Lauren shook her head as Emily brought her to a questionable part of town. Emily had promised to only make one Christmas stop before going to pick up Storm from the vet and that the stop would only take about ten minutes. But considering the office was on the other side of town, Lauren was starting to question agreeing to this crazy idea.

"Where are we?"

"You know how Mia and Kevin have Riley until her parents come for her?" Emily asked and Lauren nodded her head, "Well, turns out, a lot of kids got lost during the war. The downside to parental instinct is that, sometimes, to protect your children, you give your own life. That leaves kids without parents."

"Like what my father did," Lauren nodded her head.

"Yeah, like that," Emily whispered. She found the door she was looking for and opened it for Lauren. "After Mia explained Riley to me, and she and I bonded, I started doing a little research myself and I found out that the city wasn't deserted. Hundreds of kids were left behind. Their parents were killed or they were separated from their parents. People are going around the city daily looking for left behinds, and every time they find someone in need, they bring them here."

Emily walked with Lauren down a hall and opened another door. As Lauren stepped into that room she had a look around and she saw a room full of children laughing and running around, playing with each other or playing with some older people who wore a shirt telling Lauren they were working or volunteering at what was now a shelter.

Looking around again, Lauren saw the shelter was decorated for Christmas, just like the Shiba House. There were lights, streamers, reefs, tinsel, and everything that made Christmas, Christmas. In the corner, sitting on a chair, was even what Lauren could only assume was Santa Claus (having never seen him before). He was a fat man dressed in red with a long, white, curly beard, a hat, and there were reindeer figures and little elves hanging around his corner.

"Santa," Emily pointed, confirming Lauren's suspicious.

"He doesn't look creepy."

"Why would Santa be creepy?"

"He breaks into your house at night."

"And he leaves presents," Emily chuckled. "Looks like his visit really cheered up the kids."

"How can one fat man cheer up kids?" Lauren asked. "Em, you said it yourself, these kids lost their parents. When mine died I was devastated."

"Christmas magic," Emily smiled. "When Serena was sick, we used to spend the better part of the year going to the hospital. Around Christmas time, a lot of kids used to look very sad. One day, I asked my dad why. He told me the kids were worried Santa wasn't going to know they were in the hospital and they weren't going to get presents. It broke their sick little hearts."

"I thought Christmas wasn't about presents."

"When you're little, it's all about presents. You grow up and realize there's more than a box and wrapping paper. Anyways, just before Christmas, there always used to be a Santa who would come in, and he would take the time to visit each and every kid. He would listen as they listed off everything they wanted for Christmas. All the kids would cheer up, and knowing Santa was coming with a present for them made them so excited. They had something to wake up to Christmas morning. These kids, some of which were dying, were given the gift of knowing there was someone out there who cared for them."

"Santa?"

"All you need is one person. Santa remembered them. Santa, and his entire team of elves, made them a special present and brought it all the way from the North Pole to their beds. It put a smile on their faces, and it brought families together. A little kid's smile, just think about it for a…"

"Emily?"

"Yeah."

"I know you're excited to see Storm again but…"

"One more stop?"

"Two," Lauren nodded. "We'll have to come back here."

-Samurai-

Jayden was holding his head up with his hand and leaning on the desk as he browsed the internet looking for jobs. The Shiba family had a lot of money and he and Antonio technically didn't have to worry about working, but he wanted to get a job. He wanted to have that normal life.

The only problem was that most careers needed a least a high school diploma. Some asked for more. Even a college degree wasn't enough for many places. Jayden, with his lack of formal education, didn't have a chance in hell of getting a job, even in Panorama City's mass hiring spree. He had no experience, no proof of education, and no qualifications. There was always going to be someone better suited for the job and it frustrated him.

"You can work with me for a while and get a little sales experience. I'll write you a fantastic letter of reference."

"I doubt it'll mean much coming from my fiancé," Jayden shook his head. "Thank you, Antonio, but selling fish is your business. I don't want to intrude. Anyways, I'd like to come home and hear about your day. If we spend all out time together…"

"That might be too much," Antonio nodded his head. "We wouldn't make it to the wedding."

Jayden nodded his head and continued his search on the internet, but found he was no longer looking for a job. He was on a site… he wasn't sure for what. With a look of slight disgust he closed the page and then the laptop. Antonio came over and wrapped his arms around Jayden's shoulders.

"What if you go to school? Take a few classes in the community college once it starts up again. It won't be the greatest but an education of any kind is better than none."

"What other choice do I have?" Jayden said. Antonio gave him a gentle kiss.

"You can use some of your family's money to pay for classes, and I'll be reeling in money for bills and all that fun stuff," he smirked and Jayden rolled his eyes.

"Fishing puns? Moving on from the gold one?"

"We're going to have a great life. Even if you're just a garbage man, I'll still listen while you talk to me about your day and how people still aren't recycling."

"I hope I don't have to be a garbage man," Jayden said, "but I guess you're right. We'll see what happens. And we do have a wedding to plan for."

Jayden opened up the laptop again while Antonio brought a chair around. He took Jayden's hand in his as they started to look at other States or even other countries where getting married was legal.

-Samurai-

Technically, Lauren didn't have a license, but she had driven a Megazord through the city. A car was no big deal.

Her trip to the shelter had inspired her. Christmas was suddenly about so much more than a fat guy in a suit. It was about family, and happiness, and peace, and Lauren wanted to make sure everyone had a reason to be happy not just over the holidays, but for the rest of their lives, and in her eyes, that started with a smile.

So she had dragged Emily to the nearest opened toy store, which had been out of town, thus the need for Lauren to make a car from Symbol Power. Lauren almost bought the entire store as she packed the car with toys and games for kids of all ages. Emily questioned her generosity constantly but Lauren knew what she was doing and she wanted to do it. She and Emily brought all the toys to the shelter and the red and yellow Rangers handed the presents out to each and every child in the center. By the time they were done, it was late in the afternoon, but there wasn't a single child who didn't have a smile on their face.

There wasn't a single person in the shelter who wasn't smiling. Christmas had come early and it had been needed. When Lauren and Emily finally got back into the car and powered down, Emily passed right out.

Lauren started the car and she had one more stop to make. She drove to the vet's and left Emily in the car to nap while she went inside and picked up the dog. Storm seemed back to normal and was bouncing slightly and wagging her tail in sheer excitement when she saw Lauren. The fire Samurai took the dog in her arms (thinking keeping her in a cage was too cruel), and brought her out to the car. She put Storm down on Emily's lap and let the dog wake the yellow Ranger.

"Ew, Lauren, I know you're new, but licking faces is… Storm!" Emily's eyes lit up with glee as she grabbed her dog in her arms and pulled her in for a hug, "You're feeling better?"

"Much," Lauren got into the driver's seat and then looked to the papers the vet had handed her, "There's a few things we have to look out for, but she's got a strong head."

Lauren turned to Emily and Storm and noticed both of them were… excited didn't even begin to describe it. They were so happy together and it was so contagious Lauren couldn't stop herself from smiling even long after she dropped Emily off at home and got back to the Shiba House.

"You've been out all day," Kate said from the common room as Lauren hung up her jacket. Ji was in the dojo cleaning the training equipment. He looked up with a smile on his face.

"Good news travels pretty quickly these days," he gestured to Kate in the common room who was watching TV, "You and Emily visited the shelter."

Lauren nodded her head, "I had a good day."

"We can tell."

"You did a good thing, sweetie," Kate smiled. "You made a lot of people very happy."

"Kate, there's still something we need to do," Lauren leaned against the doorframe to the common room. She looked across the hall at Ji and then back over to Kate, "Every room in this house is decorated but mine."

"I thought you needed a place to get away from the fat man in the red suit."

"I'm starting to believe in magic," Lauren shrugged. Kate had a smile from ear to ear as she jumped off the couch and raced to the closet to get the rest of the Christmas decorations. Ji also got up, ready to help.

"It isn't Christmas without eggnog. You girls get started. I'll be in shortly."