..."

"Whatever you need." Ji assured her. "We will ensure you have it. You have my word."

Brenda gestured him towards the couch, and sat with him. Although he never talked about it, she knew that something was always off with him. She knew that something bothered him.

"Ji, I love you." She told him. "What's wrong?"

He looked at her a little quizzically.

"What? Nothing?" He asked her. She just shook her head.

"You know for a guy that spends half his life keeping secrets you're a hopeless liar." She told him. "Ji, what's wrong?"

"I suppose..." He began. "Is this really what you want? I know you said you're willing to take the risks, but..."

"But what?" She asked him. Ji just sighed as he held her hand.

"Brenda, I am not a young man." He reminded her. "You deserve..."

"I deserve to be treated as an adult and not a child!" She yelled at him, wincing as she pulled her stitches. Ji just looked at her with concern, but she shoved him. "I'm not a kid Ji, I'm old enough to know what I want."

"Brenda..."

"I'm thirty one Ji!" She barked at him. "I know you have a few years on me, I knew that at the beginning, but that's something I accepted."

"Brenda..."

"Do you think those silver hairs escaped my notice?" She asked him. "I knew all along about this."

"Brenda, I only want what's best for you." He assured her. "Even if that means..."

"If you even dare say it, I swear I'll bludgeon you to death with this!" She snapped, picking up a lamp. "Ji, I love you, that's all that matters to me."

With that, she put down the lamp.

"Now, unless your next four words are 'I love you too', shut up and kiss me."

"I love you too." He replied, leaning in and kissing her softly. He didn't know what he had done to deserve her, but Brenda was in his life, and he had a feeling that wasn't going to change any time soon. He couldn't be happier about that fact.

Melanie arrived at the motel by cab. They had already lost their car since her father's arrest, so there really was no other way for her to get home.

Home, that was a pretty relative concept. This was nothing like the home she had grown up in. Her family had been rich, privileged. She had always had certain expectations, but this was...well...it was different. It was the only place her mom could afford in the catchment zone to ensure she could still attend classes at Central High School.

It was a simple, two-storey building, built somewhere in the region of thirty or so years ago. The individual rooms were pretty non-descript, with only the most basic of amenities. It was, without exaggeration, nothing like what she had been used to growing up.

"Keep the change." Her mother told the cab driver as she handed over a twenty to pay him for the trip. She looked to her daughter.

"So, are you hungry?" She asked. Melanie just nodded. "Well, we can call something in."

As they were heading to the door of their room, Melanie paused. Her mother quickly saw what had gotten her attention. There was a newspaper on the welcome mat, which was open to a headline about a suicide attempt at a local High School. She put her arm around her daughter. She knew that she had a tough time ahead of her, not least of which was that in ony a couple of days' time, she would have to go back to school. She had considered transferring her, but the fact was that she could not afford to.

"It's alright." She heard someone say. Melanie looked up, seeing Mal standing a little way off, smiling. "Welcome back."

"I was thinking of ordering pizza." Melanie's mother told him. "Would you like some?"

"Well...I'm Jewish and stay Kosher." He told her.

"I think I can handle that." She replied, pulling out her cell phone. She left them both alone, at which Melanie just rolled her eyes.

"What?" He asked her.

"Do you think it's any coincidence she ordered pizza?" She asked him. Mal just shrugged and shook his head, indicating he didn't understand. "Something that doesn't require cutlery to eat?"

Melanie just rested her back against the wall and held her face in her hands.

"Are you really that surprised?" He asked her.

"How am I meant to face this?" She asked him. "How am I meant to go back to school and face the others when my own mom gets nervous when I'm around sharp objects?"

"No one said it would be easy." Mal reminded her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "If it means anything at all, I'll walk you to school tomorrow."

"You will?" She asked him. He pointed down the road.

"My parents' place is only about five minutes' walk that way." He told her. He pointed the other direction. "The school's only about five that way. I think I can manage a detour."

"You really don't know what this means to me." She told him.

"The pizza's going to be here soon." Melanie's mother told them. "Um...Sorry, but I sked and the only thing they had that was kosher was the vegetarian..."

"It happens more often than you'd think." Mal assured her. "Thanks."

With that, he followed them into the motel room. He felt something, and looked down, seeing Melanie slipping her hand into his and holding it. He smiled a little as he saw this, before simply gripping it and following Melanie and her mother into the motel room.

Over at the Shiba House, Jayden walked into a room, finding Antonio tinkering with one of his gadgets. He had pretty much no idea what he was doing, but it was always one of the things that intrigued him about Antonio. The fact that most of the time, he had no idea what he was doing, or what was going through his head. As result of his somewhat sheltered upbringing, Jayden was not particularly tech savvy, something he was painfully aware of since he had gotten together with Antonio.

"You want to talk?" Antonio asked him. Jayden just nodded.

"Emily told me about your speech." He told him. "Is it true?"

"Yes." Antonio sighed.

"You tried to kill yourself?" Jayden asked him.

"It was a long time ago." Antonio assured him. "Jayden..."

"You never told me." Jayden stated.

"Jayden, it was easily the worst, lowest point of my life." He continued. "I didn't think there was anything that would make things any better."

"What about your promise?" He asked. "What about me?"

"I made that promise when I was six. I had no reason to think you'd even remember it." Antonio reminded him. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry I sprung this on you. I'm sorry I didn't say anything before the speech."

Jayden placed a hand on his shoulder and sat with him.

"Jayden, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I'm not ashamed of what happened." He told him. "It's part of who I am. If I hadn't..."

Jayden grabbed him, and pressed his lips to Antonio's, before grabbing him in a desperate hug.

"You don't ever have to worry, I'm never letting you go." He stated. He looked him straight in the eyes. "If I have anything to say about it, you will never feel that way again."

"Jay, there is one thing." Antonio stated. "You know all my secrets, all of them."

"Antonio..."

"Mia said something about a secret." Antonio told him. "Jay, it isn't fair of you to expect me to tell you everything and not give me the same courtesy."

Jayden just grabbed his hand.

"Alright, I'll tell you." He told him. "But you have to promise that you won't tell the others."

"Jay..."

"You need to promise." He reiterated. As Antonio nodded, he just took a deep breath. He loved him, and he trusted him to stick by him. "I'll tell you everything."

With that, Antonio just took his hand and held it, waiting to hear Jayden unload the burden he had been carrying by himself for as long as he had known him.

In another room, Emily was at the computer, looking at the screen with something of a giddy smile on her face. Mike came across and looked to her.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Summer sent an E-mail." She told him. "She had the baby."

"Really?" Mike asked. She just nodded as she turned the screen so he could see it.

"It's a girl, they called her Danielle." She informed him. "She was a couple of weeks late, but she's healthy."

Mike just looked to the picture. He smiled as he saw her, the little baby girl. He ran his fingers across the screen, taking in the scene.

"She's...wow." He murmured. "She's just...wow."

"Summer felt the same way." Emily told him. "But it was more ow than wow. Apparently she needed stitches."

"Would you care if you saw this?" He asked Emily, not noticing what she said.

"Yeah, of course you feel like that." She reminded him. "It's not like you'll ever have to go through that. It's not like anyone will say to you..."

Mike crushed his lips to hers. Just the thought of having kids with her one day filled him with joy, but that wasn't what he was thinking about right now. He looked to her happily.

"I really want one of those." He told her. "But not until you're ready."

With that, he turned her back to the screen and held her tightly.

"Can you imagine it?" He asked. "Having one of those? Look at her hands! How tiny is she?"

Emily just laced her fingers with Mikes and smiled.

"Yeah, I can imagine it." She answered. "She is pretty amazing isn't she?"

"Not as amazing as you." Mike answered, holding her closely. "Hey, it says that Dillon thought she smiled at him!"

"Hey guys, what are you...?" Mia asked as she walked by. She paused as she saw the picture. "Is that...?"

"Summer had her baby." Emily said with a nod. "Her name's Danielle!"

Mia pulled up a chair and sat, looking at the screen. Kevin was coming into the room at that point, and saw the team crowding around the computer. He just saw the picture of the baby and slowly backed away, leaving the room quietly before Mia could drag him into the scene.

Over at the farm, Serena was slowly starting to come to. She found a bottle of water held close to her as she did, and accepted the offering from her mother.

"Again?" Serena asked. Unfortunately this had been a pretty regular occurrence over the last couple of days. Using symbol power was very draining, especially when it wasn't done correctly. The power needed to activate the Power Disk Stephen had made for Kasamune was immense, and so far, she had been unable to do so. She had ended up passing out more than a few times, indeed across the last week, she could maybe remember a few hours. Other than that, all she could remember was being peeled off the ground after regaining consciousness.

"I'm afraid so." She commented. "For what it's worth, you held it a lot longer this time. You held it for at least a minute."

"Well, that makes me feel so..."

Just then, she looked up and saw a man standing before her, with heavy facial tattoos and messy hair. Her mother grabbed a katana as he held up his hands.

"Alright, my name is Jindrax." He told them. "I'm not here to fight."

"What are you here for?" Serena asked as her mother tightened her grip on her katana.

"I'm here to talk to the Blessed Warrior." He told them, looking to Serena. "It's about Dayu."

"You know Dayu?" Serena asked him. "Well, if you know her..."

"Please, just let me finish." He told her. "We want to ask you for your help."

"Alright, this has to be a bad joke." Serena scoffed. "You want my help?"

"You know what happened to her. You know about her past." He reminded her. "Dekker's regained Urumasa."

"Shit!" Serena grunted as she got up.

"Kasamune was created as the diametric opposite of Urumasa." He told her. "The title of 'Master of Blades' isn't just a fancy nickname. I know all about the legend of Kasamune."

"Fine, so you know about my sword." Serena snapped. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It means that you can spend the next hundred years getting dumped on your ass by it and never master the power you need to if you don't figure it out." He told her. "Urumasa is ruled by the desire for battle. Kasamune is powered by compassion."

He looked to her and smiled.

"It is rarely those that deserve compassion that need it." He told her. "If you help Dayu, if you take down Dekker..."

"Wait, Dekker?" Serena asked. "No, I don't give a rat's ass about Dekker, I don't care about Dayu, I only want Serrator!"

"I heard about what happened to your lover." He answered. "But if you have a vengeful heart, Kasamune will never work."

"How do you know...?"

"I was there when the first Blessed Warrior used it." He told her. "The only mistake she made was not finishing the job."

He then picked up Kasamune and threw it to her.

"You have a greater destiny than throwing your life away on a mission of revenge." He told her. "I'll help you reach it on one condition."

"What's that?" Serena asked him. He just smiled.

"You finish what the first Blessed Warrior started." He told her with authority as he pulled out a sword. "Now, how about we get started?"