Emily was getting her bags packed. She wanted to leave the house right after she ate breakfast. The faster she could get away from the city, the sooner she could put the nightmares of the Nighlok behind her.

She knew what she had done. She had saved the world. She and her friends had defeated Nighlok after Nighlok, sparing many people within the city as well as all around the world a lifetime of misery and doom. She was a hero, and people loved and respected her and they were thankful for her. And they had every right to be. She had saved their lives and the lives of their families.

But it had occurred to her that she hadn't saved everyone. During her time as a Ranger, so many people had died – and not just in the final battle. Sometimes, the Nighlok were too tough for the Rangers. Sometimes, the Rangers were just a little too late. Panorama's population had fallen below half in the final battle alone, but within the two years since Emily had arrived, the fall had been a lot farther than that. It was impossible to go anywhere or meet anyone who hadn't lost someone to the Nighlok. Even the Rangers had suffered losses. Jayden and Lauren's father passed years ago trying to seal Xandred away to buy Lauren time to train, Mia's father had been killed by Dayu, and Scruffy had also had the misfortune of dying at the hands of the Nighlok. Death was on her hands. If Emily was going to take the glory for saving the city, she also had to accept the fact that people were dead because of her.

"Mike told me," Serena said as she walked into Emily's room. Emily was just finishing with her bags, taking what was necessary but leaving something behind, knowing she would come back. Serena, Mike, and all her friends were choosing to stay in the city and Emily couldn't leave them forever. She planned on coming back – she just needed to get away.

"I don't know if I'll be home for Christmas," Emily whispered as she got up and walked to her closet. She pulled out the footstool and reached up high to the top shelf. There, she grabbed a present and offered it to Serena, "It's for Terran. From his Auntie Memy."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Serena took the gift but kept her eyes on her sister, "I know how you're feeling, Em. I get it. I just think it's best if we all stick together. If we figure this out together."

"The people who owned this house before died in the final battle."

"A lot of people did, Emily. It's just a fact. We can't avoid it. We can't save everyone. We fight the greater good and we won. No one else has to die trying to escape the Nighlok."

"But what about the little things? The things like Riley? Those little things are the world to her. Because we can't save everyone, she doesn't have parents anymore. Her mom, her dad, her brother, and her cat are all dead because we can't worry about the small things."

"She's going to be okay, though, Emily. You of all people should know how amazing a mom Mia's going to be. I think she'll be better than me."

"I can't stay," Emily shook her head. "Panorama City just feels dead to me. I have to go home. Please, Serena, don't make this complicated."

"Fine," Serena sighed and pulled her sister in for a hug, "Call anytime, especially if you're not home for Christmas. And feel better, alright, squirt?"

Emily nodded and grabbed her bag, "I'm taking the bus up and it's leaving soon. I need to get going."

"There's breakfast to go on the counter," Serena said as Emily walked out of the room. Serena let out a sigh and fell back into the bed. Now she remembered another reason she never wanted Emily to be a Samurai Ranger. A part of her always believed Emily wasn't built for it. She had done amazingly – better than Serena would have had she not gotten sick, but now it was time for the hard part: picking up the pieces. Emily would always blame herself for what had happened.

-Samurai-

Ji wasn't sure what he was doing for Christmas this year. Of course all the Samurai would be coming to the Shiba House and he already had stacks of presents under the tree for them. But there was one person he was missing.

For the first time in his life, Ji had a girlfriend. More than that, he had a girlfriend over the holidays. Like the other Samurai, his lifestyle kept him from experience some of the more normal sides of life. As Jayden's mentor, he had given his entire life to the young man, and before that, he had been mentor to Jayden's father and his team, and before that he had spent so much time focusing on becoming a mentor. Dating just wasn't in the cards for him back then.

But that was different now. He had been with Kate since the summer, and now that Christmas was coming he wanted to get her a special gift.

Only he had no idea what he could get her for Christmas. He couldn't think of everything and it drove him crazy. He kept looking around for hints and clues that she would drop, but if she was dropping any, he couldn't get them.

To make matters worse, she already had a gift for him that she was more than excited about – insisting he was going to love it. It was wrapped and under the tree, and Ji had no idea what it was.

"Daydreaming?" a voice startled him out of his thoughts and he jumped a foot in the air. Lauren had caught him staring at the tree and managed to sneak up behind him.

"You're home?" Ji asked. After getting her hand checked out at the hospital and having the doctors confirm it was broken, Lauren had to wear a cast to keep it immobilize. Worried as always, Jayden insisted Lauren spend her first night with the cast with him and Antonio so they could look after her. To shut her little brother up, she did what he wanted, but now that the night was done, Lauren was happy to be home.

"I just got out of the other cast a few weeks ago," Lauren sighed as she looked to her left arm, which had healed after she broke it in the war, and then she looked to her right hand, which would now be in a cast for the next few weeks. "Panorama City hasn't been nice to my bones."

"Apparently not," Ji said and continued to look at the tree. Lauren smirked and nudged him.

"I noticed a bald spot."

"Where?" Ji grabbed the top of his head and Lauren laughed. She shook her head.

"On the tree. Or rather, under. There's a gift from you to everyone but Kate. Stuck?"

"Any suggestions?"

"I've never had a girlfriend. Sorry."

"It was worth a shot, I guess," Ji went to the door and grabbed his coat, "I will be at the mall having a look around. Perhaps I'll find an idea. Want to join?"

"I'm going for a nap," Lauren shook her head, "I didn't get much sleep last night. Jayden kept asking if I needed something."

"Do you need anything?"

"No," Lauren answered with a sigh, "I know what I'm doing. It's not the first break in my hand. I'll be fine. Just go find Kate something. And make sure it's nice!"

"I will, I will," Ji nodded and walked out. When he was on the porch and the door was closed he sighed, "I've still got no idea…"

-Samurai-

Emily sat on the bus by herself and leaned against the window. It was a long drive back home, but she would make it before dinner. She had called her parents before leaving and explained everything to them. They would be waiting in town to pick her up once she got off the bus.

"My favourite colour's blue," the man who sat beside her stated and Emily turned away from the window to look at him.

"Excuse me?"

"I saw your luggage when we boarded the bus. It's obvious you like yellow. I like blue. Where you headed?"

"Home," Emily whispered. She didn't feel much like talking, and had overheard her neighbour chatting up the rest of the people on the bus. They had all found a way to turn him down and now he was Emily's problem.

"Leaving Panorama too? I've only just finally been able to pay for this trip out. Those damn monsters took everything I had."

"Yeah."

"You too? Man, the place was a bloodbath for a while, wasn't it? I mean, if the red water wasn't killing people, those creepy fish faced monsters were. I saw it all on the news. Not with my own eyes. I spent all my time hiding in the basement. Once all monsters were gone, I thought I would get a little help."

"There was no one left in the city," Emily said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"What about the Samurai Rangers? They save the day and they think they're off the hook. What about all the people in need?"

"The Rangers looked pretty beat up to me," Emily answered him. "They probably needed help to."

"They're suits protect them from getting hurt," the man shook his head. "Besides, I've been following the hospital reports. No one who came in had any signs of being a Ranger. The injuries weren't consistent enough with all injuries the Rangers would have had. A couple of people came close, but turns out they were just good people."

"Good people?"

"They threw themselves in harm's way to protect others. Apparently, while the Rangers were off fighting monsters or celebrating their victories, other people were doing their jobs in the city. There were monsters everywhere. One guy took a sword through his chest to save a family of people he had never met before. Do you know where the Rangers were at that time?"

"A man took a sword in the chest?"

"The Rangers were nowhere to be found. Probably hiding out somewhere, waiting to make a big entrance so it would be more dramatic. That's the problem with superheroes. It all goes to their heads. They're more about being big and less about the little things."

"But… but the yellow and red Rangers gave all those toys to the shelter…"

"They gave toys to kids whose parents are dead," the man shrugged his shoulders. "I guess it's a start, but if the Rangers had done their jobs in the first place, those kids would have toys and their parents for Christmas. It's a pathetic attempt to make things right again."

Emily crossed her arms and leaned back into her seat as she turned to the window.

"I'm getting the impression you're a fan," the man told her. "Look, kid, I'm not trying to burst you bubble. The Rangers did do some things right. But at the end of the day, there are still so many people out there suffering. If those Rangers really are super, they would still be out there trying to help."

Finally the bus came to a stop and the man stood up, "This is my stop. Don't be fooled by the colours or the costumes. At the end of the day, the Rangers are just cowards. They don't give a damn about us. The minute the monsters disappear, they take off too. They were just in it for the glory. There are real heroes out there. Who knows, someone in this bus could be a hero."

Emily turned away from the man as he walked off the bus. She hugged her knees to her chest. She knew the Samurai had fans, and she also knew there were people who weren't big supporters of the Rangers. They did cause a few problems for the city. They cost Panorama millions in repairs. They destroyed buildings, and it was true, once the Nighlok were gone, they disappeared. Emily knew why. The Ranger suits were good, but unlike what the man had said, they didn't protect the Rangers from everything. If only he had seen all the scars that were hidden by her clothes. If only he had any idea how much she and her friends had suffered, and how much they had lost.

But he was right. At the end of the day, the city they saved was still suffering and Emily had that thought trapped in her head for the rest of the trip. She almost missed her stop when it came around, but seeing as she was the only person left on the bus, and this was as far as the route went, the bus driver got her attention and helped her off the bus. She met up with her parents a little ways off. Her father took her bags and her mother took her in her arms.

"It's not easy moving on," she said. "Take all the time you need."

"I just want to go home," Emily whispered. Her mother nodded and her parents walked with her to the truck. Emily sat in the back and stared out the window.

"If those Rangers really are super, they would still be out there trying to help."

"Emily," her mother called and handed her a cell phone, "It's Mike. He wants to know how the bus ride was."

Emily took the phone with a sigh, "Hey Mike…"