Mia was pacing nervously in the front hall. Kevin and Patrick were out in the yard, checking everywhere for Riley while Noa and Mako searched the house endlessly. It was another true nightmare for Mia as she bit her nails to the bone and was on and off the phone with her friends. They were all searching the city and very desperate to find Riley before something happened to her. It had already been made known that there was a group of punks kidnapping kids for profit. Mia and Serena had rescued Riley from one already. Another time, and whoever had the misfortune of taking a Samurai baby wouldn't live to see Christmas.

Her Samuraizer was only for if someone found Riley, while Mia used her cell phone to keep in touch with her friends, taking and making calls to communicate different ideas of where Riley could have gone. Unfortunately, though Mia was getting to know Riley quite well, they were still strangers in a sense. They hadn't known each other long enough for Mia to have that maternal sense of where her daughter was and what she was up to. No one knew Riley enough to figure out what was going on in her head, and that made this little stunt even more dangerous. The city was big and little Riley was, well, little.

Suddenly, Mia raced up to the bedroom. This had to be a nightmare. She was sure she would find Riley asleep in her bed. It would humiliate her to have caused such a panic, but at least it would mean Riley had been safe and sound the whole time.

Unfortunately, Mia tore the bed apart and there was still no Riley.

-Samurai-

Ji stopped the car at Riley's old house and while he and Kate went to search around the outside of the house and the neighbouring homes, Lauren went inside.

The house was dark but she tried the light switch and she was relieved to see power had been restored to this part of the city. Not many people from this neighbourhood had returned, likely because it had seen the worst of the Sanzu flooding. Lauren's Symbol Power had restored everything after the war, but it was almost certain people wouldn't want to come back after two years of living in terror.

Lauren searched through the rooms, calling for Riley's name and checking in all the spots she could think of. The little girl was nowhere to be found. Lauren was now starting to panic inside, but she kept calm on the outside. For Riley's sake, she had to keep herself calm and her head clear.

"Where would I have hidden?" Lauren asked as she climbed the stairs. She checked what looked to be Riley's room but it was empty. Then she checked what she could only assume was a teenage boy's room, and finally the master bedroom.

There were still no signs of Riley.

"Pink's just a lighter shade of red," Lauren said as she morphed. Riley had a love for the pink Ranger and she already knew Mia's secret and had kept it well. If the red Ranger could draw Riley out of hiding it was worth the compromised identity. Nothing more needed to happen to one little girl. Enough was enough.

"Riley? Mia sent me! The pink Ranger's looking for you! Come out, come out, wherever you are."

Lauren walked back to Riley's bedroom and decided to look through her drawers. It was obvious now that Riley wasn't in the house and thought maybe something she owned would give her a clue. She found a colouring book filled with pictures of the Samurai Rangers, but only Mia was coloured in properly. The rest were half-heartedly filled with colours, and sometimes they weren't even the right ones. On a few occasions, Emily had been coloured pink.

"If you weren't so small and cute, this would be creepy," Lauren muttered and continued to flip through the pages. "Wow, either you never had any blue crayons, or you've always hated Kevin."

Lauren put the book back in the desk drawer and opened her toy box. Lauren hadn't been able to experience childhood, but she had been a kid. She knew what they wanted and how they thought. If anything, her lack of childhood made her remember it even more. She remembered longing to play with the other kids, to play with toys, and how she would make up stories and even imaginary friends to live out those dreams when her mentors weren't looking. Toys and games said a lot about children, and Lauren was hoping she could find something that would help her search.

"More pink Ranger crap. I don't think stalkers collect this much stuff," Lauren said and pulled out the toys one at a time. She sorted them into piles of different interests and hoped she could make a connection.

One thing was sure, though. There was a lot of pink.

-Samurai-

While Emily checked around the lake and the playground, Mike searched the other side of the park which was mostly open space. If his childhood had taught him anything it was that kids could hide anywhere. Even in plain sight. He hid from his mother so many times and had always given her mini heart attacks when he jumped out from right behind her. Riley could be anywhere.

He searched behind and under benches and checked the ground for clues. It was possible Riley wasn't in the park, but she had come through. At this point, Mike was looking for anything.

"It's getting cold out," he heard a voice from right behind him and jumped slightly, startled.

"Em, don't do that, you scared me."

"Sorry," Emily whispered and looked up at the sky, "It's dark and it's cold. Mia said her jacket and boots were still at home. If she's outside she's probably freezing!"

"She'll be fine," Mike tried to assure his wife, but it had come to mind for him too. Emily shook her head.

"This time last year, I was freezing myself, remember? I was seventeen years old and so traumatized by fire and getting too hot that I almost froze to death and drowned in a bathtub."

Mike nodded his head. It had been one of the most horrible moments of his life. After being rescued from a burning shack, Emily had developed a fear of fire and refused to let herself get too warm. To prevent that, she froze herself. It was winter and the temperature had dropped, and Emily would walk around and sleep in the same clothes she would wear on the hottest days of summer. At night, she used a fan to blow air to cool her down. Instead of taking warm showers, the water would be almost frozen, and Emily regularly left the house with nothing more than a simple sweater. The Samurai tried to help, but almost missed their chance. Mike needed to go to the bathroom and was horrified to discover Emily underwater in the tub.

"That's different. We fought danger every day. You almost died. It was post-traumatic stress. Riley…"

"Survived a war that's been going on for half her life," Emily pointed out. "She's only four. For as long as she can remember, her home's been in danger every single day. Just recently she watched her brother and her cat die and she was told her parents are also dead and never coming home for her. If I almost drown myself at seventeen because I can't handle it, imagine what war would do to a four year old."

"She's not going to try to hurt herself."

"You don't know what she's going to do! We don't know where she is or why she took off in the first place! She's just a kid, Mike!"

"Emily…"

Emily shook her head and dropped to the ground to sit. She picked up a nearby rock and tossed it as far as she could.

"She's lived through war, her brother died in front of her and her parents are gone, she was taken in by a stranger, she was kidnapped, and now she has to get used to all this crap. All our crap."

"We're good people. We're going to take care of her."

"That's a lot, Mike. She's four years old."

Mike smiled as he sat down beside Emily and gave her a light kiss, "You're just her aunt and you're this crazy worried about whether she'll be okay or not. Imagine what Mia and Kevin are thinking, and how determined they are to give her a better life."

"Her life was fine before we screwed it up."

"We?"

Emily nodded her head, "This time last year the park was decorated for Christmas. This time last year, in spite of everything the city had been facing for over a year, everyone was still excited for the holidays. Now look. There's no one around."

"It's midnight, Em. Everyone's probably sleeping."

"This city's a ghost town," Emily shook her head. "I shouldn't have taken Lauren to that shelter."

"You did a good thing. Those kids, those people, they needed…"

"They all lost someone," Emily growled and she got up, "I get it. We saved the world. No one has to worry about the Nighlok. But what about the people who didn't make it? You know just as well as I do Panorama city's population fell below half in that one war."

"We can't save everyone, Emily," Mike got up as well and tried to take her hand, "but it's thanks to us that Riley, those kids and those people at the shelter, and all the people who have come home or who have moved away still have a chance. We saved them too."

"But the others are dead. That's because of us too."

"Emily…"

"I want to move back home," Emily looked up at Mike sadly, "I can't live here in this ghost town anymore. At least at home, no one died because of us. I want to go home, Mike."

Mike took Emily in his arms and hugged her tight. She wasn't built for all this pressure. She hadn't been born to be a hero; she had been forced to turn into one. All through her time as a Ranger she had struggled with the weight of the world on her shoulders and sometimes it had been too much for her. Unfortunately, with all the glory of being a hero came all the responsibilities. Though the Rangers were anonymous and therefore Emily would never be blamed for those who had died, Emily knew the role she played and that was more than enough for her. She was more than capable of completely destroying herself.

And keeping her trapped in the city that had almost been completely destroyed wouldn't do anything to help her. Panorama city had been a battlefield for her from the moment she arrived. She had come from out of town, never having left her hometown until the day she had been called into action by Ji.

"Okay," Mike nodded his head, "Go home. See your parents. But come back, okay?"

"I will."

"Can we find Riley first? Riley, and then we tell the others…"

"They'll try to talk me out of it."

"They won't say a word. They'll support you," Mike said. "You need this. You need to see just how much we did save. I'll stay here. Keep an eye on Storm so Serena doesn't send her to the hospital or kill her."

"Scruffy…"

"It's going to be okay," Mike gave Emily a comforting squeeze and then pulled away from her, "but Riley first. That kid needs us before anything else. If I were a four year old girl, where would I hide?"

"Ice-cream."

"Em, I know you're upset but…"

"Riley loves ice-cream about as much as I do. She's not here and the parlour's just down the street. We might as well."

"It's closed."

"She's four."

"Let's go," Mike took Emily's hand as they started for the ice-cream shop. He looked over his shoulder at her as she walked slowly, both because she was upset and because she was looking for last minute signs of Riley, "If it helps," he told her, "I am proud of you. You're still my hero."

"Thanks," Emily whispered back.

-Samurai-

Lauren flipped the toy box upside down and sighed. All signs pointed to Mia. Aside from a few dolls, games, and toys, everything was pink Ranger related. Without any sign of where she was or could be in the house, Lauren decided to give up and search somewhere else. She walked down the stairs and to the door, locking it behind her so Riley couldn't sneak in and hide there after Lauren gave up on it.

She walked to the car to wait for Kate and Ji, who by now had decided to search the entire neighbourhood. Kate was holding onto the car keys and Ji had lost his, so Lauren leaned against the car and waited in the cold for them to return.

Then she heard a scream and a thump coming from the back of the car. Her heart stopped as she raced to the trunk.

"MOMMY!" it was muffled but loud. It was Riley.

"How did you… what did… how?" Lauren asked as she rattled her brain to figure something out. "Riley? Riley, are you in the trunk?"

"Mommy! Help!"

"Riley?" Lauren let out a groan as she ran to the driver's door and smashed the window after a few unsuccessful attempts. She unlocked the car, ignoring the pain in hand, and then opened the trunk with a push of a button. After that, she ran to the back of the car and opened the trunk. Riley sprung out and clung on tightly to Lauren.

"What the hell?" Lauren asked but she hugged the little girl tightly. "Who put you in the trunk?"

Her question was answered though when she saw Ji's keys sitting by a blanket Lauren had seen in Mia and Kevin's house.

"Riley, cars aren't toys."

"I wanted to go home with you," Riley said between sobs. "I woke up and missed my mommy and daddy. You said I could come over."

"Why would you lock yourself in the trunk?"

"So you wouldn't forget to taked me home. I bringed a blanket and a pillow and my Mia bear."

Riley pointed to the little bed she had made herself in the trunk, "Like a sleepover."

Lauren nodded her head. She didn't know what to say. She opened the rest of the car doors and set Riley down in the backseat. Then she sat beside her and pulled out her Samuraizer.

"You scared us, Riles," Lauren said and called Mia first. Riley's adoptive parents were worried sick and deserved to know.