The other Samurai were out running errands. Mike and Kevin were getting groceries because the house was running low on food, while Antonio and Jayden had gone fishing for fun and for stock. Mia, meanwhile, was at the pharmacy with Mentor Ji, stocking up on a few supplies they would need for Emily. She was doing very well after the accident, having suffered no major injuries, but if the Samurai wanted her to heal quickly, they were going to need the best medicine they could get.
That left Serena at home with Emily, and with Emily spending most of her day asleep in bed, Serena had the house to herself and Storm. Fortunately, unlike in the other world, Storm couldn't talk. She kept Serena company without being a know-it-all. That meant Serena was left with her thoughts, and a lot of them revolved around Emily.
She understood the mistake she made and was thankful whatever higher power had given her a trial instead of making the symbol work right off the bat. Thanks to that, Serena now knew she had to embrace the life she had been given, flaws and all. Changing one little thing had a huge impact on not just her life, but the lives of everyone around her.
She had spent most of her life blaming herself for Emily's misfortunes, thinking she had given Emily too much to live up to, or had forced her sister into a life she didn't want. Emily was, technically, living Serena's life. But now that she had seen what would have happened had Emily never been forced to become the yellow Ranger, she was sure there was something looking after her sister; something smarter than herself.
And, most importantly, Serena's eyes were opened. She had spent so much of her time worrying about Emily, that she had neglected to deal with her own issues – her own insecurities. Emily really was very happy with her life, and she had learned to make the best of everything fate threw her way. Serena had been the one who needed a kick in the butt. Serena was the one who had been miserable, but she didn't need to change anything about herself or her life to find happiness, she just needed to do as her sister had done. She needed to be more like Emily. She needed to learn to make lemonade.
She had done exactly that. The weather was hot, and even with the air conditioning, the Shiba House was also hot. So instead of making tea for her sister, she made lemonade. Lemonade and apple pie: Emily's favourite summertime dessert. She carried the drink and pie into Emily's bedroom and set them down in the night table before gently shaking her sister awake.
"Life's been giving me a whole lot of lemons."
Emily rolled over in her bed and gave her sister a curious look. Serena sat down and helped Emily sit up comfortably by adjusting the pillows behind her. Then she checked over a few of the bandages to make sure they hadn't been rubbed out-of-place while Emily had been sleeping.
"Everything looks good," Serena smiled, "How are you feeling?"
"You woke me up with a weird statement," Emily rubbed her eyes. It was obvious she wanted to continue sleeping. Serena remembered these moments, where the medication that needed to be taken knocked her right out and kept her down for hours. But it was very rare that the girls got the house to themselves and Serena wanted to take advantage of that fact to talk with Emily without being interrupted.
Serena decided to make the wakeup call a little better and surprised her sister with the slice of apple pie. Emily's eyes were still very tired, but they did light up. Serena's pies were nowhere near as amazing as their mother's, but they were still better than most.
Emily savoured every bite of the pie while Serena resumed the little checkup. Though there were no major injuries to worry about, and everyone expected Emily to be back on her feet in a matter of days, Serena was still being careful. She knew just how dangerous even the most insignificant of injuries or illnesses could be if ignored. She was a little too cautious though as Emily started flinching, trying to move away.
"Stop, I'm okay."
"I'm really sorry, Emy."
"I ran into traffic. I can't remember why, but I did. I'm sorry I scared you."
Serena nodded her head. She couldn't remember what had actually happened now that the accident had changed so Emily hadn't died. Unfortunately for Serena, that meant she was going to have to live with the image of Emily dying in her arms – because as far as she was concerned, Emily had died. This was a second chance. Tears welled up as she thought about the accident, and then about the symbol she had used. She thought about how, if the symbol had done what it was supposed to do, without the trial run, the last time Serena would have seen Emily truly happy would have been right before she died. After that, it would have been watching a different version of Emily recover after spending so many years pushed aside and tortured by the people she called her friends. It also hurt to think Storm had only been Serena's guide because of the trial, and she had been a key part in making sure Emily was safe – a word Serena disagreed with – throughout the entire journey. Had there been no trial, Serena would have been thrown into her new world, would have ignored what was truly going on with her sister because of her unwillingness to believe the new world wasn't better, and it was possible Emily would have died. Storm had brought Serena to the mountainside to save Emily. Serena never would have gone on her own, and Emily would have likely fallen.
Luck. It was nothing but luck. Had Serena not been so damn lucky, Emily would be dead.
"Are you crying?" Emily's voice reminded Serena she wasn't alone. She wiped her tears with the back of her wrist and then shook her head.
"Leaking."
Emily set her plate down and wrapped her arms around Serena, "I'm okay. You were right there, like you always are. I wasn't even scared."
This made it harder for Serena to hold back her tears. In her version of the events, the version where Emily had died, she hadn't been scared. Emily had stayed strong. She had been miserable and in a lot of pain from being hit, but she had been the one to comfort Serena. The last thing she had done, right before she died, was put a smile on her face for Serena's sake. A smile that couldn't be faked. No one who lived a life of misery would end it so early with a smile.
Stupid. Before being so lucky, Serena had been extremely stupid.
"Stop crying," there was a subtle tone of sadness in Emily's voice as she continued to hug her sister, "You're going to make me cry. I'm okay, I promise, and I'll stay away from cars from now on."
"I did something stupid, Emy."
"Of course you did," Emily chuckled. "You're my sister. You're always doing stupid stuff."
"I did something really stupid."
"Did you learn from it?" Emily pulled away from Serena and gave her sister a comforting smile. Serena nodded her head. She had learned a lot from her mistake. Were it not needed to stop Xandred and the Nighlok, Serena would throw her Samuraizer away and would never, ever think of touching it again. Symbols were unpredictably dangerous.
Emily crawled into Serena's lap and nestled into her sister's arms, still trying to be of comfort to the white Ranger who couldn't stop 'leaking'. "If you did something stupid, and you learned from it, it's not really something stupid. You taught me that, remember?"
Serena nodded her head. She did remember, "But this is different, Emily."
"Not really. You have to stop being so hard on yourself, Serena," Emily started to giggle, "You're starting to sound like me."
"You've always been so much stronger than I have," Serena shook her head, "You've had so much weighing you down and…"
Emily interrupted Serena with a huff and sat up straight so she was looking her sister in the eye, "Repeat after me: I am a good person."
"Emily…"
"I am a good person."
Serena rolled her eyes. She used to do this with Emily when Emily would be constantly putting herself down, "I am a good person."
"I am strong and smart, and nobody is allowed to judge me."
"I am strong and smart, and nobody is allowed to judge me."
"I will let Emily sleep while I go to the kitchen to make ice-cream sandwiches like James makes, so that Emily has another dessert to wake up to in a few hours."
"I will… hey," Serena gently shoved her sister off her lap and got up.
"You have to repeat after me," Emily giggled, "and you have to mean it. It doesn't work if you don't mean it."
Serena picked up the empty plate and gave her sister an annoyed but playful look, "I will think about it."
"Please?" Emily put her hands together and stuck out her lower lip, "I love you. I love you so, so, so, so much."
Serena wanted to look away, but it was too late. The look had gotten to her, "You're lucky you're cute."
"Yes!" Emily threw her hands up in the air, "You're awesome."
"Remember that for when the story of what I did comes up," Serena smiled. Then she started for the door, leaving Emily alone for some rest, certain her sister would be dreaming of cookies and ice-cream. Before she was gone, though, a thought crossed her mind. She turned around and looked at her little sister. "Em?"
"Yeah."
"If Xandred asked you to join the dark side, would you?"
"No."
"What if he said they had cookies."
"Maybe."
Serena nodded her head, "Thought so."