The following morning, after a restful sleep in her own bed on the farm, Serena was up early eating breakfast. Her father was already working outside with the animals, and her mother was in the kitchen getting everything set up for the day ahead. Serena was in the living room watching a few cartoons on TV with a bowl of cereal in her lap.

With a yawn and a stretch, Mia was next in the room. She had spent the night in a bed with Emily. She had bonded quickly with Serena's little sister and the two had spent most of the night giggling under the blankets even long after Serena fell asleep. Serena was happy to see something closer to what she knew of the old Mia. It seemed the pink Ranger really needed a little sister to pull herself out of her shell. She seemed more in charge and more confident now.

"Your sister's cute," Mia sat down beside Serena on the couch and looked at the TV, "and she really looks up to you."

"I know," Serena smiled.

"I'm worried about her, though."

Alarm bells started to go off in Serena's head. It had been barely a day since Mia and Emily had met and already the pink Ranger was concerned. Emily's life was supposed to be better. Mia shouldn't have had a reason to worry.

"You are?"

"She puts herself down a lot. It's mostly when she compares herself to you."

"What does she say?" Serena put the TV on mute and shifted herself so she was looking at Mia. The pink Ranger shrugged.

"Just that she'll never be a good as you. I asked her to tell me some embarrassing stories about you, you know, for blackmail purposes, and she couldn't come up with a single thing."

"Sisters stick together."

"I mean this is the worst way possible. She made you sound like a goddess, and then told me she would never be as good a person as you."

"Me?" Serena pointed to herself, "I'm a good person? My innocent, sweet, kind, caring, beautiful inside and out baby sister thinks I'm the good person between the two of us?"

"Good judge of character?" Storm whispered from her spot on Jack's chair. Serena shushed her.

"I'm not saying you're not," Mia shrugged her shoulders, "It's just a little worrisome, you know."

At that moment, Serena and Mia heard someone racing down the stairs. They craned their necks and saw it was Emily. She was gathering up what she had dropped at the door the day before when she saw Serena had come home for a visit.

"Emily, where are you going?" Serena asked, seeing her sister was already dressed and made up for a day in the town. "I'm only here for a little while before I disappear off the face of the planet again."

"I know," Emily called and checked herself in the mirror, "but I promised my friends I'd hang out with them today."

"So cancel. They'll understand."

"Or you could go with her?" Storm suggested.

"I can't," Emily shook her head.

"Why? You got expensive tickets or something?"

"I just can't. Trust me. I'll be home for dinner. We can spend time together then."

"Go with her," Storm suggested again.

Serena rolled her eyes, "Why don't I come with you? I'm sure your friends won't mind."

"You can't. I'll be home for dinner, I promise. I've got to go, I'm already late."

With that, Emily raced out of the house. Serena turned to Mia who just shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't ask me. She's your sister."

Serena took a deep breath and then looked between Mia and Storm. Storm was trying to convince Serena to take a deeper look into this life, somewhat insisting this was only the candy-coated exterior. At the same time, Mia was putting thoughts into Serena's head that maybe everything wasn't okay.

"You could spy on her?"

"No," Serena shook her head, denying Storm's suggestion. "That'll shatter her trust."

"What?" Mia looked to Serena strangely. "Why are you talking to Storm? Are you sure you're feeling better, Serena? Why don't you go spend the day with Emily?"

"But she said…" Serena trailed off and looked to Storm. The dog smirked innocently. Serena nodded her head as she started to get an understanding of what's going on. "You're in charge of this trial run, aren't you?"

"If you won't listen to the talking dog, maybe you'll listen to a human."

"Fine, I'll spy on her," Serena sighed.

"I said spend the day," Mia now looked very confused. Serena glared at the dog and then turned back to Mia. Storm was really making things complicated.

"Yeah, that's what I meant," Serena nodded. "Do you mind staying here with the boys and my parents? I know it doesn't look like there's much to do but…"

"We'll be fine," Mia insisted. "We're here for you anyways. Go, have fun. Pinch Emily a few times to make sure she's real if you have to."

"Thanks!" Serena cried and raced for the door.

-Samurai-

There wasn't much to do in in town, but if Emily's friends were anything like Serena's old group of friends, they would spend the day just going from place to play, messing around and being teenagers.

When Serena finally caught up to Emily, she noticed Emily was wearing different clothes from when she had left the house. Serena ducked behind bushes. Having not been invited to join, she didn't think it would be appropriate to intrude on Emily's day.

"Missing something?" Storm's voice nearly gave Serena's a heart attack. She put her hand on her chest and jumped, spinning around slightly.

"Don't do that!"

"Sorry, I just thought you would want me here to explain a few things," Storm pulled a bag – Emily's bag – into the bushes and into Serena's reach. She picked it up and saw that inside was Emily's clothes.

"Where did you get theses?"

"See, I was needed here," Storm smirked. "Emily got changed a couple miles back. She does it every time she hangs out with her friends."

"Why?"

"So no one is the wiser," Storm answered and then gestured in Emily's direction, "She's going into the shop. Use a symbol to create a handheld mirror."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Serena pulled out her Samuraizer and did as she was told. She made a small mirror and then used it to reflect the sunlight into Storm's eyes. She chuckled as Storm tried to get away.

"Stop it! This is serious business. You're from a town where everyone knows everyone's business. You can't walk around and not expect to get recognized or caught. We're spending the day here, and that mirror will show you everything Emily does today."

Serena looked into the mirror. Storm wasn't lying. Serena could see everything that was happening. Emily and her friends were in the general store and seemed to be picking out snacks and drinks; enough to last them a full day. Emily, though, was standing by herself by the counter, where the owner, Mr. Crow, was watching over the teens. Then he looked to Emily.

"You'll be paying for them again?"

"I buy here," Emily nodded her head, "They cover for other stuff."

"What else could you need?" Mr. Crow asked as the group dropped their supply of candies, chocolates, chips and soft drinks on the counter.

"Just, other stuff."

Mr. Crow nodded suspiciously and rang up all the items while Emily's friends all laughed and talked amongst themselves, excluding Emily.

"Sixty dollars even," Mr. Crow looked to Emily. She looked down at her pockets and pulled out a couple of bills.

"I've got fifty."

"Emily, you knew about this picnic for weeks," one of her friends, whom Serena recognized as Stephanie, scoffed, "You're doing this on purpose."

"I've been trying to save up," Emily insisted sadly. "Do you guys really need three big bags of chips?"

Mr. Crow looked to Emily sympathetically. He had always had a soft spot for her. Like most of the kids who came into his shop, he had watched her grow up – but she had always been special. He remembered her coming into the store with her sister whenever she had collected enough change in her piggy bank. She would always buy herself a candy bar. He loved the way her eyes lit up when she handed him all the nickels, dimes and quarters. Paying for her own treat made her feel like a grown up. And she was always polite. She would say hello, she would ask him how he was doing, and then would wish him a good day and promise to come back once she saved up enough money. Mr. Crow had eventually figured out how long it took her to earn herself enough money and would always keep a candy bar behind his counter just for her. He called it Little Emily's Special Candy Bar. It made her eyes light up even more.

"Look, I'll tell you want," Mr. Crow said, "You give me fifty and we'll call it even."

"I'll pay you back…"

"You're a loyal customer, Em," Mr. Crow shook his head, "The difference is on me. Have a great day with your friends."

He bagged up their snacks. As usual, Emily wished him a good day and then thanked him for his generosity. When she was out of the store, Mr. Crow shook his head sadly.

"Poor kid."

Serena looked away from the mirror and over to Storm, "What exactly is going on?"

"Just a typical day with her friends. I'm actually surprised Emily's got fifty dollars."

"What do you mean?"

"Her friends never spend a dime. Now, I'm just a dog, but if my calculations are correct, since Emily's friends each owe her four hundred and seventy six dollars, and thirty nine cents."

"You're kidding."

"Not a dime," Storm nodded.

"Why?"

"Because you changed everything. You didn't screw up Emily's life because you got sick and forced her to take her place. Now she's home, safe and sound with her parents. She doesn't have to worry about the Nighlok, doesn't have to fight for her life, and doesn't have to train night and day for the impending battle against the big, nasty Master Xandred. That's what you wanted, right?"

"I wanted her to be happier."

"You're not getting it," Storm seemed to be getting really annoyed now. "She was happy, Serena! You're the one who was miserable."

"No, I…"

"You're the one who was disappointed. You're the one who felt left down. You're the one who wanted things to change. Now things are different. You didn't make the mistakes you wish you never made."

"I wanted her happy!"

"You wanted yourself to be happy. You didn't cast that symbol for Emily, you did it for yourself. Now your life is how you want it."

"If it was for me, then why am I not happy?"

Storm finally smiled, "That's the big question now, isn't it? Look into the mirror again."

Serena did as she was told and looked into the mirror.